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Author: Ray Comfort

Quote: Think of the ancient Aztecs. They could see that they had angered their dozens of god (the evident suffering, disease, and death), so they would try and appease them with a "payment." They would take the most precious thing they had--a handsome youth, or a beautiful virgin, and they would sacrifice them on a bloody altar to try and make atonement. However, the Bible says that any sacrifice we make is an abomination to God (especially human sacrifice--God Himself stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son). Besides being a murderous act, human sacrifice offers a tainted sinful blood. It would be like me offering a judge drug money to pay your fine.

Webpage: raycomfortfood.blogspot.com/2008/09/absurdity-of-christianity.html

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Book: "The Father you've been waiting for" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: Mark Stibbe

Quote: We should remember that the punishment Jesus bore was inflicted not by the Father but by those who crucified him. The abuse came not from divine but human hands. This is the point that Mel Gibson was trying to make during the filming of The Passion of the Christ. At a critical moment, when the nails are being driven into Jesus' hands, it is Mel Gibson's hand that is photographed hammering the first nail. This was the director's way of demonstrating that it was he who made Christ suffer so. It was our sins that put him there.

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Book: "The Father you\'ve been waiting for" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: Mark Stibbe

Quote: The truth that Jesus was conveying in the parable of parables is simply this: God is a Father who runs to rescue us. He is truly the God who saves. A minister in a church in America was about to start his sermon during an evening service when he briefly introduced a visiting minister in the congregation. He said that the visitor was one of his dearest friends and accordingly asked him to say a few words. With that, an elderly man walked to the pulpit and told a story: A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast when a fierce storm hit them and the three were swept into the sea as the boat capsized. Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most painful decision of his life. Who was he to throw the lifeline to? The father knew his own son was a Christian and that the son\'s friend was not. The father yelled, \'I love you\' to his boy as he threw the line to the boy\'s friend, pulling him to safety, while his son disappeared for ever beneath the waves. The father knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus but couldn\'t bear the thought of the friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore he sacrificed his son to save the son\'s friend. Concluding, the visitor said, \'How great is the Father\'s love for us that he gave his only Son that we should be rescued. So take hold of the lifeline that the Father is throwing you in this service tonight.\' With that the old man finished and the minister took his place in the pulpit, and preached his message. At the end of the meeting, some teenagers came up to the visitor. They had been looking very sceptical throughout the old man\'s story and had not responded to the appeal. \'That wasn\'t a very realistic story,\' they said mockingly \'No dad would do that.\' \'You\'ve got a point,\' said the visitor. \'But I\'m standing here tonight to tell you that this story gives me, personally, a great glimpse into the Father\'s love for us. You see, I was that father, and your minister here is my son\'s friend.\'

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Book: "Cross Words" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: Paul Wells

Quote: In Scripture a variety of language is found to describe what happenned at the cross: the cultic language of sacrifice, the payment of ransom, punishment and acquittal and that of victory. In these instances, the meaning of 'Christ died for our sins' is presented as an offering, a debt, a judgement and the outcome of conflict.

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Book: "The Message of Prayer" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: Tim Chester

Quote: Much of the devotional literature on prayer is focused on those things which help us to pray - posture, exercises, liturgies, habits. But, while they may be helpful, none of them is necessary. The focus of the Bible is instead on Christ and his sufficiency. There is nothing we can do to make our prayers more effective before God. Any such notions are a return to paganism - it is to suppose that we can manipulate or placate God. As Ronald Dunn puts it, the floor of the throne room is sprinkled, 'not with the sweat of my good works, but with the of his sacrifice'. The 'posture' that the Bible commends is a humble and contrite heart

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Author: John Piper

Quote: Now, in Romans 1:12 Paul restates verse 11 in different words: I want to strengthen you with my spiritual gift, "that is, I want us to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine." Paul does two things here. First, he uses the old "It's my pleasure" tactic. You remember my sermon on Christian hedonism and humility? I argued that when we say, "It's my pleasure," after doing someone a favor, it is an expression of humility. It is like saying, "Don't get too excited about my self-sacrifice; I'm just doing what I like to do." When Paul rereads Romans 1:11, he probably says, "Hmmm, that may sound a bit presumptuous, as if I'm the great martyr doing all for their sake, when in fact I look forward to a great encouragement from them for myself." So as he restates verse 11 in verse 12, he adds that he, too, and not just they, is going to be helped when they meet. That is the first thing he does.

Webpage: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByTopic/87/288_Spiritual_Gifts/

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Book: "Knowing God" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: J.I.Packer

Quote: Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge. In justification, God declares of penitent believers that they are not, and never will be, liable to the death that their sins deserve, because Jesus Christ, their substitute and sacrifice, tasted death in their place on the cross. But contrast this, now, with adoption. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father. In adoption, God takes us into his family and fellowship, and establishes us as his children and heirs. Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God is a greater

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Book: "The supernatural power of a transformed mind" Buy from www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Author: Bill Johnson

Quote: In Revelation we see this gate called called praise again and discover that it is made out of solid pearl. (see Rev 21:21). Think for a moment. How is a pearl formed? Through irritation and conflict. A granule of sand gets inside an oyster shell and a pearl forms around the granule to keep it from doing harm. The Bible's pairing of praise with irritation is not coincidental. When we are stuck in conflict and uncertainty and yet we praise Him without manipulation, it is a sacrifice. It means we are reacting in a way that produces something beautiful. In a moment as gate is formed, a place of entrance where the King of glory can invade our situation.

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Author: Stephen Sizer

Quote: Those who hold to a Covenant Theology see in the process of redemptive history a dramatic movement has been made from type to reality, from shadow to substance. The Land that once was the specific locale of God\'s redemptive working served well under the Old Covenant forms as a picture of paradise lost and promised, lost then promised, but under the New Covenant fulfilment this Land has been expanded to encompass the world, indeed the entire cosmos. The exalted Christ rules from the heavenly Jerusalem demonstrating His sovereignty over all the nations. A regression to the limited forms of the Old Covenant must not be encouraged. The reality must not give way to shadow. Why should we want the shadow when we have the reality? It is more than this though. Some would suggest that the warning contained in the calling to persevere found in Hebrews 10 is addressed to Jewish believers tempted to remain loyal to their legalistic Hebrew roots, locked into a theology based on land, temple, law and sacrifice. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:19-29) The choice before us is ultimately a choice between two theologies. One based primarily on the shadows of the Old Covenant and one based on the reality of the New Covenant. An exclusive theology that focus on the Jews in the Land and an inclusive theology that focuses on Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. It is a choice between an exclusive Armageddon theology of racial segregation and war and an inclusive theology of justice, peace and reconciliation.

Webpage: www.cc-vw.org/articles/dispen4.html

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