Truth Triumphs

The great missionary Alexander Duff loaded his precious belongings onto the Lady Holland and sailed for India, desiring to preach the Gospel. Shortly before arriving in India, with excitement high upon the ship, a terrible calamity befell the passengers aboard: a shipwreck. Fortunately, all passengers survived. However, the possessions of the passengers were forever lost. Standing upon the seashore, dismayed and despondent, Alexander Duff looked into the ocean and prayed for some ray of hope. Suddenly, an object floating in the ocean reflected with the beaming sunlight and caught his attention. He carefully waded into the water to retrieve this lonesome item. As he approached it with caution, he soon realized that his prayer had been answered. It was a Bible, the most cherished and useful of all his possessions. Wasting no time, Alexander Duff began preaching the Word, starting with just five boys who met under a fig tree. God promptly rewarded his efforts, as his congregation grew

In  spite of the austere image portrayed by many of the characterizations of God, I believe that the God of the Bible  defies this stereotype through various techniques, such as the wording of certain verses. God employed human agency to present his infallible, inerrant, and eternal Word to mankind, allowing for them to use their idiosyncratic styles (2 Timothy 3:16). During my daily Bible reading today, I discovered a pertinent example of this drollery. In the  twenty-seventh chapter of Acts, as Paul and his entourage navigate the treacherous waters that Euroclydon had caused, Paul prophesied that they would all arrive safely to Rome and instructed those aboard the ship to eat meat for strength. Luke,  the author that penned this book that chronicles the history of the early church, humorously remarked in verse 38: "And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship." In other words, because they had eaten so much and had become portly, the captain of the ship expressed

After preparing himself upon the mountain, Jesus begins his famous Sermon on the Mount with a startling promise: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus teaches that the person who is "consciously dependent on God" and recognizes his abject condition in relation to God shall enjoy the endless blessings of  Christ (Walvoord, 1974, p. 46). But what does it truly mean to be poor in spirit? According to Strong's helpful Greek concordance, the Greek word used by Matthew is ptochos, which gives the impression of a beggar or a mendicant. In other words, in order to receive this sublime felicity and thereafter experience the privileges entailed a servant of Christ, an individual must exhibit an attitude of humility and submission to God, just as a beggar would in the natural sense (The Biblical Illustrator, p. 44). Once his abased approach has been accepted by the loving Father, he will encounter an extraordinary peace and display a

Have you ever complained about an unfair boss who promoted his relatives above their peers, regardless of mental and emotional intelligence? I once worked for a fast-food restaurant whose owner unapologetically advanced his daughter even though her perpetually acerbic attitude invoked angst and frustration among his employees. This unscrupulous preferment is known as nepotism, which is defined as favoritism shown to relatives. Nepotism is highly pernicious, and has been the cause for the demise of many powerful men, nations, and empires. While each individual should possess a natural proclivity to display familial love to his relatives, he should not be guilty of allowing this propensity to vitiate those decisions involving others' futures, families, and fortunes. To avoid exercising nepotism, a person should consult a disinterested party when deciding to select either a relative or another individual of equal ability.

In his classical lectures upon the topic of revivals, Charles Finney discusses the prevalence of mankind's lethargy and how God uses men's seldom demonstrations of excitability to produce a revival. He writes that " Men are so sluggish, there are so many things to lead their minds off from religion and to oppose the influence of the gospel, that it is necessary to raise an excitement among them, till the tide rises so high to sweep away the opposing obstacles." His pronouncement may have been accurate for his day, but his words are still pertinent and become exceedingly relevant in today's culture of technological dependence. A majority of American Christians carelessly squander the precious commodity of time through unnecessary internet usage or needless social media excursions. This results in complacent, lukewarm, and indolent congregations, which are satisfied with only a forty-five minute service on Sunday morning, and go weeks on end without considering the

It's interesting that God so inspired his Word to be written in a manner where important doctrines are reinforced seemingly accidentally. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I commenced upon a study of the book of Ephesians. This fascinating epistle is written by the apostle Paul and discusses powerful tenets of the faith, such as the armor of God and the unity of the body of Christ. In his typical fashion, Paul offers an effusive introduction: "Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:2). Without even attempting, he, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes the order of events in the Christian experience. Grace comes first, followed by peace. In other words, without the Grace of God, one cannot experience the peace of God. So many individuals in this day and age attempt to placate their inward fears by experimenting with drugs, maintaining a pernicious addiction, or working themselves to death. These futile eff

Throughout the Bible, God continually presents an objective law designed for each human to abide by. These commandments are not to be taken lightly and are deserving of immense reverence. Moreover, the Scriptures also instruct its readers that if an individual violates a known commandment of God, he will feel condemnation and suffer judgment. This breaking of God’s mandate is known as sin and permeates every nation, tongue, and people (Purkiser, 1972). Donald Metz defined sin as “a voluntary transgression of a known law of God by a morally responsible agent.” Certainly, sin does not attempt to negotiate with its prey. It desires to destroy the best and highest good of creation (Knudsen, 1947). Furthermore, sin alienates one from God and separates him from developing a relationship with the very God of the universe (Knudsen, 1947). Remarkably, some sects of people vehemently deny the existence of sin. Christian Scientists assert that sin is merely a figment of the imagination and does

Servant leadership is a fairly recent addition to the field of leadership and involves the leader serving others, specifically his followers. Although servant leadership has not received an immense amount of corroboration, evidence suggests that the companies which have implemented it have experienced tremendous growth (Hunter, 2003). From Southwest Airlines to Starbucks, Chick-fil-A to Men’s Wearhouse, business and corporate leaders around the world are beginning to realize the benefits of servant leadership and are searching for servant leaders, instead of those with more qualified resumes. Not only does servant leadership improve the condition and chemistry of many secular corporations, but it is also a mandate for the Christian (Blanchard, 2003). Jesus clearly instructed his disciples to follow carefully after himself, and Christians are commanded to do likewise. Although the term servant leadership seems oxymoronic, servant leaders place a greater emphasis on the betterment of th

             The book of James is arguably the most practical of all the New Testament documents (Simmons, 1967). Its practicality is so conspicuous that many have contended that James’s view on faith and works contradicted that of Paul. However, his perspective was simply that if a person’s faith does not produce manifest fruit, then it is not genuine faith. Furthermore, the authorship of James has been widely disputed throughout church history (Clarke). The author declares only that he is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, but never addresses any of his relatives. Two individuals possessed the name James in the New Testament: James, the son of Zebedee, and James, the Lord’s brother. Generally, James, the Lord’s brother, is credited with penning this useful letter, although conclusive evidence still remains undiscovered. Fortunately, though, irrefutable confirmations do exist which support its canonicity. Adam Clarke remarked, “The chief and proper evidence of its being c

Throughout the Scriptures, God makes unequivocally clear that there is only one God (Geisler, 2011). Deuteronomy 6:4 states, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.” However, the Bible also teaches that there are three distinct, coeternal, and coequal persons who are God (Groothius, 2008). In the Bible, the Father is portrayed as God, the Son is presented as God, and the Spirit is revealed as God (Geisler, 2011). Although this appears to be an egregious contradiction, the serious Bible student soon realizes that the tri-unity of God is not an irrational position but a doctrine expressly portrayed in Scripture which allows for other key doctrine to exist, such as the Incarnation (Groothius, 2008). To facilitate in explaining this highly complex idea, Tertullian coined the term trinity to allow the Christian to express this essential doctrine (Cairns, 1996). Simply stated, the trinity means that there are “three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost

Since the inception of the church on the day of Pentecost, New Testament Christians have been faced with fierce external opposition. However, and quite surprisingly, some of the most pernicious assaults have come, not from without, but from within, as heretics have attempted to destroy the essential fundamentals of the faith. While the church fought for her very existence, she also combated internal heresy which would have tainted and tarnished the purity of doctrine (Cairns, 1996). Though heresy, if accepted and practiced, is never advantageous for the church, it does force Christians to be more precise, to accurately define doctrine, and to distinguish truth from falsehood (Sproul, 2011). In the first few centuries, this occurred quite frequently, as the nascent church endeavored to establish its position on certain key doctrines through the use of ecumenical councils. For example, varying opinions were purported as to the belief in the nature of God and whether God existed as a tri