Category: Articles by Jim McKendrick

  • What You Think, You Are, By Jim McKendrick

    Many years ago I sat in tenth grade Biology class, arguing with my instructor about evolution. Charts were produced that seemed to point to the fact of evolution. After all, who could argue with known facts derived from fossil data? One day, the teacher showed me that even the Bible…

  • The World of a Jew, By Jim McKendrick

    Turn on the TV on almost any night to watch the news and Israel, her people and land will be mentioned at some point. Why does this nation, few in number by comparison, and this land, tiny by any standard, command so much world attention? Israel, after all is a…

  • The Pursuit of Godliness, By Jim McKendrick

    We enter a season of the year when many will turn their eyes for a moment to look at a baby in a manger, and as babies often do, the look will soften the heart and warm the emotions. This in turn will open the purse strings, there will be…

  • The Proof of the Pudding, By Jim McKendrick

    A few years ago I was introduced to an older gentleman whose demeanor and smile made me want to get to know him better. I had heard about this man, so when I was in his area for a few meetings, I made an appointment to meet with him in…

  • The Hope Within, By Jim McKendrick

    I was raised in a Christian home. The Bible was held in high esteem as God’s Word, historically true, inerrant in content, completely trustworthy for all matters of life and doctrine. The Book itself was held in high regard. If you carelessly dropped a school book on the ground you…

  • Systematic Theology, By Jim McKendrick

    I had the privilege of working a number of years with a fine Christian businessman by the name of Bob Kregel. He was in the business of publishing and retailing Christian books. That is not an easy business. There is such a fine line between necessary profit and greed, between…

  • Seed to the Sower, By Jim McKendrick

    In 1945, a group of men met together in England to discuss the need for a publication that would endeavor to emphasize that aspect of truth known as “church truth.” Out of this concern there arose a magazine called Precious Seed which was published bi-monthly. This magazine has continued to…

  • Revive Us Again, By Jim McKendrick

    Much has been written in the last fifteen years or so on the subject of “renewal” and “church growth.” This has resulted in much division and discouragement because it has tended to turn our attention away from biblical principles. Instead it has turned our eyes to Madison Avenue hype, business…

  • Reflections, By Jim McKendrick

    Summertime is usually a time for reflection and relaxation. A time when decisions are made to begin afresh with some good solid Bible study in September. Maybe you’ve even decided the book or the topic you’re going to dig into. So you are going to make that all too often…

  • Quiet Moments with Friends, By Jim McKendrick

    My wife is away from the house for the day, and it is quiet–not even any phone calls (which is highly unusual). I have spent the time with two of God’s choice servants who have stirred my mind and warmed my heart. Of course they were not here physically, but…

  • On the Hunt, By Jim McKendrick

    Former President Bush (Sr.) declared the Cold War to be over, that we were entering a new age of peace and co-operation in the world. President Clinton* is working hard at dismantling our military weapons. The “Star Wars” initiative, with its billions of dollars invested, is dropped as unnecessary. Peace…

  • Mysterious, By Jim McKendrick

    Some folks like to sit down in an evening with a good “mystery” book. As the reader tries to follow the twists and turns of the plot, he is drawn on to the end of the book where finally the villain is captured. Right triumphs over wrong and all live…

  • Majoring on Minors, By Jim McKendrick

    There is a section of our Bibles tucked away at the end of the Old Testament. The majority of us know very little about it. When the preacher asks us to turn to one of these books, we start singing the books of the Bible to ourselves so we can…

  • Keeping the Knot Tied, By Jim McKendrick

    A union embodying such an ideal (the ideal of Ephesians 5) is not to be entered into lightly or unadvisedly, but reverently, discreetly, soberly, and in the fear of God. Such is one statement in the marriage ceremony that I use as two much-in-love people stand in front of me…

  • Hymnbooks, By Jim McKendrick

    In my bookshelf are two hymnbooks that are precious to me. One is inscribed with my name and the words, “From Grandma, baptism 9/30/56.” The other has my wife’s name and “From the P. A. (Port Arthur, ON) Gospel Hall, Jan. 1961.” In those days, it was not unusual for…

  • Growing on Vines, By Jim McKendrick

    There is an interesting verse in Acts 13:36 which says, “David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep . . . ” If you will allow me to apply that thought in a different context, I would say that many books and their writers…

  • Great Distinctions, By Jim McKendrick

    How do you build a library?” I’ve often been asked. Well, seldom is it built by a pre-arranged plan. I’ve been blessed by being around older people who have taken an interest in me and given me books that have been helpful to them. Also, while a bookstore manager, I…

  • Faith Works, By Jim McKendrick

    A professor I had in college once said, “Knowledge is the amassing of facts, while wisdom is the ability to use those facts in a correct way.” Not bad for a college professor. There is a group of Old Testament books known as “wisdom literature.” Proverbs is one of those…

  • Eternally Secure, By Jim McKendrick

    One of the ways my library has been built has been through gifts of various people. As older people begin to thin out their libraries, I have been the happy recipient of some very good books. At least I presume them to be good books, for in reality I have…

  • Encouraging Reading, By Jim McKendrick

    The Jewish believers of the first century found themselves in the middle of a storm. To leave Judaism with all its rituals and sacrifices, its temple and feast days, to seemingly turn their backs on Moses and the law, was to their contemporaries unthinkable. But they had done all this…