Author: Tim

By Edd Sterchi Via Bulletin Gold

Zechariah’s prophecy of Jesus in chapter 9 and
Verse 9 is most interesting: Rejoice
greatly…behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he, humble and
mounted on a donkey…” (ESV)

First, we must note from this that Jesus is king!
He is above all else. He took part in the creation of
everything. He is not only a king, He is THE king.
He is all powerful. And He can become our personal
king.

Next, we must notice that Jesus is humble and
righteous! While upon the earth, He never sinned
and was always going about serving others. He was
concerned about all people and always put them
above Himself. Also, He obeyed the Father’s will
perfectly.

Finally, we must see that Jesus brings salvation!
It could come no other way. He had to be sacrificed
for us to have the opportunity of redemption.

If I was to glean one main thing from this passage,
it would be this: The thing about King Jesus is that
He is perfect and He can make us perfectly fit for
heaven!

Edd Sterchi Via Bulletin Gold
 
Did you know that our English words think”
and thank” come from the same root? I believe
that brings forth an important concept. Our
thankfulness is based upon our think”fullness.
In other words, we can always give thanks if we
just give it some thought.
 
That’s what David seems to be doing in the
103rd Psalm. He begins by saying “Bless the
LORD” (v.1). That phrase in the Hebrew means
to express gratitude. He then states, “And forget
not all His benefits” (v.2). David then goes on to
list a few “benefits” of knowing the Lord, like
forgiveness and healing (v.3), protection and
blessings in life (v.4), food and revival of spirit (v.5)
on and on he goes.
 
As David thought upon the benefits that God
gives, his response was to thank Him. We should
be no different. No matter what circumstances
the world puts in our life, we can always thank
God- if we’ll just take some time to think on
Him! Think on what He has done and has
promised to do. So give it a try – think and you
will thank!
 

Via Bulletin Gold

I am the flag of the United states of America. I was
born on June 14, 1777 in Philadelphia. There the
Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as
the national flag.

My thirteen stripes, alternating red and white, with a
union of thirteen white stars on a field of blue
represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated
to the personal and religious liberty of mankind. Today
fifty stars signal from my union one for each of the
fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional
republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual
qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and
integrity of American men and women and the self-
sacrifice and devotion of American fathers and mothers.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I am the flag. I symbolize all that is uplifting and good
about our country.

David Bragg Via Bulletin Gold

The HOP Shops Food Marts and Truck Plazas in northern
Kentucky is a popular destination for visitors. Specifically.
their restrooms! Select locations feature a button on the
bathroom wall with a “Do Not Push This Button” sign.
Those who push it are bathed in bright colorful lights
reflected in a mirror ball with upbeat disco music playing
over the PA system. The “Home of the Famous Disco
Bathrooms,” HOP Shops boast online of their status as
“America’s Cleanest Restrooms” (hopshops.com). Their
attraction is built on the proven strategy that the best way to
get some people to do something is to order them NOT to
do something.

It is significant that the New Testament closes with a dire
warning to not twist and transfigure God’s inspired word
(Rev. 22:18-19). It is a huge “Do Not Push This Button”
sign that is ignored by many professing Christians in a
multi-denominated religious world.

Biblical Christianity is under siege in a modern world that
rejects God’s truth for human desires. This is the very thing
Paul warned about in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but
according to their own desires … they will heap up for
themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away
from the truth.” Jude recognized our need to possess,
proclaim and preserve the one, only and forever “common
salvation” (Jude 3) presented in God’s inspired word. That
is the truth God wants us to preach and practice.

Bob Prichard by Via Bulletin Gold

Greek philosopher and teacher Plato used his real life
teacher Socrates to share his philosophical views. In The
Republic, he records a scene of Socrates describing a cave
where a group of men are tied down so that all they can see
are the shadows reflected on the wall as objects are held up
before a fire behind them. They see the shadow of a book,
and think they see the real thing. When a man escapes from
the cave, he is at first blinded by the bright sunlight, but soon
realizes he is seeing the real thing for the first time. When
he tries to tell the others, they reject him and hold to their
own shadow reality.

Paul encouraged the Colossians against the Judaizing
teachers, telling them that as Christ gave his life for us, he
was “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was
against us, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). Since
they were no longer under the Law of Moses, Paul said, Let
no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect
of an holyday, or the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of
Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

The Jews thought that their holy days, new moons and
Sabbath days were the real thing but they were in fact only
shadows of the greater reality of the New Covenant and the
heavenly kingdom. “For the law having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things, can
never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers there unto perfect” (Hebrews
10:1). How privileged we are to live under the new covenant
of Christ, and to look forward to being in the heavenly
kingdom! We have not the shadow, but the real thing.

Edd Sterchi Via Bulletin Gold

The nation of Israel had escaped slavery from Egypt.
But now they found themselves being pursued by their
former captors. At the shore of the Red Sea they felt that
they were trapped. Many of them thought about going
back to Egypt into slavery. Others were bemoaning
their current dilemma. The LORD then said to Moses,
“Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to
go forward” (Exodus 14:15). Other Bible versions have
God saying for them to “move on.” God has always
wanted His people to trust in Him and keep moving
forward.

This got me to thinking about God’s people today.
Many seem to have the same mindset as the Israelites.
Some desire to go back to their life they had before
Christ (of living in the bondage of sin). Others do not
look to the future with hope and bewail their current
problems. But we need to be people who trust in God
and keep moving forward. Don’t look back – keep
moving forward in faith, trust, hope, service, spiritual
growth, love, forgiveness.

“Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to
them, that your progress may be evident to all.”
(1Timothy 4:15)

John Gipson Via Bulletin Gold

If I read the signs of the times correctly, we consider
tolerance to be the greatest sin imaginable. Tolerance,
on the other hand, has been exalted to the chief of all
virtues. And woe to that person who would speak out
against any religion or claim that Christ is the only way
to the Father. Such intolerance!

Forgive me ifI have the sneaking suspicion that there
are those who are willing to tolerate everything because
they believe nothing. If everything is innocuous,
toleration is easy

Apparently, the only exception the tolerant are willing
to make is intolerance to those whom they perceive to
be intolerant. In that case, no quarter will be given, and
toleration vanishes.

But what if Caballero was right when he said, “Error
tolerates, truth condemns.”?

What if Jesus was speaking the truth when He said, “I
am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to
the Father but by me'”? Where is your toleration now?

Preachers would do well to heed the words of
Elizabeth Achtemcier: “As preacher, your job is to
preach the text, not apologize for it.” And that goes
for all of us who seek to share the gospel of Christ.

By Clifton Angel

Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mnourn, for they shall be
comforted” (Matt 5:4). The late V.P. Black organized mourning
into three categories: natural, unnatural, and godly.

Natural mourning is the result of suffering in this world of
decay: “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men” (Rom 5:12). Many may
assume Jesus is speaking of natural mourning at Matthew 5:4.

Truly God is the God of all comfort (2 Cor 1:34) and He knows
and cares about our natural mourning (cf. 1 Cor 10:13; Rev 21:4):
however, at Matthew 5:4, Jesus is not speaking of natural
mourning.

Unnatural mourning includes worldly sorrow, ungodly fear,
and unnecessary guilt. Worldly sorrow is insincere and selfish. If
not repented of, it leads to spiritual death (2 Cor 7:10). It is the
person who is only sorry because he got caught. Ungodly fear is
deceptive, futile, and destructive (cf. Matt 6:25-34; Phil 4:4 9;2
Tim 1:7: Rev 21:8). Unnecessary guilt happens when we will not
forgíve ourselves for something for which we’ve already been
forgíven (cf. 1 John 1:7-9; 3:20). Certainly, it is not unnatural
mourning Jesus is speaking of at Matthew 5:4.

Godly mourning is the result of an honest heart recognizing sin
and the consequences of it (2 Cor. 7:10; Rom. 6:23). It is
connected to being “poor in spirit,” since the person who is poor
in spirit recognizes he is in need when he sins, and he is nothing
without God. King David’s godly mourning is evident in the
words of Psalm 51: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from
mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:1-3)

What does it mean to be among them that mourn? 
It is the grief felt and expressed over the acknowledgement of
one’s sin and its consequences. The blessing is that with
proper direction, this soul will be comforted. “Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy. and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30).

Joseph D.Chase by Via Bulletin Gold

It really is up to you! You can see the myriad of
problems that plague us in this world and worry about
them. You can complain about them, You could curse
them or many other actions. However, there is only one
way that we, God’s family, ought to respond to these
troubles…

God has given us the opportunity to shine our lights
before men and so glorify the God of heaven (Matthew
5:16). I can decide to work for the Lord and right
wrongs that I see, lift up the broken and hurting. I can
become a part of God’s solution for a lost and dying
world..”Go out and make disciples…”, visit the poor,
the widowed, the orphan (James 1:27), offer a simple
cup of cool water in the name of our Lord Jesus. When
we do the Lord’s work it makes the world a better place.
We bless and are blessed when we view problems as
opportunities.

It won’t be easy, but I assure you it will be worthwhile.

Joe Slater Via Bulletin Gold

The Lone Ranger Perry Mason – Superman. When you
watched those old black-and-white TV shows, you knew all
along that by the time the credits rolled the bad guys would be
defeated, the good guys would be vindicated, and justice would
prevail. No matter how hopeless it looked, the Lone Ranger and
Tonto would arrest the bandits, Perry Mason would prove his
client innocent, and Superman would confound the crooks.
Real life doesn’t quite match a thirty-minute drama, or even a
sixty-minute one, does it? Innocent people get railroaded!
Criminals remain free! Might makes right! Whatever shall we do
about life’s inequities?

First, make certain you aren’t the perpetrator of evil. “Let none
of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer:, or as a busybody
in other people’s matters” (1 Peter 4:15).

Second, when you suffer despite being innocent, take it
patiently as a way to glorify God. That goes double if being a
Christian is the cause of the abuse (1 Peter 4:16). Jesus suffered
infinitely more than you ever will, and He was 100% innocent.
You shouldn’t expect to be treated better than He was.

Finally, rest assured that justice really will prevail in the final
analysis. It will take longer than thirty or sixty minutes. In fact,
it may not happen in your lifetime! But, as the old song says,
“There’s a great day coming by and by.” We might prefer to see
all the accounts settled now. Since God’s wisdom eclipses ours,
however, we will do well to “run with endurance the race that is
set before us” (Hebrews 12:10).