Poem written by Christopher Mentzer    Christ was born in a stable; That Day, in history, is lost. But for true education; To speak of your salvation, From the man who died upon the cross.   A child in a manger; Is innocent as you can see. He’s the King of Kings, With a shout, ‘Hosanna’, rings. A remission of sins in the man it will be.   Wise men came from afar, Bearing gifts to the young juvenile. But the gift He made, Is the life He gave, Upon the cross for every man, woman, and child.   Born of the House of David; The tribe of Judah is his lineage. The last of his ancestry, He completed his ministry, On the cross he said, “It is finished.”   To celebrate His birth is to no avail, It is counted naught but dross. But your edification, And eternal salvation, Comes from the man who died upon the cross.

(To the Christian) Introduction         The countdown begins, Midnight strikes, “Auld Lang Syne” is sung, and a new year is under way. As tradition goes, people make resolutions for the coming year with the promise of changes to improve their lives. Of course, by the week’s end we’ve already reneged on those promises. So why do we make them?         Every year we make the same resolutions: I’m going on a diet, I’m going to travel more, I will be more outgoing. And yet, just a few days later, we come to the realization that we were rash in our decisions and immediately fall back into routine. The diet is ruined by that extra piece of pie, traveling is out because of a dwindling bank account, being outgoing means having to go outside where *gasp* other people are.         For those of us who are Christians, instead of making New Year’s Resolutions we should...

Introduction         In Isaiah 9:6-7 is one of the more profound prophecies of Jesus, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”         At this time of year this passage is quoted in celebrating the birth of Christ; touting him primarily as the Prince of Peace and that he will bring peace as stated by the angels in Lk. 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”         How does one such as Jesus bring about world peace? Does h...

Introduction         Over the last decade many people have become “more religious”. And by doing so they love to express it all over social media. But is this really what God is looking for in one of His children? Are we furthering the gospel or becoming victims of another one of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11)?   Super Information Highway         The internet is one of the greatest inventions of the late 20 th Century. Information, Friends, and Family at your fingertips. See pictures of your newborn grandchild just moments after they are born or see your favorite band perform live on the other side of the planet! With this kind of technology, it also cuts research time in half.         Of course, the World Wide Web has its dark side. Pornography, gambling, and unsavory dating sites are capturing people’s attention; as well as their souls. Another problem...

Introduction                 When your car runs low on gas, you pull into a gas station or, as some call it, a filling station. In addition, you can pick up snacks and drinks to help reach your next destination. When your body runs low on energy, you sleep at night and eat food during the day. This helps you “recharge” so you can continue your day-to-day living. But what do you do when your soul runs low on energy? How does one refuel the body’s spirit? The Full-Service Station         The local church serves as a way of refueling the spirit: Singing; as Paul writes in Eph. 5:19-20, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” , Prayer; as James writes in Jas. 5:13-16, “Is anyone...

Introduction         Have you ever looked up at the moon at night and wondered why it doesn’t have a name? Moons of the other planets have names but ours doesn’t. It’s just known simply as The Moon. Have You heard about Pluto?         Growing up as a child of the 70s, we learned in school that there are nine planets in our solar system. Yes, I know that Pluto had been downgraded to nothing more than an asteroid but I’ll acknowledge Pluto as a planet to my dying day. Otherwise, I couldn’t use the phrase: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles to memorize the order of the planets from the sun.         As you think about the other planets, you will recall that each of them has their own set of moons. Mars, for example, has 2 moons; while Jupiter has 63 moons! And each moon has its own name.         Here on planet Earth we o...

Introduction         The title of today’s article sounds incredulous but there are those would follow this line of reasoning without admitting the same. In Matt. 6:24 Jesus states, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The word ‘mammon’ is used to denote riches. What Jesus is saying here is, according to Albert Barnes:         “ ye cannot serve the true God, and at the same time be supremely engaged in obtaining the riches of this world. One must interfere with the other.” If I Win…         One of the main discussions in our society today is winning the lottery. Whether it be the standard State Lottery, Powerball, or Mega Millions; when the amount gets over 500 million everyone plays and everyone at work talks about what ...

(From 2018) Introduction         This question comes up from time to time as to why are there four different individuals telling the same story which is the Life of Christ. Wouldn’t it be easier just to have one person tell the story to get the whole picture of his life? The following will try to explain the purpose of having four different authors to one story. Witnesses don’t see an Event the same way         Let’s say that there are two cars that have crashed in the middle of an intersection. On each of the four corners, there is a witness to the accident; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and Mark can see the front ends of the cars where they crashed but not the backs. Luke and John can see the rear of the cars but not the front. Only Matthew can see the driver of the car that was hit, while John can’t see any people as the trunk lid to the other car has popped open.   ...