Blog Articles
Great Message Due to Great Presence
Jonathan Edwards lived and pastored in Northampton Massachusetts in the early 1700’s. He is known for preaching the famous sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” You can still read it today. God had been moving in various towns in the middle part of...
The Shout of Triumph
It is finished! It is finished! Hear the loud triumphant cry. It is finished! It is finished! Christ, the Victor, reigns on high! Listen to the shout of triumph Ringing through the darkened sky; Hear the voice of Jesus claiming Triumph, so that He might die. Listen to...
Jesus and the Law
In the last several years I have heard or heard of people saying “Jesus is the law.” Some works oriented religions make this claim. Some evangelicals who tend more to a legal approach also make this claim. Sometimes this claim is used as a crowbar to coerce people...
Be Holy or Do Holy?
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16) In my early years I unwittingly took these verses to say “Do holy.” Do this, don’t do that. This left me with an...
Changing What Would Have Been
In seeking the Lord and following His divine direction, is it possible that what would have been can be changed? We have a most remarkable account of such in the life of David recorded by Samuel under inspiration in 1 Samuel 23:1-13: Then they told David, saying,...
The Importance of Biblical Instruction and Experience
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29) In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25) And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto...
The Habit of Faith
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. (Colossians 2:6) For...
I Love the Lord Jesus with All My Heart!
Valentine’s Day highlights love. At such a time, we would do well to consider a young saint from over a century ago, reflect on a simple yet profound profession of love, and recall how a heartfelt testimony was used of the Spirit in a great revival. In late 1903, a...
God Is Faithful
The majesty and beauty of the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness is exceeded only by the actual truth that God is faithful. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, Paul provides one example when he declares, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is...
The Precious Fruit of the Earth
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the...
Christmas Light
One special dynamic constituting the aura of the Christmas season is the manifold display of Christmas lights. Decorations and lights enhance cities and towns. Small towns especially captivate those who pass through with wonderful light displays. Christmas lights in...
Unashamed Gratitude
In Luke 17, ten lepers cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13). This cry revealed faith in Jesus. In response, Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priest. In obedient faith they went and as they went they were cleansed of their leprosy....
It Is Time
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” - Hosea 10:12 The world shifts and turns almost by the day. The only sure foundation is the Lord Himself....
The Gift of Christmas is Jesus
Order Now! It is amazing that we are getting close to the Christmas season already. While we are looking forward to praising God during Thanksgiving, we know that many of you are already planning ahead for your outreach during the Christmas season. As we prepare, we...
Christian Liberty: True and False
Christian liberty can spark controversy. To legalistic thinking in the name of righteousness, any other way but its way is viewed as license (to sin). To relativistic thinking in the name of liberty, any other way but its way is viewed as legalism. But in between...
Witness with Tracts
Have you or someone you know been reached with a Gospel tract? Tracts have been used to reach more people with the gospel than we often realize. Did you know that it is reported that the famous revival preacher George Whitefield was reached by gospel literature? Or...
How to Biblically Guard Against Sin
Jesus said that we are in the world, but not of it (John 17:11-17). Therefore, proper guarding against the world is not isolation (1 Cor. 5:10), but transcendence. Jesus said, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). As we access the overcoming life...
White to Harvest
After Jesus led the women at the well to faith in Him, and she went into the city and then returned with a group of curious seekers, Jesus said to His disciples, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your...
The Fallacy of the Slippery Slope
In disagreements over that which is not black and white in Scripture, some opt for the slippery slope argument to make their conclusion regarding a given application or standard universal for all. The argument says essentially to not do this, because this could lead...
Idol-makers
Acts 19:24 tells us of “a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana.” This man recognized the threat to his livelihood posed by the advance of the gospel, and it was his address to fellow craftsmen that stirred a strong response...
Faith before Regeneration or Regeneration before Faith?
Years ago, I participated in an ordination council that happened to be combined with a pastors’ fellowship. Because I was an evangelist, the moderator suggested that I ask the candidate something centered on salvation. I agreed and asked what I thought was an...
Fundamentalism: Original and Reshaped
Will the real Fundamentalist please rise? Quite frankly, many Fundamentalists no longer embrace this descriptive term because of two decades of media reports associating “fundamentalism” with religious terrorism. However, within the context of Christianity, the term...
Discipleship Training
Jesus commissioned His disciples to make disciples, baptize them, and then teach them to follow all that He taught (Matt.28:18-20). The latter part of this commission is often described as discipleship, and is an ongoing process. Obviously, assembling with the church...
From the Inside Out
After Paul, under inspiration, confronts the outward show of mere externalism in Colossians 2, which has no power to overcome real fleshly issues, he explains how to live the overcoming life in Colossians 3. The focus must be on Jesus (not manmade externals) so that...
Outward Show
Outward Show “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of...
Ways the Holy Spirit Leads
Ways the Holy Spirit Leads How does the Spirit lead? God speaks in multiple ways. I will mention some basic examples. Through the Word Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the specific word of God (Rom. 10:17). Not just reading, but hearing. This implies when the...
The Liberating Life of Jesus
Have you ever felt trapped in a box of someone else’s making, perhaps a modern fundamentalist-style box, and yet, down deep, you know the Christian life is neither that nor an up-for-grabs version of your own making? In my early years of ministry, I was sincerely...
Why the Agony in the Garden?
Matthew’s account records, “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith...
Hearing the Word
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Often, when this verse is cited, we think of it as faith comes by reading and reading by the word of God. But it does not say reading, it says hearing. What is the significance? True,...
Upstream Christians
Upstream Christians And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24:12) But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. (Daniel 11:32) My father often said that as the culture becomes more corrupt, there is...
