DISCIPLE

T he emerging church is a magnet for those who have rejected the “old-fashioned” New Testament faith and who despise traditional Bible-believing churches, dogmatic biblical preaching, and biblical “judgmentalism” in regard to lifestyle choices. Many of the books I have read by emerging leaders make this admission. For example, in Blue Like Jazz Donald Miller tells how that he refused to be restricted by the teaching of traditional-type churches. He wanted to drink beer and watch raunchy movies and talk trashy and run around with atheists and other rebels. In discussing his involvement in church in his youth he says, “I wished I could have subscribed to aspects of Christianity but not the whole thing” (p. 30). He complains, “In order to believe Christianity, you either had to reduce enormous theological absurdities [i.e., Garden of Eden, universal flood] into children’s stories or ignore them” (p. 31). He wanted to believe the gospel “free from the clasp of fairy tale”

The farther you stray from the Bible, the deeper you get into sin.   I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.      Love lifted me!     Love lifted me!     When nothing else could help,     Love lifted me! All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I’ll cling, In His blessed presence live, ever His praises sing, Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul’s best songs, Faithful, loving service, too, to Him belongs. Souls in danger, look above, Jesus completely saves, He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves; He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey, He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.                                              – by James Rowe (1912)

     While the world hails Stephen Hawking and mourns the death of a great mind, Christians have another perspective, a Biblical one. Hawking was an atheist and enemy of the truth. He led millions astray with his foolish declarations like: "God did not create the universe." Romans 1:22 describes such statements: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."      He spoke with false authority on things he knew nothing about, and was practically worshiped for whatever he said. Long before this frail mortal man of less than 80 years duration came on the scene, God declared: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). God was there way back then, but Hawking wasn't.  The Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, communicated faithfully the same truth, that God made all things.     Today is indeed a sad day for Hawking, for he has passed into eternity and will stand to be judged b

by A. J. Higgens published in Truth and Tidings magazine He was very sorrowful; for he was very rich” (Luke 18:23). What a seeming paradox! Riches, and yet, with them, or because of them, he was very sad! Someone says, “Just give me a chance and see how I can use money to make myself happy.” Maybe so; but maybe not! Young Christians may not think that money is a subject that relates to them. This is a time of school loans, debts, part-time jobs at minimum wages, and struggling to pay car insurance, tuition, and other obligations. Yet, money is a stewardship at every stage of life. If you are a preteen or “tween” mowing lawns or shoveling snow, a teenage worker at one of the slave labor camps known as a fast-food restaurant, or a college grad just starting out, whatever the Lord has given you, He has given as stewardship for you to use wisely and thoughtfully. Wh

"...their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another."  Romans 2:15 One way the devil has of getting rid of things is to make jokes about them–and one of the sick jokes you hear is that the conscience is that part of you which makes you sorry when your get caught!     There are some things that are not the proper objects of humor, and one of them is conscience.     That power of conscience that God has set in the human breast can suddenly isolate a soul, and hang it between heaven and hell, as lonely as if God had never created but one soul–that´s not a joking matter.     Remember the conscience is always on God's side–always on God's side! It judges conduct in the light of the moral law, and as the Scripture says, excuses or accuses.      The Light that lighted every man that comes into the world is not a joking matter. The eternal, universal Presence of the luminous Christ is not a joking matt

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” — 1 Timothy:4:1      In my two previous  TBC  articles this year (Mar and Apr '06), I addressed the destructive influence psychological counseling is having on the evangelical church. Simply put, the church has turned from God’s Word to man’s bankrupt theories in attempting to resolve mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. The greater part of the church no longer believes what the Scriptures proclaim: that God, in His Word, has given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” ( 2 Peter:1:3 ). The results, sadly, are what one might expect: there is often little statistical difference between those who profess to be Christians and those who do not, regarding the number of divorces, the reliance upon psychological counseling

Stop The Robbery!   by Samuel E. Robinson       Malachi is often referred to as one of the minor prophets, yet his prophecy is of major importance to us today. There is a remarkable similarity between the conditions of his day and our day and generation. Therefore, all of Malachi's short book of 52 verses warrants our careful consideration and meditation.     However, let's focus on just one of the charges in the Lord's solemn indictment of His people, Israel, recorded in Malachi 3:8: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” Israel's pharisaical response was incredulous. Yet it was an expression of their spiritual blindness and moral insensibility.     The temple had been rebuilt, the altar had been erected, the sacrifices were being offered, and they had been very particular in observing all the ceremonies and feasts. God, through His servant Moses, had given very specific instructi

by A. W. Tozer “Let me go out on a limb a little bit and prophesy. I see the time coming when all the holy men whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit will desert worldly evangelicalism, one by one. The house will be left desolate and there will not be a man of  God, a man in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, left among them.   The curse of worldliness     I hear Jesus saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matt. 23:37). As the Church stands now, the man who sees this condition of worldly evangelicalism is written off as being somewhat fanatical. But the day is coming when the house will be left desolate and there will not be a man of God left among them. I would like to live long enough to watch this develop and see how things turn out. I would like to live to see the time when