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Do Not Quench the Spirit
by Terry Wane Benton You can quench a thirst by stopping yourself from being thirsty. You quench a thirst by drinking some water. So, what does Paul mean by “Do not quench the Spirit” (I Thessalonians 5:19)? The Spirit has been trying to appeal to our hearts through such letters as He inspired Paul to…
Read MoreWe Must Have the Church
by Adam Faughn In our world, we sometimes hear people who speak of how they want a relationship with Jesus, but they do not want much (if anything) to do with the church. This is not new; in fact, some of you will remember the days when the saying, “give me the Man, but not…
Read MoreSix Great Truths About Jesus Christ
by David Gibson Distilled truth “By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up to glory” (I Timothy 3:16 NASB). This passage is a concise, one-verse summary of the…
Read MoreNaturalism Is an Illogical Faith
by Terry Wane Benton Although naturalists claim to base their naturalist worldview on science, they actually do not and cannot do so. This is so because science is limited to the study of the natural world. Science tells us what the world is made of and how and why it functions. Naturalism, on the other…
Read MoreBe Careful Who You Allow to Influence You
by Hugh DeLong When Paul wrote to the brethren in Corinth about the resurrection, he told them it was a matter “of first importance” (I Corinthians 15:3). Without the resurrection, their faith was “worthless” (I Corinthians 15:17) and they were “most to be pitied” (I Corinthians 15:19). However, some were saying “there is no resurrection…
Read MoreQuit Your Whining
by Paul Sheehan One of the most popular books in the New Testament is the letter Paul wrote to the Philippians. It seems to be so well-liked because Paul has so many positive things to say about serving the Lord. The words joy and rejoicing are mentioned over 16 times. What is so unusual about…
Read MoreRemembering Rightly: A Christian Response to Suicide Memorials
by Joe Hamm If you’ve driven past Hamilton City Hall this week, you’ve likely noticed the rows of American flags planted in the lawn. Each flag represents a veteran from Alabama who died by suicide. It’s part of a statewide campaign called Operation We Remember, intended to raise awareness and show honor to those who…
Read MoreThe Myth of Inclusion
by Tommy Peeler The message that our culture likes to promote is that of inclusion. Don’t be fooled. Inclusion, as culturally preached, is a myth. This should be obvious enough; that mask has fallen off and broken into pieces. When someone who promotes inclusion is somehow satisfied with the murder of someone whose views differ,…
Read MoreThe Restrictive Nature of Submission
by Zeke Flores Submitting to the authority of God’s will is not only serious business, it’s also very restrictive. Because of its very nature, those who submit to authority can only operate within its bounds. What passes for Christianity in America, and across the world, really isn’t because it goes beyond the authority of Scripture. The…
Read MoreThey Answered Their Own Question
by David Gibson Two incidents involving Jesus and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee during rough weather are illustrative of how faith can be reinforced. Stilling the storm The disciples were scared out of their wits by the violence of the storm that appeared to threaten their boat—and their lives. But it only appeared…
Read MoreTongues Without an Interpreter
by Hugh DeLong The gift of being able to speak in languages that one had not previously known is called the gift of tongues. There are only five references to this: Mark 16:16-20; Acts 2; Acts 10; Acts 19; and the longest one in I Corinthians 12-14. That such was a language is seen in…
Read MoreI Do, but I Don’t
by Jim Sasser I believe in proper methods, but I don’t wear the name “Methodist.” I believe in baptism, but I don’t wear the name “Baptist.” I believe presbyters (or elders) should oversee the local church, but I don’t wear the name “Presbyterian.” I believe one should be holy, but I am not a “Holiness.”…
Read MorePriests
by Terry Wane Benton In the Old Testament, only Levites of the family of Aaron could be priests in Israel. They served in duties pertaining to the tabernacle service in the midst of the camp. But that was all symbolic, pointing forward to what God really wanted in Christ. As His plan unfolded and we…
Read MoreCountering the Culture
by David Gibson What William J. Bennett wrote years ago has even more relevance today: “There is a coarseness, a callousness and a cynicism to our era. The worst of it has to do with our children. Our culture seems almost dedicated to the corruption of the young” (Reader’s Digest, August 1995, 37). Examples could…
Read MoreHow Long, O Lord?
by Doy Moyer After yesterday, here’s what I’m feeling… “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). We are a lost world. That’s not even up for debate. And “we” won’t fix it. We…
Read MoreEvangelism (Haley)
by Robin Haley via Matters of the Faith, Vol. 5 No. 3, October-December 1999, p. 11. I recently came across the acrostic for the word “evangelism.” I found it not only interesting and accurate, but also a good reminder. I added some Scripture references to the acrostic to help us consider the word “evangelism” and…
Read MoreThe Word
by Terry Wane Benton Why does John speak of Jesus as “the Word”? See John 1:1-14. Consider that Jesus is the fulfillment and substance of all that God had been promising and prophesying all through the years from the beginning of all communication. Jesus was who God had spoken about and was providing what God…
Read MoreDarkness
by Zeke Flores There’s something about it that’s foreboding, frightening, and … dark. Lying alone in the dark can be a dreadful thing. In the darkness, our insecurities find an outlet. We lie awake staring into the blackness, playing our failures in our minds over and over again like a newsreel stuck on repeat. We…
Read MoreHeartfelt Religion
by A. Adams Scripture can put you on the spot when it makes it obvious that your beliefs, actions, or choices are wrong. The simple solution to such conflict is to change and only believe what comes by “hearing…the word” (Romans 10:17); or, said another way, stop doing what you’ve been doing, and start being…
Read MoreRespect (Moyer)
by Doy Moyer Being made in God’s image requires that we respect (esteem) one another as fellow divine image-bearers. This stands under the “golden rule,” as stated by Jesus: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). The connection…
Read MoreSometimes It Is Not Enough!
by Aubrey Belue One of the earliest jobs my dad had was teaching school – he began while still in his teens, at a one-room school in upstate Mississippi. Some of his students in the higher grades were as old and as big as he was, and more than once, he maintained discipline with the…
Read MoreImitating Paul
by Hugh DeLong “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). Jesus gave the great commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever…
Read MoreGod and Good
by Terry Wane Benton Have you ever noticed how the book of Genesis begins and ends? It begins with God creating everything and “it was good” (Genesis 1). After man chose to let sin in the world, it was cursed (Genesis 3). But God wanted to get back to “blessed” with man and God back…
Read MoreIs It Possible to Identify the Church Found in the New Testament?
by Todd Clippard With so many forms of “Christianity” today, one may ask, “How can I know I’ve found the church of the New Testament?” With recent estimates showing over 2000 individual religious groups all claiming to be a form of Christianity, this is a valid question, and we can see why one would be…
Read MoreA Father Rejected, But Who Still Loves
by Steven Harper Consider the sad description of Israel’s unfaithfulness, as recorded by Hosea. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. As they called them, so they went from them; they sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to carved images” (Hosea 11:1-2). After hearing their…
Read MoreMy family says I can’t attend a church of Christ until after I get engaged
Question: I am currently attending a Baptist church with my family, but I am dating someone who attends a church of Christ. We have been dating for some time now, and we have studied together a lot. We agree on several things that we used not to, such as once saved always saved being false,…
Read MoreOn Identifying False Teachers
by Dub McClish As our Lord drew the Sermon on the Mount to a close, He gave the following warning: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:15-16). Do we still need this warning? It is presently easier…
Read MoreThis Is Marvelous in Our Eyes
by Terry Wane Benton “This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Mark 12:11 ESV). Watch closely what Jesus is saying and why. He is talking to the Jews who were rejecting Him and reminding them that they were fulfilling the scripture statement of Psalms 118:22 that said, “The stone which…
Read MoreLove Bears All Things
by Greg Weston The word Paul used in this text, which is translated “bears” in the New King James translation, means “to cover” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, p. 586). Thayer gives the varied usage of this word as “1. to protect or keep by covering, to preserve… 2. to cover with silence; to keep secret; to…
Read MoreOur Anchor
by Zeke Flores When the waves won’t listen and the sky won’t clear, faith becomes the anchor that holds. Acts 27 has Paul in a dangerous storm at sea along with 275 other people. The great difference is that while the majority of the other passengers were scared witless, Paul had Christ in the storm.…
Read MoreNot Feeling the Spirit Move There?
by Terry Wane Benton I’ve heard several speak of attending various churches and “not feeling the Spirit move” there. This idea is foreign to the Bible. Feelings have never been the detector of the Spirit of God. If you rely upon feelings, you are not relying upon the Spirit of God. You are relying upon…
Read MoreGutter Mouth
by Jonnie Hutchison Where I grew up in Missouri, a person whose language included various curse words would be called a “gutter mouth.” Cursing, at least in public, was frowned upon by most people back then. It was characteristic of the undesirable and the rebellious in society. Today it is much different. One cannot turn…
Read MoreRespect for the Elderly
by Terry Wane Benton “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32 ESV). These are the ones who lived through all kinds of troubles, weathered many storms of life, and learned a few things along…
Read MoreDavid, “Old and Full of Years”
by Tol Burk We are introduced to David as a young man, too young to fight Goliath (according to man’s standards). But it doesn’t end there—David is one of the very few that we see from youth to old age. Age changed things in his life, but his faith in God never changed. We know…
Read MoreJames, First Peter, and Second Peter
by Doy Moyer While there were many men named James in the first century, this is most likely the brother of Jesus who became a very strong leader in the early church (James the apostle was put to death about AD 44, Acts 12). We find James becoming prominent in Acts 15, and his influence…
Read MoreWe Look for New Heavens and a New Earth
by Dan King The natural longing that exists within each one of us to “better our situation” and improve upon our lifestyle grows out of a deeper instinct within the human soul. Our parents wanted us to “have it better” than they did, and we want our children to “do better” than we have. One…
Read MoreRoman Law and I Corinthians 6
by Hugh DeLong The Corinthians did not live in 21st-century America (surprise) and therefore, were not governed by our law system and the foundational concepts upon which it is based. While we struggle to maintain those concepts and apply them fairly, the Corinthians had a different system in place. They were a Roman Colony, and…
Read MoreExercising Your Rights
by Zeke Flores Acts 25 has Paul exercising his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar, which may be a reminder that it’s not wrong to stand for one’s rights. However, he didn’t do it in a way that would bring criticism on the cause of Christ or his own personal integrity. That’s…
Read MoreMistaking Cowardliness for Humility
by Eric Lyons In 2006, Baylor University published the results of a survey indicating more Americans claim affiliation with Christianity than with any other religion. In fact, the report claimed that “82 percent of Americans are Christians” (see Tooley, 2006). Sadly, the vast majority claiming Christianity as their religion have no respect for what their…
Read MoreMeekness in the Media Age
by Bubba Garner We live in the age of media. Not just the 24-hour news cycle, but all kinds of social media as well. Just last week, I saw a comic strip of a couple getting married. The preacher said, “You may now change your relationship status on Facebook.” That’s the world we live in.…
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