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Personal Perfection to Get to Heaven?
by Perry Hall Ever hear someone say, “I hope I did enough to go to heaven?” Or have you heard preached, “That church isn’t ‘sound’ so anyone baptized there is still lost”? Those are dangerous thoughts. If we have to be perfect in all areas to get to heaven, then we only need grace until…
Read MoreConfirm Your Calling
by Edwin Crozier Augustine reportedly summarized Christian salvation and growth this way: “Without God, I cannot. Without me, God will not.” Peter demonstrates this dynamic cooperation as he outlines Christian maturity in II Peter 1. Apart from God’s divine power, divine promises, divine call, and divine election, we could not possibly grow to maturity by…
Read MoreJesus and the New Wine
by Doy Moyer John records the miracle at Cana of Galilee, in which Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1-12). Jesus, His disciples, and His mother attended a wedding feast. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother came to Him and said, “They have no wine.” We don’t know exactly what she was expecting Jesus…
Read MoreFaith and Commitment Must Be Grown
by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com “And all of us… are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another” (II Corinthians 3:18 AMP). For Christians, the goal is to be transformed into the image of Christ. As Paul indicates in this text, this transformation…
Read MoreDealing with Grief
by Zeke Flores When Sarah dies, Abraham mourns deeply — and then he rises to secure a burial place. It’s a tender picture of grief and responsibility living side by side. Abraham doesn’t rush past his pain, but he also doesn’t get stuck in it. He honors Sarah by grieving honestly and acting wisely. This…
Read MoreAdd to Your Faith
by Edwin Crozier via Read the Bible, Make Disciples Text: II Peter 1. Because God has given us everything we need to become partakers of His divine nature, we need not sit on our hands moping that we cannot be with or become like God. No doubt, our efforts alone would always fail to bring…
Read MoreThe Mystery of Christ
by Hugh DeLong Text: Ephesians 3 The mystery of Christ, as mentioned in Ephesians, is that “to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Such was not revealed as (in the same way, to…
Read MoreEvery Day Is a New Opportunity to Fight the Devil
by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (I Peter 5:8-9). In the New Testament, encouragements to resist Satan…
Read MoreSaved by Faith
by Hugh DeLong “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ…
Read MorePrayer for Our Nation
by Terry Wane Benton “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of…
Read MoreTwo Churches Want to Grow
by Bill Hall via Seeking Things Above Two churches want to grow, but their attitudes toward growth differ greatly. The first church looks upon growth as its primary purpose. Goals are placed before the membership: “We want to double our membership within the next three years,” for instance. Success (or failure) is judged almost entirely…
Read MoreThe Role of Women in the Church
by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above The role of women in society has changed dramatically in recent years. Some changes have been good, but many have not. Societal changes eventually filter into the church. Renewed discussion is occurring on this issue, and some are contending for an expanded role for women in the church. …
Read MoreWhen Jesus Marveled (Baggett)
by Michael R. Baggett There are many occasions when individuals and crowds marveled at the gracious words and mighty miracles of Jesus. Did you know there were times when Jesus marveled at individuals and groups? There were ways people behaved that caused Jesus to observe with wonder. On one occasion, Jesus returned to his hometown…
Read MoreLife’s Choices
by Jason Hardin via In God’s Image Life is all about choices. Some of those choices are relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. “What do you want to eat for lunch?” But it’s not an overstatement to say that some choices are immeasurably more weighty because they will impact the rest of your…
Read MoreModern, Urban, Digital
by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We might wish we’d been born in another world, but that choice is not ours. What we’ve got is what we’ve got. Jesus’ prayer for…
Read MoreWhy People Thousands of Years Later Don’t Know More Than the Eyewitnesses
by Gardner Hall The president of Colombia caused quite a stir in Latin America when he recently said, “Jesus made love, yes … because a man like that couldn’t exist without love.” There’s more to the quote that I don’t care to repeat, but this kind of nonsense is heard increasingly. Here are two of…
Read MoreFalse Teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by Jon Gary Williams They speak of Christ, the soul, hell, the resurrection, and other fundamental biblical ideas. But what they espouse regarding these and other biblical terms does not align with what the Bible teaches. Has a Jehovah’s Witness ever knocked on your door? If not, someday they will. Are you aware of what…
Read MoreMy Days as a Roman Catholic
by David Weaks I was a Roman Catholic for the first twenty-one years of my life, and during those years, I was truly ignorant about God. That is my answer when people ask what it was like to be a Catholic. My spiritual training came from a catechism book, not the Bible. As a Catholic,…
Read MoreWere Sins “Rolled Forward”?
by Ney Rieber via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 Was there forgiveness of sins for those under the Old Testament? This question is frequently answered in the negative. It is stated that their sins were not forgiven, but were “rolled forward” year by year. The primary passage used to support this idea is…
Read MoreC’mon, Hug a Tree
by Joe Bunting via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 The following article appeared in the American Nurseryman, March 15, 1994: The Canaanites of the biblical days did it. The Druids in ancient Britain did it. And now the practice of tree worship is gaining popularity in the US and elsewhere. Citing the Garden…
Read MoreThat Questionaire
by Floyd Chappelear via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 My congratulations are extended to those men who refused to reply to the infamous “Questionnaire” being mailed by some churches. My sincerest concerns are extended to those brethren who responded to it out of fear that support would be cut off. (Do not think…
Read MoreDid Dinosaurs Really Exist? (Moyer)
by Doy Moyer, Standing On Solid Ground (unpublished) via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 3, September 1994 Some, afraid of the repercussions of evolution, really do question the existence of dinosaurs. However, denying the existence of creatures for which there is substantial evidence will not help defend the…
Read MoreWhat Unbelievers Believe
by Kenny Chumbley via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 3, September 1994 Atheists like to portray Christianity as the non-thinking man’s sugar stick. They, we are told, are guided by reason and logic, whereas believers hold to antiquated religious superstitions that have been scientifically debunked. Nothing, however, could…
Read MoreStudies in II Peter 3: Naturalistic Uniformity
by Pat Hardeman via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 The second coming of Christ is the first of those “last” things (Greek: eschatos) scorned by scoffers in mocking words: “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation”…
Read MoreWho Are You Listening To?
by Hugh DeLong Text: Galatians 3 The promise to Abraham – all nations bless in his ‘seed’, which is Jesus. The law was given to Israel, but was their ‘tutor’ or ‘guardian’ to bring them to Christ, and now they are no longer under that tutor (the Law). However, the blessing was for all nations…
Read MoreA Prayer from a Pit
by Bill Boyd On a visit to Jerusalem, I was taken to a church that was built over the traditional house of Caiaphas. In the lower parts of that church, there is a cistern. An ancient tradition says that this cistern is where Jesus was kept the night before his crucifixion. We went down into…
Read MoreSin Leveling
by Gardner Hall What is “sin leveling”? I recently heard this term, and the more I think about it, the more I think it describes a great evil. “Sin leveling” is giving the same weight to depraved or predatory acts that we give to the involuntary shortcomings that all disciples battle. But aren’t all sins…
Read MoreHeirs According to the Promise
by Hugh DeLong Text: Galatians 3 Recall that God made a promise that through Abraham’s seed all nations (peoples) would be blessed. Jesus is introduced as the Seed of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). Between Abraham and Jesus, God repeatedly chose whom He would use to produce the promised ‘seed’ (a person). He chose Isaac, Jacob (Israel),…
Read MoreWhen Wisdom Walks Away
by Cleve Stafford There’s a certain kind of argument that never ends well. No matter how calmly you speak, how clear your reasoning is, or how sincere your intentions are, the other person will not act accordingly. Proverbs 29:9 lays it out plainly: “If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool…
Read MoreCrucified But Lives
by Hugh DeLong “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the…
Read MoreThat Is Not the Way You Learned Christ
by Doy Moyer “But that is not the way you learned Christ!” (Ephesians 4:20). We hear much about how people think Christianity is supposed to be from all sides. This is often debated ad nauseam through the lens of taking partisan sides. Christianity gets culturally hijacked and manipulated to fit a narrative of our own…
Read MoreDo we have eternal life permanently?
by Terry Wane Benton Question: If we have eternal life, doesn’t that mean we have it permanently? Answer: We have eternal life in promise. Just as formerly, we had eternal condemnation in promise. The promise of eternal damnation is to the unbeliever who can change their destiny by belief and repentance. Change your destiny by…
Read MoreA Need to “Reinterpret” Paul?
by Allen Dvorak via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In Matthew 5:41, Jesus said, “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” His statement makes sense to the Bible student who understands that, under Roman law, a Roman soldier could compel any Jew, as a subject in…
Read MoreDon’t Be Surprised by Suffering
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4 Jesus told the apostles: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the…
Read MoreAin’t Skeered!
by Dennis Strickland While driving around in recent months, I have been seeing stickers on the back windows of trucks that say: “Ain’t Skeered!” It is not very difficult to determine what this means. To one speaking properly, the phrase would be: “I’m not afraid.” In various situations, many people have claimed they were not…
Read MoreThe Foundation of My Belief
by Hugh DeLong What is the foundational base of my belief (and consequently, yours)? Not that my understanding becomes the standard for your belief, but how you read, interpret, and understand the revelation given by the Spirit. Let us start with several observations. There is a revealing of God’s will to men. (OK, first hurdle – what scriptures…
Read More“David” Found at Dan
by Henry Robinson via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 Tel Dan Stele The March/April 1994 edition of the Biblical Archaeology Review (Vol. 20, No.2) reported the following: “It’s not often that an archaeological find makes the front page of the New York Times (to say nothing of Time magazine. But that is what…
Read MoreDo You Know Who I Am?
by Mark Mason via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 2, June 1994 There is a story floating around about then-President Bush a few years ago. He was supposedly visiting a nursing home, where he took the hand of an elderly man walking the halls and asked kindly, “Sir, do you know who I am?״ The…
Read MoreUse Your Gifts to Serve
by Edwin Crozier Text: I Peter 4 Let’s get back to what it looks like to keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles. Peter provides a handful of instructions. We are to be sober-minded and self-controlled. I know this is part of honorable conduct because it mirrors what he told husbands about living with their…
Read MoreClouds Without Water
by Terry Wane Benton Peter spoke of change agents as false teachers who creep into churches, promise liberty from the old way of doing things, but they “despise authority” (II Peter 2). They are “clouds without water”. What does that mean? It means they have no real substance to their own teaching. They can criticize…
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