In a battle between Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Iron Monger (Obadiah Stane) near the end of the 2008 Iron Man movie, Tony “ripped out” the “targeting system” from Obadiah’s suit. As a result, Obadiah could not shoot straight and kept missing his target. Could it be that some Christians have had their “targeting systems” ripped out – either by choice, by negligence…

In the television series “The Mandalorian,” the Mandalorians live by a code (which basically summarizes their belief system) that is captured in the simple phrase, “This is the way.” Of course, as has been the case for hundreds of years, Scripture permeates culture. To begin with, Jesus Himself stated, “I am the way” (John 14:6). He didn’t say that He was “one of the…

“Immediately” after Saul of Tarsus became a Christian, “he preached the Christ…that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). This wasn’t just something that he went around saying to other people. Verse 22 states, “Saul…confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” Those who did not believe in the deity of Jesus were stirred, amazed and confounded –…

There is great power in prayer. Prayer can truly “avail much” (Jas. 5:16), but it cannot save an alien sinner from his sins. Consider the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  Saul would later call himself the “chief” of “sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Was he saved from his sins by praying? In Acts 9, Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus. Jesus told Saul to “go…

There is no better part of your day (don’t even try to argue against this!) than when you get to read your Bible! Thus, reading it should be a principal part of each day. But, we must do more than merely run our eyes over lines of text. We must take time to understand it. The Ethiopian eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53, but Philip…

How shameful that some have tried to suggest that the church of Jesus Christ was founded upon Peter! When Jesus said, in Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter,” his name is from the Greek petros, which is “a stone that might be thrown or easily removed.” But, the “rock” on which Jesus would “build” His “church” is the Greek petra, which is “a mass of…

In one of the lengthier psalms, David extolled all that the Lord had done for him. The Lord “saved” him (Psa. 18:3), “heard” him (18:6), “flew upon the wings of the wind” for him (18:10), “thundered from heaven” for him (18:13), “took” him (18:16), “drew” him out of danger (18:16), “delivered” him from the enemy (18:17, 43, 48, 50), “supported” him (18:18), “delighted”…

The word “worthy” means “having worth or value; of commendable excellence or merit; deserving attention, respect, admiration.” Read those words one more time. Then think about the words of Psalm 18:3 – “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.” Our Lord is WORTHY to be praised! There are many reasons for that, but note the ones that David emphasizes in…