-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: brethrenvoice-owner@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> archives/read online: http://associate.com/groups/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <27 December 2002> Contents: ------------ 1) <Devotional> "I was there" - Ravi Zacharias 2) <Christian-life> "Disciplined life of a Christian" (Pt-1/2)-V. John 3) <Evangelism> "Building bridges for the Gospel" (Pt 2/5) - John Studebaker 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "I WAS THERE" Ravi Zacharias How do you know God exists? How do you know God loves you? These questions, upon the hearts of so many, have answers as real as the formative moments in your life. As the years go by I seem to grow more and more prone to nostalgia. Many of us do this instinctively, clinging to memories past, perhaps looking backwards with the hope of seeing a purpose for our lives. When I travel to the land of my birth in India, I make it a point to revisit time and again those significant marking points of my own life. As I recall these moments past but not forgotten, I hear the gentle voice of a God very much in the present. And He says, "I was there." When you were on your bike contemplating suicide, I was there. When you were but 9 years old and your grandmother died, I arranged for her gravestone to hold in time the very verse that would lead you to conversion. "I was there." It is in these harrowing moments, these disappointing moments—your broken dreams, your child's birth, the death of a loved one—where God leaves a defining mark. There is a reason you remember such moments so vividly. We have a choice to hear or to ignore, but regardless His voice cries out in our memories, "I was there." He has been in our past. He is here today; He will be here in our future. You see, God lives above time. He exists, as C.S. Lewis worded it well, in the "Eternal Now." And the Psalmist, always writing with feet firmly planted in time, but arms ever reaching for the eternal, beautifully explains, "Thou art God from age to age the same." We need not be intimidated by the peril of the moment. As we look back on these markers in time, there is a sense of the transcendent, a glimpse of a reality greater than this. Beaming from this reality is the eternal love of God. He was with you then; He is there with you now. And He loves you. William Shakespeare once reasoned, "Love sought is good, but given unsought is better." How do you know that God loves you? While you and I were still sinners, still lost in the realms of selfish time, Christ gave His life for us. And that sacrifice stands the greatest marker in time; it is the point at which eternity entered into the fullness of time to reach you and to reach me, right now and forever. When you enter into that, you'll remember the marker as well. --- Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <CHRISTIAN-LIFE> "DISCIPLINED LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN" (PART-1 OF 2) Varghese John The life of a Christian or a disciple of Christ should be a disciplined one because it is a life under the yoke of Christ. Personal discipline is nothing but self-control. Therefore, disciplined life is a self controlled one. Self-control is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:23). In order to lead a disciplined life one should practice certain disciplines. Disciplines are certain activities a person does daily to keep him healthy --physically, mentally and spiritually. In other words, disciplines are some good habits that one should develop. Apostle Paul speaks of the Christian life as running a race and reaching the goal. Listen to him: " Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified"(1Cor. 9: 26,27). Paul said, " I run," "I fight" and "I discipline." To keep him always qualified and approved unto God he disciplined himself and ran the race of life. In other words, like a disciplined soldier (boxer) he fought the fight of life. That is why he was able to declare with confidence and courage by the end of his life, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China has rightly said, "A man may be consecrated dedicated and devoted but of little value if he is undisciplined". TYPES OF DISCIPLINES Physical disciplines. Disciplines of a disciple of Christ begin with the body. The Bible speaks a lot about our bodies. Though body is not the source of sin, it is an effective medium for sins if not controlled. Hence, bodily disciplines are quite essential to maintain purity in life. The Bible says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who resides in us. Therefore, we have to glorify God in our bodies (1Cor.6: 19,20). We cannot give our hearts to God and keep our bodies to ourselves. 1. Food. Discipline of the body starts with our food habits. We have to keep our body clean and healthy so that it will be fit for God’s use. Whenever we have a choice, choose to eat for good nutrition. An ancient Medical Journal says, "Man eats too much; thus he lives on only a quarter of what he eats. The Doctors however live on the remaining three quarters." A Turkish proverb rightly puts it: "The man who overfills his stomach digs his own grave with his own teeth." Eating is not a sin but gluttony is. It was treated as one of the deadly sins in the Old Testament (see Deut. 21:18-21). 2. Sleep Everyone knows that sleep is essential for survival. Though individual needs vary, there is a reasonable time sufficient for each one. Studies have shown that the individual requirement for sleep is a matter of habit rather than any physical necessity. For many Christians one of the hardest things to do is getting out of bed in time. In order to get out of bed in time it is necessary to go to bed also in time. All through life, John Wesley and George Whitefield were early risers. Their day began at 4’O clock in the morning and they would go to bed exactly at 10’O clock in the night. If some people are present in his house at that time, George Whitefield would say, "Come, gentlemen. It is time for all good folks to be at home." There must be a revolution of discipline in our sleep habits if we have to know and fulfil God’s purposes in our lives. If you sleep one hour more than you sleep now, I can assure that you will become a confirmed backslider within six months. 3. Exercise "For bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things"(2 Tim. 4:8). Here Paul indirectly approves the benefit of bodily exercise. Apostle Paul probably didn’t have a daily exercise programme in the morning. In fact, he didn’t require any special programme. His very life style was his programme. His frequent journeys on foot, habitual fasting, labour etc. kept his body in shape. However, for us, we need to do daily bodily exercise to keep our body fit. Some helpful hints * Fix up a specific time for bodily exercise. * Start with 5 to 10 minutes of exercise daily. * Never give up because of occasional failures. [Concluded] --- [Reproduced by permission] _______________________________________________________________________ 3) <EVANGELISM> "BUILDING BRIDGES FOR THE GOSPEL" (PART 2 OF 5)* THE PROBLEM OF ISOLATION John Studebaker ... Imagine receiving a phone call informing you that you'd been chosen to become the American Ambassador to China. You'd consider that quite an honor! How would you prepare for your task? You'd want to do a thorough study of Chinese culture and customs. If you simply said, "No problem, I'm an American!" and neglected this study, you'd find yourself very ineffective as an ambassador. Now imagine if Christ were to call you, as an American, to be His ambassador to America. How would you prepare for that? Well, in fact this is what Christ has called us to (2 Cor. 5:20). But what if we were to say, "No problem, I'm a Christian!" but neglected any attempt to understand our own culture? Surprisingly this is what many people in the church today have done. Some believers have actually avoided any connection with the world. Jan Johnson in her Moody Monthly article "Escaping the Christian Ghetto" has called these people "Rabbit-Hole Christians." According to Johnson, "In the morning they pop out of their safe Christian homes, hold their breath at work, scurry home to their families and then off to their Bible Studies, and finally end the day praying for the unbelievers they safely avoided all day."(2) In early America, Christians enjoyed discussing philosophy and theology with believers and non-believers alike. New England was a community that fostered intellectual pursuit. Their young men, for example, studied the classics and the Hebrew Bible in depth. Today's Christians, however, are often viewed by the world as anti-intellectuals, as people who have neglected their minds in order to become "spiritual." But with this mentality, we are unable to address the critical issues of our day, and so our culture begins to look elsewhere for answers: to the secular humanists, for example. What is the root of this separation mindset? Well, many believers today hold to a pietistic view of the Christian life. Pietism began in the 1800s, but it had a certain deficiency. According to Francis Schaeffer, "it was 'platonic' in that it made a sharp division between the 'spiritual' world and the 'material' world. The totality of human experience was not afforded a proper place." (3) This pietistic view of Christian living, I think, has sapped the real life out of the Christian experience for many people. That's because one's spirituality never quite comes "down" far enough to integrate with the real world. We still end up trying to be nice Christians, but too many areas of our humanity get left out. It no longer looks very attractive to those first investigating the faith, either. In fact, some non-believers get scared off! How can we change this pattern? We must remove this "sharp division" by finding out how our spiritual life works in the physical world, by developing a biblical worldview. As we learn to apply the Christian faith to our own life and world we become able to tell non-believers how it applies to theirs also, and this opens doors for the gospel. But without a well-thought-out faith we don't feel comfortable taking our message into the middle of the marketplace of modern ideas, and so we stay isolated. What we actually need is a model for building bridges within the complexity of today's culture, one that makes Christianity relevant to the lives of real people. Christ Himself has provided this model in a absolutely amazing way. What is this model? [To be concluded] ---- * [This data file/document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file and/or document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright (C) 1995-1997 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Reproduction Limitations notice.] ---------------------------<BrethrenVoice>--------------------------- Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: http://associate.com/groups/BrethrenVoice/ <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963