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THE KEY TO SANCTIFICATION
(Friday Church News Notes, January 20, 2012, www.wayoflife.org
Many teachers have espoused one particular key to sanctification in the Christian life. For some it is “abiding in Christ,” and they use John 15 as the key. For others it is a second blessing or a spiritual baptism of some sort. For others it is to rest in or dwell on one’s identification with Christ at the cross (e.g., the “Calvary Road”). John Piper proposes “Christian hedonism” as the key.
Yes, many “keys” have been proposed, but the Bible takes a multiple approach to sanctification and spiritual victory. It is not only resting or not only abiding or whatever, it is abiding and resting and yielding and obeying and avoiding and pursuing, etc. If there were one “key” to sanctification and spiritual victory, the New Testament epistles would be much shorter than they are. Writing to the church at Corinth, for example, Paul would merely have laid out the “key” and that would have been the end of the problem.
Is Evangelism About “Going to Heaven”?
Excerpt by David Cloud
Heaven is definitely a product of salvation, but why is it that none of the apostles preached on Heaven when they were presenting the gospel? Why are the sermons recorded in the book of Acts so different from the one Hyles preached?
Consider the sermon Paul preached on Mars Hills to the idolatrous pagans in Acts 17. Paul did not preach on Heaven; he preached on God and His righteous judgment so that the idolaters would understand their sin and turn to Christ for redemption.
The average person in North America today is very similar to those idolatrous pagans, and North Americans need the same type of preaching. An idolatrous and apostate people need sermons on Hell more than sermons on Heaven. They need sermons on the law more than sermons on grace, because biblical grace is only understood in the context of the law.
No one can understand and appreciate God’s grace unless they first understand His holiness and justice. The law was given to prepare the way for grace. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24).
The book of Romans begins with nearly three whole chapters of the law of God and the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of man and his utter condemnation before a holy God before it gets to the grace of Jesus Christ. That is the biblical way to preach the gospel. That is the true Romans Road. That is how Peter preached on the day of Pentecost.
Read Full Article HERE
As a childrens’ Bible teacher in BSF I can usually tell the children who are home-schooled and are not allowed to watch TV. They usually always have their lessons done and seem to be quite a bit more articulate. Here are some excellent excerpts from David Clouds site, Way of Life.
By David Cloud
FAMILIES THAT HAVE GIVEN UP TELEVISION
The following is taken from “Keeping the Kids,” which has just been released.
Following are some of the testimonies that were sent to me recently by Christian parents who have gotten rid of the television. I requested these in the context of a new book I am writing entitled “Keeping the Kids.” These testimonies are extensive and there is some repetition, but I believe that it is important to publish them in order to offset the status quo that exists even in most allegedly staunch Bible-believing churches today.
“Sick of the nasty language, barely dressed women and/or men, sexual content, drugs, drinking, murder, the commercials, the list goes on, we have not had cable/antenna hook up for about six years in our home and we LOVE IT! The result has been wonderful! We are no longer couch potatoes. We enjoy the quietness in the home. We enjoy each other’s company. We enjoy more time spent with Father God. We spend more time in prayer, reading God’s Word and being with the each other. We do more out of doors activities–walking trails, driving to the mountains, etc.”
“Being engulfed in front of a TV has nothing to do with family time. Real family time is getting closer to God and developing an intimate, passionate, and personal relationship with Jesus!”
“We were compulsive TV watchers. Enslaved is actually the word, so I had to eliminate it. Now we have a lot of time for the family. We do Bible study after dinner every day and play games with the kids. My wife and I have more personal time.”
“We gave up the television because of the wickedness of it and its effect on our lives and the kids. I can’t stand hearing God’s name being blasphemed! The kids are a LOT more obedient and listen to instruction. Reading has been the main replacement activity.”“We have four children from ages 16 to 8. We do not watch commercial television with the exception of occasional news and weather. Our children are not allowed to watch TV unsupervised. There are no TVs in the bedrooms. We found that even good educational shows had offensive commercials. Even most educational shows have a strong humanistic, evolutionistic, and anti-Christian bias.”“God spoke softly to our hearts. We just started feeling very uncomfortable when we were watching TV. My husband said that it’s time to get rid of it. It was not a slow process of just eliminating a few programs; we just threw the TV out. … It is a real tool of Satan to subtly get your mind off of Jesus. I mean when you’re watching Die Hard, or any other show for that matter, are you really thinking on things that are pure, just, holy, peaceable, etc. like the Bible commands us to do? We need to obey the whole Bible not just parts of it. Do you think Jesus and the Holy Spirit are sitting down with you as you watch TV hours on end? God has a higher calling for us. Just read James 1:27. Most people forgot that second half of that verse, ‘Keep yourself unspotted from the world.’”
“We have chosen not to watch television because of the ungodly influences. Scripture is very clear that we are not to learn the way of the heathen and that we are to be simple concerning that which is evil. We don’t feel justified in wading through the filth to enjoy a few decent programs. Some folks say they can control it, but we don’t believe that is possible. It ends up controlling those who watch it and they become desensitized to the wickedness that is on it. We also believe that TV viewing is a great waste of time, that it hinders creativity and results in a short attention span. How can we ask for the Lord’s blessing on our home while pumping the filth of this world into our living room? How can we expect our children to be spiritually minded and to have a heart for God and revival while having a steady diet of ‘garbage’ from TV?”
DiscernIt 
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