The Mark of the Beast and 666
Few phrases in Revelation have produced more fear and speculation than “the mark of the beast.” Many Christians immediately think of microchips, barcodes, vaccines, QR codes, Social Security numbers, or some future technology that people might accidentally receive and doom themselves forever. That fear misses the point of Revelation 13:16–18.
The mark of the beast is not something a Christian accidentally receives at a grocery store, through a medical decision, or by scanning the wrong code. The mark of the beast is about worship. It is about allegiance. It is about who owns you, who rules you, and whose name you are willing to bear.
When the Church Wounds
The irony cuts deep. The place God designed for healing becomes a source of harm. David captured this anguish when he wrote, "It was not an enemy who taunted me, then I could bear it; it was not a foe who dealt insolently with me, then I could hide from him. But it was you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend" (Psalm 55:12–14).
Church hurt is a painful reality that has wounded countless genuine believers, causing many to step away from local churches, not because they've abandoned the faith, but because they carry deep wounds inflicted by those called to care for their souls. The pain is real. The injustice is often grievous. Yet Scripture doesn't allow retreat into isolation. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us that absence is not neutral, that we must not neglect meeting together, "as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Pauls Unmistakable Conclusion
In many churches today, preaching is built around what people call “felt needs.” The focus centers on practical questions. How can I improve my marriage? How can I manage stress? How can I raise better children or handle my finances?
Those are important questions, and the Bible does speak to them. But there is a deeper issue underneath them all. The average person does not actually understand their greatest need. We tend to think we need improvement. What we truly need is rescue.
That is why Paul writes the opening chapters of Romans the way he does. Before he tells us how to live, he confronts us with a hard truth. We are deeply sinful and completely unable to save ourselves.
Beyond What Is Written
Satan rarely persuades a man to reject sola Scriptura explicitly. He does not need to. He has a subtler and far more effective method. He habituates the man to dissatisfaction with Scripture's sufficiency, leading him to functionally supplement it long before he ever denies it confessionally. The doctrine is not overthrown. It is hollowed out from the inside, and the man who has emptied it is often the last to notice.
This is the oldest strategy in existence. In the garden, the serpent did not begin by contradicting God's word. He began by questioning whether God's word was really enough. "Has God indeed said?" was not a denial. It was an invitation to consider whether God had said enough. The moment Eve entertained that question, she had already moved beyond the sufficiency of what God had spoken. The fruit was an afterthought. The real fall happened in the mind, when divine revelation became a starting point rather than a boundary.
The First Resurrection Sermon
History has a way of remembering the speeches that follow world-changing events. When something monumental happens, someone eventually stands up and explains what it all means.
After the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. After Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he gave words to the moment.
In Acts 2, we find another moment like that, and it is arguably the most important one in history. The resurrection of Jesus has just taken place. The tomb is empty. Peter stands up to preach the first sermon explaining what it all means.
To understand the weight of his message, we need to understand the context.
The Dangers of Jealousy
Have you considered lately what Scripture says about jealousy? I was recently struck by how serious this sin is in the eyes of God. Consider Proverbs 27:4: “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” The idea is that wrath and anger bring destructive consequences, but jealousy is far worse. It is dangerous—don’t toy with it. The passage that especially grabbed my attention is Acts 5:17: “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.”
When God Justifies the Ungodly
The entire Bible tells the story of Christ. In broad terms we might say the Old Testament is Christ concealed, the Gospels reveal Christ, Acts proclaims Christ, the Epistles explain Christ, and Revelation shows Christ glorified. Romans stands at the forefront of those Epistles because it explains how the work of Christ on the cross becomes ours through faith.
And that raises a remarkable question: How can sinful people be made righteous before God?
None of us have lived up to God’s perfect standard. We have all lied, lusted, dishonored others, and broken God’s commands. Yet the Gospels show us Jesus living a perfectly obedient life. He alone fulfilled God’s law without sin.
Romans explains how the righteousness of that perfect Son can somehow be given to people like us.
The Gospel According to Abraham
Abraham was not declared righteous because he obeyed perfectly. He was not declared righteous because he kept the law. In fact, this declaration came before many of the great acts of obedience for which Abraham later became famous.
Before circumcision.
Before Isaac’s birth.
Before offering Isaac on the altar.
Abraham was declared righteous because he believed God’s promise.
God’s Divine Dilemma: How the Cross Glorifies God
Most people assume the cross primarily answers the question, “How much does God love me?” And it certainly does reveal God’s love. But Paul emphasizes something else. The cross answers the question: “Is God righteous?” Or in other words, “Is God just?”
Which Thief Are You?
There were three crosses on that hill that day. Two of the men hanging there were guilty. They deserved to be there. Jesus did not. Jesus was innocent, sinless, and perfect. He is the spotless Lamb of God, the new Adam, the one who obeyed God completely without fail. He came to seek His bride and purchase her with His own blood. Yet on that cross, there were really three stories unfolding: the story of Jesus and the stories of these two criminals.
Luke 23:39–43 gives us the responses of the two thieves crucified with Christ, and their responses force a question upon every one of us: Which response have you given?
Loving the Church Like Jesus
The Church is not just an institution or a building. It is the body of Christ, a living, breathing organism made up of individuals who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28). While the Church is a divine institution founded by Christ, it is also a visible community of still-being-sanctified believers. Loving her means embracing both her divine origin and her human need.
The "Blood Moon" Is Not About Biblical Prophecy
This week, a total lunar eclipse turned the moon a deep shade of red. As expected, the internet immediately exploded with speculation.
Some claim the “blood moon” is a prophetic warning related to Iran. Others point out that the eclipse occurred during the Jewish festival of Purim and suggest it signals a coming prophetic conflict with modern Persia. Still others claim this is the sign of the sixth seal in Revelation or proof that the end of history is about to unfold.
In other words, people are losing their minds.
The Ladder Fails The Chair Holds
For the first two and a half chapters of Romans, Paul does not let us breathe.
Beginning in Romans 1:18, he peels back the layers of the human heart. He exposes our darkness, our depravity, and the downward trajectory of unrestrained evil. Like a skilled prosecutor, he leaves no stone unturned. He turns from the openly immoral to the morally religious. He shows that even those raised with the Law of God cannot keep it. Conscience condemns. Commandments condemn. Jew and Gentile alike stand guilty.
Then comes the thunderclap in Romans 3:10: “None is righteous, no, not one.”
The Subtle Danger of Religious Confidence
There is a specific kind of danger that never announces itself as a threat. It doesn’t feel like rebellion, and it certainly doesn’t feel hostile toward God. In fact, it often feels exactly like faith. It is the danger of religious confidence—the quiet assumption that we are right with God because of what we know, where we grew up, or the religious "badges" we wear.
Shutting Down the Loopholes
As we look at Romans 3, Paul knows exactly what we are thinking. He hears a heckler in the back of the classroom asking questions to dismantle the argument or find a loophole for his own advantage. Paul is a brilliant man who anticipates the opponent’s argument and presents it before they have a chance to spout off. He systematically dismantles these objections to protect the church from conclusions that undermine trust in a faithful God.
Why Your Prayers Are Never Wasted
n Revelation 8, John sees something that should steady every believer who has ever struggled in prayer. He sees an altar in heaven. “Another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.” This is temple language. In the Old Testament tabernacle, and later in the temple, there was a golden altar placed just before the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. On that altar, incense was burned continually. It was the place of intercession, where the priest would offer incense and pray on behalf of the people, and the smoke would rise before God as a sweet aroma. Now John sees the reality behind the shadow. He sees heaven itself, the true temple, the throne of God, and before that throne an altar. And at that altar are the prayers of the saints. Your prayers are in heaven, not forgotten, not dismissed, not wasted, but brought before the throne of God.
Celebrity Conversions: When are they real? When are they not?
In recent years, a familiar story has played out publicly in ways that should make every thoughtful Christian pause and reflect. It involves celebrity conversions.
In 2019, Kanye West professed faith in Christ and claimed to have become born again. He was even being discipled by a sound pastor. Many expressed excitement over his conversion, while others urged caution. However, Kanye’s faith and walk with Christ were short-lived. Far from evidencing repentance, his public behavior has been marred by offensive rhetoric, sexual sin, and the pride that defined the “old Kanye.” His album Jesus Is King (released October 25, 2019) filled arenas with “Sunday Services,” and many assumed revival had come to Hollywood. But time revealed that outward enthusiasm does not equal inward transformation.
When Service Becomes Self-Service
We live in a culture that celebrates service to some degree, and Scripture affirms this calling. Jesus came "not to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45). Yet the heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), capable of corrupting even our good deeds into instruments of self-interest. Even the noblest acts can serve ourselves, yet Christ's service reveals love that seeks only the Father's glory.
Here is the unsettling question: What if your service isn't serving anyone but yourself?
Bring Back the Block Parties!
Most Americans don't know their neighbors' names. We wave from driveways, nod at mailboxes, and retreat behind garage doors that close like drawbridges. We live ten feet apart and might as well be strangers. The suburban dream promised safety, space, and the good life. What it delivered was isolation wrapped in quarter-acre lots.
This wasn't always the case. A generation ago, front porches were places of spontaneous conversation. Children played in the street while parents watched from lawn chairs. Neighbors borrowed sugar, shared tools, and knew who needed help. Something has shifted. We've traded proximity for privacy, community for control. And we're lonelier for it.
The block party, once a staple of American neighborhood life, has nearly vanished. It's time to bring it back.
Finding Where You Fit In This World
It is one of the most persistent questions of human life. Where do I belong? What is my purpose? How do I fit into the world around me? The question surfaces in quiet moments, in seasons of transition, in the ache of loneliness, and in the restlessness that accompanies even apparent success. It is not a new question. But the answers our culture offers have shifted dramatically.