Finishing the Race

By Dan Jenkins

There are many illustrations used in the Bible to describe our lives as Christians. We are warriors in His army (Eph. 6) and harvesters in His vineyard (Matt. 20). We are boxers who do not simply throw blows into the air against an imaginary foe (1 Cor. 9:26). One illustration used repeatedly is that we are competitors in a great race.

This figure is used in the book of Hebrews. After describing those heroes of faith throughout chapter eleven whose lives were all lived by faith, the Lord then turned His attention to the Hebrew Christians. That this chapter is directly tied to the men of faith is evidenced by the first word in chapter twelve. “Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… Let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us.”

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Honor Your Cool Parent? What Ever Happened to Honor Your Mother and Father?

By Brad Harrub

Too busy acting like a child to be functioning as a parent?

Almost everyone these days wants to be a cool parent. Don’t believe me? Just check out social media and look at the posts of parents dressing like their children, taking a million selfies with their children. While there is nothing “sinful” about a 40-year old dressed like an 18-year old, I do see a trend that troubles me.

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Satan’s Schemes

By Neal Pollard

Paul makes an interesting statement while addressing the successful effort the Corinthian church made in disciplining an erring brother along with the successful outcome of his having repented. He urges them to show him love, comfort, and forgiveness. The bottom line Paul gives for the urgency of their obedience is “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). Back in the first letter, the church’s attitude and actions regarding a brother needing discipline was horrible, and Paul commanded them to act (1 Cor. 5). Here, they have acted and their efforts worked. They were in a prime position to grow and thrive. Yet, Paul reminds them of Satan’s motivation (to take advantage of us) and means (his schemes).

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A “Good Enough” Worship

By Tyler King

When you practice an activity long enough, you eventually gain the ability to participate without the effort of the mind. For instance, I can remember when I used to weld for a profession. At first, it was a daunting task mainly because the risk of death is ever present. If you ground yourself out to the work, you essentially have upwards of 120 amps running through your body. One amp is enough to stop the heart, so there needs to be great caution with such a work. However, as time went on, I gained muscle memory. I eventually got to the point to where I would almost fall asleep when performing certain welds. Time became the enabler for me to place my mind elsewhere.

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The Prophet Hosea on Mercy and Truth

By Dan Jenkins

For over two hundred years after the death of Solomon, those ten tribes in the northern part of Palestine never worshiped God. If you want to see just how longsuffering God is, consider that during this time they had nineteen kings and not a single one of them was righteous. It was not that they had no way to know God, for He sent prophet after prophet to call them back. They refused to hear.

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Things Old and Things New

By Dan Jenkins

That transformation which occurs when one becomes a Christian is so remarkable. The apostle Paul emphasized this to those new Christians in Corinth. In his second letter to that church he spoke of all he was in Judaism before becoming a follower of Jesus. No one excelled his credentials, yet he gave it all up. He reminded them of this truth and then applied this transformation to all Christians. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

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Converted to What?

By Neal Pollard

Jesus said, “Unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Paul preached that there is no spiritual healing unless one is converted (Acts 28:27). To be converted means literally to twist, turn around, and reverse. In spiritual application, the word means to leave one thing for another. In evangelism, the attempt is to turn one from the world to Christ. However, people have been known to turn from the world to something other than Jesus and His doctrine. This is unfortunate, but true. Consider a few deadly alternatives to conversion to the Lord.

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A Bridge Between Two Eternities

By Dan Jenkins

One of the mistakes we so often make is that we read the Bible too fast. Divine truths are so profound that as we read the Bible, we overlook eternal truths which could change our lives. Consider these words from Solomon. “He has made everything beautiful in its times. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecc. 3:11). Every phrase in this verse should be considered, but let’s focus on one of them. “He has put eternity in their hearts.” Read it slowly and think about it.

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Because of You

By Fenter Northern

There is always the hidden joy in the soul abiding there due to the knowledge of our salvation and being heirs of eternal life.

However, we older members in the Lord’s church recall the jubilant thrill that rang in the congregations during the early years of last century when the church was growing by leaps with building programs everywhere. So much of that excited expectancy seems to have faded away with the coming of the new century. It’s sad that young Christians do not know that wonderful delight of seeing so many souls so excited as we did responding in those great gospel meetings. In those early days they lasted two weeks,–two Sunday meetings with morning services, without any complaining. Meetings gradually decreased in time to one week, then Sunday through Wednesday. Preachers in big demand for meetings taught in Bible colleges. That limited their availability to weekends. This made weekend meetings popular among the churches. Finally, interest even in these short meetings waned so much some were questioning if the day for gospel meetings was over in the church. Churches began on special Sundays having meals after morning services with a second service following the meal, then eliminating the evening service. With the graying of memberships, evening services have been jettisoned in some places. What the future holds with the ebbing of preaching and teaching service no one knows, but this I know. No congregation can survive that has lost its appetite for the true bread of life.

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Don’t Take Credit for God’s Gifts

By Kevin Cauley

In Deuteronomy 8:17, we read, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” Moses was speaking to the children of Israel about what would happen after they entered the land of Canaan and began to experience all the wonderful blessings that waited for them there. The temptation would be that they would begin to think that they earned these blessings because of their own righteousness. The next verse (18) says, “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Do we face the same temptation today?

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