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By: Gary L. Hutchens Just a few days ago we celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, in my mind one of the best holidays of all. People put aside their busy schedules. Families come together and eat and talk and enjoy each others company. Many prayers are said reflecting upon the many ways in which they have been blessed. It is a time that motivates people to think more, at least for a little while, about their spiritual lives.
by: Gary L. Hutchens This coming Thursday is, in my opinion, one of the great holidays that we celebrate as a nation- Thanksgiving Day! A number of reasons could be listed as to why this is a great holiday, depending on who does the listing. There are few holidays that command as much attention and respect as does this one. To a great extent, the busy pace of our society drops down into low gear on Thanksgiving Day. Most businesses will be closed, and most employees will have the day off.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Back in 2009 another movie playing on the theme of global destruction was released. It was just the latest in a long series of such films dating way, way back. Based on the focus of that movie I wrote an article titled, “Will The Earth End In 2012?” Well, here we are nearing the end of 2019, so the answer to the question is obvious. Now we hear a growing cry among climate change activists that, on our present course, life on earth will be pretty much wiped out within twelve years!
By: Gary L. Hutchens Frequently we’ll respond to something that we consider to be really good with the exclamation “How great is that!”. We might apply that statement to anything from a wonderful experience, to a great play made by some athlete, to a piece of chocolate cake. On the spiritual side of life, the Hebrews writer asked the question, “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” (Heb. 2:3). He’s talking about our eternal salvation, everlasting life with God and Christ in Heaven. How Great Is That!
By: Gary L. Hutchens Hezekiah was twenty five years old when he became king of Judah. He is described as having done right in the sight of the Lord, trusting in God, so that no other king of Judah was like him, either before or after his reign. He held fast to the Lord, did not depart from following Him and kept His commandments (2 Kgs. 18:1-6). He was an exemplary king.
by: Gary L. Hutchens What elevates man above the animals? Some would say, “Intellect, superior intellect is what elevates man above the animals.” Others would say “Self-awareness. Man has a sense of self-awareness that translates into meaning and purpose in life that animals do not possess.” Pretty good, thoughtful answers, but incorrect. Man is above the animals because God created man, and not the animals, in God’s own image, and He subsequently put the animals under the dominion of man (Gen. 1:26-28; 5:1; 9:1-2).
by: Gary L. Hutchens What should be our focus as to making the most of our time as Christians, pertaining both to our personal lives and to those of this world who are spiritually lost? In the broader view of things, we really have little time. Many texts in God’s word deal with this principle, but two call for particularly careful thoughtfulness in considering how we should use our time (Eph. 5:15-18; Col. 4:3-6). Both texts emphasize making the most of our time, and both admonish using our time wisely. What are some specific steps we can take to use our time wisely, in regards to both our personal spiritual well being and to considering how we can help the lost find salvation?
by: Gary L. Hutchens God has given us the greatest lifestyle system the world has ever seen- Christianity! No other discipline even begins to measure up to the quality and promise of the Christian lifestyle. Everything the world has come up with on its own pales by comparison. In fact, any philosophy devised by man that removes God as its central tenet generally brings misery and is doomed to failure.
by: Gary L. Hutchens Often, we feel unable to do something that needs to be done. This line of reasoning is constantly used by individuals and congregations in relation to serving God. In some cases we say we don’t have time to serve God as we would like. Sometimes we state that we just don’t have the ability to do some good work that needs to be done. In other cases we claim to not have sufficient resources to the get the job done.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Who are we? What are we? What are we doing? Here at Sunny Slope we repeatedly emphasize, at the risk of sounding redundant, that we are determined to simply be the church that everybody reads about in the Bible, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
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