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In Honor of Godly Fathers

[632 words] Father’s Day is a day to recognize the role fathers play in society. It is believed to have been first celebrated as a compliment to Mother’s Day on July 5, 1908, but it wasn’t made a federal holiday until 1966. Interestingly enough, where Mother’s Day was met with enthusiasm, Father’s Day was met…

What I Want for My Children

[648 words] Although we do not celebrate Father’s Day religiously, it is a day set aside for our nation to honor our fathers. Fathers have a special responsibility as leaders of the home. Since this responsibility is God-given, it should never be taken lightly. Every father would do well to seriously consider God’s instructions regarding…

Five Things the Gospel Cannot Do

[540 words] The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Man’s true hope of going to heaven through Jesus is revealed in the gospel. Yet there are some things the gospel cannot do. The gospel cannot save a person who is determined to live in rebellion against God. The gospel has the power to…

Don’t Let Go of What’s Most Important

[509 words] There will always be a pull on Christians to compromise the truth of the gospel for what may be more pleasing to me (or men), for what may seem to be “wise,” or for what may be easy. Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do…

The Case for a Paper Bible

[562 words] First things first: I am not anti-electronic Bible. In fact, I know people who basically must use one if they are going to be able to read the text. A lot of older people with failing eyesight have been blessed by being able to blow up the font size on a tablet to…

A Chalk-Board Lesson

[551 words] On the blackboard in the classroom adjacent to the foyer hallway was this writing: “God isn’t good, He’s GREAT!!” Clearly the expression is to elevate the Lord to the highest of the highs. If “good” is high, then “great” is even higher. At least, that is the way most will understand it in…

Today’s Sins

[516 words] Though I cannot recall the source, I remember the following illustration and its applicability to the topic at hand. Jewelers display diamonds and pearls on black cloth to create great contrast and thereby enhance the brightness of the jewels. In the first three chapters of Romans, Paul lays out the black cloth. In…

A Son Not Like His Father

[657 words] “She is just like her mother.” “He is exactly like his dad.” It is amazing how much children favor their parents, especially when they become adults. They look like their parents. They talk and walk and sit like them. They respond with the same words, gestures and facial expressions. For good or bad,…

If You Were Granted Just One Wish

[511 words] The fervor which swept across this nation seeking to win the $500,000,000 lottery is remarkable. It is amazing to see how so many Americans think that money would bring them true happiness. The reality is that past winners of lotteries just could not handle that kind of money and their lives were ruined…

In the Storm, We Pray

[500+ words] When disasters strike, the human spirit responds by reaching out to help those affected. People stand in line to give blood; millions of dollars are donated to aid victims and their families; rescue teams work for endless hours. But most essential effort is accomplished by another valiant team. Their task? To guard and…

If Eli Could Speak to Parents

[519 words] First Samuel tells us of the life of Eli. He was the high priest of Israel. He loved God and was very sensitive to His word. During his time, spiritual conditions were not good. People mocked God and lived immoral lives. Tragically, Eli’s sons became ungodly. They were disrespectful to God in their…

Tampering with the Election

[547 words] Voter fraud is not new. We should not be surprised. Politics brings out the worst in people—pride, greed, lust for power, and dishonesty. Why would anyone think we have risen above ballot box manipulation? Many times in our history corrupt men have used intimidation, false registration, bribery, and vote alteration to steal elections.…

Trust God With a Stone in Your Hand

[510 words] I hope that title got your attention. Let me explain what I mean by it. David was a man who trusted God. He wrote in Psalm 62:7-8, “In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times…” God…

What Kind of ‘Sorry’ Are You?

[587 words] While growing up in middle Tennessee I often had occasion to hear expressions used by country folks. Since many of them came from small communities, where everyone knew his neighbors’ foibles and failings, country folks could be unsparingly candid in their evaluation of others. One descriptive phrase that I particularly remember is the…

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…

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.…

My Friend and His Text Messages

[505 words] I don’t know what we would do without friends. God created us with a need for them. Each day of God’s creation has the phrase, “God saw that it was good,” in connection with it. However, after God created man, He said, “It is not good that man should be alone.” He created…

Phone Home?

[569 words] “Mr. Duke, what do you think about the question of life on other planets?” More than one Russian student asked me this question in a Moscow university over thirty years ago. I had expected questions about God, and there were many. But I was surprised at the number of times they asked about…

A Judgment Jesus Reserves for Himself

[519 words] I know of no congregation of the Lord’s church that can claim perfection. If churches are composed of people, they will have their problems. It is true that we are saved people (Acts 2:47), holy people (1 Pet. 2:9), and sanctified people (1 Cor. 6:11). But we are also weak people (Matt. 26:41)…

Who is My Mother?

[540 words] Mother’s Day can be a challenge for many. After all, some mothers do not want to be mothers but are one anyway. Some mothers have aborted their babies and regret it and others have disowned their children and do not care. Some women want to be mothers but for one reason or another…

A Truly Global Outlook

[602 words] The world is getting smaller. We constantly hear about globalism—global economics, global politics, global environmentalism, and a host of other world interests. It is time that we tell others how to look at the world rather than letting people who are not even Christians and who don’t know the Bible lecture us about…

Measuring Our Love for God

[543 words] While there is definitely an emotional component to love, true love is not merely emotion. True love is also a decision. It is a deliberate act of the will. The Bible reveals some measuring sticks by which we can determine whether or not our love for God is as deep as it could…

How the Church Can Prosper Today

[529 words] To answer these questions, we must go back to the book of Acts. It is there in Acts 2 that we read of the establishment of the Church on the Day of Pentecost, just as had been prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. While there are many things that we could say about…

When You’re Feeling the Pressure

[586 words] ”And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). The comprehensiveness of this passage is mind-blowing. It’s also amazing how the same passage of Scripture can lift us up AND…

Honesty Works

[536 words] Billy Ray Harris is a homeless man in Kansas City, Missouri, who, each day, would set out his cup for folks to deposit their coins. One day a lady, Sarah Darling, put some money into the cup and when she did her engagement ring fell off into the cup. Mr. Harris did not…

Wife Asked Me to Take Another Woman Out

[591 words] EDITOR’S NOTE: This article appeared as a guest editorial in the April 2013 edition of Bulletin Digest, when Charles Beebe was still the editor and publisher. His original editor’s note read, “This man did, I didn’t. I have regretted that I didn’t many times. However, I did spend most of one day with…

When Weakness Is Strength

[505 words] “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said…

Perfectly Joined Together

[655 words] Jesus had a vision of unity among believers that the apostles came to share. The Lord prayed for unity; “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in…

You Are Valuable To God

[524 words] Because of our keen awareness to our own imperfections, we are made to wonder, as did the Psalmist, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him” (Psalm 8:4)? I wonder, just as you do, how God could still love us after all our sins? The answer to this great question came in…

The Year Ahead

[544 words] “For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 6:12). An issue of Time magazine almost thirty years ago gave examples of men who tried to do what man cannot do—predict the future. Here are some of these predictions made in the 1900’s as listed in Time,…

The Devil’s Asset

[577 words] Samson was an incredibly strong man. The Lord gave him his strength, and as long as he kept his vow secret he was safe. No man or band of men could defeat him, but a woman named Delilah did. The Bible says, “And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with…

Making Sense of Moral Outrage

[544 words] This is a time of moral outrage. Anger and animosity quickly and easily spill over from one person to the next, often in violent outbursts. Riots and looting have been recorded and reported from the streets of several major U.S. cities. Bitterness and condescension is lobbed from one side of the aisle to…

The Conflict Within

[520 words] “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). All of us struggle with our feelings. They give us joy, but they also bring grief. A Christian woman was talking about these bad feelings and said, “I believe everybody has trouble with these inner demons.”…

Are We Truly Thankful?

[510 words] Many, many years ago a story is told of a good king in Spain known as Alfonso XIX who learned that the boys who served in his court were forgetting to pray before their meals. So, he decided to teach them a lesson. He gave a banquet and invited them to attend. Midway…

Are We That Helpless?

[548 words] I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Of course, we say that about a lot of what we hear these days. This time I was in a waiting room where health tips were given on a screen—how to lower blood sugar, getting better sleep and dealing with other common problems. Then a lady…

The Mediation Of Christ

[519 words] The Master said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Mediator, our High Priest, and our Advocate. Jesus Christ is our SAVIOR. The angel directed Joseph to “call His name Jesus, for He will…

The Gospel Message in “Modern” Language

[588 words] Language is constantly changing (and not always for the better!). With texting and posting on social media have come a whole host of abbreviated words and phrases. I do not know them very well, but I do know a few of them. Likely you do, too. Using some of them, let me offer…

Lessons from a Messed Up Church

[591 words] Corinth was a busy metropolitan city in the days that Paul helped start the church there. But Corinth also had a much-deserved reputation for moral bankruptcy. Folks who were in the practice of using prostitutes were said to have “Corinthianized.” This term later came to be used to describe moral decay in general.…

Two Battlefronts

[581 words] A Christian friend from a third world country told me, “America is in a war.” That war is inside our land. It is a moral and spiritual conflict. We have been saying this for years, and we sense it now more than ever. To hear someone who was raised in such a different…

Equal Before God

[510 words] “There is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11). “All men are created equal” (Declaration of Independence). People are different and life is not fair. No government program can change this. These may be cold hard facts but they are the truth. God did not make everyone the same. He could have made us…
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