May 7
To a large degree, the gospel will only grip others’ hearts to the measure in which it has gripped our own. Robert Robinson was living a wicked life in London when he and some friends decided to hear George Whitefield preach. That evening he took his text from Matthew 3:7, “When He saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to His baptism, He said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” Bursting into tears, Whitefield cried, “Oh, my hearers! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!” For three long years, those words haunted Robinson until at last he...
Read MoreMay 6
Mormonism (Latter-Day Saints) was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, and now claims more than 12 million adherents. They believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate gods. Salvation is accomplished by faith in Christ, good works, ordinances, and evangelism. Humankind is of the same species as God, were begotten in heaven as offspring of his wives, and were sent to earth for their potential exaltation and godhood. Mormons go to heaven with God and their families; hell is for those who reject God after death. They practice baptism for the dead and eternal marriage,...
Read MoreMay 5
How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead? The Lord would not leave us in any doubt. “He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days” (Acts 1:3). Writing circa 56 ad, Paul lists some of the witnesses who saw the risen Christ (and that doesn’t include the meetings with women, their testimony not being valid in a first century court of law), including the statement that over 500 saw Him all at once. Who would deny the corroborating testimony of so many? And many of the witnesses would seal their testimony in their own...
Read MoreMay 4
No one can calculate the suffering and death that swept through Angola during its 27-year civil war, as forces from around the world battled for control of that country’s natural resources. It is estimated that 1.5 million died, many of them believers. Church elders were systematically killed to destabilize the communities. One missionary who returned to his field of labor after the slaughter could find only one surviving elder from hundreds of local churches. The youngest of seven elders, he had been kept last to be executed in hopes that he would recant. But when the sixth elder dropped at...
Read MoreMay 3
George Goodman writes: An appeal should only be made when the Spirit has evidently been convicting the hearers, and then in such sober and wise terms as will leave no doubt as to the step to be taken. We are not without precedent in Scripture. Perhaps the appeal par excellence is, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). The instruction given by Peter at Pentecost is another excellent example. “With many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this...
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