Have you ever played a game with the intention of losing? I doubt it. Most of our family loves to play board games, especially Peggy (I’m not in that group). But when I see family members gather around the table for a game of Yahtzee, Uno, or Pirate’s Dice, I

As we begin our investigation into “wisdom,” it’s essential that we have a working definition of what wisdom actually is. Although there are a number of slightly different definitions, when combined, they look something like this,  “Wisdom is the ability to consistently exercise sound judgment, making good decisions based upon

While the angels and shepherds were gathered in the manger witnessing and celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, God was preparing the heart of an old man six miles to the north in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. Luke records that he was both “righteous” (faithfully keeping God’s commandments)

In last week’s blog, we talked about “inspiration,” the theological concept that the written Word of God, the Bible, accurately presents the truth of God. Remembering that it was written by over 40 different men from vastly different backgrounds over a period of 1500 years, their writings were kept from

Last week we saw that God has revealed Himself to all people through His creation (“General Revelation”), as well as through the Old Testament patriarchs, kings, and prophets, culminating in the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ (“Special Revelation”). But we must keep in mind that virtually all we know

No, this blog will not focus on the last book in the Bible, the Book of Revelation. What I want to focus on is the fact that all we can ever know about God (who is invisible) and His plan for the world, including you and me, must be “revealed”

As we saw last week, salvation is surely the most important word in our vocabulary. When a person is “saved,” that person’s sins are not only forgiven, but he is also cleansed from all unrighteousness. But that’s just the beginning, because the one who is “saved” is also “changed,” and

Salvation is the most important word on our list. Yes, there is the physical element to the word which indicates “salvation” from physical harm or danger, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, it means “salvation” from both the penalty and power of sin, and in heaven, from the very

Sanctification is an important word found throughout the New Testament. The Greek word translated as “sanctification” or “sanctify” is hagios, and it means “to be, or to be made, holy,” with the additional idea of being “set apart for divine purposes.” If you recall, “justification” (a word that we considered

As we saw in last week’s blog, it is sin that causes us to be alienated from God, but when Jesus forgives our sins, we are immediately reconciled to God. We also saw that reconciliation is such an important word in the biblical text that its message is part of