Articles by Marty Kessler


I have observed that there is sometimes confusion over what place pride should play in our lives. As I see it, there are two kinds of pride. One I would refer to as “virtuous pride” and the other, “arrogant pride”. I believe that all pride, both virtuous and arrogant, is based in our individual concepts of rightness. What I mean is that each of us has a concept of something...
The title is taken from the book of Nehemiah chapter four and verse six. Here is described the progress of the Israelites as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem after returning from exile in Babylon. It was a huge undertaking, and they had many detractors, but nothing stopped them simply because they were committed. Each one of them knew why they had come back and each one must certainly have had ...
The Differences Between Holy Spirit Baptism and Great Commission Baptism (part #2)   Below is a continuation of last week’s article highlighting some of the differences between Holy Spirit baptism and the baptism of the great commission.   HSB is not required for all believers, whereas GCB is required               Nowhere...
Last week we noted the news report about President Jimmy Carter  leaving the Southern Baptists because of their views on the role of  women in the home and church. The singular question I believe we should ask is, "What does Jesus teach us about the role of women in the church?" After all, if we   claim to be His followers, we should follow Him in this regard as well as in...
As reported in the news of late, President Jimmy Carter has left the Southern Baptist church because they supposedly teach that women are to be subservient to their husbands and also refuse to ordain women as ministers.  Was he right?   What does the Bible say?   To begin with, God made woman (Eve), because He knew that the man (Adam) He had created, needed help (and that hasn&lsquo...
  As noted in last week’s article, Jesus made it clear that the miracles, wonders, and signs that He did were for the purpose of affirming His identity as the Son of God (Matthew 11:4-5 & John 10:25).   It should not surprise us then, that on Pentecost, Luke tells us that the first thing that the apostle Peter said as he began preaching about Jesus was this:   Men of Israe...
  Somewhere around 900BC, the prophet Elijah raised a poor widow’s son from the dead.  When she saw what he had done, she said:                “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”             ...
  I recently had an opportunity to do a little fishing.  I began with my fly rod.  Of course every fisherman knows the sensation of being filled with anticipation at the first cast.  But this time, nothing happened.  I changed my aim and dropped my fly in another spot.  Still nothing.   This continued for a while until I was convinced that I needed to switch to s...
  We live in a complicated world, where even when you make the best decisions possible politically, financially, socially, physically, emotionally and morally, the bottom can still drop out without notice and you can find your life totally out of control.  The illusion is that we have any control over anything or anyone in the first place.  All we can ever hope to control is ourselv...
It was a different time when I was a kid.  Lots of dads like mine were veterans of either World War II or Korea and had stories they didn‘t tell very often.  I remember hearing about some of the things my dad went through, but I didn’t hear them from him.  Maybe he told Mom and she told us kids so we’d have some appreciation for what was done for us in the war.&nbs...
  Sunday, June 14th 1777, was the day that the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America officially adopted the basic design of our nation’s flag.   The original resolution called for a flag with thirteen alternating red and white stripes with a union of thirteen white stars on a field of blue.  Nearly every aspect of our flag communicates sentiments of our f...
  The above phrase is taken from the second letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, where he explained his “thorn in the flesh”, 12:7.   A great deal of study and speculation has centered around the question of just exactly what Paul’s thorn was.  Some believe it was an eye problem, and there appears to be some evidence for that.  The apostle a...
  If I were an atheist, I would not try to convert anyone to my way of thinking.  What would be the purpose?  Logically, if there is no God, nothing matters.  There is no purpose.  There is no purpose in life or in anything.  There is no such thing as morality; no right or wrong to be done.  To argue against the existence of someone, or something that doesn&lsquo...
  Just what is a primitive life form?  Are we talking small?  Because if we are talking about the smallest, tiniest microorganism, then we are talking about a “nano-bio-technology” that modern day technicians are trying very hard to emulate and can‘t even come close.  Nothing man-made can begin to approach the complexity and efficiency of even the simplest mic...
  Let’s put things into perspective:  What would you think if a group of liars decided that the rest of us needed to be forced into accepting that there is nothing wrong with lying?  What if these liars sought to amend local, state and even national laws to provide special protection for liars, and even demanded that school curriculums be amended to teach all of our children t...
  A Brief Tribute To My Mother, And To All Those Like Her Everywhere   If you would, please indulge me in a bit of personal reflection.  As I write this, just a few days before Mothers’ Day 2009, my own mother is a new resident in a nursing home near “the old home place” back in West Virginia.   She lived in the house she and Dad built for us back in 1963-64, ...
  The above name is given to the existence of billions of widely diversified and fully developed life forms in the lowest layers of earth’s sedimentary strata.  The fossil record should, if we assume the so-called theory of evolution to be accurate, show very gradual change from the supposed first simple life forms to the more complex ones that are thought to have evolved later, af...
  (1st John 3:13)   The “Miss U.S.A.” pageant is over, and Carrie Prejean, Miss California did not win.  Miss North Carolina did win, a beautiful and talented young lady to be sure, but under the circumstances, one must wonder if Miss California was not a victim of bigotry.   It all stems from her answer to the very politically charged question she was asked as a pa...
As I write, it has been less than a week since wild fires raged through several parts of Oklahoma. Extremely dry conditions and wind gusts over 60 mph set the stage for disaster, and disaster sure enough took the stage. Like many other families in the Choctaw and Midwest City area, we alternated watching news reports on television concerning the fire’s progress with calling to check on frien...
Jesus wants us to remember at what cost we have been bought, that is ransomed, from our own sin. That is why He gave us the simple, yet perfect observance of eating unleavened bread to represent His body, and grape juice to represent His blood. You and I may each recall different aspects of His sacrifice, but consider those things Matthew recorded in his account, 26:36-27:50: 26:36-46 - He was lef...