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Reading the Bible from Cover to Cover
by Abraham Smith We should read the Bible from cover to cover. We should want to know what the Lord said. Many of us, while acknowledging that the Bible is the word of God, have not read it in its entirety. We have been hindered from reading the Bible completely for several reasons. It is…
Read MoreThe Mesha Stele
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton In 1868, a stone monument was found at the ancient site of Dibon, once the capital of Moab. The site is currently located in the modern country of Jordan. The black basalt stele is a record of King Mesha of Moab recounting his rebellion against Israel. “Now Mesha king of Moab…
Read MoreAchan’s Sin
by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Fresh on the heels of an astounding victory at Jericho, the young Israelite nation, under Joshua’s leadership, focused on the next objective in their campaign to capture Canaan – the land promised by Jehovah. Ai, a small town, was next on the list. Upon their return, the men sent to…
Read MoreDenominationalism Is Unnecessary
by Larry Ray Hafley Religious denominationalism in general and Catholicism and Protestantism, in particular, are unnecessary institutions. First, if they were essential, they would be found in the Bible. Christ would have spoken of them and told us how to sustain and support them. That he did none of those things shows they are not required…
Read MoreIn Toil
Bryan Matthew Dockens Work is the common lot of all men. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden, the Lord God told the man, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring…
Read More“Incredible” Beginning
by Andy Diestelkamp via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 30, July 27, 2008. The beginnings of things always intrigue us. We often mark them with great ceremony at the time if we anticipate their importance (weddings, ribbon-cutting grand openings, signings, etc.). We frequently research beginnings if only later do we realize someone’s or something’s importance…
Read MoreEternal Security (Walker)
by Wayne S. Walker via Truth Magazine XXI: 2, pp. 28-29, January 13, 1977 One of the tenets of Reformed theology that John Calvin adopted and propagated was that of “the perseverance of the saints.” Often, it is referred to as the doctrine of “once in grace, always in grace.” Or stated as a proposition, it reads,…
Read MoreFacts About Faith Healing
by Rick Duggin via Westvue Messenger, Vol. 29, No. 7, July 1986 Members of the Faith Assembly, an Indiana-based religious sect, have lost as many as eighty-eight members to treatable illnesses or injuries because they believe that going to a doctor is wrong. A federal and state study concluded that the mortality rate for their…
Read MoreI Don’t Love Her Any More
by Greg Gwin A forty-year-old man, suffering through the classic “mid-life crisis,” sat down to talk to a preacher about his problems. He explained how his marriage of 20 years was no longer satisfying or fulfilling. Finally, he reached the ‘bottom line.’ “I just don’t love her anymore”, he said. “What can I do?” After…
Read MoreAre We Killing the “Old Man?”
by Robert F. Turner via Guardian of Truth XXX: 18, pp. 551, 567, September 18, 1986 The Roman letter has at least five propositions, affirmed and proven by the apostle Paul: Man stands justly condemned for his sins; Grace, not law, is the remedy; This grace is expressed in the crucified Christ; It is available on…
Read MoreLearning from the Vatican’s Reversal on Galileo
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton December 21, 2008, was the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the telescope, and the Roman Catholic church took the opportunity to announce once again that it had made a mistake in condemning Galileo. It is actually not the first time it has admitted to this mistake. Pope Benedict XIV had…
Read MoreThe Gospel of Judas?
by Ron Lehde Tonight (April 9, 2006) the National Geographic Magazine is scheduled to present a television program that deals with an ancient work known as “The Gospel of Judas”. It is a 26-page manuscript (ca. AD 300) that is a Coptic translation of a Greek manuscript that is at least one hundred years older and…
Read MoreReflections on the “Gospel of Judas”
by Ethan R. Longhenry While The Da Vinci Code mania continues to develop and grow throughout the world and while “other gospels” and “alternative Christianities” have become popular, we now see revealed to us yet another “lost gospel,” the Gospel of Judas. The National Geographic Society has done a good job of marketing this discovery and is…
Read MoreThe Gospel Of Judas
by Boyd Jennings Were you alarmed to hear that another gospel has been discovered? Before we continue, let’s remember what Jesus told the twelve minus Judas. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). That’s why Paul wrote by inspiration of God—twice, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven,…
Read MoreHow to Save Your Marriage
by Rick Lanning in The Elgin Hills Examiner, Vol. 3, Nos. 11,12, Nov/Dec. 2008. It’s simple, really. I do not have to write a large volume, followed by a sequel, on all the details of establishing a good marriage. Although the shelves are stocked full of wonderful books on this subject (and I have spent a…
Read MoreHow to Avoid Having Your Faith Shipwrecked
by Steven Braman Let me tell you about my evening. I was eating dinner in Shanghai. I picked a little restaurant near the hotel called Johnny Moo. It is a knockoff of Johnny Rockets. Basically a ’50s-style burger joint. I had a cheeseburger, fries, and a banana milkshake. I had just settled in with my…
Read MoreHospitality (Capehart)
by Wendi Capehart In the lovely gardening memoir Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden, Mrs. Whaley writes about how she felt when she and her husband moved to Charleston after they had spent a short time in D.C. She says she had trouble adjusting to the social scene in Charleston. Everybody was related to everybody else,…
Read MoreHoly Days
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 24, June 13, 2008 Question: Does Galatians 4:9-11 refer to holy days (religious observance)? Or could it have a reference to such days as July 4th or our birthdays? Answer: The letter to the Galatians was written primarily to teach these new Christians that it was…
Read MoreHelping the Needy in Our Community
by Matthew Allen “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). I am convinced that the verse you have just read is…
Read MoreGrace and Permissiveness
by Dale Smelser via Truth Magazine, July 25, 1974 There is cause for concern in some current ideas premised upon the grace of God. What persons with such ideas are saying of grace per se is often fine, but their projected applications are unjustified, especially when they suppose that the fellowship of false teachers and errant…
Read More“Good” According to Whom?
by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 9, No. 1, May 2008. Too often people look in the wrong places when they’re searching for role models. We look for someone who is a good athlete, one who makes a large salary, or one who commands respect because of their leadership skills. This seems to…
Read MoreChurch Is Not Like It Used To Be
by Kent Heaton Going to church is not like it used to be. Church services have turned into places of entertainment and frolic and high-pitched computer-generated displays of excitement, energy, and temporal feelings of self-worth. Auditoriums are filled with choral groups arrayed in splashing displays of sparkling gowns with sound systems that generate twenty-seven million…
Read MoreGhosts of Aaron
by Steven Harper Once again, a religious leader from the world’s largest ‘Christian’ denomination has conceded to the pagan religions of the world in an effort to appear all-inclusive, non-confrontational, and “loving.” According to the Associated Press, a Roman Catholic ‘Bishop’ from the southern diocese of Breda [the Netherlands] “has proposed people of all faiths…
Read MoreGarage Sale
by Carrey Scott Every so often, I take the time to go to some garage sales. I am hoping to find something that someone else does not want, and buy it cheaper than I thought I wanted to pay for it originally. Many items you can get for pennies on the dollar. What was it…
Read MoreFreedom Through God’s Law
by Charles N. Spence, Jr. God had always wanted His people to be free. However, most people today have a radically different idea of freedom than God’s. Many in the world today look at freedom as the uninhibited right to do what they want to do. We can see this in almost every facet of…
Read MoreThe Foolishness of Hasty Judgments
by Steven Harper The wise writer said, “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame” (Proverbs 18:13). But how foolish men are in making hasty judgments, often without hearing the evidence — or at least all of the evidence. Daily — on local and nationwide radio talk shows, around the water cooler at…
Read MoreThe Flip-Flop Generation
by Steve Klein Flip flops are perhaps the most casual footwear known to men. According to an online article entitled “The History of Flip Flops,” flip-flop-type footwear has been around for thousands of years, but has only become accepted in American culture since the 1950s (http://www.pecheblu.com/history.php). The article states the following: “Flip flops became defining…
Read MoreFlee Fornication
by Bob West Everyone can see that as the standards of morality decline in society, this has an impact on those who are children of God. That the practice of fornication has increased among young people in recent years, is a fact that few would deny. There are no “magical formulas” for parents and young…
Read MoreThe First “Ancient Mariner”
by Dillard Thurman in Gospel Minutes, May 8, 1964 The original story of “The Ancient Mariner” was written several centuries before “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” was added to our literature. The story of Noah and the Ark is loved and appreciated by multitudes who have never gone to sea, or taken an ocean…
Read MoreThe Falling Away Comes First
by Carl A. Allen A problem confronting Timothy when Paul wrote the second epistle to him was that of some people, (Christians) believing the “resurrection is past already” (II Timothy 2:17-18). “But shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a gangrene: of whom is Hymenaeus…
Read MoreExpect More Out of Your Kids
by Matthew Allen Earlier this week, I participated in a discussion concerning alcohol and advertising. The debate was over whether alcohol companies target youth in their advertising. There is very strong evidence to suggest that the alcohol companies do in fact target adolescent audiences even though such persons are under the legal age to consume alcohol.…
Read MoreEvolution Is Just a Fairy Tale
by Terry W. Benton Modern crime labs have a hard time reconstructing a murder that happened just last week, but doing so depends on a variety of pieces of evidence. A body and a weapon are not enough to tell who, why, where, and how this crime developed. So, they pursue fingerprints and hair that…
Read MoreEncouragement
by Steven Harper Previously, we considered the problem of discouragement, which [by definition] is depriving one of courage; this week, let us consider its opposite: encouragement. Encouragement, by definition, is to inspire with courage. It means to stimulate by assistance, approval, etc. It is, again, the opposite of discouragement and we can hopefully see which state is preferable to the…
Read MoreHow the Universe Began – No One Knows
by Dudley Ross Spears I am no sort or kind of a scientist, but my son is. One of his university textbooks for a physics class was “Conceptual Physics.” It was written by Paul G. Hewitt, a professor at City College of San Francisco. I lift a few sentences from the book to begin this…
Read MoreElihu’s Discipline and Correction of Job
by Pat Gates via Our Hope Online Job 34 Elihu’s Charge Against Job Speaks without knowledge Words without wisdom Answers like a wicked man Is rebellious and multiplies his words against God “Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom. Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost, Because his answers are like those of…
Read MoreEducation: Who is to be blamed?
by Abraham Smith ‘I am to blame if I don’t do what I can’ Many times lately we have heard, “Our children are not getting a good education.” Parents have been blamed, as well as children, teachers, administrators, and our government. Just exactly who is to blame? I am to blame if I don’t do…
Read MoreDo Miracles Occur Every Day?
by Leon Mauldin via Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 40, Oct. 12, 2008. What does the Bible teach regarding miracles? Is it true, as some claim, that miracles are happening every day? In reality, even during Bible times, miracles did not occur “every day.” Miraculous activities for the most part were confined to certain periods of…
Read MoreMarriage’s Glue
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Glue is amazing stuff. You can take something that is broken or doesn’t hold tightly together and spread some of this liquid in the cracks. Sometime later the glue dries and what was broken is now held together, often more strongly than it was held before. So if glue is so…
Read MoreDoes “Hard” Preaching Pay?
by Fanning Yater Tant For several years there has been a discussion within the brotherhood as to the relative merits of “hard” preaching in comparison with “persuasive” preaching. By this latter is meant the type of preaching that never refers to a denominational church by name, uses the Dale Carnegie “method of approach” psychology, seeks…
Read MoreDirect Operation of the Holy Spirit
by Bryan Sharp In Acts 16, Luke relates what happened when he, Paul, and Silas arrived at Philippi on Paul’s second preaching trip. Beginning in verse 13 he writes: “And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down…
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