Devotionals

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    Justification for Drinking?
    A study by Harvard researchers tracked 38,000 men, aged 40 to 75, for 12 years. The results revealed that "those who drank alcohol had 35 to 40 percent fewer heart attacks" and that "the best results came from drinking almost every day." The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

    We are certain that there will be some folks, even some of our brethren, who will quickly latch onto this study and use its results as a further argument to "justify" the practice of "moderate, social drinking." This is anticipated, unfortunately, because there have always been…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    The Ichthus

    (slightly adapted)

    I know you have seen it on T-shirts, sweatshirts, bracelets, necklaces, lapel pins, bumper stickers, and castings on trunk lids. I am referring to the little fish symbol which sometimes has the five letters on it. To many people, it has become as much a symbol of the Christian faith as the cross itself.

    What does it mean? What are those funny letters? What difference does it make?

    The symbol is called an ichthus (pronounced "ickthoose"), which is a Greek word for "fish," and is spelled by those five Greek…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    Can We Play the Lottery?
    The word "covet" is found (in various forms) eighteen times in the Old Testament and twenty-two times in the New Testament. Webster defines covet: "to desire (passionately) [especially, something that another person has]." The Greek meaning of the word is "to fix the desire upon (syn., lust)."

    The Christian is bound by the Law of Christ with such passages as Colossians 3:5, "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." The nature of covetousness is the act of idolatry. In this realm, God is not put…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals Men’s Study Women’s Study Young Men Young Women
    Plain Words about Dress (Or Lack Thereof)
    Few bulletin articles begin with a warning, but I feel compelled to provide advance notice that this article will contain some quite explicit, though not vulgar, language. One would not be far off the mark if he said that the Bible begins and ends with references to the shame of nakedness (Genesis 3:7-10; Revelation 3:18), yet few today seem to have a sense of shame or modesty when it comes to the display of their bodies. No, complete public nakedness is still uncommon, but when Adam hid because he was naked, could his fig leaves have covered much less than…
  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    The Mission of the Church
    It is not the mission of the church to furnish amusement for the world or even for its own members. Innocent amusement in proper proportion has its place in the lives of normal people, but it is not the business of the church to furnish it. The church would come off a poor second if it undertook to compete with institutions established for the express purpose of entertaining people. It would make itself ridiculous if it entered into such competition.

    Again, it is not the responsibility of the church as such to furnish recreation for its members. A certain…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    Godly Reserves
    "I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you."
     Psalm 119:11 (ESV)

    In ancient times, foreign invaders would besiege a city by surrounding it and cutting off commerce, travel and supplies from entering the area. Then the invaders would play a waiting game to see if they could make the city submit due to hunger or thirst, before any allies might come to provide military aid. If the city were unprepared for such an event, they would soon run out of supplies and would be forced to open the gates…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    The Christian and Modesty
    Editor's Note: Sometimes we hear comments to the effect that 1 Timothy 2:9f is really talking about "overdressing" rather than about being insufficiently covered. It is true that "overdressing" appears to be the outward behavior Paul is addressing. But that doesn't tell the whole story. Ethan R. Longhenry has written an article that does a good job of showing that what Paul is really talking about is a mindset, an attitude about oneself, and that the absence of this mindset lies behind both dressing ostentatiously and dressing provocatively.

    The Christian and Modesty

    Modern Western culture is…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    No Fleshly Incentives
    The use of fleshly incentives to draw people to worship services is becoming more and more common. One church offers free cokes, doughnuts, and balloons to its bus riders. Another offers a prize to the child who brings the most visitors. Still another uses some sports figure or entertainer to attract a crowd. Dinners and socials; elaborate church buildings; "Friendliest church in town" or "Fastest-growing church in town" advertising; the list of gimmicks is almost endless.

    A study of 1 Corinthians, chapters 1 and 2, suggests that the people of our generation are not the first to demand fleshly…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    The Pulpit
    "Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hikiah, and Masseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishel, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand." (Nehemiah 8:4)

    Ezra stood at a wooden podium. Other translations use the word pulpit. Ezra stood at the pulpit. What follows is that he opened the book of God read from it and then explained it so that everyone understood. Today, we'd say, 'Ezra preached.'

    I have stood behind several pulpits recently. Most were wooden.…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    An Anecdote from “Raccoon” John Smith
    In passing a Methodist camp meeting one day in September, John Smith stopped to watch a young Methodist preacher baptize a howling, rebellious infant by sprinkling water on the squirming body. When the service was concluded, Smith stepped to the front of the crowd and, identifying himself, took the preacher firmly by the arm and attempted to lead him toward the creek a few yards away.

    "What are you trying to do, Brother Smith?" the young preacher protested. "Are you out of your mind?"

    "What am I trying to do?" (Smith pretended deep surprise.) "Why, sir, I am…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    The Law of Non-Contradiction Argues for the God of the Bible and Against Atheism, Hinduism and Buddhism
    There is an argument for God that I would like for you to consider. This argument says that without the Christian world-view (which is simply the comprehensive belief system, as taught in the Bible), nothing in the world could make rational sense. This is based on three sets of natural laws supported in the scripture:
    1. Laws of Logic (e.g., the law of non-contradiction (LNC))
    2. Uniformity of Nature (Laws of nature, the preconditions of science)
    3. Laws of morality
    This is known as the presuppositional approach to apologetics. No other world-view than that of the Bible, including atheism, Buddhism or…
  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    I Confess!
    I confess I belong to that part of the United States' population identified as the "religious right" (expression to be said with a sneer or contempt in the voice). I am unabashedly religious, believing that one's life should be conducted with devotion to God and my moral and social values are decidedly conservative, i.e., to the "right." But it is becoming popular to characterize the "religious right" as a bunch of fanatical nut-cases who are trying to put a stranglehold on social progress. We are supposedly responsible for whatever bad happens in this great nation of ours.

    Let me…

  • Church of Christ Global
    Bible Studies Devotionals
    Church Discipline Works!
    The scriptures plainly teach the concept of church discipline. "And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed" (2 Thess. 3:14). ". . . with such a one no not to eat" (1 Cor. 5:11).

    There are always those who complain that this discipline will not work. "It drives people away," they claim. And, because they do not believe the process will work, they often refuse to participate in it - continuing to freely associate with the one who has been withdrawn from.…

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