Table of Contents:Lose Your “Cool” True Courage and the Defiance of FearEvangelism in an Age of Skepticism Exegetically SpeakingWords to Stand You on Your Feet Living out the Living WordFollowing God Points to Ponder Jewels from Past GiantsCounselor’s Corner The Story behind the Song Church Builders Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel Marks of the Master Book ReviewsNews UpdateSermon Helps Puzzles and ‘Toons

___________________________________If You Would Bear His Reproach, First Lose Your “Cool”By Joe McKeever

“Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13).

Ministers of the Gospel considered “cool” by the world should be wary. It’s a trap.

Let those outside the faith—i.e., friends and admirers with no appreciation for Scripture, the call of God, the blood of Jesus, or the direness of their situation—compliment the preacher on his coolness, and he can be in danger quick.

Woe to the minister who loves such a compliment. The moment he takes that to heart, he begins ordering his life by the coolness factor. If he preaches a certain doctrine, his friends will not appreciate it, so he conveniently finds other topics, perhaps

without even realizing what he is doing. If he speaks up for a particular value, they will find him suddenly uncool, so he mutes his radical words. He wears his hair and arranges his clothing and selects his speech in accordance with what will make him appear cool.

It’s a seduction. Such is the way of the insecure preacher, one loving the approval of the world rather than seeking to please the Lord Jesus Himself. The gullible minister may call it identifying with the masses, becoming “all things to all men that by all means he might win some,” as Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 9:22 (thereby providing a convenient proof text to generations of compromisers ever since!). Whether he “wins” any remains to be seen. Scripture calls surrendering to the standards of outsiders loving the world and warns us away from it (1 John 2:15ff).

I will not go so far as to say one cannot follow Jesus and be cool (i.e., trendy, fashionable, accepted by the world) at the same time. But it’s highly unlikely if you do it right. Don’t miss that. Someone asked an old-time preacher, “If I follow Jesus, do I have to give up the world?” He answered, “If you get soundly converted, you won’t have to worry about that. It’ll give you up so fast it’ll make your head swim!”

Writing in the June 2014 issue of Christianity Today, N. D. Wilson says, “One of the first tasks of any prophet was to make himself shameful.” Wilson points out that John the Baptist wore camel hair and ate insects. Cool? Anything but.

John the Baptist received the admiration and respect of a King Herod, but knew exactly how little that was worth. In the end, Herod abandoned whatever good sense he had left and sacrificed John to his insecurities and fears.

Wilson says, “Isaiah had to walk around naked for years. Ezekiel had to cook his food over dung. Elijah ate only food carried by ravens—nasty carrion birds. The first thing God told Hosea to do was to marry a whore.” He concludes, “Prophets must be fearless, immune to the pressures of kings and crowds, aligned only with the breath of God.”

The inspired writer of Hebrews knew this and gave us a memorable teaching on this subject: “The bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:11-13).

The writer takes a lesson from the Old Testament sacrificial system—how the

carcasses of animals were burned outside town, away from the population—and draws a parallel with the Lord Jesus dying outside the city gate. Then, the application: “In the same way, we Christians should go to Him outside the camp—that is, away from the crowd and the flow of the culture—and thus bear the same reproach He did.” It’s an ideal metaphor, one that speaks to our situation perfectly.

Woe to the man or woman of God who longs to be accepted by the world. Woe to the minister who gets off on compliments from unbelievers. Woe to the preacher who orders his sermons and selects his topics by what will please his unbelieving friends. Woe to the pastor who shies away from certain subjects clearly taught in the Word because people would turn against him. Woe to the one calling himself a disciple of Jesus but who discounts any scriptural teaching incompatible with today’s accepted values.

Woe to the cowards who want God but fear rejection from the world. Woe to those who fear rejection from the world more than the “well-done” of the Lord.

Anyone who thinks we are insinuating that many disciples of Jesus Christ refuse to take a stand against subjects like abortion, same-sex marriage, the gay lifestyle, sexual freedom, and do-as-you-please morality out of a fear of criticism from the unbelieving world is exactly right. I am completely convinced that many liberal ministers (and others), who may have been truly saved and (in their heart of hearts) want to love and honor Christ, have caved in to the world because they want the approval of the cool crowd. They shy away from bearing the shame of the Lord Jesus by identifying with His less trendy followers.

God help us. We cannot have it both ways.

Joe McKeever is a retired Southern Baptist pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He

blogs regularly at www.joemckeever.com.Table of Contents

___________________________________True Courage and the Defiance of FearBy Shea Oakley

Someone once spoke of courage as being “resistance to fear, mastery of fear. Not the absence of fear.” For the Christian lacking courage (and desiring it as a character trait), these are words to live by. Many people wrongly equate bravery with fearlessness. Actually, a total lack of concern about being in a dangerous situation is often more indicative of the proverbial fool.

Someone who has no fear will soon find something to be truly fearful about! It is

also a truism that there is no merit in performing a seemingly courageous deed if the individual doing it is not giving it a second thought. No, true courage means being afraid to do something but doing it anyway because it is the right thing to do.

To be cowardly is to allow our fears, whatever they might be, to control our lives. An existence lived avoiding danger is the most dangerous life of all. It most definitely is not a life that will please God. True courage is part and parcel to authentic faith. Our redemption begins with the decision to accept Christ as Lord despite the ridicule and (in some parts of the world) the potential physical peril, which might result from our commitment. From that point on believers can expect many situations to arise through the years that will contain some element of risk. Under such circumstances we need to acknowledge our fears, yes, but at the same time defy them—if we truly believe that the

thing we must do is part of God’s perfect will for our lives.

The good news is that Christians can draw their courage from two places outside themselves. The first and greatest help for the timid person who is called to do something fearful is the Spirit of Christ Himself. As we abide in Him much strength is imparted to us, including the strength necessary to be courageous. Through God’s presence with and in us we can do things which would have been impossible when we were natural men and woman.

The second place of help is in the encouragement of our brethren. Many a person has been persuaded to do what must be done by receiving the steadfast love and confidence that a friend can impart. Fear is isolating. Fear is never stronger than when we feel alone. It is in strong relationships, both with the Lord and with His people, that the “much afraid” can find the courage they

need to become the peaceful warriors that the Lord desires them to be. The good things that come through trials can then be released into our spirits. Right defiance of fear is ultimately a pathway to greater character, and all the blessings that come with it.

© Shea Oakley. All Rights Reserved.

Converted from atheism in 1990, Shea Oakley has written over 350 articles for

electronic and print publications since 2002, including Disciple Magazine (and Pulpit

Helps Magazine), The Christian Herald, The Christian Post, Christian Network and

Crosshome.com. In 2003 he graduated from Alliance Theological Seminary with a

Certificate of Theological Studies. Shea and his wife Kathleen make their home in West

Milford, New Jersey. Table of Contents

___________________________________Evangelism in an Age of SkepticismBy Chris Turner

Published in Pulpit Helps, July 2008.More than 70 percent of unbelievers

agree that “Jesus makes a difference,” but more than 70 percent also see the church as “full of hypocrites,” according to a LifeWay Research study. “They almost have to feel that way,” said Tim Keller, author of a New York Times bestseller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, “because the view from the outside is that if you aren’t living like Jesus Christ you won’t go to heaven.” Keller’s comments were voiced in a new Inside LifeWay podcast with Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“When they see Christians saying they are born again and they don’t see an incredibly changed life, they assume you are a hypocrite,” said Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. “[A]nd the fact that they are critical of us, we have to say partly that’s our fault. But on the other hand, it’s partly their inability to understand the Gospel. We have to be patient with that.”

Though unbelievers have been buoyed by the growing prominence of such books as Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Keller said is it relatively easy to challenge the belief that there is no God or that all gods are the same.

“Of all the objections to Christianity, saying God is the same as all the others is the weakest and easiest to disprove,” Keller said. “There are two ways to go about it. The practical way is that all other religions have someone who says, ‘I am a prophet come to

show you the way to God.’ Only Christianity was founded by a man who said, ‘I’m God come to find you.’ Now if Jesus said that… [then] Christianity is either a superior or inferior way to God, but it can’t be equal [to all the others]. You ask any rabbi or imam or anybody who knows anything about their religion: they’d say the same thing.

“So when somebody says they are all equal it shows they haven’t really learned anything about any of them and it is arrogant. It is as if somebody says, ‘All you people of the same race look alike.’ It is remarkably patronizing.”

Keller added that a philosophical way to disprove skeptics’ beliefs is to point out the hypocrisy in their approach, showing them that to believe there is no God, or that all gods are equal, is in fact a belief system based on a faith that can’t be empirically proved, as is often demanded of Christians and belief in Christianity.

Stetzer pointed out that one of the findings in the study was that 52 percent agreed somewhat or strongly that Jesus died and was resurrected, and among those 30 years of age and younger, 66 percent responded likewise.

“Chris Smith talks about this in his book, Soul Searching,” Keller said. “The average young person has adopted Christian beliefs. Smith calls it moral therapeutic deism. ‘Moral’ being, ‘I’m going to heaven because I’m good.’ ‘Therapeutic’ means ‘my purpose in life is to be happy and fulfilled and satisfied.’ ‘Deism’ is that ‘God isn’t part of my day but somebody I bring in when I have a need.’ The resurrection clobbers all three of those. The resurrection means this world matters, you’re here to serve and God is rehabilitating the world and dealing with the results of sin.”

Keller said when witnessing to unbelievers it is important to move quickly to

the resurrection because there is a lot of evidence for it. He said it is important to confront people with Jesus and His claims, His life and His resurrection. It shows how different the God of the Bible is. Too often Christians stick with traditional arguments trying to convince skeptical nonbelievers of a biblical God, Keller said, when they should use those points as clues that believing in God makes more sense than not believing in God. “The real issue isn’t so much, ‘Is there a God?’ as much as ‘Is Jesus really who He says He is?’” Keller said.

Stetzer pointed out that even though there are skeptics, 78 percent of those surveyed said they are willing to listen to a Christian talk about faith and are open to having conversations about God. “If that’s the case,” he asked, “how do we become better at proclaiming the Gospel?”

Keller responded: “Almost everybody who doubts does so for personal reasons,

mainly because they have had bad experiences with the church, Christianity, or Christians. [As a Christian] you can’t just say, ‘I’m going to give you the Gospel and you’re going to hear it.’ You have to embody a different kind of Christianity than the one they have experienced in the past or they are simply not going to hear it. It has to do with tone, graciousness, consistency of your own behavior. It’s all stuff we know but it is absolutely true.

“People are not used to Christians being patient with them, sympathetic with them and their doubts,” Keller said. “They are not used to that. They are used to propaganda, criticism, and being talked down to. Your demeanor, facial expressions, and tone of voice is way more important than you think in evangelism.”

Baptist PressTable of Contents

___________________________________Exegetically Speakingby Spiros Zodhiates

God’s Will for ManJames 1:18a

From Faith, Love & Hope: An Exposition of the Epistle of James, AMG Publishers, 1997.

“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

There are some religious leaders who have condemned this epistle of James as promulgating doctrines which are contrary to the basic theological teachings of the Apostle Paul. All it contains, they claim, are some moral precepts, but the doctrines of the new birth, of God’s will for man and His

dealings with the human heart, are missing. The verse that we have under study here definitely disproves any such false accusations and establishes this epistle as theologically sound. Verse 18 of the first chapter of James could very well fit into Paul’s epistle to the Romans or his letter to the Ephesians. It deals with God’s will for man and with the difficult theological problem of election and predestination.

James certainly realizes that an apple tree cannot bear anything but apples. The fruit must conform to the nature of the tree. The only thing he has done in this epistle, however, is to reverse the order of things. Instead of starting with the root, he starts with the fruit; instead of starting with the Spirit, he starts with the fruit of the Spirit. He has already told us that this is joy, faith, patience, perfection, wisdom, singleness of heart, humility, blessedness. All these things on which he has elaborated in the previous

verses he declares have their origin in God’s goodness; they are God’s good and perfect gifts to man. But the highest and most precious of all gifts he has not yet touched upon. He wants to tell you and me now that all this wonderful fruit of the victorious Christian life can be ours only if our tree is of the right nature.

After he has examined the product, he wants to examine its origin. There are many people who preach nothing but a code of morality, forgetting that morality in itself is no ticket to heaven. What God looks upon is not how we behave, but why we behave as we do. You may send a large donation to some worthy cause; another person, a widow, as so many times is the case, may send a very small donation for the same cause. God is not interested in the actual size of the donation, or the donation itself, but in what motivated the giving of that donation. If the motive is that of bribing God

so that you may expect favors from Him, or if it is so that you may be able to tell your friends how much you are giving to the Lord’s work and to causes of charity, your offering does not ascend to God as a living sacrifice acceptable unto Him.

On the other hand, if the motive is to please God, if it is something that springs from your regenerated and sanctified nature, then God accepts the gift, blesses it, blesses you, and multiplies it beyond your imagination and mine. Thus James in this 18th verse gives us a very important theological declaration. He says that the climax of God’s goodness to us is His will, and if His will becomes our will, then the behavior which springs out of that is always well pleasing to Him.

Please permit me first of all to give you what I believe to be the most accurate translation of this verse from the original Greek. “Having willed it, he brought us forth

through the word of truth, so that we are a kind of firstfruits of his creations.” The first word with which this verse starts is quite intriguing: “Having willed it.” This participle comes from the noun boulē, which in ancient times was used to express the will and determination of the gods of ancient Greece. In biblical terminology it refers to the counsel and the purpose of God as distinguished from His consequent action.

Indeed, God acted by sending His Son to this world to save the world from sin, and sent His Spirit to convict men of their sins, but before this action cook place, there was a thorough working out of the plan which consummated in the cross and the resurrection. This “will of God” is, therefore, not a will that is occasioned by a whim, but it presupposes logical thought. God willed your salvation and mine after considerable thought about the cost it would involve for Himself. On one side of the scale God put

the cost that man’s redemption would involve and on the other side the misery, the unhappiness, the eternal separation between man’s spirit and His Spirit, and the fires of hell; and the decision, the considered decision, I repeat, was to provide His sovereign grace.

Yes, God counted the cost of restoration of man to Himself. He knew it would mean the sacrifice of His own Son. He knew that it would mean forsaking His heavenly glory to come down to earth so that man would have the possibility of being a partaker of the heavenly glory. James in the previous verse speaks of God’s goodness and says that from Him comes every good and perfect gift, but here he speaks of the climax of His goodness in that He did not let man die in his sin, but instead willed his salvation. Through the selection of the word James uses, he makes it very clear that God’s goodness is a planned course of

action even before the foundation of the world. Is it not wonderful to know that our names are in the will of God for regeneration, for eternal life, for inheriting the nature of God Himself? Oh, glory of glories! How can we contain ourselves, as we realize what we can be through God’s will wrought in us?

This Greek word boulē, from which this participle is derived, has come down to us through the centuries and is still being used to denote “a council.” In Modern Greek it means “parliament.” It seems to me that this particular word was selected by the Holy Spirit, the author of the Bible, to teach us something profound: that in heaven, where the Godhead dwells, before Jesus Christ came down to this earth, there must have been a conference, a thought session, a council meeting, on this greatest gift to be showered upon fallen mankind. Can you imagine that—God the Father, God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit, Three yet One, in conference thinking together of the means whereby man could be freed from his sin and reconciled to his Maker?

The decision of that conference was that there should be a re-creation, there should be a new birth for man. It was a new heart that man needed, for out of the heart proceed all the manifestations of life. Spurgeon, that great prince of preachers, was once staying at an inn in one of the valleys of northern Italy where the floor was dreadfully dirty. “I had it in my mind to advise the lady to scrub it,” said Spurgeon, “but when I perceived it was made of mud, I reflected that the more she scrubbed the worse it would be.” Just so God knew that there could be no improvement of the corrupt nature of man. There must be a new nature implanted. Oh, what a moment that must have been when the Lord Jesus Christ said to His Father, “I am going down to

make it possible for men to come up here with us.”

In this Greek word there is implied a definite choice. God did not have to stoop down and let His Son go, if He did not want to. He could very well have permitted us to wallow in our sins forever, but He did not wish it. His wish became His will, and that is why James says, “Having willed it.” Can there be any greater goodness than that? Here is a father who sees his child drowning. If he remains indifferent and does not come to the rescue of his child while he can do so, I am sure that the law will condemn him. He will be punished because he did not save his child while he could do so. That is a case where power carries with it the responsibility of saving action. The father has to save his child whether he wants to or not. It was not so, however, with God.

God could save you and me, but He did not have to. He could have stopped after the conference revealed the tremendous cost of re-creating man. But no, the will became action. Remember, He did not do what He did under the compulsion of some law, but out of His pure free will and sovereign grace. When we think of that, how much more we appreciate what He has done for us.

There is one more precious truth in this participle which I would like to bring out. It is in the first aorist, which would indicate that His will was exercised once and for all. Having willed it, having determined to save the human race from their sins, He could not be stopped by anybody. The prospect of the agony of the cross was painful, but the foresight of the accomplishment for man and in man of that painful experience was glorious. Nothing can stand in the way of God’s will, try as hard as it may. When that

conference was held in heaven and it was decided that all three Persons of the Trinity would act to save the human race, it was determined once and for all to make this salvation available to all. Peter confirms this as he uses the same word in his second epistle, chapter 3, verse 9: “Not willing some to be lost.” God has willed once and for all the potential salvation of each and every one who has ever lived upon the face of this earth, but just as He is not to be held responsible for the evil in the world, neither is He to be held responsible for those who are not saved and are lost forever.

Suppose a millionaire signs a check for several million dollars in your name. You are potentially rich, but you are not actually rich until such time as you cash or deposit that check. Your cashing the check requires faith. It is impossible for you to change from potentially rich to actually rich without doing so. It is the same thing with this new birth of

which James speaks in this verse. God has willed heaven’s glory to you, life everlasting, “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8), freedom from sin, worry, and fear, but if you do not appropriate it, it is your fault entirely.

Spiros Zodhiates (1922-2009) served as president of AMG International for over 40

years, was the founding editor of Pulpit Helps Magazine (Disciple’s predecessor), and authored dozens of exegetical books.

Table of Contents

___________________________________Words to Stand You on Your Feetby Joe McKeever

God, the Artist

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

The word “workmanship” here is the Greek poema. And yes, that is the word from which we get our word “poem.” Suddenly, one’s mind reels at the thought that “we are God’s poetry.” In a poem, every word counts, every line has to be just so. We are God’s “artwork,” His handiwork. (Caution: The root of poema is not quite that exotic however. It comes from the verb meaning “to make.” In Romans 1:20 it’s simply “what has been made.” We must be careful not to make Scripture out to be saying more than it is.)

That said, we affirm that God made us and we are His special workmanship. In a very real sense, we are His artwork. The Psalmist said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Then he added, “Wonderful are thy works.”

The Lord does turn out some incredible artwork, doesn’t He? His designs are perfect and flawless. He colors well, too. We think of the ever-changing sunsets, the endless array of flowers and birds, and the pastels in the rocks and soils of the American West. He loves variety and never seems to turn out the same piece twice. I find that as amazing as anything!

We know far better than the Psalmist ever did how “fearfully and wonderfully” we are made, with our knowledge of the finer points of the human body and its design, structure, organs, and powers. Physicians and scientists who study the human body often stand in awe. One of my doctors used to say, “I don’t heal anyone. I do what I can to help the body heal itself.”

God made us. Look at a newborn baby and stand in awe. God is great! He recreated us in Christ Jesus. We are new

creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Have you been born again? (John chapter 3.)

He recreated us with the intention that we would bring forth good works—not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. Now we may “show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)

We praise Thee, O wonderful Artist of the universe. How great Thou art!

Joe McKeever is a retired Southern Baptist pastor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He

blogs regularly at www.joemckeever.com. Table of Contents

___________________________________Living out the Living Wordby Justin Lonas

Stirred Up: Remembering the True Word2 Peter 1:12-19

Peter’s second epistle opens bristling with exultation in the wonder of salvation (as does his first) which flows into exhortation to his readers to apply “all diligence” to the pursuit of their sanctification. From there, Peter shores up his message, reiterating the truth and certainty of his teaching with a powerful appeal to the person of Christ and the authority of His Word.

He writes, “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you” (1:12). “These things” which Peter calls again to our attention are the truths of salvation and sanctification. His readers “already know them” and “have been established in the truth”—they are not spiritual children, but maturing believers who have long since heard and responded to the Gospel. Even (or especially) those who are

strong in their faith need to be regularly reminded of the truths on which that faith is founded because they will be continually under attack. Previously, he warned his readers that “your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). As this letter progresses, he will caution against some of the lion’s sharpest teeth and claws: false doctrine and those who propagate it in the Church.

Why, if the gist of his letter is to urge vigilance against false teachers, would Peter spend so much of the first chapter pressing these faithful believers to faithful pursuit of the good works that are the fruit of their salvation? Because carelessly sinful behavior is not in keeping with true faith, and is often a doorway into the false teachings that justify our actions. Peter commanded earlier “do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Pet. 1:14-15). The “former lusts” that the Lord is putting to death in us through sanctification should no longer be markers of our lives.

Martin Luther’s commentary on this passage is invigorating: “To exhort, or as Peter says, ‘to remind’, is to preach to those who know and have heard the doctrine already, so that they are seized by it and awakened, in order that they should not be heedless, but go forward and grow. We are all overburdened with the old sluggard load, with our flesh and blood, that ever chooses the byroads and keeps us ever subject to its load, so that the soul easily falls asleep. Therefore we are continually to urge and shake it, as a master urges his servants, lest they become sluggish, although they know very well what they should do.”

Peter well understood the frailty of our hearts—this is the same Peter who charged out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus but sank as his faith failed; the same Peter who boasted that he would follow Jesus to prison and death and yet denied Him three times before that very night was over. He knew that every follower of Christ would be tempted, would sometimes fall, and may as a result question their loyalty to the Savior. As he neared the end of his life and ministry, he took time to ensure that his children in the faith would know the truth well and lean on Christ alone when their strength failed. “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure, you will be able to call these things to mind” (1:13-

15). His bequest to them is a theological foundation for belief that will stand firm against whatever may come to shake it.

Peter’s “reminder” to “stir up” the churches of Asia Minor doesn’t hang on his reputation as a teacher and leader alone. Rather, he grounds his charge on his authority as one of the apostles who had been with Jesus, which was itself grounded in the eternal and unshakable Word of God. “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty” (1:16). Peter boldly proclaims that the faith which he and the other apostles had (by this point) spread throughout the Roman world was not merely another layer of mythology or simply a new branch of Jewish tradition, but “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3) by Christ Himself.

After calling himself an eyewitness, Peter explains that he refers not to his general experience as a disciple of Jesus, but to the singular event of Christ’s transfiguration: “For when He had received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased’—and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (1:17-18).

This specific occurrence as narrated by Mark (whose source was Peter) gives the context for Peter’s statement here. “And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:2b-4). When Peter, overcome in the moment, blurts out a proposal to build

shrines there for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, he is rebuked by the Father Himself: “Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7).

Writing some 30-35 years afterward, the scene was still etched in Peter’s mind with two blaring lessons: Christ alone is worthy of worship, and his teaching is authoritative. Christ, after all, is the “Word” (John 1:1, 14, etc.). As the author of Hebrews put it, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:1-3a).

Likewise, Peter connects the person and work of Christ (to whom he attests as a witness) with Scripture itself—the Word made flesh is also the Word written. “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (1:19). The New American Standard here adds the word “made”, but the Greek is literally “and we have more sure the prophetic word.” This distinction is important, because it seems that Peter says that Scripture is “more sure” even than his eyewitness experience—not that his experience confirmed the truth of Scripture for him. His instruction following from that, that we pay attention to Scripture as our guiding light, doesn’t make sense if the Word’s authority over us needs to be validated by experience.

Scripture is God’s final Word “until the day dawns,” that is, until He comes again in glory to bring His kingdom to full fruition. There is nothing else that holds up as the source of truth and the basis of our faith. It is in the Old and New Testaments that we find the paths of righteousness we are called to walk and the news of Christ’s sacrifice that justifies us and the Spirit’s indwelling that equips us to obey. Aside from this foundation, Peter’s command to diligence in good works would crush us under the weight of its impossibility. Anchored here, our obedience can pour forth with joy.

Justin Lonas is editor of Disciple Magazine for AMG International in Chattanooga,

Tennessee. Table of Contents

___________________________________Following Godby Erik Christensen

Growing Up: Maturity in the ChurchEphesians 4:14-16

In Ephesians 4:11-13 Paul declares that men gifted to proclaim the Word of God have been given to the Church specifically to equip the saints for the work of service. This equipping in turn is to lead toward (eis, into) the work of service meaning ministry. All of this is for the maturing of believers. Clearly, the teaching of the Word of God is essential for the health of the body of Christ.

Paul drives this point home even further, expressing the intended result of maturing in Christ. “We are no longer to be children…” (4:14). The Greek term behind “no longer” has the idea of “absolutely not”. We are in no way to be children, meaning

infants—those incapable of reason and speech. Paul makes it clear that the mature believer, who is so due to the Word of God, will not be caught up in false doctrine. Mature believers are not “blown about by every wind of doctrine” or tricked by false teachers who are deceitful in their motives. The mature believer is one who recognizes the difference between the teaching of the Word of God and false doctrines which will cause “storms” in the lives of the immature.

How essential is the Word of God and true doctrine in our day and age? In any and every age? The Word of God is necessary for every believer for the sake of maturity leading to stability through the storms of life. Understanding and recognizing false teaching, and therefore enjoying stability, is certainly a blessing of maturity. Our foundation is the fact that we are “in Christ” (Eph 1-3). Now, as believers, we are called to “walk in a manner worthy” of our calling.

This includes “growing in Christ.” Paul makes it clear that, rather than being tossed about, tricked and or deceived, we should be “speaking the truth in love” (4:15), with the potential to grow up into Christ, who is the Head of the Church.

The word “grow” is really interesting. This is God’s growth—we cannot grow anything, much less ourselves; God is the one who causes the growth. The word “grow” here uses the subjunctive case indicating the very real potential that every believer has of growing in Christ. Growing involves the will of the believer in maturing through the Word of God. God uses His Word in order to grow believers in maturity. Clearly, believers must avail themselves to the Word of God to experience the growth that He alone is able to accomplish within our lives. All of this is by God’s grace. Each believer has this opportunity or potential in

Christ to experience the ability that He has to mature and or grow us.

Paul doesn’t stop with the maturing or growth of the individual believer, but moves on toward the building up of the entire Body in love. When believers are growing and maturing in Christ, then the Body of Believers also begins to build itself up in love. When each part of the body being fitted (equipped) and held together functions correctly, then the entire body begins to grow and builds itself up in love.

What an amazing truth the apostle expresses here for each believer as well as the whole Church. The Lord uses His Word through the gifted men given to the Body to mature the saints. In maturing, believers are not being tossed about by every false doctrine and are equipped for the work of service. As each member begins to serve or minister in the strength of Christ (who is the One growing us) love begins to be

expressed in and through our lives toward other believer’s with the end that the Body begins to properly function, building itself up in Christ’s love.

It has been said that the Church is not an organization but rather an Organism. I would suggest that the church is a very organized Organism when submitted to Christ, as He is the One who does the organizing. He is the head. Christ’s love not only changes us individually but also transforms entire churches. Are we experiencing the love of Christ in our own lives? Are we availing ourselves to the Lord through His Word, maturing in Christ? Are we grounded in the Word of God, understanding who we are in Christ because of what He has done on our behalf? Are we functioning properly in the role that He has for us helping to build up the rest of the body of Christ in love? As His Word transforms

us, are we learning to follow Him in everything?

Erik Christensen is senior pastor of Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque, New

Mexico.Table of Contents

___________________________________Points to Ponderby David L. Olford

The New Covenant Minister

Text: “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4:1).

Thought: The Apostle Paul is explaining and defending his ministry to his Corinthian readers. He has described himself and his ministry team as “ministers of a new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:6), surpassing the ministry of the old covenant, a more

glorious ministry of righteousness that brings life and transformation by the Spirit of the Lord. As Paul continues to describe this new covenant ministry, he presents some of the challenges he faces and his personal commitment to the ministry despite these difficulties. If we would join the Apostle as new covenant ministers, we should seek to follow Paul’s example as displayed in the verses before us.

I. There Are Resolutions We Must Make (2 Cor. 4:1-2)

The Apostle’s statement “we do not lose heart,” was really a resolution he made due to the glorious ministry he served, the mercy he had received (4:1), and the eternal perspective he had (4:16-18). A new covenant minister need not and should not lose heart for the same reasons.

Rather than losing heart, the Apostle makes two strong statements, one negative

and one positive, concerning the way he approached his ministry. He refused to do anything that would discredit or “tamper” with the Word of God. The Apostle resolved not to handle God’s Word in any deceitful or dishonest way. This is a fundamental commitment on the part of anyone who wants to minister the Word of God. In keeping with this resolve is the positive commitment or resolve to communicate the truth of God’s Word openly and honestly. Such a ministry of the Word is done not only “in the sight of God,” but is commendable to the consciences of everyone aware of this ministry. In other words, the new covenant minister must handle the Word with authenticity and integrity. The Apostle sets a standard for us, which challenges us today to make the same resolutions if we are to be faithful as new covenant ministers.

II. There Is Opposition We Must Face (2 Cor. 4:3-4)

The Apostle makes it clear that not all will receive this ministry of the new covenant. He has already spoken of people who are veiled or blinded when Moses is read (3:15), whose veil is removed when they turn to the Lord (3:16). Here he makes it clear that there are those for whom the gospel is veiled, and the blindness will not be removed. These perishing people have been blinded by “the god of this world.” Paul is affirming that there is a real spiritual enemy, and there are those who will fail to see the light of the gospel because of his working.

There are two practical reasons to be very aware of the workings of the evil one in relation to the preaching of the gospel. First, we need to recognize that we are in a spiritual war that is real. There are those who truly hear and “see,” and there are

those who may hear but do not see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (4:4). Second, this truth challenges us not to change our message when we experience its rejection. Even though the preacher always wants to improve the communication of the message as a steward of God’s Word, ultimately there is much more to the rejection of the truth than human communication. Some will reject the message. But, we must resist the temptation to change the message, knowing that the real opposition comes from “the god of this world.” We still face his opposition today.

III. There Is a Message We Must Preach (2 Cor. 4:5-6)

Paul makes it clear that his message is “Christ Jesus as Lord” (2 Cor. 4:5). The God of creation has chosen to shine into people’s hearts “the light of the knowledge

of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). So, Christ is the message, and in Him God reveals His “new creation glory.” Paul is still explaining and defending his ministry, so he makes it clear that he is just a slave, his job is not to speak about himself, but about Christ. Indeed, Paul describes himself and his ministry team as “your” slaves, meaning that they are slaves of the Corinthians. Paul did not want there to be any room for self-promotion or pre-occupation with his role or reputation. The message was primary, and the message was “Christ Jesus as Lord.”

It is interesting to match this with Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:2, when he wrote that his message was “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” We need to be careful to see Paul’s emphases in context, while realizing that the Apostle ultimately sought to preach the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). It may be that here in 2

Corinthians Paul is making clear that the authoritative one is the Lord, and not the Apostle. In any case, the preacher needs to make sure that he does not get in the way of the message. Christ is the message of the new covenant minister. The new covenant preacher is simply a servant of the Word, and a slave serving obediently. As a slave of Christ, we are to be slaves to those whom we minister.

IV. There Are Sufferings We Must Endure (2 Cor. 4:7-18)

We can only touch on a few of the main ideas in this next section as Paul speaks of the reality of suffering in his ministry. Paul realized that he ministered in personal weakness and necessary humility. He was simply a “jar of clay” carrying a treasure. Paul saw God’s purpose in this, which was and is to make clear that the power in ministry and for ministry is God’s

power. The new covenant minister admits his weakness and relies completely on the “surpassing” power of God. The Apostle realized that it was through hardship and suffering that ministry was to take place.

Again, there is a spiritual truth at work here, it is through “being given over to death for Jesus’ sake…that the life of Jesus also may be manifested” (2 Cor. 4:11). Death is experienced as the minister suffers for Christ, and yet life is ministered to others. The pattern of the cross and resurrection is seen in the very nature of ministry. Ultimately, if the minister is martyred for the faith, resurrection will follow. Such an understanding of ministry will help the minister endure the sufferings that are a part of authentic ministry.

Endurance is enabled by having the right priorities. Paul put a greater priority on inner personal renewal than on outward bodily deterioration (2 Cor. 4:16). He placed

greater value on eternal glory than temporary affliction (2 Cor. 4:17). He sought to focus on the unseen eternal realities rather than the “transient” seen world (2 Cor. 4:18). Such priorities enable the new covenant minister to endure hardships, trials, and persecutions. These priorities are easier to list on paper than to be lived personally and practically in a world focused on external physical, temporary, and visible realities. It is only as we fellowship with Christ and deeply embrace the message of Christ crucified as well as Christ Jesus as Lord that we can really have these priority convictions as working principles in our lives.

Thrust: The new covenant minister and preacher can say, “we do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4, 16).

David L. Olford teaches expository preaching at Union University’s Stephen

Olford Center in Memphis, Tennessee.Table of Contents

___________________________________Jewels from Past Giants

The Fall and Recovery of Man—Part 2 of 2By Christmas Evans

Editor’s Note: Originally delivered by Evans as a sermon, this version was published as a selection in The World’s Great Sermons in 1908. Edited for length and modern spellings.

“For if, through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (Romans 5:15).

II. Man’s Gracious Restoration to Favor with God

I know not how to present to you this glorious work, better than by the following figure.

Suppose a vast graveyard, surrounded by a lofty wall, with only one entrance which is by a massive iron gate, and that is fast bolted. Within are thousands and millions of human beings, of all ages and classes, by one epidemic disease bending to the grave. The graves yawn to swallow them, and they must all perish. There is no balm to relieve, no physician there. Such is the condition of man as a sinner. All have sinned, and it is written “The soul that sinneth shall die.” But while the unhappy race lay in that dismal prison, Mercy came and stood at the gate, and wept over the melancholy scene, exclaiming—“Oh, that I might enter! I would bind up

their wounds; I would relieve their sorrows; I would save their souls!”

An embassy of angels, commissioned from the court of heaven to some other world, paused at the sight, and heaven forgave that pause. Seeing Mercy standing there, they cried: “Mercy! Can you not enter? Can you look upon that scene and not pity? Can you pity, and not relieve?” Mercy replied: “I can see!” and in her tears she added, “I can pity, but I cannot relieve!” “Why can you not enter?” inquired the heavenly host. “Oh!” said Mercy, “Justice has barred the gate against me, and I must not—cannot unbar it!”

At this moment, Justice appeared, as if to watch the gate. The angels asked, “Why will you not suffer Mercy to enter?” He sternly replied: “The law is broken, and it must be honored! They die, or justice must!” Then appeared a form among the angelic band like unto the Son of God. Addressing

Himself to Justice, He said: “What are your demands?” Justice replied: “My demands are rigid; I must have ignominy for their honor, sickness for their health, death for their life. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission!” “Justice,” said the Son of God, “I accept your terms! On me be this wrong! Let Mercy enter, and stay the carnival of death!” “What pledge do you give for the performance of these conditions?” “My word; my oath!” “When wilt thou perform them?” “Four thousand years hence, on the hill of Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem.”

The bond was prepared, and signed and sealed in the presence of attendant angels. Justice was satisfied, the gate was opened, and Mercy entered, preaching salvation in the name of Jesus. The bond was committed to patriarchs and prophets. A long series of rites and ceremonies, sacrifices and obligations, was instituted to

perpetuate the memory of that solemn deed. At the close of the four thousandth year, when Daniel’s “seventy weeks” were accomplished, Justice and Mercy appeared on the hill of Calvary. “Where,” said Justice, “is the Son of God?” “Behold Him,” answered Mercy, “at the foot of the hill!” And there He came, bearing His own cross, and followed by His weeping church. Mercy retired, and stood aloof from the scene. Jesus ascended the hill like a lamb for the sacrifice. Justice presented the dreadful bond, saying, “This is the day on which this article must be canceled.” The Redeemer took it.

What did He do with it? Tear it to pieces, and scatter it to the winds? No! He nailed it to His cross, crying, “It is finished!” The victim ascended the altar. Justice called on Holy Fire to come down and consume the sacrifice. Holy Fire replied: “I come! I will consume the sacrifice, and then I will burn

up the world!” It fell upon the Son of God, and rapidly consumed His humanity; but when it touched His deity, it expired. Then was there darkness over the whole land, and an earthquake shook the mountain; but the heavenly host broke forth in rapturous song—“Glory to God in the highest! On earth peace! Good will to man!”

Thus grace has abounded, and the free gift has come upon all, and the Gospel has gone forth proclaiming redemption to every creature. “By grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” By grace you are loved, redeemed, and justified. By grace you are called, converted, reconciled and sanctified. Salvation is wholly of grace. The plan, the process, the consummation are all of grace.

“Where sin abounded, grace hath much more abounded.” “Through the offense of one, many were dead.” And as

men multiplied, the offense abounded. The waters deluged the world, but could not wash away the dreadful stain. The fire fell from heaven, but could not burn out the accursed plague. The earth opened her mouth, but could not swallow up the monster sin. The law thundered forth its threat from the thick darkness on Sinai, but could not restrain, by all its terrors, the children of disobedience. Still the offense abounded, and multiplied as the sands on the seashore. It waxed bold, and pitched its tents on Calvary, and nailed the Lawgiver to a tree. But in that conflict sin received its mortal wound. The victim was the victor. He fell, but in His fall He crushed the foe. He died unto sin, but sin and death were crucified upon His cross.

Where sin abounded to condemn, grace has much more abounded to justify. Where sin abounded to corrupt, grace had much more abounded to purify. Where sin

abounded to harden, grace has much more abounded to soften and subdue. Where sin abounded to imprison men, grace has much more abounded to proclaim liberty to the captives. Where sin abounded to break the law and dishonor the Lawgiver, grace has much more abounded to repair the breach and efface the stain. Where sin abounded to consume the soul as with unquenchable fire and a gnawing worm, grace has much more abounded to extinguish the flame and heal the wound. Grace has abounded! It has established its throne on the merit of the Redeemer’s sufferings. It has put on the crown, and laid hold of the golden scepter and spoiled the dominion of the prince of darkness, and the gates of the great cemetery are thrown open, and there is the beating of a new life-pulse throughout its wretched population and immortality is walking among the tombs!

This abounding grace is manifested in the gift of Jesus Christ, by whose mediation our reconciliation and salvation are effected. With Him, believers are dead unto sin, and alive unto God. Our sins were slain at His cross, and buried in His tomb. His resurrection hath opened our graves, and given us an assurance of immortality. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us; much more, then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him; for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

“The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Glory to God, for the death of His Son, by which this enmity is slain, and reconciliation is effected between the rebel and the law! This was the

unspeakable gift that saved us from ruin; that wrestled with the storm, and turned it away from the devoted head of the sinner. Had all the angels of God attempted to stand between these two conflicting seas, they would have been swept to the gulf of destruction. “The blood of bulls and goats, on Jewish altars slain,” could not take away sin, could not pacify the conscience. But Christ, the gift of divine grace, “Paschal Lamb by God appointed,” a “sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they,” bore our sins and carried our sorrows, and obtained for us the boon of eternal redemption. He met the fury of the tempest, and the floods went over His head; but His offering was an offering of peace, calming the storms and the waves, magnifying the law, glorifying its Author, and rescuing its violator from the wrath and ruin. Justice has laid down his sword at the foot of the cross,

and amity is restored between heaven and earth.

Hither, O ye guilty! Come and cast away your weapons of rebellion! Come with your bad principles and wicked actions; your unbelief, and enmity, and pride; and throw them off at the Redeemer’s feet! God is here waiting to be gracious. He will receive you; He will cast all your sins behind His back, into the depths of the sea; and they shall be remembered against you no more forever. By Heaven’s “unspeakable gift,” by Christ’s invaluable atonement, by the free, infinite grace of the Father and Son, we persuade you, we beseech you, we entreat you, “be ye reconciled to God”!

It is by the work of the Holy Spirit with us that we obtain a personal interest in the work wrought on Calvary for us. If our sins are canceled, they are also crucified. If we are reconciled in Christ, we fight against our God no more. This is the fruit of faith. “With

the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” May the Lord inspire in every one of us that saving principle!

But those who have been restored to the divine favor may sometimes be cast down and dejected. They have passed through the sea, and sung praises on the shore of deliverance; but there is yet between them and Canaan “a waste howling wilderness,” a long and weary pilgrimage, hostile nations, fiery serpents, scarcity of food, and the river of Jordan. Fears within and fightings without, they may grow discouraged, and yield to temptation and murmur against God, and desire to return to Egypt. But fear not! Reconciled by the death of Christ, much more, being reconciled, you shall be saved by His life. His death was the price of our redemption; His life insures liberty to the believer. If by His death He brought you through the Red Sea in the night, by His life He can lead you through

the river Jordan in the day. If by His death He delivered you from the iron furnace in Egypt, by His life He can save you from all perils of the wilderness. If by His death He conquered Pharaoh, the chief foe, by His life He can subdue Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan.

“We shall be saved by his life.” Because He lives, we shall live also. “Be of good cheer!” The work is finished; the ransom is effected; the kingdom of heaven is open to all believers. “Lift up your heads and rejoice,” ye prisoners of hope! There is no debt unpaid, no devil unconquered, no enemy within your hearts that has not received a mortal wound! “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Christmas Evans, a Welsh Baptist preacher, was born at Isgaerwen, Cardiganshire, South Wales, in 1766. Brought up as a

Presbyterian, he turned Baptist in 1788, and was ordained the following year and

ministered among the Baptists in Carmaerthenshire. In 1792 he became a

sort of bishop to those of his denomination in Anglesey, where he took up his

residence. After a somewhat stormy experience with those he undertook to rule,

he removed to Carmaerthen in 1832. He distinguished himself by his debt-raising

tours, in which his eloquence brought him much success. He died in 1838.

Table of Contents___________________________________Counselor’s Cornerby James Rudy Gray

National Freedom and Faith

Can a Christian also be patriotic? I believe so, and consider myself a Christian and a patriot. I love Christ Jesus and I love

my country, the United States of America. It is possible to love God and country.

Michael Bryant, Dean of the School of Christian Studies at Charleston Southern University, said recently, “I don’t think that showing love for one’s country or region is wrong. As Americans, we have much to be thankful for, especially in regard to freedom of religion. A Christian goes too far in his patriotism when it causes him to have a greater devotion for his country than for God and His kingdom (Matt. 6:33).”

Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources, has cited five reasons believers should be patriotic: “God uses government for His good (Rom. 13:4); We should have an attitude of gratitude (Phil. 4:4); We should understand the issue of sacrifice better than anyone; The heart of our nation is God-centered; and We are called to be on mission where we are.”

Christians who are patriotic put God first. Their patriotism is tempered and defined by their trust in Christ and their faith in the Scriptures. Jesus taught us to render to God the things that are God’s and to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.

July fourth is a national holiday set aside here to celebrate our freedom which has been given to us through the gracious hand of God. America has been referred to as the world’s great experiment in freedom. We have certainly been blessed. Our flag and our patriotic songs stir me with deep emotion, but not as much as our Savior and the songs of grace that honor His name. Our founding fathers established the foundation of this nation on the basis of the truths found in the Bible. We have been given great freedom. We have also fought for freedom both for ourselves and others. Despite our shortcomings, and even actions of our own government, we still have freedom. Our

heritage is strong. Our present situation is tenuous and our future is uncertain. But our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of Law under God is acknowledged. Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.” In his Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights are great documents. The Word of God is immeasurably greater, though, and it is the influence of God’s Word on these documents that makes them so powerful.

Freedom can be taken away. In fact, at any given time in our history, we have been and are today only one generation

away from losing the freedom that has become the theme of America.

Benjamin Franklin, one of our founding fathers, said, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” It is my prayer that we reach the next generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we disciple them to become virtuous followers of Christ. More than anything else, that will help ensure the continuance of freedom in this land we love.

May God bless the Christian citizens of America and make them a blessing to this great land—for the His greater glory and the good of the country and her people.

James Rudy Gray is certified as a professional counselor by the National

Board for Certified Counselors, and is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He serves as the editor of The Baptist Courier, the official

newspaper of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

Table of Contents

___________________________________The Story behind the Songby Lindsay Terry

Placed in the Graveyard of SongsSong: “Rise Again”

“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you” (Matt. 28:6-7).

Dallas Holm’s notoriety and fame as a contemporary Christian musician was augmented by the fact that he traveled with David Wilkerson, made famous by his best-

selling book The Cross and the Switchblade. It was while with Wilkerson that Dallas formed the band he called Dallas Holm and Praise. Shortly after forming the band, he began to write songs for them to sing, and his first effort is the subject of this story. “Rise Again” still holds music charting records. When Dallas wrote this song, contemporary Christian music was not yet clearly on the horizon.

The following is his story: “After we had decided to form the band, I realized that I would need to write some new material. I knew that the music should be different from the things I was used to writing. So I got out my pen and paper and thought, ‘I need to get busy and write some songs.’ I often had a disciplined approach to songwriting and have written some of my better songs in that frame of mind. But this particular day I couldn’t come up with a single idea. I drew an absolute zero.

“I began to pray, which I should have done in the first place, and in the course of my praying, I remember saying, ‘Lord, if You were singing, what would You sing?’ That thought really stuck in my mind. I didn’t know if I had ever heard a song from a first-person point of view. As hokey as it may sound, I had this mental image of the Lord, dressed as we often picture Him in our minds, standing on a street corner with a guitar, singing. It was as if you could translate Jesus into modern times, with singing as His form of communication. What would He sing?

“As soon as I focused in on that approach to my task, I began to write as if I were taking dictation. I wrote the music and the words in about ten minutes—no changes. I titled it ‘Rise Again.’

“As I finished I looked at the song and realized that this didn’t come out of my head. I have often said that God wrote the

song, and I just delivered the message. That describes the way I feel about that experience.

“Dallas Holm and Praise had only been together six weeks when we recorded a ‘live’ album in the Lindale High School auditorium in Lindale, Texas [the home of Paul Baloche, author of ‘Open the Eyes of My Heart’ and ‘Above All’]. It seated about 350 people. We had a mobile unit come in from Nashville to do the recording, and we spent a whopping five thousand dollars.

“‘Rise Again’ ended up as cut four on side two, the worst place, and generally referred to as the graveyard of songs. We basically did everything wrong: live albums were not selling, we put the song in the wrong place, and we rushed into the project. We had only been together for a few short weeks. Nevertheless, somewhere someone on the radio played ‘Rise Again,’ and word spread. Dallas Holm and Praise Live! went

on to be one of the first three albums to receive a Recording Industry Association of America gold-certified record.

“To me it was a great lesson. If God puts His finger on something, and if He anoints it, it doesn’t make any difference if all of the right marketing plans and promotional schemes are used. We didn’t know anything about that stuff. Having Christ say, ‘Go ahead and drive the nails in My hands,’ impacted the listener. It stayed on the Singing News Magazine charts for four years. As far as we know that has never happened before or since.”

It is Christ’s triumph over the tomb that allowed Him to keep His divine promise to those around Him when He declared, “I will rise again!”

© 2008 by Lindsay Terry. Used by permission.

Lindsay Terry has been a song historian for more than 40 years, and has written widely

on the background of great hymns and worship songs including the books I Could

Sing of Your Love Forever (2008), from which this piece is excerpted, and The

Sacrifice of Praise (2002).Table of Contents

___________________________________Church Buildersby Bernard R. DeRemer

Joseph Addison: Christian Statesman

Joseph Addison (1672-1719), lived a fascinating life as an essayist, poet, playwright, and politician in England. He was born near Wiltshire, the son of Rev. Lancelot Addison, but the family moved to Lichfield, where the elder Addison was appointed dean of the cathedral.

Addison was educated at Charterhouse school (where he met his longtime friend and collaborator Richard Steele), and then at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he excelled in Latin and the classics. Later, he became a fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. There he developed his interest in poetry, writing some himself, and publishing in 1694 a book on the lives of English poets and a translation of Virgil’s Georgics.

He had reportedly planned to go into ministry (as his father), but his academic work had caught the attention of some influential nobles who employed him in a diplomatic role to enable him to travel Europe, writing and studying politics, which “altered his intent.” Upon the death of King William III in 1702, his benefactors lost their influence, and Addison returned unemployed to England.

He began writing more, and his poem The Campaign (commemorating 1703’s Battle of Blenheim) brought him acclaim. His friends in the British government appointed him a commissioner of appeals, and, in 1705, the Undersecretary of State, where he accompanied the First Lord of the Treasury (the office today known as Prime Minister) on several diplomatic trips. Later, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1708 to his death

During a visit to Ireland, he met Jonathan Swift, rekindling his love of writing. He began regularly contributing essays for the Tatler, a literary journal started by his friend Steele. In 1711, the two together founded The Spectator newspaper, which greatly influenced England’s public discourse. Later, several of his essays were published as Evidences of the Christian Religion. “Addison and Richard Steele were for a reconciliation of the harsh austerities of

Puritans with the careless profligacy of the Restoration. They were in fact great moralists.”

He wrote several plays, including Cato, which was immensely popular in its day. Its themes of freedom, resistance to tyranny, and honor in the face of opposition made it a strong influence on the thinking and rhetoric of many American patriots (including Patrick Henry, Nathan Hale, and George Washington). Addison also wrote several hymns including “When All Thy Mercies O My God” and “The Spacious Firmament on High”. Perhaps the latter is his most important contribution in this area.

In 1716, he married the dowager countess of Warwick, a widow whose son he had tutored. He was again engaged in the government cabinet, appointed as Secretary of State for the Southern Department in 1717, his health began to fail, however, and he had to resign after just one year.

It is said that during his last illness, Addison sent for a young nobleman of very irregular life and loose opinions, saying, “I have sent for you that you may see how a Christian can die.” Suffering from asthma and dropsy, he died at only 47 years of age, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

“…Well done, thou good and faithful servant…” (Matt. 25:21).

Bernard R. DeRemer chronicled the lives of dozens of heroes of the faith in more than a decade of writing for Pulpit Helps Magazine.

He continues to serve in this capacity as a volunteer contributor to Disciple. He lives in

West Liberty, Ohio.

References: Who Was Who in Church History, by Elgin S. Moyer, excerpts used by permission of Moody Publishers; Wikipedia “Joseph Addison”.

Table of Contents

___________________________________Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel

Teaching Children in Love By AMG International Staff

“Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts” (Ps. 145:3-4).

If we could sum up AMG’s ministry to children in one phrase, that passage from David’s pen would do well. We strive to glorify God among children around the world by “proclaim[ing] the excellencies of Him who has called [us] out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Everywhere we work with children, we are, first and foremost, teaching them to love and praise God.

This is what defines AMG’s care for children. We know that if we provide for the physical needs of these kids without sharing the marvelous Gospel message, all we’ve taught them is how to find a handout—we haven’t given them the hope they so desperately need for this life and the next. Every one of our staff members takes very seriously their role as teachers of the words and actions of Christ to the children they serve.

Sometimes this teaching is obvious—in classrooms or Bible courses—but children and youth under our care are also being taught by the conversations and counsel of our national workers at childcare centers around the world. They are learning about God and His ways by watching their teachers, leaders, and support staff obey God in the daily routines of serving others. From their sponsors, they receive instruction

in what it looks like to have Christ-like compassion and care for those in need.

AMG seeks to stand in the gap for children (whether orphaned or from unbelieving homes) who are not able to receive instruction from their own families, working to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Over and over again, thanks to this ongoing teaching, we see children’s lives transformed by Christ. Sometimes, the children who receive Christ are even able to become Gospel teachers to their whole families.

Yudayah, a recent graduate from AMG’s childcare program in Uganda, came to the center when she was 10 years old. Her powerful testimony is evidence of God’s grace: “Praise the name of the living God. I am not ashamed of proclaiming that it was God’s grace that turned the Muslim Yudayah

into a born again Christian. Now I am no longer a Muslim.

“Teacher Florence [wife of AMG Uganda’s director, Reuben Musiime] taught us the word of God from the Bible. She read for us a verse in John 3:16. It said that whoever believes in Christ shall not perish but have eternal life. This word touched me and I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. From that time, my life did not remain the same. I started going to church and learned more about God. My behavior changed because I started forgiving those who had wronged me. I learned to love others and even to share with them.”

In another corner of the world, one of AMG’s national workers in Indonesia shares the story of another young Muslim beginning to grow in understanding of the truth: “Rinto joined the childcare center on the invitation of his friend, Tito. Rinto and his family are Muslims, but he was happy to learn in the

center, because he has a lot of good friends. Because he comes from nominal Muslim family, he did not know fully what Muslims believe. After obtaining spiritual guidance in the center, he began to love the Word of God from the Bible lessons. The teachers at the center continue to guide him and introduce the way of salvation in the Lord Jesus.”

In every case, children are able to come in contact with AMG and learn about God and His incredible message of salvation because sponsors chose to support them through prayer, communication, and giving. Without that outpouring of love, these kids may never have encountered the Gospel.

Unfortunately, the need for sponsors has been much greater than the available supply over the past few years. In addition, we pool the funds from sponsorship to ensure that no children are dropped from our ministry if their sponsors are unable to

continue giving. But when sponsors are unable to continue for whatever reason, we cannot add more children to our programs despite the great need, and we become limited in the range of resources we are able to provide for the kids we already have.

If you are among the thousands who sponsor one or more children through AMG, thank you for your faithful generosity! We can say without hesitation that you are being used by God to transform lives through your support. If not, would you consider adding a child sponsorship or a special gift to our childcare ministries this year? Perhaps you might share with your family and friends about this labor of love. Through your faithfulness, we are able to serve the Lord in ministry to children, and we know He will continue to provide for His work!

To learn more about AMG’s ministry to children and how you can partner with us in

sponsoring a child, please visit www.amginternational.org or call 1-800-

251-7206.

Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG) International is a non-denominational, international missions agency based in Chattanooga, Tenn. AMG’s distinctive has always been its reliance on national workers to carry the Gospel in their own cultures. Today, they operate ministries in over 30 countries around the world through partnership with national believers.

Table of Contents___________________________________Marks of the Masterby the Old Scot

The Eyes of the World

Originally published in Disciple, January 11, 2010.

Perhaps the most striking fact about life on Earth is its amazing diversity. More than a million different species of animals have been cataloged thus far, and the end is not yet. Life teems upon our planetary home, and it is a question whether the differences of the myriads of species or their underlying similarities is the more remarkable.

Take, for example, the way animals see their world. How many eyes, for instance, does each variety of animal life need? The answer ranges from zero to 28,000! There are a few species in the class of Arachnida—which includes spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks—that have no eyes at all. They make do very adequately by using other sense organs, such as tactile hairs, to feel their way and identify friends, foes, and food.

At the other extreme is the dragonfly, which has compound eyes, each made up of as many as 28,000 lens systems or simple eyes. The eye of the common housefly has approximately 4,000 such systems—yet all these eyes do not give it the keenness of sight that man enjoys with only two! Scientists have learned that each facet or lens of a compound eye gives the insect a crude mosaic impression of outline—and the more facets, the finer the detail. Such eyes are designed primarily to detect motion—and this is why it’s hard to sneak up on a fly!

Consider eyelids: the usual number in nature is two. But snakes have none at all, and crocodiles have three—the third being a transparent side-to-side lid which sweeps the eyeball clean and keeps it moist.

Think, then, of pupils: Most animals have round pupils, like man’s, but the crocodile and some nocturnal snakes have vertical-slit pupils. Also, some tree snakes

are known to have horizontal-slit pupils. But perhaps the strangest arrangement is that of the gecko, in which the pupil contracts to form a series of vertical pinholes.

Another adaptation of the eye concerns the way in which focus is changed from far to near. As with man, most land animals use special muscles to change the shape of the lens, making it thicker or thinner in the center. Fish, on the other hand, normally change the placement of the lens within the eyeball to achieve near or far vision. Sharks, however, are divided on the subject, for some move the lens, like other fish, while other sharks change the shape of the lens, like land animals.

In most animals the eyes are paired: that is, both eyes automatically focus upon the same object. This allows depth and distance perception, among other advantages. But in some animals the eyes

function independently, allowing a much greater field of perception.

Usually the eyes are in or on the head, and usually they are protected by bony sockets, as in man. But some snails have their eyes at the end of tentacles, which can be rolled down in case of danger. Moles have their eyes in their heads, but the lids are fused shut, presumably to protect the eyes from rubbing against the sides of their tunnels. It is thought that the mole’s eyes do function, but only to tell light from darkness.

Most eyes are movable in their sockets, but the owl’s eyes are rigidly set and cannot move. To compensate, the owl can rotate its neck through more than a half-circle each way. It can look directly behind without shifting its body!

Perhaps the strangest visual adaptation in all of nature is found in flatfish, such as halibut. The young flatfish looks like

a normal fish, with one eye on each side of its head. But as the halibut matures, one eye migrates through the head to the opposite side, so the adult fish is ready to lie continually on one side on the ocean bottom, with both eyes functioning on its top side.

How did such diversity come about? Evolutionists would have us think that each type of animal developed its own unique features in its drive for food and fulfillment in life. They believe each specialized organ developed little by little, over eons of time, in response to the animal’s need.

A little thought should serve to demolish this house of cards. How, for example, could the crocodile develop a third eyelid, a tiny fraction of an inch per millennium? According to evolutionary theory, it would not have developed at all unless it was needed; but in that case the

poor crocodile would long since have perished while waiting for it to develop.

And the halibut: How did it get along during the thousands and thousands of years supposedly necessary for its lower-side eye to migrate? And just how did that eye know where it was supposed to go? And how did the fish learn to demolish part of that eye socket in order to clear a path for the eye to migrate?

How did the chameleon learn the trick of moving each eye independently? How did the snake learn to substitute a transparent cap of skin for eyelids? Why did the cyclops (a small freshwater shellfish) decide it only needed one eye in the center of its head?

So many adaptations that could never have worked while they were supposed to have been developing by minute increments! One must ask which is more credible: that all these species survived the development process at all, or that they

were uniquely fashioned by a Creator who lovingly gave each creature just those adaptations of His basic pattern which would fit it to occupy its own niche in the world?

The Bible faithfully reports that “God made the beast of the earth after his kind...and everything that creepeth upon the earth, after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:25). The Bible also says this same God made man, after His image: made him to occupy the Earth and have rule over its resources; but He intended that man should follow his Maker, loving God and his fellow man, and living in harmony and peace.

The races of man continue to blow our assignment—but we as individuals don’t have to continue down this destructive path. There is a better way, and Jesus Christ is that way. He declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the

Father but by me” (John 14:6). Truly, Jesus is the way to life eternal!

The Old Scot (Ted Kyle) served as managing editor for Pulpit Helps magazine

(Disciple’s predecessor publication) from 1993-2008. He was always fascinated by the natural world, and readily saw God’s

hand in every detail. Ted went to be with His Creator and Savior in April 2013.

Sources:Illustrated Library of Nature, Vol. 1, Introduction: H.S. Stuttman Co., NY, 1971.(All other information derived from The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Ed., Vols. 7,9,10,14,15,16,17.)

Table of Contents

___________________________________Book Review—June 2014

Guest Review

Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me, Kevin DeYoung, 2014, Crossway, Wheaton, Ill., ISBN 9781433542404, 144 pages, $17.99, hardcover.

Often, good books come out and find traction in the wider Christian community, but we are a little bit too late to the table to provide a worthwhile original review. This is the case with a recent release, Taking God at His Word, by Kevin DeYoung.

Several of Deyoung’s other books (Why We’re Not Emergent, The Good News We Almost Forgot, What Is the Mission of the Church, The Hole in Our Holiness, and

Crazy Busy) have been reviews by Disciple through the years, and we trust that his latest work is in the same biblical, insightful, and engaging style. As such, we are referring you to an excellent review by Tim Challies: http://www.challies.com//book-reviews/taking-god-at-his-word.

Table of Contents___________________________________News Update—June 2014

News Update

Vietnam Police, Communist Officials Lead Mob Attacking Mennonite Retreat

Vietnamese Mennonite leader Nguyen Hong Quang and 20 church leaders and Bible college students were severely beaten by a mob, reportedly for two hours in My Phuoc, Binh Duong province, Vietnam.

Several hundred attackers surrounded the building in which they were

holding a religious retreat. Reportedly, attackers included hired thugs, Communist Party officials and police. Vietnam officially tolerates Christianity, but only recognizes officially sanctioned churches—which are highly regulated and prevented from engaging in evangelism or outreach to children. Quang has refused to submit his congregations to such government regulations.

“Pastors and Bible college students were brutally attacked by a large mob who stormed the building they were meeting,” reported Release International, a Christian advocacy group. Quang had been “holding a pastors’ retreat and summer school for ethnic minority Christians” when “several hundred people, including police, other officials and ‘hired hands’ broke down the gate. The building was pelted with rocks and its gate and doors were torn off.”

Rampaging into the building, the mob ransacked the interior and beat 20 pastors and students. “Pastor Quang suffered injuries to his head and chest and was left with broken teeth,” reported Release International. “The injured were reportedly barred from seeking medical help.”Quang is also a human rights lawyer. He and five other leaders became known as the ‘Mennonite Six’ when they were imprisoned for “resisting officers of the law” in 2004. In 2010, officials bulldozed his home and a Bible college he ran in Ho Chi Minh City, beating him unconscious. Quang is known for his human rights defense of Vietnamese minorities.

Before his arrest in 2004, he sent a message to a friend alluding to his concerns, “The Church is now on stormy seas but the boat still goes out. The Lord enables us to row together. Be at peace. I ask you and the Church to pray for us.”

Christian Headlines Daily

Bible Translation Work Continues Amongst Boko Haram Threats in Nigeria

Ongoing attacks by militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria have prompted Bible translators in the region to be more dedicated to their work. Wycliffe Associates says that its employees feel a greater need to translate the Bible into local languages during such a difficult time.

According to Christian Today, there are still 300 known languages in the region that do not yet have a Bible translation. In the midst of suicide attacks, bombings and kidnappings, Nigerians have a greater need for God’s word than ever before.

Wycliffe CEO Bruce Smith said, “The desperation of the situation actually increases their motivation for getting God's Word translated because they realize that the political and religious solutions are not

working. They need some truth that's going to change hearts, change perspectives, in order to make any difference for the long haul.”

Christian Headlines Daily

Charitable Giving to Religious Groups is down as Philanthropy Improves from the Great Recession

Americans are slowly pulling themselves out of a charitable slump—except when it comes to religious groups. That takeaway from the new Giving USA report, perhaps the most-read annual study on philanthropy, shows a slight downturn for churches and other religious organizations against an improving charity landscape.

American individuals, groups, foundations and corporations gave $335 billion in 2013—a 3 percent increase from 2012 (adjusted for inflation). It’s the fourth consecutive year in which giving rose after

taking a beating during the recession that officially ended in 2009. But religious groups saw donations drop 1.6 percent from 2012 to 2013. That contrasts to healthy jumps in education (7.4 percent), the arts and humanities (6.3 percent) and environmental and animal groups (6 percent), according to the study released June 17, which Giving USA produced with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Behind the sad stats for religious groups, experts say, is Americans’ declining interest in religious institutions. “Giving to religion represents primarily giving to houses of worship,” said Rick Dunham, CEO of Dallas-based Dunham+Company, a fundraising consulting company that mostly works with Christian ministries. “There has been a growing percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation, as well as a decrease in both church attendance and membership.”

According to a 2012 Pew Research Center study, about one in five Americans say they have no formal religious affiliation.

But Dunham, who serves on the editorial review board of Giving USA, also noted that many religiously oriented charities are often counted in other sectors, such as education and human services. “This is a bit of a complex picture,” he said, because giving to religion “is both declining…as well as shifting from houses of worship to religiously affiliated charities that are counted in other sectors.” Still, the religious sector continues to collect a greater proportion of total charitable giving—31 percent—than any other, according to the report.

Christian Headlines Daily

PCUSA Votes for Same-Sex “Marriage” by 3-1 Margin

The Presbyterian Church (USA) voted June 19 to allow gay and lesbian weddings within the church, making it among the largest Christian denominations to take an embracing step toward same-sex “marriage”.

By a 76-24 percent vote, the General Assembly of the 1.8 million-member PCUSA voted to allow pastors to perform gay marriages in states where they are legal. Delegates, meeting in Detroit this week, also approved new language about marriage in the church’s Book of Order, or constitution, altering references to “a man and woman” to “two persons.”

This change will not become church law until a majority of the 172 regional presbyteries vote to ratify the new language. But given the lopsided 3-1 ratio of the vote, approval is expected.

The vote came after an emotional but polite debate in which opponents of the

motion said it conflicted with Scripture and would cause Presbyterian churches abroad to break relations with the PCUSA. The Presbyterian Lay Committee, which opposes gay marriage, urged congregations to launch a financial boycott out of protest.

“The Presbyterian Lay Committee mourns these actions and calls on all Presbyterians to resist and protest them,” the group said in a statement. “…You should refuse to fund the General Assembly, your synod, your presbytery and even your local church if those bodies have not explicitly and publicly repudiated these unbiblical actions. God will not be mocked,” the statement continued, “and those who substitute their own felt desires for God’s unchangeable Truth will not be found guiltless before a holy God.”

Christian Headlines DailyTable of Contents

___________________________________Sermon Helpsfrom www.sermonhall.com

Sermon OutlinesJesus: the Providing SaviorJohn 4:6-15, 34-35

Intro.: As life cannot exist without water, so we cannot exist spiritually without Jesus Christ. We cannot live a happy, contented life without Him, nor go to heaven without Him.I. The Character of Christ (v. 6)

A. He knows our problems (Ps. 46:1).B. He knows our pitfalls (Ps. 103:14).C. He knows our pain (Heb. 4:15).

II. The Concern of Christ (vv. 7-9)A. Request/test (v. 7). B. Regulation (vv.8-9).

III. The Comfort of Christ (vv. 10-15)

A. Plan (v. 10). If the Samaritan had known who Jesus is, she would have asked for the living water—new life in Christ.

B. Problem (vv. 11-12). She was depending on man-made laws—which were nailed to Christ’s cross [cancelled] (Col. 2:14).

C. Provision (vv. 13-15). Indwelt by Christ, we need never thirst again; have the hope of eternal life (John 3:16); have joy and peace in Him (Ps. 16:11).IV. The Compassion of Christ (vv. 2-21; 34-35)

A. Worship of God: We do not need special places to worship God (cf. John 1614). We worship in spirit and truth (John 14:6; 16:13; 17:17).

B. Work of God (vv.34-35): Jesus had one paramount goal: to do the will of God (Matt. 26:39). He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)—our job too.Conc.: (Matt. 6:31-34; Phil. 4:19; Ps. 37:25).

Croft M. Pentz

The Great EnablerSelected ScripturesIntro.: By the Holy Spirit each Christian has the inward presence of God to enable to him with humanly impossible assistance and work.I. The Holy Spirit Has Indwelt Every Christian (Rom. 8: 9; 1 Cor. 3:16)

A. Jesus called this presence better than His physical presence (John 16:7-15).

B. Paul felt this presence gave him power to do God’s will (Phil. 4:13).II. The Holy Spirit Exerts Four Humanly Impossible Special Powers

A. The power to create (2 Cor. 5:17; John 3: 6-8).

B. The power to change (2 Cor. 3:17-18).

C. The power to contribute1. By witnessing (Acts 1:8).

2. By comforting (2 Cor. 1:3-6).D. The power to resurrect (Rom.

8:11).R. G. Witty

IllustrationsLook for the Blood

Whenever we are hearing a new teacher and a new message, let us look for the sign of blood. Jesus says of Himself that He had come “to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). Beware of any prophet who does not say as much of Christ!

There was a Frenchman by the name of Lepaux, who wanted to create a new religion. It was not long when he complained to the statesman Talleyrand of his ill-success. The statesman replied: “That you have difficulty in introducing your new religion does not surprise me. But I believe I can show you how to succeed…. The way to succeed in teaching religion is: go and

perform miracles; heal the sick of every variety; raise the dead; then be crucified and rise up again from the grave on the third day. When you shall have done all this, you may succeed.”

No doubt, the philosopher went back somewhat thoughtful. Talleyrand was right. The core and strength of the Gospel is the death of atonement suffered by Christ for us. If the test of blood is not met, the message may sound attractive; but it is a new gospel—with salvation left out of it.

AnonymousThe Foolish Question

A little boy drove his mother to distraction with questions one day. Finally she sent him packing off upstairs to bed.

Later feeling troubled, she tiptoed into his room, knelt beside his bed, and told him she was sorry she had been cross with him, adding, “Now, dear, if you want to ask one more question before you go to sleep, I’ll try

to answer it.” Quick as a wink the youngster blurted out, “Mommy, how high is up?”

Some theological questioning is just about as foolish. That’s exactly what Paul calls the man who asks these questions about the resurrection body, “Thou fool.” The Greek word here is (aphron), which comes from the negative prefix (a), “without,” and the noun (phren), “mind.” You are a man without sense, without reason, Paul says, if you think there can be an explanation in detail of all observable facts and the conclusions to be drawn from them.

Anonymous

Bulletin InsertsOn SufferingIn suffering we weave together the promises of God, and the dark threads are as needful as the gold and silver in the weaver’s design. 

People are like tea bags—you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are. 

These two Anonymous

God does not send us through deep waters to drown us, but to cleanse us.

Great trials seem to be necessary preparation for great duties.

These two from Croft M. Pentz

Adversity serves its purpose if it strengthens the one who has to endure it.

R. Whitson Seaman

When God is about to do something great, He starts with a difficulty. When He is about to do something truly magnificent, He starts with an impossibility.

Armin Gesswein, Book of Living Quotations

When God permits His children to go through the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. His loving heart knows how much and how long.

Warren W. Wiersbe

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain.

C.S. LewisTable of Contents

___________________________________Puzzles and ‘Toons

Church ‘Toons by Joe McKeever

On Following Pages

Answers to last issue’s puzzles:

Hidden WisdomBy Mark Oshman

Originally published in Pulpit Helps, June 1998

On next page

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