Posts by Justo Dorantes (Page 9)

If we were to hypothesize some sort spiritual hierarchy, where would Satan be on that list? For whatever reason, we have the tendency of making him inferior only to the Godhead and no one else. A popular train of thought might put Satan second to God, then angels, and humans as last. What this ideology accomplishes is a handicapped perception of our ability to fight back against the devil and break free. A false illusion of power can create a…

As America prepares in anticipation of yet another annual Thanksgiving celebration, I could not help but consider some of the parallels between the birth, growth, struggles and direction of this country, as compared to the birth, growth, struggles and potential direction, of a born again New Testament Christian. In 1620, the pilgrims, seeking a new life free from the tyranny of oppressive persecution, by their faith in the power and providence of God, determinedly “set sail” into largely uncharted territory…

Pilots usually mention the following phrase: “I can still remember my flight instructor telling me to ‘believe your instruments.’ Always.” Oh, for sure when the weather is beautiful, you can look out the window. But when you can’t look out, well, that’s right, “trust your instruments.” That is the reason you have them; it takes the guesswork out of things. As we live the Christian life, we need to believe the Words of God at all times. Are there some…

How much fretting will we do today because of this or that or the other thing? It should come as no surprise to us that life is filled with irritations, and there are times when we try to rebel against them. Did you realize that the lowly oyster is wiser than we are in this regard? Whenever an irritating object, like a grain of sand, gets under the mantle of its shell, what does the oyster do about it? It…

A mother’s love is special. It may be the best illustration we commonly observe of what agape love describes in scripture. A mother loves her child no matter what. In spite of how many pregnancies are terminated by abortion, a mother’s love remains one of the strongest resisting forces against that procedure. A child may be born severely handicapped, but his mother loves him just the same, with all of the same affection, tenderness and sincerity she bestows upon her…

How will you remember the year 2020? I’ve come to refer to it as The Lost Summer. Actually, it’s been a lost Spring and Summer, and it appears that some of that reality could extend through the Fall and into Winter. The corona virus pandemic began to hit our nation in full force in early March, and within a couple of weeks most everything changed. Schools closed, at first supposedly for a few weeks, but that soon changed to encompass…

I had the great opportunity last week to visit my father in Mexico. He has been having a hard time since the passing away of my mother about eight months ago. I was encouraged to see him, and he also was encouraged as we spent a few days together. On the Sunday that I was there, I was invited to preach. I wanted to share something that would encourage my relatives and members of the church who were present at…

The following is a story of nature demonstrating the fact that struggles are a necessary part of growth and development for the Christian in this life. God places these struggles (or trials) before us to prepare us for that perfect home in heaven with Him. The Man And The Cocoon One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon. A man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little…

The story is told of a thrifty man who one day decided to save money on donkey feed. Every day, he would add increasing amounts of sawdust into the donkey’s feed. Because the process was gradual, the donkey did not notice any difference as he cleaned up his manger. The man’s plan was working well, until the donkey suddenly died because of living on 100% sawdust. Similarly, spiritual food that contains the pure Word of God, once mixed with worldly…

The following bulletin article was written by Brother Morris Thurman, former preacher for the Memorial Road congregation, on June 26, 1977. It’s a great human interest story about sacrifice that bears repeating today: Henry Penn, the Boston florist who originated the slogan, “Say It With Flowers,” told how one morning two boys and a girl came into his florist shop and said: “We’re the flower committee and we would like some nice yellow flowers, sir. Do you have any yellow…

I received the following thoughts by an unknown author via email. As I am about to celebrate another birthday, this article made me reflect about many things in my life. The thoughts expressed here are something to seriously think about this day and every day that God allow us to live (Acts 17:24-25): You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married…

In II Tim. 2:1-5, Paul tells Timothy what the world would be like in the last days. Even a cursory glance at today’s culture and we can see that Paul painted a pretty accurate picture of current Western civilization. One should not be surprised. Man has always been in rebellion against God and the rise and fall of civilizations attests to this. Christians trying to be faithful in the climate of today’s culture may find themselves becoming very discouraged. One…