Author: Smith, Jeff

Haman was hanged on the very gallows he built to kill the object of his rage, but the danger is no different today when we act as if blessing and salvation avail us nothing because we can’t obtain satisfaction or the objects of our lust, envy and covetousness. Learn to be content.

This is our savior, the son of Man and of God. While you cannot share his deity, you can partake of the divine nature by choosing to abide him as a faithful, trusting child of God.

Whether it is nestled away on paper in a nightstand, lurking somewhere on a computer hard drive, or available to you by clicking on a web page, your porn stash is a filthy, addictive, morally expensive habit. You feel like you have been fortunate so far that no one has found it, but you would be better off if they did. Maybe then you would feel compelled to quit. Instead, you’re just digging deeper.

Everyone seems to agree there is a problem, but is convinced that it only affects those at a distance and is no imminent threat to them. Statistics suggest, however, that the problem might be sitting next to them on the pew, even standing before them at the communion table or pulpit, but is certainly closer than they want to believe. “In this changed social landscape, discussing pom is both risky and urgent–perhaps especially so in the churches” (Pellauer 1987, 651).

We are fighting a daily battle against sexual temptation and every day the devil ratchets up the steam. The misery inflicted upon people who only wanted a few moments of experimentation and ecstasy lasts forever. Stay out of the foothills of temptation and choose better company with better habits. Flee sexual immorality and youthful lusts.

Technological advancements are wonderful. Never before have we been so capable of taking the gospel into the whole world at such little expense (Matthew 28:18-20). A single congregation can do today what seemingly required church-splitting unscriptural arrangements a short time ago. Yet, the potential for abuse is also so apparent.

Christians fill the world upon every continent, speaking every language and representing every culture, dialect and color; we sit at a table of brotherhood when we partake of the Lord’s Supper and it is past time that we put away our fleshly prejudices so that we can flourish spiritually.

The lesson we must learn today involves both the power of false gods and the influence that takes place between us and those around us, either for good or evil. We are commissioned for conversion rather than extermination, but the same dangers exist in that we may mingle with the lost in such a way that we receive more negative influence than we ever give positively.

The last paragraph in what we call James chapter four begins with the words, “Come now.” The message of the gospel and the call of…

There is a spiritual danger in being linked to unbelievers, whether they be avowed atheists, practical infidels who claim conviction but live wickedly, or those who believe in God, but reject the authoritative nature of his word. Even as the inspired writer condemns being yoked to unbelievers, he offers a remedy–“Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Because the purpose of miracles was to confirm the divine origin of God’s word, miracles would only endure as long as it took to accomplish this task, that is, throughout the first century. This is how Paul tried to show the Corinthians that love was a greater gift than miracles, for it would outlast them (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). They were to cease when incomplete knowledge was replaced by a perfect – completed – New Testament revelation. The church would then emerge from infancy to maturity. We now have the faith once for all delivered, a perfect law of liberty (see Jude 3, James 1:25).

Often, by puberty, young ladies are not as physically powerful as their male counterparts, whose muscles tend to develop larger. Yet every female possesses a physical power in her shape and form that can overwhelm or renew a young man. There is power in dressing to be drooled over, but that is an abuse of God’s gift. Modesty has its own delicate power that brings glory to God and no cause for stumbling to men.

Doubting Thomas wouldn’t believe in his resurrected friend until he put his finger in the wounds while others demanded signs and wonders (John 20:25). Today, men crave an experience, but the Bible says that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). Its explanation of the universe and the purpose and fate of human life rings true (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The evidence becomes overwhelming and faith fills that gap between hope and fulfillment. Then you can know–and not just feel–that there is a God, a savior, a Holy Spirit and a hope of heaven.

The soil tester turns up his nose at the man with tattoos and the coworker who is trying to quit smoking. He judges everyone under the age of 30 to be too wild and everyone over the age of 30 to be too old to change their ways. At the end of the day, the soil tester has not sown a single seed, but he feels justified because it is the soil’s inadequacies that are to blame. When Jesus returns, however, he is found to have wasted his opportunities as a poor steward of the seeds and he is cast into outer darkness as an unprofitable servant.

While many nominal Christians might be ready to jettison any claim to an exclusive source of abiding truth and salvation, the Bible is hardly the document to support such a surrender.

In the New Testament of Jesus Christ, a universal claim for both Jehovah and his redeemer son is emphatically made. Even if one should made the case that Jehovah, Allah, the Great Spirit and every other divine iteration are all really the same, the problem remains, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ” (Matthew 27:22, ESV)?

April Fool
by Jeff Smith
Rumor has it that there is no fool like an old fool, but on April 1, he has company.

Evidently, April Fool’s Day derives from the fact that ancient cultures, including the Romans and Hindus, celebrated a new year on or around the first of April, coinciding with the arrival of spring. In the middle ages, much of Europe likewise observed March 25 as the Feast of Annunciation and the commencement of a new year. In 1582, however, the Vatican king replaced the old Julian calendar with his own, calling for each new year to begin on January 1. According to legend, some failed to get the message – perhaps their banks and insurance companies neglected to mail the new calendars – and they were mocked as fools and traditionalists for showing up in Times Square in early spring, expecting a ball to drop amidst a shower of confetti.

There are other explanations of the origin of April Fool’s Day, but it hardly makes any difference to the fool of the day, playfully and artfully deceived, but sometimes humiliated and even injured.

The Bible seems to have fully preceded April Fool’s Day, but one inspired writer does weigh in: “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, ‘I was only joking’” (Proverbs 26:18-19)!

In many cases, the fooling goes much too far and the real fool is probably the one perpetrating the tricks and cruel merriment. He gets to be about like a madman who carelessly fires a gun in the air or juggle swords over the heads of his friends. Sorry you were injured or embarrassed, but “I was only joking!”

Humor is certainly not evil and many jokes, even of the April first variety are harmless and fun, but there must be a line there somewhere. Paul writes, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks” (Ephesians 5:3-4).

Some people are too serious or sensitive to accept being the object of jesting. Some jokes plainly go too far and cause the victim real terror, humiliation or loss. The proverbs seem to indicate that only an apology and repentance are sufficient to undo the harm of an April Fool’s Day joke gone awry.
Some people are too serious or sensitive to accept being the object of jesting. Some jokes plainly go too far and cause the victim real terror, humiliation or loss. The proverbs seem to indicate that only an apology and repentance are sufficient to undo the harm of an April Fool’s Day joke gone awry.

Sexual abstinence until marriage builds a hedge around your moral purity, protecting your life and your spirit from an immoral tempter. Do not be deceived. Don’t try to see how close you can get or how much you can test your will. Flee fornication!

Not abiding in Christ’s doctrine is going beyond it; going beyond what is revealed to that which is not and asserting that one can take advantage of God’s silence to authorize anything not specifically condemned. The principle is clear – going beyond what we can read is sinful; God’s silence is golden and must be revered and not broken.

One great concern that Paul shared with all of us who undertake some difficult and personally emotional objective is that the work might turn out…

It is simply insufficient to announce that any church is sound because its preaching is sound; soundness is also a matter of practice. Insisting on that Old Jerusalem Gospel does little good if it is heard, but ignored.