The West Side church of Christ

“The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed” (Proverbs 11:5-6 NASU). It is those who do what is right that are blameless. They deal with others fairly, [...]

“Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 11:4 NASU). The pursuit of wealth is ultimately worthless. It will not help us in the end. God really does not care about money (cf. Ezekiel 7:19). What He cares about is how we have lived our lives (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) [...]

This year, my wife and I are making our first attempt at planting a garden. Not that we have been doing much of the work—Charles Kelly has done most of it so far. He’s plowed it and tilled it and readied the soil for planting. Now it’s our turn to do the work. Chances are [...]

“The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them” (Proverbs 11:3 NASU). The upright are those who live straightforward and honest lives. Those guided by integrity will not be crooked or treacherous. They will not be so focused on personal gain and advancement that they will step [...]

I recently read a humorous description of a not very serious fight between children. They ran at each other with heads bent, eyes closed, flailing their arms like wind mills spinning in the air, missing each other by yards. All they were doing was beating the air. It’s funny to picture kids doing it, but [...]

“When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2 NASU). It is ironic that when we strive to be honored, we often end up producing the exact opposite result. Arrogance is an overestimation of oneself that often leads to trying to show others how great you are, but instead leads [...]

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight” (Proverbs 11:1 NASU). In those days, businesses often used scales for pricing goods such as wheat and barley. It was easy to adjust your scales to get a little extra profit and likely no one would know, but God [...]

We often sing the song “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” but do not seem to understand what the song is about. It is a call to arms. It is call to be engaged as soldiers of Christ. We realize the fact that as Christians we are soldiers, but not seem to realize what it means or [...]

“The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom, But the perverted tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted” (Proverbs 10:31-32 NASU). The words we speak and use are going to reflect our inner nature. If we are constantly [...]

“The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not dwell in the land” (Proverbs 10:30 NASU). The language is that of the Land Promise to Israel. Joshua warned the people if they didn’t follow the way of the Lord they would perish from the land (Joshua 23:11-13, 15, 16). If the people [...]