Truth Triumphs

When one believes on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins and confesses with his mouth for his sins, Scripture informs that he will receive eternal life and be justified by the faith which he exercised (Romans 10:9; 5:1). However, it is not God's will for a Christian to remain a babe in Christ. Rather, just as a physical baby grows in wisdom, stature, and strength, the spiritual baby grows. Fortunately, God has provided the means whereby new-found believers can experience remarkable growth and grace. Furthermore, if a physical baby remains the same height and weight for his entire life, it does not take a renowned surgeon to detect and delineate the obvious problem. Similarly, in the Christian life, if one does not experience any spiritual growth, his debilitating condition will be conspicuous and his spiritual death will be imminent. Thus, for the furtherance of the kingdom of God and the betterment of the individual Christian, it is imperative that the church instructs it

It is difficult for me to understand how one can claim to be a Christian, yet blatantly contradict the very commands of Scripture. Jesus stated in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." In other words, if a person confesses to being a Christian, a surefire way to verify his claim is to observe whether his actions are in accordance to the teachings of the Bible. When Paul, in the sixth chapter of 1 Corinthians, listed several people who would not inherit eternal life, it seems logical that a committer of these reprehensible deeds does not truly love Christ and will therefore not enter into that Celestial City. Titus 1:16 summarizes this glaring contradiction: "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Notice, first, the ostensible declaration . These self-proclaimed Christians tell others that they are redeemed, washed in the blood, and living holy lives. However,

Edward Snowden exposed the severity and vastness of the National Security Agency’s illegal surveillance of millions of individuals across the globe. Both his leaking of information and his indictment have prompted many heated discussions in America and many opinions to be voiced. One side argues that he has risked America’s security and ought to be punished. On the flip side, others contest that his actions were completely justified because of the scope and illegality of the NSA’s reach and that the charges placed against him should be dropped. Simply stated, Edward Snowden deserves to be treated not just as a human, but as an American. Americans experience such unique opportunities as unremitted freedom, universal suffrage, and inalienable and indefeasible rights. To audaciously defend these benefits is to be a patriot. Since he acted patriotically and exposed the abuses of the NSA, Edward Snowden should be offered amnesty.             Snowden’s findings revealed that the NSA had i

This semester, I had to take a music appreciation class. Although I do not consider myself to be musically inclined, I enjoyed the assignments and learned a fair amount. One task given to me and my classmates was simple: write an original song. While this seemingly innocuous duty posed innocent, it surpassed my expectations, becoming a more difficult assignment than what I had been led to believe. Nevertheless, I accomplished the task, presented it in class, and have thus decided to share it with cyberspace. Verse 1 There are so many decisions, In this life to make. What I'm going to be, And who I'm going to date. But I have read in the Bible, about One who knows. He will take my circumstances, and his love he'll show. So I've decided to trust him, each and every day, Not worrying about tomorrow, I simply just pray: Chorus I want to go where you want me to go. I want to do what you want me to do. Though heartache and strife, I'll give my life,

We live in a heliocentric universe. In other words, the sun is the centre of the  universe. For many centuries, the prevailing opinion in science and religion was that we lived in a geocentric universe, or the earth was at the centre. However, during the Scientific Revolution of the 1600s, this erroneous position failed to withstand the onslaught of empirical evidence. Thus, the heliocentric view, championed by Copernicus and the like, replaced the geocentric one and continues to be the prominent school of thought among educated individuals. In Christianity, the debate is focused not on the universe, but on the person. A Christian should not have to struggle to make time for God. Christ should receive absolute attention and care, not the leftovers. Unfortunately, in this fast-paced society, many wrestle with the distractions, finding it hard to dedicate certain portions of their day to personal devotions with their Creator. This should not be. Regardless of any pressing matters and c

Throughout the Scriptures, God’s redemptive plan of the ages is powerfully portrayed and demands the attention of any serious reader. The Son of God wrapped himself in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, and rose a justifying resurrection, creating a way whereby lost humanity could receive the forgiveness for their sins and inherit life everlasting (John 3:16). However, the newly-born Christian soon finds himself in a civil war, for although his sins are forgiven, he still must deal with the lusts of the flesh and keep the old man in subjection. For the unsanctified Christian, this poses itself as an immense challenge, struggling with the tendencies of the old life while attempting to live the new life (Godbey, n.d.). Fortunately, God has engineered a process to enable Christians to conquer, subjugate, and destroy the old man; namely, sanctification (Williams, 1989). As an individual begins to exercise his divine prerogative of prayer and saturate himself in the

I read a lot, more than I probably should. My insatiable thirst for knowledge inextricably holds me in its grasp and does not capitulate to any demands from either my mother or my girlfriend. But I am perfectly satisfied with my addiction and will remain true to my convictions. One genre which I frequently peruse is vocabulary. You know, those books in the reference section of Barnes and Noble? By reading books on this topic, I have discovered just how egregiously and often the English language is misused. My goal today is for you, the reader, to never again make this common grammatical error (solecism). Both… and: This pair should follow the law of correlative conjunctions. In other words, whatever part of speech follows both should also follow and . The following example is common: “Even the men in the class had to admit that both from the viewpoint of economics and history, the age-old restrictions are disappearing.” [i] Instead of “both from the viewpoint of economics an

Throughout the New Testament, God clearly relays to his children that they are to be actively engaged in a fierce conflict. However, Christians are fighting not a conventional battle, with tangible weapons and visible enemies, but a spiritual one against the devil and all his imps (Wiersbe, 1978). Unfortunately, mankind is entirely unable to conquest against these evil forces, but God has provided measures for the Christian which, if used, would render them powerful and victorious. In the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul discusses the way whereby the Christian can stand against the wiles of the devil; namely, the armor of God. According to Strong’s Concordance , the Greek word used here for armor is panoplia . From this root comes the English word panoply, meaning full or whole armor (Strong, n.d.). Although God has provided for his children the panoply, it is the responsibility of the soldier to take up his equipment and use it to defeat the powers that be (Summers, 1960). If the Chr

Every sixty-seven seconds, Alzheimer’s locates its next victim and begins the slow, arduous process of mental deterioration. Alzheimer’s is “a common form of dementia, believed to be caused by changes in the brain, usually beginning in late middle age, characterized by memory lapses, confusion, emotional instability, and progressive loss of mental ability” [i] . As of a 2015 study, an estimated 5.3 million Americans struggle with this disease. [ii] Unfortunately, the extent of Alzheimer’s affects people not only physically, but also spiritually. While traversing the long road into eternity, many Christians forget the manifold blessings that God has bestowed upon them. This negligence is in complete opposition to the teachings of Scripture. In one of his more frequented psalms, David proclaims, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” [iii] . He follows this proclamation with a few of these benefits. The modern-day Christian ought to follow this approach, for it br

Have you ever experienced that moment when you are in the midst of an argument and cannot quite locate the correct word or remark? Then, to your frustration, you later remember it. This occurrence is referred to as an esprit d'escalier. Today, I will give you ten beneficial words for your immediate verbal improvement. Lethargy- the state of being dull, sluggish, or listless Ardent- passionate, fervent, zealous Garrulous- using an excessive, unnecessary amount of words; talkative Ambiguous- uncertain, indecisive Ostensible- appearing to be true but not necessarily proven Reticent- inclined to be silent; reserved Audacious- bold, courageous Inquisitive- curious, questioning Ennui- a state of boredom and dissatisfaction Deleterious- harmful, injurious, damaging

Throughout the Bible, God clearly conveys his intention for his people to be distinct from the ways of the world. However, because Adam succumbed to the temptation and launched his progeny into sin, each human struggles with a nature completely antithetical to God’s nature. While the Old Testament’s version of holiness primarily focuses on ceremonial measures to deal with this issue, the holiness of the New Testament involves not just the consecrating of one’s life to God but the separation of that life from sin (Purkiser, 1961). After an individual receives Christ as his Savior, he will abstain from the associations, actions, and attires of the world as he begins to sanctify himself by the “washing of water of the word” (Ephesians 5:26). Samuel Brengle stated, “Holiness is that perfect renewal of our nature that makes us essentially good.” Unless a Christian subjects himself to this necessary and strenuous process of sanctification, he will remain a babe in Christ and live a vacillat

No other piece of literature from antiquity is as authenticated as the Bible. Many skeptics have sneered at its teachings and rejoiced when a portion of Scripture failed to be substantiated. However, to the scoffers’ utter dismay, an archaeological discovery comes along to confirm the events inscribed within and convinces another agnostic generation of the divine origin of the Bible. Furthermore, because the Bible is so frequently and extensively endorsed, if one opts to discard the Word of God as unreliable, he must also discard every other work of literature from antiquity (McDowell, 1977). Not only do Christians assert that the Bible is unquestionably corroborated, but they also claim that the Bible is infallible. If an individual concedes that the Bible is indeed trustworthy, then the step to acknowledging its infallibility should not be too difficult for him. Even though its reliability does not necessarily make it infallible, once it can be proven to be substantially verified, t

There is an unbelievably fierce push in America for the ideology of “one husband, one wife, for life” to be effaced from the minds of her citizens. Unfortunately, many Christians fail in standing tenacious for the family and remain silent on this prevalent issue. Worse yet, some individuals who profess Christianity advocate the church to be more accepting to that “confused” portion of our population, asserting that the Bible commands its adherents to be tolerant and loving. While the Scriptures do teach of love and compassion, never do these sacred words support the toleration of sin. The Word of God clearly labels homosexual behavior as sin, according to 1 Corinthians 6, and speaks unfavorably toward those who partake of such abomination (Romans 1). God will cease to bestow his benefits upon America if she continues to blur the genders. M. R. DeHaan noted, “No nation can continue in the blessing of the Lord which permits the breakdown of the distinction between the sexes.” [i] If Am

The Scriptures are replete with examples that communicate the truth that there is no substitute for prayer. Although works of faith are critical for the expansion of the church, Christians ought not forget that these labors of love are not replacements for private devotion to God (Dawson, 1942). God is certainly pleased with the efforts of his people to promulgate the gospel message, but he responds most pleasantly to prayer and answers the supplications of his children. S. D. Gordon noted, “God answers prayer. Prayer is God and man joining hands to secure some high end. He joins with us through communication of prayer in accomplishing certain great results” (P. 67). Unfortunately, many Christians live far below their privilege in God and do not exercise this accommodating prerogative. Christians need to frequent this often neglected path and rise to the challenge of bombarding heaven with their petitions. If the church would spend adequate time on their knees in prayer, God would res

Throughout the Old Testament, the subject of holiness is clearly taught and can be readily seen in many different ways. God commanded Israel to “sanctify themselves,” abstaining for those actions similar to other nations, for the purpose of allowing them to experience his presence and enjoy his protection (Leviticus 11:44-45). Furthermore, various individuals in the Old Testament adhered to God’s edict to be righteous and holy. The Bible states that Daniel served him continually and faithfully, not buckling in pressuring situations, while Joseph remained true to his Creator by not compromising in a vulnerable position. The reason for the separating of Israel from the other nations and for virtuous men living uprightly was so that they would please God well and be found faultless in his eyes. Therefore, since the Old Testament conspicuously conveys the principle of holiness, modern-day Christians ought to reexamine these truths, carefully consider their findings, and sincerely apply th