Barnabas, a Good Man

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.] The adjective good is applied to men very sparingly in the New Testament. In fact, it is used only in reference to Joseph of Arimathea and Barnabas and by the same…

Lessons From Micaiah, the Unheralded Prophet

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Manuscripts page.] Introduction Just as there are several men named “James” in the New Testament, there are several Old Testament characters named “Micaiah.” Although at least eight persons (including one woman) have this name, the…

The Oak Hills Church of Lucado

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page.] It was a long time coming. Oak Hills “Church of Christ,” San Antonio, Texas, is no more. No, it did not close its doors (unfortunately). It will now be just “Oak Hills…

Unity in (Spite of) Diversity

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page.] Introduction Was a renewed and intensified “unity” initiative with the Independent Christian Church (ICC) underway? Abilene Christian University had an ICC preacher on its lectureship a few years earlier. The Tulsa Workshop…

Thank God for the Seven Thousand

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page.]         While it is necessary on occasion to highlight the extreme departures some who were once among us have made, there is room for some optimism. One of the encouraging…

A Preacher’s Article and a Preacher’s Response

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page.] Prefatory Note:  The following article by the late Tim Smith, a faithful Gospel preacher appeared in a 2006 issue of Contending for the Faith,  to which Dub McClish responded.  “Endeavoring to Keep…

Instrumental Cravings

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.] The controversy over mechanical instruments of music in Christian worship began when they were first introduced ten centuries too late to be employed with Divine approval in the church of Christ….

Jeremiah—God’s Humble, Faithful Prophet

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page.] Introduction To learn the way God measures preachers and preaching we need to return repeatedly to the faithful prophets as our models. There is no nobler model than Jeremiah in the way…

A Sad Story That Hits “Close to Home”

[Note: This MS is available in a larger font on our Brief Articles 1  page.] I spent 8 years of my youth (1946–1953) in the small central town of Burnet, Texas. My father preached for the faithful congregation there the first 4 of those years and…

God’s “Ecumenical Movement”

[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Longer Articles page. Introduction For perhaps hundreds of years, the masses of Christendom and its leaders have lauded religious diversity. Most of us have been present where prayers of thanksgiving were offered for the multiplicity…