Discipleship | A People for His Name

¿Eres una persona joven que es como Cristo era cuando era joven?

April 20, 2013

¿Dios piensa que usted es una persona joven que . . .

1. tiene un gran interés en aprender más acerca de las cosas de Dios?

2. realmente le gusta estar rodeado de gente de mente espiritual que saben más acerca de la Biblia que usted?

3. escucha con atención y entusiasmo al hablar con esa gente?

4. se hacen esas preguntas las personas que muestran que usted quiere saber más acerca de Dios y la Biblia?

5. conoce su Biblia bien para una persona joven?

6. tiene que ser de las cosas de su Padre Celestial?

7. tiene que estar en la casa de su Padre Celestial?

8. abiertamente valora su relación con su Padre Celestial?

9. está continuamente sujetas a vuestros padres?

10. somete a sí mismo a sus padres, incluso cuando están en lo cierto, no lo entiendo, y ellos están equivocados?

11. trata a su madre con respeto, incluso cuando usted se enfrenta públicamente?

12. guarda sus palabras en tu corazón?

13. es abiertamente crecía en sabiduría?

14. es abiertamente aumentando en gracia para con Dios y el hombre?

15. realmente quiere ser como Jesús fue cuando era joven?

In Discipleship, Spanish

Why I Still Do Not Drink Alcohol Now That I Am a Christian

April 18, 2013

Whether or not Christians should or even may drink alcohol is a hotly debated subject these days. In this post, I offer my testimony concerning this issue. I hope that it will strengthen other brethren to continue to refrain from drinking alcohol.

Before My Conversion

As an unsaved college student at Western Illinois University, I had many opportunities to drink alcohol in social settings. Although I also encountered suggestions that I should drink alcohol on at least a few occasions, I never drank alcohol throughout my years of being an unbeliever.

In my thinking then, alcohol was a toxic substance that was not at all necessary for life and posed a serious risk of harming my body and enslaving me. I had watched some of my friends suffer harmful consequences of their drinking and had no desire to experience any of what they did.

In fact, I do not recall ever having in any context even the slightest desire to try alcohol, cigarettes, or any other such substances. As a very health-conscious person majoring in Fitness Instruction and Human Performance, I thought that it would be foolish for to me to drink alcohol.

For me it made perfect sense that if I never tried alcohol, there would be no possibility that I would ever become an alcoholic. Nor would I ever drive under the influence or engage in immoral behaviors under the influence of a mind-controlling substance that has destroyed the lives of millions of people throughout the world.

After My Conversion

After becoming a Christian, I devoured the Bible and much other Christian literature. Nothing that I read in those early years of my being a believer signaled to me that I should change any of my thinking about drinking alcohol.

Over the rest of the years that I have been a believer, I have not heard or read anything that suggests to me that there is any value for me as a believer to drink alcohol. Moreover, my present belief that abstaining from alcohol consumption is the right position on this issue is even stronger than when I was an unbeliever who abstained from drinking alcohol.

My Encouragement to Other Brethren Facing Pressure to Change Their Views

If you are a believer who has abstained from alcohol consumption in the past, I encourage you to stand fast against any pressure you may be facing to change your position. If you never try alcohol in the first place, you will never become an alcoholic. If you never try alcohol, you will never become drunk.

Even some unbelievers recognize the value of not ever drinking alcohol and resist the pressure to do so; we who have the Spirit of God in us have incomparably greater resources and motivation to do so!

In Discipleship, Health, Testimony

The Bible!

April 15, 2013

THE BIBLE contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

CHRIST is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

—From the Gideons International New Testament

In Bible reading, Christian Books, Quotes

Jesus Loves Aborted Children

April 13, 2013

Jesus Loves the Little Children, by C. H. Woolston and George F. Root, is a classic children’s song that celebrates His love for little children. The words of Jesus Loves Aborted Children use the same tune to declare and magnify the love of Jesus for the multitudes of precious children who have been mercilessly aborted.

Stanza 1 magnifies the life of rejoicing in His presence that they live now! Stanzas 2 and 3 emphasize the truth of their living again physically some day before the throne of Jesus.

These words should be sung slowly and meditatively:

Jesus Loves Aborted Children

1. Jesus loves aborted children;

They now suffer no more pain;

Knowing Him who once was dead,

They live through Him who has bled.

Bowing at His throne,

Rejoicing they remain!

2. Jesus loves aborted children;

They’ve been mercilessly slain.

He will raise them from the dead;

Those who slew them will regret,

When before His throne,

They face them once again.

3. Jesus loves aborted children;

They will never die again.

They will rise up from the dead;

They will praise Him as their Head;

When before His throne,

They know life once again.

You may use this song in a ministry context provided you do not change any of the words and you provide copyright information to anyone whom you distribute it. Please contact me for any other use of the song.

In Music, Theology

Guitar Music for "The Church's One Foundation"

April 10, 2013

Samuel J. Stone’s great hymn The Church’s One Foundation is a good hymn for beginning guitarists wanting to learn to strum and pick the chords in the key of C. This PDF provides the melody in my number format, the chords, and the first line of this hymn.

There are also many other PDFs of hymns for guitar in the Resources on my site in the Music section!

In Guitar Music

Guitar Music for "Del Culto El Tiempo Llega"

April 9, 2013

To play the Spanish hymn Del Culto El Tiempo Llega in the key of Do, you only have to be able to play five basic chords: Do, La m, Fa, Sol7, and Re m. The melody is played on the second string.

This PDF gives you the chords, melody, and first stanza of this hymn.

In Guitar Music, Spanish

Beware This Widely Overlooked, Deadly Type of Hypocrisy

April 8, 2013

In the thinking of most people, being a hypocrite probably means something along the lines of saying one thing but doing another. In Luke 12, we learn that Jesus challenged people about a much more deadly type of hypocrisy that is widely overlooked.

Jesus Instructs His Disciples and the People about Hypocrisy

Speaking to a vast multitude of people (Luke 12:1), Jesus warned His disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (12:1-13). On that same occasion, he challenged the people about hypocrisy by pointing out a glaring discrepancy in their lives:

Luk 12:54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.

⁵⁵ And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.

⁵⁶ Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

⁵⁷Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?

Jesus sternly chided these people because they capably assessed some indicators of their time but did not do so with others that were equally obvious. John A. Martin explains their hypocritical failure:

Jesus taught the crowds that they needed to be sensitive to interpret the things they were seeing. Though they had been observing His ministry they were not able to ascertain that He was truly the Messiah. He made the point that they, with no trouble, could interpret natural signs (western clouds and south winds—the appearance of the earth and the sky). But they could not discern spiritual signs. They should discern what was going on right in their midst—He was offering the kingdom and they were not responding properly to His offer.—BKC: NT, 239; emphasis in original

Jesus thus reproached people for being hypocrites by their rightly discerning specific weather indicators but not doing so with spiritual ones.

Darrell L. Bock summarizes Jesus’ forceful challenge:

Jesus then turns to the crowd. He rebukes them for not spotting the obvious. They can read the weather, but they are blind to what God is doing. Jesus clearly reveals the nature of the time; yet they do not respond. —Luke 9:51-24:53, 1200

Based on Jesus teaching here, Norval Geldenhuys gives this sobering warning:

To-day also there are for us all many signs pointing to the seriousness of life and to the necessity of right living. Especially those who have the opportunity of reading the Bible and listening to the preaching of the Gospel have the fullest opportunities of discerning the signs of the times and of knowing that Jesus is the Redeemer. He who is blind to this and who does not take heed, while the period of grace continues, to have peace with God through the Saviour, must await a dark future.—Luke, NICOT, 369.

These commentators reveal that Jesus challenges us all to be sensitive to judge rightly the valid spiritual information that we have been exposed to in our lives. Failing to do so, we will be guilty of a deadly hypocrisy that is much more serious than what people often complain about concerning the so-called hypocrisy of religious people.

Please take a few moments and read the good news that God has for all people and believe: The Good News for All

In Exhortation, Exposition, Quotes

The Value of a Tract on a Windshield

April 5, 2013

Most believers believe that tracts are a good way to share the gospel with people. For various reasons, however, many are often reluctant to pass them out personally to people.

Leaving tracts impersonally in various locations for people to find at a later point is an alternative way of evangelism that probably not many believers use very often today. My testimony of salvation shows that God does use this means of evangelism.

While living in Cookeville, TN, in 1989, I was working retail at a local K-Mart store. One day, I returned to my car to find a piece of paper that someone had stuck under my left windshield wiper.

I do not remember now whether I was annoyed at that time or not. I do remember removing the paper from my windshield and looking at what it was.

Finding the title God’s Simple Plan of Salvation to be interesting, I proceeded to read the tract. (I’m not sure now whether I read it right away or later on that day, but I did read it sometime that day.) Sometime soon after reading that tract as well as other materials, God saved me by convincing me of the truth of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!

What’s more, if I am remembering correctly, I think that the tract was from Calvary Baptist Church in Cookeville, which turned out to be the same church that God led me to attend shortly after I was saved! I look forward to finding out in eternity who shared the tract with me that helped me to be saved.

We never know how God will use the tracts that we give to people and the tracts that we just leave in various places for people to find later!

In Evangelism, Testimony

Guitar Music for "How Sweet and Awful Is the Place"

April 3, 2013

Here is guitar music (melody, chords, and lyrics for stanzas 1-4 and 6) for Isaac Watts’ beautiful hymn set to an ancient Irish melody: How Sweet and Awful Is the Place. This arrangement includes an introduction, instrumental interlude after the third stanza, modulation from the key of D to E after the fourth stanza, and an ending tag.

In Guitar Music

Free Guitar Sheet Music Sites!

April 2, 2013

In addition to the many free song PDFs that I have here on my site in the Music section under Resources, here are other good sites that have a lot of free guitar sheet music:

G Major Music Theory – excellent site with lots of free piano and guitar sheet music

Sheet Music Digital – another superb site with both free music and music for pay; songs are available in many different formats

Music for Music Teachers

Music-folk-play-hymns.com

The Mutopia Project

These sites provide guitarists of various levels of ability with a wealth of free resources!

In Music

Archives For Discipleship

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Before My Conversion

After My Conversion

My Encouragement to Other Brethren Facing Pressure to Change Their Views

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