Eternity is a Long Time

  The Book of Zechariah, in the Old Testament, beautifully shows the First and Second Coming of Jesus. In a passage many will remember from the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem it states: “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ” Zechariah 9:9 (NASB) Jesus, the Lamb of God, meekly entering Jerusalem. Jesus, our salvation, comes humbly to do His Father’s will. The next verse is also striking: “ As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ” Zechariah 9:10 (NASB) It is only through the blood of Jesus that we are cleansed for our sins and have the promise of everlasting life with Him forever. We who believe, are indeed prisoners set free from a waterless ...

  How a God, if there is a God, can allow evil or, at the very least, bad things, to exist has been a sticking point for some people for centuries. In many cultures, this issue was dealt with through a pantheon of gods who were very similar to humans – just with greater powers. But with the advent of Judaism and, eventually, Christianity, people were being presented with an omnipotent and omniscient God, who created the cosmos as well as life on Earth yet, at the same time, allows evil to exist in the world. How could this be? After all, is it not a blatant inconsistency for an all good God to have any evil, anywhere, at all? If the argument is made from the Bible, then its legitimacy, along with the very validity of God, has to be established. This essay will describe some of the philosophical issues of evil vis-à-vis God as well as dealing with whether God is and if the Bible is to be relied upon. Evil can be broken down into two parts, as John Hick explains, moral evil or wicked...

What am I supposed to do with my life? What job should I be doing? Am I doing the right thing for my family, friends and me? These are all questions we have or have had throughout our lives. Sometimes we feel we have the answers, but most times those answers are elusive. We tend to try to do things first our way. Why not? We know ourselves better than anyone else does and we should be able to figure everything out. As most of us have found, that does not work so well over the long haul. As we become wiser, we look to others to give us hints or detailed advice. This can come from conversations with family, friends and associates or from lectures, books and videos. Some of that advice is excellent and some of it is terrible. The problem is, how do you know what is exactly right for you? Who can you talk to who knows you so well their advice is never wrong for you and is perfect for the future? How about God? He not only wrote a book; He also wants you to converse with Him. On top...

We need to keep the main thing the main thing. We need to remember that there are debatable and non-debatable issues in Christianity. What are these non-debatable issues? - Jesus is the Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, 100% God, 100% human - Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay the wages for all of our sins by dying on the cross - Jesus rose on the 3rd day and ascended into Heaven shortly thereafter - He is alive and will come again to judge the living and the dead - Jesus created all that was made - We are saved for eternity with God by faith in Jesus and His works, not by our works - The Bible is the word of God All the other issues such as whether a Christian can drink alcohol, eat non-Kosher foods, speak in tongues, whether there is a rapture before the second coming of Jesus, etc, these are all debatable. It is fine to debate them and to have strong opinions, but none of these opinions should get in the way of the non-debatable issues.  If a person has a belief on a de...