Haggai 2:6-9 Introduction During this Christmas season, many Christians will listen to the music of Handel’s Messiah. We will join in singing Wesley’s beloved carol Hark! the Herald Angels Sing or his less well known Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. In either case we will hear musical settings of God’s prophet when he said, “and the…
Read MoreWebster defines hermeneutics as “the science of interpretation; esp[ecially] the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis.” Nevertheless, a well-educated person may have no understanding of hermeneutics. In a conversation with a college professor from a well-known conservative (non-Christian) college, he challenged a clear interpretation of Scripture with the charge, “That’s your opinion.” When I…
Read MoreTwo miscellaneous items of interest: How the internet is changing language “There are now thought to be some 4.5 billion web pages worldwide. And with half the population of China now on line, most of them are written in Chinese. “Still, some linguists predict that within 10 years English will dominate the internet – but…
Read MoreDoug Wright Most believers are aware that the typical Christmas pageant contains several inaccuracies – Mary was probably much younger than we picture, the manger was more likely a stone feeding trough, the three (we have no idea how many) “wise men” appearing at the “manger” (Scripture says they came to the “house”), etc. In…
Read MorePart 2 (Part 1 can be found here) Doug Bachorik and Ryan Weberg In Part 1 the authors established the desirability of adopting new and unfamiliar music for church music ministry, but they insist all such music must be thoroughly tested before being adopted (or adapted) by local churches (and individual Christians). In particular, this…
Read MoreDoug Wright In the wake of the Connecticut school shooting, Rush Limbaugh noted that guns have been around for a long, long time, but the kind of school shootings, mall shootings, theatre shootings, etc. we are experiencing have been on the rise. Limbaugh’s astute point is that guns have not changed – people have. Limbaugh…
Read MoreJoel Arnold Working in a Starbucks several weeks ago, my thoughts were completely sidetracked by an old, dirty van that suddenly jerked to a stop at the curb. The man and woman inside were fighting. Screaming. Veins popping out of their necks; Man gets out and hurls his keys at a wall; not a pretty…
Read MoreDavid Potter While hardly anyone has ever heard of Janos Lajos (John Louis), he should be remembered as a Baptist hero. A group of earnest Christians met for Bible study and prayer in Lajos’ home in Salonta, in what is now Bihoria, in the western region of Transylvania in Romania. In the early 1870’s, they…
Read MoreAlcohol Greg Laurie: Is It Acceptable for Christians to Drink? “I can’t think of a single good thing that comes from drinking, but I can think of many bad things that come from it: broken homes, violence, accidents, people killed on the road by drunk drivers, addiction, destroying your health . . . the list…
Read MoreThomas Overmiller Do you hang lights at Christmas? I’m not talking about the decorative kind that we buy at Walmart and plug in to a timer switch outside, though this kind is festive to be sure. Jesus mentioned a different kind in Matthew 5:14-16. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is…
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