Can God Really Help You?
Believing in a God who delivers and rescues you from your problems is wishful thinking. It's an emotional crutch for those who need it. If you're a Christian, you will inevitably hear condescending sentiments and objections like these. But stop for a moment and think through these statements. On who does the burden of proof lie? Believers can confidently say there is a God because they have experienced his help. We just have to know that on a desperate day in
The Munich Bible Study—Wednesdays on Zoom!
Join us on Wednesdays @ 19:00 hrs (Munich time). This week, we'll be focusing on chapter 3 of the Gospel of John. The study will be again on Zoom, and the links are below. If you are on Facebook, please click this link for updates – The Munich Bible Study. Topic: Munich Bible Study Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85400265999?pwd=dW9WTUZJa09DZVA2SWkrTS9HMy8ydz09 Meeting ID: 854 0026 5999 Passcode: 026837 -Photo by shirinsnyder
Balaam—Good Guy or Bad Guy?
By Alastair Hayward, The Munich Bible Study, Co-Leader From a canter through the Book of Ecclesiastes to Elijah’s great showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, we now look at the enigmatic character of Balaam. Was he a good guy or a bad guy? Why? Who is Balaam? Balaam is a non-Israelite prophet whom we meet in the book of Numbers, chapters 22-24. He is a diviner who is importuned by Balak, king of Moab, to place a curse on
Holy Week – Day 7: New Life
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. -Galatians 2:20 How are we supposed to view our present life of faith? This passage tells us to look at our present lives as servants of the Lord Jesus. Just as Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried, and then raised to new life,
Holy Week – Day 5: Maundy Thursday: This Is Love
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. -1 John 4:10–12 The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin “mandatum,” meaning commandment. This is in reference to the new
Holy Week – Day 4: Aged to Perfection
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17 What is one of the main themes that keeps recurring in the faiths and literature of the world? What is that longing in the human heart that never goes away regardless of the time or place? It’s the desire that the old, the worn out, and the temporary pass away and the new, the fresh, and the lasting appear! This is what
Holy Week – Day 1: Palm Sunday – What’s the Buzz?
An Introduction Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” –John 11:25–26 Most of us are familiar with the verses above, but think about the last part of the Scripture—do you believe this? This is the heart of our discussions about our faith and something we should continue to ask ourselves daily. Do we really
Through the Lens of Scripture: When God Says No
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. –2 Corinthians 12:8–10 Anyone
Finding Jesus: Can We Recognize Real Christianity?
It’s true, there’s as much counterfeit Christianity in the world as anything else—fake money, fake love, fake promises, fake smiles, or whatever else you could name. So how can we tell when we’re dealing with the real thing? Even though it’s not possible to know for sure in every case (we aren’t the final judges of such things), nevertheless there are some telltale signs that usually make things clear if you get close enough. A little careful inspection can make all
Just the Right Time
By Mike Page Have you had several things come together simultaneously so that without one, the other couldn't have happened or couldn't have been as successful? Science is good at this. Take a look at how Watson and Crick arrived at the final structure of DNA. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published an article entitled "Molecular Structure of DNA." It was the very first time the classic double helix structure of DNA had been published. But you don't come up with
