Bible Study Articles

With the recent death of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church is now involved in a conclave that must occur within 15 to 20 days after the death of a pope. The word "conclave" is Latin and means "a room that can be locked up." The Catholic cardinals will gather in Vatican City and then enter the Sistine Chapel to begin a voting process that begins with one vote on the first day and then two votes in the morning and two in the afternoon until a new pope is chosen by a two-thirds majority.

If a pope is not chosen after three days of voting, the cardinals stop the voting for up to one day so they can pray, discuss, and be exhorted by a key cardinal. Only cardinals who are under the age of 80 can vote for the new pope. One hundred and thirty-five of the Church's 252 cardinals are eligible to vote.

You have probably heard this before, but at the risk of being redundant let me ask: Is there enough evidence to convict you to be a Christian? Could a court of law prosecute you as being a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you live like Christ? Lead like Christ? Do you respond and/or act or react like Jesus Christ would, when confronted with certain circumstances?

These are hard questions to answer if we are going to be brutally honest with our self-analysis. And the reason these are hard questions is because all of us have sinned and still do from time to time. Notice: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). John continues, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (v. 10). However, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (v. 9).

During the Days of Unleavened Bread, we often talk about examining ourselves and our relationship with God. This year I heard a sermon by Rob Gordon of the West Coast Church of God on the First Day of Unleavened Bread that discussed Israel's motivation to follow God. Have you thought much about your motivation to follow God?

One of the primary points for Israel to follow God was they were released from bondage. Not having the Egyptian slave masters over them any longer surely was a reason to follow the God who had freed them. Christ, our Passover, has also released us from the burden of our sins (1 Peter 2:24). This should also motivate us to follow the way of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In the past I have written a couple of blogs on the decreasing impact of religion and Christianity in the Western world and some other places. This trend has been ongoing since the 1950s in the United States (US) and is even more dramatic in some predominantly Christian nations in other parts of the world. Back in the 1950s, over 90 percent of the US population claimed to be Christian, with those numbers down to over 60-some percent claiming Christianity now.

In a 1948 Gallup poll, only 2 percent of the US population claimed "no religion." By the late 1960s, about 4 percent of the US population claimed no religion. This number shot up dramatically by 2020, when over 20 percent of the US population claimed no particular religious affiliation. Researchers believe something occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s that led to this dramatic shift. What happened?

You have probably heard of the placebo effect. The "placebo effect" has to do with a patient taking a pill that has no medical properties, yet in many cases, taking that pill leads to an improvement for a physical or mental issue. You usually hear of this effect taking place without the patient's knowledge of whether the pill had medicine or not.

Today, researchers believe the effect can occur even when the patient knows the placebo is not medicinal. "You never tell a patient it's going to work," says Ted Kaptchuk, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the program in placebo studies and the therapeutic encounter at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The February 24 United Nations (U.N.) resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory was overwhelmingly passed by the U.N. General Assembly. What was interesting about the vote was the United States (U.S.) joined with Russia, North Korea, and 15 other Russia-friendly countries against the U.N. resolution.

Part of the reason is the U.S. is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. U.S. foreign policy is changing under the Trump Administration, and the "America first" mentality is impacting our foreign policy decisions.

In our last blog, we discussed some ideas to help us resolve conflict. Due to a presentation I am giving this month, I was able to do some research on this subject—so much so that I have enough data for another blog on conflict resolution.

Another popular conflict resolution method is the Interest Based Relational (IBR) approach to conflict management. Roger Fisher and William Ury developed the IBR approach and wrote about it in their book, Getting to Yes. They focus on resolving conflicts by separating people and their emotions from the problem. Their approach also focuses on building mutual respect and understanding. In this approach, there are five primary principles.

Later this month, I will be working with a ministry in the Jamaican Church to discuss conflict resolution in marriage. In doing the research on this presentation, I decided to write this blog to offer some data that may help us in resolving all kinds of conflict. Perhaps I will provide more data in my next blog.

There are a number of different books and theories on how to resolve conflict. In this blog I will cite a theory developed in the 1970s by Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann. These two men identified five main styles of dealing with conflict.

On January 7, two major fires began in the suburbs of Los Angeles. One of the fires began in Pacific Palisades, and later that day a second fire began to decimate Altadena. As I watched the reports on the news that night, I was amazed by what I was seeing. I saw a fire truck trying to shoot water at a building with a powerful hose, and the wind was blowing the water back to the fire truck. The primary reason these fires raged was because of the unusual power of the winds that night.

My home is in Fontana, California, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. We are known for getting powerful winds through this area in late fall and winter. Those same Santa Anna winds can come through all over Southern California, but on this night some of those wind speeds were hurricane force. The wind blew embers for miles which was evidenced by many homes and businesses on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu burning to the ground despite the fact they were across a road on the ocean side of the iconic road.

In the Gospel of Matthew 5:19 we read this interesting verse: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The question I’d like to answer here is what is meant by “these least commandments.”

By answering this question, I believe this will also be a further proof of the opinion of this church and many other Church of God groups that God’s law is still in force, and we should still be obeying it—of course, with the understanding the New Testament provides in how to keep that Old Testament law.

The sudden demise of the Assad regime in Syria is a reminder of how quickly and suddenly change can occur in the world. Since 1970, the al-Assad family has ruled Syria under Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashir. In 2011, popular discontent with the al-Assad regime began leading to civil war. With the support of Russia, Iran, and Hizballah, the al-Assad regime held onto power in a fractured country over the past 13 years. Due to the recent issues being experienced by Russia (war with Ukraine), Iran (conflict with Israel), and Hizballah (conflict with Israel), the Syrian rebel groups struck at an opportune time and quickly wrested control of Syria from the Assad regime.

I recently had a discussion with some ministers in the Church of God, Seventh Day (COG7D). The meeting addressed why we keep the holy days and why they do not.

I would like to address a couple of their scriptural reasons for not keeping the holy days so we can better prepare ourselves for doctrines that are contrary to our own.

"Only great pain is the ultimate liberator of the spirit…. I doubt that such pain makes us 'better'; but I know that it makes us more profound."—Frederich Nietzsche.

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering."—Nietzsche

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."—Nietzsche

I don't know if Nietzsche read his Bible, but he seemed to know a bit about pain and suffering.

One of the primary arguments non-believers make against Christianity is that if God is good and defined as love, why does He allow so much pain and suffering in the world?

Worship is defined as reverence and adoration of God. This can be done in numerous ways. When we attend Sabbath and holy-day services we are expressing reverence for God. Studying His words and praying to Him can be included in worship. Singing hymns to God and helping other brethren are also forms of worship for God. But let's not forget the idea of giving (tithes and offerings) as a form of worship too.

By providing tithes and offerings we can assist our fellow brethren who are in need of physical sustenance (food, clothing, and shelter). Local church groups and our national church headquarters do assist needy brethren from time to time. Without any support from our brethren, our needy brothers and sisters would have a more difficult time.

One of the arguments critics of the Bible make is that there are seeming contradictions in the Scriptures. I disagree with that assessment. Careful study of the Scriptures will reveal the seeming contradictions can be resolved.

One of these seeming discrepancies revolves around the person of King Abijah (Abijam) of Judah. In the book of Kings, this king's name is Abijam (1 Kings 15:1), while in Chronicles, he is called Abijah (2 Chronicles 11:21-22).

The variation in names, such as Abijam and Abijah, often occurs due to differences in transliteration and translation practices over time and across different biblical texts.

Over the past few years, we have written a few blogs on the rise of right-wing or nationalist political parties in Europe. We have seen evidence of this in Hungary, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and other locations.

Most recently (September 2024), Germany has been added to this growing list. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has placed first with about 32.8 percent of the vote in the state of Thuringia and a close second in the state of Saxony with 30.8 percent of the vote. In State elections in 2014, AfD was garnering about 10 percent of the vote in Thuringia and 9 percent in Saxony. Since other parties are refusing to cooperate with the AfD it is not likely to significantly alter the state of German politics, but it is proof of a sea change in the post-World War II generation.

In mid-August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox an international health emergency once again. You may remember a similar declaration two years ago.

The warning comes after Africa recorded over 15,000 cases and 537 deaths thus far this year. The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered more than anywhere else, but other countries suffering for the first time include Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.

A survey conducted by the American Bible Society (ABS), "State of the Bible USA 2024," has indicated a continuing decline in American Bible reading. This decline seems to be much more pronounced in younger people. Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are the least engaged. This age range is also the least likely to view the Bible as important in their lives. Of course, this is the youngest age range we can survey, and many of us as teens were probably not too interested in the Bible.

The recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump has enhanced the belief among some of his supporters that he was selected by God to fix a troubled nation. I'm seeing a lot of chatter out there that this may have been divine intervention. No doubt a possibility, but what about the firefighter who lost his life in the incident protecting his family? Why did God not protect him? Can we prove God did protect Trump? We can only speculate on questions like these, so why worry about it?

I think everyone would agree that having debt is not a good idea. Obviously, with large ticket items like homes and cars most of us are going to have to go into debt to purchase these needed items. I think we would also agree that if we borrow, we should pay back what we owe.

The Bible has things to say about this topic and mostly from a personal point of view. Here are a couple scriptures to think about on this topic.

Exodus 22:14: "If anything is borrowed, it should be paid back. If what is borrowed is lost or injured, full restitution must be made."

One of the many issues I have with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) (Mormons) is their use of extrabiblical books they consider equal to the Bible. Mormons consider the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price to be equal to the Bible. Now, they do accept the Bible, too, but they believe parts of the Bible may have been lost or removed, so that is how they can resolve some contradictions between what the Bible says versus their other books of scripture. But I'm not going to get into that in this short blog. What I want to focus on here is the Mormon idea that their spirits existed prior to them being born on earth.

For a Christian, the most important goal that can be attained is entering the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). But with any goal you need to set up a plan with specific practices to achieve the goal.

An old saying states, "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step." In other words, to accomplish your goals you must complete several smaller tasks in order to achieve the ultimate goal. Let's look at achieving the goal of getting into the Kingdom. As we look at this goal, we will see the major points we will need for achieving any goal.

In the history of the world, one thing that is inevitable is that all great powers will decline. Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and, most recently, the Soviet Union. Is the United States next?

A new study by Rand (RAND Corporation is an American nonprofit global policy think tank), commissioned by the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment and published in May 2024, makes some startling admissions. The Rand study, titled "The Sources of Renewed National Dynamism," looks at what has led to "the relative decline in U.S. standing."

The recent rash of protests against Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza is evidence of a greater change that will have future implications. Previous Palestinian terror tactics against Israel and Israel's response have never elicited protests in the United States to the degree we are seeing on college campuses now. This could be in part due to the degree of slaughter Hamas perpetrated and now Israel's counter-response. The number of dead is much greater in the most recent actions.

The Bible refers to a change in predator behaviour. Lions start to act like sheep. What does this change mean? Why does God call his people sheep? Are sheep stupid? Does God think of you like a sheep?

Could sheep behaviour be Godly behaviour? Could sheep behaviour indicate how the Kingdom of Heaven will operate? How will the millennium operate? How should the church operate?

Tom, an Australian sheep farmer, will explore these questions and other points about sheep from the biblical perspective.

One area of supposed Bible discrepancies pertains to numbers. We will investigate one today.

Look at these two scriptures pertaining to the same event.

2 Samuel 8:4: "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots" (KJV).

1 Chronicles 18:4: "And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots" (KJV).

Both of these scriptures pertain to David defeating Hadarezer and then taking booty from him.

One of the great debates among Christians, philosophers, agnostics, atheists, and other believers in religion is the validity of the Bible. Many Christians would argue that the Bible is the inspired word of God. But even among Christians, there is disagreement. This is a deep subject, but I don't have time to fully develop it here. I just want to provide a little information to support the Church of God International's contention that the Bible is the inspired word of God.

In December 2023, two major Christian church groups began officially blessing same-sex couples.

The Church of England began their practice on December 17, 2023. In February the Church voted to allow clergy to bless the unions of same-sex couples who have had civil weddings or partnerships. The words used for the blessings, known as prayers of love and faith, were approved by the church's House of Bishops on December 12, 2023.

Not to be outdone, the Vatican announced on December 18, 2023, that Catholic priests may bless same-sex couples. The announcement states that the blessings in question must not be tied to any specific Catholic celebration or religious service and should not be done at the same time as a civil union ceremony.

Throughout my years in the Church of God, I have heard different ideas about the following scripture (Matthew 28:19):

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (KJV)

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: (ASV)

“having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing them -- to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (YLT)

The Greek word used here for “in,” “into,” and “to” is eis.  The word is a primary preposition and indicates the point reached or entered of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose.

As we enter another election cycle next year in the United States (US) European nations are taking note. There is some concern in Europe over a possible new Trump presidency. This is due to the fact unlike previous presidents, Trump has made statements about pulling out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“It would be extremely stressful if America pivoted away from Europe, and that’s the worry with Trump,” a top European diplomat stated. “Every foreign ministry is thinking about this.”