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Sellers Crain’s article Real Truth Is Always Truth from June, 2018, is now available in my dedicated page, Publications from Sellers Crain.

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My commentary on Proverbs, section #37 on Proverbs 11:9-11 - Hypocrites Don't Help Cities, is relevant to revisit in the current climate.

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People devise things that eventually come back to, as we often say, haunt them, bite them, or backfire on them. “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (Proverbs 26:27). David said the wicked, “made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown” (Psalm 7:15-16). As Jesus said: "All who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Truly, “An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression” (Proverbs 29:22). Whether  “road rage” or “street fighting,” beware of what you start, you may get finished.     - October 14, 2019

More of my mini articles are available on my Words of Wisdom Articles page.

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My commentary for Psalm 126, When Yahweh Brought Back, is available in Devotions from Psalms, in Commentaries.

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Many people, it seems, follow a “Country Music” Theology, rather than the Bible. “The Red Dirt Road,” for example, said, “I learned the path to Heaven is full of sinners and believers.”  Really? Psalm 1:5 says “sinners” are not “in the congregation of the righteous.” Jesus said He “did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). And the command is, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners” (James 4:8). By obeying Jesus Christ, “believers were increasingly added to the Lord” (Acts 5:14). Everyone will not be crowded into Heaven, according to Jesus, "for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it” (Matthew 7:13-14). God "now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), but not everyone will! “The red dirt road” is a Dead End!            - January 13, 2020

More of my mini articles are available on my Words of Wisdom Articles page.

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Gerald Cowan’s article Vaya Con Dios is now available in Publications from Guest Authors.

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My Commentary on Mark 3: Restoring a Withered Hand is now available in Commentaries: Assorted Chapters.

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Question: What has happened to the “Party Animals” I knew?

Answer: Read Matthew 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-27; Luke 9:37-42 and learn of a man’s “only child” who was demon-possessed. … This shows 1. There is no such “demon possession” today.

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QUESTION: What has caused so much rioting?

REPLY: What began as peaceful protests were commandeered by paid, organized gangsters who steered the crowd into a vicious riot. After days of destruction and stealing from businesses (both large and small!) in many American cities, the question comes back: Why? 

1) According to the political doctrine of Karl Marxism, all humanity is divided economically along lines of the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Everything Communists say and do will emphasize this distinction and magnify “class envy.” Jesus identified one man’s “class envy” of his brother’s inheritance as “covetousness,” which He then condemned (Luke 12:13-21; Galatians 5:19-21). The only “solutions” Communists offer and encourage the “have-nots” to use are violence, rioting, and bloodshed, the very sort of things Barabbas had engaged in (Mark 15:6-7; Luke 23:18-19; John 18:40). And, as in the case with Barabbas, governments, as represented in Pilate, seem to want Barabbas’ on their streets rather than those who preach and teach Jesus Christ! 

2) According to the Gospel viewpoint, however, Jesus Christ came to give His life a “ransom for many” (Matthew 26:26-29), and this Gospel should be preached to “every creature” (Mark 16:15-16), of every “skin color.” Not until one has been “buried with Him through baptism into death” (Romans 6:3-5) can salvation occur and service to Christ begin. In serving the Lord Christ, those Christians who are “rich in this present age” should trust in God, not material wealth, and learn to “do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). However, those Christians who suffer “in deep poverty” should also “abound in the riches of their liberality” because they, too, should first give themselves to the Lord (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). According to 2 Corinthians 9:6-11, God’s grace will supply our needs when we supply our possessions for His use!

For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. (2 Corinthians 8:12)

Christians do not mourn over what they do not have, nor become prideful in what they do have, because what one has or doesn’t have is not as important as each one’s willingness to serve God! In the churches of Christ, therefore, “class envy” (a.k.a. “covetousness”) should not exist! Certainly rioting, violence, and bloodshed are no part of the solution for a Christian. Those who follow the Marxist/ Communist doctrine become criminal to any society seeking to abide by godly principles. “Preach the word” (2 Timothy 3:16-4:4), even to Marxists/ Communists and all those they use for their evil purposes, for “if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

- John T Polk II, June 7, 2020

More Bible based responses are available on my Questions Answered page.

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