Bible Study

Christianity makes a promise most other religions don’t: if you follow God, your life will include suffering. Not might include. Will include. Guaranteed. Psalm 34:19 doesn’t say “some righteous people face occasional difficulties.” It says many afflictions will come to the righteous. Plural. Frequent. Expected. This contradicts everything prosperity gospel preachers teach and everything our … Read more

You’ve been working on the same problem for six months. Every angle covered. Every option explored. Every conversation replayed. Plans A through Z mapped out in detail. You’re doing everything right, trying everything possible, and still nothing’s changing. And someone quotes Psalm 46:10 at you: “Be still and know that I am God.” It sounds … Read more

I’ve heard Revelation 3:20 quoted at hundreds of altar calls. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20, New King James Version (NKJV) The preacher says Jesus is knocking on … Read more

My contractor promised the deck would be finished by Friday. Friday came. No deck. “I’ll definitely have it done by Monday,” he said. Monday passed. Still nothing. Wednesday, he texted: “I swear on my mother’s grave, it’ll be ready this weekend.” It wasn’t. Three broken promises. Each one reinforced with increasingly dramatic oaths. Each one … Read more

The cashier at Target was having a terrible day. You could see it in her eyes. The way her hands shook slightly scanning items. How she avoided eye contact. The tremor in her voice saying “Have a nice day.” Most customers before me were impatient. Sighing. Checking phones. One woman complained about how long the … Read more

“The wages of sin is death” sounds like religious language designed to scare people into behaving. Most Christians can quote Romans 6:23 without understanding what it actually means. We throw it around in evangelism like a threat, using it to convince sinners they need Jesus. But few believers can explain what “death” means in this … Read more

Palm Sunday marks one of the most dramatic moments in Jesus’ life, yet most Christians are only familiar with the Sunday school version. You know the basics: Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem while people waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna.” It’s the beginning of Holy Week, the Sunday before Easter. Churches hand out palm … Read more

Last month, a woman in our congregation asked me to anoint her mother with oil before surgery. The request caught me off guard, not because it was unusual, but because I realized how rarely we talk about anointing oil in modern evangelical circles. Yet there it was in James 5:14, clear as day. So why … Read more