Ironworks

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 1...

     This week we will begin a series on the qualifications of elders. We know the pattern for the New Testament church is that elders be appointed in every congregation (cf. Titus 1:5). Each of those who would be appointed as elders must be fully qualified according to what the Holy Spirit has revealed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4, and Acts 20:28.  We are very blessed to have good and godly men, Bob, Jack, and Gary, who have served and continue to serve well. With Bob and Colene’s relocation, our elders have taken the task of looking at adding a man to the eldership. It is important that all of the congregation be invested in our study of such an important role in the Lord’s church.       When elders are appointed, they must be fully qualified according to the Scriptures. If they are not fully qualified, they must not serve in that role. A brother made the observation recently that it is easier to get a man in than it is to get ...

“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?” John 18:37-38      The world says that truth is subjective, never absolute, and subject to one’s perception. In fact, you will often hear people speak of “my truth.” I suppose that is fine if you identify with the same truth found in the Word of Truth. Sadly, this is most often not the case. Sadly, we the church are not doing all that we could to plant the seed of truth in the hearts and minds of those we encounter on a daily basis.       Truth is an extremely valuable commodity. Truth is always the opposite of falsity. I cannot say something that is false and make it true. Water is not dry. Green is not orange. Wrong is not right. It is written, “Woe un...

    Have you ever wondered about why in the footnotes your Bible might say the oldest manuscripts and some other authorities omit verses 9 to the end?   The reliability of Mark 16:9-20 is supported by an abundance of evidence.   The alleged controversy comes from textual critics who elevate the two of the oldest manuscripts over others (Vaticanus and Sinaiticus). What the critics fail to mention is that three out of five of the oldest manuscripts include verses 9-20, and that is just the manuscripts in the original Koine Greek. There are many translations in other languages that include verses 9-20 including the Coptic, Egyptian, and Ethiopic amongst others. All of these predate the fourth century Vaticanus and Sinaiticus as they appeared slightly after the first century A.D. In addition, there is evidence that some church fathers, which include Irenaeus, quote Mark 16:9-20 which affirms that this passage was accepted Scripture in the early years of the church. T...

“We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. “   Galatians 2:15-17             Justification by faith and not by works of human laws is the principal theme of both the epistles to the Romans and the churches of Galatia. I recently began a textual sermon series over Galatians, and we have been exploring how quickly a congregation can find itself in danger. One of the chief threats came from the Judaizing teachers who had made their way down to Galatia at that point and were trying to bind the wo...

         For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all . James 2:10 A recent headline said that the baseball team awaiting the results of an investigation is possibly not as guilty as the other team that was already found guilty. Not as guilty ; what does that even mean?   Not as guilty still implies that there is guilt. For if there was no guilt, then that would be innocence. That would mean complete exoneration. This would certainly be my preference for anyone accused falsely and never to be deemed "not as guilty." When James wrote to the early church, some were trying to bind parts of the Old Covenant on Christians. Several Judaizers in the early church wanted to bind parts of the Law of Moses on new converts of the Gentile persuasion. Paul wrote,  “ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage...