Why do so many educated people find it so hard to take personal responsibility for their actions and morality? Looking to primitive superstitions for an answer to every moral dilemma seems to remove the need to develop our own mental tools for dealing with the problems that living in modern societies present us. Do you […]
What does it mean to be edified? Without doing a scientific survey, my guess is that most people would say that being edified means to be encouraged, to make to feel better, or to have a more positive attitude. So, I did some searching on the Internet to see if my guess was accurate or […]
When I took my logic class in school, one of the things that we learned was how to define our terms. One way to define something was to simply point to it and say, “That is it!” This method, of course, assumes that you indeed know what it is that you are trying to define, […]
Perhaps some of you have heard the recent country song by Tracy Byrd titled, “The Truth About Men.” The song claims to speak for all men and touts several aspects of the male gender such as eating potato chips, watching football, looking at the tools at Home Depot, hunting, golfing, playing guitars, watching action movies, […]
The book of James has been called the “Proverbs” of the New Testament due to the amount of practical matter that the book discusses. Among the various topics within the book, there is a discussion of heavenly wisdom. This discussion begins in James 3:13. James compares and contrasts the wisdom that is from above versus […]
He said, “Are you an inspired apostle?” To ask the question is to get the answer. There are no inspired apostles living today. So why was the question asked? All who find themselves on the wrong end of the sword of the Spirit ask this question. They reason, “I am not wrong; I can’t be […]
Listen Date written: October 12th, 2001Scripture ref: Matthew 16:13-19 SUBJECT: Gospel Meeting: Back to the Bible Pattern TITLE: Pattern for the Church PROPOSITION: The New Testament provides a pattern for the church. There is a pattern for its 1) Establishment, 2) Organization, 3) Name, and 4) Mission. Those “churches” that do not conform to this […]
Listen Date written: September 28, 2001 Scripture ref: Colossians 3:17 SUBJECT: Gospel Meeting: Back to the Bible Pattern TITLE: Pattern for Authority PROPOSITION: We need to go back to the Bible Pattern for our Authority: 1) For our standard of authority, 2) To learn obedience to God’s authority; 3) To understand the principle of Authority. […]
Part 1 Part 2 Date written: September 24th, 2001 Scripture ref: Romans 6:17 SUBJECT: Bible TITLE: The Bible – Our Pattern from God PROPOSITION: In this lesson, we want to understand more about the Bible – God’s Pattern: 1) The Definition of God’s Pattern 2) The Source of God’s Pattern 3) The History of God’s […]
Of the many different characteristics of the church there is that of being the body of Christ. Perhaps this metaphor is most illustrative in one of Paul’s letters to Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 12:14-16, Paul writes, “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the […]
With the passing of Thanksgiving weekend our holiday season has begun. Times of food, fun, and fellowship with friends and family await. It should be a time to exchange gifts and make long lasting and joyous memories. However for some it will be a time of sorrow because in addition to the expectation of many […]
The old spiritual song “Roll Jordon, Roll” states, “I want to go to heaven when I die.” This phrase epitomizes each and every Christian’s longing and desire for eternal life. It was stated concerning Abraham in the book of Hebrews 11:13-16: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them […]
When looking at the cases of conversion within the book of Acts, the case of Cornelius and his household presents some unique challenges to understanding God’s plan for man’s salvation. The account of this conversion is found in Acts chapters 10 and 11. Cornelius conversion was unique in that he was the first Gentile to […]
In our lifetime we are going to sin (1 John 1:7-10). Undoubtedly, some of those sins are going to be committed in the presence of others. There are going to be times when we either do not recognize that what we did was a sin, or that we understand it to be a sin but […]
In Matthew 18:13ff, Jesus presents a very important question to these disciples. He says, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” The disciples said that some people are saying that you are John the Baptizer; some people say that you are Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Jesus then […]
There is only one place in the Bible where the expression “faith only” is used. It is much more than significant that the word “not” is right before this expression. James writes, “Ye see that by works a man is justified and not by faith only” (James 2:24). James answers the question whether one is […]
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 […]
Romans 1:16 boldly declares that God’s power for salvation is within the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul teaches that the basis of the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. What does the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus represent? It represents radical transformation. Could there be a more […]
One of the great questions that faces our day is the question of why there are so many denominations around us. It is clear from the scriptures that the followers of Christ were to be united in doctrine and practice. Jesus prayed for the unity of the believers in John 17. Paul condemned the factious […]