The Brown Bible

Ken Brown | July 31, 2010

In our posting, “How to Gain God’s Favor,” I showed from the Scriptures in Romans and Ephesians that those of us who have believed on our Lord Jesus Christ already have God’s favor, His good will. There are many good works we are called to perform, but these works are not what cause God to be willing to act on our behalf. He is already more than willing to act on our behalf, having surrounded us with His favor.

If this is true, then why is it that our petitions are not always granted? Were we not humble enough? Did we not ask fervently or often enough? Was our request too frivolous? Was it God’s intent to put us through some trial to teach us something or to test us? I have heard each of these reasons given, but what do the Scriptures say? There are two requirements given in God’s Word for seeing our prayers come to pass, and neither of them are any of the above.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | No Comments »
Tags: answers to prayer, Bible, Christianity, deliverance, God's will, Prayer, trust

Ken Brown | June 26, 2010

Elijah built an alter out of stone, placed wood and a sacrifice on it, drenched it with water (12 barrels), and then prayed that God would answer by fire. God’s response is recorded in 1 Kings 18:38. “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” How hot would this “fire” have to have been, and what was it?

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | No Comments »
Tags: 1 Kings 18, Bible, Christianity, Elijah, fire of the Lord, lightning, melting point of sandstone, religion, sandstone, trust, Word of the Lord

Ken Brown | June 24, 2010

I have been reading articles on a number of web sites on the topic of the relation between faith and reason. There were many assertions along the lines of the two being opposite and incompatible. There were statements that faith hinders the search for truth, being contrary to scientific inquiry and that one can maintain faith only by abandoning reason etc. Really?
Proponents of these views must scratch their heads a bit regarding Sir Isaac Newton, commonly referred to as “the father of modern science.” Sir Newton was a “man of faith,” a dedicated believer. He once attributed all of his scientific discovery to “the working of the holy spirit.” He wrote a complete chronology of the Old Testament. (That takes some serious dedication.) He revised it 17 times. He very closely compared church doctrines of his day with the written Word of God, accepting most doctrines but rejecting those that he considered to be, in his words, “repugnant to reason.” Obviously, Sir Newton had no problem embracing both faith and reason.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, 99) Other Topics, Biblical Considerations Series | No Comments »
Tags: 1 Corinthians 2:14, belief, Bible, Christianity, faith, faith and reason, Isaac Newton, leap of faith, miracles, pisteuo, pistis, reason, religion, take it on faith

Ken Brown | May 14, 2010

I am a believer. I have accepted Jesus Christ. I believe God raised him from the dead. I believe that the Scriptures, as originally written, are the inerrant Word of God. But if anyone were to call me “religious,” I would take it either as a misinformed statement or as an insult.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bible, Christian, E.W.Bulinger, faith, God's gifts, guilt, Pharisees, purpose, religion, religious, righteousness, threskeia, threskos, Truth

Ken Brown | May 8, 2010

There are Christians who hold the view that God’s sovereignty and His master plan for the universe are such that all that happens in life is according to His will. He is behind the scenes bringing it all to pass. They say things like, “Everything happens for a reason.” Let’s consider the ramifications of such a view….

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | 5 Comments »
Tags: Bible, Chriatian Fatalism, Christian, fatalism, freedom of will, hina, indicative mood, pleroo, religion, subjunctive mood, that it might be fulfilled

Ken Brown | April 23, 2010

In our posting, “Is Death a Friend?” I asserted as per 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 that the dead in Christ are dead and will remain so until Jesus Christ returns to raise them from the dead. I was asked to consider that the parable of Lazarus and the rich man indicates otherwise. I am going to address this, but first let me say that my heart goes out to those who wrestle with this topic emotionally. I know it is difficult. I empathize with this, but cannot fully relate, having never believed that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are really awake and are already enjoying eternal bliss. To me it is more comforting to know that my parents are not watching me, but for them the moment of Christ’s return will be as though it were the next moment after their deaths. It also strikes me as a matter of supreme justice that we all arrive at the same time. No one is advantaged more than anyone else. Here is the parable:

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, 21) How to Research the Bible, Biblical Considerations Series | 1 Comment »
Tags: Abraham, Bible, Christianity, extended similes, God, God's Word, heaven, hell, Jesus, lazarus, life after death, men ought always to pray, Moses, parable, parables, Pharisees, prodigal son, prophets, punishment, religion, resurrection, rewards, the law, the rich man, tradition, unjust judge

Ken Brown | April 2, 2010

“Everyone has the right to his own opinion.” We hear this line used from time to time, and in certain contexts I don’t disagree. But is it always true? Has anyone ever verbally maligned you, lying about you or about your friends or family? What was your response? Were you angry, hurt, or disgusted because “no-one has the right to talk about me or my family that way”? Or were you complacent, acknowledging “every one has the right to his own opinion”? Each of these quoted statements has a valid basis. It depends on what “right” we are talking about.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tags: Bible, Bill of Rights, Christianity, legal right, moral right, opinion, religion, right, rights

Ken Brown | April 2, 2010

The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record that there were two robbers crucified with Jesus. Luke records that there were two malefactors (evildoers) crucified with Jesus. It is the commonly held belief that the robbers of Mathew and Mark were the same individuals as the malefactors of Luke, but there are significant differences between them.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | No Comments »
Tags: Bible, Companion Bible, Crucifixon, E. W. Bullinger, Easter, Good Friday, gospels, Jesus, John, Luke, malefactors, Mark, Matthew, religion, robbers, three days and three nights, tradition, Truth

Ken Brown | March 8, 2010

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a famed British author and philosopher has been often quoted, “Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home.”

Many modern Christian leaders also claim that for believers, death is a friend. The following was lifted from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) website:

“What is death? For the Christian death is a friend rather than an enemy. It is another step on the pathway to heaven rather than a leap into some dark unknown.”

These words from Billy Graham were no doubt meant to be comforting. They do not, however, express the view given by the Apostle Paul by divine revelation.

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bible, Billy Graham, Christianity, death, enemy, friend, precious in the sight of the Lord, religion, resurrection, Sir Francis Bacon

Ken Brown | February 27, 2010

A participant on our site recently e-mailed me a question. He wanted to know if one could lose his salvation. He correctly identified scriptures that show that salvation once gained cannot be lost, but was concerned that he might be wrong. I empathised with his concern. There can hardly be a more crucial quetion for a believer to have answered. He wondered why so many churches teach that salvation can be lost.

There are quite a number of ways to show from the Scriptures that one cannot lose his salvation. Presenting all of them would make this a very long article. I’ll just approach a few, and then discuss reasons why a number of churches teach otherwise. Let’s start with a passage in 1 John.

Category: 01) By Ken Brown, Biblical Considerations Series | 1 Comment »
Tags: Bible, Christianity, eternal salvation, gift of salvation, religion, salvation