The apostle John enjoyed a special relationship with Jesus. Not only was he one of the twelve apostles, John was inspired to refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7, 20). Then, in the short epistle of First John, the apostle emphasized a Christian’s special relationship with the Lord–“truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 211)
Training children to sit and to behave in worship can be a challenge, but it is a challenge worth taking and mastering—for the child’s good, for your good and for the church’s good. Children have been part of God’s assemblies since Old Testament times (cf. Deut. 29:10-13; 31:9-13). To properly train them and nurture them in the ways of the Lord, children…
The last verse of Psalm 96 begins with the word “for.” That is not unusual, for other psalms follow that same pattern and the word is found about 9,000 times in the entire Bible. The word “for” often introduces a cause, the effects of which have already been enumerated. (Example: “For” in Galatians 3:27 is the cause [baptized] of the effect in…
There is an almost-humorous event that happened in the city of Ephesus, while Paul was ministering there (Acts 19:11-15). He had been so successful in proclaiming the name of the Lord Jesus, performing miracles in the name of the Lord and casting out demons in the name of the Lord that some imposters tried to duplicate his power over evil spirits by…
One of the fun things about Facebook is seeing pictures of kids, especially pictures of kids whose parents you knew when they were children. It’s enjoyable to see eyes and smiles on the faces of children that look exactly like eyes and smiles from twenty or thirty years ago. What makes children resemble their parents so much? That is not a hard…
Forgiveness. It is such a hard thing to do! It is such an emotionally-charged topic that it is hard to discuss and consider with any level of impartiality! We are quick to expect others to forgive, but we are slow in offering forgiveness ourselves! Jesus taught significant and numerous lessons about forgiveness, but consider just this one verse for a moment in…
Picture what the sky looks like right before a bad storm. Jesus talked of men being able to discern the weather by looking to the sky: “It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering” (Matt. 16:3). The word “lowering” is from a Greek word that means “a dark or gloomy appearance.” You know what that looks like,…
Is it ever permissible to stop preaching to people about the love of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, the church of Christ, the plan of salvation or the glory of heaven? Some of us would answer, “Absolutely not! We must never stop preaching the gospel to anyone and everyone!” It is true that our Lord has given us the task and responsibility…