The Gooch Lane church of Christ is a group of people in Madison, Alabama seeking to study the Bible and put God’s teachings into practice. We’d love to have you join us for Bible study and worship.
It is easy today to practice what I would call “thinking our way to heaven.” The current Christian landscape is full of sayings such as: “Trust God,” “Focus on your relationship with Christ,” “Let Go and Let God.” While I am not debating the importance or validity of doing these things, when we say these things we often leave out how to do these things. God, however, knew exactly how to do those things and it was with daily ritual worship.
.” I don’t know the wearer’s intention; was this his life philosophy or simply a t-shirt he borrowed from his brother? Still, regardless of his motivation, the message is steeped in spirituality and worthy of consideration by those who serve the Lord
But if God is not preparing us for a pop quiz at the Judgment, then what is the purpose of the Bible?
Honesty must become so important to us that we consistently say only things that are true. I like to think of this as an honesty filter—a system that carefully guards our speech so that only honest words come out.
The concept of the modern gospel meeting is quite ancient. Whether this was the Water Gate meeting held by Ezra (Nehemiah 8), or Paul and Barnabas strengthening churches (Acts 15:36), the preaching of God’s word to God’s people is both approved and encouraged.
As pernicious influences seek to diminish this right, may every American cling to it more firmly, and may every child of God pray that this freedom continues and that it can be used to the glory of God.
But Romans 12:21 has more to say about the nature of good and evil than that one is preferable over the other. It is also dealing with “overcoming evil.”
It is somewhat of a paradox that the same message—unaltered, undisturbed by human innovation—is to be delivered in so many different personalities. What a disservice is done to the arrangement of God when we seek to make every man into a clone of what we have surmised in our imaginations to be the best preacher.
