A lot of GodWords readers consider themselves "Torah-observant." They believe that Christians are to live by the same laws given to the ancient Israelites. A primary verse in their argument is Matthew 5:17, where Jesus says that He came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Are they right? Are Christians under the law?
Is the Kingdom of Heaven the same as the Kingdom of God? Are they different? If they're the same, why do different books of the Bible use different words to describe the same thing? What does each phrase mean? The Bible is complicated. While it looks like a single book, it's really a group of 66 unique books.
Over the years, a lot of people have asked me to list preachers and teachers of Christianity that I trust. In light of the increasing number of false teachers gaining prominence in our culture, it seems wise to go ahead and make the list. Many find it difficult to know who to trust, and I hope to be helpful. Here is a list of Bible teachers I can recommend.
Genesis tells of people who lived very long lives. Methuselah was the oldest, living 969 years. This chart, and the following table, show each person in the family line from Adam to Abraham. The numbers are taken from Genesis 5 and Genesis 11. While some biblical genealogies are incomplete, listing only prominent people instead of every generation, this list reflects direct father/son relationships.
Finding a good church can be very difficult. Before making recommendations, I'd like to say a few things first. As a churchgoer since age 6, and as former pastor, it seems important to understand WHY some have a hard time finding a church where they feel comfortable. Here are some of the reasons given:
Jesus told Peter he would have the keys to the Kingdom, and that he would bind things and loose things. There's a lot of confusion about this binding and loosing, and a lot of opinions. One reason for the many opinions is that Jesus didn't explain exactly what He meant, in terms we can easily understand today. Let's look at Matthew 16:19 to see what happened.
Is it Once Saved Always Saved? Can we lose our salvation? What does the Bible say? This important issue is an internal debate among Christians and should be addressed not by sharing our opinions, but by looking at Scripture. Disagreements should be handled with grace and truth.
There have been a lot of Bible translations in the 2000+ years since Jesus was born, died, and came back to life. This list is English-based... that is, I want to list the timeline from the original writings to modern English Bibles.
Supersessionism is the idea that the old covenant has been replaced - superseded - by the new covenant. By itself, this idea is entirely biblical. However: some other ideas are often lumped together with supersessionism, so we need to examine each idea separately.
Sounds simple, right? That sounds good to me… if everybody loved everybody else, our world would be far, far better. There would be no crime. No slavery. No prostitution. No abortion. Nobody would go hungry. Nobody would take advantage of another’s generosity. There would be no need for soldiers, or courts, or lawyers, or police. There would no metal detectors at airports, or security guards at the mall.
When were the books of the New Testament written? While there is some debate, I've compiled a list with the best scholarship I can find. I will continue to update the list as I get new information.
At the beginning of the Bible we see an account of the creation of the universe. Here is the order of creation as outlined in the first chapter of Genesis:
A simple listing of the authors of each book of the Bible. Religious Jews and Christians consider God to be the ultimate author of Scripture, using humans to communicate His message.
A lot of people, including many Christians, are confused about whether Christians should live by the 10 Commandments. There should be no confusion.
These words aren't found in the Bible, but that doesn't mean they're not biblical. They are, of course. However: that doesn't mean they're always useful.
Some people believe we should continue teaching unbiblical ideas because they can't think of a practical way to do God's work without those unbiblical ideas.
If you ask a bunch of people how they came to faith in Jesus, you'll hear a bunch of different stories. No two explanations are exactly alike. Still, it's helpful to understand what all of those stories might have in common.
What do angels, a compass, the four gospels, the 12 tribes, three animals and a man have to do with each other? Is there some hidden spiritual connection between them? Is there a biblical pattern to these things?
This is a very important question! I can tell you whether you’ll make it to Heaven. Seriously. It’s not that difficult.
Every now and then someone asks me whether I think God “calls” people into ministry… that is, whether God speaks to certain individuals and tells them to make ministry their full-time work.
When I was a teen, I went to a church in a Seattle suburb. Another church down the street had a split over doctrine. They were Seventh-Day Adventists.
The beatitudes is the name given to a portion of Jesus’ teaching that talks about being blessed. They are a section of the Sermon on the Mount, considered by many – both religious people and non-religious alike – to be some of the most profound words in history.
Matthew asked: Is God happy with his people having Christmas trees and celebrating Christmas? I suppose the answer to your question is, like so many other answers, "it depends." I don't think God cares one way or another about trees being used for such things.
