Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
After Moses guided God’s people out of Egypt, and after his successor, Joshua, led them in the conquest of Canaan, the Israelites seemed to exist comfortably from their victories. But, this peace was short lived as the Israelite people — once again — began to abandon God’s commandments and partook of pagan practices. The more …
Ever since the Israel-Hamas war recently broke out in the middle east, there have been inquiries about the situation and questions about what will God do to save Israel. I admit it is hard to wrap our minds around what is going on, but these questions are coming from Christians who are really concerned about …
According to widespread Christian preaching, God took two people to heaven without them first dying. Why and how this was done is not answered in scripture, just that they were here one moment and not the next. There is, however, a Greek term for this event; it is said that God ‘translated’ them to his …
As usual, around holiday events I get questions concerning its celebration. So, I was not surprised when a few inquiries arose around our last Thanksgiving Day. The first question asked was “Is Thanksgiving Day a religious holiday?” The second question was “Do other countries celebrate Thanksgiving Day?” The third was “What does Black Friday mean?” …
The story about Jezebel is recorded in 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament, but for those who do not know much about this character, here is an overview. According to Hebrew scripture, Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of Tyre in Phoenicia during the 9th-century BC. Phoenicia was a coastal …
While I write this, there are wars (Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas) and rumors of wars (Israel-Iran, NATO-Russia, U.S.-China, China-Taiwan, and more). Regional wars change fast, so who knows what will be happening in just a few weeks. Jesus said that this would happen before the end of this age, so these events are just the beginning …
Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. (Psalm 127:3, NLT).1 Yes, in the Bible, children are considered a great blessing from God, however according to Mosaic Law, although a blessing, they had no rights.2 It wasn’t until the last century that much thought was given to the concept of …
I wrote about gay and transgender issues about five years ago, but continue to get questions concerning those groups and what is God’s point-of-view on the LGBT lifestyle. Those descriptive alphabet characters change over time, but currently the official identification is LGBTQIA+ and they stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transvestite, questionable/queer, intersex, asexual, and ‘plus …
To quote from Bob Dylan’s 1964 song, “the times they are a-changin’.” That certainly describes the world today, including what is happening within the Christian church. While a few church groups remain stylishly prudish or unemotionally static, others have become ‘woke’ and weakened by welcoming ungodly beliefs and unchristian activities. No one can say there …
We hear a lot about Hell, but there is still much confusion about what it is and where it is located. In some religions it is the location of the afterlife, where the souls of evil people are subjected to suffering through torture and eternal punishment, usually for sins committed sometime in their lives. But …