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God’s End of the Stick
A lady once asked me what she should tell a friend who had proposed the old
“died-on-way-to-baptistry” question. I answered, “Don’t tell her the subject is
lost.” She looked a bit surprised, but I was not finished. “And don’t tell her the
subject is saved.” Now she was even more puzzled so I added, “We have no right
to whittle on God’s end of the stick!”
Truth is, God promised remission of sins at the point of genuine submission to
Christ in baptism (Mk. 16: 16, Acts 2:38, 22:16, Rom. 6:4-f). We have no part in -
Atheism and Morality
The following statements were made by some leading atheists. Notice what they
reveal about the results of denying the existence of God:
“The religious fundamentalists are correct: without God, there is no
morality. But they are incorrect, I still believe, about there being a God.
Hence, I believe, there is no morality.”Joel Marks, Professor Emeritus of
Philosophy, U of New Haven
“We have not been able to show that reason requires the moral point of
view . . . pure practical reason, even with a good knowledge of the facts,
will not take you to morality . .… -
“BEYOND REDEMPTION”
(Guy. N. Woods)The frightening possibility of apostasy by even the most favored of the Lord's people, is clearly evidenced in the remarkable narrative which follows: “For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made par takers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves…
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POWERFUL
- Lk. 4:1-6 (Power to tempt even Jesus)
- 2 Cor. 12:7ff. (Power to afflict) (cf. Lk. 13:16)
- Heb. 2:14,15 (Power of death) (cf. Job 2:4-6)
- 1 Cor. 15:25,26 (Power removed at resurrection – exercises power until then)
ACTIVE
- Jam. 4:7 (active, must be resisted, cf. 1 Pet 5:9)
- Lk. 8 (parable of Sower, v.12 birds = devil)
- Lk. 22:3 (Jn. 13:2, Satan entered Judas’ heart)
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GOSPEL PREACHING:
THE MEANS AND MESSAGE OF SALVATION
by: Ron HalbrookChurches of Christ put great emphasis upon gospel preaching as the God-given means and message of salvation. God made man in His image as an intelligent being and words are the means of communication between intelligent beings. God communicates His love and will for man through the medium of words which men can understand.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past
unto…
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Savor The Pain
I was once watching a romantic comedy (the name escapes me, surprisingly) with
my beautiful bride, when one of the characters said something that woke me up,
that is, caught my attention. Our hero (whose name I don’t remember) had just
failed miserably in his scheme to win the girl of his dreams (whom I also don’t
remember, although I think she was a brunette). While drowning his sorrows, a
friend tells him to: “Savor the pain.”
Savor the pain!? Why on earth would he want to do that? Pain hurts. Pain is
what he was trying to… -
AFRAID
(By Louis Cook)Why are you afraid? Jesus asked His disciples in Mk 4:40, and then He answered the question why do you have so little faith? Did they not realize who Jesus was, sleeping in the same boat?
We are often afraid [fearful] of many things in our lives, and like the disciples, we are afraid of death [(Matthew 8:25) And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" (NAS95)
There is a long…
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"FEEL GOOD" PREACHING
(Larry Ray Hafley)Our heavenly Father is "the God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3). At times, God instructed his prophets to "speak comfortably" to his people (Isa. 40:1, 2). Indeed, we must take the word of God and "comfort one another" (1 Thess. 4:18). When one is fainthearted, he needs words of encouragement (1 Thess. 5:14). When one is bowed down with sorrow and shame for sin, we must comfort him with love and forgiveness (2 Cor. 2:7, 8).
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Why Does He Keep Saying “Yes” ?
Genesis 1, 3, 9
Go and be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over all the earth. The
encouragement and blessing, wrapping a blanket of abundance around His
beloved images, gifted as a promise, two times. First to the man and woman in
the garden and then to the only eight left, after the desperately needed water
cleansing of God’s creation. As Adam and Eve consume the fruit that promises to
give them something they already had in incomparable abundance, as Ham
disgraces his father so profoundly that the details are left mostly unsaid,…
