Andy Sochor, Author at Plain Bible Teaching

Andy Sochor January 8, 2025

Producing and Developing Disciples

Paul told Timothy of his responsibility to take “the things which [he] heard from [Paul]” and “entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). The apostle then mentioned three “occupations” that illustrated Timothy’s work – soldiers, athletes, and farmers.

“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops” (2 Timothy 2:3-6).

Two of those (soldiers and farmers) were directly related to his work in making disciples. In a similar passage, Paul mentioned another “occupation” connected to this – shepherds.

“Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?” (1 Corinthians 9:7).

The work of making disciples is ongoing from generation to generation (2 Timothy 2:2), which means we must do it today. But how? By doing the work of the farmer, the shepherd, and the soldier. We will explore this idea in this article.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: disciple, evangelism, personal evangelism

Andy Sochor January 1, 2025

Different Perspectives

Each person has a different background, upbringing, life experience, education, and so on. Therefore, we approach things with a unique perspective. Because of this, people can look at one event, fact, or piece of information and react very differently. A simple example of this is in the realm of sports. A fan of one team can watch a game with a fan of the opposing team, and though there is just one outcome (one team wins the game), one fan will celebrate while the other is disappointed.

Following the Babylonian captivity, God’s people assembled in Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. When the foundation of the temple was completed, two contradictory reactions were made to it.

“Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord according to the directions of King David of Israel. They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.’ And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away” (Ezra 3:10-13).

This is an example of people viewing an event from different perspectives and reacting accordingly. Those who had never seen the first temple shouted for joy. Those who had seen the first temple and knew from personal experience the difference between the two wept.

This was not a matter of right and wrong. The people who rejoiced were not wrong to do so, nor was it wrong for the ones who wept to react the way they did. Yet the need at that moment was to build the new temple. Their different perspectives were understandable and were even fine to have as long as they did not hinder them from doing the work the Lord wanted them to do.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: church, example, growth, truth, work

Andy Sochor December 28, 2024

Top 5 on Plain Bible Teaching in 2024

We have reached the end of 2024, so it is time for the annual “Top 5” post on Plain Bible Teaching. It is always interesting to go back and see what content has been viewed the most. It also gives me an idea of what materials have been most helpful to others. If you missed these articles, podcast episodes, and videos when they were posted, be sure to check them out. They are divided into the top 5 articles (new and old), Facebook posts, podcasts, videos, and YouTube Shorts.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Site News

Andy Sochor December 18, 2024

Sermons with “Stickers”

In the book Sketches of Our Mountain Pioneers, Preston Gray spoke highly of the preaching of A. I. Myhr (1855-1933). He also recalled a criticism Myhr made of another unnamed preacher.

“Myhr’s visits to all our churches were great occasions. The people soon learned to expect something. He was a thinker, and positively despised sluggish thinking. Of a certain minister, he said to me, one day, ‘He is a capital fellow, but when he preaches, all the points are filed off.’ He told me that he liked sermons and thoughts that had ‘stickers’ in them.” (Sketches of Our Mountain Pioneers, p. 203)

The gospel, when it is preached in its simplicity and purity, is going to have “stickers” that will “prick” people to the heart and spur them to obey the Lord. Notice what happened on the day of Pentecost following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus:

“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:36-37).

Filed Under: Restoration History Tagged With: preaching

Andy Sochor December 10, 2024

Calling Names of False Teachers

At the beginning of his short epistle, Jude said Christians are to “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3). This includes “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Therefore, of necessity, we must oppose false doctrine and those who teach error.

However, when it comes to identifying false teachers by name, there is disagreement among brethren about whether this is appropriate. Many believe we cannot label someone as a false teacher unless we go to that person first. Is that something we should be required to do?Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: false teachers

Andy Sochor November 20, 2024

Spiritual Disciplines

“But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:7-10).

People often talk about developing good habits, such as eating healthy, exercising regularly, and reading more books. Turning worthwhile practices into habits can be incredibly helpful because it allows us to do the good things we intend to do without having to decide to do so each time. This does not mean the practice becomes automatic, but we are much more likely to do good when we have made it a habit.

This can also benefit our spiritual lives, helping us grow to spiritual maturity. As Paul pointed out in the passage above, this is much more important than any discipline we develop in this life. However, to have effective habits, we need to be intentional about them and willing to put in the effort to actually DO them.

Also, these habits we can put in place to develop spiritually are things that each one of us can do, whether someone is a new convert, has recently been restored to the faith, or has been faithfully serving the Lord for decades. At the same time, no one can do these things for us.

So let us consider some spiritual disciplines – regular practices that will help our spiritual development and produce godliness in our lives. For each one, we see what the Lord expects of us, the benefits we gain from these practices, our personal responsibility to engage in each one, and some practical ways to help us stay consistent in doing them.Continue Reading