[Concerning one of the new “movements” in the church that was
causing a stir among Christians:] “There’s also a stir when the
circus comes to town.”
“Our seminaries today are turning out dead men.”
[Concerning the fixation that today’s church has with numbers,
with growth at any price:] “The church has paid a terrible price for
statistics!”
“If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach
today, He would never have been crucified.”
Read more about Leonard Ravenhill at http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/Ravenhill.html
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Read the Bible Through
This poem is so true. I have found myself skipping from one chapter to another and not really reading the Holy Word of God all the way through in natural progression.
When I Read the Bible Through
by Amos R. Wells
I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third);
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs
Yes, I thought I knew the Word;
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
Oh, the massive, mighty volume!
Oh, the treasures manifold!
Oh, the beauty of the wisdom
And the grace it proved to hold!
As the story of the Hebrews
Swept in majesty along,
As it leaped in waves prophetic,
As it burst to sacred song,
As it gleamed with Christly omens,
The Old Testament was new,
Strong with power,
When I read the Bible through.
Ah! Imperial Jeremiah,
With his keen, coruscant mind;
And the blunt old Nehemiah,
And Ezekiel refined!
Newly came the song idyllic,
And the tragedy of Job;
Deuteronomy, the regal,
To a towering mountain grew,
With its comrade peaks around it
When I read the Bible through.
What a radiant procession
As the pages rise and fall,
James the sturdy, John the tender
Oh, the myriad-minded Paul!
Vast apocalyptic glories
Wheel and thunder, flash and flame,
While the church triumphant raises
One incomparable name.
Ah, the story of the Saviour
Never glows supremely true
Till you read it whole and swiftly,
Till you read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, aweary,
And yawn thro' a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through
When I Read the Bible Through
by Amos R. Wells
I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third);
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs
Yes, I thought I knew the Word;
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
Oh, the massive, mighty volume!
Oh, the treasures manifold!
Oh, the beauty of the wisdom
And the grace it proved to hold!
As the story of the Hebrews
Swept in majesty along,
As it leaped in waves prophetic,
As it burst to sacred song,
As it gleamed with Christly omens,
The Old Testament was new,
Strong with power,
When I read the Bible through.
Ah! Imperial Jeremiah,
With his keen, coruscant mind;
And the blunt old Nehemiah,
And Ezekiel refined!
Newly came the song idyllic,
And the tragedy of Job;
Deuteronomy, the regal,
To a towering mountain grew,
With its comrade peaks around it
When I read the Bible through.
What a radiant procession
As the pages rise and fall,
James the sturdy, John the tender
Oh, the myriad-minded Paul!
Vast apocalyptic glories
Wheel and thunder, flash and flame,
While the church triumphant raises
One incomparable name.
Ah, the story of the Saviour
Never glows supremely true
Till you read it whole and swiftly,
Till you read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, aweary,
And yawn thro' a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The Grahm Formula
This is an excellent exposé on the evolution of our modern evangelism. Find the Full book in PDF form here http://www.christianebooks.com/
"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." - A. W. Pink
"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." - A. W. Pink
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Psalm 39:1-4
Good News Translation.
1 For the choir director; for Jeduthun; a psalm by David. I said, "I will watch my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue. I will bridle my mouth while wicked people are in my presence."
2 I remained totally speechless. I kept silent, although it did me no good. While I was deep in thought, my pain grew worse.
3 My heart burned like a fire flaring up within me. Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 "Teach me, O LORD, about the end of my life. Teach me about the number of days I have left so that I may know how temporary my life is.
5 Indeed, you have made the length of my days only a few inches. My life span is nothing compared to yours. Certainly, everyone alive is like a whisper in the wind. Selah
1 For the choir director; for Jeduthun; a psalm by David. I said, "I will watch my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue. I will bridle my mouth while wicked people are in my presence."
2 I remained totally speechless. I kept silent, although it did me no good. While I was deep in thought, my pain grew worse.
3 My heart burned like a fire flaring up within me. Then I spoke with my tongue:
4 "Teach me, O LORD, about the end of my life. Teach me about the number of days I have left so that I may know how temporary my life is.
5 Indeed, you have made the length of my days only a few inches. My life span is nothing compared to yours. Certainly, everyone alive is like a whisper in the wind. Selah
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Quotes about Fire
"No erudition, no purity of diction, no width of mental outlook, no flowers of eloquence, no grace of person can atone for lack of fire. Prayer ascends by fire. Flame gives prayer access as well as wings, acceptance as well as energy. There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame."
- E. M. Bounds
“How we have prayed for a Revival - we did not care whether it was old-fashioned or not - what we asked for was that it should be such that would cleanse and revive His children and set them on fire to win others.” - Mary Warburton Booth
"Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God." - Samuel Chadwick
"Are you truly a Spirit-filled Christian? Does the term "Spirit-filled" describe your doctrine or your devotion?" – David Smithers
"Lord grant that the FIRE of my heart may melt the lead in my feet." - Unknown
"A revival almost always begins among the laity. The ecclesiastical leaders seldom welcome reformation. History repeats itself. The present leaders are too comfortably situated as a rule to desire innovation that might require sacrifice on their part. And God's fire only falls on sacrifice. An empty altar receives no fire!" – Frank Bartleman
"Christ was in an agony at prayer (Luke 22: 44). Many when they pray are rather in a lethargy, than in an agony. When they are about the world they are all fire; when they are at prayer, they are all Ice."
- Thomas Watson
"It will not do for us to go to Heaven by ourselves. We must be on fire, friends for saving others. To be workers will draw heaven down and will draw others to heaven . Without a readiness to work, the Spirit of prayer will not come." - Evan Roberts
"Hell is larger today than it was yesterday, because many of us have failed to pray."
- David Smithers
"Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, are things Christ unsparingly condemned. Destitute of fire, they are nothing more than a godless philosophy, an ethical system, and a superstition." - Samuel Chadwick
"We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire from on high,
A purifying passion and a forsaking of our stubborn pride.
We need a vision of eternity, of Hell and the Judgement Day,
A fervent love for our Savior, that will gladly serve and obey.
We need a Pentecostal purging and a breaking deep within,
A vision of God Almighty and a river of tears for our nations sin.
We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire set ablaze.
Yet, we'll never see such glory, until the Church begins to pray." - David Smithers
"Come as the fire, and purge our hearts with sacrificial flame; Let our whole soul an offering be To our Redeemer's Name." - Andrew Reed
"Love is kindled in a flame, and ardency is its life. Flame is the air which true Christian experience breathes. It feeds on fire; it can withstand anything rather than a feeble flame; but when the surrounding atmosphere is frigid or lukewarm, it dies, chilled and starved to its vitals. True prayer MUST be aflame."
- E. M. Bounds
“The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God…It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth. You ask me, How much time? I do not know. I know it means time enough to forget time.” - John R. Mott
"There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools as to refuse good bank notes because there are false ones in circulation; and although we see here and there manifestations of what appears to us to be nothing more than mere earthly fire, we none the less prize and value, and seek for the genuine fire which comes from the altar of the Lord."
- William Booth
"Why does the Church stay indoors? They have a theology that has dwindled into a philosophy, in which there is no thrill of faith, no terror of doom and no concern for souls. Unbelief has put out the fires of passion, and worldliness garlands the altar of sacrifice with the tawdry glitter of unreality. The Holy Ghost cannot conquer the world with unbelief, nor can He save the world with a worldly Church. He calls for a crusade, a campaign, and an adventure of saving passion. For this enterprise He wants a separated, sanctified and sacrificial people." – Samuel Chadwick
"We give ourselves to prayer. We preach a Gospel that saves to the uttermost, and witness to its power. We do not argue about worldliness; we witness. We do not discuss philosophy; we preach the Gospel. We do not speculate about the destiny of sinners; we pluck them as brands from the burning. We ask no man's patronage. We beg no man's money. We fear no man's frown…Let no man join us who is afraid, and we want none but those who are saved, sanctified and aflame with the fire of the Holy Ghost." – Samuel Chadwick
"When our quiet times have become hurried, how can we expect to give God the adoration that is His due? How can we receive the guidance that God is waiting to give? How can our hearts catch the glow of divine fire? How can we have deep fellowship with those purposes that are really nearest to the heart of God?" ( Keswick 1946 ) – Gordon M. Guinness
"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." - A. W. Pink
"Before we go to our knees to receive the Baptism of Fire, let me beg of you to see to it that your souls are in harmony with the will and purpose of the Holy Spirit whom you seek." - William Booth
"A man set on fire is an apostle of his age. And the only one who can kindle the spark of light and fire on the hearth where it has died down is He who has revealed Himself as the God of fire, our Lord Jesus Christ. 'Our God is a consuming fire'...Tell me, is your ministry a burning and shining light, or a smoking wick, slowly dying out to ashes? ...It is a strange custom that we should supply a minister with a glass of water; if only we could supply him with a bonfire in the pulpit, a spiritual bonfire. We need the dynamic of a flaming ministry that will set the Church on fire."
- Samuel M. Zwemer (Keswick 1937)
"At Waterloo, the English troops obeying orders fell on their faces for a time and let the hot fire of the French artillery pass over them. Then they sprang to their feet and rushed to the thickest of the fight and beat back their foes. The Lord wants His people flat on their faces, before they attempt to meet the great crises of life." - A. T. Pierson
- E. M. Bounds
“How we have prayed for a Revival - we did not care whether it was old-fashioned or not - what we asked for was that it should be such that would cleanse and revive His children and set them on fire to win others.” - Mary Warburton Booth
"Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God." - Samuel Chadwick
"Are you truly a Spirit-filled Christian? Does the term "Spirit-filled" describe your doctrine or your devotion?" – David Smithers
"Lord grant that the FIRE of my heart may melt the lead in my feet." - Unknown
"A revival almost always begins among the laity. The ecclesiastical leaders seldom welcome reformation. History repeats itself. The present leaders are too comfortably situated as a rule to desire innovation that might require sacrifice on their part. And God's fire only falls on sacrifice. An empty altar receives no fire!" – Frank Bartleman
"Christ was in an agony at prayer (Luke 22: 44). Many when they pray are rather in a lethargy, than in an agony. When they are about the world they are all fire; when they are at prayer, they are all Ice."
- Thomas Watson
"It will not do for us to go to Heaven by ourselves. We must be on fire, friends for saving others. To be workers will draw heaven down and will draw others to heaven . Without a readiness to work, the Spirit of prayer will not come." - Evan Roberts
"Hell is larger today than it was yesterday, because many of us have failed to pray."
- David Smithers
"Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, are things Christ unsparingly condemned. Destitute of fire, they are nothing more than a godless philosophy, an ethical system, and a superstition." - Samuel Chadwick
"We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire from on high,
A purifying passion and a forsaking of our stubborn pride.
We need a vision of eternity, of Hell and the Judgement Day,
A fervent love for our Savior, that will gladly serve and obey.
We need a Pentecostal purging and a breaking deep within,
A vision of God Almighty and a river of tears for our nations sin.
We need a Heaven-sent revival, a burning fire set ablaze.
Yet, we'll never see such glory, until the Church begins to pray." - David Smithers
"Come as the fire, and purge our hearts with sacrificial flame; Let our whole soul an offering be To our Redeemer's Name." - Andrew Reed
"Love is kindled in a flame, and ardency is its life. Flame is the air which true Christian experience breathes. It feeds on fire; it can withstand anything rather than a feeble flame; but when the surrounding atmosphere is frigid or lukewarm, it dies, chilled and starved to its vitals. True prayer MUST be aflame."
- E. M. Bounds
“The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God…It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth. You ask me, How much time? I do not know. I know it means time enough to forget time.” - John R. Mott
"There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. No one knows this better than we do, but we are not such fools as to refuse good bank notes because there are false ones in circulation; and although we see here and there manifestations of what appears to us to be nothing more than mere earthly fire, we none the less prize and value, and seek for the genuine fire which comes from the altar of the Lord."
- William Booth
"Why does the Church stay indoors? They have a theology that has dwindled into a philosophy, in which there is no thrill of faith, no terror of doom and no concern for souls. Unbelief has put out the fires of passion, and worldliness garlands the altar of sacrifice with the tawdry glitter of unreality. The Holy Ghost cannot conquer the world with unbelief, nor can He save the world with a worldly Church. He calls for a crusade, a campaign, and an adventure of saving passion. For this enterprise He wants a separated, sanctified and sacrificial people." – Samuel Chadwick
"We give ourselves to prayer. We preach a Gospel that saves to the uttermost, and witness to its power. We do not argue about worldliness; we witness. We do not discuss philosophy; we preach the Gospel. We do not speculate about the destiny of sinners; we pluck them as brands from the burning. We ask no man's patronage. We beg no man's money. We fear no man's frown…Let no man join us who is afraid, and we want none but those who are saved, sanctified and aflame with the fire of the Holy Ghost." – Samuel Chadwick
"When our quiet times have become hurried, how can we expect to give God the adoration that is His due? How can we receive the guidance that God is waiting to give? How can our hearts catch the glow of divine fire? How can we have deep fellowship with those purposes that are really nearest to the heart of God?" ( Keswick 1946 ) – Gordon M. Guinness
"The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness." - A. W. Pink
"Before we go to our knees to receive the Baptism of Fire, let me beg of you to see to it that your souls are in harmony with the will and purpose of the Holy Spirit whom you seek." - William Booth
"A man set on fire is an apostle of his age. And the only one who can kindle the spark of light and fire on the hearth where it has died down is He who has revealed Himself as the God of fire, our Lord Jesus Christ. 'Our God is a consuming fire'...Tell me, is your ministry a burning and shining light, or a smoking wick, slowly dying out to ashes? ...It is a strange custom that we should supply a minister with a glass of water; if only we could supply him with a bonfire in the pulpit, a spiritual bonfire. We need the dynamic of a flaming ministry that will set the Church on fire."
- Samuel M. Zwemer (Keswick 1937)
"At Waterloo, the English troops obeying orders fell on their faces for a time and let the hot fire of the French artillery pass over them. Then they sprang to their feet and rushed to the thickest of the fight and beat back their foes. The Lord wants His people flat on their faces, before they attempt to meet the great crises of life." - A. T. Pierson
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Useful Bible Study Tools
I have found these things so helpful that I wish to share them with you.
1. Insta Verse
http://www.instaverse.com/
This is a free software for KJV but you can buy any other version. It will show the verse when you mouse over a reference on your computer screen. I use this extensively. My Professor of Biblical preaching told me about this one.
2 Bible Browser
http://biblebrowser.com/
Very useful study and bible search tool it is most useful for finding the reference to a verse or a phrase but you do not know the version because this one searches all the versions at one time.
3 Bible Gateway
http://www.biblegateway.com/
This is also a very good online Bible. Type in the reference and it retrieves it quickly in the version of your choice.
4 eSword
http://www.e-sword.net/
Free to download and it has numerous Bibles and commentaries you can download for free. The verse found on the front page is "Freely you received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8 )
1. Insta Verse
http://www.instaverse.com/
This is a free software for KJV but you can buy any other version. It will show the verse when you mouse over a reference on your computer screen. I use this extensively. My Professor of Biblical preaching told me about this one.
2 Bible Browser
http://biblebrowser.com/
Very useful study and bible search tool it is most useful for finding the reference to a verse or a phrase but you do not know the version because this one searches all the versions at one time.
3 Bible Gateway
http://www.biblegateway.com/
This is also a very good online Bible. Type in the reference and it retrieves it quickly in the version of your choice.
4 eSword
http://www.e-sword.net/
Free to download and it has numerous Bibles and commentaries you can download for free. The verse found on the front page is "Freely you received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8 )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)