If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you are not READY for sex

baby at six weeks gestation
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." ~ God

 If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you are not READY for sex.

The FACTS of LIFE:

FACT ONE: Where Life Begins: As a Gift from God

1 + 1 = 2

Sex = Conception

Conception = Baby

No sex = No baby

Life comes from God. Every human being is personally created by God, Who places His own likeness & image upon each individual at conception. But God only gives us the gift of conception of a child when the sperm of a man penetrates the egg of a woman. With the exception of special medical methods of fertilizing eggs, this blessing of conception normally happens through sexual intercourse.


To see what a little one in the womb looks like, watch this Stunning Video of Prenatal Development:
http://cbrinfo.org/index.php/blog/ehd_documentary_facts_speak_for_themselves/

FACT TWO: Not everyone loves and values God's gift of children

When sexually immoral teens & adults do not believe they are READY and they are UNWILLING to live in a sacrificial way to love & care for a baby, they will often MURDER their little one(s) by abortion. Jesus has made it abundantly clear that we MUST love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (And, let's be honest, you & I love ourselves A WHOLE LOT.) This mandate to love means that we must do our best to PREVENT ANY HARM from coming to our neighbors, born & pre-born. This means we must LOVE people young & old, them enough to tell them the TRUTH.

FACT THREE: Sexual Intimacy is forbidden (SIN) outside of the marriage relationship

God has made it perfectly clear in His Word that sexual intimacy is reserved for a man & a woman who have covenanted to love one another for a lifetime in marriage. Sex outside marriage is called 'fornication' & the Bible declares that no fornicator (the biblical word for any sexually immoral teen or adult) has any inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Selfishly, teens & adults sin willfully against God & their sexual partner by engaging in fornication, knowing full well that they can conceive a child. Many sexually immoral people have a back-up plan to murder any baby that is conceived from their fornication. This is how the sinful human heart works. Evil thoughts proceed directly from the heart of the person who commits sin of sexual immorality and murder (& all the other ways in which they violate God's Law (His holy commandments).

FACT FOUR: Some sexually immoral teens & adults will MURDER their babies by abortion. But, some MARRIED couples will also MURDER their babies by abortion.

Children are a blessed gift from God. However, even MARRIED couples sometimes eschew having children. If a couple who is married does not desire to lovingly and sacrificially raise a child, the only legitimate way for them to avoid becoming pregnant would be to avoid intercourse. No method of birth control except abstinence is 100% effective.

With this in mind, until a couple is willing to welcome, love and raise a child, they should not marry. And, if they are already married and will murder any infant God allows them to conceive, the should abstain from sexual intercourse.


To see what abortion is and what abortion DOES to a human child go here: www.abortionNO.org

Summation: If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you should abstain from sex.

If you are sexually immoral (having sex outside of the covenant of marriage) God commands you to REPENT. You are ordered by God to confess & forsake your sin & cast yourself upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. His precious Blood can wash away your sin & make you a new creation. Otherwise, you are doomed.


For a biblical definition of what it means to savingly repent, go to: http://www.cornerstoneorlando.org/docs/tract_TrueRepentance-English.pdf

ADOPTION MAKES ABORTION INDEFENSIBLE!

No teen or adult, single or married, ever has a legitimate reason to murder their baby by abortion.

HEAR THIS: "There is no such thing as an unloved, unwanted CHILD, only unwanting ADULTS."

Whether single or married, no one has the right to premeditatedly and violently murder a little baby. Children in the womb are longed for, hoped for, prayed for by couples on the adoption waiting list. Adoption is FREE for the biological mother. Give the following adoption information to every unrepentant sexually immoral person you know. Also, give it to every married couple who does not want to love and raise a child.

www.birthmother.com
www.parentprofiles.com

You must not have SEX until you are married and are willing to welcome and love any child God gives to you.
If you are unmarried and having sex: REPENT or perish! 

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Holy Biblical Counseling Script to an Abortion-bound woman

Friends,
Today I received a copy of a precious counseling e mail written by one of our Sanctuary counselors to an abortion-minded mother. I tweaked it a bit so that you would all see and 'hear' how you too can speak biblically, lovingly, compassionately, truthfully to a woman who is considering killing her baby by abortion.

God bless you as you commit your life to give glory to Christ and to love and do good to your neighbors.

Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries



i want to speak with you today regarding the precious gift God is knitting together in your womb. Listen to the words of the psalmist as he cries out to God in prayer saying: "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You,  when I was made in secret..Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days were fashioned for me,  when as yet there were none of them." (Ps 139:13-16) Even though you may not think the timing of your pregnancy is right, God is the One who has opened your womb. He has created your baby in His image and likeness. Did you know that God knows us even BEFORE He forms us in the womb? It's true! In  Jeremiah 1:5 the Lord speaks these words: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you". Isn't that amazing? This means that before your father's sperm penetrated your mother's egg, God knew you. And He knew your infant as well. God has said that our children are a gift, a reward, a blessing and an inheritance from Him. I know that it might not 'feel' like it, but feelings can be deceiving. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that it is always a blessing to be pregnant.

I understand you are experiencing fears in your pregnancy and are even having some morning sickness.  I myself have had two precious daughters and understand what feeling sick is like, but that is not an excuse to take the life of your little one. America has made it legal to murder infants in the womb but God has never made it legal. In fact, He has a Law that overrides all other Laws. It's called the Ten Commandments. One of them is "You shall not murder". Abortion is a violent act against your innocent baby and an awful offense to God.  It is a sin.  Realize that suppressing the truth in unrighteousness is what you are doing right now.  Your conscience tells you this is wrong.  You may desire to have support to take the life of your child, but, it would be wrong of me or anyone else to help you do something that is so very, very wrong.  You may be hoping that we would make you feel comforted with the decision you are making. We cannot do that. We are Christians. We know that your baby is a human being. He or she is a person. You know that causing harm to your baby cruel. It is wrong.  You may want to pacify your conscience, but I wouldn't be helping you if I did that. Because I love God and I love you and your baby. I must be honest with you and speak the truth in love.

There is hope for you and for your infant. You can choose not to sin against God and this sweet baby boy or girl.  You can choose to do what is right.  Jesus said to "repent and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15)  That is our hope.  We must forsake our sins and turn to Him in saving faith.  We must all turn from our lying, covetousness and from sexual sin. Did you know that God calls sex outside marriage 'fornication'? It is a serious sin. The Bible says that no fornicator has any inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. (I Cor 6:9, Eph 5:5) Did you know that God says in Revelation 21:8 that all murderers will be cast into hell at the judgment? I am under the same government of God as you are. I am a sinner, saved by grace. In His great mercy and love God showed me my own state. He used someone to speak to me as I am speaking to you. They helped me to see I was an enemy of God through my wicked works.  In many ways, I was like you. I didn't care what God said.  I wanted to rule my life and not have anyone else to rule over me.  I had to come to the truth about myself and you must as well. You must realize that unless you repent you will perish. (Luke 13:3) Repent is a biblical word. Let me explain what it means. To repent means to confess and forsake your sins, crying out to the Savior to forgive you and make you new.  Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice.  He lived a sinless life which we could never live.  He died on the Cross and rose again on the 3rd day as a payment for our sins. If you repent and put your trust in this great gospel message, He will be faithful to forgive you and to cleanse you from all iniquity. I plead with you not to murder your baby and to put away all thoughts of harming your little one. And I also plead with you, in Christ's Name, to stop living in direct disobedience to God.  He is loving and He is merciful.  He will forgive you if you repent and turn to Him.  Don't harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation.  Turn to people who truly care about you and your baby.  There is true, loving support for doing the right thing and blessings evermore if you run to Jesus Christ for His saving mercies.  There is only sorrow and great punishment for doing what is wrong and sinful. I am here for you and I know of many other godly women who would be there as well.

If you do not desire to raise this child whom God has given you, you may personally choose a loving adoptive family. Come and let's look at profiles of couples on the adoption waiting list together. www.parentprofiles.com Did you know that adoption is FREE for you, the biological mother? Not only that, but if you qualify you may receive financial assistance with your living expenses and your medical expenses during your pregnancy and for 6 weeks after your baby is born. Isn't that wonderful? It truly makes abortion indefensible, doesn't it? Let's look at www.birthmother.com together.

I have been sent by the Lord to help you. To love you. And, to love your baby.  With hope in God, I beseech you, look unto Christ & live.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

God's Word is a Sword: Unsheath it!

'For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.'
Hebrews 4:12

As a missionary evangelist outside abortion clinics for 18 years it has been my observation that most pro-life ministries are humanistic. In other words, they are woman-centered rather than God-centered and biblical. While it is an ancient temptation to exchange the commandments of God and His threatenings with humanistic reasoning and appeals to pleasure self-preservation, we have the open declaration of the Bible that it is pride and foolishness to believe that anything we have to say (however compassionate-sounding and compelling) comes near to the power and authority of the Law and Word of God.

Please take time to prayerfully meditate on the scripture above and the commentaries on this verse below. May God help you to be unashamed of Christ and to love and do all good to your neighbors, first and foremost, with a mind for giving glory to Christ.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries



The truth of God is all-penetrating and searching. The real thoughts and intents of the heart will be brought to light. If there is insincerity and self-deception there can be no hope of escape. The "Word of God" is "what God speaks" - whether it be a promise or a threatening; whether it be Law or gospel; whether it be a simple declaration or a statement of a doctrine. The idea here is, that what "God had said" is suited to detect hypocrisy and to lay open the true nature of the feelings of the soul, so that there can be no escape for the guilty. His "truth" is adapted to bring out the real feelings, and to show man exactly what he is. Truth always has this power - whether preached, or read, or communicated by conversation, or impressed upon the memory and conscience by the Holy Spirit. There can be no escape from the penetrating, searching application of the Word of God. That truth has power to show what man is, and is like a penetrating sword that lays open the whole man; compare Isaiah 49:2.

Its power is seen in awakening the conscience; alarming the fears; laying bare the secret feelings of the heart, and causing the sinner to tremble with the apprehension of the coming judgment. All the great changes in the moral world for the better, have been caused by the power of truth. They are such as the truth in its own nature is suited to effect, and if we may judge of its power by the greatness of the revolutions produced, no words can over-estimate the might of the truth which God has revealed.

The comparison of the Word of God to a sword or to an arrow, is designed to show its power of penetrating the heart; Ecclesiastes 12:11, "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies;" compare Isaiah 49:2. "And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;" Revelation 1:16, "And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword;" Revelation 2:12, Revelation 2:16; Revelation 19:15. The comparison is common in the classics, and in Arabic poetry; see Gesenius, on Isaiah 49:2. The idea is that of piercing, or penetrating; and the meaning here is, that the Word of God reaches the "heart" - the very center of action, and lays open the motives and feelings of the man. It was common among the ancients to have a sword with two edges. The Roman sword was commonly made in this manner. The fact that it had two edges made it more easy to penetrate, as well as to cut with every way.

Soul and spirit - The animal life from the immortal soul... This distinction occurs in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "your whole spirit, and soul, and body;" ...  this is the idea here, that the Word of God is like a sharp sword that inflicts deadly wounds. The sinner "dies;" that is, he becomes dead to his former hopes, or is "slain" by the Law; Romans 7:9, "I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." This is the power referred to here - the power of destroying the hopes of the sinner; cutting him down under conviction; and prostrating him as if a sword had pierced his heart.

The thoughts and intents of the heart are brought out to view by the Word of God. And can anyone doubt this? See Romans 7:7. Is it not true that people are made to see their real character under the exhibition of the truth of God? That in the light of the Law they see their past lives to be sinful? That the exhibition of truth calls to their recollection many long-forgotten sins? And that their real feelings are brought out when the truth of God is proclaimed? Men then are made to look upon their motives as they had never done before, and to see in their hearts feelings whose existence they would not have suspected if it had not been for the exhibition of the truth. The exhibition of the truth is like pouring down the beams of the sun at midnight on a dark world; and the truth lays open the real feelings of the sinner as that sun would disclose the clouds of wickedness that are now performed under cover of the night. Many a man has a deep and fixed hostility to God and to his gospel who might never be sensible of it if the truth was not faithfully proclaimed. The particular idea here is, that the truth of God will detect the feelings of the hypocrite and self-deceiver. They cannot always conceal their emotions, and the time will come when truth, like light poured into the soul, will reveal their unbelief and their secret sins. They who are cherishing a hope of salvation, therefore, should be on their guard lest they mistake the name for the reality. Let us learn from this verse:

(1) The power of truth. It is "suited" to lay open the secret feelings of the soul. There is not an effect produced in awakening a sinner; or in his conviction, conversion, and sanctification, which the truth is not "adapted" to produce. The truth of God is not dead... it is in its own nature fitted to produce just the effects which are produced when it awakens, convicts, converts, and sanctifies the soul.

(2) The truth should be preached. Men who preach should endeavor to understand the nature of the mind and of the moral feelings, as really as he who would inflict a deadly wound should endeavor to understand enough about anatomy to know where the heart is...Truth is just as wisely adapted to save the soul as medicine is to heal the sick; and why then should not a preacher be as careful to study the nature of truth and its adaptedness to a particular end, as a student of the healing art is to understand the adaptedness of medicine to cure disease? The true way of preaching is, to feel that truth is adapted to the end in view; to select what is best suited for that end; to preach as if the whole result depended on getting that truth before the mind and into the heart - and then to leave the whole result with God. He will be more likely to praise God intelligently who believes that he has wisely adapted a plan to the end in view, than he who believes that God works only at random.
~ excerpted from Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Piercing even to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, He cuts and divides all things, even all sensible things... The apostle's meaning seems to be this, that whereas the soul and spirit are invisible, and the joints and marrow are covered and hid; so sharp and quick sighted, and so penetrating is the divine Word, that it reaches the most secret and hidden things of men. Christ knows what is in man; he is the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men; ... He will make manifest the counsels of the heart, and will critically inquire, and accurately judge of them.
~ excerpted from Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The nature of the Word of God (the doctrine of God which is preached both in the Law and in the Gospel) is so powerful that it enters even to the deepest and most inward and secret parts of the heart, fatally wounding the stubborn, and openly reviving the believers.
~ Geneva Study Bible

For the Word of God preached, (Heb 4:2), and armed with threatenings, (Heb 4:3) is living and powerful. It is attended with the POWER of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers ...and is a discerner - Not only of the THOUGHTS, but also of the INTENTIONS.
~ John Wesley

The Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. When God sets it home by His Spirit, it convinces powerfully, converts powerfully, and comforts powerfully. It makes a soul that has long been proud, to be humble; and a perverse spirit, to be meek and obedient. Sinful habits, that are become as it were natural to the soul, and rooted deeply in it, are separated and cut off by this Sword. It will discover to men their thoughts and purposes, the vileness of many, the bad principles they are moved by, the sinful ends they act to. The Word will show the sinner all that is in his heart. Let us hold fast the doctrines of Christian faith in our heads, its enlivening principles in our hearts, the open profession of it in our lips, and be subject to it in our lives.
~ Matthew Henry

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

When is MERCY a poison?

Take heed of abusing the mercy of God. Suck not poison out of the sweet flower of God's mercy. Think not that because God is merciful, you may go on in sin; this is to make mercy your enemy. To sin because mercy abounds is the devil's logic. He that sins because of God's mercy, shall have judgement without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury. 'If he bless himself, saying, I shall have peace though I walk after the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord, and His jealousy, shall smoke against that man.’ Deut 29: I9, 20.  'The mercy of the Lord is upon them that fear Him.’ Psa 103: I7. Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not. God's mercy is a holy mercy; where it pardons it heals.

~ Thomas Watson

The Sin Cycle of the Aborting Woman: A Biblical View of the Cause & Remedy for the sin of Abortion

The Sin Cycle: the human heart is the origin, fount & source of all evil

‎'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Jeremiah 17:9

The origin of sin is the human heart...

 Both the cause and the results of sin is always sin.

"For out of the HEART proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies..." Mark 7:21, Matthew 15:19


"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

‎"But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.” Jeremiah 22:17

 ‎'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Jeremiah 17:9

 ‎'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.' Romans 1:18-32

Aborting Woman SINdrome

The Sin Cycle of the Aborting Woman


Psalm 111:10 explains that: 'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments'. This fear of the LORD is the only foundation of, and introduction to, true wisdom. This fear of the LORD is what will lead to repentance, to faith in Christ & even after conversion, guides the believer to watchfulness and obedience.

"...wisdom giveth LIFE to them that have it" Ecclesiastes 7:12

The fear of the LORD is the way of true wisdom. It is the way of LIFE.

Without this fear of the LORD, women will continue to pamper their idol of self, indulge their lusts for their lover(s) and murder any offspring who get in the way of servicing their idols. They will also help others to murder their children. Our Christian evangelistic duty is to help break the pattern of their sin by inducing the fear of the LORD through the means He has provided; His moral Law (the commandments).

Our desire should be to help sexually immoral & aborting & post-abortive women to see the gravity of their sin & the peril of their soul by bringing them the just demands of God's moral Law. This is given to us by God Himself as a means to elicit fear of the LORD, which is the beginning of the way of WISDOM, which leads to LIFE.

Matthew Henry explains: "This Wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation...Christ is that Wisdom, by whom the worlds [& their babies!] were made..."

In studying Romans 1 it appears that this sin cycle is well-established in the scriptures. (One might call it a SINdrome.) But, of course, a person can, by means of God's common grace & general revelation, have remorse for their sexual sin & stop fornicating outwardly. They can also have remorse for murdering their baby and determine never to murder another baby. Some women would never even think of killing their little one in the first place, which I attribute to a healthy God-given conscience. So, yes, there are exceptions, by the grace of God.


But, while women make excuses for fornicating, committing adultery, murdering their babies, etc, etc, thinking that 'everything happens for a reason', 'God forgives', 'things will work out for the best', etc, sin NEVER works out for the true good. It always corrupts, degrades, defiles, ruins, deceives & brings death.  This is the cycle of sin.



Contrary to much psychological humanistic (woman-centered instead of God-centered) teaching regarding aborting and post-abortive women, the primary reason a woman murders her baby is not much different than the reason she is sexually immoral. The 'cause' or 'reason' TO sin is always OF or FROM sin. While she may 'blame' her circumstances or other people for her sin, the Bible reveals that the guilt and responsibility for her sin remains with her. (God will most certainly hold other parties responsible for their sin, but we are addressing the reality of the girl or woman's sin because we are counseling her.) We must come to terms (and then help the woman come to terms) with the fact that her unregenerate heart is a poisonous black fountain & pool of iniquity.


We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. And, we continue to sin because of original sin AND the willful commission of sin brings MORE sin. In John 8:34 Jesus spoke of this vicious cycle as slavery, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."

John Gill explains: "... these, whatever liberty, they promise themselves, are the servants of corruption; they are under the government of sin, that has dominion over them; and they obey it in the lusts thereof, and are drudges and slaves unto it, and will have no other wages at last but death, even eternal death, if grace prevent not".

"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Romans 6:1

Our solemn duty as we speak with, preach to and counsel aborting and post-abortive women is to share the Law & the gospel commanding her in Jesus' Name:

Unless you will perish" (Luke 13:3 & 5)
  " ...they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance." Acts 26:20 
 "Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" Acts 3:19

For a thorough biblical description & understand of true repentance please go to:
http://www.fivesolas.com/watson/repent1.htm
http://www.cornerstoneorlando.org/docs/tract_TrueRepentance-English.pdf
http://www.repentandtrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=65

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Is your church a cozy religious cushion?

...religious cushioning may take a number of forms. Its primary concern is to comfort suburbanites with a vision of a God who is too decent to send nice people like them to hell. In its sacerdotal form, its purpose is to tranquilize the guilt-ridden person with the religious warmth of its liturgy. Among conservatives and evangelicals, its primary mission all too often is to function as a ...station where Christians gather.. to be reassured.. about God...and to renew one’s sense of well-being without having a serious encounter with the living God. ~ Jack Miller

In his book 'Outgrowing the Ingrown Church' Miller presents a scathing indictment against the modern church's 'cozy cushioning'. He notes the identifying marks of an 'ingrown church':

1. Lack of zeal for intentional and biblical evangelism (although it may have something called 'outreach' which has little or no gospel proclamation)
2. Immobilization
3. Not turned toward the world and the lost (although it may have 'church growth strategies')
4. Lack of faith that the Lord would use them to bring a harvest of people to Him (unbelief in His empowering & equipping)
5. Appear to have become all-too-familiar and comfortable with a settled and predictable form of 'religious life' and 'church activities'

Jack Miller has a view of the church that is NOT ingrown as exhibiting:

... ongoing repentance based on the intense study of Scripture, continual personal and corporate prayer, daring gospel communication and discipling, mobilizing every member’s gifts for Christ’s mission to the world...

Miller wrote the book to identify & speak to what he calls "... the deadly peril of misdirected faith."

Has our faith become faith in 'church' or faith in 'faith' or faith in 'prayer' or any other thing instead of Christ? In light of the Lord's missional mandate have we settled for a 'cozy cushion' when Jesus has clearly provided the power of His Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission?

...an act of faith lay at the heart of any obedience to the Great Commission. In faith we claim the presence of Christ as the power for fulfilling His missionary will. The promises are the handles that we grab in our weakness in order to secure His presence....Christ not only said, ‘Go with the gospel,’ but also, ‘I will give you the power to bring in an immeasurable harvest’
... As I meditated on... the present significance of the promise became clear. The ‘rivers of living water’ signified life-giving power provided from above to flow in and through the believer—power for holy living and daring witness. But there is a strong now-implication in Jesus’ words. The promise of verse 38 is in the Greek present, which is not quite like our English present; it is linear, ongoing, expressing habitual or continuously present activity. ~ Jack Miller

 I hope that if you have seen yourself sitting on a cozy cushion of an ingrown church that you will repent. You can be certain that Jesus will help you as you pray for the Lord to fill you with HIs power, presence and peace as you pursue a life of habitual and continuous opportunities to be a daring witness for Jesus Christ amongst those who are perishing. I pray that you will seek for ways to avoid the cozy religious cushion and that the Lord would use you to invigorate and encourage your pastor and your church in seeking and saving the lost sheep of Jehovah.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Five Lessons on Evangelism & Preaching from the Puritans

The Word of God is preached too often today in a way that will not transform listeners because it fails to *discriminate and fails to apply. Such preaching is reduced to... a catering to what people want to hear, or the kind of subjectivism that is divorced from the foundation of scripture...Reformed and Puritan preachers applied their sermons to every part of life, all of Scripture to the entire man. They were unashamedly doctrinal. We can learn much from them on how to evangelize, such as:

1) Speak the truth about God. That seems obvious. But how often do we speak to others about God's majestic being, His Trinitarian personality, and His glorious attributes? How often do we tell others about His holiness, sovereignty, mercy, and love? Do we root our evangelism in a robust biblical theism, or do we take our cues from modern evangelism which approaches God as if He were a next-door neighbor, who adjusts His attributes to our needs and desires? How often do we speak to others about how God and His majestic attributes have become experientially real to us

2) Speak the truth about man. Do you talk to others about our depraved nature and our desperate need for salvation in Jesus Christ? Do you say that.. by nature; that we are all... sinners with a terrible record, which is a legal problem, as well as a bad heart, which is a moral problem? Do you talk to them about the dreadful character of sin; that sin is something that stems back to our tragic fall in Adam and affects every part of us, so dominating our mind, heart, will, and conscience that we are slaves to it? Do you describe sin as moral rebellion against God? Do you say that the wages of sin is death, now and for all eternity?

3) Speak the truth about Christ. Do we present the complete Christ to sinners, not separating His benefits from His person or offering Him as a Savior while ignoring His claims as Lord? Do we offer Christ as the grand remedy for the great malady of sin and repeatedly declare His ability, willingness to save, and preciousness as the exclusive Redeemer of lost sinners? Do you exhibit the way of salvation in Christ in your faith and repentance? Paul said, "I testified to you publicly and from house to house repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20-21). Do you likewise evangelize your friends and neighbors when God offers that opportunity? Do you explain to them what faith and repentance are in a born-again sinner?

4) Speak the truth about sanctification. Do you tell others how a Christian must walk the King's highway of holiness in gratitude, service, obedience, love, and self-denial? Do you tell how he must learn the art of meditation, of fearing God, and of childlike prayer? How he must press on by God's grace, seeking to make his calling and election sure? Do you disciple your associates in the need for habitual, experiential faith, repentance, and godliness?

5) Speak the truth about eternal consequences. Do not be afraid to speak about the consequences of despising the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not flinch from describing damnation and hell. As one Puritan wrote, "We must go with the stick of divine truth and beat every bush behind which a sinner hides, until like Adam who hid, he stands before God in his nakedness." We must speak urgently to people around us because many are on their way to hell. We must confront sinners with the law and gospel, with death in Adam and life in Christ. Let us use every weapon we can to turn sinners from the road of destruction so they may, through grace, experience a living, experiential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. We know from Scripture and by experience that an omnipotent Christ can bless our efforts and rescue a dead sinner, divorce him from his sinful lusts, and make him willing to forsake his wicked ways and turn to God, fully resolved to make God his goal and his praise. Acts 5:31 says, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Praise God for the experience of His amazing grace toward us in Christ.

~ Joel Beeke Puritan Reformed Spirituality

* discriminate: to make a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing on the basis of the group, class, or category to which the person or thing belongs rather than according to actual merit; show partiality.

We must remember to make the distinction that the blessed promises of God for His tender mercy and the gift of eternal life are to be distinguished as only belonging to the people of God. In other words, the mercy of God is particular. Only those who have repented and trusted in Christ find themselves in His saving grace. The one who is born-again has been covered in the Blood of the Lamb. They are a new creation. The person who is unregenerate is in an entirely different category. They are enemies of God through wicked works. His mercy, forgiveness and favor in the way of salvation have not been granted them. They remain condemned and under the just wrath of Almighty God. Unless they repent, they will perish!

The conversion of a sinner is a gracious sovereign work of Divine power. Let us do God's work, God's way. Rather than promising sinners that God's mercy is theirs and that His grace is automatic, we can, and indeed MUST, trust the the process of God's effectual calling to be accomplished in and through the means of faithful gospel proclamation.

Let us avoid any manipulation of the truth as it is in Jesus. Using Rom. 8:30 as its guide the Westminster Confession explains: “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism explains: “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.” 

The effectual calling of God has three divine components:
1) It is a work of Divine grace
2) It is a work of Divine power.
3) It is a work of Divine sovereignty.

Remember ... "Salvation is of the Lord."—Jonah 2:9

“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:7

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries