As Christians, we praise God. We do so in spoken word, in song, and in other worship. Do we understand what it means to praise God? Do we know what we are doing when we offer “the sacrifice of praise”? In the Old Testament, there are different Hebrew words for “praise.” These different words indicate […]
What is the sin of usury? Please discuss this. Several weeks ago in our Wednesday evening Bible class, the subject of the sin of usury came up. I have to confess that I was not adequately prepared to discuss the subject in detail that evening and as a result could not answer everyone’s question on […]
The Bible is the greatest book ever written for man and the words of the Bible prove this fact over and over again. It has been said that it is the “owner’s” manual for life. Certainly it was written by the one who knows man best-his Creator. Just as we would look to the owner’s […]
On the outside of an old fruit crate sitting in my office is a label: “Liberty Brand / Grown and Packed by Escondido Lemon Assn. / Escondido – Calif. / Sunkist.” I understand that these fruit crate labels today are collectors’ items, though this one has been damaged to the degree that it wouldn’t be […]
Introduction Was Job a real person? Scholars have debated whether or not he was, but other parts of the Bible teach that he was indeed real. In Ezekiel 14:14, 20, Ezekiel places him alongside of both Noah and Daniel as a man who really existed. James also makes reference to him in James 5:11 where […]
In 1980 a movie called “Altered States” came out in which a University Professor of Abnormal Psychology sought to explore whether “our other states of consciousness are as real as our waking states.” In this movie, the professor conducted bizarre experiments with drugs and isolation chambers in order to explore his hypothesis. The fictional movie […]
It was not too many years ago after graduating from college that I took a job working at the student health center at the University of Texas at Austin. Not too long after my employment there, I learned that there was a program in place that actually encouraged the students of the University to have […]
In a recent telephone conversation, a young man asked me about the 144,000 in heaven that will be saved. He had a few conversations with a friend who identified himself with the Jehovah’s Witness religion. His friend believed that there would be only 144,000 in heaven and the rest of the righteous people would inherit […]
We’re all familiar with the VBS tune, “This little light of mine.” We sing this song so as to let our children know that they need to be good examples and positive influences in the world around them. This song also reminds us to practice what we preach and let our light shine too. In […]
How old must a child be before he becomes responsible for his own sin? Isaiah 7:15, 16 suggest that it is the age at which a child knows the difference between good and evil. The age may differ from child to child depending upon the quality of education that the child receives and the amount […]
What does the Bible say about dancing? Is dancing a sin? Is it a sin to go to the prom? Is it a sin to participate in ballet? What does the Bible say about dancing? This is a question, like so many decisions that we have to make in our personal life, which is not […]
Last week we noted the charge of “cult” that denominationalism levels at those who claim to be New Testament Christians today. One of the additional reasons this charge is leveled against us is that to the denominational world, it is unthinkable that the church of Christ (the church that belongs to Christ) would be one […]
Is saying words like gosh, golly, heck, darn, dang, etc. the same as saying the “bad” words? I hear lots of Christians say these words. Are they wrong? Here is a good question. This shows that someone out there is concerned about their speech and the influence of their speech upon other people. The Bible […]
Please open your Bibles to Matthew 3:1-6 Having testified concerning Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy in his birth, Matthew now moves on to Jesus years of ministry. Matthew begins at this point in the history of Jesus life because the critical years of Jesus life were from the time of his baptism to the time of […]
Catholicism has always had a large media spotlight, but recently Catholicism has garnered more media attention that usual. This is because of the scandalous events that have surrounded the Catholic Church as of late. The media has focused the spotlight on the abusive sexual practices of the priests in this institution and rightly so. Any […]
One of the most surprising things (at least to the media pundits) to come out of this past Tuesday’s election was that whopping twenty-five percent of the voters said that morals was the number one issue that drove them to the polls. Prior to the election, there were not many saying that this would be […]
Many years ago, someone gave me this illustration of the grace of God and I haven’t forgotten it since. Suppose you went down to the local car dealership and walked into the front door and someone walked up to you, but instead of saying, “Can I help you,” they said, “Today is your day! Today […]
This past Wednesday night in the high school class, one of our astute and observant high school students asked me why some are calling us a cult. After the death of Matthew Winkler, there were several in the media who were seeking to “analyze” the situation. One Nancy Grace on CNN invited a Baptist “pastor” […]
I am a 19 year old college student. I do know that babies and young children are going to heaven, because our God is a merciful God. I recently got into a tiff with my boyfriend about how they are saved. He says they are saved by faith that He gives the children (Matt 19:13-15) […]
Last week I started an e-mail conversation with a man who was a member of the Methodist church. The conversation started because he had seen an article that I published on our web site, “Is the Church of Christ a Cult?” His contention was that any group that claims that they are the only one’s […]