My sister has this hobby that I call creepy cactus cultivation. She loves finding weird, ugly, exotic cactus plants and coaxing beauty out of them. My sister just sent me photos of a cactus she found recently that she calls a caterpillar for lack of knowing its real name. It’s as ugly as sin, motley brown and looks a bit like animal droppings. Nevertheless, one day, a pod-type extension appeared on it, also ugly. Then, a couple of days later, a gorgeous flower flushed out of the pod! The bloom was delicate and sported pretty colors of pink, purple, blue. It was multilayered and beautiful. I saw the photos and thought, “Wow, this is like people!” Thus, the following thoughts emerged. Beauty can come from ugly. God finds sin uglier than the caterpillar cactus, but He created a way for humans to pretty-up and produce beautiful flowers through Jesus. We’re all obnoxious in sin without Jesus, but in Him we can overcome ugly and produce great splendor! Paul proudly stated that God “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). Because of this, on a daily basis, we need to take long looks at ourselves in the spiritual mirror and continue transforming ourselves into good, acceptable and brand-new creations in God’s eyes (Romans 12:1-2; 6:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). God excels in creating beauty out of ugly; He’s the master craftsman in this field (Ezekiel 37).

If we did a survey of 100 people, probably all would say they are going to Heaven. Often, people have the wrong perception about the Bible. To the world, it does not matter if one attends worship or if one follows God’s Word. Many people think that it does not matter the kind of life a person lives, just as long as he believes in God. To many in the world, God is perceived to be a loving God Who will not send anyone to Hell. Yes, God is a loving God and will not send anyone to Hell arbitrarily. Hell is a punishment earned by those who will spend eternity there. A heavenly reward cannot be earned, but by God’s grace, we can receive our heavenly home as a gift! I was listening to some group singing, “When We All Get to Heaven.” It made me think of many people who are so sincere about their Christianity, and yet, some of them are so sincerely wrong. We all want to go to Heaven, but not everyone wants to follow God’s instruction Book, the Bible. Even religious people like to pick and choose out of the Bible what they want, not what God commands. If it were just that easy to get to Heaven, there would be a lot more gaining a home in Heaven. Unfortunately, sincerity alone will not work. How many of our friends are sincere in their false doctrines? How many people do we see every day who are …

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:8-9 NKJV). We see two different Christians here: one who possesses these Christian qualities and is increasing in them and the other who lacks these Christian qualities. Why do some Christians not increase in these Christian qualities? They have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins. The main reason that some Christians’ spiritual lives fall apart is they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins. They have forgotten that: To forget is to die spiritually. Some Christians are blind and cannot see far. When we do not possess the Christian qualities of 2 Peter 1 in increasing measure, we cannot see far; we are spiritually blind. Yes, we are blind, and cannot see: A good example of spiritual blindness is the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-17). God help us never to forget that we have been cleansed from our old sins. If we are to see beyond this life and its troubles to the mansions of Heaven, we must possess these Christian qualifications. “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly …

In the September 28, 1992 edition of Time magazine, there is an excellent article entitled, “The Glue of Life,” written by Dick Thompson (62-63). The article is about cell structure adhesiveness. Thompson says: If living cells didn’t have a fondness for sticking together, we would all be colorful gobs of jelly oozing all over the floor. Fortunately, cells hold to a basic biological premise that stickiness is desirable for form and essential for function. They violate this premise at our peril. When cells become either too sticky or too slippery, arteries can get clogged, cancer cells can skate around the body, and inflammation can turn subversive. Researchers have long believed that if they could somehow manipulate stickiness, they would have a formidable new set of tools for healing. After reading the whole article, I thought how marvelously made the human body really is. Sins of all kind, have no doubt, brought defection to the physical body, for God did not make it that way. What He made was good. “And God saw every thing that he made, and behold, it was very good…“ (Genesis 1:30). I thought also of the unity of the spiritual body, the church. “And he is the head of the body, the church…” (Colossians 1:18). There is a “stickiness” that must continually permeate it, if it is to maintain its “form” and “function” as the Bible teaches. Jesus prayed, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through the word; that …

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lords mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him! The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV) The morning sun peaks its bright orange face above the horizon and sends its rays to gently awaken a slumbering world. Another day has begun as the darkness of the night melts away into the welcome light of morning. No matter the difficulties, pains, trials or disappointments that yesterday may have held, we begin this new morning upheld by the mercies of a loving Father. They are new every morning. We may not be as faithful as we should be, for we are humans filled with frailty and weakness, but the greatness of His faithfulness never fails. Through every storm that rolls into our lives, for every tempestuous wind that tosses us about, for every tear stained moment on the rolling seas of anguish and despair, we can hold on tight. We never lose sight that God is our portion, the Comforter of our souls and the Hope Who Is ever constant and sure, anchoring us and holding us safely in the mighty power of His unshakable hand. We will …

God is always aware of where we are, what we are doing, what we think and what we speak. He is with us always. “For His eyes are on the ways of man, And He sees all his steps” (Job 34:21). He knows our thoughts and our words. “For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it all together” (Psalms 139:4). Nothing is hidden from His sight. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). God knows everything. “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20). God is aware of all our temptations, every worry, each broken heart, all illnesses and sorrows that we face. These are all known to Him. What a comfort to experience care from one of whom it is said, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). Under His watchful eye, God’s saints safely dwell in the hand that holds the universe and guards all His children well.

In my judgment, when we look at the history of mankind, one thing stands out. With overloaded egos bursting at the seams, the Neros, the Hitlers, tyrants and dictators throughout history, we see the exaltation and elevation of men. With this adulation and the blind followers they create come woes, tears and death, the by-product, a consequence of exaltation of men. From the better understood secular world and the adoration of men, we move to the lesser-known spiritual world, the church of the Bible. With the multitude of churches all claiming to follow the Bible, it has become for many honest people a most confusing situation. According to New Testament Scriptures, each fully organized congregation of Christians in the first century was governed by a plurality of elders and deacons. Further, each congregation of the Lord’s people, Christians, were self-governing, independent of other congregations. Their source of authority and their guide was solely the Bible, the Scriptures. Absent were creeds of men, “think so’s” and opinions of men. No higher ecumenical bodies were over these congregations. Divisions and exaltations were condemned (1 Corinthians 1:10). It is interesting to note that in early church history, exaltation of men led to the greatest change in the original scriptural church government. It is clear and verifiable that the apostolic churches had a plurality of elders or bishops. At first the elders of any particular congregation would select one of their number to preside at their meetings for the transaction of business, and in …

Your path is dark. Your hope is almost gone. You look ahead and see only blackness. You struggle with making the right choices. You consider giving up. It’s not easy. Is this all you have to which to look forward? Is the life of a Christian a bleak, dark walk through a world of despair, never knowing the right way to go? “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night” (Exodus 13:21). In this text, Moses was not the one who chose when it was time for Israel to depart from Egypt. When he was a young man, Moses believed he would be the deliverer of Israel, but God disagreed about the timing. Moses thought God would deliver Israel quickly, but He did not. God chose His time for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When God led Israel out of Egypt, the Israelites could not go any direction they desired. Moses didn’t sit down with a map and plot a course. Israel did not vote on an acceptable route and then travel down it. Instead, God presented a pillar of clouds in the sky by day and a pillar of fire by night. Moses and Israel moved by following God’s manifestation of His presence. Jeshua, the High Priest in Nehemiah’s day, declared to the people concerning God’s actions, …

Every Monday through Friday, twice a day, almost without fail, my youngest son and I make the short trek of about five miles from our house to his school and then back again. Each day, we see the same businesses and even some of the same vehicles as they travel with the same regularity the path that we do. One landmark that we pass is a rather large cemetery in which there are several large trees. Unless there are groundskeepers about or funeral arrangements being made, we usually see an array of animals moving amongst these trees gathering what we imagine is a hardy breakfast. Most abundant are the squirrels and a host of birds, taking advantage of the well-groomed garden-like atmosphere of the cemetery. This morning, however, we had the chance, while we sat on the street in front of this place waiting for traffic to clear, to witness and unusual phenomenon. A squirrel, minding his own business and seemingly bent on gathering his day’s ration of squirrelly food, found himself under the claws of a bird of prey, who seemingly had a different, meaty breakfast in mind. The bird swooped, grabbed, rolled, twisted, flew off, dove once more, grabbed, missed, twisted, flew off, only to dive over and over in an attempt to make the squirrel its meal. There was one major problem in this bird’s plan that was readily perceptible to my son and me but obviously not to the bird. The squirrel was about the same …

In an article entitled, “7 Questions about Once Saved, Always Saved,” Joe McKeever asks, “Can you unfry an egg?” He then goes on to confidently state, “Then, after being saved—genuinely forgiven and accepted and transformed by the Holy Spirit of God into something far different from what you were, more than any hen’s egg ever dreamed possible—you cannot undo it. Once saved, always saved. To say otherwise, and to preach it, might be something akin to insulting the Holy Spirit.” Mr. McKeever goes on in the article to make a positive case for eternal security, explaining the biblical case for why this is true and should be believed. While you cannot unfry an egg, a Christian can most certainly lose salvation if not careful. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). [Editor’s Note: Illustrations are great and useful only if they correctly and accurately illustrate a biblical truth. Illustrations of themselves and by themselves do not prove anything! As brother Baxley indicated, the fried egg illustration above is cute, but it does not represent biblical truth. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]

The car is all loaded. You think you have remembered to pack everything that you will need. You take one last look in the house, you lock the door, and now it is time to go. Yet, this trip is different than any other trip before. Your destination is unknown. The time frame is not certain. All that you know is that you have been asked by God to go, and He will show you the way. While most of us cannot really imagine a scenario in which the Lord would ask us to move like that, God approached Abram in exactly that way in Genesis 12. Abram was asked by God to leave his father’s house and go into a land that he did not know. The Lord promised to bless Abram and to make him a great nation. Abram packed up all his possessions and departed with Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his nephew. When we look at this great story and really the entire life of Abraham, we see an account of faith, trust and total reliance on the Lord. Even though there were times when Abraham chose to do things his own way, he always found his way back to the Lord. To this very day, Abraham is known as the father of the faithful. Now, we as individuals must decide how we are going to live our lives. Are we going to live our lives with total faith and trust in the Lord, or are …

There is trouble in the land when our leaders have the philosophy to “party first, work later.” This is because there is usually no time to work later. Those who watch out for our welfare need to be hard at work. We are depending on them. Solomon was not giving a lesson in “Political Science 101” in Ecclesiastes 10:16, which reads, “Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning!” (NKJV). He was talking about the wise use of one’s time. Notice the following lessons. First, our work ethic affects others. The laziness of the king has a direct impact upon the land. Equally, the slothfulness of parents will encourage the same in their children. A poor work ethic on the job pulls down the company and frequently requires other employees to do more than their fair share. It has been frequently noted that approximately 80% of the work done by the church is done by only 20% of her members. This is not fair. Just as our body has members that all contribute, so also must all the members of the church (the body of Christ) contribute (1 Corinthians 12:11; Romans 12:3). Solomon had earlier said, “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (9:10). He said in 11:6, “sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening…” The point? Work! Work often, work hard and work whenever you can. Second, our work …

It may seem strange to have an article on Alexander the Great. However, there were reasons why Alexander was referred to as “the Great,” and these reasons influenced the New Testament world. The fact that both the Old Testament was translated in and the New Testament was written in Koine Greek demonstrates the great influence of Alexander the Great. Alexander was born to King Philip II of Macedon (382-336 B.C.) and Olympias. His teacher was the philosopher Aristotle. In 336 B.C., Philip II was assassinated by Pausanias, who stabbed Philip as he stood between his son Alexander and his new son-in-law Alexander at his daughter’s, Cleopatra, wedding celebration. Philip had decided to invade Persian territory in Asia Minor in retaliation for their alliance with foes of Greece. There was a force of 10,000 on the march when Philip died. Alexander would take this force and begin empire expansion like it had never been seen before. Alexander defeated Darius III and the Persian Empire at the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C. Darius was murdered before Alexander could catch him in pursuit. Alexander treated Darius’ family, whom he had abandoned to flee, with compassion. In fact, Alexander did this with many of the nations he conquered. His conquest of the island portion of Tyre was incredible. Although Alexander is not named in the Bible, there are prophecies relating to his conquest and the rise of Greece as a world power (Ezekiel 26:1-14; Daniel 2:1-45; 8:18-22; 10:20-11:4). According to Josephus, Ant. 11:317-335, …

The mention of circumcision instantly draws Bible students to the Old Testament. Circumcision was an important element of a covenant relationship with God. God promised to multiply Abraham, make him father of many nations and give his descendants land (Genesis 17:1-8). The Almighty declared, “Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you” (Genesis 17:10-11). God made it clear that the uncircumcised male would not remain in a covenant relationship with Him. “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant” (Genesis 17:14). Those who wandered in the wilderness did not circumcise their boys, and so God commanded they do so as they prepared to enter the promised land (Joshua 5:2). Circumcision was only effective if one kept the Law perfectly. No Jew, outside of our Lord, ever did that. They were thus lawbreakers, and their circumcision was made ineffective. Christians are now God’s circumcision (Philippians 3:3). Our circumcision is of the heart. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Romans 2:28-29). …

When “opportunity knocks,” what is our reaction? Sometimes we are fearful. Sometimes we ignore it. Sometimes we do not even realize it is present. Unfortunately, opportunities do not always return when missed. Let us learn about opportunity from Paul’s statement to the Corinthians: “But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9). The word “door” is often used as a metaphor for opportunity (Acts 14:27; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3; Revelation 3:8). First, when opportunities come, we must make plans accordingly. Paul was willing to continue in Ephesus where the opportunity presented itself. “Pentecost” no longer carried a religious connotation for Paul, but it was a good way of marking the time of year. He would continue working in Ephesus until late spring or early summer before visiting Corinth. The reason why some Christians miss spiritual opportunities and corresponding plans to take advantage of them is they are too focused on things of this world (Matthew 13:22; Romans 12:2). The best way, then, to recognize spiritual opportunities is to be spiritually minded (Colossians 3:1-2; Romans 8:5-8). When recognized, we can make plans with God in mind (James 4:13-15). Second, opportunities to save or to edify souls, including our own, are worth every effort. The words “great” [“wide,” NAS] and “effective” [“effectual,” KJV] indicate that Paul’s opportunity in Ephesus was tremendous. In fact, the word translated “effective” means active and powerful. It is the …

“I don’t have time to _____________.“ “I have to hurry; I have a deadline to meet and I’m running out of time.” “I don’t have enough time; I have an appointment, and I’m going to be late.” As we get older, we often hear, “There are some things I want to get done, things I want to see and do and I’m running out of time.” Why are humans so wrapped up in time? We humans are so wrapped up in time because as an old song said, “there’s a time to live and a time to die.” Men realize that from the time of birth until the time of death is such a short time compared to eternity. A dictionary defines “time” as “all the days that have been or ever will be; the past, present and future.” I came across the following article by Frank Chesser about time, and I want to share it with you. From out of the bosom of eternity came time. God “Inhabits eternity” (Isaiah 57:15) while man dwells in time. Eternity gave birth to time as a temporary arrangement for transient humanity. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). This was Peter’s way of saying that time means nothing to God. God was neither younger when time began, nor will He be older when time ends. “In the beginning” marks the commencement of time, the universe and man (Genesis 1:1). At time’s inception, there was no …

In these days, one may hear of one group that is more “spiritual” than another because they sing songs to a livelier tempo, because they greet each other with a holy kiss, or because they produce a sort of “exalted feeling” by something they say or do. However, what does the Bible mean by the term, “spiritual?” In most of our conversations and prayers when mention is made of “spiritual” and “material” things, they are assumed to be mutually exclusive. If we look in the dictionary, we find the first definition of spiritual to be “of or pertaining to or consisting of spirit, not material, incorporeal.” If it is not made up of matter, then it is probably spiritual! Is that what God meant in Galatians 6:1 when He said, “Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness?” Surely not! Much of our thinking and language is built upon Socratic, Aristotelian or Platonic concepts rather than biblical ideas. The most apparent meaning of the word in Galatians 6:1 is, “The word ‘spiritual’ means that which is produced, directed, or controlled by God’s Spirit.” Let us see how close that comes to fitting every use of the word in the New Testament. In Romans 1:11, Paul mentioned “some spiritual gift.” If he was talking about the same thing of which he spoke in 1 Corinthians 12:1, 11, 30, 31; 14:1, 12 (and who can doubt that he is?), then the thing that made the gifts “spiritual” …

The biblical concept of pride is negatively portrayed, arising from within and defiling the spiritual man (Mark 7:20-23). Accordingly, we should regard pride as an age-old enemy of humanity and as dangerous to those so characterized. There is the distinct possibility that some children of God need to overcome the challenge and the sin of pride. Pride is an inordinate and excessive measure of self-esteem, often involving a state of an undue sense of one’s importance. Suggested synonyms include arrogance, haughtiness, conceit and pretension. The general character of pride is seen as we observe that a proud heart is sin (Proverbs 21:4) and that it is characteristic of perilous times (2 Timothy 3:2). Its relationship to the world is observed as we are reminded that the pride of life is of the world (1 John 2:16). The power of pride is expressed as we affirm that pride is as a chain that binds (Psalm 73:6). The danger of pride is better appreciated as we understand that pride is as a rod in the mouth of a fool (Proverbs 14:3). Pride is displayed in our attitude toward others as we exhibit disrespect and scorn toward them (Psalm 123:4). Pride is displayed in our speech with others as we speak proud things (Psalm 12:3; 17:10; 1 Samuel 2:3). Pride also causes men to speak grievous things (Psalm 31:18). Men may speak proudly in the day of another’s distress (Obadiah 1:12). With respect to God and His righteous standards, pride causes wicked men …

Solomon, or actually it was God, evidently didn’t have much use for liars. About a dozen times in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He expressed condemnation for such. One of those times is in Proverbs 12:22. Here He stated, “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.” There’s that word “abomination” again, and this time it is lying lips that are an abomination to the Lord. What kind of lies? Is he talking about little white lies, big black lies, lies of a material nature or lies of a spiritual nature? The term “lying lips” seems to cover the whole spectrum of lies. This means that when a preacher or teacher states something and attributes it to God when God neither stated it nor authorized it, that preacher or teacher has lying lips. When any false doctrine is taught, the teacher of that false doctrine has lying lips. John encouraged the disciples, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Does your preacher have “lying lips”? If so, do you still support him? Again, if so, then you are supporting what is an abomination to the Lord. [Editor’s Note: Teachers and preachers have a weighty responsibility because they affect not only themselves but everyone also who hears them. Consequently, they will  be scrutinized (“receive stricter judgment,” James 3:1) more strictly than other people. Hence, both …

Before Jesus ascended back to the Father, He charged His disciples, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, immersing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and remember I will be with you always, even to the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20). The influence of the Gospel has permeated much of the world, so much so that Paul could say of his day, it “was preached in the whole creation under heaven” (Colossians 1:23). It would now seem many are wanting to leave the light of the Gospel for the darkness of sin again. A news report in The Telegraph relates, “Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age. Worship of the gods in Scandinavia gave way to Christianity around 1,000 years ago, but a modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in Iceland.” Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, high priest of Asatruarfelagid (a group that promotes faith in the Norse gods), said, “We see the stories as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human psychology.” Out of a total population of 330,000, membership in Asatruarfelagid runs about 2,400. Iceland’s neo-pagans still celebrate the ancient sacrificial ritual with music, reading, eating and drinking, but leave out animal sacrifice …

The man in John 9:31 said that “God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.” His observation was absolutely right. If one is not willing to do what God says, one should not expect God to hear his prayer. Proverbs 15:29 declares, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous.” Proverbs 28:9 says, “One who turns away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” God speaks to us today through the New Testament of His Son, just as He spoke to the people under the Old Testament law through Moses and the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-2). He expects us to hear Him and heed Him. We speak to Him by prayer. Prayer is a privilege given to God’s children (1 John 5:14-15). However, if God’s Word is not regarded by us, our prayers shall not only be rejected by God, but they shall be an abomination to Him. Amongst many errors preached in the name of the Bible, one that is preached most by denominational preachers is telling people to pray the sinners’ prayer and God will save them. In many cases, the preacher tells his listeners to “repeat after me” this or something similar, “Lord, I am a sinner, and I repent of my sins, please come into my heart and save me.” Then the preacher says, “If you prayed this prayer, you are now saved and a …