The strength of the vessel can be demonstrated only by the hurricane, and the power of the Gospel can be fully shown only when the Christian is subjected to some fiery trial. If God would make manifest the fact that “He giveth songs in the night,” He must first make it night.
—William Taylor

"We have taken the latter course as a culture. So there is mass confusion today--even in the evangelical church--over whether the Bible is true and over how far we should go in obeying it." 

"No one ever lost out by excessive devotion to Christ." 

We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. 

Brother Lawrence

Here lies the tremendous mystery - that God should be all-powerful, yet refuse to coerce. He summons us to cooperation. We are honoured in being given the opportunity to participate in his good deeds. Remember how He asked for help in performing his miracles : Fill the waterpots, stretch out your hand, distribute the loaves. 

Elisabeth Elliot

 Stopping to say hey. I hope this note finds you well.

"The true Church has never sounded out public expectations before launching her mission. Her leaders heard from God, they knew their Lord's will and did it. Their people followed them - sometimes to triumph, oftener to insults and public persecution - and their sufficient reward was the satisfaction of being right in a wrong world!" 

The standard of practical holy living has been so low among Christians that very often the person who tries to practice spiritual disciplines in everyday life is looked upon with disapproval by a large portion of the Church. And for the most part, the followers of Jesus Christ are satisfied with a life so conformed to the world, and so like it in almost every respect, that to a casual observer, there is no difference between the Christian and the pagan.

Reference:  The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. Christianity Today, v. 32, n. 11.

There you are :-). I am glad you are well. I am OK ,thank you. Yes lets catch up sometime.  I am the same as always. I am glad to see you again. I don't come here to AAG as often as I did but I do stop by now and again. It just isnt the same as it used to be when I had first found this site.  There was another "watchman"  he and his wife was here and was very active . There was Ron Payne... he didnt leave intentionally, he had had health problems and then later passed away. :-(. There was 'anonymous  poster'  he was kicked out. You would have liked everyone of them. There was Ramona... she left too  she was such a kind lady.  I lost my old email account and lost so many conversations from all them. There were more here. Paige is one who was here and left. :-(. Yu would have loved her. She and a few others are on my fb but I dont think Paige remembers me and i dont  ask because I dont remember what member name i had used when I knew Paige here. I had used several. Well I am rattling. Some of my family are on their way to visit me. :-) Yes I am smiling. love you Jane. . Hey if you have fb I do too even you want to connect there. Let me know.

if you want not even :-/

Religion today is not transforming the people – it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society – it is descending to society's own level and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smiling accepting its surrender. ~A.W. Tozer

Thank you I think of you highly too. I agree with what you said about the political correct etc. I also think the world is under the sway of the evil one. I have to be very careful not to listen or read so much news and what people are saying about the news. Its almost if when i do listen I start to feel like they are sucking me in also in starting to feel hatred toward the apposing politcal party. Now aint that something? I never did that before and certainly dont want to now. This is a scary world we live in. I noticed in myself that I am more quieter with my veiws than I ever had been. Im letting fear of saying something that would tick someone off because as you mentioned not politically correct. Im tired and am rattling. I havent slept yet . Hopefully I will today some. love to you and I hope you have a beautiful day too. ... I say that after all the junk i just wrote.  :-/

You cannot take Christ for justification unless you take Him for sanctification. Think of the sinner coming to Christ and saying, “I do not want to be holy;” “I do not want to be saved from sin;” “I would like to be saved in my sins;” “Do not sanctify me now, but justify me now.” What would be the answer? Could he be accepted by God? You can no more separate justification from sanctification than you can separate the circulation of the blood from the inhalation of the air. Breathing and circulation are two different things, but you cannot have the one without the other; they go together, and they constitute one life. So you have justification and sanctification; they go together, and they constitute one life. If there was ever one who attempted to receive Christ with justification and not with sanctification, he missed it, thank God! He was no more justified than he was sanctified. ~A.A.Hodge~

The new birth is very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or "joining a church." The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf, but is the inception and reception of a new life. It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting.

Reference:   The Sovereignty of God, p. 79.

~A.W. Pink~

Were all human beings suddenly to become blind, still the sun would shine by day and the stars by night, for these owe nothing to the millions who benefit from their light. So, were every man on earth to become an atheist, it could not affect God in any way. He is what He is in Himself without regard to any other. To believe in Him adds nothing to His perfections; to doubt Him takes nothing away.

Reference:   Secret Church 2008.

~A.W. Tozer~

You can end up in grave sin by thinking it is very important to be nice to people.  How easy it is to practice a gutless compassion that never wants to offend anyone, that equates niceness with love and thereby ignores God's law and essentially despises His holiness.  We do not necessarily seek God's honor when we spare human feelings.

Reference:  1 Samuel, Christian Focus Publications, 1 Samuel, p. 36-37.

~Dale Ralph Davis~

If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home.  ~Vance Havner~

Ten steps to becoming a "Pragmatic Church" 1. "Easy-believism" gospel. 2. Place emphasis on some "work" for salvation and not the need to recognize and approach a holy God. 3. Teach half-truths. 4. Teach that grace replaces (instead of produces) holiness. 5. Teach that love and truth are opposed and obedience is legalism or optional. 6. Use fleshly things to attract unbelievers for evangelism and teach them that carnal, worldly lifestyles are acceptable. 7. Avoid the Biblical teachings that create humility in man and exalt God. 8. Teach the means of grace are optional. 9. Be "seeker-friendly" and avoid being "offensive." 10. Place being "relatable" above "biblical accuracy."

Reference:   Does the Truth Matter Anymore? Video Tape Series.

~John MacArthur~

Unction is the sweetest exhalation of the Holy Spirit. It carries the Word like dynamite, like salt, like sugar; makes the Word a soother, an accuser, a revealer, a searcher; makes the hearer a culprit or a saint, makes him weep like a child and live like a giant; opens his heart and his purse as gently, yet as strongly as the spring opens the leaves. This unction is not the gift of genius. It is not found in the hall of learning. No eloquence can woo it. No industry can win it. It is the gift of God - the signet set to His own messengers. It is heaven’s knighthood given to the chosen true and brave ones who have sought this anointed honor through many an hour of tearful, wrestling prayer. Earnestness is good and impressive; genius is gifted and great. Thought kindles and inspires, but it takes a diviner endowment, a more powerful energy than earnestness or genius or thought to break the chains of sin, to win estranged and depraved hearts to God, to repair the breaches and restore the church to her old ways of purity and power. Nothing but holy unction can do this.

~E.M. Bounds~

Self pity is the response of pride to suffering.

~Unknown Author~

Don’t think such heavenly mindedness makes us pilgrims no earthly good. Don’t pooh-pooh it as looking at the world through pie-in-the-sky, rose-colored glasses. Sojourners who think the most of the next world are usually those who are doing the highest good in this one. It is the person whose mind is only on earthly things who, when it comes to earth, does little good.

Reference:  Heaven: Your Real Home, Zondervan, www.Zondervan.com, 1995, p. 110

~Joni Eareckson Tada~

To 'Evangelize'....does not mean to win converts...but simply to announce the Good News, irrespective of the results.

~John Stott~

IMO most people do not get this simple truth.

The chief danger of the Church today is that it is trying to get on the same side as the world, instead of turning the world upside down. Our Master expects us to accomplish results, even if they bring opposition and conflict. Anything is better than compromise, apathy, and paralysis. God, give to us an intense cry for the old-time power of the Gospel and the Holy Ghost!

~A.B. Simpson~

A preoccupation with psychological theory has in many cases eroded confidence in the Scriptures. When the essence of the human predicament is redefined in terms of lack of self-esteem, it is almost inevitable that people will be directed toward a couch but not a cross, a psychologist but not a Savior.

Reference:   Preaching for God’s Glory, Crossway, 1999, p. 19-20.

~Alistair Begg~

Just as water seeks to fill the lowest places, so God fills you with His glory and power when He finds you empty and abased.

~Andrew Murray~

There was no “easy believism” in Paul's presentation of the Gospel. Decision was to be accompanied and followed by devotion. Jesus Christ IS Lord and, therefore, MUST be Lord in our lives.

~Stephen Olford~

"Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience.  The sovereign Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied by obedience.  To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble." - A.W. Tozer, Of God and Men, 52.

It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition, to stand up for it.

~A.A. Hodge~

Amen

Today, the pressure to fill auditoriums and services has driven many pastors to place the felt needs, or tastes, of the people above their duty to Christ. On every hand we hear of the Gospel being molded into a non-confrontative message intended to meet felt needs and impress the sinful heart. And, by most standards, this new philosophy of church life is working, as more and more auditoriums are filled with people hungry for a message that will affirm that they are actually on fairly good terms with the Almighty. But the biblical message is the message of the cross. It cuts right across the grain of the modern age's preoccupation with pride, tearing down the façade and exposing the wretchedness of the human heart… Unfortunately, while the modern “un-gospel” may fill seats, it is the true gospel of sin and grace that is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16).

Reference:  Appointed to Preach, Christian Focus Publications, 1999, p. 46

~David Hegg~

"To seek unity with false prophets without challenging their errors leaves one's own beliefs open to questions. Those who defend heretics, even if they do not believe in their teachings, are guilty of lending credibility to their heresies, and will be held accountable to God for the souls that are destroyed as a result. It's up to those that know the truth to defend the Church against false teachers whatever the cost to unity or to personal benefit." - Al Dager, Media Spotlight Special Report, "Latter-Day Prophets: The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets and the Kansas City-Vineyard Connection", September, 1990, (p. 11).

It is the grandest life "having done all, to stand."
--J. R. Miller

We must interpret the mysterious providences of God not by reason or observation, but by the Word.

Reference:  Comfort for Christians, Chapter 7. ~A.W. Pink~

[Boldness means] outspokenness, frankness...that conceals nothing and passes over nothing...confidence...fearlessness, especially in the presence of persons of high rank.

Reference:  Spirit Empowered Preaching, Christian Focus Publication, 2003, p. 125. ~Arturo Azurdia~

A man’s real belief is that which he lives by. What a man believes is the thing he does, not the thing he thinks. ~George MacDonald~

If you want a religion to make you feel comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity. ~C.S. Lewis~

"Tolerance is a virtue for those who have no convictions." - Anonymous

Reacting to Circumstances by A. W. Tozer: . . External things and events are the raw material only; the finished product is whatever the mind makes of these. Judas Iscariot and John the Beloved lived in the same world, but how differently they interpreted it. The same may be said of Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Saul and David. From these we learn that circumstances do not make men; it is their reaction to circumstances that determines what kind of men they will be. What then can we Christians do? The answer is, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phpns. 2:5). “Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Cor. 13:5). The mental stuff of the Christian can be and should be modified and conditioned by the Spirit of Christ which indwells his nature. God wills that we think His thoughts after Him. The Spirit-filled, prayerful Christian actually possesses the mind of Christ, so that his reactions to the external world are the same as Christ’s. He thinks about people and things just as Christ does. All life becomes to him the raw nectar which the Spirit within him turns into the honey of paradise. Yet this is not automatic. To do His gracious work God must have the intelligent cooperation of His people. If we would think God’s thoughts we must learn to think continually of God. “God thinks continuously of each one of us as if He had no one but ourselves,” said Francois Malaval; “it is therefore no more than just if we think continuously of Him, as if we had no one but Himself.”

"Truth is a glorious but hard mistress. She never consults, bargains or compromises."
Of God and Men, 39 A.W. Tozer

http://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/books/counterfei...

"I believe that Jesus meant to shake us up! I believe that He meant for us to consider seriously what it would mean and what it would cost to keep our lamps trimmed and burning brightly in a time of great lawlessness and apostasy. Our Lord knew that in these times there would be those in our churches who are just highly groomed show-pieces of Christianity—middle class and well-to-do, satisfied with a religious life that costs them nothing." – A.W. Tozer, We Put Jesus On The Cross, What Is It Costing You To Be A Christian?, Pars. 1-2

"We have taken the latter course as a culture. So there is mass confusion today--even in the evangelical church--over whether the Bible is true and over how far we should go in obeying it." 

Are you living for what people think? God help you if you are.
If you're going to be a true Christian, I'll tell you one thing amongst others: it'll be a lonely life. It's a narrow way and it becomes narrower and narrower and narrower.
He wants to get us to the place where we'd rather fast than feast; where we'd rather be unknown than known.
~Leonard Ravenhill~

"It is obvious that we are living in times of great spiritual naivete. The church has strayed so far from the pure Word of God, she no longer recognizes that her place in the world is to be "salt" and "light". Instead, of salt and light, she has allowed pernicious doctrines to enter into her midst which have become like "leaven" which is quickly leavening the whole lump." - Jewel Grewe, The Prophets Rise Again, 8/01

"I walked a mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

"I walked a mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me."

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/desert/streams-in-the-desert-s...

 "Understand this: The Bible presents Christ. You have an inner sense of an indwelling Lord. You either have that or you do not. The man God needs will live in a vital, living relationship with Jesus Christ." - Gene Edwards