PHall | May 4, 2016
Advice for weak Christians who think they are strong: You have a lot of company because self-delusion is the easiest lie to believe. Your company even includes the illustrious Jeremiah the prophet. Not normally would we think of Jeremiah being weak; but notice how God describes Jeremiah after one of his complaints: “If you have […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 12 – Advice for Weak Christians
Tags:
PHall | April 27, 2016
If Judaism has one verse which encapsulates their belief system, it would be “The Shema” which begins “Hear Oh, Israel” (Deut.6:4). “The Shema” is based upon the Hebrew word for “hear/shama. While translated different ways, the most common way the NASB translates shama throughout the OT is “hear” or “heard”. Jeremiah, a prophet of God, […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 2:4 – Hear the Word of Yahweh
Tags:
PHall | April 20, 2016
I cannot decide – is this a good, bad example; or a bad, good example…. Either way, sometimes we can learn good lessons from bad people. For example, take the Israelites – they apostatized from the true God to worship that which God created – “the sun, the moon and to all the host of […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 8:2 – A Good Example of Being Bad
Tags:
PHall | April 6, 2016
One of the powerful aspects of Jeremiah’s book is when he records God asking questions. Check out the questions in chapter 5 (some are repeated showing divine frustration): Why should I forgive you? Should I not punish them for these things? Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? Do you not […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 5 – God’s Questions
Tags:
PHall | April 6, 2016
That human beings can wonder if there is a God or gods is an argument all by itself that the answer is yes. Atheism teaches all of existence is and only is materialism. Therefore all thought is a function of the material brain’s chemical reactions. Free will itself cannot exist because it is not a […]
Category: Psalms |
Comments Off on Psalm 14:1 – Does God Exist?
Tags:
PHall | April 6, 2016
Some Corinthians (claiming to be Christians) could not believe in the resurrection of the dead other than Jesus. If they could believe Jesus had been resurrected, why not others? It is possible they did not know about all the OT stories, or even those in the NT. It is also possible they deemed them different […]
Category: I Corinthians |
Comments Off on 1 Corinthians – A Frightening Warning
Tags:
PHall | March 25, 2016
Can what we believe doctrinally change what we believe is the gospel? Recently I read the gospel is defined as the “deity, death, and resurrection of Jesus.” Notice anything missing? Unlike Paul’s description of the gospel (1 Cor.15:4), this gentleman (and rightfully respected scholar) left out Jesus’ burial. Many treat it as superfluous, and I […]
Category: Acts |
1 Comment »
Tags: Baptism, Denominationalism
PHall | March 22, 2016
A statement is axiomatic if it needs no proof because it is true by the definitions of the words themselves: A servant is not above his master; water is wet; etc. Denial comes when people willingly ignore the obvious which is becoming the new legal norm: Men are no longer only males; marriage is no […]
Category: Genesis |
Comments Off on Genesis 1:1 – An Axiomatic World
Tags: Apologetics
PHall | March 15, 2016
“Oh my God!” is in reality a swearing to God. But the way most people use it, it is an empty, meaningless, string of words. Such is not the kind of swearing God wants. Returning to Yahweh involves actions such as removing from our lives what is detestable to God (v.1). But there is also […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 4:1-2 – Swearing to Yahweh
Tags:
PHall | February 22, 2016
Jeremiah supported Josiah’s reforms despite his family’s objections (Jer.11:26; 12:6). This might seem obvious and unimportant considering Jeremiah was a prophet. And yet…. Let’s look at Jeremiah’s religious and political heritage. His father was Hilkiah. It is frequently suggested his father’s family had been deprived of the right to practice their profession by Josiah’s sweeping […]
Category: Jeremiah |
Comments Off on Jeremiah 1:1 – The Past is Not the Present
Tags: