Throughout the New Testament, we read of individuals apostatizing from the faith, i.e., Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:14), Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Timothy 2:17-18) and Demas (2 Timothy 4:10). These examples of apostasy should cause us to ask the following question: What precipitates apostasy? 1) Some […]

It seems that the commercialization of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is more prominent today than ever before, with television ads displaying Christmas merchandise even before

Brother Richard Mansel, preacher of the gospel, and managing editor of Forthright Magazine, made the following statement and asked this question in The Fellowship Room yesterday regarding Revelation Chapter 6: “Revelation 6:12-14 are the most challenging passages. What do you think they mean?” The following is my response to his question:

The church is the spiritual kingdom of Christ on earth. The kingdom and the church have the same identifying marks. A study of the following scriptures reveals they are not separate institutions on the earth: 1) Used interchangeably – Kingdom (Matthew 16:19) – Church (Matthew 16:18). 2) Comprised of saints – Kingdom (Colossians 1:13) – […]

After mastering the Scriptures and sensing that God had spoken to him again and again through its inspired pages (2 Timothy 3:16), John Bunyan went on to be a preacher and an author of more than sixty books, including his classic allegory, “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (see review). Regarding Bible study, Bunyan once stated:

This writer grew up in a time (1940‘s and 1950‘s) when spanking was considered one of the standard methods for disciplining and correcting a child’s behavior. It was not considered abusive in any sense of the word. However, for the past twenty to thirty years, so-called child psychology “experts” have been telling us that spanking […]

Having just returned from a week’s vacation in which we drove approximately 1500 miles, I can attest to the fact that we would not have arrived at our intended destinations were it not for some kind of directions. Directions can be a set of instructions that you have that tell you where to go to […]

In Acts 17:2-7, the scripture states the following concerning Paul: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, […]

SUBJECT: Mosaic Law TITLE: On The Old Covenant PROPOSITION: In this lesson we will discuss three things concerning the Old Covenant 1) Its Application, 2) Its Aim, 3) Its End. OBJECTIVES: Each hearer should be able to state why we live under the new covenant and not the old covenant today and cite appropriate scripture […]

What does it mean when we become the Bride of Christ? Are we already a Bride when we believe and born again? Revelation speaks of Christ coming for His Bride? Please tell me more about Bride of Christ. Thanks for your good question. The idea of being the “bride of Christ” is *symbolic* of our […]

What does S, T, P, O, and A stand for in your sermon outlines? Those are the first letters of the Subject, Title, Proposition, Objective, and Aim of the sermon. I refer to those items at the end of the introduction, so I have a note at the end of the introduction to remind me […]

In performing our day-to-day tasks, there are days our computers help us to “fly like an eagle.” Other times, they bog us down like quicksand. On “eagle days” we’re grateful for our computers, but there are those “quicksand days” when we probably rue the day we ever bought one.

While secular education is certainly important (we all have to make a living in some manner), being educated biblically is far more important because biblical principles teach us how to properly relate to God as well as to our fellowman (Matthew 22:37-40; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 30:6). The teaching of spiritual and moral […]

In my mind this word conjures up scenes of family members around a dining room table. On that table sits a roast turkey, giblet gravy, mom’s homemade dressing, sweet potatoes, and grandma’s hot pecan pie. A thanksgiving prayer is said unto our Creator for the bounteous blessings he bestows upon us daily. A blessing is […]

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered, LOVE THEM ANYWAY If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives, DO GOOD ANYWAY If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies, SUCCEED ANYWAY

The story is told of a man who had an unusual mode of Bible study. He would quickly flip through the pages of the Bible with his eyes closed, would bring his finger down on a verse, open his eyes, and that verse was supposedly his God-given inspiration and

Should a Christian be at a public swimming pool or water theme park? The scriptures do not directly answer this particular question and so we must understand some principles that are set down within the scriptures in order to get to an appropriate answer. The Bible says that God has given us all things to […]

When the Lord appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9), he asked two questions. The first was, “Who are You, Lord?” Realizing he was in the presence of the living God, the only other question that mattered was:

The Psalms are not only useful for singing praises to God, they are also useful for teaching and confirming that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah. Note the use Jesus made of them in Luke 24:44-47, cf. Psalm 22, and Peter’s use of them in his first gospel sermon (Acts 2:25-28, cf. Psalm 16:8,10-11). It […]

From the Winter 2010 issue of “The Bible Truth,” published by the 39th Street congregation in Independence, Missouri, comes the above titled article by Brother Jim O’Connor,