Ray Burns

I love Christ, my wife and four kids, the Oxford comma, and board games. Although saved at 18, it took 10 years for me to stop chasing idols and find true satisfaction in Christ. God's given me a passion for teaching and writing, and with that a deep burden to be my creator's instrument in giving His people a profound, unshakable relationship with their savior.

Can Christians Get Divorced and Remarried? Does God Make Exceptions for Divorce?

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Approximate Reading Time: 32 minutesDivorce is one of the most painful subjects the church has to deal with today. In a society that doesn’t think twice about ending a marriage simply because someone is bored or unhappy, it has become normalized to the point that we’re rarely surprised to hear about it. Anyone reading this probably knows at least […]

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What Is the Gift of Tongues in the Bible? (Part 3 of 3) How Should We View Tongues Today? What About the Tongues of Angels?

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Approximate Reading Time: 29 minutesMy first two articles (Part 1, Part 2) laid a biblical foundation for what the gift of tongues really is. To recap: The gift originated at Pentecost God’s first purpose with this gift was giving the gospel to people of different languages who were visiting Jerusalem, with the implication that they would take the gospel

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What Is the Gift of Tongues in the Bible? (Part 2 of 3) The Purpose of Tongues

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Approximate Reading Time: 9 minutesThis article was requested by a generous donor. If you’d also like to support Onward in the Faith financially, or request a topic you’d like to read about, check this link. In Part 1, we looked at how the gift of tongues was given at Pentecost, as well as God’s original purpose for it. Now let’s

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What Is the Gift of Tongues in the Bible? (Part 1 of 3) The Beginning of Tongues

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Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutesThis article was requested by a generous donor. If you’d also like to support Onward in the Faith financially, or request a topic you’d like to read about, check this link. When Pentecostalism started taking off in the early 1900s, the entire topic of supernatural gifts became a big discussion in Christianity. Today, some have

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questions about my article on Dana Coverstone

Answering questions and criticisms from my prophecy article (Part 2)

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Approximate Reading Time: 11 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) (If you haven’t yet, check out Part 1 of this discussion) Due to the length of this article, I’m splitting it into two parts and adding a table of contents below so

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Answering questions and criticisms from my prophecy article (Part 1)

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Approximate Reading Time: 14 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) Since writing my response to Pastor Dana’s prophetic dreams, I’ve had a lot of people reach out with their comments, questions, and criticisms. I’ve tried to respond to everyone at least once,

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Answering questions and criticisms from my prophecy article (podcast version)

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Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesMany people have asked some great questions regarding prophecy. Today I try to briefly answer some of the most common questions and criticisms I’ve received in the last week. Lord willing, I won’t discuss Dana Coverstone’s past or future dreams any more after this, nor do I plan to discuss prophecy any time soon, so

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How to Read (and Understand) the Bible

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Approximate Reading Time: 7 minutes(This article also includes a 2-part podcast discussion. Click the play buttons below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) Reading the Bible is hard. Understanding it can be nightmarish. It’s long, confusing, and says really weird stuff. Sometimes people can’t even agree on what a single sentence means! However, there’s

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give your life to Jesus

A Surprising Way Idolatry Keeps Us from Surrendering to Christ

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Approximate Reading Time: 7 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) For many, our salvation story tends to involve a point in life where we realized everything else had failed us. Whether we tried to find satisfaction in work, relationships, or entertainment, Christ

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