THE TENTH DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. We Christians accept the Bible as "scripture" and as "canon", the Greek word for "measuring stick or ruler." By doing so, we affirm that the Bible, the combination of sacred writings of the Jews called the Tanakh, a name created by combining as an acronym the Hebrew words for the Law, the Writings and the Prophets, (our Old Testament) and 27 Christian writings (the "New Testament"), is our final test of all other messages or writings said to have come from God. This acknowledgement concerning Scripture gives rise … [Read more...]
THE CORE OF OUR MESSAGE
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. A gracEmail subscriber wants to know what message the Apostles and other first-generation Christians spread, so potent that those who spread it were accused of turning the world upside down. * * * The Book of Acts reports the summaries of a dozen or more of those very messages, beginning in Acts 2, in which Peter tells the curious Pentecost crowd that Jesus is the Messiah whom they murdered but whom God raised from the dead (Acts 2:22-36). Peter and John heal a lame man and a crowd gathers. "You killed … [Read more...]
Family Notes 06/04/2016
THE SIXTH DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Scott and Lisa Harris and their daughter Mariah, missioners in Mozambique serving with African Outreach Ministries (AOM), urgently request your prayers for healing of physical and emotional injuries they recently sustained. They were overpowered, tied up, and assaulted by three masked men who broke into their home about 8 p.m. on March 17, 2016. The thieves escaped with approximately $10,000 worth of personal property, including cash, jewelry, and electronic gear. The incident spurred Scott to take precautionary … [Read more...]
Family Notes 04/04/2016
THE FOURTH DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. OUR ONENESS WITH THEM Drawing from John 17 and filled with the Spirit of God, Joe Curtis spoke on this theme recently to the Seven Mile Post Road Church in Athens, Alabama. His sermon was beautiful and biblical, Christ-centered and with conviction, passionate and powerful. When you have 25 minutes to use to bless yourself, you might want to listen to this. Just go to: www.7mpr.org/sermons-2/ and scroll down to Joe Curtis and the title Our oneness with them. LET'S JUST FACE IT Charles Prince is a … [Read more...]
THE BIBLE–WHY AND WHAT?
THE THIRD DAY OF APRIL IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. To read the Old Testament scriptures with enlightened mind is to discover a preview of Jesus the Messiah--his supernatural birth and faithful life, his substitutionary passion and atoning death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, his present intercession and his coming kingdom (Luke 24:27, 44-47). Because they point to Jesus, the Old Testament scriptures provide wisdom that leads to salvation through trusting in him (2 Timothy 3:15). For those who follow Jesus to whom they point, the Old Testament … [Read more...]
Family Notes 30/03/2016
THE THIRTIETH DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. PAUL AND MELONIE FUDGE IN ZIMBABWE My youngest brother Paul Fudge and wife Melonie have arrived safely in Harare, Zimbabwe. There they expect to remain busy until the date in June arrives for them to return home, God willing, Paul is scheduled to teach a course at Zimbabwe Christian College (ZCC), and Melonie will be doing informal personal discipling, biblical counseling and encouragement, particularly with wives of ministerial students. On weekends they will visit and teach by invitation in surrounding … [Read more...]
A PRINCE OF A FELLOW
THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. He was 8-10 years older than most graduate students at ACU in 1967, and none of the classes, whether lecture-based or discussion seminars, were really all that large. But the main thing that made Charles Prince both conspicuous and memorable was that when he commented on the professor's remarks as he often did--whether to take issue with them or merely to enlarge on some point--Charles nearly always seemed to know as much about the subject at hand as did any of his teachers, and sometimes considerably … [Read more...]
Family Notes 23/03/2016
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. THIS SERMON NEEDED HER VOICE The sermon Sunday before last at Bering Drive Church of Christ in Houston, Texas, included the story of Lazarus' sister Mary, who anointed Jesus' feet with her expensive perfume and dried them with her hair. I had not realized before how much this passage needed a woman's eye and ear and mouth. We had a guest preacher that day, Chelsie Sargent, a member of the Southwest Central congregation in our city, and the feminine advantage was clear almost from the moment she began to … [Read more...]
THE ONE DAY THAT COUNTS
THE TWENTIETH DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. Time is eternally slow, I thought, for so it seemed to me when I was the age my elementary grandchildren are today. School days dragged by and the number of years yet to be spent inside school walls was too depressing to calculate. Then I grew up and something very interesting happened. Time, which once crept slower than a snail, suddenly accelerated and soon was outpacing the eagles. Weeks flew, months blurred, and years changed numbers quicker than we could change the calendar. Whether one experiences time … [Read more...]
Family Notes 16/03/2016
THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF MARCH IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND SIXTEEN. THIRST-QUENCHING CONVERSATION Ralph Watson The human mind craves conversation. The verbal dimension, the realm of the Word, is unique to our human consciousness. Dialogue bonds speaker and hearer in the moment forever, like a bookmark in time. In room 304 at LakeRidge Senior Center, living water flows, and people are coming from all around and half a world away to partake of it, in the form of conversation with Harry Robert Fox. Harry Fox has been true to his original self and open to the Word in ways that … [Read more...]
