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Post by Miami on May 27, 2014 20:35:41 GMT -5
A great reminder of what a faith in the God of the bible should look like. We all need a reminder from time to time. Today's blog post from Padtor Floyd: Faith That is Active | Ronnie Floyd We seem to see quite a bit of passive Christianity today. There are many who claim Christ in the same way they claim to be fans of a particular sports team. They are “Christian” because they are not Muslim, Hindu, or Atheist. This is hardly the way biblical Christianity is portrayed in the scriptures. Faith should look different The Bible gives us a number of vivid images of active faith. In fact, the great “Hall of Faith” features many whose faith led them to great exploits for God. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Moses are well-known heroes of the faith. But, unnumbered and unnamed multitudes were also praised: women, men, those who were beaten and killed, those who were destitute and afflicted, and even homeless vagabonds. These in Hebrews 11 are praised for being faithful to the God who had saved them. Faith that is active results in lives different from the world. As MaryJo Sharp wrote, “We all want to be accepted by others. This explains our tendency to follow trends and what’s ‘in’ at the moment. While many of these trends are amoral (neither good nor bad in a spiritual, moral, or ethical sense), the human desire to be like everyone else can lead us to compromise or to lose our distinctiveness as followers of Christ. God calls us to holiness–to live separate and distinctive lives, set apart from what the world calls us to do.”1 Faith requires sacrifice One of the thoughts Christians often wrestle with is, “Is it worth it? Are the sacrifices I make for God’s kingdom worth it?” The answer, according to the Apostle Paul, is a resounding, “YES!” Writing to the Romans, Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us…Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:18, 24-25). Peter reminds us that we should be obedient in accordance to our new lives, “But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). The Apostle James also makes reference to active faith. “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works” (2:18). The New Testament knows nothing of a “faith” that ignores needs, closes eyes to injustice, and keeps one’s mouth closed to the truth of the gospel. Faith is not a state of mind or a box to check on a census report. Faith reflects a relationship with God that grows and is fruitful. That is the norm. What we consider exceptional faith today is what the Bible sees as normal faith. Showing a light to the world comes from an active faith. Such faith demonstrates that God is real, personal and caring. Dead faith reveals nothing true about God, and likely hinders the lost from coming to faith in Christ. May we never cause the testimony of salvation to be misrepresented to the world. Yours for the Great Commission, Ronnie W. Floyd Senior Pastor, Cross Church General Editor, Bible Studies for Life 1- Bible Studies for Life, Resilient Faith, MaryJo Sharp All scripture HCSB Love this!! Really like that Pastor to.
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Post by Miami on May 27, 2014 21:02:17 GMT -5
I really like this one to:
Though often forgotten today, the Bible does not forget the holiness of God. In the King James Version, holiness is referenced more than 400 times in the Old Testament and another 181 times in the New Testament. Some of these references are to God Himself, others to humans, and yet others to items separated to God (such as items in the temple). It remains that anything holy finds its root in the nature and character of God.
The ninety-ninth psalm reveals something of the holiness and majesty of God. “The LORD reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim. Let the earth quake. Yahweh is great is Zion; He is exalted above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awe-inspiring name. He is holy.”1
Holiness: God’s standard
The holiness of God remains the standard against which our character is measured and toward which our character is aimed. We are reminded in the Old and New Testaments to be holy because God is holy.2 In the Summer 2014 unit of Bible Studies for Life, Freddy Cardoza reminds us how different cultures have a tendency to remake God in a different image not His own. Cardoza writes, “Every culture has some religious element, but each culture makes God in its own image. That god tends not to be too different from the people who worship it; there is nothing unique about their god. We desperately need a God who is beyond us; we need a God who is beyond our ability to fully explain or understand Him. That God has revealed Himself. He is holy – completely separate from His creation – yet He calls us to know Him and walk with Him.”3
To worship the one true God, the God who has revealed Himself in creation and in His Word, we must recognized God works within His creation, but is beyond it. God is not one with His creation; He is Lord and controller over it. This “separateness” is one of the facets of His holiness. Another facet, one with which we are most familiar, is the avoidance of all that is evil.
What does holiness look like for us?
While we cannot be separate from all of creation like God is, we can avoid evil. Our “being holy as He is holy” does not mean we try to leave the solar system or refuse to engage God’s created order. It does mean that we avoid evil. This is our separation.
Holiness also implies we are separate from the fallen systems of this world. We stand against exploitation, injustice, and unrighteousness because God’s character stands apart from all of these things. We cannot claim to be holy if our lives do not look different than those who do not know God. Being holy will make us look as different from those who do not know God as God does from the idols that replace him. It is for this reason, perhaps, we are commanded to “pursue peace with everyone and holiness–without it no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, HCSB).
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
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Post by Miami on May 27, 2014 21:07:10 GMT -5
Amen to this....
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Post by Miami on May 28, 2014 19:50:01 GMT -5
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Post by Miami on May 28, 2014 20:18:36 GMT -5
Preach!! Great job by Phil Robertson preaching on Easter Sunday. So much truth!!
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Post by GinNJ on May 28, 2014 21:36:25 GMT -5
Preach!! Great job by Phil Robertson preaching on Easter Sunday. So much truth!! Now, I don't watch DD so I really didn't know what to expect when I watched this. I was so blessed by how thourough the gospel presentation was.
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Post by Sonshine on May 29, 2014 14:19:15 GMT -5
My heart is burdened today for Tim.
Father, I pray that You will bring Tim face-to-face with TRUTH, in a way that is fit and pleasing unto You, and that the fear of God will bring him to a complete repentance and a new level of sanctifying grace will be extended to him to accomplish the plans that You have established for him from the beginning. I pray that the deceptive, evil, demonic plans contrived against the gospel and Your church, using Tim as a “poster child”, will become astoundingly clear and nauseating to him. “May the word of Christ richly dwell within him..., and may all that he does in word or deed, be done in the [righteous] name of the Lord Jesus” Colossians 3:16-17 NASB
“...indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for ever good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17 NASB
“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:2-5 NASB
“And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” Matthew 24:10-14 NASB
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NASB
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Post by Miami on May 29, 2014 21:29:44 GMT -5
Hello Sonshine, I'm happy to see you stop in. Yes, in this situation prayer is the only way to fight. We can only intrust Tim to God. His will be done. God brought Tim into this world, and He knows what's really in Tim's heart, and the plan laid out for him.
We should also pray for those who are in the trenches wearing Gods armor fighting the good fight. The slings and arrows are flying at those who tell the Truth. They need prayers more than anyone.
There's an epic battle playing out, and we all have to be well equipped with the Word, and never ending Faith. No Fear.
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Post by GinNJ on May 30, 2014 5:35:23 GMT -5
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Post by GinNJ on May 30, 2014 6:55:15 GMT -5
My heart is burdened today for Tim. Father, I pray that You will bring Tim face-to-face with TRUTH, in a way that is fit and pleasing unto You, and that the fear of God will bring him to a complete repentance and a new level of sanctifying grace will be extended to him to accomplish the plans that You have established for him from the beginning. I pray that the deceptive, evil, demonic plans contrived against the gospel and Your church, using Tim as a “poster child”, will become astoundingly clear and nauseating to him. “May the word of Christ richly dwell within him..., and may all that he does in word or deed, be done in the [righteous] name of the Lord Jesus” Colossians 3:16-17 NASB “...indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for ever good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17 NASB “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:2-5 NASB “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” Matthew 24:10-14 NASB “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NASB Amen Sonshine! I am in agreement with your prayer! Things are getting more interesting though. Tim spoke at Judah's 'church' recently and they posted it on their website. It was his usual speech. They cut out the beginning where he talks about his mom not having an abortion. They didn't post that part. That is a first. One that should have NEVER happened in the first place. Tim is so careful about his talks being recorded and the person he seems to trust the most is the one who altered his message. Wow! I had watched it the other day and I thought it was short @ 25 minutes. Now I know why. Is this what the American church has come to? Have we strayed THAT far from sound biblical doctrine?
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Post by GinNJ on May 30, 2014 13:07:59 GMT -5
Here is an update on the woman in Sudan sentanced to death for marrying a Christian. She had a baby girl. I am just so awed by the faith of both Meriam and Pastor Saeed. Father please bless them and their families. Help them to bear the very real and dangerous persecution they suffer for their faith. In Jesus' precious name. Amen! Baby’s Bittersweet First Day: Now Mom Can Be Hanged for Marrying Christiangma.yahoo.com/baby-bittersweet-first-day-now-mom-hanged-marrying-150945990--abc-news-topstories.html
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Post by Sonshine on May 30, 2014 18:03:20 GMT -5
My heart is burdened today for Tim. Father, I pray that You will bring Tim face-to-face with TRUTH, in a way that is fit and pleasing unto You, and that the fear of God will bring him to a complete repentance and a new level of sanctifying grace will be extended to him to accomplish the plans that You have established for him from the beginning. I pray that the deceptive, evil, demonic plans contrived against the gospel and Your church, using Tim as a “poster child”, will become astoundingly clear and nauseating to him. “May the word of Christ richly dwell within him..., and may all that he does in word or deed, be done in the [righteous] name of the Lord Jesus” Colossians 3:16-17 NASB “...indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for ever good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17 NASB “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:2-5 NASB “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” Matthew 24:10-14 NASB “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NASB Amen Sonshine! I am in agreement with your prayer! Things are getting more interesting though. Tim spoke at Judah's 'church' recently and they posted it on their website. It was his usual speech. They cut out the beginning where he talks about his mom not having an abortion. They didn't post that part. That is a first. One that should have NEVER happened in the first place. Tim is so careful about his talks being recorded and the person he seems to trust the most is the one who altered his message. Wow! I had watched it the other day and I thought it was short @ 25 minutes. Now I know why. Is this what the American church has come to? Have we strayed THAT far from sound biblical doctrine? WOW!!! It looks as if God has already begun to reveal the warped/biased/repressed message that Judah's church and others like him are propagating. I sure hope Tim see's what's going down. That will have to be my prayer target for a while. That he will have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is revealing. Yes! I do believe many in the church have strayed that far but our awesome, faithful, and forgiving God is still on the throne and those who repent will be spared and rewarded--if not on this earth then certainly in eternity.
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Post by GinNJ on May 31, 2014 14:03:10 GMT -5
Good afternoon everyone! I hope that everyone is having a blessed Saturday. Most of us, once we receive forgiveness of sins and salvation through Christ, develop a passion for wanting to share our joy with others and see them come to faith and be delivered from the wrath to come as well. We must always remember to stay true to God's word or we run the risk of merely manipulating and deceiving people instead of facilitating true conversion as Jesus calls for in John 3. Spurgeon lived in the 1800's yet his exhortation below is as applicable today as ever... Fishers Follow HimAnd Jesus said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men Mark 1:17 Only by coming after Jesus can we obtain our heart's desire and be really useful to our fellow men. Oh, how we long to be successful fishers for Jesus! We would sacrifice our lives to win souls. But we are tempted to try methods which Jesus would never have tried. Shall we yield to this suggestion of the enemy? If so, we may splash the water, but we shall never take the fish. We must follow after Jesus if we would succeed. Sensational methods, entertainment, and so forth -- are these coming after Jesus? Can we imagine the LORD Jesus drawing a congregation by such means as are now commonly used? What is the result of such expedients? The result is nothing which Jesus will count up at the last great day. We must keep to our preaching as our Master did, for by this means souls are saved. We must preach our LORD's doctrine and proclaim a full and free gospel, for this is the net in which souls are taken. We must preach with His gentleness, boldness, and love, for this is the secret of success with human hearts. We must work under divine anointing, depending upon the sacred Spirit. Thus, coming after Jesus, and not running before Him, not aside from Him, we shall be fishers of men. Sent from the Faith's Checkbook Devotional, by Charles Spurgeon. For devotionals like this one for your iPhone, visit us at 43rdElement.com ******** And for those of us who do try and live and share in accordance with God's word He does promise a harest. We may not be aware of the impact we have had until we are gathered around the heavenly throne. Trust His word. Stand on His word. Delver His word with love and patience but never ever stray from it. It has all the power needed to change lives. "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Is 55:11 Have a blessed day everyone!
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Post by Miami on May 31, 2014 16:35:22 GMT -5
Yes indeed!!
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Another Former Poster
Guest
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Post by Another Former Poster on Jun 2, 2014 11:38:38 GMT -5
Thanks for taking the time to read the interview and reply. Hi Another...you are welcome. Did you decide to attend that conference that you posted about last week? No, I didn't go. Hope you ladies are doing well.
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