Monthly Archives: October 2019

If I Am Eternally Secure, Can I Sin All I Want?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) Of course not! While it is true that we are saved by faith and not by works (Romans 4:5), this does not mean that we can therefore go on living any way we wish. Believers relish in the great grace by which we were saved. God has lavished his love on us even while we were sinners, he sent Christ to die on our behalf (Romans 5:8). In light of this act of grace performed on our behalf, we are called to a higher … Read More »

Modern Science Was Impossible Without Christianity

By L. Alfred James When I was in junior high I learned about various cultures around the world. Among many other things, I learned that vast regions of Asia, Africa, and South America do not have the benefits of cutting edge medicine, chemistry, electricity, engineering, etc. My teachers never explained why Europe and North America were blessed to have these things in such abundance while other parts of the world are just now finally starting to use electricity, and some other parts of the world are actually stuck with primitive … Read More »

Ishmael and Jesus – Part 7

By Elysia McColley We have looked quite extensively at Ishmael, his mother Hagar, and the Ishmaelites to show how immensely and uniquely blessed they were. They were the first to see the pre-incarnate Christ and had descendants mentioned in His genealogy. However, there are some disconcerting passages in the New Testament that do seem to suggest otherwise, particularly in Galatians 4:21-31. Paul wrote here about Hagar and Sarah to demonstrate that we are descendants of Sarah, who was free, rather than of Hagar, who was a slave. In verse 30, … Read More »

Is It Rational To Believe That Humans Are Purely Physical?

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) The idea that human beings are merely physical entities with no spiritual or immaterial component is known as physicalism. Interestingly enough, there are some professed Christians who hold to this idea, but I think the biblical teaching clearly expresses the reality that man is both a body/soul composite. I think the difficulties with this position is legion, however, I will focus upon one important difficulty that renders physicalism irrational. This is the issue of “personal identity through time”. If human beings are reduced to … Read More »

Why Think Christianity Is True? Grace.

By L. Alfred James We are currently in a series of blog articles that provide an intellectual pathway for moving someone (or yourself) all the way from hardcore atheism to Christianity. We first saw reasons to move from belief in materialism to belief in the supernatural; then from belief in the supernatural to belief in a personal God; then from belief in a personal God to belief in Christianity. Today I want to make another argument for Christianity being true while the other major religions of the world (I simply … Read More »

Ishmael and Jesus – Part 6

By Elysia McColley In this series about Ishmael and his descendants, one thing that we looked at was how the pre-incarnate Christ appeared to Ishmael and his mother on two separate occasions. Here, I want to look at the ministry of Jesus and how He healed those who were likely descendants of Ishmael. In Luke 4:27, Jesus said, “And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed–only Naaman the Syrian.” In other words, miracles do not come … Read More »

Apologetics Mental Checklist

By Elias Ayala (MDiv & M.A.T.) When doing apologetics there are important things to remember prior to and during our interactions with unbelievers. First, we do not want to forget our spiritual and intellectual commitments. Remember that Jesus Christ must be sanctified as Lord in our hearts at all times. Never within our apologetic interactions are we to defend the Christian worldview from some other foundation. Jesus Christ the Lord is to be sitting on the thrones of our hearts and mind. This commitment should be assumed at the very … Read More »

Christianity, History, and Verification

By L. Alfred James “How do you know the stories in the Bible weren’t just written by some dude in a cave who was on drugs, or hallucinating, or just made them up?” I have been asked this question more times than I can count. It is a reasonable question, and it has been thoroughly addressed elsewhere. (For instance, Josh McDowell’s book He Walked Among Us or Holden and Geisler’s Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible are both excellent starting points.) It is not a subject I can adequately … Read More »

Ishmaelites in the Old Testament – Part 5

By Elysia McColley So far in this series about Ishmael, we have looked at two prominent Old Testament figures – Job and Jethro – who were not Israelites and may have actually been Ishmaelites, or descendants of Abraham through his oldest son, Ishmael. There are several other Old Testament figures who may have been Ishmaelites, such as Agar and Lemuel, two kings who contributed to the book of Proverbs. Here, I want to look at someone who was possibly the most significant Ishmaelite in the Bible because of her role … Read More »