“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you;before you were born, I separated you for myself. I have appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5 CJB) "When Elizabeth heard Miriam’s greeting, the unborn child leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was completely filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh." (Luke 1:41 TLV)... Continue Reading →
Have you ever heard someone say that most of their friends are really just acquaintances? Unfortunately, we tend to be loose with the definition of friend these days. The Bible says that Abraham was a friend of God. The father of our faith is the first person in Scripture called a prophet; more importantly, he... Continue Reading →
A few things caught my attention while reading the resurrection passages in ‘A Harmony of the Gospels in 30 Days’ on YouVersion. Reading all the Gospel accounts together by story sheds new light on the life and ministry of Jesus. For instance, look at how revelation comes; John 20:9 TLV “For they did not yet... Continue Reading →
I am continually amazed at the grace of God over me, a sinner. A few passages in Romans stuck out in my reading today and continued some conviction I have been feeling the last few days but more on that in a moment. The Righteousness of God Through Faith "But now apart from the Law... Continue Reading →
The Hillsong Documentary, Julie Roy's latest attack on John MacArthur, The latest SBC kerfluffle, and crazy charismatic behavior all have one thing in common - distraction. The enemy uses all of these things to get believers' attention out of God's book and onto Facebook and into Twitter battles. There is a difference between Paul calling... Continue Reading →
Growing up, I heard lots of teaching on the gifts of the Spirit, and being Pentecostal/Charismatic; I saw lots of weird stuff under the guise of the move of the Spirit. As I was thinking about the extra emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit and the minimal focus on the fruit, the thought came... Continue Reading →
Throughout Israel’s history, we see neglect and return. Israel neglects the commands of God, repents, and returns to the ways of God. At times we catch ourselves judging Israel and thinking, how could a people who saw such great miracles so quickly turn from God? But in reality, we are no different; we often neglect... Continue Reading →
My first flight was From DFW to London, then London to South Africa. I remember looking out the window each time we would begin flying lower as we got closer to landing. Seeing land far away and getting closer and closer is an incredible thing to see. Life is like that at times, we tend... Continue Reading →
Growing up, I always heard "one word from God can change your life." Today as I was reading my Bible, that phrase came to mind, and I began to think about it and different characters in the Bible. Moses saw a burning bush, and when he turned aside to see, the Lord spoke to him,... Continue Reading →
"I felt my heart strangely warmed…I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." Those were the words of John Wesley after hearing someone read Martin Luther's preface... Continue Reading →
One day last week, I was thinking about the love of God, and it just hit me how incredible the love of God is. I hate to say this, but it’s easy for me to forget about God’s love. If we don’t fix our minds on the love of God, it is easy to take... Continue Reading →
Much has been said and even speculated about the Book of Job. Some Christians sweep the complexities under the rug with statements like, “Job is the question, and Jesus is the answer.” Others who are bothered by the sovereignty of God point to Job, saying, “the thing I feared the most has come upon me,”... Continue Reading →
How many times have you started to pray and become distracted? You begin praying, and all of a sudden, a grocery list begins forming in your head, or you suddenly remember you forgot something three weeks ago. Over the last several years, a common prayer strategy has been to pray on your way to work.... Continue Reading →
Genesis is a book of beginnings. In it, we find the creation, humanity, the flood, the story of redemption begins to unfold, and the nation of people is promised to Abraham. God begins to set things in order very quickly, and certain things established in Genesis carry through the entirety of Scripture. For example, Malachi... Continue Reading →
Much has been said, and rightly so, concerning unity in the Church. But what does unity look like? Is it really about setting doctrine aside and accepting professions of faith at face value when there is no fruit behind the confession? Years ago, Catholics and Evangelicals Together came on the scene, declaring we’re all together.... Continue Reading →
Casey D. Bell 