Regeneration: The New Birth

(from Key Words of the Christian Life, pg. 37-45) The English word “regeneration” simply means new birth, renewal or restoration. It is used only twice in our Authorized Version of the Bible. In Titus 3:5 we read about a personal regeneration: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he […]

From The Home Office

(from I Left My Mind in Mississippi… But I Still Have My Ministry, pg. 81-83.) One of the most popular shows on late night TV is David Letterman. Letterman has become famous for his “Top 10” list. In fact, two books have been published containing his “best of” lists. What if we had a similar top […]

Tithing

Written by: Joe McKeever Let’s see if I can talk you out of tithing your income to the Lord through this church. Here are some reasons not to tithe. If you do not tithe your income: You will have more money to spend however you please. You can buy a new car twice as often. […]

Brightlight Books

A used book website you might want to check out. Good people to work with in your search for used books. www.brightlightbooks.com 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

Be Careful What You Pray For

Acts 3 WE MUST DIE TO SELF AND POINT PEOPLE TO CHRIST. 3:1-10 WE MUST LEARN TO NEVER GO BEYOND WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS IN WHAT WE TELL PEOPLE ABOUT GOD. Warren Wiersbe, “God promised healing and prosperity to Israel, but He never gave those promises to the New Testament church…There comes a time when children […]

The Signs of Church Health

ACTS 2:42-47 The early church was a congregation of the committed: Committed to the Word and discipleship. Committed to doing the HIMpossible. Committed to community and caring. Committed to prayer. Committed to service. Committed to Worship. Committed to evangelism. A Healthy Church is Made Up of Faithful People Vance Havner, “The plight of the churches […]

"Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time. That is not just fable or a nice story. It is true. If we abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe frequently. God shows Himself everywhere, in everything-in people and in things and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that God is everywhere and in everything and we cannot be without Him. It's impossible. The only thing is is that we don't see it." - Thomas Merton in a 1965 audiotape.

"To look up out at this kind creation and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith." - Astronaut John Glenn

"Data collected by the Hubble telescope indicates that there is another galaxy racing toward our own Milky Way at 300,000 miles per hour. The devastating collision could occur a mere five billion years from now." - Newsweek Dec. 29, 1997, pg. 132.

"Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure." - Jarger

"Darwinism demolished the literal interpretation of the biblical creation story. The theory of evolution is a well-established theory, not speculative and on the fringe of science. The consensus of science today is that the theory of evolution is a powerful theory indeed, extremely well-supported by evidence." - Kitty Ferguson (in The Fire in the Equations: Science, Religion, and the Search for God, Eerdmans, 1996, pg. 2)

"What if the rain be falling, and the wind blowing? What if we stand alone, or, more painful still, have some dear one beside us, sharing our outness? What even if the window be not shining, because of the curtains of good inscrutable drawn across it? Let us think to ourselves, or say to our friend, "God is; Jesus is not dead. Nothing can be going wrong, however it may look so to hearts unfinished in childness." - George MacDonald in Creation in Christ

"According to most philosophers, God in making the world enslaved it. According to Christianity, in making it, He set it free. God had written not so much a poem, but rather a play; a play he had planned as perfect, but which had necessarily been left to human actors and stagemanagers, who had since made a great mess of it." - G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy

"I think it says something that the only form of life that we have created so far is purely destructive. Talk about creating life in our own image." - Stephen W. Hawking telling a computer convention that computer viruses represent the only life form wholly created by humans.

"If God had done all he could have done he would still be doing it. But he set it aside, sanctified it and rested." - Anonymous

"The sun and its nine known planets constitute one small dot in 1 trillion such universes that make up what we call the Milky Way galaxy. That is not all. The Milky Way, measuring 100,000 light-years from edge to edge, is one of an estimated 1 billion such galaxies known to be in space. The 200-inch Mt. Palomar telescope, penetrating 2 billion light years into space, cannot find the outer limit of the galaxies. If the psalmist could look with the human eye into the heavens and understand their witness to the glory of God. All creation is an outstretched finger pointing toward God." - Robert Cowles in The Alliance Witness

"Criticism is easy; achievement is more difficult" - Winton Churchill in Churchill on Courage

"If one man calls you a donkey, pay him no mind. If two men call you a donkey, look for hoofprints. If three call you a donkey, get a saddle." - Unknown

"Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." - John Wooden

"The secret of success is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five guys who haven't made up their minds." - Casey Stengel, legendary baseball manager (1891-1975)

"It's not what they say about you; it's what they whisper." - Errol Flynn

"We will do nothing at all if we wait to be sure that no one will be able to find fault with what we do." - Cardinal Newman (quoted in Pulpit Digest, Mar/Apr 1997, pg. 50)

"A certain amount of discontent is inevitable. Not every infection calls for a massive dose of penicillin. At least two types of situations call for criticism to be confronted and refuted. One is if the criticism affects the health of the body. The other time I probably need to respond directly to criticism is - unfortunately - when I don't want to. Recent studies on self-esteem suggest that most issues involving our sense of worth revolve around approach/avoidance tendencies. That is, when we sense ourselves avoiding something out of fear, we interpret ourselves as wimping out, and our self-esteem drops proportionately." - John Ortbert

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. "- Abraham Lincoln (quoted in Ministries Today, Nov/Dec 1995)

"Attackers within the church always lack historical perspective, thus repeating history's mistakes: The death of spiritual awakenings always takes place when leaders shoot at each other." - Anonymous

"If you want to avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing!" - Anonymous

"It is only at trees bearing good fruit that stones are thrown." - Anonymous

"The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism." - Anonymous

"He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help." - Abraham Lincoln

Creation

The Ten Commandments in Cajun… (Keeps it REAL Simple)

God is number one… and das’ All. Don’t pray to nuttin’ or nobody… jus’ God. Don’t cuss nobody… ‘specially da Good Lord. When it be Sunday… pass yo’self by God’s House. Yo mama an’ yo daddy dun did it all… listen to dem. Killin’ duck an’ fish, das’ OK… people – No! God done give […]

Kingdom Focused Church

A Compelling Image of an Achievable Future Gene Mims, Broadman and Holman. It’s not about methods, conferences, programs and hype. The church must have a mission and a focus. This book includes chapters on Making Disciples in Corporate Worship and Open Groups. Also how to mature believers in closed groups and multiply ministries through teams […]

Holy Boldness

Acts 4:1-12 BACKGROUND: Sanhedrin – highest ruling body of the Jews. 70 members – patterned after Numbers 11. 3 groups: rulers/elders/scribes. Corrupted into a political body not godly men. Formed an alliance with Rome to maintain their clout. Power brokers. Two groups below the Chief Priest/High Priest who ruled. 1. Pharisees – many were scribes. […]

Down To Earth Discipling

Essential Principles to Guide Your Personal Ministry – Scott Morton. NavPress. Noted for their work in the area of discipleship, this is a great, practical resource for the pastor or lay leader involved in one on one discipleship. If you are interested in discipling another believer, invest in this book and it will help you […]

Peggy Noonan

Other ‘political and culture war’ websites you might want to check out include: www.peggynoonan.com and www.opinionjournal.com (web site featuring many Wall Street Journal columnists. www.peggynoonan.com www.opinionjournal.com 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors. […]

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