Written by Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Whitefield: Ignoring God’s Word
God has condescended to become an author, and yet people will not read his writings. There are very few that ever gave this Book of God, the grand charter of salvation, one fair reading through. – George Whitefield
VBC Audio: The Right Way to Treat Your Wife, 1 Peter 3:7
Pastor Lloy Stevens, 06/16/13, AM Serivce
Update from Dr. Eric Chapman
Dear Friends,
We have had a good week in Malawi, preaching the Gospel to almost 5,000 teens in two weeks. We are in the Lower Shire this week, which is one of the poorest places on our planet. The young people have been over joyed with watching puppets and playing new games. We have been privileged to see hundreds make a profession of faith in Christ.
The report from our team in Siberia, Russia is very encouraging. They went into this situation as a pioneer work and although Mihai (the leader) said they got off to a rocky first few days, things are going great now. In their first full week of day camp ministry they have shared the Gospel with 625 people, mostly teenagers.
In Moldova we only had camp in the north this last week due to government inspections still in process in the central camp. Victor Chiper shares that we had 114 campers and 63 accepted the Lord this week in the northern camp!
We are having a great summer. Please keep us in your prayers and help us bring these children and teens to camp with any additional support you can spare.
Pray for the camps, Dr. Eric Chapman EurAsian Baptist Mission P.O. Box 7689 Pensacola, FL 32534 www.eurasianbaptistmission.comHam: Do We Have the Definition of Marriage Wrong?
The biblical definition of marriage has faced an incredible amount of attack from secularists lately, with the push for the legalization of same-sex marriage. But in a recent article in an Iowa newspaper, three professors—two of religious studies and one of history—claimed that evangelical Christians have the definition of marriage wrong.1 The authors on this article were Robert Cargill, assistant professor of religious studies at University of Iowa; Kenneth Atkinson, associate professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa; and Hector Avalos, professor of religious studies at Iowa State University:
As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.
Now, there is not a single statement in Scripture affirming polygamy, homosexual behavior, bestiality, and so on. These academics cite a number of instances of polygamy in the Old Testament as evidence for their point. And while it’s true that God-fearing men such as Jacob or King David practiced polygamy, God didn’t affirm their behavior. In fact, polygamous lifestyles inevitably brought hardship and judgment on them. (For a more detailed explanation of the biblical view of polygamy, see “What About Polygamy in the Bible?” and “Contradictions: A Man of Many Wives” by Roger Patterson.)
- http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130603/OPINION01/306030016/Iowa-View-1-man-1-woman-isn-t-the-Bible-s-only-marriage-view?gcheck=1 [↩]
Spurgeon: Found Wanting
If we thus read God’s Word as a test of our spiritual condition, we shall have good reason to stop many a time and say, “Lord, I feel I have never yet been here, O bring me here! give me true penitence, such as this I read of. Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness; make me more like Jesus. Let me no longer be ‘found wanting,’ when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest I be found wanting in the scales of judgment.” – C. H Spurgeon
Stanley: Obedience
The word obedience is defined as: compliance to the plan; conformity to the pattern; observance of the rules; adherence to the standard; and submission to another’s will. Obedience is the “bottom line” in the Christian life. Basic to every decision we make is the necessity of knowing what Scripture says about the issue, what action God wants us to take, what attitude would please Him, and what steps are required.
To obey means doing what God says in the timing and manner He says to do it. We must, then, know what His instructions are; we can’t comply with something we don’t understand. The Holy Spirit assists us in relating God’s commands to our situation and helps us in determining the wisest course of action. – Chales Stanley
