We know the hymn. Perhaps it is one of your favorites. How could it not be? We reference it often, as it is a needed reminder (from the eloquent pen of Johnson Oatman, Jr.) that we need to count our blessings, even (or maybe especially) when we are “tempest-tossed” on “life’s billows,” when we are “discouraged,” “burdened” or “amid the conflict.” To…
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Let's Go Back to the Bible
Posts by David Sproule (Page 39)
Just because you “have a right” as a citizen of this country does not necessarily mean that you have approval from God for such. Regardless of when one has a right to have an abortion in this country does not change God’s view of the sanctity of life and the sinfulness of murder. Just because you have a right to freedom of speech does…
If you believe in the sovereignty of God, you know that “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:17, 25, 32; 5:21). If you believe in the sovereignty of God, you know that God not only “raises up kings,” but He also “removes kings” (Dan. 2:21). If you believe in the sovereignty of God, you know how often nations fell throughout…
The congregation sings a hymn to “help prepare our minds” for the Lord’s Supper. The words are very meaningful, even though we’ve sung it a hundred times before. Then, a group of men stand up and walk to the front table and pass some trays to each other. They stand there in respectful silence as a man gets up to make some…
It’s interesting how current events can be a reminder of a similar event in the Bible. While Paul was in Ephesus in Acts 19, “there arose a great commotion about the Way” (19:23), and unbelievers targeted Paul for his preaching and miracles (19:27). Read the reactions of the people carefully: “They were full of wrath and cried out…So the whole city was filled with…
John Henry Holmes—a 19th-century electrical engineer and inventor from Newcastle, England—is credited with inventing the light switch in 1884. Never before could an individual so quickly turn something on or off. Or is that true? The apostle Peter utilized a type of switch in Galatians 2. When he visited the Gentile city of Antioch, “he would eat with the Gentiles” (Gal. 2:11-12), for his fellow…
God said, “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Deut. 5:12). So, are we supposed to “observe the Sabbath day” today? The Biblical answer to that question is, “No.” Let’s study the Bible together. First, we must observe to whom the command was given. “God made a covenant with [Israel] in Horeb” (Deut. 5:2). The command to keep the Sabbath was…
Jesus taught that we are to “love the Lord” with “all” of our heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27). What does that look like? Paul said that, to those who have “put on the new man,” Christ is “all and in all” (Col. 3:10-11). What does that look like? There are many ways to answer that question, but Chris Tomlin summarized…