This is a question I struggled with myself a couple of years ago. I would read verses in Scripture that would talk about predestination or election and become confused by how this could be. I would think to myself: “I am a free person, and I make my own choices”. This idea went against what I thought or assumed the Bible taught about salvation. Not to mention I didn’t think it sounded fair. How can God choose to save some but not others?

Every day, we face decisions—whether it’s what to wear, where to go to college, how to find a job, or how to build relationships with others. I often hear Christians talk about listening to God’s voice when they make decisions. But, how can they be sure it is really God speaking?

“What is the difference between mercy, grace, and compassion?”

These three virtues are very similar and oftentimes go together, but they each have their own unique concepts. Let’s take a deeper dive into each of them. Mercy withholds punishment even when it is deserved. It’s saying, “You deserve ___ but I won’t give it to you.”  And who else has shown us this attribute any better than Jesus Himself…

“Why Does God Allow Evil & Suffering?”

This is one of the oldest and most significant questions in history. Is a good God compatible with a world full of evil? This is the famous, “Problem of Evil,” and it is by far the most common reason that people give for rejecting Christianity. One helpful way to approach this question is to split it into the logical problem of evil, and the emotional problem of evil…

“Is it a sin for someone who doesn’t have a job to not tithe?”

Let’s start with a bombshell: I don’t think it’s a sin for ANY Christians not to tithe.*record scratch* “Wait, what?? You’re telling me I don’t have to give money to church? Aren’t you a pastor??”I guess we’d better define some terms. In the Old Testament, to “tithe” meant to give 10% of your produce or livestock to support the worship in the temple (but it was likely closer to 20%, when everything is accounted for)…

The original documents of the Bible were inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." and 2 Peter 1:20 says that Scripture was written when "men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." So the Bible's words were co-authored by God and the men He spoke through. Since God cannot err, if the Bible really is His word, the Bible cannot err…

Forgiveness. If you’ve been in church for a while, it’s probably a word you’ve heard more times than you can  count — a non-negotiable for those who follow Jesus. Yet, when you’re face-to-face with the  person who hurt you, or left sitting alone with the pain, it feels like a battle you’re unsure you  want to fight. Let’s be real: it’s hard. Sometimes actually doing it can feel like climbing a  mountain with no summit in sight… impossible and pointless…

Every year as people around the world start prepping costumes, buying candy, and putting up spooky decor in October, a question resounds for many Christians: should we celebrate Halloween? This can be a tricky topic to navigate with many different perspectives and ideas surrounding it. In order to best address this question, we have to first look at the origins of Halloween and also consider the modern implications of the holiday…

“Why should we not include the apocrypha in our modern Bibles? It was written around the same time and was in the Bible for a long time and still is for 70% of Christianity?”

Let’s preface all this with an analogy.

Say you come to me with a medical question (bad idea to start with, but roll with me here). I listen, try to understand what you’re dealing with, then promise to send you links to some articles addressing your issue so you know what sort of treatment to pursue. So what am I gonna do at that point? Just Google “stomach pains” and see what pops up? Randomly send you the first four results? Or will I, to the best of my ability, make every effort to make sure that what I send you is accurate, reliable, and authoritative in its advice?