Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
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 …
Great are the works of the LORD, Studied by all who delight in them. (Psalm 111:2, NRSV) Although many Christians believe that science has nothing to do with faith, learning the science behind God’s creations can help us understand him as well as his purpose. I’ve said before that our Creator set up this universe …
This may seem like a silly question, but does it really matter how we pray? Think about it, most people pray because they want something; they send up a prayer and ask God for a favor or item and hope for the best. With this attitude, they should call it ‘ask and hope’ instead of …
One of my precious wife’s little dogs escaped from its backyard pen the other day and began to snoop around our small urban vegetable garden. The garden is located way out back of the property and near an area of dense weeds and thickets. I realize it is not good to have our garden near …