This week I came across a striking contrast in approaches to determining what the Bible says about Satan. This morning, Ken explained that much of what we assume we know about Satan from the Scriptures is quite speculative. The eye-opener for me was that the connection between “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14 and Satan is not clear cut.

Contrast that with this YouTube video clip that has sadly become popular, using speculation upon extrapolation (and a few outright misstatements) to show that Jesus warned in Luke 10:18 that President Obama is the Antichrist. I commend to you this excellent response by New Testament Scholar Dan Wallace.

I found it interesting to juxtapose two uses of the same …

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In a previous post, I dealt with a question about the final judgment. One aspect of the question had to do with why there is a judgment if it is a simple matter of unbelievers being condemned and believers being pardoned and entering paradise with the Lord.

In that post, I covered some background on the final judgment. Now I would like to expand on the question of why believers stand in judgment if Christ has already been judged in our place. This is something that was cloudy for me before I examined it more closely and now brings a lot of things together. Much of this comes from the message What Happens When You Die? All Appear Before …

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In recent days the term, “Black Liberation Theology” has washed over anyone who listens to the news. But what exactly does this term mean and from what strain of theology did it come from? Christianity Today carried an insightful article outlining various aspects of black church culture as well as the roots of this particular brand of theology. What is Black Liberation Theology?

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In yesterday’s Christian Essentials class, we explored the question, “What is the Trinity?”

One point I wanted to emphasize is that the Trinity is not a contradiction. It might sound like “deep philosophy” to say that it’s a contradiction and also say that’s OK, as if it that made it a profound truth. Now, I may be stating the obvious here, but a profound truth must be, well, true, and a contradiction is never true.

If God is true, and the Trinity is true, then we must be able to show that it is not a contradiction. To do this, let me try to make the case that the Trinity is a contradiction and then knock it down. But

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This age-old question is pivotal for people to consider for at least three reasons:

#1. It speaks to the amount of power God has in this world and, therefore, in my life.
#2. It speaks to the amount of power Satan has in this world and, therefore, in my life.
#3. It speaks to the amount of courage I can have facing hardship, evil, suffering, neglect, mistreatment, etc.

For example, Greg Boyd, author and pastor believes that we too easily promote trust in God for all things while we really should be fighting the war we are in with our adversary, Satan. To this end, Dr. Boyd speaks to his assertion that God is not in complete control and as …

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Greg interviews his co-author and long-time friend, Frank Beckwith, whose recent stepping down as president of the Evangelical Theological Society to return to the Roman Catholic Church. This is Beckwith’s first live interview since he caused such a stir when he made his announcement.

I found it interesting to listen to Greg talk to such a dear friend in a public venue now that they disagree on fundamental aspects of the faith and the Church. As you might imagine, STR has received lots of questions about Beckwith’s return to Rome. As an apologetics training organization, STR teaches believers to defend the historic, protestant, biblical understanding of Christianity. Yet, an ally of STR and co-author of Greg’s book

…

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What is the Trinity? This the title of the chapter we will be discussing this week in the Christian Essentials class. Most of our time will be reserved for discussion; so, please read the chapter.

Also, I’ve added a new blog category for the class. You can see all posts related to the class and its topics by clicking on the Christian Essentials Class category. 

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God never changes. He is always the same (see Malachi 3:6). Yet the Bible contains a track record of God changing how he deals with mankind all through the Bible. It is not hard to produce evidence of God dealing differently with different men throughout the course of history. For example, God did not deal with the Apostle Paul in the same way that He dealt with Abraham. God was merciful to both of these men and God saved both of these men, but God did not deal with these two men in the same way. These two men lived at different times in history and they had different responsibilities and obligations before God. The same could be said about …

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This past Sunday (11.13.05) we looked at Ephesians 3:1-13 and how Paul viewed God’s specific plan for his life. In the teaching guide, under the extended teaching notes, I sought to give a very basic explanation of what a “dispensation” is. I thought it would be helpful to begin a dialogue regarding the merits and demerits of this system by starting with rationale for the system and, then, a conceptual definition.

Paul viewed himself as having a unique place in the unfolding of God’s Kingdom. In Ephesians 3:2, Paul uses the word “administration” (or “stewardship” – ESV) in reference to the responsibility he had to promote the “mystery” (see 3:6) that God was making one …

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George Barna has conducted a survey that reveals that

“nearly half of all Americans have read at least one religious book, other than the Bible, from cover to cover in the past two years.”

See Poll

This may be good or this may be bad. Certainly, God does prepare the soil of a people by stirring interest in religious thought and expression (e.g. Josiah or Ezra). However, there can also a marring of spiritual living that happens when we join various religious beliefs and create a personal brew for our own pleasure – a.k.a “syncretism” (e.g Cannanites, Philistines, Mars Hill, etc).

How do you know the difference? I hear many sincere Christians indicating their excitement …

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