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25
Apr
2026

Was Rahab Really a Prostitute?

Rahab

Most Bible readers know the basic outline: two Israelite spies slip into Jericho, a woman named Rahab hides them, she hangs a scarlet cord from her window, and her household survives when the walls come down. Familiar story. But somewhere along the way, someone decided to clean it up and claimed that Rahab was not a prostitute at all, but an innkeeper.

Now, perhaps she did operate an inn out of her home. That would not be surprising given the historical association between the two professions. But an innkeeper is not what the biblical text calls her, and the story of how that label got attached to Rahab is worth examining.

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Posted by Eddie Lawrence in Misconceptions, Women
11
Apr
2026

Is “Paid in Full” (Tetelestai) Sermon Folklore?

Grenfell & Hunt II 50a1

On Easter Sunday, my daughter asked me a question. Leading up to Easter, she heard the same claim again and again in social media posts and sermon videos, all driving toward the same dramatic punchline. She wanted to know what was real and what was hype. Her specific question was about tetelestai2 which is the Greek word translated “It is finished” in John 19:30.

She had heard that ancient people wrote tetelestai on business receipts to indicate that a transaction was “paid in full.” Therefore, when Jesus said it from the cross He was declaring that He had paid the debt of sin in full.

It’s a compelling illustration. It’s also not true. Tracing how it started turns out to be an interesting story.

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Posted by Eddie Lawrence in Misconceptions, Word Studies
28
Mar
2026

Why So Many Churches?: How the Methodists Got Their Name – Part 14

Methodists

Nobody names their own movement after an insult. But that’s exactly what happened with the Methodists. Their critics mocked them for taking their faith too seriously, and the name those critics coined ended up outlasting everyone who meant it as a dig. It starts with two brothers at Oxford, a Bible study, and a denomination that eventually rode on horseback across the American frontier.

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Posted by Eddie Lawrence in Church History
14
Mar
2026

What Really Makes Someone a Heretic?

Calvin burns a heretic

Have you ever heard someone call another Christian a heretic? Maybe a teacher changed his mind about the end times. Perhaps a theologian questioned a popular doctrine. Maybe someone in your own church asked the wrong question out loud. Christians throw the label around a lot, and it lands hard. It can end ministries, split churches, and leave people wondering if they’re even saved.

But what does the word actually mean? The wordy heresy comes from a New Testament Greek term, hairesis, and it doesn’t mean what most of us assume.

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Posted by Eddie Lawrence in Church, Church History, Misconceptions, Word Studies
07
Mar
2026

Are We Born Sinners or Do We Become Sinners? What ‘By Nature’ Really Means in Ephesians 2:3

By Nature

Most people reading Ephesians 2:3 don’t slow down at the phrase “by nature.” They don’t need to because it seems obvious enough.

We are, the thinking goes, born corrupt and sinful. It’s in our DNA, inherited from Adam, baked into us before we take our first breath. The phrase “by nature children of wrath” gets read as Paul’s confirmation of what Augustine called original sin: a corrupted human nature passed down through the generations like a genetic defect.

There’s just one problem. That’s not what Paul meant.

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Posted by Eddie Lawrence in Calvinism, Ephesians