“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6 There are some human emotions which are easily and universally experienced. One of these is fear. There are things in our lives that can be a little bit scary. Children are often more […]
Can you pick up your Bible, begin reading at Genesis 1, complete the entire book, and then, despite all the people and places, be able to summarize the basic message of what salvation is? There was a time when the Roman Catholic Church stridently debated whether to allow the translation of the Scriptures into the […]
In How to Really Love Your Teenager, Ross Campbell says that “one of the most important areas in which a teenager needs training is in how to handle anger. . . . Anger is normal and occurs in every human being. The problem is not the anger itself but in managing it. This is where […]
Scripture Reading: Ezra 8 Background Reading: Deuteronomy 28:1–20 Discussion Starters 1. What are some possible reasons why Ezra would include the names and numbers of the men who accompanied him on his trip from Babylon to Jerusalem? Were you desirous of reading the list, or did you skip over most of the names? (Review Note […]
Scripture Reading: Ezra 9 Background Reading: 1 Corinthians 5:6–13; 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1 Discussion Starters 1. What is the response of the leaders of Israel to the arrival and the teaching of Ezra? Did they come forward voluntarily, or were they coerced? (See Note 9:1.) Compare this with Achan’s confession in Joshua 7:13–21. 2. What specific […]
We begin our survey of covenant theology with a consideration of that covenant from which all other biblical covenants flow: the covenant of redemption. The covenant of redemption is essentially God’s blueprint for our salvation. Just as a house begins with a plan of meticulous engineering and technical design, so also did our redemption originate […]
The Seven Foundational Principles Listed We are now ready to begin our accelerated studies in the basics of biblical counseling. The counseling instruction you receive will be divided into two parts: philosophy and methodology. There are seven core principles underlying IRBC’s philosophy of biblical counseling—principles that will help you build for yourself a philosophy of […]
In Numbers 22, the Israelites had finally arrived at the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho. Their journey through the wilderness had drawn to a close because the purpose of this forty-year time period—the deaths of those who rebelled in Numbers 14—had finally been achieved. (For the account, see Numbers 14:20–23, 28–35.) Following […]
A Matter of the Heart In Leviticus 11, God sets forth various regulations governing clean and unclean foods. Certain animals, for example, could be eaten as food and others were forbidden to be eaten. God’s rule for determining whether an animal is clean or unclean is stated in Leviticus 11:2: “You may eat any animal […]
Welcoming Your Minister When Jesus sent out his twelve disciples to minister the gospel he told them how they should conduct themselves as kingdom servants (Matt. 10:5–15). But he also spoke of the responsibility of the people to receive these ministers as his official representatives. Jesus insists that the way people receive his ministers reflects […]