The Credibility of Christianity

Tommy Boland
23 Oct 2019
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christianity

My intent in writing this monthly article is to provide you with a reasonable response to the many objections others throw up as reasons for rejecting the Christian faith. This, of course, comes under the heading of Christian apologetics (using evidence and reasons to express why someone should believe the truth claims of Christianity), which is rooted in 1 Peter 3:15 — “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” This month I would like to share a few […]

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A Loving God Must Be A Judging God

Tommy Boland
4 Sep 2019
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Unbelieving skeptics frequently tell me, “I’m OK with your loving God, but I have no interest in following a God who judges!” Those who express this objection simply have not given careful thought to what they are saying. Before we go any further, let me make one thing perfectly clear: In order for the world to have a God of love, this God must also be the God who judges men for their sins. Scripture is quite clear; God is love, to be sure (1 John 4:8), and He is also a judge (Genesis 18:25). Let me explain. The loving […]

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Loving God

Redeemed Road Kill

Tommy Boland
14 Aug 2019
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road

The culture has many complaints against Christianity. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Perhaps the top complaint is that we are hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another. This, of course, is true for everyone, which is why we still need our Savior after we have been saved. But the complaint that we think we are superior to others just doesn’t hold water. True Christians do not think themselves superior, just saved. True Christians do not seem themselves as better than others, just bought by […]

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There Are No Step-by-Step Rules for Christianity!

Tommy Boland
15 Jul 2019
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I long ago lost count of how many times I’ve heard unbelievers object that “Christianity is nothing more than rules and regulations!” Let me begin by saying that that when the unbelieving world sees our faith as nothing more than a list of “dos and don’ts,” we have done a poor job of presenting the beauty and the blessing of the good news of the Gospel. Christianity, first and foremost, is Good News — the good news of a relationship, NOT a list of rules. John Piper put it this way: “It’s like we’re in a war, in a concentration […]

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rules

God Lead Us Down Your Path

Tommy Boland
18 Jun 2019
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God Leads us in everything we do. In our current cultural moment, one which is steeped in deep skepticism, absolute truth is separated from matters of religion and spirituality as far as the east is from the west. A typical postmodern response to the statement that absolute truth exists would sound like, “That may be absolutely true for you, but absolutely not true for me.” This view is as deluded as it is dangerous in matters of reality, blurring the lines between preference, opinion and truth. To be sure, the promise in the era of modernism that human reason was […]

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Explosive Growth of the First Century Church

Tommy Boland
1 May 2019
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Last month we studied the reality of the Resurrection by sharpening our focus on two different eyewitness accounts: the embarrassing eyewitness accounts and the enemy eyewitness accounts. In the ancient world, women were regarded as second-class citizens whose testimony was inadmissible in a court of law; therefore, no gospel writer would ever invent a story of the Resurrection with women being the first to peer into the empty tomb and see Jesus alive. To say that a woman was the first to see the risen Savior was too embarrassing. Growth of the Church Then we looked at the dramatic conversion […]

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church

Eyewitness Accounts – Was Jesus Seen Alive?

Tommy Boland
1 Apr 2019
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eyewitness

“. . . and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). I would like to sharpen our focus on two different eyewitness accounts: the embarrassing eyewitness accounts and the enemy eyewitness accounts. I’ve found that this approach seems to capture the attention of the skeptics, causing […]

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Bad News Before The Good News!

Tommy Boland
15 Mar 2019
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(Scroll down to leave a comment on what the Good News means to you.) “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21 ESV). One of the fundamental biblical doctrines that creates some confusion for those who are unfamiliar with it is the doctrine of Total Depravity, which concerns mankind’s guilty inability to stand before God and claim any sort of inherent righteousness. The bulk of the confusion about this doctrine centers on the name: Total Depravity. “Wait a minute!” both Christians and unbelievers alike will protest. “Are you saying that someone who doesn’t know Christ as […]

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good

The Greatest Of These Apologetics . . . Is Love

Tommy Boland
4 Feb 2019
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greatest

February is generally thought of as “the month of love,” highlighted by Valentine’s Day on the 14th. We made Valentine’s cards for our classmates and teachers when we were in grade school, and we continue the tradition as adults, adding flowers, candy and a variety of gifts to the cards we give to those we love. February is a good time for remembering the importance and value of love in our lives and the lives of others. For the Christian, every moment of every day is a time for remembering the importance and value of love in our lives because […]

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Tommy Boland
3 Jan 2019
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“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:23-25). A kind of mirror The great Protestant reformer, John Calvin, who contributed so much to our present-day understanding of Scripture, undoubtedly had James […]

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mirror