Posts by Billy Hayes

God has not specified how we are to go, but He has said go to the lost. God has specified what we are to teach those who are lost- the gospel of Jesus Christ! God has also specified to whom we are to preach- all the world. He also specifies when you and I are to go. The answer is now due to the urgency and frailty of human life. 1. The Mission of the church a. The charge from…

We are commanded to be zealous, but what is zeal? We’d love to follow this directive of God, but we may not know exactly what it is. The Greek word used here is zelos. Its meaning is to boil over; to be hot; fervor; passion. Notice a few of these verses: 1. Commanded to be Zealous a. Colossians 4:13, Titus 2:14, Revelation 3:19, Galatians 4:18, Ecclesiastes 9:10   2. Biblical Examples of Zeal a. Numbers 25:11-13, 27-29, Exodus 2:12, 11:8,…

We often sing this lyric: “I will cling to my Savior and never depart -I will joyfully journey each day. With a song on my lips and a song in my heart, That my sins have been taken away.” Many times we get caught up in the idea that I want the musical side of the song to sound great. In doing this we sometimes overlook the wording. As faithful children of God we ought to live with a song…

Acts 1:9-11: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen…

As 2023 passes away and 2024 moves into position, we often take an account of how well or poorly we preformed in the last year. We look at health, our diets, our family and our jobs. We take stock of how the year went and our expectations of that year. We vow to have the incoming year to be closer to our expectation. We have named this process our New Year’s Resolution. While the taking of stock of our expectations…

Hebrews 10:26- “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” (emph. added bh) When we purposely “skip” bible class, we do not serve ourself or our family. Take a few moments to understand this idea. 1. We short-change our CHILDREN Proverbs 14:26, Proverbs 20:7, Ephesians 6:4, Psalm 127:3 2. We…

We ask questions about everything. I think our questioning mindset is why internet search engines do so well. We ask Google for everything. As a matter of fact, if I ask a question in the teen class, I will have them look up the question in order to see what is being said about that subject. Sometimes that is a great idea -sometimes! If I really want to know the authoritative answer on any subject, I will try to go…

We have a lot of time alone in our own hearts and minds to pick apart our flaws and time to bolster our talents. The act of singing is very black and white. Either, I think, I can sing well or I think I do not sing well. However, singing is commanded by God for His children to worship Him. For the student of the Bible, it is well understood that true Godly singing is done by our voices only;…

We have been given a precious and wonderful gift, given to us by the God of Heaven and earth. We are taught about this gift within the Holy Scriptures of our Lord. The gift is called the assurance of salvation. To define this term quickly and efficiently we say the following: Peace of mind and security of the soul when man understands and obeys the plan of God. Without this blessing, you and I could quickly ruin our lives with…

The San Diego Zoo acquired a few young elephants in the early 1980’s. These elephants were young males. These elephants were on their best behavior for a while. They eventually became rowdy! They would fight, chase the zoo keepers at feeding time and generally just be very difficult to handle. No one knew what to do. So the idea was to buy an old adult male to put into the enclosure with them. So that is what the zoo officials…

Every year we leave our comfortable homes and go to a rugged campground for a week. It is a fun time together. It is hot. It is hard. Beds are different. Wildlife is all around us. IT IS NOT A VACATION! So why do we go? Why is it so important? Summer Christian youth camps are a time to grow closer to God through His Word. The central point of camp is the Bible. At Camp Ida, we have bible…

We have heard it said, frequently, that certain events in our lives are “miracles”. It could be that a person walks away from a automobile accident that was devastating or that a child is born into this world and those events be put into the category of the miraculous. Is this true?!? Is this statement not true? What, is a miracle, biblically speaking? A miracle is when Deity, that is the Everlasting God, bypasses the natural order which He placed…