DISCIPLE

Someone wrote: We sing - HEAVENLY SUNSHINE - and stay away from CHURCH MEETINGS when it's too hot. We sing - THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING -- but don't attend meetings when it's raining. We sing - HIDING IN THEE - and then go and hide from THEE. We sing - BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS - and let the slightest offence sever it. We sing - SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS - and then gripe about all we have to do. We sing - WE'RE MARCHING TO ZION - but fail to make it to the church meetings. We sing - I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY - and then never mention it all through the year. We sing - CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM - and worry ourselves into a nervous breakdown. We sing - THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD FOR JESUS - and never invite our nextdoor neighbors to come to meetings with us. We sing - O DAY OF REST AND GLADNESS - and wear ourselves out cutting the grass. We sing - THROW OUT THE LIFE LINE - and content ourselves with throwing out a fishing line. We sing - HEAVEN CA

On the occasion of my oldest son’s fourteenth birthday a much beloved friend – now an octogenarian – whose life and testimony in Christ have been a great blessing to our family, sent him a card with the following “teen commandments”: 1. Don’t let your parents down; they brought you up. 2. Choose your companions with care; you tend to become what they are. 3. Be master of your habits or they will master you. 4. Treasure your time; don’t spend it; invest it. 5. Stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. 6. Don’t date around, pray and wait for God’s choice for a mate. 7. See what you can do for others, not what they can do for you. 8. Guard your thoughts; what you think, you are. 9. Don’t fill up on the world’s crumbs; feed your soul on the Living Bread. 10. Give your all to Christ; He gave His all for you. Ross Rainey, “Ministry in Focus”, July-August 1975

Heaven is the center of the Christian's universe, and he is bound to it by eight golden links: 1. Our Father is there (Matthew 6:9). 2. Our Saviour is there (Hebrews 9:24). 3. Our home is there (John 14:2). 4. Our name is there (Luke 10:20). 5. Our life is there (Colossians 3:1-3). 6. Our heart is there (Matthew 6:19-21). 7. Our inheritance is there (1 Peter 1:3-5). 8. Our citizenship is there (Philippians 3:20). -- Henry Durbanville As the poet William Blane wrote: Let those who know no second birth, Labour to write their names on earth. My joy is this, that Love divine, On heaven's scroll hath written mine. 

by Randy Amos, Rochester, NY      Regardless of the amount on the tag, a price tag indicates the owner's willingness to sell the item. Do we put price tags on certain truths in God's Word? Are we willing to give them up if the "price is right?"     Many Christians today put the truths revealed in God's Word into one of two categories. First, there are fundamental truths. Those upon which the Christian faith is built. Truths such as; God, the person of Christ, the Bible, and the Gospel of Christ that saves by faith alone. Second, there are secondary truths. These truths are viewed as "non-essential” since the faith does not rise or fall with them. Truths such as believer's baptism, church government, the role of men and women in the church, Christian ethics, and holy living might be placed in this category.     We could also add a third category, that of personal convictions. Convictions that are based on principles found in God's W