“The Proliferation Of Religion”

By Tom Wacaster

(note: written for my pending commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians next year)

When I was growing up, I was blessed to sit at the feet of good and godly men who taught our Sunday morning high school class, Wednesday evening class, and an occasional but regular men’s training class. It was during those six or seven years that I developed a desire to preach, a burning within my soul that would come to fruition immediately following my discharge from military service in 1970. There were a half dozen young men who attended those classes at the Urbandale church of Christ in Dallas and each of us were blessed beyond measure from the training we received that would eventually lead to many of us being active teachers, preachers, and leaders in the Lord’s church. While this is not the thrust of this week’s article I must pause and remind all of us that the classes at the local congregational level have a great influence upon those who sit at our feet. I doubt that those men who taught our classes at Urbandale had any idea what influence they would have on us young boys who barely had a handle on life itself. But I digress and must get back to the intent of this article.

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May Christians Observe Holidays?

By Wayne Jackson

Is it wrong for Christians to celebrate some of the holidays popular in our society – like giving gifts at Christmas time, allowing children to go trick-or-treating at Halloween, or hunting eggs at Easter?

In considering this issue, several things should be kept in view.

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Redeeming the Time?

By Dan Jenkins

Imagine a situation where you were annually given half a million dollars. You were told to invest it wisely, and the profit from how you invested it each year would all be yours. How much time would you devote, knowing that in the next decade you would be investing over $52,000,000?

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Standing Firm

By Fenter Northern

2Th 2:15 So, brothers and sisters, stand strong and continue to believe the teachings we gave you when we were there and by letter.

The text speaks to us concerning the identical critical issue that has remained constant since that day of Pentecost on which the Lord’s church was first established—“Save yourselves from this crooked generation. The same Lion that Peter warned the church about in his fist epistle is still on his hungry prowl. The antichrist that John warned about in his first two epistles is still anti-Christ today. He has just adapted the modern trappings that best suit his purposes to destroy or render ineffective the children of God in this generation age of electronic obsession.

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A Plea for My Christian Sisters

By Cary Gillis

With warmer months quickly approaching, I have a plea for my Christian sisters:

Though I am weak and imperfect, I strive for a pure and holy life, mind, and heart. But it is difficult. I struggle with lust. I know of no man, single or married, who does not struggle with this. It is more difficult for your Christian brothers than you could ever imagine. Our minds are totally different than yours when it comes to visual stimuli. I do not expect the world to care if my thoughts are pure. But I expect you to care. I expect you to cherish the faithfulness of your brothers. This is why it breaks my heart when I see Christian women wearing what the world deems appropriate, but what God deems immodest.

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10 Reasons Why I Long for Heaven

By Tyler King

1. That’s where God is (Rev. 21:3a) – I have experienced, first-hand, how God has treated me and cared for me on this earth. He spoils with abundant blessings despite being non-deserving of such treatment. On top of that, this world has been subjected to futility – there’s no logical reason why He should care for me the way He does, but He does. And I get to be with Him forever.

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What Being a Christian and Church Membership Is All About

By Fenter Northern

Can you identify with Paul where he said: “the good that I would, I do not.” and who would delivery me from this wretched body of sin and death? Is there any word from the Lord about that? It is the demand that is thrust upon the church in this hour? Are we measuring up to it?

It is critical that we do not lose our courage when everything about us seems to be coming loose at the seams, when those seeking to rule over us in politics seem to be fugitives from a mental asylum—and millions of voters would have it so.

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Exegesis Oversimplified

By Tyler King

“Don’t eat this. Don’t eat this. Don’t eat this.” Those were the words a classroom full of teens heard from me on a yawn-absorbed Sunday morning as I handed out Oreos.

Before the teens and I studied the book of Colossians together, I wanted to establish the basics of Bible study. However, if I said we were going to study exegetically, I would have been like a doctor as he watched the pulse of his patient gradually flatline. Odds are, “exegesis” (critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture) is far removed from everyday vernacular. As a result, the practice of exegesis takes a back seat when reading through the text of God’s word.

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“Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?”

By Dan Jenkins

The sixth chapter of John records that day when the tide of popularity turned against our Lord. That first year of the public preaching of Jesus was characterized by multitudes following Him. John shows just how popular He had become, and early in this chapter we read that they were about to take Him by force and make Him their king.

Think about the motive many of them had for wanting a king like Jesus. He had just fed 5,000 men. This number did not include the women and children, so there likely were more than 10,000 fed that day. Who would not want a king who would feed you so that you would never have to work again? They wanted an earthly king. How did Jesus respond? John described the events of that day so vividly. “When Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone” (v. 15). He had no desire to be a king sitting on an earthly throne in Jerusalem.

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