By Brent Smith [Brent Smith is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, Tennessee.] “You shouldn’t judge.” Have you been told that? Have you said that to someone else? What is really meant by the judgmental statement, “You shouldn’t judge”? Murder is a sin. Rape is wrong. It is evil for…
[Brent Smith is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, Tennessee.] The apostle Paul writes, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8.28). Ultimately, that working “together for good” is realized in forgiveness,…
By Brent Smith [Brent Smith is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, Tennessee.] Displacement, persecution, domestic hardships and natural disasters all contributed to persistent poverty in the Jerusalem church and among the Christians in Judea. There is no evidence to suggest that any relief came from Rome or the…
[Brent Smith is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, Tennessee.] In the book of Acts, Luke reveals that there was ongoing poverty among the Christians in Jerusalem. From the Day of Pentecost when the church was established and for decades afterward, special offerings and collections were needed to help…
The Genesis account of Joseph is a familiar Bible story. Even small children in Sunday school classes hear about the beautiful robe worn by Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph was only 17 when his older brothers stripped from him that symbol of their father’s partiality and sold him as a slave for 20 pieces of silver.…
By Brent Smith [Brent is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, TN.] The dictionary says that culture is “the sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next”…
The Syrophoenician’s Sick Child By David Wright Introduction Grace Tillery was born in Montgomery, Alabama, a few months before the great stock market crash of 1929. In the fall of 1952, when she was 23, Grace met her future husband. Doyle knew almost immediately that he wanted to marry her. She was a tall, slim,…
By Brent Smith [Brent is the preaching minister of the Trenton Church of Christ in Trenton, TN.] Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria, the capital of Israel. The siege cut off the city’s food supplies, and its inhabitants began to starve. One of the women of the city called out to the king for help.…
Esther’s Endangered Life By David Wright Introduction Women and small children crowd the waiting room. Most of the patients are pregnant women or new mothers, but some have come to the clinic for a routine checkup. Marlena, who has always dreaded her annual exam, now fervently wishes that she were here waiting for one. Sitting…