Here is the third lecture from the book Christianity 101:

Lecture 3: The Bible (PDF file; 20 pages)

Matthew 7:12: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

Here we have the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do undo you. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Now, this doesn’t mean that if you treat others will they will in return treat you well; chances are they won’t. But this is still binding; it is, as Christ put it, “the law and the prophets”. Be good to others. Be a blessing to those around you – even to your enemies, and even to those who hate you. This is vital. We must lead thoughtful lives – and true love does not seek its own, as 1 Cor 13 reminds us. True love seeks the welfare of others.

Matthew 7:11: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

The challenge here is that in many cases the Lord gives us things that are good for us, but they’re not the things that we wanted. We want peaceful lives, and He sends us trials. We want joy, and He sends us pain. We want healing, and He sends us illness. So we begin to wonder if prayer is doing anything at all. Why even bother when it never seems to change anything?

The key to remember is that God can see the whole picture and we cannot. God really does know what is best for us, and we need to trust His judgment – even when it’s not easy to do so. That’s what living by faith means – we trust God even when we don’t understand what He is doing. After all, if we could see the whole picture then we would be living by sight, not faith. The question is, are we going to trust Him, or not?

Here is the second lecture from the book Christianity 101:

Lecture 2: God (PDF file; 16 pages)

Matthew 7:6: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

This is an interesting passage. To put it another way: there are some things that are just not appropriate for some people. Pigs cannot appreciate pearls; you can offer them to them but they’ll just trample the valuable jewels into the mud.

There are numerous truths that are very precious to Christians, but which are completely meaningless to the lost. Now, there are some things – like the Cross – that should be preached regardless, but there are other, meatier things that need to be reserved for the right audience. There were times when Paul wanted to preach deep things but couldn’t because the audience wasn’t mature enough to receive it. That’s the sort of thing this passage is talking about. Know your audience, and be careful. This doesn’t mean that you back down or lay aside the truth; it means that you have to use your head and think about what you’re doing. If you give a steak to an infant you’re not going to be doing the infant any good – nor will a pig know what to do with pearls.

Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

I’ve written a whole paper on this topic, so I won’t repeat myself here. Jesus is not saying “Don’t ever pass moral judgments”. What He is saying is that we shouldn’t criticize other people for sins that we are committing ourselves. God doesn’t want us to be hypocritical – telling people to stop stealing when we’re stealing, or telling people to be chaste when we’re caught up in adultery. The whole point of this passage is that we need to clean up our lives and lay aside our sins so that we can help others do the same thing.

This modern notion that when someone is doing something wrong we should just look the other way is insanity. We should be doing all we can to help people gain victory over their sins – not help them hide their sins or give our implicit approval to what is going on. But we do need to clean up our house first before we start trying to minister to others.

Here is the first lecture from the book Christianity 101:

Lecture 1: Course Introduction (PDF file; 28 pages)

Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”

This is another very neglected passage. What Jesus said is this: don’t worry about your life. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Don’t worry about what might happen, or could happen, or will probably happen. Don’t worry about your future, or your career, or your prospects, or your success in life. Don’t worry about your fame, or fortune, or friends, or honor, or whether other people respect you. None of that matters. You’re not living for them; you’re living for God. Only one thing is important:

Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

What God is saying is this: just concentrate on serving God, and let Him worry about everything else. Your focus should be on honoring God, working for the kingdom of God, spreading the gospel, and making disciples of all nations. Focus on God and His will, and leave the rest of your worries up to Him.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we should be stupid, and sit at home and do nothing because God will make food rain out of the sky to feed us. But it does mean that we spend a great deal of time worrying about a lot of things that don’t matter, when we should be about our Father’s business.

Professor Grimes returns! Yes, the long wait is finally over. This new book is nearly 100 pages longer than Paranormal Studies 313. Like PS313, this book has 13 lectures – but it also has chapters in-between each lecture that offer a glimpse into the life of Professor Grimes.

This time the professor has a real challenge on his hands:

This book chronicles the eccentric Professor Grimes as he teaches Christianity 101 – a class devoted to explaining the fundamentals of the Christian faith to people who think that Noah was married to Joan of Arc.

Who is God? Where did He come from and what does He want? Why should we trust the Bible? Who was Jesus and why did He go to the cross? What happens when we die? What’s the deal with angels and demons? How will history end?

Join the professor as he battles lazy students and a corrupt faculty to teach the truth. You, reader, are invited to listen in – if you think you can handle it…

You can download the entire book free-of-charge right here:

Christianity 101 (PDF file; 369 pages)

You can also purchase printed copies of the book at this link.

Today’s lesson is a study of Hebrews 4:14 through Hebrews 5:6. You can download it here in PDF form:

Hebrews 4:14 – Hebrews 5:6 (PDF file; 10 pages)

Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

This is a very important principle. We can serve God, or we can serve something else, but it will be one or the other. If we try to build up ourselves (or chase after our own will and desires) then we are serving ourselves and have abandoned serving God. We have to make a choice. Whose honor will we seek – God’s, or our own? Whose will are we going to obey? Whose commands will we follow? It makes all the difference in the world.

Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

This is a very powerful passage that tends to get overlooked. Jesus actually told us to NOT amass treasure on this Earth. Why? Because it will be stolen or destroyed. We won’t be able to keep it. We’ll be spending our labor on a vapor that will dissipate. It will be wasted.

However, Jesus doesn’t forbid us from amassing wealth; instead He tells us to lay it up in Heaven. Heavenly treasure can’t be stolen, it can’t rust, and it can’t be lost. It will be safe in Heaven. There is an added side-benefit to this as well: our heart will be where our treasure is, and God wants our heart to be in Heaven.

Of course, there are many other points that are related to this. This passage means that you can lay up treasure in Heaven; you can’t bring it with you but you can send it up ahead. It also means that not everyone will have the same thing in Heaven; those who have laid up treasure will have it, and those who didn’t won’t. It implies that some people will have more than others.

People these days don’t really believe in heavenly treasure; they don’t seek it, they don’t work for it, they don’t lay it up, and they tend to ignore it. This means they will be rather empty-handed when they actually get there.

Today’s lesson is a study of Hebrews 3:7 through Hebrews 4:13. You can download it here in PDF form:

Hebrews 3:7 – Hebrews 4:13 (PDF file; 10 pages)

Matthew 6:17: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;”

Christians really do not fast. Jesus seemed to think that we would, but we don’t. As Christian disciplines go this is probably the most neglected one of them all.

I’m not going to do a full explanation here of what fasting is, what it is for, and so forth; there are lots of other great resources out there that do that. But I would like to point out that fasting is in the Bible, it is expected of Christians, and it gets pretty much ignored by almost everybody. When was the last time you heard a sermon on fasting?

Matthew 6:9: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

What is the first thing Jesus does in this prayer? He honors God. Is that the first thing that we do when we pray?

Matthew 6:10: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

This is glossed over all-too-easily. What did Jesus want us to pray for? That His will would be done on Earth, and that His kingdom would rule over the Earth. Another way to put it is that Jesus wanted us to pray for His millennial reign to begin. That is when His kingdom will come and His will be done on Earth!

This verse also says that God’s will is done in Heaven. Satan may still have access to Heaven (at least for now), but it is God’s will that reigns supreme in Heaven.

Matthew 6:11: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

In other words, give us what we need for today. How many times we lose sight of today and spend our lives worrying about things that may never happen at all!

Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

I have heard some people say that they want to be tempted as much as possible so that they will grow faster. That is foolishness. Jesus told us to pray that we would be delivered from evil, and that we would NOT be tempted. He wanted us to avoid situations that would tempt us.