Friday, May 31, 2019

False Choices in the Abortion Debate

A short time ago, the Alabama legislature passed and Gov. Kay Ivey signed what is perhaps the most pro-life law this nation has seen since Roe v. Wade. It bans all abortions except for when the life of the mother is at stake, and does so on the explicit understanding that human life is intrinsically valuable and begins at conception. Not even pregnancies in the case of rape or incest are excepted from this law, which is in keeping with that understanding of life’s value.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Reckless Love and Emotional Faith

It’s funny, I wrote something similar to this a few years ago. Or at least, I wrote about the fact that I do not pay careful attention to trends in the Christian music industry. Some controversial things occasionally happen in it, but I am lucky to ever hear about them. This is another example of me being late to the party.

Friday, May 24, 2019

American Patriotism and Biblical Promises

I’m going to step on a rake here by criticizing an element of American patriotism. I didn’t actually have Memorial Day in mind when I came up with this, the timing just worked out that way. Hopefully, though, it will actually end up being appropriate. And I think I have enough of a history of love of country to have earned the right to point out its misapplication. My goal is not to tear down the U.S. Rather, it is to understand the Bible accurately. Doing so actually improves patriotism rather than degrading it.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Is Ben Shapiro an Antichrist?

A few weeks ago, I heard that a televangelist named Rick Wiles had labeled Ben Shapiro “an antichrist.” I was already familiar with Shapiro, whom as many of you know is a practicing Orthodox Jew. Wiles, on the other hand, was new to me. Most of what I was hearing about him was critical, so I decided to check out his site and get the story straight from the horse’s mouth.

Friday, May 17, 2019

The Blessing of Confidence

There are certain segments of Christianity that teach having a relationship with God means having good things all the time. That if you have enough faith, then you can have your dream house, perfect health, a full bank account, untroubled relationships, and any number of other things. I do not think there is anything necessarily wrong with wanting, or even praying for, these things. They are a blessing from God. The problem comes when we put them first and when our faith depends upon them.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Can Salvation be Lost?

This article may take us into contentious waters since it is an issue on which sincere believers in Christ sincerely disagree. While I am going to take a side, I want to say first that anyone’s position on it does not determine the validity of his or her faith. If we further discuss it, I hope we can all keep that in mind. Second, and in relation to that, we need to be on the lookout for unifying themes that overcome our division. That is what I intend to do, especially in closing.

Friday, May 10, 2019

How To Get Started with the Bible

Today’s question seems simple enough, but it presented me with some challenges. I was asked,

How do I read the Bible?

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

What Caused God?

The internet can be a wonderful thing for connecting people. Case in point, this question was sent in by someone living in West Africa:

Friday, May 3, 2019

Is Acts Accurate?

This time, we’ve got a great question that required a deep dive but ended up with a nice, straightforward solution. I was asked,