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His People
by Hugh DeLong “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about…
Read MoreLove Your Neighbor as Yourself
by Zeke Flores “You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh” (Leviticus 19:18). Leviticus 19 is one of the richest chapters in the book. It covers honesty, generosity, justice, compassion, and integrity. And right in the middle is this command that Jesus later highlighted: love your neighbor as yourself. This isn’t sentimental love,…
Read MoreConfession Is Made Unto Salvation
by Hugh DeLong Paul writes: “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). Yes, one must…
Read MoreGod’s Right to Choose
by Hugh DeLong Turning the page from the end of Romans 8 and beginning our reading of Romans 9, we don’t forget all that we have already learned! Chapter 9 is about God’s sovereignty to choose. But the debate among people is: Who did God choose? What purpose did He choose them for? So, Robert Turner reminds…
Read MoreIsrael According to the Flesh
by Terry Wane Benton Romans 9 shows that there are two “Israels” under consideration before God, and that God has a right to reject anyone who does not meet His predetermined terms of acceptance. “They are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Romans 9:6). You can be of fleshly descent in physical Israel and…
Read MoreIntimidation
by Terry Wane Benton If you know you are speaking the truth in love, and you know God approves your message because you learned the principles you speak from God’s word, then don’t fear that people won’t approve or like you. Human approval is not the goal. God’s approval and helping broadcast His light in…
Read MoreThe God of Order
by David Gibson A place for everything, and everything in its place Occasionally, I visit a farm supply store in our town. Like other such businesses, there are rows of shelves neatly displaying merchandise by category: work and casual clothing, tires, tools, implements, and garden supplies. That is how it should be! Imagine going into…
Read MoreBoundaries
by Zeke Flores “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor … in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you” (Leviticus 18:3). Leviticus 18 is full of boundaries. God was shaping Israel into a people who lived differently from the surrounding nations. Egypt represented their…
Read MoreThe Last Olivet Signal
by David W. New via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 The scripture records that Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, a sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-12): “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And…
Read MoreA Verdict That Demands Evidence
by Don Truex by Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 Josh McDowell did students of the Bible a great service several years ago when he published his excellent work, Evidence That Demands a Verdict. As the title suggests, his thesis is that the evidence to support our faith in God, His Son, and the…
Read MoreOf Airplanes, Bicycles, and Christians
by Tim Stringer via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 Ever stop to ponder why an airplane stays in the air? Or why a bicycle rider defies gravity, balancing on only two wheels? The airplane flies, and the bicycle rider balances because they move. If an airplane’s speed drops below a certain point, the…
Read MoreExtra-Congregational Leadership
by Steve Dewhirst via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 “The elders who are among you I exhort…shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers” (I Peter 5:1-2). This is God’s formula for leadership in local churches. Godly men, meeting the Lord’s criteria in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1,…
Read MoreThe Merciful
by Terry Wane Benton “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NKJV). Obtaining mercy from God is a great blessing, but God intends to give it only to those who believe it is worth giving to others. If we do not become merciful in our character, then God is not interested in…
Read MoreWhat Should We Preach?
by Mike Schmidt via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 Much has been said and written lately about preaching and teaching. Some see a “new apostasy” underway, with this departure being fueled by a change in what is being preached. Some have taken lists of topics from meeting announcements and complained that there was…
Read MoreAtonement
by Zeke Flores “For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh” (Leviticus 16:30). Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement, the most important day in Israel’s calendar. Once a year, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies…
Read MoreParental Sex Education
by Matthew Bassford via Truth Magazine, 9 September 2016 A few weeks ago, my family and I were on the way home from Wednesday night Bible study when the topic of conversation turned to pregnancy. Marky was being his usual loopy two-hours-past-bedtime self and asked, “When will Mr. Josh get a baby in his belly?”…
Read MoreA Commitment of Faith
by Doy Moyer I fear that, at times, faith today is seen as a weak contingency. We’re fine as long as we are convinced, kind of, but we are open to changing allegiances if the timing works. Faith may be seen as just what’s best for now, but we are really hoping for something more…
Read MoreTear Your Heart
by Clay Gentry It is a sound you never want to hear (especially when bending over), the sharp rip of fabric. It’s the sound of damage and potential embarrassment. In the ancient world, that sound wasn’t an accident; it was intentional. When life fell apart, an Israelite didn’t cry silently in a corner. They grabbed…
Read MoreNo Man Can Come Unless …
by Terry Wane Benton Jesus said, “No man can come to Me unless the Father draws him…” (John 6:44-45). This does not say or imply that “no man can believe in God” unless God does something to their depraved soul first. No! We can all believe in God, and none have any excuse if they…
Read MoreSeparated from Uncleanness
by Zeke Flores “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them” (Leviticus 15:31). Leviticus 15 deals with bodily discharges, which is uncomfortable reading for most of us. But the point is clear: God was…
Read MoreNympha
by Edwin Crozier Once Paul starts listing names, we tend to read on autopilot, no longer paying attention. We might even quit reading altogether. After all, he’s done with the gospel-y stuff, right? There’s nothing to learn from a list of names. However, these people are examples for us. Often good. Sometimes bad. If we…
Read MoreLearning to Trust God
by Hugh DeLong Faith has different focuses. It can mean the belief in a fact. It can mean the trust of such facts. Concerning people, it involves trust in character. Of course, it is easier to learn facts and thus believe they are true than to learn to trust someone’s character. The foundation of our…
Read MoreBe Holy
by Zeke Flores “For I am Yahweh your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). Leviticus 11 is full of clean and unclean animals, and it can feel distant. But the heart behind it is simple. God was teaching His people to live differently, not randomly, but purposefully. Every…
Read MoreThe Importance of Assembling
by Steve Hamilton First Century Christians lived in a time when their government declared war on Christianity. The assaults on people of faith were not done in secret (Hebrews 10:32-34). Lands, homes, and property were taken by the governing powers. Preachers were regularly interrogated by civil authorities for speaking the truth about Christ (Acts 5:17-18).…
Read MoreThe Beginning of Life
by Terry Wane Benton Fact: Not one experiment in the entire history of science has ever demonstrated life arising from nonliving matter. Not one. For all the confident headlines and bold claims, the lab tells a very different story. When researchers carefully set up controlled conditions, remove contaminants, control every variable, and stack the deck…
Read MoreThe Jewish Advantage
by Hugh DeLong Text: Romans 3 Was there an advantage to being a Jew versus being a Gentile? The question here concerns the Old Testament period, and the answer is yes. The Gentile world did not have the revelation of God in a written, codified form. That meant that the Gentile world, as we read in…
Read MoreJesus Didn’t Promise Us an Abundant Life
by Clay Gentry It’s not uncommon to hear Christians proclaim that Jesus promised believers an “abundant life.” We see it in books, hear it in podcasts, find it boldly printed on wall art, and even see churches use the phrase as a name. However, if we take a cursory look at the text of John…
Read MoreResponding to Trauma
by Gardner Hall Three responses to trauma: Repress It “I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse” (Psalms 39:2). The world is full of tragedy and suffering. Many are traumatized by the rejection of selfish spouses, parents, children, or brethren in their congregations. To refuse to…
Read MoreRunning from Church Problems
by Richard Blackford When a church has problems, the first inclination is to run from it and find a perfect congregation that doesn’t have problems. I know that feeling. I’ve had it too. Of course, honesty compels us to admit that this is the easy way out. “After all, my nerves just can’t take it.”…
Read MoreThe Course of This World
by Terry Wane Benton To Christians, Paul mentioned that “you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The world is on the course on which lust or selfish desires take…
Read MoreSpace to Recover
by Zeke Flores “… and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female” (Leviticus 12:7). Leviticus 12 deals with purification after childbirth. It’s not saying childbirth is sinful; it’s recognizing that life in a broken world affects…
Read MoreWhat About Elders Who Are Lax in Their Duties?
by Rowland Gbamis Dear Brother Rowland, Thank you for your article on “A Brief Reflection on Ezekiel 34: Faithful and Unfaithful Shepherds.” You observed that “one of the most crucial ways elders can lead by example is by demonstrating strong leadership in providing the congregation with the appropriate spiritual nourishment.” You also quoted I Peter…
Read MoreWho Was Baptized with the Holy Spirit?
by Terry Wane Benton Let us observe that being filled with the Spirit is not the same thing as being “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit but spoke of Jesus as the one who would baptize in the Holy Spirit. There is a difference that needs to be…
Read MorePut to Death What is Earthly In You
by Edwin Crozier Having explained his own work in ministering the gospel (Colossians 1:24-2:5) and then expounded the need to maintain a stable and steadfast faith (Colossians 2:6-3:4), Paul moves to the third leg of this letter laid out back in Colossians 1:21-23. He describes the need to move from hostility to holiness (Colossians 3:5-4:6).…
Read MorePlant the Word, Not Churches
by Clay Gentry In today’s religious marketplace, “church planting” has become a specialized industry. It’s a world of demographic maps, branding consultants, and launch strategies borrowed more from Corporate America than from the New Testament. Some say the secret to reaching the lost lies in the novelty of a new church plant or the polished…
Read MoreRejecting Church Member Recruitment
by Clay Gentry In his second letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul found himself in an unusual position. He was forced to defend his ministry, not against pagan or Jewish opponents, or Roman magistrates, but against other Christians who had entered the city with slick speech, impressive letters of recommendation, and clever…
Read MoreEating Foods Formerly Designated as Unclean
by Terry Wane Benton Romans 14 shows that liberty in Christ has taken all “unclean” foods under the Law of Moses off the list of unclean. However, those who grew up under that Law had a hard time releasing their conscience into such liberties in Christ. If pork were unclean, the Jewish conscience would have…
Read MoreA Light that Shines in a Dark Place
by Terry Wane Benton Peter tells us that the prophetic word (our Old Testament scriptures) is now “more sure” since Jesus has fulfilled all that was predicted about the Messiah. Unbelieving Jews are made to doubt their own scriptures since they never got the Messiah their scriptures predicted (in their failure to connect the dots…
Read MoreTo Caesar You Shall Go
by Hugh DeLong “To Caesar You Shall Go” — Paul and the Roman Right of Provocatio When the Roman governor Festus offered to send Paul back to Jerusalem for trial, Paul did something that stopped the proceedings cold. He appealed to Caesar. Festus conferred with his council, and then delivered one of the most dramatic lines…
Read MoreSo You Disagree?
by Robert F. Turner via The Gospel Guardian, Vol. 17, 1965, page 205 For 30 years, I have preached and written my convictions regarding the Bible, the church, etc., and for 30 years, people have “disagreed.” Catholics, Mormons, Protestants, and occasionally my brethren “disagree.” That doesn’t bother me — much. At least not enough to…
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