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The Bible and Dinosaurs
by Don Martin The word dinosaur, as such, is not found in the Bible. We must remember that man has named many of the animals today. The word dinosaur is associated with the Greek “dino,” meaning terrible. There are animals named in the Bible concerning which we have no definite knowledge or identity (see “greyhound,”…
Read MoreTrip Report – 2015 (Bali, Singapore)
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TripReport2015.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 10:17-18 I had an opportunity to revisit the two groups I worked with last year. This time my wife, Gaye, agreed to come with me. It was the first time she has been out of the country. The church in La Vista paid my travel…
Read MoreBaptism of the Holy Spirit: A Promise?
by Carl A. Allen Through the years I have talked with, and debated with, Pentecostal preachers and it is not uncommon for them to take the position that the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit ” is a command. Many have been the times I have cited a passage to prove that the “Baptism of the…
Read MoreAgainst the Odds
by Gary W. Summers What war tactic has usually proven successful? The ambush. Joshua had used it, at God’s instruction, with great success in the second attack on Ai. Once the men of that city were lured out into the open, by what they undoubtedly considered would be another route of Israel, they were hemmed…
Read MoreThe Action of Baptism
by Steve Wolfgang via Truth Magazine XIX: 27, pp. 421-422, May 15, 1975 The subject of the “action” of baptism quite evidently concerns itself with the nature of the act. It raises the question, “Exactly what is ‘baptism’?” This is a question that should be of obvious importance to every professed believer of the Bible. To those…
Read MorePassing the Torch
by Ethan R. Longhenry Almost two thousand years ago the Gospel of Jesus Christ began to be proclaimed: God became Incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, went about doing good, was crucified and buried, but God raised Him from the dead; He ascended to the Father, received all authority and everlasting dominion, and will return one…
Read MoreThe History Behind “Freedom’s Ring”
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (II Peter 2:19). My first encounter with the doctrine promoted by Freedom’s Ring was when the congregation where my wife and I met got pulled into apostasy…
Read MoreThe Sponsoring Church Arrangement (Longhenry)
by Ethan R. Longhenry God wills for all people to be saved in Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:4; II Peter 3:9); Christians must go out and proclaim the Word of the Gospel to their fellow human beings (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:14-17). The local church, as the Body of Christ manifests in a given area, has…
Read MoreFalse Teaching 101
by Steven Harper In the religious realm, there are some men who would have us believe they are speaking the truths of God’s Word but would be more properly identified as the “false teachers” they are. I know that is a ‘label’ that some individuals do not like to hear, but it is a Scriptural one…
Read MoreThe Congregational Cooperation Issue During the Restoration Movement
by George P. Estes via Gospel Guardian, May 3, 1956 Behind the thinking of the men who attempted to restore the New Testament church lie two basic premises or accepted facts: first, that the church as it existed in the apostolic age contained no admixture of human doctrine and was, therefore, a God-given and perfect…
Read MoreThe Demise of Sunday Night
by Kent Heaton It is with great trepidation that I step into the spiritual coliseum of tradition and practice but a mist rolls over the hills of today that threaten the roots of the Lord’s church in America. We have long-held traditions that were created to facilitate a need in allowing folk to worship as…
Read MoreA Question to be Answered
by Doy Moyer Will anyone defend this: “The wise and good thing to do today is to start drinking alcohol”? If one says, “But the Bible doesn’t condemn all drinking,” I will respond by asking that question again. If one says, “But there are passages in the Bible that speak of fermented drinks in a…
Read MoreThe Church at Work in Benevolence
by Irvin Himmel via Guardian of Truth XXXIX:10 p. 6-8, May 18, 1995 There is no better way to teach the plan of salvation than examining the cases of conversion in the book of Acts. Such examples as the Jews on Pentecost, the Samaritans, the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian jailer, and the…
Read MoreThe Silence Argument
by Wayne Jackson One of the strongest arguments against the use of instrumental music in Christian worship is the “silence” principle. This is the concept that when God is silent about a matter, man is not at liberty to “presume”, and so to act without divine authority. There is no New Testament authority for the…
Read MoreWhere Does the Bible Specifically Condemn That?
by Doy Moyer Here’s a question often asked, and it can be asked about many things. Besides misunderstanding the nature not only of biblical authority but of communication itself, the question is typically geared toward defending a practice that is likely questionable, to begin with. After all, we don’t ask this question if we know…
Read MoreThe Law of Non-Contradiction
by Joshua Gurtler First published in Biblical Insights Magazine, May 2015 The Law of Non-Contradiction Argues for the God of the Bible and Against Atheism, Hinduism, and Buddhism There is an argument for God that I would like for you to consider. This argument says that without the Christian worldview (which is simply the comprehensive belief…
Read MorePermitted Does Not Equate to Desired
by Doy Moyer There is a difference between what God permitted to happen subsequent to sin entering the world and what God desired from the beginning and ultimately makes right in Christ. Jesus illustrates this point: “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has…
Read MoreCommands in Conflict
by Andrew Hamilton “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will…
Read MoreMyth or History?
by Forrest D. Moyer The Bible is either the product of God or the product of men. Christians believe that the Bible is from the hand of God and that it is to be believed and obeyed in order to have a good life now and in Heaven in eternity. There have always been those…
Read MoreBrotherly Love (Moyer)
by Doy Moyer In our modern-day, “love” has many faces. A man may see a woman for the first time and say, “I’m in love.” What he means is, “I have a strong attraction.” To some, “love” implies lust. Basically, “love” means anything we want it to mean in whatever given circumstance. Some parents think…
Read MoreThe Gospel/Doctrine Distinction
By Tom M. Roberts Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 12, p. 13-14 June 16, 1994 Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 13, p. 16-18 July 7, 1994 Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 14, p. 3-4 July 21, 1994 Bred in Infidelity One would have to be totally ignorant of the Bible to deny that Jesus Christ is both the center…
Read MoreAugustus H. F. Payne
by Earl Kimbrough via Biblical Insights When the dark and angry clouds of war gathered over the nation in 1860, some pacifist gospel preachers in Missouri drew up a document pleading with their brethren to refuse to take up arms in the conflict. Entitled Circular from Preachers in Missouri, the paper was intended for brethren in all…
Read MoreIt’s Dark Out There
by David Diestelkamp via Think on These Things A candle burned anonymously across from where I sat. The unusually bright Chicago winter day flooded the room with light, overwhelming the glow of the candle. The candle was superfluous, unnecessary, and useless, at least as far as giving light was concerned. Had the room been dark with…
Read MoreThe Incompatibility of Islam and Christianity
by Jonathan T. Engel I read the Qur’an (specifically the Oxford World Classics edition first published in 2004 and translated into English by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem). This is something I’ve actually meant to do for years and finally got around to doing so. I’ve been slowly plodding through it, caterpillar-like, for quite a…
Read MoreA Pardon Refused
by Steve Hamilton In 1829, two men robbed a United States mail carrier in Pennsylvania. The men were tried on six indictments that included robbery and murder. George Wilson and James Porter were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. However, a petition for pardon was made on George Wilson’s behalf by some of…
Read MoreSocial Drinking (Thompson)
by Floyd Thompson Many times in trying to justify social drinking people will use as a defense Paul’s admonition to Timothy in I Timothy 5:23, which says, “use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake, and thine often infirmities.” I think this passage has not been thoroughly discussed until we recognize that Timothy was a…
Read MoreWas Cornelius Saved Before Water Baptism?
by Fred B. Walker in The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 11, September 1952. One of the strongest arguments that can be made on the theory that one is saved before and without water baptism is based upon the conversion of Cornelius in Acts 10 in the light of what Jesus taught in Jno. 14:17. This…
Read MoreIndividual or Church?
by Jimmy R. Mickells I was recently given a bulletin with an article in it that asked this question: “Where does the Bible make a distinction between the individual member and the church in the work of the Lord?” May we notice together that the word of God answers this question very clearly? The reason…
Read MoreThe Same Movement, Yet We Are Different
by Andy Sochor Daniel Austen Sommer (1878-1952) was the son of the gospel preacher, Daniel Sommer. In 1916, D.A. Sommer debated J. Roy Wright of the Christian church. The debate dealt with several issues, including instrumental music in worship and missionary societies. In his first speech, Sommer pointed out something that he and Wright had in…
Read MoreI Peter 4:3 and ‘Social Drinking’
by Ron Halbrook (edited for length) Searching The Scriptures, June 1973 Three words are used in I Peter 4:3 which have a bearing on modern drinking practices. All three words describe the lifestyle of the old man, dead in sin — living “in the flesh to the lusts of men.” Peter pleads with those who are…
Read MoreTruth Or Free-thinking
by Terry W. Benton To the modern man, it seems wrong to believe that you can actually “know the truth”, and therefore be in a position to “answer” the false religious claims of others. While an open mind is indeed a good quality, that open-minded nature ought to eventually settle on something it has tested…
Read MoreTroubled Over Immorality
by Connie Adams Nothing can create more havoc in a home or a congregation than immoral behavior on the part of Christians or their children. Webster defines immoral as “Inconsistent with purity or good morals.” Immorality is defined by Webster as “the quality or state of being immoral: wickedness, esp. unchastity.” It is immoral to…
Read MoreHereditary Total Depravity: Examining the Old Testament Proof Texts
by Melvin Curry via Guardian of Truth, January 1, 1987 Hereditary total depravity is generally associated with Augustinian and Calvinistic doctrine. John Calvin, following in the footsteps of Augustine, taught that all men sinned in Adam, and, consequently, every human being, except Jesus Christ, possesses from birth a totally corrupt sinful nature. Calvinists are saddled with…
Read MoreDestructive Complexes
by Don Martin We shall be using the term “complex” rather loosely in this article. A simple definition of “complex” is, “The term for a psychological cause, hidden or repressed, having a strong influence on one’s character; an obsession” [Webster’s National Dictionary]. In our examination of some destructive complexes, we shall not use the term…
Read MoreThe Unchanging Word
by Jefferson David Tant In one of the conversations our Lord was having with his disciples, he stated: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). And the apostle Peter wrote: “For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The…
Read MoreThe Church Ain’t Doing Nothing
by Raymond Elliott How often have we heard that statement from a brother in Christ? And it is to be admitted that we often fail in fulfilling the many obligations that God has given us. But there are some pertinent observations that need to be made relative to this broad statement. First of all, we…
Read MoreProof-Texting
by Doy Moyer In light of the way Paul sometimes quoted Scripture, even using isolated verses together in order to establish a point (e.g., Romans 3:10-18), can someone actually show from Scripture that what is typically called “proof-texting” is always bad? Don’t get me wrong. I believe in context. I don’t believe in randomly pulling…
Read MoreLogic in the Bible
by Terry W. Benton While some modern brethren have declared that the logic of “necessary inference” has been made up in recent years by “church of Christ preachers”, the Bible shows that this kind of logic goes back to communication from God and man from the beginning. If anyone should be credited with the origin…
Read MoreAre You Unforgivable?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Repeatedly I receive frantic inquiries from people fearful that they committed an unforgivable sin. It never seems to register that nowhere in the Bible are sins called “unforgivable.” If a sin was unforgivable, then it means God refuses to offer forgiveness for certain sins. But that contradicts the nature of God.…
Read MoreAbstinence Is Reasonable
by David Diestelkamp via Think on These Things “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication” (I Thessalonians 4:3). Society is totally confused. It wants people to be reasonable (thinking, logically) about sex. It wants them to think about civil law, time and place (decency), disease, pregnancy, “protection,”…
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