John the apostle writes in the first chapter of his gospel that those who receive Jesus, defined as those who believe in Him, are given the right to become children of God, John 1:12. He does not tell us here at what point believers actually become children of God, perhaps because he is saving that for Jesus Himself to introduce in chapter three.
In chapter three, a man by the name of Nicodemus comes to Jesus and immediately expresses faith in Him confessing that n... read all »
Mark records at least nine different times in his gospel when Jesus forewarned His disciples that He would be arrested, abused, crucified and resurrected (8:31-33, 9:9-12, 30-32, 10:32-34, 45, 12:1- 11, 14:3-8, 22-25 & 26-28).
Matthew tells us that even as Jesus was being arrested He told those present at least twice that what was happening was in order to fulfill what the prophets had said (26:54-56). But what had the prophets said?
1,000 years before Jesus w... read all »
I remember being a part of a group of students that visited a denominational church many years ago as part of a school assignment. We were to learn as much as we could about them from one of their leaders.
While taking a guided tour of their place of worship, we noticed that they had a communion table much like the ones with which we were familiar in the church. One difference, however, was that there was an ornamental looking cloth that was draped over the top of ... read all »
Our best opportunity for reaching out with the gospel of Jesus happens every time we assemble. There is almost always someone here from the community and they are paying us a great compliment when they come among us.
In the world, people we don’t know are strangers to us. But this must not be true when we get together as the Lord’s people. I am convinced that out heavenly Father doesn’t want us to let anyone remain a stranger in our assemblies.
W... read all »
The Bible says so:
There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God’ all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…
Romans 3:10-14
There was more to the quotation, but hopefu... read all »
Years ago I owned an old pickup truck. The worm gear in the steering box was so worn that when driving, you had to continually steer from left to right just to drive in a straight line. It drove all right, you just had to stay on top of it and make continual corrections.
The brakes worked ok too, as long as you pumped them up a cou-ple of times before you really needed them. Otherwise, you might end up pushing the pedal nearly to the floor just to slow down a littl... read all »
Consider this past Friday.
On the other side of the world, a huge and devastating earthquake hit Japan and was soon followed by an even more disastrous tsunami. We still don’t know how many have been killed. The damage to the Japanese economy, infrastructure and the everyday workings of life are inestimable.
While such an incomprehensible tragedy was taking place there, here at home in Oklahoma, we were suffering raging wildfires, that in the end burned at l... read all »
In the floor of Carlisle Cathedral in Carlisle England, is the tomb of Bishop Richard Bell who died in 1496. Engraved into the brass that covers his tomb are depictions of animals such as a dog, a pig, a bird, an eel, a fish and a weasel. In addition to these “usual” animals, however, are what appear to be obvious representations of two large quadruped type dinosaurs. Even more interesting is that they are not only represented accurately anatomically, bu... read all »
For years we have been told and our children have been taught in our schools that dinosaurs have been extinct for around 65,000,000 years. I have to wonder then, why there is no consideration given to the huge body of evidence that says otherwise. I would like to highly recommend to you, the book, The Dinosaur Delusion, by Eric Lyons and Kyle Butt, from which most of the following information has been taken.
Consider that nearly every human culture has legends of g... read all »
In other words, don’t be too quick to make someone a leader in the church, 1st Timothy 5:22. To do so, is to share responsibility for the evil they would do.
This warning brings to light the gravity of selecting and appointing the shepherds that will provide the care and leadership a congregation needs. Consider also that such leaders are likely the ones who will set the tone in a church family for years to come.
The apostle Paul warned the elders of the c... read all »
The above is a quote from the twentieth chapter of the book of Acts at verse twenty-eight. The apostle Paul is here recorded addressing the elders from the church at Ephesus. I have often wondered exactly what he meant when he said this.
As I see it, there are at least four possibilities, neither of which is necessarily exclusive of the others.
#1. Perhaps these men had all of their lives followed the word of God as revealed by God’s Spirit, and in so doin... read all »
When the apostle Paul wrote to Titus he told him that he had left him in Crete, directing him to set in order what remained and appoint elders in every city, Titus 1:5.
Immediately following this, the apostle wrote that men who would qualify must be among other things, the husband of one wife and have believing children. He must also be above reproach, or blameless, a lover of good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled and proficient in handling the word of God... read all »
Only one was prophesied. Both Isaiah and Micah spoke of The Mountain of the Lord’s House being established in the last days in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-3 & Micah 4:1-2). That’s one mountain, and one house unto which all nations would come.
Daniel also spoke of God establishing His kingdom. Both Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter two and Daniel himself as recorded in chapter seven had dreams whose interpretations were identical regarding the establishmen... read all »
We believe in freedom. We believe in it so much that as a nation we have sent our brothers and sons… and now sisters and daughters, to fight and die not only to preserve our freedoms, but to secure them for those of other nations.
Freedom was and remains the purpose behind our Constitution.
We the People of the United States, in Order to………. Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this C... read all »
Another “Christian” group is claiming to know the day of Jesus’ return, citing May 21st, 2011 as the day of judgment. How can they know?
Jesus Himself said of that day:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Matthew 24:36 & Mark 13:32
When He said this, He also drove home His point by further saying
“Be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is comi... read all »