by Curtis Going Preposition: a word that indicates the location or relation of one person or thing to another person or thing   Consider the following scenario. You are standing beneath a large oak tree in your back yard when suddenly someone yells, “Look out for that rattlesnake!” “Where?!” “On that branch above your head!” How would you know where to look, or, more importantly, how would you know where to run without prepositions? Prepositions communicate essential information to us...

by Paul Pierpoint A number of years ago, a boy came running home to his house after a Sunday morning service and cried to his mother. “Mommy, Mommy, I’ve got a part in the Christmas play.” His mother replied, “What part do you have, Tom?” “I’m one of the three wise guys!” This little bit of humor brings back some memories of my first church and my first experience in preparing a Christmas program. We had some boys who came only to Sunday School. They were not a part of the church. I wanted to...

by Curtis Going The Old Testament book of Nehemiah is incredibly relevant to the New Testament Church! The central figure of the book is Nehemiah, a leader specially qualified and appointed by God Himself to assist in the great work of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem many years after Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army ransacked and destroyed it. Nehemiah was a leader of rare distinction, and a survey of the book that bears his name reveals the outstanding qualities of his leadership....

by Gleason H. Ledyard The Church has many needs today. One of the strongest, a cry that comes from every corner of the globe, is the cry for a man of God. What kind of men does God need today? Let’s take missionary Paul as our example. Scriptures such as I Corinthians 9:9-22 and II Corinthians 11:23-27 show us the man Paul. Painful experiences crowded in on him. There were difficulties and there was torture—times when he was pressed almost beyond measure. Yet the cause of his Lord and the need...

By Randall McElwain Have you ever played the game, “Ain’t It Awful?” If you’ve never played this game, the rules are pretty simple. In conversation, you share something from the news and say, “Ain’t it awful what people are doing today?” Then someone else takes a turn, “And I heard…. Ain’t it awful?”  The game can go for a long time. “Ain’t it awful how Hollywood makes such vulgar movies?” “Ain’t it awful what those liberal judges are doing?” “Ain’t it awful how few people go to church?”...

By Curtis Going One of the most significant relationships recorded in the pages of Scripture is the friendship between the Apostle Paul, missionary to the Gentiles, and a young man named Timothy who was converted under Paul’s ministry and later entered into pastoral service as Paul’s protégé. I and II Timothy record Paul’s direction and instruction to young Timothy. These two books of the Bible serve as an example of a mentoring relationship between a wise, experienced pastor and a young man...

By Garen Wolf A portion of II Chronicles 23:13 makes a statement that recently caught my attention as I was reading the twenty third chapter. A particular distinction of Levite teachers was pointed out as “…such as taught to sing praise.” I am intrigued by these teachers who yada halal (3045,1984). There are almost as many opinions about the correct rendering of yada halal as there are translators. Although some translators render this as leaders of praise, I see no reason to rule out the...

By Richard S. Taylor If holiness has been reached why the continued discipline? Cannot it now be laid aside as the scaffolding is removed after the building is finished? Is it not inconsistent to profess purity of heart and then admit the continued need for discipline? Not at all, as we shall see presently. But first, let us concede that much unwholesome discipline will drop off when one finds perfect rest. Extreme and unnatural self-discipline is often but the scourge of a restless, hungry...

By Rick Jones He has attended our church on and off for several months and this morning he called to offer some friendly advice: “Pastor, you need to get up with the times and preach a more positive message…You need to lighten up…you should just pray and help people to think good thoughts…most people are going to heaven they just need encouragement…you’d be more popular.” His call was not well timed. I had just been reading A.W. Tozer’s warning to the Church. “Modern preaching does not deal...