Recently it was my pleasure to participate in the summer series for the Acton church in Michie, TN. The theme was, “Difficult Sayings of Jesus.” My assignment was, “Do not take an oath at all” (Matt. 5:34). It was a joy to be with those brethren and to have a part in this series. […]

Luke 7 makes for a good study of how Jesus treated lost people. In vs. 34 the Lord sites some of the charges spoken against him. The basis for such criticism was his association with people who were “sinners,” being outside the inner sanctum of pharisaic fellowship. Jesus was neither a glutton nor a social […]

Bill Brandstatter             During this COVID-19 crisis, there are three words that should mean more to us now than they ever did before. These three words should mean a lot to us spiritually as well. Perhaps our understanding during the crisis will help us to see the importance of them in our spiritual life. The […]

            What is it that most women want, but few find, in their relationship with men? Equal opportunity and pay in the work place? Dignity in the home? Who would ever guess that the answer might be male spiritual leadership?             Nowhere are there more critical issues at stake. The stability of homes, the sacredness […]

            Last week, when he live streamed our All Comers Bible class covering the books of Ezra & Nehemiah, Wayne Brewer made many good points. Among them were some things he said about the status of our Lord’s church during the period of the Babylonian exile as compared to what is going on today with […]

            I love preaching and I try to love preachers! A person doesn’t spend forty-six (and counting) years of his life doing something he hates. At least I don’t think so anyway. Wisdom would compel you to take a different course long before the passing of over four decades. And at this point you look […]

 Brent Smith With stay at home orders issued by governors across our great land, when quarantine is self-imposed by many who are afraid of getting sick or spreading disease – why are so many churches jumping through hoops to figure out a way to assemble and be responsible good citizens? It’s not surprising that a […]

            Perhaps I had heard the word “pandemic” before, but it did not lodge in my memory. Well, it’s lodged there now. Eddie Cloer said to me the other day that if you had asked him what he thought might have the potential to affect us this way he would never have guessed that it […]

Brent Smith             If we love God, then keeping his commandments is not grievous (1 John 5:3). But Jesus did say, “strait” (or difficult) “is the gate and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Jesus also said that coming after him required us to […]

In 1887 Abraham Lincoln’s body was exhumed on the persistent rumor that his grave was empty. The exhumation revealed his remains intact. Facts mess up rumors! But, good rumors never die easily. Fourteen years later the same rumor resurfaced.              Cleon Lyles once wrote the following: “When I hear statements about people, made by those […]