Posts by Bryant Perkins (Page 10)

This is the first in a series of articles recently published by Wes McAdams on his blog “Radically Christian.” Many people have come to me with questions in this area, and this series does a good job of answering them. Without necessarily endorsing every specific point he makes, I think the views he presents are certainly more Biblical than what we often picture; accordingly, we will publish this series over the next five weeks. I commend it to your attention.…

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.…

Most of us probably do not know much about the intertestamental period. During this era, the Jewish people were dominated by one foreign power after another. First it was Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persian Empire, including Judea, along with everything else between Greece and India. But Alexander’s untimely death at only 32, with no successor, left his empire in disarray. Ultimately, it was divided among his generals, who fought a series of wars against each other, striving for…

For the last two years, we have been holding prayer meetings on Facebook Live during the week. We originally began them at the outset of the pandemic, when we could not get together at all for awhile, as a way to keep everyone somewhat connected and encouraged. We persisted in broadcasting Monday-Friday for the next year; as things began to open back up last Spring, including the resumption of our own Sunday and Wednesday evening services, we scaled them back…

We welcomed spring this past week. The temperatures are warmer, the grass is turning green, and the flowers are beginning to bloom. You have probably mowed your lawn for the first time this season in the last couple of weeks. We just planted a little vegetable garden in our yard. All of these signs of new life turn my mind to God as Creator. He is the source of everything that is. He is the Creator of the heavens and…

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day earlier this week. This is one of those sort of second rate holidays in this country: we wear green, in some places we have a parade, and we eat things like Irish stew or shepherd’s pie or soda bread—we celebrate all things Irish, basically—but we do not really know much about it other than that. But St. Patrick’s Day was originally a commemoration of the life and death of Patrick of Berniae, who brought Christianity…

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed… He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. – Psalm 2:1-2, 4 All of us have likely been following the Russian invasion of Ukraine to some extent. It seems that the world stands closer to the brink of World War 3—or even nuclear conflict—than…

Last Sunday evening, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, 23-20. That’s not a matchup that most people would have projected at the beginning of the season; it’s not even one that was likely at the outset of the playoffs. That unpredictability is part of what makes a football season so exciting. The Super Bowl was the long-awaited culmination of a journey that began, by one way of looking at it, some 5 months ago,…

Notwithstanding the fact that this article’s title will get a certain early 90s dance song stuck in the heads of some readers, the question is an important one. Tomorrow, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, which—rightly or wrongly—is associated with love. And we all know that love is of paramount importance in Scripture. God is love (1 John 4:16). We are commanded by Jesus to love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By…

Our sermon last Sunday morning prompted several people to discuss Judas afterward. They all boiled down to one thing: why did he do what he did? That question has fascinated people for the two thousand years. Judas Iscariot is probably the most notorious figure in human history. Every time he is mentioned in Scripture, we also find the notice of him being a traitor. He committed the most heinous crime imaginable, betraying the spotless Son of God for a handful…

I read this article in a recent issue of “Let’s Visit,” the weekly bulletin of the Center Church of Christ. I thought it made a familiar, but significant, point really well and decided to include it here in this space. I commend it to your attention. BP In the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to John, we have the story of Jesus and the woman of Sychar that he met at Jacob’s well. Jesus and the disciples had left…

There is an old story, well-worn preacher’ story, a legend of Jesus after his ascension. I have not been able to source it; it has been attributed to everyone from William Barclay to one of the Church Fathers. But it tells of an imaginary conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel. It runs something like this: After Jesus ascended to heaven, the angel Gabriel approached Him. Seeing the holes in his wrists and feet and the wound in his side,…