Elijah was a deeply discouraged man. He had lost hope and had lost heart. Life was no longer worth living. His was a wasted existence. There was no use in even trying anymore. What could be said or done to help this man overcome his discouragement? God shows us the way.
In May, 2017, The Gospel Message published an article entitled “The Church & Our Sisters” in which I offered what I believe to be the Bible’s answers to the following two questions: (1) What does it mean to be “in church” (1 Corinthians 14:28, 35)? and (2) What is the role of our sisters “in church”? In response to that article, as well as to public teaching on the subject before and since, several questions have consistently come up which deserve attention. In this article, I’d like to take up just a couple of those (and, perhaps, in a future article, we can address others).
“Jesus of Nazareth is easily the dominant figure in history…the historian disregarding the theological significance of his life, writes the name of Jesus of Nazareth at the top of the list of the world’s greatest characters.” ~ H. G. Wells Few can say that they have never heard of Jesus Christ. In a 2010 TIME…
Since the 2003 publication of Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, a great deal of misinformation has been circulating concerning the New Testament’s origins, namely, how its books were collected, when, and by whom. Despite the book’s opening disclaimer that it is a work of fiction, its fabricated history has come to be believed…
What if you went to church this Sunday, and after hearing the song leader announce the first number, turned to that page in your songbook only to find yourself looking at words written in Spanish? What if, then, you and the congregation (who don’t know Spanish well…or in some cases, at all) went on to…
The word “church” (including its plural form, “churches”) appears over 100 times in the New Testament, and is always a translation of the Greek word, ekklesia. Ekklesia was a compound word, combining the preposition ek (out) with the verb kaleo (to call); hence, our frequently cited definition, “the called out.” Interestingly, however, a first century…
The third question we encounter in the Bible comes from the lips of God: “Why are you angry?” (Genesis 4:6). It was addressed to Cain, and it concerned his response to God’s rejection of his offering. God had rejected it, and Cain should have repented of it. But he didn’t. Instead he got angry. Anger…
That the gospel texts have come down to us in reliable form has been amply demonstrated over the years. The quality and quantity of ancient manuscripts confirming the modern text’s integrity stands unequalled by that of any ten ancient documents combined. But some question not the integrity of the texts, but their believability. They argue…
One of the most widely recognized characters of Greek mythology is Narcissus. Narcissus, the Greeks tell us, was strikingly handsome and drew the attention of many admirers, but arrogantly rejected them all. Concerned about her son, one version of the story relates, his mother inquired of a seer as to what would become of him….
In striving against sin, it should help to remember that… #1. You are not alone. Your temptations are not so rare that no one can relate to them. Sometimes, a Christian may begin to believe that he’s all alone in his struggles, that no one could possibly understand. This pleases Satan, since it inclines us…