Articles

The recent trend in education and politics to remove any mention of God or the Bi-ble is really a subtle attack on individual rights and freedoms. Eliminating faith from public life weakens the nation’s understanding that man’s individual rights and free-doms are created and given by God, not the “State”. I believe that the endgame of removing the Bible from education and politics is to return us ...

George Gritter was scripturally sound when he observed (and passages are given to verify that fact):    God is holy; He hates sin; (I Pet. 1:15f; Prov. 6:12-19) God is just; He condemns sin; (Deut. 32:4; Prov. 12:2) God is sovereign; He punishes sin; (I Chron. 29:11f; Isaiah 13:11) God is gracious; He forgives sin!”¹ (Tit. 2:11-14; Lk. 24:44-47; Rom.5:6-11)   What a verification of ...

I have a problem with www.  Not the Internet www, (world wide web), but rather with “Wait”, “Want”, and “Why”. Let me explain… I have a “wait” problem.  I am impatient.  I don’t always want to wait on anything or anyone. This causes me a difficult situation when I appeal to God for something and He says, “w...

Watching people die is always a growth experience. I don’t say this lightly because the trauma for family and friends is real and painful. But if you’re in the medical profession or serve as a hospice worker or minister, the constant passing of people from this life to the next occurs repeatedly in your everyday work and serves more to teach than frighten or depress. It seems the more I help peopl...

Solomon has written in the Psalms (127:3-5) that children are a gift of the Lord.  They are gifts, however, that come as do-it-yourself kits.   It takes a child to make a father.  Yes, I know we usually think of it the other way around, but it is true.  It is true biologically, and it is especially true relationally.  A man is not truly a father unless he be...

God looks on the heart.  No one can see our hearts but Him.  Regardless of the strength of my faith, it does no one any good whatsoever if all I do is “have” it.     So God has sent His Son to teach us, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in heaven”, Matthew 5:16.   People ca...

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came to see him and the Israelites after they had been delivered from Egypt (Exodus 18:1-27).  Seeing Moses serve as a judge over all of the issues that arose among the people from morning until evening, he counseled him to make a change.   Jethro told Moses to choose able men who feared God, were honest and who hated dishonest gain. &nb...

1. If not for a serpent, their lives could have been much easier. Genesis 3:1-24   2. They both laughted about having a child. Genesis 17:17 & 18:12   3. She rode into his life on a camel. Genesis 24:64   4. He loved her enough to work fourteen years to marry her. Genesis 29:15-30   5. God used their son to part the Red Sea and do many other miraculous things. Exodus 6...

One of the saddest, most tragic events recorded in scripture is the death of Uriah the Hittite due to David’s attempt to cover his own sin.  The account is given in 2nd Samuel chapter eleven. Below are seven observations about Uriah based on Samuel’s account.  I believe every member of God’s kingdom would do well to emulate him.   1. Though he was a foreigner ...

You may notice if you read the Revelation that there are at least five seeming counterfeits to God’s originals.   First there is the figure of God’s servants pictured as being “sealed on their foreheads”, 7:3.  Contrast this holy sealing with the “mark of the beast” on those who worship the  beast that rises up from the earth, 13:16. &nb...

1. Be sexually pure because it is right.  God even used the image of sexual purity to express righteousness in Revelation 14:1-5.  Genesis 1:26-31 and 2:18-25 make it clear that marriage is a pure relationship (so do many other Biblical passages).  Defilement comes from sexual relationships outside of marriage.   2. Be sexually pure to maintain your dignity and s...

In several weeks we will be celebrating the graduation of our high school & college seniors. As a congregation we are proud of their achievement and share their joy in reaching this important milestone.As in every success story, there are usually many individuals who have contributed to the final outcome and graduation is no exception. One person that probably figures most in these young persons’ ...

A wise patriot in our land stated: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Knowing the eternal consequences, no Christian dares to fail! Brother or Sister, how prepared are you to respond to Peter’s challenge to be “ready to answer every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you” (I Pet. 3:15)? If you ARE NOT READY, serio...

In an environment where sin rules, anyone who attempts to introduce God’s teachings will almost instantly be vilified.  This is how the world responded to Jesus.  If we do  things His way today, we should expect the same.   Isaiah said there were those who in his day called evil good and good evil.  They substituted darkness for light and light for darkness, bit...

Senior “moments” usually refer to bouts of forgetfulness that seem to overtake all of us as we grow older. However, these moments can also refer to insights and lessons that come if you have been around for a while. I will be 65 in a few weeks and have had my own moments when the brain synapses were not all firing but along with these were a few moments of clarity about life that only age can reve...

Brother Norman Gipson came into a noon-gathering of fellow teachers at the Sunset School of Preaching, looking tired and weary. His explanation related to a home Bible study the previous evening, resulting in a disturbed and long night of song writing. The song related to what had transpired that night. Carefully note the words of that song:  “I talked to a man about Jesu...

The word god is not God’s name.  That is not to say that using the term flippantly is a virtuous practice.  All references, even allusions to the creator of the universe should be of utmost respect.  But “God” is not God’s name.  So what is His name?   When Moses asked this question, God told him that he was to refer to Him as I Am Wh...

Isaiah spoke of Jesus in a passage that looked to the coming salvation of God (Isaiah 52 & 53). He said that, “...his visage was so marred more then any man…”. He was like a root out of a dry ground and when he would be seen there would be no beauty that would make him desirable. He said that he would be despised and rejected and acquainted with grief and...

I wonder how many times I said that, or something similar, while my children were growing up.  It was the ultimatum that said that there would be no negotiation; this was the way it was to be.  As long as my children remained under my roof they were to abide by my authority.  After all, aren’t parents responsible to prepare and teach them for “life&rd...

As a preacher I’ve long ago discovered that home is where you’re preaching at the moment. My wife and I often talk about the disconnect we feel because of a ministry that leads us to move an average of every seven years or so.In my prayers I’ve asked God to help me feel “at home” wherever I happen to be working and He’s accommodated me in a peculiar way. I always feel the same familiar comfort whe...