The Way of the Master & Other Christian Resources

Take the time to watch this video.  Your eternal destiny may depend on it.  (The quality is not the best.  You can view the video clearer at www.wayofthemaster.com )

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by Leonard Ravenill

Peter in prison! What a jolt!

We are too far removed from the actual scene to catch the atmosphere of dismay the Christians of that day felt.

Peter had moved from Pentecost to prison, from jeers to spears. He was guarded by sixteen soldiers. One wonders why such a defenseless man needed such a group to watch him. Could it be that Herod feared the supernatural, seeing he knew that Jesus escaped such a group that guarded Him?

Had Peter been hedged in by sixteen hundred soldiers, the problem would not have been increased nor the escape less sure. Peter was bound not only by two chains, but also by the thick walls of the prison, by the three wards of the prison, and finally by an iron gate.

When Peter is in prison, does the church organize a plan to get him released? No. When Peter is jailed, do the believers offer a plea to Herod or suggest a price to offer the lawmakers for his freedom? No. Peter had released others at the hour of prayer; now others must believe for his release.

Right through the book of Acts, which might be called The Acts of Prayer, we find prayer and more prayer. Dig into the book and discover this power that motivated the early church. In the twelfth chapter of Acts we find a group that prayed. Though a host encamped against Peter, in this were these believers confident: there was a God who could and would deliver. The one never-failing rescue operation was prayer. There was no hedging about in the prayers of those who made intercession for Peter. Prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him. They did not seem to be concerned whether Herod should die or not. They did not pray that they might escape Peter's fate. They were not asking that they have another exodus to a more hospitable country. They prayed for one person: Peter. They prayed for one thing: his release. The answer proves the point: "Whatsoever ye shall ask,... that will I do"

Some shabby interpreters of this story have said that when the pray-ers heard that Peter was at the door, they were unbelieving. I cannot accept this assumption. I am sure that they prayed with expectation. I like to think that they were for the moment staggered by the immediacy of the answer. They could be excused if they raised their eyebrows when Peter said, "I got out quite easily with an angel escort " (Next time you pass through the magic self-opening door at your supermarket, remember that the first door to open of its own accord was operated from above!)

Angel deliverances seem to find no place in our modern theology. Perhaps we would like the Lord to answer our prayers with the least embarrassment to us. After all, who expects that the angelic ranks should be disturbed just to bring deliverance to a praying soul? But supernatural results came for many of the praying saints of apostolic days. The Lord geared a property-damaging earthquake to get deliverance for an apostle. Prayer is dynamite.

There is no weapon formed against prayer that can neutralize it. Some things can delay answers to prayer, but nothing can stop the full purpose of God. "Though it tarry, wait for it."

The first requirement in prayer is to believe.
-Believe that God is and that "he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
-Believe that God is alive and therefore has power-not only for Peter's deliverance, but for ours.
-Believe that God is love and that He cares for His own.
-Believe that God is power and therefore no power can stand against Him.
-Believe that God is truth and therefore cannot lie.
-Believe that God is kind and that He will never abdicate His throne or fail in His promise.

Reflecting on the story of Peter, I am rebuked, humiliated, chagrined, stung. Why? Because there are some great modern saints, Watchman Nee for one, who for years have suffered and been held captive by communists and others. Many of the saints today are shut up in prison. The same fate has befallen some of God's choice witnesses in Vietnam and in the Congo.

Such perils to other members of the Body demand concern, concentration, and consecration to a committed plan of prayer on their behalf. I fear that prayer has not been made to God without ceasing for these suffering kinsmen.

Mr. Bunyan shows us his Christian held captive by the Giant Despair in Doubting Castle. The key to his deliverance was Promise. We Christians are in captivity on many levels today personal, domestic, church, and missionary enterprise. But fetters break and dungeons fall when prayer is made by the church unto God-
-Prayer without ceasing;
-Prayer that might shatter our status quo;
-Prayer that drains us of every other interest;
-Prayer that excites us by its immense possibilities;
-Prayer that sees God as the One that rules on high, almighty to save;
-Prayer that laughs at impossibilities and cries, "It shall be done";
-Prayer that sees all things beneath His feet;
-Prayer that is motivated with desire for God's glory.

The praying of the believer can become a ritual. The place of prayer is more than a dumping ground for all our anxieties, frets, and fears. The place of prayer is not a place to drop a shopping list before the throne of a God with endless supplies and limitless power.

I believe the place of prayer is not only a place where I lose my burdens, but also a place where I get a burden. He shares my burden and I share His burden. "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." To know that burden, we must hear the voice of the Spirit. To hear that voice, we must be still and know that He is God.

This calamitous hour in the affairs of men demands a church healthier than the one we have. This blatant manifestation of evil in the youth and in the violation of God's commandments throughout the world calls for a faith that will not shrink.

Can we let our prayer swords rust in the scabbards of doubt? Shall our prayer harps hang tuneless on the willows of unbelief
-If God is a god of matchless power and incredible might,
-If the Bible is the unchangeable Word of the living God,
-If the virtue of Christ is as fresh today as when He first made the offering of Himself to God after His resurrection,
-If He is the one and only mediator today,
-If the Holy Spirit can quicken us as He did our spiritual fathers, Then all things are possible today.
The seas were boiling, the winds were howling, the sails were tearing, the spars were flying, the stars were hiding, Euroclydon was blasting. The people were cringing and crying, sobbing and sighing. One man alone was praising. All were expecting death save Paul. Amidst a scene of hopelessness, if ever there was one, Paul cries, "Sirs, I believe God" (Acts 27).

As things seem to fall apart these days, I am going to join Paul. I am going to say in faith, "Sirs, I believe God." Will you join me?

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Stephanie's response to the recent rash of "Christian messages" flooding inboxes these days.

Why do we sleep in church,
but when the sermon is over we suddenly wake up?
Because the majority of people professing to be Christians are not born again.

Why is it so hard to talk about God,
but so easy to talk about sex?
Because the majority of people professing to be Christians are not born again.

Why are we so bored when we look at a Christian magazine,
but find it easy to read Playboy?
Because the majority of people professing to be Christians are not born again.

Why is it so easy to ignore a Godly email message,
Yet we repost the nasty ones?
Because the majority of people professing to be Christians are not born again.

I would add: Because many of the so called "Godly emails" preach the "life-enhancement doctrine" and I refuse to forward such a message!!

Why are churches getting smaller,
But bars and clubs are growing?
Because the majority of people professing to be Christians are not born again.



John 3:3 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

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By Kirk Cameron

Some people have asked me if I could be wrong about my convictions about God and the Bible. Fair question. While there are many detailed reasons why I believe Jesus is God and the Bible is His Word, here is one simple way to look at it.

I could also be wrong about my wife's love for me. The last 13 years of marriage could have been a hoax. All the love and affection Chelsea has shown me, her devotion to my needs and wishes, and even all the self sacrificing service she's shown me in the name of her love for me could all be a deception. For thirteen years she's lived with me, raised my children, stood by my side in good times and in bad, comforted me when I've been sick, picked me up when I've been depressed, and defended my character at the risk of her own reputation.

In fact, I am so convinced that my wife's love for me is genuine that I would take all my money and put it into her own separate account without any ability to ever get it back. I would also sign an agreement giving her all my future earnings for the rest of my life. And I would trust her implicitly with the safety and well being of all my children. That's how much I believe her love for me is true.

But... I could be wrong. She could be lying. Imagine if I went home and said, "Honey I think you're a liar. A fraud... and I told the kids you're a liar and you don't really love me, and your love letters to me were all self-serving." Yes, I could decide that the last 13 years could have been nothing more than a scam and a secret deception.

But for me to believe that would be both irrational and despicable.

Irrational because everything she has done has demonstrated her faithfulness to me. There is no evidence that she has ever deceived me, but rather, all the evidence indicates that her love has been sincere. She's never shown me anything that would cause me to doubt her love for me. So for me to say she's lying would be totally nuts. I'd have to have mental problems or be under some form of severe paranoia before I could come to that conclusion.

More than that, in light of my wife's continual life of loving me and sacrificing for me... for me to imply that she is a fraud, would be a despicable betrayal. If I did that, it would actually prove that I was the imposter -- the fake. My so-called "love" for her would not be love at all. It would be nothing but self-serving, self-preserving, paranoia injuring her at great expense in light of what she's invested in me.

It is just simple logic that when I look back over our experiences together for the last 13 years, I have no choice but to be convinced that she is incredibly loving and loyal, and worthy of my complete devotion.

The same is true with God. In light of the last 14 years of walking with God, I have known what it is to hear His voice as it bears witness with my spirit through the Word. After experiencing His power to change my heart, and after all He's invested in me, I cannot turn my back on Him.

In fact there is one thing that I can never forget, one thing that puts my love for Him into overdrive! He proved His love for me by dying on the cross. To doubt His love after such a demonstration of it would be both deplorable and irrational. 

On the contrary, I am convinced that God and His Word are worthy of my complete devotion.

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"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?"

2 Corinthians 2:14–16

No wonder you love the Bible. It fits your racist, bigoted, barbaric world view. Sorry, but give me a combination of Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American philosophy, Aztec, Mayan, and Incan philosophy and many other views that our wonderfully, culturally diverse planet and brotherhood of man has put forth.

But you loath cultural diversity. That's you—Adolf Cahill. I'm sure you're goose stepping right now and singing, “Born Again Christianity - Uber Alles!!!!”

It was great meeting you the other day as well! It's not everyday you get to have such an interesting conversation with someone you just meet. I admire you for being able to just approach people and get them talking about such a deep topic. That is a skill I lack. Christian and I have been telling everyone we talk to about meeting you. It really was a cool coincidence. I'm looking forward to being able to sit down and read your book! You'll definitely hear from me when I'm done with it.

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.

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by Paul Ravenhill

Have we meditated on the fact that God, in the first four days, separated:
          the light from the darkness,
          the waters above from the waters beneath,
          the waters from the dry land,
          the day from the night?
These were four necessary steps in the work of creation.

Have we thought of the fact that there must be a similar process in our lives?
          Without separation there can be no order or clarity.
          Without separation all is confused, in disarray.
          Without separation God will not start the work of creation in us!

The process, for us, is not a mere acceptance of God.
The process involves a searching by the Spirit of the deepest areas within.
The process is a separation, many times painful, of the precious from the vile so that the work of God may advance form one stage to the next, until all is complete, until nothing lacks of all that He has proposed:

A NEW creation.
A work which glorifies God alone.

Copyright © 1997 by Paul Ravenhill - http://www.ravenhill.org

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The Apostle Paul had a passion for the lost. He cried, “Necessity is laid upon me!” A “continual, intense distress” was laid upon him. He was no superficial Christian.

When sinners patronizingly say to you, “Well, I’m pleased you are happy as a Christian,” tell them that you’re not “happy.”

Do you think “happy” would be the right word to use to describe the state of mind of the survivors of the Titanic as they sat in lifeboats with loved ones drowning all around them? They would have unspeakable joy that they were saved, but they would be grieved beyond words at what was happening around them.

The Bible says that Jesus had an “oil of gladness above His fellows,” (Hebrews 1:9) but He was a “Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3)

Are you acquainted with the grief of the fate of the lost? It should consume us.

There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.

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WHAT GOD'S WORD SAYS ABOUT ABORTION

By Lynn Copeland

God speaks very clearly in the Bible on the value of unborn children. God's Word says that He personally made each one of us, and has a plan for each life:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" (Jeremiah 1:5).

"Even before I was born, God had chosen me to be His" (Galatians 1:15).

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mothers womb . . . Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:13, 16). "Your hands shaped me and made me . . . Did You not clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life" (Job 10:8, 12).

"This is what the Lord saysHe who made you, who formed you in the womb" (Isaiah 44:2).

"Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One form us both within our mothers?" (Job 31:15).

Because man is made in Gods own image (Genesis 1:27), each life is of great value to God: "Children are a gift from God" (Psalm 127:3). He even calls our children His own: "You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to Me and sacrificed them...You slaughtered My children" (Ezekiel 16:20,21). The Bible says of our Creator, "In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being" (Job 12:10). God, the giver of life, commands us not to take the life of an innocent person: "Do not shed innocent blood" (Jeremiah 7:6); "Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person" (Deuteronomy 27:25). "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). Taking the life of the unborn is clearly murder"He didnt kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave" (Jeremiah 20:17) and God vowed to punish those who "ripped open the women with child" (Amos 1:13).

The unborn child was granted equal protection in the law; if he lost his life, the one who caused his death must lose his own life: "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined . . .But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life" (Exodus 21:22,23). Life is a gift created by God, and is not to be taken away by abortion. God is "prochoice," but He tells us clearly the only acceptable choice to make: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

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