Sep 30, 2013 | Romans, The Bible, Theology
The church’s mission in the world involves a message, and it’s the church’s job to teach that message effectively. The gospel message can be summed up in a few simple phrases: Jesus, the son of God, was crucified for our sins, he died and was buried, and he arose...
Sep 25, 2013 | Romans, Theology
The writers of the New Testament believed the Old Testament stories were factual accounts of actual events. This belief controlled their understanding of what God had done throughout history. New Testament scholars sometimes try to connect the Old and New Testaments...
Sep 23, 2013 | 1 & 2 Corinthians, Christian Living, Theology
Paul’s second canonical letter to the Corinthians is the New Testament’s equivalent to the book of Job. Some of Paul’s friends had turned against him, and he used this letter as an opportunity to defend himself from their accusations. Paul filled the book of 2...
Sep 18, 2013 | 1 & 2 Corinthians, Romans, Theology
When you read the book of Romans, keep in mind that you’re reading a letter, not a systematic theology. You can learn a lot about Paul and about his beliefs if you take the time to pay careful attention to his words. Romans 16:25-26 For example, look at Romans 16:25,...
Sep 16, 2013 | 1 & 2 Corinthians, Christian Living, Higher Education
Things do not always go according to plan. In fact, at times, your life will certainly not go according to your plans. You will experience tragedy—we all do, eventually. How will you respond? How will you endure through hard times? God is at work in the process even...
Sep 11, 2013 | Christian Living, Romans, Theology
In two of my recent blog posts, I talked about the fact that you can’t properly understand New Testament theology unless you have an appreciation for the writers’ eschatology—their beliefs about the end times. Eschatology When we use the word eschatology today we...
Sep 9, 2013 | Christian Living, Psalms, Theology
We are individual Christians, but we should never think that that’s where our Christian identity ends. We cannot serve Christ fully unless we appreciate that we belong to and in a community of fellowship and worship, the body of Christ. If you’re not already a part of...
Sep 5, 2013 | Romans, Theology
The Jews had always assumed that when Messiah came, that would be the end of the world, but as it turns out it was merely the beginning of the end. We’re still here. When Messiah came, He told his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the...
Sep 3, 2013 | Christian Living, Culture, Higher Education
Houston Baptist University students, you are receiving an enormous blessing. You’re receiving not only a cutting edge education, but also a Christian foundation that will carry you through all of life. Embrace that, and live it, and make a difference in the world...
Aug 28, 2013 | Christian Living, The Bible
Today when we say “promises of God,” we usually mean something devotional that applies in our own lives and churches. We oftentimes use the phrase abstractly to mean something like, “God is good, God is faithful, and if anything goes bad, don’t worry, he’ll take care...
