I once heard a man say, “Death is the penalty for living.”  Is death the penalty for living?  Many would say yes.  Death is a penalty, but it is not the penalty for living; it is the penalty for sin.  Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death….” (Romans 6:23). Adam and Eve were […]

Legend has it that the ostrich will stick its head in the ground when danger is near, hoping that if the problem is ignored, it will go away.  Of course, no one has ever observed an ostrich actually doing this.  It is just a popular tale.  However, that some people have developed an “ostrich” mentality […]

Several years ago, a woman by the name of Ayelet Waldman, wrote an essay in which she stated that she loved her husband more than her children.  The majority of women who read her essay, especially those who were mothers, voiced their strong disagreement with her.  Nevertheless, she stood her ground, making a very articulate […]

In golf, when a shot is so far off the mark that spectators are in danger, the golfer yells, “FORE!!!.”   That is what I feel like yelling when I hear some of the remarks on “same-sex marriage” today. When a couple of professional women basketball players got engaged, an article appeared singing their praises, calling […]

Last words are always important, even when they do not end up being the last words.  In Acts 20, we read of Paul’s farewell speech to the elders of the church at Ephesus.  He believed, at the time, that he would not ever see them in person again.  We might expect, then, that whatever Paul […]

Please know that I have no ill feelings toward those who are Catholics.  However, those who are in that religion must come to terms with the fact that the Roman Catholic church is not the church that you read about in the Bible.  The Catholic church started at the wrong time (606 A.D) and in […]

We have seen in our last few articles that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was something that was promised only to the apostles, and there is no longer any purpose for it.  Someone may ask, “What about the case of Cornelius and his household?”  In this final article on Holy Spirit baptism, let us […]

In our first installment of this three-part series on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we saw that Charismatics believe that Holy Spirit baptism should be experienced by all who claim to be Christians.  They further suggest that one cannot be what God wants him or her to be without receiving the baptism of the […]

Pentecostal churches, such as the Assemblies of God, teach that all true believers experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Here is a quote from them concerning the purpose of being baptized with the Holy Spirit. “For salvation?  No, for we are justified by faith.  For life and service? Yes! Jesus commanded His disciples not […]

The devil is always on the attack.  Peter tells us that he “walk about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  It is because of this that Paul exhorts us to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11).  I like what Paul says in verse thirteen of that […]