Apr 3
2024
Grace Giving, Is Tithing For Today?
Tithing 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.
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Church
Christ Himself is the model of unity with diversity for every local church. This is the point of 1 Corinthians 12:12 in the Bible. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” There is no innate division in the person of Jesus Christ.
Keep ReadingHow Christians Defeat Death
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 the newfound Christian Faith.
Keep ReadingHow Will You Make It Through 2026?
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 ReadingThe Attraction of ‘Big-box' Churches
Why 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 ReadingLet’s Make Praise Natural In Our Church
I 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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Is The Gospel Woke?
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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I Grew Up In Church But, ...
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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The First Eclipse In The Bible
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 ReadingGrace Giving, Is Tithing For Today?
Tithing 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 ReadingLOVE That Transforms!
What 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.
Keep Reading-
- Vision, Mission, Purpose8
- Church Community6
- Christmas, Incarnation, Birth of Jesus, Advent5
- Prayer5
- Bible Study4
- New Year Goals3
- Culture & God's Word3
- Spiritual Growth3
- Worship and Music2
- Family2
- Suffering2
- The Death and Resurrection of Jesus2
- Reading, Book List, Reading List2
- Children1
- Biblical Manhood1
- Patriotism1
- Stewardship1
- Creation1
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Feb 13
2024
Confronted By The Resurrected Christ
What is Easter to you -- just another religious holiday? A time when your wife, mother, or family member pressures you to attend church with them? Perhaps for you it is a bit more meaningful, -- it is a time for tradition. At Easter the family attends church, has a festive meal, or reunion. For some, it is about the children. At Easter the children get their special spring outfits, have egg hunts, and receive their annual basket of goodies! Perhaps a review of the first Easter morning will shed light on how this historic day should be viewed by us. In your heart and mind, return with me to that bright morning. Let’s walk through it and meet the people that were there, that witnessed it for themselves, and for us.
Feb 3
2024
LOVE That Transforms!
What 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.
Jan 15
2024
GROW, Our 2024 Focus
Identity. What a loaded topic this has become in the last decade. With all the attention given to “understand” our identity, one would expect that we, as a culture, had learned something. But the sad reality is that we haven’t. How do I know that we have not learned from the exorbitant attention given to identity by our media, the music industry, government agencies, advertisement, and the public school system, and pop-culture? It is evidenced by not only the gender confusion being produced, but also by more subtle observations such as how people have become nearly obsessed with labeling themselves with logos, flags, tattoos, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, and music. This is an attempt to find and secure identity in things, celebrities, sexuality, and brands. It is sad to watch as people created in the image of God seek meaning in everything but God. This is condition of lost humankind.
In the Epistle to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul expounds some of the great truths of Christian identity. We learn in chapter one that our identity as believers in Jesus Christ is secured by God’s choice in eternity past (1:3-6). We rejoice in the identity we’ve been given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (2:1-9). Our identity is not just in eternity but it is also here and now as we live (2:10) so that our new identity in Jesus comes with a new purpose for life - good works.
But that’s not all, not by a long shot! Our new found position in our Lord Jesus Christ includes new relationships, new foundation for life, and a new purpose for existence!
As the Church of Jesus Christ, Scripture says we are…
Jan 4
2024
Is Christ the Center of Your Marriage
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.
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.
I want to encourage our congregation to make OTHERS our 2023 MISSION.
Let’s be passionate and purposeful to live this year for God’s glory in ways that shine the light of the Truth of the Gospel of Christ to those around us. And, let’s do it with such humility that when they see God’s love through us they are compelled to give glory to our Heavenly Father.
Dec 8
2022
Christmas at Coggins Church!
Put away your anxiety, uncertainty, and pain. Turn from sin and dis- belief to faith and hope in the knowledge and trust that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 13-16). Forget about the holiday stress and pressure of our culture. They do not know our God.
Nov 23
2022
A THANKFUL HOME
My intention here is not to prop up the American holiday of Thanksgiving but to encourage Christians to grasp their calling to be the people in this fallen world who are characterized by giving thanks to the true and living God (1 Chronicles 16; Luke 17:18; Philippians 4:6).
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.