Bio

Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, the author of Truthspeak and his new book, The Gospel of Grace and Truth: A Theology of Grace from the Gospel of John," both available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing to Dr. Halsey at michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."

Comments may be addressed to michaeldhalsey@bellsouth.net.

If you would like to contribute to his ministry according to the principle of II Corinthians 9:7, you may do so by making your check out to Hangar Bible Fellowship and mailing it to 65 Teal Ct., Locust Grove, GA 30248. All donations are tax deductible.

Come visit the Hangar some Sunday at 10 AM at the above address. You'll be glad you did.

Other recommended grace-oriented websites are:

notbyworks.org
literaltruth.org
gracebiblicalseminary.org
duluthbible.org
clarityministries.org

Also:

Biblical Ministries, Inc.
C/O Dr. Richard Grubbs
P. O. Box 64582
Lubbock, TX 79464-4582

Friday, January 17, 2025

PRESIDENT JAMES EARL CARTER JR. SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER

 Former President Carter was famous, after his one term in office, for building homes and being a Baptist Sunday School teacher. But now, one wonders what he was teaching his class. 

It has now come to light that his favorite song was "Imagine" by John Lennon, a song described as the "atheists' anthem,” and a "humanistic Marxist Hymn." Its lines are antithetical to the most basic of biblical teachings:

"Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try.

No hell below us

Above us, only sky."

Then there are these lines which would make Karl Marx smile:

“Imagine no possessions… no need for greed or hunger”, “no religion”, and “imagine there’s no countries."

Heaven, gone. Hell, gone. Private property, gone. Nations, gone. It is said that "Imagine" is sung as often as the National Anthem. One reporter described the song as "a radical challenge to militarism, nationalism, capitalism."

A duet sang "Imagine" at the former president's funeral service. Who chose that song? The former president did, specifying his desire in his instructions concerning the service. The performance was not a one and done; he chose it for his wife's service in 2023. One reporter wrote, "The rendition received a standing ovation, a powerful moment that underscored the emotional depth of the service and the enduring impact of Carter's vision for global harmony."

A standing ovation for the atheists' national anthem? A standing ovation for a Marxist melody? There were five U. S. former presidents and their wives in front and center seating among the assembled. Did all five stand and applaud? Then there were the assembled government leaders past and present, Democrat and Republican, all standing and applauding.

Carter was a globalist; no wonder he liked the song. He declared that world peace would only come about when the decisions of the U.N. Security Council were strictly enforced. We see his globalist dream in his description of himself as “a citizen of a troubled world” and he said his hope was for an “international community” that would “negotiate global standards” to achieve global peace. The global standards? I John 5:19 describes the origin of "global standards." 

As a secondary note, the National Cathedral is of the Episcopal persuasion, the song was prearranged and included in the program. The "church" leaders knew of its inclusion well in advance, yet they made no objections.

 President Carter didn't live long enough to see his dreams come true. Those perverted dreams will be fulfilled under the one world rule of the Man of Sin, the antichrist. So, in one sense, we could say that a Baptist Sunday school teacher spent his life and career longing for the coming of the antichrist. 

 

Friday, January 3, 2025

THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE!

 A police officer stands before the press and the people. The network television cameras from CBS, NBC, ABC are running; they are on the scene. There has been a school shooting leaving panic and grief in its wake. First responders are carrying out one body after another, They also carry wounded students and teachers from the building and put them into ambulances. Mothers are crying. Fathers stand stunned. We hear them say things like, "This wasn't supposed to happen here!" 

The school board will cancel all classes tomorrow. Grief counselors will attend next Monday when classes resume. The words, "Thoughts and prayers" flow freely. A church is spreading the news of a candlelight vigil tomorrow night at 7 PM in the church parking lot.

The police officer in a very authoritative voice begins to speak to the shocked and grieving mass of people and press huddled and hugging one another. 

His first words, after a brief update of the number of dead and injured, are those concerning the perpetrator who killed and wounded all those people. That would be a difficult task for anyone but he does it. It's his job to face parents and press. His feelings don't count.

Then he says, "This is unacceptable!" It's those word that strike a hollow cord. "This must stop?" Really? Does he himself believe, really believe, that what he just said is going to make anyone else gain the sense to know that it's wrong to go around school halls, libraries, and cafeterias shooting teachers and students?

The truth is that nobody thinks policeman's command will stop the next one or the one after that or the one after that from happening. The truth is: "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" The truth continues from Jeremiah who wrote: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil."

In Jeremiah's day, there came a point where Israel swam down the River of No Return. The society had passed the point where a change of mind was impossible because of their persistence in rebellion against God.

 The Israelites were so saturated in evil that it was impossible for them to change. They could no more change then than the dark Ethiopian could change the color of his skin or the leopard his spots. This a classic example of loss of freedom of the will through persistent sinning. Sin becomes so natural that Jeremiah is speaking of the force of habit, yet not denying freedom of choice they once had until they sinned it away.

The story is told of a Christian back in the days of the Roman gladiators fighting to the death in the Colosseum. He denounced it fully. But one day, he decided to go the arena only to get the experience of what it was like among the frenzied fans, getting on the inside.

He went but he kept his eyes closed and soaked in the emotional atmosphere. He left exhilarated and came back the next day. As he sat down, he kept one eye open. Returning the next day, he kept both eyes wide open and shouted with the thousands. 

Psalm 1:1: "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

Friday, December 20, 2024

23,000 ITCHING AND EAGER EARS PART V

 

WHY THE OLD TESTAMENT?

A popular and influential pastor of a church the size of a small town wants his congregation and all the pastors who come to his training sessions to be like him: separate themselves from the O. T. (!) The basis for his burning obsession is this claim: “The early Christians, including the Apostles didn’t have a Bible for 400 years and they turned the world upside down without one.”

 It’s true that they turned the ancient world upside down but it’s fable that they and the Apostles didn’t have a Bible.  He goes on to say that when they did have a Bible, it was “hastily cobbled together.”

The rejection of the O. T. began early in church history:

This is especially true of Marcionism, with its distaste for an angry God, its optimism about human improvement, and its eagerness to set aside the Bible Jesus read.

“Who was Marcion and why is he important?

“Marcion was born in what is now Turkey) on the coast of the Black Sea. Marcion, the son of a bishop, he was an intelligent, capable, hard, unbending, vain, rich, ambitious man. He made his way to Rome sometime between AD 135 and 139 and was accepted as a Christian into the church there. He even gave a large gift to the congregation—200,000 sesterces (worth more than a hundred year’s wages for a laborer). His stint in the church at Rome did not last long. He was formally excommunicated in AD 144 and his lavish gift promptly returned.

“Marcion was one of the most successful heretics in the early church. He was opposed by everyone who was anyone. For nearly a century after his death, he was the arch-heretic, opposed by Polycarp (who called him the firstborn of Satan), Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Origen. He was one of the few heretics that the Greek and Latin Christians united in condemning.” 

DID THE APOSTLES AND THE EARLY CHURCH HAVE A BIBLE?

Let’s examine the question, “Did the early church and the Apostles have a Bible?” Answer, of course they did! It wasn’t the complete Bible we have today. Revelation was progressively given. They had 39 books, Gen. – Malachi. That’s a lot of Bible.

We start way, way back to Moses, who, during the 40-year wilderness wanderings of Israel, was moved along by the Holy Spirit to write Genesis – Deuteronomy.

When Moses finished Deuteronomy, Israel had the first 5 books of the Bible. It was the Bible at the time Moses wrote it. It didn’t have to wait to be “approved.” Over time, the Holy Spirit moved David, Solomon, the prophets, Major and Minor, among others like Joshua to inscribe God’s Word. 

We have a fascinating during the reign of King Josiah of their finding the Bible in the Temple as recorded in II Kings 22:1-13. King Josiah was stunned by the discovery. What King Josiah said is important for us today: “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” Not only did they find it, not only could they read it (literacy) but they also were convicted and it resulted in a revival in Israel.  

This revival  reminds us of Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God [which includes the OT] is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Isaiah 55:11: “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

If you wanted to study the most complete and in-depth explanation of the Atonement, what N. T. text would you turn to? You wouldn’t. When Isaiah finished his majestic work, we have in Is. 53 the most complete and in-depth explanation of the Atonement in the entire Bible. The Apostles used that chapter to explain what happened from noon to 3 PM on the cross.

THE APOSTLES DEPENDED ON THE O. T. TO PROVE JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH

In the very first evangelistic sermon in the Church Age, Peter uses the O. T. to prove his point when he quotes Joel 2:14-21. Then in Acts 2:25-28, he quotes David in 2:30-31. And again in 2:34. In Acts 4:11, Peter, speaking to the religious authorities said, “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone, quoting Ps. 118 which he told them Jesus fulfilled makes no sense at all without the OT. In I Peter 1:16, he draws on the OT to say, “Because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” In Acts 4:15, Peter points out that what David wrote was by the Holy Spirit: “who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,” quoting Ps. 2.

From that we move to II Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” so, since that is true, that means the Major and Minor prophets, Isaiah and Obadiah, and Habakkuk are profitable and inspired. 

What did the resurrected Christ do with those 2 men traveling to Emaus? Luke 24:27, 44: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures  [the OT]. “. . . These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” In Jn. 5:31, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures [the Old Testament] because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” He also said that “Scripture [the OT} cannot be broken."

GETTING DOWN TO BASICS

Without the OT, we would have no idea what “Messiah” means. Does it mean some “anointed one” or is THE MESSIAH predicted in the OT more than that? Then, to stay basic, and you can’t get more basic than the gospel, we read, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

SO WHAT?

We see that we can’t understand the words and works of Jesus without the OT as we see from Luke 4: 16-21. And consider this: we have no idea what John the Baptist or Jesus and the Apostles were talking about when they said, “Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand?” Without the OT, we would have to ask, “What kingdom are you talking about? They didn't need to define it; the Jews knew, knowing the OT

Failing to declare ‘the whole counsel of God’ is a serious matter. To instruct people to annul, subvert; to do away with; to deprive people  of authority if the OT is to annul, subvert; to do away with; to deprive of authority,  is to do away with 60% of God’s Word. 60%! That’s over half the Bible!

Paul said to the Ephesian elders, “I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” The “whole counsel of God” refers to the entirety of God’s purposes in salvation-history as revealed in Scripture. Had the apostle failed to make known the Lord’s redemptive plan of blessing overcoming curse in the person of Jesus, he would have stood accountable before God. The whole council of God includes Gen.-Revelation.

The Old Testament, while not written to Christians, was still written for us.

With the NT, the Scripture is complete, and we now have in whole “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). This “faith,” however, is only understood rightly within the framework of “the whole counsel of God.”

We are to be students of the Word.  Bible is much more than 27 books.


 

Friday, December 6, 2024

23,000 EAGER AND ITCHING EARS PART IV

 

A wildly popular and influential pastor of a church the size of a small town wants his congregation and all the pastors who come to his training sessions to become like him: separate themselves from the O. T. (!) The basis for his burning obsession is this claim: “The early Christians, including the Apostles didn’t have a Bible for 400 years and they turned the world upside down without one. It’s true that they turned the ancient world upside down but it’s fable that they and the Apostles didn’t have a Bible.  He goes on to say that when they did have a Bible, it was “hastily cobbled together.”

The pastor doesn’t stop there; he goes on to train the people and the pastors to say that our faith doesn’t depend on the Bible’s being infallible. He says, “If you believe our faith depends on an infallible book, good luck with that.” This is dangerous territory.

BACK IN CHURCH HISTORY: MARCION (BORN 85 AD; EXCOMMUNICATED IN 144 AD.

The rejection of the O. T. began early in church history:

“This is especially true of Marcionism, with its distaste for an angry God, its optimism about human improvement, and its eagerness to set aside the Bible Jesus read. From Red Letter Christianity to recent comments about our need to “unhitch” from the Old Testament, Marcionism is the evergreen heresy.

“So who was Marcion and why does his revisionist project still resonate?

“Marcion was born in Sinope in AD 85 in the northern province of Pontus (in what is now Turkey) on the coast of the Black Sea. Marcion, the son of a bishop, was an intelligent, capable, hard, unbending, vain, rich, ambitious man. He made his way to Rome sometime between AD 135 and 139 and was accepted as Christian into the church there. He even gave a large gift to the congregation—200,000 sesterces (worth more than a hundred year’s wages). His stint in the church at Rome, however, did not last long. He was formally excommunicated in AD 144 and his lavish gift promptly returned.

“Marcion was one of the most successful heretics in the early church. He was opposed by everyone who was anyone. For nearly a century after his death, he was the arch-heretic, opposed by Polycarp (who called him the firstborn of Satan), Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Origen. He was one of the few heretics that the Greek and Latin Christians united in condemning.”

DID THE APOSTLES AND THE EARLY CHURCH HAVE A BIBLE?

Let’s examine he question, “Did the early church and the Apostles have a Bible?” Answer, of course they did! It wasn’t the complete Bible we have today. Revelation was progressively given.

We start way, way back to Moses, who, during the 40-year wilderness wanderings of Israel, was moved along by the Holy Spirit to write Genesis – Deuteronomy. At the moment Moses finished Deuteronomy, Israel had the Bible. Over time, the Holy Spirit moved David, Solomon, the prophets, Major and minor, among others like Joshua to inscribe God’s Word. Then we have a fascinating example of during the reign of King Josiah finding the Bible in the Temple as recorded in II Kings 22:1-13. Not only did they find it, not only could they read it (literacy) but they also were convicted by its being lost and it resulted in a revival in Israel.  When Isaiah finished his majestic work, we have in Is. 53 the most complete and in-depth explanation of the Atonement in the entire Bible. The Apostles used that chapter to explain what happened for those three hours on the cross.

THE APOSTLES DEPENDED ON THE O. T. TO PROVE JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH

In the very first evangelistic sermon in the Church Age, Peter uses the O. T. to prove his point when he quotes Joel 2:14-21. Then in Acts 2:25-28, he quotes David again in 2:30-31. And again in 2:34. In Acts 4:11, Peter, speaking to the religious authorities said, “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone, quoting Ps. 118 which he told them Jesus fulfilled makes no sense at all without the OT. In I Peter 1:16, draws on the OT to say, “Because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” In Acts 4:15, Peter points out that what David wrote was by the Holy Spirit: “who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,” quoting Ps. 2.

From that we move to II Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” so, since that is true, that means the Major and Minor prophets, Isaiah and Obadiah, and Habakkuk are profitable and inspired. What did the resurrected Christ do with those 2 men traveling to Emmaus? Luke 24:27, 44: “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Script“. . . These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” In Jn. 5:31, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” He also said that “Scripture [the OT} cannot be broken.”

GETTING DOWN TO BASICS

Without the OT, we would have no idea what “Messiah” means. Does it mean some “anointed one” or is THE MESSIAH predicted more than that? Then, to stay basic, and you can’t get more basic than the gospel, we read, “For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

SO WHAT?

We see that we can’t understand the words and works of Jesus without the OT as we see from Luke 4: 16-21. And consider this: we have no idea what John the Baptist or Jesus and the Apostles were talking about when they said, “Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand?” Without the OT, we would have to ask, “What kingdom are you talking about ?

We are to be students of the Word. The Word is much more than 27 books. Now, we are ready to begin our series on “The Prophets.”

 

Friday, November 29, 2024

23,000 EAGER AND ITCHING EARS III

 Our mystery pastor who speaks to 23,000 pairs of listening ears every Sunday morning turned flippant the other Lord's day to tell his massive congregation, "Jesus never claimed to be God." The way he put it was, "Jesus never said, Hey, guys, I'm God." Really? Is that true? Let's look at the Bible for the answer.

John 10:30: "I and the Father are one.”

John 10 :33: "The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 

John 5:18: "This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God"

John 14:9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 

John 8:24: "I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am [a claim to deity understood by the Israelites based on Exodus 3] you will die in your sins.” 

Mark 14:61-64: "But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest *said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death."

We could include verses in which Jesus accepted worship as God and never one time corrected those who knelt before Him. A case in point would be the doubter Thomas who declared to the risen Christ, "My Lord and my God!! 

Case closed. 

Friday, November 22, 2024

23.000 EAGER AND ITCHING EARS PART II

The pastor of last week's blog stands before his 23,000 member congregation. He has another myth to teach today. (This is a real pastor of a real church, name to be revealed later.) Last week, he taught the congregation that the church didn't have a Bible for four hundred years, give or take, yet they turned the world upside down. The point of the blog last week can be summed  up: "Really? Yes. They did." 

This week, we need to take a look at the rest of the story because the pastor didn't stop there; he added another sentence to the above myth, and said, "If the early church had had a Bible, they couldn't have read it anyway." He added to that sentence saying that when Peter was called up on charges and entered the chamber, "He couldn't have read what was on the walls there," What he was saying was that the early church consisted of illiterates and the disciples, Peter as the example, also illiterate. 

To examine this widely circulated myth, let's go back the the Old Testament and the Jewish culture because the early church was made up, for a while. of Jewish converts to Christianity because we'll find some answers there. 

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 commanded the Jews: “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates," There it is, "write." 

Then there's the Mishnah (the oral law in Judaism which was handed down generation after generation and then collected and committed to writing about AD 200). In the Mishnah we find this: "At 5 years old, one is fit for the Scriptures; at 13, for the Commandments." By this we see the Jewish passion for education, and this would be the atmosphere in which Peter, James, John, and the other disciples were raised.  

Let's look at a another disciple. Matthew the tax collector who maintained an office in Galilee would have been required to be literate and keep records for Rome, as would have been the case for Zacchaeus, also a collector.

When the religious leaders described Peter and John as "unlearned," they didn't mean illiterate; they were referring to the fact that they hadn't matriculated in the training of the scribes. 

This directive from the Mishnah would have been the guideline for Timothy's mother and grandmother who produced a boy of whom Paul wrote, "And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

When Paul sent an epistle to a church, the practice was to have it read, copy it, and pass it on (Colossians 4:1:16-18: "When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea." I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand." It has been estimated that it would take two days to copy the Epistle to the Romans which consists of 7,111 words.

Six times we hear Christ asking the religious leaders, "Have you not read . . .? From the Jewish leaders to the common man to a youth such as Timothy, the Jewish culture produced literacy. 

Let's leave the Israelite culture and move into the 1st century AD Roman Empire's Gentile culture. We see a chariot and an Ethiopian riding in it doing what travelers do-- reading reading a book, his choice is the scroll of Isaiah. 

In the ancient world there was a library that would boggle the mind, the one in Alexandria, Egypt. "It is said  that the Library had 200,000 volumes, in the early second century it would reach 500,000! 

Then there was this: "Across the Greco-Roman world, there were many collections of scrolls, some kept by private individuals in personal libraries. One such library that, whose impressive ruins still stand today, is the Library of Celsus in Ephesus. The Library of Celsus [built in 117 AD] was the third largest library in classical antiquity. It is known for its striking architecture and for the fact that it once held 12,000 scrolls containing a wealth of knowledge from the ancient world. Sadly, none of them survived the library’s destruction in 262 AD."

The library in Pergamum, the city mentioned in the book of Revelation, housed 200,000 volumes.

If you ever have the privilege of going to Pompeii as I did, you would see graffiti written on public and private walls. You go up to the entryway of a home and see on the well-preserved floor the famous mosaic of a dog and below the canine are the famous words, "CAVE CANEM," "BEWARE THE DOG."

Then there's been the discovery in the Empire of 1/2 million documents written on papyrus which include personal letters, business accounts, and of course, fragments of the New Testament, all written in the Koine Greek.  

The pastor said, "If the early church had a Bible, they couldn't read it." 

Really?