The Bible is the greatest treasure in the world today. By it we know of eternal life in Jesus Christ and by it we can make sense of our world both in the past, the present, and the future. John Newton once wrote, “A child that has read the Bible knows more than all the […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
What Child Is This?
Following this introduction, beginning on the second page, is a reprint of the December 1995 Aletheia article, “What Child Is This?” At this time of year we cannot emphasize enough the timeless truths of the Scripture. We do not limit our preaching of the birth of Christ and the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ […]
Thanks Be Unto God
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods; for his mercy endureth forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth forever. Psalm 136:1-3 There is no greater characteristic of believing people than thanksgiving. Of all […]
Spirit Filled: an individual responsibi...
The local church is made up of individual believers. Each believer comes into the church by testimony of his faith in Christ exhibited by believer’s baptism. The local church is the earthly expression of the body of Christ and must keep itself pure, by all human means, of unbelief within its members. Only in this […]
The Local Church: A Unique Entity
I remember hearing an older preacher say that he grew up in church and was bored most of the time. Frankly, I cannot relate to that because it wasn’t my experience at all. I certainly did not know much of what went on in the whole church nor did I understand the complexities of church […]
The Wiles of the Devil
Few studies in the Bible have greater impact on our lives than knowing our arch enemy, Satan. In our little world of empires and dictators, nuclear weapons and terrorists, space travel and internet, we often forget that the Scripture tells us “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the […]
Pleasing God
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and […]
How Relevant is Relevancy?
For a generation now the church has been concerned about whether or not the world is listening to our message. Books and articles continue to bemoan our plight of a decreasing effectiveness in evangelism and church attendance. This has caused many to make drastic changes to the methodology and polity of the church. But even […]
Does the Rapture Still Make Sense? (Part...
The rapture of the church still makes sense to the premillennial, dispensational position. Because God’s plan for Israel and the Church are different, the Church is not appointed to the time of Israel’s tribulation. Also, because God’s promises to Israel are taken literally, the events surrounding the Day of the Lord (judgment, return in glory, […]
Does the Rapture Still Make Sense? (Part...
I grew up listening to prophetic preaching. There was no doubt that this preaching was premillennial as well as dispensational. The rapture was always presented as pretribulational (occurring before the great tribulation period). For me these were grand days of my young adulthood. The church I grew up in was large with well-known guest speakers […]