Articles

The word “love” is used nearly 200 times in the New Testament. It describes one of the most basic fundamentals of the individual’s Christian faith. It is easy to “say” that “I am a loving person” but in reality the Apostle Paul gives us some specific characteristics of love that can and should be demonstrated in our lives. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 4Love is pat...

Next to the statement, “I love you,” I believe the most encouraging words to hear are, “I’d love to…”.I was reminded of this a while back when a regular Bible class teacher had to drop out because of work commitments and I had to find a mid-quarter replacement for this class.Finding Bible school teachers is always a daunting task for the Sunday morning program but a good teacher for a children’s c...

It is a sobering fact that we daily make decisions, and then our decisions make us! Most of life’s decisions are determined amidst three basic arenas: the principles we choose to keep; the people with whom we choose to associate; and the laws we decide to obey. Knowing even Truth is futile unless we decide to do it! Also, it is important to remember that not to decide is to decide!! Many yea...

Once when I was nineteen I found myself pushing my motorcycle along the side of the road because I had run out of gas. Imagine my surprise when a tanker truck pulled off of the highway in front of me. The driver jumped out and came back and asked if I was out of gas. Learning that I was, he quickly produced a plastic container from somewhere, climbed up on top of that big tank, opened a hatch and ...

It is believed that most of the ideas behind the night we now call “Halloween” originated with the Celtic religion of Druidism which flourished for around 300-350 years between the second centuries BC and AD. For the Druids, this night meant that the “lighter” part of the year was coming to an end and the “darker” part was beginning. They further believed that o...

One of the greatest teachings in all of the Bible is often the one some folks have the most trouble believing. I’m writing about the fact that many struggle with believing that God forgives them based solely on their faith in His Son. This is a great irony, since forgiving us is the whole reason why He sent Jesus and then provided the Bible to show us that this has been His intention through...

One of the clearest teachings in Jesus‘ New Testament is that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God‘s glory. Several passages such as Romans 3:23, James 3:2 and 1st John 1:8 & 10 make this clear. But what does this teaching mean to you? Some want to make this teaching mean that since everyone has sinned, no one has the right to correct or even address sin in another person&...

An astronomer was observing the setting sun. His telescope suddenly brought into view a hill seven miles away where two boys could be clearly seen stealing apples. It was obvious by their actions that one boy was stealing the fruit, while the other boy was “keeping watch.” The humor or the tragedy of the entire event was that they assumed they were successful stealers, when to Professo...

Some say, that the baptism Jesus commissioned in Matthew 28:18-20 is, “an outward sign of an inward grace”. This sounds very nice and quite religious, but though I have heard it for years, I cannot believe that it is true. My problem is that this teaching just isn’t found anywhere in the Bible. I have asked some who make this claim to show me where it is taught, but as yet none o...

Within the book of Philippians I find words of encouragement and strength that I believe can help us all as we live the Christian life. Chapter 1 (Prayer that our love will abound) 9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Chris...

The oldest joke about preachers is that when they begin to deal with our true bad habits and sins in their sermons, we say that “they’ve gone from preaching to meddling”. The implication is that preaching is O.K. so long as it teaches me facts about the persons and history connected to the Bible and religion in general. Many people are of the opinion that preaching is acceptable ...

Trust God to be totally aware of the situation about which I am worrying so much about and to do something about it - After all, you and I are so limited in such things as what we know, what we can do about what we know, where we can be, how much energy we have to expend… well, you get the picture. God is not limited in any of these ways. Ephesians 3:20 says that He is able to do far more t...

E.B. Janes makes a sobering and significant observation in an article entitled, “Winning Souls.”1  Janes noted Christ’s words in Matthew 16:26: ―For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?: After giving emphasis on the salvation of our soul being so precious and important, Janes ...

Through the years, I’ve heard a lot of people claim that baptism is not an essential part of our salvation because the thief Jesus took into Paradise was not baptized. Is this sound reasoning? I don’t believe it is for a number of reasons, a few of which I will try to explain below. #1 That thief lived and died under the Old Testament, or Covenant - He died next to the Lord in a time o...

In the Oklahoma City news this week was an article about a small group of Satan worshipers who were having a “Blasphemy ritual” in a local civic center designed to parody a Catholic exorcism. As I watched the reports and listened to the representative of the Satanic cult and two local Baptist ministers making commentary on the whole thing I made a few observations. The first thing I no...

The psalmist has said “My sins have gone over my head and my sins are too heavy to carry.” When we have sin in our lives, we need to know how to get rid of it. Who can best help than the elders, ministers or faithful Christians. The Bible tell us how to over come sin. It takes us from Victim to Victor.   ·         I John 4:4 The reaso...

1. Be sexually pure because it is right. Sexual purity is used in Revelation 14:1-5 to express righteousness. Genesis 1:26-31 and 2:18-25 make it clear that marriage is the only relationship designed for the expression of intimate sexuality (so do many other Bible passages). Defilement comes from sexual relationships outside of marriage. 2. Be sexually pure to maintain your dignity, self-respect a...

These recent weeks have really been hot. When I go out to work, even early in the morning, it doesn't take long for me to be covered in sweat. I don't mind working but I could do without the sweat and the heat. A drink of cool water every now and then really helps. With our days high temperature being around 100 plus degrees, I am reminded of what Jesus taught about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke ...

Since the beginnings of Christianity, the sign of the fish has been used as a symbol of the faith. Although there is no mention of its use in Jesus’ teachings, or that of His apostles or prophets, in many ways it seems an apt symbol to use, assuming any symbol at all should be employed as it has been. But why use the fish? Perhaps the best place to begin answering this question is in the spe...

We humans form habits. The Bible tells of some who were a part of the church, but had developed the habit of forsaking the assembling of the church. The writer warns that that is a bad habit that can lead to a “terrifying expectation of judgment”, Hebrews 10:26-27. The best counter to that bad habit would be to develop the good habit of attending the assemblies of the church on a faith...