I recently heard this story on the radio, which illustrates a very important, but oftentimes understated principle. A grandmother was commenting on her 8-year-old grandson’s interest in their congregation’s effort to help collect funds for orphans overseas. He would save his allowance and put the money in a container for the special contribution. When she asked him why he was so interested in helping out with this, his response was simple but powerful. “I want to help kids who need to be helped, and all I would do with the money anyway is buy another toy.” The grandmother commented, “I wonder how many toys I could give up to help others in need?” Children have tender hearts, and many times they have a better insight into the kind of heart God wants us to have than we adults. Certainly, God wants us to have a heart of generosity, which comes from understanding how blessed we truly are. Paul wrote the church in Corinth about this, after they began to hesitate in fulfilling a promise to give generously for the needs of the poor saints elsewhere, he reminded them, “Therefore I considered it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance the generous gift you promised, so that it will be ready as a gift and not as an extortion” (2 Corinthians 9:5). Paul did not want them to think they were being taken advantage of by giving to help the needs of others, …

There have been many questions as to who God is, but it is very different to ask what God is. There are three aspects as to what God is that people wish to hear. The first of these aspects is one that is above the rest because without it the other aspects would not be possible. If you turn to 1 john 4:7-8, it says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” If God is love, then, it stands to reason that a Christian must love, for it is God we serve. John 3:16 says, “For God so Loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, God is a God of love. Not only is He love, but God is also a God of mercy. Romans 11:30-32 reads as, “For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” We have received mercy in the form of a bloody cross that held the dying Savior. Hosea 2:23 says this, “Then I will sow her for Myself in …

In the Bible, we read of a man who was changed by Jesus (Acts 8:26-39). In conversion to Christianity, the sinner turned from unbelief to faith and from impenitence to repentance. In conversion the sinner’s sins were washed away (Acts 22:16). In conversion, the sinner was delivered out of the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13). He was provoked to obey when Jesus was preached to him (Acts 8:35). He was changed by the power of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16). In Acts 8:26-39, while evangelist Philip was preaching in Samaria, an angel of the Lord directed him to go south to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. He obeyed and came near to a man from Ethiopia riding along in his chariot. The Ethiopian had been to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home. This man was over the treasury of Queen Candace. He was, therefore, a prominent figure and had great authority in his homeland. Interestingly, the Ethiopian treasurer was reading from the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah when the Spirit told Philip to “go near and join thyself to this chariot” (8:29). Upon being asked by Philip if he understood the Scripture, the eunuch of Ethiopia invited Philip into the chariot to teach him the meaning of the Scripture he was reading. Philip capitalized on the opportunity and began to preach to him about Jesus, beginning from Isaiah 53. The Bible does not reveal all that Philip taught, but …

One bad apple spoils the others. That is why we soon separate it from the others to avoid more spoilage. The same principle applies in the church. “After a first and second warning, have nothing more to do with a person who causes conflict, because you know that someone like this is twisted and sinful — so they condemn themselves” (Titus 3:10-11). Some like to discuss the nature of division, if a person is factious or not, if his attitudes cause division.  Paul knew that it is not hard to identify division or a factious person. One does not have to be a genius to know. Our tendency is to want to give the person more chances, to be patient, to work more with the person, to give him time to mature, but Scripture is clear: After a couple of warnings, he’s out. The divisive person should be treated as someone who does not belong to the body of Christ. The character (“twisted”) and the conduct (“sinful”) of such a person demonstrates the need to take measures that at first glance appear to be severe, but become obligatory because of the dangers that his actions in the church present. This is because division in the church is one of the most serious transgressions in the eyes of God (Proverbs 6:16-19).

After graduating from preaching school, a preacher friend of mine located at a small congregation in hopes of building it up. The previous minister still worshipped there, and one day as he was showing the new minister around, he gave him a piece of “advice.” “Do not knock on the doors of those who were lower class, but focus on the people with nicer homes in wealthier neighborhoods who would be able to give more money to the church.” Needless to say, the plan did not work. In recognizing those who showed the greatest interest in Jesus, Phillip Yancey, in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, makes the following observation: “The more unsavory the characters, the more at ease they seemed to feel around Jesus. People like these found Jesus appealing: a Samaritan social outcast, a military officer of the tyrant Herod, a quisling tax collector, a recent hostess to seven demons… In contrast, Jesus got a chilly response from more respectable types. Pious Pharisees thought Him uncouth and worldly, a rich young ruler walked away shaking his head, and even the open-minded Nicodemus sought a meeting under the cover of darkness.” (Yancey, p. 147) Yancey rightly notes further that circumstances are the opposite today. Churches can be unfriendly, unkind and uninterested in to the souls of alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, criminals, the homeless, outcasts and even the poor. Consider the following brief points that can help us to be more like Jesus in reaching out to the lost both …

Sometimes ideas for my articles originate at rather odd places, not always as one is bent over his desk with his open Bible. Not long ago, I was having a cup of coffee with a good friend. As usual, our conversation turned to spiritual matters. As we were discussing why some folks hear the truth but never seem to understand it or obey it, he made the observation that the truth had never reached their hearts. I believe that he hit the nail on the head. Too many, and one is too many, are like those in the Parable of the Sower. They hear the Word, but before it can reach the heart and lodge therein, the devil steals it away. Take this little test: When you hear someone teaching biblical truth about the one church, does it reach your heart and make you want to be a member of that church, or do you just push it aside by saying that one church is as good as another? Again, when you read, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins…” do you let this truth sink into your heart and bring forth fruit? Then, when you read: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” do you listen, or do you say that it doesn’t matter how one worships? Friend, is God’s Word penetrating your heart?

Last Sunday morning, I listened to a sermon on TV in which the preacher said, “You can tell Christians by the way we act.” How true that is! A true Christian lives a dedicated life in which he strives to “follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21) that is, in the steps of Christ, our Master. The earlier part of that same verse says that “He left us an example.” Christ was totally devoted in His service to God, and even though we are not able to give what Christ did as He gave His precious blood for the redemption of man’s sins, we must live in such a way as to reflect our love and devotion to God. What must we do to show our love for God? He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). However, let’s look at just a few things in the book of 1 Peter alone to see what we must do so that our lives reflect that we are, in fact, living Christian lives. Christians must study God’s Word and live by its instructions: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow by it” (1 Peter 2:1). If one truly loves God and wants to please Him, one must know what He wants of us and expects us to do. The only way we can do that is by reading and studying His Word and doing what it says. We have no other means …

Sunday afternoon, I took my 15-month-old grandson out in the backyard. His little hand wrapped neatly around one of my fingers for a few minutes. Then, he took off on his own. I could not help but be amused when I watched him come to a little bitty stick that had blown off of one of our abundance of pine trees. If he stepped on a stick, it would throw him off, and he would nearly fall, or sometimes he would fall. As we walked, he got to the point that when he came to a stick, he would lift his little leg way up, and step over the stick with what was, for him, a giant step. As I watched him, I told my daughter (his mother) that an article was forming in my mind, based on his actions. Well, here it is. You see, as his mother and I walked along, we simply stepped on those little sticks, never thinking about them at all. They were not obstacles to us. However, for him, they were major obstacles that could make the difference between standing and falling. Being the preacher that I am, I could not help but think of the biblical application that this helped illustrate. The Scriptures often make reference to the fact that new Christians are like “newborn babes.” For instance, Peter says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, …

Mercy is defined by Webster as: “That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves… It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders.” Mercy is not a common attribute to be found in the world, nor is it as common as it should be in the church. An individual’s general inclination is to repay a wrong by making sure the offender gets “what he deserves.” Yet, the child of God is required to be a merciful individual. Solomon wrote, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart” (Proverbs 3:3). The attribute of mercy is one that is required by God if one is to be found faithful. The importance of mercy is further emphasized by Jesus when He stated, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). In order for us to obtain the forgiveness of God, we must be willing to show mercy (the attribute that leads to forgiveness) in our own lives. Jesus illustrated this with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:23-35. He concluded that parable by stating: “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (vs. 35). May we understand and implement the attribute of mercy in our lives, enabling us to present …

As I speak all across the nation, I mention in almost every sermon the honor that God has bestowed upon all of us by allowing us to be fellow-laborers together with him in the most glorious task on earth. Probably on the average of at least three times a day I thank God in wonder and amazement at the multitude and magnitude of blessings bestowed upon me personally as I participate in the various efforts to evangelize – take the good news – to people everywhere. A part of those blessings are the responses of thousands of students of Bible correspondence courses, the letters from hundreds of preachers in Africa, India and other places who respond to something they have read that has apparently helped them. God placed in almost every person the desire to feel useful. To find that God has permitted us to be useful in accomplishing the task which is so important that Christ died for it is thrilling and humbling. As I read Paul’s glorious ascription of praise in Ephesians 1:3, it occurred to me that I was simply experiencing in a small degree what Paul had in a large degree. He was expressing as a concrete reality which many of us are aware of only as a theoretical possibility. Let us examine some thoughts in that verse that should express the feeling of every Christian. First, “Blessed be God.” To bless God is to express adoration, veneration and gratitude for Him, and to acknowledge His …

Throughout our lives, there have been things that have touched us in ways that would move us to action. Some things would cause such a stir within that we would give of ourselves, our means even our hearts having a strong and sincere compassion. Though misleading, deception, lies (however one chooses to dress up sinful behavior) have caused the hearts of many to harden, there are still times (even for them) that brings a tear or stillness inside that brings us closer to the way Jesus was so many times with those around Him. Jesus emptied Himself and put on flesh and lived with a fleshly body like you and me (Philippians 2:7ff). Though He lived a sinless life, He “was in all points tempted like as we are…” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus knows all about our struggles, and He understands and is moved when we hurt and when we have need. As our Lord walked about this world, seeking and saving the lost, He would often be “moved with compassion.” Our Lord is a compassionate Lord. Our understanding of compassion is often different from what it ought to be. The word most often translated as our English word compassion is a word that means “to have the bowels yearn, feel sympathy, to pity” (according to James Strong). The “bowels” of man is a deep, inward affection. It is that feeling deep inside that moves us to action. As Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10:38), He often had multitudes of …

Near the conclusion of Jesus’ address to the multitudes in His Sermon on the Mount, He declared, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). This is a passage that must be embedded in our minds. We should not live a day without pondering its meaning and significance to our lives and others around us. The term “Lord” is translated from a word in the Koine Greek, kurios, which, according to Strong, is the title of one who is “supreme in authority, that is controller.” Thayer adds that the title is one “of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master.” Jesus came to this earth, in part, to bring the message of God’s will to all of humanity so we would not live and die in ignorance. In His prayer to the Father, Jesus said, “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me…” (John 17:8). God no longer winks at ignorance, but commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Saul of Tarsus asked the right question when he made the query of Jesus, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). A man demonstrating great wisdom, Saul, did as the Lord told him to do. He went into the city of Damascus and waited for Ananias. Saul was ultimately forgiven of his past sins when he …

It is often true that the ethics of God and man clash. Man, being the arrogant kind of being he is, has the temerity to reflect on the ethics of God. God is righteous. He has never made a mistake, nor will He ever. When Abraham was bargaining with God to spare the evil cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the others cities of the plain, he asked, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”(Genesis 18:25b). Before we reflect on God, we need to understand as much as we can about His nature. If we learn all we can about the nature of God from the Bible, we may reconsider our charges. Down through the ages, God has had one abiding principle by which He has guided Himself, when it comes to bringing punishment on men. The principle is that men are judged according to their deeds. If the deeds have been evil, sinful, in the sight of God, then the punishment will be evil. If the deeds have been good and righteous, God rewards with blessings. Again and again, this principle of judgment was expressed by such prophets as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and it is even expressed in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 5:10. Nevertheless, men have accused God of being harsh and unethical in His judgments. One of the cases to which they point is found in 1 Samuel 15:2-3, in which we find the following commands that God gave to King Saul of Israel …

After twelve years on active duty Regular Army and twenty-four years full-time National Guard, I retired. I was fifty-five years old. Too young to retire and I needed a job. A position was open for a counselor at the Region Three Alcohol/Chemical Treatment Program in Tupelo, Mississippi. Since I had training and experience as a counselor/instructor with the Army, I applied for the position, was interviewed and hired for the job. For the next five years, I experienced an unusual and a rewarding employment. I remember one young man in his very early twenties. He had no problems with the law. He had a high school education, was well built and a very intelligent man. He was, however, homeless with no family support system. And yes, “he had burned all his bridges.” In a counseling session as I observed this young man with seemly no family ties, I knew he was “on his own.” He needed stabilization in his life. With no experience or skills in the employment fields, I asked him, “Have you ever considered joining the Army or one of the Armed Forces?” He was caught off guard; yet, he immediately gave a straightforward answer, “Are you kidding?” This young man had no desire for such. He would rather stumble along as a homeless man. Isn’t that something? Give up a chance to change, stabilize and advance himself. I don’t understand such reasoning, yet that was his choice. What is our attitude toward God Almighty? Do we approach God …

Have you ever heard anyone say, “I have so much I have to do today, or maybe, “I have to do this and I haveto do that, too”? Yet, there is only one thing I have to do in life. Solomon wrote, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Previously in the book, Solomon had conducted an intensive experiment of man’s purpose in life. He considered things that cannot satisfy, such as: In the end, Solomon found that the only thing we really have to do is to obey God. Serving Him ought to be the most important goal of our lives, because we are here for that very purpose. My ultimate task and your ultimate task is to live and die for Him. Consider what Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 10:12-13: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statues which I command you today for your good?” Later he would say, “For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47). In the New Testament, Peter declared the ultimate aim of Christian ministry, “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). So, “whether …

A rich Texan was asked before he died, “Do you have a last request?” He said, “Yes, when I die, bury me in my gold Mercedes!” So, upon his death, they put him in his gold Mercedes and lowered him into a big hole. A certain man who came to the burial said, “Now that’s real living!” It’s amazing the ideas people have in regard to what constitutes good living. What matters most is God’s concept of good living. Therefore, what is good living? Good living involves commitment to Christ (2 Tim. 1:12). You may have a good job, nice family, lovely home and good health, but if you are not committed to Christ, you are just existing (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4; Galatians 3:27). Good living involves a vital connection with the church (Acts 2:41-47). Abounding in the work of the Lord is more than having ones name on the role! We must be connected with the local congregation in faithfulness, service, fellowship and worship (1 Corinthians 12:12ff). Good living involves a separation from the world (1 John 2:15-17). You cannot commit yourself to Christ while living a worldly life and call it good living. We must live in the world without the world living in us (Romans 12:1-2). It is good living when you can say, “I am through with the old life, and I am now living for Jesus!” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Galatians 2:20; James 4:7-8). Good living involves walking with God (Ephesians 4:1). Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:21-24). Are …

Paul knew what the Gospel was because he had preached that Gospel. It was the good news of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), along with the commands that one must obey to be saved (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). In believing in the Lord, repenting of one’s sins, confessing Christ to be the Son of God and being buried in the waters of baptism, one would not only be obeying the Gospel (2 Peter 4:17), but he would also be picturing the Lord’s death, burial and resurrection through his obedience (Romans 6:3-6). What a wonderful plan for bringing about the salvation of obedient believers! In writing to the Galatians, Paul said, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians l:6-9). Now, did you hear and understand what Paul said? He said that even though the Christians at Galatia had heard the one and only Gospel of Christ, he was surprised that they had so quickly left the truth to accept another so-called gospel. That “gospel” would …

They come to the door, always wanting to study the Bible with you. They are very sincere in their beliefs, and they have converted many throughout the years. They are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and we need to be able to withstand and combat their false teachings. Many of their false ideas could be pointed out, but this article will only deal with one. The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus was the very first created being, and not God in the flesh. In an attempt to justify themselves in this teaching, they have produced their own version of the Bible (the New World Translation), which blatantly changes the meaning of certain passages. The most glaring example of this is John 1:1, which in their version reads, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a god.” Almost all other translations say “and the Word was God.” They appeal to a non-existent Greek rule for this change, yet oddly enough do not follow their made-up rule in the other four cases that appear in the very same chapter! If one were to follow this supposed rule, the Bible would say the following: “There was a man sent from a god” (John 1:6), “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of a god” (John 1:12), “which were born, not…of the will of man, but of a god” (John 1:13), “no man has seen a god at any time” (John 1:18). Can you see how ridiculous …