Articles by Marty Kessler

God inspired several prophets to speak to the hard-headed and rebellious Israelites. These men were persecuted, ridiculed, defamed and demeaned, yet they preached, taught and wrote what God wanted said.Their messages were absolute truth and the timing and content of their presentations to their fellow Israelites was under the full direction of the wisdom of God. In spite of all of this, they had v...

Did You Deserve Better?Every child deserves a good childhood. This includes you. You should have been born to two loving, caring parents who worked together to make a happy home. If you did not have that, you got cheated, and that’s not fair.It is not fair if you were born into dysfunctional circumstances. It is not fair to you if your parents divorced, or were abusive or were addicts or reprobate...

“Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened…..”, Luke 3:21Jesus prayed as he was beginning his work on the earth. Does it make sense to conclude that it is a good idea to talk with the Lord as you or I begin any worthy effort?“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God”...

The physical universe in which we live is subject to the passage of time. All things physical within this universe are subject to time. Eternity is not time.In the beginning (a “time” reference”) God created the physical universe and it would seem time itself. We cannot control, manipulate or adjust time in any presently (another “time” reference) known way. We have the means to measure time, and ...

It was noted in last week’s article that bad weather is usually the reason for canceling assemblies of the church. There are, however, other compelling reasons for doing so.This year, for example, Christmas Eve falls on a Wednesday. Traditionally, no other night of the year is as oriented towards home and family. This being true, leadership here has decided to forego holding an assembly on Christm...

Circumstances sometimes dictate that the leadership here at Choctaw make the decision to postpone or even cancel one or more assemblies of the church. This is always a difficult call for those of us taking part in making the decision, simply because we take every assembly of the Lord’s church seriously.I want to address three specific considerations that are at the forefront of these decisions reg...

Solomon concluded that the above was the “whole” duty of man in Ecclesiastes 12:13.In the book of Proverbs alone, Solomon used the idea of fearing God or His commandments at least 21 times. Below are a few examples of the positive benefits of fearing the Lord:1:7 – it is the beginning of knowledge3:7 – it is the antithesis of evil9:10 – it is the beginning of wisdom10:27 – it prolongs life13:13 – ...

The apostles apparently assuming the worst of a man born blind, asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered:It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Meas long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. John 9:3-4The man’s blindnes...

Jesus never gave anyone a big bag of money and said, “There, that will solve your problems”. I find it interesting that while Jesus gave sight to the blind, made withered limbs whole and even raised the dead, he never healed anyone of Greed, Lust, Hatred, Pride, Ignorance, Cowardice or any other fault in character or behavior.Jesus never said, “If you really love each other, having sex is not...

Just a word of encouragement for those times when it seems like the whole world is against your faith.God is not concerned with numbers. Never has been.When violence and evil characterized the whole world, he saved eight people on an ark. Only eight were faithful, only eight were preserved.Of the 600,000+ fighting men that came out of Egypt during the Exodus, only two went into the promised land. ...

I believe we see a microcosm in John 11 surrounding Lazarus’ sickness and death.#1 Jesus openly states that Lazarus’ sickness and death have a specific purpose- “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it”, John 11:4.#2 The wisdom of Jesus’ decision to return to Judea and fulfill this purpose is questioned by his apostles- “Rabbi, ...

Moses was 80 years old and tending his father-in-law’s sheep when God called him to deliver Israel (Exodus 3:1-10). He wasn’t expecting that.Gideon was hiding in a winepress trying to save some wheat for his family when God called him to save Israel from their Midianite oppressors (Judges 6:1-14). He wasn’t expecting that.Peter, Andrew, James & John were working their fishing businesses when Jesus...

Below are just a few things I’ve discovered that really work to keep a church alive and shining the light of Jesus’ gospel.Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Preach the gospel to all creation. Hold fast your profession. Be steadfast and unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. Imitate what is good. Hold firmly to the traditions that were delivered you. Present your body as a...

In one part of the world, people who name Christ as their savior are being murdered and driven from their homes. In another, rioters and looters are terrorizing an entire community. A godless barbarian beheads a journalist and we see the pictures.You and I see only a fraction of what is happening and understand very few of the facts in any of these situations. God, however, sees every single evil ...

Monday evening, August 11th, 2014, I was shocked to look up at a television screen and see wirtte4n across it: “Robin Williams, 1951-2014”. Like others, I had no idea that I would be so affected by his death.I realized that I felt like I know him. Perhaps this was because he played so many characters, many of which I had seen in movies and television shows, and also because he was the ever-present...

Do you realize that the New Testament is filled with them?The church at Ephesus had “fallen” by having left their first love, and as a result, were in danger of losing their place in God’s kingdom, Revelation 2:1-7.The brethren at Pergamum allowed false teachers to influence some of their flock to take part in idolatry and immorality and so did the church in Thyatira, Revelation 2:12-29. Jesus eve...

Being “a preacher” I have often been praised for having done something for someone in need in one way or another. It may be the couple sacks of groceries that come out of the church’s pantry, a tank of gas, some bit of family or marital counseling, answering a Bible question or resolving a faith issue of some sort.Some such folk have openly expressed what a good guy they believed me to be. I must ...

Cyrus, king of Persia, commissioned Israelites living in Persia to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple which had been destroyed decades earlier.The previous temple had been built by king Solomon with all of the grandeur that Israel, at her apex of economic power, could provide. The new temple being built at Cyrus’ command under the leadership of Zerubabbel and Jeshua, paled in appearance to...

1.Choking on an ice cube? Don’t panic. Simply poor some boiling water down your throat and, presto, the blockage will be removed.2.Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.3.High-blood-pressure? No problem. Simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins.4.Sleeping too late? A mousetra...

Jesus said that God is seeking those who will worship him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24). God’s Spirit is the source of all scripture, according to several passages such as 1st Corinthians 2:12-13:“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which thingswe also speak, not in words taught by...