Jeremy Diestelkamp – GROW magazine

20 Jul

Israel’s Role In The Divine Plan

BEYOND THE BASICS | Jeremy Diestelkamp | Toronto, Ontario

In today’s religious world, there are plenty of teachings surrounding the nation of Israel that simply are not found in scripture. Some teach that Jews today cannot be saved, contradicting what Paul said in Romans 11:1, while others teach that one day, all Jews will be saved, which is not only a misunderstanding of Romans 11:26, but also a contradiction of how one obtains faith according to Romans 10:17. Some teach that the Jews played the only role in the crucifixion of Christ (discounting the role of the Romans), while others teach that the Jews played no role in the crucifixion by casting aspersions on the accounts given to us in the Gospels. Read More →

28 Jul

The Hall of Faith: Abraham & Sarah : Faithful Strangers and Pilgrims On The Earth

EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Jeremy Diestelkamp | Toronto, Ontario

Hebrews 11:8-19

Oftentimes, when we read Hebrews chapter 11, we believe that the Hebrew writer was penning this section in order to raise up the people found in it as examples of perfect faith, of people who lived sinless lives. Perhaps we come to that conclusion because of the first two examples of faith given: that of Abel and Enoch. All we really know about Abel is that he was a shepherd, he offered a sacrifice to God by faith that was accepted by God, and was subsequently killed by his hateful brother, Cain (Genesis 4:1-8). No words of Abel are ever recorded, yet though he is dead, he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). And then when it comes to Enoch, if it weren’t for the Book of Jude, we’d know even less about him, for all the Book of Genesis tells us about him is that he was the father of Methuselah, and that he walked with God in faith three hundred years before he was taken directly to Heaven by God (Genesis 5:21-25). Read More →

26 Oct

The Blow That Crushed The Serpent’s Head – Genesis 3:15

EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Jeremy Diestelkamp | Toronto, Ontario

During the Passover week about 2000 years ago, in a place just outside of Jerusalem, hung a man who was nailed to a cross: Jesus. The Romans frequently reserved this method of execution for criminals who committed the worst types of offenses. What criminal offense had Jesus been convicted of? Nothing! Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea, declared Jesus innocent on multiple occasions but had him crucified anyway due to his fear of a riot (John 19:1-16). Read More →

07 Jan

The Words Of The Preacher

BEYOND THE BASICS | Jeremy Diestelkamp | Toronto, Ontario

“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them'” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

This verse has been used by preachers over the years to exhort people, especially young people, to turn to God now while they can, because there will come a time when such will be too late. Hearing these types of sermons as a young person was important to me, for they got me to think about my position in this universe, how there is a God who created all things, and with that being true, I needed to serve Him. In short, it was sermons like these that convinced me that I needed to become a Christian. These words, however, were not written at the beginning of this book, they appear at the conclusion, so it is good to consider the whole context, to see if there is some deeper meaning to them. Read More →