For most of this year (2022), we've been looking at the subject of The Afterlife. Here is a complete link list of all articles written about the subject. Bound For Eternity Series Yes, Viriginia, there is an Afterlife Do All Roads Lead to Heaven? There are Two Ways    Where do the Dead Live?   See You Tomorrow   Is Eternity Forever?   The Judgement: Our Day in Court Everlasting Too Late Things Not Found on Judgment Day There are No Unbelievers There are No Mistrials There is No Studying There are No Material Possessions   There are No Invitation Songs Things You Will Never do in Heaven Series Introduction You Turned on a Light Switch You Locked Your Doors You Took some Medicine You Visited a Sick Person You Saw an Elderly Person You Drove past a Cemetery You Shed a Tear You Faced a Temptation I hope you find this series of articles beneficial to your spiritual walk. If I can assist you further in the subjects or others, please comment below.

    Introduction The 25 th of December falls on Sunday this year (2022) as it also did in 2011 and 2016. And, with that, thousands of churches will be closed this Sunday! Some might ask why is that a concern? “After all, they are plenty of services the day before, on Christmas Eve.” But is it really that important? Let’s see what the bible has to say.   The Birth of Christ Although the birth of our Lord and Savior is an important event to talk about; one that’s even prophesized about (Isa. 9:6; Micah 5:2), the scriptures do not give us a specific date as to when He was born. We should conclude then that His birth is not that significant to celebrate in a yearly fashion. Most of us have a birth certificate, hospital record, and/or relatives that can tell us exactly when we were born; even right down to the time of the delivery. With this in mind, we are able to celebrate our birth every year that that day rolls around. For Jesus, however, no mention of a dat...

  Miracles without faith, Conclusion   Introduction One of the more unique ways that we can show decency to the human race is by performing a random act of kindness. Hand out a gift card from a fast-food restaurant to someone looking for money for food, compliment a complete stranger on the shirt that they are wearing, or simply lend a listening ear to someone who needs to vent. In the New Testament, a beggar got more than he bargained for when Peter and John approached him on the way in to the temple. This, of course, was more than a random act of kindness, but it showed the true spirit of being a disciple of Christ.   Lame for 40 Years We meet this man in Acts 3 and he’s described as follows, in verse 2, And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple. But it’s not until Acts 4:22, that we learn that this lame man was over 40 ...

    Introduction As we head further into December, the thoughts of the Christmas season and the figure of Santa Claus becomes prevalent in people’s life. However, parents have a tendency to increase the abilities of Santa to Godlike proportions. On the flipside, some religious people see God as a Santa Claus when they are physically blessed with material goods and health. In this article, we’ll explore both sides of the same coin.   Is Santa Claus God? While some will deny they don’t see Santa as Godlike, you should be familiar with these lyrics from a well-known song: He sees you when you’re sleeping, He knows when you’re awake, He knows if you’ve been bad or good, So be good for goodness’ sake. First and foremost, do not lie to your children that Santa Claus is real. Just because it’s a holiday tradition does not make it acceptable to lie to them. Because once the truth is found out, and they will find out, you have no idea how it might scar them m...

  Miracles without Faith, part 4   Introduction I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Dead men tell no tales”. The idea behind it is that a person takes their secrets to the grave. But suppose one who is dead still has powers in this world? Miraculous powers! An interesting event took place revolving around the Elisha the Prophet.   Brief History of Elisha the Prophet One of the challenges of God’s prophets was to stand for the truth and be willing to defend it to the death. Elijah, however, had a moment of distrust when his life hung in the balance following the Mount Carmel victory (1 Kg. 18:19ff). God finds him in a cave and tells him, “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.” (1 Kings 19:15-16) He also tells him that He has reserved 7...

  Miracles without Faith, part 3   Introduction When the mother of magician Harry Houdini died, he made an effort to contact her through mediums. As he visited them, it came to his attention that they were nothing more than charlatans preying on innocent people claiming to be able to speak to their ancestors. Houdini spent that latter half of his career debunking mediums, fortune tellers, and spiritualists as they were nothing more than magicians claiming to be someone important. This is similar to Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8. Back in the Old Testament, part of The Law was a list of abominations of the land that the Israelite were forbidden to take part (Deut. 18:9-12). King Saul, however, was in need of one of these people and the end result was quite surprising.   A King Gone Wrong Saul was chosen king of the Israelites because of his stature (1 Sam. 9:2). However, his reign was rife with problems: He performed a sacrifice for the people instead of wa...

  Cartoon created by Martin Young Miracles without Faith, part 2 Introduction Anyone who knows the classic Rex Harrison movies, would be familiar with the movie, Doctor Doolittle. A man who was capable of talking with the animals. There was an updated version, with Robert Downey, Jr., in which you could hear the animals speak to him in the English language. Although this is simply movie magic, embracing the creativity of a family fun film, an actual event did occur in scripture where an animal spoke to its owner. For this story, we turn to the book of Numbers and chapter 22.   The Story of Balaam Balaam was a well-known soothsayer (Josh. 13:22), a deceiver who “foretold” things for money. If someone wanted an individual, or group, blessed or cursed they would send for him. Balak, the king of the Moabites, was just that individual who wanted the children of Israel cursed because they encamped next to his kingdom (Num. 22:3-6). He sent messengers to Balaam to com...

    Introduction In the book of Genesis, we see, during creation, that everything was made according to its kind. In Gen. 1:11-12, Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. When Noah built the ark, he had to fill it with animals and they were according to its kind, On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark- they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort (Genesis 7:13-14). With this in mind, we’ll at ...

  Characters from the movie, The Prince of Egypt. I do not claim any rights to this picture. Miracles without Faith, part 1   Introduction In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he addresses the problems with false teachers of the gospel and connects them to two names found no where else in scripture. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was (2 Timothy 3:8-9). These two names are connected to the magicians who went up against Moses in regard to the ten plagues. The names are found only in traditional Jewish manuscripts, but I suggest to you that they were given to Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To know their names is irrelevant but, to Paul, it is not above him to name names of those who opposed him (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17). This article is not about false teache...

    Introduction There is a well-known movie that follows the story of a “Faith Healer” and his entourage, going from town to town, preaching, teaching, and “healing” people. The whole of it is a huge scam and they show how these “miracles” are being done. At a pivotal moment in the film, an actual crippled boy; one befriended by the preacher, comes onstage to be healed. The preacher knows he’s a fraud and is unable to do it. Not sure what else to do, he points out the local sheriff in the audience; one who’s unto his fakery, and states that since this man lacks faith, the healing won’t happen. The scene concludes when the crippled boy does become healed but without the preacher’s help. As the movie closes, we see the preacher abandoned everything he built to go straight. In our previous series of articles, we’ve looked at miracles in scripture and the fact that they have ceased. Contrary to what some believe that they continue even today. These “Faith Healers” will ...