Posts from April 2023

       Have you ever tried to put yourself in the place of the prodigal son? You leave or stray away from what you know. You quickly realize the world is not your friend and you need your father. Going home is shameful but necessary. When you get home you are well received. Your father is just happy you are home, even though you have let him down badly. He is waiting to welcome you home.        

       Is the silence of the Scriptures prohibitive? By that we mean, may one improvise in acts of religious devotion in the absence of a specific “you must not …”? If the New Testament is silent about a specific matter (e.g., the baptizing of infants, the burning of incense, the use of mechanical instruments in worship), may a person pursue that practice? Some allege that this is the case. They contend that asking folks to respect the silence of…

       Have we ever wondered how a worm gets inside an apple? If we think that the worm burrows in the apple from the outside , we’d be wrong. Scientists have discovered that the worm comes from the inside of the apple. But, how in the world did he get there? The answer is simple. Female apple maggot flies finds a sweet smelling apple that is ripening and lands on it. Using a small, sharp, hollow tube on the…

  In the text found in 1 John 2:12-17 , the apostle John warns mature men and young men of three lusts: ·      The lust of the flesh ( Genesis 3:6 ; cf. Joshua 7:21 – “saw that the tree was good for food“) — the insatiable appetite to indulge in pleasures that inflame the flesh but never satisfy (Numbers 11). ·      The lust of the eyes ( Genesis 3:6 ; cf. Joshua 7:21 ) – “it was pleasant to…

  The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 has been called the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century. The ancient manuscripts hidden in the caves near Qumran are the oldest known copies of key Old Testament books. As followers of Christ we believe that the Bible is the eternal, unchanging Word of God.( 1 Peter 1:23 -NKJV; cf. Hebrews 6:13-20 -NKJV), thus we firmly believe the inspired words penned by the Psalmist: “Forever, O Lord, Your Word…

  Shopping for a good watermelon is difficult because no matter how good it looks on the outside, it’s hard to tell what it’s really like on the inside. We can tap it, thump it and squeeze it, only to take it home and discover that the inside is not edible. On one occasion when Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before eating, the Pharisees became extremely irritated because it violated one of their man-made traditions ( Mark 7:1-8…

  DISCUSSION                                                                       It can be clearly seen in 1Samuel 21-24, that Saul now has a huge problem with David.  He has already attempted to kill him…twice; now he has begun his quest to hunt him down.  David has fled on the advice of his friend Jonathan and is headed out of the city.  He stops by Nob and that is where we meet the priest Ahimelech.  While there,…

  DISCUSSION                                               Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure that Saul had a list of accomplishments a mile long that were good and a blessing to the Lord.  Sadly though, as we continue our study, we seem to only focus on his shortcomings.  Even after the situation with Agag, the King of Amalek, Saul remained King of Israel even though the LORD had already selected David to be his replacement.  Saul knew his…

  DISCUSSION                                              As they say, one poor decision often leads to another and such is the case with King Saul.  After taking matters into his own hands with the burnt offerings, he now continues his mindset of usurping God’s process and justifying his sin.  However, this time it is on a much larger scale.  God had instructed Samuel to tell Saul to utterly wipe out the Amalekites because of their mistreatment of the Israelites…

  DISCUSSION                                   Here is the situation; the Philistines are preparing to come down and face the Israelites in battle. Due to some previous raids that were successful by Jonathan, the Philistines were getting prepared to take their revenge on Saul and the Israelites.  This sent the Israelites into a frenzy. Although some were ready for battle with Saul, many of the Israelites became afraid and hid themselves in caves and dens fearing…

  DISCUSSION                                                  Someone told me years ago that you can’t please everyone and if you do, then you must be doing something wrong.  The older I get the more I understand their point.  It doesn’t matter how much you try to be the best person you can be, there will always be those that want to criticize, ridicule or demean who you are or what you do.  What makes it difficult is that those are usually…

  DISCUSSION                                                                                                  Have you ever heard the expression “the grass is always greener on the other side”?  This phase came from an old Latin proverb that said, “The corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own does.”  Why is that?  Why do we always look…