The art of photography is now so advanced, that a whole page of a newspaper can be taken in miniature so small--as to be carried on a little button, and yet every letter and point be perfect.
Just so, the whole life of Christ is photographed in this one little phrase, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28
He did not come to be served--if this had been His aim, He would never have left heaven's glory, where He lacked nothing, where angels praised Him and ministered unto Him. He came to serve. He went about doing good. He altogether forgot Himself. He served all He met, who would receive His service. At last He gave His life in serving--He gave it to save others, to redeem lost souls.
You say that you want to be like Christ. You ask Him to print His own image on your heart. Here then, is the image: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
It is not a vague dream of human greatness which we are to think of, when we ask to be like our Master.
The old monks thought that they were becoming like Christ--when they went into the wilderness, away from men, to live in cold cells. But surely, such a dream of uselessness is not the thought which this picture suggests. "To serve--to give our life" that is the Christ-like thing! Instead of fleeing away from people--we are to live with others, to serve them, to live for them, to seek to bless them, to do them good, to give our lives for them--that is the meaning of the prayer for Christ-likeness.
(J. R. Miller, "Devotional Hours with the Bible" 1909)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Is This Not Enough?
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." 1 John 4:9
Can anyone ever say to God - you didn't do enough to save me! You didn't do enough to turn my heart! What more could he have done for you? Is the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son on account of your wickedness and rebellion not enough to move you? Is your heart so hard that His selfless, sacrificial love does not even melt it to its rotten core?
Are you one of the many who would say, "I'd know that He loves me if he gives me this such a thing or that - some earthly benefit or delight, or some easing of a great pain!"
What more do you need from God? Is what he did for you through the cross not enough? Does the washing away of your sins by the blood of His dear Son not cause you to cry out - "Lord, you have loved SO much!"
God has done all that need be done in order to demonstrate His great love for us! But if that is not enough for you then you are to be sorely pitied, for if the love of His dear Son cannot reach your heart - nothing will!
Can anyone ever say to God - you didn't do enough to save me! You didn't do enough to turn my heart! What more could he have done for you? Is the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son on account of your wickedness and rebellion not enough to move you? Is your heart so hard that His selfless, sacrificial love does not even melt it to its rotten core?
Are you one of the many who would say, "I'd know that He loves me if he gives me this such a thing or that - some earthly benefit or delight, or some easing of a great pain!"
What more do you need from God? Is what he did for you through the cross not enough? Does the washing away of your sins by the blood of His dear Son not cause you to cry out - "Lord, you have loved SO much!"
God has done all that need be done in order to demonstrate His great love for us! But if that is not enough for you then you are to be sorely pitied, for if the love of His dear Son cannot reach your heart - nothing will!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Two Young Street Preachers Murdered
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Revelation 6:9-11
The murder of two young street preachers in Florida by a teenager whom they shared the Gospel with is “alarming,” said a spokesperson for a religious freedom watchdog group.
Eighteen-year-old Jeriah Woody, whose street name is “Plug,” is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Woody allegedly shot and killed Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, on Jan. 30 after they shared about Christ with him during the 15 minutes they talked.
Woody’s phone reportedly rang and he turned and walked away to take the call. But then he turned around again and started walking towards the street preachers. Sufra approached him and Woody allegedly shot him in the head. Ocean tried to run away, but police said Woody allegedly shot him in the back and then walked up to him and shot him again in the head at point-blank range.
The police account is based on the third street preacher that was with Sufra and Ocean when they talked to Woody. The unidentified third minister had escaped by running in the opposite direction.
Woody turned himself in on Feb. 3 and remains in jail without bond.
“We are concerned that the hate crimes against Christians could be increased in the United States,” said Jonathon Racho, regional manager for Africa and South Asia at International Christian Concern, to The Christian Post Monday. “This is very alarming.”
He added, “We hear this kind of thing happening in other countries like India, Nigeria, China, North Korea, where Christians are being killed, imprisoned and so forth. But for Christians to be killed for preaching the Gospel here in the United States, it is very, very alarming.”
Several Christian organizations have wondered out loud why there has been so little media coverage despite the incident occurring more than two weeks ago.
"If this had been two Muslims out sharing the Quran and talking to people about Mohammad and they were shot and killed, there would be marches, there would be protest, there would be 24-hour coverage,” said Todd Nettleton, a spokesperson for the Voice of the Martyrs, to Mission Network News. “As a Christian, that's a frustrating thing that the media doesn't seem to want to pay attention to incidents where Christians are targeted."
Police have not identified Woody’s motive for killing the street preachers.
(From http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100216/watchdog-murder-of-street-preachers-in-florida-is-alarming/)
Revelation 6:9-11
The murder of two young street preachers in Florida by a teenager whom they shared the Gospel with is “alarming,” said a spokesperson for a religious freedom watchdog group.
Eighteen-year-old Jeriah Woody, whose street name is “Plug,” is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Woody allegedly shot and killed Tite Sufra, 24, and Stephen Ocean, 23, on Jan. 30 after they shared about Christ with him during the 15 minutes they talked.
Woody’s phone reportedly rang and he turned and walked away to take the call. But then he turned around again and started walking towards the street preachers. Sufra approached him and Woody allegedly shot him in the head. Ocean tried to run away, but police said Woody allegedly shot him in the back and then walked up to him and shot him again in the head at point-blank range.
The police account is based on the third street preacher that was with Sufra and Ocean when they talked to Woody. The unidentified third minister had escaped by running in the opposite direction.
Woody turned himself in on Feb. 3 and remains in jail without bond.
“We are concerned that the hate crimes against Christians could be increased in the United States,” said Jonathon Racho, regional manager for Africa and South Asia at International Christian Concern, to The Christian Post Monday. “This is very alarming.”
He added, “We hear this kind of thing happening in other countries like India, Nigeria, China, North Korea, where Christians are being killed, imprisoned and so forth. But for Christians to be killed for preaching the Gospel here in the United States, it is very, very alarming.”
Several Christian organizations have wondered out loud why there has been so little media coverage despite the incident occurring more than two weeks ago.
"If this had been two Muslims out sharing the Quran and talking to people about Mohammad and they were shot and killed, there would be marches, there would be protest, there would be 24-hour coverage,” said Todd Nettleton, a spokesperson for the Voice of the Martyrs, to Mission Network News. “As a Christian, that's a frustrating thing that the media doesn't seem to want to pay attention to incidents where Christians are targeted."
Police have not identified Woody’s motive for killing the street preachers.
(From http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100216/watchdog-murder-of-street-preachers-in-florida-is-alarming/)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Death Of Evolution!
You'd think that a process capable of evolving irreducibly complex biological functions without blueprints would have surely solved this little dilemma by now!
But after nearly four billion years of trying, evolution has still failed to come up with a workaround for death! Now that's a bit disappointing!
Mr & Mrs Evolutionist, you'd better hope that it finds a solution in the next 50 odd years or you're stuffed!
But after nearly four billion years of trying, evolution has still failed to come up with a workaround for death! Now that's a bit disappointing!
Mr & Mrs Evolutionist, you'd better hope that it finds a solution in the next 50 odd years or you're stuffed!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
God Himself Directs His Word!
"Do not be led away with the error of the wicked but "grow in the grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18).
Light is the chariot which carries the influence of the sun. So the knowledge of Christ brings with it influences of His grace into the heart. And how did Peter expect people to grow in the knowledge of Christ unless they read Scripture, the only book where it can be found? How wrong for teachers to want the people to learn this knowledge solely from their preaching, and not from the Bible! How can a congregation be sure they are hearing truth unless they have Scripture, the only touchstone to try the purity of the doctrine? God Himself directs His Word not to any one honored group-not to a select few-but to every man (Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:1). Why are laws made if they cannot be declared? And why was Scripture ever written if not to be read and known of all men? By the same authority with which the apostle wrote his epistles, he commanded them to be read in the church. Did ministers of the early church hide God's word from the people instead of encouraging them to hide it in their hearts?
It is true that some men wrest Scripture to their own destruction, just as occasionally somebody chokes on a piece of bread if he is not careful when he eats. But must everyone starve for fear of getting choked? Some hurt themselves with sharp weapons; must the whole army then be disarmed, and only a few officers be allowed to wear the sword? If this argument were enough to seal up the Bible, we must deny it to intellectuals as well as to common men; for it is a known fact that the grossest heresies have bred in the finest minds. Whenever proud men insist on being wiser than God, their foolish minds get darker and darker until they become so accustomed to the blackness that they can no longer see His sovereignty.
From The Christian In Complete Armour by William Gurnall First Published in 1665 Published by Moody Press Chicago, IL 1994
Light is the chariot which carries the influence of the sun. So the knowledge of Christ brings with it influences of His grace into the heart. And how did Peter expect people to grow in the knowledge of Christ unless they read Scripture, the only book where it can be found? How wrong for teachers to want the people to learn this knowledge solely from their preaching, and not from the Bible! How can a congregation be sure they are hearing truth unless they have Scripture, the only touchstone to try the purity of the doctrine? God Himself directs His Word not to any one honored group-not to a select few-but to every man (Romans 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:1). Why are laws made if they cannot be declared? And why was Scripture ever written if not to be read and known of all men? By the same authority with which the apostle wrote his epistles, he commanded them to be read in the church. Did ministers of the early church hide God's word from the people instead of encouraging them to hide it in their hearts?
It is true that some men wrest Scripture to their own destruction, just as occasionally somebody chokes on a piece of bread if he is not careful when he eats. But must everyone starve for fear of getting choked? Some hurt themselves with sharp weapons; must the whole army then be disarmed, and only a few officers be allowed to wear the sword? If this argument were enough to seal up the Bible, we must deny it to intellectuals as well as to common men; for it is a known fact that the grossest heresies have bred in the finest minds. Whenever proud men insist on being wiser than God, their foolish minds get darker and darker until they become so accustomed to the blackness that they can no longer see His sovereignty.
From The Christian In Complete Armour by William Gurnall First Published in 1665 Published by Moody Press Chicago, IL 1994
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Deceitfulness Of Sin!
"Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin!" Hebrews 3:13
First sin startles him,
then it becomes pleasing,
then easy,
then delightful,
then frequent,
then habitual,
then confirmed!
Then the man is impenitent,
then obstinate,
then resolves never to repent,
and then he is damned!
"For the wages of sin is death!" Romans 6:23
- Jeremy Taylor
First sin startles him,
then it becomes pleasing,
then easy,
then delightful,
then frequent,
then habitual,
then confirmed!
Then the man is impenitent,
then obstinate,
then resolves never to repent,
and then he is damned!
"For the wages of sin is death!" Romans 6:23
- Jeremy Taylor
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Are You Living For Rubbish?
"Do not work for food that perishes--but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you!" John 6:27
We need to be continually reminded of the unsatisfying nature of the things of this world--and exhorted to seek eternal realities. We live in a material age, when the quest of people is for money, for power, for things of the earth.
John Bunyan gives a picture of 'a man with a muck-rake', working hard, scraping up the rubbish at his feet--and not seeing the crown which hung above his head. It is a picture of the great majority of the people in this world. They are wearing out their life in scraping up worldly rubbish--not thinking of the heavenly treasures, the divine and imperishable gifts, which they might have--with half the toil and care!
We ought not to spend our life in picking up rubbish which we cannot carry beyond the grave! If we are wise, we will seek rather to gather lasting treasures and riches, which we can take with us into eternity!
Whatever we build into our character, we shall possess forever!
Money which we spend in doing good in Christ's name--we lay up as safe and secure treasure in heaven.
All true service for Christ--stores up rewards for us in the future.
What we keep--we lose!
What we give in love--we keep forever!
(J.R. Miller)
We need to be continually reminded of the unsatisfying nature of the things of this world--and exhorted to seek eternal realities. We live in a material age, when the quest of people is for money, for power, for things of the earth.
John Bunyan gives a picture of 'a man with a muck-rake', working hard, scraping up the rubbish at his feet--and not seeing the crown which hung above his head. It is a picture of the great majority of the people in this world. They are wearing out their life in scraping up worldly rubbish--not thinking of the heavenly treasures, the divine and imperishable gifts, which they might have--with half the toil and care!
We ought not to spend our life in picking up rubbish which we cannot carry beyond the grave! If we are wise, we will seek rather to gather lasting treasures and riches, which we can take with us into eternity!
Whatever we build into our character, we shall possess forever!
Money which we spend in doing good in Christ's name--we lay up as safe and secure treasure in heaven.
All true service for Christ--stores up rewards for us in the future.
What we keep--we lose!
What we give in love--we keep forever!
(J.R. Miller)
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Spurgeon On Self Righteousness #2
If you think yourselves strong enough to procure heaven by your own efforts, you are ignorantly insulting the cross of Christ, for you seem to insinuate that your virtues can avail you without Jesus. If you really mean this, there is no more venom of rebellion against God in your self-righteousness than in the outward vice of those who make no pretence to godliness. For you to put your works in the place of Jesus is a blasphemy against the Saviour's blood and righteousness. Why needed Christ to die if men could save themselves? Why need he bleed upon the cross if your merits will suffice to gain you a place among the blessed? There is a fatal weakness in the claim of that man who thinks himself strong enough to force his own passage to the throne of God; that weakness lies in the pride which insults the Crucified, the disloyalty which prefers itself to the royal Saviour.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Spurgeon On Self Righteousness #1
Sinner, if you grow no sweeter flowers than the dunghill of your own nature can nourish, you will die amid poisonous weeds. If you never drink of better water than the filthy well of your own heart will yield, you will perish of thirst, or of a deadly draught. Another, and a better helper than one born in your house, must come this way. Help must be laid upon one that is mighty, exalted of the Lord out of the people, and endowed with divine power and Godhead, for only such a Saviour, infinitely good and great, can save a soul so lost as yours.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
A Question For The Evolutionist...
Did this evolve, or is it evidence that there is a sand castle maker?
Did this evolve, or is it evidence that there is a bridge maker?
Did this evolve, or is it evidence that there is a robot maker?
Did we evolve, or are we evidence that there is a creator?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
No Surer Test Of The Genuineness Of Christian Life!
"I am among you as one who serves." Luke 22:27
"He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him." John 13:4-5
Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson we must learn--if ever we would become like our Master. He did not come to be served--but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost. Anything that needed to be done for another, He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed. He loved people, and was interested in them, and was ready always to be helpful to them. It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or the giving of a cup of water--He did the least as graciously and as divinely, as the greatest.
The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples. Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done--is unfit for the whitest hands. We begin to be like Christ--only when we begin to love others enough to serve them.
There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life, than in this matter of serving others. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples' feet--no service is too menial for us to do. A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm, and his honor will only be enhanced by it.
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet--you also should wash one another's feet." John 13:14
J. R. Miller
"He got up from supper, laid aside His robe, took a towel, and tied it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around Him." John 13:4-5
Serving is not an easy lesson to learn. But it is a lesson we must learn--if ever we would become like our Master. He did not come to be served--but to serve. He served to the uttermost, just as He loved to the uttermost. Anything that needed to be done for another, He did as naturally and as simply as He breathed. He loved people, and was interested in them, and was ready always to be helpful to them. It never mattered what the service was, whether it was the saving of a soul, the curing of a grievous sickness, or the giving of a cup of water--He did the least as graciously and as divinely, as the greatest.
The washing of feet was the lowliest service any man could do for another. It was the work of the lowliest slave. Yet Jesus without hesitation, did this service for His own disciples. Thus He taught them that nothing anyone may ever need to have done--is unfit for the whitest hands. We begin to be like Christ--only when we begin to love others enough to serve them.
There is no surer test of the genuineness of Christian life, than in this matter of serving others. When we see the Son of God washing His disciples' feet--no service is too menial for us to do. A king may do the lowliest kindness to the poorest peasant in his realm, and his honor will only be enhanced by it.
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet--you also should wash one another's feet." John 13:14
J. R. Miller
Friday, October 30, 2009
Evolution Is Monkey Business!
How long would it take a monkey to type the word evolution on a standard 104-key keyboard?
Well there is, on average, one chance in 1,423,311,812,421,484,544 attempts (an attempt being defined as a random keying of 9 characters), of typing the word evolution on a 104-key keyboard. This is based on the Multiplication Rule of probability.
Assuming the monkey could type 2 keystrokes/sec, 8 hrs/day, 5 days/week, 44 weeks/year (that's a 52 weeks year - 4 weeks annual leave - 2 weeks public holidays - 2 weeks sick leave) and he stumbled on the right key combination, by chance, in only half the attempts then it would only take him 505,437,433,388.31 years.
Unfortunately, he would have died after about 20!
Such are the overwhelming odds of randomly typing the nine character word coined to describe the very theory which says all things evolved from a primordial soup, it would take 25,271,871,669.42 monkeys working back to back to crack this problem!
Well there is, on average, one chance in 1,423,311,812,421,484,544 attempts (an attempt being defined as a random keying of 9 characters), of typing the word evolution on a 104-key keyboard. This is based on the Multiplication Rule of probability.
Assuming the monkey could type 2 keystrokes/sec, 8 hrs/day, 5 days/week, 44 weeks/year (that's a 52 weeks year - 4 weeks annual leave - 2 weeks public holidays - 2 weeks sick leave) and he stumbled on the right key combination, by chance, in only half the attempts then it would only take him 505,437,433,388.31 years.
Unfortunately, he would have died after about 20!
Such are the overwhelming odds of randomly typing the nine character word coined to describe the very theory which says all things evolved from a primordial soup, it would take 25,271,871,669.42 monkeys working back to back to crack this problem!
God Is The God Of The Broken!
"This man welcomes sinners--and eats with them!" Luke 15:2
"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you!" Matthew 21:31
Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things.
Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken--in building their kingdoms. But God is the God of the broken, the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no 'bruised reed' which Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow--and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure--up to heaven's glory!
J. R. Miller
"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you!" Matthew 21:31
Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things.
Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken--in building their kingdoms. But God is the God of the broken, the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no 'bruised reed' which Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow--and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure--up to heaven's glory!
J. R. Miller
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Why I Don't Believe In God!
Mr & Mrs Atheist, I am curious as to your reason(s) for why you do not believe there is a God?
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Question For Mr Evolutionist!
Mr Evolutionist, assuming that you propagate before you die, what great genetic improvement or evolutionary advancement will you bring to the human gene pool? Have you improved on the eyesight or hearing of your parents? Have you developed some new biological function that gives you a greater chance of survival? Have you moved your family tree one step closer to developing gills, or flying with the birds? How do you know that you haven’t actually made a regressive step back towards your primate ancestors? What a waste your life will be if you reach the end and find out that you have added no new &/or improved genetic information! You will be an evolutionary failure!
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Atheist Challenge!
1. Put frog in blender
2. Blend frog
3. Put blender on kitchen table
4. Wait for frog to hop back out
Should be a no brainer for evolution - given that we know everything required to make a living frog is present.
My dear atheist friend, don't hold your breath!
2. Blend frog
3. Put blender on kitchen table
4. Wait for frog to hop back out
Should be a no brainer for evolution - given that we know everything required to make a living frog is present.
My dear atheist friend, don't hold your breath!
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