Love Truth Blog

Jesus lived in difficult times among people who were spiritually blind and deaf. He preached about the kingdom of heaven, He performed miracles, but the people failed to perceive Him to be Israel’s long awaited Messiah. This sin would bring upon them certain divine judgment. Jesus then confronts them on this matter with the following story of a wedding banquet: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘ Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged, and he sent his arm...

I was recently looking into the concept of “sons of God.” This term was used of angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) and in reference to Christ’s unique divine sonship (John 3:16; 20:31; Rom. 1:3-4); however, I was particularly drawn into the way Scripture uses “sons of God” in reference to people. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Here He is speaking of the people who belonged to the kingdom of heaven. True children of God were to be identified as peacemakers. R.T. France puts it: “God is the supreme peacemaker…and this quality marks disciples out as his sons, for the son shares the characteristics of the father.”[1]   Love would also be a quality that identified sons of God. Jesus taught; “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. (Luke 6:35). Love and mercy characterize those who are t...

The Dark Knight Rises is one well-done action adventure movie to cap off Christopher Nolan’s rebooted Batman trilogy. I certainly anticipated seeing the movie, and after seeing it, I can say that my expectations were sated. *** Spoiler Alert *** The movie presents an apocalyptic like battle in Gotham City between Batman (Christian Bale) and nemesis Bane (Tom Hardy), the presumed leader of the League of Shadows, and successor to Ra’s al Ghul. I find that one of the resounding themes in The Dark Knight Rises , which makes the movie work, is the redemption of people. It is about being rescued out of darkness into the light. The very idea is a yearning within the depths of a person’s soul, it is something that connects and engages viewers in the story. In Dark Knight Rises Bane initially battles and breaks the Batman’s back, and imprisons the injured Bruce Wayne in a pit far away from Gotham. From inside the pit, the only contact with the external world is a video monitor displ...

So last Wednesday (8/1/2012) I picked up some lunch for Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, which was an event called for by Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas. The event was in response to criticisms launched at Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy, for statements recently made on the subject of family values and marriage. In a Baptist Press interview, Cathy made the remark, “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We operate as a family business…our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.” Then on the Ken Coleman Show , Cathy said, “I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I p...

“The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” (Luke 18:27, NASB). Can people change? Will my life always be as it always has been? A rich man once asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) The Lord answered the question in accordance to His Jewish heritage, He reminded the rich man of God’s Commandments: Do not commit adultery Do not murder Do not steal Do not bear false witness Honor your father and mother The rich man responded, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (Luke 18:21). Jesus then challenged the rich man: “One thing you still lack, sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). The rich man couldn’t do it. And he walked away. Was the rich man really keeping God’s commandments? Could it be that his wealth became an idol? He was worshipping a false god? Yet, the rich man walked away. Seeing this rich man clutching onto tempor...

July 20, 2012 is one of those days when evil rears its ugly head and we are left speechless. The suspect, James Egan Homes, walked into the midnight premiere of the Dark Knight Rises at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and begins a shooting spree. 12 killed 58 wounded. It is unspeakable to even describe. We can invent words to describe great injustices and tragedies, like “genocide,” but they never really come close to the intenseness of the experience. Aurora is not the first place. Great evils occurred elsewhere, such as Auschwitz, the Cambodian “Killing Fields,” Rwanda, Columbine, the 9/11 attacks in New York, just to name some. History is littered with these kinds of events. How do we come to grips with the kind of evil that happened in Aurora? The aftermath of such acts of evil leave us with questions. Did friends/acquaintances see any signs that he would do such a thing? Is the problem physical a brain malfunction? Was the person in the right state of...

Recently, I came across an article from Relevant entitled “ Christianity’s New F-Word ” by Sungyak Kim. What caught my eye was the teaser: “All this learning how to defend Christianity seems to have left us uncomfortable with one very basic word.” Being in an apologetics ministry, I was drawn into reading the piece. Kim offered a critique on the growing popularity of Christian apologetics, and raised concerned over what he perceived to be mainstream apologists attempts to answer every “prate and twaddle” coming their way. In doing this, Kim finds popular Christian apologetics surrendering to “the culture’s definition of ‘rational,’ ‘reasonable,’ and ‘justified.’ ” I can understand that apologetics cannot be sidetracked into trying to address every “prate and twaddle.” Instead of addressing key apologetic issues (e.g. origins of the universe, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the reliability of the Bible), an apologist might get caught up in a debate over secondary issues. Ye...