This writer grew up on a country farm near Samnorwood, Texas back in the 40’s. We didn’t have many paved roads in those days. When it rained, we had to be very careful to keep out of ditches on both sides of the road. Often in trying to keep out of one ditch, it would […]

Authentic leadership is an integral part of a successful Christian life (Joshua 1:1-11; Joshua 24:14-31). Today, I’m posting a link to Michael Hyatt’s web site where he presents The 5 Marks of Authentic Leadership in podcast format. I’ve added appropriate Scriptures.

Isaiah 32:2 speaks of “A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, And a cover from the tempest, As rivers of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

The following rhythmic verses by an unknown author are offered as an encouragement to faithful preachers worldwide:

In John 1:14-17, John records the following about our Lord: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He […]

We have all watched shows from time to time purporting to explain certain “mysteries” within the Bible. Usually in these programs, the writers set forth an allegedly “unexplained” phenomenon discussed in the scriptures and then seek the professional opinions of scholars and educators from different institutions of higher learning. The result of these programs is […]

Several weeks ago, while visiting my wife in the nursing care facility where she resides, we got to talking about where our final resting place will be. Because I am a Vietnam era veteran, both of us can be buried at Fort Bliss cemetery here in El Paso with very little cost to us.

In the 2011, volume 49, number 3 edition of The Sword and Staff publication, pg. 2, comes the following proverbs of wisdom (appropriate Scriptures and related articles have been added):

Why does God refer to Jerusalem as his daughter? The first reference to Jerusalem as a daughter occurs in the Psalms. Psalm 9:13, 14 says, “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: That I may […]

While I’m not a psychologist, I have realized the benefits of talking to myself when I take long walks, or when I am just meditating on God’s word (Psalm 1:1-2). In fact, there are several Bible characters who talked to themselves (Psalm 77:6-7 NIV; Ecclesiastes 2:12,15 NIV; Ecclesiastes 4:8 NIV; 1 Samuel 13:12 NIV; Luke […]

We had recently pointed out that Matthew 25 is filled with parables concerning man’s accountability and responsibility, in this life and before Almighty God. We have not recently had a lesson on verses 31-46 of this chapter, but do have a question about it. One man points out that the area here mentioned seems to […]

SUBJECT: False Doctrine

TITLE: The Doctrines of Gnosticism

PROPOSITION: In this lesson we will examine the doctrines of Gnosticism as newly touted by the popular media in “The Da Vinci Code,” “The Gospel of Judas,” and others.

OBJECTIVE: That each would understand what Gnosticism was, how the New Testament deals with those doctrines and why popular culture gets it wrong.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Read: Jude 1:3-5

In helping raise our only child, there were times when I would hold my hand up to my chin and say to him. “I have had it up to here, and the next time you do something wrong you’re going to have more trouble than you can handle.”

One of the most important topics found in Holy Writ is the prophecy and establishment of the Lord’s church (cf. Isaiah 2:1-3; Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:8; Acts 2; Acts 8:1-6; Acts 10). Throughout the New Year of 2009,

Well, we’re up at the crack of dawn, doing our exercises. We’ve trimmed the fat from our diet and we’re exercising at least three to five days a week in order to keep our cardiovascular system in peak condition. But in the process, we’ve allowed our spiritual heart to become progressively weak. Preoccupied with the […]

When Eve succumbed to Satan’s ploy (Genesis 3:1-6), he played a role in her choices, but she had some faulty thinking about temptation and sin. The devil tempts us, but he doesn’t make us sin.

As we grow older, have we ever felt that we are not needed? If we have, know that we are greatly needed by those who need help along life’s troublesome (and many times, extremely harsh) way. The following poem by an unknown author encourages us to

From Scott Williams’ blog (see bio), comes the above titled article, which warns potential and present leaders of 7 deadly sins to not ever commit. The list consists of the following sins (along with related articles and Scripture):

I heard a TV minister say that if you could not learn to love your spouse then you could not learn to love Jesus. Is this true? This is absolutely true 100%. Notice what John says in 1 John 4:21, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: […]

For many, the Old Testament is the “boring” part of the Bible. Their reasoning is that it contains little in the way of instruction for the Christian, certainly not like the more practical epistles in the New Testament. But in one of those epistles, the apostle Paul says, “For whatever was written in earlier times […]