Articles

Most people who have listened to sermons have heard the Bible called, at one time or another, the “Living Word.” Have you ever wondered what that means? Surely it does not mean that your Bible comes to life and goes from being an inanimate object to an animate object that lives, breathes and needs nourishment. It can be a difficult concept to grasp that words live. So, how can we better understand...

Sunday, November 24 2019, has been designated by the shepherds here at Choctaw as “Every Member Present Sunday”. That’s what’s up ahead! On a given Lord’s day, folks will be absent from our assembly for any number of reasons. Kids get sick, work schedules interfere, vacations come along, and well, you know. It is difficult to get everyone together at the same time; but how neat would it be if we d...

My thanks to the Competitive Enterprise Institute for a compilation of news articles predicting dooms of various types. Below are some of the foreboding conclusions reached by scientists in the recent past that were noted in their piece. 17 November 1967 – The Salt Lake Tribune published an article by George Getze, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, with the headline, “Dire Famine Forecast by ‘75...

The most important information the church could provide is how to be eternally saved from your sins through Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that we are all created in God’s image, but that through our own sins we have fallen short of His glory and become separated from Him. Since the penalty for sin is death, Jesus took on flesh so that He could die in our place, paying that penalty for each of us...

The “Step Up In September” plea was a genuine, sincere effort by the elders to overcome—”bridge the gap”—between the Sunday morning and Sunday evening —Wednesday evening attendance numbers. The imposed Divine obligation for the elders “to feed the church of the Lord” (Acts 20:28 AS) automatically imposes a Divine obligation for members of the church “to be fed!” Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and...

I am constantly telling my daughter, “Share with your sister.” or “Share with your cousin.” I don’t often hear adults saying that phrase to each other, yet we all make sure to instill the idea of sharing into our children. Why is that? Do we realize exactly what we are doing when we share? Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing t...

All too often I hear of someone tragically taking their own life. Having presided over funerals for such folks and having attempted to comfort survivors, I want to put something out there again, to encourage anyone who may be considering suicide to reconsider. Please, reconsider. I haven’t been where you are, so I don’t pretend to understand all you are going through. I would like to hear your sid...

Three things I read recently with which I absolutely concur: “Children died in the great flood of Noah’s day because their parents failed to get them on the ark”“If our children have to ask us if we are going to church, we are doing it wrong”“Christians should not have to be badgered into attending Bible classes and worship” Ouch! Those hurt! Well, only if they are true. Truth is, living as a Chri...

Technology is improving.  More and more jobs that once were done by humans are now being done by machines.  Some are even speculating that robots will soon be able to function much like living beings.  As a matter of fact, in October of 2017, a robot named “Sophia” was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Can we legitimately give such status to a machine? The biggest question to me ...

The Step Up in September campaign is a plan to encourage every one in this church family to make a special effort to attend all Bible classes and worship services each week for the month of September.  There may be some who cannot be present for all of the classes/worship because of work, or health, etc., but please come when you can. Additionally we are trying to encourage parents to see tha...

Man sets foot on the surface of the moon!  Apollo 11, July 20, 1969. Twenty-one years old, along with 94% of Americans, I watched on black & white TV, Neil Armstrong stepping onto lunar soil. "One small step for man, One giant leap for Mankind." Before that, because it was Sunday when they landed, Buzz Aldrin brought along communion.  The first thing eaten on the moon was the Lords' Supp...

V.E. Howard, well known preacher for the International Gospel Hour, who preached on the radio for fifty years, punctuated his sermons with the sobering question, “Are You Listening?” Despite the reputation he gained for that preaching pattern, have we appreciated the appropriateness and pertinence of what he was doing?  In Jeremiah 7, God “rejected and abandoned “ His people  (v.29), men...

Of course it was part of God’s great plan to redeem man, but how was it that people came to hate him so much that they begged the Romans to crucify him? Simply put, Jesus made people uncomfortable, because he told the truth. In a world that hates truth, truth is hate. Folks were told that believing Jesus would get them thrown out of the synagogue (John 9:22 & 12:42).  Those who loved the appr...

The first question people ask when they find out that I’m a minister is the name of the church that I preach for and then, without fail, follow up with the query, “How big is your congregation?” It seems as if there is something about the size of the congregation I serve that somehow gives them insight into who I am and probably my abilities as a minister. When it comes to judging the value of any...

Think for a moment...Have you ever had a child say or do something in a public surrounding that made you want to dig a hole and pull the ground in over you?  It could be your child, or grandchild, cousin, some relative or maybe someone unrelated to you at all.  The words or actions at that moment may come from an innocent child, but  we, with our extreme maturity, don't know how to ...

We have all most likely heard the phrase, “Communication is Key.” It is usually connected to an intimate relationship like a marriage or a friendship. The phrase is also used in most job places. Now that I’m involved in ministry, I realize it applies to the Church as well. My wife and I used to think we were good communicators. We found out we were good “assumers” and it tore us apart. We ended up...

I have been thinking lately about what our individual roles are in the Church. Are we working? I seem to have tunnel vision toward this subject of doing Kingdom works and just regular works that come with being involved in church. What is the need and how do we fulfill it? As I’ve been thinking about ways to get members involved, I’ve started to ask myself, “How can it be made simple?” I mean, wha...

On Sunday, July 7th our new Summer education quarter for adult Bible classes begin.  On Wednesday nights we will have the third edition of “The Main Lesson in____” series with different speakers coming each week to summarize and explain what they believe is the main teaching of each book of the Bible.  We have a great line of speakers beginning with Howard Norton, kicking off the series ...

“The supreme test of any civilization is whether or not it can teach men to be good fathers”- Margaret Meade, cultural anthropologist “Every social ill that we are dealing with is directly or indirectly related to fatherlessness”- Otto Kelly, executive director of Crisis Pregnancy Center, Reno Nevada Do the above quotes reflect the truth?  Consider the statistics below… 1 out of every 3 child...

You won’t see that headline in any news broadcast or newspaper, but Oklahoma has the attention of our nation.  Tragedies normally bring out the best and/or the worst in people.  The recent storms again have shown one of God’s teachings and Oklahoman’s have dazzled the nation with it – “foot washing”! Commentators, reporters, networks continue amazed with the “caring”, “concern” and the n...