Peacocks are often used as a symbol of pride and vanity. The male peafowl are known for their piercing calls and their extravagant plumage. It can be quite the sight to see a peacock preening in full strut.
The preening peacock’s full tail feather display not only attracts the peahens, but it gets the attention of any creature in his vicinity, including humans.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Fear is a form of worry. We worry about so many different things. Ninety-five percent of the things we worry about never happen.
Then suddenly multiple things happen that we were not worried about, which creates a huge emotional storm in our life. Often when something bad happens almost every aspect of our life is impacted. We feel like we are being bombarded and attacked on every front.
“Yummy, yummy, yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy” is the first line of the 1968 pop single by the bubble gum band Ohio Express. Time magazine included the song in its 2011 list of songs with “silly lyrics.” I often use various memory devices to aid my recall of scripture concepts. One of the memory devices I use is association. Since silly song lines are easy to remember, one can use something silly to help recall something serious.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 KJV
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
[10] Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
[11] And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 1:10-11 KJV
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. [11] For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
This is part two of a series on 1 Corinthians. Which is Paul’s letter of correction through stern love to a first century church with a lot of problems.
I grew up on the Knox County side of the Union County line, which kind of made me a double agent. I went to Halls High School but spent a big part of my life on my Papaw’s farm in Union County, and plenty of time on Norris Lake, mostly at Hickory Star Marina.
I was saved at Milan Baptist Church in Maynardville and later received the call to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I had no idea what I was doing but I made a commitment to God that if He would open the doors, I would go through them. That was several years ago.
The church at Corinth had a lot of problems! The Christian Bible doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is a prime example of the blunt truth, often detailed in the pages of the Bible.
It has been my privilege to write for Historic Union County for over five years. This month, I am reprinting my first article to remind myself and any readers I may have of the purpose of our teaching. I also want to sincerely say thanks for reading, and I hope my teaching has been a benefit.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 the Apostle Paul charged Timothy to … “rightly divide the word of truth.”
The last book in the Bible, which is commonly called “Revelations,” is arguably the most misunderstood book in the New Testament.
One major contributing factor to this misunderstanding is that the colloquialism “Revelations” is not the actual name of the book. The title as given by the KJV translators is The Revelation or more fully The Revelation of Saint John the Devine.
The book is not “Revelations” as in many, but rather one single Revelation. We simply need to look no further than the first verse to know this is true:
Revelation 1:1 KJV
For every event involving Jesus in the New Testament there is a corresponding Old Testament backstory.
Matthew 4:19 is that famous verse in which Jesus calls his first disciples to become “fishers of men.”
As with most biblical events this backstory naturally starts in the book of Genesis, which everyone should already know means “the beginning.” “In the beginning God created the heaven and earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
Daniel 5:27 KJV [27] TEKEL ; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Being a fisherman, I know a little bit about scales! Pun intended. Both the scales which cover most fishes and the modern electronic weight scales used to weigh fish.
Before the electronic scale there was the spring scale which was first made by Richard Salter around 1770 in England. Long before that, the weight of anything men valued was determined by a balancing scale.
By Archie Wilson Jr.
It is a common belief across many ideologies that at some point in time there will be a last day. Even science acknowledges the inevitability of a last day for our planet; as the universe, or our sun will eventually destroy the earth in some manner, usually involving intense heat.
Go figure!
The point being we have a general consensus across the board that at sometime in the future the gig is up for us all. So what does the Bible say about that universally expected last day?
he meaning of ‘The Last Days’
What does the KJV Bible mean by the term “The Last Days”?
Digging into the “last days” term we find a few other similar terms the KJV uses: like “Latter Days” and “end of the days;” “time of the end;” or “day of the Lord,” all of which indicate a promise to come after a length of time. The Old and New Testament authors are very particular in how these “last days” terms are used, so as to make a clear distinction between a longer period of time, as opposed to a single last day.
Ezekiel 3:8-9 KJV: [8] Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. [9] As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
Some time ago a longtime pastor friend from another church was confiding in me about both the highs and lows of leading a congregation. Because of his genuine sadness over the lows, I joked with him that I was going to do a Bible study entitled How to Kill Your Pastor.
My friend, seeing the veiled humor in the concept, shared that thought with another fellow pastor, who quickly responded; “When can he come teach this at my church?”
Will a man rob God?
This is the question God’s messenger known as Malachi asked the remnant of Israel beginning around 425 B.C.
Malachi, whose name literally translates as “My Messenger” warned the Jewish priest and the people of Israel that God was not pleased with their halfhearted worship of Him. Malachi was the final writing prophet in the Old Testament and his message is appropriately placed last.
Fishing on the wrong side of the boat
John 21:6 KJV [6] And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Being a natural-born card-carrying smart aleck, I simply love one-liners, especially catchphrases. Catchphrases are the basis for most advertising and the purpose is to quickly grab our attention.
The best one-liners stick in people’s minds and when heard we will associate the phrase with a particular product, brand or even an idea. The end goal of branding is to create consumer loyalty to a particular product or concept.
The common theme of all the messages I have heard preached lately, all by different ministers, pertain to the need for REVIVAL!
I could caption some of the messages like this: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship” from the book of John, Chapter 21; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” found in the book of Psalms Chapter 51.
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” This statement is part of Paul’s closing instructions from his letter to the Churches in the region then known as Galatia.