Gary's Introduction: this concept of Band-Societies was a small group dynamic, in which believers would volunteer to be accountable to one another. It has inspired similar meetings for almost three centuries. By the way, this was not simply a "lowest-common-denominator" group to share your feelings and that was that! These same men also gathered for... Continue Reading →
Who rewrites the Bible? Probably we all do!
“We can’t interpret the Bible according to our own personal taste! Or twist it to conform with today’s culture! Or invent our own meaning!” Most of us evangelicals would say Amen. And we all could list Those People Out There who rewrite the Bible to fit their own ideas of truth. And then we go... Continue Reading →
False teachers: a bad road to a bad end
Few individuals set out to be heretics. But there are those individuals who believe the devil when he says they will get money, power, cars, houses, sex, bestsellers, huge crowds, lasting fame. "Just give your doctrine a bit of a twist," he whispers, "and in exchange for a few tiny drops of falsehood you'll get a... Continue Reading →
How to Read Romans [Studies in Romans]
Certeza Unida and Kairos will publish my Romans commentary as part of their Comentario Bíblico Contemporáneo (Contemporary Bible Commentary). More than 160 scholars participated in the project. What follows is adapted from the section "How to Read Romans," in which I show its particular application for Latin America. The epistle to the Romans meets the... Continue Reading →
Your Body, God’s Temple
The devil has a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and it is called online pornography. Of help is the following article is by Jason DeRouchie of Bethlehem Bible College and Seminary. It is one of the best explorations of the topics of masturbation and sexual fantasy that I have read, and I repost it, knowing I... Continue Reading →
Busyness is no excuse for being an uncommitted Christian
With all due respect to the original, this is my thorough paraphrase, condensation, and updating of George Whitfield’s, “Worldly Business No Plea for the Neglect of Religion,” Sermon 20 of his Collected Sermons Matthew 8:22 – “Let the dead bury their dead.” When Paul preached at Athens, he observed that they were “very religious.” But... Continue Reading →
What has Corinth to do with Patmos?
Devotional given at Wycliffe Associates for the assembled Translation Team, on Oct 7, 2015. I am doing two tasks for Wycliffe at the moment – with my online group we are writing translation notes for 1 Corinthians and we have reached chapter 10. Here this week our group is working on Revelation and we are... Continue Reading →
Are you kidding me??
My name is Gary, and I am a recovering compulsive kidder. Yes, it’s true. No fooling, I mean it. Probably my ultimate attempt at “pranking” took place at the university. See, what happened is, I managed to get my hands on some official college stationary. I didn’t boost it, by the way! It seems to... Continue Reading →
Does John 4:22 say that salvation is just for Jews?
[Note – this is a very live topic in Latin America, and I wrote this for the church there. I also offer it for the English-speaking church]. Every time I write that salvation is for all who believe the gospel; that Gentile believers are not obligated to be circumcised or observe the 613 laws of... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 