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Dead Flies
by Matthew W. Bassford Ecclesiastes was my father’s favorite book of the Old Testament, and his favorite verse in Ecclesiastes was 10:1. At least, I think it was his favorite verse. It certainly was the one that he quoted most to my teenage self. To this day, I have no trouble summoning up, “Dead flies…
Read MoreA Fundamental Question Concerning Abortion
by Doy Moyer Many of the arguments concerning abortion are emotionally based. Those who oppose abortion can fall into the emotional trap by pointing out how cute a baby is and asking how anyone can hurt it. It’s the same appeal made by those who oppose killing cute baby seals. Those who fight for abortion…
Read MoreThoughts on Abortion
by Jefferson David Tant The United States, and much of the world, are embroiled in a dispute over abortion — the killing of an unborn child. Since the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to abortion, violence has broken out in many areas, with threats, assaults,…
Read MoreCircumcision
by Terry Wane Benton Circumcision was the cutting off of the foreskin of the males in Israel. Why was it done? It was a daily reminder that the offspring coming through these people (Israel) would one day bless all nations through the “seed of Abraham” (Genesis 12:1-4), and this mark in the flesh was to…
Read MoreForgetting the Past
by Jefferson David Tant “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). “Therefore if…
Read MoreWhy Does It Matter to You?
by Doy Moyer “Why does it matter to you what people do in their own privacy? Why not just leave them alone? They aren’t hurting you. It’s their life; it’s none of your business.” In one sense, it doesn’t matter to me what others do privately.* I have no interest in spying on people or…
Read MoreLiberal, Missouri: A Failed Experiment
by Roger Shouse in Biblical Insights, Vol. 6, No. 2, February 2000 The little town of Liberal, Missouri, lies near the Missouri-Kansas border, a few miles north of Joplin, Missouri. This sleepy little town of about 800 residents is typical of many small towns scattered throughout the United States. Liberal, Missouri, had a very interesting…
Read MoreSin Ruins Everything
by Terry Wane Benton We had Paradise and God, and everything was good, beautiful, and perfect. Then sin entered the world, and we lost a perfect paradise, fellowship with God who is perfect, access to the tree of life, and were left to deal with a world of problems and hardships. Sin spread all over…
Read MoreBeyond Our Strength (Moyer)
by Doy Moyer There’s a principle Paul expresses in II Corinthians 1:8-11 that we need to learn well. We may feel overwhelmed by what is going on. We may feel in despair about many things. We may see that things are happening that are “beyond our strength.” What, then, is the lesson to learn? Here…
Read MoreA City Full of Idols
by Matthew W. Bassford As all of us are doubtless aware, we are currently in the middle of Pride Month, a celebration of a number of different lifestyles the Bible condemns as sinful. In case we have forgotten, anytime we shop at a chain store, displays and decorations all remind us. I would not be…
Read MoreA Robust View of Faith
by Doy Moyer We need a robust view of faith. The world thinks that faith is trite and involves merely believing something. No action is needed. This makes faith workless—a nice thing to say perhaps, but it amounts to saying, in the minds of many, “I’m just going to sit here and believe. I don’t…
Read MoreWhy Did the Adulterers and Homosexuals at Corinth Change?
by Terry Wane Benton Paul mentions a list of sins which included thieves, drunkards, adulterers, and homosexuals (I Corinthians 6:8-10) and said, “such were some of you”. They were washed from such sins, justified, and sanctified. What was the motivation that moved them to change? They did not argue that they were born this way…
Read MoreChrist, Our Shepherd
Text: John 10 We live in a fearful time. Most other people in most other times would think it strange that Americans today are as afraid as they are. After all, we live in the heart of the territory controlled by the greatest military power of all time. There has not been a war here…
Read MoreThinking of Beauty
by Doy Moyer “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” There is some truth to this as is evidenced by the different tastes people have in art, music, decor, fashion, etc. However, “beauty” as a deeper concept must have a foundation that is more objective and not merely subjective desire. When we say that…
Read MoreSeek First the Kingdom
by Keith Sharp Billy was 6 years old. It was springtime, close to summer vacation. When school was out, he and his mom, a widow who was remarrying, were moving. He came home from school and told his mom he wouldn’t return to baseball. When she asked why, he replied, “The rest of our games…
Read MoreThe Sovereignty of God (Frost)
by Gene Frost Sovereignty is the state of being sovereign, which is to be “above or superior to all others; chief; greatest; supreme.” We illustrate: In all the realm, the king was sovereign. There was no one holding greater rank, with greater authority, or greater power. He willed that on a certain day, from the…
Read MoreCreated for a Purpose
by Matthew W. Bassford One of the greatest apparent advantages of a godless way of life is the freedom that it allows. No longer must the unbeliever be concerned with the law of God and whether it permits him to do what he wants to. Instead, he is free to do whatever he thinks is…
Read MoreSchool Shootings –The Heart Of The Problem
by Jarrod M. Jacobs This last week brought us another horrific historical event. Nineteen dear students and two teachers in Uvalde, TX, were killed in a random act of violence by an 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Reports tell us he also killed his grandmother before going to Robb Elementary School on his rampage. The husband of…
Read MoreSex, Preachers, and the Church
“The Bible does not hide from or obscure the power of the temptation to illicit sex. In language that is refreshingly clear and direct without itself indulging in titillation, the text warns the reader of the debacle that awaits him should he succumb in this area and at the same time promises profound sexual joy…
Read MoreYou’d Better Earn My Respect!
by Adam Litmer People often declare that a person must earn their respect. We like to establish criteria to be reached before respect is extended. The criteria may shift or remain static, yet the end result is the same: the ball is in their court, and they need to play it correctly to receive respect…
Read MoreJust Telling What I Feel
by Doy Moyer That our culture has been trained to act more on feelings than objective truth and reality is evident in so many ways that it hardly needs proving. The outbursts of anger, the murders, the sexual abuses, the lack of civility, the completely irrational denials of reality, and more are ever before us…
Read MoreWhere There Is No Law There Is No Sin
by Terry Wane Benton Some brethren are misusing Romand 5:13 and Romans 4:15 to say there is no law, therefore we can do what we want. That is not the point of these two passages nor any other passage. The point in Romans 5:13 is that there was sin even before the Sinai law was…
Read MoreWhat America Needs
by Ken Weliever During the past couple of days, I’ve been listening to politicians, political pundits, and experts from various fields discuss the “why” of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that snuffed out the lives of 19 innocent little children. This occurred just 10 days after a gunman went on a shooting rampage…
Read MoreWhy Do We Keep Letting This Happen?
by Terry Wane Benton Why? “Why do we keep letting this happen?” You cannot control human hearts. From the heart proceed murders and all manner of sin (Mark 7:21-23). We have stopped giving hearts a moral compass in our homes. Schools have conditioned generations to think morality is just whatever we want it to be…
Read MoreWe Are Her World
by Adam Litmer I was exhausted. I needed to study and prepare for two classes. Neither sermon was close to where it needed to be. My personal Bible reading was nonexistent. I couldn’t focus on anything, and frustration was taking hold. It’s all because of Evelyn. Two weeks ago, we learned she has a milk…
Read MoreConcern About Biblical Authority
by Doy Moyer Why be concerned about biblical authority? For this one simple reason: “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7). If we aren’t concerned about authority, then we place ourselves in God’s position of reigning. It really is just that simple. Jesus is Head (Colossians 1:18). We aren’t. Does stressing authority mean we don’t think grace…
Read MoreThe Judgment of Babylon
by Matthew W. Bassford It seems like the farther we get into the book of Revelation, the more contentious it gets. Our reading concerns chapters 16 through 18, and the main character in this section is the wicked city of Babylon, personified as a prostitute. To say that the identity of Babylon is under dispute…
Read MoreAre You Too Busy?
by Roger Shouse We live in busy times. Most of us with children at home find ourselves coming and going all the time. The calendar is full of activities. There is very little downtime or quiet time. Our busy schedules often keep some of us from helping out in the kingdom of God. For instance,…
Read MoreNon-Sequitur
by Gardner Hall True, but careful with “therefore” True statement: “We don’t know how far God is going to extend His mercy.” “Therefore”… (fallacies often follow..) “It is not important to be concerned with having scriptural precedent for our spiritual practices.” “We can judge that others who have serious spiritual transgressions are still going to…
Read MoreThe Danger of Doubt
by Larry Rouse “If you were to die today, do you know where you will spend eternity?” This is a question that others have asked me and one that I have asked others. John wrote so that “you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13). Men today fight this truth for various…
Read MorePeople Are Just Like Me
by Doy Moyer People often assume that others will act, react, and operate on the same basis that they do. If some are liars, they will assume the same of everyone else. If they operate “in the shadows,” they will assume the same of others. If they are the envious type, they will assume that…
Read MoreWhy Did Paul Appeal to His Roman Citizenship?
by Doy Moyer Acts 16 tells us the story of Paul and Silas being arrested and imprisoned in Philippi. They sang praises while bound, others listened, and then an earthquake shaking the foundations set them free. Instead of running, Paul told the jailer, who was about to commit suicide, not to harm himself. We then…
Read MoreGod Has an Answer
by Matthew W. Bassford The contrast between Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 is one of the most striking between any two chapters in the Bible. In Revelation 13, all the news is bad. Even though the dragon has been defeated in heaven, a new ally for him, the beast, emerges from the sea. Another evil…
Read MoreHow to Differ!
Robert F. Turner Plain Talk, July 1974 Brethren frequently differ with one another, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. It may indicate conviction and our concern that others share our understanding of God’s word. Differences spring from various degrees of learning or experience, or from opinions expressed on moot questions. They may be…
Read MoreWhen Jeremiah Said “New” – (Hebrews 8:7-13)
by Terry Wane Benton The moment Jeremiah used the word “new” in speaking of a coming “new covenant,” there was the immediate implication that the Sinai covenant, then in place, was becoming obsolete and ready to vanish away. The idea of “vanishing away” (Hebrews 8:13) is not that you would be unable to read that…
Read MoreCookie Cutter Evangelism
by David Weaks I often find myself wondering: “Why are brethren not baptizing more people? Why aren’t the numbers of people requesting baptism (Acts 8:36) commensurate with the amount of labor that Christians spend in soul-winning?” I have found that most preachers confess the same nagging concerns. Is successful evangelism a question of method only,…
Read MoreGod’s Promises to the Faithful
by Matthew W. Bassford No matter how many times I read the Bible, I always find something new in it. Nor are these discoveries subtle or inconsequential. Often, they are magnificent! So it was with this week’s Bible reading. I’m familiar with Revelation. I’ve taught it several times and read it many more. However, never…
Read MoreWhy are the Resurrection Accounts so Different?
by Edwin Crozier If skeptics jump on anything about the gospel records of Jesus Christ, it is the differences between the four authors’ accounts of the resurrection events and appearances. For example, Matthew mentions an angel who met the women at the tomb sitting on the rolled-away stone (Matthew 28:2). Mark mentions the women meeting…
Read MorePraying for the Dead
by Wayne Jackson via The Christian Courier Whenever someone we love dies — in old age or tragically before their prime — our hearts cannot help but anguish with those who are suffering soul-tearing losses. Some children have lost one or both parents. Husbands and wives have been robbed of loving mates. Others will never…
Read MoreThe Charges Against Paul
by Doy Moyer Paul was charged with four things in Acts 24:4-7 Being a pest (a plague). Stirring up riots. Being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Trying to profane the temple. Paul’s answer to 1 and 2 was that he had not stirred up any crowds in the synagogue or temple and…
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