Posts from 2020 (Page 4)
Godly Fathers
For me, each year’s Father’s Day is a special day on the calendar. The day reminds me of some of my greatest blessings…my children and my grandchildren. I first became a father on May 3rd, 1981. As a father, I did a lot of growing as I matured as a father over the years and I hope that I am a much better grandfather today. The role of fatherhood is an especially important part of God’s plan of family. The…
Who is impacting your life?
The only grandparent I ever knew was my mother’s mom. My other grandparents died before I was born. My dad’s father was a longtime elder in the church. Even though I never met him, in some ways I know him well by the many stories shared with me by people in the community in which I grew up in as a child. My grandfather was the elder people would normally turn to in times of need. He had a generous…
Finding the Answers
In the online class BIBLE INVESTIGATION, I am doing my best to answer a host of questions that have been submitted by class participants. This past week one of the questions came from a young father living in Africa. His question was, ‘In the confusion of today’s religious world, can we have agreement & unity’? His question was generated from the frustration he has felt the past two years. About two years ago a denominational missionary visited his small village…
Can a man “ACCEPT” Jesus?
So many have been taught that mankind only needs to “accept” Jesus in order to be saved by God. Is this true? What does the term accept mean? What about baptism, repentance or confession? How do I understand the idea of accept? Accepting Jesus means the following: We must accept Jesus as KING. The title Christ means King. Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of all lords (Revelation 19:16). Being the King means a few things. Being…
Our New Study: Bible Investigation
A change took place last week. Did you notice? Our online Bible class at 9 pm A NEW DAY, A NEW YOU was replaced by the class, BIBLE INVESTIGATION. You might wonder ~why? Originally BIBLE INVESTIGATION was going to be about twice per month and feature a more in-depth study of a particular subject or an examination of questions that had been emailed in. The reaction to the first three classes was outstanding as those three classes were averaging almost 70%…
God’s View of Sin
It has been very well said throughout the years that sin will take you further than you ever wanted to go. Sin will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay. Sin will cost you more than you ever wanted to pay. Sin will require of you more than you ever wanted to give. In our modern culture, the word sin is rarely, if ever, used. However, God’s Word speaks plainly to the idea of sin. Sin is the…
Dealing with Discouragement
One man said, “Discouragement is having faith in the devil.” In some ways that is true. Discouragement means we do not think Jesus has the answers for our life and our many problems. Here are four causes of discouragement: Taking your eyes off the Lord Jesus. Yielding to self-pity and false pride. Self is always your BIGGEST enemy. Expecting God to solve your problems quickly and miraculously. God seldom uses the dramatic explosion or the proverbial earthquake to solve dilemmas.…
Judgment
In this world, we can look around and see shirts and tattoos and hats and signs which read: “Only God can judge me.” This statement is true but it is not exactly true by the way this attitude that exudes from most people. Is this statement just a way for folks to do what they want to without you and I saying anything? Do people really believe this? Do I believe this? Let’s take a few moments to study this statement.…
Share to Share
Here’s a question for you. Do you want the message of God’s Word shared among 124 people or 471 people? I’m still very new to this world of online Bible teaching. I have been learning these past few weeks as I teach our various online Bible classes I am hopefully getting better. One thing I have noticed is the large fluctuation between the number of people viewing each particular class. That difference can be explained by the subject matter (perhaps a…
Mother’s Day
Every year our nation pauses on the second Sunday in May to pay well-deserved honor and respect to those special women we call MOM. In my life there have been several women who have served an important role in helping me to become the Christian I am today. Since I was born to parents who were up in years when I was born, I only had one grandparent still alive when I was born, my mother’s mom. Ma Dial gave…
Do You Have HOPE?
In this world, two groups of people exist. One group has hope. The other group has no hope. Ephesians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and Revelation 21:8 all deals with the man with no hope. Hope is a choice and so many today chose to have hope. This morning, let’s explore what that means. What is hope? According to Romans 8:24, biblical hope is desire plus expectation. We often confuse the idea of “wishing” with hope. One might say, “I hope…
Reflecting on Mom
This past April 16th was the 103rd anniversary of my mother’s birthday. That day on the calendar is always a tough day for me. Even though it has been almost 20 years since my mother left our world, hardly a week goes by that I do not think about her in some way or another. Memories of her flood my soul. My mother was the foundation for my faith. If I was picking cotton by her side in the fall,…