Articles

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 ...

Why are mobs allowed to vandalize businesses and destroy property with very little punitive response? Why are law-breakers defended while lawenforcement is defamed and demeaned? Why is drunkenness excused as a “disease”? Why are some politicians allowed to get away with crimes that would quickly get the rest of us thrown in the slammer?  God clearly holds us all responsible,  “For we mus...

Billy Graham Jr. has come to Oklahoma City and stated some things that needed to be said. It reminds one of how the Demons cried out the truth about Jesus, affirming that “You are the Son of God” (cf. Luke 4:41; 8:28; Matthew 8:29). Note some true and solid statements he made: “We’re here today because our nation is in trouble. We’re in trouble spiritually, racially, economically, politically and ...

One baptism? Yes, one, according to Ephesians 4:5 quoted above.  Which baptism is the one, then; since many are mentioned in scripture? I believe we find the answer in Acts 19:1-7. Here, we are told that while in Ephesus Paul baptized (immersed in water) 12 men in the name of Jesus.  Paul did exactly what Peter taught thousands to do in Acts 2:38. He was doing the same thing Philip ...

Why do you take on a challenge? Maybe you want to prove to others you can do it, maybe you want to prove to yourself you can do it. You might take on a challenge to for the feeling of accomplishment or to check something of a “bucket list”. But maybe you take on a challenge to help yourself grow in that endeavor or to learn a new set of skills that will benefit you in the future. This week we...

When you have an infection possibility, what do you do? If you step on a nail you seek medical attention and most likely a tetanus shot. A cut or scrape deserves at least some Neosporin and a Band-Aid to help protect from infection. We get it about our bodies and infections, but what about our spiritual infections? Satan is THE INFECTION to our soul, period! He will look for the tiniest scrat...

#1 Anyone can pray – Jesus’ apostle made it clear in Acts 17:24-28 that God made each of us so that we would seek him out and that he is not far from any of us. God heard a Roman centurion named Cornelius in Acts 10:1-4 before he became a Christian. Surely God will hear you as well. #2 You don’t have to know what to say – In the letter to the Romans (8:26-27) we are taught that God’s Spirit interc...