September 2022, Vol. 41, No. 9

Can Everyone Sing?

[484 words] Do you believe that everyone can sing?” Does any and everyone who has a voice possess the ability to sing a song? This question is well worth investigating because it has such bearing on our worship and spiritual well-being. The Bible says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,…

The Last Best Hope of Earth

[389 words] One month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Congress in which he addressed freeing the country’s slaves. In it, Lincoln stressed the importance of doing the right thing to “save our country,” which he described as “the last best hope of earth.” I want to borrow and amend…

Your Bible

[173 words] A young child watched her mother reading from the Bible for a few minutes each morning. Finally one day she asked, “Aren’t you ever going to get finished reading that book?” The mother replied, “No honey, we never get finished with this Book. It always has something that helps encourage, challenge, and make…

The Voice of the Empty Pew

[531 words] Each day when I leave my home, I don’t get too far down the road before I start missing my wife and children. As we age, we all are going our separate ways, but each time I leave my family, I can’t wait to see them again! Upon departure, I anxiously want to…

Worse Before It Gets Better

[193 words] Standing up for what’s right can make things worse before they get better. Like when Moses went to Pharaoh and said it was time to let the people go. I’m sure the enslaved Israelites were thrilled that someone was sticking up for them. But not for long. Pharaoh’s response was to make their…

Solving All the World’s Problems

[216 words] Just take a look at the news headlines and you will see problem after problem that humanity has created: wars, violence, murders, theft, scandals, abuse of power, the misuse of resources, immorality – the list goes on and on. What a mess we have made of this world! And with all of these…

Keep Seeking the Kingdom

[176 words] I was a new minister right out of college, and I was performing my third wedding ceremony. It was one of those days like Murphy’s Law when everything that could go wrong did. I forgot a couple of cues. The groom could not remember the lines he had planned to say. The ring…

No Young People at Church?

[519 words] “It’s sad because they have no young people at that congregation.” How many times have you heard or made that comment? It’s understandable. When you see a church or you are in a church of mostly older people, you fear for its future. In some cases the older members may be at fault.…

Make Good on Your Promises

[191 words] “Whoever falsely boasts of giving Is like clouds and wind without rain” (Proverbs 25:14). Over the past few weeks, the afternoon clouds have gathered with pregnant possibility. The smell of rain has come and the cool wind has blown promising my scorched yard some relief. Yet, for weeks, the clouds with such promise…

The Changing Seasons

[157 words] One of the times of year I like the most is fall. The leaves begin to change colors. The weather becomes cooler. It reminds me of what the Psalmist wrote: “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” (Ps.19:1 KNJV). God indirectly speaks to us through nature. When…

Not a Good Idea?

[387 words] I was watching a television program in which a number of preachers were asked questions from viewers. One viewer asked a very important question. The question dealt with why there are different denominations. The viewer asked, “Wouldn’t it be better to have just one church?” The moderator of the program stated that would…

Do You Believe the Bible?

[162 words] The late Batsell Barrett Baxter once told the story about the 19th century agnostic, Robert Ingersoll, who often displayed animosity toward the Christian faith. One noted denominational preacher wanted to debate Ingersoll, but the atheist refused every challenge. Then, one day, the two met by accident. The preacher said, “Mr. Ingersoll, some months…

Three Questions to Keep Your Worship Focused

[308 words] Worshiping God is something that takes real effort to do properly and acceptably. (Note the word “do.”) While the word “worship” can be used as a noun, God uses the word as a verb. Furthermore, it is not used as a passive verb (of something that happens “to” me or “around” me). Worship…

Harmony with One Another

[180 words] In some ways, being a Christian would be easier if you didn’t have to deal with people. You could just study God’s Word and have a personal relationship with God. But that lifestyle (isolation) isn’t what being a Christian is all about. If we are truly “Christ-Like” we must interact and have relationships…

God Knows Your Potential

[423 words] The first time the Bible speaks of Gideon is in Judges 6:11. Gideon is hiding in a winepress beating out wheat so the Midianite oppressors will not find it. An angel of the Lord appears and calls him a “mighty man of valor.” The Lord then tells Gideon to “Go in this might…

Faith Despite Persecution

[186 words] Approximately 64 A.D., The Great Fire of Rome devastated the city. If you were alive during that time, it would have had the sort of shock value that we all experienced in our own national tragedy. Before then, Christianity was growing. However, it was thought of as “just another religion” in the mixing…

How Strong is Your Strength?

[352 words] Stephen was a great man of faith (Acts 7). Earlier the Lord had identified him as a man of conviction, reputation, wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. All these traits of character were going to be necessary for what he was about to face. It is easy to speak favorably of one’s commitment to…

The Logic of Humility

[401 words] Someone once said, “No one stands at the edge of the Grand Canyon and says, ‘I am awesome.’” Why not? Because when we are confronted by that which is immense and sublime, we are designed to feel at least two things: (1) our own smallness, and (2) the assurance that something huge and…

Never Too Old!

[55 words] When the famous French painter Henri Matisse was in his 80’s, he could no longer sit up to paint on a canvas, so he attached a brush to a long stick and painted while lying in bed. Christians, we should never let age nor challenges stop us from serving the Lord (Gal. 6:9)!…

My Prayer

[49 words] My life must touch a million lives in some way ere I goFrom this dear world of struggle to the land I do not know.So this wish I always wish, the prayer I ever pray:Let my life help the other lives it touches by the way! Author UnknownBulletinDigest.com… We are sorry, but this…

What is Love?

[33 words] It is silence when your words would hurt,Patience when your neighbor is curt,Deafness when the scandal flows,Thoughtfulness for another’s woes,Promptness when stern duty calls, and,Courage when misfortune falls. Selected… We are sorry, but this content is for Annual and Lifetime members only. You either are not yet a member (Register), have yet to…

Life

[42 words] Forenoon and afternoon and night,—And day is gone,—So short a span of time there is‘Twixt dawn and evensong. Youth,—Middle life,—Old age,—And life is past,—So live each day that God shall say,“Well done!” at last. Edward Rowland Sill1841-1887… We are sorry, but this content is for Annual and Lifetime members only. You either are…

Enough

[69 words] He that is down needs fear no fall,He that is low, no pride;He that is humble ever shallHave God to be his guide. I am content with that I have,Little be it or much;And Lord, contentment still I crave,Because thou safest such. Fullness to such a burden isThat go on pilgrimage;Here little, and…

Christ the Friend We Need

[124 words] Oft my heart has bled with sorrow,Not a friend my grief to share;But I yielded, Christ to follow,And He took my load of care. Once I sighed for peace and pleasure,Felt a painful void within;Life was gloomy, death a terror,Till my soul was saved from sin. All this world is dark and dreary,And…

It’s All About the Lord

[49 words] The Lord’s people,having been baptized with the Lord’s baptism,cleansed with the Lord’s blood,and added to the Lord’s body,gather around the Lord’s table,in the Lord’s name,upon the Lord’s day,to remember the Lord’s death and resurrection,until the Lord comes. Are you the Lord’s? Edd SterchiBroadway church of ChristCampbellsville, KY… We are sorry, but this content…

All Needs Met

[46 words] Grace that never can be toldFlows for Jesus’ sake;No good thing does He withhold,Have we faith to take.Rise, my soul, begin to liveFree to ask as He to give.Why so poor?A boundless storeWaits the asking;—want no more. J.H. Sammis1846-1919… We are sorry, but this content is for Annual and Lifetime members only. You…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 12:1-6

[84 words] “Now a great __ appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve __.”“Then being with __, she cried out in __ and in pain to give __.”The dragon was fiery __ and had seven __.“His __ drew a…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 12:7-12

[99 words] Archangel who fought with the dragon.“…and the dragon and his __ fought, but they did not __, nor was a place found for them in __ any longer.”Two other names for the dragon.“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 12:13-17

[97 words] To what place was the dragon cast down?”But the woman was given two wings of a great __, that she might fly into the __ to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the __.”What did the serpent spew out of…

Bible Quiz: Revelation 13:1-10

[98 words] “And I saw a __ rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a __ __.”“Now the beast which I saw was like a __, his feet were like the feet of a __, and his mouth like the…

Quotes and Sayings (September 2022)

“An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson “No thoroughly occupied man was ever yet very miserable.” — Letitia Landon “There are very honest people who do not think that they have had a bargain unless they have cheated a merchant.” — Anatole France “Sometimes one pays most for the…

On the Lighter Side (September 2022)

Calling in Sick Negotiations between union members and their employer were at an impasse. The union denied that their workers were flagrantly abusing their contract’s sick-leave provisions. One morning at the bargaining table, the company’s chief negotiator held aloft the morning edition of the newspaper, “This man,” he announced, “called in sick yesterday!” There on…