Satan is the “god of this world” and the “ruler of this world,” reflecting his tremendous power and influence over the earth – 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31
However, he has limits. He is not all-powerful, all-knowing, or omniscient. In fact, he is severely limited to only what his Creator allows him to do.
How does he then do all that he does? The Bible indicates that he has under his direction a large number of other spiritual beings, variously identified in Scripture as “his angels” (Matthew 25:41), “demons” (Mark 3:22), “evil spirits” and more!
As with the angels and Satan, we are quite limited in what the Holy Spirit has chosen to reveal to us concerning these beings associated with the devil. I accept that there is quite a bit of room for different opinions and views even within the limited documentation and teaching we have in the Bible on this topic. What I present here is what I presently believe the Scriptures teach.
Some religions and media just confuse this subject with movies, TV shows, faith healings, exorcisms, sensationalist books, etc.
My Sunday morning Bible class at Sunset Church of Christ is studying the Book of Galatians this quarter (March – May). To help my class get the “big picture” I created a brief outline of Galatians.
Outlines of Bible books are very useful for seeing and following the author’s flow of thought. Especially is this valuable for the epistles written by Paul since his logic, doctrinal points and applications are so tightly woven together. Using the well-worn expression, “you can’t see the forest for the trees,” a teacher or student may focus on a single passage or section of a Bible book or epistle without ever grasping how that passage fits into the overall purpose and design of the writing. Below I have reproduced my outline followed by comments on how one section of Galatians – specifically 2:11-21 – fits in.Continue Reading
Last week I substituted for the regular teacher in the early Wednesday night Bible class at Sunset Church of Christ. My topic was one in the series concerning Jewish feasts and holy days. It was on The Day of Atonement, a copy of which is available just before this current lesson.
Here now is the second lesson which was taught tonight on the Feast of Booths. I have included my handout here, followed by a link to listen to the audio of the lecture.Continue Reading
The Wednesday night class at Sunset Church of Christ that meets at 5:30 is being taught about the Feasts of Israel by Brian Garnett, one our our instructors at Sunset International Bible Institute. This past Wednesday, I was the substitute for Brian as he has left for the Philippines for some short-term mission work.
My topic was The Day of Atonement, the most solemn and holy celebration under the Law of Moses. It is spoken about in detail in Leviticus 16 and 23. What follows is the handout I created to accompany my “lecture.”Continue Reading
Today (02/16/2020) I taught my Bible class at the Sunset Church of Christ. We are studying from a guide by Scott Franks called, Practical Proverbs. This is a lesson on “Quarreling.” Last month I taught on “Gossip,” and reproduced that outline earlier here. Below I have reproduced the handout I provided for the class today.
Dissension, Strife and Quarreling
INTRODUCTION:
Remember what “wisdom” means in the Book of Proverbs: “Seeing life as God sees it and then living out our life in a way that honors and glorifies Him.”
We notice that several of the other topics in Proverbs may be connected to, or else lead to, strife: wrong use of the tongue, money, inappropriate sexual relationships, honesty, friendships, and anger.
I greatly enjoy reading about archaeological discoveries that have some connection to Bible history. Archaeologists who are also Bible believers often state that their science is not intended to “prove the Bible true” but does often coincide with or even illustrate some aspect of the writings of Scripture.
Earlier on this website we highlighted materials from Ray Vander Laan which are an example of this illustration of the Bible by archaeology. This week I want to highlight the website www.archwithtal.com (Archaeology withTalmadge). According to his profile, Talmadge Gerald is an archaeologist presently pursuing his doctorate at Andrews University while also serving as Assistant to the Curator of the Museum of Archaeology at Andrews and participating in digs during the summers in the Middle East.Continue Reading
That I am a serious student of the history of Christianity is clear. A significant part of my print and digital libraries consist of many varied texts and works on the subject. I presently teach a “Christian History and Doctrine” course at Sunset International Bible Institute. I often tell stories from Christian history as illustrations in my sermons and Bible classes. One of my study guides available in this website’s store is entitled, “Pictures from Christian History.” And reading earlier posts on this website shows a real bias in this same direction.Continue Reading
One of the “Picks of the Week” choices back in October, 2019 (see here) was the “5 Minutes in Church History” podcast with Dr. Stephen J. Nichols. Over 300 episodes of this podcast have been produced, and the podcast has just completed its sixth year of production.
As part of celebrating six years of podcasting, a special episode was produced where Dr. Nichols and a key member of his broadcasting team are interviewed in the Renewing Your Mind broadcast studios. Listen to this special episode by using or downloading a podcast app on your tablet or phone and searching for “5 Minutes in Church History,” then download the episode “6 Years of 5 Minutes.” If you are using a computer, you should be able to access the podcast through Spotify, iTunes or Google Play Music as well.Continue Reading
The masthead of this monthly publication says, “The Christian Chronicle®– An international newspaper for Churches of Christ.” On its editorial page the paper describes itself as “A subsidiary of Oklahoma Christian University,” with “Our mission: inform, inspire, unite.”
Further down on that page we read, “The Christian Chronicle is not a teaching or doctrinal publication, but a newspaper with news and opinion content in sections clearly labeled. Signed columns and reviews reflect the opinions of the authors.” The current issue in my hand (February, 2020) is Vol. 77, No. 2. From that I would gather this is its 77th year of publication. In one place on their website they claim over 330,000 monthly readers.Continue Reading
The hero of our story is David, youngest son of Jesse, whose family lived in Bethlehem. This section will seek to answer the who, what, when, where, why, how and how much questions; these are key to any serious exegesis of Scripture.Continue Reading
On January 24, 2020 I had the opportunity to present the following material to the Satellite School Administrator’s Workshop at the 2020 Sunset Vision Workshop in Lubbock, Texas. It is an updated 2nd Edition of what I presented at the same workshop in 2019 and which I posted here:“Catching Fish!”
“It’s a small town on the banks of a river. Once a week the townsfolk gather at the community center to enjoy a fine meal of freshly fried fish – caught from the local river by the town fisherman.
“The food is excellent, though sometimes limited by the amount the official angler is able to catch that week. Many of the diners would love to enjoy fish more often, but only the town fisherman knows how to fish. Everyone else is dependent on his work for their fish.Continue Reading
In 2012 I preached a 14-lesson series called The Dark Kingdom examining what the Scriptures say about Satan and his work from Creation until the end of time. This was very well received by the Tanglewood congregation in Odessa, and inspired me to organize my material better and do even more study to teach a similar 12-lesson series, Satan and His Dark Kingdom, at the Sunset Church of Christ in 2014. This latter series and accompanying study guide is available in my Store if you wish to have a copy of that study.
One of the resources I discovered and used in the above study was a pair of books written by Dennis McCallum. I want to recommend the smaller of his two books entitled, Unlocking the Mysteries of Satan. It is only available as a Kindle ebook (not in print or on Apple Books). The price varies over time between $1.99 to $2.99, but it is a bargain at either price! Different than many other books, it is not written as sensational, light and fluffy approach to the subject, but is a serious and scriptural study of a key Bible doctrine.Continue Reading
INTRODUCTION:
My Sunday morning Bible class at Sunset Church of Christ is studying the Book of Galatians this quarter (March – May). To help my class get the “big picture” I created a brief outline of Galatians.
Last week I substituted for the regular teacher in the early Wednesday night Bible class at Sunset Church of Christ. My topic was one in the series concerning Jewish feasts and holy days. It was on 
The Wednesday night class at Sunset Church of Christ that meets at 5:30 is being taught about the Feasts of Israel by Brian Garnett, one our our instructors at Sunset International Bible Institute. This past Wednesday, I was the substitute for Brian as he has left for the Philippines for some short-term mission work.
Today (02/16/2020) I taught my Bible class at the Sunset Church of Christ. We are studying from a guide by 
I greatly enjoy reading about archaeological discoveries that have some connection to Bible history. Archaeologists who are also Bible believers often state that their science is not intended to “prove the Bible true” but does often coincide with or even illustrate some aspect of the writings of Scripture.
One of the “Picks of the Week” choices back in October, 2019 (
The masthead of this monthly publication says, “The Christian Chronicle®– An international newspaper for Churches of Christ.” On its editorial page the paper describes itself as “A subsidiary of Oklahoma Christian University,” with “Our mission: inform, inspire, unite.”
On January 24, 2020 I had the opportunity to present the following material to the Satellite School Administrator’s Workshop at the 2020 Sunset Vision Workshop in Lubbock, Texas. It is an updated 2nd Edition of what I presented at the same workshop in 2019 and which I posted here: 
In 2012 I preached a 14-lesson series called The Dark Kingdom examining what the Scriptures say about Satan and his work from Creation until the end of time. This was very well received by the