Delivered by Pastor Joey | East Valley International Church | Gilbert, Arizona Text: Luke 12:22-34 (ESV) Abstract and summary of the pastor’s sermon: Setting the Context: From Greed to Worry The sermon picks up where the previous two weeks left off — first the rich fool parable (Luke 12), then Pastor Terry’s message on evangelism….
Category: Christianity
Only God Knows His Heart: A Charitable, Biblical Reckoning with Russell Brand’s Faith
From the Thames to the Throne Room Evaluating the Christian Conversion of Russell Brand On the final Sunday of April 2024, a man with a long history of provocation, promiscuity, and public spectacle waded into the River Thames in white linen and was lowered backward beneath the cold English water. Bear Grylls, the celebrated television…
An LDS Trust Broken in Provo: What the Stephen McKean Case Asks of All Who Teach the Young
“You’re Going to Make Me Like You Better Than My Wife”: Reading the Affidavit with Trembling Hands Introduction: A Name Nobody Wanted to Read When the name of a Brigham Young University professor appeared in a police booking affidavit this week, it was not in connection with a grant, a new paper in algebraic geometry,…
A Review: The Three Heavens of Mormonism
Photo: Behold the ultimate heavenly realm. With its gleaming white spires, peaceful waters, and crowds ascending in white gowns. This is Google Gemini’s Nano Banana Pro, imagining what The “Celestial Kingdom” might look like. THREE KINGDOMS, ONE QUESTION: What Does the Bible Teach About Heaven? A Scholarly Analysis of Latter-day Saint Afterlife Doctrine Introduction What…
Terry Lewis Sermon: “God’s Own Heart.” “Does your heart match God’s heart?”
Delivered by Evangelist & Pastor Terry Lewis East Valley International Church | Gilbert, Arizona Text: Genesis 3:9, Luke 19:10, 2 Corinthians 5, Matthew 27:46, Isaiah 6 In this sermon delivered at East Valley International Church in Gilbert, Arizona, Pastor Terry Lewis draws from Genesis 3:9, where God calls out after the Fall: “Where are you?”…
“The Bridge” (1978), an LDS film: A Beautiful Parable, a Flawed Gospel — and What Your LDS Neighbor Believes About Christ
Image: An AI-generated image that illustrates the phrase, “A bridge too far”, an idiom inspired by the failed World War II Operation Market Garden. Like many idioms, the phrase “a bridge too far” carries both a literal and a figurative sense. In the concrete sense, it describes a bridge that lies beyond a reasonable or…
Joey Sampaga Sermon: The Doom of the Materialist, Luke 12:13-21
Delivered by Pastor Joey | East Valley International Church | Gilbert, Arizona Text: Luke 12:13-21 (ESV) In this sermon delivered at East Valley International Church in Gilbert, Arizona, Pastor Joey draws from Luke 12:13-21 to expose how greed interrupts eternal truth. In a teeming crowd hanging on Jesus’ words in Luke 12:13-21, a voice pierces…
The Celestial Divide: LDS Theology, LGBTQ Identity, and the Search for Belonging
Image: An AI-generated image captures the visible sign and the invisible wall: A young man in worn-out sneakers and casual clothes sits in somber isolation on a bench under a “VISITORS WELCOME” sign, a stark contrast to the impeccably dressed and happy congregation walking past him. He feels the heavy burden of loneliness and the…
When the Pillars Shake: Bob Jones University, Three Presidents in Three Years, and What Comes Next
Image: Via Britannica. Bob Jones University, the main entrance of Bob Jones University, a conservative Christian university in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2022. NAVIGATING THE STORM Leadership, Legacy, and An Uncertain Future of “The World’s Most Unusual University” Introduction: A Returning Graduate’s Perspective Certain places shape a life in ways that cannot be fully articulated…
To Fear or to Steward? A Christian Response to Artificial Intelligence
Image: An AI-generated image imagines the Evolution of Outreach: A three-part visual history showing Johannes Gutenberg presenting his printed Bible in 1455, D.L. Moody utilizing early radio broadcasting in the 1920s, and a modern church community integrating AI and VR technology into their ministry today. Why the Church Must Engage Artificial Intelligence Before the Field…