Steve’s Books
Category Archives: Doubt Busters
How does the Christian overcome?
The Bible tells us that Christians have the victory, or that they overcome. What does that mean? What does that victory look like? How can we know that we are overcoming? First John 5:2-5 tell us that we have the … Continue reading
Why should we read the Old Testament?
Is the Old Testament (OT) of any value nowadays? Many people say that we no longer have to follow all those laws and rules anymore, so why bother reading it at all? I’ve read through the OT many times along … Continue reading
Posted in The Bible
Tagged Bible, Christ's Return, end times, faith, God, Jesus Christ, Mosaic Law, prophecy, sin, Word of God
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How do we Fight the Devil?
The Bible tells us how to address the one “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) in several revealing passages in the New Testament. In none of them are we told to attack him directly. Rather, we remove the means … Continue reading
Posted in Demons, H e l l and Suffering
Tagged Devil, faith, Lucifer, pride, Satan, sin
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Evolution vs. Creation: Collision of Two Worldviews
Neither creation nor macro-evolution have physical proof for their positions. Rather, each party looks at the scientific data from their own perspective and looks for evidence to support it. For instance, the people who are convinced that macroevolution has occurred … Continue reading
Why macro-evolution doesn’t make sense
One major barrier against the gradual evolution of relatively simple organisms into complex ones rests on the organism’s inability to understand its environment and adapt to it. For instance, how could a blind organism understand that color is produced by … Continue reading
Why can’t we explain our faith to the skeptic?
I’ve had a hard time using logic to explain to skeptics why our Christian beliefs are true and defensible (and even logical). Why? Because some of the wisdom was gained through the logic of life experience, and no shortcuts exist. … Continue reading
Aren’t Jesus’ words more authoritative than Paul’s?
Someone asked this question because they saw a verse where Paul seems to contradict Jesus. (In that instance, Jesus said the law will not pass away, yet Paul wrote it was passing away.) Also, since Jesus is God and Paul … Continue reading
Through the sciences we have gained much knowledge about how the world works, so why do we need a god?
This kind of question is usually asked of those in the sciences who are personally pursuing knowledge. If they write a book, they’ll usually write about ancient man’s inability to explain the forces of nature, and so they invented a … Continue reading
Posted in Science and Evolution
Tagged atheists, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, science, sin, Word of God
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If I do many good works, will I go to heaven?
Think about what the question implies. It assumes that because of doing many good works, we’ve put God on the spot; the Creator of the universe is in our debt! We’re saying that He owes us heaven because of all … Continue reading
Posted in Sin and Salvation
Tagged faith, good deeds, good works, Heaven, Jesus Christ, sin
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How can you believe the church has the truth when there are so many conflicting denominations?
How can Christians say they know the truth about God when their theology and beliefs are fractured in so many ways? How can any one group be sure of themselves, that they got it right? The same way anyone else … Continue reading
I believe God can answer my prayers, but how can I believe he will answer them?
Some of you are praying for a loved one’s healing of a dreaded disease. Others are praying for someone’s salvation or that she will return to the Lord. However, it’s hard to believe God for the outcome if you don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Demons, H e l l and Suffering
Tagged faith, Fanny J. Crosby, Joni Eareckson Tada, Kingdom of God, prayer, suffering
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How do we grow in Christ’s love?
The Bible expects us to grow in love. For instance, Philippians 1:9 tells us, “that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.” When we were saved, God did not limit our salvation to merely … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity
Tagged Bible, Bible Study, christlikeness, growth, love, Word of God
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Is it fair for good people to end up in Hell just because they didn’t receive the salvation of Jesus?
Of course it is fair. Heaven is God’s home. If a person arrived at your doorstep saying they’re a good person, would you let him in to live with you as long as he wanted? Of course not! If you … Continue reading
Posted in Sin and Salvation
Tagged forgiveness, good deeds, good works, hell, salvation, sin
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Are people completely destroyed in Hell, or do they remain conscious?
I see two striking examples of people in Hell that give us an answer. Let’s look at the longest one first, found in Luke 16. Jesus told this story to the Pharisees:
Posted in Demons, H e l l and Suffering
Tagged demons, Devil, hell, hellfire, judgment, Lazarus, Lucifer, Revelation, sheol
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Is everything really working out for our good?
We see so many things going wrong in the world today that we wonder if God is really in control as much as people seem to believe. We suffer relationship problems, money issues, physical and mental anguish, and wonder whether … Continue reading
How can you be a servant of God if you can’t see him?
We often perform our work in response to something, or to fulfill some purpose. We do our homework in response to a teacher’s assignment. We do our work according to the responsibilities our boss gave us. We take care of … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity
Tagged Bible, Christians, Gospel, Jesus Christ, missions, service
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Why are you Christians so intolerant?
Are Christians more intolerant than other people or groups? Let’s start with the dictionary definition of the word ‘intolerant’ to make sure we are on the same page: 1. Unable or unwilling to endure something [such as endure criticism]. 2. … Continue reading
Posted in Society and Culture
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Are people looking at us from heaven?
Is it true that people who have died and gone to heaven can observe what we are doing on earth? Some people believe the first line of the following passage supports this idea: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity
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Why does the Bible tell us to reckon ourselves as dead?
Here is the full passage from Romans 6:10-13: For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed … Continue reading
Posted in Sin and Salvation
Tagged alive to God, dead to sin, faith, in Christ, reckon, reckoning faith, sin, victory over sin
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What’s a good way to study the Bible?
Read from the beginning of the book The best way to study the Bible is to start at the beginning. Either the beginning of the Bible (best) or beginning of any of its books. Do not jump in at random, … Continue reading
Dying With Honor
The Bible is hard to understand in places. It’s also a thick book – who can remember it all? Therefore, many of us have ultra-simplified our theology, condensing it down to, “When I die, I go to heaven.” That’s simple … Continue reading
What is the “narrow way” and why is it hard to get on it?
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity
Tagged broad way, eternal life, Kingdom of God, narrow way, nrrow gate, Sermon on the Mount, strait gate
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A Tale of Two Resurrections
When Paul made an argument for his faith in Acts 24:10-21, he affirmed his belief that both the just and the unjust will be resurrected (24:15). What is the resurrection of the just and the unjust? When we encounter a … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity
Tagged cross, faith, forgiveness, obedience, ready, Ready for the Rapture, sin
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“I Am A Catholic!”
“I am a Baptist.” “I am a Presbyterian.” Perhaps when spiritual conversation ebbs and flows around you, at one point the tide may bring you in, and all you can say is that you are a member of a denomination, … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Spirituality
Tagged denomination, forgiveness, judgment, obedience, religion
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“When I Die, I’ll Go to Heaven”
A lot of assumptions are found in this statement: “When I die, I’ll go to Heaven.” What’s missing? No mention is made of how you live from now until death, and no mention is made of the eternity-defining event between … Continue reading
Does God Demand Blind Faith?
Did Jesus demand that people believe on Him by faith only, or did He present proofs and reasons to believe? Let’s start off with this incident: Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent … Continue reading
What I Learned from my Biases
I remember when I first became aware of the impact of my biases upon myself. A Republican lady from church emailed several people about the negative actions of a certain Democrat. I rolled my eyes with the attitude of, “Well, … Continue reading
What is the purpose of Bible preaching?
God uses regular and faithful Bible preaching to share His truths about life. Here is what the Bible says of itself: And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto … Continue reading
How can the Old Testament laws be passed away, yet still be said to continue?
The covenants God made in the OT with the Hebrews were “for ever.” However, from what we understand in the book of Hebrews, they could only continue if the priesthood continued, and if God Himself continued it. As it is, … Continue reading
