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The Chain of Authority
by David Gibson I am indebted to Owen D. Olbricht, who helped me understand the chain of authority. God the Father He is “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). Jesus the Son Jesus frequently referred to Himself as having been sent by His…
Read MoreThe Doctrine of the Nicolaitans
by Terry Wane Benton Revelation 2:15 mentions the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and says that God “hates” that doctrine. Whatever it was, the church at Pergamos had members that taught this doctrine as well as the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14). Because of these doctrines in the church, God had “a few things against you.”…
Read MoreWhy Me?
by Doy Moyer If the blind man of John 9 asked, “Why me?” the answer would be “that the works of God might be displayed in you.” If the paralytic from Mark 2 asked, “Why me?” the answer would be “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive…
Read MoreIsrael and the Promised Land
by Roger L. Leonard Because the Jews in the time of Jesus rejected the Old Testament prophets who foretold of Him and subsequently rejected Him as the Messiah, He said to them: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together,…
Read MoreKeeping House for the Lord Until the Doors Close
by Perry Hall “Keeping house for the Lord” or, “The church is closing its doors”. These are two phrases that you might have heard. A congregation, once in the 500s, is now “closing their doors.” I just heard of another, once in the 500s, stopped meeting after COVID. Both were in the “Bible belt.” Besides…
Read MoreAt What Moment in Faith?
by Terry Wane Benton Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:6,8). Of this, there is no controversy. The question is, “At what moment in faith does salvation or remission of sins actually become ours through faith?” Has God designated an exact moment? The answer is very clear unless one has an agenda guided by…
Read MoreWhy I Believe We Should Still Marry and Bring Children into the World
by Terry Wane Benton Is having children too risky? Seeing that the majority will end up lost, I have seen a number of faithful Christians lose their children to the world. Answer: That is a pretty defeatist way of viewing things. When was it not risky? I’ve seen people, who go at it already prepared…
Read MoreThings My Mom Taught Me
by Dee Bowman (1934-2021) Christianity Magazine, May 1997 It’s hard losing your parents. You labor under the strain of not having told them more often that you love them. You remember all the things they did for you and sit and wonder if you did much for them. I was home in Lubbock for the…
Read MoreWhat Do We Do with Deborah as a Judge?
by Perry Hall Deborah is a conundrum. And we shouldn’t be surprised because she is a woman! Joking aside, there is still the fact that Deborah is an aberration when it comes to judges because she is a woman. So much so is this true, that proponents on both sides of the debate concerning women’s…
Read MoreNo Man Ever Spoke Like This Man
by Terry Wane Benton On one most revealing occasion, some soldiers were sent to capture Jesus and came back empty-handed exclaiming, “No man ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46). What seems most impressive to me about the whole episode of Jesus is that He was feared, not because He might be physically dangerous to…
Read MoreThe Development of Papal Power
By Andy Sochor Unmasking Sophistry, October-December, 2023, Vol. 3, No. 4 The pope is arguably the most influential religious figure in the world today. Yet there was a time when the one who occupied this office was even more powerful than the current pope. He would not only be the highest-ranking member of the Roman…
Read MoreAnd So All Israel Will Be Saved
by Terry Wane Benton Romans 11:26 is typically misunderstood and misapplied. The church is the true Israel that will be saved. The gospel is the power to save (Romans 1:16). Being a mere Jew in the flesh does not save. There must be the circumcision in heart to make a true Jew (Romans 2:28-29). So,…
Read MoreNearer, my God, to Thee
by Doy Moyer Songs are magnificent. There is a reason God wants us to teach by singing, and I was reminded of this powerfully one night recently after I preached a lesson in a meeting. My lesson was called “Come to Bethel,” and I discussed Genesis 28, Jacob’s leaving the land, the sun going down…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Difference: Local and Universal Church
by Bill Robinson I have a lot of friends that I dearly love and count them as brothers who are going to disagree with this article. Nonetheless, there are others that I dearly love and also count as brothers, for whom I feel compelled to write this. We are fast approaching the idea that these…
Read MoreThorns
by Doy Moyer “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9). Paul had a weakness, a “thorn in the flesh” that he thought was keeping him from being as productive as he could have been without it. He prayed to the Lord three times to have…
Read MoreWhy the Change?
When the gospel was preached at Corinth, those who were fornicators, adulterers, and homosexuals stopped practicing those sins. “Such were some of you” (I Corinthians 6:8-11). Did the preachers actually preach against those lifestyle choices? Did no one worry that this kind of preaching was not politically correct? Are people being convicted of sin in…
Read More45th Birthday
by Matthew W. Bassford Today is my 45th birthday, a time for reflection if ever there was one. From an earthly perspective, this is a grim milestone indeed. It is almost certainly the last birthday I will ever celebrate. When I was in elementary school, I learned about Huntingdon’s chorea, what they call Huntingdon’s disease…
Read MoreIs It Circular Reasoning to Use the Bible to Prove God Gave It?
by Terry Wane Benton No! It might be circular if it was all written at one time. But we can demonstrate that the Old Testament was completed long before Jesus came. Therefore we get to consider the prophecies and how Jesus fulfilled them. The New Testament is eyewitness testimony of Jesus written when unbelievers should…
Read MoreNot Worth Listening To
by Zeke Flores There are some things that are not worth wasting the time to listen to. For me, that would be rap or any new “pop” song. Or most political drivel. Or false religious teaching. Jesus said, “Take care what you listen to” (Mark 4:24). In Luke’s gospel, He says, “Take care how you listen”…
Read MoreWhy Are Elders Missing in So Many Churches?
by Roger D. Campbell We read about “the elders of the church” in the New Testament (James 5:14). In the Bible, “the elders of the church” refers to those brothers who serve as the overseers of a local flock of God (Acts 20:17, 28). They also are identified as shepherds or pastors (Ephesians 4:11) and…
Read MoreThe Twisted Thinking of Abortion
by Dennis Abernathy The thinking of many in our society is truly twisted. Consider the case where two little boys, who were reported kidnapped in South Carolina. Actually, the mother of those little boys confessed to murdering them. She was involved with a man who wanted her company, but not her children, so she murdered…
Read MoreWhy Death?
by Doy Moyer Why is death a consequence of sin? Because sin is a direct affront to the glory of the God of life. When we reject God, we reject life. Death is what’s left. We cannot turn our backs on life and expect to live. Why did Christ come to die? He died for…
Read MoreHe Got Up and Followed Him
by Doy Moyer Think about this for a moment. Jesus passed by “Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he got up and followed Him” (Mark 2:14). What an impression Jesus must have already made on Levi (Matthew) to cause him to get up…
Read MoreNot Enslaved
by Matthew W. Bassford From time to time, I receive article requests from brethren who want me to address a particular topic. Sadly, my usual response to these requests is to forget that they have been made and never write about them. However, recently someone asked me about my views of “not enslaved” in 1…
Read MoreIt Takes Only One Time
by David Weaks Children used to be taught by their parents that sex is reserved for marriage (Hebrew 13:4; I Corinthians 7:1-9), but this doctrine is no longer universally respected. Abstinence is ridiculed by society as archaic and unreasonable. The error of this new attitude cannot be overstated. It is just plain old foolish and…
Read MoreMy Friend, A. W. Dicus
by Rick Lanning It was August, 1971. My parents were with me that Sunday morning as we entered the Temple Terrace church building across the street from Florida College. I was entering my freshman year the very next day. I saw my dad start talking to someone he obviously knew from his past. He soon…
Read MoreDying for Jesus
by Matthew W. Bassford These days, it seems like people in our country are increasingly being led astray by a godless, secular mindset. This worldview has a lot of superficial appeal. After all, if there is no God, you don’t have to submit to anybody. You can do whatever you want with whomever you want.…
Read MoreReflecting on “Hoods in My Hymnal”
by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, Steve Wolfgang sent me a link to this article, “Hoods in My Hymnal.” In it, the author points out that James D. Vaughan, founding father of the Southern gospel genre of hymnody (though not the author of “Love Lifted Me”, despite what the article implies) was a leading…
Read MoreThe Acts 17 Approach to God
by Doy Moyer Acts 17 provides a framework for some basic understanding of God. Think especially about the phrase in verse 25: “as though He needed anything.” In that phrase is found the essence of who God is. God needs nothing more to be complete or to function with the highest possible reason and power.…
Read MoreMy Father’s Hands
by Fanning Yater Tant (1908-1988) written in the 1970s Not God. I am thinking of my own natural father, Jefferson Davis Tant. It is June 4, 1941. A few scores of us are gathered in the old auditorium of the Central Church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas. My father’s body lies in the casket before us.…
Read MoreWhat is the Gift of the Holy Spirit?
by Bill Boyd My preacher friends do not agree on the meaning of “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is frustrating because this expression is at the end of the oft-quoted Acts 2:38. The passage is clear that baptism is “for the remission of sins,” but what does the baptized person receive? Whatever it…
Read MoreA Crisis of Faith?
by Orlando B. Gonzalez Perhaps you wonder whether we, as members of the “Churches of Christ”, are turning others away from Jesus by how we discuss people in other denominations, and how we talk about our practices as if they are the only right way to do things, thereby condemning those who do them differently.…
Read MoreThe Sponsoring Church Arrangement (Jennings)
by Ethan Jennings Not long after World War 2, members of the Lord’s church decided they wanted to take the gospel overseas to the countries with whom we had been at war. This was a good attitude to have. Especially since we are supposed to spread the gospel to everyone. Paul wrote to commend the…
Read MoreDoes John the Baptist Prove that Fetuses Know Good and Evil?
by Terry Wane Benton While it is true that John the Baptist, while yet unborn (what people call the fetus stage), leaped in his mother’s womb when Mary came and greeted Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), it is not true that this means that all infants are aware of sin or aware of Jesus, Mary, and what…
Read MoreI Have Found the Book of the Law
by Terry Wane Benton “Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, ‘I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it'” (II Kings 22:8) How did the book become lost? The whole service should have centered around honoring…
Read MoreOn Infant Baptism
by Terry Wane Benton An Orthodox Church member writes: “Infant baptism is the new circumcision. We find its parallel to circumcision in the Old Covenant. Infants were circumcised as a sign of being part of the Old Covenant so infants should be baptized as a sign of being part of the New Covenant.” In the…
Read MoreOnce for All Delivered
by Terry Wane Benton “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). This last phrase means the faith, the teaching we are…
Read MoreThe Signs of an Apostle
by Terry Wane Benton The apostles of Jesus were eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus (Acts 1:13f). They had to have personally seen Jesus alive from the dead. Nobody today meets that criterion. But those Jesus chose to be sent out by Him as His personal eyewitnesses were also equipped by the Holy Spirit with miraculous…
Read MorePrivate Conversations First?
by Matthew W. Bassford Recently, I posted a critique of John Mark Hicks’s book Searching for the Pattern. This generated a number of interesting responses, one of which came in a private message from a good-hearted brother. He asked me if I had gone to Hicks privately with my objections before raising them publicly. He…
Read MoreBearing Fruit
by Doy Moyer Jesus spoke these well-known words to His disciples shortly before going to the cross: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.…
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