What Every Christian Should Know About...

This page contains Pastor Powell's ongoing educational series from a Christian perspective, with a new series added periodically.  Thus far the series includes: The Holy Land, the Bible, World Religions, and Church History.  Please visit the History of the Bible, The Dangers of the First Fruits of Zion and their Torah Clubs, and the Church and Politics tabs as well, as they certainly belongs under this heading, although I chose to give them their own page.

The Holy Land
What is it like to walk among the places where the events of Holy Scripture took place?  What can we learn from the geography and history of this land?  Pastor Randy Powell shares insights from his recent visit to Israel (May of 2023), using his pictures to tell the story of the land, its history, and its people.
                                                                The Holy Land (part 1 of 3)


                                                        The Holy Land (Part 2 of 3)

                                                             The Holy Land (part 3 of 3)

The Bible

In this 3-part series, Pastor Powell delves into important questions about the Bible: What is it?  How did it come to be?  What does it contain?  How can we understand it?  How can we utilize it in our lives?  The series focuses upon the following topics: Revelation, Inspiration, and Inerrancy (part 1), Composition, Organization, and Literary Style/Genres (part 2), Interpretation, and Application (part 3).

The Bible, part 1 of 3

The Bible, part 2 of 3
The Bible, part 3 of 3 (audio cuts out at 1:36 mark, see below for last portion)


The Bible, part 3 of 3 (full audio)

The Bible: PowerPoint for all three sessions

The Bible: Note taking form



World Religions


In this 4-part series, Pastor Powell seeks to give a brief but accurate explanation of the basic beliefs of 11 of the world's religions viewed through the perspective of their commonalities and differences with apostolic/traditional/Biblical Christianity.

This link is to the generic note taking form that will be utilized for each of the 11, feel free to use it if it helps you.

World Religions: Generic note taking form

World Religions: PowerPoint for all 11 religions plus the introduction

A second link if needed, via Dropbox, to the PowerPoint presentation: World Religions PP

In the first part, the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons are discussed following a brief general introduction to the topic.  In the second part, Judaism and Islam, in the third,  Hinduism and Buddhism, and in the fourth, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Scientology are examined.

World Religions, part 1 of 4
World Religions, part 2 of 4
World Religions, part 3 of 4
World Religions, part 4 of 4


For further study on this topic:

Christianity's Big Tent: The Ecumenism of 1 John

The link above is to an unpublished book that I wrote, 150 pages, about how we can define the Church through an analysis of I John.  The question of who is, and who is not, a Christian is answered on the basis of the teaching of I John.  That standard is then applied to various religions/movements including: 7th Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Judaism, Islam, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.  Utilizing a Biblical standard (understood and applied faithfully to what God's Word tells us, to the best of my ability ) for understanding the limits of the Church allows us to avoid our own prejudices, preferences, and politics and allows the Word of God to speak for itself on this very important issue.


Church History

In this 3-part series, Pastor Powell seeks to highlight some of the most important ideas, people, and movements within the universal Church during its two-thousand year history.  

To view the PowerPoint used by Pastor Powell during the presentation, click on the link: Church History PowerPoint
To read the lecture notes used by Pastor Powell in his presentation, click on the link below:
Church History lecture notes (updated 2020)
Church History lecture notes (coincides with video below)

Church History - Part 1: Note taking form
Church History - Part: Note taking form
Church History - Part 3: Note taking form

In part 1, the Early Church, the Early heresies regarding the person of Jesus, the Ecumenical Councils, and St. Augustine are the focus.


Church History - Part 1 (of 3) - 2017 version
Church History - Part 1 (of 3) - 2022 version

In part 2, Monasticism, the power struggle between popes and emperors/kings, the Great Schism, and the Crusades are discussed.


Church History - Part 2 (of 3) - 2017 version
Church History - Part 2 (of 3) - 2022 version

In part 3, The Reformation, the Thirty Years War, the Modern Missions Movement, and the status of the Church in the World Today are discussed.

Church History - Part 3 (of 3) - 2017 version

Church History - Part 3 (of 3) - 2022 version

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