WORSHIP WITHOUT LIMITS

In our day we must be dramatic about everything. We don't want God to work unless He can make a theatrical production of it. We want Him to come dressed in costumes with a beard and with a staff. We want Him to play a part according to our ideas. Some of us even demand that He provide a colorful setting and fireworks as well!    ~  ~  ~  ~ Many churches these days have to depend upon truckloads of gadgets to get their religion going, and I am tempted to ask: What will they do when they don't have the help of the trappings and gadgets? The truck can't come along where they are going!    ~  ~  ~  ~ Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, and that however high the spiritual life might rise it must always begin with a deep sense of a great need which only God could satisfy. If this ...

The Bible is a vein of pure gold, unalloyed   by quartz or any earthly substance. This is a star without a speck,   a sun with a blot,   a light without darkness,   a moon without it's paleness,   and a glory without a dimness. O Bible!  It cannot be said of any other book that it is perfect and pure, but of the Bible we can declare that all wisdom is gathered up in it without a particle of folly. This is the judge that ends the strife where wit and reason fail. This is the Book untainted by any error,  but is pure, unalloyed, perfect truth. The Joy of Our Souls! (Charles Spurgeon) "Christ became to us the Joy of Our Souls. Home, friends, health, wealth, comforts — all lost their 'luster' that day when He saved us, just as stars are hidden by the light of the sun." Our Everlasting Song! The following is from Spurgeon's sermon, "CHRIST—PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS...

It is not opinions that man needs—it is truth. It is not theology that man needs—it is God. It is not religion that man needs—it is Christ. It is not literature and science that man needs—but the knowledge of the free love of God in the gift of His only-begotten Son! ~ ~ ~ ~ In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone with God. It is not in society, that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer, it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air its purest. ~ ~ ~ ~ I looked for the church—and I found it in the world! I looked for the world—and I found it in the church! ~ ~ ~ ~ We are forgiven—that we may be like Him who forgives us! ~ ~ ~ ~ Christian, your whole life is to be one continuous following of the ...

Do you believe God is willing to come quickly to solve your problem? Here is where many Christians fall short. They know God has all they need and they admit he cares. But when he doesn't answer their cry right away, they think of all kinds of reasons why he must not be willing to come to their aid. On Mount Carmel, Elijah spoke confidently of his God. He taunted the prophets of Baal by accusing their god of child neglect: "[They] called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice; no one answered. . . .  And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’ "So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom . . . until the blood gushed out on them. . . . But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention" (1 Kings 18:26–29). ...

In the context of the timing and the signs of His Return and the end of the age, Jesus warns us that there will be an increase in deception, wars and rumors of wars, national unrest, famines and earthquakes, persecution and lawlessness, and that most people’s love will grow cold (Matt. 24:3-12). He uses the analogy of birth pains (v. 8) which may well indicate that the signs, like birth pains, will increase both in frequency and intensity. He admonishes us that “when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). As we consider Jesus’ teaching, it seems that all around us are indications that “the end of all things is at hand” (1 Pet. 4:7). We are living in an hour marked by moral deterioration, national conflicts, natural disasters, economic woes and increasing uncertainty and fear. Conditions in our world are becoming more troubled, and pressures on nations and individuals are rising. If ever the...

"Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, and thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?" Genesis 20:9. For long years an evil may lurk in our hearts, permitted and unjudged, breeding failure and sorrow in our lives, as some unnoticed and forgotten sewer may secretly undermine the health of an entire household. In the twilight we overlook many a thing which we should not allow for a single moment if we saw it in its true character; and which, amid the all-revealing light of the perfect day, we should be the first to fling away in horror. But that which escapes our ken is patent in all its naked deformity to the eye of God. "The darkness and the light are both alike to Him." And He will so direct the discipline of our lives as to set in clear prominence the deadly evil which He hates; so that, when He has laid bare the cancerous growth, He may bring us to long for and...