Resolutions

Godly Men Make Resolutions

It’s that time of year when people make resolutions, only to see them fade away in the days which follow. This does not mean that all resolutions are worthless, but when it comes to our resolve in spiritual matters, we should take this seriously. The wisest man, Solomon, said, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasures in fools. Pay what you have vowed—better not to vow than to vow and not pay” (Eccl. 5:4-5).  Look at the resolve of three godly men in the Bible.

spiritual people make resolutions

Spiritual People Make Resolutions.

Personal resolutions. Who would have ever seen Saul of Tarsus, who became the great apostle Paul, as a prospect for conversion? Who would have ever seen him as the author of half of the New Testament books? Yet, God does not see as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). What was it that God saw that others could not see? Perhaps the answer is found in a resolution Paul made early in his life. He said, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward man” (Acts 24:16). What a noble resolution the apostle made. Is this one you should make?

Family resolutions. Every godly parent is concerned about the spiritual welfare of every member of the family. Look at the resolution one godly father made. The Jews had entered the land God promised He would give to them. Joshua had successfully led the nation and the land had been taken. He called Israel together and challenged them to make a life changing decision about the future of the new nation.

Joshua presented two choices before them. They could worship the idols in the land they had taken or they could choose to serve God. He then expressed his resolution about his family. “Fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth. . .choose you this day whom you will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:14-15). Is this resolution one you should make for your family?

Broken resolutions. What do you do when you have made promises to God and have failed to live up to them. There was that disciple who expressed his resolve to the Lord when he said, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You” (Matt. 26:35). Yet, he did deny him. His resolution did not become reality. Fortunately, this is not the end of the story. Less than two months after uttering these words and then cursing and swearing that he did not even know Jesus, he stood before the Jewish nation and preached on Pentecost. What a great story!

Think about it. Are there promises you need to make to the Lord. Even if you have failed before, He can still use you!

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Stones in the Jordan

What Do These Stones Mean?

In Joshua 4 the account is told of Israel’s memoria lcrossing of the Jordan River to take possession of the land of Canaan.  The Lord instructed Joshua to take one man from each of the twelve tribes, and for them each to take up a stone from the middle of the Jordan. He said, “when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan…these stones shall be for a memorial…” (vv 6-7).

what do these stones mean

What Do These Stones Mean?

One thing this passage teaches is that God is mindful of the “next generation.”  He wants our children and our children’s children to know why He did what He did among His people.  Moses once said, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…” (Deut. 6:6-7).

Today, of course, we do not live under the old covenant of Moses but under the new covenant in Christ (Heb. 8); yet this concept is still true (God is mindful of the generations that follow).  In Ephesians 6:4 Paul says, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Also read 2 Timothy 1: 5 and 3:14-15).  You see, we have an obligation toward our children; to diligently teach them and to remind them of God and His word.  Consider this: here in the church age, the Lord’s Supper is a memorial feast (1 Cor. 11:24-25).  If your children should ask you, “What does this mean?”…would you be able to tell them?

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Jesus Loves Me

Jesus Loves Me

Of all the songs that excite us as children, it is the song entitled, “Jesus Loves Me.” Small boys and young men within congregations around the country lead it regularly. Literally, this song has touched the lives of many all over the world. William B. Bradbury wrote the following lyrics to this song:

jesus loves me

Jesus Loves me!

 Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me;

Yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so.

 In fact, I usually lead this song on Sunday evenings in our Pew Packer’s class—it is definitely one that I frequently lead, almost more than any other song. Moreover, it has not been that long since David Nuckels lead this song during our worship on a Sunday evening. Why? The reason is that even as adults, we love this song, too. The song is so basic, and yet so meaningful. It is a personal recognition of the love of Christ for us. When Christian parents begin to teach songs to their children, usually this is among the first they learn. To see the look on their faces as they sing this song helps me realize they really do love this song.

However, we should not attribute this song only to babies or small children. The words of this song apply to all ages, not only to small children.

When William B. Bradbury wrote the song, he might have been thinking of Mark 10:14:

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

God has filled the Bible with passages that declare Christ’s love for us. Paul perfectly says it best in Romans 8:35, 38-39:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Adults and teenagers need to realize that this song is not a “baby song,” but is a wonderful song that even applies to us. Let us all teach our children that this song is special because Christ loves us, including those of us who are older, and died for us on Calvary.

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Happy New Year! Thank You!

Thank you from Church of Christ Articles!

thank you from church of christ articles

Thank you from Church of Christ Articles!

This has been a very successful year of sharing the Gospel.  Thank you to each one of you for your likes and shares of articles throughout the year.  You would be amazed at what a difference sharing an article makes.  On a single day it can aid over 10,000 people in viewing writings regarding the Word of God.

A very special thank you from me to Aaron Veyon, Brad Harrub, Dan Jenkins, David Hersey, Doug Dingley,  Erik Smith, Garreth L. Clair, Jack McNiel, Kevin Cauley, Robert Notgrass, Sam Willcut, and Tim Dooley for the work they have put in studying and writing so they can help their fellow man.  Like me, they may take some time off from writing for periods of time, but they certainly have not taken it off from working for the Lord.  Their efforts are greatly appreciated!  I would also like to thank anyone else who has written material that has been posted to the website this year.  Our guest authors are also greatly valued.

The purpose of this website is to introduce folks to God.  It is done in our case through the writing of articles.  You may use these articles free of charge for bulletins, studies, or other means of spreading the gospel as long as they remain free.  I would ask that you do include the authors name with them.  Not for some self promoting reason, but rather that the reader may know the source and be able to search out more material from the author or have questions answered by them.  Where there may be a disagreement with the author, know the authors do not flippantly write things down, but do so after long periods of study.  Consider what they have to say and as the Bereans examine these things to see if they are so, knowing the authors are concerned for your soul and theirs.

Thank you again to all and may we all realize God is continuing to bless us each day of each new year.

Travis Main – Church of Christ Articles

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Four Gospel Accounts?

Why Four Gospel Accounts?

When we look at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, these are called the Gospel accounts.  And, for those who study the Bible, we can find synoptic problems and other things that people come up with to discredit two or three of the books.  Yet, in the confusion among scholars, have you yourself ever wandered why there are four Gospel accounts instead of just one?  Well, I would like to state that each account is necessary.

why four gospel accounts

Why Four Gospel Accounts?

I mean, take Matthew’s account.  He is a Galilean Jew (Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:13-14; Luke 5:27,29) who wrote primarily to the Jewish people.  In fact, he quotes many Old Testament prophecies Jesus fulfilled which declare Him King.  And so, Jesus is not only the Messiah of Old Testament prophecy, but He is the King who came through the royal line of David to sit upon his throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-17; Psalm 132:11; cf. Luke 1:31-32; Acts 2:22-36).  Furthermore, the terms “king” and “kingdom” appear more in this account than the other accounts and Jesus is beautifully portrayed as King (Matthew 16:13-20; Matthew 28:17-18; cf. Isaiah 9:6-7).

But with Mark’s account, he wrote considering Gentiles (primarily the Romans) because he explained Jewish cultural considerations (cf. Mark 7:1-8).  Mark also emphasizes Jesus’ actions and servant spirit and so, Mark records more about what Jesus did than what He said.  Also, one of the key words in Mark’s account is the word, “immediately” or “straightway” (used 36 times), which emphasizes action, moving swiftly from one event to another.  So, in this account, Jesus was not just King, but he was also a Man of the people and demonstrated the servant spirit all true disciples will display (Mark 10:43-45).

As for Luke’s account, he wrote with the Greek community in mind.  Luke emphasizes Jesus as the perfect Son of man (Luke 19:10).  And, while other gospel writers speak of Jesus’ prayer life, Luke shows us more of Jesus’ teaching regarding the frequency of our praying (cf. Luke 18:1; Luke 21:36; Luke 22:40,46).  Luke also shows that Jesus relied on His Father in prayer and models how we should rely on God (Luke 11:1-4).  And, while he records many miracles, there is more emphasis on what Jesus said than what he did.  Here we see Jesus as the Master Teacher.

For John’s account, the primary scope of John’s account is to declare to all men that Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16-17).  And, not only does John declare Christ as having human attributes, but declares Him having divine attributes as well (John 1:1,14; cf. Hebrews 4:14-15).  Thus, Jesus is the Son of God by nature; that is, the Father and the Son both possess the qualities of being God (Philippians 2:5-6) and his miracles, recorded by John, is evidence of this (John 20:30-31).

Now, without all four Gospel accounts, we would not be able to see the complete portrait of our Savior; His words, His life, and His mission.  The Jews needed to know that Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah and King (cf. Luke 24:44).  The Gentiles needed some Jewish cultural concepts explained (Mark 7:3-4).  And, we must see Jesus as King (Matthew), the perfect Man of action (Mark), the Master Teacher (Luke), and God (John).  That is why we have four Gospel accounts.

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