One Lost Sheep

 

 

The One Lost Sheep

By David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

Years ago, God put it on my heart to start a boys’ home on Long Island. I truly sensed the Lord was behind this work. However, after just eighteen months, state officials imposed such stringent regulations on the operation of the home that we had no option but to close it down.

We’d taken in four boys during the brief time we were open. After we closed down, I lost touch with them. I had always thought that venture was one of the greatest failures of my time. For more than three decades, I wondered why God ever allowed us to move forward with it.

Recently I received a letter from a young man named Clifford.

He wrote, “Brother David, I was one of the four boys sent to the home on Long Island. Your houseparents were so loving and kind. They taught us the Bible and took us to church. One day they took us to a church that was holding a tent revival. I was so bitter and despondent. It was there, under the tent, that the Holy Spirit began tugging at my heart. I heard the preacher say, ‘Jesus loves you.’ All the years of pain, confusion and hopelessness came to the surface. I got on my knees and prayed. That was thirty-five years ago. Now God has called me to preach, and he’s moving me into full-time ministry. This ‘thank you’ has been brewing in me all this time. I just want to thank you for caring. I know what the love of God is.”

This man’s letter proves to me that nothing we do for Christ is in vain. That boys’ home was not a failure because one lost, confused boy discovered the meaning of God’s love.

This is the joy that Christ described in his parable, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7, NKJV)

 

You are cordially invited to join Renew Your Strength Bible Study Group 

 

Birds And Bees

 

I feel sorry for parents today who have to explain the birds and bees... bees and bees... birds and birds... birds that used to be bees... bees that used to be birds... birds that look like bees... bees that look like birds... PLUS bees that look like birds but still got a stinger.

 

Enoch

 

 

By David Wilkerson (1931-2011)

 

Is Church Membership Necessary for Salvation?

The first book of scripture tells us of a man who should inspire our walk with God. “So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:23-24, NKJV). Our brother Enoch had no Bible, no songbook, no fellow members, no teacher, no indwelling Holy Spirit, no rent veil with access to the Holy of Holies, but he knew God! 

“But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). How do we know that Enoch believed God was a rewarder? Because we know that is the only faith that pleases God, and we know that Enoch pleased him. God is a remunerator, one who pays well for faithfulness. How does the Lord reward his diligent ones?

There are three important rewards that come by believing God and walking with him in faith.

1. God’s control of our lives. When we neglect the Lord, we soon spin out of control as the devil moves in and takes over. If only we would fall in love with Jesus! God would soon show us that Satan has no real dominion over us, and we would quickly allow Christ to control us.

2. Having a “pure light.” When we walk with the Lord, we are rewarded with light, direction, discernment and revelation — a certain “knowing” that God gives us — that will guide us through life. 

3. Protection from all our enemies. Scripture promises, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17). In the original Hebrew, this verse is translated as “No plan, no instrument of destruction, no satanic artillery shall push you or run over you, but it will be done away with.”

Enoch learned to walk pleasingly before God in the midst of a wicked society. He was an ordinary man with all the same problems and burdens we carry. Each day as he walked with the Lord, though, he became less attached to the things of the world. When we live this way, we obey Christ’s commands, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

If Church membership is not necessary for salvation then Why Go To Church?

 

Liberal Logic

 

      

25% of liberals are being treated for mental illness.

 

That's scary... 75% are running around untreated.

 

The English Bible

 
On this day, October 6, 1536, William Tyndale 

was strangled to death and his body burned at 

the stake for the crime of translating the Bible 

into English. Remember that as you read your 

English Bible today. 

As he was dying he yelled out his final 

prayer, "Lord, open the king of England's 

eyes!"

A true HERO of The Faith!  Sadly, nowadays, all 

too few Christians recognize what great men 

these were and how much we are indebted to 

them for their courage and for their contribution 

to our now being able to easily access the text of 

Scripture. 

Since Tyndale's English translation in 1526, translators and publishers have created approximately 900 different English Bibles, making it hard to know what God really said.

Example: Psalm 12:6-7

Geneva 1599: The words of the Lord are pure words, as the silver, tried in a furnace of earth, fined sevenfold. Thou wilt keep them, O Lord; thou wilt preserve him from this generation forever.

What does "him" refer back to?

KJV 1611: The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

"Them" refers back to the words of the Lord.

NIV 1978: And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked.

Notice all the word changes of the NIV version. Why did the publishers change so many words?  Answer: Publishers cannot get a copyright (and make more money) unless at least 10% of the words are different from the original.

No need to choose, simply go to Strong's Concordance and see what the original word God inspired to be written. Do not blindly trust ANY translation of the Bible. Always check the original Hebrew and Greek words to get the true meaning and intend.

 

You Are Cordially Invited to Renew Your Strength Bible Study Group