By Margeret E. Barber

Margaret_E._Barber

If the path I travel

Lead me to the cross,

If the way Thou chooset

Lead to pain and loss,

Let the compensation

Daily, hourly, be

Shadowless communion,

Blessed Lord, with Thee.

M.E. Barber was a missionary to China around the turn of the century. Though not much is known of her personally, having read the following, I think you will agree, she had quite a walk with the Lord.

The value of allowing the Lord to have His way with regard to discipline was a great asset to her. If I recall correctly, she would say, “I kiss the hand that smites me.” Indicating, not only that had she learned to accept the correction that came from the Lord she walked with, but she even embraced it.

The following relays the intimacy she maintained with her Savior! A student she had been discipling came to her with what he though was valuable information. He had received word the owners of some buildings she was leasing for ministry were going to terminate the aggreement. The student felt he had some very timely advice. Yet! Upon informing her, she insisted there was no need to look for other accommodations. Though given formal notice by the owners to vacate, she did nothing. As it turned out, the plans the owners had for the new occupants fell through, and only a short time before the end of the lease, she was asked to stay.

When querried as to why no plans were made, even after receiving notice to vacate, she answered, “The Lord had given the buildings in answer to prayer. And since He had not told her otherwise (to make alternative plans), she knew the buildings would be available.”

To the question, “What prevents us hearing the Lord?” she responded, “Whenever there is a problem hearing from the Lord it is because we are holding on to other things that are more dear to us than the Lord.”

And last: It was in response to the prayers that ascended from M.E. Barber and Dora Yu, that the Lord brought revival on Foochow. One of those who came to the Lord in the revival was a man you have probably heard of: Watchman Nee.

For more on the life of Ms. Barber, visit Living Stream

, or The Church in Cleveland (Biographies section). A small paperback biography is also available through The Chicage Bibles & Books. (This short biography is quoted from 

http://www.wellofoath.com/home.asp?pg=Bios&toc=Margaret+E.+Barber)

Prevailing in Prayer by Charles Finney

http://www.gospeltruth.net/1868_75Independent/740305_prev_pray.htm

An Answer to the Comment by Mr. Gormley

No, I don't believe salvation is a very simple thing at all. It's so vast. God is so vast and unsearchable and past finding. So wise. We can spend our whole lifetime searching out His knowledge and greatness, isn't it! No man can claim perfect theology, because that is to claim we know God perfectly, which is to claim we are as clever as God, and put ourselves in the place of God, which was Satan's sin. No, I don't know everything. But God is teaching me,  through His word, and I must listen and live it out.

Yes, I agree that salvation is often underrated and not understood! People think salvation is so easy, that just by saying the sinners prayer we can be saved. Far from it! Those who are think we can be saved by just saying a sinner's prayer are so wrong. Salvation is deep and it is a mystery, which now is being revealed to us by God's Word to His saints. God's grace is costly.

I quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing....[45]


Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.[45-46]


Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin....


Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[47]


Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.


Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.


Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”


On two separate occasions Peter received the call, “Follow me.” It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mark 1.17; John 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word. The second occasion is when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call is: “Follow me.” Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter's confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God....[48]


This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. It was the grace of Christ himself, now prevailing upon the disciple to leave all and follow him, now working in him that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy, now inviting Peter to the supreme fellowship of martyrdom for the Lord he had denied, and thereby forgiving him all his sins. In the life of Peter grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace which costs.[49]


As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, this realization of the costliness of grace gradually faded. The world was Christianized, and grace became its common property. It was to be had at low cost.[49]"

Sacraments cannot save us, man cannot save us, rituals cannot save us. It is God alone who will save us, and he is saving us every day. He is working in His saints, perfect and cleansing them, sanctifying and redeeming them, as they learn to "die daily". We are saved not by what we do, but by what Christ did. Sacraments are "good" in themselves, practiced, like the law but without true spiritual life and depth in us we are dead, we have no life of Christ in us.

The church is not an institute, it is the body of Christ, the body of believers, and Christ is the very head and center.

Discipleship is no convenient thing. It is hard, it is costly, it costs us our lives which must end at the place of the cross. Only Yahshua HaMashiach can save us. Only God can save us. We cannot save ourselves. God tries and tests the hearts, He sees beyond the outward appearance. He jugdges the motives and intentions of the heart.  The eternal, abundant, life from God begins now, not just in eternity. It begins at the place of the cross.

Yahshua alone is the way. There is no other way.

Yahshua alone is the truth. THere is no other truth but what is found IN Him. He is truth, and there is no lie in Him.

Yahshua is life, and in Him we find life, because we can die with Him and live again, ressurected, in that wonderful eternal life of God.

It begins with Faith, faith grows. Faith is not easy. Faith requires of us. God will give us that faith. If we are faithful in little, He will make us faithful in much. We can only reap what we sow into our lives, so what we sow must be the gold, silver, and precious stones, which go into the fire and come out unscathed, the wood, hay, and straw will perish. If we sow godliness and truth, that is what we reap. If we sow ungodliness and lies, that is what we reap, in the vengeance of eternal fire.

A Balanced Christian, Daily

I often wonder, sometimes to myself, if I would ever get up early. That is my main struggle. I would love to, but somehow my sleep just calls out to me every morning when the alarm rings.

1)     1)  Prayer - Learn both to wake up early, and to stay up late

It’s good to have a balanced life. Proper amount of sleep (8-10 hours) is good, I usually sleep for nine hours and usually wake up happy and getup easily. If I sleep for more than that I get up grumpy. If I wake up any earlier than nine hours, I get up really sleepy, and if I stay awake, I always get happy and excited thinking about all of my extra time!

Learning to wake up early is like an uphill climb for me, because except for rare occasions, I’ve been up at 9am for most of my life! (how “un-dilligent” of me). I can stay up late easily, but the next day I wake up extra late.

Habits are taught from very young. If a child is taught from young to wake up early, it is easier for him to wake up earlier. If a child is taught from a young age to prevail in prayer until midnight (once a week overnight prayer?), even if the child is not praying the awhole time, it is very good training for later years. I believe that I should learn to pray more and more, as the time is short. By twenty years of age I want to pray 4 hours minimum a day. I’m sixteen now, and I don’t even pray one hour (Bible reading instead). Still, Word and Prayer goes hand in hand, can’t have one without the other.

You see, if I always read the Word only, and hardly pray (except before eating and sleeping), then there’s something wrong with me (yes, there is). I can be too big in my head and too small in my spirit (yes I am… God help me!) Prayer is like the application of the Word. I always pray from Scripture, if not directly, then paraphrased (I am very cautious not to quote-out-of-context).

If you only pray and don’t read the Bible, then you don’t have enough spiritual depth in the word for you to pray accurately and hit the target. We don’t want wasted prayers, only prayers that reach into the throne room of God. Prayer is a very important application of the Word (not the only one!), and if we don’t read the Word, do we know what to prasy? Dow e know what is God’s heart?

One thing I learned from Corrie ten Boom, (In My Father’s House by Corrie ten Boom ),  was that her family prayed very regularly. Jesus, as she remembered thinking as a child , was a member of the Ten Boom family. She could talk to Jesus, just like she could talk to her papa or mama. Everyone always was talking to Jesus. They was such a flow of the Spirit of God in their lives that in their conversation  her papa could just pray, just like that, to God, and it would not be out of place. How blessed was she. She talked to Jesus, and prayed about the things that troubled her, like the town drunks (she felt such pity for them).

We must always pray for

1.       God’s will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven

2.       Jesus’ second coming

3.       Israel’s salvation

4.       Our nation – salvation for leaders and people groups, etc

5.       Church – the persecuted church, the lukewarm church (you can use the seven church in Revelations) etc.

6.       Salvation for unbelievers that you know

7.       You pastor and church members

8.       You family –protection, faith

9.       Your relatives

10.   Ten things I want from God for myself

What are they? I’ll be very honest and say these are not the only things I desire from God, but these are the ones I think are so important, it’s just the things I have to have. Like spiritual depth, faith, etc. I always try not to pray amiss, so I ask God for the things He promises, like Wisdom (James 1) and things He requires of us (Faith).

2)      2)Learn to love the word of God

The Word of God must become you daily sustenance, you can do no better without it than without water or food, and even more so. Children easily learn to hate what they are forced to do, if you force and throw the Bible down your children’s mouths and scream at them, would they learn to love it? Then can, but only when they are mature, and willing to walk over all the negative feelings you put in them against God! So why not teach them to love it? It requires some degree of forcing at first, but if you do it right, if the grace of God is in you, it is better if you just make them read with you, and show them and explain to them, and you must love the Word of God so much that they love it too. Children learn more by example than by words.

The Word of God must be the center from which your life rotates; actually God should be the center from which your life rotates. I love to read the Bible, though I admit I am not very systemic.

Memorization is very important, God’s word must be put into your heart, and meditated upon. Reading is good too, but it is unfruitful if there is not understanding, however, If you are diligent, God is sure to reward you (Hebrew 11).  Just read, out of obedience to God, just read. You may be reading words on a page, and not even thinking about it, but the word of God can change you just as it changed me, it takes time though.

I will go more into this another day. 

3)   3)   Learn to read good books.

There comes a time and season when you must fast from reading all other books but God’s Word, but I doubt for everday life (it is wonderful if you can), that you can do nothing but read the Bible. And if you can’t, neither can your children. Don’t let all that your children read be schoolbooks, the Bible, and silly nonsense literature.

The best thing for a child to read is the Bible. Then teach them to enjoy the writings and (perhaps picture) biographies of missionaries and preachers of God. Corrie ten Boom is my especial favorite. There are many, many good Christian biographies for children out there and I never outgrew them.

Don’t be fooled by storybooks. What child doesn’t like to read amusing stories (I still do). It is better if you don’t feed them too many worldly stories of bunnies that wear clothes and bears that talk. Like I said, give them biography stories, or even books like “Pilgrim’s Progress” (Daddy likes the cartoon one – we find it much easier to read) When you give them the cheap and amusing soulish books (that will entertain their minds), how can they understand the deep and spiritual?

I don’t think children can immediately make the jump from “How the Tortoise won the Race” to great Christian writings like Watchman Nee, or Bonheoffer.  I can say that, though I have enjoyed classics like “Anne of Green Gables” and “Pollyanna”, there are a lot of elements in them you have to be careful about (fairies, for example in Anne of Green Gables, or worldliness in the Little House on the Prairie books). Besides, these are all products of man’s imagination, and though they might be clean and good, don’t’ fall for the nonsensical and plain silly. Books about God’s creation are good, and historical books like Little House on the Prairie are wholesome and full of family values, but remember the food pyramid’s order of consumption. Junk food the very least (silly books), Wholesome non-religious books and studies being like meat and chicken, godly biographies and writings (like Oswald Chambers) being the vegetables, and God’s Word being like Carbohydrates (they make up the bulk). Remember, Daniel and his friends survived on vegetables and carbohydrates. People get diseases from eating too much red meat, so don’t. Stick to wholegrain, fiberous, books – they are harder to chew, but better when they go down. (The “book pyramid ” is not the order of nutrients, it’s the order of consumption!)

4)      4) Music.

Music is good training is discipline and diligence, attention to details, etc. It is also an art.  I love to learn music and good training, especially in scales and arpeggios (however much children hate them), will prepare them if God wishes to use them to serve Him in writing songs (especially from Scripture) and to worship Him, in church and alone. (Take my mommy, for example.)

Children can learn to love music. Teach them to sing, you can sing without much knowledge of theory, etc. Don’t make music a chore, or stuff it down their throats, forcing them to take exams. By the time they are done with Grade 8 they will be done with music forever. Though it takes forcing in the beginning, some children will learn to love and enjoy it (that’s what you want!) Cultivate a love for singing God’s Word, and worshipping him alone, as a family, or in church.  Music is healthy and will make balanced children.

Worldly pop, rock, and country music, etc are basically toxic. They’re not even on the “Music Pyramid”

5)   5)    Bodily Exercise profits a little, so says Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians. Recreation is important. Bodies must be disciplined and fit, even little ones. God does not mean for us to be cooped up in libraries, growing old over books. We need to have fitness, to learn to work with our hands. Girls and boys alike should learn to cook, wash dishes, and house cleaning. Learn to grow your own food (there will come to time when you will not be able to buy food). Strenuous gardening (farming, also) is very good training for missionary work. Learn to sweat it out. Learn to make your own clothes, wash clothes by hand, and learn to clean the floor and your hands and knees. Let children see this as a fun activity and teach them the responsibility of doing things, even though they don’t feel like it, but because they have too.  Non-productive hobbies should be “necessary evil“, like studies. The focus should not be on them. I much prefer productive hobbies, but sometimes watching a good Christian film like the Hiding Place is beneficial. I liked Bonhoeffer the Movie, but of course its not exactly perfectly accurate. It got me interested in hisi writings, however. Listening to audio teachings (like David Pawson) is a good way to keep yourself connected to God when you do housework.

  

6)      6) Food – is for the bodies. Neither if you eat you are the better (spiritually) nor if you do not eat you are worse. Briefly – it would be ideal if we all ate to feed our stomach and not our flesh. However I have not achieved that (Confession: I hate veggies!)  Fasting is very healthy for our bodies and spirits, but I think should only be practiced if children actually understand why they are fasting – fasting is not starving – there is a big difference. Children should be fed wholesome, natural food from Day 1. Like I always say, Mummy never fed me sweets when I was small and I grew up (not deprived at all) not wanting sweets at all. Sweets are very bad for children – it feeds their flesh and ruins their bodies. When children grow up eating junk, reading junk, learning junk, listening to junk, don’t expect them to become men and women overnight. Anyway, I will expand more on this topic (of foods for the body, not just sweets) another day.

Conclusion: Here I was rambling on about the things I want to incorporate and get rid off in my life. I hope I haven’t bored anyone! I just want to look at life from a Biblical Perspective, and preferably God’s perspective. These are just my private opinions – they work for some people, and not for others.  After writing everything, I just realize I want God in my life and nothing else J However, I think a life balanced on God’s principles is very important, especially for children. Jesus grew up learning carpentry. Samuel grew up serving God in the temple, probably helping in the cleaning and sacrificing. David grew up singing on his harp and watching sheep, fighting bears and lions. Isaac grew up travelling from here to there, living in tents. Paul grew up learning the law. God doesn’t want us growing up in air-conditioned, selfish environments, feeding our flesh and serving ourselves, glued to entertainment and junk food, lazing away our lives. He wants to build character into us, and make us into Christ’s image, and finally love Him so much we want to die for Him! Remember, children should be taught to serve, to give and to give their all, and then some more.  And they should be taught by example.

The Gospel and the Roman Empire

The Gospel and the Roman Empire

The world in A.D. 90-400 was very much different from today. The Roman Empire was the powerful and dominant force. It controlled powerful cities like Rome, Alexandria, and Athens, the centers of culture and philosophy. It spanned from Britannia to Egypt, Mauritania to Mesopotamia. Its capital, Rome, was the “center of the world” of that time.

            Pax Romana, (the peace of Rome) is a term coined by the historian Edward Gibbon. It refers the era of surface peace established by the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus that lasted 207 years, from 27 to 180BC.

            It was during his reign and the relative peace that characterized it, God chose to send the promised Mashiach, Messiah, His son Jesus Christ (Or, Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, as His Hebrew name was). He came to save the lost. He came to redeem Israel. He came. He came, not to establish His millennial rule and kingdom yet, but to do the will of the Father. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, sinless, and bearing the sins of the world. He left His church with His “Great Commission”, to go into the entire world and to preach the Gospel, the Good News.

            From its beginning the church was hated, despised, and unwanted. The Jews regarded the followers of Christ as members of a heretical sect, a divisive faction that sought to destroy Judaism, which, of course, was not the case. The Romans saw the followers of Christ as political subversives who refused to worship the gods of the Roman Empire and to acknowledge Caesar as lord, because only Jesus was Lord.

            The church was wrought with problems - Persecutions from outside and divisions inside. The persecution, in fact, aided the spreading of the gospel because the followers of Christ had to flee Judea and Jerusalem. They spread to the ends of the earth, bringing the gospel of Christ.

            Greek was the standard language of the day, and Roman roads eased travel. Christians, as the followers of Christ soon became known as, traveled all over the Roman Empire. The Apostle Paul was one of the many missionaries of the gospel. Persecution followed the Christians everywhere. They continued to spread, the gospel was preached, and many were saved. However, the Romans treated Christians horribly – some burning them on stakes, feeding them to wild beasts, killing them with the sword, seizing their property, and making their earthly lives a misery.

            Yet the Church continued to thrive, aided by the Romans. The Romans did not realize (how could they?) that the more Christians were killed the more they persecuted the church, the more they shed innocent blood, the more the Church could spread, the more the Church could thrive, and the very blood they shed to put an end to the work of Christ was the very seed by which it grew, stronger and stronger, day by day.

            In 300BC, everything changed, drastically. Legislated persecution came to an end because Constantine, the Emperor, claimed to have become a Christian. He changed the laws and instituted “religious tolerance “and institutionalized the church as the “official religion” of the Roman Empire. Clergymen became government servants. Church became a part of the state. Soon, however, the church became a puppet of the state. Christianity as a whole seemed to have died.

            By institutionalizing the church, the Romans did more harm than outright persecuting it. Whatever Constantine’s motives were, he sure did a lot of harm. By combining the church and state, church became a ritual. Pagan elements were incorporated into worship. Worship was adulterated. The knowledge of God was adulterated. The Bible was adulterated. People were “forced” to “become Christians”. The Church as a whole almost forgot the Great Commission and lost the heritage Christ left to them. What was left in mainstream Christianity? Politics, Buildings, moneymaking, rituals, congregations, candles, icons, relics, pulpits, - these were left… these were a part of the church… but was Christ a part of the Church?

            As Paul said in his letter to the Colossians - ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

            A body without a head is dead. The church without Christ as its head, is dead.

WARNING: THIS IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL! I have recorded this in audio and may make a video one day.... :)

In His Steps - A Book Review

Preface: This was written for my book report as part of my homework. I read the book through and thoroughly recommend it as wholesome Christian Literature. However it is not a doctrinal or theological book, though it does put forth very Biblically sound themes. It is a fictional novel and a very wholesome and truthful one at that.

Warning: This Book Report and any of its contents are not to be copied, printed, photocopied, rewritten, or plagiarized, especially as part of homework! 

In His Steps is a Christian novel written by a pastor named Charles Sheldon. He wrote it, one chapter a week, and preached it to his congregation. The message was simple and clear. The message was Biblically grounded. The message was pertinent. What he was trying to say is this – in life, no matter what we do and when we do it, whatever our motives and intentions are, we must always do only as Christ would, to live only as He lived, to obey the Word of God and His example in every part of life, in every sense of the word “obey”.

In all its simplicity, the message said clearly, “What would Jesus do?”, and “Will you do it?”

Raymond is a fictional city in the United States, where this tale begins. It represents the sinful state of man, of the gap between rich and poor, and of the lukewarm and money-loaded state of the church today.

Maxwell was the pastor of Raymond’s first church, the First Church of Raymond. He saw the city as his parish. He held some parts of it in fear and dislike, like the Rectangle, a section of Raymond filled with sin, drunkenness, and vice. His congregation was mainly made up of rich, wealthy, comfortable, and sophisticated people that pretty much conformed to society’s expectations. He was himself a “sensational” pastor, a good preacher, a good orator, etc., that is, until he was confronted with the fact that a Christian must do as Christ Himself did.

And who should confront him but Jack Manning, a shabby stranger not native to Raymond. He was poor and jobless. He also had a heart problem. He could not reconcile the fact that the uncaring church, which was no different from the world, could claim to live in Christ and yet neglect the poor, suffering, and needy, and think only of they themselves. He sought to try and find the answer to his question. In his sickness he confronted the church in Raymond, humbly seeking for an answer. He soon died.

Maxwell was confronted. And he listened to God. He asked his church to make a pledge: that at least for one year they would only do as Jesus would do. One of those who took the pledge was Edward Norman, editor of the Daily News, the city’s most important and prosperous daily paper. He was a member of the First Church. He saw the people of the town as his customers, as a way to make money. He wanted to please people and sell newspapers, that is, until he was confronted with the fact that a Christian must do as Christ Himself did, and that a Christian cannot do as Christ would not do. He started to obey God’s Word in regard to printing unwholesome news, publishing liquor and other questionable advertisements, and looking at politics from God’s perspective. Though he lost money, he stuck fast to Biblical principles and God soon used him to spread wholesome and truthful messages in the newspaper, even though many in the public did not like it.

Many others took the pledge that day in Raymond’s First Church, among them an heiress, a writer, a businessman, a professor, and even an opera-singer-to-be. They soon became real Disciples of Christ, making a difference in the spiritual atmosphere of the town, even in the Rectangle. They soon became a witness and soon influenced others, not just in Raymond, but in many other cities. The movement spread and continued to spread. Along the way, they learnt more of the cost of discipleship, more of the grace and love of God. Many had to sacrifice. Many had to leave what was precious and important to them. And those who did follow Christ to the end, ultimately, for them, glory is laid up.

The plot of this story and its characters may seem a little stereotypical. By now the phrase, “What would Jesus do,” has almost become trite. Christians can hang the “WWJD” sign as bumper stickers, key chain ornaments, or pretty framed pictures, and even play the “What Would Jesus Do Board Game (it does exist, though I am not judging anybody. I think its wholesome), and yet still not know, truly and experientially, what, indeed, is Christian discipleship, what indeed is following Christ, and doing as He is doing, has done, and will continue to do. 

However the message is clear and pertinent, though many through in the church seem to have repeated it in different ways throughout church history. The commands of Christ are still as relevant today as it was a thousand years ago. God has not changed, then why have His people changed?

This story has its weaknesses, but you must understand it was not written by a novelist or an author trying to make the “bestseller list” and earn royalty. Sheldon earned almost nothing. He was simply a pastor preaching a message. Yes, some of the characters are underdeveloped. Yes, some of them seem to be stereotyped. Yes, the plot may be a little bit predictable. Yes, I may not agree with every single character’s interpretation of Christ’s commands. Humanly it is imperfect and may not be a completely accurate view of the workings of God, who works in sundry and diverse ways in sundry and diverse times in sundry and diverse persons - but the message is clear and the message is here. What are we going to do about it? What would Jesus do today?

The Life Cycle of Death Part 1

The Life Cycle of Death

                The world we are living in is death. For unbelievers, their very life is death. For believers, they are dead to that death, but filled with the life of God. So to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Each and every disciple of Christ must be dead to this world, and the world must be dead to them. I thought about the theoretical life cycle of an unbeliever and a believer and both are filled with death.

	Believer	Unbeliever
Birth	Both are dead in sin. "Believer" is covered by parent's faith
Coming of Age	Salvation and Seeking God. Eternal Life.	Continual death in sin. Condemnation.
(Marriage)	Death to self	Dead already
(Children)	Bringing another sinner into this world.
Death	Life eternal	Death eternal

And so you see, life on earth for a believer or unbeliever is death on the outside, but the inside is what is different. The believer has life within, the eternal life of God, and has died to this flesh. The unbeliever is living in the flesh and therefore is already dead inside, the death inside will sooner or later reaps spiritual death.

Birth is death. What make the difference in the child is the faith of the parents, which will sanctify them (that is, if they obey and stay under the covering and authority of their parents! That is why children are required to obey) until they come of age to make the decisions – broad way, easy life, temporal glory (eternal suffering), or narrow way, hard life, temporal suffering (eternal glory!). Everything in the believer’s child’s life before will climax into this one decision – will I choose Christ, or will I choose the world.

I am not saying if the child is not saved then he will never be saved. God has a way of apprehending His chosen people, but no one can take for granted God’s election.

2 Peter 1:10-19  ¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Even so, by choosing Christ, the child must no longer obey his parents. “What???”, you say. Listen closely so be sure of what I am saying – the child obeys, the saved child submits. Submission is infinitely greater than obedience. Obedience can be done out of the flesh. Sinful and carnal soldiers are capable of obeying their officers and lieutenants. Submission is greater. Obedience is an outward act. Submission is an inward spirit. Submission requires the Holy Spirit. God never requires a child to submit because a child has not yet experienced the grace of God. A little toddler does not know what “dying to self” is. That is why God commands a believing mother to submit to the father who in turn must submit to God. The wife’s submission does not depend on the husband’s submission and the husband’s submission does not depend on the wife’s submission. Each will be judged according to his own work. The child who has come of age is no longer sanctified by the parents’ faith – he must now choose. He must choose to be baptized into the faith, so put behind the childish things of the past, and embrace the hope and future in Christ. He must become Bar Mitzvah, or Bat Mitzvah, a son and daughter of the commandment, and even more, a son and daughter of God by his own faith.

God has no spiritual grandchildren. Every child of age must come to God but his own faith, and be required to give an account to God for his own actions.  Each and every child must choose to walk the narrow way, to become a man or woman of God, in spite of living in an age where distractions abound, the world is calling out your name, and the computer, television, ipod, iphone, ipad, walkman, facebook, twitter, all seem to be screaming out to you. Only when the life of God becomes life in you then you can choose the greater, which is God, which is Christ, which is eternal life forevermore. Choose – you cannot have both. Either you are a child of God or a child of the Devil. Either you are dead to sin or dead in sin. Either you are a slave of God, or a slave to Satan, slave to the world, slave to your-self, slave to sickness, and slave to sin! 

So choose the greater. Choose life. And then you will have the grace of God in your life so you can submit to your parents, and not just obey. Faith in you will rise up, and works will be the fruit of the inward perfection and faith. God will still continue to sanctify you. Your spirit is perfect, yes, and saved. But the inward perfection will need to become an outward reality, so you can be saved to the uttermost. That is sanctification. Justification is when you are freed from sins and given new life in Christ. Sanctification work still needs to be done – and don’t worry. You aren’t finished with yet; no one is finished with yet. When Christ takes you home, then your perfection is complete. So go on believing, and you will go on being a son of God, and go on having eternal life.

^{Hebrews 7:25} Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

In the beginning...

YHWH

            Who is God? I cannot comprehend Him. When I look out of the window, or when I ride my bicycle, or when I am riding in a car, I like to look outside at God’s creation. It still amazes me, that with all the wonders of the world, from the biggest to the smallest, from the vast expanse we know as the sky, to the millions of plants and animals, to the smallest little bacteria, not even to mention the immense universe and solar systems, that people still  refuse to believe that there is a God.

(Gen 1:1)  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning – God. God was and is and ever is to be, from the beginning, and through out all eternity with no beginning and with no end.

(Gen 1:2)  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Some people think that there is no God, that all this happened by accident – but when you look at creation,- you see design and order, not chaos and catastrophe. When you look at creation,  you don’t see all sorts of species  mutating into another kind, you don’t see light, or life, just “happen”.  What happened was that God created earth, and it was formless, void, and dark.

           

(Gen 1:3)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Light is the basis of life. Without light there can be no life. God is light, and in Him is no darkness. God only had to say, “Let there be light”, and there was light. And there still is light! Some people worship the sun, or the moon, or the stars. Well I tell you, the sun and the moon and stars cannot compare with the great God who created them.

            The sun cannot create anything. The sun can give off a lot of light, and heat, but even if the sun was around from the beginning of the universe the sun could not have created man, or the animals, or plants! The sun cannot create water, which is also essential to life! Neither can the moon or the stars.

(Gen 1:4)  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

(Gen 1:5)  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

            From the creation  God has already separated light from darkness. He has a special plan for everything. He controlled the rotation of the earth so that we have day and we have night. This could not have happened so perfectly and wondrously, if it had not been for God. This could never have happened by itself.

(Gen 1:6)  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

(Gen 1:7)  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

When God created the earth, I think that maybe it was made up by a lot of water (if I understand this passage correctly). So God created the water-filled earth, put in light, and then started “interior renovations”.  He did a little dividing, created the firmament, or expanse (of air, I think), to separate the waters above and the waters beneath. Only God could have done that. Some people are humanistic, in that they believe man is God. Well tell me, can man ever create this earth out of nothing? (the Hebrew word for create, bara, means to create out of nothing!) Can man ever ruled the sun and moon and stars, and to call light into existence? Can man create water out of nothing? Can man even have control over this earth to separate the sky, or control where the waters are? Foolishness! Pride! Man can never be the creator because man is the creation!

(Gen 1:8)  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

(Gen 1:9)  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

 God created dry land just by commanding it! Man took centuries to come the place of technology where man can dump loads of sand into the sea using some process to extend dry land. I have seen this construction process in passing, and I have even walked on some man-made land, in Melaka. However, man took so many centuries to figure this out – and then the effort and the time it takes to do it – not  to mention the environmental effects of such a development! God just had to command dry land and it all fell perfectly , completely, entirely, into place. By the way, where does man’s intelligence come from, anyway? The facts that we can observe, experiment, construct, and think logically – did this come from monkeys? No of course not! Man’s ability to think is far beyond even the most intelligent animal. Man was created different from the animals- did you ever a bear invent a car ? Or have you seen a monkey creating fashion designer clothes? Or a turtle who became a scientist? Ridiculous and fantastical!  No such thing occurs because God did not create animals like man. Animals are capable of some thought, but mostly they rely upon natural instinct with very, very, elementary, thought processes.

 (Gen 1:10)  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

            I still cannot understand people who think Nature is the source of life, and “worship” “Mother Nature” as opposed to God the Father. Nature cannot create itself! Nature cannot even sustain itself after man has harmed it! Nature cannot recreate or regenerate itself after, for example, a nuclear bomb hits. Nature cannot create life, nature cannot create water, and nature cannot create light. Who can? GOD can! And He did. He created nature, with all its marvels and beauties, and if the creation is so spectacular, how much more the Creator?

(Gen 1:11)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

            There are some who worship plants, or trees, as gods. That is plainly, obviously, wrong! The tree, could not have created light, nor the sun, nor water, nor air, nor dry land, let alone man and all the animals! And what about the planets and the universe? Who would want to worship something which cannot talk, hear, heal, or even move itself? Yes, the ferns  have life, and are able to produce useful energy, but why would you worship the flower, when you can worship the one who created the flower, every flower, every shrub, every grass, every leaf on a tree, specially?  God clothed the grass and the flowers with beauty that man cannot ever rival with all his fashions.

(Gen 1:12)  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

           

            God saw that it was good. Whatever He made was good! Do scientists ever have any complaints that nature is naturally imbalanced, or that it is incorrect? Man makes the imbalance and the wrongs! The way God created it, everything was perfect! The Hebrew word also means that it is the best, the finest!

(Gen 1:13)  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

(Gen 1:14)  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

(Gen 1:15)  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

(Gen 1:16)  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

(Gen 1:17)  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

(Gen 1:18)  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

(Gen 1:19)  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

           

Here is where God created the moon and the stars and the sun. Earlier on, He created light. Now He gets down to the details, etc. Instead of general light, He creates specific light – great light for day, less light for night. And He could have been setting the earth’s rotation and revolution.

(Gen 1:20)  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

(Gen 1:21)  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

(Gen 1:22)  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

(Gen 1:23)  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

God created fish and fowl, whales, etc.  “out of the water”. That is an interesting thought that I didn’t study yet. Godsaid all of them were good, and He blessed them, commanding the fish and fowl to be fruitful and multiply. This is the first of the “Be fruitful and multiply” commandments that God gives. If God commanded the fish and fowl to multiply, and they are still obeying Him, why are we “intelligent” humans thinking ourselves better than God. When the fish and fowl can obey God, and we choose not too? (Just a thought…)

(Gen 1:24)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

(Gen 1:25)  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:26)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

(Gen 1:27)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

(Gen 1:28)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

(Gen 1:29)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

(Gen 1:30)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

(Gen 1:31)  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Very good. Very, very good. God created everything, just by His Word. The Bible is the Book of His Word, and it begins with His Words coming to pass! We can look out of the window, or even in the mirror, and know that God has created, His Word endures, and He will never change. May He give you such a faith in Him to know that God’s Word has always come to pass from the beginning, is continuing to come to pass every day, and will ever come to pass for all eternity – why? God is truth, God is light, and God is the LORD! Amen!

Sh’ma Yis’ra’el

YHWH Eloheinu 
YHWH echad

V’ahav’ta eit YHWH Elohekna

B’khol l’vav’kha,

uv’khol naf’sh’kha,

uv’khol m’odekha

Hear, O Israel:

YHWH our God 
YHWH is one 
 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God

with all thine heart,

and with all thy soul,

and with all thy might.

(Deu 6:4-5)

שׁמע ישׂראל

יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד׃

ואהבת את יהוה אלהיך בכל־לבבך

ובכל־נפשׁך

ובכל־מאדך׃