Posted in Christianity, Creation, God, ocean, Octopus, tagged Christianity, Creation, God, ocean, Octopus on February 28, 2018| 9 Comments »
This is a Christian Home School Lesson Series for 4-5 year olds on God’s sea creatures!
Lesson 4 is on Octopus.
Purpose: To explore and know more about God’s creature called the Octopus.
Book(s) read:
Lola M. Schaefer Octopuses.
Other tools:
Laptop (to show Youtube videos)
Measuring Tape (to show size)
Learning Objectives:
Posted in Bible contradiction, bible difficulties, christian apologetics, Christianity, Jesus, Theology, tagged Bible contradiction, bible difficulties, christian apologetics, Christianity, Jesus, Theology on February 27, 2018| 18 Comments »
Someone didn’t like my 50 Alleged Bible Contradictions Refuted. Specifically he zoomed in on #22: “Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus?”
He’s an Emmy Award Nominee and that’s a picture of him taking a selfie reading a New York Times Bestseller.
His latest comment was the following:
Posted in christian apologetics, Christianity, Jason Lisle, Presuppositional Apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed, Theology, tagged christian apologetics, Christianity, Jason Lisle, Presupposiitonalism, presuppositional apologetics, Reformed, Theology on February 27, 2018| 17 Comments »
As I’m going over this with a group of guys from my church I thought the following questions might be helpful for individuals and small groups to facilitate discussions and learning based upon the apologetics’ book “Ultimate Proof of Creation” by Jason Lisle. It is a book that teaches Presuppositional apologetics that engages apologetics at the level of worldview. Cornelius Van Til was instrumental in beginning this form of apologetics and others have developed and applied it.
For discussion questions for previous chapters click on the following:
The questions in this post will be for chapter 7 of the book. Each question is followed by page numbers in parenthesis where the answer can be found.
Posted in Christianity, Reformed, Theology, tagged Christianity, Reformed, Theology on February 26, 2018| 28 Comments »
I’ll be gone overseas to train pastors a few months from now in an unspoken location where internet access is minimal and much of the internet is blocked. So I’m looking for those who are interested in writing original guest posts for this blog with contents that are Biblical and of course matches our theology and apologetics’ methodology.
I’m also looking for those who will write a post and be willing to interact with people in the comment section for their posts which will be pre-scheduled while I’m away.
If you are interested, let me know!
Posted in Christianity, Health, Joshua Trock, Reformed, Theology, tagged Christianity, exercise, Health, Joshua Trock, Reformed, Theology on February 25, 2018| 14 Comments »
Note: This is the final installment of a seven part series we have featured on Sunday on the important topic of a Christian Theology of Health by Dr. Joshua Trock. His Twitter account can be found here.
“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” Rom 14:8
Practical Steps to Health and Wellness
By Dr. Joshua Trock
I pray that through this journey, as we’ve investigated what it is to have a Theology of Health, you now better understand why we should strive to live life as optimally as we can. I hope you have seen the theological implications of your body, your eating and your exercise. I hope you can identify idolatry in your pursuit along with all the ways that your motivations can manifest into the glorification of God. So now that there is a firm foundation to the “ought” behind why we should steward our health, I want to leave you with some practical steps to help you make some meaningful changes in your life.
Posted in Bahnsen, christian apologetics, Christianity, Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, Presuppositional Apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed, Theology, Van Til, tagged Apologetics, Bahnsen, Christianity, Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen, presuppositional apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed, Theology, Van Til on February 24, 2018| 14 Comments »
A lighthearted post.
I often get asked about which book I recommend as an introduction to Presuppositional apologetics. I thought I make a meme of that.
I’m always ready to recommend Always Ready by Greg Bahnsen.
Greg Bahnsen was a disciple of Cornelius Van Til, the father of Presuppositional apologetics. He’s done a lot to make Presuppositional apologetics understandable and to apply it.
You can check out my review of his book by clicking here.
Posted in Bible, Christianity, Devotional, Ephesians, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Reformed, Theology, tagged Christianity, Devotional, Ephesians, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Reformed, Theology on February 23, 2018| 29 Comments »
This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading a few weeks ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.
Our text is Ephesians 1:3. Here’s my translation:
“SENTENCE 3 Εὐλογητὸς [T ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ T]
Blessed is God and Father of our Lord Jesus ChristSENTENCE ‹ ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν
who bless us and with every spiritual blessing and in the heavenly inΧριστῷ ›”
Christ
Here’s some observation:
Posted in Apologetic Links, christian apologetics, Christianity, Cornelius Van Til, Presuppositional Apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed, Theology, Van Til, tagged Apologetic Links, christian apologetics, Christianity, Cornelius Van Til, presuppositional apologetics, presuppositionalism, Reformed, Theology, Van Til on February 22, 2018| 12 Comments »
Here are the links related to Presuppositional apologetics gathered between February 15th-21st, 2018.
1.) The Explanatory Weakness of Atheism: My Testimony
2.) Deuteronomy 18, Messianic Prophecy: How Jesus was like Moses Part 2
3.) Suppress the Truth at Your Own Peril
4.) Am I a presuppositionalist?
5.) Is TAG viable?
Missed the last round up? Check out the re-blogged post from a friend OR that of Another REBLOG HERE
Posted in Biblical Creationism, Christianity, Creation, Reformed, Starfish, Theology, tagged Biblical Creationism, Christianity, Creation, Reformed, Starfish, Theology on February 21, 2018| 18 Comments »
This is a Christian Home School Lesson Series for 4-5 year olds on God’s sea creatures!
Lesson 3 is on Starfish.
Purpose: To explore and know more about God’s creature called Starfish.
Book(s) read:
Lola M. Schaefer Starfish.
Other tools:
Laptop (to show Youtube videos)
Measuring Tape (to show size)
Learning Objectives:
Posted in Ascension, Bethany, Christianity, Jesus, Mount Olivet, Reformed, Theology, tagged Ascension, Bethany, Christianity, Jesus, Mount Olivet, Reformed, Theology on February 20, 2018| 33 Comments »
For more of our posts responding to alleged Bible contradictions check out our Collection of Posts Responding to Bible Contradictions.
For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Did Jesus ascend from Bethany or Mount Olivet?
Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes shows a Bible contradiction:
“And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” (Luke 24:50-51)
“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight…Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.” (Acts 1:9, 12)
(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)
Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:
Posted in Book Review, capitol hill baptist church, Christianity, Church, mark dever, ministry, Pastor, Pastoral Ministry, Reformed, Theology, tagged book review, capitol hill baptist church, Christianity, Church, mark dever, ministry, Pastor, Pastoral Ministry, Reformed, Theology on February 19, 2018| 7 Comments »
First off before I share my review I want to welcome all those who have recently found our blog on Monergism.com. We are a blog that is intent on covering apologetics, Christian worldview and theology with posts on book reviews, resources and our own written content. Feel free to subscribe and bookmark our page for daily posts!
Mark Dever and Paul Alexander. The Deliberate Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, September 9th 2005. 221 pp.
5 out of 5
Purchase: Westminster | Amazon
Both authors Mark Dever and Paul Alexander have written a helpful book for pastors and church leaders on doing church ministry according to the Bible and centered on the Gospel. As the book states on page 28, “The Gospel alone shapes and evaluate must both shape and evaluate any ministry method we use.” This is a great antidote to the seeker sensitive church method or other marketing gimmick that is driven more by man-centered pragmatisms instead of the Word of God. I love how this book is both biblical and practical since I believe there is a real need of resources on practical ecclesiology (doctrine of the church). Too often one find two kinds of extreme: practical works without it being biblical or biblical works on the church without a deeper practical picture of what does it look like. Dever and Alexander writes from being biblically informed and years of wisdom and experience which through their 9 Marks ministry have greatly helped many other local churches including the one I minister at.
Posted in Christianity, God, Health, Reformed, Theology, tagged Christianity, God, Health, Reformed, Theology on February 18, 2018| 30 Comments »
Note: This is the fifth installment of a seven part series we will feature on Sunday on the important topic of a Christian Theology of Health by Dr. Joshua Trock. His Twitter account can be found here.
Glorifying God with Our Health
By Dr Joshua Trock
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” Colossians 3:23-24
Sometimes in our Christian walk we find ourselves separating our lives into different spheres. In one realm we have the sacred. We have our church time, our Bible study time, our prayer time, our set apart times for evangelical events or ministry. Then, in another realm, we have our secular engagements. This would be our jobs, our eating, our exercise, our hobbies, our menial tasks that we indulge in because they give us enjoyment or they are just a necessary part of life. Yet, I would like to propose to you today, there are no separate spheres in our life. There is only one mode that we operate in as blood bought sons and daughters of Christ and that we should always, in all things and in all ways, glorify God in EVERYTHING that we do. So if this is indeed true and we have this calling on our lives to interweave our worship of God in the grand tasks and the seemingly pointless, how do we accomplish this? How do we glorify God better with our jobs or hobbies or, as my main point in this series has been, our health? My goal today is to help you better understand these questions and develop a robust biblical framework to practically living out the Glorification of God in all aspects of your life.
Posted in America, Book Review, China, tagged America, book review, China on February 17, 2018| 15 Comments »
A weekend nonfiction reading review…because even pastors need a break from heavy theological reading!
John Pomfret. The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, November 29th 2016. 704 pp.
5 out of 5
Purchase: Amazon
This is an incredible work on the relationship between the United States and China. It is a very fascinating read from the first chapter to the last. When one thinks about the United States and China even at the surface one realizes that the two countries are very different: on the one hand one is a new country and on the other hand the other is an ancient kingdom that have existed for thousands of years. On the other hand one country represents the modern West while the other represents Asia. Nevertheless the amount of intersection and interaction between the countries is incredible and have shaped the two country in crucial ways more than most people realize. Despite the differences the people from both countries have historically been fascinated with each other while also being fearful and misunderstanding each other.
Posted in christian apologetics, Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Messianic prophecy, Moses, Reformed, Theology, Types, tagged christian apologetics, Christianity, Islam, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Messianic Prophecy, Moses, Reformed, Theology, Types on February 16, 2018| 38 Comments »
Nearly five years ago I refuted a frequent Muslim argument that the Bible in Deuteronomy 18 is a prediction about Muhammad. I looked specifically at the argument as it was presented in A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam.
Among other things the booklet asserted concerning Deuteronomy 18 that:
So, this prophecy refers to Muhammad and not to Jesus, because Muhammad is more like Moses than Jesus.” (Page 34)
I followed up with a second post in which I further established the Christian claim that Deuteronomy 18 is not a prediction about Muhammad since it is instead a predication about Jesus Christ. I did this by noting the parallel between the account of Moses in Exodus with the account of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. In our current post I want to further reinforce my point that the Bible in the New Testament presents Jesus as the parallel “New Moses” by looking at further parallels from the first few chapters of the book of Mark. Readers might want to start with the first two posts I have linked before proceeding onward in order to get the maximum force of the argument.
After reading this ask yourself this question: Doesn’t biblical Messianic prophecies and Messianic typology make you more certain in your faith with the truth of Christianity and also increase your awe with the glory of God manifested through Jesus Christ?
Posted in Christianity, difficulties, God, Reformed, Theology, Trials, tribulations, tagged Christianity, difficulties, God, Reformed, Theology, Trials, tribulation on February 15, 2018| 28 Comments »
As a Pastor I’m always ministering to people in trials. Sometimes it seems like the Lord is not answering prayers the way we want it to be resolved which leaves one wondering if God is working.
A recent thought came to mind that I wanted to write and spell out.
The Domain for Truth 