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**April 2026 Articles**

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**April 2026 Articles**

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**April 2026 Articles**

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A Soldiers Spear

By David Bragg

    Fantasy? Legend? The apocryphal “Gospel of Nicodemus,” written hundreds of years after the New Testament closed, sought to “fill in” the gaps in the inspired Gospels to satisfy people’s insatiable curiosity. It is there that we first encounter Dismas and Gestas, the two thieves crucified with Jesus, and Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus’ side. Even there, no names are assigned to the soldiers who hammered the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.    The problem is that all this unwarranted speculation serves as a distraction to what is REALLY important. It is not the names of these criminals and soldiers that matters; else the inspired writers would have “filled in the gaps” for us. What is crucial is the fact that David prophesied that Jesus would be pierced 10 centuries before Christ was born (Psalm 22:16), and that John witnessed them as they were being fulfilled. And the REAL key, that Jesus indeed died on the cross, for the very ones who nailed Him there!    Why did Jesus die on the cross? For the sins of the world. Who nailed Him there? We did!

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Willing Spirit, Weak Flesh

By David Bragg     In the late 1800’s, the race to reach the North Pole was intense. Explorers experimented with every available means of transportation in this quest. S. A. Andrée, a Swedish engineer, made his attempt in 1897, choosing to travel on a massive hydrogen balloon. Confident of success, Andrée even packed a tuxedo, fully expecting to attend numerous victory celebrations held in his honor.     Andrée never made it to the North Pole. After his departure his body was not discovered until 1930—33 years later. The anticipated celebrations never happened. His tuxedo, never worn, ended up preserved in a museum, a somber reminder of the expedition’s tragic outcome and unrealized dreams.     You remember that night as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, struggling with the menacing challenge looming before Him. You can hear His plea to the Father, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). Don’t you rejoice this morning that the weakness of His flesh did not overcome the will of His spirit? Unlike Andrée’s celebration that never came, we have eternity to share in Jesus’ victory.

- David Bragg is co-editor of BulletinGold. He may be contacted through his blog: http://davidbragg.blogspot.com/ If you are in the Greensboro, NC area, please join us for worship: https://nwchurchofchrist.com/about/

Our Sure and Steadfast Hope

By Glen Elliott      A ship securely anchored does not drift from its harbor. A life firmly fastened to the will of God is not easily shaken from its moorings. In spite of life’s uncertainties, there is a God upon whom we can depend. He inspires hope in the human heart, saying, “I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you…” (Heb. 13:5). Such hope is the Christian’s spiritual anchor. The inspired author offers the following description: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:19-20).     This hope is sure because it is grounded in the word of God. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Mt. 24:35). Because the word of Christ will be our standard of judgment on the last day (Jn. 12:48), it is imperative that we closely and carefully study and practice its teachings.     This hope is sure because it is inseparably connected to the nature and presence of God. The nature of God provides strong encouragement in as much as it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). We can trust His promises completely. Our hope is anchored in heaven, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us and always lives to make intercession on our behalf (Heb. 6:20; 7:25).     As Christians, we do not need to despair in the storms of life. We have an anchor to keep the soul, one that is sure and steadfast. Our God, who cannot lie, has promised that, if we remain faithful, we will receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). This is our calm assurance, our peace that passes understanding (Ph. 4:7).

- Glen Elliott preaches for the Greenbrier church of Christ in Greenbrier, AR. He may be contacted through the congregation's website - https://www.gbcofc.com/

Make the Lord Your Trust

By Glen Elliott     In the midst of so much uncertainty and fear -- when winds of change blow strongly in our faces -- it is good for us to pause for a moment and reflect on the importance of trust. Our struggles do not have to do so much with a lack of trust as a failure to make God our trust. We all trust in something, but “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” (Ps. 118:8). We must make the Lord our primary trust (Ps. 40:4). It doesn’t take a 9/11 experience to remind us of just how quickly things can change around us. We cannot know the future, but we can know and trust the God who holds the future in His hands.     In the dark and tumultuous days leading up to Babylonian Captivity, Jeremiah begged the people of Judah to place their trust in the Lord rather than foreign alliances. His comparison between trust in God and trust in man is quite remarkable. The prophet writes, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit’” (Jer. 17:5–8).     Trust makes all the difference! The person who places his trust in man is like a scraggly bush in a barren desert. But the one who trusts in God is compared to a beautiful tree growing beside a lovely stream. Truly, the path to God’s blessing lies in our ability to make Him our trust.

- Glen Elliott preaches for the Greenbrier church of Christ in Greenbrier, AR. He may be contacted through the congregation's website - https://www.gbcofc.com/