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Bible Insights

Balance Freedom of Speech with Being Careful in What We Say

The Tongue Is a Dangerous Tool that We Must Tame In one of his Psalms, David writes that he will be careful in what he says so that he doesn’t sin. He talks about putting a muzzle on his mouth (Psalms 39:1). He says nothing about having freedom of speech. James is clear about the […]

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Christian Living

Four Places to Be a Missionary for Jesus

Make Disciples of all Nations In the oft-quoted passage that wraps up the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). In doing so, they—and we—are to be a missionary for Jesus. We see this repeated in the book of Mark (Mark 16:15-20). In the parallel […]

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Christian Living

The Five Most Overlooked Books in the New Testament

Discover These Significant Epistles of the Bible The New Testament of the Bible opens with the historic books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. It ends with the prophetic book of Revelation. Between them are twenty-one letters, also called epistles. Five of them, which seem tacked onto the end of the section, are the […]

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Bible Insights

The Final Words of Jesus

Consider What Jesus Says Just Before He Ascends into Heaven Jesus’s first recorded words in the Bible are when he’s twelve years old and disappears. His parents eventually find him in the temple. His perplexing answer explains he belongs in his Father’s house (Luke 2:49). With these as his first words, now let’s look at […]

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Bible Insights

Going Home

We Should Embrace Our Homecoming to Eternity After writing his psalms of praise to God, Isaiah continues the positivity by looking forward to the day when his people will receive deliverance from their enemies, about them going home. Though the people view this as a physical rescue, many people today understand it as a spiritual […]

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Christian Living

Reading the Bible: Not All Scripture is the Same

Consider Each Book’s Genre and Purpose When Reading the Bible Paul writes to his protégé Timothy that all Scripture comes from God. We can use it to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in right living (2 Timothy 3:16). That is, everything in Scripture is useful. We must keep this in mind when reading the […]

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Bible Insights

The Four Parts of the Great Commission

Explore Jesus’s Parting Words A few weeks ago we looked at Jesus’s final instructions as found in each of the Bible’s four biographies of him. Melding these together, we came up with three steps. First is to follow Jesus, second is to wait for Holy Spirit power, and three is to go and tell others. […]

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Bible Insights

About Jesus: The Bible Points Us to Jesus

Though the Gospels Focus on Jesus, We See Him throughout the Old and New Testaments In reading the Bible, we see that God the Father is the star of the Old Testament. In parallel fashion, Jesus is the focus of the New Testament, especially in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of […]

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Bible Insights

What is the Error of Balaam?

We Will Do Well to Consider Balance Error So We Can Avoid It As mentioned in the book of Jude (Jude 1:11), we’ve covered Cain’s path and Korah’s rebellion. Now we’ll address the error of Balaam. Frankly, I’m perplexed as to what Balaam’s error was. In reading his story in Numbers, I see a man […]

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Christian Living

The Final Words from New Testament Books

What Can We Learn from the Ending Sentence or Thought in Each Book of the Bible? As a writer I know the two most important things of anything I write are the beginning and the ending. A strong opening draws readers and keeps them interested, while a powerful close gives readers something to take with […]