Posts by Billy Hayes (Page 2)

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…

I have been asked to explain a passage of God’s Holy Word which we all may be very familiar. It is found in Acts chapter 8. As we pick up the narrative of Acts 8, that latter portion of the chapter deals with a man who is searching for the truth of God’s Word. The preacher, Phillip, was sent to this Eunuch from Ethiopia who is having a little trouble understanding a section of Scripture found in Isaiah 53. This…

The Bible has only one theme: the redemption of mankind. Everything encapsulated in the Holy Writ is to point each one of us toward God. To fully understand this is to understand the one need man has—salvation. After a man hears and believes the truth of God’s Word, repents of sin, makes a confession of Christ and is baptized into Christ. That’s it, right?!? Is there anything else? Well, yes… the child of God then is required by God to…

The Bible has only one theme: the redemption of mankind. Everything encapsulated in the Holy Writ is to point each one of us toward God. To fully understand this is to understand the need one need man has—salvation. After a man hears and believes the truth of God’s Word, repents of sin, what is the next step? The next step is to confess that Jesus is the only Son of God, the Christ. God’s requires CONFESSION- Matthew 10:32-33, 1 John…

The Bible has only one theme: the redemption of mankind. Everything encapsulated in the Holy Writ is to point each one of us toward God. To fully understand this is to understand the need one need man has—salvation. After a man hears and believes the truth of God’s Word, what is the next step? Repentance is defined as the changing of ones mind which results in a change of ones actions. God’s Word teaches us to REPENT- Matthew 21:28-32, Acts…