Identifying the Church: The Proper Name
There are many religious bodies today, but we ought to know which one is real or true. Some thank God for division, but the prayer of Jesus is a prayer for unity based upon truth that makes us free (John 17:21; 1 Corinthians 1:10; John 8:32). I have even seen churches with the motto, “Agree […]
Scripture Readings for the Lord’s Table
Reading scripture before partaking of the Lord’s supper is an excellent way to assist Christians in the purpose of the supper, which is communion with our Lord. I hope that this brief list of passages will help us better commemorate the greatest event ever known: Psalm 2:6-12 Psalm 16:8-10 Psalm 22:12-18 Psalm 110:1-4 Psalm 118:19-23 […]
The Spread of Islam
A lot of us have seen the YouTube video showing Muslim demographics in Europe. If these predictions are correct, Europe will be predominantly Muslim in just a few short decades. Americans are also fearful of the declining influence of biblical values and the growing influence of Islam in our country. However, God promises that no […]
Is This an Active and Growing Church?
There can be no doubt that the Lord expects every congregation of His people to be active and growing. He told all of the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2-3) that He was aware of their activity. He began His assessment of each church with the statement, “I know thy works.” We would be seriously […]
Hand Waving in Worship
In recent years, there has been a push in many otherwise conservative churches to do things differently. Now, I do not mean different because they found the changes expedient, but different to be different (a sort of “iconoclasm” if you would) at least from appearances and conversations I have had with such proponents. Added to […]
The Kingdom of God
There are a lot of terms used in the New Testament to describe the Lord’s church, and one very common example is the term “kingdom.” Although the term “kingdom” is used in a few different ways in the New Testament, its primary use is to designate God’s church as the kingdom. A failure to recognize […]
Obama More Popular Than Jesus?
John Lennon once claimed the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Now President Obama has evidence that he’s more popular than both. A Harris interactive poll released in 2015 showed that within a sample of 2,634 Americans, more people are willing to call Barak Obama a hero than Jesus. God ranked 11th, between Mother Teresa and Hillary Clinton. It is […]
Jesus Unlimited
One of the proofs of the deity of Jesus is that He was the master of every circumstance. Regardless of the situation, He always acted without hesitation or equivocation. As certain of our own poets have said, “Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever it be, no storm […]
Is the Church a Business?
Several years ago, there was an excerpt in The Hamilton Herald-News about the newest member of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce. The interesting part is, is that it was a denominational church! “Live Oak Fellowship … is the newest member of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce,” read the quote (Hamilton Herald-News, 133rd Year Vol. 46 […]
“A Sound Church”
Some time back, I received a note asking, “What would be a sound church?” I think this is a good question since churches on earth can be described as “sound” or “unsound” when we compare their works to what the Bible says churches ought to be doing. The contrast between “sound” and “unsound” is simply […]