Study Bibles for the most part can be a huge blessing. However as a young Bible worker back in the 1990’s I found them to be very challenging. Numerous times I would begin Bible studies with someone who knew very little about the Bible. They would run out to a bookstore in the community and … Continue reading –>
A few years ago I was talking to a head elder, who had rushed to judgment and taken it upon himself to take “executive” action against another church member. I asked him if he had followed the counsel in Matthew 18, and talked to the member first. He boldly told me he did not need … Continue reading –>
Occasionally, at church or the Adventist school where I teach Bible and evangelism, someone will ask me, “What do we believe about such and such?” My response has always been, “I don’t know what you believe, but here is what I, and many Seventh-day Adventists believe,” and I show them in the Bible what I … Continue reading –>
Last Sunday, at a graduation party, I visited with one of my former students from the Adventist school where I teach and give Bible studies. She is now attending a public high school in a different city, and she told me how sad she is that at least half of her school population is self-proclaimed atheist. … Continue reading –>
When we go through Job-like experiences and trials, we sometimes wish that Jesus was right here with us, so we could talk to Him face-to-face instead of just reading the Scriptures. We think Jesus would have something new to say to us outside of Scriptures, something that would fit our unique experience. However, let’s see what … Continue reading –>
And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” Matthew 16:19 NLT Many believe that in Matthew 16, Jesus was setting Peter up as the first pope and giving the church … Continue reading –>
When we allow the Bible to explain itself, God can use ordinary people to do great things. Years ago, when I worked on the sort isle at UPS, our supervisors would occasionally bring in food to eat, while we worked at four in the morning. One such time, my supervisor, who was also a Protestant … Continue reading –>
Several years ago I was flying from Fort Worth Texas to go home to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was a short flight and I was on a commuter plane. Upon landing, instead of pulling up to the terminal like the big jets, we were let out on the tarmac. I went up … Continue reading –>
This is my very first Bible. I received it before I could even read. It has pictures, and I remember one Sabbath while the preacher was preaching, I was studying a particular picture of Jesus on the cross, and I gave my heart to Jesus. I was taught that my Bible was holy and not to … Continue reading –>
A few seasoned Adventists think of Sabbath School as a place where they come to spar and debate with their fellow Adventist friends about the 144,000 being a symbolic or literal number, or whether Jesus came with a pre-lapsarian nature or post-lapsarian nature. However, that is not the purpose of Sabbath School. The purpose of Sabbath … Continue reading –>
