I Promise
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cont'
The human dilemma that we are in right now is that we have never been in a lower point. People say sometimes, "Don't worry, we have got out of situations like this." Oh, no! We haven't. Don't you fool yourself. We've never gotten out of situation like this. You know why? Because we have never been in a situation like this. That's why!
We've never had difficulties like this. We've never had this plague of divorce. We've never had a million girls under 16 becoming pregnant, like last year. What did they say the night before last on the news, "Tonight 20,000 girls over the nation will get pregnant." Sex is a sport. Immorality is an accepted way of life.
People say there are fewer divorces than last year. Well, how do you expect any more when they don't get married? They did get married at one time and got divorced. They don't even bother to get married now, just live together. Have a baby, so what? "We agree to part," that's it. So we are a broken nation. Never, never in our history did we need revival more than today, the day in which we live.
But you don't wish revival... there is no such thing.
People say to me all over the country, "I am interested in revival." I say, "Yes, so are a million other Americans."
I find all kinds of people interested in it. I don't find many people burdened for it. People are very interested in revival, but we don't start to break the fallow ground. We don't prepare the way of the Lord.
I remember as a little boy I used to go to bed at night with a candle... you never had that joy, did you? I remember thinking how many other candles you could bring and light off that candle? I wonder and I wonder. I never found an answer, but I often used to wonder.
It was Charles Wesley who wrote the hymn,
"See how great a flame aspires, kindled by a spark of grace.
Jesus' love the nations fires, sets the kingdoms all ablaze.
To bring fire on earth He came, kindled in some hearts it is,
Oh that all might catch the blaze, all partake the glorious bliss."
Jesus said, "To bring fire on earth have I come." Did you hear anybody preach on that text? What kind of fire? Well, surely not hell fire. Holy Ghost fire!
The most devastating fire of all is not the fire that consumes a building. It isn't even the fire of hell.
The greatest, most devastating fire, is the fire of God. We say, "God is love, God is love, God is love..."
And yet our God is a consuming fire. "Who shall abide the day of His coming," Malachi says. "He is like a refiner's fire."
Mathew 3:16, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and Fire." But you see, that aspect is not stressed in the day in which we live.
Everybody talks about the baptism. So what do you mean by the baptism? There is a baptism with the Holy Ghost and Fire. Not just with the Holy Ghost, but with Fire. When He comes He will "thoroughly purge His floor and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Which, again,
can happen individually,
or it can happen in a church,
or it can come and work through a whole community
or it can work through a whole nation.
There will be a thousand people who, if you get a heart and a vision, will say, "Oh, you've got tunnel vision." Hmm? Well, I think the one reason why the Apostle Paul conquered... and triumphed... and out-smarted us... and out-suffered us... and out-prayed us... and out-sacrificed us... and out-preached us was because he settled for one thing: "This one thing I do."
You've got to have one vision,
You've got to have one heart,
You've got to have one purpose,
"This one thing I do..." I sell out to God's will totally.
Well, what does this become? Well, I believe this thing becomes an obsession, as I was saying to a brother this morning. For fifty years I've wept, and I've prayed, and I've groaned, and I've read, and I've fasted, and I've met with guys for nights of prayer, and days of prayer, and days and days of prayer, for revival. There isn't much sign of it. Well, are you sure? You see, prayers never die.
"What are these under the altar? The prayer of saints." You never pray a prayer that is born of God without it being on record with God. God never wastes anything. Do you think you and I have prayers born of grief, born of anguish, born of desire to see an overthrow of iniquity, (for after all that is what revival is) and you think God will let them die?
Now again, the shadow of darkness and death is over this generation like nothing we've ever had before. And yet, the greatest tragedy of all is this: a sick church in a dying world. We have neither the vision nor the passion, nor at this moment, the intention of setting our house in order -- "to break the fallow ground" -- to prepare the way of the Lord.
My hope is that as we go on here we are not just going to gather information and statistics about revival, but that we are going to individually seek personal revival.
Leonard Ravenhill
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One of my favourite modern preacher other than A.W Tozer.
A personal mentor though we've never met. -
My stand on subjects of Christian Conducts.Originally posted by M©+square:CAN.
It's not a matter of Can or Cannot.
It's how much you can live as a Christian, claiming to be on fire for God and bet/gamble as the same time.
If you can live with it. Let it be....
If you can't reconcile the lifestyle between gambling and Godly Christian living, then ask God to deal with you.
Cheers
Gambling is not the key word. The word underlined could be switch to any problem one is struggling with. eg. smoking, swearing, sleeping around.
Cheers -
Allow me to use this metaphor which i best describe what language God understands best.
God doesn't understand spoken languages as much as He understands the language of the heart.
Because that's what he does best.
I cannot help but to bring this to a real setting of a father and his toddler.
This toddler is still does not know the figure of speech and only goes 'geeee gee, gaah gaah.'
Every action, every smile attracts the father attention. Though father doesn't know how the other fathers handle their child. But he sure know what his kid needs even without little toddler saying anything. There is a certain connection which only he knows.
When toddler crys, he's afraid, or he falls, he's hungry, he's lost.
This father always knows.
Though this earthly father doesn't know what's the best for little toddler.
He doesn't guarantee to know exactly what his baby is thinking.
But he knows enough to provide for the toddler.
Some of you cannot relate this a father - child relationship.
You're free to see it as mother - child relationship.
I'm not a father myself. I do not come from a home with strong fatherly figure.
I looked at children and their parents, sometimes i wonder.
Then i realise, God uses earthly figure(parents) to teach us His nature and showed us how much He understands us even without us saying a single word.
Does God understand english? the topic ask.
My opinion.
When God sees the very intent, your thoughts and desire of your heart, even before you speak. Do you think he needs to hear it from you?
He don't need, he wants to hear His child talk to him. Is the talk important? Yes.
Is the phrasing of words and correct pronunciation important? No.
Because He went pass the language and listen to the heart.
Cheers -
MC: Are you a smart Christian, Atheist, or agnostic?
I am too lazy to read everything.
-
You just got to read to find out.Originally posted by missqi:MC: Are you a smart Christian, Atheist, or agnostic?
I am too lazy to read everything.
Unless you're not interested in me.
-
Can I conclude that you are a pompous dickass?Originally posted by M©+square:You just got to read to find out.
Unless you're not interested in me. 
You just overloaded MissQi's mammary banks. -
Bless you Vince.Originally posted by vince69:MC,
which view do you subscribe then,
1) its a blessing to be alive every morning?
2) its normal daily routine that is expected?
personally, I will take (1), giving thanks to Him for all things, including the blessing of being alive.
btw, sunrise in the morning is not a miracle, God promised this in his covenant (after the flood),
Gen8:22 (NKJV)
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night, shall not cease.
You've got my drift.(knowingly or unintentionally)
It is indeed a Blessing to be alive and being able to still see the promise of God(sunrise) coming to pass.
Highlighted point is the gist.
What i'm saying is. Not everything are Miracles - if not, it no longer holds as 'miracle', it has become commonthing in men.
:::
1a) It is a blessing to be alive everyday. (expression of 'miracle')
1b) It is miracle how Sun rises and sets. (Fact, miracle)
2a) It can be a feeling or outburst of expression. Purely expression.
2b) It can be true encounter/experience.
3a) Miracles can happen to non believers
3b) Believers attribute miracles to the work/moving hand of God
St. Thomas says "praeter" (beyond), not "contra" (against).
The order of creation is due to the will of God.
A miracle is not contrary to the will of God,
but it is a special extraordinary exercise of the will of God.
What are Miracles:
Creation of Mankind - Gen 1:26-28
The Burning Bush - Exodus 3
The Ten plagues in Egypt - Exodus 7:14-11:10
Earthquake that swallows Korah and his fellow rebels - Num 16
Fire from heaven consumes Elijah's sacrifice - 1 Kings 18:16-40
Virginal conception of Jesus - NT
Christ Death and Resurrection - NT
My version of what are Miracles:
God knows the number of hair on your scalp
He knows what you're thinking, your thoughts
Each creations' design and purpose on earth (structurally facsinating)
The unfailing LOVE Of GOD.
Cheers -
No man should desire to be happy who is not at the same time holy. He should spend his efforts in seeking to know and do the will of God, leaving to Christ the matter of how happy he should be.
A. W. Tozer
Modern christians. Heed it....what matters is not the church life or friends that could make your life fulfilling.
It is to seek the heart of God that makes your life whole.
Not bed of roses, but surely something which all Christians should embrace and cling tightly to.
Your placement of God in you're life is most essential to your spiritual intent and ultimately tells where you stand in Christ.
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us
A. W. Tozer quote
mc -
"Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody; and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody." - D.L Moody
Particularly touched by this short illustration.
_________________________________________
Dwight L Moody, evangelist and preacher (A.D. 1837-1899), was preaching one day and lifted an empty glass. 'Tell me,' he said, 'How can I get the air out of this glass'
One man answered, 'Suck it out with a pump.'
Moody replied, 'That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.'
After many suggestions, Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass with water. 'There he said, all the air is now removed.'
Then he went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not by sucking out a sin here and there, but rather by being filled with the Spirit.
"Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian."
D.L. Moody
Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.
-E. M. Bounds
Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
-Oswald Chambers
The essence of prayer does not consist in asking God for something but in opening our hearts to God, in speaking with Him, and living with Him in perpetual communion.
Prayer is continual abandonment to God. Prayer does not mean asking God for all kinds of things we want; it is rather the desire for God Himself, the only Giver of Life,
Prayer is not asking, but union with God.
Prayer is not a painful effort to gain from God help in the varying needs of our lives. Prayer is the desire to possess God Himself, the Source of all life.
The true spirit of prayer does not consist in asking for blessings, but in receiving Him who is the giver of all blessings, and in living a life of fellowship with Him."
- Sadhu Sundar Singh -
Moody the fundamentalist?
Moody the founder of a bible institute by his name? Infamous for churning out fundamentalists. -
Define Fundamentalist?Originally posted by Icemoon:Moody the fundamentalist?
Moody the founder of a bible institute by his name? Infamous for churning out fundamentalists.
Somehow, we have different views on this term. -
Is the voice of God so dull that you have to seek answers from other source?
-
You are a non-christian?Originally posted by M©+square:
No
I'm not a Christian.
Is your God an FBI agent?Originally posted by M©+square:Is the voice of God so dull that you have to seek answers from other source?
Is your God an Automated Teller Machine? (Cash Machine)
When God speaks to you
If God were to talk to you, what would God say to you?
How will God say it?
Will God talk to you in a language that only Spirits can understand?
Will God talk to you in His Glory and Majesty?
Will God interrogate you like an FBI agent?
Will God churn out money like an ATM machine?
When God speaks to you
God will manifest Himself as a friendly voice and talk in your dialect.
God will speak to you in a still soft voice and say “Hi. How are you?”
I find it strange that there are religious people than cannot see that which is staring them in the face. -
Because you've said it.Originally posted by AndrewPKYap:Is your God an FBI agent?
Is your God an Automated Teller Machine? (Cash Machine)
When God speaks to you
I find it strange that there are religious people than cannot see that which is staring them in the face.
They are RELIGIOUS. It's not strange, it's great phenomena!!! -
Originally posted by M©+square:Because you've said it.
They are RELIGIOUS. It's not strange, it's great phenomena!!! -
THE DEVOTION OF HEARING - My Utmost For His Highest
"Speak; for Thy servant heareth." 1 Samuel 3:10
Because I have listened definitely to one thing from God, it does not follow that I will listen to everything He says.
The way in which I show God that I neither love nor respect Him is by the obtuseness of my heart and mind towards what He says. If I love my friend, I intuitively detect what he wants, and Jesus says, "Ye are My friends."
Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord's this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not consciously have disobeyed it; but most of us show such disrespect to God that we do not even hear what He says, He might never have spoken.
The destiny of my spiritual life is such identification with Jesus Christ that I always hear God, and I know that God always hears me (John 11:41).
If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God, by the devotion of hearing all the time. A lily, or a tree, or a servant of God, may convey God's message to me. What hinders me from hearing is that I am taken up with other things.
It is not that I will not hear God, but I am not devoted in the right place. I am devoted to things, to service, to convictions, and God may say what He likes but I do not hear Him.
The child attitude is always, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." If I have not cultivated this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God's voice at certain times; at other times I am taken up with things - things which I say I must do, and I become deaf to Him, I am not living the life of a child. Have I heard God's voice to-day?
--Oswald Chambers -
So I am guessing his god is an FBI agent out to get him...Originally posted by M©+square:Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord's this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not consciously have disobeyed it; but most of us show such disrespect to God that we do not even hear what He says, He might never have spoken. --Oswald Chambers
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Yeah, just like Jonah.Originally posted by AndrewPKYap:So I am guessing his god is an FBI agent out to get him... -
errr... I think if after the fish ate him and spit him out, he could have just walked away... Jonah did not have that kind of "Oh no I disobeyed, lightning is going to strike me dead mentality"Originally posted by M©+square:Yeah, just like Jonah.
I cannot conclude that Jonah's God was an FBI agent just can't wait to send him to jail.
anyway these are just mythologies to express certain truths... -
You're free to state your claimsOriginally posted by AndrewPKYap:errr... I think if after the fish ate him and spit him out, he could have just walked away... Jonah did not have that kind of "Oh no I disobeyed, lightning is going to strike me dead mentality"
I cannot conclude that Jonah's God was an FBI agent just can't wait to send him to jail.
anyway these are just mythologies to express certain truths...
Both of us have different interpretations and different state of belief, and i have no problem with that. -
Originally posted by M©+square:You're free to state your claims
Both of us have different interpretations and different state of belief, and i have no problem with that. -
I would love to hear your opinions here in "atheism" on this thread:Originally posted by M©+square:You're free to state your claims
Both of us have different interpretations and different state of belief, and i have no problem with that.
Why don't you believe in God?