Grace in Focus – January/February 2018
The Broken Record Approach to Evangelism
By Bob Wilkin What Is This Approach? It was the start of the fall semester of my senior year in college. A friend, John Carlson, had invited me to a College Life meeting, a Christian outreach event. He got me there by asking, “Is it possible that your view of the gospel is wrong?”
Denying the Faith?
By Ken Yates What does it mean to “deny the faith” (1 Tim 5:8)? This question brings up a couple of issues. First, is it possible for a Christian to verbally deny the Christian faith or to renounce Christ? Even though many today would say a Christian could never do such a thing, and
The Armor of God: Our Assurance of Salvation (Ephesians 6:13-18)
By Bill Lee I have long considered Paul’s letter to the Ephesians the Christian’s guide to the spiritual conflict of the ages. Paul wrote Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome after his arrest in Jerusalem. While he expected to be released, the possibility of being executed did exist, and that could be the reason Paul
Do Not Be Ashamed (2 Timothy 1:1–18)
By Zane C. Hodges Salutation (1:1–2) 1:1. In Paul’s salutation to Timothy, the Apostle presents both the medium of his apostleship and its measure. The phrase by the will of God (dia thelēmatos Theou) is the divine medium, while according to the promise of life (kat’ epangelian zōēs) suggests the divine measure or
Faith in Christ Does Not Mean Faithfulness or Fidelity
By Wayne A. Brindle Unlikely Definitions What if you were debating someone about the merits of home schooling, and your opponent said, “Home schools are bad, because, as the Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘school,’ it’s a ‘group of people gambling together,’ and we certainly don’t want our children to do that.” What would your
Mobile Grace
By Bill Fiess All of us who are living in the 21st century are well aware of the technological revolution we daily experience—phones by which we can talk face-to-face, internet by which we can view World Series games live, tablets which can connect us to just about anything. But those of us who are
The Threefold Message of the Cross
By Lewis Sperry Chafer God Has Spoken The epistle to the Hebrews opens with a reference to the messages of God which have been projected into this world, and which have widened the possible scope of man’s understanding and action from the limitations of the things of this world and the conclusions of finite
Conflict Resolution—Genesis Style
By Marcia Hornok The Offense Relationship conflicts are inevitable, going all the way back to Cain and Abel. The most severe and lasting ones seem to be with kin. Do you have a relative or ex you try to avoid due to something done or said years ago? You may think it’s too late to
Fear Changes Your Focus (Luke 12:4)
By Shawn Lazar Early in my Christian life, when I was about eighteen, I had the chance to become a youth pastor. But I said no. Over the next several years, in different churches, and in different contexts, I was called to enter fulltime pastoral ministry. In each case, I refused. Why? In part,