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…

H.O.P.E.S

[519 words] One of the great needs of the church today is for our members to be more evangelistic. We have more people living in our world today and yet fewer people becoming Christians and being involved in the life of the church. There are people all around us, we have neighbors, co-workers, family, and…

Darwin’s Arch Collapses

[502 words] So the headlines read when a massive stone bridge in the Galapagos islands named after the famous biologist broke in the middle and left two towers of solid rock jutting out of the ocean. But the recent fall of this monument was not merely the loss of a reminder of the work of…

Blood or Baptism?

[512 words] What saves us from our sins, is it the blood of Christ or baptism into Christ? This is a great question, one of which we should give great thought to, because our soul hangs in the balance. The New Testament speaks of those who obey not the Gospel receiving God’s wrath (2 Thess.…

God Can’t Do Everything

[518 words] These words can sound discouraging. Doesn’t the Bible say, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37)? Which way is it? The same Bible that says nothing is impossible with God also says there is something He cannot do. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). God “cannot lie” (Titus…

For Your Heirs

[515 words] “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Prov. 13:22). The good side of an inheritance is that it gives children a start in life. It is one of the most effective forms of compound interest ever devised. The bad side is that children often fight over an inheritance. One man…

What Can I Do?

[504 words] “I do not feel as close to the Lord as I once did. I know that I do not study and pray as I once did. I want to be close to God again. What can I do?” We have all felt this way! We have awakened to find ourselves adrift from God.…

The Instruction of a Father

[582 words] Fathers are important to the development of children. We are thankful for those men who take seriously the command of Ephesians 6:4 by lovingly bringing their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord rather than provoking them to anger. In their interactions with their children, fathers must avoid relating to…

Growing in Faith

[513 words] Have you wondered why we have Bible Classes each Sunday and Wednesday even- ing? Or why preaching of the Word of God is so essential to our Sunday worship? Or why the Lord encourages us to read and study the Bible daily (Psa. 1:2)? It is because Bible study is a faith growing…

It’s Just Not Fair

[582 words] A question that has troubled mankind for thousands of years is this: Why is life so unfair? From start to finish the books of the Bible talk about it. Saints and sinners alike feel they have been wronged for no reason but want to know why, and both of them point their finger…

The Most Often Repeated Command

[517 words] Of all the commands in the Bible, which one is repeated the greatest number of times? I think you may be surprised! Love is the greatest command, but it’s not the one most often repeated. Writers often speak of pride as being at the root of human failures, but warnings against pride or…

An Unchanging God in a Constantly Changing World

[521 words] None of us foresaw the changes that 2020 would bring when we welcomed in the new year. None of us would have ever thought that churches would close their doors for a time, that neighborhood stores and restaurants would go out of business, that professional sports would be cancelled, or that laws would…

‘Do Right’ or ‘Waste Good’

[580 words] Former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Lou Holtz was a strong proponent of the “do right” rule for athletes and inspired his athletes to follow the rule as they interacted with others on and off the athletic field. I agree with Coach Holtz’s “do right” concept as regards Christianity. We can look to God’s word…

United Again

[566 words] Ten months. That’s how long Dr. Anne Hampton was unable to see her father, Chris, age 87, face-to-face. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Steppes care home in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England where Chris resides, went on lockdown in March, 2020. Since then, Dr. Hampton has only been able to see her father through…

Lessons in the Long Winter

[536 words] This winter seems like it’s stretched out extra long this year, doesn’t it! Winter is a very tough season as summer fun is long past, the pretty leaves of fall are gone, the trees are bare, and the days are colder. It can be a dreary, drawn-out, difficult time for many. Is there…

Hope is Not in the Kingdoms of Men

[524 words] One of my favorite Bible prophets is Jeremiah. He was faithful to God in a time that being so meant persecution and punishment. It was not only foreign kings hating Jeremiah, but, so did his own people. He was imprisoned in a mucky, miry pit for being true to his true King. It…

God Can, But Should He?

[508 words] We marvel at the scene of the tomb of Lazarus. Rightly so. How often is divine power on such spectacular display? The impact of Jesus raising dead Lazarus is evidenced by the thinking of Jewish leaders to kill Lazarus. His being alive was bringing so many people to faith in Jesus that these…

Is This Why America is in Trouble?

[566 words] Why did God overthrow governments in the Old Testament? Was it because of idolatry? Bloodshed? Oppression of the poor? Sexual sins and perversion? These sins stand out as reasons for the downfall of nations. But one evil was beneath these sins, and it often goes unnoticed as the cause of the demise of…

Perils in Church Buildings?

[533 words] I was touring one of the oldest log church buildings in America when I noticed holes in the walls. “What are these holes?” I asked. A guide explained that they were drilled so men could put their rifles through the holes to shoot at indians if they attacked while the church was meeting.…

Building a Better World

[553 words] Building a better world begins with me. I must be willing to give my time, talents, money and energies to make the world in which I live a better place. I truly believe that the only real way to make this world better is for me to be a faithful and dedicated child…

The Bad Samaritan

[533 words] “Which one?” That’s what a typical Jew in Jesus’ time would have asked about this title. To many Jewish people, all Samaritans were bad. There was no such thing as a good Samaritan. The truth, of course, is that Samaritans were like other people. Some were good and some were bad. Although the…

He’s Still Around

[516 words] As I write this article, two days have passed since a tragedy occurred in our community. At a spot just one-half mile from where I sit in my office, a little four-year-old boy was visiting his uncle. While the family was taking group pictures in the house, the little boy sneaked out the…

What Do You Do When Things Go Bad?

[523 words] Life is full of ups and downs. If we made a list of all of the positive things in our life, all of the blessings, that list would almost certainly far exceed a similar list of all of the negative things in our life. Despite that fact, we tend to focus more on…

Is Our Savior Sleeping?

[540 words] Have you ever been afraid of your imagination? At times that fear can be so convincing that you truly believe that the worst case scenario is somehow inevitable. Try and make that opening question relevant to your life. Think about a specific event or experience where you were afraid of something that never…

Cultivating Your Spiritual Garden

[528 words] Wisteria is beautiful. Despite its beauty, though, wisteria can be an invasive vine if it is not carefully cultivated, becoming genteel kudzu. As I had to go to a doctor’s appointment in Gainesville, Georgia, yesterday, I noted how much wisteria grows around that city. For the most part, it was not managed well.…

Seeking the Lost Coins

[521 words] During the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the British government began to run low on silver for coins. Cromwell sent his men on an investigation of the local cathedrals to see if they could find any precious metals there. After the investigation they reported: “The only silver we could find is in the statues…