Five Smooth Stones

  Today I am thinking about Paul Harvey. "....and now you know the rest of the story." This time of year millions of people focus on the beginning of a wonderful story. I hope that people remember what happened next. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. But the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He existed in the form of God, and did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men. He was born of a virgin and laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. Wise men and shepherds came to the Baby, following a star that they may pay Him honor. This is the miraculous, yet humble beginning to a story of important consequence- the conclusions of which we must not let be overshadowed by its beginning. He existed ...

Editor's Note: This article was authored by my physical cousin, but spiritual brother, W.I. Helterbrand. He has been a major force and influence in my spiritual walk with Christ since childhood. May this article bless and spark your thinking in what the Scriptures say about liberty and truth. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." (I Peter 4:11) Is it Good to Be Dogmatic? Dogmatism is defined as the tendency to decide a principle is an absolute, incontrovertible truth. As Christians, shouldn’t we be dogmatic? After all, we believe we have the Truth of God. The Lord’s Church tends to attract concrete sequential thinkers. That means we always try to use logical reasoning to find appropriate answers for the questions of life. Debates and arguments and strong feelings have been known to arise over issues because of Christian dogmatism. Certainly it is important for the Christian to use good logic and sound reasoning so that the will of God may be understood ...

  Editor's Note: This article was written by my dear friend and brother, Patrick. I have known him for just over a year now, and yet he has played a profound role in my life and on my thinking. His connection of the passages in Leviticus 10 and Hebrews 12 teach us of the importance of a recognition of God's position in relation to the humble offering of the fruit of our lips. I hope that the thoughts present in this article impact your heart in the way you approach worship as they did me. "Our God is great, and greatly to be praised!" A Consuming Fire         The record of Nadab and Abihu is one that is well known. In Leviticus 10 the sons of Aaron are said to have offered “strange” (KJV) or “profane” (NKJV) fire to God, the consequence for this being that they were consumed with fire by the Lord. This event is often used by the Church to teach against the use of mechanical instruments while we sing, and for good reason. The use of instruments is not...

Sometimes life is great. We are blessed abundantly to live in peace with our neighbors, our health and the health of our families are of no immediate concern, bills get paid on time and the baseball team of our choice is on a winning streak. The sun feels a little warmer and the birds sing a little more sweetly when this is our situation it seems. How easy it is to feel the love of God raining down on us from heaven! To anyone who wasn’t born yesterday though, it is obvious that life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Real life is hard. There are times like those stated above, but there are dark times too. Solomon mused that “there is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven”. Among these are “a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Eccl. 3:1, 4) In these verses are both encouragement and warning. If you are going through hard times, they won’t last! They have their season, but the next season has also been appo...

Observing the merger of culture and religious beliefs and traditions throughout history is a great point of interest for me. The addition of secular traditions and even the traditions of other religions into church practice and belief is the source of a great deal of division of the body of Christ throughout time. It is also the source of much apostasy. The most obvious culprit of this unlawful adoption that springs to my mind is the Catholic Church. Throughout history, it is easy to see where the Roman Catholics adopted aspects of Roman and Druid pagan religions, co-opting art, highjacking festivals, and codifying aspects of nearly every culture the Empire contacted in order to persuade members of those cultures to convert and submit to Catholic rule. This very clearly led to a perverted gospel, a corrupt theocracy, and a religion of worldly aspirations. This concept of “teaching as doctrine the traditions of men” is heavily condemned in Scripture.  It is easy to look back into hi...

Modern Christians take a lot for granted- or at least I know I do! I often find myself wondering what my life would be like if I were a Christian in the first century. It is my life’s greatest ambition to serve God according to the New Testament pattern and to be an instrument of His will in restoring that New Testament pattern to the world. However, truth be told there will always be some big differences- hopefully not in doctrine (if that is the case I hope someone tells me so I can change!), but the things we have to face today may be a little different than in ancient times. I imagine myself as a preacher of the kingdom of Jesus in a land and time where almost no one has heard His name. I imagine preaching a concept that is completely foreign to the religious thinking of everyone around me, “a stumbling block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness” (I Cor. 1:23). But the most terrifying and heart shattering difference is the fierce opposition and persecution that the early Chri...