January 25, 2012

Pray for Those in Authority

Prayer

One of our specific obligations in prayer is to pray for those in positions of civil authority. Paul made this clear in his first letter to the young evangelist Timothy:

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Not only did Paul teach that Christians are to pray for their leaders, he explained why we are to pray for them. There is a specific desire for which we should pray that is according to the will of God. Before we consider this, we should first be reminded of the purpose for which God ordained civil authorities.
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December 8, 2011

Sounding Forth the Word

Tin can phone

The local church is God’s “missionary society” – the organization through which we work to spread the gospel. Though man has concocted many different schemes and systems since the time when Jesus established His church, the Lord’s design is for His message to be proclaimed through the work of individuals and local churches. Paul mentioned the church in Thessalonica as an example of how this simple arrangement can be successful.

“For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything” (1 Thessalonians 1:8).

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November 3, 2011

Remembering E.A. Dicus

E.A. Dicus

“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

E.A. Dicus (“Dike”) preached for over forty years for the Lorain Avenue church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio (where my family attended while I was growing up). He was well-loved and respected by those that knew him. Even though I was not quite ten years old when he passed away, he made an early impact upon me and his example continues to influence me today.

Lewis Willis spoke at his funeral and wrote an obituary that appeared in Guardian of Truth magazine a month later [available online here]. From time to time I go back and re-read Willis’ comments about Dike, just to be reminded about who he was and the work he had done. Today is the twenty-first anniversary of his passing. I wanted to share his story with the readers here, in particular the following excerpt:
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October 21, 2011

Dealing with Threats to Unity within a Local Church

Recently I’ve preached  a few lessons about things that threaten unity within a local church. The outlines have been posted on my other site – DIY Sermon Outlines. Below is a list with links to the various lessons in that series.
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October 12, 2011

The Seed of the Sower

The Sower

The parable of the sower is one of the more familiar parables spoken by Jesus. In it, He taught an important lesson about the type of message that is required in order to produce fruit.
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October 6, 2011

How God Is Able to Establish You

Bible

As Paul concluded his epistle to the Romans, he praised God for His ability to establish them (Romans 16:25-27). This means He was able to make them strong, complete, and equipped to follow Him and to face the trials that exist in this life. Is God able to establish us today? If so, how?

Earlier in this letter, Paul expressed a desire to come to them in Rome: “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established” (Romans 1:11). What were these spiritual gifts that Paul would impart to them in order to establish them? These miraculous gifts of the Spirit are enumerated in the first letter to Corinth and included such gifts as knowledge, prophecy, and the ability to speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). Do we need to have some miraculous spiritual gift in order to be established today? If so, we are in trouble because Paul later said that such miraculous spiritual gifts would be “done away” and replaced with the completed revelation in the word of God (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). This is what we need in order to be established today – the word of God. In our text, Paul described the word in several different ways, showing how it is able to establish us.
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September 28, 2011

Preaching and Writing

Bible and Notebook

While I was in high school, I made the decision that when I grew up I wanted to be a gospel preacher. So at that point, I began writing religious articles. I did not care for writing in school and was never a gifted writer, so I needed to start practicing and improving my skills. I saw writing as an inherent part of the work of a preacher, as this would provide another avenue through which to spread the gospel message. So since I decided I was going to preach, I decided I also needed to write.

Nearly fifteen years later, it appears to me that preachers in general do not do as much writing as I thought they would. Dedicating time regularly to writing seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Maybe this has always been the case and my youthful naiveté led me to wrongly assume that writing was common for preachers. Perhaps more preachers are writing than the relative few of which I am aware. Or it could be that writing by gospel preachers has decreased in the last decade or so. Regardless of which one is closest to reality, I want to deal with some reasons why writing is a valuable endeavor for preachers and should not be quickly dismissed.
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