Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
It would be easy to teach that God is not bothered by our sinfulness. It would make us all feel better about our lives, and it would help us avoid those nagging feelings of conviction. Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet in large part because his message was one of repentance to a rebellious nation who refused to repent.
In chapter 23, Jeremiah complains about the false prophets. In verse 17 he says, “They preach their "Everything Will Turn Out Fine' sermon to congregations with no taste for God, Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You' sermon to people who are set in their own ways.” The false teachers had violated one of the clearest Scriptural injunctions when it comes to presenting doctrine-speak the truth in love. They were attempting to be loving-or at least feel-good-without being truthful. But the result was not love. Love without truth is license, and only moves us further away from a relationship with God.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Resurrection-Paul's Conversion
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
When lives change for the better, it is usually for good reason. Many of us know stories of those who have had an experience with Christ and their lives have been drastically rearranged. The story of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 is maybe the best known of those stories.
In it, Paul is on his way to persecute Christians, but ends up becoming one because God dramatically interrupted his life. Paul turns from one of the most zealous enemies of the faith to its most public proponent. What is significant for us in this story during the Easter season is that Paul clearly had an encounter with the resurrected Christ. The voice he heard said, “I am Jesus.” And Paul, being such a well-educated zealot, knew exactly who Jesus was and what had happened to him. Can you imagine how you would react if someone who knew to be dead appeared and called you by name?
Paul’s conversion could only have happened if Jesus really did rise from the dead.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
When lives change for the better, it is usually for good reason. Many of us know stories of those who have had an experience with Christ and their lives have been drastically rearranged. The story of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9 is maybe the best known of those stories.
In it, Paul is on his way to persecute Christians, but ends up becoming one because God dramatically interrupted his life. Paul turns from one of the most zealous enemies of the faith to its most public proponent. What is significant for us in this story during the Easter season is that Paul clearly had an encounter with the resurrected Christ. The voice he heard said, “I am Jesus.” And Paul, being such a well-educated zealot, knew exactly who Jesus was and what had happened to him. Can you imagine how you would react if someone who knew to be dead appeared and called you by name?
Paul’s conversion could only have happened if Jesus really did rise from the dead.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Resurrection-Miracles Do Happen
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
Have you ever heard someone who doesn’t believe in the resurrection of Christ say something like, “We never see people rising from the dead, so it seems ridiculous that Jesus rose from the dead”? If you have, you have encountered one of the oldest and most-used arguments against the truth of the resurrection.
There is a lot to be said in response, but let us focus in on one detail. Most people who make that argument begin by believing that miracles don’t happen. Then they argue that they never see miracles, therefore, the miracle of the resurrection never occured. This is called reasoning in a circle, and it proves nothing. They first believe miracles don’t happen, then they argue they have never seen a miracle, then they conclude miracles never happened.
In fact, because God exists, miracles can and do occur. One of the most significant and provable of which is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Have you ever heard someone who doesn’t believe in the resurrection of Christ say something like, “We never see people rising from the dead, so it seems ridiculous that Jesus rose from the dead”? If you have, you have encountered one of the oldest and most-used arguments against the truth of the resurrection.
There is a lot to be said in response, but let us focus in on one detail. Most people who make that argument begin by believing that miracles don’t happen. Then they argue that they never see miracles, therefore, the miracle of the resurrection never occured. This is called reasoning in a circle, and it proves nothing. They first believe miracles don’t happen, then they argue they have never seen a miracle, then they conclude miracles never happened.
In fact, because God exists, miracles can and do occur. One of the most significant and provable of which is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Resurrection-Martyrs
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
Would you die for something you knew to be false? What’s more, would you dedicate every waking hour to promoting a cause you knew was not true? If Christ did not rise from the dead, the answers to these two questions for the disciples would have to be yes.
Martyrs die nearly every day for causes they are convinced are true. Eleven of the twelve disciples did the same. They were all eye-witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Christ, they spent their lives dedicated to the truth of the resurrection and they all died for preaching the same. There is no doubt that each of the disciples, and Paul as well, were completely convinced that Jesus rose from the grave, and that He gives us all hope of life beyond death.
The first Easter morning changed the world-and it did so by changing the lives of eleven frightened individuals. What effect will Easter have on you this year?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Would you die for something you knew to be false? What’s more, would you dedicate every waking hour to promoting a cause you knew was not true? If Christ did not rise from the dead, the answers to these two questions for the disciples would have to be yes.
Martyrs die nearly every day for causes they are convinced are true. Eleven of the twelve disciples did the same. They were all eye-witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Christ, they spent their lives dedicated to the truth of the resurrection and they all died for preaching the same. There is no doubt that each of the disciples, and Paul as well, were completely convinced that Jesus rose from the grave, and that He gives us all hope of life beyond death.
The first Easter morning changed the world-and it did so by changing the lives of eleven frightened individuals. What effect will Easter have on you this year?
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Resurrection-Conspiracy Theory
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
Approaching Easter, it is good to remind ourselves that the resurrection is not just a great story for our faith, it is an event that really took place. One of the interesting ways in which we can tell the tomb was empty has to do with what the enemies of Christ did once the story of His resurrection got out.
In Matthew 28:13, the chief priests told the soldiers who were guarding the tomb to tell a lie-to say that the disciples had come and stolen the body. This is powerful evidence not only because we see Jesus’ enemies beginning a conspiracy theory to cover their tracks, but because they acknowledge that the tomb was empty. Think about it-if those opposed to Christianity heard of an empty tomb, and they knew exactly where the tomb was, wouldn’t they simply produce an occupied tomb? Wouldn’t they just exhume the body and put an end to it all?
They couldn’t do that simply because Jesus had risen from the dead.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Approaching Easter, it is good to remind ourselves that the resurrection is not just a great story for our faith, it is an event that really took place. One of the interesting ways in which we can tell the tomb was empty has to do with what the enemies of Christ did once the story of His resurrection got out.
In Matthew 28:13, the chief priests told the soldiers who were guarding the tomb to tell a lie-to say that the disciples had come and stolen the body. This is powerful evidence not only because we see Jesus’ enemies beginning a conspiracy theory to cover their tracks, but because they acknowledge that the tomb was empty. Think about it-if those opposed to Christianity heard of an empty tomb, and they knew exactly where the tomb was, wouldn’t they simply produce an occupied tomb? Wouldn’t they just exhume the body and put an end to it all?
They couldn’t do that simply because Jesus had risen from the dead.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Resurrection-The Empty Tomb
Welcome to Every Though Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
As we approach the Easter season, scores of articles and TV documentaries will inevitably be written and aired which will call into question the reliability of the resurrection account of Jesus Christ. What is exciting for the Christian, however, is that Christ’s resurrection is one of the easiest events in the Gospels to defend.
Take the case for the empty tomb. All the good evidence points to Jesus’ tomb actually being empty. If his body was still in the tomb, the disciples would not have seriously believed in his physical resurrection. And they could not have preached the resurrection in Jerusalem where their enemies could have easily produced Christ’s body and proven them wrong. The disciples took the resurrection seriously, nobody in Jerusalem denied the tomb was empty, and none of Christ’s enemies could produce the body to squelch the early Church. It seems clear-the tomb really was empty.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit, everythoughtcaptive.org.
As we approach the Easter season, scores of articles and TV documentaries will inevitably be written and aired which will call into question the reliability of the resurrection account of Jesus Christ. What is exciting for the Christian, however, is that Christ’s resurrection is one of the easiest events in the Gospels to defend.
Take the case for the empty tomb. All the good evidence points to Jesus’ tomb actually being empty. If his body was still in the tomb, the disciples would not have seriously believed in his physical resurrection. And they could not have preached the resurrection in Jerusalem where their enemies could have easily produced Christ’s body and proven them wrong. The disciples took the resurrection seriously, nobody in Jerusalem denied the tomb was empty, and none of Christ’s enemies could produce the body to squelch the early Church. It seems clear-the tomb really was empty.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information, please visit, everythoughtcaptive.org.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
1 John-From The Beginning
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
In the epistle of 1 John, the apostle wrestles with some pretty thorny issues including the appearance of false teachers who have been twisting and manipulating the Gospel. They have been successful in creating confusion and a rupture in the church, and John’s difficult task is to remind the young believers of their foundation.
At least four times in this short epistle, John reminds his readers of what they learned from him in the beginning. The fix for heretical teaching was to reestablish the foundational teachings of Christ.
New teachers come along every day with novel and slick ideas that draw many away from the truth of the Gospel. What we need to do from time to time is remind ourselves of the very foundations of our faith and make sure our lives are oriented on those and on nothing else.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
In the epistle of 1 John, the apostle wrestles with some pretty thorny issues including the appearance of false teachers who have been twisting and manipulating the Gospel. They have been successful in creating confusion and a rupture in the church, and John’s difficult task is to remind the young believers of their foundation.
At least four times in this short epistle, John reminds his readers of what they learned from him in the beginning. The fix for heretical teaching was to reestablish the foundational teachings of Christ.
New teachers come along every day with novel and slick ideas that draw many away from the truth of the Gospel. What we need to do from time to time is remind ourselves of the very foundations of our faith and make sure our lives are oriented on those and on nothing else.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Ruth 4-Bitterness to Restoration
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
It is hard to watch someone we love grow bitter against God. Sometimes circumstances in life cause people to believe that God has become their enemy, and they begin to grow distant from God and fellow believers. In the book of Ruth we observe such a story, but this story of bitterness has a happy ending.
As the book opens, Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, loses her homeland and family to famine. Her response is very human-she believed God despised her. But as the book closes, we find Naomi with a child on her lap letting God be blessed for His kindness to her.
What happened? As the story progresses we discover that the amazing kindness of Ruth and Boaz restored Naomi’s relationship with God. This little book tells me that my kindness and compassion may be the path back to God for someone else.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
It is hard to watch someone we love grow bitter against God. Sometimes circumstances in life cause people to believe that God has become their enemy, and they begin to grow distant from God and fellow believers. In the book of Ruth we observe such a story, but this story of bitterness has a happy ending.
As the book opens, Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, loses her homeland and family to famine. Her response is very human-she believed God despised her. But as the book closes, we find Naomi with a child on her lap letting God be blessed for His kindness to her.
What happened? As the story progresses we discover that the amazing kindness of Ruth and Boaz restored Naomi’s relationship with God. This little book tells me that my kindness and compassion may be the path back to God for someone else.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Resurrection-The Women
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
The resurrection of Christ from the dead-can we know that it actually happened? First, we should know that it is crucial that it did happen, and second, that we have good reasons to believe that it really did.
One good reason to believe the Gospel record of the resurrection is the pivotal role women play. The fact that women were the first to find the empty tomb is telling for at least two reasons. First, in the culture of the day women were not considered viable legal witnesses-their word could not be trusted. Second, they were second-class citizens in almost every way.
But women were the first to bear witness to the empty tomb. If the story had been fabricated to convince a male-dominated society, do you think women would be written in as the crucial witnesses? Certainly not. The account of the resurrection bears the marks of a true account of real events.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
The resurrection of Christ from the dead-can we know that it actually happened? First, we should know that it is crucial that it did happen, and second, that we have good reasons to believe that it really did.
One good reason to believe the Gospel record of the resurrection is the pivotal role women play. The fact that women were the first to find the empty tomb is telling for at least two reasons. First, in the culture of the day women were not considered viable legal witnesses-their word could not be trusted. Second, they were second-class citizens in almost every way.
But women were the first to bear witness to the empty tomb. If the story had been fabricated to convince a male-dominated society, do you think women would be written in as the crucial witnesses? Certainly not. The account of the resurrection bears the marks of a true account of real events.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Resurrection 1
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
Have you ever wondered what doctrines in the Christian faith are absolutely essential? One of those is nearly upon us as we approach the Easter season. At Easter we recognize one of the central truths of the Christian faith-that Christ rose from the dead.
It may seem to some that a physical resurrection is fantastical and should be either ignored or pushed to the shadows if we are to be taken seriously in a modern world. But the apostle Paul saw it differently. According to him, if Christ did not actually rise from the dead, he and the rest of the apostles are all liars and our faith is empty. We cannot, according to Paul, have a serious Christian faith without the resurrection of Christ.
But if Christ did rise from the dead, there is a hope to be found in Him that is absent literally everywhere else-there is the hope of life eternal for each and every one of us.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Have you ever wondered what doctrines in the Christian faith are absolutely essential? One of those is nearly upon us as we approach the Easter season. At Easter we recognize one of the central truths of the Christian faith-that Christ rose from the dead.
It may seem to some that a physical resurrection is fantastical and should be either ignored or pushed to the shadows if we are to be taken seriously in a modern world. But the apostle Paul saw it differently. According to him, if Christ did not actually rise from the dead, he and the rest of the apostles are all liars and our faith is empty. We cannot, according to Paul, have a serious Christian faith without the resurrection of Christ.
But if Christ did rise from the dead, there is a hope to be found in Him that is absent literally everywhere else-there is the hope of life eternal for each and every one of us.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Living the Chtn Worldview-Thinking
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
We live in a world and in a culture in which it is sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to worldview issues. As Christians, we should often ask ourselves if activities, movies, music, entertainment, and so many other things are coherent with a Christ-centered life. Even though that is a difficult task sometimes, it is something we are called to do living as Christians in our world.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul says that we all should “[tear] down barriers erected against the truth of God.” He doesn’t say that just the apostles do that or that just the leaders do that-he says “we.”
God gave us all minds and the ability to think. You don’t need to be a genius to think about the world critically, you just need to be willing. One of the greatest tools you have that can help you live your Christian worldview is your mind-don’t be afraid to think.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
We live in a world and in a culture in which it is sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to worldview issues. As Christians, we should often ask ourselves if activities, movies, music, entertainment, and so many other things are coherent with a Christ-centered life. Even though that is a difficult task sometimes, it is something we are called to do living as Christians in our world.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul says that we all should “[tear] down barriers erected against the truth of God.” He doesn’t say that just the apostles do that or that just the leaders do that-he says “we.”
God gave us all minds and the ability to think. You don’t need to be a genius to think about the world critically, you just need to be willing. One of the greatest tools you have that can help you live your Christian worldview is your mind-don’t be afraid to think.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
Da Vinci Code 1
Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.
With the upcoming release of The Da Vinci Code movie, there is sure to be another swarm of attention around the supposed historical claims the book makes about the Church, the development of Christianity, and Christ Himself.
First, as thinking Christians and discriminating readers, we need to remind ourselves that it is a piece of fiction. We could leave it there if it were not for the fact that the author asserts that every detail in his book was rigorously researched and historically true. What that kind of claim seems to do is lead people down a path they seem all too willing to follow.
There are several good books and online articles available that tackle those supposed historical facts and expose them as falsehoods. If you are of two minds about the history and intent of the early Christian church, I encourage you to read some of them
If you want to, enjoy this piece of fiction-but do so with your mind turned on.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
With the upcoming release of The Da Vinci Code movie, there is sure to be another swarm of attention around the supposed historical claims the book makes about the Church, the development of Christianity, and Christ Himself.
First, as thinking Christians and discriminating readers, we need to remind ourselves that it is a piece of fiction. We could leave it there if it were not for the fact that the author asserts that every detail in his book was rigorously researched and historically true. What that kind of claim seems to do is lead people down a path they seem all too willing to follow.
There are several good books and online articles available that tackle those supposed historical facts and expose them as falsehoods. If you are of two minds about the history and intent of the early Christian church, I encourage you to read some of them
If you want to, enjoy this piece of fiction-but do so with your mind turned on.
This has been Every Thought Captive. I’m Phil Steiger, pastor of Quail Lake Community Church, and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies. For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.
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