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What Martin Luther Taught About Baptism
by Terry Wane Benton While Martin Luther may have taught the idea of salvation by “faith alone,” you might be surprised to learn that he did not think faith alone excluded baptism. It was an umbrella term that included repentance and baptism. So, he didn’t place baptism in the category of works of merit. Regarding…
Read MorePride Comes Before the Fall
by Orlando Gonzalez Out of all the characters in the Scriptures that have done foolish things, there is none, in my humble opinion, that has outdone what Satan did. Ironically enough, he started his life off splendidly! You may be right to say that he had much more than anything he would’ve ever needed in…
Read MoreAll We Need Is Love
by Terry Wane Benton Each person wants and needs it. It is a primary need. People want to feel at least worth acknowledging and at least worth treating with dignity and respect. Who enjoys being shunned, passed by, ignored, or treated as worthless? All we need is love, goodwill, and our world is better. Now,…
Read MoreLooking in All the Wrong Places
by Tommy Peeler During my growing-up years in Tennessee, there was the country song “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” The writer tells his story as one who desperately looked for romance, only to come up heartbroken. The song ends with the thought that the writer found love, and his search has ended.…
Read MoreTwo Different Trees
by Terry Wane Benton The Bible is basically the history of man and his relationship to two different trees. The tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was death dressed up in appeal to the flesh, but the tree in the garden on which Jesus died was ugly, only appealing to the heart…
Read MoreThe Direction of Influence
by David Gibson The Peril of Proximity The cough and cold medicines on our closet shelf were stored in a box originally containing chocolate-covered peanuts. On the box was printed this warning: “Do not store near heat, soaps, perfumes, disinfectants, oil products, or other articles with strong odors.” Imagine eating candy with the scent of…
Read MoreBefore the Divorce
by Terry Wane Benton In all divorce cases, there is a long period in which peace, love, and communication slowly deteriorate, and each side becomes critical and hardened against the other side. There is a period in which hurt feelings build up into bitterness. Now, nothing the other side does is ever right. Much goes…
Read MoreIs it Your Faith?
by Terry Wane Benton It is one thing to try to fit in a circle of friends who profess faith, and so you jump on the bandwagon with them, but it is another thing to get to know Jesus and put your trust in Him when it may cost you friends. You see, it is…
Read MoreDon’t Tell Me
by Zeke Flores Sometimes, people just don’t want to hear it- the gospel, I mean. As persuasive a preacher as Paul was, he couldn’t convince everyone to repent and turn to Jesus. So, he moved on, but not before letting them know that it was their choice to make and the consequences were theirs to…
Read MoreSin as a Practice
by Terry Wane Benton “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (I John 5:18-19).…
Read MoreHonor Your Mother
by Doy Moyer “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). It is appropriate to think about the roles of father and mother as those who have had the most impact on our lives. While we often focus…
Read MoreLiving Bread
by Terry Wane Benton What did Jesus want us to get from His claim to be “the living bread” (John 6:51)? Bread feeds energy into the body and keeps us going a little further in our bodily journey. Yet this body will still die, and bread will not stop our death. Jesus speaks of “living…
Read MoreWhy Miracles?
by David Gibson Jesus was constantly demonstrating His divine power over disease, demons, death, and nature. Why did He perform miracles? Miracles were designed to bring glory to God. Many praised God for the wonders they witnessed (Luke 5:24-26; 18:43; 19:37; John 11:4). Miracles were also intended to motivate people to repent, though many refused,…
Read MoreIn One Ear … ?
by David Gibson Listening is a significant theme of the book of Proverbs. The book is designed to guide young men in making wise choices while avoiding foolish ones. To achieve this, one must really listen, learn, and live accordingly. Youth must listen to the teaching of godly parents (Proverbs 1:8; 4:1-6; 23:22). They must…
Read MoreServing the Church
by Zeke Flores In any local church, there are dual needs that must be met. The physical requirements of operating a local church must be taken care of because, after all, we are flesh and blood people with material needs to carry out the Lord’s work. Then, and most importantly, there are the spiritual needs…
Read MoreDon’t Believe Everything You Think
by Chadwick Brewer “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Humility can be partially defined as not trusting everything you think so that you can be taught, corrected, or guided into better understanding. We get into all kinds of trouble when we trust in…
Read MoreAre You an Overcomer?
by Terry Wane Benton John said that “greater is He Who is in us, than he that is in the world” (I John 4), but the question is, “Is God in us?” Have we so little of God in our hearts that the world overcomes us? Are we beaten down so easily that we have…
Read MorePeer Pressure (Flores)
by Zeke Flores Peer pressure is tough. We are naturally inclined to be liked, even by those we don’t know. That inclination might give way to a compromise in values just so we won’t get any flak for being different. But we are different. If you’re a Christian, you serve a different Ruler, you live…
Read MoreThings the Lord Hates: Sowing Discord Among the Brethren
by Terry Wane Benton Text: Proverbs 6:19 Sowing discord is not making an effort to get brethren to unite in doing the truth. Ahab called Elijah a “troubler in Israel.” Elijah was not sowing discord; he was trying to correct the discord that idolatry had already caused. Along that line, I remember years ago trying…
Read MoreSend Me
by Chadwick Brewer “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me’” (Isaiah 6:8). Passages like this help us understand Isaiah better. Isaiah was a man who lived by faith. As we know, without faith, it is…
Read MoreFive Reasons Why I Love Singing Together
by Doy Moyer Often, discussions about singing focus on authority for a cappella singing over against playing instruments in worship assemblies. There is a place for that discussion, but that is not the focus here (so please refrain from that). Rather than debating specific arguments now, I want to provide reasons to appreciate singing. Lifting…
Read MoreDread
by Zeke Flores Dread. You’ve felt it. That uneasy, gnawing feeling that something bad is looming. I’ve been feeling a little apprehensive for a couple of days and don’t know why. I mean, life is good, God is gracious, and Cheryl isn’t mad at me. Life is good! But still, there it is, a sense…
Read MoreJudging Others
by Terry Wane Benton Some think Matthew 7:1 forbids any judging of others. Actually, it only forbids unfair and hypocritical judging where the one doing the judging has a bigger issue that does not allow him to see clearly how to remove a “speck” in his brother’s eye. Now, the text admits that the speck…
Read MoreFaith Plus Works?
by Terry Wane Benton Faith-only advocates have actually worked hard to convince themselves that if you include any activity in faith, such as obedience, you have added “you” and your effort to Jesus’ perfect and complete work. Yet, who is doing the believing? You are! How does faith come? It comes by you hearing the…
Read MoreThe Prize
by Perry Hall “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. …
Read MoreTrusting God (Flores)
by Zeke Flores In chapter 2 of his prophetic book, Joel foretells of the events during Pentecost related in Acts 2. His concluding statement from that prophecy was that “it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered” (Joel 2:32). To “call on the name of the Lord”…
Read MoreStepping Over
by Terry Wane Benton In the aging process, Ecclesiastes 12 describes the decline toward death, and after various abilities in health are phased out, then “desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets” (Ecclesiastes 12:5). Some people die unexpectedly, but the aging know that they are phasing…
Read MoreIs it wrong to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons but not join these religions?
Question: Will God forgive someone if they did bible studies with Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons but didn’t join these religions? Answer: Why would God be against someone rejecting teachings that are contrary to God’s teachings? “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a…
Read MoreRemember (Benton)
by Terry Wane Benton To me, one of the most sobering thoughts was when Jesus talked about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19f). Both had lived their lives and died. One went to a place of comfort, and the other to a place of torment. The rich man wanted simple comfort but could not…
Read MoreThings the Lord Hates: A Heart that Devises Wicked Plans
by Terry Wane Benton Text: Proverbs 6:16-19 Planning to obtain drugs to sell drugs to make money takes planning. You have to think up plans to make it work. If you are a teen, you have to plan how to hide and lie to your parents about what you are really doing with your time,…
Read MoreDoes Acts 3 Prove Instrumental Music Is Scriptural?
by Perry Hall An up-and-coming trend to defend musical instruments in praising God consists of this line of argument: In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer to pray. The temple used instruments in prayer. Therefore, Peter and John’s actions show it is scriptural to use instruments in…
Read MoreGo Away for Now
by Terry Wane Benton Felix trembled at Paul’s word regarding righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come (Acts 24:25). His best chance at salvation was right then, but he knew he would have to change, and right then was not a good time to change, he thought. Eternity was hanging by a thread. He said…
Read MoreWhat Will You Do With the Truth?
by Dennis Strickland Down through the years, there has been a lot of discussion regarding truth. Some have questioned what truth is, as Pilate did in John 18:38. In Mark 12:32, the scribe stated the truth, yet we have no record that this man ever obeyed the gospel. He believed, as did the devils in…
Read MoreTake Your Only Son
by Terry Wane Benton The test for Abraham was a type of the test that God Himself would undergo. In Abraham’s case, offering his only son, Isaac, was a test of his love for God. Would he trust and love God above his emotional attachment to his only son? Even though the command made no…
Read MoreA “Show Me” World
by Zeke Flores We live in a “show me” world. Most of the time, we demand evidence to verify a claim—most of the time. And the more fantastic the claim, the more we want proof. “Show me!” we demand. That’s why I think “doubting” Thomas gets a bad rap. Yes, he had his doubts, but…
Read MoreWhy Study the Old Testament?
by Naomi Works “What is the point of studying the Old Testament? We’re not under that covenant, Jesus only appears in the New Testament, and Leviticus-Deuteronomy is just plain boring!” I feel so sorry for people who think that way. They’re missing out on so many incredible lessons that will strengthen your faith and make…
Read MoreSincere Obedience
by Doy Moyer Obedience is not merely an outward act that conforms to a command. It is a bending of the heart, a surrender of the will, to the mind of God. If I regularly ran red lights because I didn’t want to stop, then I am a lawbreaker at heart. If I stopped at…
Read MoreFuneral Service for Donald Wayne Hamilton
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton We gather here today to remember the life of Donald Hamilton. Donald Wayne Hamilton, 91, passed away in Shady Shores, Texas on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Donald was born on October 11, 1933, to Evard and Dora Hopkins Hamilton. He graduated from Reavis High School in Burbank, Illinois, in 1952. He…
Read MoreCoercive Christianity
by Doy Moyer Christians desire to see people do what is right. We look at a society that has lost its way and wonder, with echoes of Habakkuk, how long this will continue before God acts in righteous judgment. We want to see people come to Jesus and submit to His will. Yet if we…
Read MoreTrouble on the Farm and in the Church
by Leslie Diestelkamp When I was quite young, I learned some important lessons regarding farm work. Mules were my favorite beast of burden (those were the days when there were very few tractors on Missouri farms). But I immediately learned to regard with much awe the hind feet of a mule. Yet the lesson I…
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