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The Present
Truth Magazine (Email)
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FROM THE EDITOR’S HEART
While I’m writing this, my dog, a cockapoo named Josie, is whining at me. She wants me to open the blinds so she can see outside. Here in a second, she’ll whine that she wants to be petted or wants to go outside. I spent years teaching my kids not to whine, but I can’t seem to get Josie to understand that sometimes she needs to be content and knock off the whining. I don’t like whining, but I hate to admit I’ve done my share of it. Whining and discontented, ungrateful complaining fill our airwaves, newspaper pages, and unfortunately many conversations among believers in Christ. The Lord has corrected me on several occasions when I whined about gas prices, taxes, my physical body, work, etc. Do all things without complaining… (Phil. 2: 14). In the New Testament, Jude wrote how the grumblers and complainers served only themselves and were “like trees without fruit…dead” (Jude 12-16.) In Psalm 107, the writer reflects the heart of God when he repeats over and over again: Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! (Ps. 107: 8, 15, 21, 31) Every covenant believer in Christ is blessed beyond measure and should never engage in unthankful whining. My goal is to remain grateful and allow the Holy Spirit to help me remind others of the good life God has given us.
Sincerely in Christ,
THE LAST DISCIPLE is a well-written novel that
is a good alternative to the left-behind series. It is written from
what we consider a partial-preterist viewpoint; i.e. that the
great-tribulation and most of the book of revelation was written about and
fulfilled in the first century. Reading it is an excellent way to both
enjoy a novel and gain a scriptural understanding of how Jesus' and His
apostles prophecies were fulfilled in the first century.
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We are glad to have you as a subscriber to our Present Truth Magazine. Below you will find articles from individual authors who have written for our magazine. Our prayer for all who receive read these articles is that the Lord "...may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:17-18).
GOD’S
FAMILY AND FRIENDS There is an old saying, “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.” However, that may or may not be true regarding fallen humanity. There is a great true story in the Bible that tells us that God chooses both His family and friends. In the process of time following a great flood, God chose a man by the name of Abram, who lived in the Mesopotamian Valley. Today it is known as southern Iraq, near the Euphrates River. God told Abram that He was going to bless him with great riches—which included family, livestock, silver, and gold (Gen. 12:1-3, 13:1-2). As Abram continued to keep things in an order that was pleasing to God (Yahweh), God declared him to be righteous. Abram had a few faults, but his attitude was pleasing to God (Gen. 15:6). With Abram’s submissive, humble attitude to God’s voice, God’s grace continued with abundance in their relationship. God made an irrevocable blood covenant with Abram and considered him both a part of His covenant family and His best friend on earth, in that window of time (Gen. 15:1-20; 2 Chr. 20:7). Abram had a nephew by the name of Lot. He and his family were also blessed with great riches. They lived in a place called Sodom, which was near the land God sovereignly gave to Abram. Lot had left the Ur of the Chaldeans with Uncle Abram and was being blessed because he was in covenant with God through Uncle Abram. Sodom and its twin city, Gomorrah, were very wicked cities. Men had become very vile in their sexual relationships as well as other wickedness. There came a point when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because they were corrupting God’s people and earth. God decided that He would tell Abram, His friend, what He was about to do (Gen. 18:17). When God shared with Abram (by now God had changed Abram’s name to Abraham) what He was going to do to Sodom, Abraham said to God: Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ...Shall not the (righteous) Judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 18:23, 25) Because righteous Lot lived in Sodom and was in covenant with Uncle Abraham, God knew Abraham, His friend, would want to rescue his nephew Lot and his family, along with his wealth and riches. Abraham began to earnestly intercede with his covenant-keeping God. He said, “If I can find fifty righteous within the city, then would You spare the place for their sakes?” Abraham’s covenant plea with God was to spare Sodom from destruction. He reduced his request from fifty down to ten. Because of God’s omniscience, He knew that ultimately only three people would get out before He destroyed the city. This compassionate prayer and response reveals the mercy and grace of a loving, just God. God knew that His friend Abraham cared deeply for those who were in covenant with both him and God. “A friend loves at all times” (Prov. 17:17). A sad ending to this chapter of Abraham and Lot’s lives is that only Lot and his two daughters got out of Sodom before God destroyed the city. Lot’s wife and two son-in-laws perished. Their attachment to this world and its stuff was too great. Would you like to become a friend of Father God today? You can by following God’s good news. Jesus Christ of Nazareth shows us the pathway into becoming one of Father God’s friends. It starts by believing God’s speaking voice, like Father Abraham did. About nineteen hundred and forty years after Abraham died at a good old age, God’s friend James said, And the Scripture (Word of God) was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to Him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God (James 2:23). Abraham’s Son in the faith says, “Believe in God, believe also in Me” (Matt. 1:1; John 14:1). As the Son of Man/God, He developed a friendship with twelve men that He was discipling. He told them:
This is My commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay
down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a
servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made
known to you (John 15:12-15). God’s Holy Spirit bears witness to these truths. Let Him take control of your heart. He will guide you into all truth. God does have His friends in Springfield, Missouri, today. He tells them what He is doing. His covenant-keeping friends are His intercessors to plea bargain with God like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus did. A. Wilson Phillips is the co-founding and senior pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
COMMUNION Jesus told His disciples that unless they ate the flesh of the Son of Man and drank His blood, they had no life in them (John 6:53). This was one of those “crowd-thinner” messages. He was obviously not endorsing some perverse form of religious cannibalism. Christ was (is) the way to eternal life, and it would involve an identity-changing, intimate experience with Him. Paul further clarified the point with these words: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread (1 Cor. 10:16-17). Paul’s use of the word “communion” (Greek: koinonia) indicates a partnership and participation with Christ’s blood and body—a “common union.” Those of us in Christ cease to exist as sinful, unfixable loners and are spiritually resurrected into a new identity—Christ in us. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20). Jesus solved our two-fold dilemma when He took us with Him to the cross. Communion with His blood perpetually cleanses us of sin (past, present, and future), and communion with His death delivers us from our “sin nature,” which is the sin factory. Our Lord has finished the work, and our part is to diligently appropriate and practice communion. I spent most of my younger Christian years endeavoring to please God by living a holy life and always came up short, in my estimation. I thought of myself as a sinner and, equally as damning, I felt like a sinner. For some thirty years now, the Holy Spirit has been reprogramming (transforming) me to see myself as Father God does. All my success in life comes as I realize that it is not I that lives, but Christ lives in me! It is imperative that I spend quality time with Jesus. This involves meditating in His living Word and fellowshipping with His Holy Spirit. I must learn to quiet my noisy soul to allow Him to talk … and talk He does. He educates my conscience to take on His discernment in life situations, and I cannot allow anything to tarnish our pure Spirit-to-spirit existence. If I fail to walk in the light, then I repent with heart and action and allow His precious blood to cleanse me of all “un-right-ness.”
Richard K. Clark is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church.
The
Parable of the Wedding Feast Each morning we have devotions with our 8-year-old son Chandler. One morning I read the following parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, “Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.’” But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.” So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 22:2-14). As I finished the story, Chandler said to me, “I don’t get it. Weren’t the guests hungry? Why didn’t they want to come and eat?” After overcoming my laughter, I proceeded to explain to my son that this was a parable about Jesus and the Jews who rejected Him in the first century. At this point, I received silence coupled with blank stares. I don’t think my explanation fully penetrated his 8-year-old point of view. Sadly, many read this parable today and still “don’t get it.” This includes Bible scholars and seminary professors who fail to recognize the significance of the judgment that took place on the hardened Jews in 70 A.D. Ironically, the Pharisees of Jesus day clearly “got it,” and they resented Jesus for saying it. “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk” (Matt. 22:15). Jesus repeatedly declared God’s final judgment on the Jews of His day. At one point, he stopped speaking parables and said, …that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation (Matt. 23:35-36). Jesus’ words were clear. That first-century generation of rebellious Jews would bear the judgment for the all the sins committed in previous generations by God’s covenant people. Therefore, “he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” The total destruction of Jerusalem with its temple took place in 70 A.D. All the records were destroyed, making it impossible to follow the lineage of the old covenant priesthood. After declaring that generation of Jews unworthy to participate in the wedding, God extended the invitation to all people. Now in Christ, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28). The beauty of the new covenant
in Christ is that it clearly crosses all prejudicial boundaries. There is
no room left for proclaiming one set of ethnic people
superior or under a different plan in God’s eyes.
Jew, Greek, black, white, slave
Today, “the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” Many are called, but few are chosen. Benjamin Davis is an associate pastor of Abundant Life Covenant Church
I
CAN’T GO BACK Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12-13). I can’t go back to where I was before. God recently showed this to me as I was thinking about what causes me to grow spiritually. The Scriptures reveal that spiritual growth is a result of God’s sovereign grace at work in my life—His working in me (Phil. 2:13; Eph. 1:3-9; 2:8-10). The Scriptures also reveal that growth is a product of my yielding to and acting on God’s direction—my obedience to His voice (Phil. 2:12; John 15:14; James 1:22-25). God will often give me a natural example to help me better understand a spiritual truth. To help me grasp this truth, He showed me the analogy of a graph. A statistical graph is laid out along two coordinates—the left to right horizontal axis and the up and down vertical axis. To diagram any human parameter—say height, for instance—the horizontal axis will usually represent time (age), and the vertical axis represents height (growth). Most growth parameters have an uphill path, eventually reaching a peak on the upper, right corner of the graph. In graphing out the scenario that I was contemplating—spiritual growth due to sovereign grace and human responsibility—the horizontal axis is God’s sovereign grace working in my life over time. It cannot be stopped. His grace initiated my life from the beginning (Ps. 139:13-16). His grace gave me spiritual life at the time of His choosing (Titus 3:4-7). He will accomplish in me what He has set out to accomplish in me. His divine working in my life will continue to progress along the right axis without interruption. …being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it…(Phil.1:6). The vertical axis of the graph is my responses/attitudes to His grace working in me—my obedience (or lack thereof). Once God initiates spiritual life in me, my will is now free to properly respond to Him with my heart and actions. My growth has the potential to lift up off the bottom of the graph. If I continue to yield to His Spirit and obey, the graph will continue to ascend toward the upper right side of the graph. If I drag my feet with bad attitudes and selfish behavior, the graph may level off or even begin to drop again (not good)! This is what the carnal Christians at Corinth were experiencing: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not behaving like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3) The Corinthian believers were not progressing upward in their spiritual growth because of their immature attitudes and actions in receiving the grace of God. As a result, their usefulness in ministry and the fullness of their benefits were severely limited. If I have a setback in my growth because of my attitudes and actions, my graph may drop down to a vertical place that it was before. However, I will not be at the same place that I was before—the grace of God in my life has continued to move forward! God’s point to me with this simple illustration was that there are two complementary principles at work in my spiritual growth and maturity—God’s sovereign grace and my obedient responses/attitudes. As a result, I can never go back to any level of maturity at which I have previously been. Just as returning to a geographical place after many years would seem to be going back to the same place, it isn’t because time has moved forward, I have changed, and the place has changed. Said another way—if a third grader in 2006 has to repeat the third grade in 2007 at the same school with the same teacher, he will go through a much different experience than he did in 2006. This helps me to understand that I should never attempt to go back to any experience or level with God that I once experienced; it is impossible. He has moved forward, and His sovereign grace in my life has moved forward. I have changed, also. If I drag my feet, I will not slow the sovereign working of God in my growth; I will slow the part of my growth that comes through obedience. The apostle Paul understood this truth. He had total confidence that God was in total control of his life, yet at the same time he said, Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me…reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12-14).
…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you… (Phil. 2:12-13). Jonathan Clark is an elder of Abundant Life Covenant Church and a physician in Springfield, Missouri.
SHINING
BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN “My mother was right.” This is what Jerry Seinfeld thinks to himself in a funny episode that has him behaving uncharacteristically altruistic. In other episodes it is made clear that his mother is sure that her son is beyond exceptional. Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall (Prov. 16:18). This may sound corny, but the Holy Spirit uses that Seinfeld episode to correct me from time to time. I can be driving down the street just taking care of business, a string of self-flattering somewhat delusional thoughts may come to mind, and just like that the Spirit will pipe in with, “Yeah, I know—your mother was right.” That’s all it takes to sober me up. However, in our American cultural Christianity, the Spirit seems to be much busier coaxing believers to think of themselves more highly than lowly. For the most part and for a good number of years, believers have been innocently, perhaps, but nonetheless bombarded from pulpit to pulpit with their own inherent worthlessness. Such faulty teaching meshes perfectly within our psyches—unless our minds have been thoroughly renewed with truth from Scripture—and with our own experiences in a natural world that we cannot quite fully come out of. Oh, we’re told enough already that God loves us but are then left with the impression that He must be out of His mind to do so. But the Scriptures are replete with statement after statement that God has identified us with His Son—has placed us on an equal unblemished righteousness footing along with the Christ, Himself—who, along with His many other worthy attributes, is now described as merely “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). I got to thinking one day about Jesus laying there in the tomb at the moment He was made alive again, and the stone was rolled away from the tomb. I guess He could have, but it would have been hard for Him to just lie there like a dead man for any length of time at all—especially after what He had recently gone through. No, the next thing we know He’s out of there talking to the women and spooking the guards—shining brighter than the sun. God tells us in no uncertain terms that He has linked us to Jesus—and to His death, burial, and resurrection. What the faulty instructors have been doing and, unknowingly perhaps, have been influencing us to do is just lie there like a dead man, being worthy, after all, of only death and burial. The Spirit says, “Get up! Come forth! Walk in newness of life” (John 11:43b; Rom. 6:4b). We show up on this earth with itty-bitty bodies, having had little to do with where, when, to whom we belong, or much of anything else. We don’t even have a say in what we are called. But God is sovereign, and nothing is by chance, right? I found out that my mother named me. Of course, my dad had something to do with my last name but not his own. One time in our travels, my wife and I happened onto an old time country store. While she was busy looking at the collectibles, I picked up a book on proper names and their origins—their meanings. So, of course, I looked for mine. Let’s see, Michael: “Godlike;” Albert: “Notably glorious;” Lawrence: “Laurel-crowned,” as in “Victorious”—alluding to Olympic athletes who, upon winning a race, were adorned with flowered wreathes. And the Spirit says, “Yeah, I know—your mother was right.” Michael Lawrence owns and operates Lawrence Electric Company and is a freelance writer.
MARATHON LIFE I jogged three miles today. To some this may seem trivial, and to some it may seem unattainable. When I was much younger, it wasn’t a big deal; I only saw the physical benefits and was able to jog even farther. For the past few years, I have been trying to get into better physical condition by running, jogging, and walking. At first, I only walked, but then I started walking and running alternately on the Kickapoo High School track. I would run a lap and then walk a lap to keep from passing out. One morning the Lord spoke to my spirit as I was running. He asked if I was ready to go the entire two miles without walking. My response was that I could only do it if it were His will. He told me to slow down. I did and began my second lap, wondering how I could possibly do that one plus six more! He spoke again, “Slow down and relax.” The Lord then revealed to me that I had been working out in the same way that I had been living. Running on all eight cylinders only to burn out and creep around for a while, catch my breath, get back on track, and start running again. That morning He experientially showed me that my life is not a sprint but a marathon. Today, He gave me a deeper understanding. I had been jogging in our neighborhood for more variety of scenery, which introduced other obstacles—hills. Going up hill was challenging, but of course, the downward descents were easier. Fighting the upward hills with the wind blowing against me, I looked forward to the declines when I wouldn’t have to work so hard. I was focusing on my circumstances not on the goal (Phil. 3:14). Again I heard, “Slow down and relax.” I obeyed and began to travel at a more consistent pace. As I came to the end of the three miles and turned the last corner to head for home, I checked the time. I had completed those three miles in about the same amount of time as the original two-mile assignment. I feel like a believer in training, and my Coach has been successfully working in me this entire time. The pathway may get longer and harder, but He has equipped me to complete each assignment. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Lisa Krueger is a homemaker in Springfield, Missouri.
LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD I once saw a commercial where a family was starting their day in a “Leave it to Beaver” breakfast setting. Everyone was so pleasant and had made their beds so nicely. Then a voice said, “GET REAL,” and they brought the family into our modern day with mom yelling, kids running, and a child pouring Cheerios all over the table in front of the inattentive dad. I said to my husband, “Why is it so wrong to think you can have a nice, orderly family with children who obey and are polite?” Our culture is prevalent with the message that it is silly to think marriage can last, or that children can behave, or that one could actually be happy and satisfied in life. “GET REAL,” they say. I have been accused of living in a dream world. I guess I do. The dream didn’t start with me though; God started it. He has vision and dream for me. He says in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV): “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” As I listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to show me His dreams through His Word (what is true about me, my family, my circumstances, my church etc.), He shapes my visions and dreams (my thoughts) to think like Him, which is contrary to the world’s thinking. He also has given me people (my church) to practically show me how dreams become reality every day. In my life I have found that dreams don’t usually happen before my eyes. Even if I believe very strongly in something, it usually doesn’t happen without work and dedication through hard times along the way. This is faith in action. God has called us to exceed the expectations of our culture, and He empowers us to do it as we follow His dreams. Angie Gibson and her husband Ed are leaders in the Heirborn children’s ministry of Abundant Life Covenant Church
FORGIVENESS When I was in my late teens (before the Lord apprehended me), I lived with some friends in a house right next to a convenience store. One day, I walked over to the store to get a pack of cigarettes with another person that was visiting my friends. While we were in the store, a car pulled up outside, and numerous people got out. When we came out of the store, they surrounded us and confronted the person I was with (he later claimed he didn’t know them). As I was standing there “packing” my cigarettes on my palm, I noticed one of them take a swing at the person I was with. I quickly looked up and instantly something hit me in the mouth—I didn’t see who or what it was that hit me. I was dazed and bleeding with several broken teeth and cuts in my mouth. The people got in their car and took off. I rounded up weapons and a posse, and we went looking for those people in an attempt to get revenge. We never caught up with them that day, and I felt deprived of the opportunity to get them back for what they did to me. Years later, after God brought me into relationship with Him through Christ, the Lord showed me that as long as I maintain anger and resentment toward the one that hit me (even though I didn’t know or even see who it was), that person/circumstance was controlling my life in a negative way. I was being held captive, literally a prisoner of those negative thoughts and emotions. The only way to experience freedom from that situation was to release total forgiveness toward the person who wronged me. When I decided to forgive (from the heart), I felt that wonderful freedom but also experienced something more. I believe that I had a better understanding of the forgiveness I received from God—my sins (and sin nature) had offended Him, when He had done me no wrong, yet through the blood of His Son, He granted me total forgiveness and gave me a new nature so that I could now walk in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24). I also felt a greater sense of release from the guilt of my past offenses toward others, knowing that God knows my remorse for those crimes and is able to make all grace abound toward those whom I sinned against; He is sovereign and just. When I am confronted with the choice of whether or not I will forgive in a circumstance, I am reminded of the great pardon I received, and my conclusion is: “How can I possibly withhold forgiveness?” even though often my flesh wants to hold onto the offense. Jesus came to set us free from all bondage. Unforgiveness is bondage and negatively affects us emotionally, relationally, physically, and even spiritually. In His often-quoted prayer, Jesus taught the principle of forgiveness: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matt. 6:12). I believe this is a good way to experience a life of righteousness, peace, and joy. A while back, I was reading along in Scripture when I came to these words of Jesus: And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone… (Mark 11:25, NASB). When I read this verse I thought, forgive—anything against anyone—that sounds like living with a constant attitude of forgiveness (Matt. 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4). As difficult as it sounded, I knew the Lord would not ask me to do anything He did not equip me to do. That equipping comes through instruction from His Word, the Holy Spirit’s witness, and spiritual authorities to demonstrate this principle. An example from the written Word is “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Pride keeps me from having a forgiving attitude. Bringing correction and direction, Holy Spirit bears witness to my spirit in practical daily living to release forgiveness. The delegated spiritual authorities God has placed me under teach me by example to love and forgive those who sin against me. They say, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Now that I have this revelation, the Lord requires me to practice walking in forgiveness. He uses daily circumstances with my wife or my kids or my boss to test me. Some days I do better than others—but I am confident that He who started this good work in me will be faithful to complete it. As I am learning the value of the freedom of walking in forgiveness, I find myself telling others (and myself) when offenses come to “just let it go.” I hope it helps them as much as it does me. Forgive—anything against anyone—Jesus (our pattern) demonstrated this all the way to the cross where He said, “Father, forgive them.” Greg Sanders is a biomedical equipment technician for Mercy Clinical Engineering Services at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Missouri..
NEW CREATION HOUSE “There is a unique UNITY at New Creation House that makes you want to keep coming over and over again. Everyone is really tight and are each others’ friends. And when new people come, they fit right in with everyone else. The closeness is awesome!” Rebekah Clark, 9th grader at Glendale High School, Springfield, Missouri.
“New Creation House on Friday nights gives me something to look forward too.” Jon Wood, 8th grader at Carver Middle School, Springfield, Missouri.
“New Creation House is a really fun place! I hate missing it on Friday nights! It is also fun to have friends come and have fun with you!” Natalie Davis, 7th grader at Carver Middle School, Springfield, Missouri.
GOD’S ROAD TO FREEDOM
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Equally
as important, I must walk in communion with
Christ’s body, His church. When I love the Lord, I am loving His people
and vice versa (1 John 3:14). Strife and unforgiveness are truly the
spirit of antichrist; pride and rebellion are 21st-century
idolatry and witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23). I must participate in my brothers’
and sisters’ lives and allow them into mine. Remember, communion has
changed the “me” to “us.” This is the Lord’s doing, and
it is marvelous in our eyes.
and
free, male and female all enter through the same door—the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Believers who hold out a special or
different plan of God for biological Jews fail to fully understand the
“manifold wisdom of God” that is being “made known by the church”
for all generations (Eph. 3:10, 21). 
I
can never go back to where I previously was, nor do I want to. I want my
spiritual development curve to continue sloping upward and to the right.
And the beauty is that every experience of every day is new even if I have
“been there before and done that!”