In Season, Out of Season
January 22, 2016
It was Thursday night, two days before I was to leave for three weeks of Bible teaching in Colorado, The phone rang. It was my friend Larry on the line with a frantic plea...
Five Fatal Flaws: The Warning Passages in Hebrews (4)
January 9, 2016
Another blessing offered in Christ, but not available in the Mosaic system, is forgiveness for acts of willful sin. The repeated refrain of the Law read: "for everyone who has sinned unintentionally or in ignorance." Any willful sin brought certain judgment without mercy. Anyone claiming the law as a means of salvation, either in the first century or today, must face this grim fact.
Five Fatal Flaws: The Warning Passages in Hebrews (3)
January 8, 2016
In speaking with Donald Cole, radio pastor of Moody’s WMBI flagship radio station, I asked him the passage of Scripture he was most often questioned about on his call-in program. Hebrews 6 was the answer. And perhaps one reason is that we stop the warning passage where I have, at chapter 6, verse 12. If we continued to the end of the chapter, we would see the point of the whole passage is found in verse 11. What is it? Ironically, it is written that believers might have “full assurance.”
Five Fatal Flaws: The Warning Passages in Hebrews (2)
January 7, 2016
There was a second missing component in Judaism. The writer to the Hebrews takes us to Psalm 95:7-11 and reminds us about three Old Testament scenes: first, in Eden; second, in the Sinai desert; and third, in Canaan.
Five Fatal Flaws: The Warning Passages in Hebrews (1)
January 6, 2016
The first century Jews who had been exposed to Christianity had a very tough decision to make. If they embraced this gospel being preached by the apostles, it could cost them their jobs, their families, even their lives. But Judaism was not a man-made religion (at least in its original form). Had not God revealed it to Moses at Sinai? Wasn’t it the religion of David and Isaiah and Daniel? And of Jesus, too! Why must one give up such a religious heritage, especially since it could be so expensive to follow this new sect of the despised Nazarene?
Parenthesis Conference: a Mountaintop Experience?
January 6, 2016
What is a parenthesis? An interlude in a sentence that adds richness and meaning to the whole. The Parenthesis concept—setting off time to be enriched and equipped for living Christ—was advanced by three businessmen with a burden for the Millennial generation in local churches that are seeking to simply follow the New Testament. The first event is slated for May 27-29.
Hello World!
January 4, 2016
For the last five years we’ve hidden ourselves away in small-town Mississippi... We’ve seen the Lord work in gracious and thrilling ways. And He’s been teaching this old dog a few new lessons. Occasionally in this blog I’d like to share some of His gracious ways with us.