Digression and Division

Views: 94[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.] Division in all the churches of Christ cannot come at once. There is no human head to order such simultaneous action. More than a century ago, those who were determined…

Reflections on the “Restoration Summit”

Views: 91 [Note:  This MS is available in  larger font on our Manuscripts page.]   On August 7-9, 1984, a meeting billed as a “Restoration Summit” was conducted at Joplin, Missouri. The “Summit” was first conceived and suggested by brother Alan Cloyd of Nashville, Tennessee, in…

Religious Pluralism

Views: 75 Note:  This MS is available in  larger font on our Brief Articles page.]  The term pluralism, when applied to religion, lauds diversity. Wikipedia states: “religious pluralism holds that no single religion can claim absolute authority to teach absolute truth.” It insists that various religions (e.g.,…

Instrumental Music—Aid or Addition?

Views: 149[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts  page.] Introduction The fuller reading of the title of this manuscript would be, “Is Instrumental Music an Aid or an Addition to the Singing prescribed by the New Testament in Christian Worship?” By…

A Sudden and Curious Emphasis on Balance   

Views: 112[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts  page.] Introduction Has anyone else besides me noticed a recent upsurge in the cry for “balance” in preaching and writing? Further, am I the only one who has noticed that this emphasis is…

A Review of Alvin Jennings’ 3 Rs of Urban Church Growth

Views: 121[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts  page.] Introduction  In 1981, a brother in Christ, Alvin Jennings, owner of Star Bible Publications, Inc., wrote and published a book titled, 3 R’s of Urban Church Growth. This book raised many eyebrows,…

“Prophesy Ye Not…”—Micah 1:6

Views: 127[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts page.] Introduction             The first verse of Micah’s book is ripe with several important details. The name Micah means “Who is like Jehovah?” and is an abbreviated form of Michaiah, the name of…

Malachi, Liberals, and Worship

Views: 83[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles  page.] Introduction The fundamental Truth that since the cross none have been accountable to the Old Testament excuses no one from carefully studying it. The God Christians worship is the Creator God…

Forsaking the Assembly— a Grievous, Age-Old Spiritual Malady

Views: 79[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles  page.] It is obvious that many—some who have been in the church for decades—are merely playing at the job of being Christians. One tell-tale sign is their sloppy attendance habits—or none at…

Deaver Doctrine—Where Does It End?

Views: 43[Note:  This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles  page.] Introduction Solomon observed that there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecc. 3:7). Perhaps all of us wish for the “wisdom of Solomon” to know just…