Success

Success as a person involves living in uninterrupted fellowship with God and showing genuine love to others as I grow in faith and in conformity to God’s Character. 

 A Mature Person: Maintaining a Walk with God: Mature people delight in God and seek out His wisdom. They study God’s Word and obey it. Their lives are surrendered to God, and they endeavor to maintain the disciplines of memorization and meditation on Scripture, moral purity, freedom from anger, a clear conscience with God and man, and submission to God-given authorities.

Success as a provider involves combining skills and vision to meet the needs of those whom God has called me to serve.  

A skilled Provider: Demonstrating wisdom in financial matters. Skilled providers are diligent in their work and make wise financial decisions. They display the qualities of initiative and creativity in their efforts, and they apply money-saving techniques, establish purchasing disciplines, and avoid debt. They have not only learned to be good stewards, but they are also generous givers who share their resources with those who are in need.

Success as a parent involves training those whom God entrust to my care.

Wise Parents direct their children to seek for God, to know Him, and to walk in obedience to His ways. By example, they lead them to live with the priorities of cultivating a relationship with God, maintaining family harmony, and advancing God’s kingdom. They invest in their children’s lives through praise and help each child discover God’s purpose for his or her life.

Success as a partner involves showing love in all circumstances and meeting the needs of the one whom God has knit me together as one.

A Loving Marriage Partner: Experiencing a Fulfilling Marriage. Successful marriage partners learn contentment before marriage and are committed to a covenant marriage. They are sensitive to the needs of their spouse and work as a team with their spouse. They apply the skills of good communication to preserve oneness in their marriage and to keep their relationships strong and free from bitterness.

Success as a proclaimer involves communicating biblical truth to fulfill the Great Commission.

An Effective Proclaimer of Truth: Developing a Powerful Life Message. Effective proclaimers of God’s truth communicate in truth and love. They share the message of salvation through Christ with others, understand the power of prayer, and live according to the Word of God. They are sensitive to the needs of others and alert to when it is timely and appropriate to speak about sensitive issues. They not only seek to make disciples for Christ, but they also help others become disciple-makers themselves.

 

The Need for a Holy Life- (Re-Post)

A Passage from the book- Holiness - By J. C. Ryle

Over the years, the subject of personal godliness has fallen sadly into the background. The Christian standard of living has become painfully low. The importance of “adorning the doctrine of God our Lord and Savior” (Tit 2:10), and making it lovely and beautiful by our daily habits and tempers, has been far too much overlooked. Worldly people complain with reason that so called “religious” or “Christians” are not as amiable and unselfish and good-natured as non-believers.

Sound doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by holy living. It is worse than useless: it does harm. It is despised and seen by the world, as an unreal and hollow thing, and brings religion into contempt.

It is my impression that we need a revival about scriptural holiness.

Our godless society! (Re-Post)

(Theodore Cuyler, "Wayside Springs from the Fountain of Life" 1883)

"Do not be conformed to the world." Romans 12:2

The sin of modern civilization has been well described as "making more of status than it does of character." But the very essence of Bible religion, is to make character everything--and conduct the test and evidence of character.Our godless society needs a strict, pure, honest, self-denying, godly-minded church! Conformity to the world--will never convert the world! We are not to accommodate Christianity to the thought and fashion of the times--but to keep it stoutly and steadily up to its original standards. We must stand fast, not only to the faith once delivered to the saints, but to the practices which are enjoined in God's Word.

Social life, with increase of wealth, has a trend towards demoralization. Luxury weakens morality. Popular amusements become sensualized and offer their temptations to the church. "Do not be conformed to the world" applies to the theater, the ball-room, the wine-cup, and to everything that would turn God's earth into a "Vanity Fair." Conformity to the world amounts, in the end, to more than the corruption of Christ's church. It puts out the light which Christ has kindled; it destroys the very leaven which He has prepared to purify and sweeten and save a "world lying in wickedness."

Happy Reformation Day

Since today is Reformation Day, I thought I would put this article out, it is from Ligonier Ministires (R.C. Sproul’s Website), this article is written by Robert Rothwell. It is really good. I hope everyone has a good day. Here is the link to the website, if you want to check out other articles. http://www.ligonier.org/ Josh What Is Reformation Day All About? Today, much of the culture will be focused on candy and things that go bump in the night. Protestants, however, have something far more significant to celebrate on October 31. Today is Reformation day, which commemorates what was perhaps the greatest move of God’s Spirit since the days of the Apostles. But what is the significance of Reformation Day, and how should we consider the events it commemorates? At the time, few would have suspected that the sound of a hammer striking the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany, would soon be heard around the world and lead ultimately to the greatest transformation of Western society since the apostles first preached the Gospel throughout the Roman empire. Martin Luther’s nailing of his ninety-five theses to the church door on October 31, 1517, provoked a debate that culminated finally in what we now call the Protestant Reformation. An heir of Bishop Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther is one of the most significant figures God has raised up since that time. This law student turned Augustinian monk became the center of a great controversy after his theses were copied and distributed throughout Europe. Initially protesting the pope’s attempt to sell salvation, Luther’s study of Scripture soon led him to oppose the church of Rome on issues including the primacy of the Bible over church tradition and the means by which we are found righteous in the sight of God. This last issue is probably Luther’s most significant contribution to Christian theology. Though preached clearly in the New Testament and found in the writings of many of the church fathers, the medieval bishops and priests had largely forgotten the truth that our own good works can by no means merit God’s favor. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, and good works result from our faith, they are not added to it as the grounds for our right standing in the Lord’s eyes (Eph. 2:8-10). Justification, God’s declaration that we are not guilty, forgiven of sin, and righteous in His sight comes because through our faith alone the Father imputes, or reckons to our account, the perfect righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Martin Luther’s rediscovery of this truth led to a whole host of other church and societal reforms and much of what we take for granted in the West would have likely been impossible had he never graced the scene. Luther’s translation of the Bible into German put the Word of God in the hands of the people, and today Scripture is available in the vernacular language of many countries, enabling lay people to study it with profit. He reformed the Latin mass by putting the liturgy in the common tongue so that non-scholars could hear and understand the preached word of God and worship the Lord with clarity. Luther lifted the unbiblical ban on marriage for the clergy and by his own teaching and example radically transformed the institution itself. He recaptured the biblical view of the priesthood of all believers, showing all people that their work had purpose and dignity because in it they can serve their Creator. Today, Luther’s legacy lives on in the creeds and confessions of Protestant bodies worldwide. As we consider his importance this Reformation Day, let us equip ourselves to be knowledgeable proclaimers and defenders of biblical truth. May we be eager to preach the Gospel of God to the world and thereby spark a new reformation of church and culture.

Happy Father's Day Weekend!!

Happy Father's Day to all the father's out there!  Hope everyone has a good Father's Day!!