Posted on May 8, 2008 by mattdabbs
The temptation when teaching about the crucifixion is to talk about the Romans, Roman courts, Pilate, Crucifixion, and prisoner release customs when dealing with the first 15 verses. Then in the verses that follow to discuss the suffering of Jesus and how he died for our sin (15:16-47). I want to suggest an alternative approach [...]
Filed under: Bible, Bible study, Christ, Christianity, Evangelism, God, Gospel, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Messiah, New Testament, Old Testament, Religion, Sin, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged: passover, tabernacles | No Comments »
Posted on November 28, 2007 by mattdabbs
In order to understand this parable you have to understand who is present when Jesus tells the story.
“Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable…”
Luke 15:1-3
Jesus [...]
Filed under: Bible, Christ, Christianity, Discipleship, God, Gospels, Grace, Jesus, New Testament, Religion, Sin, parables | Tagged: Bible lessons, Bible stories, Prodigal Son | 10 Comments »
Posted on November 6, 2007 by mattdabbs
When I was 10 years old my family decided to take down the fence in our front yard. We had one of those old country fences that have the square wire holes. We took down all the wire but we left up the wooden posts for a week. There were some dogs that would run [...]
Filed under: Bible, Christianity, Death, New Testament, Religion, Sin | Tagged: Apostle Paul, Freedom, Romans, Sin, Slavery, Walls | 4 Comments »
Posted on October 15, 2007 by mattdabbs
Word came back to the disciples that James had been killed and Peter was arrested. With a political system in flux and a need to find favor with the Jewish constituents, Peter’s life hung in the balance. The Christians began to pray. I wonder what it is they prayed for. I think if I were [...]
Filed under: Acts of the Apostles, Angels, Bible, Christ, Christianity, God, Grace, New Testament, Prayer, Religion, Sin | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 10, 2007 by mattdabbs
When I was in graduate school at the University of Florida I did a lot of work with children who had disruptive and extreme attention seeking behaviors. One thing we taught parents is that when children try to get their parents’ attention through negative attention seeking behaviors they are to be ignored. Once the child [...]
Filed under: Bible, Christianity, Culture, Discipleship, Old Testament, Paradigm Issues, Psychology, Religion, Sin, Take Action, Thoughts, Women's Roles | Tagged: Modesty, University of Florida | 9 Comments »
Posted on September 26, 2007 by mattdabbs
Yesterday’s Oprah show had the results of an online poll from Oprah.com showed that 50% of respondents felt pornography had affected their sex lives and 72% said the effect had been a positive one. Something tells me the sample of respondents was not very representative of the general population. The show was pushing to re-label [...]
Filed under: Christianity, Culture, Family, Love, Psychology, Religion, Sin, Television, Thoughts | Tagged: Gail Saltz, Oprah, pornography | 6 Comments »
Posted on August 30, 2007 by mattdabbs
In most churches the majority of the prayer requests are about physical health. One reason for this is because physical problems are more obvious and painful. Why is it that most church goers don’t make very many confessional or spiritually focused prayer requests? One reason is probably because sin is not visibly obvious and doesn’t [...]
Filed under: Bible, Christ, Christianity, Confession, Discipleship, Jesus, Love, New Testament, Prayer, Religion, Sin, Spiritual Transformation, Thankfulness | 4 Comments »
