In Bill Maher’s movie, Religulous, he baits a U.S. senator for believing in “a talking snake in the garden.” But “why should it be thought a thing incredible” for atheists to believe in a snake with the ability to talk? Don’t they believe that a whole species of “animals” arose after millions of years of […]
The INESCAPABLE CHRIST. No one can do as Pilate’s wife suggested, “Have nothing to do with that just Man” (Mt 27:19). Yet it is possible to follow Christ as the Pharisees did—to argue with Him, criticise Him, find fault with Him. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote: “The magazines of the world carry a constant stream of […]
“Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Ps 90:17). For many years this verse hung by the mirror where we prepared ourselves to meet the day. It often reminded me of another psalm: “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed” (34:5). H.G. Bosch says, “A […]
Amy Orr-Ewing tells of a conversation her husband had with a woman at a wedding reception: “At one point she had said, ‘The reason I am not a Christian is that I am studying English Literature, and I don’t believe that there is a Transcendental Signified, and so I can make the Bible mean whatever […]
CHRIST of the MIGHTY NAME. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). His name was given in JOYFUL PROCLAMATION at His birth: “You shall call His name JESUS” (Mt 1:21). Throughout His life it was used in SHAMEFUL DEGRADATION, as it often is to […]
“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thess 3:12-13). To be blameless […]
“Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance” (1 Thess 1:5). Note three aspects to assurance: “the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Col 2:2); “the full assurance […]
The world holds its breath when Christians suffer. Will we doubt or deny Him? Or declare He is good? Psalm 35 shows a definite pattern. It has three parts, and each ends with a chorus of praise to the Lord. As we’ll see, this is not simply a design for a poem but a strategy […]
CHRIST the “CHIEF among ten thousand” (Song 5:10). Dr. A.T. Schofield tells the following: Some years ago I went down to the banks of the Severn to visit a poor girl dying of tuberculosis in a cottage of two rooms on the river’s bank. I found the river in flood, through which I waded, and […]