You’ll recall that one of Jesus’s 12 apostles was known as “Doubting Thomas”.  We all have our doubts about things, and although Christians don’t want to admit it sometimes, there can be things about the Bible and the biblical message we struggle with, maybe doubt. The thing we can learn from Thomas’s story is that if we are honest about our doubts, yet continue to submit to the Lord in faith, God...  Read More

When people talk about the rapture, the general concept is that either before or during a time of severe persecution before Jesus returns, Christians will be taken from this world (raptured) and the non-Christians will be “left behind” to deal with the evil in the world.One problem with this whole teaching is that it can’t be found in church history until about 190 years ago, according to Revelati...  Read More

The Restoration Movement that Southern Heights Christian Church Fits WithinHow do you summarize in two pages the “independent” Christian churches of the Restoration Movement?  That’s my goal here.  This movement formed in the early 1800’s as a variety of men studied the scriptures and determined many church organizations were out of line with what Jesus and his apostles taught.  These churches ten...  Read More

“We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).We live in an age of skepticism and doubt, and an age when those of faith in Jesus often pursue a superficial path that is founded more on subjective conjecture than historical evidence.  But...  Read More

How well do you know your Bible?  Can you explain how the Old Testament is different than the New Testament, and how they are the same?  Are you familiar with the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their stories?  Can you give a brief explanation of the story of Moses and the Israelites journeying to the Promised Land?  How was the time of Judges in Israel unique from the time of Kings?  Wh...  Read More

G.K. Chesterton, the British Christian author and apologist of the late 19th and early 20th century, once said, “A dead thing can float with the stream, but only a living thing can swim against it.”  The Chosen series about Jesus starts each episode with a fish changing direction and swimming against the stream. As we close out the book of Hebrews with the 13th chapter, our desire should be to rea...  Read More

We learned in Hebrews 11 that we have the example of many who lived by faith, who endured hardship for the promise of God they would not experience in their earthly lifetime. Hebrews 12 continues with words about the “great cloud of witnesses” who cheer us on in our faith (those mentioned in chapter 11) but representative of all who have gone before and endured for the faith.  It tells us to run t...  Read More

Who were your heroes growing up?  Mine tended to be sports related.  I was a St Louis Cardinal fan, so naturally I liked Stan Musial, but my favorite back in the 60’s was Curt Flood, their small centerfielder.  My love of reading is largely due to sports biographies I read. Musically, I became an Elvis Presley fan while in Jr High, after watching one of his movies; not sure that provided the best ...  Read More

I was intrigued a few years ago with a book entitled, “Why Men Hate Going to Church” (David Murrow, author).  I agreed with much it said.  For me, regular church attendance has been normalized through my growing up years, but for the average man who hasn’t grown up in church, it can be different.  Why?  Because, in all honesty, the typical church service has been feminized a lot.  We sing songs to...  Read More

It’s a normal thing in life that when you stop to think about it, doesn’t feel very normal - a hunter in deer season kills his prize buck, then must do the dirty work, gutting and carrying the carcass to where the blood will be allowed to drain before it is skinned, and the meat processed.  My dad was a quail hunter and although he hunted a lot, often got his limit, and loved to eat quail, the cle...  Read More

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything” Hebrews 7:1, 2. These words follow the last sentence of Hebrews 6, where we saw that Jesus has entered the inner place (Holy of Holies) as a forerunner on our behalf, a sufficient sacrifice for our sins...  Read More

I remember it well.  We were viewing the inside of St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.  We had seen Michelangelo’s sculpture “La Pieta” toward the back, went down to see the altar in the front (where St Peter is supposedly buried), then walked down the left side.  Suddenly we were looking at a glassed-in tomb, the preserved remains of Pope Innocent IV (died Dec 7, 1254AD).  Why put this on display?   “Y...  Read More