Mark: The Immediate Gospel – “Let’s Start at the Very Beginning!”

It has been said that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply the ABCs of the Christian life; it’s the A to Z of the Christian life. But just as Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music” said, “Let’s start at the very beginning,” so we must look at the fundamental themes of the [...]

Mark: The Immediate Gospel – Background

The writer of the gospel of Mark was not an eyewitness of the events he describes in the ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was this man, and how did he come to pen the oldest gospel? We can learn much about him by observing several clues the Lord has left [...]

Romans 8:28-39 God Loves You! Get Over It!

“The great difficulty with many Christians is that they cannot persuade themselves that Christ (or God) loves them.” Those words, written by theologian Charles Hodge almost 200 years ago, are more true today than we think. The fact is, unless and until we can start to grasp the infinite love of God as demonstrated on [...]

Part 2 Luke 16:14-31 Peace, Justice and the Existence of Hell

The “parable” of the rich man and Lazarus is one of the most mined passages of the New Testament for details about life after death. Unfortunately, people often miss the main points of the passage: 1) How we use our earthly resources has eternal consequences; 2) after death, the choices we made in life are [...]

Part 1 Luke 16:14-31 Peace, Justice and the Existence of Hell

There is not a person (in their right mind) on the earth who does not want peace and justice. Peace and justice can only happen when everyone agrees as to what constitutes justice so that peace may prevail. Further, justice can only happen when everyone uses their personal resources (i.e., their wealth) in ways that [...]

“The Difficulty of Many Christians” by Charles Hodge

“The great difficulty with many Christians is that they cannot persuade themselves that Christ (or God) loves them; and the reason why they cannot feel confident of the love of God, is, that they know they do not deserve his love, on the contrary, that they are in the highest degree unlovely. How can the [...]