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The Washing of Regeneration
by Jim Ward via The Lost River Bulletin, Vol. 58, No. 4, September 2008. The denominational world has spent centuries trying to oust baptism from God’s plan of salvation. One of the most common efforts centers on works. Notice this argument in syllogistic form: First Premise: Works do not save: (Titus 3:4-6). Second Premise: Baptism…
Read MoreBorn Again Into The Kingdom
by H.E. Phillips via Searching the Scriptures, February 1992, Volume 33, Number 2 The church is the people who are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9). The…
Read MoreA Marriage in Decline
by Steven Harper Throughout the Bible, God uses the analogy of marriage to describe the relationship of God with His people. In the Old Testament, God spoke of how He was “married to” the ones of Judah (Jeremiah 3:14) and “was a husband to” the Israelites (Jeremiah 31:32), and even used the analogous picture of putting away and giving a…
Read MoreWas Paul a Sabbath Keeper?
by Benard Kagaga Always, when the Bible is given time as the word of God (II Timothy 3:16-17) to give us the clear way (John 14:6), when our minds reach a point of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33), given time with the Bible we will understand. When talking with the Sabbath keepers, we learn they hate…
Read MoreGive It Up!
by David Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 3, Jan. 16, 2009. Toward the end of WWII, it was obvious to everyone that the Japanese empire was on its last legs. It was only a matter of time before the Japanese would be beaten. But, with a strict code of honor and battle, most Japanese…
Read MoreThe Funeral Service of Shunn Hamilton
by Tommy Thornhill Around noontime, Thursday, March 16, 2006, a man’s life was taken from him in a moment of time. As he and a couple of his friends were on their way to lunch, their vehicle came over a hill and collided with another vehicle that was in the roadway. Shunn Hamilton was thrown…
Read MorePearls From Proverbs: Frankness Finds Favor
by Irvin Himmel Via Guardian of Truth XXXI: 4, p. 108, February 19, 1987 “He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue” (Proverbs 28:23). Although there are people who do not care what others think about them, most of us desire the esteem and goodwill of our acquaintances.…
Read MoreThe Form of the New Testament
by Bob West The Milpitas Messenger, February 1996 “Why isn’t the New Testament written in legal form; i.e., broken down into encyclopedic categories and lists? Instead, it contains much historical, biographical and personal material. Yet we are asked to believe that this is God’s law for us today. How can this be?” The above paragraph…
Read MoreFlattery
by Mike Johnson At a reception in Washington, a widow asked a young man to guess her age. “You must have some idea,” she said, as he hesitated. “I have several ideas,” he admitted with a smile. “The trouble is that I hesitate whether to make it ten years younger on account of your looks…
Read MoreFirst Love
by Robert Turner A tap at the study door announced a timid and frightened young couple. Their marriage was “coming apart” — or so they thought — and since I had “performed their ceremony,” they had come to me for help. The timid approach fooled me. What should have been an easy “patch-up” job grew…
Read MoreFaithful Fathers (Thurman)
by David Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 56, No. 29, July 20, 2007 Our world seems to take delight in bashing men. It is not fashionable to be a man, a husband, or a father. As such, it is getting harder and harder to be a man, a husband, or a father. Fortunately, those of…
Read MoreThe Essence of Atheism
by Doy Moyer Start with nothing. From nothing, for no reason or purpose, lifeless, mindless material just came into existence. Lifeless, mindless material, existing for no reason and with no purpose, somehow, some way, through a process that has never been observed anywhere, spontaneously generated something that was living. This living thing, having come into…
Read MoreThe Church of Oprah
by Dan Gatlin For decades, Oprah Winfrey has proclaimed faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, when one examines Oprah’s Jesus, he is not the same Jesus found in the New Testament. Oprah’s Jesus is not God in the flesh, but merely a “good man.” He is non-condemning and tolerant of “alternative lifestyles.” In short, her Jesus…
Read MoreAll Things Work Together for Good
by Cecil B. Douthitt Gospel Guardian – August 31, 1967 Romans 8:28 contains one of the most precious promises in all the Bible: “And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.” An accurate understanding and an unwavering faith in this…
Read MoreAn Eloquent Man
by Billy Norris in Gospel Guide, May 1995 Whether in the political arena, the classroom, or the pulpit, eloquent speakers are few in number. In graduate school at the beginning of the year, I attended my first assembly. Deeply impressed by the marvelous eloquence of the visiting speaker, I looked forward to the assembly periods…
Read MoreDon’t Quit
by Bubba Carrier The first time I tried to march and play drums at the same time, I was terrible. When I concentrated on playing a steady beat, I marched out of step; when I focused on marching in line, I played off beat. After the first week, I went to the band director and…
Read MoreDon’t Muzzle the Ox
by Sam Stinson “For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the…
Read MoreConspiracy Theorists
by Gardner Hall via Gospel Power, Vol. 14, No. 36, Sept. 9, 2007. “Richard Nixon is a communist!” the man told me with certainty. “Why do you say that,” I asked. “He went to China to talk to them. Must be one of ’em,” was the response. Another man told me something to the effect that…
Read MoreGod Is Speaking to You
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 49, Dec. 4, 2009. One person claims that God revealed to her in a dream what she was to do with her life. A man says that God spoke to him, openly, telling him what he was to do religiously. Yet another sees signs in the…
Read MoreDoes the New Testament Teach that the Wicked Will Be Punished Eternally in the Lake of Fire?
by Irvin Himmel via Truth Magazine XIX: 11, p. 162, January 23, 1975 It is asserted sometimes that God punished the wicked in Old Testament days, but that He is shown to be loving. and compassionate in the New Testament; therefore, the Old Testament concept of punishment for sin is thought to differ from the…
Read MoreDoes the Gospel Sanction the Use of Beverage Alcohol in Different Countries According to Local Customs?
by Jim E. Waldron In our approach to the word of God, we must not assume that modern definitions of words are those which are found in the word of God. Words in the Scriptures must be used in the context in which they were used at the time they were written. A well-known mistake…
Read MoreDoes I Corinthians 16:1-2 Apply to Us Today?
by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 25, June 20, 2008. Let us first note what the passage says: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by…
Read MoreThe Despised CENI
by Dale Smelser There is a concept being promoted that God’s will is transmitted by commands only, and thus relative to the Lord’s Supper it is neither confined to nor necessarily observed on, the first day of the week. Before getting to the kernel of controversy, I recalled all this on Sunday morning as I did…
Read MoreIt Is What It Is
by T. Doy Moyer via The Jackson Drive Reporter, Jan. 10, 2010 A friend of mine, wise and astute beyond his years (so he tells me), has shared his newly discovered motto with me: “It is what it is.” Ok, so I have thought that a few times before, but it is one of those simple…
Read MoreThe Crucifixion of Christ Incorrectly Portrayed?
by Larry Ray Hafley PARIS (AFP) – The image of the crucifixion, one of the most powerful emblems of Christianity, may be quite erroneous, according to a study which says there is no evidence to prove Jesus was crucified in this manner. Around the world, in churches, on the walls of Christian homes, on crucifixes…
Read MoreProve All Things
by Gary Dennis Jones In feudal times, so the story goes, there were two rival kingdoms, one of which sent out a messenger to spy on the other. When the spy got to this kingdom, the inhabitants were all a-flurry, being in the midst of forming an army to kill the rats that were infesting…
Read MoreCounting the Cost: Using Biblical Principles to Guide our Children in Spouse Finding
by Sally Ann Perz Choosing a spouse is the second biggest decision in one’s life—this is surpassed only by choosing to follow Christ. We must guide our children in this effort just as we lead them to Jesus. We often leave this important choice to them—somehow they are ‘on their own’ when it comes to…
Read MoreAll Feeling, No Proof
by Robert Turner via Plain Talk, April 1970 The current rash or tongue-speaking, miracle-sanctioning, and the far more common errors concerning direct Spirit indwelling, that infects many institutional churches of Christ, was not brought to earth in the Apollo 11 moon dust. It sprang from causes within the ranks. Last month we suggested that reaction to…
Read MoreShould Wives Call Their Husbands “Lord”?
by Sam Stinson “For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” (I Peter 3:5-6, ESV). Someone suggested that if…
Read MoreWho Are the Gnostics?
by Ethan R. Longhenry In recent years a strong interest has arisen in “alternative” religions, and Gnosticism has received interest as an “alternative” to “orthodox Christianity”. The recent success of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code has popularized this trend. The book speaks regarding “over eighty gospels” that were not chosen to be a part of…
Read MoreHow to Win the Lottery
David Osteen via Pleonast True story for anyone’s gambling lesson: There is a man at the Texas City church of Christ named Marlin Ridenour. He works for the City of Galveston and oversees the water department. The year the Texas State Lottery commenced in 1991, one of the employees wrote on a whiteboard a little…
Read MoreThe Deceitful Heart
by Daniel H. King Sr. via Guardian of Truth XXXIX: 2 p. 22-23, January 19, 1995 The prophet Jeremiah’s life and the unique experiences which he had with Israel, offered him a “laboratory” to study the workings of the human heart. God had entrusted him with a message of dismay, desolation, and destruction for the land of…
Read MoreWhat Boys, Girls, and Their Parents Need To Know
by Wendi Capehart The following is adapted from an old post the good blogger at Wit-nit wrote. He wished to illustrate just how heady and disorienting a brew lust can be, how dangerous in the hands of the immature, but he is not a believer and he wrote an R-rated post. He allowed me to…
Read MoreThe Bible Alone Is the Standard
by David J. Riggs from Catholic Teaching Examined The apostle Paul said, “…How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of…
Read MoreBaptized for the Dead
“Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?” (I Corinthians 15:29 ASV). From Queries and Answers by David Lipscomb, pages 49-50. To determine the meaning of a sentence, we must look at its connection, purpose, and scope. This…
Read MoreBack to Basics: The Kingdom
by Frank Jamerson Some who are teaching that there is no distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are teaching an absolute distinction between the kingdom and the church. When those who profess to be teachers of God’s word say “the kingdom of God is not the ekklesia, the church,” it is time…
Read MoreBack To Basics: Covenants
by Frank Jamerson When brethren make such statements as: “Jesus did not come to establish a covenant which was different from any previous arrangements,” and “Jesus is the covenant victim, not a covenant maker or law-maker,” it indicates a dire need to get back to basics. When men are confused about the difference between the…
Read MoreAssurance of Our Salvation
by Bryan Sharp “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that…
Read MoreAre You Teachable?
by Larry W. Rouse When I first became a Christian I thought that the key to bringing others to obedience to Christ was to have clearly reasoned evidence based on the Word of God. I thought “if others could just hear the truth taught simply and plainly then they too would want to follow our…
Read MoreAbiding in the Doctrine
by James R. Cope via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 6, April 1952. Some who have had a great deal to say about “fellowship” have sought to lessen the force of II John 9-11 by giving it a meaning out of harmony both with its context and other plain Bible teaching. The passage reads: “Whosoever…
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