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Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son
by Terry Wane Benton There are different kinds of prophecies. Some are direct and some are indirect. Some are in the form of typology, and therefore, when Jesus fulfills them, it is not always obvious how it is a shadow, and then Jesus fills in the form. I want to observe some things about how…
Read MoreWhat If Atheists Are Right About the Beginning of the Universe?
by Perry Hall As to the beginning of our universe, I am aware of at least two atheistic positions. This becomes for atheists an either-or proposition: Either you believe that matter came from non-matter – that is, something came from nothing. Or, that matter has no beginning and is eternal, but not living matter -…
Read MoreIn a Manner Worthy
by David Gibson This is not about the Lord’s Supper, but instead draws on six passages on how we are to live. “. . . like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his…
Read MoreIf God Answers Prayers
by David Gibson A newspaper years ago published a photo of a man protesting the National Day of Prayer observance at the county courthouse. He is holding a sign that says, “If God answers prayers, why won’t He heal amputees?” Here are a few thoughts: If God does not heal amputees, is it because He…
Read MoreWho Chose Whom?
by Terry Wane Benton The Calvinist asks, “Who chose whom? Did you choose God? Or did God choose you?” He says delightfully, “God chose us!” While that is true, it is not true that God chose us against our will. There is room for God’s choice to be conditional according to many scriptures (Romans 1:16;…
Read MoreThe Crucified King
by Terry Wane Benton The King let Himself be crucified, but that did not lessen His rule or disqualify Him from being King (Psalm 2). Instead, His crucifixion became the very means of winning the hearts of those who would enter His kingdom. He is the King who rules hearts by winning them first. “Greater…
Read MoreJesus, the Friend of Sinners
by David Gibson Text: Luke 19:1-10 Jesus makes a friend Astounding! The Creator of the universe walking around in a human body on dusty roads here on Planet Earth and into the home of a man nobody liked. Jesus paid a price to make this friend. This is the third time in the Gospel of…
Read MoreI Never Met an Elder Before
by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Belinda, a fine young Christian from Mexico, spent six weeks of last summer with my daughter’s family. Her enthusiasm, devoutness, and general spirituality were an inspiration to us all. What a delight to see one so young and so interested in so many things, yet seeming to have her priorities…
Read MoreGlobal Warming
by Zeke Flores Global warming, I mean “climate change,” is on the minds of many. That the earth will warm a degree or two will bring catastrophic consequences, they say. Perhaps. Perhaps not. While concerned people fret about a fractional warming of our environment, it escapes them that a calamitous upward temperature change is on…
Read MoreCaricatures of Christianity
by David Gibson What some think The Christian life has been portrayed as a dreary affair. While worldly folks are having all the fun, Christians have to get up on Sunday mornings and go to church and be good all week. They can’t do this, and they can’t do that. Boring! “For the time that…
Read MoreThe Tragic End of Judas
by Hugh DeLong In John 18:3, we read about Judas carrying out his betrayal of Jesus. The story of Judas includes other specific references in Scripture, including: “For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have…
Read MoreLight Illuminates
by Zeke Flores The very nature of light is to illuminate, that is, to reveal something. We use it to help us do things such as writing a letter or working in the garden. Whenever I work under the hood of my car, I use a light suspended from a cord above me to illuminate…
Read MoreEarning Salvation?
by Doy Moyer Many believe that the reason we can’t “do anything” is that doing something implies we think we are earning salvation. This is one of the arguments against baptism: baptism is a work, and we aren’t saved by works but by grace; therefore, baptism can’t be required for salvation. This is a misunderstanding…
Read MoreIs There a Minimum?
by Ron Boatwright Many people want to know what the bare minimum is they can get by with in their lives. Additionally, some Christians aim to maintain a minimal level of spiritual engagement. But does God allow a bare minimum? Jesus says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with…
Read MoreDo You Believe in Baptizing in the Trinity?
by Terry Wane Benton Just before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His disciples to go “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). What that means is that we baptize people with the full authority of the…
Read MoreIs Election Sure?
by Terry Wane Benton I have heard Calvinists make a distinction between “salvation” and “election.” They say we can lose our salvation but not our election. One is sure and the other is not, according to their perspective. This would mean that all who are temporarily saved from sin are not necessarily elected by God…
Read MoreOutcasts for Jesus
by Hugh DeLong As Jesus talks to the Apostles, knowing that he is going to ascend back to the throne with the Father, he prepares them for what they will face as they conform themselves to the teaching and example that he himself has set. Notice the first 4 verses of John 16: “These things…
Read MoreConditional Statements
by Hugh DeLong In John 15, Jesus speaks with the Apostles, and in what he says, we see many ‘if’ statements and conditional sentences. Note the list: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and…
Read MorePreaching Is a Different Kind of Work
by Zeke Flores There are both good and bad, positive and negative aspects to it. But I can say that the positive far outweighs the negative. Because of the nature of the work, you get opportunities to serve the best people in the world – Christians – all the time. You get to help people…
Read MoreBuried with Him and Raised with Him
by Terry Wane Benton The action of real baptism is very misunderstood today. People see a man dunking another person in the water and think it is a strange initiation rite, but there is much more to it than what you see with the physical eye. What is supposed to be happening in the heart…
Read MoreFollowing God’s Plan
by Zeke Flores Following the pattern of authority in the Bible isn’t hard; individuals and churches just need to make up their minds to do it. That means doing things that might run counter to what we’ve always believed. For instance, raising money for the local church using methods other than the free-will giving of…
Read MoreThe Restless Son
by Terry Wane Benton Why was he not happy at home? Jesus tells the story of a son who became restless and felt too controlled by the family rules (Luke 15:11-32). Sometimes a child can be foolish and self-centered, thinking the grass is surely greener where they can do as they please and no one…
Read MoreWhy Are You a Member of the Church of Christ?
by Vance E. Trefethen via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, September 1992 A full-page ad for the book “Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ” recently caught my eye, with its bold headline: “Now Is the Time to Act.” Much of the message carried in this conservative journal was true—and quite disturbing.…
Read MoreSomething Missing in Our Culture
by David V. Hurst via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, September 1992 None can deny the drastic shift in our culture’s attitude toward God over the last thirty years. This often causes special problems for the Christian and his children. How do we instill in our children and others genuine values concerning God? Our…
Read MoreHolding One Another Accountable
by Doy Moyer Christians ought to cherish their fellowship with one another, for what we have in common in Christ is greater than what the world can ever offer. Yet we are people, and people sin. People do foolish things. People hurt others, and as a result, relationships are often destroyed. Learning to live with…
Read MoreShould I marry someone who is hiding his faith?
Question: Dear Brother, I accepted Jesus Christ a few years ago. I come from a Hindu family. I like a guy, and he was a Hindu too. As I kept on talking to him about Jesus, one day he accepted Jesus Christ. He said he can no longer view his old religion the way he…
Read MoreAre We Putting God in a Box?
by Vicky Buckwalter Can We Put God in a Box? There’s a phrase I’ve heard more and more often in the Lord’s Church — and honestly, I’ve even said it myself once or twice: “We can’t put God in a box.” At other times, it sounds like this: “The Holy Spirit isn’t bound within the…
Read MoreWhy Remain a Christian When Christians Sin?
by Doy Moyer Why do we stay faithful to Jesus when so many churches and people do so much wrong? It’s a common complaint. Here is an elder, a deacon, or a preacher who fell from grace in some way or abused other members. Here is a church that is worldly and selfish, turning a…
Read MoreOnly a Fool Underestimates Temptation
by Gary Henry WordPoints.com “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13). We need to pray for deliverance from the evil one, as Jesus taught us to do. We often call this prayer the…
Read MoreGrace and Baptism
by David Gibson To say that baptism is essential to salvation does not at all contradict the truth that we are saved by grace. We can never earn our salvation. Baptism is a condition of salvation. It is likely that others have made the following points, but they need to be reiterated. Dipping seven times…
Read MoreKnowing Who You Are
by Hugh DeLong As Jesus and the apostles gather for their last supper, the apostles continue to bicker and fuss about who among them was the ‘greatest’. This has been going on almost the whole time they have been apostles! All three gospels record one episode (cp. Mark 9:33-37; Matthew 18:1-5; Luke 9:46). Jesus calls…
Read More“How Much More” – The God Who Cares
by David Gibson More than once, Jesus used a telling phrase that beautifully conveys how much God truly cares about us. “. . . which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then,…
Read MoreHebrews Was Written to Saved People
by Terry Wane Benton The inspired writer of Hebrews is not writing to people who were almost saved and could be saved with a little more persuasion, but rather, he is writing to saved Jews on the verge of giving up and returning to their former life in Judaism. The writer speaks of how they…
Read MoreThe Growth of the Church
by Hugh DeLong It is difficult for us to read the events in John 12 and feel the same excitement that gripped the people in Jesus’ day. The city is filling up with people who have come to celebrate and observe the Passover. “Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up…
Read MoreOn Making the Father’s Will Preeminent
by Garry Henry WordPoints.com “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Doing the will of His Father was the ultimate, overriding priority for Jesus. To Him, nothing…
Read MoreA False Measure of Goodness
by Clay Gentry At a recent funeral, the preacher acknowledged that the deceased had never attended church, nor was he particularly religious. “Still, he was saved,” the preacher said, “because he trusted Jesus when he was young.” Rather than showing evidence of a transformed life, the preacher highlighted three aspects of the deceased’s “goodness” to…
Read MoreThe Last Words of Peter, Eyewitness of Jesus
by Terry Wane Benton Just before Peter died, he wrote his final letter (II Peter). He had been sharing “the knowledge of God” (II Peter 1:2). It was not a myth or a fairytale. He was privileged to share real “knowledge of God.” Others had shared mythology, but Peter knew he was sharing “truth” and…
Read MoreCompetition
by Zeke Flores No parent wants their child to feel left out, unappreciated, or useless. That’s understandable, but the answer for some was to stop keeping score for sporting events so there would be no winners or losers and award “participation trophies” to everyone who showed up. “There, that ought to help their self-esteem,” some…
Read MorePeter’s Conviction
by Terry Wane Benton Peter, another eyewitness and apostle of Jesus, was recorded by Luke regarding several of his testimonial accounts. See Luke’s impressive documentation of Peter’s presentation of the evidence of Jesus, as Luke recorded them in summary in Acts 2, 3, and 10. Luke recorded these speeches to show future generations the kind…
Read MoreMust We Use One Loaf and One Cup?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A few brethren contend that the Lord’s Supper must be served using one loaf and one cup that everyone shares. “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since…
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