My God and My Neighbor

It can be an elusive goal or an idealistic dream. Peace is hard to find. Everywhere we turn there is arguing and fighting. Is there any hope in this world of chaos and strife? In this episode, we’ll learn first that there is a good kind of peace and a bad kind of peace. Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers,” but He also said that sometimes making peace is not good. We will learn what Jesus means and what He doesn’t mean in this famous beatitude. We will also see great examples in the Bible and powerful verses that will motivate us to be the peacemakers Jesus wants us to be. Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 5:9; Matthew 10:34-37; Genesis 13:1-9Listen to more on this subject“Children Obey Your Parents” One Gospel Minute Podcast 

“He seems sincere.” “She is a genuine person.” It can be rare to find someone who fits that description. This episode is about Jesus’ teaching on being pure in heart. From the beginning of the Christian life we are to strive to keep our hearts pure. This means having the right motivation—doing the right things for the right reason. It also means keeping impurities out of our souls—greed, lust, pride and other things that defile us. We will also look at one of the greatest moral challenges in our time—the plague of pornography. But this is not just a discussion about the problem of impurities. You will learn practical ways to keep your heart pure.Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 5:8; II Timothy 1:5; Matthew 5:27-28Listen to more on this subject“Moral Purity” — TBC RENEW Lectureship 2016 – “Revisiting the Battle…”

Are you hungry in a spiritual sense? We know what it’s like to be hungry for food to nourish our body. Do we feel a craving for spiritual food? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” We live in a time when people have all they want to eat. They constantly entertain themselves. They are restless and go from one pleasure to the next. Yet they feel empty and depressed because there is something missing inside—deep inside. We are made in the image of God which means we have a spirit that is not material. Nothing material can satisfy the needs of the soul. Jesus said there is a way—the only way—to fill that void. Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 5:6; I Peter 2:2; Job 23:12; Matthew 6:33“Do You Understand the Bible?”Listen to more on this subjectLuke 7:36-8:25, “Bible Commentary: Luke”

LIVING THE SERMON SERIES“The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible.” That is the most important guideline in Bible interpretation, and it is the key to understanding Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the meek.” Many today think Jesus tolerated just about any lifestyle because He was meek, but the Jesus we read about in the New Testament never compromised. To be meek does not mean to be weak. But there is more to understanding this beatitude than knowing what it doesn’t mean. We will look at two well-known characters in the Bible—one in the Old Testament and the other in the New—to show what it means to have this characteristic in our lives. Read about this subject:Scriptures: Matthew 5:5; Numbers 12:3; Matthew 11:28-30Listen to more on this subject:Ephesians 4:1-3 Bible Commentary

LIVING THE SERMON SERIESMillions have read it. Christians in all ages have loved it. Even non-Christians have praised its moral teaching. The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most famous and beloved sections of in all of Scripture. It is about how those in the kingdom of heaven should live. Rather than starting with the outside, Jesus literally goes straight to the heart of the matter in the Beatitudes. He teaches us to get our hearts right first. In this episode, we will see the difference between self-confidence and trusting God. We will also learn that some tears are good and others are not. Each of these “Be Attitudes” begins with the word “Blessed.” If we want to be blessed by God, this is where it begins.Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 4:1-4; Isaiah 66:2; Psalm 30:5; II Corinthians 1:3Teacher’s Annual Lesson Commentary 1949, First Quarter, Lesson Three: “The Beatitudes”Listen to more on this subjectLuke 6:21-26 Bible Commentary

I was reading a book written over 400 years ago that talked about “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.” That mistake is about as older than the saying. We overreact to a bad situation and end up making things worse. There is perhaps no area of life where people have made this tragic mistake more often than in government. There is a story in the Old Testament that illustrates this lesson. Sometimes people are so intent on change that they refuse to listen to good advice. God Himself tried to reason with the people of Israel, but they wouldn’t listen. They paid the price of their stubbornness for hundreds of years. This story is greatly needed in our day of uncertainty in politics and society.Read about this subjectScriptures: I Samuel 8; Hoseas 13:11“History Repeats Itself—Do We Learn?”Listen to more on this subjectAmerica Through the Eyes of Isaiah

As the election draws near Americans feel anxious. We want to know something we cannot know: the future. Turning to popular social media doesn’t help. It makes it worse. Politicians make promises but give no clear answers. Preachers who try to be prophets are proven wrong every time. But when we read the Bible the situation is clear. We don’t know the future but God does. God doesn’t just foresee what will happen. He intervenes. His eye is on the future and His hand is in the future. In this episode, we will look at an incredible passage of Scripture that reminds us of how little we see and how great God’s power and foreknowledge are. Read about this subjectScriptures: Genesis 15:13-16; Proverbs 3:5-6“How Will It All End?”Listen to more on this subject“Are Prophecies Just Coincidences?”

Nothing is more effective for rulers than the element of surprise. It is very old. In this episode, we’ll see how one ancient army conquered the most powerful city on earth because no one saw them coming. Then we’ll look at two subversive movements that are working endlessly to change America from within. One of these is a militaristic and political ideology that masquerades as a religion under the protection of the First Amendment. Since this method of conquest is very old, what can we learn from Scripture that will enable us to be wise and keep our focus?Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 10:28; I Timothy 6:15; Daniel 4:17“The Rise of Mohammedism” in The Eternal Kingdom by F.W. Mattox 

The end of this century of American history was as eventful as its beginning. World War I and the Spanish flu ended as the 1920s began, and 100 years later Covid-19 turned the world upside down. The decade of 2010-2020 proved to be a time of moral decay as same-sex marriage was legalized in 2015 and an American President lectured the public to accept homosexual and transgender perversion. But in the midst of this chaos there were Christian people who stood strong and in fact grew stronger. As we end this study of 100 years of American history, we come full circle to the words of Ecclesiastes 1:9: “There is no new thing under the sun.”Read about this subjectScriptures: Daniel 4:17, Judges 21:25, Isaiah 29:16Church, State, and Disease by Kerry Duke 

“You do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). The 1990s ended with a soaring stock market and fear of a Y2K meltdown. But no one imagined the changes that the next decade would bring. The 1990s were a “time to gain” and the new millennium began with a “time to lose” (Ecc. 3:6) when the tech bubble burst. The emergency numbers 9/11 took on a whole new meaning when the Pentagon was attacked and the famous Twin Towers fell. Americans were vaguely familiar with the word “terrorism,” but after that fateful September day we grew painfully aware of it. The United States felt the wrath of an enemy with no regard for rules of conventional warfare. And while politicians and the media blamed the attack on radicals in the Islamic religion, those who took the time to look into the Quran and the life of Muhammed began to see that this religion is actually a militaristic movement masquerading under the protection of the First Amendment. This decade was full of surprises and it is packed with lessons. Read about this subjectScriptures: I Timothy 6:17; Matthew 10:28“How Did 9/11 Happen?”

From the end of television to the end of the world—this was the talk in the 1990s. We entered this decade in a conflict known as the Gulf War. Many preachers said it was Armageddon. Then we saw one crisis after another—violent riots in Los Angeles in 1992, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, a school shooting in Columbine, Colorado in 1999, and finally the Y2K scare as the next millennium approached. This was an age when Silicon Valley became more powerful than many governments, a time when the stock market soared with high-tech companies leading the way. But what were the moral and spiritual issues of the 1990s? What changes and challenges did we see?Read about this subjectScriptures: Acts 17:16-34; II Peter 3:10; Jeremiah 6:15Listen to more about this subjectThe End of Time: Bible Teaching vs. Man’s Teaching

Pac Man. VCRs. AIDS. Chernobyl. The 1980s was a time of change and challenges to the home, the church, the country and the world as a whole. But as Christians, we must remember that what makes the news is usually not what makes a difference in the long run. And, what is news to us was already seen by the foreknowledge of God. Two moral issues stand out in this decade: abortion and divorce. Both reached an all-time high in this period. The rebellion of the 60s and 70s had taken its toll, but the Bible and Bible believers stood firm. Read about this subjectScriptures: I Corinthians 5:1-13; Matthew 18:15-17My Sister’s KeeperListen to more about this subjectAmerica Through the Eyes of Isaiah, tracks 4-9 

Classic music, muscle cars, great sports—all these and more defined the special decade known as the 70s. It was a relaxed time of newfound freedom. It was also a turning point in our history as a people. Abortion was legalized. Premarital sex and divorce skyrocketed. Drugs seemed to be everywhere. Television and movie standards changed for the worse. Moral and religious convictions began to fade. We could say that the Baby Boomers declared a culture war in the 60s and enjoyed the spoils in the 70s. Travel back to that time in this episode as we look at the 1970s through the lenses of Scripture.Read about this subjectScriptures: Luke 8:14; Romans 1:25; Luke 1:36The Day America Declared War, Kerry Duke

If you're going to understand how the morals of this country have turned upside down, you must understand what happened in America in the 1960s. A President was assassinated. A Civil Rights leader was killed. Thousands of young men were sent to Vietnam. Drugs poured into our streets and schools. The cover of TIME magazine read “God is Dead.” “Sex, drugs, and rock and roll” became the theme of American youth. Many feared nuclear war after World War II, but the moral explosion of the 1960s devastated our culture. We have never recovered. Whether you are old enough to remember this decade or too young to know much about it, this episode will help you to see how we got to this point and how we can survive morally and spiritually.Read about this subjectScriptures: Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:4; Psalm 14:1Right from the Beginning in a World of Wrong, Kerry Duke

“Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as normal, natural, healthy.” Does that sound like something a left-wing group promotes today? It’s actually from a movement that worked hard to change America in the 1950s. This was a decade of strong family values and regular church attendance, but the devil was plotting against the church and the home. This episode uncovers some of the cracks in the moral foundation of American culture and helps us to understand how we arrived at where we are now.Read about this subjectScriptures: Matthew 19:3-9; II Tim. 3:13The Naked Communist, Cleon SkousenFirm Foundation, 1950s

Episode DescriptionThis episode is like everyday discussions in the halls and classrooms of Tennessee Bible College. We look at the philosophies that shape politics, religion, and culture. In the 1940s fear gripped the hearts of people everywhere because of a madman who wanted to rule the world. But there were intellectuals before this decade that influenced the unconscionable atrocities of Hitler’s Nazis in World War II. And although this movement is not the threat it once was, the philosophies that gave it a rationalization are now popular in American education. In this episode you will learn how the U.S. changed its moral direction during the crisis of the 1940s.Read about this subjectScriptures: Judges 21:25; Proverbs 23:7Right From the Beginning, Kerry DukeThe Warren-Flew DebateThe Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer

Imagine a time when the economy was devastated but morality was strong, a decade when one out of four people were unemployed and bedroom scenes and nudity were not allowed in movies. This was life in America in the 1930s. Times were hard, but those trials built character. Financially it was the age of the Great Depression; spiritually it was a time of great revival. Learn how the “Roaring Twenties” led to the “Trying Thirties” and see how the church not only survived but flourished in this era of American history in this episode.Read about this subjectScriptures: Ecclesiastes 7:10; Romans 15:4Gospel Advocate, 1930

It couldn't have happened all at once. It isn’t a recent generational change. The radical shift in American morals goes back further than the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. This ethical landslide began in the “Roaring Twenties.” This episode is the first of a ten-part, decade-by-decade look at how and why this country is so different today. It is not just another American history series, however. It is a biblical view of what causes these changes in our or any other nation past or present.Read about this subjectScriptures: Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Judges 21:25Gospel Advocate 1921Right From the Beginning, Kerry DukeOnly Yesterday, Frederick Lewis Allen. Chapter five: “The Revolution in Manners and Morals.”

What’s your favorite Bible verse? There’s nothing wrong with memorizing special sayings in the Bible, but we shouldn’t play favorites with the Scriptures. This is a mistake many Bible readers make. It is easy to look at only one or two favorite verses and neglect reading other verses that have a bearing on the subject we’re studying. When this happens, the “Bible” people know is only a few sentences long. This episode challenges us to see the context of the Bible as a whole.Read about this subjectScriptures: II Timothy 2:15; II Peter 3:15-16“Ox in the Ditch” by Kerry DukeListen to more about this subject:Bible Commentary 

He almost killed himself. It was a normal day at work for this prison guard until two men were arrested that were unlike any prisoners he had ever seen. At first he was not impressed by them. But when an earthquake struck one night he started to commit suicide because he thought the prisoners had escaped. One of those two men assured him that all the prisoners were still there. That man was the apostle Paul. The fearless guard came out with a light trembling. He asked the most important question anyone could ask: “What must I do to be saved?” That night a man who came very close to leaving this world in a lost condition was baptized. This is the story of the Philippian jailor in Acts 16.Read about this subjectScriptures: Acts 16:25-34; Acts 22:16, Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, I Peter 3:21Reading: “A Jailer Converted”—(Teacher’s Annual Lesson Commentary, Lesson 11, June 11, 1967)Listen to more about this subject:Salvation - "The Plan of Salvation"