When faced with challenging situations in life, it is a good practice to ask, “What would Jesus do?” An even better practice is to ask, “What did Jesus do?” When considering what Jesus actually did, consider also what Jesus did not do. When Jesus was put on trial and even while He hung on the cross, Jesus was “mocked” (Matt. 27:29, 31, 41), “treated…with…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 60)
The epistle of First Peter was written to first-century Christians, who were dealing with pressures and persecutions from non-Christians. It was truly a “fiery trial” of their faith (1 Pet. 4:12) that they were facing. How could they deal with these “various trials” (1:6) and overcome them? The book is filled with imperatives, as Peter provides direction to defeat the devil’s efforts (5:8), but his…
We read about people being baptized in the New Testament and it creates within us a desire to also be baptized. We read about Jesus and the apostles teaching people to be baptized in the New Testament and it prompts us to want to be baptized. So, as long as I was baptized (i.e., fully immersed in water), does it really matter…
Imagine for a moment that there was a person living in the city of Philippi in the first century who decided to visit the church one Sunday. This person walked in and asked, “What kind of church is this?” If you were there in the first century and heard that question asked, would it strike you odd? Think about it. In the first century, there was…
The apostle John wrote a short note to a good friend of his named Gaius. In some of our notes today, we might say something like, “I hope you are doing well.” John sort of said that, but he placed a pretty heavy qualifier on it. John said to his friend, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health,…
In an effort to prove that baptism is not essential to salvation, an appeal is often made to the Holy Spirit falling upon the household of Cornelius in Acts 10. The claim that is made goes something like this: “They received the Holy Spirit and were saved before they were baptized; therefore, baptism really isn’t essential to salvation.” In short, consider this.…
For many people, it’s their favorite day of the year because it’s “their day.” Some people will take off of work. Some will treat themselves to something special. Afterall, it only comes around once a year. Celebrate it. It’s “my birthday”! You know what day is better than your date of birth? Your date of new birth! Your spiritual birthday! Do you know what day you were baptized? That was (and…
Maybe you’ve experienced something like this with your kids (and maybe your spouse, but we’ll just go with your kids for this one). Your kid is in the back seat of the car talking to you but has been talking for so long about so many random (non-sensical, sometimes) things that you’ve just zoned out. They’re talking but you’re not really paying attention. Then comes…