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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…

 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…

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…

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%…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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,…

In our world today, we find ourselves in the mental state as if we are in jail. We equate our homes during quarantine as if we are sentenced to the department of corrections penal facility, never to get out again. This is the classic human condition. We cannot see the bigger picture, or maybe we will not see the bigger picture. We focus all of our time and attention on why we cannot go and do this or that. Allow…

We are all in an odd place in history. This is an interesting time as we maneuver through this very strange time of virus and quarantine. We can talk to others around us and hear the grumblings of the desire to get back to our “normal” life. Our older generation wants to go back to work. Our younger generation wants to see their friends. But let’s focus in on the church during this time of uncertainty.  The 70 West congregation…

Sometimes the ‘LITTLE THINGS’ can be so important. A little extra effort can go a long way especially when it concerns the impact of God’s Word.  Take for example the simple step of clicking on SHARE and SHARE NOW after watching one of the Bible class videos being produced by Tim Togami, Billy Hayes, and myself. Please, after studying with us, click on that SHARE and invite your own Facebook friends to join us in the study.  I recently established…