“It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World” has remained one of my favorite movies. Picking up on a dying man’s last words, a madcap group of strangers compete against each other in a wild race for stolen treasure buried under “a big W.” Each member of the all-star cast throws himself into the great comic roles with ecstasy. The viewer hardly realizes the movie’s epic length because of the fast paced gags that punctuate the storyline. But what if you were trapped in that sort of world — a world where real dialogue could never exist because every meaning is … Continue reading Reality Check

One of the most important advances in Biblical studies was the release of The English Standard Version by Crossway Bibles in 2001. Edited by J. I. Packer, this translation has been gaining a sizable following among Conservative scholars over the past several months. Two doctrinal considerations commend the English Standard Version, the translators? commitment to the complete truthfulness and their assurance of the ultimate unity of Scripture. Both convictions spring from a belief that the Bible ultimately has one Author, and that He neither lies nor makes mistakes. The translators of the English Standard Version were all committed to inerrancy, … Continue reading A New Conservative Translation

?What’s the big deal about Jesus?? Dirk Ficca asked at a meeting last year of the Center for Progressive Christianity. Ficca, a Presbyterian preacher from Chicago, serves as his denomination?s point man for dialogue with world religions. His zeal for embracing Buddhist, Hindus, Muslims and Jews as fellow travelers heading to a common destination is widely shared in Liberal Protestantism. While most would not be as bold as Ficca, his question has a logical consistency. If there are many, equally valid paths to God, what is the big deal about Jesus? The Big Ship Within the churches of Christ we … Continue reading A Big Deal

Under a new rule announced by the Bush administration, “unborn children” now qualify for government health benefits. In promoting prenatal care, federal policy now defines childhood as beginning at conception. Thousands of poor families will benefit from this change, and the abortion debate has shifted ground. The issue is no longer merely a woman?s right to choose birth or abortion. Federal policy now explicitly considers the rights of unborn children. In recognizing an unborn child?s right to healthcare, the government has taken an important first step in restoring the unborn child?s more basic right to life. God?s Gift “We hold … Continue reading Right to Life

Over the past three years I have had the opportunity to work with my twin sons in Cub Scouts. Recently, at Scout Leaders? training, I was reminded of the importance of a good knife for productive work. A sharp blade cuts clean and makes work straightforward, while a dull edge makes work awkward and cuts rough. The quality of a knife depends both on the temper of the steel and on the form given the edge. As Benjamin Franklin observed in Poor Richard?s Almanac: ?There was never a good knife made of bad steel.? If care is not taken in … Continue reading A Keen Edge

?Parents need to eat the diet they would like their child?s diet to become,? nutrition researcher Jennifer Fisher advises in the September issue of Prevention magazine. ?By eating fruits and veggies themselves, parents can start a lifetime of cancer-fighting food habits without having to say a word,? the article continues. This common sense observation has profound applications. Your Example Parents, your children are watching you. What you eat, they will likely eat. As they see you read the Bible, they will learn to read the Bible. As they see you pray, they will learn to pray. Personal habits learned in … Continue reading The Watching Child

It has all happened before. And, if the Lord awaits His coming, it will all happen again. But it is happening now, the accommodation of God?s church with the agenda of the world. And to those of us resisting the current trend towards compromise with the world, it is unlike any conflict we have faced in our lifetime. We sound this warning knowing full well that we will be misrepresented and knowing full well that our message will be misconstrued. Distortion of reality is always a defense when vested interests are challenged. Remember, this tactic was used by Ahab against … Continue reading Who Troubles Israel?

What is faith? How does a person exercise faith? How can we have stronger faith? We shall see that as a mental activity Christian faith is no different from everyday faith. The unbeliever can use ordinary faith, the willingness to believe something, to accept the Gospel message and obtain salvation. The believer can use faith to acquire knowledge of Bible doctrine and to make application of those principles in his daily walk with the Lord. The Biblical concept of faith is that it amounts to complete confidence in something for which there is no observed confirmation available. “Now faith is … Continue reading Faith

God tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “rightly handle the word of truth.” There are some basic guidelines which equip the student of the Bible so as to fulfill the God?s desire that we deal correctly with his Word. God?s word tells us of its divine origin: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17) All true Bible study must begin with this fact. We must begin our study by accepting … Continue reading The Written Word of God

?Reversing the moral collapse of the American family,? proclaims the subtitle of William Bennett?s work, The Broken Hearth. This short book attempts to do just that. Contrasting the current disorder of American family life with a more wholesome past, Bennett highlights the crisis in compelling terms. Chapters dealing with homosexuality and divorce show how strongly these moral issues have undermined the stability of society. Changing Course Bennett, however, does not call for despair, but for change. Recovering moral foundations and building on the strength of conviction will recover the blessings of marriage and family that sin and selfishness have eroded. … Continue reading A Moral Foundation