Posts from 2022

Think Souls

The inner part of the person – the soul – is such an important element to who we are. God made us as body, soul, and spirit (1 Thes. 5:23). Yet the concept of the soul is so broad in God’s word that we could spend a year just studying its various nuances! Even in the book of Acts, the word takes on a variety of meanings. It is a synonym for person (Acts 27:37), while other times it refers…

7 Reasons We Will Be in Worship on Christmas Day

1. Worship is Commanded by the Almighty. Our Lord does not make worship something to be chosen by His followers. Hebrews 10:25 makes it clear that we are not to willfully forsake being together for worship. This is not a suggestion, and it does not have caveats for special holidays. 2. God is More Important than any Holiday. If I am going to say that “God is first in my life,” then there is no holiday that can take His…

Are Santa’s Reindeer Used for Propulsion or Navigation

This true “Ask an Engineer” question appeared in 2013 on an MIT website and was also answered by a graduate student. This student deconstructs the poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christ -mas” to analyze the navigation, guidance system, and control of Santa ’s sleigh. It is a truly bizarre read, but nevertheless, with scholarly efficiency, this student shows the relationship between reindeer, Santa, and a sleigh as a controllable vehicle. By the way, the answer this student came to is…

The Trinity of Christian Character

Three times in God ’s word do we see the three words “faith, hope, and love – these three words form a tri -unity that centers our character development around God. Faith, Hope, & Love Initiates Our Response to the Gospel For three weeks in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas preached from the Old Testament scriptures reasoning that the Christ must suffer and rise from the dead. Some Jews, and many devout Greeks would be persuaded during this time. When wicked…

Philippines Mission Letter: November 2022

Click to download the letter. Dear Brethren, May the Lord’s love, blessings, and protection be upon you and your loved ones always. We continue to be grateful for the opportunity to teach moral values using the Word of God on a weekly basis to our municipal employees through the moral recovery program of our national government. We taught at the Assessor’s office for the past several months, and they were thankful for our time and for all the good lessons…

“Wise as Doves, Harmless as Serpents?”

In sending his disciples to go and minister, Jesus told them He was sending them as “sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16). There has to be a great reason why our Lord uses four different animals in one verse to describe the relationship, qualities, and character of the people who would be speaking, and the ones to whom they would be speaking. A couple of prayers to consider as…

“As Go the Deacons…”

A church, or any organization for that matter, will never rise beyond their leaders (Matthew 10:24 -25). As a leadership leads, so the attitude of the leadership will be reflected in the members. When the leadership is excited and encouraging about an area of work, generally, so also will the congregation be excited. If the leadership is lackadaisical and uninterested, so also will be the membership. Consider the deacons and their responsibilities in this regard. The word, “deacon” as most…

Philippines Mission Letter: October 2022

Click to download the letter.  Dear Brethren,  May the goodness and blessings of the Lord continue to abound in you and your family.  The Lord continues to use us for the implementation of the moral recovery program using the Scriptures at the different departments in our town. Lord willing, we will be assigned to other offices this November. Our partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as volunteers to conduct Family Development Sessions (FDS) to the parents…

What if Your Candidate Loses?

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. – Proverbs 14:34 Something I have heard many election seasons since the mid 90 ’s If “we” don ’t win this upcoming election, the nation will be destroyed. Read carefully again Proverbs 14:34. We live in a nation that is not above reproach. Yet, for many, this nation is still recognized as the greatest nation with the most freedom to worship God than any other nation on earth.…

Preparing for Friends and Family Day

Think of an “outsider,” not a member of Christ ’s church, who walks into our assemblies or classes. What if an outsider becomes a guest at Graeber Road? We ’ve prayed, people do show up – God has answered. A powerful thought: God has said, “Yes” to our request for an open door. The question is: are we being good stewards of the blessings he is giving us? We do not want any visitors to slip through the cracks or…

“Dinner Therapy”

So much of Jesus ’s public ministry and so many of His conversations with people happened around the dinner table. In fact, most of Luke (1/5 of this gospel account) has to do with Jesus either going to a meal, sitting down and eating a meal, or getting up and leaving from a meal. Jesus had great opportunity to help when He sat down at the table. Consider now this and see if there is any truth to it: YOUR…

“Contending for the Faith”

The book of Jude is addressed to Christians who needed to wake up to fight against some ungodly people with ungodly ideas among them (Jude 3 -4, 12, 16, 19). The key statement of Jude exhorts these endangered Christians to, “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). “Contenders” are interested in building up other Christians (20) “…building yourselves up on your most holy faith…” Those who would contend earnestly for the…