The Dreams of Salvation

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…

The Trinity and Sharp’s Sixth Rule

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…

Turn and Repent

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…

Acts 2:38 and Greek: A Second Response To Damon Richardson

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.”…

Acts 2:38 and Greek: A Response to Damon Richardson

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…

Don’t Soil The Oil

This is a guest article by my good friend Josh Roman.  We attended the same church for many years and he is a student of the word!  Hopefully I can convince him to do more of these in the future.  Thanks Josh! One of the scariest revelations I’ve ever come to understand is this: I can…

Music Ministry?—A Clarification

Recently my friend Peyton Gurley read my article There Is No Such Thing As A Music Minister. Apparently it didn’t set too well with my friend, because he wrote a review of it on his own blog. Even before I saw Peyton’s response I had been studying this issue in greater depth, and had come…

New Year’s Resolution, Ezra Style

2019 is behind us now, and we are already half-way through January.  The new year has begun (but sorry y'all, the new decade doesn't start until 2021)!  At the end of an old year, we tend to make resolutions for the new one---we want to learn an instrument, learn a language, read more books, or…

Another Look At Three Passages: A Response to Michael Burgos

Earlier this year the trinitarian apologist Michael Burgos published an article on the website Biblical Trinitarian, titled "A Look at Three Passages Oneness Pentecostals Use to Demonstrate that Jesus is the Father."  In his article, Burgos attempts to refute the Oneness doctrine by challenging our exegesis of three key scriptural passages (viz., Isaiah 9:6, John…