Blogs by Leland Maples

Lot's Testimony
By Leland Maples
August 15th, 2008

“Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32

What a strange command for Jesus to give; especially since her name is never given to us. Why should she be remembered? What benefit would her remembrance achieve?

Lot was Abraham’s nephew who left Mesopotamia with Abraham when God called him to relocate. There is no doubt that Lot was a believer.

“And delivered JUST Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: [8] (For that RIGHTEOUS MAN dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his RIGHTEOUS SOUL from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)” 2 Peter 2:7-8 (caps mine...

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Praise and Worship
By Leland Maples
March 16th, 2007

Much is being written and spoken today about “praise and worship.” I am bad about accepting things, especially things issuing from Christian friends and reputable Christian leaders. It usually takes some traumatic event or conflict before I research anything on my own. It is obvious that “praise and worship” means different things to different people, but it is just as obvious that everyone seems to think it involves music of some kind.

Bible teachers speak of “the first mention principle,” i.e., the way a word is used the first time reveals the basic meaning of that word throughout...

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Knowing The Truth
By Leland Maples
October 15th, 2011

A wise man once said, “When a person who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he then ceases to be mistaken or he ceases to be honest.” James said something comparable:

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17

One may spend hours looking for loopholes in God’s orders and directions; one may supply a multitude of excuses; one may justify his actions to attract more converts, but whatever the case…if one knows to do something and doesn’t do it, it is SIN! On the flip side, if one knows he should not do something and...

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Look Up
By Leland Maples
July 15th, 2009

We live in extraordinary times. Many of us have witnessed good changes and bad changes in our lifetime. The Preacher said:

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9

Who knows what the world was like in Noah’s day?

Sin is certainly abounding in our time, but, thank God, grace is abounding more (Romans 5:20.) Dr. McLain used to always say in closing, whether vocally or in print, “Keep looking up.” He was referring to Luke’s statement:

“And...

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2007 Year End Close
By Leland Maples
December 31st, 2007

One more year closer to His coming! What a great year this has been. We have watched as the Father called some close friends home to glory. We have also watched as He decided to heal some because their job was not finished here. In both cases, we remember Abraham’s words “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25)

The Angel Tree program went great. While many programs in Midland/Odessa were still begging for money right up to the day before Christmas, our kids were covered way ahead of time. When God’s people give for the right purpose, God will supply (...

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Gay Pride
By Leland Maples
January 31st, 2010

Those who believe God’s Bible are certainly not surprised that mankind is getting worse. God put it in writing for us:

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13

I think that what is surprising is the speed in which men are doing thus and the pride they take in doing it. Homosexuality is not a new sin. It has been around for thousands of years. The punishment for such is not new either. Sodom and Gomorrah became God’s definitive punishment on sin in which men took pride. Note the Biblical account:

“...

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Losing the Churches
By Leland Maples
May 15th, 2012

ZIonica News came out with some interesting statistics regarding churches in America in their April 24, 2012 issue. Their figures revealed that over 85% of the churches are declining; when measuring church growth with population growth, only 4% of our churches are growing. One startling statistic was that no one county in the United States has more attending church today than it did ten years ago. The study showed that atheism, Mormonism and New Age groups are growing. The Barna Group said that of the more than 350,000 Protestant churches in America, over 60,000 do not have one convert...

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Call It What It Is
By Leland Maples
January 15th, 2014

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20

Welcome to the 21st century! The whole world and especially America is coming under this condemnation. In politics the practice is called putting the "spin" on certain things, in the Bible God calls it lying.

Women can murder their own children and the devil's crowd calls it "women's reproductive rights." "Marriage equality" is a nice term for the perversion of marriage (or is it the marriage of perverts?) A "...

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All Spiritual Problems
By Leland Maples
October 15th, 2008

Sometimes we need to be reminded by God why people think like they think and do what they do. Without God’s word explaining the reasons for such actions, our world can get extremely frustrating.

It is frustrating to see educated, successful and knowledgeable people (by world standards) think and do stupid things. Most of our problems, whether deemed financial, political, scientific or social are actually spiritual ones.

Why would so-called good citizens promote murdering innocent babies (abortion) and protest the death sentence for child molesters?

Why would these same...

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Money Makers
By Leland Maples
May 15th, 2007

A pastor friend of mine related this story. On their way home from church one Sunday, his ten year old daughter quizzed him. She said, “Daddy, that story you told today…was that really true or was it just preaching?” A little girl, wise beyond her years; for so much of what we hear as preaching may be just that…preaching, not truth!

How about those who run orphan’s ministries? Do they pull at your heartstrings to give while they live in wealth? If they loved those children so much wouldn’t you think they would forgo those big salaries and perks and use them for the kids? Some try to...

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