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Forsaking Your First Love: What Was the Ephesians’ Problem? (Rev 2:1-7)
Camilla and I are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary today. We were married on Easter Monday in 1999 and because Easter moves every year, this is our first anniversary to fall on an Easter...
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Laodicea, Part 1: Are You “Hot” Enough for God? (Rev 3:15)
The letter to the Laodicean church may be the best known of the seven Revelations letters. But it is also the most troubling letter for many Christians. The difficulty stems from the rebuke spoken by...
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Laodicea, Part 2: What Makes Jesus Sick? (Rev 3:16)
God never makes us sick but did you know it’s possible for people to make him feel sick? Now there’s a staggering thought. Yet this is exactly the reaction the Laodicean church elicited from Jesus....
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Laodicea, Part 3: Who’s Wretched and Poor? (Rev 3:17)
The Laodicean church was one of the most messed up churches in the Bible. So I guess it should be no surprise that today it remains one of the most preached about churches. We can learn a lot from...
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Does God Give Bad Gifts?
Does God give us sickness, poverty, and recessions? Should earthquakes, tsunamis and acts of terrorism be interpreted as his divine judgment on a sinful world? Does God kill babies? Are these dumb...
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Does God Give and Take Away?
The entire Bible is good for you, but you won’t get much out of it unless you know Jesus Christ. To understand the written word, you need to know the Living Word. If you try to read the Bible without...
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What About James? (Are We Really Justified by Works?)
Whenever you preach the 100% pure gospel of God’s grace, someone will inevitably ask, “What about James?” The gospel of grace that Paul preached declares that we are saved by faith alone. But James...
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What are the Works of Abraham? (And Why Should We Do Them?)
If we are saved by faith in Christ alone, why does James insist that our faith must be matched with works? How can you balance the grace of God with the works of man? You can’t! In Part 1 of this study...
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Does God Kill Babies?
“And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill… Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died.” (2 Sam 12:15,18) Now there’s a troubling verse! Does God...
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Does God Use Correction Fluid?
Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If so, are you worried that Jesus may blot out your name? It seems that many Christians are. They are afraid that they might do something that will...
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Who Killed Herod?
In the past week numerous websites have sprung up declaring that Christchurch’s recent earthquake was God punishing the city for its sin. But as I explained in an earlier post, God’s remedy for sin is...
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Chop Off Your Hand?! Was Jesus Serious?
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes...
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Is God a Jealous God?
“You shall not make for yourself an idol… You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and...
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What Happens to Unfruitful Branches?
Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). In the hands of a religious person this becomes a conditional statement: You have to keep the commands of Jesus to prove your love. The...
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Do NIV Readers Have a Sinful Nature?
Here are two verses that seem to say contradictory things about our sinful nature: 1. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the...
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Is 1 John 1 for Believers or Unbelievers?
“Why do you assume that the first chapter of first John is addressed to unbelievers?” This question was put to me by a friend after reading my recent post on 1 John 1:9. Judging by some of the comments...
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Exodus 4:24-25
“Why did God try to kill Moses on the way to Egypt?” This question was recently put to me by a reader and it is based on the following passage: At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was...
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Does God Envy?
A misunderstood God leads to a misguided faith. If you think God is insecure and constantly assessing you on your performance, you will be insecure yourself. You will be forever wondering whether you...
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Take Up Your Cross Daily (Luke 9:23)
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luk 9:23). What does it mean to take up your cross daily? I’m going to give you two...
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The wrath of God has come upon them at last (1 Thess 2:16)
In our ongoing series on the wrath of God, there is an important scripture we have not yet looked at. It’s this one: For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ...
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Who Would Be a Teacher? (James 3:1)
Recently I read something that made me sad. It was a Facebook note penned by a noted Bible teacher and it went something like this: “I’m a teacher of the gospel, but you’re probably not a teacher, so...
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What is the Greater Condemnation? (Matthew 23:14)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. (Matthew 23:14, NKJV) What is the...
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