Posts by Randy Livingston
What the Gadarene Demoniac can Teach Us about Evangelism
In Mark 5:1-20, the gospel writer records for us Christ’s encounter with “a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,…
Read MoreYou Adulterers and Adulteresses … who?
James made a comparison of earthly wisdom to wisdom that is from above (James 3:17). It is understandable that James spoke of a wisdom that is “from above” when he described how Christians should live. After all, believers are in the world but are not to be of the world. Yet his audience was characterized…
Read MoreBe of Good Cheer!
We live in challenging times, do we not? Perhaps, many might think “challenging” is a bit of an understatement. Truth seems to be such a rare commodity. We do not trust our government, the media, even one another. There is little in the way of civil debate over social or political issues. Rather, harsh condemnation…
Read MoreDo You Have a Golden Calf?
John Newton, author of that well known hymn “Amazing Grace”, once made this statement, “Lord, save us from our golden calves.” Knowing the background to the “golden calves” will help us understand his plea. After Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, he brought them to Mount Sinai where God delivered unto them…
Read MoreDealing with Sexual Sin
One of the reasons that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth was to address the sexual sin that was tolerated by the fellowship. He wrote “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. …
Read MoreA Warning Against Contentious Behavior
The Apostle Paul thanked God greatly for the evident grace in the lives of the Corinthian believers (I Corinthians 1:4). Even so, as often is the case with every Christian, they had just as evident a need for correction as well. Consequently, Paul rebuked them for the contentions that had arisen among them as reported…
Read MoreThe Wisdom of God and the Wisdom of the World
Man cannot find out God by his own wisdom. In fact, God has decreed it so for he tells us that “in the wisdom of God the world by (its) wisdom knew not God” (I Corinthians 1:21). It could not be any other way for how could the eternal God, infinite in wisdom and understanding,…
Read MoreThankful for a Life Changed by Grace
Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers” (I Thessalonians 1:2). Thanksgiving to God for his grace in the life of others was a common practice of the Apostle Paul. He related this thanksgiving in his epistles to the Romans (1:8),…
Read MoreDelivered From This Present Evil World
Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia that Christ “hath delivered us from this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). He was not speaking to them of a future salvation, a home in heaven though that awaits every believer. Rather, the emphasis is on a deliverance that is both here and now. How are we to…
Read MoreSilence Does Not Mean We Are Alone
Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament written about 435 B.C. It would be over 400 years before God would speak again from heaven by sending his Son, Jesus, to be born of the virgin, Mary. It is not insignificant that the Old Testament closes with the word “curse.” Malachi writes, “Behold, I…
Read More