Death is a topic that many try to avoid. Frankly speaking, it is morbid and macabre. However, we must ask, “why is it this way?” Aren’t we told that death is a beautiful thing? What is it about death that is so dreary and gloomy? Aren’t Christians supposed to focus on and “celebrate” life?

“See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?” so writes the great hymn-writer, theologian, and philosopher Isaac Watts. But think about it for a moment, how strange is the phrase, “or thorns compose so rich a crown?” Thorns from a bush doesn’t really demonstrate an exuberant amount of wealth, nor does it display any sort of glory, but shame.

The first thing I think Christians need to do is to recognize what depression is and what depression is not. First, depression is not simply “feeling sad,” or “feeling emotional.” Certainly, those things will accompany depression, but it is not the entirety of the experience and depressive state. To start, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM-4) states that symptoms of depression are:

One of the most fascinating movie storylines is the story of Les Miserables. The depth of language, story, passion, grace, and sorrow that is found within the narrative is remarkably beautiful that only a few can match. The wide range of human emotion and experience draws me in far more than most fiction tales. I do not want to ruin the entire story, as I wish for you to read the book or watch the movie (but seriously, read the book), however, I want to discuss a certain character in the movie. His name is Javert, the inspector/police officer.

After Christian had scaled the Hill Difficulty, even after Timorous and Mistrust had tried to persuade him from going back down, he lifted his eyes to the hills and saw his help, a palace called, “Beautiful.” Outside the palace were two lions, and a man whose name was Watchful. Watchful was stationed outside of the palace as a guard. The lions were ferocious but were placed there as a trial of faith to expose those who were faithless at heart. Christian trembled as he walked past the lions, although the lions were roaring mightily, they posed no threat to him. When Christian finally made it past the lions, and demonstrated true faithfulness, Christian asked the stationed guard, “Sir, what residence is this? May I lodge here tonight?”

In the perennial classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian comes across a man named, “Mr. Worldly-Wiseman.” Mr. Worldly-Wiseman lived in a town called “Carnal Policy,” otherwise known as Ways of the World, and it was a close neighbor of the City of Destruction (where Christian was originally from). Mr. Worldly-wiseman was a perceptive man and recognized that Christian was in need of some help on his difficult journey. So Mr. Worldly-wiseman asked Christian, “If I give you counsel will you take my advice?” Christian responded, “If it is good counsel, I will.” This was a great attitude for Christian to display, as he should be discerning of any advice given to him.

Equality is a term that is often thrown around today from every demographic imaginable. From political pundits to pulpiteers, advocates to homemakers, equality is seen as a virtue. But what is “equality?” The definition of the term “equal,” according to the Oxford dictionary is “being the same in quantity, size, degree, or value.” So, if we were to operate upon this definition of equality, we must then examine what this argument means according to Scripture. In other words, does this term “equal” and the definition of “equality” ultimately align with what Scripture teaches? Does equality correctly summarize man’s current state and ultimate goal or does it contradict Scripture at these points?

Can a true believer lose their salvation? This is a doctrine that has been argued for hundreds of years. I want to briefly show why a true believing Christian cannot lose their salvation, while also dealing with some objections and why this question matters.

One of the overwhelming symptoms that I had during my bout with Coronavirus was fatigue. There was one day that I slept for nineteen hours! For all of the math whizzes out there, that means that, yes, I was only awake for five hours that day. It was so difficult to stay awake some days that I would wake up, walk to the couch, and then have to nap because I was so exhausted. Yet, it is this fatigue that I want to speak about here.

The term disciple, meaning student, can be found in a number of modern English words, such as discipline. That is to say, those who are called disciples have a certain discipline that they are studying. They are disciplined in paying attention and learning in this area of study. To say someone is a “disciple of Christ” is to then say that they are focused on and studying the works and teachings of Jesus, following after Christ and everything He believed. If this is what a disciple is, the question that should follows is, “What did Jesus teach and believe so that we may follow Him?” While there are a host of things that could be discussed, let’s focus in on the specific idea of what it means to “make disciples.”

A few weeks ago I took the test to see whether I had been infected with coronavirus. I was feeling ill, though I did not initially have the symptoms that the CDC had stated traditionally come with the virus. Still, I was sick. I took the test, had the swab shoved up my nostrils (certainly not pleasant), and then I waited… I received my results nearly 10 days later. Positive. I was not alone as my wife tested positive too. Fortunately, I had already stopped working per my employer’s policy that you must wait for a negative result to return to work. When I write these ways to minister to someone who has contracted coronavirus, I am doing so out of my personal experience. The following are the things I believe can best minister to those with the illness:

A common question I receive from friends, whether they are believers or non-believers is, “What will we be doing in heaven?” While I cannot answer all of the activities that occur in Heaven, in this small blog post as well as my ignorance of what heaven is like fully, let’s focus on one specific aspect of it. In Revelation 5, we see that one of the main activities of heaven is corporate worship.

We can better understand Paul as saying that the Law tells us what is right before God, but it is grace alone that makes us right before God. The Law teaches us what we need to do, while grace gives us the power to do it. Now let us arrive at the pivotal verse of Romans 6:14, where we see the whole verse saying, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

So many bible translations, so little time... Where do we begin in sorting through which bible translation(s) to choose? There are over 100 million bibles sold or distributed each year, many of them in a variety of different translations. Most of these bibles are incredibly similar in style and substance, but there are some which have taken great liberties with the original texts.

There is a saying in the political realm that says, “never let a crisis go to waste.” Usually, this refers to how politicians abuse their power to gain from an unfortunate event. However, this statement is true in all aspects of life as men often hunger for power. This is most certainly true of the Word of Faith movement.

What exactly is worshipping in truth and why is it so important? In our desire to focus in on this topic, let’s journey together to the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. The setting of the narrative is that Jesus is passing through Samaria. During his travel, he stops to speak to a woman at a well. Being a Jew, Jesus should not have been speaking with her according to the norms of the day.

We have here another Latin phrase, Soli Deo Gloria, which means, “Glory to God Alone.” While this seems obvious, it is often in practice and not a profession where it is denied. This phrase was often emphasized during the Reformation because the Roman Catholic church believed that the system of sacraments was to dispense grace to those who attended Mass.

There are many reasons why the Cross was necessary, but we will focus in and hone in on one particular reason. Both Jesus and the Apostles said, that Christ was to die to fulfill the Scriptures (Matthew 16:21; 17:22-24; 20:17-19; 26:54 and their parallel passages through the Synoptic gospels; John 12:20-34, Acts 3:18; Acts 17:2-3; 1 Cor 15:1-5). While we see that Jesus was supposed to die, we seem ultimately that He was supposed to die in a specific way.