BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

Solomon's son becomes king, and is immediately faced with a dilemma: Follow the leadership advice of his friends, or his father's elder counselors. Rehoboam chooses wrongly in a spectacularly awful way, but we learn a lot about leadership ourselves from his blunder.

Today we here an amazing prayer from Solomon, and find in it a key to returning to God when we are far away from Him. While returning to God might seem complicated, it is almost always simple.

Today we wrestle with a big question: Do James and Paul contradict each other? Is one saying that salvation is by faith and works, and the other saying that salvation is by faith alone? A careful reading will show that both are emphasizing different sides of the same truth, as Charles Spurgeon and Got Questions helps us see.

James 1 gives Christians a definition of the kind of religion that God is after. That kind of religion which is pure and undefiled will be both holy and will focus on taking care of those in desperate need. Some Christians denominations embrace 1/2 of what James is saying, and not the other 1/2. How can we bring the two sides of undefiled religion together?

Today we discuss the Bible promise that we will reap a harvest/blessing/benefit/impact if we do NOT give up in doing good and serving. Of more importance, we focus in on the one thing that Paul bragged about, and consider whether we should also brag and boast about the same thing. (We should!)

What does a mature Christian look like? Will they have great preaching ability, or lead a large church, or have miraculous gifts, or super nice sneakers? Actually, according to Jesus and Paul, we will be able to tell whether or not somebody is walking with Jesus by the fruit of their life. How can you and I produce this fruit of the Spirit? (Hint: we can't!)

It is enough that Jesus died to pay the price for our sins - we don't deserve such a gift. Eternal life with God is even more undeserved and unearned, and an incredibly wondrous gift also. Today's passage in Galatians shows us that forgiveness and eternal life aren't the only wonderful blessings that come through what Jesus did for His people!

King David is probably the most influential person in history on worship music and worship singing. He was also a great man of prayer. Today we read through one of the prayers of David, and learn three principles to help us in our prayer lives.

Today we read about David dancing before God with all of His strength, and note how his wife criticizes him for such an ostentatious spectacle. This leads us to discuss the things God delights in and the things that seem to anger God greatly in the Bible.

How is it possible for a vile sinner to be declared 'not guilty?' Today we discuss one of the great and central truths of Christianity and hear one of the best illustrations ever from Charles Spurgeon.

Is it possible that there could be a downside to being nice? Surely not - surely the Bible wants us to always be nice and kind, right? Well - yes it does, but as pastor John Piper points out to us today, there is a weakness inherent in some nice people. How can we guard against that weakness?

Adding something to a good thing, or changing the makeup of that good thing can turn it into a bad thing, as a drug mixup disaster in 1937 demonstrates to us. in Galatians 1, Paul warns the Galatians to not add to or subtract from the gospel, and tells them to not even listen to an ANGEL with a different gospel. An angel?!

Three quick topics today: Can angels look and act like humans? (Yes! Says Hebrews 13) Are rules about food helpful at all? Where will we spend the large majority of existence?

The Bible calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus so that we can persevere and overcome in difficult times. How can we do this - does this command mean that we should be able to literally see Jesus?

God sends Samuel to anoint the next king from among the sons of Jesse. When Samuel sees Eliab, the oldest, tallest and handsomest, he immediately assumes that he has found the next king of Israel. God, however, has an entirely different plan, and explains to Samuel the dangers of making appearance based judgments.

The Israelites demanded a king, but the man of God Samuel knew that this was a bad idea. God allowed it to happen, however, and this put Samuel in the position to mentor that first king, King Saul. As Charles Spurgeon points out, we can learn much about hearing God's Word from the way that Samuel instructed Saul.

How is it possible that a prostitute is commended by the New Testament as a champion of faith? What does this tell us about faith and salvation that is surprising? Also: Where, according to the Bible, is our primary citizenship?

In the Old Testament, we see the Hebrew people so afraid of coming near God that they demand Moses speak to God instead of them, and they stand far off trembling and afraid. The New Testament, however, calls us to draw very close to God - how can this be possible?

The sight of blood is often enough to make somebody recoil in horror or turn away in shock. Why, then does the Bible focus so much on blood - why is blood so important? How does the blood of Jesus possibly cleanse somebody from sin or play a part in forgiveness?

Three questions for today. What is Heaven like? (clues are in Exodus 26-27!) What is Jesus doing today, and our main topic: Does the Bible teach that the Old Testament Law is obsolete?

Who Was Melchizedek - could he have actually been an appearance of Jesus? Hebrews 7 seems to point us in that direction. Also, what is the best thing that is currently happening in all of creation right now? Hebrews 7 will tell us, and it is mind-bogglingly good news.

Today our focus is on the story of Ruth and Naomi - both widows who saw God move incredibly in the midst of their tragedy. What truths about God can we learn from this Moabite woman and the book with her name?

God has sent His people, the Israelites, to the Promised Land to fight and defeat the Canaanite people there. Surely this means that God is on the Israelite's side and opposed to the Canaanites, right? Actually, as Joshua will find out, no - it does not mean that.

Hebrews 6 contains several stark warnings that cause most reading it to wonder if Christians can lose their salvation. Is such a thing possible? If not, then what are the warnings in Hebrews (and other Bible passages) actually warning us about?

Begotten is an old fashioned and confusing word, but it represents an important truth about Jesus - that He is God's ONLY BEGOTTEN son. What does this mean - does it mean that Jesus is created?