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M. Louise Haskins (1908) captured the uncertainty of a new year in words that were quoted to the British Empire in the 1939 Christmas radio broadcast of King George VI. Haskins wrote: And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown,” and he replied, “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you…

Is there any better time for reflection than the end of a year? In one week the year 2022 will be history. We are one year closer to the time of our death and one year closer to determining where we will spend eternity. Consider the following thoughts which seem so timely as this year comes to a close. Are you numbering your days? This question comes from a consideration of Psalm 90. “The days of our lives are seventy…

The last chapter of John describes the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection. He had manifested Himself to them when Thomas was absent, then again when Thomas was with them. This chapter describes how seven of the disciples (including Thomas) had spent the entire night fishing and had caught nothing. They did not recognize the Man who told them to cast the nets on the right side of the boat, but they did as He told…

The Christian’s life is many times referred to as a “walk.” In fact the Apostle Paul will use this metaphorical meaning 32 times in his epistles. “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” or “walk not as other Gentiles walk” are but two examples of the use of this term in Paul’s epistles (Eph. 4:1,17). The use of “walk” in this way means to “regulate one’s life” or “to conduct one’s self properly.” As Christians, not only do…

Too many pulpits these days are filled with stand-up comedians, motivational speakers and professional salesmen. Well, maybe not literally, but that appears to be the case in many places. A man gets up to speak during a worship service and he tells a funny joke, he shares some moving stories, he offers some advice for life, and oh, he sprinkles a couple Bible verses in there. Some may think that is an exaggeration, but it’s actually not far off in…

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.…