Very often we will get questions about the Sabbath. Last year in preparing a series of lessons on the Ten Commandments I attempted to systematize and articulate the biblical teaching on the Sabbath. Here is my humble attempt. I welcome your questions and comments, and will try to answer them as I have time.

We begin by simply acknowledging that whatever the Bible means by the Sabbath, it was not anything remotely resembling what the Jewish leaders had turned it into by the time of Jesus. Without going into any detail, it is VERY clear that the understanding of the Sabbath regulations, as they were applied to Jesus (and often made the grounds of accusation), were the traditions of men.

There are a large number of Christians, most of whom come out of the reformed tradition (the Calvinists, and the Puritans), who hold to a Christian Sabbath. Here are a couple of examples…

Read on for my full exposition on the Sabbath!

Rarely does a year go by when I am not asked by someone from our church what I believe a proper Christian stance toward Halloween should be. Can we “trick-or-treat?” Dress up in costumes? Should we have an “alternative” celebration at the church for young people? What about the pagan origins, demonology and witchcraft involved in the traditions of this night? I believe that particular question is more sensitive where I live (New England), because of a large number of practicing Wiccans.

Below is what I believe to be an informative article outlining a balanced understanding and response to Halloween, along with a few practical suggestions about how Christians can use this celebration as a platform for sharing the gospel. This article originally appeared here at the website of Grace to You. For convenience I have included the text of the article below as well.

Read on, and we welcome your comments…

James gives us a sobering reminder about our responsibility to avoid being only “hearers” of the Word, while neglecting our obligation to put it into practice. “In humility receive the word implanted… prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers” (see James 1:21-25).

In this short post we discuss the necessity and the blessing of obedient hearing, and draw attention to a helpful blog by Dan Phillips on the consequences of being “hearers only.”

Read on for some practical encouragement…

I began a series discussing the importance of the local church. It has been a while since my last post (I’ve had a lot of projects going on around the house). I’ll pick up right where I left off - with 1 Timothy 3:15.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:15, “I write so that you [Timothy] may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God which is the church of the living God…”

Does right doctrine yield right living? Yes, unless that right doctrine is only an expression of a dead faith (James 2:14 reminds us that this is a sad possibility). We have to admit that true information can be inserted in the mind, without it being truly recieved for the life-transforming purpose for which God inspired it (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Phil Johnson provides an excellent comment on this topic on his blog Pyromanics. That qualification in hand, it is still true that every pattern of moral obedience is informed by a right understanding and embracing of the truth, and that every violation of God’s standards for living are a result of a wrong understanding or rejection of some truth (doctrine) of God’s Word.

I would like to illustrate this truism with one example. It is the moral obligation and command to “honor all men” (1 Peter 2:17)…