Excellence should be able to demonstrate itself without appeals to authority or qualifications. Let those who claim to have authority or expertise demonstrate it by their conversation and teaching. The apostle Paul demonstrated the standard: "... but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.” 2Corinthians 4:2. …
Category: Preaching
A three-in-one question
"As Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Matthew 24:3 My last blogpost looked at Jesus' teaching on the current and future character of His …
False Christianity
Jesus warns us against false Christs Mat 24:24 and each of the apostles did the same. So, how do false Christs operate? First, they use Christian terminology. Counterfeits always imitate the real thing. Are you able to detect counterfeit Christs, counterfeit Christianity? Secondly, they use Christian terms in a different way than the Bible does, …
Proof by assertion
More attention should be paid to this error, but not many people notice it, so it goes unchallenged. "Proof by assertion" is my coined phrase for those statements made by anyone who thinks that something is proven simply because they have asserted it. Some of these people even expect you to believe what they say, …
The failure of Gentile Christianity
The failure of Gentile Christianity is predicted in Scripture at Rom 11:15. Its revival will come with the conversion of national Israel. Meanwhile, why has Gentile Christianity failed to convert the world? It has been successful in what the Lord called it to. It has evangelized the world Mat 28:18-20, making disciples of all ethnic …
Hypercalvinism
It is not uncommon for Arminians to misrepresent Calvinism, not only with respect to doctrine but also by confusing Calvinism with hypercalvinism. American Arminians tend to confuse Calvinism with their misunderstanding of free will and divine election, from which they think that Calvinists do not preach the free offer of the Gospel. These topics were …
Evangelical errors
Evangelical Christians pride themselves in believing the Bible and in preaching the Gospel. However, this self-assessment does not completely stand up to scrutiny. I have heard many an evangelical preacher who is rather niggardly with the Gospel and sometimes I wonder if they know how to preach it. As for their biblical teaching, I have …
What is a Christian?
A Christian is the term describing a person who has been baptized as a disciple of Jesus Christ into the Christian church. Jesus Christ had disciples, literally meaning 'a student', some of whom were in due course baptized as His disciples Jn 4:1-2. The Jews were disciples of Moses Jn 9:28 and John the Baptist …
The usefulness of Bible exegesis
This is the second blogpost in my current series on Bible exegesis for beginners. You may want to begin at the beginning. The first blogpost was to help you load an essential Bible tool on to your computer, which you can consult at anytime even when you are not on the internet. I plan to …
God is not mocked
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" Gal 6:7 The silence of God There are those who do not believe in God and His silence is misunderstood by them as indifference towards human affairs. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily by …
Donald's Thoughts 