Loved ones, these are strange and troubling times! When well over one billion people prefer Mohammed to Jesus Christ, when many of us know more about baseball than about the Bible, and seem to care more about current affairs than about Christ. These are the days when this world's self-proclaimed free-thinkers dismiss the virgin birth of Christ and His resurrection from the dead as "unreasonable"…

"It is better to dwell in the corner of a housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house" (Proverbs 21:9) Loved ones, before the men say "Amen," let's study the text properly. Most people read this verse and conclude that God is against women who talk too much. But that's not what Solomon is teaching. This is not a commandment. This is not a doctrine about women. This is not a divine rank…

Loved ones, the Apostle Paul expounds on the concept that although we physically live on the earth, everything else about a Christian is heavenly (Philippians 3:20). He speaks of a contrasting view of life, citizens of the heavenly world vs. citizens of the worldly community. We live in the world, but our allegiance is to the heavenly. Sometimes Christians will misunderstand, trying to be citize…

Loved ones, one thing that’s quite obvious in the denominational “Christianity” world is that we have multiple thousands upon thousands of creeds and doctrines of the various denominations. Obviously, we don’t have the time, ink, or paper to name all 42,000 different denominational creeds. We have the Baptist Manual, the Methodist Discipline, the Catholic Catechism, the Book of Mormon, the Presb…

Loved ones, it’s quite obvious that if you are reading these words, you are alive. I believe we would all agree that the dead cannot read. And those that are alive are well aware that the ability to read is a vital need for our existence and well-being while we live on planet earth. We must be able to read to complete our education. It’s important to be able to read if we want to get a driver’s l…

Loved ones, the song writer wrote: 1. Room at the Cross for a trembling soul, Room at the Cross for you; Where the sin laden may be made whole, Room at the Cross for you. 2. Room at the cross for a breaking heart, Room at the Cross for you; Choose the, like Mary, the better part, Room at the Cross for you. 3. Room at the cross for the sad and worn, Room at the Cross for you; Come, then, O come, t…

Loved ones, in talking about the importance of maintaining our reputation, the Proverb writer said, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, favor is better than silver or gold” (Proverbs 22:1). However, besides just teaching about the value of a good reputation, this comparison to wealth also provides some clues as to how we can earn and maintain our good name. How can one acquire…

Loved ones, we can occasionally be overwhelmed by some of the complexities found in God's word. We may even fail to see the true simplicity and clarity of the information found in the Scriptures. What approach should we use to gain a good understanding of God's word? We begin by reading the passage to arrive at a summary of what we think the verse means. We would also want to take note of the qu…

“13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus…

Loved ones, one of the ways to measure the spiritual health of a congregation is to consider its attitude toward preaching and toward those who do the preaching. Throughout the Bible, God has chosen to spread His message through human messengers, imperfect men who carry a perfect gospel. Because of that, our attitude toward preaching is never a small matter. It reflects how we view the Word of Go…

Loved ones, do you consider it "bad form" to talk about religion? Should a person keep his religion to himself? Most of us at one time or another have had to deal with someone who used little tact in their approach to speaking about their faith. To put it mildly, they were obnoxious! So perhaps then and there we decided that from now on we would be silent about our Christian faith. If that has b…

Loved ones, looking at optical illusions made me think about spiritual illusions that deceive many people. To help us clearly distinguish between man-made illusions and divinely revealed truth, here are a few spiritual illusions to consider. 1. “One church is as good as another.” This illusion assumes that all the churches men have established are pleasing to God (2 Cor. 5:9-10). But Jesus built…