An Ideal Student – Carl B. Garner
Someone has said that if you put the world’s best teacher in a room with the world’s worst students, very little learning would take place. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that a willing and capable pupil is necessary to the process of learning. For years we have known that you cannot stop a determined student from learning. The necessity of a capable teacher is not denied, but there is also the need for a…
Can you Trust the New Testament?
How can we be sure that the New Testament is historically reliable? It’s an important question. Consider three brief evidences that prove the reliability of the New Testament. First, consider the enormous amount of manuscripts in existence. To this writer’s knowledge, there are 5,748 in Greek, 10,000 in Latin, and 10,000 to 15,000 in other languages in existence. This totals 25,000 to 30,000 handwritten copies of the New Testament. Some of these manuscripts date back to the second century, making…
The Miracles of Jesus
Scripture describes Jesus as One who performed miracles. Jesus instructed John’s disciples to “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt. 11:4-5). He was authenticated by His miracles (Acts 2:22). His miracles “bore witness” to His identity (John 5:36). Even His enemies recognized that He worked “many…
Why Some Refuse to Obey the Gospel
There are over 7 Billion souls in this world, each one fighting with the struggles of life, and each one in need of salvation (cf. Rom. 3:23). The gospel is God’s power to save (Rom. 1:16), and it provides the answers to the issues of life which are common to all people. You may think that everyone would gladly obey the message that provides hope, joy, peace, and salvation, but that is simply not the case. Some refuse to obey the…
…And Be Ye Thankful – Bill Jackson
Someone told of the fine old brother who always began his prayer with, “Father, we thank Thee for this fine day!” He would thus pray in a flood, or when the sun was oppressively hot or when the snow was four-foot deep. It was always, “Father, we thank Thee for this fine day!” And then one day the rains came, and came and came. Each day was cloudy and dark, and it went on and on. People became depressed, out-of-sorts…
The Importance of Prayer – Troy Spradlin
So, how is your prayer life? Do you pray as often as you should? Prayer is and should be an essential part of a Christian’s life. Our Savior, Jesus, was a man of prayer (Matthew 14:23, 26:36-44; Mark 1:35; John 17:2-24). This implies that we must ask ourselves, “If prayer was so important to our Lord, why should it be less important to me? “We should infer that every disciple of His ought to learn how to pray correctly and…
Wendell and Betty Winkler’s Advice on Marriage – Neal Pollard
Several years ago, I asked the Winklers to pass along advice for married couples on how to have a successful, happy marriage. They were very kind to comply and I have the material, in brother Winkler’s easily distinguishable hand-writing, in my files. Their suggestions were broken into two categories, the first being positive things couples can do for their marriages and the latter being habits, actions, and attitudes that hurt a marriage. Here are the answers from a couple who…
Encouragement – Johnny Ramsey
When we sincerely search the sacred text, we can find myriads of reasons to hold to our Creator’s unchanging hand. Everyone needs encouragement. In this wicked world finding the joy and happiness we all cherish is never easy. But the very God who made us has revealed in the Scriptures many reasons for Christians to find calm in the midst of stormy surroundings. In Joshua 1:7, Jehovah promised to bless Joshua’s future days with boundless benefits if that valiant leader…
Jesus: The Sinless Sacrifice
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Eph. 2:4-5). Imagine the horror of cutting the throat of an innocent lamb, watching as its life’s blood pours from its body, and knowing you are the reason it had to die. This is precisely what was required of the Jew’s living under the…
Are We Prepared for the Judgement Day? – Don Walker
In Hebrews 9:27, the inspired writer reminded us “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Biblically speaking, it is no secret that the last great prophecy to be fulfilled is the return of our Saviour Jesus Christ and our standing before the Great Sovereign, our God, in judgment. For the righteous, the events of that day are set on display in First Thessalonians 4:13-18. The same is true for the wicked in…
What Does My Family Owe The Church? – Bill Burk
Certainly, the concepts of sacrifice and duty seem odd to a culture that often asks, “What’s in it for me?” Even among God’s people, as it relates to loyalty and service to the local church of Christ, the attitude of “meet my needs or else…” is found far too often. Consumerism has had a profound effect upon Christendom and the church. When people begin to search for a church home seldom do they look for the place where the truth…
Known – Kevin W. Rhodes
The information age and the rise of social media have created a new layer of identity for individuals. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and online gaming have all made it possible for people to build a persona online that sometimes has little to no resemblance to real life. The deception that once fell within the purview of online dating websites has gone mainstream— so much so that creating completely fictional characters for the purpose of fooling others has turned into sport. However,…