“Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee” (Acts 3:6). When Peter said these words to the lame man that sat begging at the beautiful gate of the Temple, he and John did not have any money to give him. However, they did not use their lack of silver and gold as an excuse for doing nothing. Unfortunately, many Christians feel that since they are not able to do much, either for the poor or the church of the Lord, they end up just doing nothing. This world would be a far different and better place if all gave as they have the ability to do. Let us look at some things we can give in service for the Lord. TIME: One of the most valuable things that each of us has is time. It is also something that each of us has an equal amount of. Each one of us has 24 hours a day, seven days in every week. If you have the idea that you can spend all of your time from morning to night, in business, work or even pleasure and just a little time on Sunday mornings for the Lord and that be pleasing to God, you are sadly mistaken. Much can be accomplished in the helping of others and in the growth of the church of the Lord if we will just put some time into it. What is more important that it will keep us continually away from

We hear a great deal about the power of positive thinking. There is an old song that tells us to “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative.” Certainly, no one who thinks clearly would want to take issue with the concept of one thinking and acting in a positive manner. Indeed, it is essential for Christian living that one think positively. No amount of negatives will make one a Christian. However, it is impossible for us to “eliminate the negative” from our lives because there is a negative aspect to Christianity. Those who think that the negative has no place in the Bible need to read the Bible again. The Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant and the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament are two of many places where a negative aspect can be found in the Bible’s teaching. Christians must realize that there are some things that they cannot do and still live lives that are pleasing to Almighty God. As we study the Scriptures, we find that there are long lists of sins which are set forth and we are plainly taught that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Someone one time made the statement that it takes “horse sense” to say “nay” to certain things. In order for one to be a faithful Christian, it is necessary to say “no” to some things. Let us look, for a moment, at that list in Galatians Chapter 5. Some

January 22, 1973 is a day that has gone down in infamy. However, unlike December 7, 1941, another day of infamy, the death and destruction did not occur on that day but has continued since that time and has snuffed out the lives of countless more than those killed on that day. Since 1973 there have been 35,000,000 babies killed [this article was penned for January of 2001; the numbers here and current events mentioned below are a year old. ~ Editor], over 1.2 million per year. Furthermore, the attack on Pearl Harbor was against armed shipping in the United States Navy and not against the innocent unborn in the womb. Last year congress passed a law to ban what has become known as “Partial-Birth Abortion.” That bill was vetoed by President Clinton. Hopefully, with a new Congress in session and a new President having been sworn in, Congress will again pass such a bill that George W. Bush has already indicated he would sign such a bill into law. I believe that it is vital that we understand what “partial-birth abortion” really is so that we might encourage our congressmen and senators to ban the practice as a first step to overturning the Roe versus Wade decision legalizing abortion that has enabled a vast number of our innocent, unborn children to be murdered. Note the following excerpts from a statement made by a nurse before a House subcommittee considering the Partial-Birth abortion ban bill. I stood at the doctor’s

You may have already heard the story about the time when a general needed to have five volunteers to engage in a dangerous mission. He lined up his men and asked that those who would be willing to volunteer to take one step forward. While they were doing so, the general turned his back. When he turned around the line of men was still intact, no one was standing forward of the others. Immediately, the general began to express his deep disappointment that not one single man in the entire company was brave enough to volunteer for the task. However, before he could finish the corporal interrupted him saying that all of the men had stepped forward. None were cowards; all were ready to bravely volunteer. Just think what it would mean to the church of the Lord if this were indeed the attitude of all of the brethren. We all know that, in spite of all of the good that is being accomplished by congregations all over the brotherhood, most of that which is accomplished is accomplished by a small percentage of the total membership. Someone has suggested that perhaps this is why Jesus said, “Many are called but few are chosen.” Far too many brethren are content, and indeed anxious, to be counted amongst those who are members of the church, but when it comes to the work of the congregation, they want to be “counted out!” Because of this attitude, and it is a prevalent one, someone

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Thus, we see God’s summation of mankind’s situation in the world before the flood in the days of Noah. Although this is a picture of what the situation was like almost 6000 years ago, it could well describe the world in which we live today at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Our minds today are continually bombarded and polluted with all manner of evil. At work or school, it is difficult to escape this bombardment. Even our homes are not secure from this since much of the fare that is offered on television is unfit for human consumption and continues to worsen with some of the newer productions on the network channels as well as on some of the regular cable channels, to say nothing of the so called “premium” channels. The same can be said of most of the movies and many of the books that are available. Have you stopped to think how difficult it is to find a movie that is “G” rated to which you could take the whole family? Sometimes, even a movie that is rated “G” leaves much to be desired! Then, over the past few years the Internet has become very popular, although offering much that is good there is a dark side too and wickedness and evil is available with a few

A few years ago, an article was published in some newspapers under the title, “Where will we go from here?” It told about the conclusion that some scientists had reached with respect to their concept of human evolution. It appears that they were concerned because they have not seen any evolutionary changes for about 35,000 years, according to their own reckoning. Many of the evolutionary scientists indicate that the process of natural selection has been slowing down. Dr. Steve Jones, a geneticist at University College, London stated that, in the case of humans, natural selection has, to some extent, been repealed. They indicate that this has been the case for about 35,000 years when the human species began to “liberate itself from the harshest forces of natural selection.” “Natural selection” is the “survival of the fittest.” According to these evolutionists, since most humans now survive to reproductive age, “natural selection is being robbed of its important raw material.” The point being that if most everyone survives and reproduces, no selection takes; everyone is “fit” (even couch potatoes!). Dr. Stephen Jay Gould from Harvard University, the “High Priest” of evolutionists, stated, “We are not likely to speciate (that is form new species K.J.C.) unless we send up some space colonies.” What a far cry this is from what the Bible says about man. The Bible teaches that God created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his

In 1 Peter 4:8, we read, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” The word “charity” as used in the KJV is the translation of the Greek word AGAPE, love. This passage, then, is urging brethren to love each other and indeed to be “fervent” in that love. Peter also tells us that this love “shall cover a multitude of sins.” How does love cover sins? The meaning of the word “cover” as used in the passage does not mean “whitewash” or “overlook.” This passage is not teaching that brethren should ignore the sins that their brothers and sisters commit and to let them pass off without any effort to correct one another when sin is committed. Rebuking a brother for his sins is not the same as disowning him. The way in which we should seek to correct is for the purpose of restoring the erring brother (Galatians 6:1), not to seek to dismiss him from our company or to merely expose his sin. We need to realize that the steps that are taken to bring about correction might sometimes have to be severe, but even in this we should never forget that we are to confirm our love toward him (2 Corinthians 2:8). There is no one who could love us more than our heavenly Father loves us. However, one sure sign of that love is his chastening of his own (Hebrews 12:6). The apostle Paul had had

This title for the Christ is used about 82 times in the New Testament. Mostly it is used by Jesus himself and deliberately chosen by him to designate himself more often than any other. Some liberal scholars have indicated that “Son of man” is not a correct rendering and that Jesus merely used an Aramaic term that means “anyone” or “every man” and thus there is no title intended. However, one only has to look at passages like Matthew 1:19; Luke 6:22; 7:3-4; 12:8; 19:10; John 1:51 and 6:27 to see that to change the expression would make these passages virtually meaningless. At first glance, it would appear that the title is used simply to show the humanity of Jesus in contrast to the title “Son of God,” which would show his deity, but when one looks closely at its usage, the title “Son of man” not only shows the identity of Jesus with man but also clearly identifies his deity. When one looks at its usage, it is also clear that Jesus chose to refer to himself as the “Son of man” not because it was a new title but because it was a term which was well known among the Jews and saturated with deep meaning before the time of Jesus. That the title was not new and was understood by the Jews to be a Messianic title is clearly seen in John 12:34, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest

This was the text on the sign at a denominational church building in the area recently. I believe that it speaks more truth than the individual who put it on the sign intended! It also got my mind to thinking of some Scriptures that clearly show this to be so, yet so many religious people want to ignore the truth of these passages. Sadly, sometimes, even members of the body of Christ can be guilty of the same. Let us note some verses. First, let us look at Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be.” Many want this to simply say, “He that believeth shall be saved” and completely ignore the conjunction “and” and what follows. It is very clear that Jesus is teaching that both are necessary. Then to speak of belief alone, without baptism is the equivalent of being “half-saved” and therefore “totally lost.” Again, let us look at Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Here we see that “Repent” is joined by the word “and” with “be baptized.” Again, it is clear that Peter is teaching that both repentance and baptism are essential. One cannot have the remission of sins by simply repenting. Thus to speak of repentance alone, without baptism, is the equivalent of being

The topic of capital punishment has been in the news again with a number of executions by lethal injection having taken place. Some were hardly mentioned, others, like that of Gary Graham in Texas, where headline news both in the print media and on television. Particularly because this is [2000] an election year and a number of these executions have taken place in Texas, were one of the Presidential candidates is [was] the Governor, the various commentators have been offering their views. Many of the views that have been expressed have been those of the liberal elite in the media with their own special slant. However, for Christians the matter of the rights and wrongs of capital punishment should be settled by what God’s Word teaches, not by the opinion of the latest guru on a talk show or on the editorial page. Some have argued that since God prohibited killing in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not kill,” that this rules out capital punishment. However, if that were true, then God commanded his people to violate that law in the very next chapter (Exodus 21). In that chapter, God lists certain crimes and stipulates that for certain offenses the penalty was death (Exodus 21:12, 14-17, 23, 29). The truth of the matter is the command against killing was a command against murder, for that is what the Hebrew word used in Exodus 20:13 actually means. When we come to the New Testament, we find that Paul, under the inspiration

A number of years ago, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold of Norway died when the airplane in which he was traveling on United Nations business crashed in the African country of Zambia. The plane’s destination had been the town of Nadola. After the accident, investigators searched the wreckage and the area around it for clues as to the cause of the accident. In the wreckage, the investigators came across an open map that showed a town near Leopoldville in the Congo that was called Nadolo. The pilot of the plane, evidently, was being guided in his landing by the map showing Nadolo. He must have assumed that he had a thousand more feet in altitude than he actually had. Nadola is at a higher altitude than Nadolo. As a result, the plane had crashed in an open field in the darkness of Africa. All the while the pilot thinking that he had a thousand more feet, but he didn’t! He had opened the map to the wrong section! Such a small difference! The difference was between an “O” and an “A.” One letter was the only difference between the two towns. Two towns in two different countries with such a small difference in their names. However, that very small difference became the difference between life and death for Dag Hammarskjold and the others on the plane that night. Many times a small difference, a small misunderstanding can mean the difference between a disaster and a destination.

The following is an excerpt from an article by Carroll Sites that has been found in a number of bulletins over the last few years: Many people identify churches of Christ as owing their roots to Alexander Campbell in 1813. This is a common tendency among people thinking in denominational terms. Thus in some circles, we have held the dubious distinction of being referred to as “Campbellites.” I have in my files an interesting quotation from documentary research of a Dr. Robinson, principal of Overdale College, Birmingham, England. It reads as follows: In the Furness District of Lancashire in N.W. England there existed in 1669, during the reign of Charles II, a group of eight churches of Christ. Most of them are not now in existence. An old minute book has been found of the year 1669 and it shows that they called themselves by the name church of Christ, practiced baptism by immersion, celebrated the Lord’s Supper each Lord’s Day, and had elders and deacons. There was also a church of Christ in Dungannon, Ireland in 1804 and in Allington, Denbeighshire. In 1735, John Davis, a young preacher in the Fife District of Scotland was preaching New Testament Christianity twenty-five years before Thomas Campbell (Alexander Campbell’s father) was born. This Dr. Robinson mentioned above did indeed, at one time, serve as principal of Overdale College which was a school operated by the Cooperation of Churches of Christ in Great Britain. This Cooperation was in fellowship with the Disciples of