Articles

2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test? Anyone who knows me will know that when I put something together, I had better test whatever it is before debuting it. An easy one to think about is when I put together my PowerPoint slides for my lessons. For the most part, I try to keep them simple with big, bold lettering. Anytime I decide that I want to “fancy” them up, I […]

Whenever my two older boys come to me to ask me about doing something, I usually make them think about how they ask the question before I give them an answer. For example, sometimes they will ask “Can we have a dessert? or Can we go outside?” When those questions are asked in that particular way, I typically respond accordingly, “I don’t know, can you?” Obviously they can go outside, but that is not how they should ask the question. “May we have dessert?” or “May we go outside?”. They typically catch themselves before finishing the question to reword the […]

“Get out while you still can!”, “Get out while the getting is good!”, “Quit while you are ahead!” We all understand exactly what people are trying to say when these phrases are used. To break them down even more, I tend of think of…”Leave while it is still possible!”, “Leave while you can and have the chance to!”, “Stop doing that because the risk is not worth the reward – something bad will happen!”. There are numerous examples that we can come up with in order to establish a baseline for ourselves. This is not an exhaustive list, but I […]

John 15:18-21 NASB If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My […]

Genesis 5:22-24 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. I have heard some outlandish things said by others regarding Enoch. There is no doubt that some of you have probably encountered something similar. The purpose of this article has nothing to do with trying to settle any controversy that may be had over Enoch in how he was taken by God. […]

Most who read this bulletin can easily recall the times when they witnessed (and/or) experienced getting in trouble by a stranger or someone else who was not their mother or father. Believe it or not, I too, fall into that category. Those days are long gone. Discipline in schools is a joke, other people will interject themselves into other people’s affairs when trying to discipline their children, others refusing to acknowledge or accept that a wrong has occurred, etc. I could easily fill up this bulletin with just different examples of things that reference the idea of having the attitude […]

Our commitment to God should be rooted and grounded in the fact that God loves us. God has done all things necessary and sufficient in order to maintain a relationship with his creation. As his creation, we have no right to withhold our loyalty and commitment from God due to a set of particular circumstances. We often excuse ourselves due to adverse conditions. “If only my boss did not micromanage me, I would be more inclined to work harder.” 1 Peter 2:18-19 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, […]

I remember different times in my childhood when I would hear certain words being used in a particular tone, and it was during those specific times that I knew that something “negative” was being said. Even if I didn’t know at the time what those words meant. You ever walk into a room full of people, but it is quiet. It is so quiet in the room that you say something along the lines of “I could just cut the tension in the air with a knife”? That type of feeling that even though you are not too sure what […]

It is a rare feat to find a local church that meets for two different worship assemblies on Sundays now. Many groups have gone to only one worship assembly on Sunday mornings only. If we were to count the “traditional” bible class meetings, then you would have an additional time on Sundays and then possibly Wednesdays. Thankfully, we offer a Bible class study and two worship assemblies on Sundays, and a Bible class study on Wednesday evenings. That can be overwhelming for some people who have genuine reasons for not always being able to attend but for the lazy or […]