Things NOT found in the Bible, part 2   Introduction Growing up as a child of the 70s, one of the phrases I seemed to hear a lot is, “Money is the root of all evil”. Naturally, it is used in regards to someone being obsessed with it or deep in debt. However, when you really think about how we use it daily, the question to ask is, Is money evil?   What does the Bible Say? Normally, I would save this statement for later in the article but I’m sure, by now, that you’ve figured out that there is a similar verse in the bible. In 1 Timothy 6:10, the apostle Paul writes, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.   In this verse, you will notice two things different from the statement above. First, Paul says the “love of money” not just money. Second, he states it’s the “root of all kinds of evil” not every form of evil. So, we can con...

  The Work of the Church,  Part 3   Introduction We’ve been looking at the actual work of the church. Two weeks we covered, “Edifying the Saved” and this week’s article is about benevolence and should be cared for. There are a lot of people out there who believe that the church should be doing so much more that what listed in scripture but if we don’t have authority to do it, then we shouldn’t. As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:6, Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written , that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.   Definition of Benevolence From the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary: 1. The disposition to do good; good will; kindness; charitableness; the love, of mankind, accompanied with a desire to promote their happiness. The benevolence of God is one of his moral attributes; that attribute which delights i...

  ( Work of the Church, Filler article) Introduction In Gal. 6:10 Paul writes, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” A Christian is to have compassion on everyone he meets regardless of color, creed, gender, etc. But he is to especially do good to his brothers and sisters in the faith whether they are of his own local congregation or someone doing the work in a third world country. There are, at times, those who are simply looking for a handout and see the church as a pushover of generosity and will “tug at your heartstrings” with a sob story to gain a couple bucks here or there. Any church has limited funds and it must be utilized to maintain the work where it resides.   Professional Bums Years ago, someone standing on the side of the road looking for a handout was usually someone in real need. Today, however, it seems more and more that people are preying on others kindness by “earning mo...

Acts of Worship, Pt. 4 Introduction The next act of worship we will look at is The Collection. Whenever the discussion of money is mentioned or giving as part of the service, people tend to sour at the idea. You might hear people say, “All they want is our money.” It is the one thing that people have a problem with aside from the concept of baptism for salvation. Let’s look at some ideas. Raising Funds One of the main reasons that people rankle at the idea of putting money in the plate during Sunday Service is that they feel that their money won’t be put to good use. They feel that members of the church will use the money to line their own pockets rather than pay for things that are needed. It’s one thing to give money to a local charity; something that they know the money is going to a good cause such as, the American Heart Association or Muscular Dystrophy. Even when people buy Girl Scout Cookies, they don’t see it as helping the Girl Scouts but rather buying the...

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 ...