Prayers That Aren’t Answered

Homiletics

“Faith is not about everything turning out okay. Faith is about being okay no matter how things turn out.” ~Anonymous

There was a time when I desperately desired something specific to occur before a certain event, and I fasted and prayed to that end for months. It didn’t happen. The thing I wanted and requested did come after the event, not before.

What If

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

A fellow was talking the other night about the ministry of angels, because he’d been spared in a near-miss and credited it to the protection of angels. He even mentioned “guardian angels” and “my angel”;

Why Churches Should Ditch The Projector Screens And Bring Back Hymnals*

Worship
Guest Writer Tom Raabe

I don’t know the writer or what church he attends, but he’s right, which is the reason I want to share his timely message.  No one dislikes screens in church more than I do.  They are natural life, not spiritual life and have no business in the sanctuary.  Further, in some churches, the lights are stage lights for the camera, not normal lighting for the inhouse congregation.  More attention is paid to the audience on the internet, TV, or video than live worshipers in the pews.  In some churches, hymnals, filled with good theological masterpieces, lie idle in the pew rack while “junk” is projected on screen.  All an exercise in futility!  Our children are still unchurched even if they’re seated beside us.

Living Among the Heathen*

Bibliology
Guest Writer Evangelist Hugh Pyle

“Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2).

Easter Monday I was researching this pervasive modern phenomenon of dance in church when I stumbled across “Living Among the Heathen,” from “The Sword of the Lord,” via “A Voice in the Wilderness.” It says it all. When believers compromise with the world, they are soon “mingled among the heathen” (Psalm 106:35).

Face to Face*

Who Touched Me?*

Guest Writer Thomas DeWitt Talmage

“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living on physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched” (Luke 8:43, 44).

There is nothing more unreasonable and ungovernable than a crowd of people. Men who, standing alone or in small groups are deliberate in all they do, lose their self-control when they stand in a crowd. We’ve all witnessed it: persons moving about in great excitement in some mass-meeting, shoving, jostling, and pulling at one another.

Half-and-Half Churches*

Guest Writer Thomas DeWitt Talmage

“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

After we have been walking on a hot summer day, running, playing ball, or hunting in autumn, a draft of icy cold water exhilarates …. After standing or walking in the cold air and being chilled, a hot beverage brings life and comfort to the whole body.

Under the Camel’s Saddle*

Guest Writer Thomas DeWitt Talmage

“We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one … one God, the Father … and one Lord, Jesus Christ …. However, there is not in every man that knowledge” (1 Corinthians 8:4-7).

Jacob had lived with his uncle Laban for twenty years. He had served him seven years for each of his daughters, Leah and Rachel, and six years for his livestock (Genesis 29 through 31). Now, it was time to leave. But how? Knowing the kind of person Laban was, and his jealous sons, Jacob had distanced himself and then stolen away unawares with two wives, two concubines, eleven sons so far, one daughter that we know of, servants, and herds. As could be expected, when, three days later, Laban learned Jacob had “escaped” with what Laban considered his property, he, being the rascal he was, chased the “runaways.”

All About Mercy*

Guest Writer Thomas DeWitt Talmage

“The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath …”
~Portia to Shylock, in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

Benedict XIII decreed that German Catholics should greet each other with “Laudetur Jesus Christus” (“Praised be Jesus Christ”), the response being “In aeternum! Amen” (“Forever, amen”), a salutation aptly fit for Protestants.

Jehoshaphat’s Shipping*

Guest Writer Thomas DeWitt Talmage

“Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-Geber” (1 Kings 22:48; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37).

Your attention is called to a Bible incident that you may not have noticed. King Solomon had seagoing vessels that sailed to Tarshish (1 Kings 9:26-28; 10:22), the westernmost coast of Spain, and from there brought back gold and other precious items. His progeny, King Jehoshaphat, ventured to do the same (1 Kings 22:48)