I had written an article, “20/20 Vision,” based on what the apostle Paul said to the elders of the church in Ephesus as found in Acts 20:20, which reads, “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.” I sent the article to several individuals and congregations for people to read. There were three congregations that used the article in their church bulletins. Of course, I was pleased because the intent of the article was to encourage Christians to do more personal evangelism while having the Gospel preached from the pulpit in the worship assemblies. To encourage us all to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us, I wrote the following: “We desperately need some ‘eye slave’ to anoint our eyes that we may see the fields ‘that are white already unto harvest’“ (Revelation 3:18; John 4:35). He whose eyes are as “a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:14) has written us a prescription that will give us 20/20 vision. The article, “20/20,” had been read several times by the author and others. If those to whom I sent the article found the mistake, they did not mentioned it to me, that is, until a close friend told me, when reading the article, he discovered I had placed an “l” before the letter “a” in “eye salve” as found in Revelation 3:18. Because we had read Revelation 3:18, when we came to the word “slave,” …

The past couple weeks have been different from most. I have been reminded of some valuable lessons. About two weeks ago, we woke up to find that water had covered about half of our apartment. The damage to personal items was not that bad, and we are almost back to normal. We only have a few more baseboards and a few more things through which to sort before everything will be back to the way it was. Some things are even better. This incident has reminded me of some valuable lessons that we all need to remember. Our treasure is to be stored up in Heaven rather than here on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). True treasure is not based upon the amount of riches one has or by possessions he may own. So, a few things got wet and ruined. Things can be replaced. My family was safe. We were surrounded by friends and family. God is still in control, and salvation is secure. Even if we had lost everything we own, we would still have all that we truly need. True treasure is found in Heaven above and resides in our eternal home. God alone is to be worshipped. Stuff is just stuff. Worry is for the birds. Matthew 6:25-34 shows us just how much God cares for us and all of His creation. About what do we truly have to worry since God cares? If I am being honest, when I calmed down after my few minutes of “What do …

Introduction We are living in a time when there are many destructive forces at work in our homes. As a result, millions of homes are crumbling. Some are being crucified on a cross of divorce while others are being sacrificed on the altars of betrayal, money-madness, selfishness and pleasure seeking. It may well be that there is no more crucial problem facing the world than the problem of our troubled homes! Harvard University sociologist Pitirim A. Sorokin wrote of “the disintegration of the contractual family” because “the tie binding husband and wife… (has been) sundered more and more frequently by divorce and separation.” Dr. Harold Voth of the Menninger Foundation stated, “I honestly believe that civilization as we know it is imperiled by the forces which are eroding the family.” Famed historian Will Durant noted recently, “The family has gone to pieces…get rid of the family and you have nothing.” Even within the church, many homes are facing grave difficulties. Some are confused as to what a Christian home should be like. In despair they ask, “What can be done to save our homes?” For answers, we must turn to the Word of God—His prescription for troubled homes. God ordained the family as the institution that best fills our physical and emotional needs. This is the message of the first two chapters of the Bible; man was lonely and incomplete until God provided him a family. Our homes will only function properly when they are built according to God’s instruction. …

Introduction One of the most encouraging and challenging topics of the Bible to study is “The Goodness of God.” When we know that God is good, we can and must live with love and kindness in our hearts toward others. As Christians, we are to be good and to do good because God is good. What does it mean to say that God is good? Let us see what the Bible has to say on this topic. Matthew 19:16-17 tells us of a conversation Jesus had with a rich ruler. “Now behold, one came and said to Him, ‘Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?’ So He said to him,  ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments’” (NKJV). The Greek word used here and elsewhere in the New Testament for “good” is agathos. It means “beneficial in its effect, being good in its character or constitution.” No human being can make a claim to being wholly good in character. As Romans 3:10-12 states, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’” Only God is wholly good—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Concerning Himself, Jesus said, “‘I am …

“For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). We serve an unchanging God. We live in a society today that has adopted a philosophy of political correctness, making whatever changes it has to in order to please as many as possible. In such a world of changes, it is good to know that we have a God who does not change. Let’s look at some ways in which He does not change. Are you prepared to meet this unchanging God?

Change is natural when a child is born. So, it is true for a Christian. A Christian is not to be born in the watery birth of baptism and then continue in his old lifestyle of sin and wickedness. A Christian’s washing of regeneration in baptism and renewing by the Spirit of God should result in a drastically different individual than before he died to sin (Titus 3:5). What things are supposed to change when one becomes a Christian? One item that should change is the mind; it is supposed to change because the person living inside of you is supposed to change. Ephesians 4:23 says, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.” When a person is baptized into Christ, he dies and is resurrected again to a new life. He comes up out of that water a new person. He’s supposed to change. The new Christian is supposed to think differently. Before baptism, a person might consider his life to be without value. A person might think that the physical body is all that makes up one’s existence. After baptism (because it wasn’t to clean the physical body but to cleanse the spiritual body), a new Christian should readily understand that he has a spirit (inner person) that is alive in addition to and separate from the body. Before baptism, a person might consider his evil deeds to …

Righteous people throughout the ages have shared a common wish for their children. They want them to prosper in the Lord and to do well in life. There is no guaranteed recipe for this wish, although there are many things that will contribute to this plan. The best thing one could do to ensure such an outcome for one’s children is to start them out on the right foot, and prayerfully constrain them to walk in the “light” as long as they shall live. God’s plan is right and true, and it certainly cannot be wrong. However, the outcome depends upon the individual. All of us know families of six or eight children where every single one of them grew up to be righteous individuals. By the same token, we also know of families where only two children are born and one of them is exemplary and the other is an outright renegade. The difference? Their attitude toward God’s Word and the instructions from godly parents is what makes the difference. When King David came to his last days, he communed with his son, Solomon, this way. I go the way of all the Earth: be thou strong therefore, and show thyself a man; And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself. That the Lord may continue in His Word which He spoke concerning me, saying, if thy children take …

Each preacher, parent and teacher may be compared to a sculptor who is working with a beautiful piece of marble, trying to chip away a little here and there until he at last has created a masterpiece. Yet, as preachers, parents and teachers, we are seeking to use God’s Word and Bible principles to chisel and to shape ever so carefully the heart of a person. We love others, and we want them to be the best they can be. Of course, we realize that in the case of a child, there is an active response of the child involved as well. We see both sides of these matters involved in the following passages. “Except Jehovah build the house, They labor in vain that build it…Lo children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward. Happy is the man that hath a quiver full of them” (Psalm 127:1, 3-5). “Train up a child in the way that he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). “Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor thy Father and thy Mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 5:1-4). As parents and teachers of God’s Word we will …

The meaning of mesmerism is fascinating. The dictionary defines mesmerism in part as “a strong or spellbinding appeal; fascination; a hypnotic induction.” Have you ever met a person who was mesmerized by another person? Maybe you have seen old newsreels of the 1930s and 1940s when Adolf Hitler was in power. Often, they depicted young women in a mesmerized state with tears flowing down their cheeks. Hitler affected other people the same way, too. Further, part of this spellbinding appeal is observed as swooning. To swoon is defined in part as “to faint, to be overwhelmed by ecstatic joy; to become enraptured as swooning with joy.” Maybe you remember such swooning over Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley or other entertainers. Sorrowfully and more serious, people can be mesmerized by propaganda, brainwashing and other means of emotional control. With that said, we see the importance of truth and honesty. Unfortunately, we have observed people who are emotionally controlled by political affiliation, religious organizations and the like. Charlatanism can drive part of this control. “No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth” (John F. Kennedy). “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth” (Joseph Goebbels). “Those who are capable of tyranny are capable of perjury to sustain it” (Lysander Spooner). “Propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think” (Gil Courtemanche). “It’s the unknown that draws people” (E. A. Bucchianeri). “The faster our lives spin, …

We have hung two hummingbird feeders in the back of our house. We love to watch the little birds as they flitter by and as they take the time to eat from the feeders. It is interesting to see them as they light on bush branches and tree limbs for a few seconds, looking warily around to make sure that all is safe. Usually when we open the back door and go out for some reason, they zoom away to some high perch. Most of the time, we can hear them fussing about us being out there. They really want to keep on eating, but as the old saying goes, “Discretion is the better part of valor” (or eating as the case may be). Today, however, I stepped out on the deck and saw two little hummingbirds were involved in a major tiff about who was going to eat and who wasn’t. They paid no attention to me at all and came close enough to me in their fight that I could have reached out and grabbed one, were I quick enough. I could not help but think of a few things as I watched them. 1. Hummingbirds are small and are in real danger if they do not watch carefully. Their cautious nature has been placed in them by God for a reason. It is also a fact that we as Christians live in constant danger when it comes to Satan and temptation. We must be watchful and vigilant, …

There is a video of a man and woman walking outside after a rain, and they come upon some puddles. The man jumps in the puddle in front of him and makes a splash. The woman jumps into her puddle and winds up chest deep in a hole! Another picture shows two dogs who have been walking through mud. One little dog had mud up to his chest, and another much bigger dog had mud barely up his legs; the caption for the photo says, “How deep is the mud? Depends on who you ask.” The video is more humorous than the photo, but both teach a very important lesson. While it might look like we all go through the same things, beneath the surface there may be more with which someone is dealing than with which you had to contend. On the other hand, even if someone is going through the exact same thing as you, you might be better equipped to handle it. Whatever the case, let us always be slow to judge and quick to offer aid and comfort when we can.

The ideal congregation concerns itself with the physical and spiritual needs of others. Paul said, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). We are thus commended to extend acts of moral excellence to the mass of society, with a special obligation unto members of the Lord’s church (1 Timothy 3:15). In so doing, let us be wise to avoid the extreme of failing to be good stewards of our possessions (1 Corinthians 4:2) as we actively employ a benevolent spirit both individually and congregationally. The people in our community will value us more as they realize that we are a giving and caring people. I trust that they will witness such commendable spiritual characteristics in our daily lives as we intermingle with society on a daily basis and as we continue to fulfill our mission of taking the Word of God to those about us (1 Corinthians 15:58). May our evangelistic spirit be enhanced by our benevolent spirit and benevolent actions. Yes, the community will care how much we know when they know how much we care. May we carefully craft a wholesome image in the community for our congregation.

Philistine! The very name conjures up images of brutes committing acts of wanton violence across the holy land. Known as the sea people, they were the descendants of Mycenaean Greeks. During their voyages, they found the gentle rolling fertile lands of southern Israel very attractive. The coast of the Promised Land, with its open plains of bountiful orchards filled with pears and almonds, with rich grazing lands for horses and cattle, was a prize of worth for which they were willing to fight. The name Philistine in Hebrew means, “the invader.” The Israelites and the Philistines clashed for hundreds of years over ownership of the coastal plan and the hill country before the central range of mountains occupied by Israel. To the Greek mind, and therefore that of the Philistines, the thinking was, “Let the heroes fight and whoever wins gets all the spoils!“ In 1 Samuel 17:5-7, we encounter Goliath, a giant of a man, his bronze armor gleaming in the sun, as he shouted his defiance. Scripture tells us: He stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, “Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our …

A popular holiday song has the refrain, “may all your days be happy and bright.” Such is the wish of all who live. It would be nice if there were no days of stress, worry, illness, poverty and death. Reality, though, quickly destroys such a dream. Job observed that man “is short-lived and full of turmoil” (Job 14:1). In view of this harsh reality, Solomon offers two truths. First, all will have “days of darkness” (Ecclesiastes 11:8). We simply will not and cannot avoid those days of darkness. This is an undeniable fact. So, what should we do with this information? We should use it to our advantage. The saying is true that says, “forewarned, forearmed!” If I know, in advance, that I will have “days of darkness,” then I am: (a) not surprised or caught off guard by them; (b) have time to mentally prepare for those days of trouble (1 Peter 1:13; 4:12-13; 5:8); (c) can use those days to make me a better, stronger person (James 1:2-4; Romans 5:1-4). Second, all should remember those dark days. This point is surprising. Frequently we try to forget those low points in our lives. Solomon cautioned not to do that. Rather, we should purposely call those days to mind (Hebrews 10:32-34). Why? (a) It will help us and prepare us in case future troubles come; (b) It will remind us how God delivered us even in the bleakest of times; (c) It will make the present joys more valuable and enjoyable.

When Jesus was on earth, he always did the things that pleased His Father (John 8:29). Jesus never committed a sin, and He never did anything that was not consistent with the will of God in Heaven. As Jesus was preparing to die on the cross, He said, “I have glorified you on earth, having finished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus’ earthly mission was complete with His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. However, Jesus did not cease working completely when He returned to Heaven. The Bible depicts Jesus as being at the right hand of God in Heaven and being very active. Being at God’s right hand denotes authority, power, prestige and royalty equal to God. Jesus at God’s right hand is further evidence of His reigning and ruling as Christ (Acts 2:36; 5:33). Notice the work that Jesus does at the right hand of God. Interceding for Christians In Romans 8, Paul spoke of the victory Christians enjoy since we are free from condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1). God’s Spirit indwells Christians, by which they can call God their Father in a special way that is foreign to the rest of the world (Romans 8:14-15). Paul goes on to say that God justifies us through Christ and that Christ is at God’s right hand, making intercession for us (Romans 8:33-34). The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote that He “always lives to makes intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25, ESV). Jesus entreats God …

Once there was a good doctor. In fact, he was a great doctor. He could cure all sorts of diseases, including leprosy, cancer and AIDS. He even took patients whose heart had stopped beating and who were pronounced dead and brought them back to life. His prescriptions were unorthodox, but effective. He once had a leper to dip seven times in a river and cured him. He made many friends, but some of them were a little skeptical of what they thought were extravagant claims about him. Let us examine the case history of some of those who claimed to be friends. Some of them felt very close to him, and just called him, “Doc.” Friend No. 1 told people, “He is my personal physician. I would trust him with my life and do anything he told me to do. He has told me on many occasions, “Just trust in me, and I will cure whatever disease you have. In fact, just being with him and following his advice has pretty well kept me from having any disease.” One day, however, he noticed that his skin was unusually yellow, he had some slight headaches, upset stomach, discomfort around his heart and a few other symptoms. He at last sought the doctor’s advice. He was told, “You have a fatal disease, but just trust in me and you will be okay. Take these red, white and blue pills three times a day for your disease, and you will receive all sorts of benefits. …

“I don’t need to apologize. I did nothing wrong!” Not only have I thought these words myself, but I have heard other Christians express these same sentiments. Could not such thoughts lead us to feel justified in waiting for the other person to make the first move? What happens when each person perceives “I’m right,” and so both sides wait on the other to take the first step toward reconciliation? Claiming “I’m innocent!” can place us in a passive mode toward mending broken relationships. However, a long hard look at the cross lands us firmly on another and better path. God was certainly innocent. We were the ones who broke the relationship by sinning, and, yet, it was God Who took the first step toward healing our relationship. Furthermore, although He was entirely without guilt, Jesus bore the penalty for our sin by suffering a humiliating death upon the cross. God made the first move. God placed greater value upon restoring our relationship with Him than avoiding suffering an injustice, and, so, Jesus died for us. In a world of court litigation and demanding justice, Paul’s challenge to Christians remains stark, but born out of a Godly concern for relationships. He said, “Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?” (1 Corinthians 6:7 NKJV). To walk in this path requires placing a restored healthy …

The United States is feeling the results of over 100 years of rejection of God’s Holy Word. It is not pretty. Crime stats are through the roof. Moral confusion reigns. Respect for authority is at an all-time low. Suicide rates are huge, especially among children. Drug use is out of control. STD’s are epidemic. Broken homes are the norm. Conversation is filled with filth, blasphemy, lies and disrespect. Furthermore, American citizens are losing control of their government and borders. However, we are the church of Christ. This means Christ is our King—first, last and always. It means our citizenship is secure, whether the US leaders honor the Constitution or not. It means we are unstoppable in our service to the Lord. It also means that the present national situation offers the church here opportunities that we have never seen before!  Think what hatefulness, emptiness and futility are being evidenced in these lost souls, many of them children. To hear a kind word, to be offered an expression of hope, to find out that you will not hurt them but are only there for their good, are gifts many of them would not even dare to dream. Yet, it is what we are all about in Christ. Jesus offers to all forgiveness, healing, light, freedom, wisdom, unity, righteousness—just what they need! We get to be the ones who share the truth of the love of God with these souls to show them Jesus and the way home—to God’s house. This is …

As with any natural event, hurricanes teach us at least three valuable lessons. We Do Not Know Everythingabout God and the World In Job 38:1, “the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said…” In the context of Job, it was very fitting for the Lord to answer him from a storm. Exactly what kind of storm the “whirlwind” describes is uncertain. It could have been a tornado, thunderstorm or a specially designed storm. However, one thing is clear: Job did not know everything he thought he knew about God and this world. The Book of Job opens with God allowing Satan to take away Job’s material possessions (including his children, Job 1:12-22). Then, this prosperous patriarch’s health was ruthlessly taken away (Job 2:6-10). We know that God allowed this not because He was punishing Job, but to the contrary, because He was proving to Satan that Job was righteous (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3) and that he did not “fear God for nothing” (Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5). Job and his three friends, however, were not privileged to the knowledge we have from Chapters 1-2. Thus, the main portion of the Book of Job concerns the principle human characters trying to figure out Job’s situation. In their minds, sin is what always caused pain and suffering. Since Job suffered so much, he must have committed grievous sin. Job, however, knew that he had not sinned to the degree that he deserved the kind of suffering he was enduring. We know that …

God sent Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness as promised. Moses told him everything that had transpired at the burning bush. Aaron related everything to the elders of Israel, including all God said and the signs given. The elders believed God remembered them and sent Moses as a deliverer (Exodus 4:27-31). Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, telling him God said, “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” The request was reasonable. “Every nation presented sacrifices to its deities, and celebrated festivals in their honour, and that they had all their own modes of worship, which were supposed to be appointed by the gods themselves, so that a god could not be worshipped acceptably in every place” (Keil and Delitzsch). Pharaoh showed total lack of respect for God by saying he did not know Him. Moses and Aaron said the God of the Hebrews met with them and told them to sacrifice to Him in the wilderness. Sacrificing in the wilderness was necessary since they would be sacrificing some of the very animals the Egyptians worshiped. They desired to follow God’s instructions lest they be struck with a terrible disease or a war, either of which would have posed a threat to the Egyptians. Pharaoh accused Moses and Aaron of being troublemakers, trying to lighten the workload of the Israelites. Pharaoh responded by requiring the Israelites to get their own straw for the bricks while producing the same number as before. …

“Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head, for such a worm as I?” (At The Cross). I suppose the words to this song are repulsive to some, which is why in some versions part of it has been changed from “worm” to “one.” The fact of the matter is, while God loves us with an incomparable devotion, by choosing sin, we have allowed Satan to replace being created in God’s image with what distorts that image and destroys instead. We must have a clear vision of both sides of life. We do have a sin problem; everyone has a sin problem. “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even Paul spoke of how he struggled with not doing what he should, as well as doing what he shouldn’t (Romans 7:15). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), not only physical death, but also spiritual death—eternal separation from the Father and eternal punishment in hell (John 3:36b). Our sins cost the life of Jesus on the cross that we might be redeemed from our sins (1 Peter 1:18-19). This is the degradation that sin brings to our lives. Yet, God loves us infinitely. Knowing we would sin before He ever created us, He not only made us but also planned the death of Christ as the means of our forgiveness (Ephesians 1:5-10). We are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) as our …