Articles
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...
Decisions determine destiny. Every person reading this article is headed for heaven or hell. Neutral you cannot be! Sorrowful or sublime tomorrows by God’s grace and Christ’s Covenant are the forecast potential of every person. John, by inspiration, succinctly stated these sobering sentiments, entwined with a personal plea: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the ...
Sometimes God surprises us. Not just with big things but with random blessings that sprinkle our day with evidence of His constant love and incredible kindness towards us. Here are a few random blessings that immediately come to mind. 1. The sweet smell of newly mowed grass floating into your car as you drive by on a cloudless summer day. 2. An unexpected apology from an estranged friend. 3....
I found out the secret of losing weight fast! Before I tell you my secret though, I have to tell you how I discovered it. Linda and I had just returned from visiting her relatives, but while I was there, everyone kept commenting on the weight I had lost since they had last seen me. I basked in the “loser’s glow” limelight for a while; actually beginning to believe I looked &ldquo...
(from Genesis 3:1-24) Life gets tougher when you don’t do what is right Adam and Even had it made in the garden. Every need was fulfilled and they were together with God, the source of all good things. They crossed an obvious line into disobedience against what they knew to be right and their whole lives changed. Don’t listen to a liar, especially one who doesn’t have your...
While there is no passage outlining the exact order of that final day, we can read of each of the following events and know that they will be included: First of all, that day will come at a time when we are not expecting it: For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:44 …you yourselves know full...
I have known a lot of people through the years who made it a practice to avoid the issue of their need for Jesus. They do so in the vain hope that their own morality will be their salvation. Actually, what they are counting on is that their lack of gross immorality is their ticket to not being punished. You can see this idea in popular movies such as “Ghost” (1990... man, has it really...
One thing the quiet of night affords you is the time and silence to hear yourself think of all the things that might go wrong with your life. It must have been such a moment that drove my youngest daughter, Emilie, to seek some reassurance one stormy night long ago. Her falling asleep was interrupted by thoughts of the possibility of losing one’s salvation. "What if", she asked, "a person does som...
Maura Kelly and Rebecca Webber give us some sobering statements about speech. They were seeking to determine if cursing and slanderous speech are to be recognized as a crime or condoned as a proper privilege under the label of free speech, which is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.¹ It is obvious there is no clear or settled conclusion in our nation. They reported that som...
On July fourth, 1776, the Continental Congress of the thirteen American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. A new nation was born taking upon itself the responsibility for self-government. But the founding fathers, and indeed other national leaders who followed them, understood that without the dependence of individual citizens on Almighty God, our form of government would be ...