Articles

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, ...

This congregation has quietly and consistently, for over a decade, helped with orphans in Komsomolsk, Russia. It is so infrequently mentioned, and so far away, that an appreciation for that good work can easily slip from our heads and hearts. The brethren (from Kalispell, Montana, through whom we serve these young souls), send out a monthly report most of you never see. The following is a brief su...

The local news network reported last week that a young man was killed. He was sitting in a home playing video games with friends when a stray bullet from a would-be intruder’s pistol ended his life.Another report told of three motorcyclists killed when a driver momentarily lost control of his automobile.Then just yesterday, news came from a friend that a loved one of theirs who went to sleep, neve...

Jesus was homeless. He said the foxes had holes and the birds had nests, but he had nowhere to lay his head. Would we think him a bum?Jesus told a Samaritan woman that she and her people did not know what they worshipped (John 4:21-22). He even told some Sadducees that they were in error not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29). Would we think him rude?Jesus openly condemned...

God inspired several prophets to speak to the hard-headed and rebellious Israelites. These men were persecuted, ridiculed, defamed and demeaned, yet they preached, taught and wrote what God wanted said.Their messages were absolute truth and the timing and content of their presentations to their fellow Israelites was under the full direction of the wisdom of God. In spite of all of this, they had v...

Did You Deserve Better?Every child deserves a good childhood. This includes you. You should have been born to two loving, caring parents who worked together to make a happy home. If you did not have that, you got cheated, and that’s not fair.It is not fair if you were born into dysfunctional circumstances. It is not fair to you if your parents divorced, or were abusive or were addicts or reprobate...

“Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened…..”, Luke 3:21Jesus prayed as he was beginning his work on the earth. Does it make sense to conclude that it is a good idea to talk with the Lord as you or I begin any worthy effort?“It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God”...

Jesus said in John 13:7, “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” Both the power and pattern of prayer are contained in that verse. Prayer is to an unlimited God, and needs to be presented by a submissive, Scripture-abiding servant of God. Thomas Benton Brooks was on target when he wrote: “If you would have God hear you when you p...

In the Old Testament book of Jonah we find God’s reluctant servant, who may well be like so many servants of Christ in the church today.He was called to serve God by going to Nineveh and preach repentance to the people there. He runs away from doing his job as a servant—gets swallowed by a huge fish, then repents and is spit out on the shore of Nineveh to complete his job. His reluctance is seen i...

The Elders at Choctaw are calling us to consider February as a "Month of Prayer" to help encourage us to walk and talk with God. Our desire is to establish a relationship with the Creator similar to Adam's before sin entered the world and God walked with him as a friend.God has always wanted to dwell in and with man, but the sin problem is always in the way. Thankfully, He prepared a way through t...

Ever been in awkward situations where you would like to say something to someone but just don't know what to say. A death in a family, and you would like to offer condolences but you just don't know what to say. You find a person you know has developed an incurable illness...and you don't know what to say. Maybe it's a suicide, a divorce, or a parent with a "problem child" - a wayward brother or s...

The physical universe in which we live is subject to the passage of time. All things physical within this universe are subject to time. Eternity is not time.In the beginning (a “time” reference”) God created the physical universe and it would seem time itself. We cannot control, manipulate or adjust time in any presently (another “time” reference) known way. We have the means to measure time, and ...

It was noted in last week’s article that bad weather is usually the reason for canceling assemblies of the church. There are, however, other compelling reasons for doing so.This year, for example, Christmas Eve falls on a Wednesday. Traditionally, no other night of the year is as oriented towards home and family. This being true, leadership here has decided to forego holding an assembly on Christm...

The Wednesday night service is as inconvenient a habit as you can have. You have to rush home from work and rush through supper or delay supper until late. Cannot watch your favorite TV shows. Play havoc with sports schedules, hard to tell the coach you cannot make Wednesday night games or practice. If you have kids, it means organizing them when they are tired and getting them to sleep past their...