LET THE BIBLE SPEAK.

ARE THERE CHRISTIANS IN DENOMINATIONS? by Roger D. Campbell This is a question that deserves our attention. It is one that is frequently asked. Young people ask it. Some of those that have been members of the church for a long time also ask it. Those outside of the Lord’s church ask it. We are convinced that when such an inquiry comes from a sincere heart that is searching for truth, then it deserves a Bible answer. Are there Christians in denominations? The correct standard by which we should answer such a question is not our personal feelings, what we have always believed, what we hope is true, or what the majority of people believe on the matter. Like any other question that pertains to spiritual matters, we ought to “speak as the oracles of God” (I Peter 4:11) when answering it. Fact: THERE WERE NO CHRISTIANS IN DENOMINATIONS IN THE FIRST CENTURY. There were no denominations that existed at that time, so it was impossible for Christians to be members of them. ...

A MAN STOLE A HORSE… by Wade Phillips There are three examples given of a man committing a particular sin. The reader is encouraged to read them and consider them in light of the scriptures, answering the questions that are asked, honestly and sincerely. Example one: 1. A man stole a horse. 2. His original act of theft was sinful and keeping the horse is sinful, but he kept it anyway. 3. Years later, he was taught the gospel and was baptized. 4. Would he be forgiven of stealing the horse at this point? 5. Should he return the horse? 6. Or is the horse his to keep because he was baptized? 7. It was sinful to have it before he was baptized because he got it unlawfully (scripturally and civilly), and it is sinful for him not to return it its owner. 8. What would make it not sinful after he was baptized? 9. Only repentance can now make it right, and he must give back the horse. Example two: 1. A man “marries” his homosexual partner. 2. He committed a sin...

THE HIDDEN MAN OF THE HEART by Alan Adams The beautiful thought expressed in this title is couched within a section of scripture which deals with the question of Christian wives trying to win their non-Christian husbands (1 Peter 3:1-7). First, the wife must not try to "talk" her husband into the church. There is a far more convincing method. Read verse one. The phrase, "the word," is used two times. Peter speaks of husbands who "obey not the word." This WORD is the word of God and the meaning is, these are people who have yet to obey the "word," they are not Christians. However, in the second case, for some reason unbeknownst to me, translators have added the definite article, "the," so, it reads: "they ...may without the word be won." Actually, that is quite impossible. Nobody can be WON without the word of God. The passage literally says, "they ... may without a word be won by the conversation of the wives." W...

Introducing Ourselves: We Are a Church of Christ Who we are We are a church of Christ in the most biblical way possible. Being Christians individually, together we are a church. We are baptized believers, raised to walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4) through faith in God’s work of salvation through Christ (Colossians 2:12). We are not perfect, but rather forgiven (Romans 3:23-24; I John 1:8-9). We are a diverse group of Christians of varying ages and from different backgrounds, income levels, and education. We are not ashamed to wear the name of our Lord; that is why the Bible identifies groups like us as churches of Christ (Romans 16:16), or more simply, the church. You may hear us refer to one another as brother or sister because we consider ourselves a family (Ephesians 2:19). You will not hear men being glorified for their position, wealth, or fame (Matthew 23:8-12). We are not affiliated with any denomination, including those who may have “Church o...

Why I Left The Christian Church 1. The Christian Church has women Counselors, Directors and Lecturers; the church of Christ does not (I Timothy 2:11-12; I Corinthians 14:34). 2. The Christian Church has Educational Directors, Associate Ministers and Youth Directors; the church of Christ has elders, deacons, evangelists and teachers (Ephesians 4:11; Philippians 1:1). 3. The Christian Church has Missionary, Benevolent and Educational Organizations to execute the work of the church; the church of Christ does not (Ephesians 4:4; 3:10, 21). 4. The Christian Church celebrates days of heathen worship, such as Easter, Mother's Day and Christmas; the church of Christ does not (Galatians 4:10). 5. The Christian Church fellowships various denominations in their activities, leaving the impression that all are brethren; the church of Christ does not (II John 9-11; Galatians 1:6-10). 6. The Christian Church seeks to get crowds with Youth Meetings, Campaigns for Christ, Rallies, Drives and ...

POOR LITTLE TIMOTHY In what many consider to be the last epistle written by the apostle Paul, the aging soldier of the Christ wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:14,15). At some point in his life little Timothy began to learn "the holy scriptures." Just when was that? The Bible’s answer is "from a child." The word "child" is from the Greek word "βρέφος” (“brephos”), which means “a. an unborn child, embryo, fetus: Lk. 1:41,44 . . . b. a new-born child, an infant, a babe” [Joseph H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002), p. 105]. That same Greek word translated as "ch...

If the Holy Spirit Operated Directly on Mankind ... Many people's concept of Christianity includes some mysterious work of the Holy Spirit to change one's life. The Bible does teach the Spirit operates upon man to create faith, convict of sin, and covert the soul. Does he operate directly on man or does he work through the Word of God? The Bible states that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). This Word is "quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). These two verses show that the Spirit operates not directly upon man but though the agency of the Word of God. It is much like the man who went to cut down a tree. Did he cut down the tree or did the saw? Obviously, the man did, but he exerted an influence on the tree through his tool. Suppose the Holy Spirit did operate d...

ÇHRISTIANS NOW ( A ). (Romans 8:1) 1. No condemnation (Ro 8:1). 2. Walk not according to flesh but the Spirit (Ro 8:4). 3. Life and peace (Ro 8:6). 4. Christ is in you . . . the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Ro 8:10). 5. Spirit of adoption (Ro 8:15). 6. Heirs (Ro 8:17). CHRISTIANS NOW ( B ). (Romans 8:1) 1. Hope, patience (Ro 8:24, 25). 2. Spirit helps in prayer (Ro 8:26, 27). 3. All things work together for good (Ro 8:28). 4. God is for us (Ro 8:31-33). 5. Inseparable from love of Christ (Ro 8:35, 38, 39). 6. Overwhelmingly conqueror (Ro 8:37). There is therefore now no condemnation [there is then, so there is, now no condemnation]. [ 3 ] "Therefore" refers back to chapter 7, and the fact that God set us free through Christ (see notes on Ro 7:25; 8:16). "No condemnation" is the corollary to forgiveness and justification (see note on verse 34). After the darkness of sin described in chapter 7, we enter the golden sunlight of salvation...

WEAKNESSES OF LAW OF MOSES (Ro 8:3) 1. Weak through the flesh; none kept the Law perfectly (Ro 8:3). 2. Its priesthood mortal, temporal (Heb 7:23). 3. Contained types and shadows, not reality (Heb 8:5; 10:1). 4. No permanent remission of sins (Heb 10:2-4). From the law of sin and death [from the law of sin and of death].[ 11 ] Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (Joh 8:34; see also Ac 8:23; Ro 6:16; 7:14; 2Ti 2:26; 2Pe 2:19). Paul spoke of "the law of sin" that is served by the flesh (Ro 7:25). The Law of Moses emphasized the tragic results that resulted because of man's sins (see note verse 3). It was weak because of man sins. It was weak because it provided no means of absolute pardon. Instead, it brought death (see chart WEAKNESSES OF THE LAW OF MOSES). Christ delivered from the power of sin, from the curse of death and from the Law (Ro 7:6). THE LAW COULD NOT CONDEMN SIN LIKE GOD DID 8:3, 4 For what the...

The church of Christ is one body: unique, indivisible, exclusive and real By 'church of Christ' we mean the church that Jesus built (Matthew 16:18), also called 'the body of Christ' (Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18,24). Christ's church is unique, one of a kind, incomparable. The foundation of the church is unique: "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). Christ is "the only begotten Son of God" (John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; Hebrews 1:5; 1 John 4:9). He is one Shepherd of one flock (John 10:16). "He is the head of the body, the church" (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22,23). "Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). "There is one body" (Ephesians 4:4). "We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another" (Romans 12:5). We are reconciled to God "in one body th...

Exhortations & Stuff The Perfect Church I think that I shall never see      A church that's all it ought to be; A church whose members never stray      Beyond the strait and narrow way. A church that has no empty pews,      Whose preacher never has the blues; Where elders "eld" and deacons "deak",      And none is proud, and all are meek. Where gossips never peddle lies,      Or make complaints, or criticize; Whose members all are sweet and kind,      And to each other's faults are blind. Such congregations there may be,      But none of them are known to me; So let us work and pray and plan      To make THIS church the best we can.     Author Unknown Whit Sasser whit.sasser@gmail.com

TOPIC:            7 REASONS WHY NO PAYMENT OF TITHE TODAY INTRODUCTION Many religious leaders who found churches today do so to enrich themselves. They are motivated by a desire for money, and so they commercialize the Christian religion, whereby they lay all kinds of burdens on people for selfish advantage. They pervert the Scriptures and create unnecessary fear in people, thus bringing them under a kind of religious bondage. One of these yokes of bondage is the imposition of tithing on people. To achieve their aim, they threaten people with the curse of Malachi 3:8-10. They link any evil or calamity that befalls a person with non-payment of the tithe or unfaithfulness in the paying of the tithe. People have been made to believe that sickness, loss of job, barrenness or any suffering that man may experience is as a result of failure to pay the tithe. Also, men are made to believe that it is by paying tithe that blessings are rec...

The Value of Old Testament Study By Jason Jackson Several New Testament passages teach the temporary design of the Old Testament system (the Law of Moses), and the fact that the new covenant of Christ superseded the Old (Colossians 2:14-15; Ephesians 2:14-15; Galatians 3:23-25; Romans 7:1-6; Hebrews 6:12; 9:15-17). If the Old Testament has been abrogated, why should a person be concerned with studying it? This is a question of many sincere people, and it deserves a response. This caution, however, must be noted. In arguing the temporary status of the Old Testament system, one should not leave the mistaken notion that the OT is an insignificant portion of Scripture. In considering the value of Old Testament study, one should be aware of some invalid uses of it. First, the OT is not a source for determining how to become a Christian (cf. Acts 4:12; Romans 1:16). Second, the OT is not a guide for Christian worship (cf. Colossians 3:17; 2 John 9). Third, the OT is not a pattern for the...

Miracles, Providence & Randomness By John D. Conley I shall attempt in this paper to provide an adequate definition of what a miracle is, of what the providence of God is, to answer some of the arguments that have been made against the possibility of miracles, and to evaluate some of the evidence for some of the miracles of the Bible. This paper assumes the existence of God as revealed in the Bible and does not have as its purpose the attempt to prove it, although his existence and the working of miracles in this world are related. I have not the time nor the space in this paper to attempt such a demonstration. The Definition of Miracles Miracles are not easy to define. In their very nature they are inexplicable. Richard Trench says, [W]hat we usually term miracles, are in the sacred Scriptures termed sometimes 'wonders,' sometimes 'signs,' sometimes 'powers,' sometimes simply 'works.' Other titles also they bear, but of rarer occurrence; such ...