Articles

Funny, huh? I found these in my archives: > Funny How $100 "looks" so big when taken to church, but so small when taken to the mall. > Funny how long it takes to serve God for an hour, but how quickly a team plays 60 minutes of basketball. > Funny how long a couple of hours spent at church are, but how short they are when watching a movie. > Funny how people get thrilled when a footbal...

Worldly folks doing worldly stuff, is expected. But when those who name Jesus as their Lord begin listening to the world instead of him, they trouble the church. One trend I will briefly address here, is male leadership in the kingdom. Anyone with the eyes to see it will note that a lion’s share of kingdom work is done by our ladies. God has made sure that their influence and works were recorded i...

For God so loved the world”, is a line Jesus himself spoke and preambles the statement that because of that love God offered his only son to give us eternal life (John’s gospel 3:16). Jesus also said with that, “… whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea...

Consider some of the influences that impact the formative years of your life and how little (?) control you have in each of them: · Your parents (the good, the bad, the ugly) · Your DNA (looks, athleticism, health, height, weight, sex, skin color) · Your siblings (birth order, brothers or sisters, difference in age or lack thereof) · Your extended family (grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, in-...

Solomon said we are all crazy. “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.” Ecclesiastes 9:3-4 He was talki...

Everyone has a standard by which they gauge right and wrong. Their standard may be as simple as their own opinion, or it could be popular opinion, their parents or some named ideology, but everyone has a standard. When someone tells you not to “impose your religion” on them, they are judging by their standard that it is wrong for you to try to influence their thinking with your own. Imagine, howev...

Paul stated that he had given us an example of what to do, and we should be imitators of him (c. Phil. 4:9; 1 Cor.11:1). That is a bit difficult in regard to some things Paul wrote. For example, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also.” To sing with “the spirit” (Gk. Pneumati of pneuma) is a special Greek term with extensive meani...

The trash icon is that little trash can on your email page that enables you to get rid of the "junk" email items. I use this icon every time I look at my email. But, it doesn't get rid of it right then, rather stores it until I "empty" the trash can. It is still there and can be recalled if I want, or emptied at some other time, simply by pushing "trash". "Poof, it's gone!” When Israel offered the...

The year 2020 has brought several changes among the ministry staff here at the Choctaw congregation. We have seen the departure of our Youth, Family and Involvement Minister, Mike Coghill, which will bring about the eventual addition of another (new to us) minister at some point this year. Then there are the growing responsibilities taken on by our ministry intern, Titus West, as he is tasked with...

It is finally 2020. Yes, you made it to the new year! But not everyone made it. We lost a bunch in 2019 (just like every year). Peter Mayhew, the man who brought Chewbacca to life in the Star Wars movies, is gone. Chewie “lives on”, and Peter would be the man to thank for introducing us to him, but thank him we cannot. Eddie Money may have had “Two Tickets to Paradise”, but his life touched down i...

Light is the first thing Genesis records God speaking into existence (Genesis 1:3). He did not need the light, but we do, even to imagine all the rest of his creative acts. Later, he would create what were referred to as “lights” in the heavens; the “greater light” to rule the day, the “lesser light” for the night (1:14-19), and we still need these lights. God’s greatest and most needed light, how...

Jesus was conceived within Mary by God’s Holy Spirit (Matthew’s gospel 1:18).With his last words from the cross, Jesus yielded his own spirit back to God (Luke’s gospel 23:46) Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) but also the Passover lamb whose sacrifice reconciled both Jews & Gentiles to God (1st Corinthians 5:7 & Ephesians 2:11-18) At Jesus’ birth, a heavenly host said, “Pea...

This is what the Magi told King Herod when they came to Jerusalem looking for Jesus. The star that led them to Jerusalem, would later lead them to Bethlehem. These men had seen Jesus’ star and somehow knew that it was His, and that it signified His arrival as the King of the Jews. Centuries before, an unlikely prophet uttered the following: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A st...

Behavior is influenced by companions. Do you choose friends based on what you want to see in your behavior? If I want to succeed in life, I must choose friends who also value success; but I ‘d better know what I consider to be success. Paul told the church at Corinth that evil companions corrupt good morals (1st Corinthians 15:33). In this case, evil companions had influenced some members of the c...

On October 25, 2019, a rapper named Kanye West released his ninth studio album entitled: “Jesus is King.” Though in the last 15 years, Mr. West has been known for his secular music, this album is not. It is a worship album. An entire project dedicated to Jesus. Kanye has said, “This album is my expression to what He (Jesus) has done in my life.” In the Christian community, people are divided as wh...

It’s the holiday season again! It’s that time of year when we are supposed to be joyous and thankful. Unfortunately, that is not always a realistic view. Despite what we are told through the radio, tv, and other media, there is no holiday magic cure when we are not able to be joyous or thankful. We still take advantage of each other. We argue with each other. We insult and kill each other no matte...

Do you ever find yourself wanting to ask God for something but believe that it is too small or insignificant to “bother” him about? I know I do. But I’ve been a dad long enough to know how pleased I am when one of my children asks for my input about anything in their lives; even when they think they need to apologize about its seeming insignificance. Our sun is approximately 864,938 miles in diame...

Even though Paul was a prisoner, had been in a shipwreck, and had been bitten by a snake, when he saw those brethren from the Market of Appius and The Three Taverns “he thanked God and took courage” (Acts 28:15). The Choctaw congregation at the service of the Lord’s Day, November 3, was able to greet Mary and Geoffrey Kirima (whom we support to share the Gospel in Kenya), and to hear brother Jean-...

It is believed that most of the ideas behind the night we now call “Halloween” originated with the Celtic religion of Druidism which flourished for around 300-350 years between the second centuries BC and AD. For the Druids, this night meant that the “lighter” part of the year was coming to an end and the “darker” part was beginning. They further believed that on this night the veil between the li...

The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’”, Genesis 3:4-5 The above reveals for us the most profound struggle of our own existence; which is our desire to govern ourselves as though we are our own god. Intellectually, it makes no sense. We know that we did not cre...