The Best Christian Teachings and Readings

GOD - THE ORIGINAL MOVER AND SHAKER! OUR GOD IS A GOD OF CONSTANT ACTION AND ADVENTURE! From Genesis to Revelation we see a God who "neither slumbers nor sleeps."(Ps. 121:4) Whenever God shows up on the scene things begin to happen - and in a big way! Pillars of fire, parting seas, rivers turning to blood, earthquakes, floods - the Bible has got to be the most action-packed Book that has ever been written! That's because the Author is totally involved with His creation. He is continually interacting with His people to bring about His dynamic plans and purposes - not only for their lives, but for whole cultures and entire nations as well. The clear testimony of the Bible is that everyone who submits his life to the Lord will be swept up into this whirlwind of action, excitement, and adventure that is a part of the very being of God. Abraham is a settled, "respectable" shepherd until he meets God. Then he has one adventure after another following the Lord

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.'" -Mark 16:15 "And I said, 'Who art Thou, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which Iwill appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."' -Acts 26:15-18 I was thinking, while I was reading these passages, what if we could erase from our minds all knowledge of the history of Christianity from the close of the period described in the book of Acts - and then looking a

Luke chapter 12, verses 49 and 50. I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! I’ve been going to meetings for over seventy years all over the world—Pentecostal conferences, Methodist conferences, all kinds of conferences. I heard the baptism of the Holy Spirit preached, I think, fifty different ways. In seventy years, I’ve never heard anybody preach on this text where Jesus, speaking of Himself says: "I have a baptism..." Charles Wesley gave us that lovely children’s hymn. “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. Look upon the little child.” Some people never get past "gentle Jesus." But Jesus is associated with fire. The next time He comes, says 2 Thes. 1:7, He’s coming with flaming angels—thousands of them! Here He is saying to these disciples, "I am come to send fire on the earth..." Again, the symbol of the church is fire. I

If you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on "Be ye angry, and sin not" (Eph. 4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry. "The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses" (Exodus 4:14), "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while - but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.) The blessed preacher St. Paul walked down Main Street Athens, the intellectual capital of the world of his day. Acts 17:16 says in the sleepy Elizabethan English of the King James version, "His spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." The Amplified say

We sat facing on her bed. I could see pictures of a little blond boy on her dresser. She was crying and I held in my pat answers. How could I relate to her pain? I knew Jesus could - but I couldn’t. I was barely a mother, my firstborn still kicking under my heart. Her three year old son was dead. It was a drowning accident, and she was devastated. Little did I know, four years later, the child I was pregnant with that day - my three year old son - would be dead as well. And, along with him, his two year old sister... and my husband. It was a flying accident, and this time I was the one who was devastated. Only then did I get a glimpse of my friend’s pain. And only then, did I fully understand God’s wisdom in keeping me from offering her a handful of easy answers. I found that sometimes there just aren’t any. There are many ways a heart can break - death, divorce, rejection, illness, abuse, sin, injustice, failure - the list goes on and on. Everyone will experience a broken hear