I gladly officiate Vow Renewal Ceremonies across the beaches and areas of the Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida Gulf Coast. Vow renewal ceremonies are an excellent way to celebrate your marriage relationship and reinforce your commitment to your spouse. Vow renewals are best known for celebrations of a wedding anniversary, but over the years I’ve officiated vow renewals for many other reasons, too. … Continue reading →
Why does the Bible refer to the return of Jesus Christ as the blessed hope? Titus 2:13 says that believers are “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” We ought to be looking more for that appearing and less at the difficulties that often assail us. Years ago I … Continue reading →
As an introduction to the armor of God in Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11; ESV). Whether you like it or not, the devil is scheming against you – if you sided with Jesus Christ. He can not … Continue reading →
Last week Amir Tsarfati, whom you know from Jan Markell’s Prophecy Conference, got a lot of blow back on a teaching he did about recognizing the preincarnate Jesus in the Old Testament. In the video teaching, Amir mentioned Michael the Archangel as likely the preincarnate Jesus along with other examples like the Angel of the Lord references. Unfortunately, his followers … Continue reading →
I was amused by something I heard on a radio newscast today. A politician commenting negatively about the many states passing heartbeat bills, referred to it as being “a cluster of fetal pulsation.” A cluster of fetal pulsation? We should not be surprised at such silly redefining of reality in order to avoid truth, because we’ve seen it with marriage … Continue reading →
Whatever the trial, hardship, or fear of persecution as our world rushes headlong into these last days, don’t forget that our Lord has promised to be with you. The final words recorded by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew are “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). When Moses was doubting his calling … Continue reading →
War was first known in Heaven, not because it is holy, but because sin is so unholy. Revelation 12:7 says “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.” The chapter also gives us the account of Satan bringing war to earth against God’s people. The history of … Continue reading →
In 1923, my grandmother, Mary, was asked to be the maid-of-honor for her best friend’s wedding. As the wedding approached in her hometown near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mary wondered what the best man might be like. She had heard that Lou was also a recent immigrant from Czechoslovakia and also an available bachelor, but he wouldn’t be arriving until just before … Continue reading →
Hyphens are used to join two words that create a compound word with a two part meaning. We could say that I am an Italian-American. I don’t say that because I feel like being American has a great enough significance and I don’t want to cheapen being an American by making it share the stage with my Italian background. I … Continue reading →
The question is, What does 2 Peter 2:6 mean by Sodom and Gomorrah being an example of what will happen to the unsaved? This can be a puzzling verse for most Christians who have a picture of the unsaved burning throughout eternity in hell when the saved are enjoying the glory of heaven. However the verse and it’s parallel passage … Continue reading →
1 Timothy 2:12 is the proof text for teaching that women ought not to be teaching or preaching if men are present. It states, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Allow me to bullet point some considerations when seeking the proper interpretation and application of this … Continue reading →
I belong to a Facebook group of some 4000 small church pastors, and recently someone asked what “What would be your advice to a new pastor?” The first thought that came to my mind was “Study, study, study.” Then as I thought it over further, a slew of things came to mind, so here they are… • Study God’s Word, … Continue reading →
If we were to meet over coffee to talk about your hopes to plant a church, I would begin by asking you if you have developed a theology of pastoral ministry. A theology of pastoral ministry isn’t much different than having a theology of God or a theology of the return of Christ or any other conviction of biblical beliefs. … Continue reading →
Here’s why I don’t think the seal of God is Sabbath keeping and why I don’t think the mark of the Beast is Sunday keeping. Let me begin with the arguments that my Adventist friends are familiar with…(I do mean friends. I still love you all and am still thankful that God lead me into a Seventh-day Adventist Church on … Continue reading →
We find the concept of the Seal of God in the book of Ephesians and in Revelation. There is a definite connection between the two books on the Seal of God. Let’s beginning by looking at Ephesians 4:30 where Paul says “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” … Continue reading →
We find the concept of the Seal of God in the book of Ephesians and in Revelation. There is a definite connection between the two books on the Seal of God. Let’s beginning by looking at Ephesians 4:30 where Paul says “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” … Continue reading →
Here is something that makes me pause when considering the return of Jesus in a pre-tribulation rapture. It’s the use of the phrase “at the last day” as found in the Gospel of John. The reason it gives me pause, is because the Bible specifically mentions that there is only two resurrections, one for the saved and one for the … Continue reading →
There is a belief that during the 1000 years people will be born and people will die. Where does this idea of death being part of the saints experience of eternal life, post-rapture, and post-tribulation come from? The answer is Isaiah 65:20 which says “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or … Continue reading →
Today at CrossHope Chapel we opened to Ephesians 4:17-32 and in case you missed it, here are some notes… The Apostle Paul uses the metaphor “walk” as a way to express how we live our lives. Walk is a descriptive word picture for the practice of our day to day living. It is used by the Apostle Paul and the other … Continue reading →
(This is not original with me, nor do I even know who compiled it, but it was something I got from another minister who got it from another minister who used it for a Bible Prophecy Seminar handout.) Luke 8:10 And He said, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to … Continue reading →
Continue reading →(This is not original with me, nor do I even know who compiled it, but it was something I got from another minister who got it from another minister who used it for a Bible Prophecy Seminar handout.) Many of the numbers in the Bible have deeper prophetic or spiritual significance. Both in the Old and New Testaments, numbers … Continue reading →
Continue reading →I would like to suggest to my Seventh-day Adventist friends to substitute the word “Messiah” for the word “Sabbath,” every time you read it in the Bible or in the writings of Ellen White. I once had a New Testament professor who in teaching through the book of Galatians, suggested that when we read the word “law” we could add the … Continue reading →
Well, let me say the title of this post should more accurately be “Why Clemson Won – Possibly, Theologically Thinking.” My thought is that Coach Dabo Swinney of the championship Clemson college football team did such a powerful job at giving God glory that it struck me as possibly part of the reason Clemson may have won. During the nationally … Continue reading →
Here are the top 5 searched and viewed posts in 2018 from our www.crosshopechapel.org website. That means that people searched the internet for a specific topic or question and our website post came up on that search so with our #1 post there were close to 1000 people and the other posts were all around 100 people. I would never … Continue reading →