Building on the Foundation

  Do you, as a Christian, consider God to be the ultimate authority? Do you consider the Bible to be His written Word and therefore, likewise, the ultimate authority? Does your church? Does your church base all its doctrines, to the best of its knowledge, on God’s Word? Or does it instead follow the traditions of men? Worse yet, does it follow pagan traditions masquerading as Christian ones? God’s Word says, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deut. 12:32). Jesus Christ spoke to the religious leaders of His day, quoting Isaiah the prophet, “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mat. 15:9). Has very much changed from that day to this? Given the differing doctrines and the many disagreements among the churches out there in this world, it logically follows that they can’t all be right. Most of them must be “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” This shouldn’t surprise anyone, fo...

  Let's discuss Christmas, the beautiful celebration of Jesus Christ's birthday. The holiday is characterized by sparkling lights, presents under the decorated tree, family gatherings, yule logs, and decorations of holly and mistletoe. It's a magical time of year! When we think of Christmas, it's not just a secular holiday but a celebration that has deep roots in the Bible. It is, after all, the birthday of Christ, the son of God. Though the holiday has been secularized, it is still a celebration of a deity. However, it is not the deity people may think it is. Most people are aware that December 25th is not actually Christ’s birthday because the Bible does not tell us the date of His birth outright. The Bible does indeed give us clues, but it does not outright say when it is. In fact, the clues and internal evidence point to an early fall birth rather than a mid-winter one, so how did we end up with the cold and snowy date of December 25th for His birthday? Well, it doe...