May the Lord make my New Year a happy one… Not by shielding me from sorrow and pain, but by strengthening me to bear it if it comes. Not by taking hardship from me, but by taking all cowardice and fear from my heart as I meet hardships. Not by making my […]
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The Prayer Life of Jesus: Our and Our Spouses Desires Luke 23:44-49
When Rachel and I first met and married, she did not know how strongly we would be pulling for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team throughout our years of marriage. In fact, early in our marriage, or rather through most of our marriage, she could not have cared less about football. I even wasn’t all […]
Working with Elders
Hebrews 13:17 says: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” When the writer mentions those “that have the rule over you,” it […]
No preacher is worth that kind of money
Too Much? Some brethren said to brother J. D. Tant, who was a widely known gospel preacher in the southwest many years ago, “We would like to have a meeting, but just aren’t able.” He made them a proposition: “Brethren, every time you buy a sack of tobacco or a plug to chew, put the […]
Emphasizing The Basics
If the Lord’s church is to survive and prosper, it must never depart from the basics of the gospel. A wise and experienced elder once told me, “I’ve never known a church to grow that didn’t emphasize the basics. If a church is struggling, they just need to get back to first principles and preach […]
A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION:
Exercise Your Soul! “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” – 3 John 2 In the salutation of a lovely little letter written by John to his good friend Gaius, the apostle recognizes two kinds of […]
The Beatitudes” Matthew 5:1-12
How would you summarize the kind of person Jesus says is a member of His kingdom, His church? Some translations use the word “happy,” but it is only a very shallow synonym for “blessed.” A better translation of the Greek word is “a recipient of God’s favor.” The verb “to bless” is found 419 times […]
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE? Part 2
Last week our discussion revolved around two points: (1) At death there is a separation of body and spirit, and the fact that (2) The spirit of man lives on in the realm of Hades. The story, or, the teaching of Scripture, and man’s existence do not end there. THE DAY OF THE LORD & […]
The Angel of Jehovah
Angels are special spiritual being who, in former days, delivered messages from God. The Bible does not tell us when angels were created, but it must have been soon after the beginning of time on earth because Job mentions them as being present when God created the world, (Job 38:4-7). The study of angels is […]
Envious Friends
In the mid-ninth century, Michael III was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire. He was young and did not have much experience, but he did have a best friend named Basilius. They had met years ago when Michael was visiting the stables and Basilius was the stable hand. A horse got loose and Basilius saved […]