Christians are saved by God’s gift, not by works. Good behavior cannot earn us salvation. But Christianity does have behavioral expectations. It involves changes in the way we live. God created us for relationships, and so he has certain desires for the way we interact with other people. We are…

The Advent Season leads up to and culminates in the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Each week we review a step towards that awesome and remarkable event. It is a good time to pause and ponder the act that changed everything. What appeared to…

Stress — in many ways an unavoidable effect of living — could be the very thing that is slowly killing you. We hear about it all the time, and we experience its detrimental effects. In some cases we may even be unknowingly looking for it. Yet, few really understand it,…

When we think about work, all too many seem to believe that it is a necessary evil. They would rather be somewhere else, enjoying some other activity they find much more pleasurable. Others, instead, actually find their identity in what they do. To them, work is a necessity, a distraction,…

The New Testament uses the common term diaconia to express the concept of ministry. This term describes the service that constitutes the function of the diaconos or minister. In our context, it indicates service within the Christian church. Ministry, then, is service: service to God first, and to God’s people…

Taking on the role of a step-parent may seem like stepping into an episode of Mission Impossible, but it really does not have to be that way. Surely, the role of a step-parent is difficult and challenging, but it is NOT impossible. The Lord has given you this opportunity. However,…

Perhaps the best way to start our study on forgiveness is to actually pause and think. Yes, let’s think together. Can anyone of us claim to be sinless, that we have never done anything wrong? Indeed, we are all sinners, and we have all rebelled against God in one way…

How good is the evidence that life evolved naturally, without a Creator? The first verse of the Bible tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It does not tell us precisely how He did it. It is “by faith [that] we understand that the universe…

Evil is a daily reality. Our suffering, as well as the suffering of others, vividly marks its presence in our world. In any given day, every newspaper contains many examples of evil and its painful consequences. Entire religious systems have come from human attempts to explain the presence of evil…

Are you on a quest to find the Ideal Church? Perhaps you know the one I mean. It is the church where no errors of doctrine or practice ever occur. In the Ideal Church, grace, obedience and legalism are always clearly understood and distinguished. The pastor never gives a boring,…

The Bible is the written word of God. In it, you can find much help and encouragement for every situation in life. We encourage you to note those teachings when you find them. Then, when you are in need, you can refer to them again easily. At first, however, it…

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Unless we are able to read and understand these ancient languages, we need to rely on Bible translations. The Bible is the most translated book in the world, as it is available in almost all languages. In fact, it is…

It was all there in her eyes, together with hundreds of questions only a little girl like her could ask. It was forever stopped in time, as she glanced at the camera on her very last walk. Buchenwald, Dachau, Auschwitz. It was all there. Sinister images of brick buildings and…

Some wrongly assume that the doctrine of the Trinity teaches that three Gods exist when it uses the word “Persons.” They say the following: If God the Father is really a “Person” then He is a God in his own right (having the characteristics of being divine). He would count…

As Christians, our most basic religious belief is the existence of God. By the capitalized word “God,” we mean the God described in the Bible: a good and powerful spirit Being who created all things, who cares about us, who cares about what we do, who is involved in our…