Posts by Kountze Church of Christ

How the Holy Spirit changes us from our former life into a mirror image of Jesus is misunderstood by so many. The Bible nowhere teaches that the Spirit works directly on our hearts to make me a more spiritual person. The Spirit does change us, and the Bible clearly shows how this happens. It is true that the Spirit is part of our walk with the Lord. It is true our growth as a child of God involves change and…

William T. Turner was captain of the Lusitania when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in May, 1915. He was one of the few officers saved (obituary note from Montreal Gazette, 6/24/33). The Atlantic writes in an article that Turner was “relieving captain” of SS Ivernia when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat on New Year’s Day, 1917, and he once again survived (James Gould, 5/7/15). Turner was a man renowned for heroics and not a coward, which…

Jesus has a way of remaining consistent even under the most chaotic of circumstances. In the eighth chapter of Luke, we have a small, but mighty, account of the Lord calming a storm on the sea. Previously to the storm, Jesus instructed His disciples to go across to the other side of the lake. They began their trip but shortly after, the followers watched as water poured into the boat with mighty gusts of wind. The disciples acted on their…

There was a strong word of condemnation expressed by Zephaniah concerning individuals who believed God to be one who remains idle and inactive in this world (Zeph. 1:12). Not only is it doctrinally false to take on this belief, but it becomes an overwhelming burden to perceive God as distant. The New Testament emphatically reminds us that God seeks to be near to us. This is especially seen with Immanuel being born (Matthew 1:23), the Spirit being sent to dwell…

Thirty-seven of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament had been written when Zechariah began his work as a prophet. What had God not reveal to His chosen nation? What more needed to be said before the close of that part of the Bible? The answer to these questions emphasizes the importance of the words of this prophet. In the final three chapters of Zechariah, God’s messenger looks to the future to show the Jews that God had some remarkable…

The cross of Jesus stands as the central event in human history. Of all the great accomplishments of mankind, none can rival what Jesus accomplished on the cross. That being the case, why then is the record of Jesus’ death, the greatest accomplishment in human history, cluttered with peripheral information about the death of an irrelevant thief, who happened to die on the same day? As an answer to that question, may I suggest that the death of the penitent…

We have all had times in our lives when things get tough. The world has a way of throwing challenges our way when we least expect it or when we are least capable of handling them. Sometimes the challenges get so difficult that we may want to give up. What should we do when we get to that point? We should follow the example of three men in the Bible who faced very difficult challenges but kept the faith: Jeremiah,…

There was no way one could see the miracles of Jesus and not be forced to make a decision about who He was. Unlike the “miracles” of televangelists of our day, His miracles were always instantaneous, complete healing and never a failure. He immediately restored hands visibly deformed, cleansed those whose leprosy was obvious to all, and He even raised the dead. What an amazing contrast between what He did and those pseudo-miracles of our day. Look at the impact…

Even though they technically mean the same thing, you know the difference. The first insinuates you don’t care about the bad around you when you actually should, because there is more to it. The second insinuates that you don’t worry about the bad around you, because you know you don’t need to. There are two men discussed in scripture that stayed asleep during a storm. The first one we think about is Jesus! Mark 4:37-38 shows Jesus being carefree in…

In the book of 1 Thessalonians Paul is so thankful for these Christians faithfulness. In Acts 17, Paul established this church and had to leave very soon because of persecution. Since that moment, Paul had worried about these Christians. So, he sent Timothy to them to check on them and make sure they were going to be okay (1 Thessalonians 3:1-3). When Timothy reported back to Paul, Paul was thrilled to hear that these Christians had remained faithful and continued…

Who is Jesus? That may seem like an odd question, but let’s consider it for a moment. Who is Jesus? There are so many ways to answer that question! He was a carpenter. (Mk 6:3) He was a Nazarene and a man from the tribe of Judah. (Matt. 2:23; Heb. 7:14) But these answers don’t really get to the heart of who Jesus is. Think about the Gospel accounts that we have, and ask yourself the question – who is…