Valiant for Truth

Some time ago a family member asked me a question that I think would be good to address here. The gist of the issue is that Lucifer was created good, but yet fell without any external temptation. In the future kingdom of God in heaven there will be no sin or temptation, but since we would still have free will, is there a danger of us falling away from God even when we get to heaven?   In answering this, it would be good to read my recent listing called “Born Again by the Word

One of the most common concepts of Protestant Christianity, except perhaps in the modernized mainline denominations, is the necessity of the “new birth”. The most well known scripture dealing with it is of course in John 3, where Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus.   Jn. 3:3-6 – “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he

This is a short excerpt from the book of Banner of Truth Magazine Issues 1-16, originally published from September 1955 to August 1959, from an article by Richard Baxter (1615-1691), a well-known Puritan writer. This particular source article is from the 11 th  issue, July 1958. I have not changed his words, but have taken the liberty of separating his arguments by bullet points for easier comprehension.   He begins by noting the primacy of scripture over all other books. “Le

Rom. 14:17 – 18 – “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.  For he that in these things serveth Christ  is  acceptable to God, and approved of men.”   The context of these verses is of not judging or entering into contention with others in the church who are weak in faith or over-conscientious in what they can and cannot do, as in matters of food or observance of special days. We are not to put a stumbling-block b

Gen. 42:36 – “And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. ”   This is an all too common condition, probably familiar to everyone at certain points in their lives. Jacob thought that Joseph had perished years earlier, and Simeon was being held in Egypt as security, only to be released when Joseph’s brothers returned along with the youngest, Benjamin

There are at least three or four times in the Bible where God uses a peculiar type of sentence construction: “Turn us, O LORD, and we shall be turned.” (Lam. 5:21) “Turn us again … cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” (Ps. 80:3. 7. And 19) “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed” and “save me, and I shall be saved.” (both in Jer. 17:14)   In each of these we see a curious prayer. We desire a change in our condition, our spiritual state, and our life direction,

The last two lessons (“Be Not Discouraged #1 and #2) were against the discouragement coming from an apparent lack of success. This invites the question of what success really is. The world has many ideas of success. The most obvious is money, but other measures include high profile jobs and what money can buy, like houses, automobiles, planes, boats, etc. Money can also attract a beautiful or handsome spouse. It allows one to be in the “cool crowd”. People also see fame as a

In a YouTube video of music by a particular Baroque composer, one of the commenters says “I PRAY TO GOD, OUR LADY, KING JOSEPH, ANGELS...

In the first part of this article I noted the rise of “community churches” in recent decades, and then some of the problems associated...

It is obvious to anyone who travels even locally, that there are a great number of “community churches” that are not affiliated with any...

This is a joke heard from Itzhak Perlman, violinist: A Russian teacher told his pupils that he would quiz them on history by giving them...

Here is a short excerpt from the end of chapter one of Robinson Crusoe, after he was saved from a shipwreck early in life. He had gone to...