One morning I was researching some of the early Christian views on salvation and atonement. I won’t go into detail on this topic, but it held my interest for a few hours until I started feeling downcast and depressed. Couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I realized I had gotten lost as I studied human theories,…
What does Christian mean? And what does it mean to be a Christian? Let’s start by figuring out where the name Christian came from. Surprisingly, it did not arise in Jerusalem or Nazareth, but in Antioch, a city that lies in what is now southern Turkey. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Acts 11:26 NIV…
In The Very First Christians (Part Two), we go back in time to watch the Holy Spirit transform the disheartened disciples into anointed apostles of Christ. The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent…
Jesus had a very small group of followers at the time he was crucified. Of his disciples, only eleven remained. Other followers included his mother, Mary, and Salome, the mother of James and John. Mary Magdalene, Cleopas and his wife Mary, and the others numbered about 120 souls. At that time, the name Christian had not…
In order to write The Last Disciple Series, I have had to do research on many issues, both big and small. I studied what the early Christians wore, what they ate, what languages they spoke, and much more. One of my readers brought up a pretty basic question–did early Christians worship on Saturday or Sunday?…
I woke in the pre-dawn darkness a few mornings ago. Though I’m usually in a good mood, that day my thoughts were dark and angry. I can’t tell you why I woke up in that state. Perhaps I had a bad dream or something. In the past, I might have stayed with the train of…