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What Should We Preach?
by Mike Schmidt via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 Much has been said and written lately about preaching and teaching. Some see a “new apostasy” underway, with this departure being fueled by a change in what is being preached. Some have taken lists of topics from meeting announcements and complained that there was…
Read MoreAtonement
by Zeke Flores “For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh” (Leviticus 16:30). Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement, the most important day in Israel’s calendar. Once a year, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies…
Read MoreParental Sex Education
by Matthew Bassford via Truth Magazine, 9 September 2016 A few weeks ago, my family and I were on the way home from Wednesday night Bible study when the topic of conversation turned to pregnancy. Marky was being his usual loopy two-hours-past-bedtime self and asked, “When will Mr. Josh get a baby in his belly?”…
Read MoreA Commitment of Faith
by Doy Moyer I fear that, at times, faith today is seen as a weak contingency. We’re fine as long as we are convinced, kind of, but we are open to changing allegiances if the timing works. Faith may be seen as just what’s best for now, but we are really hoping for something more…
Read MoreTear Your Heart
by Clay Gentry It is a sound you never want to hear (especially when bending over), the sharp rip of fabric. It’s the sound of damage and potential embarrassment. In the ancient world, that sound wasn’t an accident; it was intentional. When life fell apart, an Israelite didn’t cry silently in a corner. They grabbed…
Read MoreNo Man Can Come Unless …
by Terry Wane Benton Jesus said, “No man can come to Me unless the Father draws him…” (John 6:44-45). This does not say or imply that “no man can believe in God” unless God does something to their depraved soul first. No! We can all believe in God, and none have any excuse if they…
Read MoreSeparated from Uncleanness
by Zeke Flores “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them” (Leviticus 15:31). Leviticus 15 deals with bodily discharges, which is uncomfortable reading for most of us. But the point is clear: God was…
Read MoreNympha
by Edwin Crozier Once Paul starts listing names, we tend to read on autopilot, no longer paying attention. We might even quit reading altogether. After all, he’s done with the gospel-y stuff, right? There’s nothing to learn from a list of names. However, these people are examples for us. Often good. Sometimes bad. If we…
Read MoreLearning to Trust God
by Hugh DeLong Faith has different focuses. It can mean the belief in a fact. It can mean the trust of such facts. Concerning people, it involves trust in character. Of course, it is easier to learn facts and thus believe they are true than to learn to trust someone’s character. The foundation of our…
Read MoreBe Holy
by Zeke Flores “For I am Yahweh your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44). Leviticus 11 is full of clean and unclean animals, and it can feel distant. But the heart behind it is simple. God was teaching His people to live differently, not randomly, but purposefully. Every…
Read MoreThe Importance of Assembling
by Steve Hamilton First Century Christians lived in a time when their government declared war on Christianity. The assaults on people of faith were not done in secret (Hebrews 10:32-34). Lands, homes, and property were taken by the governing powers. Preachers were regularly interrogated by civil authorities for speaking the truth about Christ (Acts 5:17-18).…
Read MoreThe Beginning of Life
by Terry Wane Benton Fact: Not one experiment in the entire history of science has ever demonstrated life arising from nonliving matter. Not one. For all the confident headlines and bold claims, the lab tells a very different story. When researchers carefully set up controlled conditions, remove contaminants, control every variable, and stack the deck…
Read MoreThe Jewish Advantage
by Hugh DeLong Text: Romans 3 Was there an advantage to being a Jew versus being a Gentile? The question here concerns the Old Testament period, and the answer is yes. The Gentile world did not have the revelation of God in a written, codified form. That meant that the Gentile world, as we read in…
Read MoreJesus Didn’t Promise Us an Abundant Life
by Clay Gentry It’s not uncommon to hear Christians proclaim that Jesus promised believers an “abundant life.” We see it in books, hear it in podcasts, find it boldly printed on wall art, and even see churches use the phrase as a name. However, if we take a cursory look at the text of John…
Read MoreResponding to Trauma
by Gardner Hall Three responses to trauma: Repress It “I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress grew worse” (Psalms 39:2). The world is full of tragedy and suffering. Many are traumatized by the rejection of selfish spouses, parents, children, or brethren in their congregations. To refuse to…
Read MoreRunning from Church Problems
by Richard Blackford When a church has problems, the first inclination is to run from it and find a perfect congregation that doesn’t have problems. I know that feeling. I’ve had it too. Of course, honesty compels us to admit that this is the easy way out. “After all, my nerves just can’t take it.”…
Read MoreThe Course of This World
by Terry Wane Benton To Christians, Paul mentioned that “you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The world is on the course on which lust or selfish desires take…
Read MoreSpace to Recover
by Zeke Flores “… and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female” (Leviticus 12:7). Leviticus 12 deals with purification after childbirth. It’s not saying childbirth is sinful; it’s recognizing that life in a broken world affects…
Read MoreWhat About Elders Who Are Lax in Their Duties?
by Rowland Gbamis Dear Brother Rowland, Thank you for your article on “A Brief Reflection on Ezekiel 34: Faithful and Unfaithful Shepherds.” You observed that “one of the most crucial ways elders can lead by example is by demonstrating strong leadership in providing the congregation with the appropriate spiritual nourishment.” You also quoted I Peter…
Read MoreWho Was Baptized with the Holy Spirit?
by Terry Wane Benton Let us observe that being filled with the Spirit is not the same thing as being “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit but spoke of Jesus as the one who would baptize in the Holy Spirit. There is a difference that needs to be…
Read MorePut to Death What is Earthly In You
by Edwin Crozier Having explained his own work in ministering the gospel (Colossians 1:24-2:5) and then expounded the need to maintain a stable and steadfast faith (Colossians 2:6-3:4), Paul moves to the third leg of this letter laid out back in Colossians 1:21-23. He describes the need to move from hostility to holiness (Colossians 3:5-4:6).…
Read MorePlant the Word, Not Churches
by Clay Gentry In today’s religious marketplace, “church planting” has become a specialized industry. It’s a world of demographic maps, branding consultants, and launch strategies borrowed more from Corporate America than from the New Testament. Some say the secret to reaching the lost lies in the novelty of a new church plant or the polished…
Read MoreRejecting Church Member Recruitment
by Clay Gentry In his second letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul found himself in an unusual position. He was forced to defend his ministry, not against pagan or Jewish opponents, or Roman magistrates, but against other Christians who had entered the city with slick speech, impressive letters of recommendation, and clever…
Read MoreEating Foods Formerly Designated as Unclean
by Terry Wane Benton Romans 14 shows that liberty in Christ has taken all “unclean” foods under the Law of Moses off the list of unclean. However, those who grew up under that Law had a hard time releasing their conscience into such liberties in Christ. If pork were unclean, the Jewish conscience would have…
Read MoreA Light that Shines in a Dark Place
by Terry Wane Benton Peter tells us that the prophetic word (our Old Testament scriptures) is now “more sure” since Jesus has fulfilled all that was predicted about the Messiah. Unbelieving Jews are made to doubt their own scriptures since they never got the Messiah their scriptures predicted (in their failure to connect the dots…
Read MoreTo Caesar You Shall Go
by Hugh DeLong “To Caesar You Shall Go” — Paul and the Roman Right of Provocatio When the Roman governor Festus offered to send Paul back to Jerusalem for trial, Paul did something that stopped the proceedings cold. He appealed to Caesar. Festus conferred with his council, and then delivered one of the most dramatic lines…
Read MoreSo You Disagree?
by Robert F. Turner via The Gospel Guardian, Vol. 17, 1965, page 205 For 30 years, I have preached and written my convictions regarding the Bible, the church, etc., and for 30 years, people have “disagreed.” Catholics, Mormons, Protestants, and occasionally my brethren “disagree.” That doesn’t bother me — much. At least not enough to…
Read MoreRevelation
by Terry Wane Benton When something has been unknown and mysterious in the past, and then God reveals a thing that was once unknown, you call that a “revelation”. The last book of the Bible was not intended to be too secretive and mysterious; else it would not “reveal” anything. While the literary style demands…
Read MoreLove’s High Call
by Terry Wane Benton Jesus calls us to love even those who will not love us back. In fact, He calls us to love even those who will hate us regardless. That is a tall order. He not only called us up to that standard, but He demonstrated it Himself. To those laughing and mocking,…
Read MoreJoy Comes Back
by Terry Wane Benton “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalms 30:5). David had plenty of dark and sad moments. Loss of children and heartache so deep it would drive him to incredible lows and sadness. Add to that his many critics who hated him without just cause, who…
Read MoreTrials of Life (Behle)
by Jack Behle via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 If it is not certain that God knows the condition of our hearts at all times, it is certain that He could know. In I Samuel 16:7 we find, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but…
Read MoreWho Will Render
by Ken Frazier via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 “Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6). The word render is variously translated in the New Testament. Strong’s lists these words as synonyms. “Deliver, give, pay, repay, perform, recompense, render, requite, restore, reward, sell, yield.” According to Paul in…
Read MoreListened Up to This Word
by Hugh DeLong Paul stood on the steps leading to the temple area and addressed the Jewish people. They had falsely accused him of bringing a gentile, Trophimus, into the temple area. The Roman army rescued him, and now he speaks to the angry mob. When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they…
Read MoreUnintentional Sin
by Zeke Flores “If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally … then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed” (Leviticus 4:27-28). Leviticus 4 deals with unintentional sin. Not rebellion, not defiance, just the stuff we do without thinking. The careless words. The…
Read MoreWhen Someone is Your Friend
by Terry Wane Benton When someone is your friend, he doesn’t stab you in the back, hurt you, and hold you at a distance. He defends you and upholds your honor. He doesn’t join in the disparaging talk of those who, for no good reason, decided that they did not like you or want you…
Read MorePerfectly Good Conscience
by Hugh DeLong “Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, ‘Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day'” (Acts 23:1). Paul will say in Acts 24:16: “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before…
Read MoreFighting the Good Fight Against Feminism
by Vance E. Trefethen via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 2, June 1995 The word “Feminism” carries strong connotations. It is distressing to see it thrown about so casually by many whenever disagreements arise over the role of men and women in the church. It is always easier to label someone who disagrees with you…
Read MoreWhy Does God Delay So Long in Bringing Justice?
by Paul Earnhart via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 In Ecclesiastes 8, the Preacher concludes his wise counsels and observations with the frequently repeated warning that, however great may be the wisdom of men, it can never penetrate and explain God’s work “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17; cf. also Ecclesiastes 1:18; 3:11; 6:12;…
Read MoreHandling the Hurdles
by George Hutto via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014 “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Matthew 18:7) The in-laws had given us that peach-colored leather couch, and brother Jim Underwood went with me to…
Read MoreA Word Fitly Spoken – The Power of a Positive “No”
by Andrew G. Berendt via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 1, March 1995 As you know, there is a nationwide campaign underway, being touted by everyone from the former First Lady of the United States to local elementary school teachers. We are reminded by billboards, T.V. and radio ads, bumper stickers, and badges, to “Just Say…
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