As God prepared Israel for its occupation of the land of Canaan – the land He had promised them – He firmly reminded them of the centrality of His law to their existence. He told them that His commandments were near to them – in their hearts (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). God’s law set two clear and…

We can learn a lot from what God has designed in nature. Take the honeybee for instance. A close observation would reveal seemingly tireless workers. They routinely will carry dirty foreign matter out of the hive in order to keep their product clean and pure. Some of them faithfully take care of the one queen…

One day, mankind will come to understand the fantastic opportunity that was set before them. The Creator gave man a perfect environment after Satan had rebelled, causing the earth to have become without form and void. Satan, as Heylel, had rejected God’s government and chaos and confusion was the result (Genesis 1:2). As God considered…

We are just seven weeks away from an important event for God’s people. We will appear before God in the place He chooses. We shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles with the first day being a holy convocation and the eighth day also being a holy convocation. The exercise of observing the Feast should enrich…

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). “Woe” signifies a crying or groaning on God’s part because of future punishments to come on those who allow themselves to finally embrace evil over good. These are a people who had once known the goodness of God, only…

The Philippian Formula After the Apostle Paul had received aid from the brethren in Philippi, he wrote and thanked them. His expression of love and care for them is instructive to us in our relationship with one another. He used the situation to instruct and encourage them in things pertaining to greater unity amongst themselves.…

Have you ever felt alone, or nearly so, as one of God’s chosen people? Not “chosen” as in having been perfected, but chosen as opposed to not yet having been called? It is not at all unusual to feel alone, the farther and farther the way of this world veers away from God’s righteous path.…

On my last journey to Madagascar to visit with our brethren there, I happened into an unusual situation. The 2019 African Cup of Nations football tournament was in full swing. (This was not American football. It would be called “soccer” in America, but the entire rest of the world knows it as “football.”) What was…

The Apostle Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy to help and encourage him at a time when the Church was experiencing internal pressure from false teachers. He encourages Timothy to: “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy…

Recently we discussed the concept of vertical unity. This is not a new or unique concept, but a way to picture the unity that flows from the Father, through His Son, and into the body. As each member of the body seeks to unify him or herself with God, that unity then allows the aligning…

Lysis is an interesting word. A common meaning of the word is the disintegration of a cell by rupture of the wall or membrane commonly caused by a viral infection. Once the perimeters of the cell are breeched, it will die. The breakdown of good and healthy cells and subsequent cell death has obvious and…

Mankind has lost the story that connects us all. There is a lot of noise, but no context to give life meaning. So, we drift through life without a true meaningful purpose — a story that connects us to something bigger than we are. Aristotle observed, “When the storytelling in a culture goes bad, the…

Sin can be both bold, clear and direct, as well as insidious and deceptive. Some sins are just direct transgressions of God’s holy law — choosing a course of action, knowing that it is against God. As morality generally becomes more accepting of sinful behavior, God’s people can find themselves doing things they would not…