I am not big on New Year’s resolutions; are you? James, the Lord’s half-brother, had a good point when he wrote: “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” James 5:12 (ESV)
Keep ReadingWhy call them ‘Big-box Churches?’ For years, we have watched large chain stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart arrive in cities, towns, and villages, offering ‘more for less.’ It doesn’t take the average consumer long to realize that the motto is true; more can be purchased for less. And thus the switch is quickly made from hometown hardware store to the global purchasing power of the chain. Clothing shops, hardware stores, variety and specialty venues start closing because they cannot compete with the streamlined, cut-down, mass appeal of the chain store and its slick advertising. Over the years, these large-scale operations managed from HQ, with their cheap, imported goods, have been nicknamed ‘Big-box Stores’ because that is how they receive their large quantities of imported goods. I have observed parallels between this phenomenon and that found in some in the mega-church movement — orders from HQ, instant funding, slick marketing, aggressive competition, and imported preaching and/or doctrine.
Keep ReadingI don’t know if it disturbs you as much as it does me, but when someone asks for praise, usually after prayer requests, we are tongue-tied.
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Great pressure is now being applied to the Evangelical and Reformed world to socialize the gospel. Groups, writers, seminaries, mission organizations, denominations, churches, and pastors are being marshaled to correct the injustices and ills of Western societies. This is all being done in the name of “applying the gospel.”
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The Patriarch Jacob was like many who grew up in the church. He knew about God. He'd watched his parents worship and build their lives around the biblical faith. He wasn't opposed to it. He kind of believed it too. But in reality, Jacob had not really come to God himself. If the truth were told, he was simply coasting off his father's faith.
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Please read Genesis chapters 1 through 3 slowly. Picture in your mind what is happening. The account of the fall of Adam and Eve is doubtless familiar to most people who’ve grown up in the West. After recording for us the mighty acts of God in creation, Moses goes on to tell of how mankind fell from innocence and fellowship with God to a state of sinfulness and separation from God. The story opens with chapter 3. Adam and Eve are, most likely, just getting acquainted with their new world.
Keep ReadingTithing is the first step of Grace Giving. It was the first method used by God to teach His people stewardship. It was the first method God used to finance His Kingdom work among men.
Keep ReadingWhat is love? What is Christian love? After all, doesn’t the Bible say that God is love? Shouldn’t love be one of the dominant characteristics of genuine Christians? The answer to each of these questions is YES. But hold on a minute! Does this mean that Christians accept all manner of sin and blasphemy against God in the name of love and if they do not they are then “unloving?” Let’s see what the Bible says about Christian love and how it really transforms us not to be like the fallen culture around us but to be like Christ.
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Did you know that marriage has a mission? Marriage is not a mere sociological invention of man instituted for the propagating and stabilizing of societies.
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It is imperative that local congregations recover true Christian love with its doctrinal faithfulness, purifying power, and deep wells of joy flowing from Christ and His Word.
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Many things in life are beyond the scope of thrill seeking or material possessions. There are things that cannot be bought with money such as the birth of your child, a baby’s first words or steps, a rare sunset, the appreciation of true and pure beauty, unity in a family, or the forgiveness of sins, just to name a few. Scripture tells us that wisdom is priceless.
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In the coming days, as we worship our Lord together and as we spend time with each other outside of scheduled services, let us continually look for ways to build each other up in the faith and to pursue a lifestyle of worship that is willing to set aside personal preferences for the sake of unity in the body of Christ.
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Freshly out of graduate school, I briefly served as Associate Pastor to Lena Baptist Church. Located in Lena Illinois, LBC is a small church in a small town. In fact, it was the only Baptist church in town. While at Lena Baptist, I met some very special people, one of whom was a dear elderly lady known to the congregation as Grandma Olney. Mrs. Olney taught the only preschool Sunday school class. Grandma Olney had been teaching this same age-group for approximately twenty years. In my college days, I knew a fellow whose home church was Lena Baptist. He was taught by Grandma Olney.
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James’ piety and devotion to God through Jesus Christ were recognized and served the church well through the early persecutions of believers in Jesus mostly by the Jewish leaders of the time. He was recognized by Christians and non-Christians as an exceptionally devout man. His wise leadership and godly character later earned him the unofficial title among those who respected him, “James the Just.” There is a well-founded tradition passed through the centuries that James the Lord’s brother was in the temple praying so often and for such long periods that his knees became like the knees of a camel, callused and well-used. James was martyred for his faith in Jesus as the Christ. The circumstances of his death are a bit unclear. It seems that the Jewish high priest at the time fomented accusations that James had broken the Mosaic Law and as a result was stoned to death. It has been reported through the centuries that after James was stoned a passerby noticing that he was not dead used a club or stick to end his life.
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The godly father should be honored because when he fulfills his responsibilities he raises the level of life for everyone around him. If he is attempting to live out the biblical pattern for manhood, his is a role of life-long, sacrificial, loving leadership with the aim of presenting everyone around him mature in Christ at the judgment seat of God. What are the character and benefits of godly male leadership in the home?
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Christian parents, are you okay with God not being a part of most of your child's day? Are you okay with your children being taught sex education, Critical Race Theory, homosexuality, to hate their country, race, and religion? Are you okay with children learning, playing, and living in isolation because of a virus that has a 97% survival rating? Are you okay with your child learning about the world and living each day in separation from Christ and His church? Are you praying about it?
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Why do Christians gather for worship? What are they to do when they gather? What purpose does it serve? What meaning does it have? Why is worship so important? If we tried to reduce biblical worship to a single word, it would be impossible. We would use words like “praise,” “giving thanks,” “prayer,” and “adoration.” But there is a word that we would have to use that is absolutely essential to the essence of biblical worship, though it would probably be left off our list. This word probably didn’t occur to you but when you see it you will think, “Ah yes, but wasn’t that just for Old Testament believers?” What is the word? Sacrifice.
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Modern times have looked skeptically upon the role of fatherhood. Historically, the father was the leader of the home and mother was his right hand. Dad brought home the bacon and mother cooked it, as the saying went. These days are a bit different. Now, we are taught that mom brings home the bacon and dad better cook it! To think otherwise, or even question this, makes us a chauvinist in some people’s eyes. What is going on here? Often we are given the impression that a father is not needed except to make the child, and now, well, we have ways around that too. All the while children, even grown children, are crying out for a warm relationship with a real, loving father. Countless studies have shown that many people are suffering emotionally because, for one reason or another, they did not have a deep relationship with their father.
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Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead? I mean a person who died in faith who will someday be raised again in the likeness of Christ. Do you live in the hope of the resurrection? These believers in Corinth were like many today. They were saved out of a culture that is anti-God and anti-Christ thus they were confused about many of the Biblical teachings of their own faith-- Christianity. Look closely with me at the text.
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Can Grace Be Seen? Is there evidence of God's grace in you? Can we know if someone is a believer?
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We all know what’s going on in our country and are grieving. Our hearts are broken for George Floyd and what’s happening in our nation. I don’t have or know the answer except that we all need to pray. We need to pray that the church of Christ would make some sense out of how to deal with this.
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Finally, we must pray for our leaders. In our romanticism, we tend to elevate leaders so high that they might as well be pieces of wood. They are no longer people, but symbols. We cannot stand to think of them as sinners. And this is unfair.
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Recently a church in Nevada sought an injunction from the US Supreme Court to relieve them from the Nevada governor’s executive order stating that they could not physically meet to worship in groups larger than 50 persons.
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The Apostle knows that a mark of spiritual growth is to grow in Christian love and to have that love informed by knowledge of truth. From this relationship, discernment grows. Discernment often rescues love from gullibility and temptation.
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In John 17:1-5 we see that our Lord and Savior prayed first for himself. We should note that if Christ Jesus, who was God incarnate and without sin, needed to pray, how much more do we need to be given to prayer? We should never think that we can live for God with our prayer. Jesus prayed. He taught the disciples to pray (Luke 11:1-4). God’s house was to be a house of prayer (Luke 19:46). Christians are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We are commanded to pray everywhere for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18) and for the preachers of the Gospel to have boldness (Colossians 4:2-4).
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Kids love visiting grandparents! Why is this true? Because grandparents are loving and take great interest in their grandchildren. Dad and mom are often overloaded, over-worked and overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a being in the building stage of life and having a house full of children. Not to let dad and mom off the hook, but grandparents are typically in a different stage of life. They may not have as much energy but they certainly have more time and understanding about what is really important in this life. So, they enjoy the children when we parents often endure them.
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Jesus’ seventy-two disciples returned from their preaching expedition astonished that they had discovered that even the demonic spirits obey them when they commanded them in the name of Jesus.
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Today we are in a battle like never before over beginnings. Why? Because our beginning determines our path. Our beginning determines our morals and ethics. Our beginnings determine our beliefs. Our beginnings determine our future and what road is right to take us there.
Keep ReadingFor years we've watched statistics that show a steady decline in church attendance which has caused pastors and church councils to advertise and entertain in order to boost membership. But does that honor God?
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If it can be said that there is one attribute of God that is more important than any other. When we read the Bible the holiness of God seems to rise above all other attributes.
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Do believers have to obey the Bible? Is the Bible simply a source for encouragement carrying no Divine authority. Should the Bible be the authority for how the Christian believes and lives? Should the Bible be received as the voice of God to settle the issues and problems within the churches?
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Worship has always been a family affair. We may observe this early in the Bible by examining the lives of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). God commended Abraham’s leadership in this matter when He said, for I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him (Gen. 18:19).
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About Hudson Taylor, Phyllis Thompson writes, “Hudson Taylor was a teenager when God told him to go to China. Though he was alone, broke and critically ill, he hung on to that goal and to the God who was sending him. Would God be enough? Danger and adventure abound in this true story of a man who dared to risk and trust.” When I read this little biography, I was reminded of the Apostle Paul. Like the Apostle so many years ago, Taylor’s missionary work was filled with sacrifice, extraordinary faith, and answered prayers.
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God is the Savior of his people. He delivers his people and desires for them to worship him as their Deliverer. If God has displayed such awesome power to be our Savior shouldn’t we respond to him in some loving way?
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In the issue of the Coggins Courier, we considered what it means to be created in the image of God. We noted that Carl F. Henry summarizes the Protestant Reformed view of mankind being made in the image of God (imago Dei, Latin for “image of God”) as, “By the imago the Protestant Reformers understood especially humankind’s state of original purity, in accordance with Genesis 1 and 2, wherein Adam is depicted as fashioned for rational, moral, and spiritual fellowship with his Maker.” (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Elwell). Not only did we discuss the meaning of imago Dei we began applying this important doctrine to human life. By doing this we see that all human life has inherent value because we were created in God’s image. We found that since all human life is valuable God forbids murder of any kind.
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Human life has become cheap. When public officials and lawmakers stand and applause for the passing of a law that allows the murderous taking of the life of infants moments before exiting the womb, we may be sure that the moral and spiritual degradation of such leaders is complete.
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Is the church’s primary responsibility to win the lost or to worship God?
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Let’s brighten things up! It’s important that a church campus look welcoming, even inviting. Our campus should be a place that reflects our faith in our Great and Merciful God!
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Unfortunately, today that is often not the case. Many cannot, in good conscience and obedience to the Scriptures, simply attend the closest congregation to their home because it has forsaken the faith of Jesus. So this begs the question, What makes a church a living and vibrant congregation?
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Finding out that a bypass rather than a stint was needed ranks among the more shocking moments in my life.
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All of us want to give our children a fighting chance in life. In fact, we want better; we want them to succeed. Often this well-meaning sentiment is misguided. We parents begin filling our children’s lives with things, lessons, and classes to ensure they fit in and do well. The problem is, in a troubled culture, this strategy backfires on us. Our culture has become godless; so trying to fit in can be harmful. The Apostle Paul foretells the shocking cultural conditions in the last days.
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The Unquenchable Flame is a thrilling 198-page account of one of the most pivotal events in the history of man, the Protestant Reformation. Author and theologian Michael Reeves is a master storyteller. Even if you are not very familiar with the specifics of the Reformation or the key people involved, you will be able to follow Reeves as he unfolds one amazing event after another. Who needs a novel when history is this exciting!
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R. Kent Hughes, Bible teacher and former Senior Pastor of the congregation of College Church, Wheaton, Illinois, observes that, “Common sense, as well as research, tells us that a vital element for building a family is instilling a healthy sense of heritage, an appreciation of one’s roots, both earthly and spiritual.” A legacy is not something that can be calculated in material terms. It is important, Proverbs says, for fathers to lay up (an inheritance) for their children.
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Many of you gathered with me my first Sunday evening as I talked about the 4 Core Values that will guide us as we move forward together as a congregation. It was a warm and blessed time of sharing what the Lord is doing among us and where He intends to take us.
Keep ReadingApr 13
2020
The Apostle knows that a mark of spiritual growth is to grow in Christian love and to have that love informed by knowledge of truth. From this relationship, discernment grows. Discernment often rescues love from gullibility and temptation.
Apr 13
2020
For most of the history of Coggins Memorial Baptist Church parking has been a problem. Coggins Memorial has served this community for over fifty years. For all of these years, members and guests have parked along the street, across the street, around an adjacent building, and in our current small parking areas. Two years ago our congregation, after saving enough money, voted to solve this problem by removing two houses on our property and installing a parking lot. Though the lot would be small, approximately forty spaces, we were ecstatic about it. Our congregation was abuzz with discussion and couldn’t wait to get started.