Links & Quotes

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These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. … [God] ordered the Jews to preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty sovereign of the universe… the great essential principle of morality, and consequently all civilization.” —John Adams, in a letter to Judge F. A. Van der Kemp, February 16, 1809

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man. (Hosea 11:9) 

The Lord thus makes known His sparing mercies. It may be that the reader is now under heavy displeasure, and everything threatens his speedy doom. Let the text hold him up from despair. The Lord now invites you to consider your ways and confess your sins. If He had been man, He would long ago have cut you off. If He were now to act after the manner of men, it would be a word and a blow and then there would be an end of you: but it is not so, for “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are His ways above your ways.” 

You rightly judge that He is angry, but He keepeth not His anger forever: if you turn from sin to Jesus, God will turn from wrath. Because God is God, and not man, there is still forgiveness for you, even though you may be steeped up to your throat in iniquity. You have a God to deal with and not a hard man, or even a merely just man. No human being could have patience with you. You would have wearied out an angel, as you have wearied your sorrowing Father; but God is longsuffering. Come and try Him at once. Confess, believe, and turn from your evil way, and you shall be saved. —Charles Spurgeon, Faith′s Checkbook (February 16) 

Stomach-churning: Former Planned Parenthood Nurse Speaks Out

“It was not an easy task which the Church faced when she came down from that upper room…. Left to herself the Church must have perished as a thousand abortive sects had done before her, and have left nothing for a future generation to remember. That the Church did not so perish was due entirely to the miraculous element within her. That element was supplied by the Holy Spirit who came at Pentecost to empower her for her task. For the Church was not an organization merely, not a movement, but a walking incarnation of spiritual energy. And she accomplished within a few brief years such prodigies of moral conquest as to leave us wholly without an explanation—apart from God.” —A.W. Tozer

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

May God have mercy! Belgium Parliament Approves Euthanasia For Children

[VIDEO] Nailed it: Jon Stewart Calls Out Obama For Corrupt Ambassador Choices

Watch out! 7 Times Obama Ignored The Law With His Executive Orders

“The Christian who goes out without faith in ‘wonders’ will return without fruit. No one dare be so rash as to seek to do impossible things unless he has first been empowered by the God of the impossible. ‘The power of the Lord was there’ is our guarantee of victory.” —A.W. Tozer

Tim Elmore prepares us: Welcome To Our McCulture

So excited!! The Assembly of God and the United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God Unite

Ronald & Nancy Reagan loved each other deeply: Valentine′s Day Advice From Ronald Reagan

“Our blunder (or shall we frankly say our sin?) has been to neglect the doctrine of the Spirit to a point where we virtually deny Him His place in the Godhead. This denial has not been by open doctrinal statement, for we have clung closely enough to the Biblical position wherever our credal pronouncements are concerned. Our formal creed is sound; the breakdown is in our working creed. This is not a trifling distinction. A doctrine has practical value only as far as it is prominent in our thoughts and makes a difference in our lives. By this test the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as held by evangelical Christians today has almost no practical value at all. In most Christian churches the Spirit is quite entirely overlooked. Whether He is present or absent makes no real difference to anyone. Brief reference is made to Him in the Doxology and the Benediction. Further than that He might as well not exist. So completely do we ignore Him that it is only by courtesy that we can be called Trinitarian. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity boldly declares the equality of the Three Persons and the right of the Holy Spirit to be worshipped and glorified. Anything less than this is something less than Trinitarianism.” —A.W. Tozer

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

“The truest and most acceptable repentance is to reverse the acts and attitudes of which we repent.” —A.W. Tozer

The so-called religion of peace: Christian Girl Abducted, Converted & Forced To Marry A Muslim

On the week of Bonhoeffer′s birthday: 12 Essential Bonhoeffer Quotes

Very touching: A Letter & Poem To My Baby On The 5-Year Anniversary Of My Abortion

Stop judging by outward appearances: One Biker′s Response To A Mother′s Rudeness

Mere Humanism

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among many of my pastor colleagues. I’m not sure if it’s an attempt to be “relatable” or unoffensive, but it is dead wrong.

The trend is to tell stories (even Bible stories) without using the Bible. To give people good thoughts from Scripture without actually opening the Scripture. To tell people how they should live but to never show them the passages of God’s Word on which those thoughts are based.

Are we ashamed of the Scripture? How can someone “preach” without pointing their audience to the authority for their preaching?!?

A.W. TozerA.W. Tozer warned us with these words—

“Any appeal to the public in the name of Christ that rises no higher than an invitation to tranquillity must be recognized as mere humanism with a few words of Jesus thrown in to make it appear Christian.”

Don’t just throw in some words of Christ; actually take them to His Word. This inspired Word is powerful, if we will just let people get their hands, and eyes, and hearts on it!

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

Good advice from Dr. Tim Elmore: Technology Etiquette For The Emerging Generation

And good advice from Dr. James Dobson: 10 Essentials For Your Marriage

“If you could increase the attendance of your church until there is no more room, if you could provide everything they have in churches that men want and love and value, and yet you didn’t have the Holy Spirit, you might as well have nothing at all. For it is ‘“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty’ (Zechariah 4:6). Not by the eloquence of a man, not by good music, not by good preaching, but it is by the Spirit that God works His mighty works.” —A.W. Tozer

FINALLY!! Obama Pushes For Release Of Americans Held In North Korea, Iran

[VIDEO] Memorable Super Bowl moments

Uh oh! Facebook Is Now More Widely Read Than The Bible

[VIDEO] For all of those you posting your Facebook video: An Honest Facebook Movie

Links & Quotes

link quote

These are links to articles and quotes I found interesting today.

[VIDEO] A short video from John Maxwell: Pride

“Holiness is inwrought by the Holy Spirit, not because we have suffered, but because we have surrendered.” —Richard Shelley Taylor

[PICTURE] A cool father-son moment after the Broncos Super Bowl loss: Broncos’ Shaun Phillips Receives Touching Text From Son

[VIDEO] A powerful pro-life statement: Science Is Clear On When Life Begins

“We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.” —A.W. Tozer

“For it is not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God demands; it is not even all our time and all our attention; it is our-selves. … He cannot bless us unless He has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with Him.” —C.S. Lewis

“We need an outside word of love, kindness, support, faith and confidence. We long for people we admire to put their arms around us and speak life into our being. We hunger for relationship. We crave intimacy.” —Bill Leach

The Prophet Almost Blew It

Jeremiah 33-3Samuel had anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel, but Saul’s disobedience led to God’s rejection of him as the king. God dispatched Samuel to anoint the next king of Israel, and that’s when Samuel almost blew it.

God knows what He’s doing. He has a purpose and a plan, and He invites us to be a part of it. So when God sent Samuel on his mission, He gave him very specific instructions, “I have chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be king. I will show you the one I have chosen” (1 Samuel 16:1-4).

That seems clear enough, but Samuel’s mistake is often our mistake: we think we can figure out what God is doing, and then we rush ahead of Him.

When Jesse’s oldest son Eliab appeared, he was a tall, handsome man. Samuel knew that the next king would be one of Jesse’s sons, and when he saw Eliab he thought to himself, “Surely this is the one” (v. 6). One problem: Eliab wasn’t the one.

God told Samuel, “You are looking with your eyes and can only see the things on the surface. I don’t look like you look; I see the way things really are” (v. 7). In other words, God has a discernment that we don’t have.

Here’s great news: God wants to give us His discernment! But we need to ask Him for it—

Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. (Jeremiah 33:3, emphasis added)

One thing that stands out to me in this story is how many times it says, “The Lord said.” God is always speaking to us, but are we listening? If not, we’re missing out on His vital discernment.

There is an important link between reading the Bible and getting God’s discernment. That’s why the Bible is more than a Book to read, it’s a Book to pray! A.W. Tozer said it this way—

“To think God’s thoughts requires much prayer. If you do not pray much, you are not thinking God’s thoughts. If you do not read your Bible much and often and reverently, you are not thinking God’s thoughts.”

Don’t make the mistake that Samuel almost made. Read the Bible, pray the Bible, and you will be amazed at how much discernment God gives to you.

I will be continuing our series on prayer—If You Will Ask—this Sunday, and I hope you can join us!

A Perilous Profession

My dear fellow pastor, please be on guard! Be careful to remain physically fit, spiritually full, emotionally strong, and mentally stimulated. Keep your relationships healthy and guard against the attacks of the enemy.

Heed these wise words of A.W. Tozer—

A.W. Tozer“Yet the ministry is one of the most perilous of professions. The devil hates the Spirit-filled minister with an intensity second only to that which he feels for Christ Himself. The source of this hatred is not difficult to discover. An effective, Christ-like minister is a constant embarrassment to the devil, a threat to his dominion, a rebuttal of his best arguments and a dogged reminder of his coming overthrow. No wonder he hates him. satan knows that the downfall of a prophet of God is a strategic victory for him, so he rests not day or night devising hidden snares and deadfalls for the ministry. Perhaps a better figure would be the poison dart that only paralyzes its victim, for I think that satan has little interest in killing the preacher outright. An ineffective, half-alive minister is a better advertisement for hell than a good man dead. So the preacher’s dangers are likely to be spiritual rather than physical, though sometimes the enemy works through bodily weaknesses to get to the preacher’s soul.”

What do you do to keep yourself healthy and on-guard?

Now More Than Ever

I am very challenged by this quote, and it is one I will attempt to live out this year.

Tozer

“Now more than at any other time in generations, the believer is in a position to go on the offensive. The world is lost on a wide sea, and Christians alone know the way to the desired haven. While things were going well, the world scorned them with their Bible and hymns, but now the world needs them desperately, and it needs that despised Bible, too. For in the Bible, and there only, is found the chart to tell us where we are going on this rough and unknown ocean. The day when Christians should meekly apologize is over—they can get the world’s attention not by trying to please, but by boldly declaring the truth of divine revelation. They can make themselves heard not by compromise, but by taking the affirmative and sturdily declaring, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’” —A.W. Tozer

Pastor, Stop Competing!

Whenever I’m with other pastors and they ask me, “How’s your church going?” I know the answer I give is not the answer they want. For most pastors “How’s your church going” is really code for “How many people are coming to your church services.” I have always had a sneaking suspicion that if I answered the “How’s it going” question with an attendance figure, that I have missed something.

This quote from A.W. Tozer convinced me that my suspicion was correct—

Tozer“Dear Lord, I refuse henceforth to compete with any of Thy servants. They have congregations larger than mine. So be it. I rejoice in their success. They have greater gifts. Very well. That is not in their power nor in mine. I am humbly grateful for their greater gifts and my smaller ones. I only pray that I may use to Thy glory such modest gifts as I possess. I will not compare myself with any, nor try to build up my self-esteem by noting where I may excel one or another in Thy holy work. I herewith make a blanket disavowal of all intrinsic worth. I am but an unprofitable servant. I gladly go to the foot of the class and own myself the least of Thy people. If I err in my self judgment and actually underestimate myself I do not want to know it. I purpose to pray for others and to rejoice in their prosperity as if it were my own. And indeed it is my own if it is Thine own, for what is Thine is mine, and while one plants and another waters it is Thou alone that giveth the increase.” —A.W. Tozer (emphasis added by me)

A gutsy prayer! O Lord, may I always be able to pray this prayer in absolute integrity.