THE CROSS By Steve Shipley

A good friend of mine recently gave me a book to read, "A Violent Grace", by Michael Card. I highly recommend this to everyone. Below is an excerpt.

The cross seems to have disappeared from the Christian art and music of our time. Worse, it has disappeared from many hearts and minds as well. I must confess that my own ministry, which began with a singular focus on the cross of Christ, has slowly shifted towards more popular and palatable themes. I used to relish the criticism that I was "preaching and singing about the cross too much".

In fact, the key verse for the first ten years of my ministry was, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." ( I Cor. 2:2 ) Lately, though, I've noticed that it seems to be easier to get things done by avoiding such criticism. My early critics were right: It's hard to sell songs about a crucified man. Better to sing, preach, and write about the positives---peace, prosperity, and easy grace. To a society obsessed with abundance and acceptance, the Good News minus the cross ( which is no good news at all ) does seem to keep the coffers and pews full. What are we to do? Where are we to stand if we long to stand for Christ? I believe that if we are to maintain Biblical Christianity in the new century. we must refocus our attention on the cross.

For him who has ears to hear, let him hear!

I'd Rather Have Jesus.....Sung by Steve Shipley

GIFTS FROM GOD! by Steve Shipley

Every Christmas, you hear folks grumble on about the commercialization of the holiday. Well, I for one, like the shopping and the gift giving. Sure, there is a deeper, more important meaning to Christmas and Jesus IS the reason for the season. But to me, one of the highlights of Christmas Day is watching my grand-kids open their presents. No Grinch is going to take that away from me.

A few years ago, my young grandson, Christian, was a huge fan of the "Star Wars" movies. On Christmas, the first present he opened was a huge spacecraft from the movie. He yelped and grabbed it up and headed out of the room exclaiming, "I'm done!". At that point, for him, Christmas was over. He got what he wanted. It was no matter that there were still countless more gifts under the tree that were just as wonderful. He loved his new toy and off he went to play with it.

This is very much like many Christians are when it comes to God. We take His marvelous gift of salvation through Christ and we're finished. Off we go, saying, "I'm done!". But alas, our heavenly Father has many more gifts to bestow upon us; but we're in the other room, content with the one. The Bible says that, "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights." He has awesome gifts to give to each of one of us. Don't make the mistake of thinking that it's over after opening the gift of salvation. Search the scriptures and you will find much more. God wants to bless you far more than you can imagine! ( ( Hint: I Cor. 12 )

My little grandson soon realized that there were more presents to open on that Christmas day. His joy was componded with each gift he unwrapped. Christmas really IS about the gifts. It's about the gift of salvation through Jesus our Savior. Then it's about all the gifts follow! Have a merry Christmas and remember to open all your Gifts!

NO PAIN, NO GAIN by Steve Shipley

It is human nature for us to do all we can to avoid suffering. After all, pain is not pleasant. Body builders coined the phrase, "no pain, no gain", and that's why we have so few body builders. If it was easy and "painless" then it would be rare to see an overweight or out of shape person.

Christianity could easily adopt the "no pain, no gain" mantra, because there's a lot of truth to that in our spiritual lives. To grow up in Christ, you will experience growing pains. Jesus said it so clearly, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." Self denial is no fun and cross carrying is even worse. David Wilkerson had this to say about the subject:

"Christians want an escape from pain and suffering! We want our troubles to vanish. And we are so caught up in our escape from pain, we lose the true meaning of the cross. We refuse crosses and losses- no Gethsemane for us! No nights of agony! We don't even know this suffering, bleeding, resurrected Christ!

We want His healing power. We want His promises of prosperity. We want His protection. We want more of this world's goods. We want His happiness. But we really don't want Him alone!

The Church once confessed it's sins- now it confesses it's rights. What if---instead of our beautiful homes and cars, we had to wander about in sheepskins, hiding in dens and caves? No healing. No success. No prosperity. No worldly blessings. No miracles, signs and wonders. How many of us would serve Him if He offered nothing but Himself?"

That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." Phil. 3:10

No pain, No gain.

We Need Another Pentecost by Leonard Ravenhill

The following is an excerpt from Mr Ravenhill's book, SODOM HAD NO BIBLE.

  Sodom had no churches, We have thousands. Sodom had no bible. We have millions. Sodom had no preachers. We have ten thousand plus thousands. Sodom had no Bible schools. We have hundreds. Sodom had no prayer meetings. We have thousands. Sodom had no Gospel broadcasts. As a nation we are richly blessed with Gospel broadcasts. Sodom had no histories of God's judgement to warn it of danger. We have volumes of them Sodom perished in spite of all these disadvantages. America today is living only by the mercies of God. The only reason we are not smoking in the fire wrath of God is mercy....m-e-r-c-y.... prolonged mercy!

There is no hope of immediate revival until the lostness of men grips us believers like a fever and moves us to personal and church housecleaning. The church in the book of Acts did not say prayers, it prayed in the Holy Ghost; it did not write articles of faith, it acted in faith; it did not gather in groups to study psychosomatic medicine, it healed the sick

We must despise diversions. Death to self interest, self pity, self seeking and all other human frailties.  The Holy Spirit must fill and flood and flow through the heart. Only then is it possible to fulfill our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The answer to our dilemma is not a new revelation. the answer is seeking old paths and digging out old wells. The church needs to go back to Pentecost!

A Word From The Lord by Steve Shipley

I once knew a pastor who got all his sermons from books or from the hierarchy of the denomination. As a result, there was no passion or fire in his preaching. He never got a "word from the Lord' directly. He hadn't spent days or nights in prayer seeking what God would have him preach for his congregation. He simply gave book reports week after week.

I asked him if he had ever heard from the Holy Spirit on this matter and he looked at me quite puzzled. His reply was very alarming, "No, I don't believe I've ever heard from the Holy Spirit" This pastor was honest, at least, but I'm afraid all too many ministers repeat other men's sermons and never get their message straight from the source.

In the Old Testament, we read about Moses, who went to the mountain top to speak with God. God told him what to tell the people and the people knew that he had been with God because his face shone with the glory of the Lord. The analogy is simple. We need men who have been with God, who get their message from God, and who shine with His glory. A man who has heard from the Lord Almighty will preach with a passion that will ignite his people. The Bible will come alive to the those in the pews and the guy in the pulpit alike.

When I go to church, I want to hear the Bible taught and preached, but I want to hear it from a man who has been with the Lord. Everyone would listen when that man spoke.

A Book You MUST read! by Steve Shipley

A woman excitedly told me of a book she had read that had changed her life. She wrote down the title and author on a piece of paper for me and urged me to get it and read it. " This book is a MUST read!" , she told me repeatedly.

It was a Christian book and I'm sure it had some value to it but it struck me funny at the time. Funny how we get so excited about a man's book and are so ho-hum about God's book. I mean it's His book that is really life-changing. It's the Bible that contains the words of life. I'm not finger pointing here. My bookshelves are filled with books....good books. I think the Lord was just showing me how silly we sometimes are. If we only spent as much time reading His book as we spent chasing after bestsellers at the Christian bookstore, we would all be a lot better off.

It's time to get back to the Bible!