Category: What do you think?

If the resurrection is removed from the gospel, everything falls apart

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

The resurrection of Jesus is not just one part of the Christian message that can be quietly set aside without consequence. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:15, removing it from the gospel does not simply weaken the message, it destroys the integrity of everyone who has ever preached it. If Christ was not raised, then the apostles who gave their lives for this message were not brave men of faith. They were people who died for something that was not true.

But there is something even more troubling than that. If Jesus did not rise, then Jesus himself made promises he could not keep. He said he would rise, and if he did not, then either he was wrong or he was misleading people. That is a thought that cannot be squared with who Jesus claimed to be. The resurrection is not a footnote. It is the hinge on which the whole gospel turns. Take it away and nothing holds together. Keep it, and everything in the Christian life finds its proper place.

But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

Acts 2:24

Understanding Slavery and Service in Scripture

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

JEFF TURNER

The tension here is real, and it deserves honest engagement.

Scripture does address slavery as a living institution. Slaves are instructed to obey; masters are called to fairness and care. The Bible does not endorse the cruelty of those systems, nor does it dismantle them outright. It works within them, shaping conduct through the deeper values of kindness, respect, and responsibility. Every human relationship, however broken its structure, is meant to be governed by righteousness.

But there is a second thread running through the New Testament, and this one transforms the image entirely. Believers are called servants, even slaves, of Jesus Christ. Paul himself wears this title with honour. Christ is Master; we belong to Him. Our obedience flows not from compulsion, but from devotion.

Here, the language of slavery becomes a portrait of faith itself, a life of willing surrender, steadfast loyalty, and joyful service to the Lord. The institution, with all its injustice, is reframed as a spiritual metaphor pointing toward something holy.

So the Bible neither celebrates harmful systems nor ignores the world as it was. It speaks into history while reaching beyond it, guiding people to live rightly within their circumstances, and calling all of us to understand our truest allegiance: not to any earthly power, but to Christ alone, the Master worth serving.

 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

The grace and wisdom of God go deeper than any words can fully reach

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Romans 11:33 gives us the image of depth. Just as no one has ever measured the floor of the ocean, no one has ever reached the bottom of God’s grace. Forgiveness, peace with God, the hope of heaven, new life: all of it available to people who are broken, lost, and without anything to offer in return.

And that is precisely what makes it so striking. This grace is not given to the deserving. It is lavished on the struggling, the sinful, the ones who come to God empty-handed. It reaches into places nothing else can touch. And the more we understand it, the more we discover how much more there is still to understand.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

Ephesians 2:4-5

The clear promise of Christ’s return

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

JEFF TURNER

The return of Christ has become a contested question in our time, debated in pulpits, published in books, dramatized on screens. And yet, for all the noise, the Bible speaks with uncommon clarity.

Two camps have emerged. Some teach that His coming will be invisible, purely spiritual. Others hold that it will be real, bodily, and visible to all. This is not a small disagreement. What we believe about His return shapes how we read all of Scripture.

Much of the confusion traces back not to the text, but to fiction. When imagination fills the spaces that Scripture already occupies, the truth grows dim. We must return to the New Testament, where the teaching is plain and direct.

Jesus will come again, and His coming will be seen. Visible signs will precede Him across the earth. There will be nothing quiet, nothing hidden, nothing merely inward about it. His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives. The mountain will divide. Waters will flow. Dry places will bloom. The physical world itself will bear witness to His arrival.

This matters because truth always matters. When we anchor our hope to what Scripture actually says, confusion gives way to conviction.

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Matthew 24:27

What Jesus really meant when he told a man to let the dead bury their own dead

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

JEFF TURNER

The call to follow Jesus is urgent, and Luke 9 shows just how seriously he took it. A man asked permission to go home first and wait until his father had died before committing to discipleship. At first glance, the request sounds reasonable, even respectful. But the situation was not what it appeared to be. The father had not yet died.

What the man was asking for was time: go home, wait out his father’s remaining years, secure the inheritance, then follow Jesus once his financial future was settled. Jesus was not calling anyone to abandon grieving families. He was calling out a heart that wanted to follow only after every earthly arrangement was in order.

The lesson is this: when Jesus calls, the right response is to trust him with the details and go, not to wait until personal security is guaranteed.

 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:62