Articles

Apologetics defined – “reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine”. Apologetics must be valuable because the Holy Spirit sprinkled them throughout God’s word. Here are a few examples (note – ff means “and following”): Psalm 19:1ff – “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”….. Exa...

Self-control is the ability to live with restraints. In the Greek, the word for self-control is Enkrateia meaning ‘having a great force within, but under control.’ Self- control is the last Fruit of the Spirit that is listed in Galatians chapter 5 but that doesn’t make it the least important. The world looks at the self-control demanded in Scripture and sees it almost as weakness. It most often co...

After the birth of Jesus, Joseph is told in a dream to take Mary and their Son to Egypt to avoid the threat against his life from Herod (Matthew 2:13). In this short passage we learn a few truths about the enemies of Jesus. To the Enemies Of Jesus, Nothing Is Off Limits: “…Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him (Matthew 2:13).” Herod was fearful of losing his power and authority. H...

We can read in John’s gospel, 6:1-14 of how Jesus fed about 5,000 people with only 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. When everyone was filled, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers! How that happens, I don’t know, but Jesus does. Later, some of those folks were still looking for him, but he said, “…you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (6:26). The s...

One of the most well-known and beloved stories in relation to the Christmas season is “The Christmas Carol”. It was written in a matter of six weeks by author Charles Dickens. It was first published on December 18th, 1843, and after 179 years, it is still a best seller. What is it about this work of fiction that is so intriguing to people, even after all this time? I believe the answer for many is...

Entertainer Bing Crosby spent 25 weeks touring with the USO, entertaining servicemen in Britain, Belgium, and France during WWII. His rendition of the popular song, "White Christmas" was constantly requested by troops during Bing's USO appearances overseas, which gave the singer mixed feelings. "I hesitated doing it because it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men, that it made them sad,"...

Psalm 1:6 “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” - According to the psalmist, there are two paths in life we can take. The path we take is determined by our decisions. Here are five choices every person needs to make in order to walk the right path. Listen To The Right People “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked” If we want to be...

There’s a saying, “No one is too bad to go to church; neither is anyone good enough to stay away.” As I pay attention to what people outside of Christ think about church, it seems that they think the opposite of this saying. They believe they are too bad to go and those who do go will be fine to “skip” whenever they want, so to speak. This frame of thought comes from a misconception about what chu...

Luke’s gospel records a time when Jesus was approached by ten lepers who asked him to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests. As they left to do so, their leprosy was cleansed. But Luke writes that only one of them returned to give Jesus thanks and glorify God. Hence Jesus’ question, “Were there not ten?” (Luke 17:11-19). Why did it matter to Jesus what these men ...

Now that I’m officially in the family, what is the first message I want to share with all of my new brothers and sisters in Choctaw? I’m going to “pull a Paul” and take a page out of his books. In nine of his thirteen New Testament writings, Paul begins with a message of thankfulness. If you’ve never noticed this, take a look and see for yourself. “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for al...

Perhaps it is because what soldiers do parallels what Jesus did in several ways. 1) Soldiers leave behind the comforts of home. So did Jesus: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of m...

1st Kings 17 records a time when God sent his prophet Elijah to a Gentile woman of Sidon on the coast of Phoenicia. She was a widow, but God told Elijah that he was sending him to her so that she could provide for him and hide out from wicked king Ahab (18:10). Odd, wouldn’t you think? God had stopped the rain so as to bring a famine on the land (18:2) but sends his prophet to be cared for by a wi...

I don’t mean what place do you go to pray, but rather where does your prayer take you? The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our high priest, and since he is, we can come to God’s throne with confidence (4:14-16). A bit later, however, something is written that would have profound meaning for those who understood worship under the Old Covenant of Moses: “This hope we have as an anchor o...

If you are ever in any church service and want to suck the air out of the room, bring up modesty. Unfortunately, that word causes intense debate in the Christian community, but it shouldn’t. Modesty is actually a very attractive trait and something all Christians should strive for. So, why is it so controversial to talk about in the church? Because it gets down to the very heart of the individual....

It’s been said, “If you have nothing for which to be thankful, make up your mind that there’s something wrong with you.” As Christians, we are called to be giving constant thanks to the Lord. I think we have a hard time understanding what it means to give constant thanks. As a people, it’s very easy to focus on all the negatives and trials and sweep the positives under the rug. We constantly focus...

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 on this night the veil between the li...

Most people have some sort of streaming service in this period in time and everything out there has ads. Whether it’s coming from our phone or tv while we’re watching movies, shows, listening to music or playing games, very dark content is delivered straight to our minds through ads. This content glorifies Satan, demons, blaspheming of God, torturing people, doing hardcore drugs, having inappropri...

Football season is here. The lights. The roar of the crowds. The rivalries and team spirit. The hot dogs and soda pop. It is time to go to the games and support the team. I’ve been going to the games for years. I know that it’s the right thing to do. I know I should, but I’m not going this year. Do you want to know why? I’ll give you 12 good reasons why I am not attending those football games anym...

I was a little surprised at myself at how sad the news of her parting made me feel. More puzzling, is that I am having a hard time putting it into words as to exactly why losing her saddens me like it does. Already I feel as though we will miss her greatly. Of one thing I am certain, her behavior demanded our respect. She bore the unique burden of royal leadership with such grace and dig...

The above is a direct quote of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia, 6:2. Wow! Helping someone with their troubles fulfills the law of our Lord? Yes, that is what his apostle writes, but how do you bear another’s burden? Following are a few suggestions: Ask how they are doing, then listen to their response. In the process of listening, keep your judgments and advice to yourself. Those with hea...