Colossians: The Supremacy of Christ (Page 2)
Perfect Unity Among God’s People
It is said, when the British and French were fighting in Canada, in the year 1750, Admiral Phipps, the commander of the British Fleet, was told to anchor outside of Quebec. He was given orders to wait until British troops land, and when they arrived, he was to support them when the land troops attacked the city. Phipps navy arrived early and as the Admiral waited he became annoyed by what he saw. He saw a cathedral with images of…
The Freedom of Forgiveness
Chapter 3 has to do with the theme of living out lives of practical holiness and the issue of forgiveness. We often do not connect our willingness to forgive to the pursuit of a holy life, but it is impossible to live a holy life and a godly life apart from the practice of forgiving those who hurt us, grieve us, and sin against us. On a Monday morning, in early October of this year, Charles Roberts, IV, stepped out…
The Christian’s New Clothes
Hebrews 12 says, 14 Make every effort to…be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Since God has given us spiritual life through faith in Jesus, He calls us to live lives in freedom of moral excellence and virtue; the purpose being so we might be able “see” more of Him and of His glory so we might be able to enjoy Him and to worship Him. How we behave reflects who we really are and what we…
Putting Sin to Death
When Kimberly and I married, we happily moved to Grape Vine, Texas, to establish our home, in our lovely two-bedroom apartment. God had blessed us so. Within a few days of living in this apartment, we discovered one drawback to our dwelling – our apartment already had tenants living in the same space; Texas is somewhat famous four it cock roaches and they were seeing to it these mid-westerners were not disappointed. At first, we tried the direct approach of…
Living It!
In Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a young artist admires Dorian Gray’s exceptionally pure and handsome features and convinces Dorian to allow him to paint a portrait of him. When the painting is finished Dorian Gray gazes into this portrait and he becomes impressed with his own looks. He remarks how wonderful it would be to live anyway he wanted and, yet, without any damaging or aging effects upon his youthful beauty. He becomes terrified of aging…
Christianity Gone Sour
One hot, summer day I came into our air-conditioned house after working outside and building up a tremendous sweat. My throat was parched and I could not wait to get something cold to drink. I hastily opened up the refrigerator door and I spotted a jug of milk which had one serving left in it. “Perfect,” I thought! I love milk and I joyfully grabbed the jug. At this point I did something mother’s across America warn their children not…
Spiritual Freedom, Part 2
President Abraham Lincoln issued the “Emancipation Proclamation” on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached her third year in the bloody Civil War. This proclamation declared all persons held as slaves within the rebellious slave states “are, and henceforward, shall be free” and “the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.” The freedom the proclamation declared depended wholly upon the Union military victory. Without winning…
Spiritual Freedom, Part I
Natasha Kampusch was ten years old when she vanished on her way to school on March 2, 1998. She was taken captive by a man who then kept her hidden in a tiny, windowless basement room of his house for the next eight and one-half years. On August 23, 2006, Natasha made a brave and dramatic attempt to escape while her capture was pre-occupied on his cell phone. She races into a garden and pleaded with an elderly neighbor woman…