Gospel Living

Beginning with Moses | The OT Witness to a Suffering Messiah Joe Zhakevich | 2017 Shepherd's Conference MEDIA LINKS:  MP3 Joe Zhakevich MORE SERMONS

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2  “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3  And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4  And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5  And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6  And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7  And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8  And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets f...

I received a question regarding Brad Klassen’s talk at the 2017 Shepherds’ Conference (which I posted here ).  There was some confusion as to what he was arguing, and this topic is definitely worth taking another look, so I typed up a quick summary as I listened.  I hope it helps. First, Klassen’s bio ( here ) reads as such: Brad Klassen serves as instructor of biblical exposition at The Master’s Seminary. Prior to joining the seminary faculty in 2013, Brad served with Grace Ministries International in Russia for twelve years. Brad holds degrees from Providence University College (B.Th.) and The Master’s Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.), where he is currently pursuing his Th.D. His topic was Christological in one way but bibliological in another.  That is, it was to look at the Person of Christ in relation to the New Testament Scripture.  The key question here is whether Jesus knew that His disciples would write Holy Scripture; Klassen argues that Christ both kn...

Absolutely Necessary? by Keith Essex The Doctrinal Importance of the Virgin Birth 2017 Shepherds' Conference Evangelicals today question the historicity of the virgin birth.  Is it important for Christians to believe that Jesus was born miraculously into this world?  And what Roman Catholic views develop concerning Mary? MEDIA LINKS:   MP3 Keith Essex MORE SERMONS

As It Is Written by Brad Klassen The Authority of Christ and the Canon of Scripture 2017 Shepherds' Conference We learn about Jesus's teaching through the writing of the apostles.  However, did Jesus Christ expect that there would be such a thing as the New Testament?  Did He authorize it?  MEDIA LINKS:   MP3 Brad Klassen MORE SERMONS

The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit | Part 3 Series:  The Fundamentals of our Faith 1/25/2017 (WED) In this session, we study the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Based on _Fundamentals of the Faith_ by John MacArthur)

NOTE: In light of my previous post , here's the audio from last week's study.  I'll post last night's audio here next Wednesday, and then we'll be rolling on a schedule! The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit | Part 2 Series:  The Fundamentals of our Faith 1/18/2017 (WED) In this session, we study the divinity and work of the Holy Spirit. (Based on _Fundamentals of the Faith_ by John MacArthur)

If Newsweek's yuletide drive-by on the Bible (a sloppy bit of journalism dismantled by James White ) is any reminder, it is that the world will continue its attacks of the trustworthiness of God's Word. Yet, fewer Christian institutions defend Scripture against such fallacious attacks.  It seems that every year, Evangelical scholarship becomes more willing to allow such questions to go unanswered, even promoting them in classrooms as valid inquiries. Can a believer have confidence that what God spoke is inerrant?  If you're a pastor or Christian leader who needs to build his confidence in the Bible or disciple others in the same, this conference is for you. Unfortunately, registration is already closed.  However, you can follow the conference online live and for free at https://www.shepherdsconference.org/.  Be sure to follow the conference on Twitter for updates and possible openings at https://twitter.com/shepconf.  As always, after t...

Discussing Evangelicalism's attacks on Scripture (yes, you read that right), Dr. David Farnell took the stage at the Veritas Evangelical Seminary 2014 National Apologetics Conference on November 8th, 2014. Here's the video: Defending Inerrancy posted this video as well as partial transcript , should you want to read instead of/in addition to watching.

TurretinFan posted the following to the glory of God .  I second his call for support to Alpha and Omega Ministries if you find these helpful and can do so. I was reluctant to post this list, because I'm concerned that people who might otherwise support Dr. White's ministry by buying copies of the debates will just watch them for free.  However, I trust that people who would support Dr. White's ministry by buying his debates will consider doing so in some other way, since his ministry is reliant on support of Christians who support what he's doing. Moreover, keep in mind that the debates below represent less than a quarter of the debates Dr. White has done.  ( see here for a list of debates you can get at store.aomin.org - that list may need to be updated at some point ) David Bernard vs. James White, "Are Tongues Necessary?" (informal radio debate on WMCA radio in New York , circa August 18, 2003) ( mp3 ) (Audio-only on Youtube part 1/5 )( part...

I encourage you to take advantage of the following lecture series: One of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith involves the biblical truth of one God in three persons, i.e., the triunity of God. Our faculty lecture series in chapel during February focused on this essential belief. The lectures are listed/hyperlinked below so that you too can benefit from the fruitful labors of our TMS faculty. Enjoy! Trinitarianism & Creationism Dr. Bryan Murphy   Trinitarianism & Inspiration Dr. William Barrick   Trinitarianism & Salvation/Sanctification Dr. Andrew Snider   Trinitarianism & Eschatology Dr. Michael Vlach   Trinitarianism & Church History Professor Nathan Busenitz

You may never have considered this question, but James comes under a lot of fire for not mentioning Jesus frequently.  Some have taken up the idea that the epistle was a Jewish document that was later "Christianized."  Whatever its origin, they just don't see it meshing well with Christian doctrine. Yet, if it is, as we believe, a product of the Holy Spirit, then there is cause for us to mine the text.   There is sufficient cause for us to be challenged in our sin and provoked to worship! Will Varner, who published a concise commentary on James for the body of Christ , tackles this question  in a recent blog post .  Based on the following information, he argues that the Epistle of James is the most " Jesus-saturated book in the New Testament, following of course the Gospels ." Jas 1:2 - Mt. 5:11-12 — joy in tribulation Jas. 1:5 - Mt. 7:7; Lk. 11:9 — ask and you will receive Jas. 1:6 - Mt. 21:21 — faith and doubting Jas. 1:12 - Mt. 5:11-12; Lk....

For your Sunday reflection: We've Been Expecting You: Part I - Message 5 God Breathed Dust Balls Bible: Genesis 1-3; 2 Timothy 3:17 When the Bible teaches all Scripture is inspired by God, it uses a term that means literally in the Greek "God-breathed." The other significant use of this is with Adam (Gen. 2:7). Thus, both God's word and God's creation of humanity became eternal. If you are heading for heaven, this is glorious news. Sadly, for those who are headed for hell, this is terrible news unless the solution of salvation through Jesus is received.

As a preface, please see Saturday's post . We don't hate the Mormon people, nor do we want to be contentious.  However, in our pursuit of truth, we have to prayerfully sort out the evidence. This video is over an hour long, but it seems to be a very well-done documentary of the differences between the historicity and data of the Bible and that of the Book of Mormon.  It is adversarial to the claims of the LDS church, of course, but I don't believe it comes across as offensive. Also, it is not only a good for raising questions concerning LDS claims, but it is a great video to build your confidence in the Bible.

In a recent sitdown with some Mormon missionaries, I was asked to read Moroni 10 from the Book of Mormon. In verses 3-5, it says: Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. They asked me what that meant to me.  So, to answer, I used the example of the Christian Bible. I said that man, made in God's image, has reason and recogni...

Rick Holland, Speaker Rick opens by recounting the life of John Knox, the Reformer who brought the message of the Gospel to Catholic Scotland. Mary, knowing Knox’s prayers against her and the Catholic crown, said she feared his prayers more than all the armies of Europe. Knox feared no man, but labored because of his love for Christ. Today, Knox’s grave is a parking spot, a symbol of what Scotland has done with the Gospel. We should look at 2 Cor 11. In verse 23–27, we read of Paul’s bravery in the face of awesome trials. However, this bold man said he was afraid in verse 3 of the same chapter. He was afraid that the Corinthians would be led astray. There are false teachers, prophets, apostles, and brethren in the church: enough for anyone to fear. Rick calls us to note three applications of pastoral theology: 1. A Fearful Ecclesiology In verse 2, Paul says he “ betrothed ” the Corinthians to Christ. Paul doesn’t call them to allegiance to himself, he wanted to present a trea...

Phil Johnson, Speaker Evangelicalism is a “ mixed multitude .” Each time that term is used in the Old Testament of the KJV, it is used despairingly. We are living in a time of apostasy that is not too diff erent than some of the times described in the book of Judges. We have reached a time where everyone does what is right in his own eyes. He says he is tempted to stop calling himself Evangelical to distance himself from those who claim the label, from Joel Osteen to Tony Campolo to some Catholics and now, even some Mormons! However, he affirms the historical definition of Evangelicalism, and his spiritual fathers are Evangelicals. A lot of Evangelicals are fed up with the superficiality of the movement, and are following the path of Francis Beckwith, and run to Rome. Others, like Frankie Schaeffer, have gone to Eastern Orthodox churches. Still others are turning to the Emergent Churches. Has the movement gone astray because our parents and grandparents f...

This is a response to a comment at Myspace Pisteuo from the question of whether Jesus would support gay marriage. In part, here was my comment: [It is true that] Jesus didn't say anything about gay marriage ... What Jesus did was affirm God's design for marriage, "from the beginning" between a man and a woman. Jesus also affirmed what Moses had to say time and time again , so there's no doubt as to whether He would approve of marriages between sodomites. ... The part I emboldened above is the line I am asked to defend in this comment: "time and time again" oh my, I think that's over stating the frequency. It is hardly mentioned in scripture. Add up the lines, compare it to the whole and you come up with a small matter over stated by leaders with an agenda. So, the question is whether Jesus cited Moses in an affirming way "time and time again," or if I am overstating the fact. First, as to the request to " add up the lines :"...