I Can’t Believe Spurgeon Didn’t Say That-Guest Blog by Joel littlefield

This article is posted by permission. Visit Joel Littlefield's personal Blog Made to Make Disciples to read more.



I Can't Believe Spurgeon Didn't Say That

A couple days before my new book, Beeline to the Cross, released to the public, I found out some slightly disappointing news. I had been speaking with Christian George, one of my book’s endorsers, about some possible promo ideas. The thought of having his help to get the word out about the book was tremendous. If you don’t know who he is, Christian is the Curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Theological Seminary, and the assistant professor of historical theology.

Basically, if you want to know something about Spurgeon’s life and ministry, he’s your guy. And if you want to promote a book that has a title that was inspired by Spurgeon, then he’s your man. That’s why I reached out to him in the first place. I’m grateful to have connected with Christian.

In the process of our discussion he asked me if I could tell him where the original source is to the quote that inspired my book’s title. Charles Spurgeon is credited thousands of times by authors and theologians all over the world for saying, “I take my text and make a beeline to the cross.” It’s such a good quote and it sounds so much like Spurgeon that I never thought for a second as to whether or not he actually said it. How couldn’t he have?

So I began searching as deep as I could. Mostly google of course, but digging into sermons and old biographies, trying to find a place where Spurgeon actually said it himself. I kept coming up with pastors, authors or Church historians saying, “Spurgeon once said in regards to his preaching, ‘I take my text and make a beeline for the cross'”. Hey, that’s exactly what I said.

I was getting frustrated and honestly a little discouraged. Was the original “quote” that became the early inspiration for my book actually a falsehood?

Christian George and a team of guys at the college had also dedicated some time over the summer to finding this citation. They came up empty handed too. If they can’t find it, I’m not sure anyone can. So, now what? Is my book a fake? Was it not worth publishing because quite possibly Spurgeon never said what I, and so many others, thought he said?

I don’t think so. And here’s why.

Whether or not Spurgeon said it, he still did it. I believe he displayed a dedication to getting himself and his people to the cross in nearly every sermon. Was it always a direct line to the cross? Maybe not direct, but he got there one way or another. I’ll be encouraging people to make a beeline to the cross till the day I die.

That’s the whole purpose of the book. That’s why I wrote it. Because I believe it!

The Apostle Paul spoke strongly about preaching Christ and Him crucified. In fact, he made it a determination in his life to be known for that. He didn’t want to be the preacher who was known for his eloquence, his style or his many accomplishments regardless of the method. He wanted Christ to be exalted in the Church and for people to know the love of God in Christ; a love that was displayed perfectly at the cross.

I believe the message of the cross of Jesus is so significant and so powerful today that whether you’re a preacher, a student, a factory worker or school bus driver; your life can be dramatically altered in going there. As a believer, as you grow in your knowledge of the work of the cross you will experience needed change, life-strengthening power and the inspiration you need in order to do all that God has called you to do.

I stand with confidence on the premise of “Beeline to the Cross”. Not because Spurgeon did or didn’t say it, but because the cross should be and needs to be that important to all of us.

So what did Spurgeon say about the cross? Here’s just a few.

“The cross is the focus of all human history—I was almost going to say it is the centre of the life of God, if such a thing can be. All the ages meet in Calvary. Jesus is the central Sun of all events.” Sermon #786 – The Great Mystery of Godliness.

“No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the scene on Calvary. Nowhere does the soul ever find such consolation as on that very spot where misery reigned, where woe triumphed, where agony reached its climax.” Sermon #126 – Justification By Grace.

“The cross is the standard of victorious grace. It is the light-house whose cheering ray gleams across the dark waters of despair and cheers the dense midnight of our fallen race, saving from eternal shipwreck, and piloting into everlasting peace.” Spurgeon Sermons Volume 31 – The Cross Our Glory.

“I wish that our ministry—that mine especially—might be tied and tethered to the cross. I have no other subject to set before you but Jesus only.” Sermon #1940 The Best Bread.

Salvation, life, victory, forgiveness, joy, friendship with God and true satisfaction is found in Jesus Christ; at His cross. Once you’ve discovered that that is the source; the spiritual life-giving nectar for the Christian life, return to that source every minute of every day. Do not turn to the left or to the right, but look only to Jesus; to His cross, and to the work He accomplished there on your behalf.

Truth be told, there a several other quotes that have been attributed to Spurgeon which he never said. Dr. Christian George recently wrote the article, Six Things Spurgeon Never Said, that covers that very subject. I recommend you all give it a read. Then head over to Amazon and grab a copy of my book. You can let me know what you think by leaving a good review when you’re done.

Remember, in all of life and in every season, make a beeline to the cross.

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Joel Littlefield

Joel is a husband, father of three, pastor and worship leader. His desire for blogging and writing is from a heart for the Body of Christ to glorify God in everything, and through every season.

To read more of Joel's writings, visit Made to Make Disciples 

Joel is the author of

Grace In Crossville (Amazon)
and
Beeline to the Cross (Barnes & Noble)
(Tate Publishing & Enterprises LLC.)
& Amazon

Beeline to the Cross

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Notes From The Gospel of Luke, Part 2

Here are more notes and comments from my Bible reading in the Gospel of Luke, along with the expanded clarifications of my thoughts.

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Luke18 & 19

     Chapter 18 introduces us to a young man who comes to Jesus with a question of the value of his own righteousness.

     The rich young ruler is upset when he finds he cannot buy his salvation but that he must have a change of heart. And Jesus says this after he leaves:

     "For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" 18:25.

     Then we meet Zacchaeus in chapter 19, a very rich man who proves a rich man can enter the kingdom of God because he met Jesus and understood his riches meant nothing at all for his salvation.

Margin Note for the conversion of Zacchaeus: Contrast the rich young ruler who thought keeping the law would save him. Zacchaeus met with Jesus and was saved.

Expanded: Unlike the rich young ruler who was upset because salvation wasn't obtained through his social status, Zacchaeus' was commended by Jesus for his life-changing faith

     "And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham" 19:9.

     Cross referenced Zacchaeus' story with Matthew 5:3.

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Luke 20:27-38 record the absurd question of the Sadducees about the resurrection.

     The Sadducees are the silliest cult that questions Jesus. They don't believe in the resurrection, the afterlife, spirits, or souls, yet they follow Jesus and pester Him about His knowledge of God? Whatever for?!

     Just like today. Born again Christians are followed by many who pester us about our faith in Jesus. They do not bother so much to question Buddhists, or Muslims, or witches, or Hindus, or Evolutionists about their faith or the origins of their religions. They ridicule, persecute and question the faith of Christians and attempt  to turn people from following Jesus.

     Notice Jesus' response to their question did not answer the Sadducees according to their religion, but He did speak Biblical truth to them, quoting Scripture.

     Matthew 4, Jesus answers Satan the same way--with Scriptural truth, quoting the Bible correctly. Not answering Satan according to his lies.

     Ephesians 6 says put on the armor of God and use the sword of the Spirit--the Word of God--The Scriptures. So does 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

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"Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was one of the twelve" 22:3

     What a sad verse. And after Satan used Judas, he destroyed him with so much guilt that Judas hanged himself. Matt 27:5)

     For many lost people today it's the same story. The same demons and Satan destroy people today with hate, anger, drugs, crime, murder, sex, possession and the like. And Satan even uses power and wealth sometimes to destroy people. After the demons are through sadistically playing with people as toys, they leave them broken and destroyed. If they haven't gotten them killed, then they bury them in so much guilt their former hosts kill or destroy themselves.

     And it all began in the Garden of Eden when Satan asked Eve to question God's love for her because God told her not to do something. Satan is still getting people to not believe God loves them.

But the Christian has a different perspective.

     "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" Ephesians 6:12.

    There are a lot of movies and books with the topic of demon possession. How interesting that many people will believe in demonic spirits possessing people to commit evil, yet they cannot accept the fact of God the Holy Spirit indwelling people to give them eternal life.

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Bonus: from Luke 9:12-17, the record of Jesus feeding the multitude

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The Children's Program----Flash Fiction

This fictional story is based on an actual children's skit I designed when I was teaching the 4 & 5 year olds in our Children's Program. The skit was never enacted, and I should also say neither did we have any of the disasters on stage that are mentioned. The personalities do not represent any known, or unknown, children, teachers or congregations.

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The Children's Program

     In taking her new position as the new Sunday School teacher of the four and five year olds, Sarah knew one of her duties would be for her class to deliver a performance in an end of the season program. This was a church tradition from the adults down to the youngest when the Sunday School classes ended for the summer months.

     She enjoyed her time with the children, yet she couldn't help but recall the horrors of the past. The incidents of children, and even the teachers, fighting on stage. Costume malfunctions or no one sang except the teacher, or children crying and running from the platform. Several years, no one learned their lines and teacher cued each word for word so the entire skit was an echoed speech, with the teacher speaking and the child repeating it back. Not wanting to present a similar disaster, with the age she was entrusted with, Sarah wondered if her class would be able to do anything.

     With the requirement in mind, during the ensuing weeks, she learned her children’s personalities. Amanda was shy and very small for her age. Harry liked to talk and chattered away sometimes incessantly. Freddy liked attending, but as his parents had joint custody, missed every third week away visiting his father. Sylvie would take off her shoes and socks as soon as she entered the building, frequently forgetting where she left them. Ginny disrupted the class screaming for her Mommy. At her mother’s request, if her antics became too unruly, punishment meant banishment to the nursery. This was unfortunate, as Ginny learned this trick and she would go smugly to play with the babies, whenever Sarah couldn't take it anymore. Naomi and her sister Valerie were the smartest and studied, answering well and asking good questions. Then there was Christopher the bully. Many times Christopher spent some of his Sunday School time standing in the corner for having hit, kicked or bitten someone, namely Sarah. Occasionally a new child would come for only one Sunday, or possibly a few weeks.

     Easter came and went and Sarah still hadn’t anything planned. When asked about it she would answer she was working on it but she knew it was a half-lie, which made her feel worse. She feared producing the disaster everyone seemed to expect. During the first week of May, she spent her noon lunchtime fasting and praying while seated in her car in the parking garage where she worked, her open Bible on the steering wheel. Pausing from her reading, she said, “God, it seems such a simple thing, why is it such a complicated task when it just involves these little children? You know them, Lord Jesus. There must be something they can do for you.” Refocusing on the Bible, she smiled, for there in front of her was the simplest answer.

      The day of the end of the season program, Sarah felt proud when all seven children attended. They had all enjoyed rehearsals, with Christopher taking his roll with gusto and Ginny apparently willing to participate.

     Her class performing first, Sarah assembled them behind the curtain on the left side of the stage. Their only prop was a huge refrigerator box lain horizontally on a rolling platform Sarah had requested made. She could feel the stares of the congregation and their skepticism, knowing they anticipated the traditional fracas. Saying a small prayer with her children, she nodded for them to go out, while shushing the giggling girls.

     Christopher, Harry, and Freddy pushed the refrigerator carton to the center of the stage. Sarah followed, taking her place behind the box as the boys stood to either side, Harry and Freddy on the left and Christopher on the right. None of the girls was in sight.

     Sarah smiled at the staring faces, pleased to see the parents in the crowd. With no preliminaries, she opened the skit by reciting Hebrews 12:1. “I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” When she finished, the boys, in unison, loudly yelled, “What can we give to Jesus?”

     Immediately, the top of the box flew open and the four girls popped into view, arms raised, and tossing streamers of colorful paper. All seven children and Sarah, arms raised, yelled the answer “Ourselves!”

     With the platform littered with the streamers and each child smiling broadly, they took their bows. Then the boys shoved the box back behind the curtain, with the giggling girls still in the box. Off stage, the children clustered around Sarah, anxiously waiting for the response. For a moment the auditorium was silent, then someone began to clap, and then another, and so on until the entire room was applauding.

     Sarah quickly shooed the children onto stage to take another bow then hugged them all tightly as they came rushing back again. Kissing their faces, she said, “Thank you, Jesus, for trusting me with these children.”

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James: A Self-Help Book

Christian, do you want to know what to do?

Now that I have your attention, let me make it clear the Bible is NOT a Self-Help book. If you approach the Bible attempting to make yourself better, imagining it will make you more Spiritual and thus graduating into God's graces---Forget about it!

Now let me now explain my title. Ever heard someone say "I wish I knew how to be a better Christian?" or "What is expected of me?" Maybe you've even asked this. Well, the small letter James wrote actually defines elements of what to do as a Christian. This is a very limited list. Serving God is limitless and you need to seek Him for full instructions but here are some basic 'steps' to your worthy goal.

1. A Christian must know God

     As he opens his letter, James first acknowledges his personal standing and where his faith lies. This is fundamental to Christianity. God wrote the Holy Bible through the hand of faithful men, (2 Peter 1:20, 21). Your first step is become more knowledgeable about God, the Bible, and the world where you live.
2. A Christian needs to ask God how-to live every day life

     James 1: 5 says ask for wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to use all your knowledge in everyday life. How simple a message--if you don't know--ask. The wisdom that comes from God helps you know how-to ask and what-to ask. This message also comes with an explanation in the surrounding verses 2-10. That is, verses 2-4, how-to get through hardships, verses 5-8 are how-to pray, verses 9 - 11 are how-to live within your social status and income.
3. A Christian is to not be deceived

     Verses 1:12-18 are how-to avoid and resist temptation. The Christian life actually does draw distinct lines of right and wrong. The more you know about Jesus, the clearer these demarcations become. Temptation is not sin--giving into them is the sin that kills you. While you may not die from whatever you sin, you will certainty sever your line of communication with God. In that case, confess your sin (no excuses) and ask forgiveness, repent of them and see self-help #1.
4. A Christian must apply the Bible

     "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (1:22). Simple. Well not if you don't read the Bible. The Bible is loaded with instructions and lessons for Christian living in all things. The more you read it the more you understand it. If you neglect this task, you'll be left with a lot of unexplained questions about how to be a witness for Christ. After all, a witness is a person who tells what they have seen. Miss the first two applications and the prosecution, (Satan), will tear you to shreds on the witness stand. When things get hard to manage, return to self-help #2.
5. A Christian must study human nature and in most cases do the opposite of everything the world does toward their fellow man

     James 2:1-13. Self-help in how-to be approved by all without offending God or man. Or how-to live among all your people, Christian and non-Christian, and still please God.

6. A Christian must prove their Christianity

     A dangerous job yet unavoidable in every Christian's life. (James 2:14-26) Do all your work totally for Jesus. Your menial and extraordinary tasks should all be done in knowledge and acknowledgment of your recognition of God's ownership of you. The demons know God but they have no connection to life through Him. You do--so prove it! I am not going to list what to do. Go back to the previous self-helps for instructions in this area.
7. A Christian must very carefully teach all they know

     Chapter 3, verses 1-12 is all about talking. As representatives of Jesus, (2 Corinthians 5:20), we're to carefully speak about God diligently and knowledgeably. (see #1) But utilize self-helps #1 & #2 before you open your mouth. Get as much wisdom as possible about it all. Never stop studying about God, the Bible and your Christianity.

8. A Christian must constantly examine themselves

     If you don't put yourself under a microscope you will never see the minute, filthy, ungodly specks stuck all over your humanness. James 3:13 through 4:12 spells out right and wrong. Get a good dictionary and look up all the words. Make a list of them in two columns, good and bad. Memorize the good as verbs--actions to live everyday. Think of the bad as murderers and sentence them all to death row. If you have to kill them every day---do it! "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" Romans 8:13. (note that 4:2 & 3 remind you to ask God for what you need and explains how-to ask it.)

9: A Christian must never ignore God's sovereignty

     Make plans and conduct yourself with God's input. (4: 13-5:12) You want life insurance--get the best plan you can but always remember God is your ultimate life-line. Want to start a business--open the very best business you can--but always remember God knows your closing date. Want to raise a family--go ahead and raise the most beautiful and godly children in the world but always remember God loves them more than you do. Want to build a house--build the best house in the neighborhood but always remember God lives there too. Buy a car, buy a boat, take a world cruise, ski the Swiss Alps, climb Mt. Everest, learn a second language, sing in the choir, or go to a mission field? God's wants to help you achieve it all. Be shrewd in all you strive for. Seek all the professional help possible within your means, but always remember God owns it all, is over all, and controls all. Your behavior in your every day life is a reflection of your faith. For further instruction review self-helps #1--#8.

10. A Christian must remain integral to a body of believers.

     No Christian is a lone ranger. James 5:13-19 is how-to bless and be blessed as part of a body of believers. If you neglect you're part of the church in Christ, you negate all previous ideas of how to serve God. The best Self-Help you can give yourself is to be an integral part of a Bible believing church. Your faith will manifest itself in how to treat your brothers and sisters, how you pray, how to seek God, and how to minister to other believers.

Grace is God's gift and no one can ever be a self-made Christian

Read James for instructions on How-To live as a Christian, but don't stop there. Reading the entire Bible will help you know what you're to be doing.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" 

2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

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Anger and the Lost

"Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord,we persuade men" 

2 Corinthians 5: 11.

Ever get angry that your ministry is so hard? Ever feel like everything is working against you getting the gospel out? Ever feel like a total failure because it appears you're stumbling around and not gaining anything?

Anger is a first response.

• Why God? 
• If I'm doing this for you, why isn't it working? 
• What is all this trouble I'm having? 
• Why am I getting stonewalled?

I don't have any good answer, yet I know the enemy is angry at me for working for God to save the lost forever and ever.

Even in the face of troubles and hardships, I know what will happen to the lost for all eternity if they never accept God's salvation. So I strive through the struggles to get the gospel to the lost despite the enemy.

God wants all saved, so He will move to get them to hear the gospel. I am an instrument for that work. It's called work, service, serving, waiting, doing, walking. All these words are verbs, they mean you are going against stagnation, inertia, stickiness, friction, or deadness.

Though God's wrath is against His enemies and the sin of mankind, God is love, not anger.

It may not be easy. We may never see the fruit of our labor in this life but serve Him anyway.

We serve The Awesome, Almighty God

Prayer--The Simple Ministry

Pray without ceasing 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 

If you're a born again Christian, you are in ministry for God

 

‘We love Him because He first loved us.’ 1 John 4:19. God loves our service. With it, we return blessings to Him. He says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14: 15. How simple a love. Because love motivates the desire to serve, we ask God, “What can I do for You today? How may I bless You since You’ve blessed me.”

Do you feel as if you cannot be in ministry--put it out of your mind! Going into your room to pray, in the privacy of your own home can get you involved in every ministry in your church. prayer is vital to every ministry in God's church. The Gospels record Jesus frequently praying. Paul mentions prayers in all his letters and especially the need for prayer. Matthew 17: 14-21 records Jesus as saying prayer is important to get certain Spiritual work done because we are humanly unable and must seek God in faith.

You should have no excuse for shirking service, for prayer is the easiest form of ministry we can give to God while serving everyone else in the world. For example, Paul when writing from prison, had long prayer lists. In between visits from friends, probably with nothing else to do for hours, Paul took many of his people before Jesus in prayer. His knew it to be a necessary service for them and to God.

Check out your church and see what is going on and try these to start your own prayer ministry.

• Jot down a list of the outreaches your church supplies
• Jot down a list of names of the ill and/or in the hospital
• Jot down a list individuals, especially first time visitors, guests, and the unsaved
• Pray for the children: infants to teens
• Pray for the leadership
• Pray for the janitor and all the behind the scenes workers
• Check out this PDF file Ten Things to Pray for Others 

Prayer is an action service  

 

Do not confuse the prayer as any power you have attained. Remember it’s not the prayer we believe in, but who we pray to that is the basis of our faith. Prayer is a simple act of faith toward God and a way to serve. 

Ministry is not a duty but a willing service to God. Prayer is one way we all can serve God and it’s a ministry we can be involved in, anywhere. anytime.

An Expert Performance

“And He is the head of the body, the church…” cf Colossians 1: 18

An expert dressage performance is beautiful. Top-level dressage is a very complex and exacting equestrian discipline. The beauty is in the minimal action of the rider getting a large independent animal to move in timed, definite steps and gaits. Judges look for the least movement in the rider to produce fluid movement in the horse. Horse and rider move as a unit.

HFS Van Derus

The rider signals the horse with their fingers, knees, heels, thighs, small sounds and sometimes a short, thin riding crop. Each sign asks the animal for something, either to change gait, move to another step or in another direction. Spectators should not be able to detect the rider’s movements, only the horse’s obedience

The horse cannot produce a precision performance without the rider. When the horse obeys the rider, the rider gets the glory and the horse receives praise from the rider. A well-trained dressage horse is submissive and obedient to the rider. In performance, the animal will enjoy the smooth connection and sharply applied actions as much as the rider.

Just so, a church body cannot produce an effective witness without submission and obedience to the head. The disciplined body is to watch, listen, and respond so that God gets the glory when we get it right. God signals to the church through personal Bible reading and prayer, through hearing of good solid Bible preaching, through the loving instruction of others, through our willingness to serve others. He places us in situations where we can respond to Him and get the job done.

There is a negative side to the exhibition in the ring; the horse does not have to respond to the rider.

Consider this; the horse is in the ring, with all the correct equipment and qualifications but the performance is a disaster. The horse is sluggish, fidgety, reluctant, and disobedient. Its tail is twisting, feet are stomping, and dragging, the ears are flipping back and forth, and the mouth is working against the bit. The horse moves sideways or in circles. It tosses its head and maybe even attempts to dislodge the rider. 

A misbehaving horse makes his rider look terrible. 

People will speak against the disobedience but most will criticize the rider for the horse’s behavior. The rider will leave the ruing in shame and a cloud of disrespect.

Does the behavior of the body of Christ produce respect for Jesus? Do others have good things to say about you? Does your family, even the unsaved, honor your love for God? Do your co-workers consider you hypocritical or are they attentive and eavesdropping when you talk about Jesus?

Imagine the dressage horse is the church, Christ is the rider, the judges are our brothers & sisters and the spectators are all the unsaved people. We’ve passed all the qualifications, we have the equipment, we look the part, we have the name of Jesus, and we call ourselves Christians. Here we are in the ring, everyone is watching. Now, Jesus gives us a gentle command unseen or felt by anyone but us. How are we going to respond?

• Do we move in beautiful fluid motion or do we refuse. 
• Are we willing to make the requested gait or post change
• Is our response sluggish, reluctant, and disobedience

Just attending a church does not tell the unsaved, lost and dying we are the body of Christ. We could be a horse circling in the ring without any obedience to the rider. Sure, we’re visible and we have all the trappings but is the body responding smoothly to the head.

In eagerly responding to Jesus on a daily basis, we show the lost and dying world the beauty of Christianity and the glory of God. At first, we can set up visual posts then after a while, the action will happen without the visual reminders. Our serving will be a natural fluid motion, a beautiful and effective witness anywhere, and everywhere.

• Obedience to prayer

• Obedience to Bible reading

• Obedience to ministry

• Obedience to witness

• Obedience to holiness

• Obedience to Jesus’ name

• Obedience to church attendance

Any old horse and rider can enter a show but in a top-notch event, they have to be a proven equestrian or it will be quickly apparent if they’re not. There has to be proof. The proof that we are the body of Christ comes from our action to being part of the body of Christ. We need to allow Jesus to be our trainer and respond to the commands from His hands. A Christian’s behavior is a direct reflection on Jesus.

Ask God to make you a proven disciple, an integral part of the body, responding to the head with smooth precision under the gentle guidance of Jesus. When the unsaved spectators see us, may they glorify our God in heaven for the beauty of our obedience?!

God Can Close Down Churches --repost

 (Originally posted August 2013.)

 

In my Ebook *Squished! Why God Seemingly Destroys Our Fruit, I wrote of how I came to understand that a building really isn't the church and the place we worship isn't the main platform to spread the Gospel.

When my home church almost closed its doors after our Pastor resigned it appeared a disaster. It split the church and members left until the count was less than half of the former size.

The Ebook Squished! got its title from my personal lesson that it doesn't matter what you might think you're doing for God is a good thing. It matters what God wants to you to do that's even better. If He has to press a church down in intense crushing, He can.

The pressure didn't close us down but that trial took us right back to our 'first love'. As I tell in the book, we are cleaner, more aromatic for God's purpose. If God hadn't allowed what we considered a disaster, we might have never known the new ministries we have today. The new workers who stepped into ministry might never have known they were capable of serving God in new and powerful ways.

I wrote *Squished! Why God Seemingly Destroys Our Fruit because I saw God do something amazing to a church that thought it was going along producing fruit, yet we needed a time of pressure to make us more useful.  God almost closed our church but He had a purpose.

Christians spread the Gospel, not buildings. It is the people who are God's body and its the people who do the work. If God wants to close a building and scatter the people, He can do it. If we're listening and learning, God will always get the glory.

Glory to God.

* Available on Amazon

A Woman's Giving Hand

  “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” Matthew 6: 3.

 

  Have you ever done something for someone who wasn’t expecting it, and you did it just for the joy of giving? Offered to do someone's laundry? Look after their children for an hour? Baked cookies for your neighbor?

 In creating man and woman, God gave the male and female of His attributes that He desired in which sex. (male and female created He them" cf Genesis 1:27.) Our emotional personalities are for God's purposes. While God made men to be subtly appreciative, God made woman with the capacity of giving and receiving with more emotion.

 Visually emotional actions are part of woman: love, joy, anger, sympathy, empathy, and motherly. Women utilize their God given specialty as wonderful givers, doers, motivators, counselors, and those who encourage. Women can and should use their emotions for God's glory.

Is there anyone you can help without thinking of any return for your effort?

Is there anyone you really want to help in any way?

Giving to others, or time, treasures or talents can be a subtle or visible ministry to God.

And very simple.

Today, do that deed you've been thinking about. Enjoy God's smile.