The Holy Spirit called Barnabas “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith,” and his life shows what such goodness looks like — generous with his possessions, glad at others’ blessing, and content to take second place for the cause of Christ. The…
Christianity can be defended: the Bible bears marks no man would or could have forged, man’s universal religious nature points to a God who made him to worship, Christianity has elevated mankind beyond anything else, and the wise course is to make one’s standing in Christ…
The Greek word ekklesia means “called out,” and a survey of its New Testament uses shows it applied to the local congregation (in several senses), to the one universal church, and to the household assembly — but never to a denomination. Doctrine often turns on a…
The outline defines forgiveness this way: to hold one as though no offense had been given — in love, in sympathy, with full interest and goodwill, as though nothing had happened. That is a demanding standard, and most of us know it. The question is not…
Psalm 8 is a psalm of wonder: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Ps….
Every Christian is a priest. Not in a metaphorical sense — in the direct biblical sense of I Peter 2:5 and 2:9. The structure of the Levitical priesthood (one High Priest, many secondary priests, qualifications, duties, sacrifices, altar) is replicated exactly in the Christian age: Christ…
A good sermon may be poorly delivered; a weak sermon may be skillfully delivered. The delivery is not the sermon — but it is the instrument through which the sermon reaches the hearer, and an instrument poorly played loses the music. The preacher who has prepared…
The Bible is a divine-human book: human language carrying divine content, the will of God expressed through the words of human writers who were divinely guided in speaking only the truth. The inspiration of Scripture did not make truth truer; it ensured that what was recorded…
Nothing can hurt us if we receive it as God teaches. No one can do us real harm if we remain faithful to God. The six categories of life experience that most commonly cause damage — temptation, sickness, pleasure, sorrow, slander, and the general experiences of…
Giving is a grace — not a tax, not a formality, not a matter of convenience. It is a spiritual discipline tied to the sowing-and-reaping law, offered to a God who responds to liberality, and ultimately inseparable from the unspeakable gift of Christ. There is a…