Posts by Bob Elliott

I would like to express opinion on the topic of skepticism. It seems that our society is steeped in the idea that you are a wise person if and only if you doubt everything that you hear or read. Not only should you be skeptical, but you should be sarcastic toward the other person’s opinion as well. Our media is ripe with some very wealthy people who have done nothing but...

Our society holds as one of its core beliefs that there is no such thing as objective truth. Many people also hold tightly to the idea that there isn’t any grand overarching purpose and meaning of life. They believe, rather that life is merely a long string of vignettes that you perceive and align to your own individual perspective in order to create meaning. So, the id...

My hope and prayer for all people is that we are awake to the Gospel of the good news about Jesus. Yes, we are secure in our salvation by faith in Christ alone. The question is not about whether or not we are saved, but the question to be answered is… Are we awake or lethargic or sleeping about the gospel?...

In the movie titled The Water Boy, Adam Sandler is often quoted as saying “now that is some high quality H20.” Today I would like for us to consider H20. Let’s look this in the context of the field of Astronomy and see our consuming desire to try to find water on other planets....

Recently I have been reading the book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society By Lesslie Newbigin. The book is the second installment in a two-book series; the first book is titled Foolishness to the Greeks. The works were written in the late 1980’s I am amazed at how poignant his work is today. For today’s post, I would like to lay out some of the groundwork displayed in t...

One of the important questions for people to ask is about faith and reason. Are they opposites? Does a person need to sacrifice one in order to believe the other? Is it possible to be a thinker and a Bible-believing Christian at the same time? There are some people who do not think this is possible....

What about Creation by chance? Today I would like to look at some of the history behind the naturalist viewpoint that the Universe and everything in it is the product of chance....

Many are familiar with the New Age movement. The hallmark of their thinking is to search out the god that is within you. It’s there, you just have to find it. Explore the power that is at your disposal, tap into your own god consciousness....

Recently I watched a very interesting video featuring Dr. James Tour and J. Warner Wallace. These two men are among my favorite Christian Apologists. The topic of focus is based on the idea that there is so much historical evidence for Christianity integrated in differing societies through out the world, that even if we did not have access to the New Testament, we would st...

Much of the information found in todays post is from the same title in a book authored by Alister McGrath. Kudos to him for such an excellent work....

You have probably heard the story about how the church thought that the earth was flat during the middle ages. This usually comes in the form of a scathing attack to attempt to show how antiquated and out of date the myth of religion is....

So, this sounds like a rhetorical question, right? Who doesn’t want to love God more? Today I would like to look at this subject more deeply. I think some of the ideas about this may surprise you....

A good question this is. Often you can get very different answers to the question depending on who you talk to. More importantly, there are multiple layers of depth of understanding, some simple, others quite complex....

Last week we talked about the difference between natural theology and revelation theology, and how they can work together to form a more complete Christian world-view. Today I would like to look further into how natural theology can play an integral part of being salt and light to the world around us....

I have been looking at these two dynamics, and how they connect with each other. I hold a viewpoint that these are not in conflict with one another, rather they can integrate seamlessly together in a beautiful harmony....

“Here comes the Sun, here comes the sun, and I say ... it’s all right.” These words, made popular by the Beatles form the basis for this instillation of the Strong and Courageous Christianity blog today. We are talking about the Sun. This magnificent star is situated just perfectly right and is the size and intensity to fuel all life. Without it… well, you kn...

We have discussed at length, how complex DNA and RNA are. They are information systems that provide the blueprints or instruction manuals for how proteins are formed and transported to their proper location in the cell. Today I would like for us to look at how the right blueprint is used to make the proper protein....

I am so encouraged to discover with you the reliability of the information found in the book of Acts. You see, Acts is a historical book recounting the events that took place in the early formation of the Church....

Today I would like to look into some of the significance of Jesus’ prophesy of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem....

As we are entering into the holiday season, I would like to write to you today about the subject of being thankful....

The subject is sugar… more specifically the D- glucose sugar that is present in DNA and RNA. This is a bit technical, but the numbers are so unlikely to have happened by chance that it is amazing....

The focus on this blog has been primarily based in the idea that God created the cosmos. The evidence of this should send the atheistic natural man’s mind spinning. Today I would like to look at another discipline that further validates the truth of the Bible. The subject is archeology. While this is not my personal strong suite, non the less, there are growing examples ...

Continuing the theme from last week’s entry, I would like to look further into the question is atheism dead? Eric Metaxas, in his new book describes how science is doing more to bring vast amounts of evidence to validate a universe designer. Over time, the information keeps mounting up higher and higher that a naturalistic perspective of random chance being responsible f...

For today’s post. I would like to direct you to a video on youtube by Eric Metaxas titled Is Atheism dead? This video truly encapsulates my heart and vision for what this blog has been all about over the last 3 years....

Much of this post comes from the book titled Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortland. What is the meaning of everything? What is the telos, the aim, the macro reason and goal for our small, ordinary lives? We are on solid footing, both biblically and historically, if we answer: “To glorify God.”...

I watched an interesting show on T.V. recently titled Secrets of the Universe. They were talking about being on a quest to discover extraterrestrial life....

I have been doing some research on times of revival and renewal. Historically, it is interesting to me how God has set certain times in history where the power of the Holy Spirit is on display in a very dynamic way. The methodology has varied from time to time, however, there are some common denominators in many of these movements....

This is not a household word; however, it is good to spend some time thinking about this in light of creation of the universe....

Recently, I have been reading a book written by Frank Damazio titled The Vanguard Leader. He develops how our culture has taken on many similarities to the Babylonian culture at the time the book of Daniel was written in the Old Testament....

In last week’s post, we talked about the synergistic effect of the multiple examples of fine tuning building an astounding case for a designed universe. After the post, I searched the internet for some atheistic refutation of this case and actually found one. Their arguments are weak and hollow. For today I would like to reveal some of their points and show their impoten...

While looking at the improbability of the fine tuning of the universe being the result of random chance, it is valuable to look at the cumulative effect of the many factors necessary for life to exist. While any one of these variables has an extremely low probability, the more of these that link together, it brings an even more astounding number....

There is something about the Peace of God that is so inviting and contagious. The scriptures say for us to taste and see that the Lord is good....

Well known atheist Richard Dawkins has described the universe as “cold, heartless and pitiless.” His idea that there is no design or designer of the universe, that it just happened to come into existence on its own, is blatantly stated as fact. However, I wonder what the universe actually should look like, if what he says is true?...

There are two distinct types of revelation given by God to humanity in order for us to be able to make sense out of the cosmos. The two types are broken down into general and special revelation....

We have been talking recently about aspects of worldview. What is the overarching narrative of how a person lives out their philosophical views? Not only in the aspect of theory, but how we live out the need for consistency in the laboratory of life itself....

Recently there as been much emphasis placed on discovery of potential UFO’s. So much so, that congress is seriously looking into the matter. Not only this, but you see so many people that are interested in the possibility to find life on other planets. We are looking for potential water sources everywhere in our Solar System....

Here we are at the third installment on this issue. When I wrote the first part, I thought that it would be a stand-alone article and I would move on to a different subject. However, I keep feeling that there is much more that needs to be said to help us to love those who are deeply enmeshed in this new tolerance, which actually is extremely intolerant of any other viewpoi...

Last week we explored what the new tolerance looks like. If you express any form of dissonant position from another person, you are quickly labeled as intolerant and a bigot. Today I would like to look further into how we can respond in this new environment....

So, what does this redefining view of tolerance look like? It may be helpful to look at the definition of the word tolerance in order to better understand the seismic shift that has taken place. ...

When looking at the example of materialistic atheism, one of the main ideas of life arising from nonlife without any design or Designers hand is that the first life was very simple, and then progressed to more complex life forms. This information was gleaned from the science of the eighteen hundreds, not from the current science that we know about a single cell organism....

The skeptic, by default attempts to put God on trial. C.S. Lewis in his book titled God in the Doc describes that at the end of the day, the situation is actually reversed. All of Humanity eventually faces certain death and it is we, not God who end up on trial....

We just finished our last Alpha evangelism class this week. It was a wonderful experience for all of those attending. We watched two incredible videos that display the intricacy of how spent energy in a cell is recharged to provide the necessary energy for all cells to survive. These mission critical components have multiple layers of complexity that are astounding to the ...

Christian people have much more meaning and purpose in life compared to those who do not believe in God. If our universe is just the product of random molecules in motion, the end point is a cold heartless unyielding survival of the fittest. And if survival is the ultimate goal, it is only temporary in nature. What happens when a person dies?...

I was talking with a friend recently, who works at a gear manufacturing facility. Our conversation led to the discussion of the tolerance level of fine tuning required to make gears that will mesh together. He said that most of the gears that they make, are manufactured with the help of computer programs that measure to the thousands of an inch. One thousands of an inch is...

There is a completely different arena where these high multiple exponential numbers turn out in favor of a designed universe. Again, the odds of probability are so overwhelming as to eliminate unguided forces as the most likely cause. (If one will look at the evidence.)...

It never ceases to amaze me how stacked the numbers of probability are in favor of a sovereignly designed universe vs. a non-guided naturalistic one. The comparison of this probability is not even close. In fact it is quite embarrassing, because the numbers are staggering against the atheistic/agnostic camp....

For today’s post, I would like to explore with you some fascinating ideas from Stephen C. Meyers. Doctor Meyers has distilled down to common terms, the vast challenges that the naturalist faces when attempting to explain the diversity of life present on our planet. This video link includes graphics that display what is taking place in the synthesis of proteins being crea...

It is an important question, particularly for those who do not believe that God exists. Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, has espoused that gravity has the power and creative ability to be the cause of the origin of the universe. It is surprising that this could possibly be the best answer that he could find....

We have spent significant time in this blog to develop how complex living structures are. The necessary functions of proteins found within living cells are numerous and so complex that design is the only viable explanation for their existence. Today I would like to look at an additional problem for the naturalist worldview, it is the sequence of priority of timing involved...

In my adventures of relating to many atheists, I have come to the conclusion that there is a common thread of thought processes that these folks hold. While many claim to open-minded, the reality is that there is a structure to their thought patterns that is locked into a four step process that will not allow any deviation....

In a court of law, the standard of proof is establishment of evidence in order to conclude that something has occurred “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The standard does not go as far as to say “beyond any possible doubt.” I would contend that this same standard should be held when a person comes to investigate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus....

C.S. Lewis, one of best theologians of his day, famously said “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said, would not be a great moral teacher.”...

Recently I have been looking at the idea that people at a very young age develop a keen sense of understanding that there is an inference to design in practically everything we see around us. By the age of about 5, kids understand that the toys they play with are designed and made by someone. They don’t just magically appear in their toy box....

The posture held is that any grand over-arching truth claim is nothing more than an attempt to grab power in order to control or manipulate the masses. There may be a hint of truth in this perception, however, the blanket claim that all meta narrative truth claims are bad is taking things way too far....

I have been reading through the Bible in a year by Nicky Gumbel, the pioneer of the Alpha Evangelism Series. In it he shares a personal story of a man named Sam. I would like to share Sam’s story with you today....

Strong and Courageous And behold, alawyer stood up toput him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do toinherit eternal life?"He (Jesus) said to him,"What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"And he answered,"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, andyour neighbor as yo...

One of the important questions for people to ask is about faith and reason. Are they opposites? Does a person need to sacrifice one in order to believe the other? Is it possible to be a thinker and a Bible-believing Christian at the same time? There are some people who do not think this is possible....

When looking at our lives from a perspective of worldview, there is a profound difference in the placing of our priorities. Today I would like to look at and contrast a Christian worldview to a secular one. I think there will be some redeeming value to discover the endpoint of thought processes of these two worldviews....

Last week we explored how our culture is rapidly moving from post-modernism to a plausibility structure that is essentially post-truth. Today I would like to further explore how we as Christians are called to challenge the flow of direction in which we are heading....

Last week we learned about what plausibility structures are. This idea that societies have a tendency to build thought structures that ripple out into the mainstream of a particular culture. These become social norms as to what is plausible or generally accepted by a majority of the people. Once these thought structures are in place, they become entrenched, that is until ...

Recently I have been reading the book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society By Lesslie Newbigin. The book is the second installment in a two book series; the first book is titled Foolishness to the Greeks. The works were written in the late 1980’s I am amazed at how poignant his work is today. For today’s post, I would like to lay out some of the groundwork displayed in t...

J. (or Jim) Warner Wallace served as a cold case homicide detective in Los Angeles California. His record of accomplishment for being able to solve crimes that had gone unsolvable for many years is phenomenal. Because of his prowess, he appeared on multiple crime solving documentaries on television....

Last week we looked at how J.R.R. Tolkien played a significant role in the journey of C.S. Lewis from atheism to becoming a Christian. This week I would like to look at the chain of succession of how Lewis helped to influence Lee Strobel....

C.S. Lewis was one of the brightest minds in the mid 21st century. Professor at Oxford, probably best known for his series of books in the Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis came to Oxford as a devout atheist; however, he made the acquaintance of J.R.R. Tolkien (Hobbit and Lord of the Rings author) who would become a dear friend and colleague....

Last week we looked at the story of Antony Flew and his journey away from atheism. Flew never made it all the way to becoming a Christian, however he did espouse that there is some intelligent creator of the universe. Today I would like to look at another story of an atheist who became a Christian. Like Flew, he became a significant voice in the arena of apologetics. How...

Antony Flew spent most of his life as an Atheist. In fact, he wrote many books on the subject. One book in particular titled the presumption of Atheism and other Essays was considered a major boost to the new Atheist movement. ...

Over the last 1 ½ years this blog has been focused on showing that the probability of non-guided processes being the causation of life to exist is virtually zero. So why is it that the naturalist will not pay any attention to the numbers which show how impossible his position is, even though the evidence is stacked against him or her?...

Today I would like to look at an additional layer of proof that random non-guided processes are not even remotely possible to explain all of the steps needed. Not only are random processes not the right answer, they are even detrimental to the point of snuffing out life, rather than creating it....

What comes to your mind at the mention of this word? Decadent desserts, foods that make you gain weight, potatoes or bread could be common responses. Today I would like to look at carbohydrates from a very different perspective. While it is not common knowledge, carbs are a critical component for every living cell to thrive. Lately, I have been interested in the work o...

Miller-Urey launched the famed notion of lightning striking a pond as the causation of first life. Since he used electrical current, our educational system has preached the gospel of this being the only explanation of how life began. All of our science textbooks show illustrations of lightning striking pond scum....

To even add to the complexity factors, there is also a deconstruction sequence of some structures that are only needed temporarily. It is this deconstruction that I would like to describe today....

One of the topics of the interview was centered on what is currently coming out of origin of life biology. This field of study is claiming that we are so close to discovering the origins of life, we just need to get some little bits of breakthrough and we will reach the summit....

One of the arguments used by naturalistic atheists is the notion that there are many common design features found in living organisms that prove macroevolution to be beyond hypothesis so as to be a fact. So is this thought process true? That is the subject of todays post....

I would like to look at our moon. In order for life to exist we need to have a moon that is just the right size. Compared to other moons found throughout our solar system, our moon is exceptionally large. This is significant for multiple reasons....

Earlier this week I spent some time out in the yard at night to gaze at the stars. August is a good time of year to do this. It is not too chilly when the sun goes down below the horizon. Moreover, a special event takes place. It’s called the Perseds meteor shower, this increases the chance of you seeing “shooting stars” in the night sky....

In a court of law, the standard of proof is establishment of evidence in order to conclude that something has occurred “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The standard does not go as far as to say “beyond any possible doubt.” I would contend that this same standard should be held when a person comes to investigate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus....

Today I would like to contrast the difference between a Christian worldview compared to a secular one. Most of the body of this blog entry comes from the book titled. Naming the Elephant by James Sire....

The logic that something coming into existence requires an intelligent designer is far superior to the notion that somehow the universe just popped into existence. We know that information systems are formed in the mind of the creator of that system. Conversely, nothing from nothing equals nothing....

I believe that the enemy of our souls is attempting to erode away many aspects of trust that we as a society hold on to. Journalism, the press and social media are the hotbeds of where this wearing away is taking place. Things that we used to think were safe and did not question the motives of a platform, are now not as certain as we once thought....

Recently I have been investing time in rereading a magnum opus book by D.A. Carson titled The Gagging of God/ Christianity Confronts Pluralism. It’s 640 pages worth, so it’s not a casual read. However, there is some really good insights that reveal much of what is currently happening in our culture....

One of the tenants of a materialistic world-view is an unflinching acceptance of macroevolution as proposed by Charles Darwin in his work titled The Origin of Species....

For the topic of this post, I would like to look at two different and opposing world-views regarding the question; did God make man? Or did man make God?...

So today, I would like to look at the subject of violence in church history....

Today I would like to like to share with you my thoughts about all of the protests that are taking place after the horrific death of George Floyd at the hand of the police....

This is a challenging question to answer. The flow of our culture would say no, the Bible is just filled with made up stories, embellished folk tales and is not of relative importance to modern man. This is a major hurdle when we are sharing our faith in evangelism....

Here is the big question of the age. Is all of nature the result of natural selection? Or is there an alternate explanation that has more merit? I know this is a controversial topic, however I think it is worthwhile to explore this today....

So what about miracles? Are they impossible because the laws of nature say so? Alternatively, are they phony attempts of magic trickery or propaganda designed to deceive people? Many skeptics that embrace a naturalistic worldview commonly hold these ideas and points of view....

Recently I have been re-reading The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. This book along with others in a similar series were a large part of where my passion for apologetics began. Lee was an investigative reporter for the Chicago Sun Times. His mindset is like that of a bulldog....

This is one of the hardest questions for us to attempt to answer. The skeptics will say either God is good or He is all-powerful. However, He cannot be both. ...

Last week we looked at some of the evidence to the truth of the resurrection. Today I would like to look a skeptical counter argument that attempts of subvert the historical record....

As we are the edge of coming to Easter. I would like to lay out for you the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus to be true. Despite many skeptical objections, for over 2,000 year’s generation after generation of people have had a firm belief in the accuracy of the biblical accounts of Jesus raising from the dead....

For this week’s post, I would like to reprint a recent devotion from Galen Troyer. He is an elder here at the River Center Church. I feel that this is so germane to we are at, and Galen does a great job of encouraging us, so here it is....

My hope and prayer for all people during this unusual time of social distancing and pandemic hubbub is that we are awake to the Gospel of the good news about Jesus....

Ok now that almost everyone on the planet has chimed in on the Corona virus. I will join into the fray today to share my thoughts on the matter from a biblical perspective. It seems that there is a wide array of fears, challenges and denial to the seriousness of the pandemic facing us. This is certainly not business as usual for our people....

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing the idea of the skeptic beginning to look at his or her own viewpoint with open eyes. To realize that their perspective might not be as bullet proof as they had believed it to be. Today I would like to look into the idea that differing worldviews are at odds with one another, and that the most coherent view of all will lead ...

Today I would like to explore this topic further with you. In the last post, most of the information was taken from Tim Keller’s book titled Reason for God, Belief in an age of Skepticism. I will continue quoting him heavily in this session as well....

This post is for the skeptical person that does not believe in Christianity. It will also be helpful to give Christians some insight on what some form of skepticism look like. The majority of this post will be taken from the book titled “Reason for God, belief in an age of Skepticism by Tim Keller....

The next question in this series to address is what God expects from us in response to what He has revealed. In other words, what does it take in order for us to be in right standing with God. Particularly, what does the Bible say about this subject?...

Today I would like to focus on the question, how can we identify and find God, the creator and sustainer of the Universe? Last week we talked about this being one of the important questions that people are seldom willing to ask themselves....

A few weeks back I made the statement that, the one message I would like to share with our culture is that God is really real. However, there is more to it than that. In this blog, we have been developing compelling amounts of evidence that God is the creator of the universe. To try to come up with a better alternative explanation is fruitless....

You may have seen an article in the media about how OOL (origin of Life) scientists have conducted recent experiments that places the world at the very edge of creating life, or at least having a full understanding of how life began on our planet. The reality of this is… there is nothing further from the truth....

If there was one message that I could shout from the rooftop to our culture, it would be that God is real. The universe and all of the complexity of the things we see around us, had to be designed by our Creator. There is no other answer that makes any kind of sense....

Today I would like to look at an additional problem for the naturalist worldview, it is the sequence of priority of timing involved in the creation of these amazing structures that are an absolute requirement for life to be present....

Today, I would like to look into something that is insidious in nature. It is the attempt to change the calendar. So Bob, what does this have to do with the Christmas story? Well, I am glad that you asked the question. J...

Ok we are in the first week of December so the Christmas season is here. This is a great time of year to celebrate the birth of Jesus. However, it is also a time of building pressures. Finances, holiday schedules, and decorating are among the many priorities that come into play during this window of time....

Happy Thanksgiving....

Often times when we think of the term idolatry, we have a notion of this being something very old and ancient; therefore any of the negative connotations associated with the word no longer have meaning and are not relevant. Today I would like to challenge that notion in order to see that idolatry is still prevalent in our society today and needs to be addressed....

Today I would like to look at some of the history behind the naturalist viewpoint that the Universe and everything in it is the product of chance....

Stains, nobody likes them, and we all seem to have something spill on ourselves at the most inconvenient time. Coffee down the front of your shirt, pasta dropped in your lap, or grape juice on your couch or carpet. Life can be like that at times, unexpected events that have emotional impact woven into unfortunate sequences of events....

In this blog, we have been talking about being strong and courageous Christians. Today I would like to look at our strength being a positional dynamic. It is not based on the notion of self-works or tenacity of human will power alone. Our strength is totally based on being adopted as Sons and Daughters into the Kingdom of God....

All of this, got me thinking about how amazingly complex and fine-tuned our electrical system found in our hearts is. We just expect this system to work seamlessly, delivering blood supply to all of the cells in our body. The electrical properties of our hearts is so incredible....

When we look at the character and nature of who God is, we see that He is both profoundly good and exquisitely holy. So the question is, how do these attributes of God’s nature influence how we think out and live a Christian World-view?...

I will be out traveling for the next 2 weeks, so I will be taking a break from posting....

Today I would like to address the idea of using your mind to completely love and honor God....

Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg? Yes, it is the age-old question; however, I would like to address this type of question for today’s post. It is this kind of question that leaves a person with a sense of not being able to definitively choose either answer. This conundrum may end up taking us to a spiritually numinous place. I hope you will get the gist of whe...

I was talking with a friend recently, who works at a gear manufacturing facility. Our conversation led to the discussion of the tolerance level of fine tuning required to make gears that will mesh together. He said that most of the gears that they make, are manufactured with the help of computer programs that measure to the thousands of an inch....

Last Monday night, before going to bed, I just had to go out in the back yard and take some time to look up at the night sky. It was so lovely;...

the idea of protecting our society from harm by issuing a recall notice, or to place a retraction in a piece of journalism that was faulty and incorrect seems to be a very important aspect of the overall health of community...

There is a theme that t is presented in the Old Testament that is relevant for us today. That is the story of Israel taken into bondage in Babylon, then returning and being restored to their land....

Last week we looked at the idea that a skeptic actually suppresses the truth of creation, in spite of massive amounts of probability stacked against him. Today, I would like to develop this subject further....

For today’s installment, I would like to look into the core of the naturalist’s philosophy about God....

This week I would like to develop the concept of how complex the interactions of differing animals and plants are in their environment...

C.S. Lewis, one of best theologians of his day, famously said “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said, would not be a great moral teacher.”...

So what is the centerpiece for thinking that the materialistic worldview could possibly be coherent? The answer is Mutation. They think that random or natural selection is entirely based on mutations that spontaneously have occurred in the gene pool. In this post, I would like to explore the validity of such an explanation as the source of the vast diversity of life on ou...

From the skeptic, his objection to all of the complexity that we see around us is that there is only an appearance of design, not actual design itself. So how legitimate is the claim of only an illusion of design, when it is not actually present? That is the subject for this post....

I recently have been rereading the book titled By Design or by Chance? By Denyse O’Leary. This book does an excellent job of distilling out, how modern science is giving more and more data to show that the Universe is the product of design. The amount of complexity that we see is everywhere we look....

Last week we unpacked how the Gospel is meant to change everything about us, so that we are constantly becoming a new man or woman in Christ. Today, I would like to look at the subjects of discouragement and depression in this context, and to relate how legalism can play a role in messing things up....

We have recently been focusing on the aspects of what the gospel is all about. This is important, as many folks do not have a proper or full understanding of this topic...

This is an important question. What does a person do, or how does a person become a Christian? What are the benchmarks that define this type of world-view?...

Last week we talked about how there is a similarity between the redactions of political documents and the culture withholding or (redacting) information about the character and nature of God. Both are withholding information in order to elevate one side of the issue over the other. That is the common thread....

So what does the first order mean? For many of us, the idea that comes to mind is that the first order is the evil empire from the Star Wars movies. While that is entertaining, it is not where I would like to go today. The first order that I am describing is looking at the idea of big questions. A first order question is one that establishes a firm foundation of thought pr...

The word “redacted” is now a common buzzword in the midst of the political upheaval in our current culture. The animus about seeing a redacted version of documents has fueled discontent on both sides of the political aisle....

We have spent a considerable amount of time in this blog talking about evidence that points to God as the most likely and best explanation for all of the vast complexity of design found in our universe. Today I would like to focus on another aspect that needs to have God present in order to make sense out of life. The topic is morality....

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...

As Easter is rapidly approaching, I thought it would be good to look at the resurrection of Jesus this week...

Last week, I started to develop the idea that our cultures viewpoint about tolerance has radically changed. This week, I would like to look further into this topic....

In last week’s post about horizontal relationships, we talked about how not to attempt to use the bible as a weapon to get what you want. In this week’s installment, I would like to explore other ways in which we should not attempt to use the bible....

I have been out of town on vacation this last week. In addition, when I returned, I got a chance to listen to Warren’s previous message on Ephesians Chapter 5 titled Jesus and His Bride. I feel like he said some important things that we need to be reminded of....

Last week we talked about there being 4 important aspects of the story of God’s redemption plan as follows: Creation, Fall, Redemption and New Life. We talked about how each of these woven together can help those that the Holy Spirit is drawing understand this life giving message....

I had the opportunity to have a brief conversation with a young woman this week about where she is at concerning her journey to faith in Jesus. We were able to cover a very large amount of ground within a short time period. Today I would like to share the direction or flow of that conversation to what I would call the big picture of presenting the gospel....

We have been spending some time talking about how wisdom is found in a Christian perspective of being single-minded rather than double-minded. Today we will look at some of the metaphors that describe just how desirable wisdom is. I mean that we all want to be wise right? Who would say that they would desire the opposite of wisdom? Well…That would just be dumb. ...

We have been talking about the subject of Godly wisdom. Last week I mentioned the story of Peter denying Christ in order to “save his own skin,” which in essence he was being a double-minded man at that moment of denial. I do not want to just leave Peter hanging there, so let us look further into his redemption story today....

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his...

We have been looking at the qualities present in a healthy church; the current focus for the past few weeks has been on discipleship. In this post, I would like to explore with you the concept of wisdom, and what role does this character quality have to do with discipleship. It is a pretty tall order, so I can’t cover it all in great detail. But I would like to spend som...

We are continuing on the topic of discussing the 5 aspects for a local church to be healthy or centered. Today we are taking a second look at the role of discipleship. In last week’s post, we laid out 3 distinctive parts of discipleship found in the great commission in Matthew 28. They are, being teachable, being obedient and being in proper relationship with who Jesus i...

We are continuing our series on the five aspects present in a healthy local church. Today our topic is discipleship....

In our ongoing series on the 5 dynamics of a healthy or centered church, our topic today is preaching....

We are continuing to look at the five parameters that the New Testament develops for a healthy vibrant church. Today’s topic is focused on worship....

We often hear within charismatic circles about the 5 fold giftings of church leadership, but we don’t hear much about the 5 fold aspects of the church itself....

If any of you are familiar with the Vegietales cartoon series, you may recall that in one of their Christmas episodes they discovered facetiously that the true meaning of Christmas is “a Buzz-Saw Louie action figure. No the true meaning of Christmas is 12 Buzz-Saw Louies!”...

It is interesting to me that many people in our culture view the entirety of Christianity from the perspective of raw emotion alone without any engaging of the mind what so ever....

I have been reading thru the New Testament in 60 days as part of my current reading plan. This has been a delightful journey to be reading fairly large blocks of text. Reading familiar passages brings both joy and challenges to my thought processes....

Concerning the Kingdom of God, our inheritance takes on a very different nature. It is based on more valuable things than just financial gain. It may be difficult to think this way, but the spiritual blessings far outweigh the natural....

Continuing from last week’s post, we are looking at the aspects of Gospel renewal. We have described what it looks like, but have not ventured into the dynamics of how to see it happen....

Recently we have been looking at what it means to be “all in” in the context of a prophetic word spoken over our church. In this installment, I would like to look into the need for gospel renewal. This is in response to God’s love for us all....

Today we will look further into theological vision and the role that it plays in how we do ministry at the River Center....

I currently am re-reading a book titled Center Church by Dr. Tim Keller. It is a deep and fascinating adventure into how the DNA of the gospel is to be expressed into the local church....

The good news of the redemption and grace given to us By God by the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf changes everything about who we are and how we think....

Our current culture is attempting to make strong inroads of post-modern deconstruction of any sort of objective truth being reasonable. The hallmark of this train of thought is the idea that no religious truth claim is any better than any other....

In these two passages of scripture, we see The Father and Jesus dwelling in pure brilliant and amazingly bright light. In Revelation chapter 1, Jesus is being metaphorically compared to the sun. These comparisons are rooted in the idea that we have no greater visual comparison to the unaided eye....

For this week’s post, I would like to look at the other side of futile thinking, namely those who do not believe in Christ. This is valuable in our understanding of evangelism. ...

We are continuing the journey of a seeker‘s pathway to faith this week. The story goes like this. Okay, I have a friend that is in good trust with me in relationship and is becoming curious about Jesus, what is next?...

Last week we posted that there were five distinct stages of development listed in the parable of the farmer and the seed. There are also five common elements often in play for people in their journey to faith....

In last week’s post we talked about an important part of fishing is simply being out there on the water. This week I would like to drill down deeper into equipping us with an overarching understanding of certain processes that are often in play in the hearts and minds of those whom God is drawing unto himself....

These profound words of Jesus are recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. In context, this statement was spoken to the disciples Peter and Andrew at the very beginning of their calling....

This picture is interesting to me in the fact that this early church was experiencing growth in their faith in God....

It is an important question, particularly for those who do not believe that God exists. Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, has espoused that gravity has the power and creative ability to be the cause of the origin of the universe....

Last week we talked about some of the benefits of being Kingdom people with having the Holy Spirit reside within us. One of the benefits mentioned was having the peace of God in our lives. This week I would like to look further into what this peace actually means....

In the last blog entry, we looked at the foundation of what the Kingdom of God looks like. This week’s entry will further explore in some detail some of the benefits of this Kingdom....

So here is a question, what did Jesus mean when he said the Kingdom of God is at hand? This question is the title of a chapter in the book The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright. It is a very good question for us today as we grapple with the idea that this kingdom was central to Jesus’ message, but there is difficulty in figuring out what that precisely means...

I am traveling on vacation this week, so this entry is going to be very short and sweet. I would like you all to watch a short video that amazingly explains how living cells obtain their energy in order to function. ...

It is a good thing to know that God is the creator and sustainer of both the universe and every living being. It is also good to know that he is the creator and sustainer of covenants with people as well....

One of my favorite passages in the Scripture is Romans Chapter 8: 1-8. It reads as follows,...

The first thing when I wake up each morning is to make a choice, am I going to be grumpy, feel tired and grouchy? Or am I going to start my day with a heart filled with gratitude for being alive and blessed by God? ...

In a court of law, the standard of proof is establishment of evidence in order to conclude that something has occurred “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The standard does not go as far as to say “beyond any possible doubt.” I would contend that this same standard should be held when a person comes to investigate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. ...

I have recently been reading a book by Phillip Yancey titled Reaching for the Invisible God. In this work, he quotes one of the early church fathers, Gregory of Nyssa stating that “a person’s faith is ambidextrous because he or she should welcome pleasures with the right hand and afflictions with the left, with the understanding that both would serve God’s design for...

In this post, I would like to explore some of the benefits of being a member of a local church in a broad perspective....

After last week’s post, I received some interesting comments, so I would like to explore this idea of church membership further....

In last week’s post, we talked about how true meaning and purpose for life can ultimately only be found in being in right relationship with God. Therefore, what are some of the benefits to be found in being in this position?...

We have recently had a sermon series in our church about the church. Its purpose and how we are to be in relationship together as members of the body of Christ. This is a bigger deal than most of us realize.Exploring aspects of church membership...

Strong and Courageous April 20, 2018 The story of the Prodigal son. Over the life of this blog, I have had three goals in mind with the content of the posts. The first goal has been to help Christian believers to have information available to help them to relate to the culture with more of an evangelistic perspective. Goal 2 has been to help seekers overcome some intell...

Strong and Courageous Is it possible for God to exist if there is evil and suffering in the world? 4/13/2018 So the discussion goes like this in the mind of some atheists. Since there is evil and suffering permeating our existence, therefore God does not exist. God is supposed to be both good, and all-powerful, but he cannot be both in the presence of evil. Either he is...

April 6, 2018 Strong and Courageous How could Jesus rise from the dead? Since we have just completed the Easter holiday, I would like to zero in on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and his appearance to many different people living at that time. Many theologians describe the resurrection as the virtual lynchpin of Christian understanding. Without this even...

Strong and Courageous March 27, 2018 Meaning and purpose in life. We have been talking recently about aspects of a person's worldview. What is the overarching narrative of how someone lives out his or her philosophical views? Not only in the aspect of theory, but how we actually live out the need for consistency in the laboratory of life itself. Often times, a person w...

Strong and Courageous March 23, 2018 Retraction I need to make a retraction today about last week's blog post. I usually post this blog on both our church website and on Facebook. So on the Facebook page, I received a comment from a good friend about some of the information that I had posted about how complex single celled organisms are. The comment spoke about other m...

Strong and Courageous March 16, 2018 Is there any such thing as a simple cell? One of the main teaching points found in the Darwinian explanation for evolution is that life sprang up from non-living matter as a simple single celled organism. Then as time elapsed, this simple cell morphed in complexity, becoming more and more elaborate until we have complex multicellular...

Strong and Courageous March 9, 2018 How Good is Good Enough? This is the question of the ages. Am I good enough to make it into heaven when I die? If you were to survey the average person on the street and ask this question, a large majority of the responses would be yes, I am a pretty good person. Well at least I am as good or better than so and so. In other words...

Strong and Courageous March 2, 2018 By Design or by Chance? Was our universe the result of design or chance? A very big question this is. It certainly has grand implications on how a person forms their worldview. Following are some quotes from some well respected non-Christian scientists. "As we look out into the universe and identify the many accidents of physics a...

Strong and Courageous Jan 4,2018 "It's not nice to fool mother nature." It's a common idea that runs through our culture. But where did the idea that it's not nice to fool mother nature come from? It may have been in existence for a long time, but the phrase became popular in a 1970's T.V. commercial about a brand of margarine that tasted so close to real butter that wh...

Strong and Courageous Mockers I would like to express opinion on the topic of skepticism. It seems that our society is steeped in the idea that you are a wise person if, and only if you doubt almost everything that you hear or read. Not only should you be skeptical, but you should be sarcastic toward the other person's opinion as well. Our society is abounding with some ...

Strong and Courageous 2/23/18 House on Fire. There has been so much energy and dialogue this week about the school shooting that took place in Florida. Facebook has been humming as everyone expresses their ideas for possible solutions to the problems of gun violence. Often times the conversation becomes polar with high-pitched emotion radiating through the discourse. ...

Strong Courageous Feb 16, 2018 Predestination Vs. Free will I had the opportunity to preach the message in church this last Sunday. One of the main points was the issue of God's predestination of those who will follow him and how it relates to humanity's free will. How can it be possible that both attributes be present and in play at the same time? For some people, t...

Strong and courageous Feb 9,2018 In last week's post we laid the groundwork for a post-modernist world view that only embraces relative truth alone, and is not willing to embrace the possibility of objective truth claims being valid. In this installment, I would like to get into a bit more detail concerning these ideas. Part of the reason for thinking that objective tru...

Strong and Courageous Feb. 2,2018 A Post-modern worldview that has permeated much of our society, has as one of its core beliefs that there is no such thing as objective truth. All truth claims are only relatively true. They also hold tightly to the idea that there isn't any grand overarching metanarrative to the purpose and meaning of life. Rather that life is merely a ...

Strong Courageous Last week we looked into the definition of nature and found that there is a great gap in explanation both from a philosophical and a spiritual perspective. We also looked at the inconsistency of attempting to paint a personality profile of nature in order to sustain a particular worldview. Now that we have analyzed a naturalistic mindset that may have ...

Strong and Courageous Dec. 21,2017 Doctor Luke describes an orderly and well researched account of the birth of Jesus Christ from the second gospel narrative in the new testament. The Birth of Jesus Christ 2In those daysa decree went out fromCaesar Augustus that all the world should beregistered.2This was the firstregistration when Quiriniuswas governor of Syria.3And...

Strong and Courageous Dec. ,2017 This is my favorite Christmas song of all time. The words go like this: O come O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. That morns in lonely exile here. Until the son of God appears. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel. I love it that this song captures the very pinnacle of human history into a few short ...

Strong and Courageous Dec. 8,2017 I have been reading and interesting book titled Miracles by C.S. Lewis. Lewis is a very famous author from the early to mid-20th century. He penned The Chronicles of Narnia series, and also wrote many other books defending the Christian Faith. In the first few chapters of his miracles book. Lewis lays out some poignant ideas about m...

Strong and Courageous Dec. 1,2017 I watched an interesting show on T.V. last night, titled Secrets of the Universe. In this episode they were talking about being on a quest to discover extraterrestrial life. This particular episode was focused on increasing our ability to see planetary systems associated with stars. The idea is that most stars are bound to have a "sol...

Strong and Courageous: 11/21/17 Gravity is truly amazingly complex. There are many aspects of gravity that our minds still do not comprehend. But does gravity have the ability to actually create the universe? Stephen Hawking thinks so. He may very well be one of the smartest men on the planet, however concerning this particular aspect, he seems most illogical. It is v...

Strong and Courageous Nov. 17, 2017 T.O.E. (the Theory Of Everything) Many folks in our culture hold tightly to the notion that there will be someone in the future who will be able to explain everything in our universe in one super elegant theory much akin to Einstein's theory of relativity. Recently there was a movie chronicling the life of Stephen Hawking titled the...

Strong Courageous Nov 10,2017 Magnets I recall as a young boy about 6 or 7 years old of discovery of magnets. I was so amazed at the ability to attract metal objects; it was quite magical to my young mind. I also recall the discovery of having 2 separate magnets and how fun it was to have them "clank" together by the attraction of a magnetic field. It was also very c...

Strong Courageous Oct. 27,2017 What Darwin Didn't Know At our last meeting at the strong and courageous conference, we had an interesting discussion about how complex all forms of life are, even down to a single cell organism. Back in Darwin's day they didn't have the technology to be able to see the amazing Nano mechanisms at work inside of the cell. They knew that ...

Strong and courageous Blog Oct. 20,2017 Parable of the Sower We had an interesting conversation in one of our community groups this week. The discussion was about us remembering times when you felt that the Holy Spirit was giving you insight into a situation or giving you specific direction. I recalled a time when I was meeting up for coffee with an international stude...

Strong Courageous Blog Oct 15,2017 Does belief in God ruin science? This question certainly represents a plausibility structure that is deeply ingrained into our culture. Many people would answer yes to this question. I do not agree with them, and I would like to explain why in this post. One of the main reasons that people would answer yes to the question is the th...

Earth Wind and Fire October 6th 2017 Strong and Courageous Over the past weeks we have been talking about how finely tuned the universe is in order for life to exist. I would like to do some further digging into how there are so many different necessary parameters that are required for you and I to be sucking oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. I have titled this blo...

Learning to Discover Design Part 3 Sept. 26 2017 We have been looking at multiple pieces of evidence that display the marvelous and intricate workings of the creator of the cosmos. Design characteristics are present in every area of human discovery. However, many skeptics will admonish us that Intelligent Design is not Scientific in nature, therefore the entire discip...

Learning how to Discover Design Part 2 Sept 22,2017 In last week's entry we looked at the process of developing a mindset that is willing to look at the potential for design in the things that we see around us, rather than attributing everything as the product of chance, natural selection or necessity. Once you become willing to consider this, you will see a wide vista...

Strong and Courageous Blog Sept.15,2017 Learning how to Discover Design. In our current postmodern culture there is a strong movement away from looking at things with the idea that they are designed. Particularly when thinking about origins of life or about how our natural environment came to be as we now see it. Students will study at great lengths, the vast complexity...

Holy Smoke Strong and Courageous blog Sept 8,2017 With our atmosphere recently inundated with smoke from all of the wildfires around the state, it has created an environment of melancholy that seems difficult to shake off. They sky has lost its transparency and both the Sun and Moon have an eerie glow of red. An apocalypse in the making? ...Nah! Even though times a...

Strong Courageous Blog Post 2 August 11,2017 Goo Man? Then God said, "Let usmakemaninourimage, afterourlikeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen. 1:26 (ESV) One of the main points that we talked about at t...

Strong and Courageous September 1, 2017 Our Faith is not Blind There are 2 different kinds of revelation concerning the nature and character of God. General revelation focuses on aspects of God 's creative aspects, of Him being the creator of the Universe and all that is contained within it. Special revelation is different in that it deals particularly with the writin...

Strong and Courageous Blog Post 3August 18, 2017"God in the Gaps" For what can beknown about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.For although they knew G...

Strong and Courageous Blog Post 1 By Bob Elliott August 3, 2017 I have been asked to start a Blog as a follow up to our Strong and Courageous conference that we had here at the church earlier this summer. I am delighted to have the opportunity to share ideas for extending the kingdom of God on an ongoing basis here on our church website. I will plan on posting once per ...