Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  — Psalm 63:3

The topic this quarter deals with the subject of praise. While it is a command, giving God praise is a privilege and an honor. God has done so much for us, how can we not return and exalt Him with the fruit of our mouth? Our hearts should be full of praise even in times of difficulty, and our lips should praise the Lord.Read more

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  —1 Corinthians 15:21

Death came upon mankind both spiritually and physically because of Adam’s sin; but praise God, through Jesus Christ, death was conquered. Mortality came by Adam, but immortality came by Christ. Sin and death no longer have power over mankind because the curse was broken through the death and resurrection of our Lord.Read more

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered
into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. —Hebrews 4:9-11

The subject this quarter deals with the theological issue of eternal security or “once saved always saved.” The doctrine of eternal security is one of the primary tenants of Calvinism. The opposite perspective would be one of Arminianism. These two theological camps are divided on God’s sovereignty, man’s depravity, election, Christ’s atonement, grace, man’s will, and perseverance. These subjects are interwoven as one affects the other. Rather than detail all of the various interpretations of scripture, because of the space constraint, I had to deal very directly with the scripture in a brief summary. While I believe Arminianism is generally more correct than Calvinism, our guide should be the scripture, not the teaching of a certain theological persuasion. Often there are bits of truth on both sides that can be neglected by a theologian’s pursuit of drawing a distinction between the two.Read more

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
—Proverbs 27:23b

The subject this quarter is on biblical financial stewardship. I stand in awe at the amount of information on the subject that is contained in God’s Word. It was a challenge to reduce such a large subject into this small forum. Stewardship is taught too little among God’s people and there has been a price to pay in marriages and in the gospel work due to mismanagement and poor stewardship.Read more

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
—1 Corinthians 2:13

The subject this quarter is biblical nonresistance or pacifism. There are some differences in the two definitions as pacifism can imply a resistant attitude to war and government— which is contrary to the New Testament teaching of nonresistance. For this writing, pacifism relates to the refusal to bear arms on religious grounds.Read more