Thoughts on Scripture and life
for the glory of Jesus Christ
Identity (Part 4): Satisfied in God
God alone satisfies the ache for meaning and purpose. You were made to delight in Him. God alone is worth living for. Everything and everyone else leads to death. You were made to be happy in Him.
Identity (Part 3): Delighted in God
Being a Christian is so much more than just going to church, learning right theology, and going through the motions of being a “good Christian.” I want all that you are—your heart, soul, mind, strength; your affections, desires, wants; your hopes, dreams, ambitions; your love, your joy, your peace—to be for our Savior. That is the good life. That is the abundant life that Christ promised, when we are enraptured with His love and fully happy in Him.
Identity (Part 2): Whose Are You?
Instead of wandering in the desert, mists here today and gone tomorrow, a spiritual vagabond and vagrant with no home, no peace, no love, would you not rather be a child of the living God, home with the Heavenly Father, safe in His care? Dear Christian, know who you are. You belong to God!
Identity (Part 1): Who Are You?
Identity is crucial.1 Identity not only defines how we introduce ourselves, but also dictates how and why we live. Through our identity, we interpret the world, understand relationships, choose our actions, have stability, and worship. …Our problem is that there are a billion voices clamoring to define who and what we are.
The Johannine Concept of Abiding
“Abide with me; fast falls the eventide / The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.”[1] So begins the comforting hymn by Henry F. Lyte. But, to brusquely push past the sweetness of the lyrics, what does Lyte mean by ‘abide’? Is he asking Christ to tolerate him, wait for him, accept him, remain with him, continue with him, or dwell with him?[2]
Disdainful Pride and Dishonorable Deeds
Who was Diotrophes, and what was his sin?
By the Water and the Blood
John claims that Jesus, the Son of God, came through water and blood…not by this water only, but by this water and by this blood (1 John 5:6). This is the very testimony of God (5:9). Yet, how do water and blood speak? What is their message, and why is it so important that Christ by both the water and the blood?
God’s Love for Us, Perfected
What is a perfect love? John seems to answer the question when he writes, “…If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). So, on the surface, it seems that a perfect love for man is one that is reaches moral perfection by practicing love. But this clashes with experiential reality. Can such a love ever be achieved by mere mortal man? Is there anything that sinful man can truly claim to do perfectly—especially that highest virtue of love?
Christians Don’t Sin
Do Christians have sin, or do they not? 1 John 1:8-9 teaches that a Christian must admit he has sin, or else be condemned for not having “the truth” (1:8) and making God “a liar” (1:10) Yet 1 John 3:6b seems to teach that if one does sin at all, he does not know Christ!
Troas, Lost to the Sea
Attalia Harbor, Gateway for the Gospel
On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas went to the harbor of the city of Attalia in order to sail back to their home church in Antioch of Syria (Acts 14:25).
Perga, a City in Ruin
Paul and Barnabas passed through these towers in Perga, Pamphilya (AD 47) on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13).
The Beautiful and Sad Hagia Sophia
No building could truly be the Holy Wisdom, for Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, Wisdom incarnate, who died and rose for the forgiveness of sins.
The Alleys of Istanbul
The Epistle of Warning Unto Perseverance
What is the purpose of the warnings in Hebrews?
The Endings of the Book of Mark
What is the true ending to the book of Mark?
A Critique of the Old Creationist View
How old is the earth? What do we do if the Bible and science seem to contradict one another?
The Critical Race Theory (CRT) Worldview
Critical Race Theory (CRT) teaches that throughout history, all institutions (social and legal) have been inherently racist, creating a world where white people have been granted an intrinsic advantage over colored people.
Theodicy: Answering the Problem of Evil
If God was all-good, then He would desire to eliminate all evil. If He was all-powerful, then He could eliminate all evil. But because there is evil in the world, He is either not all-powerful, not all-good, or both. And if He is not, then He is not the Christian God and therefore God does not exist.
Why Presuppositional Apologetics?
When understood and practiced rightly, presuppositional apologetics (PA) is the only apologetical framework that consistently operates under the authority and light of Scripture.