Gary DeLashmutt

The "ban" (Heb. cherem) refers to God's command to the Israelites to exterminate 7 tribes living in the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:1,2). There are several moral problems raised by the "ban." The Christian worker should be able to defend this area of biblical revelation (1 Peter 3:15).

Dennis McCallum

Isaiah recorded four unique prophetic messages about one called the servant of the Lord. However, none of the messages identify the servant by name. The four passages are Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12. Therefore, they are called the "anonymous servant" passages. The New Testament identifies these passages as referring to Jesus Christ (see Matthew 8:17; 12:18-21; 27:43; Acts 8:32-33). The following analysis of the songs gathers their content together under logical headings.

Mark Bair and Dennis McCallum

Muhammad, the founder of Islam was born in Mecca (in modern day Saudi Arabia) in A.D. 570. At that time, the religious setting of the Arabian Peninsula was "a rather primitive polydemonism and worship of stones, stars, caves and trees.1 Around A.D. 610 he came to believe he was receiving visions, which he claimed were from the angel Gabriel. The Islamic scriptures, known as the "Koran," are the "reciting" of the revelations he claimed to have received for the next 22 years.

Within recent years a movement has been “emerging” within Christianity promising to repaint the Christian faith. The leaders of this movement depict modern Christianity as a rigid, dusty orthodoxy, filled with endless dogmas and doctrines. According to their perspective, true Christianity must be understood as fluid, changing, and being reworked to throw off the straightjacket of doctrines restricting its modern relevance. Among these doctrines being reworked is the Christian teaching of substitutionary atonement –the belief that Jesus died to pay humanity’s moral debt to God.

Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt

God calls us to an attitude of submission (respect and the inclination to obey) toward legitimate authorities regardless of the authority figure's character (1 Peter 2:18). While our obedience (following commands) to a delegated authority is conditional, our attitude of submission (as defined) should be unconditional.

Dennis McCallum

Any divorce poses a serious challenge to further marital success. Statistically, the divorce rate for marriages in which either or both partners have been divorced before is almost double that for first-time marriages. This is a very imposing statistic, because it means the vast majority of second attempts at marriage will fail. Those who have cohabited for some time also experience increased failure in marriage, as we have seen. Their figures are similar to divorcees' figures. In the church it is not uncommon to see cases of successful second marriages, especially when the first marriage was in a non Christian context. However, failures are also common, which should suggest the need for caution.

James Rochford

What should followers of Jesus think about recreational marijuana use? Is taking a hit from a joint or dab pen equivalent to drinking a beer or two? Is smoking marijuana immoral or unwise (or neither)? How exactly should followers of Jesus think about this issue in light of a rapidly changing culture?