Charles Spurgeon on Prayer

How I delight to listen to a brother who talks to God simply and from his heart; and I must confess I have no small liking to those rare, old-fashioned prayers, which are now quite out of date. For the most part we are getting too fine and respectable nowadays; too genteel to allow of prayers such as once made the walls to ring and ring again.

O for a revival of these glorious, violent prayers, which flew like hot shot against the battlements of heaven! (Matt. 11:12).O for more moving of the posts of the door in vehemence, more thundering at the gates of mercy! I would sooner attend a prayer meeting where there were groans and cries all over the place, and cries and shouts of "Hallelujah!" than be in our polite assemblies where everything is dull as death and decorous as the whitewashed sepulchre!O for more of the prayer of God, the body, soul, and spirit working together, the whole man being aroused and startled up to the highest pitch of intensity—to wrestle with the Most High! (Gen. 32:24-28).

Such, I have no doubt, the prayer of Jesus was on the cold mountainside.

Want to be a missionary?

Do you desire to be a missionary? Do you sense God’s call? Are you burdened for His glory and the souls of men? This is good, but it is not enough! You must now give yourself to the tedious endeavor of preparation:

Submit to Godly Leadership: “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).

Associate with the Wise: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20).

Study to Show Yourself Approved:
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).

Become an Intercessor:
“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one” (Ezekiel 22:30).

Be Faithful to Serve in Your Local Church:
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21).
Prepare Yourself for a Life of Sacrifice: Understand that missions is nothing more and nothing less than an opportunity to die (Amy Carmichael).

Being a missionary is much different from a “mission trip” or attending a missions conference. It is a hard work which demands enduring sacrifice and promises few temporal rewards.

- HeartCry Magazine 52nd Ed. Page 14-15

Polycarp of Smyrna

This is truely an incredible historical account of faithfulness to our Lord and Savior. Polycarp was a friend and disciple of the beloved Apostle John and appointed bishop of Smyrna during the first century church. The below is an account of his death and steadfast faithfulness.

"He who gives me the strength to bear the flames," he said. "will enable me to remain steady." - Polycarp

----------------------------------------------
Part 1
CHAPTER IV: ST. POLYCARP (AD 166)

About the same time with Justin the Martyr, St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was put to death. He was a very old man; for it was almost ninety years since he had been converted from heathenism. He had known St. John, and is supposed to have been made bishop of Smyrna by that Apostle himself, and he had been a friend of St. Ignatius, who, as we have seen, suffered martyrdom fifty years before. From all these things, and from his wise and holy character, he was looked up to as a father by all the Churches, and his mild advice had sometimes put all end to differences of opinion which but for him might have turned into lasting quarrels.

When the persecution reached Smyrna, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a number of Christians suffered with great constancy, and the heathen multitude, being provoked at their refusal to give up their faith, cried out for the death of Polycarp. The aged bishop, although he was ready to die for his Saviour, remembered that it was not right to throw himself in the way of danger; so he left the city, and went first to one village in the neighborhood and then to another. But he was discovered in his hiding-place, and when he saw the soldiers who were come to seize him, he calmly said, "God's will be done!" He desired that some food should be given to them, and while they were eating, he spent the time in prayer. He was then set on an ass, and led towards Smyrna; and, when he was near the town, one of the heathen magistrates came by in his chariot, and took him up into it. The magistrate tried to persuade Polycarp to sacrifice to the gods; but finding that he could make nothing of him, he pushed him out of the chariot so roughly that the old man fell and broke his leg. But Polycarp bore the pain without showing how much he was hurt, and the soldiers led him into the amphitheatre, where great numbers of people were gathered together. When all these saw him, they set up loud cries of rage and savage delight; but Polycarp thought, as he entered the place, that he heard a voice saying to him, "Be strong and play the man!" and he did not heed all the shouting of the crowd. The governor desired him to deny Christ, and said that, if he would, his life should be spared. But the faithful bishop answered "Fourscore and six years have I served Christ, and He hath never done me wrong; how then can I now blaspheme my King and Saviour?" The governor again and again urged him, as if in a friendly way, to sacrifice; but Polycarp stedfastly refused. He next threatened to let wild beasts loose on him, and as Polyearp still showed no fear, he said that he would burn him alive. "You threaten me," said the bishop, "with a fire which lasts but a short time; but you know not of that eternal fire which is prepared for the wicked." A stake was then set up, and a pile of wood was collected around it. Polycarp walked to the place with a calm and cheerful look, and, as the executioners were going to fasten him to the stake with iron cramps, he begged them to spare themselves the trouble. "He who gives me the strength to bear the flames," he said. "will enable me to remain steady." He was therefore only tied to the stake with cords, and as he stood thus bound, he uttered a thanksgiving for being allowed to suffer after the pattern of his Lord and Saviour. When his prayer was ended, the wood was set on fire, but we are told that the flames swept round him, looking like the sail of a ship swollen by the wind, while he remained unhurt in the midst of then. One of the executioners, seeing this, plunged a sword into the martyr's breast, and the blood rushed forth in such a stream that it put out the fire. But the persecutors, who were resolved that the Christians should not have their bishop's body, lighted the wood again, and burnt the corpse, so that only a few of the bones remained; and these the Christians gathered out, and gave them an honourable burial. It was on Easter eve that St. Polycarp suffered, in the year of our Lord 166.

Lost Doctrine of Church Discipline

After a couple days of reading 1 Corinthians and seeing Pauls concern about the wayward behavior of the congregation in Corinth I have been led to research the concept of church discipline. I have noticed that there is a lack of this practice and lack of mention in our churches today and would encourage our elders, deacons and pastors to relook at this important piece of church history.

Read more here

---------------------------

THE PURPOSE OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE

In such corrections and excommunication, the church has three ends in view. The first is that they who lead a filthy and infamous life may not be called Christians, to the dishonor of God, as if his holy church [cf. <490525> Ephesians 5:25-26] were a conspiracy of wicked and abandoned men. For since the church itself is the body of Christ [ <510124> Colossians 1:24], it cannot be corrupted by such foul and decaying members without some disgrace falling upon its Head. Therefore, that there may be no such thing in the church to brand its most sacred name with disgrace, they from whose wickedness infamy redounds to the Christian name must be banished from its family. And here also we must preserve the order of the Lord’s Supper, that it may not be profaned by being administered indiscriminately.F404 For it is very true that he to whom its distribution has been committed, if he knowingly and willingly admits an unworthy person whom he could rightfully turn away, is as guilty of sacrilege as if he had cast the Lord’s body to dogs. On this account, Chrysostom gravely inveighs against priests who, fearing the power of great men, dare exclude no one. "Blood," he says, "will be required at your hands. [ <260318> Ezekiel 3:18; 33:8.] If you fear a man, he will laugh at you; but if you fear God, you will be revered also among men. Let us not dread the fasces, the purple, the crowns; here we have a greater power. I truly would rather give my body to death, and let my blood be poured out, than participate in that pollution."F405 Therefore, lest this most hallowed mystery be disgraced, discretion is very much needed in its distribution. Yet this can be had only through the jurisdiction of the church.

The second purpose is that the good be not corrupted by the constant company of the wicked, as commonly happens. For (such is our tendency to wander from the way) there is nothing easier than for us to be led away by bad examples from right living. The apostle noted this tendency when he bade the Corinthians expel the incestuous man from their company. "A little leaven," he says, "ferments the whole lump." [ <460506> 1 Corinthians 5:6.] And he foresaw such great danger here that he prohibited all association with him. "If any brother," he says, "bears among you the name of fornicator, miser, worshiper of idols, drunkard, or reviler, I do not allow you even to take food with such a man." [ <460511> 1 Corinthians 5:11 p.]

The third purpose is that those overcome by shame for their baseness begin to repent. They who under gentler treatment would have become more stubborn so profit by the chastisement of their own evil as to be awakened when they feel the rod. The apostle means this when he speaks as follows: "If anyone does not obey our teaching, note that man; and do not mingle with him, that he may be ashamed" [ <530314> 2 Thessalonians 3:14 p.]. Likewise, in another passage, when he writes that he has delivered the Corinthian man to Satan: "that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord" [ <460505> 1 Corinthians 5:5]; that is (as I interpret it), Paul gave him over to temporary condemnation that he might have eternal salvation. But he speaks of "delivering over to Satan" because the devil is outside the church, as Christ is in the church.F406 Some authorities refer this phrase to a certain vexing of the flesh,F407 but this seems very doubtful to me.

Challenged By An Atheist

This atheist had a better conception of our understanding of eternity then most professing believers today. I can see why it challenged C.T. Studd to recognize that the normal Christian life is to live with an eternally focused mindset.

-------------------------

A Letter From An Atheist
Eye Opening Insights

"You are really convinced that you've got all the answers. You've really got yourself tricked into believing that you're 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you're right, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me, you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation, into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your 'loving' god created, yet you stand by and do nothing.

If you believed one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unchangeable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That's equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You're just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that 'walk' signal will shine your way across the road.

Think about it. Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You're just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you're right then you're an uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as love and caring."

Life Changing Incident For C.T. Studd

One of the turning points in the life of Studd, diverting him to a life of missionary leadership from athletic fame and financial ease, was a brief tract. An atheist wrote the lines: “Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labour in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of Eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my lips. Earth—its joys and its griefs—would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon Eternity alone and on the immortal souls around me soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be, ‘What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?’“

Whether or not this was composed in mockery of the church, we do know that Studd, who captained the cricket team of Cambridge in his last year (1883), ranks as one of the greatest athletes that England has ever known. With his two brothers he established a record never yet matched at the University of Cambridge, each of them serving as captain of the cricket team in successive years. And with six other distinguished young men, C. T. Studd formed the well-known “Cambridge Seven” that went out to China on missionary service. Ten years afterwards Studd was touring the American universities at the start of the famous Student Volunteer movement of this land. In 1910 once again he commanded attention by starting to evangelize the largest unreached mission field of Africa. And to think that an atheist helped to point the way! “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light,” our Lord said.

Does the present generation of believers need the same kind of awakening as Studd? In the opinion of many, Satan is lulling the church into a sense of contentment and relaxation today, so far as the great essentials of the Faith are concerned, hiding from vision, for example, the primary task to reach the ends of the earth with Christ’s message. The Evil One knows by long experience how to circumscribe thought, so that all our concern focuses on the local congregation and denomination as if the church was needing our support rather than lending us all our support in virtue of its own inherent strength, born of God. In some cases today, too, the Enemy sidetracks conservative Christians by promoting useless controversy (whether with true or false brethren, it really makes little difference in the end). He can even halt the progress of world evangelization by getting us occupied with church union, since that often amounts to no more than far-fetched, impractical plans for organization and administration. It is not difficult to bury oneself under statistics and the burden of committee meetings, harmonizing activities of one sort or another. Not that all of this is uncalled for, but simply that basic things may not be kept foremost, putting first what Christ Himself placed first.

To be sure, our own house must be put in order before those outside can be proffered aid. But let it never be forgotten that a worldwide ministry will prove a blessing in the meantime, as a definite means to the end that the church at home be revived. Experience will testify to this. Outside interest, so far from weakening the home church, will divert into other channels what otherwise might be a rising tide of selfishness with its attendant bickering.

Starting this thing up

Hello, I Just wanted to start up a blog about Christian writing, poetry, and preaching that has affected my way of thinking and attitude. I pray some will be moved with these ideas.

Seek those things that produce the loving nature of Jesus in our lives. I would rather have the wrong facts and a right attitude, than right facts and a wrong attitude. God can change my understanding of the facts in a moment, but it often takes a lifetime to effect changes of attitude.
-Chuck Smith