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“The missionary goes out to men of other faiths and of no faith, not to argue, not to make comparisons, never to claim a superior knowledge or revelation, but to tell of a glorious deed, of the New Creation that has occurred and of the New Being that has appeared and into which men may enter. This is testimony, the apostolic testimony, and this, with the energy of love, is the missionary motive. The insistent task of missionary education and responsibility is to engender this motive throughout the Church, a task that can only be accomplished as men are confronted anew with the message of the Bible and with its supreme and central story, the story of the cross.”
… Douglas Webster (1920-1986), Local Church and World Mission, New York: Seabury, 1964, p. 71-72

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http://z.about.com/d/ancienthistory/1/0/F/N/2/roman_empire_1stcen_1884.jpg

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Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

oil on canvas (159 × 127 cm) — 1633
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

“The Deity & Exclusive Authority of Jesus the Messiah in the Gospel of Mark”

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“The [Roman] imperial coinage (which was regularly used as a propaganda medium)… is full of the characteristic motifs of Advent and Epiphany, celebrating the blessings which the manifestation of each successive divine emperor was to bring to a waiting world. Among the adulatory formulas with which the emperor was acclaimed, [Prof. Ethelbert Stauffer] mentions, as going back probably to the first century, “Hail, Victory, Lord of the earth, Invincible, Power, Glory, Honour, Peace, Security, Holy, Blessed, Great, Unequalled, Thou Alone, Worthy art Thou, Worthy is he to inherit the Kingdom, Come, come, do not delay, Come again” (p. 155). [in Christ and the Caesars, Ethelbert Stauffer (1955)]. Indeed, one has only to read Psalm 72, “in Latin, in the official language of the empire, to see that it is largely the same formal language which is used alike in the Forum for the advent of the emperor and in the catacombs for the celebration of the Epiphany of Christ” (p. 251). Here there could be no compromise. Who was worthy to ascend the throne of the universe and direct the course of history? Caesar, or Jesus?”
… F. F. Bruce (1910-1990/1), The Apostolic Defense of the Gospel, London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1959, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959, p. 65

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sorry it’s so late. I just got home 20 minutes ago & the kids are to bed.

If you posted in the wrong place, don’t worry, we’ll make it right tomorrow.

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John Piper, from Ephesians 2 & elsewhere.

This is the larger clip from which this is taken.

For my brothers & sisters at Blackhawk Ministries as we journey through the incomparable gospel on display in Ephesians.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:1-10

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some thoughts as we launch out on this course in the next few days…

The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. It is a curious fact that historians have often been much readier to trust the New Testament than have many theologians.
… F. F. Bruce (1910-1990/1), The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1949, reprint, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003, p. 10

When a comparison is made of the variant readings of the New Testament with those of other books which have survived from antiquity, the results are little short of astounding. For instance, although there are some 200,000 “errors” among the New Testament manuscripts, these appear in only about 10,000 places, and only about one-sixtieth rise above the level of trivialities. Westcott and Hort, Ezra Abbot, Philip Schaff, and A. T. Robertson have carefully evaluated the evidence and have concluded that the New Testament text is over 99 percent pure. In the light of the fact that there are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts, some 9,000 versions and translations, the evidence for the integrity of the New Testament is beyond question.
… Norman L. Geisler (b. 1932) & William E. Nix, From God to Us, Chicago: Moody Press, 1974, p. 180

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“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” – Revelation 19:9,10 (ESV)

“That’s the goal of everything the angel has been revealing. That’s what the whole book of Revelation is about. That’s the point of all God’s judgments, all God’s dealings with the world. All God’s plans for history from beginning to end have this one goal—WORSHIP GOD! Don’t worship the wealth of Babylon, don’t worship the power of Babylon, don’t worship the pleasures of Babylon, and don’t even worship the holy messenger who brings you the news that Babylon has fallen forever. WORSHIP GOD!

(Blackhawk) is an alien outpost in Babylon. And we exist to reassert God’s rightful place wherever it has been prostituted to secular commerce or secular education or secular entertainment or secular media or secular arts or secular sports. All the people of God, exiled in Babylon, are called to be filled with the Spirit of prophecy (Acts 2:17f.), and the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 19:10)—the testimony that Jesus is the Lord of the universe and that means Lord over every area of secular life in Babylon.

But as an alien outpost in Babylon we know what’s coming. And we know what the worship of heaven is going to be like when Babylon comes down, and God stands forth to vindicate his Son. And we know from verse 10 that the reason this has all been revealed to us ahead of time is that we might WORSHIP GOD. God let John hear the celebration of heaven so that in his exile and his suffering he might join in and worship God. And John wrote it down in a book so that we might listen to the worship of heaven and join in.”
- John Piper, “Worship God” 09-15-91

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