Today’s topic is an emotionally charged one. Many of us know or have known people who have been affected by the destructive power of the overuse of alcohol. God forbid that you know someone who has killed someone while driving drunk, or lost their house, job, and/or marriage because of the inability to overcome the …
T 18.1 The Prohibition Tradition in Some Modern Churches Read More »
In T 1.6 Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 6, The Apostles Taught About Our Adversary, the Devil, and that We Have the Power to Overcome Him we looked at an overview of the role of the Adversary in the world today. After a review of some key points, we are going to get into more …
As stated in the previous post, Martin Luther is credited with starting the Reformation, but in truth he had predecessors. John Huss was one of these. As we saw in the article about John Wyclif people were already talking about the abuses of the church and a desire to find a simpler, more scriptural church …
14.1 Jan Huss, Fiery Reform Preacher, before Martin Luther Read More »
While Martin Luther is credited with starting the Reformation, the truth is that he had predecessors. About a century and a half before Luther posted his 95 theses there was a man named John Wyclif. Wyclif rose to become a master at Oxford, Balliol College. He was considered the “ablest theologian of its faculty”.[i] The …
13.7 John Wyclif, Pre- Luther Reformer, Wrote of Early Christianity Read More »
Tertullian’s writings form the basis of the rise of Roman Catholicism with the trinity, sacraments, and so forth
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also …
Communion’s Deep Meaning – Christ’s Sacrifice Has Freed Us From The Power of Sin Read More »
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also …
Almost All Christian Churches Practice Communion Read More »
From the very first the church has baptized; And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for …
“The earth is heating up!” “We are at record warming levels.” So the global warming warnings go. I’m watching Nova on PBS. The episode is Making North America: Origins. As the narrator displays palm frond and coral reef fossils he makes a startling statement. He’s finding these artifacts in Alaska. And he says this, “This …
Communication breakdowns happen everywhere in life: at home, at work, even on vacation. One of the reasons for this is that what someone says and what the other person hears a lot of times are different. Part of it is because who we think we are is different than the person talking to us thinks …
Knowing As We Are Known – The Six People In Every Conversation Read More »
I have heard people say they are suspicious about the accuracy of traditions that are passed down by word-of-mouth. Anyone familiar with the “telephone” game knows that in any given crowd if one person passes a sentence to another person and so forth, that the resulting sentence by the 10th or 20th person sometimes bears …
Oral Transmissions of Religious Accounts Have Safeguards to Ensure Accuracy Read More »
In the first century, there wasn’t any New Testament. There weren’t any gospels, epistles, or book of Revelation. For gosh sakes, the original believers still went to Temple. But they lived together, ate together, and fellowshipped together around a simple faith based on what they had seen in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of …
All old things from fossil bones to caveman artifacts are radioactively dated. Amazingly, the dates for these artifacts are presented in very definite terms. Carbon dating has been used by scientists to show that man is older than the dates offered by Bible records. One dating example is that of the Shroud of Turin. For …
There once was a serial killer. He had a dark passenger that drove him to terrible depths. He had overpowering urges to kill. And he acted on those urges, repeatedly killing ritualistically, stabbing his victims through the heart after binding them to his table, his altar of death. Like other serial killers, he appeared normal. …
Be Wary of TV Shows Promoting Rejoicing in Wrongdoing Read More »
I have been watching Frontline, the episode titled The Untouchables. It is the story of the investigation into the banking industry concerning the meltdown was caused by bank industry practices of selling and reselling bad mortgages. These practices made a lot of bankers rich, but it almost caused a worldwide economic meltdown. It certainly caused …
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly is a PBS program that explores current news items that have a connection to religious and ethical practices. As the title implies, the program takes a diverse religious approach as the it explores all religions as well as modern cultural ethical philosophies around the world. Recent programs have featured Baha’i, Hindu, …
The Genesis Code[i] is a Christian movie that tackles the question of how the “days” in Genesis chapter one could possible reconcile with the millions of years that scientists teach that it took to get the earth to where it is today. This is a spoiler on the movie so if you want to see …
Leslie Stahl opens a segment of 60 Minutes with the question, “Are human beings inherently good, are we born with a sense of morality, or do we arrive at blank slates waiting for the world to teach us right from wrong? Or could it be worse? Do we start out nasty, selfish devils who need …
Science Now Saying Humans Are not Born as Blank Slates Read More »
Fearlessness is not the absence of conflict; actually that is the definition of peace. But you can be peaceful on the inside while all kinds of turmoil are happening on the outside. The Boston Marathon Response was an inspiring example of what it means to act fearlessly and have inner peace in face in a …
Driving to an appointment yesterday, I flipped around the radio dial, and every station had at least a reference to the incident at the Boston Marathon. On some shows it was all they talked about. One caller to a talk show said he thought it would be unfortunate, but inevitable, that this incident would come …
It is the time of the voting for a new Pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church. And, as at every new beginning, there is a discussion of the problems that need to be addressed, and a few optimistic souls expressing that this might be the time that things really get fixed Sally Quinn, religion …
On Hopes that The Roman Catholic Church will Change Read More »
Contents of this Article With Lustful Intent The Covetousness Clause Freedom from Guilt over Being Tempted How to Deal With Sexual Temptation With Lustful Intent But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28 ESV) In the last …
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28 ESV) Sexual sin is a powerful topic in the Christian world. Lust, fornication, adultery, homosexuality are some of the these sins. And the above verse makes a powerful, if …
I recently visited a church that had warm people, a wonderful communion service, inspiring worship music, and an apparently loving and engaging pastor. Being a new year the pastor said the church was going to start on a new journey of exploration across the Bible, starting with Genesis chapter 1. The pastor then did a …
Genesis Chapter 1 Teaching: An Example of Doctrinal Confusion in a Church Read More »
While the world can be interesting, fun, and exciting at times, in the end it is an evil place. You scrimp and save to buy a house, you fix it up and “life is good”, but just for a while. That’s because rust and moths and termites, and mold, and weather, and a host of …