Your friend from Tennessee, USA. Praying for revival. Praying for reform.
An interesting book on a timely subject. Many of our brotherly opponents insist that prophecy was a miraculous, supernatural event. Not for Christians today.
The author of this book - then President of Princeton Theological School, claims to have demonstrated several unique contributions:
- a central thesis that early Christian prophecy functioned as theology
- the view that the use of "glossolalia" was understood as an ecstatic event which was a sign of genuine prophetic inspiration
- the argument that prophetic speech was extended discourse of a sermonic kind rather than brief ejaculatory oracles
Think about it - if every prophecy was directly from God, bypassing human faculties, why would prophecies need to be weighed and possibly rejected? And why would The Almighty give prophecies to several people at the exact same time, thus resulting in confusion and persons being interrupted before others could finish their own prophecy?
Personally, I do not have all the answers on this subject. Still, we are especially encouraged to covet to prophesy. If 2 or 3 prophets were to speak on one occasion, would 4 be OK? Likewise... What about the needy widows, required to be 60 years? Could an exception be made for one a year or two younger? For sure, we see numbers rounded off throughout the Bible. Think of Jesus feeding the large crowds, for example.
Anyway, I am getting off the subject. This book was published in the 90's. So it shows the present drift of modern scholarship on this fascinating but misunderstood subject.
Hi all. I wanted to share this link and inform you about a bold Christian News channel. Of course, I cannot endorse everything they publish. :) It's called CBN News.
Of old, the tribe of Issachar were known for their wisdom and ability to understand the socio-political and spiritual climate of their time to discern what actions Israel should take. This ability is highlighted in 1 Chronicles 12:32, where they are described as "men who had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do".
The landscape is changing everyday. Still the Kingdom shall go from strength to strength. And at last, every knee shall bow.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This, I repeat, is the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. - President and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower
Now to the church - how has she spent her money? Her hundreds of billions of dollars? Is she a true charity for the benefit of the world or a charity unto herself?
Looking at Christianity on the television would suggest that taking in money and lots of it, is of the highest priority.
Those saddest words of tongue of pen? The words are these: It might have been.
Is God speaking to you as with an audible voice? A word of prophecy? A word of knowledge?
Among the theologically minded, with regard to the Holy Spirit's communications, there are Cessationists and Continuationists. They often fight like cats and dogs. One believes God speaks only through Scripture. The other hears the actual voice of God, even with regularity.
All agree that the Lord Almighty could speak in real time today as he has done in the past.
But... Did you happen to notice that Cessationists consistently believe that God still speaks to "candidates for the ministry" with respect to their "call to preach"? This is glaringly inconsistent yet it is seldom pointed out.
Worse still, the bar to ministry has been raised much too high, leaving many capable players to sit it out on the bench.
More than once in the books of Acts were the ordinary believers going everywhere preaching the word. In fact, the word preaching is never employed to describe the verbal activity among the gathered saints. It's a privilege for everyone in every place... other than church.
Time to simplify!
You may have seen this guy on a 2 dollar bill. 2nd President and 1st Vice President. Writing in a private letter to his wife, which he likely thought others would never see...
I confess I am not fond of the Presbyterian Meetings in this Town. I had rather go to our Church. We have better sermons, better prayers, better speakers, softer, sweeter musick, and genteeler company.
And I must confess, that the Episcopal Church is quite as disagreeable to my taste as the Presbyterian. They are both Slaves to the Domination of the Priesthood. I like the Congregational way best - next to that, the Independent.
John Adams to Abigail Adams, Oct. 9, 1774; Butterfield, Abigail and John, pp. 78-79. The first Vice President (1789-1797) and second President (1797-1801) of the United States.
Why would a book such as this be mentioned on a Christian outreach site? Because Jesus is the Lord of all things. In fact, his church has a political name: Kingdom. Part of his commission was to "teach all things." And yes, he had much to say about national righteousness as well as personal righteousness. Obviously, some will put the cart before the horse and seek to merge church and state.
"Benjamin Franklin Morris' book has been out of print for over 100 years. If you can find an original copy, it's only because you have looked in the deep recesses of university libraries where the volume is likely collecting dust on dimly lit library shelves.
Organizations like the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have done their best to ignore the content of the massive compilation of original source material found in this book. If Americans ever become aware of the facts assembled by the author in this historic encyclopedia of knowledge, arguments for a secular founding of America will turn to dust.
Don't miss out on the fantastic wealth of information this 1000+ page book has in store. Your children and grandchildren are not being taught the truth of history in public school, and this book will correct that travesty! Christian Life and Character could very well be responsible for the rediscovering of the truth of America's foundation in Christianity. This book should be the cornerstone of any personal, professional, church or school library." From Amazon.
How do you get it? A free digital copy can be found at archive.org.
A print copy might be available on ebay or amazon. More likely, a new one can be found at American Vision.
Somewhere in America today, on a street corner or at a water fountain, two devout Christians run into each other. They sigh and discuss the news of the day. There is a long pause... One says to the other: "See, things are worse and worse - He's coming again soon." They nod their heads in agreement.
I have personally witnessed many of these conversations. Conversations which all end in the same way.
Truly, no man knows the day or the hour. Truly, there are passages in Scripture which appear to call for his soon return. The question is: "So, do we just give up and cease to work and pray that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And have we really come to understand the subject of future events?"
I see many Christians who have given up - so I must make this inquiry.
You?
About 3 in 10 U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated. Self-identified Christians make up 63% of U.S. population in 2021, down from 75% a decade ago.
Therefore let us employ every means and method to reach them. And let those not 'professionally' involved in ministry step up to their task. As it Acts, let those scattered abroad go everywhere preaching the Good News.
Every problem is but an opportunity in disguise. Let's roll!
D
What city in Tennessee? What is the source of these sweet sounds?