Are You a Worship Service Participant or Just a Spectator?
The alarm clock rings. And rings again. And again. Mom and Dad stumble out of bed and cajole sleepy kids to scarf down their breakfast and find shoes. Kids dawdle, Mom and Dad frantically grab coffee mugs, and somehow everyone makes it into the car. By the time you get…
Adoniram Judson: Man of Conviction
Adoniram Judson is perhaps the most famous Baptist foreign missionary. He caused a sensational stir when he changed his Congregational paedobaptist convictions to become a committed Baptist. He is widely regarded as the father of American foreign missions. This title is appropriate because he was the first vocational missionary, and…
The Beginning of Fundamentalism: The Niagara Bible Conference
Spiritual forces were at work in nineteenth century Western society to undermine biblical authority and dash the blessed hope of the church upon the rugged terrain of unbelief. The twin knock-out blows dealt to the Christian denominations were Darwinian evolution and historical criticism. The only force standing in bold opposition…
Grace and Truth
The beginning of Jesus' ministry is generally regarded as His baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. By the time Jesus stepped into his baptism line, John had built a truly massive ministry. (Matthew 3:5) The Lord had commissioned him to preach a message of forward looking repentance to…
The Burning Bush Believer
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Exodus 3:2). The business of on-the-spot, spur-of-the-moment testifying / witnessing / soulwinning is never to be forsaken. God has commanded each of us to turn aside and seek the…
Continual Coming
“...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint..lest by her continual coming...” Luke 18:1, 5 First Thessalonians ends with a short series of short sentences, one of which is “Pray without ceasing.” What that does not mean is just as obvious as what that does mean. The Holy…
The Danger of Legalism
Note: In planning this blog series on grace I felt I wanted to cover the subject of legalism in some depth. I have asked my good friend, Pastor Joe Cassada, of the Solid Rock Baptist Church in Maryland Heights, Missouri, to address this topic for us. This is the first…
The Leaven of Society
“...bring forth him that...cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones." (Lev. 24:23) If one conducted a poll and asked what one blight upon culture has contributed most to the downfall of society, answers would vary. One would claim the worst problem to be abortion on demand while…
I Have Seen Thy Tears
“...I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears...” (II Kings 20:5) Brief study of II Kings 20 will demonstrate that this chapter falls during the reign of Sargon, the Assyrian who was king after Shalmaneser and before Sennacherib. Among the evidences of this order of events is that,…
How Do I Become a Godly Man?
1 Peter 1:13-16, Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (14) As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: (15) But…