In Memoriam
Editor’s Note: It is with deepest sorrow that we share that our beloved friend Dr. Nelson Price was called home to be with Jesus on August 30, 2025, at the age of 94. Though our hearts grieve his absence, we rejoice that he now rests in the presence of his Savior—face to face, where there is no more pain or death.
Dr. Price’s life was a testimony of faith, wisdom, and an unwavering devotion to God and his precious family whom he loved dearly. His legacy will continue to bear fruit for generations to come, in ways known and unknown, as the seeds he sowed in countless lives continue to grow.
Dr. Price was a prolific writer and this website contains only a small sampling of his prose. This website will continue to be updated as his writings are collected, so please check back often. For more collected writings on the legacy of our dear friend, please visit the In Memoriam tab at the top of this webpage.
Also please be blessed by Dr. Price’s newest book, Uplifted: A Journey Through Acts: A Study of the Early Church and its Timeless Lessons for Today. Now available on Amazon for Kindle.
The Joy of Adoption
Human adoption and spiritual adoption differ in one distinct point. In human adoption the adopting party, the parents, make all of the decisions. In spiritual adoption the one being adopted makes the choices. They choose to be adopted. The terms for adoption are set by the one adopting, but the one being adopted agrees to them and thereby the adoption is consummated.
The terms for spiritual adoption are to believe Jesus Christ lived a holy sinless life and offered Himself on the cross as a substitute for the sins of all people. The one being adopted agrees with this and asks the Father for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.
One of the key implications of spiritual adoption is the believer’s new identity and security in Christ. Being adopted by God means the believer is no longer a slave to sin or fear, but is now an heir of God. Galatians 4:7 proclaims, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” This inheritance includes eternal life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and participation in the family of believers. Spiritual adoption transforms not only how a person relates to God, but also how they relate to others, as all believers become spiritual siblings in God’s family.
Furthermore, this adoption leads to transformation. Just as adopted children often grow to reflect the values and love of their new families, believers are called to grow in love, and obedience as children of God. The Holy Spirit, given at the moment of adoption, empowers believers to live out their new identity and assures them of God’s continual presence.
In conclusion, spiritual adoption by God is one of the most intimate and assuring doctrines in the Christian faith. It reveals God’s heart as a loving Father who brings the estranged near and transforms them into beloved children. Through Christ, believers are not merely pardoned—they are embraced, welcomed, and eternally secured in God’s family. This truth shapes the Christian’s identity, purpose, and hope both in this life and the life to come.
WHO NEEDS THIS: EVERYONE. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3: 23).
WHAT IS IT CALLED: IT IS CALLED BY A VARIETY OF TERMS, SUCH AS, SALVATION, BEING BORN AGAIN, BEING SAVED, NEW LIFE.
AIDS TO NEW LIFE: BIBLE STUDY, PRAYER, AND FELLOWSHIP WITH BELIEVERS.
MISNOMER: SOME ASSUME THE PERSON ADOPTED WILL LIVE A SINLESS LIFE. NOT SO. THEY WILL HAVE A DESIRE TO BE OBEDIENT TO THE LORD, BUT WILL ON OCCASION FALL SHORT. THEY ARE STILL THE CHILD OF GOD, THOUGH DISOBEDIENT.
How to Live a Godly Life in an Ungodly World
Would you like to live a godly life in our ungodly world? There is a price to be paid in order to do it.
To begin an empowered spiritual life, learn what it means. What are the guidelines for such a lifestyle? To know them “ Study to shew yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2: 15).
The core of my Bible study involved 20 hours a week for 25 years and I was still learning. Not everyone can engage in that regimen, but that gives an idea of how big the ocean in which you are fishing is. Establish a time and place to which you routinely retreat to study God’s word.
Years ago Rosalee Mills Appleby on the same night she arrived in Brazil as a missionary her only son was born and her husband died. Years later she gave me a book inscribed, “One can’t expect to count for much for God who isn’t long and alone with Him.” Basic!
Expect to be in the minority. Christians are outnumbered in our culture, but even if you are a member of a community most of which are Christians not all are going to think alike. Expect to be out numbered. Don’t let that diminish your zeal. You are accountable to an audience of one, the Lord.
Expect criticism. Don’t let it be the meter by which you show devotion.
Expect conflict. When there are two worlds, the Christian and non-Christian, there inevitably will be conflict. Don’t seek conflict. Neither run from it. Be bold about what you believe, but never belligerent. Now the good part.
Expect the need of compassionship. Fellowship with people of like desire. You can each prop the other up.
Expect God to keep His word and act accordingly. He said He would never leave you. Even if you feel like He has, He hasn’t.
Expect God to always be present with you. It is a given, He is there.
Expect God to empower you, not immune you. Don’t expect God to immune you from problems or exempt you from heartbreak. He won’t do either. But He will empower and enable you to deal with difficulty.
Now a distillation of what it means to live a godly life. It may not be popular—but it’s possible. Not only is it possible to live a godly life, but also God expects it from us. There is great motivation for us to live a godly life. It means to have a love for the things of God and to walk in the ways of God.
Having read “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5: 24). The pastor asked what it meant. One little child replied: God and Enoch went for a walk every day. One time late in the day God said, “We are closer to my house than yours. Just come on and go home with me.” Living a godly life will take you closer to God’s house. That is the result of living a godly life.
Encouragement to Be an Encourager
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.” (Romans 15:5)
The mind that Christ had is defined for us with this appeal. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Ephesians 2: 5 – 11).
First, get yourself off your mind and your mind off yourself.
Would you like to be more accepted by people, even have more friends? You can have, just increase your encouragement of others. It’s a free market. Most of the people you encounter today need encouragement. To them you are a “dis” or an “en,” a discourager or an encourager. You choose. Encouragement given is a magnet, it attracts.
Remember the last time someone encouraged you? You liked it, didn’t you? It will be the same to those you encourage, they will love it, and hence be more approving of you.
According to Hallmark, 90% of consumers want more choices in encouragement cards that will allow them to share support in unique ways for real life situations.
We live in a crabby world. Living in Louisiana for a time I noticed that if you put a bunch of crabs in a basket and one attempts to crawl out the others will pull him down. How like the human world that is. You can counter that by reversing the action of those who pull others down. Boost others. A word of encouragement can lift a heavy load. Bear one another’s burdens.
Many people have spiritual heart trouble. The root for encouragement is “cour.” It speaks of the condition of the heart. King Richard was known as “Richard the Lion Hearted,” meaning he had the heart of a lion in combat. What is the condition of your heart? You will be wise to be known as being kind hearted. Jesus was and He is to be our exemplar.
We serve our Lord under the mandate to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing” (I Thessalonians 5:11).
The key word is “edify.” Edify and edifice come from the same root meaning to build up. If you edify a person you are building them up. Kindness, love, courtesy, grace, thoughtfulness, compassion, and kindheartedness are some admirable building blocks.
God Knows Best
Bernard Palissy is credited with the discovery of the modern theory of the water cycle in 1580 AD. However, Solomon beat him to it centuries earlier when he wrote:
“The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again” (Ecclesiastes 1: 6, 7).
Overly simplified, the sun draws water from the oceans, deserts, and the frozen Poles. Yes, even the Poles and deserts. The winds blow it inward where it forms rain water, falls on the earth, where rivers flow it into the sea and the aquifers. Then the cycle begins again.
Solomon knew that and more centuries before science proved it. How? The Great Designer who created it revealed it to him.
The Bible speaks of God knowing things before they happen—a concept often referred to as God’s foreknowledge, His omniscience (all-knowing nature).
Don’t confuse knowing a thing in advance with causing it to happen.
I can think of no knowledge comparable to His. If it is, and it is, the most reliable source of counsel, why not rely on it and obey His guidance.
Ulysses waded in the rain swollen waters that foiled his plan and beat it with a chain as a discipline. Foolish, right. That is not as foolish as it is to resist God’s standards and rebel against them.
God desires absolute, total obedience from His people. Why not? He knows what is best in every situation. Not to desire obedience to it would be to desire less than the best for us. Our love for God is displayed in our obedience to Him. This requires a living, lasting, and logical commitment in response to God’s mercy.
The following is from something called “Frank’s Daily Chuckles.” It’s one of those things that makes you laugh and then makes you think:
“Dear Lord, So far today, God, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper, haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, over-indulgent, coveted my neighbor’s spouse or taken your name in vain. I’m very thankful for that. But, in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed. And from then on, everyone that I encounter will probably need a lot of help from you. Amen.”
Things go well until we get out of bed, then things happen. James says, “We all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2).
If we fall while walking we get up. If we “fall” spiritually we get up spiritually.
Here is how to get up: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1: 9).
Fruit Has a Root – Part Two
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:30-32
There is an ageless couplet that summarily defines what bitterness does to a bitter person: “Bitterness does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to the one on which it is poured.” Bitterness is self-punishment.
Hebrews 12:15 gives a proper warning: “Watch out that no bitterness take root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.” Much of this “deep trouble” is within us.
The person with whom you are bitter may be a world away or even dead, but in one sense is always with you. The object of your bitterness is always with you, lording over you as a taskmaster would a slave. He whips your thoughts into such an agitated state that your best mattress becomes a torture rack. Daily the object of your bitterness is a distractor, causing you to function at less than your best. You are often driven to unsocial and non-Biblical reactions to persons who have no idea what is driving you.
Modern science has opened our understanding regarding the ability of the mind, known as the “psyche” to produce various reactions in the body, known as the “soma” (body). By combining the word for mind and the one for body, we get our term psychosomatic. It speaks of the influence of the mind over the body. Invisible emotions such as bitterness can produce significant and serious changes in the body. Dr. William Sadler, a physician remarked, “The sincere acceptance of the principles and teachings of Christ with respect to the life of mental peace and joy… would at once wipe out more than half the difficulties, diseases, and sorrows of the human race… it would pay any man or woman to live the Christ-life just for the mental and moral rewards it affords here in this present world.”
Don’t try to even the score. Remember, God said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay….”
Forgive, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God….” Then it is noted, “bitterness” as grieving the Holy Spirit. We grieve the Spirit when He is guiding us not to do something and we do it. Thus, the Holy Spirit is depicted as appealing with us not to be bitter. The word “grieve” means to weep. Your bitterness makes God cry.
Bitterness, which is long-standing resentment, a refusal to be reconciled, causes God sadness. That alone should break our hearts and bring us to repentance. If you have any bitterness, pause now and do business with God.