GraceLife Blog

Have you ever heard of the ‘Cafeteria Bible?’ That’s what a man named Marcion developed in the early 2nd century AD and what U.S. President Thomas Jefferson built in the early part of the 19th century. They both chose to keep the parts of the Bible they liked and throw out what they didn’t.

We are living in what some people call a “post-Christian” environment. The Gospel has been preached for almost two-thousand years, but Christianity is no longer admired and desired by masses of people. They view the Christian life and message as ignorant, irrelevant and oppositional to their ‘modern’ lifestyle.

John 3:16 continues to be the world’s most popular Bible verse – and for good reason. They are the very Words of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

The word ‘wrath’ is found hundreds of times in the Bible. It generally means ‘burning anger, fury, rage, vexation, indignation, agitation, irritation, to be hard, severe or fierce.’ The word is used sometimes for the anger or rage of humans and animals – sometimes for the anger of God. But why would God be angry? Isn’t God ‘love?’

Our focus in this series is on ‘decency and order’ in the Church. I chose the divisive issue of ‘tongues’ to start Volume IV of our series. The primary reason is because of this verse – “Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Another reason, as I explained in the last part of this series, is that ‘speaking in tongues’ was one of the first challenges I faced as a new Christian. I was glad to have the opportunity to share my testimony of God’s grace to me as a former atheist, but I was a bit surprised by the reception from some Christians. Among other things, they told me that I needed to speak in tongues as ‘proof’ of my salvation. They said it was in the Bible, so I should believe it and do it.

So, I began a study in the Bible about speaking in tongues. 

The word ‘Trinity’ is not in the Bible. 

I used to love saying that to Christians when I was an atheist with a radio talk show. It usually upset them, which caused them to get flustered on air. However, as I was to learn later, that does not mean the ‘Trinity’ is not in the Bible. In fact, our current study is an example of the ‘Trinity’ working together to bring about the ‘salvation’ of people in the world who ‘believe’ in Jesus Christ.

I’ve been a Christian long enough to have seen many changes in the ‘preaching’ of the Gospel of Christ. Even though that sounds like a long time to me – in the light of a two-thousand year-old Message of Good News from God it isn’t long at all. Unfortunately, 54 years has been long enough to see the preaching of the Gospel go downhill fast. Why?

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be? John 3:9

That question from the Pharisee and Sanhedrin member led to one of the most powerful private discourses we have recorded from Jesus Christ. While it includes the world-famous John 3:16 about God’s love for the world, that’s not how Jesus began in answering Nicodemus’ question.

The world’s most popular Bible verse, John 3:16, is part of a conversation Jesus Christ had with a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus.

There are so many divisions and problems in the Church today, why begin with ‘tongues’? Good question.

I’d like to focus for a few moments on two words that Jesus used in John 3:16 –

• perish
• everlasting life

The Apostle Peter first used the phrase “day of the Lord” in his sermon on Pentecost. It was Peter’s first use of quoting Scripture in the sermon, so that’s significant.

What is the world’s most popular Bible verse?

What is a “social justice warrior”? The definition you choose might depend on your political or social views. 

Is there any way that the many Christian denominations will put aside their differences and unify under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? I don’t think so, at least not voluntarily. Let me explain.

Even as an atheist I knew about denominations: Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. What I didn’t know was how many denominations existed or why they existed.

I look at life through the eyes of a citizen, a career journalist, and a Christian. No matter how I look at our future as citizens of the United States of America, I come away believing we are closer to either a 'rupture' in our society or the 'rapture' of God's people.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Business Investigations - 'For Profit' and 'Not For' Profit

We are blessed to have Paul’s final words recorded for us to read in his second letter to Timothy.

These teaching notes are from a radio series taught more than 45 years ago.

The Challenges of Investigating 'People'

‘Unity’ in the Christian Church is vital. Why? Because that’s what King Jesus wants, and Christians should give Jesus Christ whatever He wants. 

This is the second part of teaching notes from a radio series I taught more than 45 years ago.

Hebrews 1:3

The Brightness of God’s Glory

The Express Image of God

The Challenge of Finding 'Memory Holes' in the Age of AI

The importance of 'Unity' in the Christian Church.

In this first part of the series we look at:

The Objective

The Problem

The Reason

The Opportunity and Challenge

Journalists, especially investigative journalists, need to beware of two types of ‘holes’ they could easily step into during their coverage of news. One is known as the ‘Rabbit Hole.’ The other is the ‘Memory Hole.’ Interestingly, I first learned about these ‘holes’ as a child while reading fiction books.

The Apostle Paul “navigated” well through the paganism of the 1st century Roman Empire. How did he do it? He stayed on the narrow road that led through the narrow gate. Here's what we can learn about how to do that now.

Are you mixing your belief in Christ with Neo-pagan and New Age beliefs? How would you know if you were? 

We find the “Day of the Lord” used in many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and also by New Testament writers. The “Day of the Lord” is not a literal 24-hour day, but a period of time where God will judge the world.

Understanding What You Find / Finding Experts

I want to tell you two stories. One is about hypocrites. The other is about pagans. Both are challenges to navigating the Christian life.

This is the final part of our special series. We offer a free eBook at the end of the Podcast.

The kings of Israel and Judah wore crowns and sat on thrones. They had a similar appearance to the kings of many other nations of the ancient world. However, they had something that set them apart and that was the promise of the Almighty God that God would establish an everlasting Kingdom for Israel.

In the last part of our study, we looked at three important aspects of living Christian in the present world:

1. be subject to rulers and authorities
2. obey
3. be ready for every good work

Let’s look at the other four and see what we can learn that will help us live Christian in this present age.

We move next to some important reminders for Christians about how to live Christian in this present world.

How do we ‘live Christian’ in this present world? As the world around us becomes a more difficult place for Christians to live, learning how to ‘live Christian’ takes on more importance. We look at Titus 2:11-15 in this episode.

In this final part of our Teaching Notes series we will look at The Excellence of Christians.

In this part of our series we look at The Excellence of God’s Leaders.

In part 3 of our series we look at Christ’s Excellence: His Position as God.

In this part of our study we look at Christ’s Excellence: His Works.

These teaching notes are from a series of studies about The Excellence of God and His People. 

[These notes are from a study from more than 40 years ago.]

These teaching notes are from a series of studies about Excellence in the Bible. 

[These notes are from a study from more than 45 years ago. You can link to a free eBook with all three parts of this series at the end of this study.]

These teaching notes are from a series of studies about Excellence in the Bible. 

[These notes are from a study from more than 45 years ago. 

These teaching notes are from a series of studies about Excellence in the Bible. 

[These notes are from a study from more than 45 years ago.]

“… you will be like God …” Genesis 3

That is the “Big Lie.” Every lie that has followed Satan’s lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden stems from that moment.