I grew up in a church tradition that really emphasized hell as a motivation for accepting Christ’s forgiveness of our sins. In fact, my own salvation decision as a young child was highly motivated by this. I no longer see overemphasis on hell (often an exclusive emphasis) as biblical or effective in bringing true heart […]
What to do with Jeremiah 29:11 and the rest of the Old Testament
My post yesterday about how Jeremiah 29:11 is not a promise to us and needs to understood within its original context raised some good questions relating to the Old Testament and how we are to navigate which promises in the Bible are for us, and what to do with the ones that aren’t. I went […]
Correcting Jeremiah 29:11, Does God really have plans to prosper you?
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. You’ll find Jeremiah 29:11 in many places. I once wore it on a bracelet as a teenager. It was on a poster on our […]
The Problem of Evil
A non-Christian friend of mine was recently struggling with the amount of evil he saw in the world. He doesn’t believe in God, but he seemed to see evil everywhere and admitted to believing Satan was behind it. I asked him to consider the implications of believing in Satan, but not in a God who […]
The Key to Being Thankful
If you’ve ever prayed, “God, give me what I deserve,” take time today to thank him for not answering that prayer! Often our times of prayer, and our lives in general, are fixated on what we want from God and specifically, on the things we feel we have earned or deserve. These are often legitimate […]
Do you need to believe in the authority of the Bible to be saved?
This is a continuation of Part 1 Is a Far-Fetched Story Like Noah’s Ark Enough to Dismiss Jesus? and Part 2 Fact or Fiction: Four Ways to View the Old Testament and responds to the question, “Where is the dividing line between what someone needs to believe to be saved and what they need to […]