Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
A Study of Daniel Chapter 3 Most times that I’ve brought up the story in the Book of Daniel about the three Hebrew boys being thrown into the fiery furnace, people respond to the event as being mostly just a child’s Bible story. It is a good story with life applications for youngsters trying to …
I am often asked by new Christians, “How should I go about studying the Bible?” Many pastors will just say come join one of their Bible study groups, and this is usually good advice, because there will be several people available to help newcomers get started or even take them “under their wing” as the …
The New Testament book of Ephesians was written to the Christians in Ephesus and explains what the Christian Church is and how its members should behave. Most commentators credit the apostle Paul with authorship, but there is some debate about that. And although many dates have been given, it was probably written between 60–63 A.D. …
In a restaurant a few days ago, I overheard a small group of people discussing the account in the Gospels, when Jesus confronted a Canaanite woman. What really caught my attention though, was when one person said, “I don’t think Jesus should have made such a mean racist comment to someone asking him for help.” …
Science Reveals God’s Majesty Series I remembered hearing, on the news some time back, of someone having experienced apprehension when arriving at the airport to board a plane and decided not to travel. You can see where I’m going with this; yes the plane crashed and she avoided death. I’ve never had such a dramatic …
The most common doctrine taught in Christian churches, about the relationship between God and Jesus, is that they are one and the same. Both, along with the Holy Spirit, are considered a single “Godhead.” This three-in-one approach to Jesus’ identity is really just a theory – a dogmatic point of view that did not exist …
A recent message came into my office asking, “Define ‘Christian’ for me. That word gets thrown around, with no clear definition. If possible, use the Bible to define it.” I’ve gotten many similar questions over the years and the writer of that message makes a good underlying point. Authors and speakers keep using this word …
The Epistle to the Hebrews is a “battleground of discordant opinion and conjecture: its author is unknown, its occasion unstated, and its destination disputed”1 and chapter six, which tells about the perils of falling away from the Christian faith, is one of the most misunderstood parts of the book. Before we dig into chapter 6, …
Most people believe science and religion don’t mix, but I’ve always believed that God set up this universe with specific physical laws to lay out the reality we live in, and part of our purpose is to learn these laws and use them to benefit humankind. Sometime back, I wrote a rather lengthy discourse about …
The Bible gives many examples of God’s position concerning those who do not have faith or do not believe that his laws are just and necessary, but only a few shows the extreme extent of his capabilities to punish amoral behavior and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of them. These citizens lost …