Today's GREAT QUOTES

More GREAT QUOTES

"I know that some are always studying the meaning of the fourth
toe of the right foot of some beast in prophecy and have never
used either foot to go and bring men to Christ. I do not know who
the 666 is in Revelation but I know the world is sick, sick, sick
and the best way to speed the Lord's return is to win more souls
for Him."
-Vance Havner

"We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a
compromise but an ultimatum."
-A.W. Tozer

"The scribe tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells what
he has seen. The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between
the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen there is
a difference as wide as the sea. We are overrun today with
orthodox scribes, but the prophets, where are they? The hard
voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the church
waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the
veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the wonder that is God."
-A.W. Tozer

"The Judge is before the door: he that cometh will come, and will
not tarry: his reward is with him."
-George Whitefield

"The church as a whole has strayed quite far from biblical evangelism;
that is, sharing the Gospel in the way that Jesus did, the way the
Apostle Paul did, and the rest of the disciples and prophets in Scripture."
-Kirk Cameron

POWERFUL PARABLE - Take a Look!

POWERFUL PARABLE - Take a Look!
-Author Unknown.

                          A wealthy man and his son loved to collect
rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from
Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire
the great works of art..

                          When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son
went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while
rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved
deeply for his only son.

                            About a month later, just before Christmas,

                              There was a knock at the door. A young
man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..

                              ·    He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but
I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many
lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet
struck him in the heart and he died instantly... He often talked
about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this
package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but
I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'

                              ·    The father

                                  Opened the package. It was a portrait
of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the
way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the
painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes
welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to
pay him for the picture.. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your
son did for me. It's a gift.'

                                The father hung the portrait over his
mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to
see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other
great works he had collected.

                              ·    The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential
people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and
having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

                              ·    On the platform sat the painting of
the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the
bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

                              ·    There was silence...

                              Then a voice in the back of the room
shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'
                              ·
                              But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody
bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

                                  Another voice angrily. 'We didn't
come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the
Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!'

                              ·    But still the auctioneer continued.
'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

                              ·    Finally, a voice came from the very
back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and
his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting...' Being a poor man, it was
all he could afford.

                            'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

                            'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

                                The crowd was becoming angry. They
didn't want the picture of the son.

                              ·    They wanted the more worthy
investments for their collections.
                              ·
                              The auctioneer pounded the gavel.. 'Going
once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

                              ·    A man sitting on the second row
shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'

                              ·    The auctioneer laid down his gavel.
'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

                              ·    'What about the paintings?'
                              ·
                              'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct
this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will... I was
not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the
painting of the  son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that
painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

                        The man who took the son gets everything!'

                            God gave His son over 2,000 years ago
to die on the Cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message
today is: 'The Son, the Son, who'll take the Son?'

WE NEED PROPHETS! - A.W. Tozer

NOTE:  As 2015 begins with yet more turmoil and tragedy, a
reminder from Tozer of how essential are the servants of God
who carry the 'word of the Lord' in such an hour-

We NEED PROPHETS!
by A.W. Tozer

A prophet is one who knows his times and what God is trying to
say to the people of his times.

Today we need prophetic preachers; not preachers of prophecy
merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom
is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits.
It is not ability to predict that we need, but the anointed eye, the
power of spiritual penetration and interpretation, the ability to
appraise the religious scene as viewed from God's position, and
to tell us what is actually going on.

Where is the man who can see through the ticker tape and confetti
to discover which way the parade is headed, why it started in the
first place and, particularly, who is riding up front in the seat of honor?

What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight. Scholars
can interpret the past; it takes prophets to interpret the present.
Learning will enable a man to pass judgment on our yesterdays,
but it requires a gift of clear seeing to pass sentence on our own
day. One hundred years from now historians will know what was
taking place religiously in this year of our Lord; but that will be too
late for us. We should know right now.

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means
than any now being used. If the church in the second half of this
century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half,
there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-
synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man
who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions,
nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the
Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried
and found wanting.

Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be
of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and
has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray
God there will be not one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction
to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will
contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn
the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such
a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit
angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to
the point of willingness to die for the glory of the one and the
salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with
mortal breath.

We need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the church,
and it is my belief that the one gift we need most now is the gift
of prophecy.

-A.W. Tozer - from 'Of God and Men'.

5 WAYS the PROSPERITY GOSPEL is HURTING AFRICA

5 WAYS the PROSPERITY GOSPEL is HURTING AFRICA
by J. Lee Grady

I´m not an African, but in 2008 some Nigerian friends gave me a
Yoruba name ("Akinwale") because I have been to that country
so often. My visits there, along with trips to Uganda, Kenya,
Malawi, South Africa and Egypt, planted a deep love for Africa in
my heart. My first grandson´s arrival this year from Ethiopia made
the connection even stronger.

I´m often asked to describe how God is moving in Africa today.
Since I´m an optimist, I usually tell of the large churches, the
passionate praise and the intense spiritual hunger that
characterizes African Christianity. But there is also a dark side,
and I think it´s time we addressed one of the most serious threats
to faith on the continent.

I´m talking about the prosperity gospel. Of course, I know a slick
version of this message is preached in the United States-and I
know we are the ones who exported it overseas. I am not minimiz-
ing the damage that prosperity preaching has done in my own
country. But I have witnessed how some African Christians are
taking this money-focused message to new and even more
dangerous extremes.

Here are five reasons the prosperity message is damaging the
continent of Africa today:

1. It is mixed with occultism. Before Christianity came to Nigeria,
people visited witch doctors and sacrificed goats or cows to get
prosperity. They poured libations on the ground so the gods would
hear their prayers. Today similar practices continue, only the juju
priest has been replaced by a pastor who drives a Mercedes-Benz.
I am aware of a pastor who buried a live animal under the floor of
his church to win God´s favor. Another pastor asked his congregants
to bring bottles of sand to church so he could anoint them; he then
told the people to sprinkle the sand in their houses to bring
blessings. The people who follow these charlatans are reminded
that their promised windfall won´t materialize unless they give
large donations.

2. It fuels greed. Any person who knows Christ will learn the joy
of giving to others. But the prosperity gospel teaches people to
focus on getting, not giving. At its core it is a selfish and
materialistic faith with a thin Christian veneer. Church members
are continually urged to sow financial seeds to reap bigger and
bigger rewards. In Africa, entire conferences are dedicated to
collecting offerings in order to achieve wealth. Preachers boast
about how much they paid for suits, shoes, necklaces and
watches. They tell their followers that spirituality is measured
by whether they have a big house or a first-class ticket. When
greed is preached from the pulpit, it spreads like a cancer in
God´s house.

3. It feeds pride. This greedy atmosphere in prosperity churches
has produced a warped style of leadership. My Kenyan friend
Gideon Thuranira, editor of Christian Professional magazine, calls
these men "churchpreneurs." They plant churches not because
they have a burden to reach lost souls but because they see dollar
signs when they fill an auditorium with chairs. A selfish message
produces bigheaded opportunists who need position, applause
and plenty of perks to keep them happy. The most successful
prosperity preacher is the most dangerous because he can
convince a crowd that Jesus died to give you and me a Lexus.

4. It works against the formation of Christian character. The
prosperity message is a poor imitation of the gospel because it
leaves no room for brokenness, suffering, humility or delay. It
offers an illegal shortcut. Prosperity preachers promise instant
results and overnight success; if you don´t get your breakthrough,
it´s because you didn´t give enough money in the offering. Jesus
calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him; prosperity preaching
calls us to deny Jesus and follow our materialistic lusts. There
is a leadership crisis in the African church because many pastors
are so set on getting rich, they can´t go through the process of
discipleship that requires self-denial.

5. It actually keeps people in poverty. The government of Malawi
is currently under international scrutiny because of fraud carried
out by top leaders. The saddest thing about the so-called
"Cashgate" scandal is that professing Christians in the administ-
ration of President Joyce Banda have been implicated. One of
these people stole millions of kwacha from the government and
hid the cash in a teddy bear! Most people today in Malawi live on
less than $1 a day, yet their leaders have been known to buy
fleets of cars and huge plots of land with money that was not
theirs. Sadly, the prosperity gospel preached in Malawi has
encouraged pastors and leaders to follow the same corrupt pattern.
As a result, God´s people have been financially exploited.

When Jesus described false prophets as wolves in sheep´s
clothing, He warned us to examine their fruit. Matthew 7:17 says,
"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad
fruit" (NASB). What is the fruit of prosperity preaching?

Churches have been growing rapidly in many parts of Africa today,
yet sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where
poverty has increased in the past 25 years. So according to the
statistics, the prosperity gospel is not bringing prosperity! It is a
flawed message, but I believe God will use selfless, broken African
leaders to correct it.

-Lee Grady is the former Editor of Charisma Magazine.

-Source-

http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/19113

Winston Churchill warned about dangers of radical Islam

Winston Churchill warned about dangers of radical Islam over 100 years ago

By Mark Ellis

Winston Churchill was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II and again from 1951 to 1955.

He was also a historian, writer and artist. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the U.S. following the Second World War.

As an officer of the British Army, he served in Sudan and the Crimean War. In both of those conflicts he had eye-opening encounters with Muslims. These incidents allowed his keen powers of observation and always-fluid pen to weigh in on the subject of Islamic society.

While these words were written when he was only 25-years-old (in 1899), they serve as a prophetic warning to Western civilization today.

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism (Islam) lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.”

Churchill apparently witnessed the same phenomenon in several places he visited. “The effects are apparent in many countries: improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.”

He saw the temporal and the eternal tainted by their belief system. “A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity,” he wrote.

MORE

Read more

How REVIVAL STARTS

How REVIVAL STARTS
by Jim Cymbala

If you study any of the great revivals of the past, you will always
find men and women who longed to see the status quo changed-
in themselves and in their churches. They called on God with
insistence, and prayer begets revival, which begets more prayer.
It is like Psalm 80, where the psalmist Asaph bemoans the sad
state of his time: the broken walls, the rampaging animals, the
burnt vineyards. Then in verse 18 he pleads, "Revive us, and we
will call on your name."

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prayer. Only when we are full of
the Spirit do we feel the need for God everywhere we turn. We
can be driving a car, and spontaneously our spirit starts going
up to God with needs and petitions and intercessions right
there in the middle of traffic.

If our churches don´t pray, and if people don´t have an appetite for
God, what does it matter how many are attending the services in
our church? How would that impress God? Just imagine the angels
saying, "Oh, your pews! We can´t believe how beautiful they are!"...

If we don´t want to experience God´s closeness here on earth,
why would we want to go to heaven anyway? He is the center of
everything there. If we do not enjoy being in His presence here
and now, then heaven would not be heaven for us. Why would
He send anyone there who does not long for Him passionately
here on earth?

I am not suggesting that we are justified by works of prayer or
any other acts of devotion. I am not a legalist. But let us not
dodge the issue of what heaven will be like: enjoying the presence
of God, taking time to love Him, listening to Him and giving Him praise.

-Source-

http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/27025

REMOVING the CANDLESTICK

REMOVING the CANDLESTICK
by David Wilkerson

In Revelation 2:5, Christ gives us a word that lets us know we had
better take heed. He says, "Repent, and do the first works; or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick."

Jesus is saying here that unless we repent, He is going to remove
all the spiritual authority we have been given. This includes our
impact on our city, our community, our neighborhood, those any-
where in our sphere of influence. Every bit of influence we have
will be taken from us.

Right now, churches across the world are shutting their doors.
Their lights are literally being turned out because that is the
judgment they incur for refusing to repent. God said they would
lose their discernment, their spiritual blessings, their finances, His
very presence. Now they are dead, lifeless, with only memories
of His past blessings.

I preached in many such churches thirty years ago. At that time
they were packed with zealous believers while today barely a few
dozen people sit in their pews. Soon they will dwindle to nothing
and their doors will shut for good. God has written "Ichabod" over
their doors, which means, "The Spirit of the Lord has departed!"

Yet, beloved, God gives this same message to every Christian
individually. He says, "If you refuse to repent-if you remain in
your apathy-I will remove your lampstand. You will no longer
have any influence over your family, your coworkers-or anyone!"

Even as we read these words, we are not to fear. Jesus ends His
admonition to us this way: "To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God"
(Revelation 2:7). Dear saint, Jesus is that tree! He is telling us,
"If you will repent, I will give you constant life from My very being.
And as long as you continue to love Me, I will provide a flow of
supernatural life in you. This life will be revealed in your discern-
ment, your love for people, your good works for My kingdom!"
This is the trait that distinguishes every Christian who is truly in
love with Jesus.

Jesus promises that your godly sorrow, your repentant heart and
your renewed love for Him will lead you to life. So, pray to Him
right now: "Lord, give me a truly repentant heart. Take me back
to who I was when I was first in love with You. Yet, this time take
me deeper in You than I have ever been before."

As you repent, God´s Spirit will begin to produce in you a new
revelation of the glory of Christ and He will make it known to
everyone around you!

-Source-

http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/26781

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