If you’ve been reading this site for long many of the concepts in this article will sound familiar to you. Those concepts had their origins at least 25 years ago when my friend (and roommate at the time) and I sat down to write this editorial for The Moody Student, the student newspaper for Moody Bible Institute. Russ Carter and I put pen to paper to encourage our fellow students to follow the school’s new program, called Renew 2000. But this is more than a trip down memory lane, it is a succinct statement about prayerful living than I’m sure will change the lives of some of our readers. Without further commentary, here is Renewing Prayer, by Russ Carter and Tyson Thorne.

Read more: Thursday Throwback: Renewing Prayer

My freshman year of college I worked several jobs to pay for college, and one of those jobs was as a salesman for Kinney Shoes. There was a lot of time between customers, and a full crew of us working, so there was a lot of time for conversation. My co-workers knew of my belief in God, one of them even said I was “addicted to Jesus”, so spiritual conversations were a part of our routine. I can’t remember if they asked how I knew God existed or if I just plowed into the string-of-consciousness sermon on my own, but either way in only a few minutes I provided them with my evidences. Yesterday we mentioned that the question of God’s existence wasn’t one we could answer in that post; with a nod to the past at Kinney’s it is a question I’d like to try and answer in this one.

Read more: The Existence of God

Why did John think it so important to teach believer’s how to identify false teachers? In large part, of course, it was to curtain a serious threat to sound theology. In some small part, however, it was to teach us how to become good teachers. Whether or not we teach professionally, we are all teachers. Some to their children, some to their siblings, and others to their friends and co-workers. Teaching isn’t something that comes naturally, so I thought it would be appropriate to share a paper I wrote when I worked at Valor Christian High School as a techie while working toward becoming a certified substitute teacher. The paper is a philosophy of education that reviews the most important aspects of teaching from a biblical perspective. Download and enjoy!

Read more: Philosophy of Education

Today we continue learning about the compound names of God. If you have not read parts one and two of this study, you should start there.

Read more: God's Name, Part Three

I just recently finished writing my own commentary on 1 Corinthians. One of the many things this task taught me is how concerned the apostle Paul is with Christian Education (CE). The first issue Paul takes us in this letter is that of Christian educators, and the quarrels that arose from following the teacher rather than the teachings (1.10-.17). Over and over, from verse 10 of the first chapter to verse four of the 12 and on through the book Paul emphasizes the need for unity in CE.

Read more: Paul and Christian Education

In high school I was visiting the girl who lived next door to my grandparents. A bit cliché I know, but she was very pretty and from a Christian family. Her cousin was visiting and, being into chess in a big way, he asked for a game while I was waiting for her to finish getting ready for our date. I’m not much of a chess player, but consented. He beat me solidly and afterward very logically told me why. It wasn’t a boast, he wasn’t trying to belittle me, he simply wanted to explain.

Read more: The Problem of Evil II

Over the course of this study one of our readers asked about the name Yeshua. For the uninitiated, Yeshua (also Yehoshuah) is the Hebrew name of Jesus and it means “salvation.” If this is Jesus’ Hebrew name, how did we come to know the Son of God as Jesus? More scholarly men than I have tackled this question, but the simple answer is language. When the Hebrew name was translated into Greek it became Iesous (as anyone who has seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade knows, there is no letter J in Hebrew). When translated from Greek into Latin it became Iesus, and from Latin into English we derive Jesus. Simple? Well, kind of.

Read more: God's Name, Part Five

Yesterday we started a study on the names of God and began with the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, the most personal name for God that us usually translated LORD (in all capital letters) in English Bibles. We started there for good reason, it is not only the most basic and personal name God gives himself, but is the foundation for many of the names for God found in the Scriptures. We mentioned yesterday that even though YHWH is written in the Bible many times it was only ever spoken by the priests in the Temple. When outside the Temple the priests used the name Adonai. This name for God means “Master” or “Owner” and represents God’s right to rule as he is the creator and owner of every person. This name for God occurs nearly 300 times in the Old Testament.

Read more: God's Name, Part Two

Has anyone ever asked you, “Explain to me the Trinity”? What did you say in response? I’m guessing it wasn’t a quote from the Westminster confession, “In the unity of the Godhead there exist three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father who is of none (neither begotten nor preceding), God the Son (eternally begotten of the Father), and God the Holy Ghost (who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son).” Why didn’t you respond in this way? Probably because it’s not very useful even though it is entirely accurate. In my opinion one of the best explanations of the Trinity is Jesus’ description in John chapter 14:

Read more: Circumincession

Today I’m taking a break from the usual flow of this site to mourn the loss of a spiritual giant: Dr. Jonathan Smith. Jonathan was a professor at Western Bible College (WBC), then Colorado Christian University (CCU) and a founder of Rocky Mountain Bible College and Seminary (RMBC). He was a founder of Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, Colorado and a co-founder of Dare2Share Ministries. It was my honor to call him my teacher and my friend.

Read more: Jonathan Smith

Today we continue last week’s study of the names of God. Knowing God’s various names and their meanings can improve your prayer life and relationship with God. How can that be? Think of the names of God as a stark relief of God’s activities at the moment it is proclaimed. You may want to go back to yesterday’s post and re-read the names of God and visit the Old Testament references to see just what God was doing when that name came into being. This tells us something about the name itself, to be sure, but more importantly it tells us something about our Creator.

Read more: God's Name, Part Four

Most of the articles written on this site are for one of three purposes: (1) to get us to connect with God through a more personal relationship with him, (2) to get us to connect with God through a better understanding of his Word, (3) to get us to connect with God through service to him, his people, and the world. We’re going to take some time this week and for as long as we need to connect with God a little differently. It’s time we properly introduced ourselves to him.

Read more: God's Name, part one