Your friend from Tennessee, USA. Praying for revival. Praying for reform.
For every $100,000 church members give to American churches - only $102 funds missions to Unreached People Groups.
People who know missions financing far better than I will say those numbers are likely pessimistic. So let’s imagine they’re off by a factor of 10. That gets us to 1.02 percent for UPGs.
Is 1 percent of American church budgets enough for the least reached parts of the world? We’re talking about places where people have virtually no access either to the gospel or to the Scriptures in their languages? Source: Gospel Coalition.
Such statistics are difficult to verify, of course. And some modern church leaders would declare that their whole budget is for missions. I would challenge such a sentiment and inquire: Is the modern church really a charity or merely a charity unto itself?
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? And why all the talk of false prophets is prophecy was always directly from the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit.
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.
D
Good points, my brother. Most Christians associate the priesthood of all believers with only the New Covenant or New Testament. This relationship was God's design from the beginning as you have noted. Let's read more:
Ex. 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. 3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.