Manchester Lutheran

Tag: Bible

  • Why Should I Believe in Jesus?

    Many people expect the answer to be: because the evidence is strong, because Christianity makes sense, because the Church says so, or because faith will improve your life. But none of these things give faith. The Bible gives a deeper answer, with two parts. It says you should believe in Jesus because God tells you…

  • How Can I Understand the Bible?

    You can read the Bible cover to cover, repeatedly, in multiple translations… and still not understand it. At the end of Luke’s Gospel, some of the disciples who’d been with Jesus for years, heard his teachings, even seen his miracles, still did not understand. Even after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them,…

  • Has Allah Forgiven You?

    Muslims and Christians both speak about the assurance of forgiveness.But they say opposite things. We see that very clearly in what their holy books claim about the assurance God gives us. The Qur’an (Surah 7:99):* أَفَأَمِنُوا۟ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ فَلَا يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ ٩٩ Did they then feel secure against the plan…

  • When God Commanded Genocide: 2 Jesus Died for Every Amalekite

    God commanded ancient Israel to commit genocide. You and I are rightly troubled by that. In our first post, we looked squarely at the most clear and difficult passage in the whole Bible on this, 1 Samuel 15:1-3, where God commands Saul to slaughter the Amalekites: every “man and woman, child and infant, ox and…

  • I Don’t Feel Good Enough

    Everything around you, and inside you, is screaming that you have to measure up. You need to meet a certain standard. You need to achieve something. They are all wrong. Those voices either crush you because you fail, or turn you into a proud, self-righteous person. Neither leads anywhere good. So, those voices aren’t just…

  • You Can’t Clear Your Name

    You can’t clear your name. But you don’t need to. We live under constant evaluation from others. Socially. Online. At work. In fact, 79% of UK workers experience workplace stress regularly. And 1 in 4 of us feel stressed more days in a month than not. A major aspect of workplace pressure is caused by…

  • You Can’t Read God’s Mind

    Featured image: AI generated (does not depict real people) Judge Mike Lynch, former Texas state district court judge described the harrowing personal experience of issuing the death penalty: In my first death penalty trial, in 1998, the defendant had sexually assaulted and brutally slashed and stabbed a woman who had befriended him. The jury found…

  • You Can’t Stop God’s Word

    You can scatter Christians.You can shut down the church.You can try to silence the preacher. But you can’t stop God’s Word: …the word of God increased and multiplied. (Acts 12:24) Persecuting the church doesn’t slow the Word. It’s one of the ways God spreads it. You can ban the Bible.You can censor Biblical ideas.You can…

  • Does Allah Love the Wicked?

    Muslims and Christians both speak about God—the one who created us.(Allah is simply the Arabic word for “God”.)But what they say about him is very different. We see that very clearly in what their holy books claim is God’s attitude to the wicked. The Qur’an (Surah 3:57):* وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ فَيُوَفِّيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ ۗ…

  • Why the Crowd Is Wrong

    There are so many churches. So many religions. So many claims. Which one is right? The question is not: Which group is biggest?But rather: What is God actually saying? A wise man called Martin Chemnitz once observed: That is exactly the pressure everyone thinking about “truth” feels today. Our church practices close communion, meaning that…