There are some verses that are taken out of context more than others. In fact, there are some verses that are so often quoted that people know the verse (and can almost quote it themselves), but neither the quoter nor the hearers realize that the verse is not being used in the context in which it was written. First Corinthians 2:9 is…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 70)
Stephen stood before the 71 members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, after having lies stirred up about his preaching (Acts 6:10-14). Upon hearing Stephen’s sharply pointed sermon directed at them, these Jewish supreme court justices “cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him” (6:57-58). The next…
Has someone ever asked you why you are part of the church that you are? There are surely many reasons that someone could offer (and often, very personal reasons) to that kind of question, but can I ask you to think about something? If someone asked you the reason you are part of your church, could you answer, “Because it’s the one you read…
While some have suggested over the years that the Bible is hard to understand, perhaps we should see what the Bible has to say about that. Luke wrote about the life of Christ to a man named Theophilus so that he “may know the certainty of those things in which [he was] instructed” (1:4). Jesus Himself said, “You shall know the truth”…
Jesus and the apostle Peter had a necessary and even therapeutic conversation in John 21. Peter had vehemently denied Jesus three times while his Savior and Friend stood on trial. So, in this conversation, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” (21:15-17). Much is often made about the fact that Jesus used two different Greek words in asking Peter of his love. However, let’s…
After a night of anguish, mockery, lies, beatings and fake trials, Jesus was sentenced to execution by crucifixion by the spineless governor Pilate at 6:00 a.m. (John 19:14). He bore His cross to travel from the Praetorium to Golgotha (John 19:17). Apparently, the weight of the cross was too much for His battered, weakened and anemic body to bear, so they laid the cross…
How many times have you heard it said? Or maybe you were the one saying it? “The Bible is too hard to understand.” People have been saying that for years. But, is that true? Should we set the Bible aside and dismiss it as an incomprehensible book? Or have we maybe been misinformed and the Bible can actually be understood? Let’s consider…
There is a battle going on right now in the courts over one state’s 1931 ban on abortion. Can’t you hear the arguments in your imagination? “Oh, c’mon! That is ancient history! We’ve grown as a nation since then! We are so much more advanced now! We’ve got move on beyond our foolish, closed-minded past!” Is a 90-year-old ban on abortion all that naïve? What about a 2,000-year-old ban? Jesus…