Let's Go Back to the Bible

Posts by David Sproule (Page 232)

Threatening them will stop them!

The Jewish Council “conferred among themselves” in all their collective wisdom, “What shall we do to these men?” (Acts 4:15-16). These were some of the wisest men in that age, especially regarding religious matters. They were conferring among themselves to determine what to do with and to the apostles who had been preaching and doing the works of the Lord. Here’s what…

“Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”

At this time of year, we hear the saying often, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  It’s catchy.  It’s heart-warming.  It’s reassuring.  However, the hyped “season” of Christmas, which man has designated as the birth-time of Jesus, has no Scriptural basis—neither in historical record or in authoritative command from God.  As some have more aptly stated, “Jesus is the reason for…

Need a H-U-G?

A handshake may be the most common greeting style today but a hug is the most meaningful. A hug comes in many different styles, occasions, durations and purposes. A hug is a warm way to say, “Hi!” and a warm way to say, “Goodbye.” So, what does that give us? A hug says: H — Hi! U — G — Goodbye! You…

“I can be kind of mean. What’s the big deal?”

It is considered acceptable behavior in many circles. “Yeah, I’m kind of mean, but that’s just who I am,” might be one person’s reasoning. Another has been known to say, “Well, we live in a mean world. Everyone is mean, so you have to be mean to  survive.” What does God say? There is much in Scripture on this topic, but consider…

Easy-to-read may not mean easy-to-do!

While the translations vary in their ease to read and comprehend, God wrote the Bible to make it easy to read for the average person, even a child (which has made it the best-selling book decade after decade). Reading is one thing. The “doing” takes things to an entirely new level. Consider some Bible instructions, from an “Easy-to-Read” version, that some folks…

Greet One Another

We read some expressions in Scripture so often (especially in particular parts of the New Testament) that we might skip right over them and not consider their real emphasis and import.  One example of this is the frequency with which we come across the word “greet” in the New Testament. As we have a “greeting” part of our letters today, it was…

Habits are hard to break!

After 13 years of driving to the same home day-after-day, it’s funny how our brains just operate on auto-pilot. There are habits, choices and directions that are just instinctively made, without much (if any) thought being given to each individual step. After moving to a different home last month, all of a sudden, my “auto-pilot” is messed up; I’ve had to start…

Not just a past event but an ever-present reality

There is something very different and very real and very effectual about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. There were others who were raised from the dead (such as Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus, etc.), but the Greek tense of the verb used in those cases is different than the Greek tense that Paul used for Jesus’ resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. In…