The Archbishop of Canterbury on the Royal Wedding

Tomorrow, the Church of England, the Monarchy and the pluralized nation of England will be bound together by an act of union. It represents moral and religious coherence at the level of that nation’s public persona, which remains Christian and Anglican.
Follow the below link to the Order of Service for the Royal Wedding: http://ph2.cerosmedia.com/1X4db9331cd725f012.cde

Islam and the West... Can They Co-Exist (Part 2)

Distinctions: God as a Scientific Theory

see: http://biologos.org/blog/distinctions-part-1-randomness/

Rise again!

Now that Easter is over, resurrection remains. In general, what strikes me about resurrection is that it happens at all and that, in some form or other, it is happening all the time. So the use of the present continuous or present progressive tense when He who was seated on the throne says in Revelation 21.5, “I am making all things new.”  It's a new day full of new opportunities to arise anew!  Arise anew from the pain, heartache and drudgery of this life. Rise again! Rise again! Rise again!

Judas' Kiss!

With reference to Judas' betrayal kiss of Jesus both Matthew 26:47-50 and Mark 14:43-45 use the Greek verb kataphilein, which means to kiss firmly, intensely, passionately, tenderly or warmly.

Holy Wednesday: Matthew 24.14-25 & Matthew 26.14-16

The Narrow Gate!

Take some time and listen to the end!

The Narrow Gate - Jovan Mackenzy

Jesus: God’s Way!

Many religious teachers have claimed to present God’s way. But Jesus declared not only that He was initiating God’s path of salvation (Mk 1:15–20) but also that what His hearers did specifically with Him determined their eternal destiny (Mt 10:37–40; 19:23–30). Further, of these religious founders, only Jesus taught that His death would serve as a payment for human sin, achieving what we could not (Mk 10:45; 14:22–25).

Additionally, only Jesus has miracles reported of Him by early sources. Most importantly, according to the Gospels, Jesus taught that His resurrection from the dead would be the sign that evidenced the truth of His message (Mt 12:38–42; 16:1–4; Mk 14:28). For NT writers, Jesus’ resurrection proved His claims were true (Romans 1:3–4; 1 Peter 1:3–6). After all, dead men do not do much! So if Jesus was raised, God must have performed the event in order to approve Jesus’ message (Ac 2:22–24; 17:30–31).

Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J., & Powell, D. (2007). The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (1583). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Afshin Javid & Jesus!

Afshin Javid, a former member of Hezbollah who had a powerful encounter with Jesus in prison...

False teachers & the Last Hour!

"Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour" (1 John 2.18).

In 1 John 2.18 the Apostle John enters into direct confrontation with false teachers, a confrontation that indirectly had already determined the preceding exposition. And it is not a final confrontation. The theme is taken up again in 1 John 4.1 and in 1 John 5.4.

While the false teachers are identified as πλανῶντες ὑμᾶς (“those deceiving you”) in 1 John 2.26, in our verse they are recognized as ἀντίχριστοι (“antichrists”). With this designation John refers to the time-honored apocalyptic expectation (καθὼς ἠκούσατε, “as you have heard”) that the Antichrist will appear at the end of time. When John says: καὶ νῦν ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν (“and now many antichrists have come”), he historicizes the single anticipated Antichrist.

So the antichrists are the false teachers and everyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2.22).  Anyone who does not “confess” Christ alone (1 John 4.3) and/or who does not acknowledge that Jesus has come in the flesh (2 John 7) is an antichrist.

Further, the fact that these antichrists have arisen is the sign ὅτι ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν (“that it is the last hour”). For it is without a doubt that Jesus’ coming is the last hour for the κόσμος (“world”). Now, it is specifically Jesus’ coming to which the deniers of Christ indirectly testify. And to this extent this assertion has the same meaning as 1 John 2.8: “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”  This ever present “shining” is precisely what can and should be confirmed for believers by the very appearance of the false teachers.

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil" (John 3:19).