"I share your pain," we often say —
A friend stands side by side —
But pleasure shared, like children's play,
Swells the gladding tide.
What greater joy or deeper delight
Among the halls of man,
To share the key to human plight,
In God's salvation plan?
Here was my short list of things to be thankful for, posted yesterday, after Rafael and I finished up the evangelistic studies Thanksgiving morning.
The plan is still for him to be baptized Saturday at our area-wide fellowship in the city of Tremembé. Please pray for his salvation and for his growth as a new convert.
Continue to prayer for our plans for the new year as well.
I've enjoyed reading many of your thanksgiving lists and of others.
We pray the Lord bless your every good effort for the gospel.
Sometimes we spend more time talking about proofs for the existence of #God than we do proving his presence in our lives to those who need to hear the #gospel.
Recently someone asked, more or less, the following question: “How do we know that the things that were done in one church in the first century were done in the other churches as well?” That’s a good question because if we can’t know that the things practiced, say, in Corinth, were also practiced in Rome, then we can’t really know that we ought to practice the same things that they practiced in religion today.
A VeryImportantPost. Many claim that there's such a diversity of teaching among churches of the NT that it is wrong to hold to a unity of gospel doctrine
Our Lord is not interested in forced service or bribed obedience. He is interested in people being persuaded to “obey from the heart” (Romans 6:17). God desires a transformation of the whole man which begins with “the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Of course, with that persuasion when we preach the Word of God enters the power of the Spirit to convince. But Mike's point is valid. We don't force or bribe or manipulate. We urge people to make their own decisions.
The ancient theologian, Origen, once stated, “The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay” (Origen On First Principles 3.1.11 – source). Similarly, the preaching of the gospel softens the hearts of some, but hardens the hearts of others (2 Corinthians 2:15-16; cf. Acts 13:44-45; Acts 13:46-48).
Mike is pithy and to the point. Only eternity will reveal the good he does in his articles. Read this one by clicking on the link above and applying it to your heart.
These were taken by her daughter Flavia. Baptism was yesterday (Saturday, July 31). The actual baptism itself was filmed in video; see next entry.
More later, but here is one photo of her baptism in COLD water, in her backyard swimming pool; another taken earlier after her daughter Fernanda's baptism in April and her granddaughter's birth. They heard the gospel through Vicki.
Quick Bible Truths started and continues on Twitter. It's growing by leaps and bounds there, with hundreds of followers, as noted some months ago.
But did you know that QBT also has its own website? There, you can sign up to the "Email Subscription" at the top of the right column and get this pithy writings in your email account's inbox. Just insert your email address and then reply to the confirmation request. You'll be getting these gems of truth by email. What can be easier than that?
And there's always the RSS feed as well, if you prefer that.