"Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the LORD" (Ephesians 5:19).

"Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth" (Psalm 96:1).

Why sing?

To others…	To othersTo God
Encourage Teach Admonish Express cheer Express various emotions	Thank God Cry out to Him Express our joy Offer praise to Him Worship Him

• Why did Moses and the Israelites sing (Exodus 15: 1 –…

I'm going to let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine,
ALL the time.

Many of us have sung this song all our lives, not remembering a time we did not. We think of it only as a children's song to be sung during Bible classes and VBS. However, as adults shouldn't we also let our little light shine?

The impact of these words was "brought to light" (sorry for the pun) June 6^th during Eastside's VBS. As Gary Kerr was beginning the song section for the evening we were…

It is not the mission of the church to furnish amusement for the world or even for its own members. Innocent amusement in proper proportion has its place in the lives of normal people, but it is not the business of the church to furnish it. The church would come off a poor second if it undertook to compete with institutions established for the express purpose of entertaining people. It would make itself ridiculous if it entered into such competition.

Again, it is not the responsibility of the church as such to furnish recreation for its members. A certain…

Few bulletin articles begin with a warning, but I feel compelled to provide advance notice that this article will contain some quite explicit, though not vulgar, language. One would not be far off the mark if he said that the Bible begins and ends with references to the shame of nakedness (Genesis 3:7-10; Revelation 3:18), yet few today seem to have a sense of shame or modesty when it comes to the display of their bodies. No, complete public nakedness is still uncommon, but when Adam hid because he was naked, could his fig leaves have covered much less than…

The word "covet" is found (in various forms) eighteen times in the Old Testament and twenty-two times in the New Testament. Webster defines covet: "to desire (passionately) [especially, something that another person has]." The Greek meaning of the word is "to fix the desire upon (syn., lust)."

The Christian is bound by the Law of Christ with such passages as Colossians 3:5, "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." The nature of covetousness is the act of idolatry. In this realm, God is not put…

(slightly adapted)

I know you have seen it on T-shirts, sweatshirts, bracelets, necklaces, lapel pins, bumper stickers, and castings on trunk lids. I am referring to the little fish symbol which sometimes has the five letters on it. To many people, it has become as much a symbol of the Christian faith as the cross itself.

What does it mean? What are those funny letters? What difference does it make?

The symbol is called an ichthus (pronounced "ickthoose"), which is a Greek word for "fish," and is spelled by those five Greek…

A study by Harvard researchers tracked 38,000 men, aged 40 to 75, for 12 years. The results revealed that "those who drank alcohol had 35 to 40 percent fewer heart attacks" and that "the best results came from drinking almost every day." The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

We are certain that there will be some folks, even some of our brethren, who will quickly latch onto this study and use its results as a further argument to "justify" the practice of "moderate, social drinking." This is anticipated, unfortunately, because there have always been…

There is an argument for God that I would like for you to consider. This argument says that without the Christian world-view (which is simply the comprehensive belief system, as taught in the Bible), nothing in the world could make rational sense. This is based on three sets of natural laws supported in the scripture:

1. Laws of Logic (e.g., the law of non-contradiction (LNC))
2. Uniformity of Nature (Laws of nature, the preconditions of science)
3. Laws of morality

This is known as the presuppositional approach to apologetics. No other world-view than that of the Bible, including atheism, Buddhism or…

"Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hikiah, and Masseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishel, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand." (Nehemiah 8:4)

Ezra stood at a wooden podium. Other translations use the word pulpit. Ezra stood at the pulpit. What follows is that he opened the book of God read from it and then explained it so that everyone understood. Today, we'd say, 'Ezra preached.'

I have stood behind several pulpits recently. Most were wooden.…

The use of fleshly incentives to draw people to worship services is becoming more and more common. One church offers free cokes, doughnuts, and balloons to its bus riders. Another offers a prize to the child who brings the most visitors. Still another uses some sports figure or entertainer to attract a crowd. Dinners and socials; elaborate church buildings; "Friendliest church in town" or "Fastest-growing church in town" advertising; the list of gimmicks is almost endless.

A study of 1 Corinthians, chapters 1 and 2, suggests that the people of our generation are not the first to demand fleshly…