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How Does Hell Glorify God?

December 27, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

If we don’t have tears in our eyes and a deep grief in our hearts when we talk about hell, we are not truly grasping even the smallest percent of its terror.

In my human limitedness, I despise the idea of people going to hell for eternity. But as Augustine said, “If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

The Bible clearly states that heaven and hell are both real and eternal (Deuteronomy 32:22, Psalm 9:17, Matthew 10:28, John 3:16, 14:2, Revelation 20:10, 15). Therefore if I choose to believe the Bible, I must also believe in hell, no matter how disturbing it may be to me.

As Christians, most of us accept the truth about hell and yet still struggle with the emotions triggered by this biblical reality. “Why, God? Why did you create such a horrible place? This seems so cruel, so unnecessary. An eternity of torture? I thought you were a God of love?”

Anytime you ask a question that starts with “Why does God . . .” you can always answer with, “For his glory.” Everything God does, he always does for his honor and fame. Therefore to answer “Why does God send people to hell?” we must actually ask, “How does hell glorify God?”

Why Is the Virgin Birth So Important?

December 25, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Why was the virgin birth so important — Matthew 1:20

Christmas is not a word you will find in the Bible. But Christmas is all about the essential, core message of the Bible, which is that God sent Jesus to save humans.

You may not think “theology” when you hear the word “Christmas,” but taking a closer look at the theological implications of what we celebrate during Christmas will reveal how important the virgin birth of Christ really is to the whole of Christianity.

Gifts, trees, spending time with family, going to church, and singing certain songs are all things we love about the Christmas season. But when we look at what God accomplished through Christmas, especially in relationship to the virgin birth, we will not only love Christmas more but we will love Christ more for all that he’s done for us.

The Sabbath Symbolizes the True Savior

December 20, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Sabbath symbolizes the Savior — For a New Testament list of Bible verses on the “Sabbath” by BibleGateway.com, click here.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.-Hebrews 4:9-10

Have you ever been burned out? Just over done from the grilling flames of the day-to-day grind we all endure? The natural remedy, we think, to being overworked is to get time away from work. Isn’t this one of the main reasons we look forward to the holiday seasons so much?

True rest is not the absence of responsibility; real rest is being in the intimate presence of the Lord. Therefore, if we seek to rejuvenate ourselves simply through the absence of responsibility, this is a quick fix that will not last because it is based in a works theology. We think we can gain our own rest through our actions, or in this case, our lack of actions.

Labels, Christianity, and God’s Absolute Truth

December 14, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.-1 John 2:23

We all have labels. Some are taken on by ourselves while some are given to us. You can be Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon, American, Chinese, and even Christian. What happens, though, is that no one, on their own, is a pure spirit. We are all a mixed breed. A man may be a conservative, but he may also have a few liberal exceptions to his political ideologies.

Man’s Responsibility and God’s Sovereignty

December 12, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty are often seen as opponents. But within the Bible, these two go hand in hand. The Bible does not try to explain how these two can coexist without violating one another. The Bible simply explains how man’s responsibility is directly tied to God’s sovereignty.

Problems arise amongst Christians as we discuss the relationship between man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty when we begin to put emphasis on truths that the Bible does not place emphasis on.

16 Biblical Ways You Can Fight Back Against a Bad Day

September 12, 2017December 9, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

What does the bible say about having a bad day — Philippians 2:14-18

We all have them. It can start early in the morning after you oversleep and now your late as you rush the kids to school. It can begin during your lunch hour when your coworker keeps disagreeing with everything you say. Or it can come out of nowhere as you try to control your temper during an unexpected traffic jam on the way home from a long work week.

The infamous “bad day” discriminates against no one. These days make us feel so helpless. It just seems like no matter how hard you try, annoying stuff just keeps happening. So what can be done? What does the Bible say about having a bad day?

While the Bible certainly does not talk about how to overcome bad days, it does give a lot of information about joy, perseverance, and overcoming evil. So here are 16 biblical ways you can fight back next time you get assaulted by a “bad day.”

Why Did God Create Us?

August 18, 2018December 7, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

Why did God create us?

Well of course anytime you ask a question that starts with, “Why does God . . . ?” you can always answer it with the right theological answer, “For his glory.” Everything God does, he always does for his glory.

But how did creating humans bring God glory? To answer that, we need to remember what the glory of God really is. In short, one basic definition of the glory of God is when the invisible qualities of God are made visible or knowable.

With this definition, it’s not hard to connect the dots: If God is glorified through making his qualities visible, he would then glorify himself by making beings in his image. Because we bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27), we thus glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). Sin has marred this image, and thus the more we sin the more we “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The more we are sanctified and remade into the image of his Son, the more we glorify God as he originally intended (Romans 8:29-30).

But I’ve talked about all that before. Let’s take this a step further. How else did creating humans reveal God?

God revealed his love and fullness through creating humans just as a healthy marriage reveals its love and fullness through producing children. Let’s dig deeper into this idea.

The Biblical Difference Between Restfulness and Laziness

November 30, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

bible rest lazy — Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 6:10-11, Exodus 20:8-10

The difference between laziness and restfulness is that laziness terminates on itself. The lazy man seeks to rest as an end goal in itself. Biblical rest is not done to idolize personal relaxation, but to relax so one will be better equipped to work for God.

5 Biblical Ways to Overcome Masturbation

May 28, 2018November 28, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

masturbation bible — 1 Corinthians 7:5-9

Well this is kind of awkward.

Anytime you hear the word “masturbation” in a sermon, a small group, or just in the presence of another human, all kinds of uncomfortable things start to happen. The room goes quiet, faces get red, throats are cleared as people shift in their seats, we all avoid eye-contact, and everyone tries to act like they didn’t just hear that word.

Awkward or not, as Christians this is a topic we can’t ignore. Our churches and community circles are filled with people who silently struggle with this sin, too embarrassed to seek the help they wish they could find.

Perhaps you are someone who struggles with masturbation. Or perhaps you have no clue why this is a temptation for people but would like to be someone others can confide in and get advice from. Either way, here are five practical pointers that will help Christians overcome the sin of masturbation.

What Does the Bible Say About Betrayal?

November 14, 2018November 23, 2016 by Mark Ballenger

What does the Bible say about betrayal? What are some biblical examples of betrayal? And how can we avoid becoming a betrayer?

When answering questions like these, the name Judas is unavoidable. Judas will be forever remembered as “the betrayer.” So here are 3 biblical lessons we can learn from Judas that will help us be faithful disciples. If we want to avoid betrayal with God, in our marriages, and in all of our relationships, the Bible gives us the truth we need.