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by: Gary L. Hutchens Today is the last day of the year 2017. Since the first day of this year was on a Sunday, and this last day is also on a Sunday, there have actually been 53 Sundays in this year rather than the standard 52 in most years. That’s just a tidbit of trivia. I remember looking ahead, during much of my life, to the year 2000, thinking it was a long way off! Now, we’re finishing up the seventeenth year of the new millennium, as it was called, meaning it’s no longer new. Time truly does fly by…
by: Gary L. Hutchens Tomorrow, multitudes of people in this country and around much of the world will supposedly celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Many will attend some kind of special church service in His honor. Others will simply feel special feelings about the Savior as they go about the day. Specific references to the birth of Christ will be uttered in prayers by some. A large number of people will get drunk.
by: Gary L. Hutchens What a travesty that many people commit acts of evil in the name of serving God! It’s easy to get some things confused. In most wars, for example, both sides commonly pray to God for guidance, protection and victory. Opposing political candidates will often each ask God’s blessing upon their candidacy. People on both sides of some social issues invoke God’s name in the position they take, suggesting thereby that God is with them and against the opposing position. Such demonstrates the inconsistency and frequent shortsightedness of human reasoning.
by: Gary L. Hutchens There are entire religious groups that seem fixated on miraculous gifts. Indeed, one might become somewhat confused as to just what is at the core of their doctrinal beliefs. Is their main emphasis on Christ as Lord and Savior, or on the Holy Spirit as the bestower of miraculous gifts? Is their most basic desire to be saved, or to receive a miraculous gift? Is the chief emphasis of their worship to glorify God, or self-gratification over supposedly taking part in some miracle?
by: Gary L. Hutchens “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…” (1 Cor. 14:33). That statement pretty well summarizes the message of 1 Corinthians 14. It is quite significant that Paul deals with this subject, in such detail, in this chapter. He is finishing up a long context (chapters 12-14) on miraculous gifts. In chapter 12, he addressed what seems to be apparent disunity in regards to their attitudes toward miraculous gifts. In chapter 13, he told them that the miraculous gifts would cease when the purpose for which they were given was fulfilled- the full revelation and confirmation of God’s will. In chapter 14, he uses logical reasoning to help them view miraculous gifts from the proper perspective.
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September 2022
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