Many a professing Christian is a stumbling-block because

"Many a professing Christian is a stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts." —Dwight L. Moody

Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord

“The reason why the children of God are so frequently overpowered by difficulties and trials is, because they attempt to carry their burden themselves, instead of casting it upon God, as He not only graciously allows them to do, but commands them to do; and therefore they lose the promise which is coupled with the command; they find themselves not sustained. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Ps. 55:22). This does not mean simply that we should pray to God in our trials and afflictions, but that we should exercise faith in the power and willingness of God to help us under our trials; and by this we know whether we have only used words in prayer, or whether we have, in believing prayer, exercising faith in God, spoken, to Him about our trials. If the latter was the case, then, though the trial still lasts, the burden thereof is gone, because we have laid it upon God, to bear it for us; but if we have not exercised faith in God, we are still carrying the burden ourselves."

http://ref.ly/o/jehvahmagnfd/66565 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Complacency is as great a foe

“Complacency is as great a foe as any other carnal malady, any other fleshly manifestation. To be complacent is to have no desire to get anywhere.”

http://ref.ly/o/rutrotrev/29648 via the Logos Bible Android app.

On This Day…

✶ Robert Murray McCheyne, born in 1813, was a Scottish minister and disciple of the godly Andrew Bonar. He was a sickly man and died very young, but the spiritual quality of his life and ministry live to this day. On January 27, 1842, he sat down with pen and paper to reply to a young boy named Johnnie who was anxious about his soul. McCheyne began: “I was very glad to receive your kind note, and am glad to send you a short line in return, although my time is much taken up. You are very dear to me, because your soul is precious; and if you are ever brought to Jesus, washed and justified, you will praise Him more sweetly than an angel of light. I was riding in the snow today where no foot had trodden, and it was pure, pure white; and I thought again and again of that verse: ‘Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.’ ”

✶ January 27, 1908, Charles M. Alexander, evangelistic gospel song leader and associate of D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey, made up his mind to join Wilber Chapman in evangelistic campaigns around the world. The two worked together until Alexander’s death in 1920 and are considered one of the most effective evangelistic partnerships of the twentieth century.

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 24.

Remembering Previous Ministries

I traveled with Dr. Jim Vangelderen (Mr. Van as he is know to the Team Captians) back in 2006 on the War of Special Forces team. It was encouraging to see this video and how the ministry is still changing lives today. Please pray for this ministry.

On This Day…

✶ January 20, 1669, is the birthday of Susanna Wesley.
✶ On this date in 1828, early American evangelist David Marks preached all day and retired to bed exhausted. Just past midnight, he felt so ill he thought he was going to die. Marks grew joyous at the prospect of heaven. But suddenly, thinking of sinners bound for hell, he seemed to hear a whisper: “Will you still go and warn them?” Weeping, Marks replied, “Yes, Lord, I will go and warn them as long as it shall be Thy will.” His recovery began instantly, adding years to his evangelistic labors.
✶ On January 20, 1858, missionaries Hudson and Maria Taylor were married.
✶ During the Revival of 1905, a Day of Prayer was proclaimed in Denver, Colorado, on Friday, January 20. So many people flocked to churches and theaters for prayer that most of the city’s stores and schools closed. The impact of the revival was felt for months.
✶ Eliza Davis served many years as the first black woman from Texas to go to Africa as a missionary. At age 65 she was recalled by her denomination, the National Baptist Convention, for retirement. But two years later, Eliza raised her own support and returned to Africa to serve another 25 years. On January 20, 1979, she celebrated her 100th birthday.

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 16.

Morning at the Miller's home

Did I imitate Him who bore with the ignorance of His disciples

“The mind of the young servant of Christ was to say, “Stand aloof!”—to esteem them as very little instructed. What was the result? Was it peace and joy in the Holy Ghost? Did I imitate Him who bore with the ignorance of His disciples.”

http://ref.ly/o/jehvahmagnfd/39957 via the Logos Bible Android app.

God cannot get in because...

“In our services God cannot get in because we have it all fixed up for Him. We say, “Lord, we are going to have it this way.”

http://ref.ly/o/rutrotrev/8581 via the Logos Bible Android app.

http://www.logos.com/mobile

On This Day…

✶ Torrential rain on January 13, 1856, kept missionary J. Hudson Taylor confined to a little boat during a preaching tour of China. His diary on that day reads, “The rain was so heavy all day that no one could leave the boats. Thus we enjoyed a delightful day of rest, such as we had not had for some time; and the weather prevented much inquiry being made for us. Had the day been fine we should most likely have been discovered, even if we had not left the boats. As it was, we were allowed to think in peace, and with wonder and gratitude, of the gracious dealings of our God, who had thus led us apart into “a desert place” to rest awhile.
✶ On this day in 1892, Amy Carmichael responded to God’s call to be a foreign missionary.
✶ On January 13, 1915, Mary Slessor passed away at age 66, following nearly 39 years of remarkable missionary service in Nigeria. Her last words were, “Do not weep, do not weep; the Lord is taking me home.”
Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 10.

Works are good but...

"Works indeed are good, and God stricly requires them of us, but they do not make us holy." —Martin Luther

Helpful Tool For Memorizing And Meditating On Scripture

For me Bible memory and meditation has always been a struggle. Most of my early years were spent in programs like Awanas, Kings kids, Master's club, and so on.  I memorized tons of verses but mostly out of a fleshly motive. The verses I learned in my early years still come back to me but sadly more are forgotten than remembered. When I was in Bible College I memorized versed but only the ones that were assigned by the teachers. I never had a system or practice of memorizing Scripture for myself.

Recently I discovered a website designed to help with Bible memory in a practical way and I have enjoyed using it to learn God's Word. Please take the time to look at this site and I hope your Scripture meditation grows this year.

Below I have posted a link to the site, a tutorial video, and an artical about Memverse's supermemo algorithm. For me what makes this tool unique is that it brings verses back to my attention just before I forget them and it seems to work very well.

Here is a link to www.Memverse.com 

What is Supermemo

SuperMemo is based on the insight that there is an ideal moment to practice what you've learned. Reviewing too frequently is inefficient. Review too late and you will have forgotten the material and have to relearn it. The right time to practice is just at the moment you're about to forget. Unfortunately, this moment is different for every person and each bit of information. Imagine a pile of thousands of flash cards with Bible memory verses. Somewhere in this pile are the ones you should be reviewing right now. Which are they?

Fortunately, human forgetting follows a pattern. We forget exponentially. A graph of our likelihood of remembering a Bible verse sweeps quickly downward over time and then levels off. This pattern has long been known to cognitive psychology, but it has been difficult to put to practical use. It is too complex for us to employ with our naked brains.

How the SuperMemo Algorithm Works

SuperMemo is a program that keeps track of discrete bits of information you have learned and want to retain. For example, imagine you are memorizing Bible verses. Your chance of recalling a given verse declines over time according to a predictable pattern. The SuperMemo algorithm tracks this forgetting curve and reminds you to rehearse your knowledge when your chance of recalling it has dropped to, say, 90 percent. When you first learn a new Bible verse, your chance of recalling it will drop quickly. But after SuperMemo reminds you of the verse, the rate of forgetting levels out. The algorithm tracks this new decline and waits longer to quiz you the next time.

As you use Memverse you will find that you are able to retain more memory verses because the software prompts you to review passages at the appropriate time. In other words, you spend less of your time reviewing verses you already know, and more of your time on the memory verses that you don't know well.

You will find that you are able to memorize more of the Bible in less time. Many users spend 10-15 minutes three or four times per week and are able to retain hundreds of memory verses. Many have even memorized over a thousand verses!

On This Day…

On January 6, 1519, Martin Luther met with Karl von Miltitz, representing Pope Leo X, in an effort to prevent a church schism. Miltitz left the meeting thinking he had accomplished his purpose, but Luther would not be silenced.

On Sunday, January 6, 1850, the “Prince of Preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, was converted. A snowstorm forced 15–year-old Charles to duck into a Primitive Methodist Church. Only a few people were there, and not even the preacher showed up. A thin-looking man finally stood and read Isaiah 45:22. Spying Charles in the back, he pointed his finger, crying, “Look, young man! Look! Look to Christ!” Charles did look and was saved.

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2002 Edition (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 4.

Think on God

"Think on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you: leave him not alone." —Brother Lawrence

Reading Genealogies

“Reading Genealogies We do not normally read the genealogies in the biblical texts. The names are difficult to pronounce and the repetition boring. We struggle to know how to read the genealogies, how we should understand them. Sometimes we find tension between different genealogical lists. For example, the names found in Genesis 4:17–26 appear also in Genesis 5:1–32, but in different order and with slight variations on some of the names. Usually we do not read the genealogies closely enough to notice such variations.

Symptoms In The Church

“I have no hesitation in saying that all the symptoms in the church today point to Christians doing things they should not be doing and failing to do what they should be doing. That is the positive and the negative—sins of commission, sins of omission. To be unaware of these sins is to be morally asleep.”

http://ref.ly/o/rutrotrev/34399 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Our souls should feed upon the Word.

“The way in which we study this Word is a matter of the deepest moment. The very earliest portion of the day we can command should be devoted to meditation on the Scriptures. Our souls should feed upon the Word. We should read it—not for others, but for ourselves; all the promises, the encouragements, the warnings, the exhortations, the rebukes, should be taken home to our own bosoms.”

http://ref.ly/o/jehvahmagnfd/53549 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Bulk Of Christians Are Asleep

“What is the present condition of the evangelical church? The bulk of Christians are asleep. I do not mean that the bulk of Christians who come to evangelical churches are not converted, because if I meant that I would say they were dead and never had been born again. But I say they are asleep. It is possible to be morally asleep and yet intellectually, mentally and physically alert. It is possible to be spiritually asleep yet mentally, intellectually, physically and theologically alert.
The present condition is that we are asleep. These sleeping Christians do two things that God must grieve over. One is that they control church affairs. We are democratic, and if we do not like a pastor we give him the bounce or pray that he will get another call. Then when the time comes we vote in whom we want and vote out whom we do not want. Church people control church affairs because they are intellectually, mentally and physically awake, but they may be morally and spiritually asleep. That is, they are so far down in the rut that they do not see up.
Many people who are asleep control church affairs. It gets into whole conferences. Representatives will meet at the expense of the local church people. They will read minutes and pass resolutions, but they are asleep. You know they are asleep by the way they talk as soon as the benediction is pronounced and they have adjourned. You know they are asleep by their conduct, the things they are interested in or lack interest in, yet they control church affairs.
The second thing sleeping Christians do is set the standards for new Christians. When you bring in a newly converted Christian, he or she automatically takes on the coloration, general mood and temperature of the solemn seats around him or her. Pretty soon he or she is where they are, and once again there are no good examples of the Christian life.
Of course, people resent any word reflecting on them, but every once in a while there appears an awakened soul. Some way or another this person got awake. Somehow God Almighty wakened him or her, whether by the crowing of the rooster or by the braying of Balaam’s donkey. This person ceases to be mediocre and somnolent and becomes a blazing, shining light. And then the sleeping saints pay to have him or her come and do their work for them. They send people like this out to South Africa or the Far East to do their work for them. Meanwhile they stay home and sleep spiritually, and earn the money, because they are intellectually and physically awake to send them.
When one of these people dies, they write the story of his or her life and may even go so far as to take up a collection to put up a little library in the person’s memory. They could call it the “Awakened Saint Memorial.” But they are very careful not to be awakened themselves. They are careful and perfectly happy to talk about how wonderful Robert Jaffray was, but they will not pay Jaffray’s price. They can talk endlessly about wonderful Dr. A.B. Simpson, but they will not go Simpson’s way. They are careful not to follow the person whose life they write about and whose memorial they erect.
But this is what Christianity is all about: the wakened soul, the morally and spiritually wakened. God, who seems so far away, suddenly becomes close. God who had been all out of focus, a blur, now is seen to be the Son of Righteousness in clear sight, with healing in His wings.”

http://ref.ly/o/rutrotrev/37538 via the Logos Bible Android app.