This post comes from Bill Muehlenberg’s commentary on current issues, “Culture Watch”.
In a fallen world, war, the use of force, bloodshed, violence and aggression will always be with us. And that is because sin is always with us. So the believer knows that God established civil government to help curb violence and injustice, and maintain a modicum of peace and order. Read the rest of this page »
This post comes from Bill Muehlenberg’s commentary on current issues, “Culture Watch”.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, war is back in the news. Putin is an autocratic tyrant who loves power as much as any other dictator. He wants to invade and destroy an independent nation. Meanwhile, women and children are being cluster-bombed in their homes in Ukraine, and many thousands of Christians and others being rounded up in Russia as they plead for an end to this evil and madness. Read the rest of this page »
This post comes from a book by Oard and Carter (2021).
Biblical geology is much more sophisticated than skeptics both inside and outside of Christianity assert. Over 60 years of research, often published in technical journals as well as popular books and magazines, have produced an impressive body of evidence. Sloppy examination of creation science, and their biases, often cause secular scientists, old-earth creationists, and theistic evolutionists to grossly misrepresent the nature of the debate and the quality of evidence supporting the historic Christian view. Read the rest of this page »
This post comes from Michael Bird, a theologian who lives in Melbourne, Australia.
The Bible is for us. It is the principal source for how to believe and behave as disciples of Jesus Christ. The Bible exists for us to have a God-centered view of creation, to understand God’s providence in history, to hear God’s promises, to know God’s words of warning and encouragement, to have the words of Jesus, to hear the apostles’ testimony about Jesus, and to look ahead to the kingdom in all its future fullness. The private and public reading of the Bible is for us in the sense that it is for our training, our edification, our transformation, and our encouragement. The Bible is for us since the Bible enables God to speak to people across the tide of history, through our manifold cultures and languages, and in a way that truly transcends human differences. Whether you are a second-century Christian in Rome, a fifth-century Arab Christian in the city of Tikrit, or a twenty-first-century believer in Zimbabwe, the Bible is God’s word for you, for them, and for us today. The Bible is for us, yesterday, today, and until the end of the age. Read the rest of this page »
Though we don’t live like it, death is a sure thing. I often take walks amongst the beautiful gardens and graves of the cemetery I live near. Thousands and thousands of headstones and memorial plaques lay quietly in various stages of abandon. Each represents another human who was once living and breathing like me. Right now death seems like something that happens to other people, but one day the sum of our lives will also be etched on a headstone for others to pass by. And then? Read the rest of this page »
A toast involves raising a glass and drinking in honor of or to the health (or goodwill) of a person or thing. It shows your appreciation of them or wishes them success. Toasts are generally offered at times of celebration, like wedding receptions or New Year’s Eve. A toast is a custom or habit that is part of our culture.
The Bible tells us that the Lord’s Supper is how we are to remember the death of Jesus Christ. The bread and wine symbolize the death of Christ. Read the rest of this page »
With war in Europe and floods in eastern Australia, there’s plenty to be discouraged about. But did you know that there is also plenty to be encouraged about?
In Thessalonica
The letter of 2 Thessalonians tells Christians how to face difficult times, in this case it was facing false teaching. The key verse is 2:15 which says, “stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter” (NLT). That meant to follow the teaching given by the apostles, which is now in the New Testament. Read the rest of this page »
An overview of Ephesians In about 1445 BC during the exodus from Egypt, at Mount Sinai Aaron made a golden calf and the people said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4, 8NIV). The calf may have been a pagan god or a symbol of strength. But the first commandment said, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). And the second said not to worship an idol. As they were disregarding or subtracting these commands from their Bible, about 3,000 people died. Read the rest of this page »
I spent my younger days on a farm near Forbes in central NSW, Australia. My mother had seven brothers who liked to play cricket. The eldest one played first grade cricket at St George Cricket Club with Don Bradman. When my mother and dad were young, they watched Don Bradman play at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). When I was young my dad took me to the SCG on a day when Neil Harvey scored 231 not out in his last Sheffield Shield game. I played cricket at Forbes and in the Protestant Churches Competition in Sydney. My 9-year-old grandson plays junior cricket for Lisarow-Ourimbah on the Central Coast. The club’s most famous player is Alan Davidson who died recently. On Saturday mornings I leave home at 6am to get him to the oval by 7:30am to be ready to play by 8am. Read the rest of this page »
The best explanation of the Lord’s Supper is given in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. It begins, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (1 Cor. 11:23-25NIV). Read the rest of this page »
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