By Dix Winston Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish festival celebrating the time when Israel gained independence from Greece and, beginning on the 25th of Chislev, the subsequent rededication of the temple. This year, Hanukkah will be celebrated December 7-15. The temple had to be rededicated because Antiochus Epiphanes had

By Bob Wilkin “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” The Lord often taught by parables. He did so to conceal truth from those who rejected Him and

By Ken Yates Recently, I had lunch with some friends at a restaurant. It was a Sunday afternoon and we had just left church, so we were in the mood to discuss a little theology. One of them asked me a question about faith. He asked, “Is it a quantity or a state?” I think

By Brad Doskocil Bob Wilkin recently wrote an article suggesting that H. A. Ironside held to Free Grace Theology (FGT). I emailed him, suggesting that in some of his commentaries, Ironside made statements that are inconsistent with FGT. Bob asked me to send him some quotes; this article is the result. The following observations are

By Nancy Rempel* *All names in this story are pseudonyms except for Billy Graham and the apostle Paul. Maybe it’s all up to us to be persuasive and winsome enough. To be clever super-saints—Billy Graham and the apostle Paul all rolled into one—before we can lead someone to Christ. Maybe God waits for us to

By Philippe R. Sterling During the Christmas season, we mostly reflect on the announcements of Jesus’ birth recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. However, we may also reflect on the wonderful aspects of the birth of Jesus described in Galatians 4:4-5. In that passage, the Apostle Paul stated: But when the fullness of

By Marcia Hornok Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem? Did an innkeeper reject Mary and Joseph? Was Jesus born the night they arrived? Did a multitude of angels sing? Did a special star guide the wise men all the way from the Orient to Israel? Did anyone kneel at the manger? Does Santa Claus

By Bob Wilkin The author is an assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at Bethlehem College and Seminary. John Piper is the chancellor. In the Acknowledgements, Bruno says that John Piper “provided valuable feedback on the manuscript” (p. 149). Piper is also cited in an endnote for Chap. 9 (p. 154). The theology in

By Mike Lii During this time of year, children are often asked, “Do you believe in Santa?” It is interesting to note that when it comes to answering this question, people have nowhere near the level of confusion or over-analysis that they have about answering the question: “Do you believe in Jesus?” Most interpret the

By Kathryn Wright Over the past few decades, there has been an overwhelming exodus of young people from churches in the United States. Many Millennials (and Gen Z) who grew up in the church leave their evangelical roots and turn to post-modernism. These people are often referred to as “deconstructionists.” Many deconstructionists are leaving the

By Ken Yates Manasseh, one of the kings of Judah, was not a good man. He brought a great deal of grief upon his people. He ruled for fifty-five years and is described by the author of 2 Kings as the evilest king in the nation’s history (2 Kgs 21:1-16). When God gave the Jews

By Art Farstad* *This article first appeared in December 1991 in Grace in Focus. At Christmastide, even the most convinced Protestant should be allowed a little Latin–for example, gloria in excelsis Deo! After all, didn’t the great Reformers, Luther and Calvin, write chiefly in Latin? And wasn’t Calvin’s Latin style a great deal more elegant