The Barnabas File

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O LORD God?  And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?  And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O LORD God.” I Chronicles 17:16-17

Yes, I am so thankful for grace!  As we approach another Thanksgiving Day and I ponder in my heart all of the blessings that have been mine, none exceeds the manifold grace of God which appeared to me when I was desperately lost in my sins.  An elderly saint was  heard to say, “I deserve to be damned, I deserve to be in hell; but God interfered!” My friend, that’s grace!  W.E. Best expresses my sentiments when he said, “The sinner, apart from grace, is unable to be willing and unwilling to be able.” Grace represents both the helpless poverty of man and the unlimited kindness of God.  Someone once said, “The grace of salvation is a gift and you can’t boast about a gift.  You can only be thankful.”
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In the complete writings of “Murray On Prayer,” published by Whitaker House, we read this about the author.  Andrew Murray (1828-1917) lived and ministered as both a pastor and author from the towns and villages of South Africa.  His earliest writings were written to provide nurture and guidance for Christians of all ages and were actually an extension of his pastoral work.  He wrote to give daily practical help to many of the people in his congregation who lived out in the farming communities and could only come into town for church services on rare occasions.  Most of Murray’s writings revolved around prayer and he adopted the practice of placing many of his more devotional books into thirty-one separate readings to correspond with the days of the month. [Read more…]

–Quaker Rufus Jones

What a good reminder as we find ourselves “steeped in servanthood!”  Thinking “vertically” while living “horizontally.”  Rufus Jones, 1863-1948, lived in an era when wars at home and abroad threatened society,  liberalism assaulted the inspiration of  Holy Scripture, and modern missions stormed the gates of hell.  A Quaker through and through, he authored more than fifty books and for forty years taught philosophy, ethics and Bible at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Though we would not agree with most of his theology, he had a great heart for God and he was more than right when he said:  “Keep a window open on the God-ward side!”
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I had never seen it before. It was a piece of wood about 36 inches long, 4 inches high and one half inch thick. It was sitting on a shelf in a Christian Book Store on the eastern side of our state where we had gone for a brief getaway after the Christmas holidays. Ann and I enjoy visiting unique shops and this one contained several quaint items, most of which we had seen before. But there sat this one piece of wood, really not so unique in itself, but the saying inscribed on it was what caught my attention – “There Can Be No Testimony Without The Test!” [Read more…]

“Morrison of Wellington,” George H. Morrison (1866-1928), during his era was no doubt the most popular preacher in Scotland. A Presbyterian pastor, for twenty-six years he faithfully shepherded the flock at Wellington Church, Glasgow. Surrendered totally to ministry, he chose not to serve on committees, preferring rather to spend his time on what he considered were his greatest responsibilities to the church – mornings in study and afternoons in visiting his congregation, making an average of one thousand calls a year! Primarily an expository preacher, his Sunday evening sermons targeted the specific needs of his sheep and standing room only crowds gathered to hear him. Many of these sermons are in print and worthy of your reading. I like what Warren Wiersbe said of Morrison in his volume, “Living with the Giants,” a statement we preachers should take to heart: “Morrison’s preaching strength lay in his knowledge of the Bible, his knowledge of his people and their needs, and his ability to put both together in an imaginative way that reached the heart.” [Read more…]