Christian social irrelevancy manifests itself in several ways even while claiming to be fully biblical. There are those who believe the church is an earthly parenthesis—the “church age” to give its proper designation—and the world is destined for an inevitable eschatological showdown with the antichrist but only before the church is “raptured” out of the world. Look at most prophecy books that hit [...]

I received a message from a supporter who pointed me to a Glenn Beck interview with Amir Tsarfati’s and his new book Operation Joktan. Tsarfati was raised in a Jewish home but later converted to Christianity. He believes Ezekiel 38–39 are about modern-day Russia. His eschatology is dispensational. He claimed in the interview that there will be an end-time antichrist and a rebuilt temple. Anyone fa [...]

So often New Testament books are interpreted without reference to the Old Testament even though they are written against the backdrop of the Old Testament (e.g., Matt. 24:29–31). Try interpreting the book of Hebrews without reference to the Old Testament. It’s impossible. The same is true for Revelation. Revelation cannot be understood against the backdrop of the 21st century even though it applie [...]

An article in GQ magazine written by the editors declared that the Bible is one of 21 books that you don’t need to read. It’s 12th on the list and the description by Jesse Ball begins with the following comment: The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it. More people live by it that have not read it, and that’s the main rea [...]

I saw a short video by someone named Paul Williams. I don’t much about him. Actually, I don’t anything about him. James White texted me and said he is a former Anglican who became a Muslim. But since he is a homosexual, that did not sit well with the Muslim community, who at first praised his defection from Christianity. Williams is articulate, and with his British accent, he sounds authoritative. [...]

Michael Tomasky, writing for the New Republic (January 10, 2022), called for bold political action: “In 2022, Democrats Must Put the GOP’s Threats to Democracy on the Ballot.” “Threats to Democracy”? Does he mean stacking the Supreme Court by adding more Leftist Justices because he does not like the conservatives on the court and allowing non-Citizens to vote? Does he mean canceling and censoring [...]

In a previous article, I discussed some translation missteps that are frustratingly unnecessary. Let’s move on to more critical examples when it comes to verse tenses. The following is from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: KIRK: What’s going to happen when you release the whales? GILLIAN: They’re gonna have to take their chances. KIRK: What does that mean, exactly? ‘Take their chances.’ GILLIAN: It [...]

The goal of the Bible translator is to stay with the original text as much is linguistically possible by making judicious translation decisions that maintain the integrity of the words used by the authors. When a literal translation is not made, the reader should be notified and told why. This is done in some translations like the KJV and the NASB that italicize words that are not in the Greek tex [...]

“Stupid Pet Tricks” was introduced on NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman in the early 1980s. Some of them were cute and clever but many of them were … stupid. For decades there have been Stupid Prophecy Tricks to get Christians to believe that we are living in the last days. While it didn’t start with Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970, it continued with bar codes being the mark [...]

2021 is about to end. It’s been interesting and productive. I had two bouts of cancer. My left kidney was removed in January and my prostate was removed in May. I’m not experiencing any ill effects. In fact, I participated in a Masters Track and Field meet in July in the shot put and won my age group in Georgia. Of course, it’s not that hard to do since there aren’t that many 70-year-olds who can [...]

It’s shocking that elected officials, most of whom do not know how economies work or how to start, build, or run a business, are passing laws and spending our money on things they know nothing about. It’s immoral. The following meme caught my attention. While something of an exaggeration, it makes a point: Almost every business in the United States started and prospered without the help of the gov [...]

When I sit down with young people to discuss films, I often get a blank stare. They have not heard about the films that I and others consider to be classics. I need to be careful when I mention something from a film to illustrate a point since many people have never heard of the film. As a result, they can’t appreciate the point I’m trying to make from a particular scene. [...]

Amber Guyger was convicted of murder after shooting Botham Jean, an unarmed black man. Guyger thought she was in her own apartment when she returned home, and that Botham Jean had broken into her apartment. She was sentenced to ten years in prison instead of the maximum 28. The brother of the murder victim embraced her and told her that he had forgiven her. In their brief encounter, he presented t [...]

When the decayed torso of Laci Peterson washed up on shore, her unborn baby did as well. Here lies a moral dilemma for even pro-abortionists to deal with. Laci was at least eight months pregnant. The baby was certainly viable. Immediately NOW (National Organization for Women) protested when a double murder charge was leveled against Scott Peterson, Laci’s husband. In NOW logic, it’s no [...]

Roe v. Wade is before the Supreme Court again. Listening to some of the questions by the justices and the answers of the lawyers defending a Mississippi abortion law are telling. Justice Sonia Sotomayor—who has no children—clashed with Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart during oral arguments Wednesday over when a fetus can feel pain. The law kicks in when the pain kicks in? Dogs and cats [...]

What relevance does the Bible have for us today if so much Bible prophecy has been fulfilled? Preterists get this question asked of them all the time. Historicists claim their approach is the most historically relevant. They also claim that the Historicist approach was almost universally promoted by the Reformers. Calvin was the exception. Much of Calvin’s Daniel commentary is preterist. On the Re [...]

The usual dissenters come out of the woodwork every October to disparage Columbus and November to attack Thanksgiving. Here’s one from last year: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is being called “a racist piece of trash” and a “white supremacist” after defending the legacy of the Mayflower Compact and criticizing an article in the New York Times that called the story of the Pilgrims a “myth” and re-examin [...]

All Christians believe in fulfilled prophecy. This makes them preterists to some degree. A preterist interpretation of prophecy puts its fulfillment in the past. What separated unbelieving Jews from believing Jews in the first century was the issue of fulfilled prophecy. Was Jesus the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures that predicted a coming redeemer? Jews who rejected Jesus as the promised Mes [...]

That’s the question being asked on the Christian Post website. Here’s the first paragraph: Many believers are anxious for Jesus’ return and, in the natural, some feel God is postponing His return despite knowing that the scriptures, such as 2 Peter 3, teach that God is not slow, but is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, said Jeff Kinley and Todd Hampson of the “Prophecy Pros Podcast.” Kinley a [...]

“You shall not steal” is a fundamental biblical commandment that’s found in both Testaments (Ex. 20:15; 21:16; Lev. 19:11, 13; Matt. 19:18; Rom. 13:9). If property is theft, as one Christian stated on his Facebook page, then every person in the world is a thief because everyone owns something. Property rights are fundamental in the Bible, so much so that they’ve been written into our nation’s laws [...]