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SHOULD I CALL MY PREACHER "REVEREND"?
(Mike Willis)When some people learn that I preach, they refer to me as "Reverend" or "Rev." I understand that they are trying to show respect and courtesy toward me. Such religious titles are commonly worn by the "clergy" of the denominations and, judging the churches of Christ to be just another denomination, they refer to gospel preachers just like they refer to the denominational clergy. Nevertheless, I refuse to accept the religious titles commonly worn by…
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A funny thing once happened to me in New Orleans. I was staying at the Downtowner Hotel on Bourbon Street right in the midst of the French Quarter. That, as some of you know, must compare to the society of Sodom and Gomorrah. One evening as I was returning to my hotel I stopped along the way to purchase a quart of milk. Milk in hand (in a plain brown bag), I resumed my stroll down the center of Bourbon Street, now crowded with a variety of staggering revelers. Just as I approached my hotel a…
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Centuries ago when the Olympic games were held in Athens, it is said that an old, feeble man once came late into the arena. There were no longer any empty seats. He passed the benches where the Athenians sat, and they laughed at him.
Then he passed by where the Spartans were sitting. Immediately two men rose to their feet to offer the aged man their seat. They had obviously been taught to show respect to their elders and were not hesitant to do so.
When the Athenians saw this gesture by the Spartans they began to cheer.
“Ah,” said the old man,…
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I believe Christians may “depart from the faith,” “fall away from grace,” even “deny the Lord that bought them” (1Tim. 4:1; Gal. 5:4; 2Pet. 2:1) for the scriptures clearly teach this.
1 Jn 2:19 says: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” Those who believe this applies to all who backslide…
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In 1647 the Westminster Assembly published its Shorter Catechism, a collection of 107 questions and answers to be used in instructing children in the basics of the Christian faith. The very first question reads: “What is the chief end of man?”
That is a very important question. How would you answer it? The Catechism says: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
That answer agrees with what we read throughout scripture: “Whether ye…
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I was recently reading 1 Peter 4 while studying the different “one another” (allēlōn) phrases throughout the New Testament that appear to all point back to Jesus’s statement in John 13, “love one another: just as I have loved you.” It was during this study that I came away with a whole new perspective on 1 Peter 4:9 and what it means to “Show hospitality to one another.” While the idea behind it is artfully weaved all throughout scripture, it’s really the only passage that talks about showing hospitality to “one another”…
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Compare these two statements of Jesus, and think about what they have in common.
If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. (Matthew 5:23-24)
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. (Matthew 18:15)
Both…
