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My cup runneth over …
Colossians 2:9-10 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Paul described the revelation that in the person of Jesus Christ the Godhead was complete and that we are complete in Him. We’ve quoted this on numerous occasions to declare His sufficiency of deity. We are settled that in the Godhead Jesus is enough, but I wonder if we leave the scripture behind when we discuss other subjects about life and ambitions. Is Jesus enough for other parts of life? Is His presence enough to fill those other voids that plague our living? Noted counselors are speaking…
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Jesus is The Door!
Some years ago a few Apostolic brethren were accused of being Exclusivists. Not wanting to become obdurate about our doctrine, they made a feeble attempt to be more inclusive. This resulted in a diluting of holiness standards; a revision of the necessity of Jesus’ name baptism; and the lessening of our emphatic position of speaking in other tongues as the initial sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost. In fact, everything that Paul preached was on the chopping block. Even the scripture delivered by the apostles and prophets was diminished in lieu of being included by their accusers. Sadly…
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Jerusalem …
Jerusalem. That city set on a hill was the birthplace of the first church. It was the epicenter of the first great Holy Ghost outpouring. Peter preached the Keys to the Kingdom on the streets of that city while thousands looked on, but it was not received well in those days. The Roman Empire tried to handle the ever increasing issues among the Jewish leaders. The Sanhedrin despised this new Gospel of repentance, baptism in Jesus’ Name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost evidenced by speaking in other tongues. They worked tirelessly against the apostles’ efforts and the culmination…
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Milk …
The last of the skim milk containers were almost empty when I visited our local coffee shop. It has been reported that more people are using the less fattening milk than ever before. The attendant told the person in front of me, “We just can’t keep skim milk in stock.” Reluctantly the patron said, “Okay, I’ll take the 2%.” Call it culturally cache, but less is more popular than whole. Milk, bread, cheese, beer, yogurt, and yes, doctrine all fall into that cauldron of less. In fact, it could be said that the Believers Lite Club is the fastest growing…
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Why did you leave me?
God never makes mistakes. God never errors in judgement. God is never late or tardy. These are axioms of truth. To add to these declarations, I point your attention to the only glimpse of a young Jesus who has traveled with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem from their hometown of Galilee. It was a Jewish festival that brought this young family to the large city. People from northern Africa and the outposts of the western regions came joined together as well. We would be correct to assume that this was not the first trip Jesus made with His parents, but on…
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Red Cup
Right after the invention of the wheel, the next big thing might be the Red Solo Cup. Just kidding, but it is interesting how reliant we have become on disposal things. It’s easier to use paper plates and expendable items than retain longer lasting articles that need attention. Cardboard, plastics, paper products, and a host of other items have lessened the time of cleanup and expanded the time of leisure. Almost everything today has a limited lifespan. This was not so a few decades ago. Things were kept; cleaned and reused over and over again. Care was taken to maintain an item for the sake…
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This is the LORD’S doing
When I see the provisions of the Lord, I stand amazed at what He has done. The psalmist put it succinctly: Psalm 118:23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. From a humble beginning in a basement church in 1965 to our two campuses, God has guided our steps and made a way for our assembly. No one could have imagined what great things the Lord had in mind. Some might have even thought it impossible. There were meager years where both money and membership waned. There were times of sorrow and loss when faith seemed…
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Loose him, and let him go
John 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them,Loose him, and let him go. Lazarus was a personal friend of Jesus. It is without question that Jesus stayed at the house in Bethany many times. Yet when Lazarus fell sick, and seeing the lack of medical resources available, Mary and Martha sent word for Jesus to come quickly and heal their brother. The Bible describes the Lord purposely waiting several extra days before making His way to the scene. By…
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New Direction
Repentance is a widely used term in most denominational settings. Christians far and wide begin and end with this concept. Most think that it means saying that we are sorry for what we have done wrong. While this is part of the process, repentance is really “an about face.” It is a turning away from our past life of sin. Repentance is akin to the first sacrifice made as they entered the Tabernacle or Temple. Paul reminded us that the Gospel included His death which we find in repentance. Peter preached Repentance, baptism of water in Jesus’ name, and baptism…
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to live is …
While perusing through the plethora of Christian material, I discovered something glaringly absent. There were insights into family; marriage restoration; stewardship and finance material, but nothing about Prayer and Fasting. It provoked me to investigate books written about self-sacrifice and I found very few. Gethsemane where Jesus accepted the cup of sorrow was not found. Power over sin? check. Livin’ the Good life? check. Being an Overcomer? yes. I found the secrets to Giving and how we can expect grand blessings in return. What I did not find was Paul’s admonition that becoming a living sacrifice was called “reasonable.” I did…