Why Have Hope?

Do you ever find yourself in a seemingly never-ending downward spiral? Do you ever just wonder what God’s plan is? Do you feel like your life is meaningless and hopeless?

If you have, then be assured you are not alone. I have felt that way as of late…always wondering what in the heck is going on, how I am supposed to get through life.

The good news for you (and me) is that there is hope. Hope is found in Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of hope. While I am going to touch on my life in this post, most of it will deal with finding hope through Jesus Christ.

How Great Is Our God – Part Three

With Easter approaching, I believe this is the perfect time to post this part in the series.

As I am about to write part three of this series, I feel that this is the most important aspect of God (I say aspect in this sense, because I hesitate to call holiness an attribute of God – I believe holiness to be what God IS, not just a part of His character – every one of His attributes come from His holiness). Right now it is December 30, 2007 – yes, I know that means that even though this series is not being published until 2008, that I have written the introduction and parts one, two, and three in December 2007. At this moment, I am not sure what date this is being published, but I am really serious about what I am writing, and I am really putting a lot of prayer into this series. I am hoping this is evident by the lapse between the date written and the date published.

There is not a lot that I am afraid of. I could probably count the things that I am afraid of on one hand. I am not going to list those, but I will say this: I am afraid of what I am writing in this series. I am afraid that I will screw up what God is trying to say, and that I will screw His word up in a way that may in fact be the difference between life and death for someone. And that truly scares me. So with that in mind, it is by God alone that I continue now.

The Inerrancy of Scripture

I took the following quote from Voddie Baucham. If you have never heard this man preach, then you are missing out. He really knows what he is talking about. Here is his quote:

“I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses that report supernatural events which took place in fulfillment of specific prophesies and claim to be divine rather than human in origin.”

This quote looks to be an answer to the question: How come you believe the Bible? Is the Bible accurate?

Obviously, since this is Mr. Baucham’s quote, most of this blog will come from what he said. However, I will start with this. I have been accused of using circular reasoning to defend the Bible. People will say you can’t defend the Bible with the Bible.

Let me be real clear here. I will never defend the Bible. The Bible does not need a defense. It will defend itself if you look intellectually at it. As Charles Spurgeon put it,

Why I Hate Joel Osteen’s Preaching

This piece is purely an opinion on my part about why I hate Joel Osteen’s preaching. You say “Whoa, hate is a little harsh isn’t it?” No, I do not believe it is because Joel Osteen is a false preacher and his preaching has the dangerous potential of leading people away from the God of the Bible. PLEASE don’t misunderstand what I am saying here. I do NOT hate Joel Osteen. That is not what I said. I said I hate his preaching. Now let me explain my point.

It is our responsibility to spread the gospel that Jesus Christ is the only way to true salvation, that we are all dead in sin. Salvation is about the glory of God. Joel Osteen doesn’t preach this. In my opinion, the thing that makes Joel Osteen a false preacher is the fact that he does not preach the true gospel – or I should say he does not preach the true purpose of the gospel.

How Great Is Our God – Part Two

In an attempt to answer this question, part two deals with the justice of God. God is great because of His justice. He is a just God, and that is part of His character; God cannot go against His character. Justice by definition means the quality of being just; fairness; the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law. The law in the context of this part is referring to God’s law; His ultimate standard is by which we will be judged.

I am going to use a real-world example. This case is national news, so I am sure you have heard of it: the Christian-Newsom double murder that happened in Knoxville in January 2007. I knew one of them personally, so it is easy for me to answer the following question. Would I want a judge in this case to let the suspects go free of any penalty? No! That would not be justice according to the law, and the judge would not be doing his job.