[392 words] It’s a simple enough title and concept, but for each season and busy opportunity in our lives, there ought to be a reminder, “this is something for which I MUST pray” (Ps. 55:7; Zech. 8:21; 1 Thess. 5:17). Here are some things God’s people need to be...
[354 words] Most of the time, change is good. We all want to grow, get stronger, learn more, see more places, etc. Certainly we are aware of the fact that our methods and tactics must change and adapt when we become ineffective. We must take advantage of opportunities...
[396 words] Empty space gets filled. Have you never noticed this phenomenon when you move into a larger house? You think to yourself “oh, I’ll have so much room now!” But no…as time goes on various things encroach upon that space. You thought you were going to have a...
[395 words] “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved” (Romans 9:9-10). When...
[340 words] Growing up I often played with sticks, gift paper cardboard rolls, and basically anything that could have even resembled a sword. Thinking back, I realize that the image of a sword was something that I was exposed to in literature, TV, movies, and video...
[339 words] I went fishing for a couple of hours recently, caught one fish, and learned a lot. I drifted into a daydream as the ripples kept a steady rhythm on top of the water. As I thought a little deeper, I thought of the little ripples in the pond as kind of like...
[336 words] In September of 1982, relatively healthy people around the Chicago area began dying unexpectedly. Soon it was discovered they all had been poisoned with cyanide ingested from Tylenol they had taken. Panic ensued. Tylenol was taken off the shelves and...
[365 words] It is probably an understatement, but we live in a very unhappy world. Unhappiness is seen on the faces of so many as they try to maneuver through the difficult challenges of everyday life. Unhappiness is not only seen on the poor unfortunates of our...
[347 words] When it is first printed a $100 bill is crisp and clean and you can take that bill and buy $100 dollars worth of merchandise. That bill will then pass through many different hands in the next 15 years, the expected life of that bill. The bill will become...
[361 words] Who is dad? He is a man of Faith, that is, he is committed to the Lord Jesus and leads his family is the straight and narrow way. For a man who is a husband and father to not do this is to let his family down. He is a man Assured of his direction in...
[332 words] We are dealing with pain and suffering. Our varying degrees of “hurt” are different because we all are on different journeys to the same place. Our labor and toil are met each day with emotional, social, financial, and physical pain. Our wounds can make us...
[344 words] Rick Waggoner began driving his morning bus route just as he had for the last ten years. He was forced to pull over when his bus broke down. Three young men approached the bus and savagely proceeded to shoot Rick twice in the chest, once in the hip, and...
[300 words] There are a lot of things in life that we might be able to do without, but the benefits of godly mothers are not one of them! Can anyone imagine what this world would be like if it were not for them? We would miss: The Teaching of Eunice. Timothy’s mother,...
[372 words] A few years ago, on a hot summer day in Florida, a young boy decided to go for a swim in the small pond behind his house. It was hot outside so the thought of a cool swim called to the lad. The boy ran and dove into the water – not realizing that he was...
[358 words] Have you ever received an offer that seemed too good to refuse? Perhaps at a department store the clerk entices with 25 percent off your purchase if you sign up for a credit card. Or, you watch a demonstration of a fantastic new product but the catch is...
[336 words] “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4). I have not met anyone that really...
[363 words] It seems this day and age there are not very many who are at peace. Nations are in dispute, families are in disarray, and people are dissatisfied. We rush about trying to bring peace and order to our lives, but to no avail. When we find a moment of peace,...
[393 words] While at Disney recently, our kids so enjoyed the “It’s a Small World” ride. If you have never had the “joy” of this, it is a boat trip through various animatronic cultures all singing the same song in different languages. Part of the song goes, “there’s...
[364 words] “Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land” (Song of Songs 2:12). I have always liked spring. The flowers of spring are beautiful and amazing in their detail and intricate design. Spring is a time...
[343 words] The dictionary defines the word “mistake” this way: “a misunderstanding of the the meaning or implication of something; a wrong action or statement proceeding from faulty judgment or inadequate knowledge.” Most of us would admit that we know plenty about...
[356 words] While recently reading from Moses Lard’s Commentary on Paul’s Letter to Romans, my attention was captured by a sentence from Lard on the following text: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” ( Romans 3:18). Among Lard’s comments on the...
[361 words] The story is told of a missionary who once visited a very primitive tribe of people. These people had very little contact with the outside world, and they were totally unfamiliar with many things we take for granted. One of the things they had never before...
[362 words] My grandpa once told me that, “If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” What I took as a joke as a young kid, I now value in adulthood. People sometimes replace a goodbye with the phrase, “Take care of yourself.”...
[386 words] The prophet Amos preached to a people hard of heart. As he spoke the words of the Lord, the Lord said through him, that He (the Lord) was the reason for their suffering. Though they suffered the people refused to give any attention to the instructive...
[350 words] In Acts 24 we read of a sermon that was delivered to Felix: “But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control...
[311 words] Psalm 103, attributed to David, is a wonderful psalm of thanksgiving. It would help us greatly if we read it frequently and remembered its lessons constantly. We immediately notice that expression “Bless the Lord,” repeated five times within the twenty-two...
[378 words] “Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known” (Ecclesiastes 10:20 NASU). “A birdie told me” Mom...
[376 words] A young girl of 14 gave birth to twins in a small town in Ohio. Afterwards, she disappeared -- never to heard from again. The twin babies were adopted by two families in separate towns in Ohio. Jim Springer and Jim Lewis grew up not knowing each other...
[346 words] “These are the things you are to teach and insist on” (1 Timothy 6:2). Paul makes this statement to Timothy in his letter making it clear that Timothy is to pass on to others what he has been taught. This is a message that needs to be passed on to us as...
[309 words] We have reduced the church to a counseling center helping people cope! God made the church a salvation center teaching people how to live. We do not merely need therapy—we need the WORD! We don’t just need Bible scholars—we need Bible lovers! If you honor...
[323 words] I do not usually think of snow when I think of the events recorded in the Bible. Most of the time I think of the things that I read about taking place in an arid hot climate, but that is not the case at all. The climate around Jerusalem is surprisingly...
[310 words] Horace Porter, a lieutenant colonel and personal secretary to General Ulysses Grant during the American Civil War, wrote about a conversation he had with the famous general one evening while they were sitting by a campfire. Porter commented, “General, it...
[321 words] Sometimes, it seems that during my daily Bible reading, scriptures come along that speaks to the moment. Politically, the United States has had a volatile year. We have been exposed to political unrest through TV and social media in vivid and sometimes,...
[370 words] Influence is the force by which we have an effect upon the life of another person. We each have influence. The power of your influence is staggering. You want to be a good influence for Christ! Attempts are made to minimize the power of individual...
[306 words] The people of God desire and strive to honor Him above all else. We wake each morning with the call to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). We understand the...
[304 words] “Need be bear monster.” With hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida in September of 2017, officials in Manatee County held a press conference aimed at warning residents of the impending danger. Being “in a pinch” to have a sign language interpreter at the...
[304 words] I came across this article in the book, Grandma Says by Chrissy Lynn. “As a child, I watched my grandmother create magnificent quilts out of scraps. She was from a different time – almost a different culture. The Great Depression taught her to use what she...
[356 words] Q: Has the term “church of Christ” become a denomination in the minds of people? A: Obviously, yes. Many people outside the church call us “church of Christer’s.” They do not understand what we mean by the phrase “the church.” In some people’s minds, a...
[300 words] The stereotypical view of artistry is of the chaotic genius giving birth to great works of art and music in fits of creative energy. One moment a blank canvas, the next a masterpiece; one instant an empty score, the next a symphony. However, an...
[364 words] Jesus did not quit meeting with His disciples because Judas was a thief, nor because Peter was fickle at times. He didn’t quit preaching and living right because some of His brethren were unforgiving and unkind. He did not quit His post of leadership...
[376 words] The zeal with which people will pursue the toy that their kid wants most for Christmas is astounding. Every year seems to have a new fad—a new massively hard-to-purchase toy. A few years ago it was “Shopkins” (tiny collectable rubber toys). When stores...
[362 words] Although each person is different in how they respond, there are many common reasons why people may experience loneliness. Each of us will face events in our lives that may lead us to feel alone, rejected, or out of place. The Bible records many of these...
[318 words] ‘Twas the night Jesus came and all through the house,not a person was praying, not me or my spouse.The Bible was left on the shelf without care,for no one had thought the Lord would come there.The children were dressing to crawl into bed,not once ever...
[318 words] Mark chapter 2 (as well as Mathew 9 and Luke 5) records the time that Jesus Christ healed a paralyzed man—one who had to be carried by his friends. The report begins by telling us Jesus was wildly popular at this particular time: “And many were gathered...
[323 words] The sole business of the church is souls. The church is souls in love with God and one another. The church is souls weeping and rejoicing together, laughing and praying together, eating and singing together. The church is souls looking upward, in praise,...
[370 words] In John 4, Jesus makes the decision to go from Judea to Galilee (v.3). Samaria lay between the two. John 4:4 states, “But He needed to go through Samaria” (v.4). Most of us well know that the Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies. In fact, many Jews...
[370 words] Paul began his second letter to the Thessalonian church with these encouraging words, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another...
[394 words] In Rom. 5:21, Paul states that eternal life is through “Jesus Christ our Lord.” That threefold name of our Savior is an interesting progression that we must go through to truly have salvation in Him. Jesus. Jesus was His given name. Although it means...
[345 words] Paper dolls, paper people that came with paper clothes and could be cut out and played with. They never were a very durable toy, but they could be printed on the back of a cereal box cheaply and kids could get a free toy to play with. What happened when...
[342 words] Life is in need of Courage. Some men prepare themselves for the battle ahead mustering up courage to engage. For some, try as they might, it does not come easy. The battle is engaged, they learn they had more within than they realized. Some Christians...