It is exciting to have a book of Christian apologetics on the New York Times best seller list — debuting at number eight among nonfiction hardbacks! I will give you a quick summary and my bottom line first: The book begins with chapters on how recent science on fine-tuning, human consciousness, and supernatural events like … [Read more…]
June is the most romantic month, the month rhyming with moon and the bride’s choice for many weddings. And as it happens our church just finished a four-week sermon series “From This Day Forward,” focusing on marriage. The Scriptural bases were primarily Genesis 1-3 and Ephesians 2, 4, and especially 5. Here are a few … [Read more…]
Here’s a happy thought I had this spring as I drank my morning coffee: What is the natural sound people most often hear — that is, the sound people most often hear that is not manmade? The answer is birds singing, is it not? And that is a very pleasant sound, is it not? The … [Read more…]
Jesus thinks and studies for many years before He begins His ministry. There is a lesson there, isn’t there, about knowing your song well before singing? He had to get things right, and took care even though He was divine. And regarding the Old Testament, it would be odd to have an extended and detailed … [Read more…]
In his Easter sermon, our pastor made two especially powerful points. First, he asked for a show of hands of those who could remember 9/11. He continued: Suppose you wrote down your recollection of the basic events of that day, and those accounts were all collected and put in a time capsule. Two thousand years … [Read more…]
He is risen! And, by the way, in the sermon series on Leviticus that our church just finished (see preceding post), it was noted that chapter 11 in this book, on atonement, is at the book’s center. And, for that matter, this chapter is also in the Torah’s/Pentateuch’s center, Leviticus being the middle book. Also … [Read more…]
Our church just finished a sermon series on Leviticus, and in that regard I wanted to share a thought. In the text there are repeated reminders along the lines of “I am the Lord” or “I am the Lord your God” (for example, fifteen times just in chapter 19, according to a study guide). So … [Read more…]
I’ve noted before that a prayer of confession is part of my daily routine, and I’ll take this opportunity to elaborate on it a bit. We’re coming up on Lent next week, a serious time, and a brief daily prayer of confession fits in with that. Now, needless to say, your sins are not my … [Read more…]
Practicing what I preach, I read Mark daily in January, and on the last day ran across two Greek-English oddities in Mark 16. First, Mark 16:2 begins, “Very early on the first day of the week, [the women] came to the tomb, the sun having risen.” Of course, the “Son” as well as the “sun” … [Read more…]
That’s the title of this short piece I posted the last Sunday of January on National Review Online. I’ll note that the post has attracted 168 comments so far, but I have no idea whether that is a high or low number for this venue. Anyway, here’s the post (and I hope all my fellow … [Read more…]