Servant of Messiah Ministries

Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Our Leader cursed our nation.

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President Obama’s refusal to veto an anti-Israel U.N. resolution was ranked as the most anti-Semitic incident of 2016 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Gen 12 v 3 – ” I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

In the annual anti-Semitism report, the centre placed the Obama administration’s decision Friday to abstain on the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements at the head of its list, the “Top 10 Worst Global Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Incidents.”

“The most stunning 2016 U.N. attack on Israel was led by President Obama when the U.S. abstained on a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel for settlement construction,” the centre said. “It reversed decades-long US policy of vetoing such diplomatic moves against the Jewish State.”

Also making the list was activity by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement as well as U.S. white nationalist leader Richard Spencer’s questioning whether Jews are “people or soulless golem” at a November gathering in Washington, D.C.

As a South African, I watched B.D.S. destroy our economy as the world isolated our government. Despite half the world’s gold reserves and the strongest military on the continent, our economy was crippled, our travel limited, and culturally we were isolated. I left South Africa in protest and was unable to return to my country for more than 15 years.

Now the two countries that fought so hard for the right of minorities and who share a similar constitution (U.S.A. and S.A.) lead the charge in anti-Semitic behavior. The 2001 World Conference against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban I, was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, under UN auspices, in September 2001. Durban 2 followed in Switzerland. On the first day of the conference, Ahmadinejad, the only head of state to attend, made a speech condemning Israel as “totally racist”

He overlooked the fact that over 1 million Arabs (20% of the population) own land, live and vote in Israel, serve on their Supreme Court and in their Knesset and Cabinet, and play for their national and international sports teams.

In the past few years, scores of universities, pension funds, churches, and unions in the US, Europe, and elsewhere have supported BDS by boycotting Israeli goods and investments. The United Methodist Church’s $20 billion pension board, the biggest pension fund asset manager in the US, blacklisted the five largest Israeli banks. Norway’s $810 billion Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, blacklisted two Israeli companies over their involvement in settlement building in East Jerusalem.

The student councils of most of the University of California campuses have voted in favour of requests that the university system administrator divest from American companies making money from the settlements. The National Women’s Studies Association and other academic groups in the US have voted to boycott Israeli universities.

Two top Israeli officials have accused the Obama administration of orchestrating the resolution behind the scenes. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said Wednesday that Israel would work to repeal the resolution even though such efforts can take years.

The true nature of the UN resolution is also hinted at by numerology. Resolution 2334 has a value. In gematria 2334 – is XXXX. In the rules of gematria, a repeated letter is for emphasis, turning XXXX into an emphatic XXX, which means ‘to betray’. By abstaining, US President Barack Obama betrayed his alliance with Israel, paving the way for the conference in Paris.

“Our goal would be to repeal it,” Mr. Dermer said “You know, the ‘Zionism is Racism’ resolution was sitting on the UN books for 15 or 16 years before we were able to repeal it.”

In its report, the Los Angeles-based centre said the resolution “identifies Jerusalem’s holiest sites, including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, as ‘occupied Palestinian territory.’”

“It also urges U.N. members ‘to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967,’ effectively endorsing BDS,” said the report.“The reason why Jews are called Jews is because we are the people of Judea,” Mr. Dermer said. “So now the Jewish people are foreign occupiers of Judea? Judea all of a sudden has become occupied Palestinian territory? So this is absurd, and it has to be fought.”

The vote came as the latest of 20 anti-Israel U.N. resolutions approved in 2016. The U.N. General Assembly approved one resolution each against the countries of Syria, Iran, North Korea and Crimea in the same year.

Netanyahu will not meet with the foreign ministers of those countries and their ambassadors will not be received at Israel’s Foreign Ministry.  The officials said that business with the embassies of those countries that supported resolution 2334 — Britain, France, New Zealand, Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay, Spain, Senegal — will be suspended.

When we elect a leadership that actively:

  • Promotes the widespread killing of our unborn,
  • Considers the bible a version of hate speech,
  • Undermines the marriage covenant,
  • Exalts the Muslim faith and favors it over Christianity,
  • Now undermines and curses the Jewish people.

For those that don’t believe in the God that faithfully keeps score…..Sleep well.  

For those that do believe in the God that faithfully keeps score, who is the Righteous Judge, the Defender of the unborn and His people Israel…..we know there is trouble ahead.

Why study Church History?

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What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecc 1v 9)

It is impossible to appreciate that scripture without understanding.

We act as if we stumbled on a perfect set of Paleo-Hebrew Dead Sea scrolls and Yeshua led us into the desert like Rav Shaul to explain His Truth to us. Instead, He handed us 2000 years of His faithful working in the mess to bring us to this place. Gratitude should be our starting point.

Church History is made up of debates that have raged for 2000 years. A good understanding of that history will cast light on “new heresies” and explain so many traditions we take for granted despite them having no biblical support.

The sixteenth century alone provides a treasure of soul-stirring narratives. Think of Martin Luther’s bold and daring stand for the gospel against the destructive errors of Rome. Had it not been for that flawed anti-Semite – we would still be sitting in a Latin Mass with no access to a bible – let alone an English one. Consider the faithful witness of the English martyrs who died singing psalms as they were consumed by flames.

The story is messy and bloody and should stir our hearts to do great feats.

Church History is a reminder of God s faithfulness:

Like the psalmist, we must “recount all of God’s wonderful deeds” to remind ourselves that He will never leave us or forsake us (Ps. 9:1; Heb. 13:5).

All of Church History is His-Story. The stories of His faithfulness to the men like George Mueller who fed and clothed 20,000 orphans on prayer alone should encourage us to pray.

God provided us with perfect scriptures to perfectly equip us. The history of the Canon of (both old and new) testaments are in themselves amazing stories. God protected His word against all kinds of attacks.  Tyndale’s translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, the first English one to take advantage of the printing press, and first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation. Tyndale died to give us that access.

Throughout time, God was there providing the tools for the next move of God in the hearts of men.

Church History protects us from error and clarifies previous errors:

Irish philosopher Edmund Burke wisely remarked that “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” Indeed, without a basic knowledge of church history, individual Christians and churches are prone to repeat the same doctrinal errors and foolish mistakes of former days.

Learning about Adoptionism, Pelagianism, Arianism, Donatism, or Gnosticism will help you see some of those same heresies in the teachings of many modern preachers and teachers. Without studying Church history, these doctrines may seem new and creative.

A study of the revivals will reveal the Revivalism that cropped up where manipulation methods of Finney replaced the authentic work of the Holy Spirit in the pursuit of “converts” rather than conversion.

A study of the Welsh revival will reveal how emotionalism supplanted biblical doctrine. A great move of God was derailed and fell apart very quickly. Unstructured emotional meetings did not nurture or train mature believers or prepare saints for the long road ahead.

As Twain said “The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it” A study of history teaches us which traditions are suffocating and need to be avoided and which are so crucial that they must be preserved at all costs. Studying history will open our eyes to traditions we have always assumed were biblical.

Church History humbles us:

Our current generation with pride declares that we are the greatest generation of believers in the history of the world. Rev 3 v 17 – You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’  And you don’t realise that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. A look at history will shame us.

For instance, reading the letters of the Church Father, Ignatius of Antioch (35-108 AD), places our own efforts in perspective. The words of Ignatius to the church in Rome, about his own willingness to die as a martyr, should humble us in the light of the “easy-living” approach of many of today’s Christians: “I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God’s sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you; do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.”

Queen Mary ascended the throne of England in 1553. In subsequent years, she had at least two hundred people put to death (often by fire) for their religious convictions. – Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake on October 16, 1555.  Latimer died much more quickly; as the flames quickly rose, Latimer encouraged Ridley, “Be of good comfort, Mr Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”

The martyrdoms of Ridley, Latimer, and Thomas Cranmer are today commemorated by a Martyrs’ monument in Oxford. The faith they once died for can now be freely practised in the land.

Church History encourages us:

 Hebrews 12 v 2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

God filled the bible with biographies for many reasons….He wanted us to read them.

In 1563, Englishman John Foxe published his Acts and Monuments to give a universal history of God’s work at building His church. Often called Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, the history has become a Christian classic. There was a time when the Bible and Foxe’s work were the only two books many Christians ever read.

Link to get your free copy – Foxes-Book-of-Martyrs-John-Foxe.pdf

Hebrews 11 v 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,  who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.  Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—  the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.  These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised….

We put free history books on this site in the hope it would light a fire in your heart to cry “once more into the breach.” Now let us finish the task set before us.

 

 

 

Why should Xians study Torah.

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Top 10 Reasons why Christians should know Torah

Know Torah = Know Yeshua

We do new converts to Christianity a disservice when we hand them a Gospel of John and the Book of Psalms.

The book of Hebrews says in Heb 10 v 7 – Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.  Hebrews is quoting Ps 40 v7 – Then I say, “Look! I come! What is written in the scroll pertains to me.” 

Which scroll was He referring to in light of there being No New Testament yet?

Yeshua made every effort to validate His ministry and His Messiahship from the Jewish Torah. His talk on the Road to Emmaus appears to be a thorough survey of the Jewish Scriptures. His uniquely Jewish mission was to fulfill Jewish roles and customs …..like Kinsman Redeemer, Passover Lamb, High Priest, Atonement, Line of Judah, Son of Joseph and Son of David are terms only explained in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Attempts to de-Judaize the bible are not new. Early Christian Fathers tried to separate themselves from their Jewish Roots and the early 12 Jewish disciples of Messiah.

  • Hilary of Poitiers (AD 291-371) wrote: “Jews are a perverse people accursed by God forever.”
  • Gregory of Nyssa (died AD 394), Bishop of Cappadocia: “the Jews are a brood of vipers, haters of goodness…”
  • Jerome (AD 347-407) describes the Jews as “… serpents, wearing the image of Judas, their psalms and prayers are the brayings of donkeys.”

Hitler’s plan was to gradually ‘Nazify’ the church beginning with a theological center he set up in 1939 called ‘The Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life’. Walter Grundmann was appointed as its academic director and wrote in 1941,  ‘The Bible must become Jew-free and the German people must see that the Jews are the mortal enemy who threatens their very existence’.

In the 1940 edition of the Nazi bible, the following words can be found: “The Evangelical Jesus can only become the savior of our German people, because it does not incarnate the ideas of Judaism, but fights against them mercilessly’.  Referring to the rewritten bible in a memorandum to the institute in Eisenach, Hitler wrote ‘The book will have to serve the fight against the immortal Jewish enemy!

When you see who does not want you to read and Study Torah…That should tell you something!  Please let that strengthen your resolve to find the Jewish Yeshua on very page of the volume written about Him. That volume starts with the Torah.

  1. Yeshua can be found there!

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Torah, and the Prophets, wrote: Yeshua of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

  • How can you know the answer if you never knew the question?
  • They only recognized Yeshua as the Messiah because they knew the Torah.
  • The Torah is where the hidden treasure is found!
  1. So we can properly understand who Yeshua is!

Luke 24:27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Yeshua began with Moses and so should we. How can we claim to know Yeshua if we know nothing of His family, His culture or His country?

  1. So we can believe Yeshua is the Messiah!

John 5:46,47 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if  you do not believe his writing, how will you believe my words?”

If you throw out the Torah and claim it is irrelevant you have no validation for your belief in Yeshua. It is not a matter of Moses versus Jesus it is belief in that what Moses says proves your belief in Messiah!

  1. Torah sets your heart on fire!

Luke 24:32 They said one to another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”

There were no Gideon Bibles back then. All they had was the Tanakh. (Hebrew Old Testament) God says His Word is like a fire. Our hearts will burn when we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truths of the Torah to us.

  1. Torah, as the beginning, is the Key to prophetic understanding!

Isaiah 46:9,10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;

The Bible says it is to God’s Glory that he conceals matters and it is to our honor to search them out. You will never fully understand Revelation if you don’t understand Genesis and the Torah. They are bookends of one story.

  1. So we can know the promises to the family we are grafted into!

Romans 9:4,5 Who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises; of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Messiah as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

There are not two trees, one Jewish and one Christian. We are grafted into one tree and the early “church” fathers are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You are saved by the same faith that Abraham was saved by. Gen 15 v 6 And Abram believed the LORD and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.

  1. Torah comes from the breath of God and is His Word!

2 Timothy 3:16,17 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Again there was no New Testament when this was written. The Torah equips us for every good work. The early church proved all their doctrines from the only scriptures they had –The Torah.

  1. Torah brings us liberty!

Psalms 119:43-48 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in your judgments. So shall I keep your law continually forever and ever? And I will walk at liberty: for I seek your precepts. I will speak of your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in your commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up to your commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in your statutes.

Only when we know our boundaries do we have true liberty as well as safety for everyone.

  1. Torah reveals God’s heart and is what makes our lives go well!

Deuteronomy 5:29 O that there was such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! God would never say that Torah is good, now Torah is bad, and now Torah is good again. The Torah is God’s instruction. His instruction is always for our good, as He loves us!

  1. Torah prevents us from being deceived and reveals false prophets!

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them; You shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proves you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and join him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he has spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust you out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you put the evil away from the middle of you?

Any person who believes the Torah is done away with is a false prophet. There are many modern day “prophets” going around claiming to hear from God. Just ask them if the Torah is done away with?.

If they say, yes, Run for your lives!

Simcha Torah – The joy of the Lord

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We talk of Joy of the Lord.

He celebrates a sinner repenting – and mourns the death of the wicked……. I wonder which He does more of? 

I see grief and regret that He ever made mankind, at Noah’s time. Gen 6 v 7-8 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth–men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.”

    • I see in every prophetic message a pleading from God.
    • I see anger as He repents of His wish to destroy Israel, at Moses’s request.
  • I see the heartbreak of a husband – as pleads with Israel to be a faithful bride. Isiah 63:10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.

So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them.

He says, as I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He says – I want all men saved.

So He gets used to disappointment.

We have not done better – Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

I see a Father rip the veil exposing the Heart of God, and open the most Holy Place, to a Roman Centurion as His Son dies.

Are the only voices He hears in heaven the souls under the altar crying out — Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

I see the tears of Yeshua and no laughter in the Gospel’s, as the Man of sorrows gets ready to die.

He describes Himself …Come unto me for I am meek… not happy, not joyous, but meek…

Meanwhile, we are the happiest church of all time, and we have the least reason to be so.

Do we care…we so-called “friends of God?” 

“How can we intercede for a people, and possibly put forward God’s agenda or priorities, when we have no idea of His viewpoint and His heartbreak?

Robert Murray M’Cheyne – Annual Bible reading plan

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Reading plan is available here   MCheynes-Daily-Bible-Reading.pdf

Daily Bread, A calendar for reading through the Word of God in a year

by Robert Murray McCheyne

“Thy Word is very pure; therefore thy servant loveth it. Psalm 119 v 140”

MY DEAR FLOCK,—The approach of another year stirs up within me new desires for your salvation, and for the growth of those of you who are saved. “God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” What is the coming year to bring forth, who can tell? There is plainly a weight lying on the spirits of all good men, and a looking for some strange work of judgment coming upon this land. There is need now to ask that solemn question—”If in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?”

Those believers will stand firmest who have no dependence upon self or upon creatures but upon Jehovah our Righteousness. We must be driven more to our Bibles, and to the mercy-seat if we are to stand in the evil day. Then we shall be able to say like David—, “The proud have had me greatly in derision, yet have I not declined from thy law.” “Princes have persecuted me without a cause, but my heart standeth in awe of thy Word.”

It has long been in my mind to prepare a scheme of Scripture reading, in which as many as were made willing by God might agree, so that the whole Bible might be read once by you in the year, and all might be feeding in the same portion of the green pasture at the same time.

I am quite aware that such a plan is accompanied with many

DANGERS.

1. Formality. We are such weak creatures that any regularly returning duty is apt to degenerate into a lifeless form. The tendency of reading the Word by a fixed rule may, in some minds, be to create this skeleton religion. This is to be the peculiar sin of the last days—”Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Guard against this. Let the calendar perish rather than this rust eat up your souls.
2. Self-righteousness. Some, when they have devoted their set time to read the Word, and accomplished their prescribed portion, may be tempted to look at themselves with self-complacency. Many, I am persuaded, are living without any Divine work on their soul—unpardoned, and unsanctified, and ready to perish — who spend their appointed times in secret and family devotion. This is going to hell with a lie in the right hand.
3. Careless reading. Few tremble at the Word of God. Few, in reading it, hear the voice of Jehovah, which is full of majesty. Some, by having so large a portion, may be tempted to weary of it, as Israel did of the daily manna, saying—, “Our soul loatheth this light bread;” and to read it in a slight and careless manner. This would be fearfully provoking to God. Take heed lest that word be true of you— “Ye said, also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
4. A yoke too heavy to bear. Some may engage in reading with alacrity for a time and afterward feel it a burden grievous to be borne. They may find conscience dragging them through the appointed task without any relish of the heavenly food. If this be the case with any, throw aside the fetter and feed at liberty in the sweet garden of God. My desire is not to cast a snare upon you, but to be a helper of your joy.
If there be so many dangers, why propose such a scheme at all? To this I answer, that the best things are accompanied with danger, as the fairest flowers are often gathered in the clefts of some dangerous precipice. Let us weigh

THE ADVANTAGES.

1. The whole Bible will be read through in an orderly manner in the course of a year.The Old Testament once, the New Testament and Psalms twice. I fear many of you never read the whole Bible; and yet it is all equally divine. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect.” If we pass over some parts of Scripture, we shall be incomplete Christians.
2. Time will not be wasted in choosing what portions to read. Often believers are at a loss to determine towards which part of the mountains of spices they should bend their steps. Here the question will be solved at once in a very simple manner.
3. Parents will have a regular subject upon which to examine their children and servants. It is much to be desired that family worship were made more instructive than it generally is. The mere reading of the chapter is often too like water split on the ground. Let it be read by every member of the family beforehand, and then the meaning and application drawn out by simple question and answer. The calendar will be helpful in this. Friends, also, when they meet, will have a subject for profitable conversation in the portions read that day. The meaning of difficult passages may be inquired from the more judicious and ripe Christians, and the fragrance of simpler Scriptures spread abroad.
4. The pastor will know in what part of the pasture the flock are feeding. He will thus be enabled to speak more suitably to them on the Sabbath; and both pastor and elders will be able to drop a word of light and comfort in visiting from house to house, which will be more readily responded to.
5. The sweet bond of Christian love and unity will be strengthened. We shall be often led to think of those dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, here and elsewhere, who agree to join with us in reading these portions. We shall oftener be led to agree on earth, touching something we shall ask of God. We shall pray over the same promises, mourn over the same confessions, praise God in the same songs, and be nourished by the same words of eternal life.

CALENDAR DIRECTIONS
1. The [first] column contains the day of the month. The next two columns contain the chapter to be read in the family. The two last columns contain the portions to be read in secret.
2. The head of the family should previously read over the chapter for family worship and mark two or three of the most prominent verses, upon which he may dwell, asking a few simple questions.
3. Frequently the chapter named in the calendar for family reading might be read more suitably in secret; in which case the head of the family should intimate that it be read in private, and the chapter for secret reading may be used in the family
4. The metrical version of the Psalms should be read or sung through at least once in the year…If three verses be sung at each diet of family worship, the whole Psalms will be sung through in the year.
5. Let the conversation at family meals often turn upon the chapter read and the psalm sung. Thus every meal will be a Sacrament, being sanctified by the Word and prayer.
6. Let our secret reading prevent the dawning of the day. Let God’s voice be the first we hear in the morning. Mark two or three of the richest verses, and pray over every line and word of them. Let the marks be neatly done, never so as to abuse a copy of the Bible.
7. In meeting believers on the street or elsewhere, when an easy opportunity offers, recur to the chapters read that morning. This will be a blessed exchange for those idle words which waste the soul and grieve the Holy Spirit of God. In writing letters to those at a distance, make use of the provision that day gathered.
8. Above all, use the Word as a lamp to your feet and a light to your path—your guide in perplexity—your armor in temptation—your food in times of faintness. Hear the constant cry of the great Intercessor,

“Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth.  John 17 v 17”

St. Peter’s, Dundee, 30th Dec. 1842.

Reading plan is available here   MCheynes-Daily-Bible-Reading.pdf

Old paths and Old books by C.S. Lewis

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Many so-called “Christian” books today are not worth reading, and some are spiritually dangerous. Given the vast number of such books in the marketplace, we need wisdom and discernment in what we read, lest we be unwittingly led astray. C.S. Lewis gives us wise guidance on this important issue………

There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about “isms” and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said. The error is rather an amiable one, for it springs from humility. The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him. But if he only knew, the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator. The simplest student will be able to understand, if not all, yet a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism. It has always therefore been one of my main endeavours as a teacher to persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.

This mistaken preference for the modern books and this shyness of the old ones is nowhere more rampant than in theology. Wherever you find a little study circle of Christian laity you can be almost certain that they are studying not St. Luke or St. Paul or St. Augustine or Thomas Aquinas or Hooker or Butler, but Keller, Piper, R.C. Sproul, MacArthur,  N.T. Wright or even myself.

Now this seems to me topsy-turvy. Naturally, since I myself am a writer, I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old. And I would give him this advice precisely because he is an amateur and therefore much less protected than the expert against the dangers of an exclusive contemporary diet. A new book is still on its trial and the amateur is not in a position to judge it. It has to be tested against the great body of Christian thought down the ages, and all its hidden implications (often unsuspected by the author himself) have to be brought to light. Often it cannot be fully understood without the knowledge of a good many other modern books. If you join at eleven o’clock a conversation which began at eight you will often not see the real bearing of what is said. Remarks which seem to you very ordinary will produce laughter or irritation and you will not see why—the reason, of course, being that the earlier stages of the conversation have given them a special point. In the same way sentences in a modern book which look quite ordinary may be directed at some other book; in this way you may be led to accept what you would have indignantly rejected if you knew its real significance. The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity (“mere Christianity” as Baxter called it) which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can be acquired only from the old books. It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some extent the contemporary outlook—even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it.  Nothing strikes me more when I read the controversies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usually assuming without question a good deal which we should now absolutely deny. They thought that they were as completely opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secretly united—united with each other and against earlier and later ages—by a great mass of common assumptions. We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century—the blindness about which posterity will ask, “But how could they have thought that?”—lies where we have never suspected it, and concerns something about which there is untroubled agreement between Hitler and President Roosevelt or between Mr. H. Wells and Karl Barth.

None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.

I myself was first led into reading the Christian classics, almost accidentally, as a result of my English studies. Some, such as Hooker, Herbert, Traherne, Taylor and Bunyan, I read because they are themselves great English writers; others, such as Boethius, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Dante, because they were “influences.” George Macdonald I had found for myself at the age of sixteen and never wavered in my allegiance, though I tried for a long time to ignore his Christianity. They are, you will note, a mixed bag, representative of many Churches, climates and ages. And that brings me to yet another reason for reading them. The divisions of Christendom are undeniable and are by some of these writers most fiercely expressed. But if any man is tempted to think—as one might be tempted who read only con- temporaries—that “Christianity” is a word of so many meanings that it means nothing at all, he can learn beyond all doubt, by stepping out of his own century, that this is not so.

Measured against the ages “mere Christianity” turns out to be no insipid interdenominational transparency, but something positive, self-consistent, and inexhaustible. I know it, indeed, to my cost.

Reading classic works is a good way to gain the perspective we need to guard our hearts and minds in this age of abundant nonsense and heresy.

“Afraid” by Betty Stam

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Afraid

Afraid?  Of what?

Afraid to see the Saviour’s  face,

To hear His welcome, and to trace

The glory gleam from wounds of grace?

Afraid  –  of THAT?

 

Afraid?  Of what?

A flash  –  a crash  –  a pierced heart!

Darkness  –  Light  –  O Heaven’s art!

A wound, of His a counterpart!

Afraid  –  of THAT?

 

Afraid?  Of what?

To do by death what life could not –

Baptize with blood a stony plot,

Till souls shall blossom from the spot?

Afraid  –  of THAT?

While students at Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute in the early 1930s, Americans John Stam and Betty Scott individually sensed God’s call to serve as missionaries in China. The country was enslaved by idol worship and torn apart by a violent Communist uprising. After leading them separately to China, the Lord brought their lives together in marriage and a shared ministry.

But just three months after the birth of their daughter, Helen Priscilla, John and Betty were captured by Communist rebels.  Helen’s remarkable deliverance led to her being dubbed “The Miracle Baby.”

This poem was written by Betty Stam,  just before being martyred together with her husband in December, 1934. They were paraded through the middle of town naked, led to the town square where the Communist regime forced everyone to watch. 

There they were decapitated for the whole world to see.

The Stams’ powerful testimony was carried around the globe by secular newspapers that featured front-page stories about the young couple’s faith, dedication and martyrdom.

As a result of their deaths, many unbelievers turned to Christ and numerous Christians were moved by the Stams’ sacrifice to become missionaries themselves.

Like the Lord they served, John and Betty Stam reached more people through their death than in their short ministry.

 

“Chocolate Soldiers” by C.T. Studd

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HEROISM is the lost chord; the missing note of present-day Christianity!

Every true soldier is a hero! A SOLDIER WITHOUT HEROISM IS A CHOCOLATE SOLDIER! Who has not been stirred to scorn and mirth at the very thought of a Chocolate Soldier? In peace true soldiers are captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives them their liberty and sends them, like boys bounding out of school, to obtain their heart’s desire or perish in the attempt. Battle is the soldier’s vital breath! Peace turns him into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the heart, strength, and vigour of a hero.

EVERY TRUE CHRISTIAN IS A SOLDIER—of Christ—a hero “par excellence!” Braver than the bravest—scorning the soft seductions of peace and her oft-repeated warnings against hardship, disease, danger, and death, whom he counts among his bosom friends.

THE OTHERWISE CHRISTIAN IS A CHOCOLATE CHRISTIAN! Dissolving in water and melting at the smell of fire. “Sweeties” they are! Bonbons, lollipops! Living their lives on a glass dish or in a cardboard box, each clad in his soft clothing, a little frilled white paper to preserve his dear little delicate constitution.

Here are some Portraits of Chocolate Soldiers taken by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

“He said, ‘I go sir,’ and went not.” He said he would go to the heathen, but he stuck fast to Christendom instead.

“They say and do not”—they tell others to go, and yet do not go themselves. “Never,” said General Gordon to a corporal, as he himself jumped upon the parapet of a trench before Sebastopol to fix a gabion which the corporal had ordered a private to fix and would not fix himself, “Never tell another man to do what you are afraid to do yourself.”

To the Chocolate Christian the very thought of war brings a violent attack of ague, while the call to battle always finds him with the palsy. “I really cannot move,” he says. “I only wish I could, but I can sing, and here are some of my favorite lines:

I must be carried to the skies
On a flowery bed of ease,
Let others fight to win the prize,
Or sail thro’ bloody seas.

Mark time, Christian heroes,
Never go to war;
Stop and mind the babies
Playing on the floor.

Wash and dress and feed them
Forty times a week.
Till they’re roly poly—
Puddings so to speak.

Chorus:
Round and round the nursery
Let us ambulate,
Sugar and spice and all that’s nice
Must be on our slate.

GOD NEVER WAS A CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURER, AND NEVER WILL BE. God’s men are always heroes. In Scripture you can trace their giant foot-tracks down the sands of time.

NOAH walked with God, he did not only preach righteousness, he acted it. He went through water and did not melt. He breasted the current of the popular opinion of his day, scorning alike the hatred and ridicule of the scoffers who mocked at the thought of there being but one way of salvation. He warned the unbelieving and, entering the ark himself, did not open the door an inch when once God had shut it. A real hero untainted by the fear of man!

Learn to scorn the praise of men.
Learn to lose with God;
Jesus won the world through shame!
And beckons us His road.

Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World by Dr. Tim Keller

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Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World
by Dr. Tim Keller and Dr. Edmund Clowney

Originally taught as a Doctor of Ministry course, Dr. Keller and Dr. Clowney (1917-2005) ask, “Is Jesus made visible in every sermon or only talked about?” By analyzing and deconstructing other models of preaching that either exhort on moral levels or attempt to evoke an emotional response, Dr.’s Keller and Clowney provide a model of preaching that is Christocentric. This model of preaching focuses on three aspects to guide the listener and preacher:

  • First, how does this text tell me about Christ?
  • Second, how does this text show that the listener’s life is poor without Christ.
  • Third, how to lead the listener to worship and adore Christ.

Link to iTunes University  Reformed Theology Seminary        

Download 144page  Class Notes as pdf Preaching the Gospel in a Post Modern World v 2001

Download 188page Class Notes as pdf Preaching the Gospel in a Post Modern World v 2002

The notes are NOT available anywhere else….so I offered up both years as they were expanded.

The 36 hour class is College Level and includes 18 hours of Lectures and 18 hours of Question/Answers.

God called me late in life, ill prepared and unqualified to even consider college/seminary but with a zeal to teach. There are wonderful resources available on the internet to prepare and equip men whom God has called.

I share this class with the hope that others like me can benefit from these lessons and be more effective in sharing the Gospel. Whether you teach a small group or serve as volunteer chaplain – properly exalting Yeshua in your teaching glorifies Him.

This class has shown me ways to do that.

He said Ps 40 v 7 the volume of the book is written of me….and finding Him and lifting Him up allows Him to draw all people to Him.

Lu 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Lu 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Christ Centered Preaching by Dr. Bryan Chapell

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This is an excellent homiletic class that I am working my way through now.

I found this useful and recommend it for the following reasons…

The audio lectures and notes are freely available online at iTunes and at Covenant Seminary.

Link for   Covenant Seminary Class                       

Link for    iTunes University Class – Covenant Seminary

They include both lecture transcripts and class notes for each lecture.

Download Transcripts as pdf Christ Centered Preaching Class 28 Lecture Transcripts - Bryan Chapell

Download Class Notes as pdf Christ Centered Preaching Class Notes 28 Lessons - Bryan Chapell

The Text book by Dr. Bryan Chapell – “Christ Centered Preaching” is available on Amazon to complete the course experience.

The 30 hour class is College Level and well taught.

God called me late in life, ill prepared and unqualified to even consider college/seminary but with a zeal to teach. There are wonderful resources available on the internet to prepare and equip men whom God has called.

I share this class with the hope that others like me can benefit from these lessons and be more effective in sharing the Gospel. Whether you teach a small group or serve as volunteer chaplain – properly exalting Yeshua in your teaching glorifies Him.

This class has shown me ways to do that.

He said Ps 40 v 7 the volume of the book is written of me….and finding Him and lifting Him up allows Him to draw all people to Him.

Lu 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Lu 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Yeshua set the example for proper teaching. It is my hope to follow His example. A sincere thanks to the men that went before us and passed on their experience and wisdom to the next generation.