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(Note: I wrote this almost a year ago as my dear friend, Craig Wray, had just succumbed to his cancer. As the anniversary date of his death approaches, he has been on my mind quite a bit. I just recorded a video for our Bible investigation in which we attempt to answer the question about how a Christian is to count it joy when he/she goes through trials, such as cancer. Craig exemplified this mindset. I wish you all could…

(Note from Josh…Luke Tatum addresses something here that is quite thought provoking. When we come to worship, we must remember that it is, #1 about God, not me. #2, God is looking on the heart, not the clothes. I am convinced, that with some folks in the church, Jesus, Paul, or Peter would have been asked to go put on a suit and tie before they were allowed in the pulpit. As Luke points out, if you are convicted that…

I remember when I was fourteen years old and I was playing on my Babe Ruth All-Star team. That team was one of the most tenacious teams I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing baseball with. During the All-Star tournaments, we played a total of ten games. Out of those ten games, we managed to win eight of them before being eliminated and finishing third in the state. But out of those eight wins all but one of them were…

As I write this, it is 10:49pm on Saturday, October 5, 2024. Today will be remembered in the College Football world as Upset Saturday as two Top 5 teams were beaten by unranked teams (my #4 Vols being one of those teams). Number 9 Missouri fell to #25 Texas A&M; #22 Louisville fell to unranked SMU; #10 Michigan fell to unranked Washington; #11 USC fell to unranked Minnesota; to round out the weekend, #25 UNLV lost to unranked Syracuse and…

Some time ago, I attended a St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates and the game was a good one. Somewhere around the eighth inning it began to rain. After the rain delay, my father, my brother, and I went back to our seats. Sitting near us, were two teenage boys of about fifteen or sixteen. Many people had left when the rain started, so there were some empty seats down in front…

The man Jonah is a mystery. First alluded to in 2 Kings 14:25, all that is recorded of him there is that he prophesied concerning the restoration of the “territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah”; he was the son of Amittai and was from Gath Hepher. Nothing else is recorded of him until we get to the book which bears his name. That he was a real, historical person, there can be…

The devil lies! You know that, right? You cannot believe or trust anything that the devil would have you to believe or trust! What he tries to convince you to do is completely contrary to whatever God wants you to do. Would you like some evidence? In Genesis 2:17, God said, “…of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Then twelve…

In 1882, Priscilla J. Owens penned these opening words of a familiar hymn: “We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!” What could be a more “joyful sound” than that? In fact, if you were looking for a simple two-word summary of the whole Bible, you could not find one better than “Jesus saves!” Let us think about this exciting subject! Jesus saves by the grace of God! The Scripture plainly teaches, “For by grace have you been…

The scene was set. Jesus was teaching and here they come- with her in tow. The Pharisees are mad and they think that they have Jesus in a compromised position. What will He do here? He has two choices: 1. Jesus will agree with the Pharisees and will punish this sinner or 2. Jesus will flaunt the Law and prove Himself to be in opposition to God. She is only a pawn in a sick spiritual chess match. Nothing is…

While the concept might have originated in Europe, it was William Morrison and John C. Wharton of Nashville who made it become a reality. In 1897, they created the machine which used air and sugar to popularize the spread of a new product. They called it fairy floss. It still has that name in Australia. In much of the world, it is called candy floss. In France, it is called Papa’s beard. You have eaten it since you were a…

It is estimated that Daniel and his companions were mere teenagers when taken into Babylonian captivity. What would you have done? If you were a teenager, taken into a foreign country (a pagan nation) for the rest of your life, what would you have done? If you were given the opportunity to live, not among the captives, but among royalty, what would you have done? Would you have been tempted to compromise your faith? Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah did…

Knowing the influence that friends have on each other, the Lord advises that “the righteous should choose his friends carefully” (Prov. 12:26). Friends, even as the Bible uses the word, are not mere acquaintances. True friends build a relationship which can surpass even that which they experienced in their own home. Solomon stated that “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother,” and “a friend loves at all times” (Prov. 18:24; 17:17). (This is why husbands and wives…