Hardening the Heart
Proverbs 28:14 says, “Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.” A hardened heart has turned away from God. It is a willful decision and the only way it can be corrected is with a willful decision to turn back to God. A good example […]
“Is the Seed Yet in the Barn?”
It is said that a Christian over an average lifetime will hear 4,000 sermons, participate in 20,000 songs, and be involved in 8,000 prayers in the public assembly. Yet, how many conversions do you think most Christians are responsible for? Very few, if any. Why is that? It might be because our seed is still […]
Two Men View Strictness
Two men determine to obey the scriptures strictly. Neither wants to turn “to the right hand or to the left,” even in the least of matters. But the attitudes behind the determination of these two men vary tremendously. The first man views strictness in obeying God’s law as the primary means of salvation. While he […]
A Religion With Sight
In the 17th Century, a French statistician named Blaise Pascal wrote a theory called “Pascal’s Wager,” in which he tried to debate the consequences of believing or disbelieving in a God that did or did not exist. Although Pascal was himself a religious person, he took as objective a stance as he could in dealing […]
Every Man’s Work
In 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, Paul told the Corinthians that Jesus is the foundation and no one can add to the foundation. Also, Paul is telling the brethren that it is possible to build on the foundation. Brethren can build with different materials; i.e. gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. The work that a […]
“Forbidden Fruit Rots!”
I had a very heart-breaking conversation with a friend recently. It involved this person’s grown child and how the child had walked away from God and seems to have no interest in doing what the Lord says. This person has walked away from godly upbringing and respect for God to live a life of sin. […]
“Austin Congregation Raises a Toast to God”
A few years ago, the Lufkin Daily News ran an AP article with the aforementioned title detailing the worship of the All Saints Episcopal Church at Opal Divine’s, a pub in South Austin. Steve Kinney, the priest at All Saints, has held monthly meetings — typically the third Sunday of each month — of what […]
The Question of Mental Divorce
“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18). One of the moral issues that consistently upset churches and brethren today is the divorce and remarriage question. Since most brethren and churches have situations that impact them directly, roots […]
Implicitly Forbidden
Why do preachers often condemn things that are not even found in the Bible Where do you ever read about gambling or pornography in your Bible? And where is dancing ever expressly forbidden? Obviously, in explicit (fully revealed) terms, these are not forbidden: there is no “Thou shalt not …” regarding these. However, it is […]
A Whitewashed Tomb
On the French Riviera, it is such an important status symbol to have a balcony on an apartment that it is quite common to see balconies painted on the walls of apartment houses. People even paint wet laundry hanging on a clothesline just to give it a touch of reality. This sounds harmless, but there […]