What Our Hands Have Handled, Last chapter
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personal testimonies
CHAPTER 12
THE 75-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
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| Pastor Jim Jensen with one of the church veterans |
From the beautiful sanctuary of the Faith Alliance Church in Chilton, Wisconsin, Pastor Jim Jensen announced the first song on Sunday morning, September 19th, 2010. It was the always-appropriate hymn of praise, “To God Be the Glory, Great Things He Has Done”, including the soul-stirring words, “Great things He has taught us, great things He has done, and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son”. The next hymn was “Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus Our Blessed Redeemer” and the song service ended with a more contemporary song, “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”.
It was the 75th anniversary and thanksgiving celebration of the Quinney Chapel/Faith Alliance Church. The pastor gave a brief account of the early history of the church and continued telling of the struggles and battles, when the congregation moved from the very small village of Quinney to the town of Chilton. He shared a little of his own calling to that congregation 37 years before, but insisted, “This is not my church! It has never been my church! Jesus is the Head of this church!” He gave the reason for its existence, “God wanted to reach out and draw people to Himself.” He told how lost souls were drawn to the church both in Quinney and Chilton, and then mentioned how the little congregation in its infancy, during the difficult economic years of the 1930’s, managed to give over $400 to foreign missions. Remember, also, that the dollar had much more value those days. That amount, of course, increased significantly in the years following.
November 23 - December 10 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
Because I will not be home until December 10, I am posting all the meditations up until and including that date.
November 23
Psalms 119
Resh
153. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.
154. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.
155. Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.
156. Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.
157. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
158. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.
159. Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.
160. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Verse 155 is a powerful message to the careless sinner. He is without hope and without God. Hope begins when he begins to pay attention to God’s word, as “to a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the daystar arise in the heart.” God’s mercy, manifested in His word to mankind, is great and tender, but is most often trampled underfoot. Much is said these days about hurting for other people, but God is looking for grieving people who feel His heart. The Psalms are swamped with grief for God. I wonder if we know what the term godly sorrow means. Do not look to popular trends, public opinion, or peer pressure, regardless of how it influences the church. The status quo does not determine righteousness. That which is from the beginning will endure forever, though it is strange to modern ears.
Notes on a vital message by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
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Important messages
To me, no one can be a great theologian, unless he is anointed and filled with the Spirit. There are many with intellectual powers, but it is not hard to tell the difference between them and those who are God-taught. Therefore, I am a fan of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a true man of God, and certainly, at the same time, a very intelligent person.
I have taken notes from a key audio message of his, preached in 1969 in Florida. Our son-in-law, Sammy, brought it to my attention and I have the firm conviction that it is a message that must be shared. It is a soul-disturbing word that speaks more to our generation than to his. I want you to have a chance to peruse the main points…
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| Dr. M. Lloyd-Jones, pastor of Westminster Chapel, London. Died, March 1, 1981. |
The Problem of Evangelism
1 Thessalonians 1:5a, then v. 6 -10
(notes taken from an audio recording of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
The term, which is used these days is “the problem of communication” or “how to articulate the gospel”. We fool ourselves by changing terms, but really we are talking about evangelism or preaching the gospel. The Christian church is failing to get her message across, so now there is discussion about how better to communicate the gospel to the world outside. We believe that the gospel is what is needed in men’s lives, but the question is… How do we get this message across?
We are living, it is said, in the post-Christian era, in the scientific age, and there is no use doing things as the church has done over the centuries. We must have some new way to communicate the gospel.
Some think that we need a new message. We cannot expect modern man with scientific knowledge to believe what his forefathers believed. He cannot accept the miraculous or the supernatural, such as the virgin birth and the miracles done by the apostles. We must “de-mythologize” the gospel for man has come of age; he has grown up.
Waiting for Him
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Important messages
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o many people, who call themselves biblical Christians, Christ’s coming is not convenient. They have too much invested in this age and have gotten comfortable on this planet. They have invested in homes and lands, vacation retreats by the sea or in the mountains, and comfortable vehicles to get them there. They possess every form of entertainment and recreational equipment.
Are we thinking about our heavenly, eternal home? Are we waiting for the skies to split and for Jesus to descend to take away his bride? Have we searched the end-time prophecies with the passion of the Old Testament sages, who inquired diligently into the timing and details of the first coming of Christ? (1 Peter 1:10)
His first coming
There were those who were waiting, when He came the first time. Simeon was “looking for the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). Anna waited in the temple. Their faith was not based only upon personal revelation. Holy Spirit-teaching always begins in the Scripture. They were certain that the hundreds of Old Testament predictions would come to pass. Anna surely had read the last of the prophets, who referred specifically to John Baptist and the Christ who was to follow: “I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming ...” (Malachi 3:1) As the time drew near, she was reluctant to leave the temple, lest He suddenly come and she miss the event. She and Simeon knew that the time was at hand. They surely were familiar with the prophecy of Daniel (9:26) that the Messiah’s life would be cut off 483 years after the command was given to rebuild Jerusalem. A peek into the history of the Jews in Persia (Nehemiah gives the date – Neh. 2:1) told them that they were approaching the 450th year. The time was close at hand and they were waiting! They were not the only ones. Anna spoke at that moment to “those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
What Our Hands Have Handled, chapter eleven
Labels:
personal testimonies
The apostles knew very well that the believers belonged only to the Lord, who bought them. They were shepherds that guided them, bishops that watched out for them and elders, who set the example for them, but they were never bosses that manipulated, controlled, or commanded them. Consider Acts 20:28 – “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which (not over which) the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood”… 1 Peter 5:1-3 – I exhort the elders among (not over) you, as your fellow elder… shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight… nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
They are Christ’s, by blood redemption and by a relationship directly with Him: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name… he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers” (Jn.10:3-5). “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me (v.14)… I have other sheep… and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd (v.16).” Then finally, verses 27-29: “My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
CHAPTER 11
RETURN TO LA COSTA CHICA
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| Our twins, Dan & Dave |
November 16 - 22 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
November 16
Psalms 119
Lamed
89. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.
92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
93. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
94. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.
95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.
96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
This Psalm contains a great promise for people in any generation. The word of the Lord is settled in an unchanging heaven and it is unshakeable on earth. The Psalmist banked on the word of God. Look at the solid results produced by His word and notice the verbs that define them: “Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue..” It is our guarantee of permanence: “Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished...but, Thou has quickened me.” The things that are seen are temporal. “All flesh is as grass and the glory of man is as the flower of grass,” Peter said. God’s commandment is without limits, touching everything on earth and extending into eternity. Today, in a fragile existence, shaky atmosphere and a rapidly changing world, the believer can hold fast to the eternal and unchanging. Stick with the word, no matter what men may say. Remember that the law, commandments, precepts, ordinances, and testimonies are expressions of the unchanging nature of God Himself. “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” “His name is called the Word of God.”
What Our Hands Have Handled, chapter ten
Labels:
personal testimonies
CHAPTER
10
GOD’S WORK
WITH GOD’S POWER AND SUPPLY
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| Lowell Brueckner family |
I was fourteen-years-old when three friends dropped in to visit us in
our home in Jacksonville, Florida. There was a married couple - the husband was
a graduate of the Mokahum Indian Bible School near Cass Lake, Minnesota, where
my dad had been principal. The graduate married one of his ex-teachers.
Traveling with the couple was the former Dean of Women of the school. Because it
was New Year’s Eve, these three, Dad and Mom took time to pray together and
seek the Lord. I was also present.
Most of the words and events of that night are foggy in my memory, but
I do recall the former student praying for me. What transpired took me totally
by surprise. I had an experience, which seemed, if not as mighty, to be similar
in kind to that described by Charles Finney in his autobiography: “The Holy
Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and
soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through
and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love;
for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of
God.” The former Dean of Women, a quiet, unassuming individual, said that at
that moment, she had a revelation of me singing and playing my guitar before
dark-skinned people.
November 9 - 15 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
November 9
Psalms 119
Aleph
1. Blessed are the undefiled in
the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2. Blessed are they that keep his
testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
3. They also do no iniquity: they
walk in his ways.
4. Thou hast commanded us to keep
thy precepts diligently.
5. O that my ways were directed
to keep thy statutes!
6. Then shall I not be ashamed,
when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7. I will praise thee with
uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8. I will keep thy statutes: O
forsake me not utterly.
The length of this Psalm has
kept the less diligent from some of the most precious treasures in the
storehouse of God’s word. The Holy Spirit is behind such tactics, in order to
ward off those who seek with less than their whole heart. Do not hurry through
this Psalm. Meditate upon it. It contains some of the most quoted and
well-known promises. The Psalm has been kindly broken into sections
alphabetically, so as not to be overtaxing. Take them one at a time and be
enriched. They concern the law of the Lord, the full counsel of God and the
worth of the statutes and testimonies, which the Lord has placed at our
disposal. Learn appreciation and go on to love the word of God.
So much of the Psalms
concerns walking along a certain way - the Lord’s way. It runs opposite to
man’s way and demands a separation from his, in order to give oneself entirely
to keeping God’s. There is no place for halfway-ism in the scripture. This
Psalm is for the undivided heart, which seeks to be undefiled, is diligent, and
has a heart-cry, “O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes”. Come into
the classroom of the Holy Spirit. There is a way of walking that is undefiled
and there is a way of ministering praise from an upright heart. There are
commandments, to which we pay little attention. Learn respect for all of them.
Change your ways to His ways. Make a commitment of the will and
then beg God not to abandon you in your quest.
The Voice from Heaven by Dave Brueckner
Labels:
Important messages
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| Dave has shared gems from the Word of God for many years, in Ireland and in the USA. |
“I, John…..was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…” Rev. 1:9-10
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ecently, while reading through Revelation, I noticed that heaven is not quiet at all. John made special mention of a time, when heaven was silent for a half hour, because that was an unusual state of affairs. In fact, I read about “a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice” (5:2). John sees ten thousands of angels and hears “in a loud voice they sang” (5:12). Souls under heaven’s altar “called out in a loud voice” (6:10). When Babylon fell, there was a sound in heaven “like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah!” (19:6). I mention a few instances, but you can search for yourself and find many more. Heaven is not a monastic site, where everyone is silently floating around on fluffy white clouds.
Hearing heavenly voices
Though the voice from heaven is loud and clear, it is rarely received, because of the dullness of human hearing. That is why we read repeatedly in chapters two and three, “He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Jesus spoke in parables in order to discover the ones, who wanted to fine-tune their receptors to eternal words. Those who lingered, after most of the people left, conversed with him about things they did not digest the first time they heard them from his lips. Biblical hearing does not come cheaply, but must be given time and effort.
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