Taking Biblical Warnings Seriously
In April 1980, my wife and I had just moved to Wichita Falls, TX. I had to go downtown to get my telephone service turned on. I was in a room of around 100 people who were there for the same reason. Just as my name was called, a siren went off in the streets. […]
What Does “Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead” Mean? Luke 9:60
This question came up in my Sunday School class yesterday. It left me wondering what the Lord meant. Jesus told a man, “Follow Me.” The man said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Luke 9:59). The Lord replied: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom […]
Typecasting the Pharisees
The New Testament doesn’t sugarcoat the Jewish religious leaders of the first century. They are described as whitewashed tombs, snakes, and greedy. Ultimately, the religious leaders kill their own Messiah. Because of these examples, and the overall tenor of the NT, the word Pharisee carries a negative connotation for most Bible students; many automatically typecast […]
How Can a Person Be Saved and Cursed by God?
David asked this excellent question after a recent YouTube video by me on faith plus works salvation: If a person believes in Christ alone for salvation and later falls back into works, he is still saved, just fallen from grace [Gal 5:4]. Yet Paul says that if a person turns to faith plus works for […]
Unable to Hear God’s Word (Luke 1:62)
Everybody familiar with the Christmas story knows that Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, was not able to speak for the nine months his wife Elizabeth was pregnant. This was because Zachariah did not believe the word of God spoken to him by Gabriel when the angel told him about John’s coming birth. Many, […]
Don’t Let Anything Other Than Scripture Guide Your Beliefs and Practices
Christians are to base our beliefs and our practices on God’s Word. Yet there are at least four influences, other than the Bible, that can get in the way of our accepting the teaching of God’s Word: 1) a word or impression supposedly from God; 2) church history (councils, creeds, pastors, authors); 3) experiences we’ve […]
Destroying the Word of God (2 Kings 22:1-8)
In the accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah–few of whom were godly–there are many events that seem somewhat strange to modern readers. One of them is found in 2 Kings 22. Josiah was one of the few godly kings. When he was a young man, he wanted to restore the temple of the […]
Is Assurance Like Light from a Dimmer Switch?
Article by Calvinist Jon Bloom, staff writer for and co-founder of desiringGod.org. See here for the article entitled, “How God Gives Assurance” (9/4/15). Bloom opens his article with these words: “Am I truly a Christian? Few questions cause more fearful trembling in believers…” Here is his view: “Like most things in the Christian life, assurance […]
Pop Dispensationalism
I recently read The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism by Daniel Hummel. In the book, he coins the term pop dispensationalism. I don’t know whether or not it’s used popularly. While I had never heard the term before, I understand what it means. I think a number of people are just like me in this […]
What Is Hapax Legomenon and Why Is It Important?
Last weekend, I was in Las Vegas. But not for poker. I was speaking at Upland Bible Church. On Saturday night Pastor Rich, his wife Debbie, Al and Sheri Bingham, and my hosts, Tim and Daria Vanselow, shared a feast at Casa Vanselow. During supper, Pastor Rich mentioned the expression hapax legomenon. No. That is […]