Church Blog (Page 9)

The book of Psalms is remarkable in so many ways. Many of the psalms come from the heart of a shepherd boy of Bethlehem and give us great insight into the very soul of a man after God’s own heart. One of the psalms repeats a phrase over and over. The psalmist said, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men” (Psa. 107:1, 8, 15, 21,…

“The Pulpit is no place for politics!” is a refrain we hear often, and it is true. The church of Christ is a soul saving institution and our purpose is to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). Thus preachers are commanded to “Preach the Word!”(2 Tim. 4:1-2). Preaching is the act of heralding a message from the King. As such we are obligated to preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), to point people to the cross (1…

When I was a student at Freed-Hardeman University, the Mooresville congregation near Lewisburg, Tennessee wanted to send me to help spread the gospel in Georgia. Through one of the teachers at the college, I made contact with the church in Savannah, and I preached in my first gospel meeting in an attempt to plant the Church in Statesboro, Georgia. I was there for two weeks knocking on doors and inviting the people to the upcoming meeting. On the Sunday before…

The gospel meeting with Hiram Kemp begins Sunday November 6, and it seems so appropriate to emphasize the importance of every member being present for every service. This has nothing to do with my personal opinion about this, but there are spiritual reasons for why this should happen. Obviously, there are those who, because of physical reasons beyond their control (work, sickness, transportation problems, etc.), could not come, but the following reasons apply to the rest of us. Look at…

We live in an unstable age in many ways. The radicalism of some and the modernism of others has created such divergence and division, each in its own way, that a vast majority of people find themselves drifting somewhere in the sea between the two extremes. That they have chosen to avoid the extremes is important. They recognize the error of abandoning divine authority (Mt. 16:19; Col. 3:17), and they shrink at the possibility of reacting to the other extreme…

If there is any truth affirmed in the Bible, one of those truths must be this one—God answers our prayers. Before Jesus left the earth He told His disciples, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you” (John 16:23). The apostle John heard Jesus say these words, obviously practiced them and years later affirmed, “Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things…

Now that we have stepped into the twenty-first century, we need to realize that indeed, as far as the church is concerned, we are entering a time in which the church is facing challenges never experienced before in the lifetime of any who now are living. We have come to a point where the majority within the church has never experienced the conviction, mindset, and enthusiasm for work that was recognized in the first half plus of the twentieth century.…

The headline of the Christian Chronicle, March 2007, reads, “Churches face identity crisis.” The reason for this is identified in a quote from David Duncan, pulpit minister for the Memorial church in Houston which relays that in the past Churches of Christ were distinguished by belief in church autonomy, baptism for forgiveness of sins, weekly Lord’s Supper on Sunday, public male leadership, plurality of elders and acappela singing; then brother Duncan is quoted, “Now, some congregations have given up most,…

The 12th Annual Greater Midwest Lectureship begins on Friday evening September 30 and seeks to apply the biblical teaching to some of the critical challenges and issues of today. There was a similar series of studies conducted in 1970 in Fort Worth Texas and it is obvious that the time has come to address these issues again – Thus the theme for the 2022 Lectureship is “For Such A Time As This”. A. V. Isbell, then President of Fort Worth…

The first psalm describes the character of those who are blessed by God. “He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.” The implication of these words is that if one does walk in the counsel of the ungodly, he is cursed. The psalmist has in mind walking in the counsel of ungodly men and the blessedness of those who walk in the counsel of the godly men. Think of how this is magnified when we think of the…

No one become overweight overnight. No one shows signs of aging within an hour’s time. A man does not suddenly become disenchanted with his wife. A good leader doesn’t go bad all in one day’s time. Consider the following examples: A) King Saul started with great potential: “There was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he” (1 Sam. 9:2). But visit Saul later in life and you will find him consulting witches and committing suicide! His…

Man has reached a marvelous age. We have been given time to explore this universe we inhabit and know more about it now than ever before. Has this surpassing knowledge diminished our appreciation of our world and its Creator? Consider… The heavens declared the glory of God to David (Ps. 19:1); they manifest the wisdom of God (Prov. 8:27). Now that we have set foot on the moon, orbited the earth, and landed rovers on Mars, are we any less…