Articles

For Ten Years you have found here, Marty’s articles that could much endear; But this week, both his and your eyes, Will find in writing a fitting surprise! His article this week just does not suit, To give to Himself an appropriate tribute, For ten years of special dedicated deeds, That were designed to meet congregational needs! Oh, he has blest more than the congregation, With his timely t...

Time and again I’ve heard the expression, “You can’t legislate morality” and wondered whether those touting this line have thought through what they were saying. We do not “legislate” morality, but we must legislate behavior. Anyone in authority over others not only has the right, but the obligation to do so. From national governments all the way down to our own...

There is a fifth reason I want to identify in this continuation of last week’s article. That reason is that the rest of Jesus’ New Testament after the gospels shows us that His apostles carefully and specifically followed the pattern of work He laid out for them. In Acts chapter two we see Peter preaching Jesus to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. He tells th...

John the apostle writes in the first chapter of his gospel that those who receive Jesus, defined as those who believe in Him, are given the right to become children of God, John 1:12. He does not tell us here at what point believers actually become children of God, perhaps because he is saving that for Jesus Himself to introduce in chapter three. In chapter three, a man by the name of Nicodemus co...

Mark records at least nine different times in his gospel when Jesus forewarned His disciples that He would be arrested, abused, crucified and resurrected (8:31-33, 9:9-12, 30-32, 10:32-34, 45, 12:1- 11, 14:3-8, 22-25 & 26-28). Matthew tells us that even as Jesus was being arrested He told those present at least twice that what was happening was in order to fulfill what the prophets had said (2...

I remember being a part of a group of students that visited a denominational church many years ago as part of a school assignment. We were to learn as much as we could about them from one of their leaders. While taking a guided tour of their place of worship, we noticed that they had a communion table much like the ones with which we were familiar in the church. One difference, however, was that t...

Our best opportunity for reaching out with the gospel of Jesus happens every time we assemble. There is almost always someone here from the community and they are paying us a great compliment when they come among us. In the world, people we don’t know are strangers to us. But this must not be true when we get together as the Lord’s people. I am convinced that out heavenly Father doesn&...

In 2 Chronicles 14:2, we read that Asa did good and right in the sight of the LORD his God. When he became king, he instituted several reforms to remove foreign gods and foreign religious practices from the land, even removing his mother from being the queen mother because of her idolatrous practices. During his reign, Zerah the Ethiopian came out against Judah/Benjamin with an army of a million m...

The Bible says so: There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God’ all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness&helli...

In Eph 5:18-19 is said “and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Col 3:16 What can we learn here? 1. Songs Teach 2. Songs Edify 3. Songs Encourage In Deuteronomy 31:19 God told Moses to write a song. We note that songs teach us of Go...

Years ago I owned an old pickup truck. The worm gear in the steering box was so worn that when driving, you had to continually steer from left to right just to drive in a straight line. It drove all right, you just had to stay on top of it and make continual corrections. The brakes worked ok too, as long as you pumped them up a cou-ple of times before you really needed them. Otherwise, you might e...

Consider this past Friday. On the other side of the world, a huge and devastating earthquake hit Japan and was soon followed by an even more disastrous tsunami. We still don’t know how many have been killed. The damage to the Japanese economy, infrastructure and the everyday workings of life are inestimable. While such an incomprehensible tragedy was taking place there, here at home in Oklah...

Recently the men who attended our “Married Men Support Group” were asked to suggest ways that men could improve as husbands. Below is a sampling of some ideas that were brought forth. 1. Listen to her. Stop doing whatever else you may be doing and look at her and listen. Write things down if you have to for recall. 2. Show leadership in your family and Christian household. 3. Reassure her often th...

One of the most common reactions that new elders have at being selected for this position is a feeling of unworthiness. After all, we’re giving a man the responsibility of watching over the eternal souls of hundreds of people. This is quite a responsibility and a certain hesitation and sense of humility is natural. In order to provide encouragement I believe the Lord has included several ways to r...

When selecting servants who keep watch over your souls (Heb. 13:17), the Holy Spirit’s divine directives are quite succinct and sobering. When the apostles called for brethren to select men for special service in that first congregation, they gave qualifications (seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom), plus the sobering charge, “look out...from among yourselves&rd...

In the floor of Carlisle Cathedral in Carlisle England, is the tomb of Bishop Richard Bell who died in 1496. Engraved into the brass that covers his tomb are depictions of animals such as a dog, a pig, a bird, an eel, a fish and a weasel. In addition to these “usual” animals, however, are what appear to be obvious representations of two large quadruped type dinosaurs. Even more interes...

Consider the lowly battery. They produce work by causing electrons to flow from itself through a conductor into something else. You can’t see the electrons as they move, but you can verify the movement by whatever is connected to the battery. If , when it performs its function, then we know the battery is charged and empowering whatever it is connected to. Today’s lineup of batteries i...

For years we have been told and our children have been taught in our schools that dinosaurs have been extinct for around 65,000,000 years. I have to wonder then, why there is no consideration given to the huge body of evidence that says otherwise. I would like to highly recommend to you, the book, The Dinosaur Delusion, by Eric Lyons and Kyle Butt, from which most of the following information has ...

Did the title get your attention? What are you expecting this article to say? Do you think I’m going to talk about 900 phone numbers, or maybe pornography, or the difference in the male and female species? Nope. “Sex Sells” is the cry from retailers and the media. Perhaps I want to sell you a car, or a pair of blue jeans. How about a bag of potato chips? Surely that was what God ...

In other words, don’t be too quick to make someone a leader in the church, 1st Timothy 5:22. To do so, is to share responsibility for the evil they would do. This warning brings to light the gravity of selecting and appointing the shepherds that will provide the care and leadership a congregation needs. Consider also that such leaders are likely the ones who will set the tone in a church fam...