One of the things that makes the Bible so real to us is the relatability of the stories it gives us. On some level, each of us will no doubt have very similar issues as those that we read about in these stories. What got me started down this path was considering the story of…
Being purchased stresses things the Lord wants us to remember. We belong to God. Connected to this is how precious we are to Him. We are dear to Him. Because of sin, a price had to be paid — the price of redemption. The price was commensurate with the value of who we are and…
God is, by nature, a Savior. In Hosea 13:4 and Isaiah 43: 3, 11, as well as other places, we see God asserting that He alone is God and that besides Him, there is no Savior. In 1 Timothy 4:10, we read, “For to this end we toil and strive because we have our hope…
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). When we look at the Apostles, they had not been to the rabbinic schools. They were fisherman. However, it was not their ignorance; it was…
Four times, the Bible declares, “The just shall live by faith.” Paul famously wrote to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). To the Romans, he stated, “we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:2). Faith, then, is the door into the halls…
Charles Ross was an evangelist sent from the Excelsior Springs Church of Christ. He loved the Lord’s people and was a friend to many. He met people from all walks of life and met them with ease and friendliness. He had no arrogance, nor did he set himself above others. He was easy to engage…
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10). I was recently asked to present some thoughts before a congregation regarding my interaction with elders and elderships over the years. Toward the close of my lesson, a…
Exposure is the experience of or contact with something. It could be a physical element or a social association. It is usually not a friendly term. Exposure is often used to articulate something bad or excessive such as radiation exposure, over or under-exposure, or even indecent exposure (something lewd, immodest, or criminal). But we want…