Showing results by author "James Thomas" in All Categories

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

This study looks at the Genesis account of Creation in Genesis chapter one. Key Hebrew words are analyzed. Discussion is presented about some of the more popular views about Creation, such as the Big Bang theory, the Theory of Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Age-Day Theory, and Pantheism. Key creation terms, such as Fiat Creationism, Progressive Creationism, and Theistic Evolution are defined. The role of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it pertains to Creation is discussed. At the end of the commentary on the first chapter in Genesis, the creation and impact of angels is briefly examined...

This book contains a series of short essays that discuss twenty-five of the important promises from the Lord that have been stated in the scriptures. Each of the essays is basically independent of the others. But at the same time, they have also been ordered somewhat loosely from most important to least important based upon logical order. The Lord promises to love every person. He promises to be found but not indefinitely. He promises grace for salvation and living. He promises goodness and mercy. He promises salvation that cannot be lost. He promises to not be bought. He promises to resist...

Ten places in the Bible, mention is made about events and decisions that were made from, before, or since the foundation of the world. Four of those occasions were spoken by Jesus during His public ministry. One was written by the Apostle Paul. One was written by the Apostle Peter. Two occurrences were included in the book of Hebrews. Two occurrences were mentioned in the book of Revelation. In chapters one through three of this text, two of the writings about events and decisions from the foundation of the world will be shared. First, Jesus taught secrets about the Word of God and secrets ...

The purpose of this book is to celebrate the victory that the saints of God can have through the power and might of a personal relationship with Christ. It has been divided into four parts. Part one is, "The devil could not overthrow God." In that part, the reader will learn when the devil became the devil. A key point will be that he is not in control of the events of this life. In fact, he is quite limited in what he can and cannot do. Part two is entitled, "The devil cannot overthrow or stop the saints." In that part, key times and events in the lives of Job, David, Abraham, and Joseph ...

This text was written in response to a question that I was asked at a Wednesday night Bible study at Wallers Baptist Church in Partlow, Virginia. The question, which was asked by the church's pastor, was in regard to the obvious enthusiasm that some of the saints of God seem to have for the Lord's work. The study that evening was in Acts 13:13, which talks about the Apostle Paul's first Bible-recorded missionary journey. It says, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." So when the company ...

In my adult Sunday school class on December 12, 1982, I spoke to the class about the Theory of Evolution and expressed my beliefs about how that theory will lead to the Tribulation. Remarkable as such a statement may sound, I believe it to be the truth. So I have written this book to retrace the steps that led to that lecture. I hope to relate, in this summary, not just a review of that Sunday morning class, but also to provide a trail of my research. Perhaps, after reading these pages, my reader will be led to conclude, as I already have, that the end may be much nearer than we think. ...

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was written. The second truth is that a person does not have to know the literal name of Jesus or anything about Him to be saved. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny the Lordship of Christ or His sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary. The real message that is being conveyed by those words is that a person does not have to ...

In writing this book about marriage, I feel that the Lord has been preparing me to do this work for many years and in many ways. First, I have been blessed to have been married for fifty-three years. So the Lord has given me the chance to learn a little something about relationships. Second, I have been blessed along with my wife, Linda, by the challenges of raising five children and having seen seventeen grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren born into this world. That means that the Lord has let me learn a little bit about family. Third, I have been saved for almost fifty-seven ...

This third edition of this commentary begins with Paul's final days of freedom before being arrested in Jerusalem. The timeframe was at the end of his third Bible-recorded missionary journey when he was going there to attend the celebration of Pentecost. He also went to take some financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. While there, he participated in a Nazarite ritual with four men who had taken a vow. Following that ritual, he went to the synagogue with those same four men. But as soon as some of the Jewish people saw him, they immediately accused him and attacked him. Given the ...

Incredibly this is the fourth book that I have written about how a person should live his or her life. None of the books are exactly alike even though all of them are similar. Also it was never planned to write four different books that are basically talking about similar things. But that is just how things have happened. The first book was written to tell people how they can live a blessed life. The inspiration for that topic comes from John 10:10, which says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have ...

This is a text that I originally started work on in 2016. But I set it aside because I did not know exactly how I wanted to present the seven roles of a pastor. Those roles are elder, bishop, shepherd, preacher, teacher, servant, and messenger. An elder is a man of spiritual maturity who teaches and leads the flock of God. A bishop involves overseeing the needs of the flock. The shepherd cares for the flock. The preacher proclaims the gospel message to those in the assembly. The teacher explains the whole Bible. The servant ministers to the needs of others. The messenger delivers the ...

In the first part of the third chapter of the epistle of James, the author warned spiritual leaders within the church about being God-called and about being God-prepared for their respective ministries. That warning applies to anyone who is in a position to lead others to Christ and to also show them how to live according to biblical principles and standards. So the clear teaching is that one does not actually choose his or her own ministry. Instead the Holy Spirit places saved men and women into those positions where He would have them work for Him. Once they are in those areas of ministry...

Two of the books of the scriptures that should be studied daily are the book of Proverbs and the book of Psalms. The book of Proverbs will show one how to be biblically wise in the things of the Lord. That book is primarily for spiritual guidance in this existence. But even an ungodly person will prosper by studying and applying its principles. In the same sense, the book of Psalms will also benefit anyone who studies it on a regular basis. The reason that the psalms are so valuable is because they are experiential. One can read exactly how David had felt while he was running from a king ...

Some people might think that Easter is about family get-togethers and the Easter Bunny. It is not. Therefore, this text, while focusing primarily on the prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah and especially on those that explain why Jesus was crucified, also discusses prophecies written by other Old Testament prophets. In the first three parts of this text, nine passages from the book of Isaiah will be examined leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Those passages are Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 64:6-7, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 41:27-29, Isaiah 61:1-3, Isaiah 50:4-9, and Isaiah ...

This text has been written as a way for this author to cope with the stay-at-home orders that have been put into place for the currently ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But that does not take away from the topics that have been discussed. It has actually given this author the opportunity to write one more book about the two things that are most important in this existence. The first is becoming a Christian or getting saved. The second is living the life that the Lord wants the saved individual to live. It is believed that sharing the gospel with others and encouraging them to get saved, too, ...

This book is actually based on the merging of two separate books that I wrote in 2020. The first book of 2020 was about how to be saved and how to live a blessed life. That book was written because of something that Jesus said during His public ministry. John 10:10 says, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." So the blessed life of the first book is the abundant life that one can have through a personal relationship with Christ. The second book of 2020 was written because a lot ...

Earlier this year in 2022, I completed a daily devotion book on the book of Proverbs. That book was intentionally meant to be very non-technical. By design, the devotions were meant to be easy to read and understand but without involving the reader with a lot of Hebrew words and scripture references. So that book was completed earlier this year in one very large volume. But now, this book, which is being prepared as six separate parts in six volumes, is meant to be everything that the devotion book was not meant to be. For example, each of the devotions that are in the devotion book are ...

This book has been written about Joseph, the son of Jacob. He had had two dreams about his family members bowing to him, and those dreams had made them very angry with him. In fact, they hated him so much that they actually tried to get rid of him. They sold him to some merchants going to Egypt. Then, an Egyptian captain bought him out of the local slave market and brought him into his household. Because the Lord was with him, Joseph excelled everywhere he went and in everything that he did. But that did not keep him from getting into a lot of trouble. He ended up in prison when the ...

This book has been written to share what I discovered during a unique experience in late 1989 and early 1990. While that experience was not very pleasant, the discoveries that I made have more than made up for any of those anxieties which I felt. After having been a Christian for a little over twenty-two years, I suddenly and without warning lost my job. Since at that time I had been faithful in the Lord's work for over fifteen years, plus had also done very well within my profession, being released from my employment did not seem logical. Therefore, from the very beginning, I acknowledged ...