Author Archives: Rod Reynolds

Does God Want People to be Deceived?

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Question: I have read the article, “Are ‘Many’ or ‘Few’ Called in this Age?”. One part has me confused. It is Matthew 13:15: “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (KJV).

I realize they could have seen but their hearts were dull, callous, insensible, their ears hard of hearing, and their eyes closed so they couldn’t see. That part I do understand. The part I don’t understand is the last part: “…lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them.” Doesn’t that mean that their ears and eyes could be opened, which would lead them to understand with their heart?

If they were converted, would that mean that they repented and applied God’s law and obeyed Him, and He would heal them? If it isn’t referring to that, then I don’t understand what he was referring to. It sounds like He didn’t want them to understand or change. Would that mean that at times God doesn’t want someone to understand?

I don’t understand. I hope you can explain it for me. Thanks so much. Continue reading →

Are the ‘Lost’ Predestined to Hell?

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Traditional Christianity has taught that when one dies, whatever judgment awaits him is made and that is final. Some have gone so far as to teach that God chose and “predestined” some for salvation from the beginning of time, and that all others are destined for “hell.” Logically, this would mean many, even the vast majority, of humanity are “predestined” to be sent to hell for eternity (as hell is often imagined). Are the “lost” of this age predestined to eternal torment in hell? Continue reading →

Zeal For Victory

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Can a war be won without the will to win? Without the determination to persevere, even in the face of setbacks and reverses? Without a zeal for victory? Understand why the answer to this question should matter to every Christian! Continue reading →

The Two Covenants (Part 3)

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As we’ve seen in previous installments of this series, the overall reason for the giving of the Old Covenant was because of transgressions – sin – lawlessness (Galatians 3:19). “Why then was the law [the Old Covenant] made? God gave it… because so many people were doing what was wrong” (Galatians 3:19; Bible in Worldwide English version).

But within that overall framework, there are at least five major reasons for the institution of the Old Covenant that we find in Scripture. Let’s examine these five reasons now one at a time: Continue reading →

Who Made America Great?

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In the 2016 Presidential campaign in the United States, Donald Trump campaigned with the slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again.”

The slogan and the ideas behind it caught the public’s fancy enough that Mr. Trump was elected to become the forty-fifth President of the United States. But while it may be the desire of many Americans to “make America great again,” perhaps we ought to ask the question, who made America great in the first place?

Wherein lies America’s greatness? Who made America great? Continue reading →