This parable is about counterfeit disciples, satanic attacks by planting them inside the kingdom of God, yet we must not render ultimate and final judgment on them before God does. It also speaks of Jesus’ view of the end-times. It is not as complicated as the teachings of popular, end-time Bible prophecy teachers.
What makes a healthy disciple? This list is simple and uncomplicated.
These events happened a mere few years after the Great Commission and the Ascension. The earliest church is the gold standard. Let’s see what we can learn from them in two passages, Acts 2:43-47 and 4:23-31.
Apostles are appearing everywhere in modern American churches and around the globe, particularly in Africa and Latin America. What are apostles? What are they supposed to do? Do churches today misapply the title, or are they correct?
Will you let persecution or the anxieties of life steal or crush the word out of you? Or will you allow God to change your heart to become good soil? This is the most important parable for challenging our hearts to be receptive to Jesus and his gospel.
Not every corner of the American church, but large sections are unhealthy, particularly in the Renewal Movements.
What are they? What are their motives and purposes? How do we discern the differences, when they seem so similar?
We could title this post: “God Is Doing a New Thing through Jesus.” That’s the basic meaning of this parable.
Another seeming Bible contradiction disappears, when we look closely at the accounts in Matthew 27 and Acts 1.
Life is getting strange with the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The issue of the Nephilim is “enormous” and “gigantic” in the American church right now. Can giants be edited through AI and faked and published on youtube and other platforms? Some youtube teachers and prophets claim that they actually do appear, apart from AI.
Gnosticism is alive and well today, disguised in various forms of postmodernism. It is being taught today. Let’s see if we can see through the disguises and get to the truth.
What are gnosticism and Gnostic writings? This post gives you the basics about those writings, and how they veer off from the New Testament.
This post covers questions like, who were the OT prophets, contrasted with the prophets of today? Does America have a special covenant with God, as ancient Israel did? How did the NT writers handle prophets and their prophecies? What about inaccurate prophecies? Is decreeing the same as prophesying? Can we decree Scriptures at will? (I updated this post.)
How do we know whether we are a wise of foolish builder in the kingdom of God? How do we become a wise one?
Many Renewalists say yes for prophecy. The biblical evidence favors them. Now what about prophets? (I have recently updated this post yet again, on December 11 29, 2024.)
Renewalists believe these gifts are for today. This is an old-fashioned Bible study, word by word. line upon line. I thoroughly revised this post.
Certain interpreters of those verses in the title have restricted women’s full participation in the teaching ministry. But are these restrictions truly biblical? Let’s take a deeper look at the verses. (I updated this post yet again.)
Does the church replace Israel? Or is replacement theology partly true and partly false, depending on definitions and contexts? After exegeting a key passage in Romans and looking at others, I finally made up my mind (for what it’s worth).
How restrictive are those verses in the title? Does the Greco-Roman household offer any guidance for reading them? What about other verses in the New Testament relating to women’s ministries? (I updated this post yet again!)
What does light mean in the kingdom of God? Does it produce good works? What is its source?
Let’s allow the clarity of Scripture to overturn needlessly complicated eschatological (end-times) interpretations that have dominated American Christianity for many decades. Further, is this replacement the same as the church replacing Israel? Read the post to find out. And look at the photos, too! (I updated this post with verses from Acts.)
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 