My ship sails over life’s darkening mainTraversing lightning, thunder, and rain. Through threatening waves goes the strong prowAs in deep prayer on bended knee I do bow. My Bible, the rudder, a strong mighty forceGuiding, correcting and righting my course. With daily devotion from God’s Holy WordUrging me onward to serve my Dear Lord. Christ at the helm of the ship strong and trueHe’s the shipmaster, He captains the crew.

“I’m following the leader, the leader, the leader; I’m following the leader, the leader of the band!” As young children, most of you probably ran around chanting that song, either following someone or pretending to follow someone. It was an enjoyable thing to do as we were expressing happiness at following the one who was leading the procession. In a word, we were copycats as we tried to do what the leader was doing! What happiness that could turn out to be for us as we follow our leader, Jesus Christ! In fact, Christ invited us to follow Him as He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24 NKJV). Yet, He didn’t stop there. He went on to say, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (v. 25). Indeed, we must decide whether we want to follow our own “pernicious ways” (KJV) or “destructive ways” (NKJV) (2 Peter 2:2) and lose our souls or follow Christ, keep His commandments and gain eternal life. To me, that doesn’t sound like a difficult decision, but there are many who choose to ignore Jesus Christ and His promise of eternal life and opt out to do their own “thing.” Let’s look at a few of the things the Holy Scriptures teach that the faithful must follow. The apostle Paul told the Thessalonian brethren “always pursue …

God has His plans for His creation. Part of that is man’s freewill in accommodating God’s will. Why would God want us to be free in our determinations? We are to experience, appreciate and share God’s love, and you have to be free to be able to do that (God’s determination). This is to draw us toward God as He really is and show ourselves as, not just His creation, but His legitimate and intimate family. We will spend eternity at home with God because we choose to reside in Heaven with God (again, His determination). After all, love cannot be forced, and God does not want us with Him if we do not want to be there. So, what many consider some grand mystery is really not that mysterious at all. Yes, God controls all according to His will. Yes, God rules over all to accommodate His grand design, but you are a part of that design in order to glorify Him (the reason for which God created humans, John 3:35; Colossians 1:16). Therefore, He made you in His likeness that you might willingly choose to be a part of His purpose (Ephesians 1:17-21). This cannot be forced. On the other hand, though we may reject our part in God’s love, He will make sure the love still wins, even if that means love wins to our loss (Philippians 2:11). [Editor’s Note: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. …And we have known and believed the …

In my years of watching the Olympics, I’ve never seen overweight businessmen running around the track to win a medal. Only the determined athlete who has trained and matured in his or her field of sport has an opportunity to win the prize for his or her country. Eric Liddell illustrated this principle in the film Chariots of Fire. If you remember, just before the first turn in a 400-meter race, Eric was shoved off balance, and he stumbled onto the infield grass. When he looked up, he saw the others pulling away. With a look of intense determination, he jumped up. With his head cocked back and his arms flailing, he rushed ahead. He was determined not only to catch up with the pack but to win the race, and he did. As a young man, I remember seeing that film and that scene for the first time; it was truly inspiring. Let me ask you a question. Are you determined to win the race? In Paul’s life, he was determined to progress in his spiritual development as a minister and to never stop running the race. We should have this same fervor in our Christian lives as the Lord’s disciples. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 he said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (NKJV). Paul saw himself as being like an Olympian athlete who competes for a gold …

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in 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 lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV). Go! The Greek verb translated “go” is actually not a command but a present participle (going). The only command in the entire Great Commission is “make disciples” (“teach all nations” KJV). Jesus essentially said, “While you are going, make disciples of all the nations.” No matter where we are, we should be sharing the message of Jesus Christ and seeking to win others to Him. “Go” is a commitment to growth. New Testament growth was phenomenal (Acts 2:47; 5:14; 6:7; 9:31; 11:24; 16:5). If we are going to experience the same phenomenon, there must be absolute commitment to Christ (Luke 9:23; 14:33; Matthew 6:33; 10:37). Are you personally committed to Jesus Christ? “Go” is a commitment to love, unity and peace. Jesus said that love advertises Christianity (John 13:35), and He prayed for unity so that the world would believe (John 17:20). When love and unity exist, there is peace (1 Peter 3:8-12). Unfortunately, much of the strife in the church is not over Bible truths. Strife is usually the result of gossip, personality clashes, …

I do not know of anyone who is more concerned than I am, and sometimes also dismayed, by what I consider doctrinal errors that have made large inroads into the church of our Lord in recent years. Of course, we can truthfully say, “It is not just recent years. It has been going on ever since the days of Paul,” and then, perhaps shrug it off as insignificant. Paul did say in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “The mystery of lawlessness [“iniquity” KJV] is already at work” (NKJV) and in 2 Timothy 4:3 “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.” The fact that it was happening then does not make it less reprehensible now. However, the thrust of this article is somewhat different. We think we see preachers and elders who are so concerned with doctrine that they seem to forget that their responsibility is to attend to the total spiritual welfare of the flock – not just make sure it has pure food to eat. A farmer may get so concerned with keeping his fence repaired and his fence row clean that he may forget that his cows, hogs and sheep need more than to be kept in the right pasture. They can stay in the right field and still die of neglect. Likewise, a person can stay in the right church and hear the right doctrine and still …

I offer $1000 to the first person who can show me in the scriptures (the Bible) the following: The reason for offering these rewards is to try to bring to people’s attention that some commonly held beliefs are not taught in God’s Word. You would think that if a person believes or teaches a doctrine for which he is offered $1,000 to reveal from God’s Word, one would either collect the reward or quit believing and teaching it. So far, no one has collected a $1,000 reward. It is still available (Write to me at L.C. Moore, 358 Moores Branch Rd., Beattyville, KY 41311 or call me at 606-464-9353).

Preachers and church members often ask why people don’t seem to be interested in spiritual things anymore. The problem of apathy toward the things of God is not really a new problem at all. The children of Israel who experienced the first Passover, crossed the Red Sea on dry land and ate the manna from heaven constantly complained and wished to go back to Egypt. In the days of Ezra, the people neglected the Temple of God to work on their own houses. In Jesus’ day, the people ate the bread and the fish that the Lord multiplied but had no appetite for the Bread which came down from Heaven. One after another, they went away (John 6:66-69). Jesus must have been heartbroken when He asked His disciples if they would go away too. Peter boldly spoke, “…Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68 NKJV). How much better to fill our souls with the Word of the Lord than to fill our stomachs with food. Job said, “…I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). How hungry are we for the Word of the Lord? We rarely miss filling our bellies at least three times a day. Are we hungry enough to eat and drink from the Word of God at every opportunity? Do we attend each session of our Gospel meetings? Do we attend all of the Bible classes? Do we listen to sermons …

Our family purchases bulk meat from Sam’s Club on a regular basis. Typically, this consists of chuck roasts and hamburger meat. With beef being more expensive, we tend to save money when we buy it in volume. We purchase hamburger meat with the intention of either eating it within a short amount of time or with the idea of freezing it for future use. To this end, we always label and date what we freeze. Until a year ago, I would always label the hamburger meat packages as “Hamburger” and include the date on the small strip of writing surface that is supplied on each bag. When we freeze meat, I tend to get in a hurry. I want to place it in the bag, label it and put it in the freezer. So, to save time, I have started labeling the hamburger meat as “coon.” Our family joked about this the other day. If my wife and I happened to pass at the same time and someone came in our house to clean out our freezers, they would think, “They sure had a lot of frozen coons to eat.” To be honest, I just got tired of writing “hamburger” on multiple packages of meat. Four letters versus nine might save a few seconds and cause less of a strain on my wrist. Contrariwise, it might create confusion and potentially horror in the eyes of those who see us defrost a plastic bag labeled “coon” in preparation for a shared …

Unlike anyone in the sacred text, the apostle John, while exiled on the island of Patmos, accepted the invitation to enter through an opened door into Heaven to see the very throne of God and the One who sat upon it (Revelation 4:1-2). John described an amazing scene, the full awesomeness of which could not be replicated even by the most advanced computer animation! John described “twenty-four elders” and “four living creatures” who were around and in the midst of this throne (Revelation 4:3-7). The objects, the colors and the sounds to which John likened this scene were incredible and of themselves worthy of our study! However, this article will focus on the two outbursts of praise John described, which helped set the stage for the remainder of the message of Revelation and the encouragement that would follow. If this throne scene could help sustain John and the first century Christians of Asia Minor in their severe persecution, we also can be encouraged to endure whatever our struggles may be. Sovereign in Separation The first praise came from the four living creatures: “‘Holy, holy, holy,’ Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). This three-fold description of God sets Him apart from everything else! First, “Holy, holy, holy” expresses the perfect, absolute holiness of God (cf., Isaiah 6:3). God is set apart and exalted above all His creation. He is equally separate from all evil and sin (Isaiah 59:1-2; Habakkuk 1:13; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5). Second, …

Women do much of the work in most congregations. Jesus was served by a number of women who followed Him during His earthly ministry. As is often noted, women were “last at the cross and first at the tomb.” Mary Magdalene out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons, Mary the mother of John Mark, and Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, were among them. Jesus gave honor and respect to women in an age in which they were largely thought of as property or chattel. In an age in which Rabbis were forbidden by Jewish tradition to teach women, Jesus commended Mary as having “chosen the better part” as she listened and learned from Jesus (Luke 10:42). [Editor’s Note: Women. What would we do without them in the home or in the church? ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]

Scripture: Psalm 51:1-6

The church that Jesus built was the subject of prophecy. The prophet Isaiah stated, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3 NKJV). We can learn several things from this prophecy. First, it was to be in “the latter days” (NKJV) or “the last days” (KJV). The apostle Peter said the events of Acts 2, when the church was established, were “the last days” (v. 17). Second, Isaiah was speaking of the Lord’s house. From 1 Timothy 3:15, we find that the Lord’s house is the church. Third, “the Lord’s house” (Isaiah 2:2) or “the house of God, which is the church” (1 Timothy 3:15) was to begin in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3; Luke 24:47). In Acts 2, we find that the church had its beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 2:47). Therefore, we can say that Isaiah foretold the coming of the Lord’s church. Before our Lord was crucified, He made a promise after Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of …

I have a recycling problem. Sometimes, I allow the amount of cardboard and shopping bags to grow into a small mountain before I haul them off. The cardboard is not a huge embarrassment because I can just pull to a bin where everyone else with the same problem throws their stuff. We tend not to judge the amount of cardboard each person has hanging out of a car or a truck. However, plastic bags are a little different. You have to find a place where you can take your bags, generally a store. Then, you carry the whole load through the parking lot to a designated bin. This past Monday, I found that Walmart still recycles plastic bags. It used to have a bin in the doorway where you could leave your bags. It has since been moved. I asked the greeter if Walmart still did recycling. She told me they did and that I could find the bin at customer service. I told her thank you and asked her not to judge me when I bring all these bags back into Walmart. She looked at me a little funny, but she did not know how many bags I was bringing. When we come together as the Lord’s church, people bring their own embarrassments with them. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). We all continue to fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are all in need of a Savior because our sins separate us from God …

Carl Bard once said, “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.” I appreciate what he said and think there is some merit to it. However, there is a spiritual sense in which he was wrong. Jesus told Nicodemus, “…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 NKJV). A man dead in sin is buried in a watery grave through baptism, like Christ was buried. He is then raised to live a new life (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 6:3-4). Paul explained to Titus that all Christians once lived a life of disobedience. God showed His kindness to all men by sending Jesus to be the Savior. Salvation is gained “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:3-5). Christians are united with Christ in the burial of baptism. We are also united in living a new life when raised from that watery grave. The old man of sin is buried in baptism. A slave who dies is no longer under the power of his master. One who dies to sin is similarly freed from the old master of sin (Romans 6:5-7). We can join Paul in joyfully saying, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, …

Reading from Matthew 16:18-19, we observe that Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the rock, which was on Peter’s confession of Christ as the Son of the living God. In the same breath, Jesus also told Peter that He would give him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and that whatever he would bind on Earth would be bound in Heaven, and whatever he would loose on Earth would be loosed in Heaven. Later, this promise was also made to the other apostles (Matthew 18:18). However, in this case, Christ was foretelling that Peter was going to preach the Gospel, and that He would be the first one to let people know what they must do to enter the church or the kingdom of Christ (Acts 2:37-41). He used the word “church” interchangeably with the word “kingdom.” It is noteworthy from the preceding texts in Matthew 16 that when Christ made the statement about building His church, He made no difference whatsoever between the two words “church” and “kingdom.” When He said that He would build His church, He also meant that He would establish His kingdom. True to the promise, when the first Gospel sermon was preached on the day of Pentecost following our Lord’s ascension, in the city of Jerusalem about A.D. 33, it was Peter who told those who had become believers in Christ to repent and to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Again, it is also significant that it …

Have you ever thought about some of the challenges the first century church faced? No, I am not talking about persecution, imprisonment or even physical death, but I am referring to the binding of two groups of people together. Basically, the world of the first century was divided into two distinct groups of people: Jew and Gentile. These two groups did not mix well together. They were kind of like oil and water. Their customs were different, their religions were different, and even their food was different. So, imagine what it must have been like when these two groups of people first came together as the church. It was hard; it was difficult. Yes, it is true that these two groups were brought together by God. They were built up together on the foundation of Jesus (Ephesians 2:19-22). That wall of separation had been brought down, and those who were far off were brought near to be together with God and His one united people (Ephesians 2:14-18). However, they were still people. There were still struggles and problems, and people had to learn, change and grow. God’s plan was perfect, but people were still people. When we look into Acts 15:1, we see one of the big problems that sometimes came between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Teachers from Judea were teaching that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved. Physical circumcision and the keeping of the Law were points of contention for many. Things had changed, and …

“But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work [“good deed” NASV] for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial” (Mark 14:6-8 NKJV). While there are some differences in Mark’s account near the end of Jesus’ ministry with what appears in John 12, many believe they both describe the same event, and that the woman who anointed Jesus was Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. If so, it is an appropriate gesture of love for Jesus in raising her brother from death, along with anointing Him for His impending death. Jesus called her act a good deed, or as variously translated, “a beautiful thing” (ESV), “a noble thing” (HCSB) or “a good service” (NRSV). The Greek term carries the idea of virtuous, useful or what is right. It is interesting that Judas implied this deed was not good and that it was deficient and wasteful since the ointment cost close to a year’s wages. What a contrast between these two people. The woman gave generously to Jesus because she loved Him, while Judas would later betray Jesus because of greed (John 12:6; Matthew 26:15). This event in the life of Jesus brings to mind His words about judgment in Matthew 25. To those on His right, He will …

The Bible is comprised of 66 books. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Since we are under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, it makes sense that we would spend the majority of our time in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 9:15-17). The Old Law is described as old and vanishing away as the New Testament was being completed (Hebrews 8:8-13; cf., Jeremiah 31:31-34). We are not under the Law [i.e., the Law of Moses], but instead, we are under grace (Romans 6:14; 7:1-6).* The New Testament is more glorious than the Old Testament (2 Corinthians 3:7-18). With all of that said, we still do rob ourselves of a great blessing if we do not regularly study and read from the Old Testament Scriptures. Here are several things that the Old Testament continues to provide for Christians today. The Old Testament Provides Hope Paul said that the Old Testament was written for our learning so that we, as Christians, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope (Romans 15:4). Many Bible students incorrectly assume that after reading the Old Testament, one is left feeling hopeless, but this is the opposite of what the Holy Spirit communicates through Paul. The Old Testament is a letter filled with hope because it points beyond itself. The Old Testament Scriptures anticipated a time when God would bring about a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The Old Testament is hopeful in that God’s kingdom …