Showing results by author "James Thomas" in All Categories

First Thessalonians is the first letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to any of the local churches. In the opening chapter of this book, one will see how and when he had gotten to the place where he wrote this letter. It is interesting to see and retrace his travels throughout the region along with the travels of Silas and Timothy. Bible scholars have done an excellent job of examining the scriptures and the movements of key people to put everything into the right context and the right timeframe. That having been said, Paul was in his second Bible-recorded missionary journey. This letter to ...

For four years now, Bret McCormick and E. R. Bills have been beating the bushes and peering into abandoned wells to seek out the most terrifying tales the Lone Star State has to offer. They have left no stone unturned, no attic unexplored, and no grave undesecrated. And boy howdy, has their diligence has paid off!

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not ...

This study looks at the Genesis account of Creation in Genesis chapter one. Key Hebrew words are analyzed. Discussion is presented about some of the more popular views about Creation, such as the Big Bang theory, the Theory of Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Age-Day Theory, and Pantheism. Key creation terms, such as Fiat Creationism, Progressive Creationism, and Theistic Evolution are defined. The role of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it pertains to Creation is discussed. At the end of the commentary on the first chapter in Genesis, the creation and impact of angels is briefly examined...

This text was written in response to a question that I was asked at a Wednesday night Bible study at Wallers Baptist Church in Partlow, Virginia. The question, which was asked by the church's pastor, was in regard to the obvious enthusiasm that some of the saints of God seem to have for the Lord's work. The study that evening was in Acts 13:13, which talks about the Apostle Paul's first Bible-recorded missionary journey. It says, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." So when the company ...

Travel is the opposite of prejudice; it is curiosity, openness and connection. When our world is in flux, travel matters more than ever. It is the only way to go beyond the narratives that are fed to us, and understand the world through your own experience. Understanding does not automatically come from travel. You have to work for it. And, with barriers and restrictions coming and going at a dizzying rate, now is the time to learn how to eke the most out of whatever travel opportunities we are able to seize.

This book discusses one of the most important set of verses in one of the most important chapters in one of the most important books of the Bible. The whole doctrine about being born again is based upon a conversation that Jesus had had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. From that conversation, one can easily see the analogy between the brass serpent on a pole in the Old Testament and Jesus on the cross at Calvary. That analogy makes it clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation. People may try whatever they like. But John 14:6 says that no one comes to the Father except by the Son. All of...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

People sometimes have difficulty understanding the Trinity. But if that is the case with someone reading this Introduction, then he or she should not feel too bad. It took the scholars and theologians of the early Church about five hundred years after the Incarnation of Jesus to even begin to figure it out. The whole idea of one God is not too difficult to understand. But when the same scholars and theologians start talking about one God in three persons, then the whole matter becomes much more complicated. Is it biblically correct to say or think of three different persons of deity, daily ...

In summary, what was Jesus saying to those people in this first part of His sermon? First, He was telling them to be poor in spirit, which meant that they should have a heart and a mind that would be open to His instructions. Second, He had made some specific promises to those who are poor in spirit, mourning over their spiritual condition, meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and makers of peace. He had spoken to those who would be persecuted for His name's sake. He spoke to those who have a responsibility to be salt and light. Third, He shared His ...

One cannot study the opening chapters of the book of Genesis without getting into some very weighty issues. There is, of course, the first chapter that talks about Creation. But there are also other issues as well. For example, who wrote the book of Genesis? Not everyone will agree that it was Moses. Plus, when, if he did write it, did he actually write it? As will be seen in that part of this text, the higher critics have argued against Moses for a reason that will be shared at that time. But other critics have also argued against Moses, as being the author of the first five books of the ...

For anyone who is currently going through some kind of difficulty, the chances are very high that at least one of Solomon's principles in the book of Proverbs has been violated. Solomon was the wisest person of his times. As will be seen in the first chapter of this text, he had asked the Lord for wisdom right after having become the king of Israel. Also as will be seen, the Lord answered his prayer. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." The book of Proverbs is that answer. It is a ...

This text was written to do a detailed study of the kings of Israel from the first king, named Saul, to the last king, named Zedekiah. After Solomon, the nation of Israel divided into two separate kingdoms. The southern kingdom was the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The northern kingdom was the other nine tribes, which had included Manasseh and Ephraim because of the double portion inheritance that was given to Joseph. The Levites were not included with either kingdom because they did not own any property. But as will be seen in this text, they were mostly in the southern kingdom and with ...

This third edition of my heaven book explains the reasons for Satan, Adam, Eve, and the rest of human existence as it has been known for the past six thousand-plus years. It presents logical certainties about heaven and what people will do once they are there. In fact, one gets a good understanding of what the saints of God can expect on the other side of the grave just from looking at things like the seven days of Creation. This book does not do an exhaustive study of that. But it does use instances where the Lord had said that He was pleased for determining what heaven will be like. So if...

The main purpose of this text is to explain how this world has become an apostate world during the past one hundred years and how the local church is now becoming the apostate church. There are four parts to show how all of this has been happening. Part I starts with Satan's rebellion against the Lord in heaven. It follows his path to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. It shows his demonic activity with Cain, the wicked generation that led to the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the cross at Calvary. After that, it shows how he tried to destroy the local church from without by ...

Joe Devlin is midway through his second year at the Space Academy with his father and sister deployed in the war against the Tourians. When someone close to Joe is missing in action, can he, against all odds, find out what happened? Will he be pushed past his limits as a pilot during his quest for the answers? The Tourians are waiting!

The idea with this text is that the Proverbs life is a much better life. The reason for saying that is because it leads to either no unpleasant consequences or to very few unpleasant consequences. So this text is about improving a person's decision-making skills, about reducing the unpleasant consequences that result from bad decisions, and about showing that the Proverbs life produces a much better life. There is one main theme that is presented throughout. If people want to live a good life and experience very few unpleasant consequences, then they need to study the scriptures, ...

In writing this book about marriage, I feel that the Lord has been preparing me to do this work for many years and in many ways. First, I have been blessed to have been married for fifty-three years. So the Lord has given me the chance to learn a little something about relationships. Second, I have been blessed along with my wife, Linda, by the challenges of raising five children and having seen seventeen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren born into this world. That means that the Lord has let me learn a little bit about family. Third, I have been saved for almost fifty-seven ...

We relentlessly pursue our self-interests as rational consumers, yet how often do we find lasting happiness or deep satisfaction? An Unselfish Perspective is a self-help book for self-help skeptics. It reveals our cultural assumptions about individuality and how these assumptions shape our perspectives and our world. It will inspire you to rethink your self-improvement goals and reimagine how to build that better you. As your listen, you will come to question your understanding of what self-knowledge is and what authenticity means.

Some people might think that Easter is about family get-togethers and the Easter Bunny. It is not. Therefore, this text, while focusing primarily on the prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah and especially on those that explain why Jesus was crucified, also discusses prophecies written by other Old Testament prophets. In the first three parts of this text, nine passages from the book of Isaiah will be examined leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Those passages are Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 64:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 41:27-29, Isaiah 61:1-3, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah ...