Tag: Faith

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Spiritual Warfare is Real Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Jim Cymbala 

  • Satan is the cause of evil and the originator of evil. He is just as real as the Lord is. 
  • When you became a Christian, you entered in the spiritual war. 
  • Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent.
  • Satan is originally from heaven, God’s beautiful creation. But he fell from Heaven and is against God and all that has to do with God. 
  • The devil looks for weakness, that’s why we are told to be strong in the Lord. 
  • The kingdom of darkness is only defeated by the Kingdom of Light. 
  • We have many things prepared for us and at our disposal, but faith is what will turn the key. 1 John 5:4. 
        • Jesus was never amazed at anything in this world except for someone’s faith. 
        • Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. 
  • God says believe, while Satan says don’t believe. 
  • Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is sure of the future though can’t see it. Faith gives assurance about future. 
  • Faith says look at the future, Satan says look at the now. 
  • We can be victorious today through faith. 
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Seasons of Sorrow Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Tim Challies 

  • When a child of God dies, he does not go away, rather goes ahead. 
  • The Bible uses the example of sleep for death. Sleep is a time to rest, but it is not an end. 
  • God is good all the time. There’s no laps in God’s sovereignty. 
  • Who are we to deem something as evil if God has deemed it as good. 
  • Bless God in the giving and in the taking. 
  • Our children are more God’s creation than our procreation. 
  • Be careful to distinguish the purpose from the results – why God did something and how God will use it.
  • You can accept something by faith as God‘s will, and God‘s will is always perfect. 
  • Do not charge God with wrong. 
  • You can receive something as a trial to steward instead of a punishment to endure.
  • Things may scar you but they do not have to define you. 
  • God was, is, and will be with you at all times. 
  • We can decide to bow our will to God’s throne.
  • God’s actions are always good and His timing is always perfect.
  • God gave talents: to one servant, one; to another, two; and to another, five. He never asked who wanted what/how many talents, and He doesn’t ask us what He will give or take from us. 
  • A perfect God with with perfect character will display His perfect Will. 
  • God begins every life, has authority over every life, and ultimately ends every life. 
  • Death is the great interruptor. It is also the great redirector. 
  • You do not have to spend the rest of your life incapacitated by sorrow, you can allow it to motivate you to serve God greater. 
  • God owes you no answer, and you would be wrong to demand one. 
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Remaining Faithful in Ministry Book Review by Jeff Bush

by John MacArthur 

  • We are in ministry because of God’s mercy. It’s an undeserved gift. 
  • Renounce and repudiate hypocrisy. Be the same in private and in public. 
  • A clear conscience is a gift. You keep it clear by winning the sin battle on the inside. 
  • You have a duty to your Master. 
  • Believe that the results belong to God.
  • Paul did not have an inflated view of himself. He knew who he was — 1 Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8
  • We must not forget that we are mere jars of clay.
  • Those that do not embrace their suffering are more likely to become overwhelmed, quit or give up their faith altogether.
  • Paul was looking for a future reward in Heaven. 
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Organic Church Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Neil Cole 

  • We expect people to come to church, when the Great Commission commands us to go to them. 
  • God did not expect for us to go to Him, He came to us. 
  • Since we are the light of the world, we should not be running from darkness but running towards darkness to lighten it up. 
  • The key to starting churches that reproduce spontaneously is taking Jesus to the lost people.
  • We should not be interested in starting a regional church, rather making Jesus available to a whole region.
  • Lower the bar to how church is done and raise the bar to what it means to be a disciple of Christ. 
  • The gospel says go, but we seem to stay. The gospel says take the good news to the lost, but we wait for the lost to come to us.
  • Someone said that we shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us. A church building should not confine God’s work.
  • Church worship is much more than what we do weekly for one hour. The only time God mentions church and worship together was about a lifestyle of serving him 24 hours a day.
  • The kingdom of God is to be decentralized, but God’s people constantly try to centralize it. God wants his people to fill the Earth with His glory.
  • Apostles specifically means sent ones. 
  • The church in Jerusalem was told to go, but they stayed. God had to bring persecution on the church in order for the gospel to be spread.
  • Southern Baptist have said that only 4% of churches in America will produce a daughter church. 
  • We cannot compete with the world’s show. Wherever the next best show is, that’s where people run. 
  • The key to a healthy church is not more attendance, more money, nicer buildings, or better activities. 
  • Healthy disciples make a healthy church, and reproducing disciples make a reproducing church. 
  • Accountability, confidentiality, caring for needs of each other, flexibility, communication, direction, and leadership is better done in smaller groups/churches.
  • One reason churches are not growing today is because they have left out the outreach chromosome.
  • We are tempted to focus on models that work when we should be focused on the Master. 
  • The Ethiopian eunuch was one of the best evangelists we know. After being saved, he only had the Holy Spirit and the Scripture, but he went back to his people and shared the gospel. 
  • As Christians, we should repent of: 
      1. Underestimating what God can do through new believers
      2. Overestimating what we think our value is in the growth of new believers.
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Bible Principles of Faith Promise Giving

Taken from a book mark/brochure used by many churches for Missions Conferences (original author not known)

1.) It is Scriptural

In the Old Testament we find that the people gave over and above their tithes. As God blessed them, they gave to God and to His work.

In the New Testament the Apostle Paul received gifts of various churches. These gifts were special offerings which were collected and given to the work of the Lord. The words “gift”, “bounty”, “abundance”, and “willingly”, are all words which he uses to characterize this giving. In the book of II Corinthians 9:6-7, we read, “He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

2.) It is a source of God’s provision and blessing.

Faith Promise giving is “willing” giving. It is never required. The giver must be sensitive to God and open to what He will do through us. One of the great blessings of the Christian life is to allow God to work through us in meeting the needs of others’ lives. Faith Promise provides the opportunity for us to become personally involved in giving to help spread the Gospel to those who are without Jesus Christ. Not only are we obeying God’s command, but we are also bringing blessings to ourselves, our families our church and to others. Continue reading “Bible Principles of Faith Promise Giving”