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...

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. Thr...

        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?...

          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 reas...

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,...