Believers and the COVID-19 crisis The present crisis surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic has become a very contentious and polarizing issue – particularly when it comes to decisions as to whether churches should continue to hold public worship services. On social media, blogs, articles and other venues, many have been careful, thoughtful and balanced in their observations and commentary. On the other hand, some have tended to judge and demonize those who come to different conclusions about how to handle this personally and corporately (as a local fellowship of believers). On the one hand, some insist that policies and procedures that
Read more →What is Dispensationalism? An important new book has just been published titled, What is Dispensationalism? I had the privilege of being one of 27 different authors, contributing one chapter (“How Does Dispensationalism Impact Systematic Theology”), two articles (“What was the purpose of miracles?” and “Do Christians still perform miracles?”) and two appendices (“What is Covenant Theology?” and “What is Progressive Dispensationalism?”) Our target audience is the average person in the pew, but also with Bible institutes, Christian colleges and universities, and seminaries in mind as we believe it has the potential of becoming a textbook in some schools. It was
Read more →Is Replacement Theology Inherently Anti-Semitic? Replacement theology (also known as “supersessionism”) is rapidly gaining traction in historically conservative evangelical churches around the world. The term “replacement theology” means that the church has replaced Israel in God’s program because as a nation they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah and so forfeited their right to the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17), as well as those made to Moses in the Land Covenant (Deuteronomy 29, 30), to David in the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7), and to Jeremiah in the
Read more →The New Covenant, Israel, and the Church One of the great misunderstandings in Christendom today is the belief that the New Covenant was given by God exclusively to and for the church. Two of the main Scripture passages upon which this belief is based are Matthew 26:28 where Jesus states, “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 where Paul rehearses the Lord’s instructions for the church to observe what has come to be known as “The Lord’s Supper.” However, we need to understand
Read more →Blessed Hope Prophecy Forum: A word of caution On October 13-15, 2017, the Prophecy Watchers ministry hosted its first annual Blessed Hope Prophecy Forum in Norman Oklahoma. The term “blessed hope” comes from Titus 2:13 in reference to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (which will first be in the air at the rapture of the church, and then, to the earth after the seven-year Tribulation Period). Therefore the focus of this conference is of vital importance to believers in these Last Days because our “blessed hope” is that we will be spared the wrath of God as
Read more →TEN QUESTIONS PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEES MUST ASK The current theological climate presents a tremendous challenge for churches in search of a new pastor. Unfortunately, pastoral search committees are often unaware of some of today’s most pressing theological issues and so don’t know the questions that need to be asked of pastoral candidates to determine where they stand doctrinally. This list of ten theological questions is not intended to be exhaustive, but, rather, it should be an aid in the overall pastoral search process. The reason for posing simple yes or no questions is to make it earier to determine exactly what
Read more →IS THE REFORMATION REALLY OVER? The Gospel of Roman Catholicism In their 2005 book of the same title, Christian historians Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom posed the question “Is the Reformation over?” While acknowledging that doctrinal and practical differences between Catholics and evangelicals remain, they concluded that when it comes to the matter of justification by faith “…many Catholics and evangelicals now believe approximately the same thing.” Eleven years earlier, it was essentially this same conclusion that served as the fundamental premise of the 1994 ecumenical document “Evangelical and Catholics Together”: We affirm together that we are justified by grace
Read more →90 Minutes in Heaven – the movie The new movie 90 Minutes in Heaven hit theaters on Friday, September 11 and I went to see it last night. The movie, which is based on a 2004 book of the same name, is about a pastor, Don Piper, who claims that he died, went to heaven and returned as the result of a terrible auto accident in 1989. His book is really what kicked off the current Near Death Experience (NDE) / “Heaven Tourism” phenomenon in the Christian realm—which continues unabated with books and movies. As of this writing, after eleven years,
Read more →Biblical Guide to the Shemitah and the Blood Moons The following description is from The Berean Call website in their promotion of the book. Click here to order the book from The Berean Call website Are “blood moons” a harbinger for a catastrophic “seventh shemitah” in America? Informed Christians and serious students of God’s Word would certainly agree that America—and the rest of the world—is prophetically on “borrowed time.” With increasing speed, the signs of the times are drawing nearer and growing clearer. Unfortunately, while the church should be encouraged by Bible prophecy and exhorted to greater personal holiness and
Read more →MARRIAGE: Do words have meanings? With a single decision, a simple majority of five of nine justices on the Supreme Court of the United States, has successfully and irrevocably changed the meaning of a single word that has so clearly defined the most basic societal unit throughout history—a word with a meaning so clear and unambiguous that it had stood the test of time for millennia. Yet, on the morning of June 26, 2015, the meaning of “marriage” according to U.S. law changed forever. The institution of marriage (and by extension, the family) is unlike any other societal custom or construct that has
Read more →Will the real Bruce Jenner please stand up? Although it is certainly a “current theological issue,” I really hesitated wading into this particular mine field for a variety of reasons. The first is that I’ve already dealt with the alphabet soup of LGBT issues far more than I care to over the last couple of years in the process of simply addressing current theological issues each week. Without exaggerating, I could easily do a story related to this overall topic every week as there are continually new developments, yet I definitely don’t want to somehow communicate that I’ve become obsessed
Read more →BOOK REVIEW: Deep and Wide, by Andy Stanley (reviewed by Gary Gilley) Initial comments below by Dave James, followed by the full book review by Gary Gilley: Only occasionally one runs across an article that could be considered a “must-read”—and even less frequently, a book review that would fall into the same category. However, this particular book review by Gary Gilley really is a must-read because it deals with an issue that is broadly affecting the church in America. It is concise, insightful, relevant—and important to the on-going discussion of what it means to “do church” in a way that is
Read more →THE BOY WHO (never really) CAME BACK FROM HEAVEN One of the major breaking stories this week is the decision by Lifeway (the Southern Baptist Convention bookstore chain) to pull The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven from its shelves because one of the authors, Alex Malarkey, (the boy who “came back from heaven”) has recanted his story, saying “I didn’t die. I didn’t go to heaven.” Alex was six years old in 2004 when the car his father, Kevin, was driving was hit broadside by another car. The horrific accident left Alex paralyzed from the neck down, and he became
Read more →THE MYSTERY OF THE SHEMITAH: Is it real? The Mystery of the Shemitah by Jonathan Cahn (Lake Mary, Florida: FrontLine, Charisma Media / Charisma House Book Group, 2014) 275 pp. paper 16.99 _________ The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn became the #1 Christian book of 2012, set publishing records, reached publishing milestones and propelled the author to a very high-profile position on the national and even international stage. Because The Harbinger was riddled with biblical errors, theological flaws and historical misrepresentations, what started out as a 2-3 page book review, quickly turned into a book-length response and led to The Berean Call
Read more →The following article is posted here by permission of the author, Ray Pritchard, of the Keep Believing ministry. The original article can be found here. _______________ The Coming Evangelical Divide by Ray Pritchard The evangelical movement is about to divide. Nothing could be clearer. It’s true that we have often disagreed over things like church government, views of the Second Coming, baptism, lifestyle habits, worship style and musical preference. But those differences, though deeply felt, were intramural debates over secondary issues. This time we are going to divide over a primary issue. It is isn’t just about homosexuality or even
Read more →GRACE & SIN IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY The following article began as part of an email discussion with a member of The Berean Call staff, which was then picked up and edited into an article which appears in this month’s issue of their monthly newsletter. My thanks go to the TBC team, and especially to the editor, Barb Romine, who always makes my writing look better than it does coming directly from me. ______ GRACE & SIN: Why the meanings of words matter by David James Note from TBC: Increasingly, we read of evangelical leaders dipping into the muddy waters of
Read more →God’s Plan through the Ages Imagine how hard it would be to put together a 5000-piece puzzle if you had all the pieces, but didn’t have the box with the picture on it. Even if you were to carefully examine the details, it would still be tough to figure out how the pieces fit together or how each one fits into the overall picture. You could probably put together a few groups of pieces by matching colors and patterns, but even then it would still be difficult to see how those groups go together. It wouldn’t take very long for
Read more →Blood Moon Tetrad (2014-2015): A Sign of the End? (blood moon graphic from John Hagee Ministries used in his sermon series on this topic) A relatively rare series of lunar and solar eclipses, which coincides with important dates on the Jewish calendar in 2014 and 2015, is generating a significant amount of speculation that these could be signs connected with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The four consecutive total lunar eclipses depicted in the above graphic from John Hagee’s website are known as a “blood moon tetrad.” Interestingly, each of the lunar eclipses falls on two specific
Read more →WORD OF LIFE PHILIPPINES TYPHOON RECOVERY EFFORTS If you have been following any of the news reports coming out of the Philippines you have seen the horrible human tragedy that is unfolding day by day. What was perhaps the most powerful typhoon ever recorded devasted portions of the Philippines just a few days ago. Because Word of Life Philippines is one of my annual ministry destinations, I have had a particular interest and concern for what has transpired over the past few days, receiving some periodic updates from WOL country director, Mike Foster. The two Word of Life locations on
Read more →9/11/2001 – Twelfth Anniversary Survey Click here to view survey results With last week marking the twelfth anniversary of 9/11, it is clear that the horrific events of that day remain indelibly etched in the hearts and minds of many Americans. The world was forever changed by the events of that day and we are reminded of this every time we walk into an airport or see a news story about the Department of Homeland Security or consider the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Christians who believe that we are likely living in the last of the last days
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