Assessing Personal Visits to Heaven – Part 2
Assessing Near-Death Experiences In what follows I will first summarize problems with typical near-death experiences (NDEs). I will then discuss the possibility of legitimate NDEs. The goal will be to separate fact from fiction. A Preliminary Observation: These Are Not Final Deaths We begin with the recognition that while these experiences are “near-death” experiences, they…
Read MoreAssessing Personal Visits to Heaven – Part 1
How does a Christian go about assessing personal visits to Heaven in media reports? A personal visit to heaven has become one of the hottest-selling topics in nonfiction today. Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven, Todd Burpo, and Lynn Vincent’s Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and…
Read MoreThe Matter of Energy (or the Energy of Matter)
The topic of energy may not inspire lofty, poetic thoughts, except perhaps, to a professional scientist. It may fascinate a home buyer. What are its heating and air-conditioning energy costs, for example? Alternatively, the topic may relate to industrial or agricultural history, economics, or contemporary politics. Likewise, the topic of matter is often defined in scientific contexts—matter takes up space and…
Read MoreYahweh Mekoddeskim – The Lord Who Sanctifies You
This name for God is revealed within the context of the laws God gave to the Israelites as they were preparing to enter the Promised Land. The laws included all the various sacrifices they were to offer, when and how to offer them—essentially when and how to worship God; what foods they could and could not eat; dealing with various diseases and bodily functions; relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and neighbors; observing special days; crime and punishment; and a whole lot more.
Read MoreWere the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? The Non-Chronological Arrangement of Genesis 2
Having examined how the literary arrangements of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 develop, let us now pause to reflect upon any insights that can be gleaned concerning the timing of creation. Let’s dive in to understand if the days of creation were 24 hours or not. In this article, I want to draw our attention…
Read MoreThe Facts on Near-Death Experiences
Click here for full Printable Version Excerpt: Alli’s StoryIt was Sunday, June 5, 1994. We had just arrived home from church when the police officerscame to the front door and gave us the news that would change our lives forever, “A female bodyhas been found at the bottom of a cliff in Rocky Mountain National…
Read MoreThe Matter/Energy Connection
Whenever issues of Divine Creation of the universe are raised, some participants in the discussion transition to a discussion of the age of the universe: Is the age of our universe only 6 to 10 thousand years? or did the universe originate in a spectacular creation event known as the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago? Our stance has…
Read MoreYahweh1 Tsidkenu – The Lord Our Righteousness
[1] See the companion article “Who is Jehovah?” for an explanation of why I will use Yahweh rather than Jehovah except in quoted material. This name for God, Yahweh Tsidkenu, is used only two times in Scripture, both in the book of Jeremiah: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD [YHWH], “when I will raise…
Read MoreWere the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? The Structural Correlation between Genesis 1 and 2
Having examined the literary arrangement of Genesis 1 and then Genesis 2, we can now reflect on how they correspond and the significance of their development. Let’s dive into the correlation between Genesis 1 and 2 As you may recall, Genesis 1 is a highly structured account which presents days 1-3 in parallel with days…
Read MoreWere the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long?- The Structure of Genesis 2
Grasping the literary structure of Genesis 2 and seeing how it builds upon the structure of Genesis 1 is key to understanding Moses’ account of creation. With this, I am much indebted to a journal article by Mark Futato that first brought this to my attention.
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