I love it when I am reading the Bible and a detail jumps off the page at me; this happened to me the other day as I was reading 1 Samuel from my Septuagint (LXX). I was reading from 1 Samuel 13 where Israel was about to go to battle against their perennial enemy the…
Recently, some people on the internet have started to claim that medicine, vaccines, and pharmaceutical drugs are a satanic attack on Christianity. The logic goes something like this: such people direct our attention to verses like Revelation 18:23, "for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." These people then tell us, correctly, that the word…
There are many Christians who do not believe that baptism is necessary for remitting or cancelling the debt of our sin. These Christians believe that repentance alone is necessary for dealing with our sin. Such people will often refer to Mark 1:4 to make their case. Mark 1:4—John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach…
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about Romans 13. Most people agree that this passage is talking about obeying civil government; but recently, I’ve heard some say that this passage of scripture is actually about church government. Keep reading to find out why Romans 13 is NOT about church government. #Church #Government #Bible #Christian #ChristianAuthor #Blog
I am not the sort of person who likes asking for help. Usually, I try to be the person giving help instead of needing it. That said, a friend of mine pointed out to me recently that refusing to ask for help is a form of pride---and pride is sin. And so I am going…
As we read the gospel of Matthew, we notice that the atoning work of Jesus is bookended by providential dreams: five at the beginning of his life, and one at the end. The phrase κατ᾽ ὄναρ [in a dream] occurs in Matthew 1:20, 2:12, 2:13, 2:19, 2:22, and 27:19. In the first dream, the miracle…
Recently, someone on a Facebook group I am in tried to use a particular rule of Greek grammar (known as Sharp’s sixth rule) to prove that 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Matthew 28:19 teach the Trinity doctrine. His explanation sounds convincing if you don’t know Greek; but when you know Greek, you realize that things are…
Recently my friend Shaun asked me a question about the meaning of a couple of Greek words---and his question was such a good one that I decided to answer it with a blog post. Here's what Shaun texted me: μετανοέω [metanoeō] means, repent, or turn around. The same word used in Acts 2:38 is used…
Recently I posted an article responding to Damon Richardson’s mishandling of the Greek text of Acts 2:38. In return Damon has offered a response in one of the most scholarly ways possible: on Facebook. I have provided screenshots of his social media diatribe below. In this present article I will be addressing Damon’s “worded response.”…
On March 9th of this year Bishop Kevin L. Betton Sr., Elder Kevin L. Betton Jr., and Pastor Damon Richardson conducted a Facebook Live video "The Danger of False Doctrine." The main purpose of this nearly two hour long video was to refute Oneness Pentecostalism; because of the length of this video, it would be…
Lectionary 