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Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

Fasting A spiritual and physical discipline If you are looking for a Lenten reading plan, make sure to check out my book, 40 Days with the Fathers: A Journey Through Church history, which will take you through the first 400 years of church history in forty days! Lent is upon us once again (according to Western tradition), and so I thought it’d be good to write something on the discipline of fasting, which is often neglected or overlooked in many Protestant churches. And much like any major holiday, there is the usual arguments and accusations about how it's all just pagan festivities with a "Christian mask". Easter is no different, and usually gets hit...

A Journey Through Church history

After many, many months of working on this in between COVID and other “life events” that kept me busy, I’ve finally released the Third Edition of my book, 40 Day With the Fathers: A Journey Through Church history! The Third Edition includes: a foreword by Paul Pavao (author of Decoding Nicea), updated content and also a new chapter about the Council of Nicaea explaining what did (and didn’t) happen there. “I cannot imagine there is a better way to get familiar with 350 of the most important years of church history in seven hours spread over 40 days.” — Paul Pavao, author of Decoding Nicea If you are unfamiliar with my previous editions...

How Polycarp (And Others) Show The Early Use Of The New Testament

Polycarp is one of the most important people in early church history. He was a disciple of John the Evangelist, and later became the bishop of Smyrna. Polycarp was born around 69 A.D. in Smyrna, which is now modern-day Turkey. He grew up during a time when Christians were being persecuted for their beliefs, and he himself became a Christian at a young age. Polycarp is regarded as one of the earliest church fathers because he had a significant impact on Christianity as it spread throughout Asia Minor and Europe, and he also played an important role in shaping biblical canon for centuries to come. We don’t know a great deal about his life, apart from t...

The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 2

...r time in history, other than the time in which Jesus is speaking of!   The book of Malachi speaks of the coming of the Lord to his people, and the messenger which he will send first (Mal 3:1), which will lead up to God bringing judgement on the nation (Mal 3:5). The book ends with a prophetic statement about this “Day” which says more explicitly that God will send “Elijah” to his people before the judgement comes. Malachi 4:5 Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.   Jesus confirms this as the time of Malachi’s fulfillment in Matt 11:7-11 where he says that John the Baptist is “the one...

Man-Made Tradition vs Apostolic Tradition

...Quite often in discussions which are about or involve some aspects of early church history or practices earlier Christians did, someone will inevitably throw out the "show stopper" that is "it's all just man made tradition" therefore not valid and the discussion is over. It’s as though saying it's "man made", without considering anything other than that they can't find an isolated chapter and verse in the bible which states something explicitly, means they've "won" the debate! Nothing more to see here folks, someone told us it's man made so we can all go home now. Either that, or the mere mention of the word “tradition” and suddenly you’re accused of be...

Debunking the Crusades: 5 Myths You Probably Believe

...eading of history. The actions of Crusaders, though often violent, must be understood in their medieval context — marked by political, religious, and social complexities that differ greatly from today’s values. Apologising for historical events centuries after the fact, particularly when based on simplistic views, overlooks these nuances and can reinforce myths rather than dispelling them. Here are five common myths about the Crusades, along with the historical truth behind them:   Myth 1: The Crusades were an unprovoked attack by Christians on a peaceful Muslim world. Truth: While it’s true that the Crusades were initiated by the Latin Christia...