By Mike Peek

Recently, I read  In His Steps  by Charles Monroe Sheldon. The book was first published in 1896 and has sold over 30,000,000 copies. [1] Summary of Contents The story is set in the late 1800’s in the midwest. A young man visits the community of Raymond. A community of well to do people. He came not looking for a hand-out but direction for employment and perhaps a little kindness. One morning he sits in on the service of the First Church of Raymond. After the pastor Henry Maxwell closed, the young man began to speak. The young man was troubled by hearing Christians sing, “All for Jesus, all for Jesus, All beings ransomed powers, All my thoughts, and all my doings, All my days, and all my hours.” He was troubled by what they meant, because the words did not fit their actions. He said, “It seems to me there’s an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn’t exist of all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out.” After saying these things,...

The Greek word philoxenia φιλονεξία literally means the love of strangers. (cf. Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2) The adjective form philoxenos φιλόξενος means to be hospitable. (cf. 1 Tm 3:2; Ti 1:8; 1 Pt 4:9) Both noun and adjective forms are a two part Greek word philos-loving and xenos-stranger. 1 The NASB New Testament uses the English word hospitality three times: two of which are in Rom 12:13 and Heb 13:2 but another instance occurs in 1 Tm 5:10. In the Timothy passage hospitality is translated from the Greek verb xenodocheo ξενοδοχέω. We have already shown that xenos means stranger; however, docheo means to receive. Hospitality in 1 Tm 5:10 is the act of receiving strangers. 2  Therefore; hospitality in the context of these New Testament letters is the Christian duty bound by the law of Christ (love) to feed, lodge and protect strangers. Travel in the first century was difficult. If you were wealthy you might have animals to assist in travel but the majority had to trav...

Do you have a favorite Bible story? Perhaps it is the birth of Jesus Christ; Luke 2:1-20 is often recited in Christian homes on Christmas Eve. However, this is not my favorite Bible story, but another Christmas passage is my favorite Bible story. My favorite Bible story is the prologue to The Gospel According to John. Did you know that John 1:1-18 is a Christmas story? It is indeed a Christmas story and a very strong Christmas story for three reasons: In the beginning the Word was both with God and the Word was God. (1:1-5) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (1:6-14) The man Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word. (1:15-18) To be a Christian means that you believe in the essential doctrines taught by the church and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ: God is Trinity: There is one God who exist simultaneously in three divine persons; the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is both fully God and fully man in one person. Jesus death on the cross was a sin sacri...

Biographical Sketch of the Author Alvin Plantinga is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He has a Ph.D., from Yale University. His interest: epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion.  He has written several books on these subjects: W here the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism . New York Oxford University Press, 2011.  Are Science and Religion Compatible?  New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.  Warranted Christian Belief . New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 1 Summary of Contents The main topic of this book is a question: Is Christian belief justifiable, reasonable and rational? He begins by professing that God is the all-powerful, all knowing, perfectly good creator of all. The argument ensues that if such a God exist he is beyond our minds to conceive. He then proceeds to say that many concede that there is such a thing as Christian belief but think that it is unjustified. He the divides t...

One summer, when in grade school, my mother put me in a vacation Bible School at a United Methodist Church in Garland, Texas. Later, as a 6th grader, we went on a weekend retreat to Tyler State park for what was called confirmation. The following Sunday we were all (6th graders) formerly made members of the church. I personally had no idea what that meant. As part of our confirmation we were all given copies of the Good News Bible (GNB). This translation was completed by the American Bible Society in 1976. It is intended to express the meaning of the original text in conversational English and is said to be a good translation for those who read/speak English as a second language. 1 When I was older, as a birthday present from my father he gave me an NIV Study Bible (New International Version). It was large; therefore, I felt big when carrying it to church. This translation sought to be a halfway ground between British English and American English. This translation also tries...

A friend recently wrote, “EVERYBODY'S ON THE NAUGHTY LIST....CHANGE MY MIND!” Is he correct? Is everybody on the naughty list? A little ground work before answering. What Naughty List? Was my friend referring to the naughty list from the children’s Christmas song  Santa Claus is Coming to Town? Take a look at the first two stanzas of that song. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" Oh! You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I'm telling you why Santa Claus is coming to town He's making a list Checking it twice Gonna find out who's naughty or nice Santa Claus is coming to town In the second stanza Santa Clause is making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. This implies two list; a naughty list and a nice list. My friend is an evangelist; therefore, indirectly referring to God’s naughty list using words from this familiar Christmas song. Let us then answer my friends question with the knowledge that...

As a Critical Care Registered Nurse I see a great deal of suffering. I admit that some of this suffering appears to be purposeless. In the face of human suffering people tend to doubt God. The book of Job gives an answer for Job's suffering, but Job himself is not given an answer. We the readers get to look in on a scene in heaven that Job is not privy too, God has good reason for allowing Job to suffer but Job is never given the reason, only that he should trust the wisdom of God. We Christians believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-love; God created everything, and suffering and evil exist. Should we blame God for our suffering?  I used to have a dog who would run through the house and crash into things hurting himself. If I was standing there, he would act as though I had done the harm. If I reached out to console him, he would run away yelping. It seems to me that blaming God for our suffering is a lot like my dog’s reaction in his suffering. Most peopl...

Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th century German Philosopher and writer born on October 15, 1844 in Rocken, Prussia, east Germany today. His writings fall into three categories: early years, middle years and mature years. In his mature writings he was preoccupied with the origin and function of human values. “Nihilism” was a term that he used to describe the degradation of human values once theological foundations are removed. Nietzsche believed that when theological foundations for human morality are removed a pervasive since of purposelessness and meaningless would ingulf the human mind. In Nietzsche’s mind “God is dead,” because he understood that without God there are no objective moral values; therefore, life is meaningless and purposeless. Nietzsche collapsed in the street of Turin, Italy in 1889 into total mental darkness and remained in that condition unto death 11 years later. 1 Blaise Pascal said that Christianity teaches two truths: There is a God that man is capable of kno...

I watched a video in which Dr. William Lane Craig gave a lecture at Imperial College in London, England. The lecture occurred sometime between October 17 th -26 th of 2011 when he was touring England. The lecture is called  The Evidence for God . Synopsis After being introduced by a student, Dr. Craig begins with a premise; “Is the material world all there is?” Dr. Craig then stated that he will give seven aspects of the world that testify for God. The first is the Contingence Argument in which he asks, “Why does anything exist at all?” He then states that everything that exists has an explanation; they either exists by their own nature or have an external cause. The universe exists; therefore, it has an explanation which must be greater than the universe itself. This argues for a transcendent mind. Second, the Cosmological Argument: Whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist; therefore, the universe has a cause. The cause must be causeless, timeless...

Artwork by Bethany Peek I have seen the human heart with my own eyes. I have touched the human heart with my hands. I have monitored the hearts electrical system. I have visualized the heart’s pumping chambers and measured their function. I have visualized the hearts own vascular system called the coronary arteries which feed oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. I have taken part in procedures to replace heart valves, implant defibrillators, implant pacemakers, open blocked coronary arteries or bypass them. I have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and have been employed as a Registered Nurse for 21 years. I have spent all of that time in areas of nursing that specialize in caring for people with heart disease. I have received advance nursing certifications from The American Association of Critical Care Nurses as a Critical Care Registered Nurse and in Cardiovascular Surgery. I am certified by The American Heart Association in both Basic Life Support and Advance Cardiac Life Su...

Introduction I watched a lecture by William Lane Craig of Reasonable Faith on methods for sharing the gospel on college campuses. On April 8th, 2016, Dr. William Lane Craig was invited to speak at the Meyer Lectures at St. Mary’s on the Lake Catholic seminary in Mundelein, north of Chicago. The tile of the video is “Methods for Sharing the Gospel on College Campuses: 2016 Meyer Lecture Series.” Synopsis After an introduction by Cardinal Meyer, Dr. Craig began his lecture by saying that Christian Philosophy shapes the culture so that ears remain open to hear the gospel. The two positive components of Christian Philosophy are natural theology and evidences. Dr. Craig said that natural theology seeks to prove the existence of God apart from Divine revelation and Christian evidences seek to provide warrant for believing that God revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Dr. Craig says that what is needed in secular culture today is what C. S. Lewis called Mere Christi...

Hermeneutics: Lesson 2 Reading Carefully Part 1 Introduction Today we will discuss reading sentences carefully. Next week will expand outwardly to paragraphs and discourses. I like how Duvall and Hays began this chapter by using figurative imagery. It interests me because using figurative imagery is often used by the biblical writers to get their point across to the reader. Figurative imagery employees our emotions. As a side note to this lesson on reading sentences carefully, two common types of Figurative imagery used in Scripture are: similes and metaphors. Many people have trouble distinguishing between simile and metaphor. A glance at their Latin and Greek roots offers a simple way of telling these two closely-related figures of speech apart. Simile comes from the Latin word similis (meaning “similar, like”), which seems fitting, since the comparison indicated by a simile will typically contain the words as or like. Metaphor, on the other hand, comes from the Greek wor...

Our church recently underwent several changes based on the vision of her elders. When change comes: 2.5% of persons are innovators, this would be our elders. 13.5% of persons are early adopters, in other words they immediately embrace what the innovators envision. The majority, 64% of persons fear the unknown; ½ will lose those fears early and the other ½ once the changes bring positive results. However, my recent studies showed me that about 18% of persons have a predisposed attitude against change and do not see a need for change. 1  My Church is Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas . We are a Southern Baptist Church; therefore, previously when you came into one of our worship services from another Southern Baptist Church you knew what to expect with a few variations. However, on or about September 9, 2018, at the end of the service, our pastor announced that we would be changing the format of our worship service. There would no longer be announcements during the service, nor a bre...