Articles

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...

Circumstances sometimes dictate that the leadership here at Choctaw make the decision to postpone or even cancel one or more assemblies of the church. This is always a difficult call for those of us taking part in making the decision, simply because we take every assembly of the Lord’s church seriously.I want to address three specific considerations that are at the forefront of these decisions reg...

PHRASES WE LOVE ANDWANT TO HEAR"Congratulations, it's a ........!""You Passed!""You are the ONLY One!""Your the Winner!""I now pronounce you....!""Your tests came back negative!""I pretty sure we got it all!""I missed you!""I love you __________....!" (fill in the blank)"I'm so proud of you!""How can I help you?""I'm going to let you go with a warning..."Feel free to add your own phrase(s) to the ...

Solomon concluded that the above was the “whole” duty of man in Ecclesiastes 12:13.In the book of Proverbs alone, Solomon used the idea of fearing God or His commandments at least 21 times. Below are a few examples of the positive benefits of fearing the Lord:1:7 – it is the beginning of knowledge3:7 – it is the antithesis of evil9:10 – it is the beginning of wisdom10:27 – it prolongs life13:13 – ...

Matt Patterson in The Oklahoman (November 17, 2014, pp. 1,2A) writes about Marvin and Bobbie Margo’s devotion to OU football. They set a standard of faithfulness to football that each member of the church would do well to consider in his or her faithfulness to God, the Father, as we make our journey into eternity (cf. Rev. 2:10)!Consider their example of attending the games. They got seats for the...

The apostles apparently assuming the worst of a man born blind, asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered:It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Meas long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. John 9:3-4The man’s blindnes...

No one wants to hear that their identity has been stolen. Someone else using your good name for their own personal gain is a terrible thing to do. The idea that someone else would violate your personage by stealing and destroying your reputation is despicable. And to make things worse, it is becoming one of the most common of crimes to date. It takes forever to wade through the red tape trying to ...

Jesus never gave anyone a big bag of money and said, “There, that will solve your problems”. I find it interesting that while Jesus gave sight to the blind, made withered limbs whole and even raised the dead, he never healed anyone of Greed, Lust, Hatred, Pride, Ignorance, Cowardice or any other fault in character or behavior.Jesus never said, “If you really love each other, having sex is not...

Just a word of encouragement for those times when it seems like the whole world is against your faith.God is not concerned with numbers. Never has been.When violence and evil characterized the whole world, he saved eight people on an ark. Only eight were faithful, only eight were preserved.Of the 600,000+ fighting men that came out of Egypt during the Exodus, only two went into the promised land. ...

We are swinging through another cycle of child abuse charges, comments, and confusion. The advocates for removal of privileges type punishment, and bold expressions of cruelty of a belt, paddle, tree limb, or hand action on a girl or boy’s bottom are rising to the surface to express strong statements against any corporal punishment. Sadly, such comments would nullify and eliminate all comments Sol...

A couple of weeks ago I received a practical example of escaping the law. Apparently, as was pointed out to me by an OKC Motorcycle policeman, my foot was weighing far to heavily on the accelerator. I was unaware of my speed so he wished to remind me with a friendly but expensive document. After confirming I wasn't a fugitive from justice he proclaimed my judgment...45 in a 25 construction zo...

I believe we see a microcosm in John 11 surrounding Lazarus’ sickness and death.#1 Jesus openly states that Lazarus’ sickness and death have a specific purpose- “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it”, John 11:4.#2 The wisdom of Jesus’ decision to return to Judea and fulfill this purpose is questioned by his apostles- “Rabbi, ...

Moses was 80 years old and tending his father-in-law’s sheep when God called him to deliver Israel (Exodus 3:1-10). He wasn’t expecting that.Gideon was hiding in a winepress trying to save some wheat for his family when God called him to save Israel from their Midianite oppressors (Judges 6:1-14). He wasn’t expecting that.Peter, Andrew, James & John were working their fishing businesses when Jesus...

Below are just a few things I’ve discovered that really work to keep a church alive and shining the light of Jesus’ gospel.Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Preach the gospel to all creation. Hold fast your profession. Be steadfast and unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. Imitate what is good. Hold firmly to the traditions that were delivered you. Present your body as a...

In one part of the world, people who name Christ as their savior are being murdered and driven from their homes. In another, rioters and looters are terrorizing an entire community. A godless barbarian beheads a journalist and we see the pictures.You and I see only a fraction of what is happening and understand very few of the facts in any of these situations. God, however, sees every single evil ...