lunatic, devil of hell or the Christ the Son of God - CS Lewis

 

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either he was and is the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

CS Lewis Mere Christianity

I Will Sing Thy Name . . . the Monks of Self Realization Fellowship

 Thought This was ironic and their trying to appear as though they are of Christ

"Two thousand Voices United in Song and Spirit

'I Will Sing Thy Name'

Devotional Chanting by the Monks of Self Realization Fellowship"

Living in Laodicea - Steve Camp

 

From the Album Fire and Ice by Steve Camp

O Lord Take your plow to my fallow Ground

Let your blade dig down to the soil of my soul

Before I become dry and dusty

And Lord I know there must be richer earth lying below.

For I've been living in Laodicea

And The fire that once burned bright I've let it grow dim

and The very one I swore that I would die for

all has been forgotten as the world has become my friend.

We have turned from your laws trying to find a better way

Each man does today what is right in his own eyes

we will pay the price for our sinning we can never know true livin

we've exchanged his truth for lies

We've been living in Laodicea

and The fire that once burned bright we've let it grow dim

and The very one we swore that we would die for has all been forgotten as the world's become our friend

It's no small of a thing that he's done for you,

by shutting the gates of hell up on a Cross

We were sentenced once but now we are pardoned

and he chooses to use us though we fall

So while were living in Laodicea

keep the fire burning bright don't let it grow dim

For the very one we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

For the very one that we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

From the Album Fire and Ice by Steve Camp

O Lord Take your plow to my fallow Ground

Let your blade dig down to the soil of my soul

Before I become dry and dusty

And Lord I know there must be richer earth lying below.

For I've been living in Laodicea

And The fire that once burned bright I've let it grow dim

and The very one I swore that I would die for

all has been forgotten as the world has become my friend.

We have turned from your laws trying to find a better way

Each man does today what is right in his own eyes

we will pay the price for our sinning we can never know true livin

we've exchanged his truth for lies

We've been living in Laodicea

and The fire that once burned bright we've let it grow dim

and The very one we swore that we would die for has all been forgotten as the world's become our friend

It's no small of a thing that he's done for you,

by shutting the gates of hell up on a Cross

We were sentenced once but now we are pardoned

and he chooses to use us though we fall

So while were living in Laodicea

keep the fire burning bright don't let it grow dim

For the very one we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

For the very one that we swore that we would die for he must not be forgotten

fear the world become a friend

A real description of a "church" not somewhere but everywhere in America

 Anyone, Anywhere Can Make a Difference!

As we look around the world today, we would all probably agree that something needs to change. We see the abuse of power, corruption in leadership, systemic dysfunction and division. But with so little influence, how can we do anything that actually makes a difference? How can we make the world a better place? We invite you to join us for an 8-week journey where you’ll not only be encouraged to make a difference based on the needs you see around you but you'll be equipped to take action and start making an impact today. If we can change our world, together we can change the world. 

SERVICES INFO:

When joining us for a Sunday service you’ll first be welcomed by one of our greeters, who are there to serve you and help you find your way around. After grabbing a free Krispy Kreme doughnut and a cup of Starbucks coffee, then drop off the kids in our Kid's Zone with our trained volunteers. Their goal is to keep the kids safe while providing them with the best hour in their week. Now once you've made your way to the auditorium, you'll hear our band playing some songs and you can participate in as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. The pastor will then share a message to help deal with everyday life stuff. After about 60 minutes, the service is over.  

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• friendly but not obnoxious people
• a cool environment where you don't have to dress up
• fun & age appropriate kids programs (Babies - 12th grade)
• a live band will play 3-4 songs
• someone will say “hi”
• a pastor will talk about something to help with real life
• …after about 60 minutes it's over

 

The joel Osteen inspiration cube - Wold

Deception does not come in dressed like a sheep, but coming in looking like a shepherd, 

In today's uncertain times life can feel overwhelming and leave you struggling for answers but you can overcome life's challenges wake up every morning inspired and looking forward to each day introducing the inspiration cube. The easy to use portable audio system, filled with life changing messages of hope guidance and strength, from Joel Osteen one of the worlds most inspiring spiritual leaders.

“You may feel today like your trapped, That is not how your story ends. Some dreams are waking up, Hope is waking up, abundance is waking up.” with the simple push of the button removed those negative thoughts. With a new message to inspire your day

“God is saying to you, you have struggled long enough, unexpected blessings are coming your way.” over 400  of Joel's greatest inspirations are coming your way all on this easy to use audio listening cube. “It’s all positive, it’s not negative, our lives are changed completely.” 

Start each day with just a touch and sit back for a powerful message of hope, guidance and inspiration.

“The forces that are for you are greater than the forces that are against you. It makes you energized, God is in control of your life, and boy have I seen blessings, He put the hope in my heart. Refuse the negative thoughts that prevent you from reaching your goals, and take back control. You cant think negative thoughts and live a positive life. If you’ll get your mind going in the right direction your life will go in the right direction. 

It was almost like a friend was speaking to me. I am peace. My victory is already accounted for.”

…

 Challenge yourself today to be the best of you tomorrow.

As I drove past bland house after bland house - Sarah Susanka

In the mid-1990s, when I’d been working as a residential architect for more than a decade, I had an epiphany one day while driving though the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa. I had started noticing that new houses were getting extremely large, and decidedly unattractive. For miles and miles, all I could see were these “starter castles” marching across the prairies, looking self-important and soulless. At that point, I was spending most of my time designing homes that were better, not bigger; homes that fit the way my clients really lived, rather than a formal lifestyle that few people ever lived anymore.

As I drove past bland house after bland house, I realized that most homeowners did not know there was another option. They were only being shown the giant columns, windowless walls, and cathedral ceilings. If they only had access to the design principles that I used every day, we’d start seeing fewer McMansions and more high-quality homes with character, perfectly suited to the lives of their inhabitants.

The inspiration for what became a best-selling book series was born that day, and in 1998, the first in that series—The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live—was published, to almost immediate acclaim. Within a few months of its release, I was on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which catapulted me out of my architectural practice and into the life of a celebrated writer and public speaker. 

https://susanka.com/where-it-all-began/

An Individual Gospel - E Stanley Jones

"An Individual Gospel without a social gospel is a soul without a body; and a social gospel without an individual gospel is a body without a soul.  One is a ghost and the other a corpse" E. Stanley Jones

 

All truth is God's Truth Publisher: IVP - Arthur F Holmes

It [the Gospel of John] presents the Logos as co-oeternal and coequal with God, and as the personal creator who transcends the world he makes from nothing. In the beginning was the Word  (John 1.1) echoes the opening words of Genesis: In the beginning God created and God said, "In Hebrew thought a word is not a detached comment, but a creative act, a decree that effects what it declares (cp. Ps 33:8-9; Isa 55.10-11) John's Logos also recalls the personified wisdom who governs the nations, rewards the just, and existed from the beginning of creation (Prove 8.35). John therefore declares that the Logos is personal, and one with God: He is creator of all and he gives life and light to men. By incarnating himself, he revealed both grace and truth(john 1:1-14)

The Logos is revealed both in the Incarnation and in the written words of the Scripture and, if less specifically, in the intelligible order of his creation. Hence non-Christians as well as Christians perceive the truth, if fragmentarily. All truth, no matter where it be found or by whom it be discovered, is still God's truth.

The scriptures and the church fathers clearly placed the focus on truth, they perceived its universality, and they recognized the ultimate unity of all truth in God. They believed, passionately so, that all truth is God's truth no matter where it be found. Yet today the Christian faith is too often seen as a private affair of the heart without reference to the larger scope of human knowledge and cultural affairs. Such a faith is too small to match the understanding which the early church had of the message of Scripture. God is creator and Lord of All; Jesus Christ reaffirms this by becoming incarnate to redeem human life. For the Christian, then, all of life matters and all of thought. All our learning must somehow fit together. Of course, A now we know in part and we see these things through a glass darkly.[1 Corinthians 13:12] But the Christian gospel of hope pertains among other things to our knowing and understanding the truth.

Reactions against a compromising identification appear in relation to political and social involvement as well as theological beliefs. Tertullian, for instance, spoke out in the early church against Christian participation in governmental and military affairs and against many of the social practices of the day, and some have argued that the church forfeited its early purity when it joined with the Roman Empire. When the Middle Ages wedded church and state and thereby identified the church with the social and political status quo, reforming and separatist movements arows: Fracisican, Waldensian, and others. In post-Refomation times, the Anabaptists refused to participate in many governmental tasks because the social and moral compromises they saw it would involve. In nineteenth-century Denmark, Søren Kierkegaard protested vigorously against a state church wherein one became a Christian willy-nilly by being born a Dane. And in the past few years, some of the Jesus people have repudiated the church's identification with what they see as an effete middle-class establishment and have developed a counter-culutre life-style instead.

All of these reactions are essentially counter-cultural, and each in its time contributed needed perspective to the life of the church. To identify the church with any historical status quo is a tragic betrayal of the church=s calling. To accept uncritically the structures of the present betrays a weakened doctrine of sin and loses that holy discontent which is always hungry for righteousness.

To identify Christianity with a historical culture loses sight of transcendent moral law. That the moral practices and social institutions of the day have been to easily hallowed by the church is evident in regard to war, slavery, work, sex, marriage, the status of women, and especially in America, a capitalist economy and democratic institutions.

Jacques Elul is a former French underground leader and mayor of Bordeaux, a Law professor, and a prolific writer on sociological and theological topics. He rejects both the identification of Christianity with current cultural movements and the practice of withdrawing from the world and its problems. In The Presence of the Kingdom, he maintains instead that the Christian is called to Challenge the suicidal direction of the world by spiritual means. We cannot hope to change society, for there are no universal moral rules as a basis for a political agreement between the Christian and a secular world. We must therefore learn to put up with the tension between sacred and secular, and develop a Christian lifestyle in response to the demand of God=s kingdom upon us. Thereby we shall bear witness to the hope we have in God.

Since the Christians cannot expect to change society for the better, Ellul refuses to sanctify secular methods or theories of politics or law or violence by making up a Christian justification of violence. He may have to us political or violent means as he does legal means because he lives in the world; but they are forced on him by the necessities of history, not chosen because they are either right of Christian.

The idea of a Christian culture or a normative Christian social ethic or a Christian political theory(as distinct from a Christian critique of society) is alien to Ellul. Ellul's doctrine of sin thus obscures both the doctrine of creation and the biblical conception of unchanging, universal and unified truth rooted in the God in whom we hope.

Whatever men do that is right and good they do by the goodness of God, for every good gift comes from above. Whatever men know they know by the grace of God, for all truth is God's truth wherever it be found.

Pilates' question is still with us[what is truth]. It was a rhetorical question, occasioned by Jesus claim to bear witness to the truth. Perhaps it expressed his cynicism about the perennial religious and political disagreements of Jesus accusers, rather than voicing a serious inquiry, But his words were spoken out of the divided philosophical background of a Roman culture. On the one hand, stoics and Platonists dogmatically maintained that truth is unchanging and universal, the same for everyone, that it is rooted in the unchanging rational structure of what is ultimately real, and that while it transcends changing human opinions it is nonetheless accessible to a disciplined logical mind. On the other hand, skeptics argued that all judgments are relative, all arguments are indecisive, and all so-called knowledge is mere, opinion, and truth if indeed there be any that is unchanging and unknown remains utterly unknown.

Emil Brunner sees revelation as a personal confrontation, an I-thou experience of God conceived on the model of Martin Buber's distinction between interpersonal experience with others as human subjects(I- Thou) and the more detached relationships(I-It) in which we treat things and propositions and even people as objects. When I talk about a person or my relationship to him, I make him an object instead of a subject; I depersonalize him and reduce the I-thou experience to the I-it level. For Bruner, revelation is a direct personal encounter with GodI(I-Thou). Propositions about God (I-It) reduce God to an object of thought and thereby falsify the truth of the encounter. The Bible is about (I-it) God's personal revelation (I-thou), and not itself a divine revelation to men. Accordingly, it remains a fallible human witness to God's revelation and can provide no royal road to learning, however insightful its witness may be

Author: Arthur F Holmes

Date: 1977

Source: All truth is God's Truth

Publisher: IVP

City: Leicester, UK

Its a wonderful life and ministry- sketch

 

It's a Wonderful Life

Helping a New Generation Enter a New Land

It;s a Wonderful Life

Purpose: To demonstrate how the important role of Senders is in completing the Great Commission.

Roles:

Angel 1 (small part) George (big part)

Joseph (small part) Clarence (big part)

Young couple (no speaking)

Joe Hobbs (no speaking)

Couple with suitcases (no speaking)

Scene 1:

(Angel 1) and Joseph with flashlights behind a dark background with holes in it to simulate the

beginning of the movie.

Angel 1: You called me, Joseph?

Joseph: Yes, we have a little problem down on earth with a man named George Sender.

Angel 1: Oh, George Sender is a fine, upstanding man. What could possibly be the problem

with him?

Joseph: George has been running the race well up until now, but he seems to have lost his

drive; he=s become despondent. Can you spare anyone at the moment to help him out?

Angel 1: Well, let me see; according to my records it looks like Clarence is up again.

Joseph: Clarence, huh? He really is a disaster looking for a place to happen (pause for

laughter). Well it can=t be helped. Please summon him and tell him that I=d like a word with him.

Angel 1: Certainly sir.

(Another light appears from the left side of the background and joins the others.)

Clarence: (out of breath) You sent for me, sir?

Joseph: Yes, Clarence, there is a man down on earth who needs our help. His name is

George Sender, and he has become very depressed lately. We need to help him understand his worth.

Clarence: Certainly sir, I=d love to help. But, uh, sir ...

Joseph: Yes, what is it?

Clarence: About last time...

Joseph: Oh, never mind about that, but please be more careful this time.

Clarence: Yes Sir.

Joseph: Now report to the library, you=ve got a lot of work to do. You need to understand

everything about George Sender and the culture in the place where he lives.

Clarence: Uh, where=s that?

Joseph: Southern California; you are familiar with the dialect of English spoken there, aren't you?

Clarence: (In Valley speak) Yeah, dude, no problem.

Joseph: (clears throat) Yes, well, perhaps while you're at the library you can brush up on that. Now run along.

Clarence: Oh, and sir ...

Joseph: Yes, what is it now?

Clarence: If I should, uh, well, if I should complete this mission successfully; do you think that I might earn my wings?

Joseph: Yes! Now get out of here!

Scene 2:

George sitting on a park bench looking depressed. Clarence enters stage left wearing a ridiculous

beach outfit.

Clarence: Hey, George Sender, dude! What's up!

George: Oh Nothin= Mu.... Say, how did you know my name? I've never seen you before.

(turning his head away) I'd remember you.

Clarence: I'm Clarence, your guardian angel. I've been sent to help you.

George: My guardian angel, huh? That figures. I might have known I'd have a guardian angel like you. Say, if you're from some cult, I really don't have time, and I don't want to buy any flowers. Just leave me alone.

Clarence: And I know a lot more about you than just your name, George. For instance, I know that you are a very important person at _________________ (church). You are much more important than you imagine.

George: Oh sure, I'm an important person. Look at me, I've got VIP written all over me. Oh, I get it! Did Wendy England send you? I bet you're trying to get me to work in the nursery.

Clarence: No, really George, I've been sent to help you. If you would only tell me your troubles.

George: You want to help me ... Oh... Ok, maybe you'll get bored and go away. But don't forget, you asked for it. Until lately I thought I had a pretty good life. I have a good job and a great wife and kids. I guess you could also say that I'm pretty active at church too ‑‑ but you said you knew that already. Anyway, I=m part of a couple of prayer groups at church; I witness to my neighbors when I get the chance, and the wife and I have been doing what we can to support the missionaries we have overseas.

Clarence: Well, George, it sounds to me like you're a rich man.

George: Rich, are you kidding? After all we're doing, we only keep just enough to live on. Sam Potter, my neighbor, now there's a rich man. Just yesterday he comes and tells me about his big promotion. He drives a big fancy sports car and just remodeled his house. I can't even afford an upgrade.

Clarence: But George, you know, even if Sam Potter doesn't, that a man's wealth isn't wrapped up in all those things, but in how he touches the lives of others. You've dedicated

your life to taking the blessings God has given you and passing them on to others. You have earned for yourself the richest title God bestows on any man. You, my friend, are God's Stewart.

George: The word is Steward, and I'm not so sure I buy that line anymore. What good am I really doing anyway? I spend my time teaching at home fellowship and discipling others and what good has it done? Just last month I organized people to send care packages to our missionaries. Did you know that not one of them has ever written me even a postcard? What does my work mean to them, or anyone? ... No one notices the work I do. Oh, why should they? Only people with exciting ministries get acknowledged. So, why should I even bother? I ask you, uh, what did you say your name was again?

Clarence: Clarence.

George: I ask you, Clarence, how in the world can you say that I am an important person. I think everyone would be better off if I had never been born!

Clarence: Never been born! Oh George, really that's... Wait a minute... OK, you have your wish. You've never been born. Let's just see how lives are different now that you've never been born.

Scene 3:

Young couple walks in stage left. They sit down and begin studying books. The husband becomes increasingly agitated and finally throws the book down. His wife comes over to comfort him but he pushes her away.

George: Say, what's going on here? Those are the Driscolls. They're in Japan studying language.

Clarence: Yes, and right now they are struggling with language learning, going through culture shock and are very homesick and discouraged. What they need is an encouraging letter from home. Look, she's going to the mailbox now.

George: Well, they should have gotten that care package today or even yesterday.

Clarence: Yes, George, but you're forgetting, you don't exist.

(The woman opens the mailbox and a puff of dust comes out. She looks at her husband and shakes her head no. He looks more discouraged and buries his head in his hands. Freeze.)

George: Wait just one minute, fella. I've written them a dozen times in the last year. I even sent them a care package last Christmas. That mailbox hasn't been used in months!

Clarence: You weren't there to write those letters, George, because you don't exist. Now look over here.

(Stage right, a young man staggers in, head low with a bottle in his hand and leans against the

wall.)

George: Say, that's Joe Hobbs. What's he doing here? He's supposed to be in Japan. And

what's wrong with him, he looks drunk.

Clarence: That's because he is drunk, George, and he never made it to Japan.

George: Nonsense, he's been there planting churches for four years. Why, just last month he baptized 25 new believers. I helped get him there. We used to pray together every week for the Japanese. I've discipled him since his first year in college. You never saw such an on fire Christian young man. This can't be him.

Clarence: It is him. Joe turned his back on Christ when he was in college. You weren't there to disciple him.

George: Then that means...

Clarence: All the people in Japan whom he would have baptized have still never heard the gospel. Now look over here.

(Stage Left: A couple enters with suit cases. They are saying tearful good‑byes to unseen friends.)

George: Hey, that=s the Woolls. Why are they upset? It isn=t time for their furlough yet, is it?

Clarence: This is no furlough for them, George, they are leaving the field for good. They can't stay because their support has fallen off too far.

George: Well, I know that I couldn=t provide all their support, but I thought others from the church were helping also. What about all those at church who are praying for them? Doesn't that help?

Clarence: All of that could have helped a great deal, George, but you weren=t there to encourage the others at your church to pray for and give to missionaries. You'd be surprised

how important a good example can be.

George: Well that doesn't seem right. There are people who may never hear the gospel if they leave.

Clarence: Yes, their work is very important George, but missionaries can't make it to the field and stay there without faithful senders.

George: Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't like this crazy stunt you're pulling, see? You just put things back the way they were. Those people out there need me. I'm an important part of their ministry!

("Hark the Herald Angels Sing" begins playing in the background.)

Clarence: George, just listen to yourself! Do you hear what you're saying? You just said that you were an important person; a VIP, if you please. And you're right, George. A sender's life touches many different lives, even people who don't speak the same language; people who he will never meet until we're all together with the Lord.

George: (Turns and shakes Clarence's hand) Thank you, Clarence, for showing me that my efforts really do count. I think I can hang in there for a long time to come. You know, this may sound kind of dated, but I need to say it anyhow. Clarence, this is a wonderful life.

(Both walk off stage right. After applause, a small bell rings off stage.)

The End

Used by permission. Larry Walker/ACMC, 1637 E. Valley Parkway, Suite 145, Escondido, CA 92027. (619) 746‑4285. 1/98

invisible warfare - Rowland Bingham

 

There is a constant invisible warfare that has to waged against the powers of darkness...It is fashionable in the Western world to relegate belief in demons and devils to the realm of mythology, and when mentioned at all it is a matter of jest. But it is not jest in West Africa or any other mission field for that matter‑

Rowland Bingham as quoted in From Jerusalem To Irian Jaya page 297

How Odd Ideas Survive - Geoffrey Cowley

It all seems perfectly ludicrous: 39 people don their new sneakers, pack their flight bags and poison themselves in the solemn belief that a passing UFO will whisk them off to wonderland. The rest of us have more sense than that, right? Actually , whether we think Jesus died for our sins or assume that the federal government created the AIDS virus, most of us harbour beliefs for which hard evidence is lacking. In fact our firmest convictions are often the hardest to justify rationally.

Viruses of The mind: How Odd Ideas Survive 

Newsweek, 20 November 1997 Geoffrey Cowley

Some Characteristics of Someone Who Follows God

 Characteristics of Someone Who Follows God

• Attentive to Christ - John 10.34

• Blameless and Harmless - Phil 2.15

• Bold - Prov 28.1

• Contrite Heart - Isa 57.15, Isa 66.2

• Devoted - Acts 8.2, Acts 22.12

• Faithful - Rev 17.14

• Fearing God - Mal 3.16, Acts 10.2

• Following Christ - John 10.4 &27

• Godly - Psa 4.3, II Peter 2.9

• Guileless - John 1.47

• Holy - Deut 7.6, 14.2, Col 3.12

• Humble - Psa 34.2, I Peter 5.5

• Just - Gen 6.9

• Led by the Spirit - Rom 8.14, Generous Isa 32.8, 2 Cor 9.13

• Loathing Themselves For the Evil in Them - Eze 20.43

• Loving - Col 1.4

• Lowly in Spirit - Prov 16.19

• New Creatures - II Cor 5.17, Eph 2.10

• Obedient - Rom 16.19, I Peter 1.14

• Prudent - Prov 16.21

• Righteous - Isa 60.21, Luke 1.6

• Sincere - II Cor 1.12 & 2.17

• Steadfast - Acts 2.42, Col 2.5

• Taught of God  - Isa 54.13, I John 2.27

• True - 2 Cor 6.8

• Undefiled - Psa 119.1

• Upright - I King 3.6, Psalm 15.2

• Watchful - Luke 12.37

• Zealous of Gods Works -  Titus 2.14

 "BE" Attitudes

• Poor in Spirit 
• Meekness - Isa 29.19
• Mourn 
• Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness 
• Merciful Psalm 37.26
• Pure in Heart 
• Peace Makers 
• Those Who Are Persecuted Because of Righteousness 
• We Are Blessed When People Insult Us, Persecute Us, and Say False Things about Us.

With Thee - E.H Hamilton

 With Thee

Into the night

I'll go with Thee, O Christ,

Without a light

Into the darkness,

For with Thee there is no night.

Into the wild

I'll Go with thee, O Christ,

like a child

Into Thy garden,

For with Thee there is no wild.

E'en into death

I'll Go with Thee, O Christ,

Give my breath

Back to my Maker,

For with Thee there is no death.

E.H Hamilton Afraid of What page 17