“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
Most people, religious or not, recognize the “golden rule” – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is based upon Jesus’ statement in our text above. We know the statement, but how do we put it into practice? Let us consider a few thoughts.Continue Reading
Dr. Daniel Hook (1795-1870) was instrumental in spreading the gospel in Georgia in the mid-nineteenth century. Though he is not as well-known to us today as men like Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, he helped direct people back to the “ancient order” as “one of the first persons to proclaim the Restoration plea in the Deep South.”
In addition to proclaiming the gospel, he also practiced medicine. The excerpt below describes what he did during the yellow fever epidemic in 1839 in helping others and in dealing with the illness personally.
“In the summer of 1839 a yellow fever epidemic scourged Augusta. Dr. Hook discovered it and remained in town with the stricken. After successfully treating more than 200 patients, and losing only two, he became ill. When he found the fever coming on himself, he sat down on the steps he was ascending to see a patient, and wrote out his own treatment, and directed his driver when he returned to his carriage, to give it to Dr. Johnson (who had adopted his treatment) and tell him to pursue it strictly. He was ill for several weeks, but finally recovered.” (Biographical Sketch on the Life of Dr. Daniel Hook)
The start of a new year is seen by many as a time to restart – enact changes, make resolutions, set goals, and so on. Obviously, these things can be done any time of the year; but the start of a calendar year makes a natural break that can be used to spur us on to start anew in some way.
In the Law of Moses, there were instructions about a time to “restart” or begin again. It was the year of jubilee that occurred every fifty years.
“You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land.
“You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field” (Leviticus 25:8-12).
As we begin a new year, there are several lessons that are good for us to learn from this year of jubilee.Continue Reading
Romans 6 is a critical chapter in the New Testament. It discusses the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. It concisely explains why this difference exists and what happened in the life of a Christian to bring about this difference. This chapter can be summarized in the following two verses:
“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18).
Paul was writing to Christians in Rome. Previously, they were “slaves of sin.” But at this time, they were “slaves of righteousness.” How did this change occur? They “became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which [they] were committed.”
To better understand what Paul was discussing, let us do a brief overview of this chapter.Continue Reading
In a previous article, we discussed some good things to do when one is young. We focused on what young people are to do in order to enjoy life while also pleasing the Lord.
What if we are not young anymore? What responsibilities do we have when we are older?
This is not just about what we are to do when we are “old” (however we want to define that) or at the end of our lives (though it would certainly include that). This is a wide age range, from around 30 years old and up – old enough to influence young adults until death. What does the Bible say about what is good to do when we are older? We will notice six things.Continue Reading
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We’re in between season 12 and season 13. During the break we’re posting audio sermons each week instead of the regular episodes. The sermon for this week was preached on February 10, 2019 at the Eastside church of Christ in Morgantown, KY.
If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.
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We’re in between season 12 and season 13. During the break we’re posting audio sermons each week instead of the regular episodes. The sermon for this week was preached on January 27, 2019 at the Eastside church of Christ in Morgantown, KY.
If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.
Peter issued this challenge to all Christians: “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15). However, many Christians feel unprepared to do this; therefore, many conversations that could potentially lead people to the truth never get started.
This book will help equip all Christians to start engaging in spiritual conversations with those around them by providing simple answers to some basic Bible questions. Being ready to give an answer does not mean having an answer to every possible question at the drop of a hat. Instead, it means being able to give a ready answer to questions that are fundamental to our faith that can open the door to further discussions and studies with those who are interested. By studying the material in this book and becoming familiar with the Scriptures cited in each answer, Christians will be better prepared and have more confidence when they discuss their faith with others.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
If you have further questions about using any of the material on this site, please contact me.