Romans 8:35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35, NKJV)
One of the worst, nearly total annihilations of Protestants in European history happened in France, August 24, 1572 on the Catholic holiday of St. Bartholomews Day. The Catholics of France at that time strongly opposed co-existence with Protestants. The Protestants had resisted in several great battles and had been mostly victorious over Catholic armies. The group that was the largest of this movement were followers of Jean Cauvin (himself a Frenchman; he became known as John Calvin in England) who boasted 300,000 followers in France alone. Continue reading →
No one can doubt that the heart of man is of central importance to the Lord. The Creator did not want creatures who automatically obey and worship Him without choosing to love Him. The Lord created us with a will of our own. We have the ability, completely on our own, to choose or choose not to love Him.
Joshua told the children of Israel in Josh. 24:23, …incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” Of all the living things of Gods Creation this shows the reasoning power that man had been given. Israel was required to think, to consider these words. They were to think about Gods word, its effect upon them and then choose. Josh 24:15, “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served…. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Continue reading →
CHURCH OF CHRIST, 34 AD (Acts 2, Jerusalem)
(Not a denomination!)
- Roman (Universal) Catholic Church, 606 AD(Rome) & Orthodox, Constantinople
- Lutheran Church, 1529 AD, (Augsburg, Germany) Martin Luther
- Reformed Churches, 1530′s,(All of Western Europe) Ulrich Zwingli & John Calvin
- Presbyterian, 1530′s, (Scotland) John Knox
- Baptist Churches, 1609, (Holland) John Smyth, 27 Major denominations today.
- Methodist Church, 1729, (England) John Wesley
- Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1909, (Brooklyn, NY) Pastor Charles Taze Russell
- Church of God, Aug. 19, 1886, (Tennessee) Richard Spurling
- Pentecostal & Assm. of God Churches, 1919, (Hot Springs, Ark.)
- Adventists, 1820′s, (USA) William Miller
- Disciples of Christ or Christian Churches, 1820′s – 1870′s, (USA) Thomas & Alexander Campbell (Campbellites).
Though much has been written about Cromwell in the past 400 years there are many tantalizing hints that simply do not finalize who he was spiritually. He seems to have been a friend to Christians and this was highly unusual in 17th Century England.
Oliver Cromwell was born in the last 4 years of the reign of Elizabeth I on April 25, 1599. He was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Cromwell of Huntingdon, England, and though of median means, claimed to be of noble lineage. According to Antonia Fraser, author of “Cromwell – The Lord Protector” he could easily have descended into “yeoman mediocrity” rather than soar to the heights of fame that he did. As an adult he owned a fair amount of land and was involved in farming it and managing it till the end of his life no matter where his political and military pursuits led him. Continue reading →
We have a saying, Justice delayed is justice denied. For good to reign, justice must punish evil. Evil will rise up and brag of itself if not leveled consistently. Let us remind ourselves of what by inspiration, the wise man once said in Eccl 8:11, Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. We witness much evil in our time that goes unpunished but there is another aspect of this subject we want to look at. Continue reading →
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness… (Gal 5:19). The word adultery, according to Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words is defined as one “who has unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another.”
The Bible warns us of this insidious sin throughout its pages in both Old and New Testaments. Exodus 20:14, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Note the severity of punishment of those who committed this sin under the Law of Moses, Leviticus 20:10, And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Though this is not required of us under NT Law, we have to be impressed with the level of seriousness that God has placed in this matter. Continue reading →
Patsy and Truman Smith
Yet another great soldier in the Lord’s army has fallen. He has left a vacancy that will take an exceptional man to fill. It is sad to lose one so loved and respected but brings joy at the same time to know he is, at this moment, enjoying the rest and peace that he so much deserves. Like David, he served his own generation, and then fell asleep. Truman represents a whole generation of preachers who labored in extremely difficult times and now, one by one, are turning everything over to the younger generation, just as those long ago did to us. Continue reading →
