The Danger of False Teachers: Insights from Jude
The words of some spiritual teachers can be very persuasive, yet something in the shadows of their message sounds an alarm. In this verse-by-verse study of Jude, author Bill Crowder…
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A Wrong Reading
William Scoresby was a British seafaring explorer in the 19th century who responded to God’s call to the ministry. An interest in the workings of navigational compasses stayed with him…
Know His Voice
One year for vacation Bible school, Ken’s church decided to bring in live animals to illustrate the Bible story. When Ken arrived to help, he was asked to bring a sheep inside. He had to practically drag the sheep by rope into the church gymnasium. But as the week went on, it became less reluctant to follow him. By the end of the week, Ken didn’t have to hold the rope anymore; he just called the sheep and it followed, knowing it could trust him.
In the New Testament, Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd, stating that His people, the sheep,…
The Forecaster’s Mistake
At noon on September 21, 1938, a young meteorologist warned the U.S. Weather Bureau of two fronts forcing a hurricane northward toward New England. But the chief of forecasting scoffed at Charles Pierce’s prediction. Surely a tropical storm wouldn’t strike so far north.
Two hours later, the 1938 New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island. By 4:00 p.m. it had reached New England, tossing ships onto land as homes crumbled into the sea. More than 600 people died. Had the victims received Pierce’s warning—based on solid data and his detailed maps—they likely would have survived.
The concept of knowing whose…
Divided in Love
When public debate erupted over a controversial Singapore law, it divided Christians with differing views. Some called others “narrow-minded” or accused them of compromising their faith.
Controversies can cause sharp divisions among God’s family, bringing much hurt and discouraging people. I’ve been made to feel small over personal convictions on how I apply the Bible’s teachings to my life. And I’m sure I’ve been equally guilty of criticizing others I disagree with.
I wonder if the problem lies not in what or even how we express our views, but in the attitudes of our hearts when we do so. Are we just…
The Flip Side of Love
The Roman inns during the time of Christ had a reputation so bad that rabbis wouldn’t even permit cattle to be left at them. Faced with such bad conditions, traveling Christians usually sought out other believers for hospitality.
The Flip Side of Love
The Roman inns during the time of Christ had a reputation so bad that rabbis wouldn’t even permit cattle to be left at them. Faced with such bad conditions, traveling Christians usually sought out other believers for hospitality.
Among those early travelers were false teachers who denied that Jesus was the Messiah. This is why the letter of 2 John tells its readers there is a time to refuse to extend hospitality. John had said in a previous letter that these false teachers were “antichrist—denying the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). In 2 John he elaborated on this, telling his…
The Best Kind of Happiness
“Everybody’s doing it” seemed like a winning argument when I was young. But my parents never gave in to such pleas no matter how desperate I was to get permission to do something they believed was unsafe or unwise.
As we get older we add excuses and rationalizations to our repertoire of arguments for having our own way: “No one will get hurt.” “It’s not illegal.” “He did it to me first.” “She won’t find out.” Behind each argument is the belief that what we want is more important than anything else.
Eventually, this faulty way of thinking becomes the basis for…
Foley Artists
Crunch. Crunch. Whoosh! In the early days of film, Foley artists created sounds to support the story’s action. Squeezing a leather pouch filled with cornstarch made the sound of snow crunching, shaking a pair of gloves sounded like bird wings flapping, and waving a thin stick made a whoosh sound. To make movies as realistic as possible, these artists used creative techniques to replicate sounds.
The Danger of False Teachers: Insights from Jude
The words of some spiritual teachers can be very persuasive, yet something in the shadows of their message sounds an alarm. In this verse-by-verse study of Jude, author Bill Crowder examines the characteristics and methods of false teachers of all generations. Find out how you can identify wrong thinking and protect yourself and others from spiritual danger.
Truth with Love
Find out how you can tell others about Jesus, be knowledgeable and respectful of differences, and stand firm in your own beliefs.
Out Of Context
When a friend started making random despairing statements, people were concerned for him and started giving advice and offering encouragement. As it turned out, he was simply having fun by quoting song lyrics out of context to start a conversation.
Paul’s Prison Epistles
This course offers an analysis of four of the epistles that Paul wrote from prison (Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians). As Christians we face many challenges to our faith. False teachings and worldviews assault our loyalty to Christ. Suffering tempts us to think that God is not in control, or that He does have our best interests at heart. And our relationships with other believers are often strained to the point that we doubt the value of the church. But Paul responded to these types of difficulties in his letters from prison. This course is a study of these epistles, based on…
Columbus’ Eclipse
On one of Christopher Columbus’ voyages, he found that his crew’s food supply was almost depleted. Anchored off the island of Jamaica, he was grateful to be given food by the islanders. But as time went on, the gifts of food decreased so that the crew began to starve.
Columbus knew from an astronomy book that a lunar eclipse would soon occur.
Spiritual Junk Food
In many countries, childhood obesity is at an all-time high. A major culprit in such unhealthy weight gain is poor eating habits and junk food.
The term junk food refers to items that taste good but lack nutritional value and are often very high in calories and fat. Chips, soft drinks, candy bars, cookies, and many meals purchased at fast-food restaurants fit these criteria.
A Wrong Reading
William Scoresby was a British seafaring explorer in the 19th century who responded to God’s call to the ministry. An interest in the workings of navigational compasses stayed with him during his work as a clergyman. His research led to the discovery that all newly built iron ships had their own magnetic influence on compasses. This influence would change at sea for various reasons—leading crews to read the compass incorrectly. Often this led to disaster.
