My father was born in 1909 in Croatia, which then was part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. He lived with his parents on their farm until he was thirteen years old, and then moved away to become a dyer's apprentice. In those days, people re-dyed their old clothes, or re-dyed the unraveled the yarn of old clothes, to make new clothes. Eventually he started his own shop in the dyers trade. By the time World War II had begun, he was in the Croatian army. When the German military occupied Croatia and took over, they conscripted him into the German army. He spent the war years on the Eastern front. Late in the war was captured by the Russians, but managed to escape and make his way to Austria. He had heard that his mother had fled there. His father had died between the First and Second World Wars. He surrendered himself up to the Americans in Austria, and was interned in a POW camp for a time. After his release he found his mother. Eventually he met and married my mother, who was also of Austrian decent, having been born there in 1918. My brother, Roman, was born in ...

One day I was speaking with a Christian friend at work. He mentioned his impression of the personality quirks of a co-worker, so I asked him what his impression of me was. He said, "Ernie's got to be right" and then left the area. I began to ponder what he might have meant by that statement. I thought to myself "Of course I'm right! I know my Bible, and I'm logical. What's not to be right?" I didn't see my friend again for about two weeks, but continually tried to gain insight into why he might have made such a statement about me. At last the Lord opened my eyes to what he was saying. I discovered that my problem was that I had an attitude of superiority. It wasn't that my doctrine was incorrect, but the way in which I presented myself to others was often self-serving. I now realize that much of the sharing of biblical truths that I did with both believers and unbelievers was done in the flesh. I feel as though my friend has done me a great favor by alerting me to this truth about myself, and I decided to put together a little ...

This section deals with the issue of salvation by using verses taken from the New Testament book of Romans. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  (Romans 3:10 KJV) Can it be true that there is not even one righteous person in the entire world? So many of us see ourselves as good people, and yet God sees us for what we really are. Oddly enough, most believe that only the worst of sinners go to hell, but if salvation was based on a person's relative righteousness, where would the cut-off point be? If we were truly righteous, we would be free from all sin, not just the worst of sins. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  (Romans 3:23 KJV) Yes, all have sinned. That includes me, and if you are honest, you will admit that it includes you as well. What then is sin? Any thought or deed that is contrary to the will of God. Some have done a better job in this than others, but the fact remains; we have all come short of God's perfect standard of holiness. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by ...

This section deals with the issue of salvation by looking into the message of the new birth. These verses are taken from the first and third chapters of the Gospel of John in the New Testament. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  (John 3:1 KJV) The Pharisees were a particularly strict sect of the Jewish community. Many of the Pharisees opposed Jesus vehemently, but we find Nicodemus coming to Jesus and seeking to understand spiritual truths from him. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.  (John 3:2 KJV) No one knows for sure why Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night. We do know that if he had come during the daytime in the presence of his fellow Pharisees, he would have been ridiculed. Would your church friends scorn you if they knew you were serious about Jesus, or about being "born again"? Nicodemus admits here that he believes Jesus is from God, but he doesn't know what to do with that information. Jesus answered and said ...

Here are some Bible verses that may be a help to our dear Catholic friends. Although they may be sincere in their beliefs, God will not honor any belief that is contrary to his Holy Word. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  (1 Timothy 2:5 KJV) We should not pray to Mary or to the "saints." Prayer is worship, and only God should be worshipped. The Bible teaches that Mary is not an acceptable mediator (intercessor) between God and man, because only Jesus can occupy that role. And Mary said, . . . my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.  (Luke 1:46-47 KJV) Mary needed to be saved from her sins, just like all of mankind, and she testified to that fact by calling God her Savior. Jesus was the only person ever born without a sinful nature. And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.  (Matthew 1:25 KJV) Mary and Joseph had a normal marriage after Jesus was born. The idea that Mary retained her virginity for her whole life is false according to the Bible. Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his ...

Like the Catholic religion, the Jehovah's Witnesses have written their own Bible to suit their own beliefs, editing out what they don't agree with, and adding words to change the meaning more to their liking. As an example, John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God." They added an "a" to make it read "the Word was a god," seeking to nullify the deity of Christ. Of course, then you would have to ask, just what kind of "god" is Jesus? Since they say he is "a" god, does that mean that Jesus is a false god? Is he the true God? Since all gods that are not the true God are false, they are really accusing Jesus of being a false deity. They also added the word "Jehovah" to the New Testament 237 times, replacing the word "Lord" whenever it refers to God the Father. They left the word "Lord" alone, however, whenever it refers to Jesus, thereby deceitfully using translating to suit their own doctrines. Also, like the Catholic system, which has its Vatican, the Jehovah Witnesses have a centralized rule in Brooklyn : the "Watchtower Bible ...

Those who are of the pro-wine position feel they have the upper hand because of the seemingly "logical" arguments they put forth. They usually believe that only drunkenness is condemned in the Bible. Some of the arguments used by saved and unsaved alike, to "prove" that wine has God's blessing are listed below: The Bible says that Jesus made water into wine John 2 Jesus supposedly drank wine at the Last Supper Luke 22:17 Paul told Timothy to "drink a little wine for his stomach's sake" 1Timothy 5:23 There was scarce, or polluted, water available for drinking, and so wine was used as a healthy substitute. Because of the hot climate, grape juice could not be stored, but must have quickly fermented into wine. The Jewish tradition then as now, was to drink wine at the feasts, and at meals. The Jews accused Jesus of being a winebibber, which "proves" Jesus drank as least some wine. Scholarly works, such as Strong’s Concordance (dictionary section), Thayer's Lexicon, and a mountain of other books by noted biblical scholars, are in support of the idea that wine is God approved. Each one of these points will be answered in these pages. If I have learned anything as a Christian, it is that ...

And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.  (Mark 3:4 KJV) What a simple question it was, and yet those hapless Pharisees could return no answer. Not that they had no answer, for they had many. When the disciples plucked grain on the sabbath, the indictment came rigidly. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?  (Mark 2:24 KJV) But Jesus used scripture to refute their accusation. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?  (Matthew 12:3-5 KJV) And another time, when they were at a synagogue, the ruler proudly stated his conviction. And the ruler of the synagogue answered ...

Baptism Matthew 3:16 - And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: Mark 16:16 - He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Luke 5:20 - And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. (man let down through the roof) Luke 23:43 - And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (thief on the cross) John 3:23 - And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. Acts 2:41 - Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 8:12 - But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Acts 8:36 - And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the ...

This study is addressing the subject of name changes in the Bible. Not all name changes are going to be examined, but (with one exception) only those where God himself has changed the name of the individual, for there are many others that had their names changed by men. The purpose of this study is to disprove the premise that when a person's name has been changed by God, it indicates that that person has at that point become a believer. In fact, there is no place in the Bible that I am aware of where a name change indicates a salvation experience. As to where this belief came from, I can only speculate. Perhaps it has been handed down as an ongoing tradition, from teacher to student without challenge or investigation. Possibly because the name change of Jacob (trickster), who became Israel (prince with God), was looked upon as his salvation experience, and was then mistakenly used as a de-facto rule for all name changes. In any case, as we investigate several instances of name changes, we will see that there is indeed a pattern to be found, but not one of coming to salvation. The first and most notable name to ...