Christ Communicator

My dear brother BJ provided a great quote this morning from Dale Ralph Davis (Also, read this humorous post about Shamu). This is great stuff for a weary Wednesday, and I loved the imagery about the hand cream! Here it is:

“The popular image of Jesus is that he is not only kind and tender but also soft and prissy, as though Jesus comes to us reeking of hand cream. Such a Jesus can hardly steel the soul that is daily assaulted by the enemy. We need to learn the catechism of Psalm 24. Question: Who is the King of glory? Answer: Yahweh, strong and mighty! Yahweh – mighty in battle! (Ps 24:8). We must catch the vision of the Faithful and True sitting on the white horse, the One who ‘judges and makes war’ in righteousness (Rev 19:11-16). No mild God of soft Jesus can give his people hope. It is only as we know the warrior of Israel who fights for us (and sometimes without us) that we have hope of triumphing in the muck of life” (Davis, Joshua: No Falling Words, Focus on the Bible, p82).

Thanks Beej!

^2:1Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

 ² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

We should all be for an ”invitation” if by that we mean calling on people to repent and believe in Christ, but what about the “invitation system” or “altar call” that is prevelant in churches and evangelistic meetings today? No matter where you stand on this issue, you’ll want to read Dangers of the Invitation System by Jim Erhard.

I hope my friends who are ”pro-invitation system” will give it a fair hearing, and even if you do not agree with altar calls, this booklet will aid you when you are asked to give a defense for your non-practice of what is so common especially in Baptist churches today. 

If you would like to receive a free copy (we’ll even cover shipping) of this booklet, contact me via e-mail and be sure to include your name and address.

From the back cover:

Author Jim Erhard writes…

“As a young minister, I once made the ‘mistake’ of closing a Wednesday evening service without extending a public invitation. Early the next morning, an irate husband came to my office. For the first time in years, his unsaved wife had come with him to church. ‘If you had only given an invitation,’ he angrily explained, ‘she would have gone down the aisle.’”

What follows is an explanation of five dangers of the public alter call system. You will find this presentation to be a compelling treatise on this critical subject.

Jim Erhard is a pastor, professor, and author. He travels extensively overseas, teaching in seminaries and Bible Institutes. Jim leads Teaching Resources, a ministry he founded, based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

A blog of pertinent articles from the past from the staff of CCW.  The plan is to post two writings a week (Monday and Wednesday).  

Here it is: www.CCWblog.org   

¹⁰ And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;

¹¹ they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,

¹² like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”

¹³ And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Katie is quite excited that she has a blog.  We had a wonderful father/daughter time tonight putting it together.  She hugged me tight and thanked me about 10 times once we were finished.  Here it is:

www.katieburchett.blogspot.com

As many of you know, I travel a bit to other churches and teach a seminar called, “Childhood Conversion: How Children Come to Faith in Christ.”  This is a seminar that Jim Elliff has taught for many years and now I have that responsibility for Christian Communicators Worldwide (CCW, www.CCWtoday.org). It’s a three hour seminar that you can read about here.  CCW is currently selling for a great price a series of interviews Jim did on this very subject.  It’s not the same thing as the seminar, but the same ideas are present.  The first interview is worth the price of the whole thing.  Here’s the advertisement from CCW’s website:

“How Children Come to Faith in Christ” Audio Series Special

Order the 3 CD set for just $10 (plus shipping) until September 1^st!!! 

In this seven-part series, Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine interview Jim Elliff on the nature of Childhood Conversion. It has long been a favorite on FamilyLife. Host Bob LePine lists it as one of his top ten programs ever on FLT.

We want every pastor and every young family to have this series. Many churches buy copies for all their families with children. It’s excellent for grandparents to give to their kids as well. This is the lowest price ever for this useful tool. Order as many as you need here.

A gentleman in our church, Shawn Winslow, and I have decided to try to memorize the first five chapters of Hebrews by the end of 2008, and then we will continue on in Hebrews in 2009.  We would be happy if you would join us in memorizing about four verses a week.  Here’s the schedule:

Week of:          Hebrews Passage:

8/4                    1:1-4

8/11                  1:5-9

8/18                  1:10-14

8/25                  2:1-4

9/1                    2:5-8

9/8                    2:9-13

9/15                  2:14-16

9/22                  2:17-18

9/29                  REVIEW

10/6                  3:1-3

10/13                3:4-6

10/20                3:7-11

10/27                3:12-15

11/3                  3:16-19

11/10                4:1-3

11/17                4:4-8

11/24                4:9-13

12/1                  4:14-16

12/8                  5:1-4

12/15                5:5-10

12/22                5:11-14

12/29                REVIEW (& prepare for ’09)

THIS WEEK:

Hebrews 1:1-4  [ESV] 

¹Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 

² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 

³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.