Ironworks

            Jesus said, And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38). Each must consider how costly this proposition truly is in light of the Scripture. Upon consideration, we understand that New Testament Christianity is an active religion abounding in commitment to the Christ. Shall we consider the cost of taking up our cross to follow Jesus? It will Cost Your Confession Leading up to this command, the Lord made statements to show the prerequisites of carrying the cross. He made it clear in Mathew 10:32-33 that one cost would be confession of Christ before men. The Greek word for confess used here is homologesei, which means to speak the same thing. When we speak the same thing as Christ, we will affirm His doctrine and those of His apostles We cannot devolve into synthetic sectarian doctrine, but rather we must speak the message of Christ and Him crucified (cf. 1 Cor 1:23). Failing to do so is to deny Him. The Greek word for deny

Great and Precious           Have you ever considered the promises of God? The promises of God are far greater than we perhaps recognize. His promises are greater than the promise of return on our earthly investments. His promises are greater than the record projection of our favorite sports team. His promises are greater than those of our employers. His promises are exceedingly great and precious.  Peter recorded,  “Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:2-4) God provides all we need to live faithful and godly lives. Through His wonderful promises and our obe

        A preacher should preach with power, but what is that power? How does one preach with power? Think about what our desire for preachers tends to be. If you were to look at a listing where a congregation was looking for a preacher you would see several qualifications.            Brethren like for their preachers to be dynamic. Maybe they have a nice smile and look good standing in the pulpit. Maybe they are young and have a beautiful wife and kids (I know I do!). When they get up to preach they say all of the right things with great words of wisdom. It could be that right now you are thinking, “That is exactly what I want in a preacher!” These thoughts coalesce to make the quintessential preacher (at least in the minds of many). Is this what powerful preaching looks like?           While there may be some ideals here, what does make a powerful preacher? Specifically, where does one get this power? Can it be attained? Does it come from the preacher? Let’s ask a few questions to fi

          One of my hobbies is watching sports, both collegiate and professional. On occasion, I enjoy watching an event in person. One thing that I have always noticed is that at times there are empty seats. If a team is not playing well their fans do not fill the stadium or arena. If their team is winning by a large margin they may leave early to try and beat the traffic. Regardless, empty seats teach us one thing, the person who should be occupying it is missing. An Empty Seat At Home This time of year when families gather, there might be an empty seat because a family member has died. We are comforted, if our loved one was in Christ, that we can see them again (cf. 2 Sam 12:22-23). When a loved one passes away, we can remember the assurance that Christ is victorious over death. Paul recorded, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).  An empty seat at home may persist throughout the year for good reasons. Our children grow and they ma

A very common question that is asked is, “Will we know each other in heaven?” This is a wonderful question that the Bible answers. To begin, it would be important to recognize that heaven will be the home for the church that belongs to Christ eternally. When we consider this, we think about our brethren who have lived faithfully (cf. Rev. 2:10; 1 John 1:7, Mark 13:13) and have died. We might miss them in this interim time, and thus hope to see them again. That is a wonderful thought, is it not? We spend our lives together with our Christian spouses, children, and brethren. We worship with, pray with, and serve with these individuals throughout our lives. Would it be wrong to want to have a continued fellowship with one another in eternity?  There is Comfort in God’s Word Concerning Heaven The Thessalonian Christians in the first century were concerned about those of their number who had passed. Listen to what the Spirit said,  “But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerni

“Faithful is the saying, and concerning these things I desire that thou affirm confidently, to the end that they who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men: but shun foolish questionings, and genealogies, and strifes, and fightings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A factious man after a first and second admonition refuse; knowing that such a one is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned.”  Titus 3:8-11 Profit and loss are two common things that we consider when it comes to enterprise. Many retailers look forward to a day that has been called “Black Friday.” That day is not as ominous as it sounds, unless perhaps you have worked in the retail business. Black Friday is called this, because many retailers hit the black (signifying profit) after this big business day. Before this day, many businesses could find themselves in the red (signifying loss) for part, if not all, of the year. The church that

          Every organization has a purpose. The purpose of a restaurant is to serve food to their customers. The purpose of the electric company is to keep the lights on. The purpose of the mechanic is to perform maintenance or repairs on their customers’ vehicles. The purpose of the Congress is to enact legislation. The purposes of the aforementioned organizations are described in perhaps their company bylaws with the latter being described in Article I of the United States Constitution.           The church is an organization of divine origin, thus it must have a divine purpose. The church is the only authorized institution in the New Testament; thus, every work that God has called men to do is worked out through the church's actions. We must go to the handbook and constitution for the church (The Bible) for the purpose of the church.  What is Not the Purpose of the Church?           The purpose of the church is not to bring glory to men. The church does not grant social prestige

Where is the White House? We might  be quick to answer that it is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington D.C. United States of America. That is relatively easy for many people. The White House was commissioned to be built at that location in the late 18th century and remains occupying its 18 acres despite being burnt by the British during the War of 1812.  The next question might be very difficult for some in this world. Where is the church of Christ? This one for some may be a much more difficult question to answer. There are 4500 denominations of Christendom. Can one of these be the church which Christ built? Jesus said,  “And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19      

  The Bible is full of examples of godly men and women whose behaviors we ought to take note of and emulate. We could consider the faithfulness of Abraham. We would see that he took God at His Word and followed Him. We could consider the patience of Job. From his example, we would learn that God cares for us even when we are hurting and that we can make it through anything because of Him. We might also look at the wisdom of Solomon. From his example, we would learn that the only true wisdom in this world has a divine source and only that source can sustain us in walking in wisdom.            All of these men’s examples are a pattern that we should follow. Jehovah also has provided a perfect pattern in the actions of His Son, Jesus. Paul recorded, “But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9). How can we be assured that we have the Spirit of God and Christ?

                    The Bible is the Word of God. It is the only approved standard by which men must live to be right in the eyes of God. We must treat the Word of God with the utmost respect, not because it is just another book, nor is it merely words printed on the page with a human origin. The Bible is authored by the Holy Spirit of God, and we must listen to what He has said concerning His Word. We must be careful first and foremost never to add nor take away from God’s Word.   A Command Under Moses A command was given to the Jewish nation in the law of Moses first. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you” (Deut. 4:2). God delivered this Law on Sinai as the only approved standard by which Israel would live. It was the supreme law of the land and any question or dispute that needed to be resolved began and ended with the Law of Jehovah. A Command Broken Under M

          How do I know if I am right with God? The question is simple, but it requires us to put some effort into figuring out an answer.  Since this takes effort, many people will ask the question and never look for the answer. This is an extremely dangerous way to live as you may be blissfully ignorant, but being blissfully ignorant of God’s word can lead to terrible eternal consequences. So, let’s answer the question in short. How do we know if we are right with God? To answer this we should ask ourselves some simple questions. Have You Heard?              The first step in the process is hearing the word of God. I know this seems like taking a step back from answering our serious question, but we have to address the fact that we need to hear God’s word. Logically speaking it all starts here, but as we move forward we need to continue to hear God’s word.           Romans 10:17 (KJV) says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The way that you get faith