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Two Lives as One Life
A young Christians was working as a clerk in a country store. The husband and wife owners of the country store were Christians. They were also members of a small, very rural congregation. One day she was ‘flustered’ as she planned a trip. This trip was a rare visit with relatives in a city for a weekend. She was anxious because she did not have a hat. In those days a woman commonly wore a hat to church as an act of faith. Several times that day she was talking out loud to herself about...Continue reading
Seek
The word “seek” means according to Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words: “what to obtain.” There are several ideas and persons for which we are to seek. Let us notice these. SEEK THE LORD In Isaiah 55:6 we find, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” There is a time for seeking the Lord. There will be a time when people will no longer be able to seek the Lord. The song says, “Soon will the season of rescue be o’er, Soon will they drift...Continue reading
Clean vs. Unclean
In the Old Testament we find what God calls clean and unclean. Sometimes this refers to animals. The earliest we find this is in Genesis 7. Noah is told by God “Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the make and his female: and of beast that are not clean by two, the male and his female.” At this time we are not told what constitutes clean and unclean but just that there are two different kinds of animals; clean and unclean. Later, we are told in Leviticus 11 what animals...
There is Nothing New Under the Sun
The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This was true then and the same is still true today. Consider when Eve was tempted. She “saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). When Jesus had fasted for forty days He was then tempted. “The...
What’s Become of Reverence?
Thinking back to my teenage years, I’m sure that more often than I’d like to admit I shook my head at any older person who said anything against any of the trends of that day. It wouldn’t have mattered whether or not I agreed with the trends. Just the fact that someone from the older generation was knocking something would have been enough to get my hackles up and prepare me for an argument. Fully prepared that some will consider me among that number of “old fogies” with whom I contended years ago, I’d like...Continue reading
No Man Is an Island
“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself” (Romans 14:7). Jesus taught, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto...Continue reading
Easter
The word “Easter” appears one time in the King James Version of the Bible in Acts 12:4 which reads, “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” The New King James Version of the Bible in this same passage reads: “So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.”...Continue reading
The Missing Lamps
In a certain mountain village in Europe several centuries ago, a nobleman wondered what legacy he would leave to his townspeople. At last he decided to build them a church building. No one saw the completed plans for the building until it was finished. When the people gathered, they marveled at its beauty and completeness. Then someone asked, “But where are the lamps? How will it be lighted?” The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls. Then he gave to each family a lamp that they were to bring with them each time they...Continue reading
A Four Letter Word
A Four-Letter Word We are all exposed to four letter words. We hear them on the television, radio or maybe even the internet. Kids hear them at school. Rap artist have been using them and are now finally being condemned for it. Others may use these words; even some who attend the services here may use these little words. Not all four-letter words are bad: love is a four-letter word, so is work (some may not like this word but it is not at all a bad word); sing also is a four letter word...Continue reading
“Are You for Us, or for Our Adversaries?”
This quote comes from Joshua 5:13 and is a good question for all of time. It is a question that one could even ask in this day and time. Joshua was asking this question of the “captain of the host of the Lord” (Joshua 5:14). He is also told to take his shoes off of his feet for the place whereon he stood was holy (Joshua 5:15). The answer then was implied for the answer Joshua got was that he was speaking to the “captain of the host of the Lord.” If we asked this...