Applied Theology
If what has been said already about Israel is true, then a question arises, “What about the nation of Israel today?” In this final part (of a three-part series), we’ll look at what the Bible says about Israel as an ethnic/national people. The key text for this discussion is Romans 11. The question we are... Continue Reading →
Happy Thanksgiving! We set aside today to remember Him to whom all thanks is due. Thanksgiving was instituted by proclamation of the President of the United States--George Washington--on October 3, 1789. You do not need for me to explain it to you because you can read it for yourself below. As you can see, the... Continue Reading →
Earlier, Acts 13:32-39 was quoted, but not in its entirety. When the complete quote is included, we see that the early church proclaimed more than the fact that Christ is the fulfillment of Israel, He is the realization of the Son of God. As such, Christ is also the fulfillment of the kingdom. So, Acts... Continue Reading →
I honestly dislike controversy. I try to avoid it. But the things which matter most to me are always on collision course with the things that others decide are too “controversial” to speak about in polite company. Marriage, families, protecting babies, and the freedom of religion—all these are important realities which rile abortion supporters and... Continue Reading →
Danger? Suffering? Isn’t that what Jesus said would follow those who follow Him? In the fall of 1895, Alphonso Argento made his way from his native Sicily to London, where he was scheduled to undergo extensive training for China Inland Mission. Argento had been burdened for China four years earlier, when he committed his life... Continue Reading →
I went to bed late but arose early, hoping against all hope that my waking would prove the nightmare of President Obama’s reelection to have been just a bad dream. But it was not a bad dream; it was a bad reality, a sad statement about the soul of our once great nation. I am... Continue Reading →
Scripture teaches us to make the most of our time because the days are evil. One of the ways to make the most of your time is to invest your time in the church. Why the church? Simply this, the church is the body and bride of Christ. I suspect that you are aware of... Continue Reading →
A recent editorial is making news in Malaysia. According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), the Umno government in Malaysia is making scapegoats of Christians in order to turn attention away from their own failures. The original scapegoat (Azazel of Leviticus 16) was an innocent goat who had the sins of Israel put upon its head... Continue Reading →
Christians in Egypt are glorious. Or, more precisely, Christ is being glorified through the lives of Christians in Egypt. Since the so-called “Arab spring,” which toppled Hosni Mubarak and other leaders throughout the Middle East, Egypt has become increasingly more hostile to freedom and more open to Islamic rule. As a result, Christians... Continue Reading →
For more than a century, Christians have been stretched by the tension of a fundamentalist strand on one side and the evangelical strand on the other, each pulling backwards against the other like a rubber band being pulled apart by two opposing hands. The result has indeed been tension. On the one hand, the fundamentalists... Continue Reading →
One of the greatest secular songs ever written, Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald stands as a monument of musical story-telling. Inspired by a Newsweekarticle of the November 10, 1975, events that led to the loss of the Great Lakes’ greatest ship, Lightfoot penned a masterful poem capturing the weight of the tragedy... Continue Reading →
Usually, I love debating theology and the finer points of Christian doctrine. I am a pastor and a professor; I am supposed to love such things. But there is one aspect of doctrine that tends to provoke my inner Mike Tyson. I go nuts whenever I see or hear some modern day prophet spewing... Continue Reading →
Just this week, Christians—including women and children—have been killed in Nigeria on account of Christ. In all, more than 600 Christians have been killed this year. Perhaps nowhere on earth is more dangerous for Christians right now than northern Nigeria. Christianity is not safe in Nigeria Emboldened by a Muslim plurality in the north,... Continue Reading →
However, the much more positive perspective on the miracles of Jesus is that they often led to faith (as was their design). When the man born blind received his sight in John 9, he said, “I believe.” And he worshiped at the feet of Jesus (John 9:38). When the lame beggar outside the temple was... Continue Reading →
(Continued from Part 1) From the earliest stages of the Old Testament, instructions were given for people by God concerning miracles and their proper functions. In Deuteronomy 13:1-3, God’s people received a succinct, yet irrefutably clear, annunciation of the function of miracles. There are two primary functions of the signs and wonders. First, the signs... Continue Reading →
Gregory C. Cochran 