Articles

Acts 5:27-29:  “When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council.  The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’  But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” In spite of the dange...

The clamor of “separation of church and state” over the last several decades has served to condition many saints into thinking that religious views have no place in our nation’s lawmaking or in the selection of our leaders.  Nothing, I repeat, Nothing could be farther from the truth. How could we come to believe that God would ordain governments to exist (See Romans 13:1-5 for examp...

A few years ago this was the slogan of the phone company.  The idea of course was to use the telephone to call someone far away so they could collect a little more money from your account. They no longer use that slogan (perhaps they figured out a better way to collect more money thru "fees").  But the original idea, touching someone through contact was a good one.  I believe it sho...

The September 11, 2016 Parade poll presented 25 responses of prominent—well known—U.S. citizens, finishing out the lead line of “If I Were President…” Parade gave a summary of 6,500 polled without specific percentage (from the largest to the smallest) given on their “pie chart.” The National emphasis was charted over 6 areas: “Economic Growth; Health care; Defense; Immigration; ...

Day dawned again this morning, the light is spreading still, as it has since God’s creation, his order to fulfill (Psalm 19:4-6) The world is going crazy, but then that is a lie, because it’s long been crazy and will be ‘til we die (1st John 2:15-17) The nations in an uproar, fools devising their vain things, taking counsel with one another against the King of Kings (Psalm 2:1-3) But God stil...

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith”,Romans 1:16-17 Paul defined the gospel in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 when he writes that it is the death, burial and resurrection ...

That’s it, I’m tired of paying my electric and water bills and so I’m sending a letter to OG&E and to the City of Midwest City informing them that I’ll no longer be paying my bills. And while I’m at it, I’m going to let my bank know that I’m no longer going to pay my mortgage. Why you might ask? Because I don’t want to! Can you imagine someone being serious and saying that to you? You’d think...

HURT is no respecter of persons. All ages and stages of people are attacked by hurt (from disease; broken bones; broken hearts; loss of loved ones; unfairness; loneliness, etc.). All ages may be heard to say: “I’m not ready for this;” “I asked for it—what I did was stupid;” “I didn’t do anything wrong, but look what happened;” I don’t understand any of this;” “I’ve tried everything I know, but I’m...

We read about the first worship offered to God, as well as the first murder in Genesis 4:1-8. Coincidence? I don’t believe so. Abel honored God with an acceptable sacrifice. Not Cain. Cain had plenty of opportunity to make a proper offering and even had encouragement from God himself to do so. He deliberately refused. Instead of listening to God’s personal appeal to correct his behavior, Cain...

Your body, or flesh, is made from the stuff of this earth, so it wants the stuff of this earth. Your spirit, however, which makes you a sentient being, is from God and longs for him. Your flesh constantly compels you to satisfy its appetites which, incidentally, neither you nor I get to decide. The worst desires of your flesh are in conflict with the best desires of your spirit. That will nev...

In Ecclesiastes 11:9, God counsels Young People, wanting them to be happy, assuring them that they have choices, while warning them that He will bring them into judgment. Carefully note that verse: The Appeal: “Be happy, O Young Man, while you are young.” Happy young people are a blessing to other young people, parents, teachers, neighbors—society in general. So God’s appeal is, “Let your hea...

The dictionary defines sanctity as “The state of being sanctified; holiness, sacredness”. What is sacred to those of us whom the rest of the world calls “Americans”? Is human life sacred? How can we claim that we believe life is sacred to us when we sanction the killing of children by their mothers? What place should we hold more sacred than a mother’s womb? The womb is the seat of ...

You are very likely someone who wants to influence others for God. What is one of your best opportunities to do that? How about Sunday?Every Sunday we have visitors to our worship assemblies. I want to encourage you to plan to make a positive impact on them. What can you do?1) Speak to them! Let them know with certainty that you are glad they are here.2) Introduce yourself and they will probably r...

Nutritional deficiencies often have negative symptoms.Not enough vitamin D and you might suffer weakness or aching in your bones. Insufficient vitamin E can lead to dry hair, leg cramps and slow healing. A lack of magnesium can result in irritability, anxiety and even impaired memory.So, if you’re grumpy or can’t remember stuff, eat some spinach.Is the same thing true spiritually? How much anxiety...

What good does it do to decry the state humanity if I don’t point people to the only perfect hope there is?We live in a world where marriage is dishonored through pornography, promiscuity, and adultery. Drug cartels flood our country with poison because our fellow-citizens buy it. Immigrants who despise our nation are doing great harm and Europe reels from violence being perpetrated there by thous...

A gunman kills 49 people in a nightclub. The gunman was Islamic and acted in the name of ISIS, an Islamic terror organization.The victims of this tragedy were at a bar known as a hangout for those who practice homosexuality. Likely all of the victims either embraced, practiced, or at least approved of this behavior.What are we to make of this horrible event? In the first 4,000 years, the devil lie...

Recently, ex-boxing champ Muhammad Ali died, and the media is filled with praise for both his athletic accomplishments, which are richly deserved, and his "social activism." Now is not the time to bring criticism upon this man who achieved many things during his life but I noticed that there are few, if any, articles that highlight the greatest impact that Ali had on American society. More than an...

As each school year ends, graduates, teachers, parents—people in general—are inclined to form some short-term and long-term plans for the future. Legacy recently supplied information from The Millennial Impact Report, sponsored by the CASE Foundation. It gave heartening information that among the Millennial employees (roughly those born 1980 through 2000), “84 percent made charitable donations in ...

All too often I hear of someone tragically taking their own life. I want to encourage any who may be considering suicide to 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 side. Until then, here are a few things I believe you need to know:#1 The rest of us want you to keep going, to live. Even if it doesn’t show, we car...

The hermit crab is a small crustacean found in ocean waters worldwide. It is a fascinating little creature closely related to crabs, though not a true crab. It has a soft underbody protected with a shell on its back. But the shell is not his. It is an empty, borrowed one from some other animal. In fact, it uses anything it can fit into as a home and it continually moves from one "home" to another ...