Seeking the Gospel Truth

Today in Hebrews 12 we reflect on the “ heroes of faith” that we read about in chapter 11 . Discipline. Without it, it is impossible to live the life of a born-again Christian. If you’ve ever watched a foot race or a swimming  competition, you’ll notice that the competitors who are serious, wear  the lightest clothing, some even shave their hair. They are trying to  reduce drag — an...

Hebrews chapter 11 is considered the “faith  chapter”. Why? Because it tells the stories of people who were faithful  to God no matter what. They depended on God to get them through their  problems and issues. Their faith was unshakeable. Is yours? What is Faith? Before we let the Holy Spirit define it, what do you think faith is?  Is it having religion? Is it going to church e...

Have you ever had the chance to attend a live concert of your favorite  band or musical artist? I did a few times. When you’re there in the  crowd, you get caught up in the excitement and energy. The lights and  special effects add to the growing thrills and anticipation. It’s way  different than listening to them on a recording or even watching a  video. Excitement is con...

This Sunday’s hot topic is sexual immorality and  wise man that he is, Pastor Chuck deferred this sermon to an expert.  Today’s speaker is Garry Ingraham, Executive Director of Love and Truth Network .  Their motto is “Leading with love — anchored in truth”. I like that  because that’s what this blog is all about: seeking the truth, anchored  in the Word of God. Garry has...

The next two chapters of Hebrews, 8 and 9, go  together as they describe the old Jewish sacrificing traditions and  rituals of atonement. They also explain that Jesus, being the ultimate  scapegoat, washed our sins away once and for all. These chapters take us back again to the Old Testament describing  what the Jewish High Priest had to do once a year on the Day of  Atone...

Jesus is the One Who Can Intercede with God for Us The whole Bible from cover to cover is all about  Jesus. I watched a video with Pastor Jack Hibbs and Dr. Frank Turek and  something that Dr. Turek said stood our for me. He said that Salvation  is #1 and the Gospel is everything… “Paradise lost in Genesis, paradise regained in Revelation .  Everything in between is the story o...

God calls each and every born-again believer to grow in his or her faith. We are to read the Bible daily and study it . We are to strive to be Christlike .  And that’s not easy — at least not in this sinful world that we live  in. In Hebrews chapter 6, the writer is reiterating that we should aim  to be as rooted in our faith as we can be. The problem is that there is persecution an...

In the Book of Hebrews, remember, the writer didn’t have the Gospels,  Acts or the other Epistles to reference. He referenced the Old Testament  Scriptures. That’s what the Jewish Christians were familiar with. It’s  what they knew. In Hebrews, a guy named Melchizedek is mentioned a lot.  As we look at chapter 5, we’ll also dig into who is this Melchizedek  character. Coul...

If you’re anything like me — or any other human  on earth — you’re tired and weary of the coronavirus, the election,  politics in general, fires, hurricanes, the recession, unemployment,  uncertainty, hey, even 2020! To be honest, Jesus can come for His  born-again believers right now and I’d be thrilled to be with Him in  eternal rest in heaven (that’s the rapture ). Obvi...

Today we turn back to the Book of Hebrews. Remember, this was written to  1st century Jewish Christian believers who were well-versed in the  scriptures and stories of their people and they venerated Moses. I’m  going to switch from my usual NLT (New Living Translation) and read the  first 6 verses of Hebrews 3 from the Message which is a paraphrase.  That’s what I like ab...

God loves human life. Of course, He created it! He created us in His Image — Imago Dei !  If you call yourself a Christian, if you’re a follower of Jesus Christ,  if you at least visit a church every Sunday, you owe it to God, you  creator, to seek HIM before you vote in this election. My pastor, Chuck Foreman , started a 5-week series today called, “Citizens of Heaven — on Earth”....

Jesus should be your GPS, not your spare tire! I found an interesting Bible study in the free YouVersion Bible app from a ministry in Malaysia on the Book of Hebrews. Besides being a heavily pagan culture, their life priorities are similar to Latin culture, slightly  different to American culture and both are very different from what a  Christian culture should look like.... Keep reading...

It’s rather appropriate that we start a Bible  study on the Book of Hebrews on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.  I’ve embedded a video below that explains what the Jewish Feast of  Trumpets is. The Book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians  sometime after Acts and before the destruction of the Temple in  Jerusalem in 70 AD. Who wrote it? No one is quite sure. It...

A few years ago, I worked with a client who was  opening a new business. It was a physical location that needed city  permits, an architect, a contractor, inspections — everything — before  he could open. Originally, he hoped to open in August of that year, but  delay, after delay, after delay happened. Most were out of his control.  He finally opened in November. I was he...

Apostasy — that’s when people turn away from the  true faith. It’s when they are deceived by charismatic preachers who  paint pretty pictures that are outside of the gospel truth. Follow them  and they will lead to you to the path of destruction. It was predicted  by Jesus that in the last days ,  people would fall for deceptive ways — turning away from what the Bible &nbs...

Today we start on Peter’s last letter before his death by the hand of  emperor Nero. In both his letters, he stresses that our behavior is to  represent Christ. Peter was a pastor — a shepherd. He had a shepherd’s  heart for his flock. He’s feeding the flock and warning the flock in  this final letter. This message is important if you want to grow as a  Christian believer…...

Why is it that when things seem to be going  smoothly, worry and anxiety start creeping up? It never fails. It’s  starts as a twinge. You’re reminded of a bill that’s due and you’re not  sure how you’re going to pay it. Or you have a deadline to meet and you  start doubting that you can make it. You watch or read the news and your  heartbreaks. That’s the devil getting a f...

Christian believers all over the world are going through hard times in  one form or another. The church of Peter’s day was going through all  sorts of trials and sufferings and he addresses them in this letter. He  touches on many issues as he helps us, today, to live for God in an  ungodly world… Keep reading in my blog where there are links to more studies to dig deeper.... I...

Peter, in his 2 letters, is explaining to us what we, as born-again ,  Christian believers, need to do to follow in Jesus’ footsteps — to  strive to be Christ-like. Jesus has the power to change lives. Because  of His blood, all of the bad stuff in our past is washed away. Peter  ended the last chapter describing Jesus… Keep reading in my blog where there are links to more reso...

This next chapter in Peter’s first letter covers two hot topics: getting  along with each other and getting along with the government. We always  have to keep in mind that outsiders are watching us. They’re watching  how we behave. They pay attention to how we react to situations that are  beyond our control and to those that are. Christians are called to be  model citizen...

Where Philippians is about finding joy and peace in standing firm in the salvation and faith through Jesus Christ, the “Peters” or 1st and 2nd Peter, are about the hope of eternal life in heaven through Jesus . Peter wrote his 2 letters, likely from prison in Rome to Jewish Christian believers scattered all over. Peter was never the “bishop of Rome” — read the truth here .  The early Christia...

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that these last 2 chapters in Paul’s letter to the  Philippians have verses that I memorized and use every day. I hope that  you’ll take them for yourself as they are pillars of Christian living. From 2008 – 2010, I was unemployed. God led me to these passages to help  me understand that I needed to trust in Him only. I can’t rely on  myself, peo...

These next 2 chapters of Paul’s letter to the  Philippians have several passages that I’ve memorized and I cling to  daily. Every day we face not just the struggles of life , but attacks to our Christian faith. There is no way that we can get through them — to persevere — without standing firm in our salvation through the grace of our generous God . Knowing that we are citizens of heaven...

What does Christian living look like? That’s  what the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians covers. What  Paul is telling the church is to have the same mindset as Jesus . What does that look like? It’s not cookie-cutter. Unity in Christ works from the inside out — with the help of the Holy Spirit . C.S. Lewis“True humility is not thinking less of yourself — it is thinking...

The Apostle Paul went to Philippi during his second missionary journey. You can read about that adventure in Acts 16 .  It’s where he meets Lydia, the seller of purple cloth and the first  convert in Philippi. It’s also where Paul and Silas wind up in jail  after performing an exorcism. But, God sends an earthquake their way to  help them get free. I’ll let you read the rest of...