Earth–Exceptional or One-of-a-Kind?
Published 7-31-2017 “One-of-a-kind” connotes a person or thing that is not like any other person or thing. “Exceptional” is not nearly so exclusive. Virtually all athletes on major league baseball, football, basketball, and hockey rosters are exceptional. Numbers of players range from 420 professional basketball competitors, to 620 hockey, 750 baseball, and nearly 1700 football…
Read MoreWhat’s the Best Way to Approach Studying Different Theories on the Rapture?
Sometimes you read something by a pre-tribulationist and you say, “That really sounds convincing.” Then you pick up something by a mid-tribulationist and you say, “Well, that sounds good, too.” And then a little while later, you hear a post-tribulationist give a sermon and you say, “He really sounds like he’s on target, too.” How do you make up your mind as to which position is right and which position is wrong?
Read More4 Keys to Overcoming Temptation
Let’s face it—we all encounter temptation. Even Jesus dealt with direct temptation from Satan. Temptation clearly exists, but how do we overcome it? In Matthew 4, Jesus defeated three specific temptations. A look at how Jesus responded offers four keys for overcoming temptation in our own lives today. Key #1: Prepare in Advance Jesus faced…
Read MoreDismissing ET
Published 7-23-2018 SETI, an organization committed to searching for life beyond the confines of our Earth and its Solar System, now researches many other wonderful features of our cosmos. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is now a subsidiary topic of focus and has retreated into the background of their scientific research. The focus of SETI…
Read MoreReally Alone?
Published 7-19-2018 The question of whether humanity shares characteristics of life with other human or human-like creatures in our enormous universe has long piqued interest from coffee-table conversationalists to professional astro-biologists. The question fascinates some young people whose extrospective abilities are stimulated when they first study the subject of astronomy. Scripture does not address this…
Read MoreWhy Is Hell Eternal?
First, hell is eternal because sin, though finite by itself, is primarily committed against an infinite God; the punishment must therefore also be infinite. Among men there are differences of both sin and its punishment, depending on the kind of sin and the one sinned against. It is not the same thing to tell a white lie as to murder a young child; nor is it the same thing to sin against the king or a neighbor. Threaten the life of your neighbor’s dog and it may anger your neighbor, but threaten the life of the King and it will cost you your life. Now imagine committing a sin against a God of endless, infinite holiness…
Read MoreAlone in the Universe
Published 7-14-2018 Once again, we recall childhood thoughts about our cosmos. This time, we need to advance our early childhood ideas of the Sumerian cosmic dome to our contemporary concept of the cosmos. Science teachers now use models of globes even in early grades to establish the concept of Planet Earth as a sphere. Students…
Read MoreDoes Jesus Promise That He Will Return Some Day?
Look at John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there you may be also.”…
Read More4 Habits of Highly Effective Followers of Christ
Do you ever feel ineffective in your walk with God? If we’re honest, we’ve all encountered feelings of inadequacy in our attempts to live for Christ. What does Scripture share to help? As the apostle Paul faced the final weeks before his death, he wrote his last New Testament letter to his friend and protégé,…
Read MoreWhy Do We Celebrate Christmas on December 25?
In the “Israel My Glory” magazine of December-January 1986-1987, there appeared an article called, “Why Do We Celebrate Christmas on December 25th?” Since Christianity has its roots in Judaism, and not in paganism, let’s look to the Jewish roots for the origin of our date, as did this article…
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