“Normal does not mean average. Average run-of-the-mill Christianity is our main problem. We have confused lukewarmenss with the norm. The vast majority of Sunday-morning parishioners take pride in being middle-of-the-roaders. The New Testament Christian lives above the average.”

~Vance Havner

Failing Christian Leaders

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Have you been disappointed in your pastor or the officers of your church or perhaps in Christian leaders in general? Have you placed great faith in some spiritual leader only to be disillusioned and to find out that your faith has been misplaced? Have you observed the growing popularity of some evangelist or Bible teacher whom you “know” to be insincere, while noting that another, whose fidelity and sincerity are beyond question, seems to get nowhere?

How it helps, in such situations, to be able to “rightly divide the Word of truth,” and to enjoy “the full assurance of understanding” that comes with “the full knowledge [Gr., epignosis] of the mystery”! (Colossians 2:2).

In “this present evil age” we are living under “the dispensation of the grace of God.”

God is not saving good people today, nor even people who will repent and “do works meet for repentance.” Rather, He is saving poor sinners who will come to Him with all their sin. This is God’s gracious response to man’s rejection of the King and the kingdom as offered at Pentecost.

Look at the way believers lived together in love and harmony during the Pentecostal era and you are apt to exclaim: “Why can’t we live that way today? Let’s get back to Pentecost.” But look at the way believers lived together after the raising up of Paul, even among his beloved Philippians, and you will say: “It is no different today.” This is because the believers at Pentecost were all filled with the Spirit in fulfillment of a prophetic promise, while today He has in grace committed His message to failing men and women, who indeed possess the Spirit, but often grieve Him.

Get Through To Jesus!

By Vance Havner

If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Mark 5:28

In the maze of present-day confusion, the chaos of conflicting voices, how often have we wished that we might just press through and touch Jesus as in the day of His flesh. They were not bewildered then by scholars and sectarians, each claiming the only perfect right to introduce anyone to Him. This poor sick woman came all by herself and for herself and it worked. Whether she had pure, unadulterated, unalloyed faith I know not, but she got through to Jesus!

Are you troubled and dizzy with a dozen voices shouting in your ears? Have you, like the father of the demonized boy, brought your problem to the disciples-this church or preach-to find that “they could not“? Don=t go away. Jesus is saying, “Bring your problem to me.”

Push through the crowd and touch Him for yourself. You need no middleman to present you. As many as touch Him are made whole.

“Be whole of thy plague,” He told the woman. Bring your plague to Him. Let no one stop you short of Him. “As many as touched Him….”

Let It Get You Down

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3: 14).

When adversity strikes, the world keeps telling us: “Don’t let it get you down,” but believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have learned that it is good to let troubles and difficulties get them down — down on their knees.

A native evangelist in Africa sat outside his hut discouraged and unhappy. Trouble and disappointment had brought “great coldness” into his heart and he seemed ready to give up. The Lord, he felt, had utterly forsaken him. As he sat there, though, his little girl kept nudging him and saying: “Daddy, go inside and pray .” Finally it worked! The evangelist went inside, poured his heart out to God and arose feeling sure that the Lord would see him through.

It is good for us to get down on our knees before God. There is no attitude more appropriate to the redeemed sinner. And as we pray, often falteringly….

“The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”
(Romans 8:26-28).

“Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7).

The Holy Spirit And The Believer Today

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Grace and faith are the characteristic features of the present dispensation. Not only is salvation now declared to be by grace, through faith, but the Spirit also operates in the believer by grace, through faith. He does not take possession of us and cause us to do what is right, but dwells within each believer (I Corinthians 6:19) to provide needed guidance and the strength to withstand temptation, and we may avail ourselves of this provision by faith.

The Spirit, Who first imparted life to us will also impart strength to withstand temptation and overcome sin. In our inability to even pray as we ought, “the Spirit… helpeth our infirmities” and “maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:26). In our weakness we are “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16) and God even stoops to “quicken [our] mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us” (Romans 8:11).

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Ver. 12).

The implication from the above passage is that though sorely tempted we are debtors to the Spirit who dwells within and provides overcoming power.

The question, in times of temptation, is generally whether we truly desire to overcome, for we may overcome in any given case by grace, through faith. In the present dispensation it is not true that it is not possible for the believer to sin, but it is blessedly true that in any situation it is possible for him not to sin, for the Spirit is always there to help.

Heaven Is Better Than This

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

A large percentage of the people of the world wake up every morning with some kind of ache or pain. If you are one of the many victims, with some infirmity of the flesh, perhaps you will agree with the little chorus which says: “Heaven is better than this.”

The Scriptures tell us that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). Note the expression: “the whole creation.” This takes in the whole world; no one is excluded. Indeed, the very next verse goes on to say to Christian believers:

“And not only they, but ourselves also… even we ourselves groan within ourselves… waiting for… the redemption of our body.”

No doubt many of us feel like crying out with the Psalmist David, “Look upon mine affliction and my pain” (Psalm 25:18). In spite of all sorrow, trouble and pain which the child of God must endure, however, he can be assured with the Apostle Paul that: “our light affliction, which is but for a moment [comparatively], worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17). When we go to be with the Lord we will no longer be living in “this earthly tabernacle,” but will have “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1). Paul even adds that as Christians we earnestly desire “to be clothed upon with our house [our new body] which is from heaven” (II Corinthians 5:2).

Finally, the Apostle Paul declared that “to depart, and to be with Christ… is far better” (Philippians 1:23); far better, not only than all earth’s sorrow and trouble and pain, but far better even than earth’s greatest joys and its dearest treasures. How wonderful it is to know that “Christ died for our sins,” to have a light beyond the grave, a hope beyond the tomb! Surely “heaven is better than this!”

“True Science is the Enemy of the Evolutionist”

(Videos)

Answering the Call

By Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” — Jonah 3:1–2

A note to our readers: This week marks the continuation of the ten days between the start of Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur, known as the Days of Awe or Days of Repentance. It is a time of serious introspection in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Our devotions throughout this week are tied to this biblically mandated observance.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a day on which we regret all our wrongdoings. We ask God to forgive us for all our sins. However, as we read the book of Jonah on Yom Kippur afternoon, we recognize that this day is not just about regretting bad things that we did; it’s also about recognizing the good things that we could have done, but didn’t. For those things, we must also ask forgiveness.

The book of Jonah is at its core a story about repentance. It begins with God calling to Jonah and directing him to the evil city of Nineveh in order to warn them of upcoming destruction if they did not change their ways. The story concludes with the entire city, one of the most evil places on earth, engaging in repentance. The lesson at the beginning and end of the story is that if the evil people of Nineveh could repent, than so can we.

However, in between the beginning and end of the book is another story — one that focuses primarily on Jonah and that forms the bulk of the book. This part of the tale isn’t about evil people turning back toward God. Instead, it is about a righteous person running away from God and trying to escape his mission until at last he embraces it.

You see, on Yom Kippur, it’s not enough to bemoan our past mistakes. We also need to take stock of all our lost opportunities. It’s a time to ask ourselves what our calling is in life and if we are indeed living up to it. By the end of this solemn day, we will have received forgiveness for our mistakes. We have a clean slate; we are starting life anew. The question is: What will we do with it?

Everyone has some kind of calling — a God-given mission of some sort. But we don’t always fulfill it. We have all kinds of excuses: I’m too old, too young, too prestigious, too poor, too tired, too busy. Jonah had a great excuse. God had asked him to help the archenemies of Israel – the very same nation that had exiled ten out of the 12 tribes. Jonah, out of his love for God’s people, rejected his mission. What Jonah failed to take into account, however, is that when God hands us a mission, it’s not our duty to judge. It’s our job to fulfill it. The good news is that God gives us second chances and it’s never too late to start.

Some people know what their mission is from a deep place inside. Others have to look around at what’s broken in the world and then assess what tools they have to help fix it. This week, take time to discover your God-given calling – and then answer it!

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein