This page contains links and introductions to all articles for 2016. Use the menu below to go to similar pages for other years. If you want to look for a specific topic, you can use the search function in the sidebar.
*Each entry below contains a summary statement of what the article is about, plus the first several paragraphs. If all you want to do is quickly scan over a list of all titles, click the link below to go to the Article Index page.
Article Index
JAN '16: A God by Any Other Name?
The pope stated recently that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and the world is lapping it up. But do we?
A God by Any Other Name?
Larycia Hawkins, a tenured professor of political science at Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, recently made headlines by wearing a hijab to class, or a traditional Islamic woman's headscarf. Ordinarily this wouldn't have caused much of a stir, but this attracted attention because Wheaton is a highly respected Evangelical Christian college. But the hijab was only a prelude to the ensuing fireworks.
Professor Hawkins decided to continue wearing the hijab to class, and on December 10, 2015 posted the following on her Facebook page:
"I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God."
FEB '16: The Minefield
One look at today's spiritual battlefield reveals that Satan has planted a minefield of sensational things to lure believers beyond the Word.
The Minefield
In modern warfare, one common tactic that is used to stop or hinder an enemy's advance on the ground is to plant landmines throughout key patches of terrain. A minefield can wreak havoc on an army's ability to move through certain areas and to advance and hold ground by destroying tanks and other vehicles, and can seriously affect morale by injuring or killing individual troops in a gruesomely unpredictable manner. In many cases, soldiers are not even aware they have entered a minefield until one of their buddies gets blown to smithereens.
The Church is also involved in warfare, but you might say we use different types of weapons:
3For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, 5throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:3–5)
MAR '16: The Rupture of the Church
Some believe only elite Christians will be raptured prior to the Tribulation, while average Christians won't. So...is it the Rapture or the Rupture?
The Rupture of the Church
My wife and I attend a church in our neighborhood, and although they preach the Bible and are basically a good church, like many churches today they seldom teach anything related to end-time events like the Rapture, the Second Coming, the Tribulation, and so on. Mind you, they don't come out and preach against any of it, but things eschatological are seldom the focus.
That's why I was floored by something our pastor said one recent Sunday morning as the sermon was winding down. He made a casual reference to the fact that, you know, Jesus is going to take a handful of faithful, elite Christians to be with Him in heaven before the coming apocalypse begins, while many "average" Christians who are in a state of spiritual slumber will be left behind to suffer through this awful period (so be sure to sign up as a volunteer in such-and-so church program or this-and-that church activity).
APR '16: Hidden in Plain Sight
Who are the mysterious 144,000 in the book of Revelation...and could they be out there somewhere today?
Hidden in Plain Sight
Of all the inscrutable characters, groups, symbols, and events portrayed in the book of Revelation, few seem to have caused more controversy and spawned a greater diversity of doctrine than a mysterious group simply referred to as the 144,000.
The 144,000 are mentioned twice in the book of Revelation, once in chapter 7 and again in chapter 14, and with a small handful of exceptions, most Bible scholars believe both mentions refer to the exact same group (even though they may not agree on their identity). Although the plain text of Scripture appears to connect the 144,000 with Israel, there are people who are determined to view them as a variety of different things.
MAY '16: Sight Unseen
Rebekah left everything and traveled far to marry Isaac sight unseen. She is a type of the Church, and our Bridegroom won't be unseen much longer.
Sight Unseen
One of the most powerful evidences of the divine inspiration of the Bible is the overwhelming depth of prophetic meaning behind every detail in its pages. As you read about characters and events in the Old Testament, it's almost difficult to miss the wealth of types and foreshadowings of New Testament characters and events, a fact which is expressed in the adage:
The New is in the Old concealed,
the Old is in the New revealed.
For example, I once wrote an article about Joseph, and in that article I discussed how the events of his life paralleled and foreshadowed the life and ministry of Jesus in a number of strikingly detailed ways. However, Joseph isn't the only Old Testament figure that portrays a type of Christ. Another is Joseph's grandfather Isaac.
JUN '16: A Den of Thieves
Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple area, calling them a "den of thieves." But has a new den of thieves taken their place?
A Den of Thieves
Ever since I was a kid, one of my favorite Bible stories has been the one where Christ overturned the tables of the men who were exchanging money and selling animals in the temple area and physically drove them out, because it utterly belies the image of Jesus that many people in the Church and in society have created over the years: a soft, wimpy, almost girlish Jesus who sobbingly pleads with people to believe in Him.
"Oh, won't you p-l-e-a-s-e invite me into your heart?" (sniff)
But that's not exactly the Jesus of the Bible. When we read about Christ physically throwing that "den of thieves" out of the temple area, we see a side of Jesus that often gets obscured in the Church today: a man's man; a man who was absolutely fearless in the face of evil and corruption; a man who looked the most virulent opposition in the eye and never blinked; a man who boldly took matters into His own hands and unflinchingly stood for and demanded righteousness and obedience to His Father, and who wasn't afraid to kick a few butts and take a few names in the process.
We could use a little more...no, make that a lot more of that in the Church these days.
JUL '16: Rapture Redux
An enigmatic (and long overlooked) passage in Revelation 12 yields a way to establish yet again the truth of the pre-tribulation Rapture.
Rapture Redux
Just when I thought I knew 'em all.
Just when I was convinced that I was familiar with every single passage of Scripture in the Bible and every single scriptural argument that clearly and irrefutably supports and establishes the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture: the resurrection of dead and the catching away of living Church Age saints to be with the Lord at some point before the start of the seven-year period of God's judgment commonly known as the Tribulation.
I would have bet you money that I knew 'em all.
And I would have lost.
When I learned about this recently, I immediately knew that I had to write about it if for no other reason than to help myself digest it.
There are numerous angles from which one can see clearly that the Rapture must precede the Tribulation, and numerous passages of Scripture point to it with stark clarity unless sloppily misinterpreted or clumsily misapplied. So, those who hold to a pre-trib view of the Rapture certainly have no need to cling to any one single passage of Scripture to support the doctrine—once you see the truth of it, you begin to see it hidden under every rock and behind every bush in the Bible. Once you grasp the theological necessity of it and understand the Scripture that clearly supports it, hints of it begin to emerge everywhere you look. That's how it usually is with sound doctrine.
AUG '16: A Tale of Two Trumpets
The argument that Paul's last trump at the Rapture is the same as the seventh angel's trumpet in Revelation hits one seriously sour note.
A Tale of Two Trumpets
Trumpets are mentioned in numerous places throughout the Bible, and they have a variety of uses and meanings. In the Old Testament, while Israel was wandering through the wilderness for 40 years, trumpets were used to send signals to the people. A trumpet blast would awaken the people and tell them it was time to prepare to move, and another trumpet blast would tell them to assemble to actually move out. Trumpets were used as signals in battle, to announce victories, pronounce judgments, celebrate Israel's feast days, and many other things.
Typically, the trumpet in question is a literal trumpet—an instrument that makes a sound. One notable exception is when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai and established His covenant with Israel, and the people trembled at a sound described as "the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" (Exod. 19:16). In some cases, however, especially in the New Testament, trumpets have an eschatological meaning and are mentioned in connection with end-time events such as the Rapture, certain Tribulation judgments, the Second Coming, etc., and various usages of trumpets in the Old Testament often provide deeper insights into the meaning of these eschatological trumpets.
SEP '16: Trust Me
Recently, a harrowing travel experience served to help me put a little bit more meat on the bones of my faith.
Trust Me
It always strikes me how easy it is for us to trust God when things are going smoothly, and I'm quite certain that many of you know exactly what I am talking about. Things are humming along like clockwork, and you are perfectly secure in the knowledge that God is in control and it's smooth sailing.
God is good...life is good...it's all good.
From time to time, however, God allows things to happen in our lives that are meant to prod us into putting a little more meat on the bones of our faith. And it's not always of a disciplinary nature, either. It doesn't always mean we're doing something bad wrong. It doesn't always mean we've gone off the reservation. Sometimes God wants to give us opportunities to prove and exercise our faith, because that builds and strengthens it. After all, the proof of our faith is of great value to the Lord:
6Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, 7that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 1:6–7 / emphasis added)
OCT '16: Cabin Pressure
If you're on a plane that's losing cabin pressure, you need an oxygen mask—and what you get is a metaphor for the gospel.
Cabin Pressure
Last month I wrote an article about my misadventure on a trip from Taiwan to the United States, and how the flight on the first leg of my journey from Taiwan to Tokyo was diverted to Okinawa due to a mechanical problem. I never actually mentioned what the nature of the problem was, but in fact it was something that affected the aircraft's ability to maintain proper cabin pressure.
As I said in that article, none of us was aware that anything was wrong—the oxygen masks never popped out of their overhead compartments or anything like that. As far as I know, none of us felt ill or experienced any type of discomfort. All we knew was that the pilot made an announcement that they were having problems maintaining cabin pressure, and that the standard procedure of bringing the aircraft down to a lower altitude had failed to alleviate the problem. He told us that for our safety, we would be forced to make an emergency landing, and every traveler's nightmare began to unfold.
NOV '16: Red Herrings
Atheists point to the eclectic array of world religions and laugh at those who believe in the God of the Bible—but the joke is on them...only it's not funny.
Red Herrings
I've been spending a lot of time over the last few months on Quora, a question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organized by its community of users. Users receive a daily digest of submitted questions in their email, and you can follow links to view whatever answers have been posted. People are free to post a response to any question they please, and people can specify their areas of interest so they receive a greater percentage of questions related to those topics.
Surprise! I chose religion.
As my Quora digest has arrived in my Gmail account on a daily basis, bristling with various questions related to God, the Bible, and religion in general (as well as a few other topics that interest me), I have noticed a pervasive atheistic undercurrent that runs deep through the bowels of Quora—and I can't say I'm shocked. Quora seems to attract a healthy number of young, liberal, progressive, anti-God types who tend to dismiss born-again believers as deluded dimwits with the arrogant sense of superiority that has become the default attitude of today's "enlightened" society in recent years.
DEC '16: That's the Deal
The Bible says Israel will be divided before Jesus returns, and many fear the UN may try to do just that. So what's the deal?
That's the Deal
In the weeks and months leading up to the U.S. presidential election in November, there was talk in various circles about the possibility of President Obama making a last-ditch effort to pull off a diplomatic coup in the Middle East before leaving office on January 20, 2017. Obama was making overtures of either introducing a United Nations Security Council resolution that would force a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians (which would almost certainly pass), or at least allowing some other country to introduce such a resolution and then refraining from vetoing it (meaning it would almost certainly pass).
A UN Security Council resolution is a resolution that expresses the collective will of the constituent members of the United Nations as a body and is generally regarded as binding, although technically such a resolution can be repealed by the Council. More importantly to a lame duck U.S. president, any such resolution cannot be undone by the incoming president after said lame duck vacates the Oval Office on January 20.
1. Adapted from Sunset Over Grass Field © AOosthuizen at Can Stock Photo
2. Adapted from People of the World © artqu at Fotolia
3. Adapted from Danger Minefield © Al at Fotolia
4. Magician Sawing a Woman © victor zastol'skiy at Fotolia
5. Orthodox Jewish Man at Wailing Wall © STOCKSTUDIO at Fotolia
6. Adapted from Leonardo da Vinci – Last Supper (copy) – WGA12732 by anonymous (author unknown, but believed to be Andrea di Bartoli Solari), marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
_-_WGA12732.jpg){kind=link}
7. Burglar with a Bag Full of Money © vchalup at Fotolia
8. Adapted from The Woman Clothed with the Sun Fleeth from the Persecution of the Dragon by Benjamin West, marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
9. Adapted from Gold and Silver Trumpets © bota horatiu at Fotolia
10. Goodbye © Ramil Sagum at Fotolia
11. Asiana 214 Interior 2 cropped, NTSB, marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
12. Adapted from Herring © rufar at Fotolia
13. Puzzle of Israel and Palestine Flags © luzitanija at Fotolia
Scripture Quotations:
All Scripture is taken from the World English Bible, unless specifically annotated as the King James Version (KJV) or the American King James Version (AKJV).