These things ultimately are significant to our faith in Jesus Christ because they tell of his ministry and his identity as the Son of God and our Savior. Whether or not he was married really doesn’t (and shouldn’t) affect our belief in Him. It’s non-essential in our Christian faith.The validity of this controversial papyrus King discovered is still

Realize that the sufferings of this world are temporary. This is not to diminish the pain we feel when our bodies fail or when friends betray us. Pain is hurtful and we will feel it. Yet, the promise of redemption is that our pain and hurt are not final. We have hope because God Himself has promised to redeem all of creation. If we want others to s

Second, there are biblical laws that anathematize incest. For example, Leviticus 18:9 mandates “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home.”Third, there are consequences of incest, even when not felt immediately. For example, 2 Samuel 13 r

1. Accept HimPerhaps you wonder if you have faith. Was there a time when you accepted Jesus into your life?As you come to him, you must come to him in faith and accept him wholeheartedly. Give him your life – your heart, soul, spirit, and body. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).God has great love and compassion for all o

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.At some point, the “lawless one” will come, and he will come in power, with false signs and wonders. He will be so impressive, so powe

5. Am I believing lies about God, myself, others, or my situation?Philippians 4:8Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these th

I imagine a young man coming up to me as his pastor and saying, through tears, “I find myself attracted to men instead of women. I feel so dirty. I’m so ashamed. I feel bad, miserable, and mad at myself and like a failure before God every second of the day.” In this situation I would eventually get to the call of Christian discipleship to live in p

Gideon and the angel of the LORD —Judges 6In Judges 6:11-12 we see the angel of the LORD make a physical appearance again:“The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared t

Jeremiah was also telling himself things about God that were not true but because his mind believed his version of reality instead of God’s, he lost his hope. Read through Lamentations 3. Notice in verse 21 Jeremiah begins to have a change of mind and heart. He says, “This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope.” When his thoughts changed his nega

We know for sure that Paul viewed Adam as a type of Christ. We also know for sure that he viewed marriage as type of the relationship between Christ and the church — in which the role of husband is a type of Christ and the role of the wife is a type of the Church. Thus, we can justifiably extrapolate that Paul also viewed Eve as a type of the Churc

Jesus told lots of stories—great parables that were meaningful (see Matthew 13). It’s easy to forget when reading these that the point of them is to identify with the characters: We either are meant to realize that we are one of the characters or comprehend that we’re yet to live like the characters do. When we do so, Jesus’ words move from obscure

The geographical work of [Herod] Agrippa, together with the interest of the emperor in the organization and finances of the empire and the attention which he gave to the provinces are indirectly corroborative of Luke's statement. Augustus himself conducted a census in Italy in and in Gaul in 727/27* [see roman dating system, ‘auc'] and had a census

1. He is Our Hope “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).This powerful truth spoken through Isaiah the prophet 700 years before Jesus was even born is still so relevant and needed today. He

Should Christian Celebrate Passover?Some might debate whether or not it is appropriate for a Christian to celebrate Passover. Whether one chooses to do so or not is a decision for the individual Christian to make. While Passover remembers the Jews deliverance from slavery, it also is a depiction of Christ's atonement for His people and His delivera

1. His ego is more fragile than you imagined.2. He is very visual.Very. More than you are probably thinking. You see his eyes roam. That’s a natural reaction for him. Now, he has responsibility over his eyes—not the girl who attracted them—but if there’s a pretty girl around, he probably saw her long before you did. And he likely battles staring mo

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of EPM's quarterly newsletter Eternal Perspectives.

Start with finding something, anything for which you can give thanks. It might be as tiny as the laughter of a child, a glimpse of the sun on a cloudy day, or the warmth of a fire in your hearth on a cold one. If you make the effort, I promise — you WILL find something. Keep saying "thank you" over and over and a wondrous thing will begin to happen

The Proverbs 31 Woman Works HardThe first major section of the poem, verses 13-19, delineates how hard this woman works to provide for her family and to earn income. It’s arranged in a chiastic structure, with ideas leading up to the main idea and then backing away with parallel ideas. Kinda like the way my sister and I communicate. If you hear us

Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. (vv. 21–22)So, at the very formation of the nation of Israel, God laid down the fundamental laws of consecration for the priests. He warned them

From what we know, King Hezekiah has kept his plan secretive. He plods along in the reconsecration of the Temple, and surely the people expect some kind of celebration at its grand reopening. Hezekiah, however, knows that too much is at stake to simply open the doors and stand back. He takes the lead in reinstating this important holiday into Judah