Internet Missionary

And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord... -Jeremiah 45:5a   

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. -Psalm 139   One of the old German devotional philosophers took the position that God loves to forgive big sins more than He does little sins because the bigger the sin, the more glory accrues to Him for his forgiveness. I remember the writer went on to say that not only does God forgive sins and enjoy doing it, but as soon as He has forgiven them, He forgets them and trusts the person just as if he or she had never sinned. - AW Tozer Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--Speak evil of no man. -Charles Spurgeon When others are flyi...

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. -1 Chronicles 16 Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass: when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon which a man's inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed proceeding from him. -Charles Spurgeon I do not know all of the Savior's reasons for choosing the woman at the well. I know that His revelation of Himself to her constituted an everlasting rebuke to human self-righteousness. I know that every smug woman who walks down the street in pride and status ought to be ashamed of herself. I know that every self-righteous man who looks into his mirror each morning to shave what he believes to be an honest fac...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. - Colossians 3    I present what I have before the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus; and through him my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in his prayers; my praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia from Christ's own garden. -Charles Spurgeon Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word "forgiveness," when it sounds in a guilty sinner's ear, like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite? Blessed, forever blessed be that dear star of pardon which shines into the condemned cell, and gives the perishing a gleam of hope amid the midnight of despair! - Charles Spurgeon To God be all the glory and praise. Nature sings His song.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear... -Hebrews 12 Eternal life is divine life with a special function--to know God and Christ. Every life has its function. The function of a dog's life is barking, the function of a bird's life is flying... The function of the divine life is to know God. God and Christ are divine. To know the divine Person we need the divine life, Since the believers are born with the divine life, they know God and Christ . -Witness Lee One good deed is more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we "find to do" day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God...

"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: That I might shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation."  - Psalm 9:13,14 "The Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands."  -Psalm 9:16 One would think that men would not grow so vain as to think themselves anything but men, but it appears to be a lesson only a divine schoolmaster can teach to some proud spirits....  - Charles Spurgeon "..the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.  Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men."  -Psalm 9:19,20 Mercy is ready to her work as bit as much as justice can be.  Needy souls fear that their are forgotten; if...

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. - Colossans 3 Certainly His kingdom can never be realized in my life until my own selfish kingdom is deposed. It is when I resign, when I am no longer king of my domain that Jesus Christ will become king of my life . -AW Tozer When the time comes and we have finished our course for God, let us face death like men.  Let us look it in the eye.  Let us not rebel against the cutting of the cords that loose us from the mooring of these earthly shores; but, rather, unfurl the sails and take that blessed journey to a better country! - Bayless Conley At this hour a mountain of difficulty, distress, or necessity may be in our way, and natural reason sees no path over it, or through it, or round it. Let faith come in, and straightway the mountain disappears and becomes a plain. But faith must first hear the word of the LORD--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Sp...

He will chide sometimes, or He would not be a wise Father for such poor, erring children as we are. His chiding is very painful to those who are true, because they feel how sadly they deserve it and how wrong it is on their part to grieve Him. We know what this chiding means, and we bow before the LORD, mourning that we should cause Him to be angry with us. But what a comfort we find in these lines! "Not always" will He chide. If we repent and turn to Him with hearts broken for sin and broken from sin, He will smile upon us at once. It is no pleasure to Him to turn a frowning face toward those whom He loves with all His heart: it is His joy that our joy should be full. Come, let us seek His face.   -Charles Spurgeon My soul thirsteth to drink deep of the cup which is reserved for those who reach the mountain's brow, and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whos...

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. - Psalm 100 Many Christians have an unusual number of problems. If these were merely outward problems, they would not be that important. But many of these problems point to inward darkness and to the lack of spiritual clarity; one should not treat this lightly. Some situations are necessary for a Christian in the course of spiritual progress. However, a Christian should not allow himself to remain indefinitely in darkness and unclearness. It is not God's will that we should constantly have problems; God does not wish to see us remain in darkness . -Witness Lee We are not to expect to win victories for the LORD Jesus by a single blow. Evil principles and practices die hard. In some places it takes years of labor to drive out even one of the many vices which defile the inhabitants....

Walking through the store, I saw a big beautiful turkey.  Immediately I thought of the joy of having enough turkey for the entire extended family.  I decided to purchase it, no matter what it cost. So I was going to bless my family. But the store blessed me first with a deal.  By spending so much money in addition to the bird, I was eligible for a discount, and got the bird for a much cheaper price than otherwise. So the store blessed me. Mind, my family are already a blessing on me, such as it is, for being in my life, active in my life, despite being busy in their own individual worlds. When we look at chains of scripture like Ephesians, we are assured of blessings, as Paul says, "abundant", as if we were always to get more from a God that owns everything in existence. Paul is of course thankful so much for his church family, in every epistle letter he spends a lot of time being thankful for them, and he wants them to know how glad he is to have brotherhood with them. M...

All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except he worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure. He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed. We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by his life we live--can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember him at his table, where he deigns to feast with his brethren? - ...

With the American Thanksgiving Holiday coming, we should all be cognizant of being thankful, and for what? For whatever there is, around in each of our own lives, but also Christ, God and the Holy Spirit, binding us all together in one galactic daydream that is life. When we sit for turkey, we should be thankful for the time and the circumstance, we should be thankful for just a moment to breath, and further, we should show our thanks by imparting a blessing on someone else: from volunteering to serve or cooking, buying supplies or shuttling diners back and forth to the meal, something to let the world know our gratitude, something to shine a light for all the believers, something to for once honor the meek, something to give blessed mercy to everyone else.

May we receive grace beyond, abounding far beyond what we deserve; in fact, I'm inclined to think, based on Jesus's stripes, that we get some of His grace. Doesn't it seem so often that we shun the light when we abide in the darkness?  What I mean is that once we are in that foul mood, once the beast has taken our thoughts, is it not comfortable?  Do we not feel that our indignation, our anger and our fear are righteous?  Justified? We would sit in sin and sulk like angry children, as if to hold our breath until God notices, but truth be told, God has already noticed and forgiven you! While we revel in the negative, actually seeming to enjoy feeling bad, we are so far from God, as if ignoring him, even if we are actively calling out to him.

It is a spring shut up: just as there were springs in the East, over which an edifice was built, so that none could reach them save those who knew the secret entrance; so is the heart of a believer when it is renewed by grace: there is a mysterious life within which no human skill can touch. It is a secret which no other man knoweth; nay, which the very man who is the possessor of it cannot tell to his neighbour.   Future things are hidden from us. Yet here is a glass in which we may see the unborn years. The LORD says, "From this day will I bless you." It is worthwhile to note the day which is referred to in this promise. There had been failure of crops, blasting, and mildew, and all because of the people's sin. Now, the LORD saw these chastened ones commencing to obey His word and build His temple, and therefore He says, "From the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider. From this day will I bless you."  " here is ...

I was reading along the lines of one popular evangelist's enumeration of "faith fundamentals", and came across Romans 10:19. "..Moses saith, I WILL PROVOKE YOU TO JEALOUSY BY THEM THAT ARE NO PEOPLE, AND BY A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU." We are so often provoked to jealousy, and that after we're told our salvation pushes us towards repentence, that repenting is the "works" of faith, the residue, or as Paul and Peter say, the "sweet savour", one could see the righteous by their conduct, not by their own stripes, of which theirs are hidden, but by the stripes given the Lord. The Kardashians had wrangled in so many people, and others, wrangling, even Taylor Swift announcements glutting web servers so full that websites crash in overload. We are bidden to come to the trough, as the dog returns to his vomit. " ..the people imagine a vain thing..." And yet further we are encouraged to reach for celebrity, to put ourselves on a pe...

Thomas Nelson Publish/Bible Gateway Verse of the Day, 11/16/22: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

The old testament YHWH assured Isaiah of a great many things, and used Isaiah's child's birth to mark a few events, too.  Isaiah is said to have married a Prophetess. He was assuring Isaiah a wrong would be righted, just after the birth of the child, a wrong to a nation would be restored, the fat of that particular nation's land, though God had no covenant with that particular nation in question, he righted a wrong, foretold their restoration. same chapter: "Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel." There was another more vulgar proverb of the man being "in it up to his neck", and that acting, not to perturb ...

The book of Psalms is a dichotomy, reflecting often two contrasting states, usually Good and Evil. This is called Hebrew Parallelism. A in contrast to B. Describe A, describe the contrasting B.   According to Psalm 1, the faithful are trees. The unfaithful are chaff, given no water, taken no roots and shifting around with whatever wind that bows.   David assures us that:   The Lord knows us.   Our way is the way of life.   The contrast is the wicked way of death. (so the faithful way is life, then)   The wicked way doesn't accept judgement. (so the faithful accept judgement)   Jeremiah later assures us further that the Lord knows the desires of our hearts! Not just our thoughts, but much deeper; indeed, the Lord knows it about us even when we don't.   The Lord heard your naysayers rumors about you, but still listens to YOU! The Lord knows the truth, even when we don't.   -Posted also on the Internet Missionary Facebook Page and the in t...

"We are trees and flowers, sun and stars, and blades of grass all gathered into a beating heart and a self-reflective mind." - Ilia Delio , Politics and the Power of Love.

How are they his? By his own sovereign choice. He chose them, and set his love upon them. This he did altogether apart from any goodness in them at the time, or any goodness which he foresaw in them. He had mercy on whom he would have mercy, and ordained a chosen company unto eternal life; thus, therefore, are they his by his unconstrained election. They are not only his by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them to the utmost farthing, hence about his title there can be no dispute. Not with corruptible things, as with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's portion has been fully redeemed. There is no mortgage on his estate; no suits can be raised by opposing claimants, the price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord's freehold forever.  Spurgeon referencing "election", see also Ephesians 1. It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God continually to strengthen that which...

Jesus had told the believers of his earthly time that they were "the light of the world."  Later he instructed them not to hide their light, but let it shine.  There is also the metaphor of the city on the hill, the corporate church, the body of believers is an ensample, an example. We hope to continue on in our brotherhood with believers and non-believers alike, though we are conditional about the non-believers, lest we ourselves are led astray. Jesus even broke bread with the sinners, and as legalists remind us, this did not cause him to partake in sin, but he kept his righteousness all the while, and acted as that example for the others, in the simple act of just being there. Just being there, and they look up from the doldrums of pavement haze in the city, look up to the hill, and that "city on the hill". We affect the condition of being ambassadors for Christ to the "wayward Gentiles", and like Paul, we continue the ministry efforts, spreading the lig...

Impromptu "yard-chat" with LD Oneal this morning, rather uplifting, and couldn't help feel that I was the worldly kind of seedy one in the chat, and Oneal was certainly the more up standing, right standing.  LD Oneal proves it both by his faith and his works. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit... 1 Peter 3 I was thinking of Plato's formal and informal universes.  It occurs that God, God and heaven are the formal, perfect universe.  From that there is a paltry facsimile, made in some similarity, but paltry by comparison, and that is our world: an informal world of broken choices. As they say in the church, "a lost and dying world."  We strive to be the light, in that sin-drenched world of man, that informal, imperfect world, and we look to the next, kind of a "The Republic" of the soulish realm, Heaven itself. To say there ...

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding... Colossians 1 Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. - Charles Spurgeon No one whose senses have been exercised to know good and evil but must grieve over...

Just as the disciple's feet were cleansed, perfecting them in a way, and washing away the minutia of earth, so too do we learn or become aware by putting our mind to the thing's of heaven:  the more we become aware of God, and His plan, it is just like already knowing the plan, and taking peace in it. In that same way, as in Eastern thought, as we become aware of things by admitting our ignorance, so too can we sometimes be saved by NOT doing, perhaps in prayer, but no earthly man-activity, relying on no methods of earth, but simply by waiting on God. Getting saved by doing nothing; being righteousness, by doing nothing.  Especially if the alternative, if doing is to be in error or to commit sin; we had certainly better stop and do nothing. Jesus insulated and blessed his disciples at their feet. Be insulated, be blessed, and let righteousness be bestowed on you, as some say using the verb "to claim", claim your salvation by doing nothing: that is the rest of God, God...

 

Thomas Nelson Verse of the Day: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. - 1 John 2 SELECTIONS: . ..it is often the rich ones who are not proud. It is a pity that many of God's children go around in circles and never advance. The sole reason that they suffer loss is because they think that they have something. -Witness Lee God--the eternal God--is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet "underneath" t...

In washing the disciple's feet, Jesus became a servant, but a shepherd always tends to his flock.  Remember that Jesus was the good shepherd. Consider also that we are called to deny the world for His sake.  Part of cleansing their feet may have been to purify their connection to the earth: their feet. Consider also that anointing the Lord's feet, may have also been a way of petitioning for more of His divinity, instead of the earthbound.  Surely the sinless Christ did not need anointing, but yet it was done anyway with pricey perfumes. Truly the connection to God and the connection to earth-the feet-were worth the trouble.   We are but powerless to be but ever mindful of our connection to both heaven, above, and earth, below.  Without a doubt, we belong to God, but we are commanded to love our neighbor too, which is a bond to the earth, the earthly life and the sons of Adam, the first man, who was constructed from the dust of the earth.   The ceremony of w...

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God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.   -Job 37 It is a very ill omen to hear a wicked world clap its hands and shout "Well done" to the Christian man. He may begin to look to his character, and wonder whether he has not been doing wrong, when the unrighteous give him their approbation. Let us be true to our Master, and have no friendship with a blind and base world which scorns and rejects him. Far be it from us to seek a crown of honour where our Lord found a coronet of thorns. -Charles Spurgeon It did not take Moses long to lead the children of Israel out through the Red Sea to deliverance and freedom; but his fittedness to lead them out was the result of years of hard discipline. It took David only a few minutes to dispose of Goliath; but he had beaten the giant long before in the person of the lion an...

 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. -Isaiah 1 Give to the site if you want.   You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. -CS Lewis How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to the world all the day: but this is poor living; we should always be with him, treading in his steps and doing his will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man's walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call him ours, and anon lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him . -Charles Spurgeon If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly th...

  Wellness and even Buddhists talk about mental presence and awareness.  Christ is his earthly bound-days had something that brought sort of a peak mental awareness; imagine him fasting and spending hours in prayer. I like to think Christ and God are not just love, but also an awareness: a generosity, but a mental presence that feels all those interconnections.  I apologize for sounding mystic, but I remind that, as in the book of Philippians, I am equal to much, because my faith in Christ strengthens me.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. -Joshua 24 give to the site if you want   As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty vessels into which God pours his salvation. -Charles Spurgeon " ...no gift is more important than the other."   -Charles Stanley "As we move farther on and mount higher up in the Christian life we may expect to encounter greater difficulties in the way and meet increased hostility from the enemy of our souls...." - AW Tozer As we move farther on and mount higher up in...

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty . -1 Timothy 2 Give to the site, if you want.   Selections: In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at his example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple of Jerusalem: by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain's brow. He is witnessing night and day; his mighty prayers are as vocal to God as his daily services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and Pharisees cannot shut his mouth; even before Pilate he witnesses a good confession. He witnesses so clearly, and distinctly that there is no mistake in him.   -Charles Spurgeon An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that wh...

I struggle with this idea.... first.  We are His hope in glory. second.  He is our hope. But our hopes, so often, as even the Bible says, that the understanding is darkened and there is inequity in the heart. Yet we are His hope. Like the faith that moves mountains, can we harness this to achieve the best of our desires?  The most providential? I come down on the side of that, if it fits God's plan, if it doesn't destroy another maybe, that we could be granted something.....  but such parameters are so vague and foggy. I'm inclined to think my faith is a powerful tool, as per Word of Faith pastors. What we are not given is a set of parameters or conditions; Christ says the mountain will move, if one's faith is set on it. Dare we think parabolically, a kind of circles-in-on-itself way that we can remove, by mindset, various lapses in judgement, dignity, personality flaws, all by will, and the will the tip of the spear of the believer's own faith? We could pray for a ...

Some suppliers around had old stocks of small-publisher KJV Thomspon Chain bibles, but there had been a pretty good little hole in the market for these things on a larger scale..... I could come up with a Thompson Chain paperback, standard size, and its a really good reference Bible, but Zondervan's new offering looks pretty promising, and with various trim levels and extra study helps.... Randy from Biblebuyerguide posts an unpaid review of the material, along with a lot of pictures, and even a video.... https://biblebuyingguide.com/kjv-comfort-print-thompson-chain-reference-bible-review-part-2-cover-and-size-comparisons/

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him  - Ephesians 2 Donate to the site if you like. When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards.   -Charles Spurgeon Though there are 7.9 billion people on earth, the Lord knows all of them intimately. And He speaks to His children on an individual basis, according to each...

When you have every reason to submit to life's timult and live in despair.... but don't..... you wouldn't let go of your joy. That my friends, is the presence of Christ in your heart. When assailed by enemies, you may not trust, but yet you will not hate, you forsake killing..... God is in your soul, Christ is in your heart. Such as Psalms 1 and 2, when the wicked are portrayed as destroying themselves, what's really happening is that the redeeming spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, the helper, "Cletus", has no purchase in their souls, and they wither in hatred and self-destruction. Think of how the indolent unconscious tree grows, the instinct driven yard dog, even the yard dog can show familiarity and love, the tree can flourish even in inconvenient spots, for they know not wickedness, only a hard natural arc. "how much more then" if God clothes the grass of the field, "how much more then" will God care and provide for h...

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. - Romans 13 God's own plan is everything, and God's own plan happens in his own time, at his command, and not ours.  That next big thing in your life, or the happy conclusion of something else, may be an object of our prayer; the believer sometimes has to be patient and wait on God. And then the hopes of his heart are his. Give to the site to help with ministry costs, if you want. SELECTIONS: I think the thrill of the Pagan stories and of romance may be due to the fact that they are mere beginnings—the first, faint whisper of the wind from beyond the world—while Christianity is the thing itself: and no thing, when you have really started on it, can have for you then and there just the same thrill as the first hint. For example, the experience of being married and bringing up a family cannot have the old bittersweet of first falling in love. But it is futile (an...

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. -2 Corinthians 3 Give to the site if you want. No one will believe this who has not lived long and looked hard, so that he knows how suddenly a passion for which has for years been wrapped round the whole of the heart will dry up and wither. Perhaps in the soul, as in the soil, those growths that show the brightest colours and put forth the most overpowering smell have not always the deepest root. Or perhaps it’s age that does it . - CS Lewis Those who serve God must serve him in his own way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth he casteth away; he will only reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love . - Charles Spurgeon Let me ask you this...