Purity and Truth

In this sermon given on Feb 22, 2026 I explored the factors that affect our experience of Christianity, what it means to seek first the kingdom of God, and finally I shared some of my mental health struggles with burnout and the truths that are bringing me hope.

In this sermon from 2020 I recount my struggles with doubt and the truths that restored my faith.

In this sermon given a few years ago, I explore many different lines of arguments that suggest the Bible is of divine origin. I employ a mnemonic device I first heard from Greg Koukl. I hope it gives you something to ponder. 

Why is peace so elusive? Why do believers struggle to find peace when we follow the Prince of Peace and we have all of these promises of peace? Sermon preached in Dec 2024

The final sermon in my series on Philippians that I gave in 2024

"Living with intentionality vs good intentions and what matters in the end." This is part 4 of my sermon series from 2023 on Philippians and covers chapter 3.

What does it mean to "Work out your Salvation with fear and trembling?" Part 3 of my sermon series on Philippians. 

The second message in my series on Philippians given in 2023.

The book of Philippians has been very encouraging to us over the years, especially chapter 1. This is the first message in a sermon series I preached on Philippians in 2023.

Topics include: Practical ways to use the single years to grow closer to God, pursue your calling, and improve your relationships.

Topics Include: God’s word on love, romance, and commitment; romance: The permanence of the glue and the power of the flame; the importance of being faithful to your spouse even before you meet.

Heidi and I share our love story and the lessons we learned along the way. God can be trusted to write an amazing love story!

Topics: What must I do to be saved? What is saving faith? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?

Session 4: Who is Jesus…God or Fraud? Topics: Do we have historically reliable information on Jesus? Was Jesus a lunatic, liar, or who He claimed to be? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Or were his disciples deceived or deceivers? If God became a man, what would that look like?

If God wrote a book, what characteristics would it have? Reliable guide to history, fulfilled prophecies, accurate insight into life, unified themes, enduring, and life changing power? The Bible fits each of these descriptions. In this podcast I look at evidence for the divine inspiration of the Bible, and how to use your hand to remember seven categories of evidence (credit to Greg Koukl  for the original idea). I also briefly examine if we have accurate copies of the original texts or if thousands of years of copying by hand distorted the text.

I look at some evidence for the existence of God, but also tackle some of the emotional arguments that are used to deny God's existence.

The next 9 podcasts are a series of talks I gave at a Teen Camp in the States in 2015. This first one examines the issues of truth and beliefs. Why should we believe anything? Is religion a private matter that may be true for you but not for me? These are critical issues that will determine your destiny. 

Session 9 “The Plight of the Lost.” Topics: Why evangelize? How does the Bible tell us to witness? The emptiness of those who are outside of Christ. How does God see the non-believer?

Session 8: “How to memorize Scripture” Topics: New techniques that are guaranteed to make scripture memory easier, and help with longer retention.

Session 7 “Dealing with objections” Topics: Strategies for dealing with common objections. Concise apologetics arguments that work in real life conversations. Objections covered, “There is no God.” “How can there be a God when there is so much evil in the world?” “Jesus was just a myth.” “The Bible is a man-made book full of contradictions.” “God won’t send anyone to hell.” “The church is full of hypocrites.”

Session 6 “Dealing With Doubt” Topics: My personal journey with doubt and the truths that strengthened my faith.

Session 5 “The Ambassadors methods.” Topics: How questions can move people farther along than answers will. Questions that can turn conversations toward spiritual ideas. Conversation starters.

Session 4 “Worldview Awareness” Topics: What is a worldview? Objective Truth vs. Subjective Truth. Worldview and Evangelism. False Worldviews. Strategies for discerning and exposing a false worldview.

 Session 3 “What do they hear?” Topics: The importance of listening in evangelism. Overcoming the language barrier. How worldviews and past experiences affect how our message is perceived. Communication skills that are critical to evangelism.

Session 2 “What is the Gospel message?” Topics include: What must I do to be saved? Can you lose your Salvation? How can I know for sure I am going to heaven? What is required on our part? Illustrations that will communicate the gospel ideas in fresh ways.

Session 1: The Atonement Topics: Why did Jesus have to die? What did his death accomplish? How could God’s justice be satisfied by the worst crime in human history? Did Jesus save us from our sins, or the penalty of our sins, or both? Covers different views on the atonement that have been held throughout church history. (This series of talks was given at Ecola Bible School in Nov, 2010)

Session 7: “New Awakenings”   The explosion of the church in Asia and Africa. The church in China. Persecution. The Evangelical Awakening. Truth and transformation. The power of the gospel to overcome the darkest times. Lessons for application from 2000 years of Church History.

Session 6: “Social Upheaval and the Cold War”  The demise of the family. The pill, the sexual revolution, global tensions. Social change, the influence of movies, radio, the car, and television. The baby boom, the counter-culture revolution, the civil rights movement, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Session 5: “The World at War”   World War 1, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and World War 2.

Session 4 “Holiness and Reform”   DL Moody, Billy Sunday. The Holiness movement and the birth of Penecostalism: Phoebe Palmer, Asuza, Darwinism, higher criticism, and the rise of fundamentalism ( J Gresham Machen, changing eschatologies).The dark side of industrialization and the Christian response: progressives, the social gospel, Tommy Douglas. Capitalism, Socialism, communism, prohibition

Session 3 “Revival and Strife”  Revival to revivalism, Charles Finney, abolitionism and the Civil War, communes, Millerites, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventism.

Session 2 “Imperialism and the explosion of missions.”  Technological revolutions, the train, the telegraph, industrialization, the telephone. Colonialism, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor.

 Session 1 “Freedom’s Turmoil” Historical background to 1800s: Decline of religion, common sense, French Revolution, the Great Awakenings, War of 1812, the birth of Canada, rise of nationalism and political freedom. Please note, the syllabus for this third series can be downloaded at http://www.purityandtruth.com/events/

 Session 7: “Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening”

 Session 6: “Revivalists: Whitefield and the Wesleys”

Session 5: “Puritans and the Kingdom of God on Earth”

 Session 4: “The Age of Exploration and Exploitation”

Session 3: “The English Bible and the Reformation in England”

Session 2: “John Calvin and the Reformation in Europe”

Session 1: “The Life and Times of Martin Luther” At the end of the 15th century, the Church was in shambles, superstition and ignorance was rampant, the clergy were better known for their immorality than their knowledge of the Bible. Several attempts at reform had failed miserably. But just when things looked most bleak, lightning struck. In a few short decades, the landscape of Christianity changed forever. In this series, we will look at the Holy Spirit’s moving in the Church from 1500 AD to 1800 AD. This period is filled with men and women who make tremendous sacrifices to bring the light of God’s Word to a crumbling society and advance Christ’s Kingdom in earth-trembling ways. Their example inspires us to continue their mission to shine the glory of God into every corner of our lives. According to one historian's estimation, more books and articles have been written about Martin Luther than anybody else besides Jesus. What made this man have such a huge impact on this world and the course of history? In this first podcast episode of my second church history series, I take a detailed look at the tumultuous life and times of Martin Luther and the bleak spiritual backdrop he was born into. Luther was a coarse and crass individual, but he found a fear bigger than the fear of man and it led to tremendous courage and conviction on his part. If you want to sample this church history series, I recommend this episode. Listen and see what explosive power there is in even one man truly understanding the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Session 6: The High point and Boniface. The Collapse. Popes in Avignon. Black Plague and Flagellants. The Hundred years war. Joan of Arc, Thomas a Kempis, and  Catherine of Sienna. The Papal Schism. John Wycliffe and John Huss

Session 5:  Crusades and the Changing times. The Scolastic Universities. Anselm, Peter Abelard, and Thomas Aquinas. The high point of papal power, Innocent III. Excommunication and the interdict. The Mendicant Friars. Failures of the golden age. Heresies and the Inquisition. The Rise of Nationalism and wealth of the middle class.

Session 4: Chalecedon in the East. Justinian I and Theodora I. East Vs West. The barbaric Nations. Leo and the Rise of the popes. Benedict and western Monastiscm. Gregory the Great . Conversion of the barabaric tribes. Columba and Scotland/Britain. Clovis and the Merovingian line. Muslim Expansion.

Session 3: Donatism. Great apostasy in N. Africa. Council of Nicea. Emperor succession after Constantine and pagan Julian. Cappodocian Fathers, Basil, Gregory, and Gregory and the Final Victory.  Ambrose, John Chrysostom, and Jerome. Augustine, Donatists, and Pelagius. The fall of Rome the Arian Goths.

Session 2: Gnostism and Marcion. Montanists and Celsus. Creed, Canon, and Apostolic succession. Persecution of Diocletian. Impact Constantine had on official theology, great apostasy, monasticism, and worship in ways that are still felt today.

Session 1: Last Days, Tumultuous times. Persecution from the Jews. Persecution from Nero. Justin Martyr and the Apologists. What was early Christianity like? Why did the Gospel spread so rapidly? Ignatius, Polycarp, and Perpetua. There seems to be an epidemic of historical amnesia in today’s church. To some, it’s as if true Christianity disappeared for 1900 years and suddenly resurfaced with their modern denomination. This ignorance of history is dangerous. An old Russian proverb states, “Dwell on the past and you will lose an eye; forget the past and you will lose both eyes.” For many, history is nothing more than by-gone eras, dusty facts, and long-since-departed souls. However, history is not only a fascinating study of our ancestors – it is also a treasure chest full of wisdom, which Jesus and the apostles repeatedly drew from to teach valuable lessons. Because Christ entered His-story, all history has been infused with purpose. It is the profound story being written by the greatest Author of all time. God sits as Lord of the Universe. He laughs at empires and dynasties, but loves to change the world through the weak and simple. A trip through the colorful centuries of the Church reveals a God who is holy and awesome, His purposes that are beyond comprehension, and His reality that shatters man’s small-minded notions of Him. When you study history, you will glimpse that plan, buried and concealed by our foolish choices, but there for those with open eyes. History is moving toward a thrilling conclusion in which every enemy of God will be soundly defeated. In the meantime, we would be wise to glean from the past and learn from the mistakes and victories of godly men and women who walked this path before us. Come on this life-changing journey to the first century, and follow the halting progress that the church, with all it warts and wildness, has made through the centuries.