Who Made the Earth Just Right For Life?

  Have you heard of the Anthropic Principle? By Don Ruhl 03455,12.19.2012,WhoMadeTheEarthJustRightForLife,Presentation No question surpasses this one in importance, “Does God exist?” If God does not exist, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1Co 15.32). If God does exist, let us pray and obey, for tomorrow we meet God. The universe—the heavens […]

The Great Designer

  “Since things show evidence of design, a designing intelligence must be assumed” By Don Ruhl Do you know why you exist? From the far ends of the universe to the nearness of your own body, a wonderful harmony operates between all things. How, or rather why, did that happen? Was it by design or […]

Seeing the Invisible Things of God

The universe had a cause equal to or greater than itself By Don Ruhl   If you have not started to think about how everything got here, start soon. Look around you and wonder what it is all about. Consider our home Earth. Why did Earth get all the good stuff? Compare her with the […]

God and You

  By Don Ruhl There is something very special that God wants with you. Read the following as though spoken to you, for surely it was meant for you! “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” (2Co 6.18) Let us think about this […]

The Importance of God’s Creatorship

By Don Ruhl Let us Christians be persuaded of God that He created us and that we have certain obligations to Him. Creation ex nihilo  God made the things we see out of things we cannot see (Heb 11.3). That is “creation ex nihilo,” Latin for “creation out of nothing,” truly the miracle of all […]

Does Your Faith Burn Hot?

  Faith is like a hot meal, it is meant to be hot! (Idea prompted by: “A Hot Faith,” by J. Randal Matheny in Forthright, July 20, 2009, http://forthright.net/2009/07/20/a_hot_faith/) By Don Ruhl Do you like: Cold French fries? Cold black coffee? Do you like it when the restaurant server fails to bring the food as […]

$3.00 Worth of God

  How much of God would you like to have? By Don Ruhl My fellow-laborers in the gospel in Grants Pass at the time, Nathan and Dara House did not believe that I would do it. When we entered the Christian bookstore in downtown Grants Pass, they got away from me quickly, but they remained […]

Talking With Atheists and Evolutionists

  By Don Ruhl   We Must Speak With All People Peter said by the Spirit, “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” (1Pe 3.15). Speaking with people […]

Help in Trouble, Psalm 46

  Where is God when I am in trouble? Psalm 46 Where is God when I am in trouble? He is in the same place that He is when I am doing well. Therefore, the question ought to be, Do I know where God is? And, where am I in my thinking? Who do I […]

Your Life

  What Jesus thinks about your life Matthew 6.25–34 By Don Ruhl What is going to happen to us? Are we going to be able to eat? Will we have clothes to put on? The Sermon on the Mount shows that Jesus knows we worry about such things, and He tells what not to do […]

Some Things America Needs to Know

Some things America can learn from her economic crisis By Don Ruhl The Israelites left Egypt partly because of religious persecution and headed for the Promised land. The journey for the Israelites toward becoming a nation was not easy, but if they followed the Lord, He promised to be with them and to bless them. […]

God, the Economy, and You

  What shall we do in the day of adversity? By Don Ruhl Reading Scripture and learning from world history, I have been wondering when a depression or depression-like times would strike again! Are we headed in that direction? No one knows for some of the reasons I will reveal. Beware of watching too much […]

The Judge of the Judges, Psalm 58

  Who judges the judges? Psalm 58 By Don Ruhl Images of speaking newborns, poisonous serpents, deaf cobras, broken lion’s teeth, flowing water, cut up arrows, melting snails, stillborn children, pots over a fire of thorns, whirlwinds, and washing feet in blood fill Psalm 58. One commentator said, “The 11 verses of the psalm are […]

Does Our Community Know About Us?

  What reasons do we give outsiders for being members of the church? By Don Ruhl Why should someone check out your congregation? I asked that in a Bible class once and an answer came back that we have the truth. However, everyone claims that. So then, why should the outsider be attracted to us? […]

Presenting Ourselves Properly in Worship

  There are proper ways to present ourselves before God when we worship Him By Don Ruhl During worship, God watches…listens…and reads our thoughts. How then should we worship? How then should we present ourselves to God in worship? What should be the condition of our hearts? What should be our thoughts? What should our […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 40)

  Bible Literacy By Don Ruhl These articles have provided basic information to increase your literacy in the Bible as well as showing you its influence in our world. If you are biblically literate, you increase your success in all areas of life (Read Jos 1.7, 8; Psa 1.1–3). Reading those passages, you will discover […]

Are You Focused?

How to be successful through any event in life Proverbs 4.20–27 By Don Ruhl General Sherman wanted the Civil War to end quickly. Therefore, he used the “scorched Earth” policy, destroying the supplies and infrastructure of the South effectively as he headed for his goal. Nothing deterred him as he focused on breaking the morale […]

Shammua and His Brethren

You know them, but not by their names By Don Ruhl   While the Shang dynasty was making its mark in China and while Pharaoh Amenhotep’s II was making his mark in Egypt (because he was the Pharaoh of the Exodus), some men made their mark on Israel. You know these men, but not by […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 39)

  Revelation (Part 3) By Don Ruhl The last two chapters of the Book of Revelation barely give a peek of something beyond time and earth, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, […]

How Come Earth Got All the Good Stuff?

  Isaiah 45.18, 19 By Don Ruhl The theme of the September 27, 2008 issue of New Scientist was, “Unknown Earth: Our planet’s seven biggest mysteries.” The first of seven articles asked this question: “How come Earth got all the good stuff?” This question is not so much “how,” but “Why did Earth get all […]

God’s Unlikely Choices Against Insurmountable Odds

  Who ever would have guessed what God would do? Genesis 12.1–3 By Don Ruhl   A Beautiful World (Genesis 1, 2)  The opening chapters of the Bible show a perfect creation that we have never known. Within that perfect creation, God planted a garden. There God placed the first man and built a woman […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 38)

  Revelation (Part 2) By Don Ruhl Old Testament imagery fills the Book of Revelation. One source said there are almost 500 allusions to the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jerusalem Bible italicizes many of those allusions, making it easy to spot them. Read the entire Book of Revelation and you will never find the word, “antichrist.” […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 37)

  Revelation (Part 1) By Don Ruhl Why does the Book of Revelation fascinate us? It is the word of God telling us about things to come, the authoritative text revealing what shall come. However, it does not reveal those things in plain language, but in signs and symbols it conveys the truth of the […]

When Troubles Surround You As Lions, Psalm 57

  Do you focus on your problems, your ability, or what? Psalm 57 By Don Ruhl Have your problems been so numerous and vicious enough that you thought lions surrounded you? What do you do in such situations? While we have to deal with our problems, the temptation is to become totally focused on them. […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 36)

  James–Jude By Don Ruhl The Letters of James, First and Second Peter, First, Second, and Third John, and Jude we call the General Letters (or Catholic Letters, meaning universal), because the writers did not address specific people or congregations, but they wrote to the church as a whole. James  The New Testament mentions several […]

The Silent Dove in Distant Lands, Psalm 56

God puts your tears into a bottle that He might remember you Psalm 56 By Don Ruhl Have you heard of the “killer dove”? You haven’t? You need to get out more often. Read some more books on birds. Truthfully, the dove is not a predator, but is prey. The dove does not kill, but […]

The Baby Grew Up

Download the Article: 248A, The Baby Grew Up This would be good to pass on to people at Christmas time. The Baby Grew Up Babies Do Not Threaten Us, But Adults Do Based on an article in Forthright Magazine, December 9, 2008, Column: Square One, “The Baby Grew Up,” by Richard Mansel By Don Ruhl We […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 35)

  Hebrews By Don Ruhl The second generation of Christians of Jewish descent started to fall back to Judaism. However, the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote to show them the folly of doing such, showing them the superior nature of Jesus and His way, and that the Hebrew Scriptures spoke of these things. […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 34)

  Timothy–Philemon By Don Ruhl   Paul did not start churches and then abandon them. He did all he could for them until he had to move on to start more churches. However, he either trained men from the congregation to work as preachers or he left someone such as Timothy or Titus. The Letters […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 33)

  Philippians–Second Thessalonians By Don Ruhl   Philippians  “The ancient city of Philippi was just north of Greece in Macedonia, the home of Alexander the Great. Indeed, the city was named after Philip of Macedon, Alexander’s father. The city had a prominent place in Roman history, as it was the site at which Mark Antony […]

Thanksgiving Meditations

Offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving By Don Ruhl We give thanks to God when the sky is blue and the air is warm. What should we do when the sky is cloudy and the air is cold? Can we still give God thanks then? Yes, we can and should. Ephesians 5 shows the results of […]

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 9,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 16 years to get […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 32)

  First Corinthians–Ephesians By Don Ruhl Corinth  Corinth’s location made it an important city and its population soared to over 600,000. (It is only around 30,000 today.) Pagan cults found a welcome home in this first century city. While there was a synagogue there, the temple of Aphrodite dominated the religious scene. She was the […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 31)

  Romans By Don Ruhl   Paul wrote thirteen of the twenty-one Books of the New Testament. His letters have been arranged according to type and length: The letters to churches appear first. The letters to individuals appear second. Within each type, the letters are arranged by length with the longer ones first. Romans is […]

Obligations More Than Rights

  By Don Ruhl   In America we have a Bill of Rights, but we need a Bill of Obligations. Rights imply obligations, because rights say I have the obligation to grant you your rights. However, how often do you hear anyone speak of obligations? If I am obligated to grant you your rights, are […]

Let Us Do Good to All

By Don Ruhl A poor member of a community visits a church, taking part in the worship services by listening to the prayers, listening to the sermon, noting the death of our Lord, singing the songs, and contributing to the collection. He is poor and like the poor widow in Mark 12, he gave all […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 30)

  Acts (Part 3) By Don Ruhl   This last part of the Book of Acts (Chapters 13–28), covers the journeys of Paul. His journeys were not comfort cruises, but instead, controversy, imprisonment, riots, and dangerous sea voyages filled his travels. His journey took him to places of great influence in the Roman world:   […]

When Trouble Overwhelms You, Psalm 55

When Troubles Overwhelm You What do you do when troubles drown you? Psalm 55 By Don Ruhl   For David in Psalm 55, “Troubles around him (vv. 1–3), terrors within him (vv. 4–5), and treachery next to him (vv. 12–15, 21) combined to make David wish he could get away from it all (v. 6)” […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 29)

  Acts (Part 2) By Don Ruhl   My teacher for the Book of Acts in preaching school, Don Sullivan, presented a chart showing conflict and triumph in the Book of Acts. The church would experience persecution, internal problems, or natural calamity, but those things did not disrupt her unity or work. Out of each […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 28)

  Acts (Part 1) By Don Ruhl   The beginning of the Book of Acts reminds us the beginning of the Book of Luke. Even as Luke showed the ministry of Jesus in the Gospel According to Luke, so the physician showed the ministry of the apostles (or at least some of them), in the […]

How Do You Pronounce Service?

Service or Serve-Us? Acts 20.18, 19 By Don Ruhl On Friday, January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy said toward the end of his inaugural speech, In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 27)

  John By Don Ruhl What does a sign do? It does not draw attention to itself, but to something else. John wrote down signs that pointed to Jesus Christ. The first words of John show that he would present Jesus in a different way than the other Gospels. Similarities exist between John and the […]

Dracorex, Dinosaurs, and Creation

  By Don Ruhl Why should we concern ourselves with dinosaurs? God created all things, including dinosaurs. God delivered the Bible to the world, and His word speaks of His act of creating. The Bible does include these awesome creatures. Evolutionists use dinosaurs as a gateway drug to dependency on evolution. How shall we answer […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 26)

  Luke By Don Ruhl Stories teach effectively, and the Holy Spirit used that teaching method. A physician in the first century wrote two huge stories. His first volume, we call The Gospel According to Luke. His second volume, we call The Book of Acts. Luke’s name appears only three times in the New Testament […]

Scientific Knowledge Versus Other Knowledge

  By Don Ruhl The Blessings of Scientific and Technical Knowledge  The Conservative Book Club sends out a monthly bulletin along with their book selections for the month. The editor-in-chief, Elizabeth Kantor, wrote an excellent article in the April 21, 2008 issue, We today know exponentially more about the universe than any generation before us. […]

God-Haters Versus God-Lovers

  Which one are you? Psalm 54 By Don Ruhl Are you a God-hater or a God-lover? You cannot take a neutral position. You can know which one you are by listening to David in Psalm 54. Psalm 54.0 Betrayal To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David when the Ziphites went […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 25)

Mark By Don Ruhl Are you a servant? Mark shows Jesus as a servant. If Jesus was a servant, surely we should be. The Introduction  Mark began his account of Jesus in classic epic form, jumping right in the middle of the action. Mark does not show the birth of Jesus (as Matthew and Luke […]

God and the Atheist

  The atheist cannot see God, but God can see the atheist Psalm 53 By Don Ruhl Listen to someone who does not know what he is talking about. He makes a fool of himself. Years ago there was a television commercial of a blonde, saying, “I speak escargot. I’m bilateral.” She tried to make […]

The Bible In Our World (Part 24)

  Matthew By Don Ruhl Matthew draws us to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms as well as the kingdom or church of God. Matthew Introduces Jesus  Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. Why is that? Since Matthew wrote primarily for a Jewish audience, he had to establish […]

The Canon of Scripture

  By Don Ruhl Ira Maurice Price asked, “Why were the apocryphal books not received into the biblical canon of the Old Testament? What constitutes the real difference between the two classes of literature? Who decided what should be Bible and what should not be Bible?” (The Ancestry of Our English Bible, Harper and Brothers: […]