Author: Smith, Jeff

Where death had once occupied the place of an extreme, complete and frightening mystery, now it has been moderated. One is careful not to take his faith to the opposite extreme and embrace death to the point of cultic suicide, but death now has more answers and a sun shines where the blight of ignorance had created so much dread.

James wrote, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work” (1:2-4). God’s grace is sufficient to help us endure any trial, if we are willing.

Much of the book of Proverbs is one man’s attempt at teaching his children to be good and wholesome. The Proverbs are a good place to start if you have never done much in the way of training your child in the way he should go. But if you have not started yet, it is already later than you think and one day soon, the cradle is going to be empty and you won’t be able to put the cat back in it.

We are all unprofitable servants, so long as we are only capable of doing what is our duty to do. Some of us are arrogant about that arrangement, when we should be grateful it provides enough grace for the times we fall short. Understand that conceit is a stumbling block and souls are at stake.

Can you see the Promised Land? That hope will only be fulfilled when Jesus returns and the final judgment has occurred.

The demise of respect for the gift of sex has been met with an equal loss of respect for the gift of life. The unborn who are unwanted because they were conceived at a time deemed inconvenient to his parents can be destroyed in the womb almost as easily as a wart can be removed.

Until we learn to speak where the bible speaks and remain silent where it is silent, we will continue to see methods of denying those in error the correction that may save their souls. All the while, we will be surrounded by gospel/doctrine distinctionists crying, “Peace, peace” in the midst of undeniable conflict.

It is neither our privilege nor right to draw arbitrary lines for others, in the absence of a sure edict from God. When God has drawn lines, however, we ought to observe them and uphold them and make them pleasant, for they are not burdensome compared to the weight of the cross upon our Lord’s back (Romans 7:22, 1 John 5:3).

The journey to our Canaan begins with blood and water and ends in milk and honey. Along the way, Pharaoh Satan will attempt to lure the pilgrim back, but abiding in Christ’s word will lead to the Promised Land.

On our own, we will never be good enough, certainly not to deserve heaven and put God in our eternal debt. That glory will only be achieved by craving his grace and humbly accepting it (1 Peter 5:5).

God so often defies the odds, but you will never be on that amazing, victorious side unless you put away the pessimism and complaints and step up to the line. Then can our faith overcome the world.

Balance in our lives and our teaching is necessary to keep us from tipping to one extreme or the other, neither of which is good. In the end, however, our devotion to God cannot be tempered without becoming lukewarm. There is no middle option for eternity. Choose Heaven today by obeying Christ and accepting God’s grace, for you need it.

Catholicism is self-imposed religion that cheats people out of the truth, genuine discipleship, and a home in heaven. It is so concerned with its ancient tradition that it has set aside the more ancient words of God. It draws near to God in word, but betrays a distant heart, vain in its works.

Washing the saints’ feet today may include the literal act at times, but it is not limited to that act, nor to times of religious ritual. We wash the saints’ feet when we practice pure religion by visiting widows and orphans in distress. When we share with brethren in need or down on their luck, we wash their feet. When we associate with the humble and refuse to set our minds on high things, we wash feet. When we are willing to get our hands dirty in order to cleanse someone in distress, we wash feet.

So many sins are being recategorized today. We say to God, you made me this way, so I can’t help being a drunk, an addict, a striker, a loudmouth, a gossip, a fornicator, a homosexual. Truly, you are who you are, but you can be more. Stop giving place to the devil and start judging morality by the ancient standard again. Then we can overcome sin rather than being overcome by it.

Don’t trust your conscience unless it reflects objectively the will of God. And even then, constantly examine it to make sure it has not strayed (2 Corinthians 13:5).

There is hope for the sinner who mourns over his mistakes. There is no hope for one who is so seared by sin that his conscience is immune to the pricks of rebuke (Eph. 4:19). Judah was revived seventy years later with the work of Haggai, Zechariah and Zerubbabel. Sinful man is revived by dying with Christ and being raised with him to newness of life (Rom. 6:1-13). “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19).

The death of sin is producing a generation of Americans unequipped to meet the challenges of temptation. The church of Christ is far from immune, for we hear the tone of preaching softening among us as well, in a rush to embrace the positive mental attitude approach, which cannot build anything enduringly good, for it knows not how to identify and tear down sin.

Baptism upon a confession of faith, brings conversion to fruition and automatically places one in the church for which Jesus died (Acts 2:47). Paul called this assembly the church of Christ in Romans 16:16 and it is purely necessary to the scheme of salvation as the household of God in which the redeemed dwell while on Earth.

A generation reared on spiritual junk food is growing up, facing decisions of morality without moral foundation and preparing to take the lead in churches which they will surely continue to transform into just another worthless, destructive denomination. Once you have sown the wind, it is hard to stop the whirlwind. The time has come to get back to the Bible, or better, catch up to it. Before it is too late.