Home Page. 5-13-12 Our Highest Motivation is to Please the Master.
Serving, Separated, Sanctified. --- for Jesus' sake and the Gospel's
"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10) -- this minister's life verse.
email: donrsoldier@wowway.com / see also www.soldiersofrevival.com
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*At the Bible School, we have posted several lessons and our The Road Back to the Ancient Landmark Church, part 10, Love Without Dissimulation:Unmasking the Fifth Column. [Scroll dolwn there.]
*We post our twice-weekly "bits and pieces" at the area titled "Sermons, teachings, and devotionals." [Scroll down at that place.]
“Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)
What is a True Church?
The true church is composed of regenerated persons who differ from other human beings in that they have a superior kind of life imparted to them at the time of their inward renewal.
They have espoused the cause of a rejected and crucified man who claimed to be God and who has pledged His sacred honor that he will prepare a place for them in His Father’s house and return again to conduct them there with rejoicing.
In the meantime they carry His cross, suffer whatever indignation men may heap upon them for His sake, act as His ambassadors and do good to all men in His name.
They steadfastly believe that they will share His triumph, and for this reason they are perfectly willing to share His rejection by a society that does not understand them.
And they have no hard feelings -- only charity and compassion and a strong desire that all men may come to repentance and be reconciled to God.
--- A. W. Tozer
We don't go to church, we are the church!
We go to preachin'!
Our churches need fewer to sweeten Jesus and more to preach Jesus.
"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 2:18)
You can tell when compassion is in its place. Not because someone says so. Not because someone preaches it so. Not when the world proclaims it so, or even feels it to be so. There is a delicate fragrance that rises up out of it. God’s Word will pour off the lips like molasses. The Gospel will beautify the moment. The name of Jesus will fill up the senses. The sweetest sounds will be a cascading in the ear. The Spirit of God will sweetly fan the warming fires of the soul. And echoes of eternity will stream from lofty mountain grandeur. Lord God Almighty is high and lifted up and His servants are at their labors!
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“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
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“When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.” (Psalm 141:6)
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“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24)
He Quickens Our Hearts.
When a Christian begins to know Christ as His Lord and Savior, through whom he is redeemed from death, and brought into His kingdom and inheritance, his heart is aglow with a flaming love of God, and he would gladly help everyone to the same experience. For he knows no greater joy than that he possesses this treasure, that he knows Christ. Therefore, he goes out and teaches and exhorts other people, praising and testifying to it before all men, praying and yearning that they too might attain to such grace. That is a restless spirit enjoying the highest rest in the grace and peace of God, for it cannot be silent or idle but is always striving with all its power to spread the honor and glory of God among the people, that others too may receive this Spirit of grace and may then help with the work of prayer. For where the Spirit of grace is, He quickens our hearts, so that we can, and may, and must begin to pray. --- Martin Luther
Come quickly, Lord Jesus! As I think of the conditions of the world today I am led to believe that His coming is near. We think of wars and bloodshed and violence all over the world. We think sin and graft and riots and arson and looting and all the other evils right here in our own country. Who can straighten it all out? The president can’t do it. Congress can’t do it. The UN can’t do it. It will take more than a Superman to do it, it will take a Supernatural Man to do it. And that Man is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only One who can straighten out the world. I don’t see how things can go on as they are much longer. He will have to come back to straighten out the world! --- Herschel Ford
The failings listed here breed deceit in a church, or among the congregation:
[] Diminutive attitude toward Jesus Christ.
[] Bible indifference and illiteracy.
[] Frivolity toward the Holy Spirit.
[] Laxity toward sin, discipline, accountability, and doctrine.
[] Nominal leaders or less than spiritually competent leaders.
[] Lack of vision, of priorities, of passion for “Jesus’ work.”
[] Self-righteous, controlling, falsely humble or sentimental pastors.
[] Shallow preaching, diluted messages, minimized discipline, foolishness
It was characteristic of the early church that they knew they were the "ekklesia," the called-out ones, who were no longer of this world (John 17:6,14,16) but were eagerly waiting (1 Thessalonians 1:10) and watching for Christ to return to take them to Heaven (Hebrews 9:28; John 14:2-3). That hope must be awakened [in the chuirches today]! --- The Berean Call
Modernism Destroys the Life From Within.
If Modernism was a separate movement in itself, built its own churches, launched its own institutions, projected its own denominations, then we could look at it just as another of the many sects that appear on the surface of history. But Modernism itself builds nothing; it is a parasite that grows on institutions already built. The physician tells us that a given virus can multiply and cause disease only when it is within cells. This is a picture of historical modernism. It grows on the work, the heritage, the sacrifice of the orthodox. The humble disciples of Christ make the converts, evangelize the fields, build the churches, launch institutions, erect the denominations. Modernism perverts and destroys. --- author unknown
Mission Work Isn't Limited to Foreign Lands.
Jesus held no referral cards or target groups, would go a hundred miles or just up the street, would seek after rich and poor, white and black, old and young, man and woman, master and slave, Jew and Gentile, “good” and bad, sick and well, church-going and not. Every church is surrounded by a community -- a population of souls who need the Savior. As followers of Jesus, we are called to make converts and train disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). That’s the life work of all who name the name of Christ in sincerity.
I know perfectly well that poverty and misfortune becomes me better than riches and pleasures. For Christ the Lord, too, was poor for our sakes; and, I, unhappy wretch than I am, have no wealth even if I wish for it. daily, I expect murder, fraud, or captivity or whatever it may be; but I fear none of these things because of the promises of Heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty. --- Patrick
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3) With the hatred of the world bearing down on the apostles, pluck became their forte as the resurrection propelled these ordinary men onto an extraordinary path of great works, supernatural exploits, unrivaled loyalty to Christ, and Christ-honoring martyrdom. Should we not set out on the highway to at least present ourselves at the early morning muster of the soldiering saints?
The mission of the church is to create a spirit of unrest in the hearts of the people and so disgust them with sin that they will forsake their iniquities. ---Billy Sunday
“Making ready a people, prepared for the Lord" Is taken directly from scripture at Luke 1:17 and refers to the ministry of John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Jesus. His mission was to go before the Messiah and prepare the people for His coming. We believe that as a church of called-out people, we are sent and commissioned to prepare people not only for the coming of the King, but also to live full, meaningful and purpose-filled lives here on earth as well.
We proclaim Jesus Christ.
The main message of the Bible is found in the little expression, “the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible repeats this important message, “the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” With illustration after illustration, type after type, and declaration after declaration throughout the Bible, the Holy Spirit repeats this truth time, and time again “the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” --- Curtis Hutson
Message: Barabbas for Christ.
1. Barabbas comes and goes over the world stage with such quickness and matter-of-factness that we scarcely notice him. Yet, while Jesus Christ IS the Easter Story for all time, Barabbas is the Easter reason for all time.
2. Like me, the cross was meant for him. Like me, the suffering was meant for him. Like me, his spite for the law and rebellion against authority brought his just condemnation. And like me, he went free while the Blessed took his place.
3. What was on his mind when the jailors unlocked his cell and loosed him to live another day? Did he stop to see the miracle on Calvary before he moved on? Did He look into the eyes of the Son of God’s love, His Divine Person flailing in ghastly torment? Did he see the horror of what should have been him writhing on that crossbeams? Whatever happened to Barabbas? We do not know.
4. But I do know what happened to me! My sins and not me were nailed to that cross; His precious blood was shed for me and not a drop of my own; He agonized and not me; He was humiliated and not me; He took the full thrust of God’s brutally inflicted wrath and not me; He endured the Hell that squarely belonged to me; He forgave the unforgivable me; He was forsaken in my stead.
5. Scarcely would a man die for a good person, but He died for every Barabbas who ever lived -- murderers, thieves, and rebels as is every man and woman who is ever born onto this cursed earth. Only Jesus would ever love a Barabbas -- and the Barabbas writing this little message surveys that wondrous cross and ponders in utter and complete mystification: why? Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the great love wherewith you loved me.
I sometimes think I should openly advertise that I’m not for sale. But I’ve come to figure that it’s not that I’m not for sale that‘s important, but that the price is so high man cannot attain unto it. Only God has the amount and value needed to buy me, indeed the precious blood of Christ which He shed to purchase my salvation, to secure my soul in Heaven, to present me holy and without blame before His throne of grace. My Savior is a Pearl of great price, and I do not intend to settle on any price below what He paid for me. I’m not for sale, and you couldn’t afford me if I were.
We are Fundamental, Bible-believing, Gospel preaching. We adhere faithfully to the King James Bible and accept it as God‘s authorized and preserved version of His Holy Word in the English language. We stand up to say “Yes” to the things God loves, and “No” to the things God hates. We believe in personal and ecclesiastical separation, revival, and soul winning. We accept without reservation that all Christian work is an inseparable tandem of loving the brethren and speaking (and acting upon) the truth of Scripture. We believe that God the Holy Spirit leads us in arriving at truth through the Scriptures for all matters of faith, doctrine, life, and work.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all came looking for the wounded, and They found me … on the street… wounded…… putrid wounds inflicted by sin, Satan, society, self … and They healed me.
(1) I’m not a preacher, I’m just out looking for the wounded.
(2) Look for the wounded … you won’t have to look far.
(3) We’ve gotten too busy, we’ve lost our burden; we’ve gotten too big, we’ve forgotten the little people.
(4) Take the wounded and bring them to be healed by the Great Physician.
(5) When the Savior heals the wounded, He sends them back into battle, to look for more wounded.
(6) When God entered the garden after the fall, He is the first soul-winner, He comes looking for the wounded.
(7) God’s eyes went to and fro in the earth - He was looking for the wounded, to bind up the broken-hearted. ---Clyde Box
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Likewise greet the church that is in their house.” (Romans 16:5)
Too many of today’s clergy seem preoccupied with building personal empires and monstrous buildings. They go on costly TV instead of investing in the less visible “work of the church,” which is people, not brick and mortar. The first Christians met in homes, not mega churches. They took care of each other and did not rely ion government to sustain them. Many pastors today dislike sermons about sin and repentance because it makes people uncomfortable. And so we get instead the discomfort of social decay and an ever-widening God gap. --- Cal Thomas, 2011
The Local Church Met in Private Homes at the Very Beginning.
(See Acts 12:12; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 14:15; Philemon 2.) Sanday writes, “There is no decisive evidence until the Third Century of the existence of special buildings used for churches.” It is the belief of many folk today, and I have found this belief for years, that the church which began in the home will return to meeting in the home. Many of these great big buildings we call churches, with great steeples on them, are nothing more than a pile of brick, stone and mortar [and holding large mortgages]. They are mausoleums, not living churches that contain a real, living body of believers. The church was never intended to be spoken of as a building. For the first three centuries, the church was the body of believers and met in homes like that of Aquila and Priscilla. ---J. Vernon McGee
The true Gospel calls for a genuine faith, putting your trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross, for the forgiveness of sins -- and keep in mind that a man of God preaches the Word of God under the power of the Spirit of God. The gospel of the Pope is not the Gospel of the Bible, it is a spoofed gospel, and neither should we walk with homosexual leaders in the churches -- nor adulterers, liars, gamblers, drunkards, and the like.
My friend, there is a God in heaven who paid a great price to save His people from their sins. Lord Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary, and you better trust it to cover your sins, because many of you are trusting in your own will, in your fascination for convenient kindness, and in your fervent efforts to build a tower of Babel -- all of that will be cast down with you into the lake of fire on the last day. I beg of you not to play with this fire. God loves you that much and far greater; He can save you from sin, death, and Hell.
God’s Plan of Salvation
1. What does God want you to do? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
2. How can you believe? “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10
3. What can you do to show that you believe? You can sincerely pray this prayer - or another prayer from your own heart - and tell God that you believe and accept (trust) His Son as your Savior.
Lord, I know that I am a sinner. Please forgive me for my sins and help me to turn from them in hatred for them. I know that I deserve Hell for my sins. But I believe that Jesus died to pay for my sins and to take the punishment for me. I know that He purchased my salvation with His own precious blood, and has given me the precious gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven. I trust Him and accept Him now as my Savior. Amen.