Ironworks

          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 pur...

 “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...

        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...