Berean Home Fellowship

04/28/2026

Dawa Muslim Mohammed Hijab recently debated Christian apologist Godlogic (real name Avery). Hijab is known for being rude, obnoxious, and pretty infantile. But in Muslim circles, he is said to be a great debater. One of the best.

One of the things he did in the debate was point out how Godlogic didn't graduate high school, making a sideways comment about the young man’s intelligence.

It didn’t age well at all.

You can go and watch this for yourself but in a nutshell, Godlogic destroyed Hijab, to the point where some Muslims in the chat admitted it and a smaller portion questioned what they believed.

Avery did his job.

This was on the level of Wes Huff when he dismantled Billy Carson (which really wasn’t a difficult thing to do).

God was faithful because He kept His word in Luke 21:15.

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. (Luke 21:15)

Beloved, this doesn’t come by being in proximity with the Bible. It comes through daily reading, regular study, a zeal for God’s glory, and affection for His name.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t draw water from a dry cistern. You have to fill it daily with His word.

If you have never read the entire Bible and you have been a Christian for any significant length of time, the first thing you need to do is repent. You should be ashamed.

Next, get on a plan. Make a commitment. For this, I have started the 669 Initiative. Each week, you get what to read for the week so that by the end of a year, you will have read through the entire word of God, the whole Bible. It doesn't matter when you start, only that you start.

Hit the link below and start so that you can fulfil 1 Peter 3:15.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for....

04/19/2026

Last week, we did a cross-section on what it means to study the word of God as well as what it means to hear the word of God. It is important that we have the ears to hear the word of God before we approach it in order for it to have a saving effect on the soul.

As was mentioned last week, everyone doesn’t have the ears to hear. Apathetic attention and lazy listeners is another reason why people who call themselves Christians cannot tap into the true power of being one. This is the reason why the Lord kept repeating the phrase, “He who has ears to hear, let them hear.” One of the signs of an unbeliever is that they will not hear the word of God which is the opposite for the child of God (Luke 8:21, John 8:43).

This is obviously not talking about hearing words audibly. The Greek word here is akouō (ak-oo'-o) which means to give an audience as in listen. It’s about hearing in the sense of listening, considering, and understanding. It also has behind it the act of receiving.

With that in mind, hearing the word of God is not simply hearing words and having an intellectual understanding of what they mean. It is not simply understanding the sentence and its meaning in the sentence. It is understanding it in relation to God as truth which the Lord Jesus further elucidates in John 8:47.

So how does one acquire the ears to hear? Without going too far into it theologically, the ears to hear are a gift from God (John 10:27, John 6:44). If we have a desire to want to know God, all we need do is ask.

True belief includes obedience to God’s word. This is what often gets lost in translation when we tell people to “believe”. When the New Testament uses the word “believe”, it is not just talking about a mere mental assent or agreement. It is talking about placing confidence in or trusting and putting your reliance upon. It has behind it the force of obedience. So it's not just to believe in the mind but to believe with the life. It is easy for someone to give a head nod to something but it is quite another to order your life to reflect that belief (James 2:17).

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

If you come to the table with a heart that’s ready to listen and hear in order to obey, that is the time where it will actually do you some good (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Knowledge without application is just information and information without implementation is noise and useless.

You cannot say you love God and incessantly commit adultery. You cannot say you love God and be a perpetual drunkard. These are things that those who continue in and practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

Yet there are people who try to convince themselves that they love God and continue in these kinds of behaviors without any remorse nor prick of conscience. This is what is happening with the whole homosexual movement. It is to accept them as they are because God made them that way. It is a sinister kind of blasphemy when they blame God for their aberrant, depraved, evil behavior. It is not the God of the universe that they need to address but it is the god of this world who is the god that accepts them (1 John 5:19).

This goes for adulterers and drunkards as well.

We’re living in an age of biblical ineptness. The Bible is available in more mediums and media than at any other time in history and yet it is being read less and less. The excuses given are inexcusable excuses. People say they don’t like to read which is something they need to get over if they want their souls to be in working condition in the battle they have to fight every day.

This excuse is rooted in ungratefulness. The Lord Jesus Christ died to save our souls and we can’t open a book, listen to a sermon or teaching, or put ourselves in the place where we can be alone with the word of God for a half an hour out of our day? We give the excuse of what we like and what we don’t like? That is sensual and worldly (James 3:15).

On top of that, the practical reasons for reading are many: it’s mentally stimulating, it reduces stress, it increases your knowledge, expands your vocabulary, improves your memory, gives you stronger analytical thinking skills, improves your focus and concentration, makes you a better writer, and simply makes you smarter. It also may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. God knows what He’s doing and He wants us to read His word because it is good for us all around. Mentally, spiritually, and physically since all of those are tied together (Proverbs 4:20-22, John 6:63).

These are the same people who can’t function in everyday living because the flesh runs their lives and not the spirit of God. They don’t put on the armor of God and they don’t pick up the sword of the Spirit because their flesh rules. These are the same people whose lives are always going up and down, back and forth, with some kind of drama. The way to get around that and to begin to live victorious lives in Christ is to be in the word of God with an attitude to obey it. Once that is set, you will be on the road to a strong walk with the Lord.

Going back to the sword of the Spirit, this morning we will continue looking at the facets we have mentioned the last couple of weeks: reading, studying, memorizing, and meditation, focusing on studying which we introduced last week.

04/05/2026

Today is Resurrection Sunday. Today is the day the believers in Christ celebrate His resurrecting from the dead because that is where our hope lies.

For many people in the U.S. and around the world, Easter is a day for hiding eggs and handing out chocolate bunnies. In some places, kids dress up as witches and celebrate the spring harvest. Many have relegated it to a children’s event, totally obscuring or purposely ignoring its full meaning. Like Christmas, it has become commercialized much like the Passover in Jerusalem during the time of our Lord’s incarnation. These pagan elements have crept their way into the church as some attempt at compromise with the surrounding culture, weakening her voice on this most profound occasion where she strains to be heard over the noise of pride. Most of this has to do with the fact that most who do a full court press into this do it because they don’t know God and have no hope. They fail to realize that they misrepresent and make a mockery of the celebration because of their ignorance and unbelief.

Let me state a harsh, pointed, but true reality. The Resurrection Sunday celebration is exclusively for Christians. The Easter celebration is for the world. Know the difference.

Resurrection Sunday is effective for Christians. We genuinely have something to celebrate. Unbelievers have no part in it. They are outside the grace extended from the cross, and so Resurrection Sunday holds absolutely no power for them. No matter how many people who say they “believe in Jesus” come through the door during this time a year, the reality is this celebration should be a reminder their belief is no better than demons who believe and they should repent and believe the gospel.

If your belief is not the guiding principle of your life, the thing that gets you up in the morning to live, we have a problem, Houston. So many people say they “believe” in God or they “believe” in Christ. They have no frame of reference when it comes to who He is, they do not read the word of God, they do not order their life by the word of God, and they summarily spit in His face by living a life that contradicts His holy law. Nevertheless, they keep repeating that they believe in Christ as if repeating it loudly and often enough will make it so. Listen to the words of Christ on this (Matthew 10:37-38).

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37-38)

So many people show up to gather with the people of God once or twice a year — normally Christmas and today, the Christian Passover, or Resurrection Sunday — and feel they are sufficiently religious enough to get their fire insurance, all the while living lives oblivious of Christ or in direct opposition to Him. Saying you believe in Christ but living as if He doesn’t exist means you don’t believe He is important enough to hang on a cross, die for your sins, and resurrect in victory. I would say to these people, “You say you believe in Him, you just don’t believe Him (John 8:45).”

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. (John 8:45)

This morning, I want to focus of some of the most wonderful words uttered in all of Scripture. This is especially true for the disciples, but has also been true for believers throughout generations.

Make no mistake: the resurrection of Christ is a major of the faith. This is simply to say: you are not a Christian if you don’t believe in the Resurrection. It is necessary we believe this. This is a deal-breaker. Without this belief, you are still in your sin, and the resurrection holds no power for you. It simply is a historical assertion by those who believe.

This morning, I’d like to take a look at this glorious event we celebrate from the pages of Scripture in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), focusing on what could arguably be the most wonderful words ever said in all of the Bible.

03/22/2026

Last week, I revisited a series on the weapons of our warfare as Christian soldiers in Ephesians 6;17. As a people of God, we are not only employing a strategy of defense, but we are also employing a strategy of offense. Far too often, especially when it comes to this particular passage, Christians are told that we are strictly on the defensive or that sentiment is implied in how this passage is taught. But that is not a genuine and faithful rendering of the text. No soldier goes into a war without a weapon, and we must not fool ourselves into thinking that we are not in a fight.

We began by looking at the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. We talked about specifically that the “word of God” is not general but a specific word. It is not the logos but the rhēma word. In short, it is talking about using the word of God specifically in a specific way for a specific situation so that its power will cut through and the truth, power, and glory of God will be revealed.

One of the most dangerous things that hampers, hinders, and cripples the Christian from living the overcoming life is their mindset. Many people come into Christianity thinking if they just follow the Golden Rule, live their lives and be nice that life will just be grand and they’ll just fade into the background of retirement and go out to pasture to be with the Lord when it's all said and done. They do not understand the importance of a divine mission mindset, where life is looked at in view of the purpose of glorifying God in everything we do. It’s not about how comfortable we can be in life, which is a mindset of the world. It is about completing the mission God has given us individually (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This passage is alien to them in any real, practical application. It’s more of a metaphor, a cheerleading mantra to help them get a bit enthused about the life they’re living. But this is not what this passage is about.

If you ask anyone who has ever been in a war, it is a very sobering experience. When you hear people talk about being in the thick of battle, there usually isn’t a whole lot of smiling going on. This conflict is a serious one and one that should be taken seriously. That begins is in our minds. We must have our minds changed in order to be able to think correctly and be victorious (Romans 12:2).

This goes to the understanding of what we spoke about last week when we laid out that a true Christian is a changed person. In looking at 1 Peter 3:15, we saw that we are to be ready to give an answer to those who ask (1 Peter 3:15).

The first step in doing this is to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts which is really a way of saying that we should repent and be converted. When that genuinely happens, we are something else other than what we were (Galatians 6:15).

When others see this change, this new creature taking form, this new race of being, some will ask why we are the way we are. At that moment, we should be ready to give an answer.

This is not to say that you will know every answer that someone asks about the faith of Jesus Christ. Notice what the verse says: be ready to give an answer. It didn't say have every answer ready. Have a willing heart and trust God that you are prepared because He's the One that orchestrated the encounter to begin with.

In those encounters, we are to have a specific word. A rhēma word for the situation that is needed. This implies that we need to use the sword with precision and skill. Not only must we know it but as we use it, we must use it rightly (2Ti_2:15).

We saw this last week going through Luke 4, where we saw the example of the Lord Jesus Christ using the word with precision and pinpoint accuracy in the wilderness temptation. This was one example of many throughout all of Scripture of the spiritual warfare that takes place for the Christian.

A true Christian fights. The true Christian is not passive. God doesn't give us a sword as a decorative accessory. He expects us to use it. A true Christian is a warrior, and we will constantly be fighting in this dark world. Some days will be lighter than others, but a fight is a necessary part of the calling for the true Christian (Mat_11:12).

We introduce the reality that there are four facets to using the sword of the Spirit properly with high skill. Those six facets are: reading, studying, memorizing, praying, meditating, and living the Word of God.

Join us 11:00 a.m. at Berean Home Fellowship, where we teach independence in dependence on Christ.

03/01/2026

When we were last in the Gospel of Mark, we were still on the Mount of Transfiguration. There we saw Peter’s reaction to witnessing the glory of Christ and the appearance of Moses and Elijah.

We learned that mankind was created to worship. Nothing is to be more important than God, which is what the great commandment says explicitly. All of our love should be reserved, first and foremost, for Him. Peter’s problem was that he put Jesus on par with Moses and Elijah, and that was a big mistake, as we will see this morning.

This inclination to worship is baked into human DNA. We will find something to worship in our lives. Normally, it is ourselves. That is the most common idol man sets up in his heart, and one we are patently and explicitly warned to avoid. We are told to deny, humble, and to give ourselves unto death for the cause of Christ. If there is anything that is counter-culture, it is that attitude.

Next, we asked how Peter knew who the other two people were on that mountain? Moses and Elijah had been dead for hundreds of years. They had no direct relation with them. But we pointed out that spiritual families know one another.

The disciples just knew. Being part of the eternal family comes a recognition of those who are the Lord’s. A spiritual discernment gifted to him in that moment. So then there is this level of knowing that is inherent in the family of God towards one another, and we laid out the scripture that confirmed that.

Because of Peter’s outburst, he looked foolish. Again, we will talk a little more about that this morning. But it serves as a warning to control when and how you speak.

Verse 6 said Peter was terrified. When you are nervous and scared, sometimes you don’t know what to say. Normally, the wise thing to do is not to say anything. This should have been the case here. Peter should have said nothing.

This morning we’ll elaborate why that should have been the case as well as introduce a new Person to the encounter that changes everything regarding Jesus.

01/25/2026

20th-century Bible teacher and author A.W. Tozer (my posthumous mentor) said this about Scripture:

“And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”

I truly believe that if you have been a Christian longer than five years and you haven’t read through the entire Bible, you need to be ashamed, and you need to repent. That kind of self-imposed spiritual ignorance is unacceptable.

This year, I'm on a mission to help remedy that in some Christians’ lives. That mission is to get Christians to read the entire Bible (see the link at the bottom of this post).

We can say, “Yeah and amen,” to when the Lord quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 to the devil: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

However, that’s a hard sell if you don’t read it. If you don’t read it, you don’t know it. If you don’t know it, how can you possibly obey it?

So, I invite you to join me as I take you through the entire Bible in the 669 Initiative. Every week, you will get in your email a schedule of what to read each day and an overview of that day's content.

Plus, I throw in some other goodies. 😉

Join the 669 Initiative today and get ready for your life to change.

Hit the link below.

https://669-initiative-sign-up.sender.site

01/25/2026

Because of inclement weather in the area, the church gathering for Berean Home Fellowship this morning will be canceled. 🥶

We could have used a bit of this during Christmas. 😊

However, we will look to livestream a message later this morning. Stay tuned for the time.

If you are in the area, be safe and don’t go out unless you have to. That snow is getting unfriendly out there.

God bless, beloved.

01/11/2026

Though many have put away their Christmas ornaments and taken down their Christmas lights, some still celebrate the Christmas season.

Today is the first Sunday after the Epiphany. The Epiphany is the festival commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The word literally means “revelation”. In this particular case, it’s the revelation of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. This revelation is particular but not the first.

The shepherds had their own epiphany, which happened during Advent. They were Jewish. This epiphany is to the Gentiles, which is who the wise men represent. In this foreshadowing, we see the Lord would reveal Himself to both Jew and Gentile, representing all of humanity.

The Epiphany is always on January 6th, which was last Tuesday, so there is a time of anticipation still for the Gentiles of beholding the Son of God; of not only hearing with the ears but seeing with the eyes and experiencing the fullness of it in the heart. We will look at this in Scripture this morning at Berean Home Fellowship.

01/06/2026

Over the weekend while researching, I discovered a sobering, sad truth about the church.

9 out of 10 households own a Bible. Thank the Lord for the Gutenberg press, right?

Well…

Even though that is true, only those with strong evangelical beliefs have actually read the entire Bible. Even among those, it’s about 4 in 10.

The American Bible Society (2025) reports that only about 20% of the U. S. population meets the criteria for being “Scripture Engaged,” which requires regular interaction and a “biblical worldview.”

But wait! There’s more!

In past surveys, a staggering 27% of Americans were unsure if “Superman” was a biblical story (are you serious?), and over half did not know the story of Jonah was in the Bible.

That…is…pathetic. 🙁.

A. W. Tozer, one of my posthumous mentors, said, “It takes nothing less than a whole Bible to make a whole Christian.” True dat.

This broke my heart when I read it, so much that I put together something this year I pray will help decrease these numbers. It’s called the 669 Initiative, based on Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

This free program helps you achieve what all Christians should do — read the entire Bible and read it daily.

We have a saying here at Berean Home Fellowship. Teaching independence in dependence on Christ. This is how we accomplish that.

We’re a few days into the New Year, but don’t let that stop you, beloved.

Join the 669 Initiative and get your weekly Bible reading in your inbox, plus insights on the Verse of the Week.

That’s just to start.

Hit the link below and begin today. It’s never too late to renew your mind and give Christ more glory in your life.

Http://669-initiative-sign-up.sender.site

01/06/2026