Think of three or four people that you really enjoy being with. What are the intriguing qualities of each person’s character that you appreciate? Now imagine how delightful it would be to converse with someone that possessed all of these favorable qualities. Furthermore, ponder what it would be like to interact with a person who […]
The story of Joseph is a favorite Bible story for many of us with one-fourth of Genesis about him. Perhaps the best reason for this is that he is telling us a bigger story. His life reflects the life of the Lord Jesus in so many ways. In fact, the whole Old Testament is a […]
Our Lord says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink” (Jn. 7:39). His invitation goes out to all— “if any man”—and He gives all people the choice and power to come— “Let him come.” Here, we see two choices: God’s choice and man’s choice. God made a choice to invite all […]
A godly man is strong to bless others, as he brings the Lord into situations, inspiring confidence through his excellent character. In scene one of God’s record of Ruth, Naomi is empty and bitter with the Lord. Enter Boaz and a radical change occurs. By the end of scene two, the one who was bitter […]
The Work of the Holy Spirit TodayHe Gives the Believer Gifts (1 Cor. 12:7-11; Rom. 12:3-8; Eph. 4:3-13; 1 Pet. 4:7-11) The Holy Spirit gives every believer something to do. He distributes spiritual gifts so each believer can be involved in building up, binding up, and beautifying the body of Christ. Some gifts were only […]
We consider the priesthood of all believers as one of the distinctives of our faith and endeavor to faithfully apply the doctrine in our assembly gatherings. Our open worship and remembrance meeting, the freedom in ministry, and the liberty to exercise one’s spiritual gifts are indeed a splendid demonstration of the grandeur of this precious […]
Human beings are clearly designed to enjoy the blessing of love, both by showing love and by being loved. If we felt totally unloved then we would wonder whether life was worth living. Love is very important to us and is expressed in the close relationships of marriage, family and friendship. Life loses a great […]
The Work of the Holy Spirit Today From the first chapter of Genesis (Gen. 1:2), to the final chapter of Revelation (Rev. 22:17), we read about the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. He is described as a Person, having intelligence (Isa. 11:2; 1 Cor. 2:10-11), emotions (Isa. 63:10; Eph 4:30), and a will […]
The Christian’s great source of rejoicing is God’s grace, which reconciles us to God. Reconciliation is when God brings sinful man into a perfect, eternal, and harmonious relationship with Himself. Paul writes to the Romans, contrasting man’s attempt to become righteous through his own efforts with God’s way of faith (Rom. 3:28). Righteousness is gained […]
Mary Magdalene received the honor of being the first person the Lord appeared to after His resurrection. She was one of the women who followed the Lord Jesus as he went about His itinerant ministry. These women ministered to the Lord and His disciples out of their own substance (Lk. 8:3). Though Christ performed miracles […]
For the typical believer and especially those younger in the faith, the terms Covenant theology and Dispensationalism can be very confusing. Even mature saints find it difficult to get a handle on these two main approaches to biblical interpretation. Combined with other theological terms such as premillennialism, amillennialism, preterism, Christian reconstructionism and progressive dispensationalism, the […]
A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser: a guide, counselor, and consultant. A mentor shares what they have learned and is assumed to have greater wisdom, experience and maturity. A mentor is also a caregiver. Leadership gurus today uses the term “People Engineering” to denote the concept of a mentoring relationship. In the church, […]
Its Importance The importance of the Lord’s Supper is established by the very fact that it was instituted by the Lord Himself. It was His personal request that we remember Him in this way. It is also the only New Testament church ordinance reaffirmed in Scripture by a glorified Lord (1 Cor. 11:23). Paul told […]
On October 15th of this past year, Paul Allen1 finally succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As co-founder of Microsoft, Allen was a visionary. Much of the technological world around us bears his imprint. “Mr. Allen was a force at Microsoft, along with its co-founder, Bill Gates, as the personal computer was moving from a hobbyist curiosity […]
In the book of Revelation there is an impressive number of references to clothing which encompasses a variety of Greek words. Often in Scripture, the believer’s garment represents righteous works done in faithful obedience to God (e.g., Rev 16:15; 19:8). For the sake of brevity, we will examine a few of the verses in Revelation […]
That God has ordained and blessed the world through preaching should be obvious. Scripture records the spiritual advances that have been made through the preaching of God’s Word1. In addition we are specifically exhorted to “Preach the Word”2. It follows therefore that we should encourage preaching to be done in the finest way possible. There […]
I love Christmas! I especially like reconnecting with family and friends via their Christmas letters to find out how their year has been. I also enjoy reading the biblical account of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and the events surrounding it: first, as prophesied in Genesis (3:15; 49:10); second, as foretold by the […]
C.H. Macintosh said “There are two grand facts which characterize Christianity, and mark it off from all that had gone before; and these are, first, man glorified in heaven; and secondly, God dwelling in man on the earth.” One result of Christ Glorified is the truth of the forerunner, a word found only once in […]
Every phase of life is a new beginning and a learning step in God’s School. These include our school days, our career, and choosing a life partner. The last phase is death. As we begin our physical lives as a baby, we also begin our spiritual lives as babes the day we accept Christ as […]
As a young boy, my family attended a local church where they would annually have a “stewardship Sunday” – where stewardship meant how much money you would give to God for the coming year. It seems they missed the point. God has already given all that we have (not just money) and we are to […]