Article
Is That What You Meant to Say?
by Steve Klein via The Bulletin of the Church of Christ at New Georgia, March 29, 2009 An insurance agent was writing a policy for a cowboy. “Have you ever had any accidents?” the agent asked. “No, not really,” replied the cowboy. “A horse threw me off and kicked me in the ribs once, and…
Read MoreA New Year’s Resolution
by Kelsey Harris This year I want to… Write something worth reading Read something worth sharing Say something worth repeating Give something worth getting Choose something worth keeping Sacrifice something worth giving up Go somewhere worth seeing Eat something worth tasting Hug someone worth holding Buy something worth treasuring Cry tears worth shedding Do something…
Read MoreThe Intolerance and Lies of Open-Mindedness
by Doy Moyer We’ve all heard it: we don’t accept a particular viewpoint so, therefore, we are closed-minded bigots trapped inside some blind faith and hope fostered by an ancient, cultish superstition. Those who make such charges are, of course, open-minded, loving, tolerant, compassionate people who are willing to accept others for who they are…
Read MoreInconvenient Truths
by Steve Klein The United Nations Conference on climate change concluded in December 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Leaders from 193 nations have been attempting to reach an agreement on international policies to combat global warming. Outside the conference center, thousands of protesters braved the frigid temperatures, risking frostbite and hypothermia, to protest global warming. The…
Read MoreThe Trinity: God is Three in One
by Mark E. Larson Many critics of Christianity point to what they believe to be a fundamental flaw – the belief that God is three persons, yet one God (i.e., the doctrine of the Trinity). To the Jews and Muslims, this Christian doctrine appears to be a contradiction and a blasphemy against the one, true…
Read MoreAn Idea for a Sermon Topic
by Jefferson David Tant Sometimes preachers are hard-pressed to come up with a good sermon topic. In reading some of my father’s old church bulletins from Norman, Oklahoma, (April 1946), he wrote of a famous preacher in London many years ago who announced his sermon for the next Sunday – “A Reaping Hook Well Tempered…
Read MoreHow to Thank God for His Gifts
by Sam Stinson “All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair” (Exodus 35:26, ESV). Ethan Bortnick is a piano prodigy. At age seven, he has memorized two hundred melodies and has composed a handful of his own. After hearing him play a piece on TV, I researched his…
Read MoreHow to Teach Your Father or Mother the Truth
Adapted from an article by Edward Good via Gospel Power, Vol. 16, No. 29, July 19, 2009. What a difficult thing it can be to teach your father and mother the truth of the gospel! There are so many Christians whose heart’s desire and prayer to God is for their father and mother. They either…
Read MoreHow Long Did the Judges Rule Israel?
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton A passage that has given scholars difficulty over the years is Acts 13:17-20. The New American Standard renders it thus: “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from…
Read MoreEarly Christians and Abortion
by William J. Stewart Several years ago, with an election approaching, a candidate canvassing in our area stopped by my home seeking my support in his pursuit of public office. I politely, but firmly informed him that he would not receive my vote, as we had fundamental disagreements on important moral issues. We briefly discussed…
Read MoreThe Gospel Songs of Philip Paul Bliss
by Wayne S. Walker Philip Paul Bliss was born in a log cabin near Rome in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, on July 9, 1838. Always interested in music, he was carrying items from his family’s home into town to sell and heard a lady playing the piano in a house along the way. Walking into the…
Read MoreThe Gospel Songs of Charles H. Gabriel
by Wayne S. Walker One of the most prolific composers of gospel songs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was Charles Hutchinson Gabriel, who was born on Aug. 18, 1856, in a prairie shanty at Wilton, Iowa, and spent the first seventeen years of his life on an Iowa farm. Expressing a keen…
Read MoreGo Often Askew?
by Jim Ward via The Lost River Bulletin, Vol. 59, No. 1, Jan. 2009. Robert Burns, the Bard of Scotland, was also known as the “Ploughman Bard,” because he earned his sparse living as a farmer. One day while plowing, Mr. Burns destroyed a nest of a mouse. He marked the event in a poem…
Read MoreGod’s Line of Measurement
by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 10, No. 6, Oct. 2009. It is true that you cannot define a word by using the same word to describe it. It just doesn’t work. You can’t explain a term by comparing it with itself. It would do little good to describe “repentance” as what happens when…
Read MoreGod Is Able
by David Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 12, March 20, 2009. Times are hard right now. The economy is in a major recession, with no end in sight as I write this. Many people are facing factory layoffs. Many are looking at foreclosures and still others are thinking of bankruptcy. Maybe you are not…
Read MoreGod Expects Us to Think
by Steven Harper According to a well-known American philosopher, “A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought” [H.L. Mencken]; another one said, “What has religion to do with facts? Nothing” [Robert Green Ingersoll]; and “Star Trek” creator and producer, Gene Roddenberry, said,…
Read MoreGive Me that Good ODD Religion!
by Steve Klein Churches of Christ are typically viewed as “odd” by denominational folk. Two of the main reasons for this view are that churches of Christ don’t use instruments of music in worship and they don’t celebrate December 25th as the birth of Christ. While these things seem odd to members of modern denominations,…
Read MoreThe Found Tribes of Israel
by Edwin L. Crozier, via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 4, Jan. 27, 2008. One of the most common mistakes made about Biblical history is the supposedly lost tribes of Israel. We know God divided the descendants of Jacob into 13 different tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Ephraim,…
Read MoreForgiveness (North)
by Phillip North via Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 8, Aug. 2008. Much has been preached and written on how mankind, especially Christians, should and must practice forgiveness. No doubt it is a command, not a mere option. Jesus said, “But if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if…
Read MoreThe “Folly” of God
by Ethan R. Longhenry This was not the expected script. The time, of course, was right. Four grand empires had been prophesied (cf. Daniel 2, 7); Babylon and Medo-Persia were long gone, the age of the Greeks was over, and Rome was now in power. He was supposed to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2);…
Read MoreThe Flood and Baptism
by Frank J. Jamerson via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 13, March 30, 2008. Many of the teachings of the New Testament were prefigured in the Old Testament. The Old Testament story is the type and the New Testament lesson is the antitype, or that which is prefigured. One of these types is the flood.…
Read MoreFinding Grace (McCrary)
by Mark McCrary via Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 11, Nov. 2008. Man fell because he rejected God. Rejection is a painful thing, isn’t it? When others push us away, they are really saying we aren’t what they want; that we do not satisfy them. And, when we are rejected, aside from being hurt, we may…
Read MoreThe Faith of Toleration
by Todd Chandler via Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 7, July 2008. Right and Wrong … Fewer People Like to Think in Those Terms or Listen to Those Who Do. The business of drawing lines is risky and a quick way to get labeled judgmental, self-righteous, or hateful. So, a more peaceful option becomes popular. The…
Read MoreEmpty Faith
by Carey Scott “My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don’t do anything to show that you really do have faith? Can that kind of faith save you?” (James 2:14, CEV). There are a lot of people going around and calling themselves a Christians. Yet their actions do not…
Read MoreThe Emerging Church – The New Face of Heresy
by Wayne Jackson Recently, Charles Colson, a leading evangelical writer, pointed out: Last June a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey found rampant doctrinal ignorance among American Christians. Fifty-seven percent of evangelicals believed people who follow religions other than their own can enjoy eternal life. The results were so unexpected that Pew repeated…
Read MoreDoubting Your Salvation
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 8, Feb. 20, 2009. QUESTION: Would you please explain I John 3:20,21? ANSWER: John wrote: “Because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemns us not, we have boldness toward God” (I John 3:20,21).…
Read MoreDon’t be Hoodwinked!
by Allen Dvorak via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 10, Mar. 9, 2008. Our word “hoodwinked” is actually a falconry term. We use it to mean “to deceive,” but Webster notes that the word also means “to blind by covering the eyes.” The falconer must hoodwink his falcon. At the beginning of training, the bird…
Read MoreDifferent Views of Truth
by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn light, Vol. 9, No. 11, March 2009. Isn’t it interesting that two people can see the same thing and come away with two different conclusions? The same thing can be said concerning what we hear or what we read. When the twelve spies were sent to explore the Promised…
Read MoreCurses!
by Steve Klein Today we have experts and scholars on every subject imaginable – from global warming to cotton farming. Timothy Jay is an expert on cursing. He’s made quite a study of it, written two books about it, and talks about it often to his students at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts where…
Read MoreConsistency and Character
by James R. Cope via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1951. Reputation and Character Character is what we are. It is the sum total of qualities that distinguish one person from another. Reputation is what is said about us — that which others think we are. Character and reputation are sometimes the same: perhaps…
Read MoreConsider the Cost First to Lessen the Debt Later
by Kent Heaton The burden of debt robs happiness and joy from life. In our economic crisis, our world has been propelled into a dark period of hardship, sadness, and depression. As many have spent their time enjoying whatever the heart finds to do the day of reckoning brings about the reality of life unbridled.…
Read MoreCongregational Independence (Moyer)
by Doy Moyer The Scriptures teach local congregational independence and autonomy. What does this mean? The body of Christ (universal terminology as in one body, Ephesians 4:1-3) is not some interconnected web of congregations; rather, the body is composed of individuals (see I Corinthians 12:12-27). Individual Christians ought to seek out other Christians in their…
Read MoreThe Church: Yours, Mine, or the Lord’s?
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Feb. 6, 1976 Questions: Isn’t it true that the present-day church of Christ was begun in the early 1800s by Alexander and Thomas Campbell? Was there any organization of your church from the first to the 18th centuries? On what basis can your ministers claim that salvation can be obtained only through…
Read MoreChurch Recreation
by Keith Camp Recently I received an invitation to a facility that provided “ping pong, walking track, concerts, basketball, weights, pool table, board games, banquets, refreshments, etc.” No, the invitation did not come from the local Boy’s club. It came from a local church. Increasingly churches have begun to take on the atmosphere of social…
Read MoreThe Children of One’s Youth
by Bryan Matthew Dockens The name Jamie Lynn Spears was unknown to me until the sixteen-year-old actress and younger sister of Britney Spears recently announced that she is expecting a child. This news has predictably brought increased attention to the issue of teen pregnancy. Allow me to submit for your consideration, however, that the problem,…
Read MoreChanging the Revelations of Mormonism
by Dudley Ross Spears via Valley View Church of Christ Web Site Realizing the importance of having correct copies, the leaders of the Church determined to publish them. Because the originals contained spelling and grammar errors, a Church conference moved that Joseph Smith should make the necessary corrections. (Far West Record, p. 16) This was the beginning…
Read MoreBy Any Other Name
by Glenn Hamilton Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman told of a distinguished minister, Dr. Howard from Australia, who preached very strongly on the subject of sin. After the meeting, someone remarked “Dr. Howard, you shouldn’t talk as openly as you do about man’s guilt and corruption as it may offend someone. And if our boys and…
Read MoreWhere in the Bible Is Instrumental Music Forbidden?
by Jerry Fite Nowhere in the Bible does God explicitly forbid the use of instrumental music in worship. Some find implicit condemnation in Amos 6:1-5, where the prophet writes, “they invent for themselves instruments of music, like David.” But upon a closer contextual examination, one must conclude that the self-indulgent and insensate idolator is condemned,…
Read MoreExceedingly Abundantly
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ExceedingAbundantly2.mp3 by Simon Harris God, please use Kelsey to bring glory to your Name. We know the odds are against us, but we trust in You. Please use our daughter as a living example of Your power to heal, that all may glorify You as the Great God of Heaven. That was my prayer when…
Read MoreOutreach
by Jimmy Mickells The word “outreach” is an expression that has been coined in recent years. If I understand what is meant by its use, it means an effort by a local church to reach out to those that are lost to save them from sin. That certainly is the work of the church. Paul,…
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