Monthly Archives: June 2009

-The Gospel Demonstrated

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Here’s a great message and testimony from Ben Cerullo:

I will never forget that night. You could hear the astonishment in the people’s voices as they shouted with amazement. The woman they had known all their lives and referred to as “the deaf, mute woman” could suddenly hear!

It happened as I preached the message of salvation. This woman who had never heard, could suddenly hear the words from my mouth. All the people from the neighborhood were astounded. They knew her. They knew she was deaf. And now she could hear. It was a true miracle of God.

Not only was this woman’s life changed, but the entire neighborhood received hope by witnessing that miracle. In the worst neighborhood in Honduras, God poured out His hope to all those people—by healing that one woman.
That’s the incredible power of demonstrating the Gospel, that’s what we are all called to do—demonstrate the Gospel.

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-Judgment Begins with the Church

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Here’s another prophetic word by R. Loren Sandford:  “Recovering Our Lost Influence“(Link NLA).

Loren has some right-on counsel for the church here and points out that Christians lost their political and cultural influence in America because of hypocrisy in high places(failing Christian leaders) and because of a ‘religious’ pharisaic attitude towards unbelievers:

I don’t see judgment falling on the nation yet but rather on the church—God’s people—and it has only just begun. 1 Peter 4:17 clearly indicates that judgment begins with the house of God.

The first stage of judgment—already in motion—is that we have lost both our power as a voting block and our cultural influence. We have lost these things (1) because we have presented ourselves to the nation in the religious spirit rather than the Spirit of Christ and (2) because our integrity in high places has been badly compromised.

The second stage of judgment on the church in days to come is that the culture of this nation will continue in the direction it has been choosing to take for the last 40 years. The judgment is that we can do nothing to stop this slide into lawlessness and immorality because we’ve sacrificed our moral authority.

Sandford ends with good counsel for the American church

-How to Change Traditional Churches into New Testament Churches”

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(Image via Wikipedia)

Found this on Monday Morning Insight-an article on Guy Muse’s blog: “How to Change Traditional Churches into New Testament Churches”

Here’s a list of 15 suggestions that does certainly sound like the NT church alright –some of which may be the direction that the American church needs to go in the future or maybe not:

1. Replace professional clergy with Priesthood of all Believers with authority to baptize, break bread and equip fishers of men. (1 Peter 2:9clip_image002)

2. Replace Church building with “House of Peace.” (Luke 10:5-9clip_image002[1]; Matt. 10:11-13clip_image002[2])

3. Replace programmed Sunday service with daily informal gatherings. The Bride of Christ must have intimacy with her Lord every day and not just for a couple of hours a week lest she become unfaithful. (Acts 2:46-47clip_image002[3]; Hebrew 3:13) Continue reading →