By Marcia Hornok “God has a wonderful plan for your life,” states a popular evangelistic appeal.1 This leads many Christians to conclude they must discern God’s pre-determined plan and carry it out. But how does He reveal His perfect will for us? What happens if we miss out on God’s best? Bill and his wife,

QUESTION The Bible tells us that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. With [the false teachings of] “lordship” and “works” salvation so prominent today, how have so many people who appear to be diligent seekers missed the mark? What caused this promise from the Scriptures to be short-circuited? There definitely isn’t

By Lucas Kitchen There are two kinds of miracles in the Bible. Blessings and cursings. Everyone wants the one, while avoiding the other like the plague…because, well, the other is literally the plague. Blessing miracles are constructive events like healing, restoring sight, or bringing someone back from the dead. These are the ones that make

By Philippe Sterling What do you look for in a church? Some people look for a dynamic, young, handsome pastor with a beautiful wife who raises cute children, sings wonderfully, and leads a lively Bible class for the women of the church. Others look for a church with a lavish sanctuary, a first-rate orchestra, or

By Cal Staggers In his letter to the Ephesians, does Paul say that you or I are predestined to be adopted as God’s sons and to obtain an inheritance in the kingdom? Let’s use exegesis to define the words and terms in Eph 1:1–3:6 and try to understand Paul’s argument using only the letter itself.

By Anthony Badger Calvinism Question. I see a lot of people turning to Calvinism. I believe God in His sovereignty gave us free will, and He does intervene on earth, but that doesn’t take away our free will. I just wanted to ask what the church believed before Augustine (300-400 years after Christ)? Also, Calvinists

By Shawn Willson In late 2021, I preached through the story of Noah for the second time in my pastoral ministry. As I began the series, I took a moment to look back on what I wrote on Noah in 2009. I cringed when I saw the title of the second sermon in the series.

By Laurence M. Vance “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed” (Gal 2:11). Although this verse seems rather inconspicuous, it is actually one of the most significant verses in the New Testament. This is not to say that Paul meant it to be

By Andrew Engelman You Can’t Be Sure? They threw it all at me—all of it. They said that before the fall of man, God ordained who would be saved. They told me I was dead, a corpse, unable to receive the gift of grace unless it had already been chosen for me. I had to