Idolatry and Injustice: Two Sides, Same Coin

The Bible makes a big deal about the sin of idolatry, and since it does we feel like we should also, but the truth is that there aren’t too many idol-worshiping religions to be found in the U.S. It’s just not a threat, so when we teach about idolatry we tend to say that anything that we place above God is...

There’s Sinners and There’s SINNERS.

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post The book of Judges established the pattern of sin-judgment-repentance-forgiveness, but the fact that it was a pattern showed that it wasn’t effective in turning the hearts of Israel permanently to the Lord. God abandoned this pattern with the Babylonian Exile by...

Forgiveness and Repentance: Which Leads to Which?

If everybody truly believes the misleading saying, “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” why is there so much hating of sinners going around? It seems to be popular among some these days to divide sinners into two categories, those who are eligible to worship God and fellowship with us, and those who aren’t....

Reading Scripture in One Sitting (or Sometimes It’s Best to Swallow an Elephant Whole

About fifteen years ago, in response to several requests, I decided to lead a study on the book of Revelation for my Wednesday night Pastor’s Bible Study. It’s a formidable task, as you might imagine. There is perhaps no other book in the Bible that confounds people more than the Apocalypse of John, as it...

Individualism and the Curse of Isolation

One of the hallmarks of Western civilization and the Enlightenment worldview is individualism, the recognition that each individual is a person of value and worth and “has certain inalienable rights.” Individualism actually has its roots in Christianity; that God numbers the hairs on our heads, that he...

« Older Entries Next Entries »