JESUS TALKS ABOUT THE KINGDOM (Kingdom mentions in the Gospels)

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:23-4)

PART 1

Most of you wont like what is written here today and next week! But I pray that you will read, contemplate and pray about it, before rejecting it outright.

Firstly, there is the clear statement, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. We can accept that, but draw the logical conclusion too, that it is not impossible. That is of comfort to the wealthy.

However, Jesus goes on to speak about the 'camel' and the 'eye of the needle'. Unfortunately for the rich, this statement is not so encouraging! So what does it mean?

There have been basically 2 explanations given, with variations.

The first, which I believed for a long time, is that the 'eye of the needle' was a small gate in the gate in the wall of a city which a camel could just squeeze through. A variation is a narrow mountain pass with similar attributes. Unfortunately there are no such mountain passes in the area, nor were there any city gates in the coastal area where Jesus was talking to the rich young man. Neither is there any evidence that the small gate in city walls was called thus. It was actually known as the 'plum', in the common language of the time.

The second explanation is that there was a mistranslation of the word 'camel'. Instead, it should be 'rope', for the Aramaic word gamla means camel, a large rope or a beam. The interpretation depends upon the context in which the word was being used. It is possible that Greek scholars didn't know the Aramaic usage and misinterpreted the word.

It is a logical explanation that Jesus was perhaps walking along a beach and saw a large rope, likely used on the local boats, and made the comment about a thick rope not being able to be threaded through a needle.

If this was the case, the 'rich persons news' is even worse, for a large rope can't possibly be threaded through a needle!

The truth is, we do not know the truth!

However, either way, even using hyperbole, (which Jesus sometimes did, eg Matthew 18:7-9, where we would all be handless, feetless and eyeless!) Jesus was making the point that worldly riches make it extremely difficult to enter the kingdom. Why? Because our focus cannot be in two places.

13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Luke 16:13)

Jesus knew that worldly wealth was the greatest hindrance to people coming to, and remaining in, faith in Him. It was one of the main themes, possibly the most mentioned in a broader sense, of His total teachings. The pie chart shows that a quarter (24% actually!) of His parables were directly about the dangers of wealth, while another 44% (fruit related) indirectly broached the same subject. A classic reference is found in the Parable of the Sower.

14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 8:14)

If this was so at the time of Jesus, when society was relatively poor, how much more so it is for us today, particularly in the Western world. I have quoted the warnings of the Laodicean Church (Revelation 3:14-22) a number of times previously, so wont do so again here.

However, also in Revelation, at the end of the world, the fate of those who seek after worldly wealth is clearly set out.

11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. 14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out: ”‘Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! 17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ (Revelation 18:11-17a)

Jesus again warned us of this also during His earthly ministry.

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:35-6)

We are instead, to seek the riches of the Lord. Paul gave us his testimony. In spite of difficulties and sufferings, the riches of Christ are unsearchable!

7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (Ephesians 3:7-13)

What is your life priority today?

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FROM THE WORD

The Fall of Babylon

"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: ”‘Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!’ 11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out: ”‘Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: ”‘Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.’” Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth.”" (Revelation 18:1-24)

Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles

"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory." (Ephesians 3:1-13)

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DAVID'S DOODLINGS

PROSPERITY

177. Earthly prosperity is 'just a little more'. But heavenly prosperity is learning to be content with what the Lord has given.

382. There is no absolute measure of prosperity for our perception of it relates to what we see others have. I wonder what God sees?

383. The problem with prosperity is that we all want to own God's 'cattle on a thousand hills' personally.

385. It is a sad fact that if the rich gave all they had to the poor, poverty would merely be delayed, not allayed.

811. In the Old Testament, success is measured by prosperity, in the New, by sacrifice. Many believers prefer to live in the past!

812. May I learn to rest content with my 'daily bread'.

813. There is no problem with prosperity, only our definition of it.

814. In the Old Testament, prosperity is provision for the future, in the New, sufficiency for today.

815. Worldly provision comes through people, godly provision through the Providor, for whom people are but one resource.

816. Jesus redefined prosperity from wealth for the future to provision for today.

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CRANWELLS CARTOONS

PETER DISOWNS JESUS
69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. 70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. 71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” 73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.” 74 Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:69-75)





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TUESDAY TEACHINGS

THIS WEEK: A REVELATION OF... THE POWER OF THREE IN GOD AND THE CHURCH

The 'power of 3' is a powerful tool in helping us understand how God works, how we work, and the church too.

This week we are going to look at the application of this principle to our lives.

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LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused***

*** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***

348. SUCCESS WITH MATHS
A ten year old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything from tutors to hypnosis, but to no avail. Finally, at the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school.

After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face, and went right past them straight to his room, where he quietly closed the door.

For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room, closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime.

This pattern continued ceaselessly until it was time for the first quarter report card.
The boy walked in with his report card - unopened - laid it on the dinner table and went straight to his room. Cautiously, his mother opened it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red "A" under the subject of MATHS.

Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his remarkable progress. "Was it the nuns that did it?", the father asked.

The boy only shook his head and said, "No."

"Was it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?"

"No."

"The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?"

"Nope," said the son. "On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy they nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant business!"

347. THE CONSULTANT
There once was a consultant who lived her whole life without ever taking advantage of any of the people she worked for. In fact, she made sure that every job she did resulted in a win-win situation. One day while walking down the street she was tragically hit by a bus and she died.

Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.
"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a consultant make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in." said the consultant.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in." "Actually, I think I've made up my mind...I prefer to stay in Heaven" "Sorry, we have rules..." And with that St. Peter put the consultant in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.

The doors opened and the consultant found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow consultants that she had worked with and they were all dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kinda cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. The consultant was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved good-bye as she got on the elevator.

The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her. "Now it's time to spend a day in heaven." So the consultant spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had a great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her. "So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity." The consultant paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell." So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again the consultant went down-down-down back to Hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her. "I don't understand," stammered the consultant, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her and smiled, "That's because yesterday we were recruiting you, but today you're staff."

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FACTS FOR FUN

LAST WEEKS QUESTION: How long was the world's longest prayer meeting?


ANSWER: How long does prayer meeting last in your church? Do the ‘fidgits’ set in after ten or twenty minutes? Let’s say the average prayer meeting is an hour. But the world's longest Prayer Meeting? Multiply an hour by 24; multiply that by 365; and then multiply that by 100! That tallies up to 876,000 hours. The longest prayer meeting in the world actually lasted even longer than that! It began on August 27, 1727, in Herrnhut, Germany, when Moravians under Count von Zinzendorf commenced an around-the-clock prayer chain that lasted more than one hundred years! (Generations of prayer warriors involved?)

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: it true that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile?

Answer Next Week.

SOME FUN FACTS

61. CHILL OUT
To assure full flavour, you need to chill wine appropriately. Observe the 20-minute rule. Pull whites out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving, but put reds in 20 minutes before serving. (Treatment by colour. Is this PC?)

62. HUNGRY
A baby ‘gray whale’ drinks enough milk to fill more than 2,000 bottles a day. (Should have strong bones with all that calcium!)

63. A HARD WEEKEND
According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favoured day for self-destruction. (The death of dreams.)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU

Make another word from this word using all the letters.

INDEED

Answer at the end of A David Musing

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BIBLE QUESTION - BIRDS AND CREEPING THINGS

11) James tells us that all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man. According to James, what cannot be tamed?

A - Insects
B - A child
C - The tongue
D - The heart

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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!

"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""

FROM ALBERT EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein was recently selected "Man of the Century" by Time Magazine for his Theory of Relativity. Here is some of his "down-to-earth" wit and wisdom:

!!!!!!!!! If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.

!!!!!!!! Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe.

!!!!!!! Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.

!!!!!! We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

!!!!! A + B + C = Success if, A = Hard Work, B = Hard Play, C = Keeping your mouth shut.

!!!! The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

!!! Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit next to a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.

!! God is subtle, but he is not malicious

! Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

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TILL DEATH DO US PART

35. SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.

The next day the man realised that he would need his wife to wake him at 5a.m. for an early flight to Sydney. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence, he finally wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5 a.m."

The next morning the man woke up, only to discover it was 9 a.m., and that he had missed his flight!

Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't awakened him when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. It said, "It's 5 a.m., wake up."

36. FLY SWATTER
A woman walked into the kitchen to find her husband stalking around with a fly swatter.

"What are you doing/" she asked. "Hunting Flies" he responded.

"Oh!, Killing any?" she asked.

"Yep, 3 males and 2 females", he replied.

Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell?"

He responded, "3 were on a beer can and 2 were on the phone."

37. A BIG CAT!
The man's wife had a birthday coming and he wanted to know what she desired.

She said she'd like to have a big Jaguar.

He didn't think it was best for her.

But, she begged and begged until he gave in and got her a big one.

It ate her!

38. DEPENDS UPON YOURE PERSPECTIVE
Amy and Jamie are Old Friends.

They have both been married to their husbands for a long time. Amy is upset because she thinks her husband doesn't find her attractive anymore.

"As I get older he doesn't bother to look at me!" Amy cries.

"I'm so sorry for you, as I get older my husband says I get more beautiful every day." replies Jamie.

Yes, but your husband's an antique dealer!"

Laugh - or cry - here.....

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BIBLE TRIVIA (Famous Words and Phrases)

A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY

The words God used to describe Palestine to Moses in Exodus 3:8. Now used to describe a nice or pleasant place.

Adapted from: '1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About The Bible' MacGregor & Prys

Has the Baton Been Passed to the Asian Church?

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 11:34 AM EDT J. Lee Grady

Last week in Singapore I saw the future of Christianity—and it has a definite Chinese flavor.

Last week during a trip to Singapore I enjoyed all the tastes and smells of China—chili crab, salted milk crab, prawns, ban mian (flat noodles), bak chang (rice dumplings), lychee fruits, chicken feet (not my favorite!) and several varieties of fish. But the flavor I savored most was found in the worship times at Cornerstone Community Church.

“Missionary strategists have already predicted that by 2035 China will be a Christian nation. Then nations of Asia, including Singapore, are positioned to be 21st century Antiochs.”

I got choked up while watching the young people at Cornerstone last Sunday. Hundreds of young people—mostly Chinese, many first-generation converts to Christianity—jammed to the front of the auditorium at the close of their youth service. Many were on their knees. Some were sobbing. They were all singing:

Set this generation apart for You
Let me be a part of what You’re doing
I want to stand in purity and righteousness
Set this generation on fire
Lord I will burn, I will burn for You.

This was not shallow emotionalism. These kids were dead serious about following God. I preached in seven services at Cornerstone last week, and every meeting was filled with high school and college students as well as young adults. A majority of the young people who attend the 3,000-member church are involved in weekly cell groups that offer discipleship training. At a leaders’ meeting held on Saturday morning, more than half of the church’s leaders were in their 20s or younger.

The church’s youth pastor, Paul Liu Jiancong, a thin guy whose English has a dignified British accent, knows that something unusual is stirring among the youth in his country of 5 million people. “Let’s press in for revival!” he exhorted the crowd. “Let’s consecrate our hearts!”

The founding pastor of Cornerstone, Yang Tuck Yoong, 52, knows that revival is much more than altar calls and emotional displays. It is measured by a growing number of solid converts. Here in Singapore, where the government enforces a policy of tolerance toward all religions, the number of evangelical Christians has been steadily rising in recent years. Many new Christians come from Buddhist backgrounds.

Anglicans and other mainline churches were hit with charismatic renewal in the 1970s and ‘80s, sparking a wave of church growth. Today Singapore is home to numerous charismatic megachurches. One veteran charismatic Anglican leader told me that the percentage of Christians in Singapore has now risen to 18 percent, up from 14 percent just a few years ago.

Yang and his wife, Daphne, started Cornerstone in 1990 when they were still Anglicans; they broke from that denomination in 1995, and Cornerstone became an independent Pentecostal congregation. The church now meets in a massive facility that was once a nightclub.

What I saw in Singapore last week filled me with hope for the future of the global church, for three key reasons:

1. They are taking world evangelism seriously. Last year Cornerstone Church sent out 52 short-term mission teams to various nations, including Uganda. Because Singapore enjoys financial prosperity (some analysts say Singapore has already passed the United States in per capita wages), many of its churches invest millions of dollars in mission work. Singapore already has one of the highest percentages of commissioned missionaries, per capita, in the world.

2. They understand the importance of the Holy Spirit’s power. Growing churches in Singapore have abandoned formalism to embrace Pentecostal doctrines. However, many of them also pursue biblical balance and stress the need for discipleship. At Trinity Christian Center, for example, a fast-growing Assemblies of God congregation pastored by Dominic Yeo, its 7,000 members are trained in weekly care cells.

3. They are investing in the next generation. One young man from Cornerstone named Nathaniel told me that he came to Christ from a Taoist background. “Many Taoists are coming to Jesus today,” he said. “As they become educated they are turning to Christianity. They are leaving the old superstitious religion behind.” These young people—many of them bright professionals—are now being trained to take their faith into the marketplace, or on the mission field beyond Singapore.

What does this mean for us? I believe it’s obvious we’ve entered a new season in which the Asian church will set the pace. The baton has been passed. Missionary strategists have already predicted that by 2035 China will be a Christian nation. Then nations of Asia, including Singapore, are positioned to be 21st century Antiochs. I hope we will be humble enough to learn from them. And I pray they will stay humble enough to avoid the mistakes we’ve made in the West.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. For more information about Cornerstone Community Church, click here.

© Copyright 2011 Charisma Media. All Rights Reserved.

DAVID'S DOWNLOAD

A REVELATION OF... GOD'S CALL TO HIS CHURCH

We live in a church system that has evolved over the past, nearly 2000 years. It is obvious that the church had problems of doctrine and organisation right from its formation. Many people are reluctant to admit to this, but there were difficulties between Jews and gentiles in a theological sense, as well as practical organisational problems in terms of looking after the needy widows. However, over the centuries, church structures developed and became formalised along human lines. While the Reformation saw some changes, both in theology and organisation, the old, unbiblical, structures have tended to replicate themselves within our modern denominations and groupings. The Bible warns of this.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Today, in these end times, God is calling His church back to basics. To its relational roots rather than formal structural organisation and methods that restrict, through human intervention, the Holy Spirit from truly working in the way He would wish.

Yes, God is calling us today to return to the principles set out in the New Testament, not to create the 'perfect church', for it will still have you and I in it, but rather, one capable of absorbing the promised bountiful end-time harvest.

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WAXING LYRICAL

Don't know how this came into my mind! But it did! maybe feeling guilty! Hope it helps.

TO GO OR TO STAY?

There's a time to come and a time to go,
Which is which we never seem to know.
Not to outstay our welcome here,
Nor to be a nuisance there,
Give me wisdom Lord,
To be in Your accord.

Have no idea why I am writing this!
But trust the point I do not miss!
For we all have times when we should know to go,
But hang on we do, outstaying our welcome, saying yes when we should say no......

Just leave!
Don't grieve!
It's not the day,
For me to stay.

This simple lesson we must learn,
Many 'brownie points' then to earn.
Our welcome not overstaying,
And our hosts not dismaying.
Then they will be happy to have us return,
For us, the 'welcome mat', we will not burn.

This piece of sage advice
May keep us very nice,
In the eyes of others,
If not our mothers.

Reminds me now, her to visit,
Yes, for more than a minute!
For she brought me up, indeed she did,
Even at times, when I was a bad kid.
For mothers are more patient than most,
My responsibility to her, now foremost.

So I will visit her this afternoon,
Hope she will be over the moon.
Take her out in the car for a nice drive,
In the sunshine - so good to be alive!

To go or to stay?
Surely wisdom is needed.
For that I pray,
His advice to be heeded.

More of David's offerings at...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/waxing.php

A DAVID MUSING

Winter chills have finally started to come to New Zealand, while many of you will now be experiencing the start of summer. Of course, in the tropics, there is a change between wet and dry seasons.

The world is such a diverse place! We tend, so easily, to think that our piece of the world is the only place there is! But, of course, the world is a very big place!

It interests me that when I travel, the people in every place I visit believe that the next revival, and the return of Jesus, will come to their place first!

This past weekend and the next, we have two lots of friends travelling, one to Europe, and the other to Africa. Yes, the world is a big place, with a huge variety of cultures and foods, terrain and weather.

But God is God of all. May we understand and accept this, and enjoy the diversity it brings. For Jesus loves you and He loves me, so different though we may be.

Until next week.......

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.

His servant and yours

David Tait

Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: DENIED

TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION' ANSWER: 11) C - The tongue (James 3:7-8)

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ABOUT US

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our website
wwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.

Walking With Jesus Ministries
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand

Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567

Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz

Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!

For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz