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King of kings

In Blog, Book Reviews, Jesus on
November 14, 2022

Confronting Jesus

Every two years, Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research partner together to survey Americans about their theological beliefs. They recently released their 2022 findings, and some of the results are troubling.[1] Fifty-five percent of Americans believe that Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God, and fifty-three percent believe that Jesus was just a good teacher, not God. Thirty-six percent of American adults do not believe Jesus’s death is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of sin, and forty percent do not believe that trusting in Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

Now, these kinds of beliefs are not all that surprising in the secular world. But according to this survey, they were professing Evangelicals who agreed with the sentiments above. Sixty-one percent—nearly two thirds—of professing Evangelicals agree that Jesus was not God, but simply a creation of God. This is absolutely stunning and not in a good way.

The American Church, and American culture in general, do not have an accurate view of Jesus, who He was and what He did on this earth for us. It’s time for us to know the real Jesus. It’s time for us to confront what the Scriptures really teach about Him. And Rebecca McLaughlin’s newest book helps us to do exactly that.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Genesis on
May 9, 2022

King of Righteousness, King of Peace

I love a good mysterious movie. A movie where you don’t fully understand the plot or the characters until it reaches the climax. A movie that keeps you guessing until the very end. One in particular that I very much enjoyed was The Murder on the Orient Express, a film that is based on a novel of the same name written by Agatha Christie. As you can imagine, the story focuses on the murder of a man on a train, and the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the crime and interviews numerous train passengers with mysterious backgrounds. If you’ve never read the book or watched the movie, I won’t spoil it for you, but the climax of the story when Poirot solves the murder is thrilling!

The Bible has its share of mysterious characters. People that pop in and pop out of the storyline that we know very little about. Men and women that seem so unlikely that we at times wonder if they even really existed. One of the most mysterious characters in all the Bible is a man named Melchizedek, a king who lived during the time of Abraham.

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In Blog, Prayer, Theology on
April 17, 2022

Prayer Basics

Without communication, a relationship will never survive. I’ve had many friendships fade away because I just lost contact with them. And the same is true with other kinds of relationships, too. Marriages that lack communication often end in divorce. Miscommunication between bosses and employees tend to result in missed deadlines and uncompleted tasks. Parents who never communicate or cultivate relationships with their children are often estranged from them later in life.

Our relationship with God is no different. While a lack of communion with God won’t end in divorce or loss of relationship, forsaking practices like prayer and Bible reading can hinder one’s fellowship with God, making them feel like God is far away from them. Bible reading is a fairly straightforward discipline, and it’s rather easy to recognize how God speaks to us through His Word. But many Christians struggle with prayer. Who do we pray to? When should we pray? What should we pray for? Even people who have been believers for years are asking these questions, and all of them and more will be answered in this Prayer Basics post!

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In Blog, Jesus, Theology on
March 7, 2022

Jesus the Christ

Contrary to many people’s belief, “Christ” is not the last name of Jesus. “Christ” is actually more of a title, and it’s the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The fact that Jesus is labeled as “the Christ” is significant because it points to Him being the Messiah, the Savior that Israel had longed for and waited for, generation after generation, ever since the Fall of man.

But this title is much more significant than one might initially realize. It also tells us about the work Jesus did during His earthly ministry and the work He continues to do today. The words “Christ” or “Messiah” translate to mean “the Anointed One.” In Israel, there were three offices of authority that were anointed with oil, and Jesus holds all three of them: prophet, priest, and king.

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In Bible Study, Blog, Isaiah on
December 20, 2021

A Child is Born

Christmas is a busy time of year. It’s a time of baking cookies, hosting holiday parties, and singing all of your favorite Christmas carols. It’s a time of wrapping presents, drinking hot chocolate, and last-minute shopping for that one family member you didn’t know was coming into town. It’s a time of hanging lights, decorating trees, and watching classic films, like Home Alone, Christmas with the Kranks, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. For some, Christmastime is filled with joy and cheer. For others, Christmastime is filled with stress and exhaustion.

No matter what life stage or season we’re in, we all have busy schedules at the end of each year, and we all get to a point where it feels like there is so much to do and so little time to do it all in. But as we attempt to fit in all the festivities and events, we miss something. We forget that Christmas is about more than the gifts and the music and the décor. It’s a day when we are to celebrate the birth of a child. And not just any child, but the Son of God.

What is so special about this child? Why does this boy named Jesus deserve our focus, our reverence, our worship? We can discover the answers to these questions by consulting a roughly 2,700-year-old Jewish prophecy written by a man named Isaiah.

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