from Yvon Prehn to help you know, trust, and apply the Bible
Many people are familiar with the books that are placed in some Bibles between the Old Testament and the New Testament, also known as the Apocrypha, but what are they, and are they important for us to read to learn about God and to grow in our Christian lives are questions, not many take the time to answer. [Read more…]
The Old Testament makes up a large section of our Bibles, but though many people are familiar with the first part of it with the stories of Creation and the early characters in Biblical history, many people stop there.
Unfortunately also is the idea many people have of the Old Testament is that it is a collection of ancient stories and fables and not something based on true history that can be objectively verified. [Read more…]
Many people believe that the idea of the Trinity is one of the most difficult to understand in the Christian faith. I very much disagree!
God does not intentionally confuse us as to who He is; He desires a relationship with us. He gave us Creation, His Word, and ultimately sent Jesus to earth as God in human flesh so we could know Him. With all of that, the question comes up of why then do people think that understanding the Trinity is difficult? [Read more…]
To convince you that the Bible is indeed the very words of God given to us for our eternal salvation and how to live our earthly lives, is the purpose of this lesson. We begin by talking about the importance of our presuppositions when we approach the Bible and then we go into these four areas: [Read more…]
To many, the Trinity is especially hard to understand in the Old Testament, particularly when we look at the Shema, which says “our God is One.” How can that key belief support the idea of the Trinity? [Read more…]
In the first lesson, on the Trinity, we looked at how the members of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are uncreated, co-equal, and eternal persons. In this lesson we look at what makes them ONE God and that is their attributes or substance. [Read more…]
In contrast to views the widely held, but totally incorrect view that the Trinity is “like ice, water, and steam” which is, in reality, the ancient heresy of Modalism that has God morphing into various forms as God the Father in the Old Testament becoming God the Son in the New Testament, and becoming God the Holy Spirit today, this lesson will demonstrate how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are uncreated, co-equal, and eternal persons. [Read more…]
The launching of the Bibleverse is more than a way to get devotional thoughts, Bible studies, and practical ways to help your church create effective communications. At its core it is my attempt to equip you to fight the good fight of faith during this in-between time of Jesus’ resurrection and our being with Him. [Read more…]
I’ve put together a group of resources to help you to advance the Kingdom of God and fully fulfill the Great Commission. Here is why I did this, how it can help you, and what the Bibleverse consists of, and how to get to the resources. [Read more…]
Ron Sider, author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger died this week.
In reading about his death, I was reminded of the impact his book had on me when I read it in the ’70s and how I have become a coward in sharing what I believe in this area. The news of his death was a timely challenge to me because of a situation that happened recently at a church event.
What happened is that I found myself reacting strongly (silently) to a comment about someone who had significant money spending it on themselves.
“They made the money, they deserve to do whatever they want,” was the comment of the person seated next to me. Though as I said, I had a strong emotional reaction to what she said, I changed the subject and started babbling about something else.
I thought about it later and realized it was an episode of moral cowardice where I didn’t have the energy to say what I was really thinking and to say it calmly and discuss it thoughtfully. [Read more…]
In our previous lesson on the Prophet Micah we talked about what God requires of us and His requirements are summarized in Micah 6:8 which tells us we are to “Do justice, Love mercy, and Walk humbly with our God.” [Read more…]
Though it sounds complex, the topic of this lesson has important and practical implications for how you live day-to-day.
Let me explain—as this lesson shows, God’s view of time, seeing and knowing all that is past, present, and future is what enables us to understand prophecy and trust that what He promised in the past He will fulfill in the future just as He made promises in the past in the Old Testament that He fulfilled in the New Testament. [Read more…]