EXPOSITORY ARTICLE | Shane Carrington | Sulfer Springs, Texas
via Jeon Sang-O | Pixabay.com
“We are New Testament Christians, so we do not need to study the Old Testament.”
Perhaps we have heard someone make this claim. Then we actually read our New Testaments and discover the many Old Testament references – examples, quotations, prophecies, wisdom statements, allusions, etc. – revealing our need to study the Old to receive full enlightenment regarding the New. Read More
CHURCH ARTICLE | Josh Welch | Columbus, Ohio
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It was about eleven years ago when I stood up after a quick lunch with my wife and youngest infant daughter and felt a sharp pain in my side. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. I reached to pick up my daughter out of her seat to carry her to the car. It hurt to pick her up. I said to my wife, “Something doesn’t feel right.” I went to the doctor and they ran some tests. Later that night I was being carted into surgery to have my appendix removed. I have not really missed that appendix. I assume it had a purpose. Yet, not enough to be missed. However, it certainly made its presence felt when something went wrong with it. How many church members might be described as an appendix? They are there and we suppose they are doing something. You might even hear them stir up a fuss. Yet, truth be told, if they disappeared from the assembly their absence may hardly even be noticed. Read More
WORSHIP ARTICLE | B. Colton McDaniel | Springfield, Illinois
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“I love to sing.” This phrase was a warmup in my high school choir, but it is also the way I really feel about singing. My earliest memories are of singing Doo-wop songs. Yet as much as I loved performing with choirs growing up and no matter how fulfilling it was to earn good ratings at state competitions, no music is as pleasing as singing praises with the people of God. This is how God designed it. He created music to be naturally enjoyable to the human ear. But on top of that, He prescribed a combination of that naturally enjoyable activity with words of edification and praise to create psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Read More
APPLICATION ARTICLE | William Stewart | Odessa, Ontario, Canada
via Jeon Sang-O | Pixabay.com
Construction analogies are common in the New Testament. From an early age, many of us sang about the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus stressed the need for us to count the cost of following Him by speaking of a man who began to build a tower but was unable to finish (Luke 14:28-30). In 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul called the church “God’s building,” himself a “wise master builder” and urged us to build wisely upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 elaborates, calling it the “…foundation of the apostles and prophets…,” and uses words like “building,” “a holy temple,” and “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” to speak of the church. These building illustrations abound. Read More
EVANGELISM ARTICLE | Sean P. Cavender | Bald Knob, Arkansas
via Kenny Eliason | Pixabay.com
The work of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of the greatest and most important things someone could ever be involved in. Preaching is simply announcing and proclaiming the words for salvation (Acts 11:14). Preaching is something that is desperately needed if souls are to be saved. There is a time and a place to talk and chat about the Bible, but there is also the ever-present need to announce the gospel. Read More
BEYOND THE BASICS | Chuck Bartlett | Newburgh, Indiana
via Agnieszka Monk | Pixabay.com
I remember reading a comment made by a person who left the Lord’s church years ago stating, “The problem with members of the church is they don’t have confidence they are going to heaven.” This person may well have encountered Christians who felt that way, but it does not have to be that way. Let us take a closer look. Read More