South Jax Church of Christ

South Jax Church of Christ We are a local Church made up of people striving to worship God with the Bible as our sole source of authority.

08/25/2026

An Example of Building Up a Brother:

At the South Jacksonville Church of Christ the adult auditorium class has been covering the Book of Acts. It has been a really encouraging quarter as this historical book not only goes over the history of the early church, but also leaves behind eternal examples for how a Christian ought to behave and walk. One of these examples that I have been reflecting on recently, was in our class this past Sunday morning as we were covering Acts 18. As Acts 18 shares with us:

“Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ”. (Acts 18: 24-28)

The reason why I was fixated on this example in particular is because I believe that we all can learn from the example of Priscilla and Aquila as they dealt with Apollos. Apollos was not teaching the truth of the matter as he only had an understanding of the baptism of John. Although this man was diligently trying to spread the good news about Christ, this one area was not in line with the truth of the Gospel, because he did not know better. So when Priscilla and Aquila heard what was said, what did they do? Some brethren today when they are placed in similar situation to Priscilla and Aquila will immediately go up and confront the brother, publicly, drawing attention to him and his mistake in an unsavory manner. Although the brother or sister may do this in good conscience, this ought not be the way to handle such a situation, as I promise you that this will only serve to tear down your brother, who is trying his best to teach the Word, instead of building him up. So how should we respond to this situation?

Well, notice what Priscilla and Aquila do. They take him aside, explaining the way of God more accurately. There were no unsavory actions in how they handled this. Brethren, notice that this is the way that we ought to be handling brethren who genuinely try their best in teaching God’s Word, yet misunderstand something. We ought not to create a situation in which we tear down said brother, as we will be held in judgement for this action at the end of this age, but instead use the situation to build up the brother. Please however, do not twist what I am saying into accepting and never correcting false teaching though. Instead correct the individual and give them opportunity to publicly correct what they had taught in error. Based on the little information that we have about Apollos I am convinced that he would have done this, even though the Spirit did not preserve any record of him doing so.

If we fall after the example of Priscilla and Aquila, I am confident that it will encourage genuine young men to be more bold to preach and teach the Word of God in our world. Consider what the Apostle Paul says about this type of behavior:

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear”. (Ephesians 4: 29)

This week let us look for ways to encourage one another, not for ways to discourage our fellow laborers in the Gospel.

08/18/2026

Blue Herons and Bluegills:

This past weekend we had one of Mallory’s friends come over to visit with us for Mallory’s baby shower. It was a fun weekend! During Sunday though I had to attend to some things while the ladies went out to have some fun. When I came back home I began working in my office and decided to get a glass of water. I went to the kitchen, filled up a cup, and began to head back to my home office. However, on the way back to my office I saw something somewhat large move in the backyard. I went back to the window to see what it was and it was a blue heron with a bluegill in its beak.

Although it was a cool sight, I could not snap a picture of it as when I got to the window it looked at me and then took off. While reflecting on this sight yesterday I could not help but to think about the following scripture:

“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him”. (Genesis 4: 1-8)

Similar to the blue heron, sin is crouching and waiting. As God told Cain, it was his responsibility to master it so that it would overcome him. In a similar vein, we all are at times placed in a similar situation to Cain. Whatever we are tempted by sitting, crouching, like a predator ready to strike. We can not allow an opportunity for sin to strike and develop in our lives! Instead we must master it, not allowing it to overcome us. Unfortunately, for the bluegill, the heron striking it led to its death. Do not allow sin to strike in your life, resulting in your spiritual death.

08/11/2026

Unexpectedly Seeing a Brother:

Yesterday after services I had some obligations to attend to, which meant that Mallory went to lunch well before me, as she is in the final stretch of her third trimester and was quite hungry. Once I left the church building I decided to go close by for lunch at the food court in the RD International Market since it was only a few minutes away. After parking my truck and making my way to the market I heard “Bobby!” and was caught by surprise as one of my brothers in Christ was working in the parking lot that day. I knew he worked there, but honestly did not expect to see him at that moment. Nonetheless, I was so happy to see him, chatted with him for a few minutes, and we hugged goodbye before I went to go get lunch.

While eating at the food court I honestly couldn’t get the following scripture out of my head:

“For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more”. (2 Corinthians 7: 5-7)

Although I can assure you that I was not in the mental state that the Apostle Paul was in within the scripture, I nonetheless could understand the joy that Paul felt in the coming of Titus. I can begin to tell you how many times in the Orlando area, Pensacola, and Jacksonville that I have come across brethren randomly in public, but I can tell you that each and every time that this was the case I was extremely joyful to see them. You see, brethren is one of the blessings in this life that God has given to us, so that we learn to love and care for one another as HE desires for HIS servants to do so.

Our natural reaction to seeing brethren should be a sense of joy as God designed the church for that very purpose:

“ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34-35)

If you find love and joy in your brethren, then you are following the will of God. However, if you do not diligently seek to love all of your brethren, not finding a common joy with your fellow saints, then can we truly say that we are following God’s will for us in this life? Please consider these things, looking for opportunities to draw near to all of your brethren, every chance that you get.

07/28/2026

Ten Cent vs. Dollar Words:

Prior to interning at the Danville church of Christ, I had never heard either “ten cents words” nor “dollar words”. One of my mentors at the time, whom I was studying with, made great effort to teach me how to become a much more effective speaker. In one of these lessons he explained both of these sayings as a “ten cent word” is generally when you use common everyday language. “Dollar words” is when you decide to use overly complicated jargon, explanation, or words in order to sound smart. As he put it, and I am paraphrasing here, the preacher’s goal is to get someone to see Christ a bit better, not to get brethren and visitors to see how great they themselves are. Unfortunately, this can come in many forms whether it be through intellect, humor, etc.

This lesson has always stuck with me, whether it be when I returned to Pensacola and preached occasionally, or when I started working full-time as an evangelist in Jacksonville. Whether it be an evangelist, elder, deacon, or any other christian who gets up to speak from God’s word the focus should always be on God and not the person presenting the lesson. I was reminded of this lesson as I came across 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5 in my studies this week:

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”. (1 Corinthians 2: 1-5)

Brethren when we go out into the world evangelizing to the lost about the Gospel of Christ, we need to follow after the example of the Apostle Paul. We ought to just seek to only know the Lord and Him crucified because that is what will win over souls, not some cleverness of our own.

07/21/2026

Evidence:

As many of you know, I used to teach Civics to middle schoolers. One of the units that we would usually cover was the trial process. In this unit we would cover both criminal and civil trials, since there are differences in both. I taught the kids, so that they could differentiate between the two, when you see the term criminal trial, think of Law and Order. Furthermore, if they saw the term civil trial, I would tell them to think of Judge Judy. No matter the type of trial, depending on whether or not an individual is successful depends on the evidence of the matter. When I watch Judge Judy, I often chuckle when people come unprepared, without evidence, and expect her to judge in their favor, when there is no evidence on whether or not they are telling the truth.

As I was thinking about trials, evidence, and judgements this week I couldn't help but to think of evangelism. There are people in the world who are genuinely looking for the Truth and evidence that what they are being told is the Truth. We know that it is the truth that people are looking, since the Lord reveals that the harvest is plentiful in this world, referring to those looking for God. As Matthew reveals:

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

Now fortunately as Christians we have the Truth, the Gospel, and the evidence that it is God’s Word. We can share this with those who are desperately seeking the purpose of their lives in the world. Fortunately God has given us everything that we need, both the Truth and the evidence supporting the Truth in HIS Word. As Paul reveals to Timothy:

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. (2 Timothy 3: 14-17)

So please, be encouraged this week, knowing that God has thoroughly equipped you with the Truth and evidence needed to bring the good news of Jesus to Jacksonville! Even if people do not respond to the message, do not be discouraged, for the Gospel message is without flaw. Keep evangelizing for you never know who may respond to the evidence and Truth found in God’s Word!

07/14/2026

Fishing in the Keys:

As many of you could tell from Facebook, Mallory, Jessica and I went to vacation in the Florida Keys this past week. While out in the Florida Keys I had planned to do some bridge fishing, since I would need to only bring minimal gear compared to my kayak. Well, although I planned to do a bit of fishing while there, I ended up not doing too much. Even though I looked up the different bridges in the area out of several of them, only one was fishable. I was able to fish off of one bridge, one canal, and ended up going on a party boat to do some fishing late in the week.

Later on when I went on the party boat, after prepping a couple of rods, halfway through the trip I got a massive bird nest in my fishing rod. A bird nest is when the line gets tangled up around the reel. So why write about this vacation and my time fishing? Oftentimes when I go fishing I always end up thinking about different things pertaining to the scripture. In particular, while fishing in the Keys I thought about the following scripture:

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry”. (2 Timothy 4: 1-5)

Understand, although this letter is directed at Timothy, this applies to all christians! We are all commanded to preach the good news of the Gospel to all of those in the world. When going out we should be prepared in every way possible to be ready to share the Gospel. Sometimes, unfortunately, we can prepare in every way to be successful in this endeavor, yet are not so successful. If that is the case it is ok, do not be discouraged. Many faithful men, including the Apostle Paul have had moments where they were entirely prepared yet the evangelism did not yield a desired result. So please, as the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, when you come across hardship with evangelizing, endure it, be sober in all things, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill the role that God has prepared for you!

06/30/2026

“Brother, it is also a hammer.”:

As many of you know, I am getting pretty deep into the tabletop gaming hobby and especially into Warhammer 40k. Whenever I’m working on my miniatures, I usually play Warhammer 40k lore videos in the background to listen to whether I am painting or cementing my minis. Well recently as I was painting my minis a piece of 40k lore dropped that had me laughing. You see, in the story of this universe there was an event called the Horus Heresy, basically a civil war within the Imperium of Man (one of the factions in this game). During the heresy half of the primarchs (think of them like “demi-god” generals) betrayed the Emperor and the other half remained loyal. During the heresy one of the traitor primarchs captures a loyalist primarch who happened to be a perpetual, in layman's terms immortal.

How perpetuals work is that they may “die”, but they resurrect, similarly to what I understand as Deadpool or Wolverine. Well the traitor primarch, Konrad Curze, would torture and kill the loyalist primarch Vulkan, trying to break him psychologically. At one point Vulkan was able to grab his thunderhammer “Dawnbringer”. Since Dawnbringer had a teleporter on it, Curze mocked Vulkan, because he made his ship to where teleportation did not work, thinking Vulkan would just back down. This is where I laughed as Vulkan said “Brother, it is also a hammer.” before proceeding to beat Curze with it and win the fight.

Now the reason why I share this information in this article is because it reminded me of a thought that I have been having pertaining to the scriptures. Sometimes, when we go out into the world as christians, we approach the Word of God in a similar way. From what I have heard brethren will treat the scriptures as an academic exercise, or debate evidence, or something else that even though it is useful for at its core it is meant for something much simpler and grander. As the Apostle John states:

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name”. (John 20: 30-31)

I am not trying to in anyway downplay the complexity of the scriptures, nor their importance. However, as christians we have to remember that they are what they are, which is the path in which one comes to have faith in Christ leading to both obedience in Him, and the life that He bestows on all those who obey Him.

06/16/2026

June and Sin:

Unfortunately, here in the United States of America, the government, some citizens, companies, etc. celebrate sexual immorality and celebrate the month as “pride month”. The sin in particular being celebrated is the sin of homosexuality. Now I want to be clear, all sin is sin, just as the unrepentant homosexual will be judged by the Lord, so will the fornicator, or liar, or murderer. However, at this time of the year it is very popular to teach and spread false teaching pertaining to the sin of homosexuality, and as is the case with all false teaching, it must be addressed. There are a multitude of false teachings out there about this sin, but the one I will write about today is the idea that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. One of the commonly cited verses is Genesis 19: 4-13 and Jude: 7. What false teachers will propagate is the idea that somehow the sins of S***m and Gomorrah were not homosexuality, but instead, inhospitality. They argue that the main part of the account is about the inhospital nature of both of these cities.

As with everything though, is this what the scriptures paint the picture of that S***m and Gomorrah was destroyed because of their inhospitality? The Genesis account shows us the following

“Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of S***m, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway. Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” (Genesis 19: 4-13)

No, as clearly seen, it was not because of inhospitality, but instead because of the lust that these men had for what they believed were other men. These people could have been inhospitable, but the spotlight is not on inhospitality, but the punishment for homosexuality. Some may accept that it was not because of inhospitality, but argue that it was because of relations between men and angels. They’ll twist the scripture found in Jude:

“And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as S***m and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire”. (Jude: 6-7)

The false teachers will argue that the strange flesh is a reference to angelic beings, however I can assure you that this is not the case. Angelic beings are spirit, not flesh, and are unable to participate in this sin in this way. As the Lord teaches:

“But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven”. (Matthew 22: 29-30)

Although the context is how our bodies and marital relationships will be in the resurrection, we learn from here that angelic beings are unable to marry or be given in marriage. This is because they do not have flesh like humans, they do not procreate as humans do. So relations between them are impossible, meaning the strange flesh mentioned, is not angelic, but a condemnation of homosexuality. The last argument that we’ll look at, as it is a prevalent false teaching this time of year, is that Jesus never condemned homosexuality, only His Apostles did, therefore, it is not binding. Understand, the Lord does condemn all sexual immorality, which would include homosexuality, in sections such as Matthew 15: 19, however, with that fact aside is the teachings of the Apostles somehow less binding? No:

“From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (John 13: 19-20)

If the Lord sends someone, and you accept them, then you receive the Lord. Now, should we examine what is being said, to make sure it lines up with scripture? Of course, and do we find the Apostles teaching on this sin aligning with God’s Word? Of course we do! So why write about these three arguments? Because I want there to be clear understanding that this sin, just like any other sin, stands contrary to God’s Word. Although there are false teachers that will twist scriptures to lead people astray, we must come to the understanding that what they are teaching is false and will lead someone to eternal death. So please, do not be swept away by false teaching. Instead, be bold in a society that embraces sin, and lead others lovingly away from any sin and to Christ!

06/09/2026

Heaven the Reward, Christ the Goal:

I think one of the biggest misconceptions in the world about Christianity is the difference between the goal and reward for the Christian. I could not tell you which preacher I heard this from before, but what I can tell you is that when I first heard it, it completely changed my thinking. The preacher said something along the lines of “People often think that the goal of Christianity is heaven, it's not. The goal for the Christian is to be more like Christ. Heaven is the greatest reward that we will ever receive, but it is not the goal. To be more like Christ is the goal”. Again I do not remember who I heard this from, but this quote is so true. When you study the scriptures, this is what they teach, that it is the duty and obligation of the Christian to become more like our Lord. That is not to negate the greatness of heaven in saying so, as heaven will be a far greater reward than anyone is worthy of.

While reflecting on this teaching I was reminded of what the Apostle Paul states in his letter to the Philippian brethren:

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained”. (Philippians 3: 7-16)

Notice specifically what the Apostle Paul says in verse 14 of Philippians 3:

“...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

If you are reading this article and are a Christian, understand what your goal is. It is not simply to “skate by” in this life till either you pass away or the Lord returns. Instead your goal is to use the time that the Lord has given to you, to look at the scriptures, and mimic His life more in your own life. Our goal is to adopt the same attitude, actions, and lifestyle of our Lord Jesus. The beautiful part of this all is that if you are committed to doing this, being obedient, and faithful to all that He commands then you will receive a far greater reward than any of us are worthy of. Please take this day as an opportunity to understand what your goal in life should be and seek ways to accomplish this goal.

05/26/2026

Cementing Miniatures:

I did not expect to find as much content with something as simple as tabletop gaming, as I originally thought that I would. As you read this article you may start to feel bad for poor Mallory, as she has no escape from my tabletop gaming at home and as you can tell I have been talking about everything related to it not only here, but at home. Anyway, a part of this hobby is cementing together miniatures, since these miniatures come on frames that you cut the pieces out of. Since these pieces are all simply parts of the miniature, you have to use some sort of plastic cement, in order to weld the two pieces of resin together. Now, when you apply the plastic cement to the pieces properly, you create a bond between the plastics that is very hard to break.

I could not help but to think of how this bond is similar to the bond that God provides within the marital relationship. You see, God is the one who unifies two individuals (husband and wife) together, when they marry one another. Similarly to the plastic cement, God makes these two people whole, into one flesh. Consider for a moment what the Lord tells the pharisees and His disciples:

“ And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19: 4-6)

Oftentimes this scripture is used solely for one discussion, divorce, and when it is limited to this discussion alone, we often fail to see the multitudes of other lessons found within what the Lord is teaching here. The one I want us to focus on is that God is the one who binds two people together, and it is through HIS binding that the marriage will remain successful. In our marriages we must seek God, as through drawing closer to God, the ones participating in the marriage draw closer to one another. As couples draw farther away from God, that's when marriages start to suffer! It would be as if someone took sandpaper to these resin miniatures, over time the bond becomes looser and will eventually be destroyed.

So please take this lesson to heart, marriages are successful and thrive when God is placed at the center of the marriage. So husbands lead your wives to HIM and wives help your husbands to maintain their connection to God. Be the spouse God desires of you, bringing both of you closer to HIM.

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2209 Parental Home Road
Jacksonville, FL
32216

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Wednesday 7pm - 7:40pm
Sunday 10:30am - 11:30am

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+19047212057

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