Posts by Cody Westbrook (Page 11)

Against the milieu of this world’s wickedness stands the church of Christ. God’s Eternal Purpose (Eph. 3:9-11) is the establishment of the body of Christ as an entity in which man is at peace with God and his fellow man (Eph. 2:14-18). He wills that Christians live holy lives (Eph. 1:4-6) of sacrifice to His cause (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:9). The church of Christ is the body of people who have been called out of the world to meet…

To say that the past 12 months have been challenging would be an understatement. Overwhelming would probably be more accurate. Arise! 2020 was an amazing success. In fact, we broke every attendance record up to that point. But just a few weeks afterward, COVID graced us with its presence. For a time, we didn’t know if there would be an Arise! 2021. But, thanks be to God that there was, and that it was perhaps the most successful year yet.…

First Kings 21 chronicles one of the one of the more heinous acts of Jezebel and Ahab. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard which Ahab coveted greatly. When Naboth refused to sell it to Ahab, Jezebel arranged his murder. This crime did not go unnoticed. First Kings 21:17 records, “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel…” Ahab and Jezebel’s actions throughout their reign posed a great…

Stewardship is one of the more challenging principles of New Testament Christianity, not because it is difficult to understand but because of the all-encompassing nature of its application. Everything we have is entrusted to our care and must be utilized responsibly. Such a reality should humble us and compel us to give determined attention to discharging our responsibilities as faithfully as possible. This begins with a proper understanding of stewardship in general. First, stewardship involves measurability. In the parable of…

English writer John Heywood is said to have written the proverb “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” The statement perfectly captures the stubborn unreasonableness of one who willingly rejects truth. Sadly, the world is full of such people. Tragically, some can even be found in the church of our Lord. While Heywood perfectly captured the stubbornness of rejection, the Psalmist identifies the antithesis–the desire that should be found in every child of God. Psalm 119:18…

Spring will be upon us quickly and along with it, annual spring cleaning. The perfect time to tidy up the house by cleaning top to bottom and getting rid of old clothes, boxes, toys, and many other things accumulated during the last year. Good cleaning is vital to maintaining a healthy and orderly home. Similarly, if we are to maintain good spiritual health–our spiritual home, if you will–cleaning is in order. The Psalmist addressed spiritual house cleaning in Psalm 119:9–…

Everyone wants to be happy. In fact, it would be abnormal not to; happiness is a universal human desire. The key to happiness, however, is much different. Humanity has produced millions of pages and countless hours of debate and persuasive speech designed to pinpoint the key to happiness. A simple google search of the question “how to be happy?” produces over 4 billion results! Such a wide chasm of opinions on the matter would make one think happiness were next…

While preparing dinner for her new husband, the young wife carefully removed the ham from the package, promptly cut the end off of it, and threw it into the trash. Thinking that to be a little odd, the groom bravely asked, “Why did you do that, honey?” “It’s how Mom has always done it,” she replied. “Well, why did your mother do it?” asked the husband.” “I’m not sure,” said his new wife, “I’ll ask.” The young bride quickly called…

What is baptism? The word means “to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge” (Thayer). Scripture defines and illustrates the action for us. In Romans 6:3-7 Paul says that in baptism we reenact the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The old man dies and is “buried with him through baptism into death that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Colossians…

Spiritual growth is impossible without God’s word (1 Pet. 2:2). The Bible tells us to study (2 Tim. 2:15) and meditate (Ps. 1) on God’s word on a regular basis. Because Bible study is so important, it is also important that we know how to study effectively. Here are some suggestions that may help your personal Bible study in the year(s) to come. Utilize a Bible-reading plan. The benefits of reading the Bible are many and Christians should dedicate time…

On his first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, the apostle Paul sought to “join the disciples” (Acts 9:26). To “join” in this passage implies an intimate association. Paul’s desire to be intimately cemented to the brethren in Jerusalem serves as an important principle for us regarding the local congregation. God never intended for Christians to exist all by themselves on an island. Rather His design is for Christians to come together as “not one member, but many” (1 Cor. 12:14) in…

According to John 17:20-23 one thing the Lord had on His mind during the ordeal of His death was our unity. Jesus wanted us to be united in purpose and in mind so that the world would look at us and know that the Father had sent the Son. Jesus knew the value of unity. He knew that a splintered body accomplishes nothing. He knew that the sense of community that is sewn into the fabric of fellowship would be…