Ironworks

 “Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15            There is a Bible study that happens every week, twice a week. These studies are held in a location you frequent. It is comprised of your family and your brothers and sisters in Christ. The Bible is the textbook, and it is supported by book, chapter, and verse. It sounds like something that all Christians would seek to be present for. It is our weekly Bible studies at 9:45 AM and Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. If this sounds so good, why do our attendance numbers for the hour of worship differ from our Bible Study times? Why do we attend Bible study anyway?   Christians Study the Bible  We are commanded to study the Bible. Paul wrote,  “Till I come, give heed to reading, to exhortation, to teaching.” 1 Tim 4:13. When we meet together for Bible study it provides a great supplemen...

  In the last couple of weeks, I became aware of a young woman who made a video on a social media platform venting about a potential employee mocking her for asking for accommodations for her “time blindness.” Time blindness is defined by the Cleveland Clinic as, the inability to recognize when time has passed or to estimate how long something will take. In plain language, a person who is perpetually late to events with scheduled times (i.e. work). As you can imagine, many in the safe confines of the comments section had a field day with this preposterous notion. I realize this might be offensive to those who contend that being late is a medical issue. However, it is noted in the very same article, “Everybody has time blindness at times,” Dr. Manos says. “We all can get caught up in something and get ‘in the zone.’  There are many in this world that suffer from a condition I will call Bible blindness. On occasion, I engage religious people of the “faith-only” system. These...

One of my least favorite things I had to do in my former line of work was inventory. I worked for several restaurants that had to do monthly inventories which would fall on days like December 24th the day before the entire company was closed and that was not fun. I worked for one company where inventory was done once a year but it took until 4:30 in the morning. I worked for another company where we did inventory every Monday where I had to get up to count at 5:00 in the morning. Needless to say, I got tired of counting and I certainly do not miss counting, weighing, tagging, and all the things that went along with it. Yet, counting is still part of my life and it is part of the lives of every New Testament Christian.  Counting not his life dear unto himself   “But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24  Cou...

“I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you, always in every supplication of mine on behalf of you all making my supplication with joy, for your fellowship in furtherance of the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ “  Philippians 1:3-6      Have you ever noticed all the ongoing work on our highway system? It is likely that some projects will never come to an end. Even in recent months, a new federal infrastructure package has been a source of much debate in the houses of Congress. How does this reality of our lives relate to our lives in Christ Jesus? When we look at the words of Paul, we certainly can understand we are a work continually in progress. Our Fellowship is Contingent on Furtherance of the Gospel       The Lord commanded that we are to take the Gospel and preach it to all creation (Mark 16:15-16). This Gospel is wha...

        So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before Jehovah his God         2 Chronicles 27:6              This last week concluded our sermon series entitled strong and courageous. This has been an enjoyable study and a much-needed one as the Lord's church has been challenged by and continues to be challenged by Satan to be weak and ineffective. How appropriate it is to study King Jotham of Judah this week. I want you to take a quick note of what the Word says above.   He became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.              The Word denotes earlier how he did so. First, it is noted that he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah (cf. 27:2). Jotham had the right view and perspective which set the standard for his reign. Secondly, his achievements a...