The month of October afforded me a number of opportunities to fellowship with local church pastors from various states and even countries. Though I have written on the local church a lot this year, I want to relate the blessing that I received from my fellowship with these men and also to enhance our appreciation […]
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Author: Rick Shrader
The Local Church of Revelation
All conservative scholars agree that Revelation is the last book to be added to the canon of sixty six inspired books and that the apostle John is the author. John is given his three-fold division of the book as, “the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall […]
Have Faith in God
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to […]
Borders, Language, and Culture
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done […]
Observations: One Hundred Years In Chris...
Over the last 23 years that I have been writing this paper, and the last 50 years that I have been connected with Christian ministry, many things have come and gone and many things have changed. If I think of the men I’ve known, heard, sat under, or known about, you might say that I’ve […]
Yoga: Forming a Right Response
In 1857 The Atlantic Monthly published “Brahma” by Ralph Waldo Emerson which included, “The strong gods pine for my abode, And pine in vain the sacred Seven; But thou, meek lover of the good! Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.”1 In 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda […]
Corrupting Good Manners
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15:33 I have written at least three previous times about manners1 as many have done who grew up in the turbulent ‘60s when the civilities of society were turned on their head. It was John Silber, past President of Boston University, who […]
The Christian in an Election Year
Election year comes every four years, like it or not. I don’t necessarily, even though I watch more cable news and read online news than in any other year. When we could be anticipating March Madness and the NCAA tournament, we are more embroiled in Super Tuesday and March Sadness. It saddens me because the […]
Cross, Creation and also Prophecy
There are three great mountain peaks of importance in Biblical history. First and foremost is Calvary. The cross is the center of all God’s workings with this world. If the believer could say with Paul, “I determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2), he would […]
The State of the Church in 2016
Every year I give a State of the Church address to the church I pastor. This is usually directed toward our small local church and what challenges we may face in the coming year. Of course, we are not alone in the coming year. All local churches will face whatever comes, and God alone knows […]