It's important to tell our own stories. When we explain that we were lost and then were found, people listen. While personal testimonies aren't necessarily evidence that Christianity is true, they are powerful nonetheless. Here Douglas Groothuis tells his own story.
It seems like there's a new scandal in the American church every week. We tend to dismiss them as anomalies... good leaders who blew it. What if these moral failures, which seem to be more common than we'd like to admit, are actually baked-in results of the recipes we're using to grow churches, rather than growing God's Kingdom?
David Wood's personal testimony explains his path from believing that dogs and cats ruled the world to understanding that there must be a Creator, to whom we are morally accountable. Along the way, he tried to murder his father, to out-fast a Christian friend, and debunk the Bible. Video, 34:05
Christopher Yuan is a Christian speaker, author, and professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute. In this video he shares how God rescued him from a life of promiscuous sex and drug dealing, sent him to prison, then set him free... both personally, relationally, and spiritually. Video, 21:10
Philosophical naturalists believe that the physical universe is all that exists. As a result, they reject the idea of God, and the idea that morality - our sense of right and wrong, and what ought to be - comes from God. Can morality be explained in purely physical terms?
The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts is committed to preserving, and studying, ancient Greek New Testament manuscripts. They're a world-class organization, using state-of-the-art technology to photograph and publish information about these invaluable artifacts. They recently launched a new manuscript viewer, and it's worth your time.
A worldview is a person's attempt to combine what they believe is true into a single narrative. There are a number of competing worldviews, but the most common pair in the western world is that of naturalism vs creationism. There are inherent flaws in naturalism that make it unworkable.
Are you making disciples? Are you feeling discouraged about not having anyone to disciple? You might want to consider asking God to provide. Audio, 44:24
Jesus told Simon and Andrew that He would make them 'fishers of men.' Because they were fishermen, Jesus' words carried more meaning than if they had been tailors, or football players. Here, Tim Challies details a few of the more significant ideas behind fishing for people.
Moses is believed to have written the Pentateuch... that is, the first five books of the Old Testament. Would that include the account of his death and burial found in Deuteronomy 34? Some suggest that Moses prophesied his own death.
A primary critique of Darwinian evolution is that there are large gaps in the fossil record. We don't see the transitional forms - animals in the middle of changing from one kind to another - that evolutionists claim to have existed. Günter Bechly says that this isn't a minor problem for Darwin... it's a fatal one. Audio, 16:57
The Bible describes the devil, our spiritual enemy, in a number of ways. The most well-known is the serpent, who was cursed by God to crawl on his belly for deceiving Eve. What was he like before the curse? Video, 5:44
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus was God's first creation, and not God Himself. This is rightly considered heresy, of course... but can you explain why they're wrong about the interpretation of John 1:1, where - they claim - Jesus is "a" god and not "the" God? Video, 5:30
Jesus warned us: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."
God is "simple." That is, He is not a combination of things that already existed, like a cabinet is made of wood. Instead, He existed before anything else existed. Because of this, anything true of God comes not from His parts, because He has no parts. All things true about God are completely true of Him, in totality.
Alisa Childers grew up in a committed Christian home, and lived her faith for many years... until a pastor undermined almost everything she believed. She began a journey of intellectual honesty that led her back to faith. Video, 4:48
Do humans actually have free will, or is that an illusion created in our brains? It seems silly that anyone would argue that we don't have free will, since the claim implies that they MUST argue that way, rather than that they choose to. What are the implications, and what does the science say?
Richard Rohr is an author, Franciscan, and a controversial figure on the fringes of Christianity. Here, Fred Sanders reviews his book, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation. Despite Rohr's popularity, it doesn't sound like the book will be a net benefit to anyone.
The Bible explains that we have all been created in God's image, but that His image in us has been damaged by sin. This seems evident when we look at the world around us. Some, however, find it offensive to hear that they are sinners.
The Bible spends almost no time on whether God exists. Instead, most of what we read expresses God's character. In a world of competing religions, polytheism, and syncretism, there was no real need for answering atheism.
Christians need to read the Bible. More than that, we need to study the Bible. It should be our primary source for information about God, and about how we should live. Below is a list of articles to help you read, and study, the Bible.
How often do we settle for just 'good enough'? It's easy to become complacent, especially with regard to specific sins that may be difficult to overcome. Following Jesus closely doesn't leave room for us to settle for less than His best... we need to train ourselves to be godly.
Dr. Doug Groothuis offers some help in choosing a quality study Bible.
This is one of the underlying themes throughout all of Scripture: despite our own unfaithfulness, God remains faithful. An appropriate response to God's unending grace and generosity is wonder. Peterson contrasts Jesus' words (why hast thou forsaken me?) with our own: why hast thou accepted me?
Entropy is the principle that, in a closed system, disorder increases over time. Without intervention from an outside organizing force, maximum disorder will result. If our universe, or the earth itself, is a closed system, this implies that the universe is not eternal... that it must have been created by an outside force.
Christians are often encouraged to share what Jesus has done for them. That's a good thing to do. Unfortunately, personal testimonies may be entirely unconvincing. Depending on the situation, it may be more effective to share the evidence that Christianity is actually true.
Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians and Jeremiah is imprisoned by King Zedekiah yet, according to God's instructions, he buys land from a relative. This suggested a hopeful future for Israel (and may have symbolized the redemption offered by Jesus).
The Bible speaks of imitation: imitating Christ, imitating Paul as he imitates Christ, and - by implication - imitating the life and faith of those who have gone before us. Read about imitation, and the dangers to be avoided.
Dr. Ben Witherington is the guest for this episode of the Naked Bible Podcast. Author of more than sixty books, he is one of the best-known and most well-respected biblical scholars in the world. Topics include his recent book Who God Is: Meditations on the Character of Our God, his blogging ministry, and his fiction works.
Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica about a man he called 'the lawless one.' Who was he? What do we know about him, and what does this teach us about spiritual counterfeits?
