Time to check our resumes. What if the elders in our local assembly ran an ad in the newspaper that read something like this: “Help Wanted: seeking qualified Christians to prayerfully share in exacting work to edify others. Must be willing to submit to godly authority.” Would we apply for the job? Elders seldom talk […]
We may be giving ourselves too much credit. In 1735, the Swiss botanist Carl Linnaeus proposed an ingenious, shorthand way to name plants using one Latin word to designate the “genus” group and another to identify a particular “species” within that genus. Used together, the terms make up the unique “binomial” name of each plant […]
Armies call being prepared “a state of readiness.” Here’s our checklist. My dictionary gives the following meaning of “ready”: “in a suitable state for an activity, action or situation; fully prepared.” When I was a little fellow playing Hide and Seek in the fading light between supper and bedtime, I couldn’t have given you the […]
Living in the light of His coming. We were greeting one another in the parking lot after meeting when a family pulled in to make a drive-by inquiry about what we believe. I was glad to tell them that we believe the Bible and preach the gospel. I went on to explain the gospel as […]
We have received “grace upon grace,” “manifold” and “unsearchable riches” of His grace. We may ransack every dictionary in the world only to discover that there are no adjectives that adequately describe the grace of God. It is so multifaceted, versatile, all-inclusive, and all-embracing. By this we dare to mean that there is no circumstance […]
Grace can make beauty flourish in the most unlikely surroundings. Paul and Silas had crossed over into Europe with the gospel in response to a vision which Paul had experienced. In this way, the gospel came to this large Roman province which ran across an area including much of northern Greece and beyond that into […]
Not long after I was saved, several of us were at the home of an older believer when another brother and I were invited into the office—the sanctum sanctorum. This was never a good sign. That is to say, in the light of eternity it was beneficial, but at the moment it instilled panic. For […]
As a child, I remember asking my mother what happened to people who died before Christ went to the cross. In my youth, I couldn’t have imagined what a difficult question I was asking! And, as an adult, one of the most difficult questions I get asked is, “What about those who have never heard?” […]
At first glance, it might appear that God is struggling to fund many programs people claim to execute in His name. “Ministries” abound over the airwaves, soliciting money and offering incentives such as anointing oil, prayer cloths, CDs, books, “club membership”, on-air recognition, commemorative bricks, or the promise of repayment with interest by God—most credit […]