We all know about cliques both in and out of the church. Some of us are at least a little bit put off by them. We may feel that we are looked upon as an outsider who is unwelcome if indeed we are looked upon at all. As Justin Rogers noted in his book, […]

     “For this reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or […]

In the All Comers class this past Tuesday, we studied Psalm 139. By the time we got to verse 23, we were pressed for time—which is a shame, because that verse is (from our perspective) one of the most pertinent and comforting verses in the entire psalm. It reads, “Search me, O God, and know […]

            There were many times throughout the Old Testament when the people of God failed to live up to what God desired and their failure often related to their outright turning from God to idols. That had been the case specifically with Israel, the Northern Kingdom, when Amos the prophet and herdsman from Tekoa in […]

            Four years ago it was my privilege to teach through the book of Ecclesiastes in my Wednesday night class. Before going into that study I naively thought that the book was relatively simple. It didn’t take long for me to discover that it presents a mountain of interpretive challenges. Of particular interest here will […]

            Not long after Jesus began his preaching ministry (Matthew 4:17) he selected his twelve apostles to assist him in carrying on the work. The word apostle literally means “one sent” and so these godly men would be sent out with the primary purpose of preaching and teaching. “Now the names of the twelve apostles […]

Ben Giselbach This really made me think about a subject that we might not always think about as much as we should. Thought it would be good for everybody to get to read so we can always be trying to welcome visitors more effectively, even in the Covid era. Picture this: A man and his […]

            Most everyone at some time in their life has had a bag of some kind that has had a hole in it. You began to place something into the bag and before too long you noticed that it was leaking or falling out of the bag because the bag has a hole in it. […]

Steve Higginbothom What words come to mind after watching the first presidential debate? Here are the words that come to my mind… Rancor. Disrespect. Dishonesty. Misrepresentations. Lies. Rudeness. Slow to listen; swift to speak. What’s even more interesting to me are the words that come to mind after listening to God’s people on social media […]

There was a time during the ministry of Jesus when the disciples thought that he was too busy to be bothered with the children. “Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them” (Matthew 19:13). Evidently there were some parents that […]