By Kevin Cauley

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter (1 Peter 4:16). The word “Christian” was first used in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The word means one who follows Christ. First Peter 4:16 implies that some used it as an insult. Perhaps this is the way that Agrippa meant it in Acts 26:28 when he told the apostle Paul, You almost persuade me to become a Christian. Peter says that the person who is called by such a name not be ashamed of it at all, but rather, glorify God.

The word “Christian” contains the word “christ.” “Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “messiah.” Both words mean “anointed one” and come from the tradition of anointing with oil leaders in the ancient world. The Hebrew word “messiah” is used in the Old Testament a total of 39 times. Thirty-seven times it is translated “anointed,” and it usually refers to one of the kings of Israel. The translators chose to translate with the English word “Messiah” twice in the New King James Version in Daniel 9:25-26.

Having studied the book of Daniel extensively, the Jews of the New Testament were expecting God’s Messiah, His Anointed One, to arrive. Jesus fulfilled all prophecies of the Anointed One in the Old Testament. Therefore, He was the Messiah. In the New Testament, the word “christ,” (Greek for “anointed one”) is used almost exclusively to refer to Jesus. Christians are followers of the Anointed One, Jesus, and the word “Christ” is a title, not Jesus’ last name. What an honor it is, then, to share the title “Christ” with Jesus as “Christians.” This was Peter’s point.

By Doug Dingley

We know and understand that God both can and does bring good out of even the worst of circumstances (Gen. 50:20; Lk. 24:44-47; Rom. 8:28), and this Coronavirus is certainly no exception. Hopefully, one of the greatest things to come out of this current pandemic will be people’s honest realization of just how quickly all the things they once thought were so essential and indispensable to them and their lives, can be so suddenly and completely taken from them. How the pursuits and activities that once consumed so much of our time, effort, energy, and finances — and which we had somehow convinced ourselves were so critically important to us – can be so swiftly and suddenly… just taken away from us.

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By Batsell Barrett Baxter

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899) was an American lawyer, politician and writer who often lectured on his creed of agnosticism, and in other ways displayed animosity toward orthodox Christian beliefs.

While traveling in England, he was staying in a small hotel at the same time as a noted denominational preacher who had often written him. The preacher asked for an interview and sat down to talk with the unbeliever. The preacher asked, “Mr. Ingersoll, some months ago I wrote to challenge you to a debate concerning the truthfulness of the Bible. Why did you not respond?”

Ingersoll asked, “I heard you in a debate one time, and I now ask you if you believe that baptism is necessary for salvation?” The preacher replied that he did not believe it was required. Mr. Ingersoll asked for the preacher’s own copy of the Bible and opened it to Mark 16:16, and read, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Mr. Ingersoll then explained, “Why should I debate the Bible with you? You don’t believe it either.”                                                                                         

It is interesting that an antagonistic, non-believer can see the necessity of a believer believing and obeying ALL the commands of God, when so many so-called believers cannot see the same thing.