FAIR SUNSHINE

She embraced the gospel immediately and without apprehension. The difference between her person then and now is night and day. I am amazed with the LORD. Whenever I hear her pray, I am reminded of how wonderful the heart-changing power of the Holy Spirit truly is.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:34-39 The words of our dear Lord declare His absolute preeminence above our most intimate relations. Separation of our will from the world's will, and a willingness in the partaking of Christ's humiliation. So it is with those of the elect sovereignly selected by God from eternity past to be sanctified by His word through persecution from their own families, who in my nation's ...

The LORD continues to bless His work with fruit, deepening, realizations, failings and comforting, needs and answers, and standing firm against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Word furthers its work in the souls that the LORD has drawn to Himself. The Father's hand is clearly evident in the work. In order to keep me low and from being puffed up He has made me of no reputation and an object of ridicule even amongst professors of Christ, rejected for having no credentials, no seminary education, and presently no church affiliation though I have faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am called a madman by those who claim the office of enlightening the people who are in darkness. They are more contemptible than ordinary business men, who, when they see another doing better business, try to imitate his methods. What have I taken from them or what have I gained? Their churches are fuller and they are revered more than before. I love the religion but I m...

Baptism is not a means to salvation. It is not a superficial badge of merit to accredit oneself as religious. It is not a mundane ritual established to add color to the church's activities. It is not an item to be checked off on a to-do list. It is not a meager practice to be lightly esteemed. Baptism is a one way ticket forward unto a life of service and allegiance to the banner of Christ. It is an external declaration of an inward regeneration. It is to be divorced from and dead to the world, and a rising into newness of life in Christ. It is an oath of one's self to render service to the Kingdom's cause, or to be offered as a sacrifice on the altar.  To fully understand that, to be a child of God is to resign oneself wholly to the Father, with the mindset of a Christ-committed martyr, and the resolve of a well-trained and disciplined soldier of the Word. A life worthy of the travail of the Lamb's soul. A life worthy of His satisfaction. The LORD added five souls to ...