• I Have Found a Friend in Jesus

    We’re quite familiar with these lyrics. You’re probably singing the next words of this song in your mind right now… it’s a message, a song that speaks to us tenderly with comfort. And it’s true… so true!

    You may be thinking this about me: “He’s being a bit too familiar… lacking in respect for the Son of God Almighty!” But I assure you, that I am not. For I hold God and His Son in great reverence! Jesus, the Son of God, is the source of eternal life through God’s grace John 3:16. I am humbled by their presence, when I…

  • A Great Evangelistic Tool

    I think it works better than radio, better than auto-dialers, better than showings of Jule Miller filmstrips, better than mailing out a bulletin, better than Dial-a-Bible-Reading, better than debates, better than cable TV.

    What is it? It's brethren not being conformed to the world.

    If a church is made up of people who understand 184 current and past issues correctly, but their lives do not show superior conduct, servitude, and holiness, don't expect an auto dialer, computer, printer, broadcast antenna, or cable outlet to compensate for the failure.

    When church members think like the world, dress like the world, talk like the world,…

  • The Road to Rome

    With the death of Paul VI, in the recent past, the world was once again treated to the spectacle of the burial and replacement of a pope. And what a spectacle it was! As we watched the televised pomp and pageantry of what was billed as a “simple funeral service,” we found it difficult to conceive that all of this was supposed to be in fulfillment of the will of the One who said: 

    But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is…

  • Sacrificial Giving
  • The Worst Kind of Person
  • Conversion of Cornelius

        In Acts 10 we are introduced to Cornelius.  Prior to this chapter he is unknown.  We quickly learn that he and his family are Gentiles in Caesarea.  He is a centurion in a group called the Italian Cohort of the Roman Army.  We learn he is a devout man, he and his household feared God, he gave many alms and prayed to God continually.  He did all this as a Gentile.

        Cornelius was God-fearing but needed to be taught.  He needed to know more.  He was sent a vision by an angel of the Lord.  The vision told him…

  • When was Saul saved?

    There is a common belief in the religious world today that sinners are saved at the moment they are convinced by the gospel and come to believe in Jesus. Since salvation is not of works but of faith, sinners must be saved as soon as they believe and give their lives to Jesus. The reasoning seems sound, but what do the Scriptures say?

    Some years ago, I was studying with some co-workers, and I asked the question, “When was Saul saved?” Many denominational preachers will talk of Saul being saved on the road to Damascus. Is that what happened? We looked…

  • What Does Self-Control Look Like?
    1. People with self-control master their moods. To be godly, you must control your mind (Phil 4:8; Col 3:1-4). Rick Warren has written, “Most of what gets done in the world is accomplished by people who do the right thing even when they don’t feel like it.” Again, this takes us back to the definition of self- control: “overruling your emotions because of a higher goal.”
    2. People with self-control restrain their reactions. Many people make excuses because they do not…
  • Self-Control

    What is the value of self-control? Self-control is that which enables us to hold our tongues when we are tempted to viciously put someone in his place once and for all; or when we know a juicy bit of gossip that would be entertaining to the group and would turn us into the "life of the party"; or when an occasion almost demands that we betray a confidence that must not be betrayed under any circumstances.

    Self-control is that which enables us to control our passions when another is provoking us to anger; that keeps the clinched fists in the pockets…

  • Who are the sons of God in Genesis 6?
  • The Great Debates
  • Jehovah Jireh

    When I think of Abraham in the Old Testament, I think of a faith I can only strive to attain. God asked Abraham to go to a mountain and offer his son Isaac, who he had waited so long to have, as a burnt offering. I can’t imagine what Abraham was thinking in those moments and the dread he potentially would have been feeling on his journey. Nonetheless, Abraham trusted in God and told Isaac, when he questioned where the lamb was, “The Lord will provide.”

    Earlier in Abraham’s life, God had made a covenant with him and gave him three…

  • Hurry Up and Wait

    “I’m in a hurry to get things done…” These well-known lyrics, written by Roger Murrah and sung by Alabama, describe the fast pace of modern American life. We want to go, go, go … and under normal conditions, which is exactly what we do. However, due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of “normal life” have come to a screeching halt. The “shutdown” that we originally thought might last only a few days has dragged on for over two months. People have grown increasingly…

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