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Latest Blog Posts from Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.

Plagiarism and Bible Teaching

Plagiarism and Bible Teaching

You’ve probably heard the joke that the greatest insult you can give a Bible teacher is that your work is both original and good. Why is that funny? The part that’s original is not good, and the part that’s good is not original. The goal of Bible study is to be right, not original.

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Loving someone with cancer

Loving someone with cancer

In an 11 month period, my mother died of breast cancer and both my mother-in-law and her mother died of lung cancer. Here’s what I learned about how to love, help and support someone living with cancer and their caretaker.

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Divine Secrets of the Yahweh Sisterhood

Divine Secrets of the Yahweh Sisterhood

Becoming a believer is in some ways like becoming a Ya-Ya. When you become a believer, not only do you gain a vertical relationship with God, you gain a horizontal relationship with other believers.

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Drawing the Doctrinal Line

Drawing the Doctrinal Line

Which of our many doctrinal differences should Christians worry about? After all, one person’s heresy is another person’s minor difference of opinion.

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What is the Glory of God?

What is the Glory of God?

When Paul writes in Ephesians 2 that believers are “growing into a holy temple in the Lord” and “being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit”, he’s drawing on rich Old Testament history.

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What if I failed my Bible reading plan?

What if I failed my Bible reading plan?

Approximately one-third of those who started a Bible reading plan in January abandon it by February. By May that number will drop to half. What if you are one of the statistics?

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The Dividing Line

The Dividing Line

The Apostle Paul divides humanity by one thing: those who belong to God and those who don’t. It is the only distinction that matters.

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An exceptionally good Christmas

An exceptionally good Christmas

Alone and cold in a German prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “I think we are going to have an exceptionally good Christmas.” As I sit in warmth and comfort, I wonder at his words.

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Ephesians: Our New Life in Christ

Ephesians: Our New Life in Christ

Paul writes to instruct and exhort believers as to the full ramifications of their relationship with Jesus Christ, including what Christ accomplished on their behalf and the appropriate change in their lifestyle as a response.

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Role Playing

Role Playing

To compare roles is to count paper clips. Neither is a valid measure of our worth.

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Love & Hate

Love & Hate

How can the apostle John say love is a mark of believers and hate is a mark of non-believers? Even a cursory examination reveals that believers hate and non-believers love.

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Do believers sin?

Do believers sin?

When I was a new Christian, I told another believer that I was struggling with controlling my temper. She told me that I was not a genuine Christian because if I was, I wouldn’t sin. If she is right, not only was I not a Christian then — I still am not a Christian now. When you discover two very different interpretations of the Bible, how do you decide who’s right?

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5 Questions to Identify a Cult

5 Questions to Identify a Cult

How do you recognize a group which claims to represent genuine, apostolic Christianity but in reality does not? Here are 5 questions that separate “the sheep” from “the wolves.”

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7 Marks of False Teachers

7 Marks of False Teachers

I blog frequently on tips and tools for improving your Bible study skills, but what about discernment when listening to others?

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Judging other believers

Judging other believers

If a local church developed a schism such that it divided into opposing camps, both camps might be tempted to judge the other side using 1 John 2:9-:11. But the Apostle John did not write these verses to be a club to condemn each other.

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Marriage God’s Way

Marriage God’s Way

Even the best couples are constantly working on their marriage. Join David & Krisan Marotta (married 31 years) as they examine what the Bible has to say about the commitment of marriage.

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God is light

God is light

In 1 John, the Apostle John is writing to clarify the true gospel from the false gospels spreading through the early church. His first point is God is holy and you are not.

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What is the Word of Life?

What is the Word of Life?

Is the gospel message of the Word of Life, a “pie in the sky” other worldly gospel? Suppose I give a starving person enough food to eat to this week and next week she starves. Have I failed?

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