Articles

Risking a bad pun, I must ask, “Why is Donald Trump rising in popularity these days?” It is not his wealth or his “you’re fired” notoriety. No, these days he is gaining in popularity because he is not afraid to say what he believes to be the truth.No political correctness. No minced words. No one has to wonder what he means when he speaks. There is something to be said for that.I know of no more “...

Luke 9:23..."Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,and follow Me."Three of the four Gospels quote this teaching from Jesus. It must be important for us to bear a cross, some type of burden in our life. We must pick up that cross each day and carry it just as Jesus carried His. Actually, it was our burden of sins which He bo...

Your skeleton is the underlying structure of your body and must be healthy for the body to be healthy. When a bone is broken, or out of place, we immediately take steps to insure that it is brought back to its original condition and position as soon as possible. We recognize that the original plan for the placement and function of the bones is the best design.The vital issue in God’s eyes, however...

David Prater, District Attorney of Oklahoma County, made some commendable comments about the community confusion concerning the Ten Commandments being placed on the state Capitol grounds (The Oklahoman, “Demonstrate our faith through deeds, not words”, July 26, 2015, p. 15A). Prater warned about the treating that slab of marble with its inscription like a “graven image, an idol,” “breaking one of ...

Beware, total fulfillment is not to be found on planet earth. Nothing in our present, fallen world, will ever be just as it should be.We often set ourselves up for disappointment by having unreal expectations.It may begin in childhood when we believe that our life will be complete if we can just have that new bicycle, or football helmet or doll or whatever. We receive the object of our obsession, ...

Jesus came to give us life, according to John 10:10. Not just life, really, but “abundant life”. Are you living the abundant life Christ came to give you?Jesus said that if we come to him, he will give us rest for our souls, according to Matthew 11:28-30. Is your soul at rest?Most of all, I am drawn to the idea that Jesus has come to give us peace. John wrote Jesus’ words:“These things have I spok...

In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, President Jimmy Carter offered his opinion saying, “I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage”.How can you know if he is right? Read what the Law of Moses said about the practice of homosexuality:“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination”, Leviticus 18:22 ……. As well as ……. “If there is a man who lies with a male...

Mark Sherman gives us an update on gay marriage efforts in the land (The Oklahoman, “Q&A: Supreme Court on Gay Marriage,” June 23, 2015, pg. 9A). Sherman notes, “UCLA’s Williams Institute estimates there are 390,000 married same-sex couples,” adding, “If the court finds a right to marry, another 70,000 couples living in states that do not currently permit them to wed would get married in the next ...

The recent murder of nine of our fellow citizens while they were studying the Bible together, was cold and calculated. The murderer’s intent was to ignite a seething firestorm of hatred whose flames would be fanned into a race-war.As Jesus’ brother, James wrote nearly 2,000 years ago, some fires are set from those in hell (3:6). This was intended to be one such fire.No such war is erupting, howeve...

Concerning fathers Solomon says, Grandchildren are the crown of old men, and the glory of sons is their fathers. - Proverbs 17:6 There was a special celebration of belonging to and coming forth from a man you could call your father in Solomon's day. Fathers took pride in children but the writer emphasizes that children also gloried in who their father was. If a child's glory was his father, then a...

Tree-trimming, I cut a couple of large, heavily foliated limbs from an elm. I hadn’t seen the nest. Three tiny hatchlings lay on the ground.What do you do with three tiny birds you can’t save?My mind immediately was called to Leviticus, and the sin offerings to be made by the poor; two turtledoves, or two young pigeons (Leviticus 5:7).The text said that the sinner presents the two birds to the pri...

We live in a world where being sexually pure is cause for ridicule.We live in a world where one can be arrested for killing a sea turtle but given tax dollars to pay for aborting a human baby.We live in a world where a man confused about his sexuality is not only considered headline news, but is called a hero.We live in a world where rampant sexuality is the essence of popular entertainment yet ma...

The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) "alerts and communicates information about terrorist threats by providing timely, detailed information to the public, government agencies, first responders, public sector organizations, airports and other transportation hubs". By using available information the NTAS issues a concise summary of a potentially dangerous, even lethal, threat. It is extreme...

Carla Hinton, religious editor, in the Oklahoman, gave some commendable research concerning a national telephone survey of 35,071 from June 4 to September 20, 2014 (“Oklahomans express little surprise by decline in Christian population,” May 13, 2015, p. 6A). One finding: “The percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven yea...

I am mostly certain everyone is familiar with the Secret Service of the United States. It was created to primarily protect and serve our national leaders and their families in our great country. The Secret Service, working mostly behind the scenes, conducts its daily process with few acknowledgements. Yet the daily government business would be hard pressed to continue without secret service partic...

God inspired Matthew to include five mothers in Jesus’ genealogy, 1:1-17.#1 Tamar - She was the mother of Perez, whom she had with Judah after she disguised herself and deceived him, pretending to be a prostitute (Genesis 38:1-30). Tamar, her immorality notwithstanding, courageously stood up for herself, having been cheated by Judah. Judah would confess when finally confronted with his sin, “She i...

In Exodus chapter 3, God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and Moses wants to know God’s name. And God replies, “I AM who I AM” (v. 14). And this is the name of God, YAHWEH, or in our English translations, LORD. Yahweh is the sacred name of God and it conveys this idea of absolute being and never changing. So fast forward several thousand years to the time of Christ and John’s gospel...

It was a beautiful spring day in April, the perfect day for our first baseball game of the season and perfect just to be outside. Our school in Lincoln County was small, so small in fact that it took all the boys from the 6th-8th grades to make a baseball team. Sometimes a girl or two would play in those cases when there weren't enough boys to make up a team. I was afraid coach/teacher, Mr. Tilly ...

God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, sending His rain on the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45). That is God’s toleration. While that scripture expresses God’s toleration, He quite clearly states what is evil and unjust that He, for the moment, tolerates.Where does God place the homosexual, lesbian and gay marriage lifestyle?? God’s Word answers: “Therefore, God gave them over in ...

Did God raise his son from the dead, or did someone take the body?The Jews didn’t take the body. They would have had to get past the Roman guard that they demanded be placed at the tomb for the express purpose of making sure no one breached that heavy, sealed stone. Besides, the last thing the Jews wanted was to get any kind of rumor started that Jesus left that grave. If they had taken the body, ...