The Ohio Bible Fellowship Visitor

Moral changes within the soil of man’s thinking do not take place abruptly, but gradually and insidiously. Like leaven kneaded into bread dough, such changes eventually permeate the whole. The seeds of gospel truth sown by the apostle Paul changed the pagan mind-set of the old world. The seed thought of, “justification by faith alone,” sown by Martin Luther, produced the reformation. Early in the 20th century Lenin sowed the seeds of economic socialism which produced a Communist state.

The seeds of the sexual revolution, sown into the thinking of American society for over 40 years, have produced a massive cultural shift in our nation’s moral thinking. That which was once hidden in the closet had made it all the way to center stage. The shift in moral thinking has given expression to the most radical views regarding human sexuality that can be imagined. The growing ascendancy of a morally neutral attitude toward the immoral behaviors of homosexuality and lesbianism indicate that the seeds of the sexual revolution have grown into a tree. A biblical response to the issue of homosexuality is much needed.

Continue reading ‘From the Closet to Center Stage’

You may not be aware that Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May, was formerly called “Decoration Day.” The day was originally established to Honor United States soldiers and sailors who have died in wars. The custom began soon after the Civil War. In 1868, Gen. John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, named May 30 for decorating the graves of Union soldiers.

This past week, I officiated the funeral service of an 89-year-old man who was a long time attendee of the church which I pastor. Because this man was a veteran who fought in the Army Air Corps during WWII, he was given full military honors at the gravesite service. At the conclusion of the interment, two soldiers, fully dressed out in Class A Uniforms, stood at the head and foot of the casket. As a part of the protocol for full military honors, the two soldiers initiated a series of very precise synchronized movements which demonstrated the respect and esteem that all the witnesses surrounding that casket should have felt for this man who had put his own life at peril in military service some sixty years before. As the two soldiers began this ceremonial rite of honor, they first lifted the flag that was draped over the casket and very carefully, deliberately and with much dignity folded the flag. After folding the flag, both of them paused to stare at the flag and then saluted it with a slow motion cadence as the other soldier held it. After placing it in the hands of the widowed wife and offering some words of condolence and gratefulness, the quiet silence was interrupted by the sound of a trumpet playing a final taps.

Continue reading ‘The Sovereignty of God Over the Nations’