Something that disturbs me about the church today is the great variance of opinion that brethren have on certain holidays, particularly Christmas and Easter. One brother finds these holidays unscriptural when paired with the commemoration of Jesus, while another views them as a good thing especially when men associate these holidays with Jesus. There are many other views between these two but what we are left with are brethren in […]
Articles
When the apostle John through the Holy Spirit recorded the words of the gospel of Jesus Christ he had one primary goal in mind: that every reader would further their belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and would continue to have life in Christ (John 20:30-31). To fulfill this goal, he recorded several events that would sufficiently deepen the faith of his readers (Remember, John’s gospel is unique […]
In Revelation chapter ten, the apostle John sees a mighty angel coming down from heaven. In the hand of the angel was a little scroll that was already open. Let’s read the text to see what happens next: “Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the […]
One of the most astounding accounts to read in the bible is the betrayal of Christ. Not just the betrayal, but the events which lead up to it never fail to boggle the reader’s mind. Reading the gospel accounts leaves us wondering “How could Judas do that?” The text is not merely a historical narrative, but a far more personal event for everyone who is a disciple of Jesus; for, […]
“A man after my own heart” is a very common expression in our culture today, and its meaning is well established: “a kindred spirit – someone who you are in good agreement with.” However, this expression did not originate from man but from the word of God. It was in the 1600’s when men became familiar with this statement in the English bible that became available to all, the King […]
Question: “We say that God is unchanging, but there is enough difference in character between the OT and NT that it spawned a different sect of Christianity: Gnosticism. Why is God so different between eras? Do include today when compared to the time of Jesus.” The immutability (unchanging character) of God is affirmed throughout the old and new testaments, without this aspect of God’s nature, there could be no true […]
The space provided does not allow any exhaustive explanation of the family of God, but I would like to make a few points on this subject. I won’t attempt to write down the most important things about the family of God, I only wish to make note of a few thoughts I’ve had recently on this subject. It is interesting to consider what the family of God (the portion of […]
Let’s start with the simple definition of the word “Godhead”. The word means “divine nature”, that is, the characteristics or nature of God. We do not have the characteristic necessary to be God, we do however possess the characteristics and nature of Man, thus we have “Manhead” or “Manhood”, but we speak of God in terms of His “Godhead” or “Godhood”. Now, the word Godhead does not refer to how […]
Many will be able to recall the well-known acts of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samson, David, and many others who did amazing things for the LORD. But how many can also recall the deeds of Adino the Eznite, Eleazar the Ahohite, and Shammah the Hararite? Although these three men are not famous like the others, they are certainly worthy of study and discussion, and this we will do within this article. […]
The subconscious areas of the brain are in control of the majority of the survival of the human body. This is what controls breathing, the cardiac muscles, blood pressure, and the smooth muscles of the digestive system, though it can also take control of our skeletal muscles when it needs to. The subconscious is in full charge of pain and exactly how much pain it wants us to feel. It […]
For years, I’ve heard it repeated that the theory of evolution is a religion, for it is argued that one must accept evolution by means of faith, specifically by a kind of “blind faith” as there is no evidence that evolution is true. Well, I would like to explore this matter further, because, while I may agree with the premise of saying that evolution is a religious concept, I would […]
I was reading an article from a man who called himself pastor of the Sovereign Grace Church. I was surprised that I agreed with most of his article, so I went to the website of this Sovereign Grace Church to consider further where he was coming from. I quickly noticed some unusual things that were exactly opposite of what he was teaching in his article; he simply was not practicing […]
The thirty-first psalm is a rather long song with twenty-four verses but can easily be broken up into three sections. I like to think of the Psalms with their original intended purpose, which is not to be a chapter in a book but to be a song to sing. It would have been so interesting to see how the longer psalms were originally sung, whether fast, or slow with breaks. […]
Samuel lived during a unique span of time as he witnessed the close of the era of Judges who led Israel to the anointing of the first kings of Israel. But Samuel did not simply live during those days as thousands of others did, but he, himself, led Israel as their Judge, and he was the one who anointed Israel’s first king, Saul, and he later anointed the next king, […]
Recently we went through the book of Judges in a series of articles. But there are a few judges after that which are recorded in a different book, 1 Samuel. The last of the judges of Israel are Eli, Samuel, Joel, and Abijah. When we begin reading about Eli in 1 Samuel, he doesn’t appear to be a judge, only a priest of Israel; however, at his death, we learn […]
I received this question from the question box last week: Who are the sons of God in Genesis 6:2? There has been much interest in the identity of the groups of people mentioned in Genesis 6. But unfortunately, many interpretations have strayed far from the text and the truths of the Bible and into a world of fantasy. We cannot allow ourselves to be tempted to follow them. Within the […]
Today, the word “jealous” is defined as “feeling or showing envy of someone or their achievements and advantages.” It is often called “the green-eyed monster” and is used synonymously with the word “envy”. But to the bible believer, jealousy does not carry the same connotations that the green-eyed monster image carries. Jealousy is a good thing, a godly characteristic. Jealously is a pure, holy, and godly anger that is an […]
In last week’s bulletin, we discussed the question of whether women should cover their heads during worship. After consideration of the text of 1 Corinthians 11, the conclusion was clear that if we bind head covering as law for women in the assembly, then we have twisted the context of Paul’s words. For Paul was specifically not referring to women covering their heads in the assembly, but only outside of […]
I received a note in the question box asking me to explain the women’s head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11. This is an important conversation to have, especially since members of the church elsewhere hold views that women must wear a head covering during worship services. The only way to handle such differences is to go back to the text of 1 Corinthians 11 and diligently examine what is revealed […]
Q: Who has the power of death? It is not within man’s power and authority to have the dominion of death, this is painfully clear. “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death….” (Ecclesiastes 8:8) “What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” (Psalm 89:48) But God had promised to Israel that, after […]