On Wildfires, Judgment, and Compassion

By Kevin Schaal | January 19, 2025 | Comments Off on On Wildfires, Judgment, and Compassion

As I write, we are a week into the LA wildfires and the official containment level is still under 20% in most of the breakouts. The political/media class has exploded with finger-pointing and pontificating while the fires still roar. Surely, short-sighted political decisions have had disastrous consequences. LA saved $17 million in the fire budget…

Podcast – Interview 58: Biblical Decision Making (Benjamin Flegal)

By Proclaim and Defend | January 18, 2025 | Comments Off on Podcast – Interview 58: Biblical Decision Making (Benjamin Flegal)

We are working on interviews with the authors for our November/December edition of FrontLine magazine. We still have a few outstanding conversations to go through before we get to the soon to be published next issue. Today’s guest is Benjamin Flegal who teaches at Maranatha Baptist University. I’ll let him introduce himself to you, but…

Food (Allergies) and Fellowship

By Holly Huffstutler | January 17, 2025 | Comments Off on Food (Allergies) and Fellowship

We have probably all heard the jokes that every Baptist fellowship involves food. From my experience I’d have a hard time refuting this. Our church actually eats lunch together every Sunday. Most Sundays each family brings their own lunch, but every month that has a fifth Sunday, our church has a potluck. Besides Sundays, we…

Murmuring, Discord and Division

By Randy Livingston | January 16, 2025 | Comments Off on Murmuring, Discord and Division

We read in the Scriptures of the spiritual prosperity of the early church. A great love prevailed in the believers so that they “had all things common” (Acts 5:32). The apostles gave “witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 5:33). As a result, the “number of…

Rediscovering Depth in Authentic Friendships

By Forrest McPhail | January 15, 2025 | Comments Off on Rediscovering Depth in Authentic Friendships

I don’t know what you are hearing, but I feel like I am constantly hearing two complaints from young adults today: 1) Loneliness is a huge problem; 2) Young adults greatly desire serious friendships and mentors. One would think that, if so many young men and women are lonely and desirous of friendships with depth…

Jeremiah, the Wooden Literalist

By Paul Henebury | January 14, 2025 | Comments Off on Jeremiah, the Wooden Literalist

Many Christian interpreters of the Bible will readily call you anti-intellectual, obscurantist, and other nice epithets if you dare to believe the Bible really means what it says. You will be decried as a naive “wooden literalist.” Well, here’s a little something for you to meditate upon before you succumb to the hermeneutical sophisticates who…

DEI and the Local Church

By Kevin Schaal | January 12, 2025 | Comments Off on DEI and the Local Church

DEI in the Local Church? The discussion about Equity and Inclusion has been a roller coaster ride for the last eight years. The conversation usually centers on work, education, and government, and this election has revealed a huge nationwide backlash against the concept. But what about the concepts of equity and inclusion in the local…

Podcast – Interview 57: Maturity and Wisdom (Bryan & Rebecca Brock)

By Proclaim and Defend | January 11, 2025 | Comments Off on Podcast – Interview 57: Maturity and Wisdom (Bryan & Rebecca Brock)

We are back from our holiday break with new podcasts based on the articles in our magazine, FrontLine. We left off with an interview with the associate editor for the November/December edition of the magazine, Dr. David Anderson. We did that interview just before Christmas. You can check our feed to catch up on that…

A Look at the Lists: Spiritual Gifts for Today

By David Huffstutler | January 10, 2025 | Comments Off on A Look at the Lists: Spiritual Gifts for Today

A spiritual gift is a God-granted ministry to each member of the body of Christ in order to edify its members. There are a variety of gifts (each member with his own gift or combination of gifts), but this variety is united in purpose—to edify the church. They are granted by the Triune God—the Spirit,…

Four Reasons Acts 2:38–39 Does Not Imply Infant Baptism

By M. R. Conrad | January 9, 2025 | Comments Off on Four Reasons Acts 2:38–39 Does Not Imply Infant Baptism

Fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Peter, ignited a gospel movement that spread from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the world. Acts 2 records the riveting historical account of timid followers of Jesus leaving their hiding places and boldly preaching to crowds gathered…