Posts from January 2020

From time to time, I think it is beneficial to compare what we find in Scripture to historical sources outside the New Testament. Since we talked about John the Baptist in our sermon last week, it might be interesting to note what the Jewish historian Josephus has to say about him. About this time Aretas, the king of Petra, and Herod the Tetrarch had a quarrel on account of the following. Herod the tetrarch had married the daughter of Aretas…

One of the greatest traditions that is specific to this congregation is what takes place after a person has been baptized into Christ. Everyone present forms a circle around the auditorium (well, ideally it’s a circle—usually it’s more of an irregular polygon, we’re not too good at this part), joins hands, and sings, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” This serves as an impressive reminder of the life-changing significance of faith in Christ expressed in baptism. It is even more…

By now, all of us know about the tragic attack at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas last Sunday. Reactions have run the gamut from grief to shock to fear to anger. All of those, and more, are understandable, but not all responses are appropriate for Christians. What should we do? This article by Wes McAdamas addresses the question as well as any I’ve ever seen. It is slightly abridged here; you can access it in…