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The Problem of Depression
by David Weaks Depression’s a problem that plagues most people, and Christians are no different. It’s a natural part of the human mind to take periodic emotional downturns. Here is the problem for Christians: somewhere along the way, someone decided that depression is a sin for a Christian. As my dad would say, “Horsefeathers!” God…
Read MoreWas Jesus Literally Forsaken?
by Doy Moyer Did the Father literally forsake Jesus at the cross? The Aramaic phrase spoken by Jesus on the cross, translated as “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” is often taken to mean just that (Matthew 27:46). Generally, the idea is that since Jesus was made to be sin on our…
Read MoreFinding an Unbroken Line of Churches
by Doy Moyer We sometimes hear talk about finding the original church. In the search for the original church, we may then make the mistake of thinking that we can find a line of churches that go all the way back to the 1st century to prove which one is the right church. Besides conflating…
Read MoreShut In
by Matthew W. Bassford Last Sunday morning was the last time I will ever attempt to assemble with the saints. I say “attempt” because I did not succeed in assembling. It was a debacle. About midway through the debacle, I resolved that I wasn’t going to put myself or my wife through such misery anymore.…
Read MoreShould Do or Allowed to Do?
by Doy Moyer “What should I do or not do?” is a question of wisdom. “What am I allowed to do or not do?” is a question of law. While we have boundaries of what we are allowed or not allowed to do, and these are vital to know, more will be determined by wisdom…
Read MoreA Call to Unity
by Matthew W. Bassford I watched a recorded worship service the other day. During it, I was invited to sing a verse of “Onward, Christian Soldiers” that I had never sung before. It reads: Like a mighty army Moves the church of God; Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod; We are not…
Read MoreCount It All Joy
by Terry Wane Benton It’s not what happens to you that matters so much as what you do with what happens to you. Who would have thought that Helen Keller would have mattered so much with all the handicaps she was dealt in life? Great people of great faith learn to turn trials into stepping…
Read MoreWhy Call Jesus Good?
by Doy Moyer Mark 10:17-31 tells of a rich, young ruler who approached Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was interested enough to seek and find the right source for answers, but the issue was whether he was ready to listen and act. There is something important…
Read MoreLet’s Revisit “Judge Not”
by Terry Wane Benton Each time we speak or write on an issue of sin, we have told what God has said about that sin. When we do that, we are relaying God’s judgment (what He has said and the necessary implications of what He said). We are not making up things and trying to use…
Read MoreSupport the Weak
by Mike Johnson Paul closes the book of I Thessalonians with some very important and practical exhortations. In I Thessalonians 5:14, he “exhorts” (NASB — “urge”) the brethren to, among other things, “uphold the weak.” Christians have a responsibility to “uphold the weak.” The weak are those who are spiritually weak. Most churches have those…
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong with Today’s Youth?
by Bill Hall All along we hear questions raised as to what has gone wrong with today’s youth. Recently, a brother expressed his concern along this line and then asked, “What advice would you give young parents to help them avoid mistakes that we have made in our generation?” The first thing we would say…
Read MoreSome Benefits of Suffering
by Bob Waldron Via Guardian of Truth December 19, 1996 There is no problem in life more universal, more common, and more unique than that of suffering. It is a common malady of mankind; if we live long enough, we will experience some type or degree of suffering. It is not my purpose in this…
Read MoreThe Valley of Dry Bones
by Matthew W. Bassford We all know the song. In fact, many people who aren’t religious know the song. It is easily the most familiar concept from the book of Ezekiel, even though I think most people don’t know that the content of the song comes from the book. Stripped of its context and meaning,…
Read MoreWorking Behind the Scenes
by Bill Fairchild, Jr. “I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience …” (Revelation 2:2). It is said of the early Christians that each determined to do his part in Acts 11:29-30 “…which also they did.” I was engaged in a gospel meeting and had arrived at the building earlier than expected which…
Read MoreKindness Is a Virtue
by Jefferson David Tant It is well known that several passages in God’s Word mention the virtue of kindness. One that is quite well known is Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” There are also passages…
Read MoreThe God Seen in Nothing
by Matthew W. Bassford I love that God thinks so differently than we do. Because His ways are not our ways, He consistently reveals Himself to us using means that we never would have chosen. We prefer straight lines and straightforward propositions, but God works in subtlety and paradox. These things are His signature, His…
Read MoreSullen and Vexed
by Matthew W. Bassford The Israelite king Ahab is one of the most complex characters in the Bible. He isn’t a straightforward villain like Sisera or Caiaphas. There is good in him. When Elijah confronts him over the judicial murder of Naboth in I Kings 21, he repents and humbles himself. However, Ahab is doomed…
Read MoreBurdens
by Johnathan Perz Struggles, infirmities, and adversities are a part of life. We all face them. Paul describes a struggle he brought before God on three occasions, seeking that God remove it from him. Instead of removing the burden, God let Paul bear it, admonishing him with the words, “My grace is sufficient for you,…
Read MoreJamaica Patois Wisdom – Path
by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of teaching there, I have come…
Read MoreCalvinism in Psalm 51?
by Matthew W. Bassford During my time as a preacher, I studied with people from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. Of them all, the people who knew their Bibles best were unquestionably the conservative Calvinists. They approached the Scriptures with a different perspective than ours, but the most devoted of them spend as much…
Read MoreI Have a Closed Mind
by Fanning Yater Tant, Vanguard Magazine, January 25, 1979 This editorial is being written on my birthday (December 30). I have now attained my three score and ten, and have reached a point in life where I am neither ashamed nor afraid to say some things which would have been ranked heresy at a younger…
Read MoreWhen Were Musical Instruments First Used in Christian Worship?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton When Christianity arrived in the world, it drew followers from all nations. “And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk…
Read MoreThis Is One of Them
by Terry Wane Benton “As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he…
Read MoreYour Speech Shows It
by Terry Wane Benton “As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he…
Read MoreThe Silence of the Scriptures (Tant)
by Jefferson David Tant For hundreds of years, Bible believers have had discussions over the question of “the silence of the Scriptures.” Does silence indicate that whatever is not specifically condemned is permissible? Thus, does silence give consent? Or does silence mean there is no authority for a certain practice, and it is therefore unscriptural?…
Read MoreWisdom in Learning God’s Commands
by Doy Moyer The ethics of Christians fall under the category of virtue. Virtue ethics is grounded in the attributes and character of God, for all virtue flows from Him. While there is an obligation of following rules (God’s commandments), there is a significant and vital component of learning wisdom. Why? Because, for the most…
Read MoreWhen It’s Time To Leave
by Joe Works Leave Peaceably That may not happen but it needs to be your goal. No good will come from “letting people have it” as you’re walking out the door (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14). Leave Hopeful If people have treated you poorly maybe they will change. Pray sincerely for them. God changed you from…
Read MoreFor This Is God’s Will
by Ethan R. Longhenry “For this is God’s will: that you become holy” (I Thessalonians 4:3) Many people agonize over this question: what is God’s will for my life? They imagine God has a specific intention for them to live in a specific place, be with a specific person, have a specific career or job,…
Read MoreOur Mixed-Up, Topsy-Turvy Society
by Dennis Abernathy Our society can be described as running toward chaos. I am 77 years old, and today’s society is not the culture I grew up in. We are seeing more and more what the apostle Paul describes as “perilous times” (II Timothy 3:1-5). Today’s society is described in Isaiah 5. People were greedy,…
Read MoreWhat the Bible Says About Hell
by Gary W. Summers From the 2012 Bellview Lectureship, Pensacola, Florida, What the Bible Says About, Ed. Michael Hatcher “If there is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to hell than to go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now.…
Read MoreWhy It Is Necessary to Teach Children Godly Values
Author Unknown Children, without teaching and training, do not know about true values, especially godly ones. They depend on their parents to teach them what is valuable or not, right and wrong, truth and error, good and bad. Left alone, kids have a slim chance of becoming knowledgeable about such things. They need to be…
Read MoreThe Whole Duty of Man
by Matthew W. Bassford The opening chapters of Ecclesiastes are surely among the gloomiest in the entire Bible. In them, Solomon examines life under the sun and concludes that all of the usual human pursuits are futile and vain. Wealth doesn’t bring lasting satisfaction. The pursuit of pleasure proves to be pointless. The accumulation of…
Read MoreWhen I Am Old and Gray Headed
by Kent Heaton The infirmity of old age is the burden of a fleshly temple ravaged by time through disease and increasing weakness of mind and body. Solomon spoke of the descent into the difficult days when the affliction and sadness burdened life; the arms and hands tremble; the legs bow down; teeth are few…
Read MoreWhat is “Fellowship”?
by David Smitherman The early disciples “continued steadfastly in ..fellowship” (Acts 2:42). And, this “constant attention” to fellowship is a practice of our first-century brethren that we would do well to imitate. But what is involved in “fellowship,” especially fellowship with a local church? Fellowship is not “placing membership” or having one’s name “on the…
Read MoreCompassionate and Merciful
by Matthew W. Bassford There are many different opinions about the point of the Book of Job. Some say that it proves that man will serve God for nothing. Others posit that it is about the incomprehensible nature of suffering. Personally, I am partial to the explanation provided in James 5:11. According to the inspired…
Read MoreMeasured to Us
by Doy Moyer “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:2). “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same…
Read MoreThe Holy Spirit (Fulford)
by Hugh Fulford Quite possibly more confusion exists with reference to the Holy Spirit than any other Bible subject. The divine personality of the Holy Spirit is not recognized by many people; how He works in the conviction and conversion of sinners and in the life of a Christian is often misunderstood. A single essay…
Read MoreThe Quiet People
by Matthew W. Bassford Let us exalt the quiet people. Let us consider and honor them. They are nothing in the sight of the world and too often nothing in the sight of their brethren, but they are choice and precious in the sight of God. Every congregation has them. They assemble faithfully each Lord’s…
Read MoreThe Right Kind of Preaching
by Cled E. Wallace (1892-1962) Much is being said about the right kind of preaching and writing. Charges of hard and soft are being bandied back and forth. With as plain a book as the New Testament in hand and with its abundant supply of examples of the very best preaching and writing, it ought…
Read MoreA Death, a Burial, a Resurrection
by Doy Moyer Josiah was one of the greater kings of Judah who initiated reform and called the people back to God. Sadly, his reforms did not last and the people soon reverted to evil after his death. While Josiah himself would not live to see Judah taken into captivity, his children, who did not…
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