DISCIPLE

A prison chaplain noticed an inmate who had been tasked with mending uniforms. Greeting the man cheerfully, he said, "Good morning, friend! Sewing?" "No sir," replied the inmate with a grim smile. "Reaping!" As the book of Daniel opens, the southern kingdom of Judah is about to reap a bitter harvest for long years of disobedience to God's Word. Judgment should not have come as a surprise, for as far back as Moses, somber warnings had been clearly sounded regarding the price of departure from God (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). When judgment came, it was for two clear reasons. First, the Mosaic Law specified that every seventh year the land was not to be farmed since it was a sabbatic year, a year of rest for the land, symbolizing that "the earth is the Lord's." But apparently the Israelites had not observed this law for 490 years, because the writer of Chronicles states that the captivity was 70 years in length because: "As ...

by Vance Havner       We need to face the Christ of the Candlesticks, the Lord of the Lampstands, calling the church to repentance. Too many Christians have an incomplete and inadequate vision of our Lord. You will remember that Rip Van Winkle awoke from his long sleep to find that times had changed. When he went to sleep, King George III was the ruler of the American colonies. When he woke up, George Washington was President of the United States. Unaware of all that, Rip began to whoop it up for the King and got himself into trouble. He was yelling for the wrong George!     Some today are trying to follow a Galilean Teacher but a lot has happened since Jesus walked on earth in the days of His flesh. Calvary has taken place and the resurrection and Pentecost. We are not dealing now with only a meek and lowly Jesus going about doing good, with nowhere to lay His head, and upon whose breast John laid his head. That chapter is past. We are dealing now with a...

Millions of people think so, and occupy their lives with little else. Many Americans would try and make it a question of patriotism, and base their argument on the well-known phrase in the Declaration of Independence, primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, himself a non Christian and a Bible mutilator:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But a look at American society today shows what these supposed "ideals" have produced.  A. W. Tozer wrote these comments in an article titled “The Modern Cry: I Have A Right To Be Happy.” "A selfish desire for happiness is as sinful as any other selfish desire because its root is in the flesh which can never have any standing before God! People are coming more and more to excuse every sort of wrong...

Advice to Women: Seek the Inner Adorning “...a  Christian woman should be very careful about the kind of person she sets up as a model of character and example in daily life. It is a sad thing to have our minds occupied with the wrong kind of people! English history books will not report that Suzanna Wesley was one of the best-dressed women of her day or that she ever received a medal for social activity. But she was the mother of Charles and John Wesley, those princes of Christian song and theology. She taught her own family, and her spiritual life and example have placed her high in God’s hall of fame for all eternity. So, if you want to take models to follow day by day, please do not take the artificial, globe-trotting females who are intent only upon themselves, their careers and their publicity! God help us all men and women of whatever marital, social or domestic status, that we may do the will of God and thus win our crown!” A. W. Tozer, Renewed Day By Day, Chris...

The following are excerpts from a lengthy article written by David Cloud. (1) THE DENOMINATIONAL SYSTEM ITSELF IS UNSCRIPTURAL.  The Lord’s apostles planted autonomous congregations and they did not build denominational structures yoking the congregations together. The New Testament gives detailed instructions for the government and discipline of the assembly, but there are no instructions for the establishment of intra- or extra-church institutions. Denominational structures are man-made entities that have no biblical authority...  (2) THE SBC IS ECUMENICAL.  Until 2004 the Southern Baptist Convention was one of the chief members of the World Baptist Alliance, an organization almost as radically liberal as the National Council of Churches in America and the World Council of Churches... Regardless of its disassociation with the World Baptist Alliance, the SBC has many other ecumenical associations. It has a relationship, for example, with the American Bibl...

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: True Obedience by A. W. Toze r “As you think of this story (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace), keep in mind that their obedience to God was what got them in trouble in the first place....True obedience is the refusal to compromise in any regard our relationship with God, regardless of the consequences. “As long as you believe in God as millions of Americans do today, and do not make Him the number one exclusive priority in your life, the devil has no issue with you. The evangelical church today is following the course of the liberal movement and going down the same pathway of compromise. One compromise here, another compromise there, and soon there is very little, if any, difference between the so-called Christian and the man in the world. “True obedience, as illustrated in the story of the three Hebrew children, always brings us to a point of no return.  This is where faith comes in. We do not have to understan...

Getting your way is not a sign of being in God's will. Consider Jonah, Balaam, and others. Scripture employs examples from history, precepts and exhortations to impress upon us the importance of walking in God's will and not being deceived by self-will. Consider this quote from Keith Green in an article about Balaam and self-will. “Let's put this in a modern setting. Someone asks Suzy out on a date, but her mom says, “No, I don't think he has enough character for you,” or something like that. Now there are two ways Suzy can respond to this fellow. “Well, I asked my mom, and she pointed out some really good reasons why I shouldn't go. She doesn't feel that this is a right relationship, and I trust her, and I really believe I'm supposed to obey her.” Or, “Boy, I'd really like to go, but my mother just won't let me!”  If she uses method number two, all she does is encourage this guy to find a way to get her to disobey her mom. If someone knows tha...