How can the Kingdom of God “suffer violence”?

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Steve Husting

In Matthew 11:12, we read an interesting aspect of the Kingdom of God:

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

How is the kingdom taken by violence? Continue reading →

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The Cultural Christian versus the Called-out Christian

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Steve Husting

It has been said that if you were born in India, you would most likely be a Hindu because your parents were. If you grew up in the Middle East, then you would be one of the three strains of Islam. If you grew up in Mexico, you would be a Catholic. And so it goes. In other words, the atheist contends that Christianity as a religion is no different than all the other world religions.

You know what? In a sense, they are right. Many Christians are cultural Christians. They have taken on themselves to follow the religious practices of their parents. They say exactly what all the other religious followers say: “I am a good person. I go to church/synagogue/mosque/temple. When I die, will go to Heaven.” Continue reading →

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Eternal life is a healthy relationship with God

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Steve Husting

Each of the Bible’s spiritual values have a natural-life counterpart that we live out, whether we believe in God or not. Eternal life is one of those aspects that we already know in our natural lives. The average church-goer probably believes that eternal life is the same as living a long time, of never dying. Actually, it is quite different. Eternal life is best understood as a deep and abiding friendship. It focuses on the quality of life, not its mere length. Continue reading →

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Saved, but not yet delivered

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Steve Husting

In Romans chapter seven, Paul agonized over his inability to do the good he expected to do as a saved person. At the end he poses the heartbreaking question, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me?” This is spoken by a Christian man, one who had been saved by Jesus. On the one hand, he had responded to the gospel of salvation. On the other hand, he had yet to experience the saved life of deliverance from sin.

He was crying out for deliverance. He seemed to know the promises of a better life, and knew it should result in victory over sin. Sin separated us from God, and Jesus came to reconcile us to Him, so He came to deal with sin. Yet Paul still did not experience the blessings he assumed would come from a new life with God. Continue reading →

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Suffering: the training ground for spiritual maturity

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Steve Husting

How does the Spirit get mature, spiritual fruit in us? He doesn’t wave his hands over us or sprinkle pixie dust. No; he does it through suffering. That seems like a negative way of looking at the process, doesn’t it? Yet the idea of suffering, particularly of crucifying the flesh, is to remove everything that gets in the way of following the Spirit. With the flesh crucified, the Spirit is free to move and work in and through us. Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Steve Husting

2013 Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler
Harvest House Publishers
ISBN 978-0-7369-4485-4
http://www.christianbook.com/popular-handbook-archaeology-and-the-bible/norman-geisler/9780736944854/pd/944854

  • Did you know that 25,000 archaeology sites related to the Old Testament have been found (p. 201)?
  • Did you know that archaeology has unearthed historical details of the lives of over 70 major characters of the Bible (pp. 181, 283-289)?
  • Did you know that the Israeli Antiquities Authority has over 100,000 artifacts (discovered in Israel since 1948 available on their database (p. 181)?
  • Did you know that archaeology is the Bible’s greatest friend, is a scientific discipline, and provides great support for the reliability of the Old and New Testaments? (We just can’t say this for any of the other world religions’ holy books.)

I’ve always wondered why we don’t see any evidence of the Exodus and the events in Egypt. I took it for granted when other books said there is no evidence, and any existing evidence was covered up by the sands of history. Until I picked up this book at an apologetics convention at our church.

Here I learned for the first time that researchers had unearthed the dwelling of the Israelites in Goshen where they stayed as slaves of the Egyptians. The archaeologists found that their dwellings were of the same structures as those they’ve unearthed in Canaan. This gives support to the story of them moving from Egypt to Canaan, as the Bible teaches. It makes sense, doesn’t it, for people to rebuild their homes in a new land in a way that they were accustomed to? And there’s more.  Continue reading →

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Second Corinthians insights

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Steve Husting
Morning Meditations by Steve Husting

Morning Meditations by Steve Husting

My family is being blessed as we follow this method of Bible study:

What’s a good way to study the Bible?

My family is going through the book of 2 Corinthians together, chapter by chapter, and sharing our results on Monday evenings at the dinner table. What follows are the results of my own meditations in the first few chapters of this book. There’s no need to restrict the blessings to my dinner table! After you read the following, try the Chapter Summary method of studying and meditating on the Bible on your own.  Continue reading →

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Blessings of our Salvation

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Steve Husting

Our salvation is more than “my sins are forgiven,” or “I’m going to heaven when I die.” Here is a partial list of gratitude-inducing blessings that belong to the child of God. Our salvation is greater than we can conceive of. Don’t deprive yourself of experiencing the fullness of salvation that Jesus has won for you. “I’m a good person who goes to church” doesn’t come close.

There’s a hymn that tells us to count our blessings. May this list be a starting point to relish all that has been given us. In addition, for those who long for more out of their life, check through these to see what you still have ahead of you. Not all blessings of salvation come on the first day of receiving Christ. Many take time and effort to develop or appreciate. For instance, the believer who keeps complaining during hard times has not developed hope yet, which is being confident of a positive future in spite of present circumstances. True hope develops over time as we weather the trials and see God follow through. Continue reading →

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How do you respond to the light?

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Steve Husting

People respond to rebukes in different ways. The wise and righteous in God’s eyes will be grateful for the insight shared about their shortcoming. All others will get angry and some even violent. We’ve read of words getting out of hand at a party and someone storming out and returning with a gun: or a table conversation turning uncomfortable when the offended party responds to the accusation with tension. Continue reading →

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Cultural Christianity

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Steve Husting

When I was having a discussion with an atheist the other day, he voiced the usual objection about Christianity being the only way to Heaven while other religions were unfairly left out. Over time, I had come across several different ways to address this, but there is one aspect about this issue that is seldom brought up. It’s the issue of cultural Christianity.

We take on the religion that is dominant in our area. If you live in Mexico, then you are probably growing up Catholic, for example. Middle East countries have their distinct sects of Islam. Other countries have their dominant religion. Although we treat Christianity as unique among these religions, we fail to take note that many church-goers attend because of culture; that is, they go because it is the usual thing to do, and they’ve been going that church because their parents did. Continue reading →

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