“Can a Christian get a tattoo?”  “Do we have to keep the Sabbath?”  Questions like these are common as people seek to understand how the Mosaic Law relates to our lives as Christians.The Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament Law has a long history. As early as Augustine, the law was divided into moral commandments and ceremonial commandments, with the idea that the ceremonial laws includin...

In the circles I run in the debate on Calvinism, often comes up. It is an important “in house” debate on an important facet of life.  Fortunately for everyone reading this, I am not going to talk about Calvinism, but rather an admonishment I received. During Bible study a friend and I were having a friendly debate on Calvinism, which took us off the main topic. We were discussing why God bothers t...

            Every Christian should have an answer for this question. It seems simple, but can be hard to put words to sometimes. It is also often sold short. The Gospel, in short, is the good news! The good news that Jesus died for you by being sacrificed on the cross. He died in your place. The problem is, you can’t understand the good news if you don’t already know the bad news. That’s where you...

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”  1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV)When springtime thunderstorms roll through the area, I have occasionally been woken up at night, not by the storms, but by one of my kids crawling into my bed. As most children do, they look to mom and dad for security, protection, and...

Our church small group just finished a study on the letters of Peter. Peter writes in a unique way because he makes so many allusions to the Old Testament but he always finishes with a New Testament twist on the ancient truths. In 2 Peter 1:4 he addresses his audience as “participants in the divine nature” and goes on to describe the challenge of cultivating a strong and Godly life. What does it m...

As many of you know, prior to coming to Faith Bible Church, Mike and I worked at a church in Midlothian. At that church, I used to write a blog as a vehicle for processing my thoughts on the previous week’s sermon. On Sunday, we read Haggai 2:10-14 in which Haggai asks the priests for a ruling on a question of ceremonial purity. The passage reads:On the twenty-fourth of the ninth month, in the sec...

Luke 16-21 "And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? and he said this will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul you have much goods laid up...

I feel like one of the reasons God still has us on earth is so that we can fulfill His great commission to make disciples. After all, the Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).  The context of this verse is the day of the Lord (3:7, 3:10), and the reason for the delay is t...

Is God able to mend a marriage, draw in a wayward child or family member, deliver an alcoholic, deliver an adulterer or fornicator from their wicked ways? Is God through The Holy Spirit able to deliver the liar, the thief, the prideful, the gossiper, the angry person, the person embedded in deep depression, the covetous, or the filthy mouth person from their sin? Is anything or anyone too hard for...

I was thinking on how Jesus spent His three year ministry telling folks how to get to heaven. He made it clear that all who “received” Him would get the right to go to heaven (see John 1:12). What does it mean to “receive” Jesus. The word “receive” brings to mind Christmas, doesn’t it? Someone purchases a gift for you, then offers it to you, and you receive it gladly. The gift costs the giver a pr...

As a Bible translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators, I have been working under the assumption these past 30+ years that the New Testament is essential for understanding how God has revealed Himself to mankind in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, it is in the pages of the New Testament that we come to know God in this way because it is Jesus who reveals Him in bodily form, a form th...

The Gospel of Mark tells us about a time when Jesus went home. When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. Mark 2:1. He was the type of guy who always drew a crowd, and this time was no different – there were so many gathered together that there wasn’t even room by the door (2:2).A paralytic with four good friends was desperate to see Jesus. Removin...

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know."Why do we pray? We pray for many reasons. We pray because we know that GOD hears us and answers our prayers. We pray because we know that GOD has the power to do anything that is according to His will. We pray because we know that GOD is sovereign. He is the Creator. He rules the universe....

Genesis 21: 19 "Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water."Have you ever looked for something for a long time only to find it right in front of you?Hagar and Ishmael were forced to leave their home. They were in the wilderness and had run out of water. Hagar left her son because she could not bear to see him die. Then God saw their situation, and an angel said to Hagar, “God has heard t...

Romans 8:18-30 ESV“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption...

If we take a look across the Gospel of Matthew, perhaps we can summarize in six words who Jesus has called us to be:Disciples together loving God and othersIn a few more words, we could say that we are called to be disciples of Jesus, in community, loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.REPENTOur calling starts with repentance. John the Baptist prepa...

"God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24.Worshipping in truth means worshipping in accordance as God has prescribed.1.  Worship as homage or grateful submission to God2.  Worship as service to others3.  Worship as reverence or respect for God4.  Worship and congregational gatheringsWould this not be what we do on Sunday? Show up, dedicate yourself t...

How the Lord is moving me to serve Him more by serving His people intentionally. He is moving me out of my comfort zone into a Greater Spiritual sphere of being intentional in looking for opportunities to serve others.  Since I have a desire to please the Lord, I have learned that I need to seek Him more fervently by fasting and praying.Where did this journey start? When the Lord took my husband h...

As I read Scripture, often a phrase will “jump out” at me—especially if it is repeated. In Leviticus 21–22, in which God gives instructions to the Israelite priests, I noticed a couple of phrases appearing repeatedly: “I am the Lord who makes them holy,” and “I am the Lord.” The reason the instructions were valid and credible—the reason the priests were to follow them—was because of who gave them....

We all know Judas as a traitor because we all know how his story ends. But, what if you were in the middle of the story? What if you had just met Judas and were serving along side Judas while you followed Jesus? What would you think of him then?(Matthew 26:21-22 “And while they were eating, he (Jesus) said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.’ They were very sad and began to say to Him o...