Reviewed by Peter DeHaan The Passion of the Christ portrays the final day of Jesus’ (James Caviezel) life, with ample flashbacks to happier times spent with his mother, friends, and disciples. The main storyline closely follows the Bible record and dramatically shows the physical terror and suffering that Jesus endured so that mankind could have […]
Reviewed by Peter DeHaan A hippy-styled acting troupe steps off their bus in the Israeli desert to perform a rock opera about the last days of Jesus, as seen through the eyes of Judas. Being a traitor, it is not surprising that Judas gets a few things wrong and possesses a skewed sense of his […]
Jesus Opens the Scroll In Isaiah’s prophecy, there’s a reference to words in a scroll. But no one can read the contents because the scroll is sealed. Later, God tells Daniel to take the words of his prophecy and seal it in a scroll until the end of time. In Revelation, God gives John a […]
Jesus says nobody knows when the world will end. Later on Paul confirms no one knows when Jesus will return (therefore signaling the start of the end). It will happen unexpectedly, like a “thief in the night.” So if the Bible says no one knows, why do some preachers make their audacious predictions anyway? Adding […]
We live in a society of blame. People shun taking responsibility for their mistakes and shortcomings. Instead they blame someone else: “It’s how I was raised,” “He talked me into it,” “It’s her fault not mine,” “If only I had a better education,” “I had no choice,” and so forth. In doing so, they fail […]
The Bible says that Jesus is God’s one and only son. However, God also calls the church his children. How can we be God’s children if he has only one son? Although the Bible is full of paradoxes—which are hard for modern people to accept but not so difficult for post-modern people and certainly not […]
The phrase “the Lord’s anger” occurs 29 times in the Bible. Is God an angry god, frequently mad at us for messing up? Does he enjoy punishing those who disappoint him? The answer is no. This phrase only appears in the Old Testament of the Bible (before Jesus) but not at all in the New […]
Some people who follow Jesus have a future focus, greatly anticipating heaven. They endure the present while waiting for what is next. Other people who follow Jesus have a present perspective, living boldly for today as his ambassadors to the world. The afterlife is almost an afterthought. Which is it? Is our reward for following […]
We’ve Lost Christmas as a Spiritual Celebration. Let’s Not Lose Easter Too This spring some groups have banned Easter egg hunts—not the activity but the name. Concerned pundits decry this as political correctness gone awry or the timid majority kowtowing to the vocal minority. Although “spring egg hunt” sounds lame, this new label doesn’t dismay […]
In Thursday’s post, Who Is a Christian Pharisee?, I talked about connecting—or reconnecting Christianity—with its Jewish roots—called Messianic Judaism. Although this thought may alarm some, there are ample justifications. Old Testament Judaism foreshadowed and gave birth to Christianity, Jesus was a Jew, and almost all of his early followers where Jewish. It’s only through a […]