"DUNAMIS" is POWER and ABILITY

"EXOUSIA" is the AUTHORITY to exercise and to express that power.

Examples of "EXOUSIA" include:

Matt. 7:29 - "For He taught them as One having AUTHORITY"

Matt. 9:6 - "the Son of man hath POWER on earth to forgive sins"

Matt. 10:1 - "He gave them POWER over unclean spirits.and disease"

Matt. 28:18 - "All POWER is given unto Me in heaven and in earth"

Lk. 10:19 - "I give unto you POWER over all the power of the enemy"

Lk. 23:7 - "as soon as he knew that He belonged unto Herod's JURISDICTION"

Jn. 1:12 - "to them gave He POWER to become the sons of God"

Acts 26:18 - "to turn them.from the POWER of satan unto God"

Rom. 9:21 - "hath not the Potter POWER over the clay?"

Rom. 13:1 - "Let every soul be subject unto the higher POWERS"

1 Cor. 8:9 - "take heed lest this LIBERTY of yours become a stumblingblock"

1 Cor. 9:18 - "that I abuse not my POWER in the gospel"

Eph. 1:21 - "Far above all principality, and POWER, and might, and dominion"

Col. 1:13 - "Who hath delivered us from the POWER of darkness"

Col. 2:10 - "ye are complete in Him,.the head of all principality and POWER"

Tit. 3:1 - "Put them in mind to be subject to POWERS, to obey magistrates"

1 Pet. 3:22 - "angels and AUTHORITIES being made subject unto Him"

Rev. 2:26 - "he that overcometh to him will I give POWER over the nations"

Rev. 11:6 - "these have POWER to shut heaven and POWER over waters"

Rev. 12:10 - "now is come.the kingdom.and the POWER of His Christ"

Rev. 22:14 - "that they might have RIGHT to the tree of life"

Google's Cool Free Book Downloads

Google's project to scan the world's books new features free PDF downloads of classic public-domain books, via the Google Book Search site.

nirusen's book of the day

Excerpts from the introduction; an interview by Timothy Wilson

T.W.: What was your nationality?
Bloom: Up until 1937 I was stateless, but in 1937 I applied for French nationality and I have kept it right until now. So technically I am French, but I belong to that generation which is Russian at heart. By education, culture and so on I can't feel that I belong completely to one side or the other. In Russia I feel Russian because it's my language, it's my country - yet I don't belong to it because I am an émigré. Abroad I am much too Russian to be able to melt completely into the milieu around me.
T.W.: When did you become a Christian? Was there any particular turning point?
Bloom: It came in several stages. Up to my middle teens I was an unbeliever and very aggressively anti-church. I knew no God; I wasn't interested and hated everything that connected with the idea of God.
T.W.: In spite of your father?
Bloom: Yes, because up to the age of 15 life had been very hard, we had no common roof and I was at boarding school which was rough and violent. All the members of my family lived in different corners of Paris. It was only when I was about 14 that we all gathered under a common roof and that was real happiness and bliss - it is odd to think that in a suburban house in Paris one could discover perfect happiness but it was so. This was the first time that we had had a home since the revolution. But before that I ought to say that I had met something which puzzled me a great deal. I was sent to a boy's summer camp when I was about eleven years old and there I met a priest who must have been about thirty. Something about him struck me - he had love to spare for everyone and his love wasn't conditioned on whether we were good and it never changed when we were bad. It was an unconditional ability to love. I had never met this in my life before. I had been loved at home, but I found it natural. I had friends too and that was natural, but I had never met this kind of love. At the time I didn't trace it to anything, I just found this man extremely puzzling and extremely lovable. Only years later, when I had already discovered the Gospel, did it occur to me that he loved with a love that was beyond him. He shared out divine love to us, or if you prefer, his human love was of such depth and had such scope and scale that he could include all of us, either through joy or pain, but still within one love. This experience I think was the first deep spiritual experience I had.
T.W.: What happened after this?
Bloom: Nothing. I went back to boarding school and every­thing went on as before until we all found ourselves under the same roof. When I found myself confronted with per­fect happiness, a quite unexpected thing happened. I suddenly discovered that if happiness is aimless, it's unbear­able. I could not accept aimless happiness. Hardships and suffering had to be overcome, there was always something beyond them. But because it had no further meaning and because I believed in nothing, happiness seemed to be stale. So I decided I would give myself a year to see whether life had any meaning. If in the course of that year I could not find any meaning, I decided I would not live, I would commit suicide.
T.W.: How did you get out of this aimless happiness?
Bloom: I began to look for a meaning in life other than what I could find through purposefulness. Studying and making oneself useful for life didn't convince me at all. All my life up to now had been concentrated on immediate goals, and suddenly these became empty. I felt something immensely dramatic inside myself, and everything around me seemed small and meaningless.
Months passed and no meaning appeared on the horizon. One day - it was during Lent, and I was then a member of one of the Russian youth organisations in Paris - one of the leaders came up to me and said, 'We have invited a priest to talk to you, come.' I answered with violent indig­nation that I would not. I had no use for the Church. I did not believe in God. I did not want to waste any of my time. The leader was subtle - he explained that everyone who belonged to my group had reacted in exactly the same way, and if no one came we would all be put to shame because the priest had come and we would be disgraced if no one attended his talk. 'Don't listen' the leader said, 'I don't care, but just sit and be a physical presence.' That much loyalty I was prepared to give to my youth organisation, so I sat through the lecture. I didn't intend to listen. But my ears pricked up. I became more and more indignant. I saw a vision of Christ and Christianity that was profoundly repulsive to me. When the lecture was over I hurried home in order to check the truth of what he had been saying. I asked my mother whether she had a book of the Gospel, because I wanted to know whether the Gospel would support the mon­strous impression I had derived from his talk. I expected nothing good from my reading, so I counted the chapters of the four Gospels to be sure I read the shortest, not to waste time unnecessarily. I started to read St. Mark's Gospel.
While I was reading the beginning of St. Mark's Gospel, before I reached the third chapter, I suddenly became aware that on the other side of my desk there was a presence. And the certainty was so strong that it was Christ standing there that it has never left me. This was the real turning point. Because Christ was alive and I had been in his presence I could say with certainty that what the Gospel said about the crucifixion of the prophet of Galilee was true, and the centurion was right when he said, 'Truly he is the Son of God'. It was in the light of the Resurrection that I could read with certainty the story of the Gospel, knowing that everything was true in it because the impossible event of the Resurrection was to me more certain than any event of history. History I had to believe, the Resurrection I knew for a fact. I did not discover, as you see, the Gospel beginning with its first message of the Annunciation, and it did not unfold for me as a story which one can believe or disbelieve. It began as an event that left all problems of disbelief behind because it was a direct and personal ex­perience.
T. W.: And this conviction has stayed with you all through your life? There have been no times when you have doubted your faith?
Bloom: I became absolutely certain within myself that Christ is alive and that certain things existed. I didn't have all the answers, but having touched that experience, I was.........

About ANTHONY BLOOM
Metropolitan of Sourozh, was born in Lausanne, June 19, 1914. His childhood was spent in Russia and Persia, his father being a member of the Russian Imperial Diplo­matic Corps. His mother was the sister of Alexander Scriabin the composer. The family had to leave Persia during the Revolution and came to Paris where Arch­bishop Anthony was educated, graduating in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and taking his doctorate in Medicine, at the University of Paris. During World War II he served as an officer in the French Army until the fall of France and then worked as a surgeon in one of the Paris hospitals and also took part in the Resistance. In 1943 he professed monastic vows while practising as a physician in Paris. In 1948 he was ordained to the priest­hood and in 1949 came to England as Orthodox Chaplain to the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius; and in 1950 was appointed Vicar of the Russian Patriarchal Parish in London. In 1958 he was consecrated Bishop, and Archbishop in 1962, in charge of the Russian Church in Great Britain and Ireland. In 1963 he was also appointed Exarch to the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe, and in 1966 raised to the rank of Metropolitan. He takes an active part in inter-Church and ecumenical work, and was a member of the Russian Church delegation to the World Council of Churches in New Delhi in 1961 and in Geneva in 1966.
Publications: Somatopsychic Techniques (translated into English and published in 1957); Living Prayer, 1966.

Who is it that builds the city?

Labor Day is coming, it is a day we honor all those who labor on our behalf. It is a Christian obligation to do so as we were reminded this morning by Pastor Wayne Riggs at Plymouth Congregational Church. We ought not to forget the plight of the working poor in our country and around the world.

This exhoration brought to mind a passage from the book of Sirach copied here for your edification.

Who builds the city?

nirusen

Sirach Chapter 38:
24: The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure; and he who has little business may become wise. 25: How can he become wise who handles the plow, and who glories in the shaft of a goad, who drives oxen and is occupied with their work, and whose talk is about bulls? 26: He sets his heart on plowing furrows, and he is careful about fodder for the heifers. 27: So too is every craftsman and master workman who labors by night as well as by day; those who cut the signets of seals, each is diligent in making a great variety; he sets his heart on painting a lifelike image, and he is careful to finish his work. 28: So too is the smith sitting by the anvil, intent upon his handiwork in iron; the breath of the fire melts his flesh, and he wastes away in the heat of the furnace; he inclines his ear to the sound of the hammer, and his eyes are on the pattern of the object. He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork, and he is careful to complete its decoration. 29: So too is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet; he is always deeply concerned over his work, and all his output is by number. 30: He moulds the clay with his arm and makes it pliable with his feet; he sets his heart to finish the glazing, and he is careful to clean the furnace. 31: All these rely upon their hands, and each is skilful in his own work. 32: Without them a city cannot be established, and men can neither sojourn nor live there. 33: Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people, nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly. They do not sit in the judge's seat, nor do they understand the sentence of judgment; they cannot expound discipline or judgment, and they are not found using proverbs. 34: But they keep stable the fabric of the world, and their prayer is in the practice of their trade.

One Body, many parts.......

Can you match a building with a name?

St. Luke's Episcopal Church
North Park Christian Fellowship
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church
North Park Baptist Church

North Park Community Advent Christian Church
Missiongathering
Trinity United Methodist Church

Fellowship of Love Divine

Amistad Christiana De San Diego


How well do you know your neighborhood?

These are only some of the churches in North Park easily identified from the 6th floor of the parking structure at 30th Street and North Park Way.

A good place to go on a clear day to see what your neighborhood looks like.

a quote by a friend

“If a philosophy of life

truly has universal application,

it need not depend on

specialized knowledge or esoteric study.”

William Reed

(from the preface to his book KI A Road that Anyone Can Walk)

W. Reed is a friend of Nirusen and is living in Japan where he is raising his daughter. William is a 7th-degree black belt in Aikido and is also teaching instructor in the art of Japanese brush calligraphy.

a human doing or a human being?

For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
-- Hebrews 9:13-14 (ESV)

People should think less about what they ought to do and more about what they ought to be. If only their being were good, their works would shine forth brightly. Do not imagine that you can ground your salvation upon actions; it must rest on what you are. The ground upon which good character rests is the very same ground from which man's work derives its value, namely, a mind wholly turned to God. Verily, if you were so minded, you might tread on a stone and it would be a more pious work than if you, simply for your own profit, were to receive the Body of the Lord and were wanting in spiritual detachment.
... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?)

For a small reward,

a man will hurry away on a long journey;

while for eternal life,

many will hardly take a single step.
... Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ, III.iii

A Roadside Church in Rural China

This article first appeared in August of 2004 on National Public Radio. I have not been able to get it out of my mind. Click on the link above and listen to this 8 minute 25 second radio story. Open the link at the bottom to visit the NPR website as you listen to the story and then consider how you might respond to a situation requiring you deliver a message from the Lord to the people as this reporter had to when the pastor didn't show up.

Nirusen

On the Road in China: Prostitution, Religion Rise

As Communist Grip Loosens, Sex Trade, Churches Emerge by Rob Gifford


Heading further west across China, the prevalence of prostitution is inescapable. For many young women, it's the only way to make a living in the impoverished center of the country. With the arrival of capitalism, many state-owned enterprises vanished, taking jobs with them.
But with the erosion of communist influence there also is an explosion in religion, and many small Christian churches can be found along Route 312.In the third of seven reports on his 3,000-mile journey across China, NPR's Rob Gifford reports on the resurgence of prostitution -- and religion -- in the world's most populous nation.


The Sermon: Many Chinese Christians think that all Westerners are Christians. When the pastor failed to show up, a visitor, NPR's Rob Gifford, was asked to deliver a sermon.

Click here to go to the full story on the NPR website

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3814207

Follow Sen. Barack Obama on his multination trip to Africa

Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet is traveling with Sen. Barack Obama on his multination trip to Africa that started Friday, August 18, 2006. Click above to go to Lynn Sweet’s Blog for the up to date story.

One of North Park's Finest leaves for Duke

Our very good friend Dr. Roger Velasquez his wife Anne Norris and their son Alexander have accepted a call to ministry in North Carolina. Roger served in North Park as Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church for many years and is keen to continue serving in ministry. The Lord having heard Roger’s cry delivered a position at Duke University Medical Center where he will serve as Sr. Chaplain of Pastoral Services. Pastoral Services, in partnership with the rest of the healthcare team, provides spiritual and religious care for patients, families, caregivers, visitors and staff throughout Duke University Medical Center. Through clinical pastoral care and education, Pastoral Services manifests the spiritual dimension of the hospital's mission within the Duke University Medical Center, facilitates collaboration between the Medical Center and Duke Divinity School, and strengthens the relationship between the Medical Center and the religious communities at large.

Please keep These three in prayer as they have less than one month to pack up, ship out, move out and sell their house in a real estate climate that is other than optimal.

We will miss you and trust the Lord to provide all your needs according to his riches in glory.

nirusen

Ancient biblical waterworks found in Israel

RAMAT RACHEL, Israel (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed an ancient water system which was modified by the conquering Persians to turn the desert into a paradise.

End Time signs new lease

End Time Christian Soldiers Fellowship has a new home and will begin meeting at 3081 54th Street as of September 3rd, 2006

We hope many will join us in thanking God for providing this new location in answer to prayer. We also hope that many of our friends will bless the house on September 3rd at 1:00 pm for the inaugural service.

Pastor and Sister Raymond Kelly Sweet celebrated 6 years as pastors of End Time Christian Soldiers Fellowship last November. In addition to pastoring this fellowship the Sweets also operate several sober living homes in San Diego.

the new home:
End-Time Christian Soldiers Fellowship
3081 54th Street, San Diego, CA 92105-4923

Tel: 619-338-9478

Pastor Ray 619-895-5930

Email: RaymondSweet@cox.net

“the Word that kills and makes alive”

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

On August 13th we visited St. Luke’s for the 10:30 service to welcome the new pastoral family to North Park and to hear one member of the new pastoral team deliver the word that morning.

Most sober minded Christians these days do not expect to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom preached in an Episcopal Church however we are here to bear witness to a great surprise. The preacher, Veronica Kiju spoke in English and was interpreted into Sudanese Arabic very capably by Joseph Jok. The house heard “the Word that kills and makes alive” spoken by this prophet of God. Fr. Michael and Veronica Kiju are from Africa via the Sudan, Uganda and Kenya and will be ministering to a largely African congregation in this their newest assignment.

St. Luke’s website has not been updated for some time but do take a look and from time to time revisit to see what the Lord is doing on 30th Street in 92104.

On Sunday, September 10th, there will be one service only at 9:00 am. At 4:00 pm Fr. Michael Kiju Paul will be installed as the new Rector* of St. Luke’s. Immediately after the service a celebration dinner will be held.

Nirusen

* Rector: n. head of a school college or university; priest in charge of a congregation

KOHTARO OSHIO - MERRY CHRISTMAS MR.LAWRENCE(LIVE)

What does it take to be a "City Reaching" Pastor?

1. City Reaching Pastors (CR) are desperate to be used of God in a Kingdom setting. The considerations of self, denomination, how good I look, continue to diminish.

2. CR Pastors desire to do things with the whole city in mind, those elected, commissioned, or anyone who has authority. Praying with and for other Pastors and Christian Leadership of similar calling is not unusual, and considered one of the highest priorities the Lord gives to us as Shepherds of a city (1 Tim. 2:1-8).

3. CR Pastors realize the irrelevance of their own single congregation impacting the city entirely, unless that same congregation is combined with others in similar tactics to accomplish much more influence for the Kingdom of God.

4. CR Pastors are increasingly alert to the need for strategic planning that considers the whole of all the congregations’ aggregate contribution on the whole to a city.

5. CR Pastors are willing to measure the Harvest Force (the congregations) and the Harvest Field (what are the specific felt needs of the city that is needing reaching).

6. CR Pastors realize there is a need for a leadership structure that is servant motivated and expressed. Rarely does a city or region realize success unless there is a dedicated person assigned full time to the communication, administration, and servant facilitation of the City Reaching Task wanting to be completed. Answer this question for those who would become leadership in your city, ("who would I follow anywhere?").

7. CR Pastors don’t care who grows and gets bigger, because God causes the increase. The ultimate question to ask of myself and to bring into comparison to the past is ("have I been faithful to do what Christ asked me to do in my area of the city?").

8. CR Pastors are focused and unified around the "harvest". Whatever increases Christ being known and is not motivated by competition or self, will stand as holy to the Lord.

9. CR Pastors are obedient bound to the welfare of the city. Jeremiah 29:7

10. CR Pastors accept that the flock they are to looking after is not comprised of only believers in their fold, but the unbelievers outside the fold in a city. Shepherding is not an isolated job within a city, it is a networking job of kingdom building, until all are prayed for and presented the opportunity to accept Christ.

There is no drought in North Park

This is what the North Park Theatre www.northparktheatre.com used to look like and if you visit it now you'll find a Starbucks in the corner where the painted picture windows are.

If you visit on Sunday morning you'll find an assembly led and attended by many Christians called Missiongathering.

Yesterday Linda and I visited for the first time and were truly pleased with what we encountered. As people came to meet together and worship many brought backpacks that were full of special items needed by the homeless treenagers they are destined to be given to. Each person arriving with their offering walked it to the front and placed it on the stage with what looked like as many as 50 or more brand new fully stuffed backpacks. Jesus said, "when you did it to the least of these you did it to me". It is plain to see the Lord has placed another group in North Park that is responding to the call.

Matt Reece taught from the Acts and Paul's Mars Hill visit with the Epicureans and the Stoics. Matt wanted us to know that God can be a tangible as our idols that He wants to replace in our lives.

Our visit yesterday confirms that the Lord is blessing North Park by placing worshipping, praising, serving and God glorifying assemblies in the neighborhood; "that they may know Him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent".

Nirusen

Missiongathering ~ Worship Gatherings:

San Diego - Sunday @ 10:30am

North Park Theatre

2891 University Ave.

San Diego, CA 92104

Free parking available

Who do you think you are?

Holarchy anyone?

Holarchy is a word coined by Arthur Koestler. It is a combination between the Greek word 'holos' meaning whole and the word 'hierarchy'. It is a hierarchically organized structure of units or entities that are called 'Holons'.

Update from Jim & Eileen in Toyoake

left click on page to enlarge

Beatboxen Bush

So, you wanna learn how to beatbox? GWB is back with another amazing performance. Surprisingly he is actually very good.

Reformed Gangstas

During the past 6 years, many arminians have approached me and attacked the calvinist system by attempting to portray Calvin as a "murderer" and his "followers" as prideful and gangsta-like, i.e. 'you guys think you're the 'elect', how prideful is that?' They also treat calvinists as though they worship the man. So i went with it and made this ridiculous rap. This is not to make fun of arminians per se, {i don't believe that all arminians are going to hell} but to poke at the silliness of some of their accusations. Note: No arminians were harmed in the producing of the film. Another note: Gene Cook of Unchained Radio, a very vocal opponent of preterism, actually played this song on his show. He doesn't know that it was done by a Preterist! hehehe.

U.S. FINES CHURCH $34,000 FOR ‘BANNED TOURIST ACTIVITIES’ IN CUBA

U.S. Treasury officials have fined the Alliance of Baptists $34,000 for engaging in banned tourist activities while in Cuba. A Treasury letter to the Alliance claims church members did not engage in a full-time schedule of religious activities as required, but also visited Cuban craft markets and a beach resort. The alliance’s executive director, Rev. Stan Hastey, insists that the activities were either part of or incidental to the group’s religious mission. He believes the Bush administration may have singled out the Alliance of Baptists because of their opposition to the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. The group plans to appeal the fine which would constitute about 10 percent of its annual operating budget. (WorldWide Religious News/Associated Press)

Kingdom patterns everywhere!

One is only micrometers wide. The other is billions of light years across. One shows neurons in a mouse brain. The other is a simulated image of the universe. Together they suggest the surprisingly similar patterns found in vastly different natural phenomenon.

Be Fathered as Jesus was

It is not another coming nor is it the idea that these are "the last days" that we are authorized and empowered to extend the Kingdom of God in the earth today. It is all because God incarnate came in the fullness of time to inaugurate the age to come and the "New Creation" in the earth, we are that New Creation. Jesus prophesied truthfully, it is hell that is hanging on for dear life and not the church. Forget the "end-time fables", those who had too much reliance on eyesight concocted them. The Kingdom is advancing, even if it is not as visible or as fast as we might like. Those with this kind of prophetic discernment must not fall victim to the same self-righteousness as those who oppose the Kingdom. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Jesus did not rebel against evil to defeat evil and rebellion ought not characterize us. Jesus continues to defeat evil today through those who are clothed with His righteousness not expecting sinlessness to be bliss but understanding that sinlessness is the requirement to eat from the Tree of Life and then to be Fathered as Jesus was; ”this is that".

nirusen

If you have an ear to hear...required reading

Point and click to enlarge image for easier reading.

Contact John Bray directly for a copy of this very exciting

commentary on the one chapter of the Bible known as Matthew 24.

Forgiveness is about the Forgiver

TWO GIFTS OF GOD’S GRACE
A communion message
via His friends
Charles Francis Nielsen & Mary Elizabeth Nielsen

From our gracious God we receive two unspeakable gifts. They are the gift of the forgiveness of sin and the gift of righteousness. That is, the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of His righteousness. We are a people chosen, beloved and graced by God.
Stuart Briscoe reminded us of the difference between justice, mercy, and grace. Justice, he said, was getting exactly what you deserve, mercy was not getting all that you deserve, and grace was getting what you do not deserve. As we gather together around the Lord’s table and consider God’s grace which is abundant, rich and free, we want to think of the fact that we had a great debt that we could not pay and a demand or requirement that we could not fulfill.
Two gifts of our gracious God: the forgiveness of our sin and the gift of His righteousness.
First of all a few words about forgiveness.

1. The source of forgiveness is the grace of God - It is something we do not deserve!
2. The need of forgiveness is universal – for all have sinned and fall Short of God’s glory.
3. The cost of our forgiveness is the cross.
4. The power of forgiveness is transforming and liberating.

Before we can appreciate the meaning and the wonder of forgiveness we need to consider deeply about SIN. Recently while praying in a group for a lady who was dying I prayed, “there is something worse than death” and mentioned what that was. What would you say is the worst thing there is? I went on to mention in my prayer what sin was and that God had taken care of that problem. John Piper says, “The 2 great enemies of our soul are sin and Satan. And that sin is the worst enemy because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin”. Sin is an offence against God – against His law, His will, His character. So David cried out after he had sinned, “against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” Sin is real; it’s serious; (there is good and bad, right and wrong, all is not relative). Sin in deadly, deceitful, divisive and destructive – it destroys relationships between people and between people and God.
Paul said, ”that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” This was the main reason He came, namely to take away our sin, to die for our sin, to pay the debt we owed but could not pay, so that we could go free. God does not ignore sin – He forgives it at a great price. Forgiveness operates in the realm of SIN. Forgiveness is about the Forgiver, not the forgiven. He took the initiative not us. The reason for forgiveness lies within the Forgiver, not in the forgiven. Forgiveness is free, but it creates an obligation to forgive – Forgiven people must be forgiving people, dispensing God’s grace to others.
The forgiveness of God in Christ is full, final and free. All of our sins (past, present and future) are taken away. The one great sacrifice on the Cross is sufficient to cover all of our sins.
God’s forgiveness has the power to transform us from sinners to saints – from those in bondage to sin to become bond slaves of righteousness!
To be forgiven is a wonderful experience, but we need something more to enter into God’s holy presence. The Jews perceived that to be righteousness, which they diligently pursued – they were devoted to keeping the laws and the traditions of the elders. Jesus talked about the need of righteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount He said, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not at all enter into the kingdom of heaven”. Meaning an inner or heart righteousness, not one of good works.
My favorite devotional writer Oswald Chambers commenting on this verse under the title “Disposition and Deeds “ says “The characteristics of a disciple is not that he does good things, but that he is good in motive because he has been made good (that is, righteous) by the supernatural grace of God. The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being. Jesus Christ came to put into any man who would let Him a new heredity which would exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.”
Jesus said, “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”.
Righteousness is a big word and a big deal! Paul talked a lot about it – he said, not a single human being will be made righteous by observance of the law, only through faith in Jesus Christ. He said Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness
Paul contrasts legal righteousness and faith righteousness. He says, “as to legal righteousness I was without blame”, but now my desire is to be found in Christ not having my own righteousness based on the law, but through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. It’s not self-righteousness or works righteousness according to Paul.
He said writing to the Corinthians; “you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption”.
We are made righteous through and in Christ, for God has made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Amen!
Righteousness required; Righteousness received.
Two gifts of God’s grace – one a subtraction – our sins: The other an addition – His righteousness – All because of Calvary. Hallelujah! –
Let’s rejoice and be thankful as we partake together.

QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT

1 Thessalonians 5:19

The voice of the Spirit is as gentle as a zephyr, so gentle that unless you are living in perfect communion with God, you never hear it. The checks of the Spirit come in the most extraordinarily gentle ways, and if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice you will quench it, and your personal spiritual life will be impaired. His checks always come as a still small voice, so small that no one but the saint notices them.
Beware if in personal testimony you have to hark back and say - "Once, so many years ago, I was saved." If you are walking in the light, there is no harking back, the past is transfused into the present wonder of communion with God. If you get out of the light you become a sentimental Christian and live on memories, your testimony has a hard, metallic note. Beware of trying to patch up a present refusal to walk in the light by recalling past experiences when you did walk in the light. Whenever the Spirit checks, call a halt and get the thing right, or you will go on grieving Him without knowing it. Suppose God has brought you up to a crisis and you nearly go through but not quite, He will engineer the crisis again, but it will not be so keen as it was before. There will be less discernment of God and more humiliation at not having obeyed; and if you go on grieving the Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, you have grieved Him away. But if you go through the crisis, there will be the pæan of praise to God. Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go.

zephyr

n. breeze; breeze blowing from the west; lightweight worsted fabric

paean

n 1: a formal expression of praise [syn: encomium, eulogy, panegyric, pean] 2: (ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity) [syn: pean]

Time of Growth

Remember August 6th, 1945

Hiroshima survivor

My Commitment As a Christian

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made.
I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense,
my future is secure.
I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees,
colorless dreams, tamed visions,
mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity,
position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, tops,
recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence,
walk by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven,
my road is narrow, my way rough,
my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,
hesitate in the presence of the adversary,
negotiate at the table of the enemy,
or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up,
stored up, prayed up, paid up,
and preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know.
and work till He stops me.
And when He comes for His own,
He will have no problem recognizing me—my banner will be clear!

—written by a young African pastor who died as a martyr for the gospel.

The Princeton Seminary Bulletin
Volume XXIII Number 3 New Series 2002