Life's Inanities and Ironies

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As a Bible-believing Christian committed to the authority of Scripture alone, I approach the subject of Christmas with both reverence for the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and deep concern for the many traditions that have attached themselves to this holiday over the centuries. The birth of the Savior is the most glorious event in human history after the resurrection itself , yet the Bible gives us no command to celebrate it annually on a specific date, nor does it provide most of the customs we associate with “Christmas” today. In this blog post, I want to walk you through the historical development of Christmas celebrations—from the silence of Scripture and the early church, through the adoption of December 25, the incorporation of extra-biblical (and often pagan) practices, the godly rejection by Reformers and Puritans, the 19th-century revival, and finally to the thoroughly commercialized spectacle we see in our day. My prayer is that ...

  C.S. Lewis , the renowned Christian apologist and author, addressed the doctrine of hell thoughtfully in several works, including * The Problem of Pain * (1940), * The Great Divorce * (1945), and scattered references in * Mere Christianity * and his letters. He affirmed hell as a real, eternal reality but presented it with distinctive emphases on ** free will **, ** self-choice **, and ** separation from God **, rather than focusing primarily on physical torment. Lewis rejected caricatures of a sadistic God gleefully punishing sinners; instead, he portrayed hell as the inevitable outcome of rejecting divine love. Core Themes in Lewis's Theology of Hell 1. Hell as Self-Chosen Separation      Lewis famously argued that hell results from human freedom. God respects our choices, even when we persistently reject Him. In *The Great Divorce*, he depicts hell (or a purgatorial precursor ) as a vast, dreary town where inhabitants quarrel and isolate themselves, yet a bus ...

  Ray Comfort , founder of Living Waters ministry and a prominent figure in evangelical street evangelism through " The Way of the Master " (formerly co-hosted with Kirk Cameron ), unequivocally defends the ** traditional doctrine of eternal conscious torment ** (ECT). He views hell not merely as a place of physical suffering but, most profoundly, as ** eternal separation from God **—the ultimate horror for any created being. Comfort teaches that God's presence is the source of all goodness, beauty, joy, peace, and life itself ( Psalm 16:11 : "In your presence there is fullness of joy"). To be eternally banished from that presence means existing forever in a state of utter deprivation, where every trace of divine common grace—restraint of evil, glimpses of beauty, relational comfort—is permanently withdrawn.  The Essence of Eternal Separation in Comfort's Teaching Comfort emphasizes that the greatest torment in hell is not primarily flames or worms (though ...

In early December 2025, actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron dropped a theological bombshell on his podcast * Takeaways with Kirk Cameron *. In episode 86, titled "Are We Wrong About Hell?", he sat down with his son James for a candid discussion about the fate of the wicked. Cameron revealed he no longer finds the traditional view of eternal conscious torment convincing, leaning instead toward ** conditional immortality ** or ** annihilationism **—the idea that immortality is a gift for the saved alone, and the unsaved ultimately cease to exist after judgment. The response was swift and polarized. Long-time ministry partner Ray Comfort quickly reaffirmed the traditional stance of eternal torment . Critics warned of doctrinal slippage, while others praised Cameron for wrestling openly with Scripture. This controversy has thrust one of Christianity's oldest debates back into the spotlight: Does the Bible teach unending conscious suffering in hell, or final destruction? Both ...

In an age where names are chosen because they’re trendy on TikTok or look cute on a Starbucks cup, the Bible takes names deadly seriously. A biblical name is never just a label; it is a revelation of character, a declaration of mission, and a promise of power. Seven centuries before Bethlehem, Isaiah stood in the gathering gloom of Assyrian invasion and proclaimed a word of undimmed hope: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Every single title is a thunderclap against the darkness. 1. Wonderful       This is the same word used when the Bible says the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and “did wondrously” (Judges 13:19). It means that which causes awe-struck silence. The Baby in the manger is the One before whom seraphim cover their faces and cry “Holy!” 2. Counsellor  ...