DISCIPLE

by A. W. Tozer The current effort of so many religious leaders to harmonize Christianity with science, philosophy and every natural and reasonable thing is, I believe, the result of failure to understand Christianity and, judging from what I have heard and read, failure to understand science and philosophy as well. At the heart of the Christian system lies the cross of Christ with its divine paradox. The power of Christianity appears in its antipathy toward, never in its agreement with, the ways of fallen men. The truth of the cross is revealed in its contradictions. The witness of the church is most effective when she declares rather than explains, for the gospel is addressed not to reason but to faith. What can be proved requires no faith to accept. Faith rests upon the character of God, not upon the demonstrations of laboratory or logic. The cross stands in bold opposition to the natural man. Its philosophy runs contrary to the proce...

When don't we have to obey God?   Ask the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:7-8   "took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.". John 8:29   "I do always those things which please him."     C. H. Mackintosh wrote: “Obedience is due from us to God’s Word, simply because it is His Word. To raise a question, when He has spoken, is blasphemy. We are in the place of a creature. He is the Creator; He may, therefore, justly claim obedience from us. The infidel may call this “blind obedience,” but the Christian calls this intelligent obedience, inasmuch as it is based upon the knowledge that it is God’s Word to which he is obedient. If a man had not God’s Word, he might well be said to be in blindness and darkness... All that we want to know is that God has spoken, and then obedience becomes the...

Question: Recently I joined a yoga class for fitness and relaxation. During the class, mantras are used. The teacher explained the meanings such as “all is truth.” Is it wrong to participate in these mantras? Can I just substitute Christian words such as “Jesus”? Or should I not participate in the class at all? Everyone I have asked seems to think there is no problem with this but I feel uncomfortable and do not know why. Response: I am glad that you feel uncomfortable about being involved in yoga. Drop the class immediately! Yoga is the very heart of Hinduism. It is sold in the West as science but in fact is religion. It is promoted in the West as beneficial to health, but in the East it is a technique for dying. The goal is to reach  moksha , allegedly escaping the world of illusion ( maya ) of time and sense into liberation from the endless cycle of birth and death and rebirth through reincarnation. The latter is another of Satan’s appealin...

This article appeared in The Alliance Witness May 15, 1963, just two days after the death of Tozer. In a sense it was his valedictory, for it expressed the concern of his heart. Since this condition existed in the 1960s, one can only wonder what he would say of the evangelical churches in the 21st Century.     - - - -   HERE IS THE BURDEN of my heart; and while I claim for myself no special inspiration I yet feel that this is also the burden of the Spirit. If I know my own heart it is love alone that moves me to write this. What I write here is not the sour ferment of a mind agitated by contentions with my fellow Christians. There have been no such contentions. I have not been abused, mistreated or attacked by anyone. Nor have these observations grown out of any unpleasant experiences that I have had in my association with others... Let me state the cause of my burden. It is this: Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the ...