Gais Goeff

• About this site

• About this site

Byrne Foreshew

• About this site

Elizabeth Stickfort

• About this site

Joel Hovey

• About this site

How to write your testimony effectively - Telling your own story is perhaps one of the most effective methods in sharing the gospel message.  It's Biblical, attractive and effective if done right.  “The problem with some writing isn’t that it’s bad writing. It’s just boring,” - Ginger Kolbaba, managing editor of Marriage Partnership magazine...

• About this site

• About this site

• About this site

• About this site

If a Christian falls into sin for a longer or shorter period, and is restored to communion through confession, will this entail loss in eternity, or will all be forgiven and forgotten at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

It seems very important to distinguish between God’s government and God’s grace. When a sinner is led to repentance and faith in Christ, he is forgiven all iniquities: he possesses eternal life; he “shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5: 24)." TARGET="_blank">John 5: 24). He is a child of God. He is “in Christ Jesus” and there is “no condemnation” to him; this is grace.

But if he sins as a child of God, whether for a longer or shorter period, it will lead to chastening in one form or other. This is government. He needs the forgiveness of the Father and it is for such a circumstance that the advocacy of Christ exists: “If any man (i.e. Christian) sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1)." TARGET="_blank">1 John 2:1). This advocacy produces conviction by the Spirit, confession and restoration, and “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)." TARGET="_blank">1 John 1:9). This again is grace. But though forgiven and cleansed, it does not follow that the effect of the sin is at once removed governmentally.

David confessed his sin and was straightway forgiven, but the Lord dealt with him governmentally in three ways:
“the sword would never depart from his house,” the child would die, and he would receive the same treatment he had meted out to others (2 Samuel 12:1" TARGET="_blank">2 Samuel 12:1 - ). So that though sins are forgiven and forgotten in one sense, they are not in another. The time that the soul is away from God, is lost time, for it is fruitless. What has been occupied in sin and self-will, might have been filled with service and fruit for God. The believer stands in different relations to God and Christ. He is not only a member of Christ, a child of God and a temple of the Spirit, but he is a steward, a servant, a builder, etc., to the Lord. If his “work be burnt up he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15);" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 3:15); that “everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)." TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:10). It seems very hard to believe that this will not entail an eternal difference. Some are preparing themselves for a high position in the millennial and everlasting kingdoms, which others could not possibly fill, owing to their unbelief, self-will or disobedience to the Lord’s commands.

William Hoste

• About this site

Bible games for a group that are online here include:

1.  Lost Bible Searchers Game .  This small group Bible game requires players to traverse the map of the Bible world collecting pages from books of the Bible.

2.  Books of the Bible Game .  This collection of six Bible games for a group uses cards with information from the books of the Bible to help students learn their order and some facts about each book.

3. Criminal Suspects of the Bible .  This Bible game for a group requires students to identify the bad guy based on a police record of his/her crime.

4. Tribulation Survivor Game .  This is Bible game for a group that should be used after teaching about the Great Tribulation in Revelation.  Participants are living the Great Tribulation with the goal of surviving great disasters, persecution of the Antichrist and famine.

For some other Bible games for a group, browse the 350 Sunday school worksheets that contain a coloring page, crossword puzzle and other activities to review a Bible story.

Use one of the puzzle makers below to create your own Bible Games for a Group. 

• About this site

Bible Worksheets

• About this site

• About this site

Free Online Bible Dictionary

The free online Bible dictionary section is part of the online bible program at Gospel Hall dot org.  In addition to the free online bible dictionary there are also free online Bible commentaries and online concordances.  The free online bible dictionary selection is available along with the concordances under the link to the left titled "Online Bible Search" or here.

Instructions for the Free Online Bible Dictionary

1. Select the link Online Bible Search.

2. You may ignore the top section of the page if you are interested only in the free online bible dictionary. 

3. In the section titled "Dictionary Search" type in a key name or phrase that is found in the bible.  For example, the online dictionaries are likely to have definitions for terms such as "Grace" or "Sin".  The online dictionary also has information regarding Bible places such as "Jerusalem" or "Egypt".

4. Select one of the online dictionaries from the dropdown list.  The list of free online bible dictionaries includes the American Tract Dictionary, Easton's Bible Dictionary, the International Bible Encyclopedia, Torreye's Topic Index, Thompson's Chain Reference Bible, and Vine's Greek Dictionary of New Testament Words.

5. Finally, click the "Go" button to search for your term.

6. You may also browse the online dictionaries by each letter of the alphabet in the last search box on the page.

About the Free Online Bible Dictionary (ies)

All of the free online Bible Dictionaries are in the public domain.  That is, they passed out of copyright protection after the 75 year period of time since original publish date.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - The American Tract Society (ATS) is a publishing organization that publishes evangelistic Christian literature. It was founded on May 11, 1825 in New York City for the dissemination of Christian literature in leaflet form and was a strong supporter of the temperance movement. It soon took rank with the American Bible Society. By 1851 it had distributed about 5,000,000 temperance tracts. The ATS is currently headquartered in Garland, Texas. It produces tracts, e-tracts, digitracts, and books. Over the years, ATS has produced many millions of pieces of literature.

Easton's Bible Dictionary - Easton's Bible Dictionary generally refers to the Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, by Matthew George Easton M.A., D.D. (1823-1894), published three years after Easton's death in 1897 by Thomas Nelson. Because of its age, it is now a public domain resource. Despite its name, many of the entries in Easton's are encyclopedic in nature, though there are short, dictionary-like entries. It contains nearly 4,000 entries.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) is a public domain Biblical encyclopedia. This encyclopedia was published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Hailed for its authoritative explanations of every significant word, person, and place in the Bible and Apocrypha, it is the standard by which all other Biblical encyclopedias are measured. In contains articles by nearly 200 scholars about archaeological discoveries, the language and literature of Bible lands, customs, family life, occupations, and the historical and religious environments of Bible people.

Torrey's Topical Textbook is a reference book or concordance for topics found in the Holy Bible. It contains subject index guides to topics found throughout the scriptures. The work contains 628 entries and over 20,000 scripture references.  It was published long enough ago that the original edition is believed to be out of copyright, but the exact year of publication is not known from sources cited here.  Reverend R.A. Torrey was known for his prolific writings on religious subjects including Methods of Bible Study

The Thompson Chain-Reference system was devised by its namesake, Dr. Frank C. Thompson, in the early 1900s. Dr. Thompson was a young preacher in the late 1800s. He became dissatisfied with the reference Bibles that were then available to preachers.

Dr. Thompson believed the Bible should be presented in a simple, but scholarly way. He saw the need for a well-organized reference Bible that would be of practical use to the layman as well as a minister. In 1890, Dr. Thompson began the work he would continue for the rest of his life. He completed the "thought suggestions" opposite the verses throughout the Bible. These are what became the "chain-links" that are the heart of the Thompson system. Some of the men in Dr. Thompson's church saw his Bible and told him this would be a great help to them in their Bible study too. They encouraged Dr. Thompson to have his Bible, with marginal references, published so that everyone could enjoy the blessing of this helpful study tool.[1]
The first version of Thompson's study Bible was published in 1908 by the Methodists Book Concern of Dobbs Ferry, New York. Five years later, in 1913, Dr. Thompson was joined by B.B. Kirkbride, of Indianapolis, Indiana. The two men formed the Kirkbride Bible Company, in order to further improve and distribute Thompson's work.

The original Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, as well as several subsequent versions, were based on the King James Bible. Currently, editions based on the King James Version, New King James Version, New International Version and New American Standard Bible are available, as well as electronic versions that incorporate other features.

As of 2006, there have been more than 4,000,000 Thompson Chain-Reference Bibles sold.

Vine's Expository Dictionary is a reference guide to Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek words for English readers. Some versions of the work only contain Greek word definitions. It explains King James Version words in an original Greek in context. It provides the meaning of the word in a proper context of Greek background. For example: In English Bible, there is only one word for "love" but in NT Greek, there are four (two being used the mostly). Therefore Vines fills the gap between English Bible and Greek NT nicely and effectively. It provides the definition of a word (KJV word) more accurately than the English dictionary because it uses Greek use of the word. For example: The word, "godliness (1Tim. 2:2)" TARGET="_blank">1Tim. 2:2)" in Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary is defined as "1: Divine 2: pious, devout -" but in Vines, it defines it as " 'to be devout,' denotes that piety which characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him." It provides fuller meaning of the word by explaining how the word is used in the NT. It can be used with Strongs concordance. Every word is numbered with Strong's number so you can use it more efficiently.

 WHEN U.S. WORKS PASS INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

By Lolly Gasaway  University of North Carolina

 Definition:  A public domain work is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used by everyone.  The reasons that the work is not protected include: (1) the term of copyright for the work has expired; (2) the author failed to satisfy statutory formalities to perfect the copyright or (3) the work is a work of the U.S. Government.
 

1  Term of joint works is measured by life of the longest-lived author.
2  Works for hire, anonymous and pseudonymous works also have this term.  17 U.S.C. § 302(c).
3  Under the 1909 Act, works published without notice went into the public domain upon publication. Works published without notice between 1-1-78 and 3-1-89, effective date of the Berne Convention Implementation Act, retained copyright only if efforts to correct the accidental omission of notice was made within five years, such as by placing notice on unsold copies. 17 U.S.C. § 405.   (Notes courtesy of Professor Tom Field, Franklin Pierce Law Center and Lolly Gasaway)
 

LOLLY GASAWAY         Last updated 11-04-03
Chart may be freely duplicated or linked to for nonprofit purposes.No permission needed.
Please include web address on all reproductions of chart so recipients know where to find
any updates.

• About this site

• About this site

Should a Christian celebrate Halloween?

 

The celebration of holidays for a Christian is addressed in Romans 14:1-23" TARGET="_blank">Romans 14:1-23 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-33." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:1-33.  The controversy of special food and special days may have had different names in the times of the apostles, but the principles of how to handle them is still relevant today.

 

The final decision for a Christian’s participation in Halloween will ultimately lie with the individual believer, but there are a number of factors one should consider.

 

Dressing a child in a cute costume as a cowboy, princess or a favorite sport’s hero and asking people for candy is of course, an innocent activity.  On the other hand, dressing as a witch, vampire, evil spirit or murderous villain is another idea altogether.

 

The origins of almost all holidays are with national events or Christian-related ideas even if their precise dates are not known.  Halloween, on the other hand, is a purely pagan and spiritually dark celebration of the gods of pre-Christian Europe with no association with anything from God.

 

Christians may choose to avoid any associate with Halloween based on the Old Testament’s prohibition of any form of demon communication or witchcraft

(Exodus 22:18;" TARGET="_blank">Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27)." TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27).  In the New Testament as well, the apostles spoke strongly against fortune telling and mixing with evil spirits  (Acts 8:9-24;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 8:9-24; Acts 13:6-11;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 13:6-11; Acts 19:19)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 19:19).  

 

A Christian who chooses not to celebrate any form of Halloween has legitimate concerns and honors God by avoiding any association with a demonic-influenced holiday.  There is clearly something to avoid in Halloween.  Horror movies, occult practices and haunted houses are grotesque perversions of anything good, moral and godly.  However, a parent who encourages his child to dress as a clown or a football player can hardly be faulted for enjoying an innocent party.

 

Some believers use the opportunity to communicate with their neighbors with gospel tracts or have fall parties in order to share the gospel.  Some countries have more drastic demon-influenced traditions than others.  Some believers have friends who are more likely to be offended by Halloween celebrations than others.  The final decision as to participate in fall parties lies with a well-informed believer who wishes to not cause offense to neither Jew, gentile nor to the church of God.

Shad David Sluiter

• About this site