On Sunday, we will look at James 3 in the Sunday Sermon. And in the first verse, we find these sobering words: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Now, hold on to that verse and compare it to the ministry training event coming next Sunday (August 23)—an open invitation for all members at OBC who are teaching ...  Read More

In Part 1 of this four-part series, I outlined two problems that come from delaying coming of Christ. First, if Christ promised a near return and he did not return soon, then it gives skeptics the ability to question the veracity of the Bible. Second, if Christ’s promise of a near return are extended to an event in the distant future, then they are joined to a number of events that must happen bef...  Read More

In August, the elders will preach from the Epistle of James during our Sunday worship services. James is a short epistle, and yet it has a higher percentage of imperatives (biblical commands) than any other book of the Bible. So, if you crave a practical sermon series, James might be a book for you. At the same time, if you struggle with not doing what you know you should as a follower of Christ, ...  Read More

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war. - Psalm 144:1.Warfare: It is a gruesome thing. Movies like Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge try to depict the horrors of war, but they can only do it so much justice. Many are the memoirs of military generals and commanders who have also written their own tales—long military expeditions, with no food, little sleep, and many thoughts o...  Read More

Can Christ return tomorrow? What about next week? Can he return at any time, or must certain things happen first? And what are those things? And how do we know they are still future and not in the past?These questions are just a few of the ones I want to address here and in the next few weeks. For if the imminent return of Christ is a precious doctrine to you (as it should be), then ironically, so...  Read More

In college I spent a good bit of time with a campus minister named Phil. Phil led Athletes in Action at Michigan State University, and he also helped me start that ministry at my college. Along the way, Phil taught me to how share my faith with others, lead Bible studies, and draw really cool graphics.Well, to be fair, as a trained architect, he drew really cool graphics. I could only translate hi...  Read More

In 1854, the “father of modern church history” and the most important church historian in America, returned to his native land. For ten years, Philip Schaff had taught in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. Recruited to teach at Mercersburg College, Schaff came to America at the age of twenty-four. And after a decade of learning the customs of America, he returned to Germany, where he gave three lectu...  Read More

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions,and your old men shall dream dreams . . .” - Acts 2:17As I showed last week, the “latter days” is a biblical term that begins in Genesis 49:1 and proceeds through the entire Old Testament. Moses uses the term, and so do t...  Read More

Eschatology precedes soteriology.This is an axiom that I explained when we looked at Genesis 1–2 and how God made the world. When God brought the world into existence, he had a plan for all things. And this telos, or goal, was the basis for saying that proper eschatology depends upon proper protology. And thus, from the beginning of creation, we can see how eschatology began to emerge.In fact, whe...  Read More

The Bible is art. And for new creations in Christ, who are the workmanship of God (Eph. 2:10), it is good for us to see all the ways that God’s Spirit inspired the Scripture. For just as the beauty of our creator is made visible in the heavens and the earth, so his majestic wisdom is found throughout the Bible. And this Sunday, we have a passage whose art is worth observing.When I say art, I have ...  Read More

Reading the Bible is not for the faint of heart. It requires time, effort, prayer, patience, persistence, and a willingness to let Scripture speak. Often, through years of study, sermons, and trips through the text, we can develop ruts in our reading. In fact, such ruts are safeguards from misguided novelty. That said, some ruts can make it difficult to see what is actually in the text. And recent...  Read More

If the cosmos has changed over time, as redemptive history has moved through “five worlds” from creation (Genesis 1–2) to the new creation (Revelation 21–22), then there have also been covenantal changes, too.In the beginning, God made a covenant with Adam (Gen. 2:15–17; cf. Hos. 6:7), which is often called the “covenant of works.” Then, after the flood, God re-established a covenant with Noah and...  Read More