Deep Riches: Historical Response to Persecution

Throughout history, men have sought to destroy the Church by persecuting her. How has she responded? Find out over on Deep Rich...

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Historical Response to Persecution

The church responded to persecution in almost as many ways as the types of persecution they endured. As a whole, the overarching response was a dispersion of believers. The first persecution of the church by the Jews scattered some of the church in Jerusalem. Persecution under Nero further scattered Christians. These and subsequent scatterings...

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Extreme Sides

Matthew 12:30They were singing choruses when the two soldiers entered with rifles. The service came to a halt as the Russian soldiers stared at the believers with wild eyes.“What are you doing here?” they shouted. “Worshiping your imaginary God?” The church members cowered in the pews, wondering if there were more soldiers and more guns outside.“All...

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The Saint’s Beauty

Job 40:10How worldly beauty is courted by all, and what is it? "Beauty is vain" (Prov. 31:30). The bravest features of the body and the loveliest complexion are no other than well-colored earth. But a righteous person has a celestial beauty shining in him. He is embellished with knowledge, love, and meekness, which are of such oriental splendor...

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Spurgeon Saturday

Zechariah 1:8The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel in Zechariah’s day; but being interpreted in its aspect towards us, it describes the Church of God as we find it now in the world. The Church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unobserved, secreted; courting no honour and attracting...

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Deep Riches: Persecution

Starting Monday, look over on Deep Riches for a brief series of articles on persecution. What has been the historical response of the church to persecution? How have theology and church practice developed as a result of persecution? How is persecution affecting the church today? Look on the sidebar to the right of this posting to see when...

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Do Good

Romans 2:10The good servant receives the bread of his labor with confidence. The lazy servant can't look his employer in the face. It is essential, therefore, that we be quick to practice good works, for of Him are all things. He warns us, "Behold, the Lord cometh, and His reward is before His face, to ren¬der to every man according to his...

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What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

On this day 23 years ago, I boarded a city bus in Denver, CO. That bus took me to a government building where I got on a van with a handful of other young men. That van took us to the airport, where we boarded a plane bound for San Antonio, TX. Upon arriving in San Antonio, we boarded another bus. Then shortly after we passed under the sign,...

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Ex Libris: Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60, by Hammett & Pierce

Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60: Being Church for All Generations. What a wonderful goal! After all, isn’t it the desire of every church in America to be a church for all generations? See if I thought the authors lived up to the title of their book in my review over on my book review blog, Ex Libris....

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Repentant Prayer

Isaiah 1:15One of the requisites of legitimate prayer is repentance. Hence the common declaration of Scripture: God does not listen to the wicked; their prayers, as well as their sacrifices, are an abomination to him. For it is right that those who seal up their hearts should find the ears of God closed against them, that those who, by their...

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Deep Riches: Peter and the Church

Did Jesus make Peter the head of the church? Does that mean that he was the first Pope? Who was the rock that Jesus talked about in Matthew 16? Find out the answers on Deep Rich...

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Peter and the Church

Matthew 16:17-19 marks a key moment in Peter’s life and the teaching of our Lord. Jesus just finishes commending Peter for proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It would only make literary sense that, unless there was an obvious transition, the verses immediately following would have something to do with that proclamation. When Jesus says, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,” He doesn’t...

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Extreme Family

1 Corinthians 15:55The woman was one month away from graduating from Bible school along with her daughter. It was the same Bible school where her son, Stenley, had gone before he went to another Indonesian island as a missionary. Stenley was killed for carrying the gospel, but his testimony had prompted many others to go to Bible school and...

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Forgotten Sins

Psalm 40:5There are many sins that we have forgotten, for which we were never humbled in particular. And yet if we truly repent of those we do know, and call to mind, our forgotten sins shall be forgiven. For God will pardon us like Himself; He will forgive us like a God, not according to our knowledge, but according to His own. And as He...

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Spurgeon Saturday

Galatians 5:1This “liberty” makes us free to heaven’s charter—the Bible. Here is a choice passage, believer, “When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee.” You are free to that. Here is another: “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee”; you are free to that. You are a...

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Christ’s Cross

2 Corinthians 5:15The cross of Christ made those who abused their authority subject to their former subjects. The cross teaches us, first of all, to resist sin to the point of death and to die willingly for the sake of religion. It also sets an example of obedience for us, and in the same way it punishes the stubborn¬ness of those who once...

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Ex Libris: The Gay Agenda, by Ronnie Floyd

To see my review of The Gay Agenda: It's Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation, by Dr. Ronnie Floyd, click over to my book review blog, Ex Libr...

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No Time Without Prayer

Ephesians 6:18If it is objected that the necessity which urges us to pray is not always equal, I admit it. James properly taught us this distinction: "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms" (James 5:13).Therefore, common sense itself dictates that as we are too sluggish, we must be stimulated by God to...

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Deep Riches: Man as the Image of God

You were created in the image of God--scholars call this the Imago Dei. That sounds really good, but what does it mean? Does that mean that God looks like me? Does He have two arms and two legs and ten fingers and toes? What if I only have one leg? Does that mean God looks different to me? Check out Deep Riches for some theological foundation...

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Man as the Image of God

When God created Adam, He formed him from the dust of the earth, breathed spirit (breath and spirit are the same word) into him and made him a living soul. God created him with a personality – “mannishness” as Francis Schaeffer would say. The image of God in man is the things that make him a man – that unique combination of mind, emotions,...

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Extreme Legacy

Matthew 5:14When Stenley got off the boat on the remote Indonesian island, he felt the spiritual darkness. The people practiced a combination of witchcraft and Islam. Stenley was fresh out of Bible school and ready for the work to which God had called him, reaching these island people for Christ.Stenley preached boldly, calling people to...

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Little Faith

Matthew 17:20Little faith is true faith, as well as great. A little man is a man as well as a great man; a little water is as water as the ocean sea. The disciples had true faith, and yet very weak, weak in knowledge, though they believed that Jesus was the Messiah that should save the world, yet how, they could not tell.They were ignorant...

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Spurgeon Saturday

Nahum 1:2Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would...

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9/11 and the Gospel

This week, I stood in disbelief as I talked with an older gentleman. Actually, he did most of the talking. He seems to be a nice, hardworking gentleman farmer—someone whose image might come to mind as a caricature of an “average American”. His face bears the marks of a hard but full life. Judging from the stories he told me, he loves Jesus...

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Building Up the Church

2 Timothy 4:2We pray that words may be given to us, as it is written in the book of Jeremiah, "The Lord said to the prophet: 'Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth as fire. See, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build and to plant.'"For...

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Ex Libris: Methland, by Nick Reding

In the book, Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town, Nick Reding details the problem of methamphetamines in small-town America.See my full review over on Ex Libr...

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Expectant Prayer

Psalm 5:3In praying, we must truly feel our wants and—seriously considering that we need all the things which we ask—accompany the prayer with a sincere, nay, ardent desire of obtaining them. Many repeat prayers in a perfunctory manner from a set form, as if they were performing a task to God. And though they confess that this is a necessary...

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Applying God’s Word

In our last three messages in Nehemiah, we’ve seen what it takes to understand God’s Word the way He would have us to. But the fact is, most of the time our problem isn’t a lack of understanding God’s Word. Most of the time, our problem is applying all the things that we DO understand.The manuscript of this sermon from Nehemiah 8:13-10:39...

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What Does Your Family Look Like?

If you walk into a church where most of the hair is gray, where the sanctuary is much too large for the congregation, and those who sit in the pews are scattered all over the church, sitting where they have sat for many years, chances are that this church has an inward focus. If you’re looking for a church where the people love and care for...

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Keep School in Prayers

Creator of all things,true source of light and wisdom,origin of all being,graciously let a ray of your light penetratethe darkness of my understanding.Take from me the double darknessin which I have been born,an obscurity of sin and ignorance.Give me a keen understanding,a retentive memory, andthe ability to grasp thingscorrectly and fundamentally.Grant me the talentof being exact in my explanationsand the ability to express myselfwith...

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Faith and Family Series

With a hint of fall in the air, we have completed our summer Faith and Family series at Brushfork Baptist Church. In case you missed something, you can access the messages here. You will find rough manuscripts of all six sermons as well as audio links to four of them. I pray that they will be a blessing to y...

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West Virginia Southern Baptist

The September edition of the West Virginia Southern Baptist is now available here. This edition features this year's Mission Camp. I always knew my son was a clown--now I have pro...

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Deep Riches: Imputation of Sin

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Is that true? Is it possible for a person to live without sin? If it was possible, would that mean that they would have no need for a savior? Find the answers over on Deep Rich...

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