Category Archives: Articles

Various Topics

It Can Happen

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by Mike James

Many of us in God’s Church can become discouraged in sharing our beliefs due to a lack of success in having others listen to us. It’s normal to draw inward after just a few unsuccessful attempts at sharing your faith with others. I want to encourage everyone to continue to share your beliefs with others because it is your duty as a Christian. Sometimes you may never even see the positive results that may flow from your sharing.

Let me provide an example from my own experience. In high school I first heard about the pagan origin of Christmas from a Jehovah’s Witness friend of mine. I asked my mom about what my friend related to me and she informed me not to concern myself with this new information. A few years later I began to read and study information on Christmas and Easter, and my initial interaction with the Jehovah’s Witness friend helped solidify my further study on the matter. What you tell others may bear fruit years later. Keep enduring to the end.

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Matthew 28:19

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by Mike James

Throughout my years in the Church of God, I have heard different ideas about the following scripture (Matthew 28:19):

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (KJV)

“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: (ASV)

“having gone, then, disciple all the nations, (baptizing them — to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (YLT)

The Greek word used here for “in,” “into,” and “to” is eis. The word is a primary preposition and indicates the point reached or entered of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose.

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Is the Bible God’s Word?

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by Mike James

One of the great debates among Christians, philosophers, agnostics, atheists, and other believers in religion is the validity of the Bible. Many Christians would argue that the Bible is the inspired word of God. But even among Christians, there is disagreement. This is a deep subject, but I don’t have time to fully develop it here. I just want to provide a little information to support the Church of God International’s contention that the Bible is the inspired word of God.

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Alleged Biblical Number Discrepancies

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by Mike James

One area of supposed Bible discrepancies pertains to numbers. We will investigate one today.

Look at these two scriptures pertaining to the same event.

2 Samuel 8:4: “And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots” (KJV).

1 Chronicles 18:4: “And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots” (KJV).

Both of these scriptures pertain to David defeating Hadarezer and then taking booty from him.

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More Than I Deserve

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by Brian G. Bettes

What am I thankful for? I am thankful that I have been given more than I deserve.

In the United States of America, we just celebrated a national holiday called Thanksgiving. Summarizing the history of the day briefly, it is a day on which, in the fall of 1621 A.D. the Plymouth colonists, the remains of a group of religious separatists from England, hosted a three-day feast with approximately 90 Native Americans.  

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Hermeneutics

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by Mike James

To better understand the Bible, it’s important we understand the term hermeneutics. A basic definition for this term is the science and art of biblical interpretation. We can further break hermeneutics into two types: General and Special.

General hermeneutics is the study of rules that govern the interpretation of the entire biblical text. Special hermeneutics is the study of rules that govern the interpretation of specific literary forms like parables, types, and prophecy.

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Christian Goals

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by James Fire

Christian goals are mentioned throughout the Bible. Hebrews 11:13-16 describes those who embraced such goals that led them in faith. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed they were strangers and pilgrims of the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared them a city.”

There are two methods or types of goals discussed.

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Patience is a Virtue

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by Mike James

The Bible has a lot of positive things to say about patience. So does the world, as the title of this article mentions. A virtue is right or moral behavior, so I think it is important for us to develop our patience. One definition of patience is the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed. Wow! Sounds like a tough assignment, but let’s get a little deeper with patience.

Romans 12:12 reads, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (NIV). Sometimes, being patient will include dealing with afflictions or being upset. In those types of troubled times, we will need to pray. The longer you are in those situations, the more hope will be developed. Troubling times in my life have prepared me for troubling times in the future. Knowing you have moved through trouble once makes your hope to overcome future trouble easier to handle.

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