God “ordained” civil government for a purpose. Civil authorities are to protect those who do good and punish those who do evil (Romans 13:1-4). In order for God’s purpose for civil government to be accomplished, civil officials must be people of integrity. They must be honest and unbiased. They must themselves adhere to the law,
Jethro’s Qualifications for Good Civil Leaders Read More »
There is much confusion in the religious world over the subject of “works.” People have a tendency to select just one or two Bible passages where the word has a negative connotation and then use those passages to condemn all works. This is very dangerous, for the Bible uses the word “works” to describe several different
Many false teachers profit by convincing people that God will work direct miracles in their lives if they will only “serve” God and support their ministries. Profiteer preachers persuade people to send ministry “seed money,” which they say will result in God’s financial and physical blessings being bestowed upon the giver. This theory of the
Jeremiah 29:11 & God’s “Plan” For Man Read More »
Given the vital role of God’s grace in the scheme of human redemption, it is simply tragic how little understood and how often misrepresented the subject is. Even some so-called “gospel” preachers are losing sight of the definitions and descriptions of grace that are found in the Bible, and they have adopted the concepts and terminology of the sectarians.
“Laissez-faire” is a French term which means “allow to do.” It describes “a policy or attitude of letting things take their course, without interfering.” For obvious reasons, the term is popular in political circles, but this policy and attitude is also quite prevalent in religion. Far too many Christians have adopted a non-interference policy in the practice of
Spiritual Laissez-Faireism Read More »
Christopher Hitchens died December 15, 2011 at the age of 62. He reportedly died from complications from esophageal cancer. Hitchens was only one of an estimated 146,000 people who die every day, which might lead some to wonder why I would devote an article to this one man. This is a fair question, particularly considering
Christopher Hitchens’ Four Irreducible Objections Read More »
The Bible attributes salvation to a great many things. This fact goes unnoticed by many people, because they overly rely on their church and their preacher for their Bible knowledge. Sadly, very few churches are careful to speak all of the council of God on very many subjects at all (Acts 20:26-27). They teach their members only
The Different Things To Which Salvation Is Attributed In The Bible Read More »
[Article available in PDF format] Those who oppose homosexuality are called “homophobes.” Those who oppose illegal immigration are called “xenophobes.” Those who oppose Islam are called “Islamophobes.” The habit of many when making, and especially when losing an argument, is to resort to name-calling. Rather than address the substance of the argument, the labeler seeks to discredit and marginalize the
Some Thoughts On “Phobes, Phobic and Phobia” Read More »
The order of chapters [“surahs”] in the Quran has provided some Muslims with a very convenient means of deflection with respect to the definition of “jihad.” Islamic apologists often cite certain passages from the Quran in an effort to prove that Islam is a “peace-loving” religion. They dismiss the several militancy passages in the Quran
The Chronology of the Quran Read More »
[PDF version] Bible students have long differed over the nature and role of civil government. The Bible tells us to “be subject to the higher powers” and to “submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake” (Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13), but it also tells us that, “we ought to obey God rather than
What God “Ordained” With Respect to Civil Government Read More »
