One has only to read the Scripture to know that a believer should walk with God. “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thes. 2:12). “As ye have therefore received Jesus Christ the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col. 2:6). “If we live in […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
The Christmas Story? Yes!
The passage from Thanksgiving to Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. The leaves fall and the air grows cooler. The sky is clear and the days grow shorter. Our thoughts change from hearts thankful for bounty and blessing to hearts adoring of incarnation and salvation. We are witnessing growing unbelief and secularization of […]
Thankful? Yes!
It is a strange time in which to be living—in these last days. The Christian has known that such a time would come, but talking about it or predicting it and living it are different things. I know the coming of the Lord may be years away (or it may be momentary) but the Scripture […]
The Real Hate Crime
Our world is full of contradictions. We all see them and do them to some degree. What was once called free love was no more than unrestrained lust. What is called pro-choice is really a horrid restriction on another person’s chance to live. What one person insists is his right to marry the same sex […]
Natural Disasters
A number of interesting natural and unnatural things have happened in the last few days. We have seen an amazing solar eclipse which happens only a couple times in most people’s life time. Some people go too far on one side making such an eclipse a biblical sign from God, and others go too far […]
The Law of Liberty
The “Law of Liberty” has always struck me as a perfect oxymoron. How can you be under the law if you are at liberty? Or how can you be at liberty if you are under the law? Isn’t this kind of like jumbo shrimp? How can you have it both ways? Yet the New Testament […]
Who Needs The Local Church?
This is a day of convenience, quick on-line shopping, and instant everything. It is almost possible for a person to live one’s whole life without leaving the house. If someone can arrange to work from home, the rest is easy. You can do all of your banking online, shop for almost anything and have it […]
Is It Enough To Say I’m Sorry? or, Does
We’ve all heard it and we’ve all done it. We even forced our little ones to say “I’m sorry” to another child who has been hurt in some way. We’ve also forgiven those little ones for things that are serious sins in an adult. A two-year-old may steal another child’s toy three or four times […]
Human Nature, America, and the Church
America and, therefore, the Christian church are experiencing an upheaval unique to the present age but unlike any phenomenon in recent history. Cultural watchers have described it as post-Christian, post-modern, post-morality, slouching toward Gomorrah, God is dead, and also with Biblical terminology such as the great apostasy, the one-world church, the harlot of Revelation, etc. […]
What About Foot Washing?
It’s not unusual to be asked about baptism or the Lord’s Supper but in conjunction with that the question of foot washing as an ordinance of the church often comes up. I usually reply that I certainly believe in foot washing, especially for boys under ten years old! But why is it that I do […]