Fundamental Baptist Christian

The reading for the Tecarta Bible Application happens to be from Psalm 62. It's a Psalm of David to Jeduthun whose name appears in the 1st Chronicles 25:1. Right now, I think lessons from Psalm 62 are very applicable in this time of the Coronavirus pandemic. It would be a good time to reflect on the Psalm especially with what's going on. Lessons from vs. 1-2  There is no doubt that the Coronavirus has become a worldwide crisis similar to what happened during the Spanish Flu of 1914. It's very easy to get impatient especially with the question, "When is the plague going to end?" There's a quote that says, "You don't need to know where or when if you know God is leading." Abraham was told to go to a foreign land and trusted God. Moses was going to lead people out of Egypt and trusted God. David himself was wandering during Saul's reign and made the mistake of not trusting God but later repented of it. Lessons from vs. 3-4 The Coronavir...

It's very easy to confuse worry with concern especially in the midst of the current Coronavirus crisis, right? China even reports that Christians are persecuted in the midst of the crisis. A new virus in China called the Hantavirus is also emerging. However, the Bible says not to worry but it doesn't say we shouldn't be concerned. When Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:25-34 and Luke 12:22-31 about not to worry - He didn't mean that we're to be idle. On the contrary, you could consider that 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 says that if any man works not then that man should not eat. 1 Timothy 5:8 says that you must provide for your family or be considered worse than a heretic. The Book of Proverbs also condemns laziness in 6:6-12, 10:4-5, 12:11, 12:24, 13:4, 14:23, 19:15, 20:4, 24:30-24, and 26:15. If you ask, "If you're not worried then why do you work?" The answer lies in the difference between worry and concern. How do you differentiate both sides? Although the two ...

February 29 comes once almost every four years, right? I decided to open the Spurgeon Devotional on my mobile phone (which automatically moves with the time set) for today. What I didn't really put into my mind and heart is that he also wrote a leap-year devotional.  The devotions written by Spurgeon are as follows: Morning Devotion "With lovingkindness have I drawn thee."  Jeremiah 31:3  The thunders of the law and the terrors of judgment are all used to bring us to Christ; but the final victory is effected by lovingkindness. The prodigal set out to his father's house from a sense of need; but his father saw him a great way off, and ran to meet him; so that the last steps he took towards his father's house were with the kiss still warm upon his cheek, and the welcome still musical in his ears.  "Law and terrors do but harden All the while they work alone; But a sense of blood-bought pardon Will dissolve a heart of stone."  The Master ...

As I'm doing some reading of "Thru the Bible Commentary" by the late J. Vernon McGee, I thought that having read through 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, has had me thinking of the roads from revival to ruin. While Israel all had wicked kings (and Jehu wasn't even really righteous even if he did purge out Baal worship) but Judah had a few good kings. But what was the cause of the up and down trends of the Davidic Dynasty from Solomon up to Jehoiakim? We can notice the incidences of Judah's good kings that have their reforms countered by their wicked sons: Rehoboam (though he later repented) reversed plenty of Solomon's reforms. He could have started to reverse taxes as Solomon's advisers would have told him. However, he listened to his peers and worsened the economic mistakes that Solomon made. He also never learned from his father's mistakes of having many wives. Jehoshaphat held strong to the reforms of Asa except that he made the ...

The Book of Judges is one topic that I seldom hate to tackle. It's because the final verse reminds me of why this world drives me crazy. Every man tends to do what's right in their own eyes rather than do what's right in God's eyes. How often is the world in rebellion against God today? Very much. You can check the media right now. You can find the government and their anti-God policies. You can find politically correct people spew out blatant lies that defy common sense. The Book of Judges also tackles the issue of a sin cycle. Israel sins, God delivers them to wicked men, they repent. God sends a deliverer, the deliverer dies, and it starts all over again! You can imagine the situation of how the era of the judges begins. Joshua had died and many have deviated from his path. The problem comes with a new generation of Israelites that were unsaved (Judges 2:10). The same problems happen all over and over again. I'm amazed at how often fathers who have an outstandi...

The part of Joshua's choice for a special portion does seem insignificant. Yet, as I read through Dr. Vernon McGee's commentary and found something interesting. Here's the commentary for Joshua 19:49:51: You would think that because Joshua was a man of God, had successfully led the children of Israel against the Canaanites, and had been victorious, that the Israelites would tell him that he could pick any spot he wanted in which to settle. But that is not what happened. The Israelites did not offer him the choice spots in which to settle. Joshua made his own choice. It was a place called Timnath-serah. It was about eleven miles from Shiloh. It was a barren place, and one of the worst spots Joshua could have chosen. It reminds me of Abraham and Lot when they returned from the land of Egypt. Abraham said to Lot, "You can pick any section you want and I will take what is left of this land." Lot took the very best and left Abraham holding the bag. The incident shows...

Studying the Old Testament is vital for Christian growth. While Old Testament laws such as not eating pork are gone but the moral law still remains the same. The Old Testament is what may be called the ever-evolving Bible. Before we have the Bible with all 66 books today - they had the Pentateuch as the first Bible before the prophetic books were compiled centuries later. The journey from Genesis to Deuteronomy became the first compiled Bible. The death of Moses soon gave them another leader in Joshua. I personally think Vernon McGee's commentary is easier to understand and more entertaining than Matthew Henry's. McGee had written this in relation to Joshua 1:2: As we have seen, Moses was not essential to lead the children of Israel into the land. In fact, he could not bring he could not bring them into the Land of Promise. Moses represented the Law and the Law cannot save us. The Law is a revealer and not a redeemer. It shows us that we are sinners. The Law was never a s...

It's a controversial topic as to why Rahab was even written and commended in Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 as an example of faith. The controversy lies in the fact that she lied to the Canaanite authorities. I have consulted at least three late Presbyterians - Matthew Henry, Vernon McGee, and Robert C. Sproul Sr. for some possible answers. Why was Rahab written in spite of the fact that she lied to the Canaanite authorities? Matthew Henry had written this about Rahab's lie: Now, (1.) We are sure this was a good work: it is canonized by the apostle (James. 2:25 ), where she is said to be justified by works, and this is specified, that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way, and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man, even of the wrath of the king. She believed, upon the report she had heard of the wonders wrought for Israel, that their God was the only true God, and that therefore their declared design upon Canaan would und...

George H. Guthrie I remembered when I was in high school and one of the biggest questions asked from a classmate of mine who got saved some time later was, "Did you try reading the Bible like a novel?" This is a very touchy question and I had to answer no back when I was still a new Christian. The idea of reading the Bible like a novel can be a controversial issue. Some pastors say you have to read your Bible cover to cover at any pace possible. Others try to say you must try to read the Bible in a year. But what about those with a busy schedule? Here's the problem - the Bible is not just one book but a series of books. The way it's arranged makes you realize that it's a very complicated book that you must diligently study. I remembered how I got through a lesson called Walk Through the Old Testament. Now let's consider the divisions of the Bible. You have the Old Testament (which can be a very difficult subject) and the New Testament. Then you have diff...

What does it gain one to get the whole world yet lose one's soul? This is the vibrant testimony of Boun Chuan who was once a Communist director general became a Christian and lost everything he once had. You can think of how many people have converted from becoming persecutors to persecuted. You can talk about the testimony of Saul of Tarsus leaving his affluent position with the Pharisees for Christ, Matthew and later Zaccheus  left the job of a dirty publican for Christ, some Romans under the service of cruel Roman emperors got converted - the story of Boun Chan is no different! The idea of risking one's life for a Bible sounds absurd to human ears. But you can't get wrong because the Bible is indeed the Word of God. Boun Chan could stand all the torture and starvation for the name of Christ - but he could never stand a day without a Bible. He took every risk to keep reading it and he would get tortured standing for God's truth. But no amount of pressure from an at...

Another accusation against the Bible is the use of the term forty years to describe the time it took Absalom to finally throw his dastardly rebellion against his father David. Some of the modern versions use four years instead of forty years to explain the rebellion of Absalom. It couldn't have happened literally that Absalom waited for literal forty years - otherwise David would have already been too dead to be rebelled against or to even launch an attack. So what would be a better suggestion for the forty years in 2 Samuel 15:7? Here's a series of suggestions that could make sense about the "forty years" that took place before Absalom decided to rebel against his father: Absalom could have actually been 40 years old at that time. Considering that David was already 49 when he saw Bathsheba and 50 when he had Solomon. David was 30 when he began to reign and 70 when he died. If Solomon were growing up by that time then David would have been an old man by then.  Jo...

There is a big issue right now concerning the King James Bible which some critics of it say that there's the problem of a copyist error. New and modern versions of the Bible use 22 instead of 42 in 2 Chronicles 22:2 in contrast to the KJB. But why do we have 42 instead of 22 in older translations? One suggestion is that Ahaziah is not literally 42 years old but it was the amount of time from his great-grandfather via his mother Athaliah (who was his mother's paternal grandfather) Omri's reign up to his time actually totaled 42 years. Omri began his reign in 884 B.C. and Ahaziah began his reign on 842 B.C . Now it's time to do the math, shall we? 884 B.C. less 842 B.C. equals 42 years ! In other words, 2 Chronicles 22:2 talks about the amount of time that Omri reigned up to the time when Ahaziah of Judah became king! Also, here's one thing to consider about the age of marriage. The marriage standards back then were very different from today. It's possible tha...

Do you remember the very story of Saul found in 1 Samuel 15? As I was reading my Bible, I remembered just how serious it is that God demands obedience over offerings. Now nothing is wrong with offerings. Nothing is wrong with giving money to your church to help but the question is that whether or not your sacrifice is an abomination? It would be time to talk about the problem of prioritizing sacrifices over obedience. Saul was now called to cast divine judgment upon the Amalekites. He was told to wipe out that wicked civilization entirely together with the cattle and sheep. But what did he do? We can later read in the same passage that he spared the best sheep and he tried to make excuses. He was trying to please the crowds instead of trying to please God. He loved the praises of men more than the praises of God. I guess that's why he brought King Agag of the Amalekites along with him - to make a boast of himself. He wanted the glory for himself! That's why later in his lif...