I hope that this brief presentation will motivate you to glorify God in your body by praising Him for how wondrously He has created it:
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I hope that this brief presentation will motivate you to glorify God in your body by praising Him for how wondrously He has created it:
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Henry M. Morris makes an excellent argument for the authenticity of the New Testament based on the testimony provided by it and history concerning the two major Christian ordinances:
Christian churches everywhere, of almost all denominations, practice two of the most remarkable ceremonies. Though the particular form of the observance of each may have changed in some respects with the passing years, the very fact of the observance is itself a strong testimony to the authenticity of the New Testament and Christianity. These two ceremonies are what are known as the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
According to the Gospel records (e.g., Matthew 28:19) Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ as an integral part of His Great Commission, to be given each new convert . . . Similarly observance of the Lord’s Supper was commanded by Him as a regular observance . . . (e.g., Matthew 26:26-28).
It is known, of course, from the literature of the church through the ages that the churches have always practiced these two ordinances in one form or another. The authority for doing so comes from the New Testament. However, the ordinances do have a peculiar witness of their own, not shared by the other events recorded in the New Testament.
As a matter of fact, they antedate the New Testament since they were established by Christ Himself and have been practiced ever since. It is clear from the book of Acts that converts always were baptized soon after conversion (Acts 2:41; 8:12; etc.). Also the churches regularly observed the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20-26), even before they had the New Testament Scriptures which commanded them to do so.
To appreciate the significance of this fact, one should try to imagine what it was like to be in one of these first century churches when they first began to receive copies of the epistles and other writings which eventually were to be the New Testament. Say, for example, it was a church which had been established as the result of the preaching of the Philip the evangelist. This church continued to exist, for, say, about twenty years after its founding before it began to receive copies of some of Paul’s epistles and perhaps another ten years before it obtained a copy of one of the four Gospels.
During this time it was guided in its practice by the teachings of its founder and perhaps also by other teachers whom God sent its way or raised up from its own members. Among the instructions they were following were, of course, those pertaining to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Philip, who had been one of the original seven deacons, would certainly have been careful to emphasize the basic importance of these two ordinances in the life of the church. When they finally received the actual written accounts of how those ordinances were first established, this would merely strengthen and confirm them in what they were already practicing and knew to be in accordance with the verbal teachings they had received at first.
But, now, just suppose neither Philip nor any of their other teachers had ever told them anything about either ordinance and they had not practiced either Baptism or the Lord’s Supper before, and neither had any of their sister churches with whom they had contact. Suddenly they receive a document purporting to be from an apostle (say, the Gospel of Matthew, or Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians) in which these ordinances are discussed in such a way as to indicate they had been established by Christ and practiced by the churches ever since.
The obvious reaction by the church would be to assume the documents were fraudulent and to reject them forthwith. Their authors obviously could not have been the real apostles, because they were proposing two ceremonies as having existed in the churches since the days of Christ Himself, which the church receiving the documents knew, from their own previous contacts, did not exist in the churches. Thus, these documents would have been rejected as spurious by this church and by any other churches to which they came.
Thus, at no time after the days of Christ, could any such writings ever have gained acceptance as authentic records at all, unless these ordinances which they described were actually being practiced in the churches at the time of their writing and circulation. In this way the very existence of the two simple ceremonies of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, both picturing and commemorating the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus in obedience to His commandment, is in itself a powerful witness to the authenticity of the New Testament documents which describe their establishment and perpetuation. There is no way of accounting for the initiation of either of the ordinances except as described in these documents. The churches could never have been persuaded to begin practicing them by books or teachers who told them they had already been practicing them since the days of Christ, if in fact they knew otherwise. Therefore, the ordinances were established by Christ, and the New Testament writings which tell them about them are authentic.
Many Infallible Proofs: Evidences for the Christian Faith, 32-34; bold text is in italics in the original
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
In addition to strumming and fingerpicking, playing a chord melody solo is a third major way to use the guitar for ministry. This wonderful style allows a guitarist to play in such a way that he plays the melody and accompanies himself.
Here is a chord melody solo for It is Well With My Soul that I recently produced.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Today, I began working on increasing my reading speed. I decided to use a two-pronged approach.
First, using an audio MP3 CD with the KJV on it, I listened to Exodus 33-34 played by Windows Media Player on a high-speed setting of 2.000
while I also read the same chapters in my open Bible.
Second, I used a computer application that I made to speed read the same chapters (approximately 1800 words) at a speed of 663 words per minute.
At that speed, reading these chapters took me around 3 minutes to read.
Using this dual approach to read the Bible, my goal is to train both my eyes to read text faster and my ears to hear a faster rate of reading without any loss of comprehension in either way of receiving information. I hope to increase gradually my overall reading speed through this program so that I can read both important materials faster and less important materials even faster.
I also hope to speed listen to large sections of the Bible as a part of my exposing myself thoroughly to all the Scripture every year.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 55:6-9 records the wonderful blessedness to which God graciously invites every sinner to come:
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Comparing these verses with Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” points to the following truths:
—Unrighteous people must forsake their thoughts either that there is no God (cf. Ps. 14:1), or that He is unable to be found, or that He is hopelessly far away (cf. Acts 17:27-28).
—Unrighteous people must stop thinking of God merely, solely, or primarily as the One who punishes people for their sins.
—Unrighteous people must turn from false thinking that everyone will receive mercy and be pardoned in the end regardless of whether they seek after God and return to Him or not.
—Unrighteous people must forsake thinking that they will be able to find God whenever they see fit to do so—they must seek Him while He may be found and call on Him while He is near.
—The wicked must forsake their ways of not seeking after God and calling on Him
Let us all by faith seek now after the God who is and who rewards those who diligently seek Him by having mercy on and abundantly pardoning those who call on Him!
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
With the 2012 election a little more than a year away, we will likely hear many politicians in the upcoming days utter somewhere in their speeches, “God bless America!” Only God will know how many of these utterances will reflect a true desire for divine blessing on the U.S. versus mere propaganda to try to win votes from religious and patriotic voters.
Of those who will declare their desire for God to bless America, perhaps very few, if any, will have foremost in their minds what would constitute true divine blessing of America: “Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3:26). May God truly bless America by turning away every one of us from our iniquities!
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
While there are those who would make the evangelist a church-planter or equate him with the modern missionary, there is no real Biblical basis for such claims. The evangelist is a man of God who has been called of God to that particular ministry (Ephesians 4:11). A careful look at the life and ministry of Philip, the evangelist, reminds one of the ministries of the modern day evangelist. While his mode of travel may have undergone much change, his ministry remains much the same as described in Acts 8; mass evangelism, personal evangelism and an itinerant ministry in the churches.
—Ken Lynch, The Evangelist: His Life and Ministry to the Church and World, 24
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
The best way to control our thoughts is to offer the mind to God in complete surrender. The Holy Spirit will accept it and take control of it immediately. Then it will be relatively easy to think on spiritual things, especially if we train our thought by long periods of daily prayer. Long practice in the art of mental prayer (that is, talking to God inwardly as we work or travel) will help to form the habit of holy thought.
—The Best of A. W. Tozer: Volume 1, 45
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Recently, I heard the song, Lord of My Heart, for the first time. Very soon after I heard the first words of the song, I asked a friend who was with me at the time to stop the CD, start the song again, and listen carefully to the opening words of the song: “Jesus my heavenly Father . . .”
I was shocked to hear these words. Perhaps many people will think otherwise, but I believe that these words are questionable at best. I would never sing them.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I believe that there is a great need today for more appreciation for the unique value of the book of Acts. The following list presents some of the key information that we as believers would have lacked had God had not given us this marvelous book.
—No knowledge of the dual way that Jesus infallibly proved that He was alive after His passion (1:3)
—No record of the birth of the Church (2:1-42)
—No knowledge of what God demands that all the house of Israel must know (2:36)
—No definitive knowledge that Psalm 2:1-2 was fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ (4:25-28)
—No statement in Scripture that explicitly links the title Savior for Jesus with the forgiveness of sins (5:31)
—No knowledge of Stephen’s vision of Jesus in heaven (7:55-56)
—No inspired record of the final words of any Christian martyr (7:56; 59-60)
—No record of an apostle’s raising someone from the dead (9:40)
—No specific knowledge of one aspect of the mission that Jesus gave to His apostles (10:42)
—No knowledge of the exceeding importance of the Cornelius’ account for understanding vital truths about Gentile salvation (15:1-18)
—No inspired statement about God’s first visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name (15:14)
—No direct statement about what God has proved to all men by raising Jesus from the dead (17:31)
—No knowledge of Jesus’ saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (20:35)
—No knowledge about the only man in Scripture called an evangelist (21:8)
—No knowledge of the immense emphasis that Paul everywhere placed on his proclamation of repentance (26:19-20)
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.