Posts with the tag “becker”

This week, we will begin studying Hebrews 11 in our community groups. This is a chapter that is all about faith, which is literally at the center of all we do and think as Christians. As we read in verse 6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” And yet, many Christians are in the dark about what faith actually is. I would like to offer the following brief comments to put us on the right ...  Read More

A Summary of Hebrews 1–10In last week’s sermon, Ryan announced that I would be writing a “summary” of Hebrews. While I have chosen to retain the label of summary (since that’s what I told him I planned on doing!), I am well aware that a summary is supposed to be shorter than the work it purports to summarize ;-)[1] However, I have found it necessary to be more detailed than I originally intended i...  Read More

Authorship, Recipients, and Why Hebrews MattersIn our next community group season, we will be studying Hebrews 11 together as a church. This is probably the most well-known chapter in the entire book of Hebrews. In it, we are reminded of many men and women from the Old Testament who demonstrated the kind of faith that we are called to have. There is great comfort and power in knowing that others h...  Read More

Why these twenty-seven books? As a pastor, this is a question that I get quite often. If we regard the New Testament is the "final authority in faith and life," we should have good reasons for doing so. In this essay, I lay out the basis for our understanding of why these books, and these books only, belong in the collection we call the "Word of God."A Brief Word On CouncilsBefore we begin, I need...  Read More

Over the next few months, we will be learning about the ways in which God used the prophets Elijah and Elisha to call the northern kingdom of Israel to repentance. Together, their ministries spanned approximately seventy-five years, covering the reigns of five Israelite kings (Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, and Jehoahaz).[1]Here I will call to light several different points in which archaeological ...  Read More

Does the Bible condone slavery? Eventually, every thinking Christian must confront this question. For one thing, if you read your Bible on a regular basis, it is only a matter of time before you will run into passages that speak quite frankly of it, such as the laws in Exodus that govern slave-master relationships. The New Testament too has passages such as Ephesians 6:5: “Bondservants, obey your ...  Read More