A few GREAT quotes by Leonard Ravenhill

"Is the world crucified to you tonight? Or does it fascinate you?"

"There’s only one proof of the Holy Ghost in your life and that’s a holy life"

"God doesn't answer prayer. He answers desperate prayer! Your prayer life denotes how much you depend on your own ability, and how much you really believe God. The more self-confidence you have, the less you pray. The less self-confidence you have, the more you have to pray."

"Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do they really think that on Judgment Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, ‘Leonard, you took Me too seriously’?”

"My main ambition in life is to be on the Devil’s most wanted list."

"There’s a difference between changing your opinion, and changing your lifestyle."

"A true shepherd leads the way. He does not merely point the way."

"If a Christian is not having tribulation in the world, there’s something wrong!"

Psalm 119:59-60

"I thought on my ways,

and turned my feet unto thy testimonies."

"I made haste,

and delayed not to keep thy commandments."

Lately I have really been meditating on a few things God has really been laying on my heart and mind within the context of the life events that have been shaping, and will continue to shape, my life and my perception of life: getting married in September of 2008, buying a house in March of 2009, Meghann and I finding out she’s pregnant in May of 2009, and a baby on the way in February 2010 – and those are just the major events! I have been finding it so easy to allow myself to just “go with the flow” of things as they come, and at the same time I have been finding myself questioning this “flow” and whether I need to do a better job as a husband and a leader to direct my life and my new family against this “flow”. I don’t want to allow myself and my family to go down a path and then after we’ve traveled the path for a while realize that the way we took was not the way God desired for us to go. It would be much wiser to take the time now to carefully observe our course and make necessary changes that will honour the Lord, and this is the what I know I need to do (Lord, I need your wisdom! I cannot do it on my own!).

I was deeply encouraged today by Psalm 119:59-60. I want my life and my heart to always follow after verses such as these! I want to remain humble enough to take an objective, biblical look at my course of life, make godly determinations, and make haste to turn my feet unto God’s ways without delay… O how often do we delay when it comes to the things that God desires for us to repent of and change!! How is God glorified by such a selfish heart attitude? He is not… and I find myself guilty. I ought not to delay! I don’t want to delay! Praise be to God for His goodness to us, His patience with our weaknesses, and how He tenderly guides us with His loving staff.

1Corinthians 16:13

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.”

Paul Proctor Article - REPENT!

REPENT!
 
By Paul Proctor
April 17, 2004

NewsWithViews.com

Repent – now there’s a word we don’t hear much at church anymore. It has such a negative connotation, doesn’t it? If we called on people from our congregations to repent, it might imply that we think they’re sinners or something – which by the way, is another word we don’t throw around the sanctuary too often these days. “Sinners”, you see, have been focus-grouped and reclassified by church growth marketing specialists as “seekers”, so as not to give them the impression that they’re destined for an eternity in Hell.  After all, that could put a chill on Sunday morning’s chitchat around the coffeepot and take all the fun and frivolity out of worship. For those unfamiliar with the creeker commandments, number one is:

“Thou shalt not offend a seeker no matter what it costs him.”

Have you noticed what has replaced “repent?” Its substitute is a word that is vastly more positive and quite accommodating of one’s lifestyle and indiscretions – not to mention sounding a lot more hip and high tech to those wanting to “impact” the world for Christ. Yeah, “impact” – that’s another one… Don’t bother looking it up in your bible either. It’s not there any more than “seeker” is because frankly, Jesus never told us to “Go ye therefore into all the world and impact seekers in my name.” That’s just more creeker-speak designed to fill venues, not the Kingdom of God.

No, sinners are not called to repent anymore. In the interest of church growth, they’re simply "invited to connect” – be it with Christ, His church and/or any small group of seekers, creekers or feelers that gather for therapy and consensus – none of which is biblical in any contrived combination. Though today’s dumbed down church sees these two words as largely synonymous; “connecting”, rather than “repenting” actually bypasses any personal responsibility and accountability to a just and holy God.

“Connecting with Jesus” doesn’t condemn sin but accommodates it – being powered by “phileo” love (brotherly love), instead of “agape” love, (Godly, spiritual, selfless love) which just happens to be excellent for drawing large crowds in search of self-esteem and entertainment. “Connecting” conveniently avoids the sin issue and the need for one to turn from his or her evil ways in obedience to the Word of God. It implies that sin is, for the most part, a non-issue – that if we just “connect” with Jesus He won’t care what we’ve done in the past, what we’re doing in the present or what we will do in the future. In the church growth movement, connecting IS repenting. What’s more, the word “connect” is key to the advancement of what I call “Cotton Candy Christianity” – something I’ve alluded to in earlier writings.

Cotton Candy Christianity is a superficial faith that relies on feelings, emotions and human relationships rather than the Word of God and has so diluted the Gospel and deluded the church, in its perverted quest for cultural relevance and global acceptance, that it now bears almost no resemblance to the early church.

Cotton candy is pink, fluffy, inviting and delicious. When you bite into it, it dissolves into a sugary sweet nothingness. There’s little or no nutrition or food value to it. You just get a pink tongue, rotten teeth, sticky lips and a brief burst of artificial energy that gives everyone around you the bogus impression that you are a happy and healthy individual without a care in the world. But the fact is; you can starve to death on it, no matter how much you eat.

You think sinners (seekers) don’t have a sweet tooth for brotherly love and acceptance? Of course they do! So much so that they’ll gladly accept any invitation to skip the main course at God’s table for a delectable dessert of empty calories and the emotional high that pseudo-salvation offers. But it still ends in spiritual starvation. The only difference is the conned consumer THINKS he’s saved because he feels full. But the only thing he’s full of is the sugary sweet nothingness of self-esteem.

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – Proverbs 16:25

I did a quick search for the word “repent” in Rick Warren’s preferred version of “scripture”; Eugene Peterson’s “The Message.” The word appeared only twice in his entire New Testament – both times in John’s Revelation. “Repentance” appeared only one time in Matthew and “repenting” only once in the Gospel of Luke. Most other versions of the bible had “repent” or some form of the word appearing 50 to 60 times in their New Testaments. In “The New Life Translation” and “The Contemporary English” New Testaments, it didn’t appear at all. What a travesty!

Do you not see a new age agenda at work here, my friends? Can you not see how the exchanging of negative truths for positive lies alters the eternal destiny of unsuspecting souls? If you don’t, you may need to crawl out of the cotton candy and start looking a little deeper into the unrevised Word of God. These word changes are about a lot more than simplifying scripture for today’s illiterate and utilizing a more fashionable and familiar language. It is no accident that the church growth movement is replete with them. If you think that Satan doesn’t modify the Word of God for his own purposes you might need to go back and read Genesis 3 one more time.

Many of the new bible versions have replaced “repent” with the word “change.” But, people, places and things change constantly. Change is a natural part of life. Even inanimate objects untouched and unmoved by human hands inevitably change through entropy. But a change in one’s life is not necessarily repentance. Furthermore, man cannot change himself enough to please God. The Lord does not want an upgraded version of the same person. He wants a new man and a new woman – something you and I cannot fabricate with self-help books and human initiative. It only comes through a total and complete surrender of one’s heart and life to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.

The church today is “changing” like never before, but not for the good and certainly not for God. Change is probably the most used and promoted word in the church growth movement. From the beginning, its leaders set out to do one thing; change the church. Well, guess what; mission accomplished! Moreover, by minimizing the seriousness of sin and the need for one to repent, they have also changed the message – a fact they fervently refuse to admit.

Change is the very platform of every aspiring candidate running for political office against an incumbent – the pitch of every salesman offering you a new and improved product and the vision of every revolutionary, patriot and dictator throughout history. But again, that’s not repentance. And, it is repentance that is desperately needed in the church today – not change. I dare say there will be no revival without it.

Inviting the lost to simply “connect” with Jesus is as absurd as trying to take your material possessions with you to Glory. It can’t be done! You have to let them go. You cannot bring your worldly ways into the Christian life anymore than you can take your worldly wares into the Kingdom of God. They MUST be left behind! It is what separates the sheep from the goats. That’s what repentance is all about – abandoning the old life for the new – not connecting them!

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” – 2nd Corinthians 6: 14-15

Instead of discarding sin and our old lives to embrace the love of Christ and escape Hell out of a reverent and obedient fear of God, many today are casually “connecting with Jesus” to get stuff. That’s why I call it “consumeranity”, because a lot of us are just “loving” God for what we can get out of Him, which isn’t love at all. It is only an emotionally based infatuation that is focused more on receiving spiritual stuff than obeying God and His Word.

They may well believe they’re following Jesus with all their heart, but I would have to question the “Jesus” they are following. Is their “Jesus” the Living Word of God or an imaginary Jesus manufactured in the minds of men that appeals to one’s “felt needs?” (i.e., the flesh) Who is it today’s seekers are walking down the aisle to receive and what spirit is leading them? The Lord repeatedly warned of impostors with their “signs and lying wonders”. That’s why it is SO important that we study, know and believe the Written Word of God because it will never contradict the Living Word.

There is no “connecting” with Christ until we acknowledge our sin for what it is and forsake it under the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why John the Baptist’s cry in Matthew 3:2 was identical to that of Jesus Himself in Matthew 4:17. The church may have changed dramatically over the years but God has not. And, neither has His message to sinful man.

“Repent: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17

A great reminder!

How encouraging this reading was today! I think it is SOOO important to keep reminding ourselves of God’s goodness to us… even when we don’t seem to see Him clearly working in our lives. God IS good!!

 

-Stephen

 

Morning and Evening
Charles H. Spurgeon
July 9, 2009

Morning Reading

Forget not all His benefits.

—Psalm 103:2

It is a delightful and profitable occupation to mark the hand of God in the lives of ancient saints, and to observe His goodness in delivering them, His mercy in pardoning them, and His faithfulness in keeping His covenant with them. But would it not be even more interesting and profitable for us to remark the hand of God in our own lives? Ought we not to look upon our own history as being at least as full of God, as full of His goodness and of His truth, as much a proof of His faithfulness and veracity, as the lives of any of the saints who have gone before? We do our Lord an injustice when we suppose that He wrought all His mighty acts, and showed Himself strong for those in the early time, but doth not perform wonders or lay bare His arm for the saints who are now upon the earth. Let us review our own lives. Surely in these we may discover some happy incidents, refreshing to ourselves and glorifying to our God. Have you had no deliverances? Have you passed through no rivers, supported by the divine presence? Have you walked through no fires unharmed? Have you had no manifestations? Have you had no choice favours? The God who gave Solomon the desire of his heart, hath He never listened to you and answered your requests? That God of lavish bounty of whom David sang, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things," hath He never satiated you with fatness? Have you never been made to lie down in green pastures? Have you never been led by the still waters? Surely the goodness of God has been the same to us as to the saints of old. Let us, then, weave His mercies into a song. Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness, and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus. Let our souls give forth music as sweet and as exhilarating as came from David's harp, while we praise the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever.

Apostasy vs. Revival

As I am sitting here and pondering God's words in Matthew 13 I have often been wondering why God split up the speaking of the parable of the sower and the explanation of the parable with an exposition of Isaiah 6... and I think that it just began to hit me as I was typing out Matthew 13:18-19. Jesus' exposition of Isaiah 6 gives us an understanding of apostasy and how it begins to work in the hearts and lives of people, as well as a pattern for repentance.

According to verse 15, the first thing to happen with an apostate is that their heart waxes gross. It is out of the heart that cometh forth the things that defile a man, not the things that come from without (Matthew 15:18); wickedness begins in the heart and works its way out through words and actions (Matthew 12:34-35). It is because of these truths that God says in His Word all over the place that He desires our heart (Prov 23:26), and therefore it should be of no surprise that apostasy begins with the heart.

The next thing that happens in the progression towards apostasy is the ears become dull of hearing (vs 15). The word "dull" used in this passage has the sense of becoming heavy (Isaiah 6:9-10); it's almost as if something spoken is repeated over and over and over and over to the point where it no longer has any effect upon the listeners. The way we use dull today has the same kind of meaning; when a person takes a knife and uses it over and over and over without taking care of the blade, to sharpen it, it becomes dull and useless. Once the heart has become sickly and gross, the ears become heavy because the Word is not believed and received as it ought to be in order to turn the gross heart into a pure vessel fit for the Master's use (1Thess 2:13; 2Tim 2:21).

Lastly, after the ears become dull the eyes will close (vs 15). What is interesting about the way that Jesus speaks these words is that He says, "their eyes they have closed". At this point in time when the heart has waxed gross and the ears have become heavy, they will then choose to close their eyes out of their own will and desire. This is the point where rebellion has progressed to the point where it becomes very evident to all that fear God and desire to keep His ways. These individuals are no longer believing and receiving God's Truth, allowing their ears to take in God's commandments and statutes, and permitting their eyes to stay open to their own ways and the truth that is set so evidently plain before their face.

After Jesus lays out the pattern of apostasy in the beginning of verse 15, he then explains in the rest of the verse what cannot happen due to their unwillingness to repent: "lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand in the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Here we can plainly see that the pattern for revival is the exact opposite of the pattern of apostasy. In order for someone to experience true repentance in the heart and life they must first open their eyes and see their life as it is in truth, according to God's Word. If they are unwilling to make the decision to open their eyes and acknowledge the truth for what it is as truth, there is no way that they can take any step away from apostasy and towards repentance. After opening their eyes and acknowledging the truth about their life, they must hear with their ears. We are not smart enough to know how to deal with our mess on our own and by our own wisdom; we need to hear the Word of God to know what to do and how to do those things that will produce the fruit in our life that is pleasing to Him. Once the eyes are open and the ears have heard, understanding needs to take place in the heart about that which was seen and heard. An individual must see what is wrong before their face, acknowledge the truth, hear additional truth from God's Word in order to know what corrective actions to take in their life, and then have the understanding and discernment in their heart to purpose themselves towards obedience. Then, after all these things will God be able to convert them and heal them from the chains of apostasy.

God's Word makes things so clear... I love it! He truly is incredible...

Focused... Driven...

This morning I really needed to hear a word from God, from His Word... There are times in life when we are just not doing the things that we know that we ought to be doing, when our focus isn't raptured by the magnificent truths of God's word and the reality of our personal and corporate mission, and when decisions are made that seem to be natural but end up being categorized as "unwise" once we take an honest look at the circumstances. For those of us that truly desire to follow after Christ as His disciples there are times when we do not find ourselves with the clearly focused, intensely driven, and passionate ambition for God's call upon our lives in this world. God really helped me see something from His Word that really moved me in the depths of my heart...

"But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" -- Luke 12:50

When Jesus made this statement He wasn't talking about being baptized again, He was talking about the consecration and fulfillment of His mission on earth, in the flesh; we know this to be the case because He makes similar statements to James and John in Matthew 20:22 and Mark 10:38. What really moved me was the fact that from John 13:15 and 1Peter 2:21 we know that Christ was our example, that we should follow in His footsteps. In fact, we were even commanded by Christ to go and teach all peoples all things that He commanded. Therefore it is very clear that we are to follow in Christ's footsteps, be like Him in word and deed, and teach everyone the things that He commanded the disciples; we are to be just like Christ in this world.

With this in mind I find it very valuable to think of verses like Luke 12:50 as something that we should follow after in Christ's footsteps. According to this verse we find Jesus consecrated to His mission and driven to see it through to its fulfillment. Jesus is "straightened till it be accomplished!" How often do we find ourselves like Jesus, "straightened till it be accomplished" in our own life? To be straightened means not crooked, not able to be bent in another direction, cannot be moved, cannot be swayed towards anything else, not distracted, cannot be adjusted, not diluted, not impure, and completely and totally faithful in all things that will advance His mission and discarding anything that will keep His mission from progressing. I am convinced that we (I included, most definitely!) do not remain faithful to this aspect of Christ example that we should be following each day. We allow the things of this world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1John 2:15-17) to get in the way of our mission and slow us down from completing it. We fall prey to the lie that convinces us that as long as we are making progress towards the end goal of our mission that we are doing alright, rather than realizing that we need to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and...run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1b-2)." This is also why Hebrews goes on to say, "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Jesus' baptism was to endure the cross, pay the penalty for the sin of all mankind, provide a way of eternal salvation and restoration with the Father to all who would believe, and see it through till the end. To this mission He was "straightened till it be accomplished!" ...Amen.

May we be fixed, focused, passionate, driven, ambitious, unwaivering, and "straightened" until our mission be accomplished in this world.