Newkirk Church of Christ

Scott’s Thoughts

October 12, 2025

 

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Yousearch out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” (Psalm 139:1–4, ESV)

Unconditional love is a selfless, unwavering affection that persists regardless of a child's behavior. It contrasts with conditional love, which is manipulative and dependent on actions. Unconditional love encourages, believes in potential, and endures hardships, emphasizing that nothing can diminish a parent's love for their child. Unconditional love is the kind of love I want God to have for me and the kind I want to have for my family members. Is there no leeway allowed? That is a good question. From time to time our spiritual, as well as our physical family, will get out of alignment. We still love them, but our feelings have been hurt. Do we tell them how we feel, or do we weep inwardly to let time pass until we are able to conquer our disappointment?

I wish I had a degree in how to read minds with the ability to know and to understand what people think. Then maybe I could lay out a program for both the offender and the one who was offended. Oftentimes the hurt is felt while the offender is not even aware that the other person’s feelings were hurt. Shortly after my mother died, I called my little brother just to talk with him, but he was very cold and not at all like himself. I just asked him what was wrong. He told me that something I said had offended him. I answered I have no idea what you are talking about. Then he told me that his daughter overheard me say something. I did not say it, but I do understand how it could have been taken the way she did. I went on to explain the broader conversation for which that remark was taken. Then he said, “I have no problem with that.” Context matters! Solving conflicts requires two or more people to be willing to hear each other out. A short time later, my younger brother passed away, but we had a number of good conversations before he passed on.

Most of the time open communications can clear up misunderstandings before they get a chance to escalate. Many times, I have met family members who have not spoken to each other for years. I have even come across a parent and child who have not spoken to each other for years. Many of those types of situations can be resolved by simply talking about it.

My prayer is that all of us keep our hearts open and when we have a conflict, we can be the one who starts
the reconciliation.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7, ESV)

Thanks for listening and keep on shining

—Scott

2020 Mission Trip to Kramatorsk, Ukraine

Day 1 & 2 | 10/12/20 | 10/13/20 | 10/14/20 10/16/20 | 10/17/20 | 10/18/20 | 10/18/20 10/19/20 | 10/20/20| 10/21/20 | 10/23/20  | 10/25/20 | Summary Report

 

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What Must the Church Do

Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to make sure the church there would operate properly. False doctrine abounded in the area, and the church had to stand for the truth and develop mature leaders. In Paul’s own inspired words to the young preacher, he wrote in the epistle, “so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

In addition to giving us a description of the church (“the house of God”) we get a description of the duty of the church (to be “the pillar and ground of the truth”). What Paul is saying here is that the church is the vehicle in which God has entrusted the preservation and the promotion of the truths that are set forth in Scripture. It is the pillar and ground, the supporter and upholder, of the truths that are in God’s word.

No doubt, Timothy felt a great responsibility in this endeavor. He was to make sure that the inspired words given to him by Paul were used as doctrine (1 Tim. 4:13) and that no other teaching be allowed other than what God brought forth (1 Tim. 1:3; 4:1). Timothy was to defend the true Scriptures with a soldier-like attitude (1 Tim. 1:18). This is a concept that we should take seriously and still uphold today.

As in the first century, the church must stand solely and firmly upon God’s word and withstand the winds of change, the storms of discord, and the shifting sands of false doctrine. Men will constantly make attempts to change the New Testament message of how one receives salvation, how the church is organized and how she works and worships, what lifestyles are or are not acceptable to the Lord, etc., etc. People are constantly trying to get their opinions accepted on par with God’s instructions. But when the truth is changed or modified, it ceases to be the complete truth (Gal. 1:6-7).

Who is going to stand for the complete truth of God’s Word? The world is not going to do it. False religion is not going to do it. Misguided men are not going to do it. We as the church that Christ built must do it. We need to be people who stand up on the Bible and stand up for the Bible.

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matt. 7:24-25).

—Edd Sterchi
Broadway church of Christ
Campbellville, KY