Sober and sombre are differentiated by just one letter, but they mean very different things.1 “Sober,” in modern usage, means “not drunk”. Its fuller meaning is “clear-thinking, serious-minded, respectful, wise”. In Scripture, to be sober-minded is to be without the flippancy, silliness, irrationality, and impulsiveness so common among those who are inebriated. A sober person takes life seriously…

As a pastor in Australia, there are two questions I must constantly answer in conversation: “What is the gospel?” and “What is a church?” I have come to see that they are, in some respects, the same question. After 17 years in the US, I returned to Australia two years ago. Getting outside the US…

Many people will be giving thanks this week—and probably a number who refuse to do so depending on their view of the recent elections.  Believers always have reason to give thanks regardless of how the circumstances of life turn.  It is such a renewing and invigorating exercise when we take the time to meditate on…

In today’s session we are talking to Mark Swedberg, veteran missionary in Brazil. He wrote an article for our September/October FrontLine called “Revelation: When Does God’s Wrath Begin?” What he is addressing is the challenge to the pretribulation rapture brought on by those who teach a “pre-wrath rapture” position. The article fits in to the…

This is the second of three parts in a series. For the first post, click here. An Inheritance Reserved in Heaven Peter further explains that God the Father “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope . . . to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you”…

Let’s imagine we took children seriously. What would that look like? To be serious-minded regarding our children would be to fully understand their nature and their destiny. A clear-headed approach to children recognises that these are image-bearers, responsible and accountable to their Creator. As small, cute, and amusing as they may be, they are immortals,…

While Grover Cleveland is not remembered as one of America’s great presidents, there are a couple of distinctions that make him unique among the forty-five men to serve as the country’s chief executive. Most notably, Grover Cleveland is the only president to serve non-consecutive terms.1 Four years after he lost his re-election bid to Benjamin…

It was news nationwide, The elders at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas announced this week that lead preacher Steven J. Lawson had been removed from all ministry responsibilities after he confessed to having an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.  This one was a shocker, and a deep disappointment to many in conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism.…

The land of Israel is disputed territory. Today it is the center of competing political claims. Israel is also the center of competing theological claims. Do the Biblical land promises have any present relevance? Does Israel have any claim to the land promised to Abraham and his seed? These are matters of theological dispute. You…