It is all so grand. The Christmas play, the Nativity scene, the midnight mass, Linus, and all the talk about the “Christ child.” It allows us to tut-tut a little public morality about how commercialism has made all those worldly, sinners forget “Jesus is the reason for the season.” In fact, why don’t we have… Read More »
A New Congregation
[Editor’s Note: Editha Kern passed away this week. Her husband Olin Kern (1934-2009) married my parents (Norman and Jane Sage), eulogized my mother, and was the preacher for the Central Church of Christ in Charlotte, Tennessee at its birth. Brother Kern wrote the following article for Searching The Scriptures in October, 1963. It details the… Read More »
Show Yourself To The Priest
[Editor’s note: Please read this article in its entirety. It is intended as equal parts salt and grace. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it. Love ya!-JS] “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”-Luke 5:14 Our world changed 18-months… Read More »
The Word Of God Is A Blessing
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”-Hebrews 4:12 What would the Christian church be without the word of God? Certainly, much of the religious world… Read More »
The Instrument and Societies
I ran across an article describing the introduction of an organ into the worship service of the Broadway Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky. The instrument was “voted in” in November of 1902. This came despite the objection of a famous and beloved preacher and elder in the congregation named J.W. McGarvey. This incident brings up… Read More »
Welcome To Our Weekly Easter Service
Welcome to the worship service of the Christians who assemble at North Second Street. If you are a visitor, you may be surprised to know we do not observe Easter as a religious holiday. If you came to see a passion play acted out by our members, you may be disappointed. If it seems like… Read More »
The Lord’s Supper: Command, Example, & Inference
Eating the Lord’s supper on a weekly basis has been a distinctive feature of congregations dedicated to restoring New Testament practices to the church. While Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches have consistently observed weekly communion, the Lord’s Supper was relegated to a quarterly or even bi-annual observance in America’s Protestant denominations. In fact, the… Read More »
In, Before, Or Not There At All?
“the ark of the covenant…in which was a golden urn…and Aaron’s staff”-Hebrews 9:4 “There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone”-I Kings 8:9 “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony,”-Numbers 17:10 “Take a jar…manna in it…Aaron placed it before the testimony”-Exodus 16:33-34 So which is it? Are Aaron’s staff… Read More »
Why Can’t I Go To My Friend’s Church?
My kids are just like everybody’s kids. They are pretty sure I am just a mean, old man with an arrogant attitude about other religious groups. “Dad, why do you think you’re so right?!?!” Sound familiar? Let’s take a look at what’s going on when we hear this kind of claim. They Had Some Help: … Read More »
John “Raccoon” Smith On Unity by Scripture Alone
What do we mean when we quote Thomas Campbell’s phrase, first uttered in 1809, that goes like this: “Where the Scriptures speak, we speak, and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.”? If the church of God is ever to be unified and the followers of Christ are ever to teach the same gospel,… Read More »
