Trying to understand God’s decisions and view of reality from a biblical lens.
In the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, there are these long speeches from the perspective of or warning about one of four characters. Two of them represent God’s wisdom: The Wise King and Lady Wisdom, and two of them represent man’s desires: the Wicked Fool and Folly the Harlot. These character archetypes represent God’s ways vs the world’s ways.
Continue readingPeople who waste time trying to silence someone with a different view, are deceivers rather than bearers of truth. If what someone believes is true then alternative views are not a threat to them because they won’t stand up in light of the truth and so there is no need to silence these other views. These people are just looking to control others rather than persuade them. Persuasion does not happen with fear but with love.
Continue readingThe Torah’s laws ensure that everyone in Israel has basic needs, such as food, because it is truly God’s will that no one starves and that everyone is provided for. Jesus teaches this in Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22-34, saying that God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, so that He will do the same and more for His people. In Matthew 7:7-11 and Luke 11:11-13, Jesus also said that when asking the Father in faith for provision, He will provide for us because he loves us just like human fathers love their children and gives an example saying that no father would give their children a stone instead of bread, a snake instead of fish, or a scorpion instead of an egg. In addition, Jesus displays God’s provision when he feeds the 5,000 Jewish families (Matt. 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15) and the 4,000 Gentile families (Matt. 15:32-39, Mark 8:1-10).
Continue readingJesus said to watch out for false teachers and to judge them by their fruit. How are we supposed to do this?
Continue readingThe Bible states that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Every day, our society, culture, and global events challenge whether God exists or if the Bible is true. Is it possible to have faith in any god, let alone the God of Israel from the Bible, in a fallen, dangerous world, growing ever more secular?
Continue readingWhen interacting with the world, believers must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Anyone trapped in sin, if it is drug addiction, sexual sin, idolatry, or greed, will be defensive about their habit. The best approach is to focus less on the specific category of sin and instead on the person in need of salvation.
Continue readingSome people believe that truth is relative and that everyone can have their own “truth,” even if it contradicts a fact of life. However, the truth is not true if it isn’t consistent and grounded, so it can’t be true. What happens when two truths contradict each other? How can computer technology even work if true and false are relative and interchangeable? Computers work with circuits built on logic gates that use binary switches; something must be true or false for a program to determine which method to use under certain conditions. Where does truth come from? One answer would be God, but how do we define God?
Continue readingSometimes when people quote Jeremiah 29:11 they don’t fully understand what it means. Some people will say God knows the plans he has for us so he’s going to make our plans work out. That’s actually not the case. In that verse, it says God knows the plans HE has for us, so this is not about our plans but his. This likely may come from people reading partial quotes of this scripture from memes on social media rather than reading in context as a whole verse.
Continue readingIf a person disagrees with God’s teaching and instructions now, then why should they expect to submit to him in the Kingdom of Heaven? Why should God even accept them into the kingdom if they don’t even trust, accept, and agree with his word and instructions? Most people wouldn’t move to a foreign country that enforced laws they disagree with, so why would anyone choose God’s Kingdom if they don’t like its ruler or laws?
Continue readingJesus says in Matthew 18:6-7 and Luke 17:1-3 that anyone who causes the children (of Israel) to sin should have a millstone tied around their neck and cast into the sea. This implies that tempting others to sin is worse than sinning against God or them.
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