We have all seen one version or another of the mobster shows where the “hit man” walks up to his good buddy who has had a contract put on his life and say, “Sorry, Rico. It’s not personal, it’s just business.” At which point, Rico’s left ventricle gets very personal with a 32-mag bullet. How […]

The Birth of The King Vs. 18 – Matthew begins to describe how the birth of Jesus took place. He makes it clear that Mary and Joseph’s relationship was in the betrothal phase and that this was prior to any sexual activity (i.e. “before they came together”). Betrothal was similar to what we would consider […]

Our Lord proclaimed, “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19). From this passage it is clear that patience plays an important role in the salvation of the soul. Realizing this, it is imperative that we understand what it is not, what it is, what it accomplishes, and how it is acquired. Patience is […]

The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt stands as a monument and memorial to the pride of Pharaoh Khufu. The pyramid’s base covers 13 acres. It is estimated to contain 2 to 2.8 million blocks of stone, each weighing from 2 to 15 tons. Some 100,000 slaves spent 20 years in its construction. How unlike […]

One of the more curious appellations that we find in the scriptures is the name that Jesus gave to the brothers James and John–Boanerges. Mark records this moniker in 3:17 “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.” One does […]

The mind boggles at the task laid out for Noah. A structure of this size takes months to build with crews of men and machinery. We don’t know the resources at Noah’s disposal. Perhaps he was a wealthy man with manpower to draw on. However we know from the New Testament that God isn’t shy […]

The Psalmist declared, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul taketh refuge in thee: Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge, Until these calamities be overpast. My soul is among lions; I lie among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of men, […]

Stand in the Gap — Tom Moore encourages the men of the church to be faithful in their charges, to not allow the church to be overrun.

Solomon opens chapter two of the great book of Proverbs in an urgent plea for an acceptance of wisdom and discernment. Inspired Solomon sets forth this plea in the form of “conditional statements,” that is, IF we accept the conditions of the promise, THEN the fulfillment of the promise shall be ours to enjoy. We […]

The Bible is certainly not a written record of perfect people. In fact, it’s just the opposite. God’s word points out in painful detail the Bible characters who made mistakes. This is just one of the ways (there are many others) by which we can know that the Bible had to have originated from the […]

Bible Lesson by G. E. Watkins commenting on what some think of as *boring worship* and wondering if God is bored with our worship.

In the Spring of 1994, I took a philosophy class titled, “Interpretation and Translation” in which I was exposed to a theory known as “Reader-Response Criticism.” This theory suggests that the meaning of any particular text is not so much what the author originally intended as much as what the reader personally experiences when reading […]

“LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? . . . He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.” (Psalm 15:1, 4) In the year 2000 I lost my job at EDS and began searching for employment. I picked up some part time work in the interim. […]

We are living in a day when a great many young people/adults have little or no respect for the “hoary head” (“grey” – NKJ) in our number. Yet, the Bible teaches very plainly that we are to have great respect for those blessed in years. If our world would respect and listen to the wisdom […]

“It’s so easy to become narrow minded. So easy to become triumphalist in our own approach in our own religion that to be aware of the way that God expresses Himself in so many languages is essential to becoming Christian” – Preacher, The Church of Conscious Harmony I heard the above statement on an audio […]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the bus ministry was a really strong work among churches of Christ. On many of the buses would be a sign that said, “J.O.Y.” It didn’t take long to learn that J.O.Y. stood for Jesus-Others-You. “Jesus first, others second, yourself last” was the popular mantra. It was a […]

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). To be in Christ is to be different from what we were before we were in Christ. What one was before being in Christ is “old” and what one […]

I’ve never quite had an experience like crossing the border south of the border between Costa Rica and Panama. We arrived at the border late Wednesday night, the evening of January 31st, after a long eight hour bus ride from San Jose through the mountains that caused me to regret having eaten as much as […]

Rend Your Hearts and Not Your Garments – Bible Lesson by Kevin Cauley on the attitude of penitence and lowliness required by God of man

When Jesus stood before Pilate, He was asked the question, “Art thou the king of the Jews?”, (John 18:33). In reply to that question Jesus said, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,” (John 18:37). Jesus also told Pilate that His kingdom was “not of this world.” […]