Posts from June 2025
Paul’s Plans, Closed Doors and Providence
The study of Paul’s life gives real insight into the doctrine of the freewill we have as we serve our God. In our arrogance sometimes we may think we are wise enough to determine what we should do. Take a moment to reflect on this as we look at Paul’s plan to go to Ephesus, Bithynia and Rome to preach the word. One cannot read the book of Acts without seeing Paul’s desire to get the gospel into the great…
Knowing That You Can Know
The Bible expresses such profound truths in such simple ways that we read them and think we already know this truth, when in reality we do not know what we know! If these words intrigue you, then permit me to use God’s simple words to illustrate this. I vividly recall an experience from our early days in New Zealand in 1962. As we tried to learn more about the various religious groups meeting there, we visited a denomination I knew…
Closer Than It Has Ever Been
In Paul’s letter to Rome, he uses an interesting phrase. He said, “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:11-12). Contextually, he may have not been talking about their salvation when they became Christians, nor salvation when Jesus returns. This was a salvation that was at hand…
While it was Still Standing
There are paragraphs in the Bible which as we read we understand, but when we read them more carefully there are profound truths we may have overlooked. This is true of Hebrews chapter nine. In these verses, God talks about the tabernacle/temple with its two rooms. That second room, described in this chapter as “the second part,” was hidden from almost every mortal on the earth. Only one living man on only one day each year could enter it. It…