By
Shelby G. Floyd
David, the second king of Israel wrote most of the Psalms. These Psalms indicate that David was a very spiritually minded man of God. For example he wrote:
Psalms 122: 1
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
NKJV
David was glad when someone said, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Some today may be sad or even mad, instead of glad, when it is time to go into the house of the Lord. Continue reading “MAD, SAD OR GLAD!”
By
Shelby G. Floyd
All of God’s people should live our life in such a way, that when we come to the end, we can look back without regret. This means that we must dedicated to the Lord, study his word and rely upon divine wisdom to make the right choices. Life goes by fast and how many times do we hear someone say, “If I had my life to live over again I would have done such and such.” John Greenleaf Whittier wrote,
For all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these,
‘It might have been’.
“It might have been” represents those who have neglected the great salvation offered by Christ.
In the book of Hebrews the people are warned not to neglect what is important:
Hebrews 2:1-3
Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
NKJV
If we will heed what is said and not neglect our duty, then we can look back without regret and not think about what “might have been.”
No doubt Esau was filled with remorse and regret after he realized he sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Esau was a profane person and was filled with regret, “For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he carefully sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). No doubt he looked back and wondered again and again, “what might have been.”
Every one of us has a sphere of influence for Christ and the church. We have opportunities to do good for those out of Christ and for those especially who are in the household of God (Galatians 6:10). Let each one of us zealously work to bring our friends and acquaintances into Christ.
Copyright © 2015 Shelby G. Floyd, All Rights Reserved
Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142
By
Shelby G. Floyd
“Faith only” advocates will explain away every scripture that mentions that baptism is requisite for salvation from sin. And our present scripture is so explicit that “baptism now saves us,” that no one in his right mind can misunderstand it: Continue reading “BAPTISM NOW SAVES US”
By
Shelby G. Floyd
There was a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night. We don’t know why he came to Jesus by night instead of daytime. The Bible doesn’t tell us; it’s useless to speculate. We just know as a fact that he came to Jesus by night. He addressed the Master as Rabbi. “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God for no man can do the miracles that you do unless God be with him.” The term rabbi was a literary acknowledgment, just like bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctor’s degree are literary degrees today among us. The Jews had three of those degrees, rab, rabbi, and rabboni. Jesus said in Matthew 23, “Don’t call any man upon the earth rabbi or father.” In the church we do not distinguish one another, and that includes the preacher, elders and deacons, by some kind of worldly title that tries to exalt one person above another. We do not address one another in the church as doctor or master or rabbi or reverend or any of those terms. In the church we are a family and you don’t address members of your family like that, do you? They are your brothers and sisters. We are all brothers and sisters in the family of God and we do not seek to exalt one person above another by worldly titles. Jesus, being the divine Son of God, accepted those titles when they were addressed to Him. He didn’t rebuke Nicodemus when he called Him Rabbi, even though He rebuked our using those terms to address each other. So Nicodemus said, “Rabbi, we know you are teacher come from God, for no man could do the miracles that you are doing, except God be with him.” Continue reading “THE NEW BIRTH”
By
Shelby G. Floyd
Credit: Google Images
One proven method of growing the church is by being a friend to man. Solomon taught in the book of Ecclesiastes that positive action brings about positive results: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again” (Ecclesiastes 11:1)
Jesus Christ was a friend to the individual as well as to a large group of people. When Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria, he was kind to her and became a friend to her and this resulted in her having faith in the Son of God (John 4). Like Christ, we can take a lead in being a friend:
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.
—Albert Camus
When a stranger visits the congregation, be kind to that person and become a friend to that person. People are not only interested in a congregation being friendly, but they are also interested in developing personal friendships. Many people desire to be an intimate part of a community of believers in Christ who follow God’s Word. To be a friend means that we must get involved in the everyday joys and sorrows of people just like us. A friend wants to be known and appreciated as well as to know and appreciate you:
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by-
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat
Nor hurl the cynic’s ban-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.
—Sam Walter Foss
It is said that 7% of the people who do not even go to any church plan to attend some church, and 33% of those who do not attend any church are at least open to attending some church. And that means the church can be the Heartland congregation, if we will be a friend to man. The apostle John declared: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11).
One way we can do this is when we have a social gathering with our friends, we can also invite one outsider to be with us and share the joy that we have in Christ (Philippians 4:4).
Copyright © 2015 Shelby Floyd All Rights Reserved
Shelby G. Floyd
Heartland Church of Christ
1693 West Main Street
Greenwood, Indiana 46142
shelby@thefloyds.net
By
Shelby G. Floyd
Credit: Google Images
God’s people must learn by precept and practice to love one another and pray for one another. Nothing in the world will convince outsiders that we are truly the disciples of the Lord more than visible, genuine love and affection among brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). It was reported to have been said by outsiders in apostolic times, “Oh, how those Christians love one another.” Continue reading “Love One Another”
By
Shelby G. Floyd
On the second evangelistic journey Paul and Silas were shamefully treated in Philippi. They were severely flogged and committed to the jailor who was commanded to keep them safely. This he did by putting them in the inner cell and fastening their feet in the stocks. Continue reading “The Conversion of a Jailor”
By
Shelby G. Floyd
The United States Marines have a motto that says, “We are looking for a few good men.” The Marine Corps has a glorious history of good men who were courageous, brave, caring for their fellow Marines, and loyal patriots of America.
Lee Iacocca was a brilliant businessman who pulled the Chrysler Corporation out of almost certain bankruptcy. After he retired he published a book with the title, “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?” He was referring to business leaders who are failing to lead businesses and corporations in successful ways.
God is also looking for leaders and good men to serve him in the family, in the church, and in our great country. Too many fathers are abandoning their families, their jobs, and the church. They are not faithful to their family, their job and the church of Christ.
It is time for fathers to assume their God-given responsibility as the head of the home and religious leader of the family. There is an old English proverb that says, “One father is worth more than one hundred schoolmasters.” The American icon, Mark Twain declared, “My father was an amazing man. The older I got, the smarter he got.”
In the early days of our country, a well-known preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards said,
Resolved: first; that every man should live at his highest and best for Christ always and everywhere, and second; whether any other man in the world so lives are not, I shall strive with God’s help so to live to the end of my day.
God Almighty is looking for a few good men to be leaders in the home and in the church. But it is increasingly becoming more difficult to find these kinds of men to be leaders in all of the different kinds of responsibilities incumbent on them. There seems to be a decline of male leadership in almost all of our institutions in America. This is not a good thing and we must turn it around in order for God to bless his people.
DECLINE
Today, our lesson is on The Ezekiel Project. There is in the book of Ezekiel a sentence that emphasizes the power of one person:
Ezekiel 22:30-31
So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
NKJV
Each person has an individual and personal responsibility to fulfill before Almighty God. And our great leader Jesus Christ does not allow the individual to get lost in the crowd. He wants us to step up and be a man.
In the days of Ezekiel the world was much like our world is today. There was a decline in everything that was good during the sixth century before Christ.
o There was a decline of standards of right and wrong, truth and error.
o There was a decline of morals with everyone doing what was right in their own eyes.
o There was a decline of religion, with the people of God abandoning his word and worshiping and serving pagan idolatry.
The nation of Israel had fallen away from God and was in exile because of their sin and rebellion. Israel had desecrated the Sabbath day–the Jewish day of worship. They were guilty of every form of idolatry—worshiping false gods created by men. They had shed much blood by committing murder. They were guilty of every kind of immorality as described in Leviticus 18, and 20. They were even guilty of practicing child sacrifices that they had learned from their ungodly neighbors.
All of these evil and sinful things were being practiced from the princes to the people—from the head to the toe. Continue reading “The Ezekiel Project–God’s Search For a Man”
Credit: Google Images