B - PAST WITNESSES
- Tammy Faye Bakker - Wayne Barber - William Barclay - Basil of Caesara - Richard Meux Benson - Horatius Bonar - St. Bonaventure - Richard Bonnke - David Brainerd - William Bridge - Jerry Bridges - Bill Bright - Heinrech Bullinger - John Bunyan - Richard Girnt Butler
tammy faye bakker
Tamara Faye Messner ( March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American evangelist, singer, author, talk show host, and television personality. She gained notice for her work with The PTL Club, a televangelist program she co-founded with her husband Jim Bakker in 1974. They had hosted their own puppet-show series for local programming in the early 1960s; Messner also had a career as a recording artist. In 1978, she and Bakker built Heritage USA, a Christian theme park
Deep into the AIDS crisis in October 1985, a prominent Los Angeles minister named Stephen Pieters traveled to a television studio for a satellite-link interview that his friends begged him to avoid.
On the other end was the Pentecostal televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, of the Charlotte-based PTL Television Network. Then at her peak, with more than 13 million viewers, she and her broadcaster husband, Jim, held great sway with conservative Christian followers whose beliefs were seen as sharply at odds with the gay community and AIDS patients such as Rev. Pieters.
“It would wreck my reputation as a liberal gay activist preacher,” Rev. Pieters, who died July 8 at 70, recalled being told. But the 25-minute segment became a watershed in public perceptions about AIDS. Rev. Pieters also emerged as an eloquent and nationally renowned spokesman for those facing AIDS, which at the time was considered not only a likely death sentence but also put patients at high risk for experiencing shame and humiliation. -Washington Post: The Rev. Stephen Pieters, who helped shift views on AIDS, dies at 70 7.11.23
On the other end was the Pentecostal televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker, of the Charlotte-based PTL Television Network. Then at her peak, with more than 13 million viewers, she and her broadcaster husband, Jim, held great sway with conservative Christian followers whose beliefs were seen as sharply at odds with the gay community and AIDS patients such as Rev. Pieters.
“It would wreck my reputation as a liberal gay activist preacher,” Rev. Pieters, who died July 8 at 70, recalled being told. But the 25-minute segment became a watershed in public perceptions about AIDS. Rev. Pieters also emerged as an eloquent and nationally renowned spokesman for those facing AIDS, which at the time was considered not only a likely death sentence but also put patients at high risk for experiencing shame and humiliation. -Washington Post: The Rev. Stephen Pieters, who helped shift views on AIDS, dies at 70 7.11.23
Tammy Faye Bakker
"The Bible says, 'Judge not lest ye be judged.' Our lives are supposed to be hospitals, not courtrooms." ---Tammy Faye Bakker
wayne barber
Wayne Barber
In Ephesians 1 we find the riches of our salvation. It is important for every believer to know who he is and what he has in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 sums it all up. He says He has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. The First National Bank of God is Jesus Christ, and we have everything spiritually that we will ever need in Him. We are rich today in Jesus Christ.
--Wayne Barber
--Wayne Barber
william barclay
William Barclay
The idea behind the word parable is “to throw alongside of.” It is a story thrown alongside the truth intended to teach. Parables have been called “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.”
i. “The Greek parabole is wider than our ‘parable’; in the LXX it translates masal, which includes proverbs, riddles and wise sayings as well as parables. Matthew uses it for instance for Jesus’ cryptic saying about defilement (Matthew 15:10-11, 15), and in Matthew 24:32 (‘lesson’) it indicates a comparison.” (France)
ii. “It had a double advantage upon their hearers: first, upon their memory, we being very apt to remember stories. Second, upon their minds, to put them upon studying the meaning of what they heard so delivered.” (Poole)
iii. Parables generally teach one main point or principle. We can get into trouble by expecting that they be intricate systems of theology, with the smallest detail revealing hidden truths. “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied; a parable is heard. We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables.” --William Barclay
i. “The Greek parabole is wider than our ‘parable’; in the LXX it translates masal, which includes proverbs, riddles and wise sayings as well as parables. Matthew uses it for instance for Jesus’ cryptic saying about defilement (Matthew 15:10-11, 15), and in Matthew 24:32 (‘lesson’) it indicates a comparison.” (France)
ii. “It had a double advantage upon their hearers: first, upon their memory, we being very apt to remember stories. Second, upon their minds, to put them upon studying the meaning of what they heard so delivered.” (Poole)
iii. Parables generally teach one main point or principle. We can get into trouble by expecting that they be intricate systems of theology, with the smallest detail revealing hidden truths. “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied; a parable is heard. We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables.” --William Barclay
William Barclay
Let us stop there and see the truth so far in this parable.
(i) It should never have been called the parable of the Prodigal Son, for the son is not the hero. It should be called the parable of the Loving Father, for it tells us rather about a father's love than a son's sin.
(ii) It tells us much about the forgiveness of God. The father must have been waiting and watching for the son to come home, for he saw him a long way off. When he came, he forgave him with no recriminations. There is a way of forgiving, when forgiveness is conferred as a favour. It is even worse, when someone is forgiven, but always by hint and by word and by threat his sin is held over him.
Once Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away."
It is the wonder of the love of God that he treats us like that.
That is not the end of the story. There enters the elder brother who was actually sorry that his brother had come home. He stands for the self-righteous Pharisees who would rather see a sinner destroyed than saved. Certain things stand out about him.
(i) His attitude shows that his years of obedience to his father had been years of grim duty and not of loving service.
(ii) His attitude is one of utter lack of sympathy. He refers to the prodigal, not as any brother, but as your son. He was the kind of self-righteous character who would cheerfully have kicked a man farther into the gutter when he was already down.
(iii) He had a peculiarly nasty mind. There is no mention of harlots until he mentions them. He, no doubt, suspected his brother of the sins he himself would have liked to commit.
Once again we have the amazing truth that it is easier to confess to God than it is to many a man; that God is more merciful in his judgments than many an orthodox man; that the love of God is far broader than the love of man; and that God can forgive when men refuse to forgive. In face of a love like that we cannot be other than lost in wonder, love and praise. --William Barclay
(i) It should never have been called the parable of the Prodigal Son, for the son is not the hero. It should be called the parable of the Loving Father, for it tells us rather about a father's love than a son's sin.
(ii) It tells us much about the forgiveness of God. The father must have been waiting and watching for the son to come home, for he saw him a long way off. When he came, he forgave him with no recriminations. There is a way of forgiving, when forgiveness is conferred as a favour. It is even worse, when someone is forgiven, but always by hint and by word and by threat his sin is held over him.
Once Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, "I will treat them as if they had never been away."
It is the wonder of the love of God that he treats us like that.
That is not the end of the story. There enters the elder brother who was actually sorry that his brother had come home. He stands for the self-righteous Pharisees who would rather see a sinner destroyed than saved. Certain things stand out about him.
(i) His attitude shows that his years of obedience to his father had been years of grim duty and not of loving service.
(ii) His attitude is one of utter lack of sympathy. He refers to the prodigal, not as any brother, but as your son. He was the kind of self-righteous character who would cheerfully have kicked a man farther into the gutter when he was already down.
(iii) He had a peculiarly nasty mind. There is no mention of harlots until he mentions them. He, no doubt, suspected his brother of the sins he himself would have liked to commit.
Once again we have the amazing truth that it is easier to confess to God than it is to many a man; that God is more merciful in his judgments than many an orthodox man; that the love of God is far broader than the love of man; and that God can forgive when men refuse to forgive. In face of a love like that we cannot be other than lost in wonder, love and praise. --William Barclay
Basil of Caesara
St Basil
"John has admirably confined the conception within circumscribed boundaries by two words, ‘In the beginning was the Word.’ For thought cannot travel outside ‘was,’ nor imagination beyond ‘beginning‘. Let your thought travel ever so far backward you cannot get beyond the ‘was,’ and however you may strain and strive to see what is beyond the Son, you will find it impossible to get further than the ‘beginning.’ True religion, therefore, thus teaches us to think of the Son together with the Father.” -St. Basil the Great; On The Spirit
Richard Meux Benson
Richardx Meux Benson
“Think of the Holy Ghost dwelling within us, mindful of all our past sins. But his memory of our sins is not censorious. It is not that he would reproach us, as weak mean-spirited persons regard someone who has strayed, eager to accuse while thinking to make escape impossible. The memory of the Holy Ghost is the memory of magnanimous love. He remembers our past sin most truly, but only because he desires to deliver us from it. He would teach us to remember it, he would bring us to the same remembrance as his, but only to effect our deliverance. He desires that all this work of sin may be done away, that all these full powers of his love may stream forth on our soul, and that he may ‘see of the travail’ of his divine purpose ‘and be satisfied'(Is. 53:11), as we are formed anew and perfected in the very image of Christ.” ~ Richard Meux Benson, Look to the Glory
“Our greatest affliction is not anxiety, or even guilt, but rather homesickness—a nostalgia or ineradicable yearning to be at home with God.” --Donald Bloesch
horatius bonar
(19 December 1808 – 31 July 1889)
Horatio Bonar Files
The history of six thousand years of evil has heen lost on man. He refuses to read its awful lesson regarding sin and God's displeasure against the sinner, which that history records. The flood of evil that has issued forth from one single sin he has forgotten. The death, the darkness, the sorrow, the sickness, the tears, the weariness, the madness, the confusion, the bloodshed, the furious hatred between man and man, making Earth a suburb of Hell -- all this is overlooked or misread. Man repels the thought that sin is crime which God hates with an infinite hate and which he, in his righteousness, must condemn and avenge.
If sin is such a surface thing, such a trifle as men deem it, what is the significance of this long sad story? Do earth's ten thousand graveyards, where human love lies buried, tell no darker tale? Do the millions upon millions of broken hearts and heavy eyes say that sin is but a trifle? Do the moaning of the hospital or the carnage of the battlefield, the blood-stained sword, and the death-dealing artillery proclaim that sin is a mere casualty and the human heart the seat of goodness after all? Do the earthquake, the volcano, the hurricane, the tempest speak nothing of sin's desperate evil? Do not man's aching head, and empty heart, and burdened spirit, and shaded brow, and weary brain, and tottering limbs utter -- in a voice articulate beyond mistake -- that sin is guilt? And do they not utter that guilt must be punished -- punished by the iudge of all -- not as a mere "violation of natural laws," but as a breach of the eternal law, which admits of no reversal: "The soul that sins, it shall die?" For without law, sin is nothing. "The strength of sin is the law" (1 Corinthians 15:56), and he who makes light of sin must defend moral confusion and injustice. He who refuses to recognize sin as guilt must dissolve the law of the universe or ascrihe imbecility and injustice to the Judge of all.
The world has grown old in sin. It has now more than ever hegun to trifle with it, either as a necessity which cannot he cured, or a partial aberration from good order which will rectify itself ere long. It is this tampering with evil, this refusal to see sin as God sees it, as the law declares it, and as the story of our race has revealed it, that has in all ages been the root of error and of wide departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. Admit the evil of sin with all its eternal consequences, and you are shut up to a divine way of dealing with it. Deny the evil of sin and the future results of that evil, and you may deny the whole revelation of God, set aside the cross, and abrogate the law. ---Horatius Bonar (The Everlasting Righteousness)
If sin is such a surface thing, such a trifle as men deem it, what is the significance of this long sad story? Do earth's ten thousand graveyards, where human love lies buried, tell no darker tale? Do the millions upon millions of broken hearts and heavy eyes say that sin is but a trifle? Do the moaning of the hospital or the carnage of the battlefield, the blood-stained sword, and the death-dealing artillery proclaim that sin is a mere casualty and the human heart the seat of goodness after all? Do the earthquake, the volcano, the hurricane, the tempest speak nothing of sin's desperate evil? Do not man's aching head, and empty heart, and burdened spirit, and shaded brow, and weary brain, and tottering limbs utter -- in a voice articulate beyond mistake -- that sin is guilt? And do they not utter that guilt must be punished -- punished by the iudge of all -- not as a mere "violation of natural laws," but as a breach of the eternal law, which admits of no reversal: "The soul that sins, it shall die?" For without law, sin is nothing. "The strength of sin is the law" (1 Corinthians 15:56), and he who makes light of sin must defend moral confusion and injustice. He who refuses to recognize sin as guilt must dissolve the law of the universe or ascrihe imbecility and injustice to the Judge of all.
The world has grown old in sin. It has now more than ever hegun to trifle with it, either as a necessity which cannot he cured, or a partial aberration from good order which will rectify itself ere long. It is this tampering with evil, this refusal to see sin as God sees it, as the law declares it, and as the story of our race has revealed it, that has in all ages been the root of error and of wide departure from the faith once delivered to the saints. Admit the evil of sin with all its eternal consequences, and you are shut up to a divine way of dealing with it. Deny the evil of sin and the future results of that evil, and you may deny the whole revelation of God, set aside the cross, and abrogate the law. ---Horatius Bonar (The Everlasting Righteousness)
Horatio Bonar
“For we are not saved by believing in our own salvation, nor by believing anything whatsoever about ourselves. We are saved by what we believe about the Son of God and His righteousness. The gospel believed saves; not the believing in our own faith.”
― Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness
Horatio Bonar Files
Let us speak reverently of the Jew. Let us not misjudge him by present appearances. He is not what he once was, nor what he yet shall be.
Let us speak reverently of the Jew. We have much cause to do so. What, though all Christendom, both of the East and West, has for nearly eighteen centuries treated him as the offscouring of the race? What though Mohammad has taught his followers to revile and persecute the sons of Abraham? . . .
Nay, what though he [the Jew] may have a grasping hand, and a soul shut up against the world,--a world that has done nothing but wrong and revile him? What though he may inherit the crookedness of his father Jacob, instead of the nobility of Abraham, or the simply gentleness of Isaac?
Still let us speak reverently of the Jew,--if not for what he is, at least for what he was, and what he shall be, when the Redeemer shall come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob [Isa. 59:20; see. Rom. 11:26].
In him we see the development of God's great purpose as to the woman's seed, the representative of a long line of kings and prophets, the kinsmen of Him who is the Word made flesh. It was a Jew who sat on one of the most exalted thrones on earth; it is a Jew who sits upon the throne of heaven. It was a Jew who wrought such miracles once on our earth, who spoke such gracious words. It was a Jew who said, "Come unto me and I will give you rest;" and a Jew who said, "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me." It was Jewish blood that was shed on Calvary; it was a Jew who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. It was a Jew who died, and was buried, and rose again. It is a Jew who liveth to intercede for us, who is to come in glory and majesty as earthly judge and monarch. It is a Jew who is our Prophet, our Priest, our King.
Let us, then, speak reverently of the Jew, whatever his present degradation may be. Just as we tread reverently the level platform of Moriah, where once stood the holy house where Jehovah was worshipped; so let us tread the ground where where they dwell whose are the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and of whom, concerning the flesh, Christ came. That temple hill is not what it was. The beautiful house is gone, and not one stone is left upon another. The seventeen sieges of Jerusalem, like so many storms rolling the waves of every sea over it, have left few memorials of the old magnificence. The Mosque of the Moslems covers the spot of the altar of burnt-offering; the foot of the Moslem defiles the sacred courts . . . But still the ground is felt to be sacred; the bare rock on which you tread is not common rock; the massive stones built here and there into the wall are witnesses of other days; and the whole scene gathers round it such associations as, in spite of the rubbish, and desolation, and ruin, and pollution, fill you irresistibly with awe . . .
So it is with the Jew,—I mean the whole Jewish nation. There are indelible memories connected with them, which will ever, to anyone who believes in the Bible, prevent them from being contemned; nay, will cast around them a nobility and a dignity which no other nation has possessed or can attain to. To Him in whose purposes they occupy so large a space, they are still “beloved for their fathers’ sake” [Rom. 11:28]. Of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.
--- Excerpt from Horatius Bonar (The Jew):
Let us speak reverently of the Jew. We have much cause to do so. What, though all Christendom, both of the East and West, has for nearly eighteen centuries treated him as the offscouring of the race? What though Mohammad has taught his followers to revile and persecute the sons of Abraham? . . .
Nay, what though he [the Jew] may have a grasping hand, and a soul shut up against the world,--a world that has done nothing but wrong and revile him? What though he may inherit the crookedness of his father Jacob, instead of the nobility of Abraham, or the simply gentleness of Isaac?
Still let us speak reverently of the Jew,--if not for what he is, at least for what he was, and what he shall be, when the Redeemer shall come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob [Isa. 59:20; see. Rom. 11:26].
In him we see the development of God's great purpose as to the woman's seed, the representative of a long line of kings and prophets, the kinsmen of Him who is the Word made flesh. It was a Jew who sat on one of the most exalted thrones on earth; it is a Jew who sits upon the throne of heaven. It was a Jew who wrought such miracles once on our earth, who spoke such gracious words. It was a Jew who said, "Come unto me and I will give you rest;" and a Jew who said, "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me." It was Jewish blood that was shed on Calvary; it was a Jew who bore our sins in His own body on the tree. It was a Jew who died, and was buried, and rose again. It is a Jew who liveth to intercede for us, who is to come in glory and majesty as earthly judge and monarch. It is a Jew who is our Prophet, our Priest, our King.
Let us, then, speak reverently of the Jew, whatever his present degradation may be. Just as we tread reverently the level platform of Moriah, where once stood the holy house where Jehovah was worshipped; so let us tread the ground where where they dwell whose are the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and of whom, concerning the flesh, Christ came. That temple hill is not what it was. The beautiful house is gone, and not one stone is left upon another. The seventeen sieges of Jerusalem, like so many storms rolling the waves of every sea over it, have left few memorials of the old magnificence. The Mosque of the Moslems covers the spot of the altar of burnt-offering; the foot of the Moslem defiles the sacred courts . . . But still the ground is felt to be sacred; the bare rock on which you tread is not common rock; the massive stones built here and there into the wall are witnesses of other days; and the whole scene gathers round it such associations as, in spite of the rubbish, and desolation, and ruin, and pollution, fill you irresistibly with awe . . .
So it is with the Jew,—I mean the whole Jewish nation. There are indelible memories connected with them, which will ever, to anyone who believes in the Bible, prevent them from being contemned; nay, will cast around them a nobility and a dignity which no other nation has possessed or can attain to. To Him in whose purposes they occupy so large a space, they are still “beloved for their fathers’ sake” [Rom. 11:28]. Of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.
--- Excerpt from Horatius Bonar (The Jew):
St. Bonaventure
We must suspend all the operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience. It cannot be comprehended by anyone unless he surrenders himself to it; nor can he surrender himself to it unless he longs for it; nor can he long for it unless the Holy Spirit, whom Christ sent into the world, should come and inflame his innermost soul. . . .
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardor of his loving passion. . . .
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: “It is enough.” We may hear with Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you”; and we can rejoice with David, saying, “My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: Amen.”
--St. Bonaventure (1221–74). In The Journey of the Mind to God
If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God’s grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love. The fire is God, and the furnace is in Jerusalem, fired by Christ in the ardor of his loving passion. . . .
Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination. Let us pass over with the crucified Christ from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father has shown himself to us, we can say with Philip: “It is enough.” We may hear with Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you”; and we can rejoice with David, saying, “My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: Amen.”
--St. Bonaventure (1221–74). In The Journey of the Mind to God
richard bonnke
Reinhard Willi Gottfried Bonnke (April 18, 1940-Dec 7, 2019) is a German charismatic Christian evangelist, principally known for his gospel missions throughout Africa. Bonnke has been an evangelist and missionary in Africa since 1967.
Jan 2, 2015: Charisma: What Reinhard Bonnke Told Thousands of Youth at Onething
Reinhard Bonnke has led 76 million people to the Lord during the course of his 60 years in ministry. The evangelist that has had over one million people in his meetings declared to the over 20,000 conference attendees in Kansas City that "America will be saved."
Reinhard Bonnke has led 76 million people to the Lord during the course of his 60 years in ministry. The evangelist that has had over one million people in his meetings declared to the over 20,000 conference attendees in Kansas City that "America will be saved."
“As the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, so likewise a cheerful thanksgiver.” --John Boys
david brainerd
David Brainerd (April 20, 1718 – October 9, 1747) was an American Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Native Americans among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot, and Brainerd's cousin, the Second Great Awakening evangelist James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829) cite Brainerd as inspiration. On July 12, 1739, he recorded having an experience of "unspeakable glory" that prompted in him a "hearty desire to exalt [God], to set him on the throne and to 'seek first his Kingdom'". This has been interpreted by evangelical scholars as a conversion experience. In November 1746, he became too ill to continue ministering, and so moved to Jonathan Dickinson's house in Elizabethtown and later to Jonathan Edwards' house in Northampton, Massachusetts. Apart from a trip to Boston in the summer of that year, he remained at Edwards's house until his death the following year. In May 1747, he was diagnosed with incurable consumption (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
David Brainerd Files
"Oh, that I could dedicate my all to God. This is all the return I can make Him."
"It is impossible for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God. God Himself could not make him happy any other way... There is nothing in the world worth living for but doing good and finishing God's work, doing the work that Christ did. I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing his whole will."
"Here am I, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it be but in Thy service, and to promote Thy kingdom."
"My desires seem especially to be after weanedness from the world, perfect deadness to it, and that I may be crucified to all its allurements. My soul desires to feel itself more of a pilgrim and a stranger here below, that nothing may divert me from pressing through the lonely desert, till I arrive at my Father's house."
"This morning about nine I withdrew to the woods for prayer. I was in such anguish that when I arose from my knees I felt extremely weak and overcome. ...I cared not how or where I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ."
"Oh, that I could spend every moment of my life to God's glory!"
"I have received my all from God. Oh, that I could return my all to God."
"It is sweet to be nothing and less than nothing that Christ may be all in all."
"All my desire was the conversion of the heathen... I declare, now I am dying, I would not have spent my life otherwise for the whole world." --David Brainerd
"It is impossible for any rational creature to be happy without acting all for God. God Himself could not make him happy any other way... There is nothing in the world worth living for but doing good and finishing God's work, doing the work that Christ did. I see nothing else in the world that can yield any satisfaction besides living to God, pleasing Him, and doing his whole will."
"Here am I, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it be but in Thy service, and to promote Thy kingdom."
"My desires seem especially to be after weanedness from the world, perfect deadness to it, and that I may be crucified to all its allurements. My soul desires to feel itself more of a pilgrim and a stranger here below, that nothing may divert me from pressing through the lonely desert, till I arrive at my Father's house."
"This morning about nine I withdrew to the woods for prayer. I was in such anguish that when I arose from my knees I felt extremely weak and overcome. ...I cared not how or where I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ."
"Oh, that I could spend every moment of my life to God's glory!"
"I have received my all from God. Oh, that I could return my all to God."
"It is sweet to be nothing and less than nothing that Christ may be all in all."
"All my desire was the conversion of the heathen... I declare, now I am dying, I would not have spent my life otherwise for the whole world." --David Brainerd
David Brainerd
“I had been heaping up my devotions before God, fasting, praying, & pretending, and indeed really thinking sometimes, that I was aiming at the glory of God; whereas I never once truly intended it, but only my own happiness. I”
― David Brainerd, The Life and Diary of David Brainerd with Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards
william bridge
William Bridge (c. 1600 – 1670) was born in Cambridgeshire. He was a leading English Independent minister, preacher, and religious and political writer. He entered Emmanuel College at the age of sixteen, became M.A. in 1626, and was many years a fellow of the college. In 1631 he was appointed to the lectureship of Colchester, where he continued but a short time. In 1633 he held a Friday lecture at St. George’s Tombland, Norwich, for which he was paid by the corporation. In 1636 he was the rector for St. Peter’s Hungate, Norwich, a living at that time worth no more than 22l. per annum. Here he was silenced by Bishop Wren. He continued, however, in the city for some time after his suspension until he was ‘excommunicated ‘ and the writ ‘de capiendo’ came forth against him. He took refuge in Holland and settled at Rotterdam, succeeding as pastor the celebrated Hugh Peters, and he was thus associated in the pastorate with Jeremiah Burroughs. From a passage in the ‘Apologetical Narration’ it may be inferred that Bridge received much support from the magistrates of the city, and that many wealthy persons joined the church, some of whom had fled from the persecution of Bishop Wren. While at Rotterdam he renounced the ordination which he had received when he entered the church of England, and was again ordained, after the independent way, by Samuel Ward, B.D., after which he similarly ordained Ward.
William Bridge
If Christ be in you, then why should you not venture upon any work or service for God, although it do lie beyond you, and beyond your strength, and expect large and great things from him?
You say, sometimes, you would do such or such a thing for God, but you have no strength to do it.
But if Christ be in you, and really united unto your soul, then surely you shall have strength enough, and you may expect large and great things from him.
Therefore, venture upon work and service for God; yea, although they do lie beyond your present strength, be not unwilling thereunto, but expect great things from God, because Christ is really in you.
–William Bridge, "The Spiritual Life and In-Being of Christ in All Believers, in Works
You say, sometimes, you would do such or such a thing for God, but you have no strength to do it.
But if Christ be in you, and really united unto your soul, then surely you shall have strength enough, and you may expect large and great things from him.
Therefore, venture upon work and service for God; yea, although they do lie beyond your present strength, be not unwilling thereunto, but expect great things from God, because Christ is really in you.
–William Bridge, "The Spiritual Life and In-Being of Christ in All Believers, in Works
William Bridge
“We do not live by feeling, but by faith: it is the duty of a Christian to begin with faith, and so to rise up to feeling: you would begin with feeling, and so come down to faith; but you must begin with faith, and so rise up to feeling. And I pray tell me, is it not sufficient to be as our Master was? Did not Christ want the sense of God's love, when he said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Yea, had not Christ the sense of God's anger upon him when he did perform the greatest act of obedience that ever the sun saw: yet did he then say, I am not the child of God, because I want the sense of God's love, because I am under the sense of God's anger? No, but with the same breath that he said he was forsaken, he said, "My God, my God;" and at the same time he called God Father, "Father, forgive them," &c. So may you do; though God hath forsaken you, though you want the sense of his love, yea, and are under the sense of God's anger; yet at the same time you may say, The Lord is my Father, and you may go to him as your Father: and if you can say, God is my Father, have you any reason for your discouragements?”
― William Bridge, A Lifting Up for the Downcast
― William Bridge, A Lifting Up for the Downcast
jerry bridges
Jerry Bridges Files
Jerry Bridges (December 4, 1929 – March 6, 2016) was an evangelical Christian author, speaker and staff member of The Navigators. Born in Tyler, Texas, United States, he was the author of more than a dozen books, including The Pursuit of Holiness, which has sold more than one million copies. His devotional Holiness Day by Day garnered the 2009 ECPA Christian Book Award for the inspiration and gift category, and The Discipline of Grace received a similar award in 1995 for the Christian living category.
Bridges earned his undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of Oklahoma before serving as an officer in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He joined Christian discipleship organization The Navigators in 1955, where he served as administrative assistant to the Europe Director, office manager for the headquarters office, Secretary-Treasurer of the organization, and as Vice President for Corporate Affairs before moving to a staff development position with the Collegiate Mission.
Bridges earned his undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of Oklahoma before serving as an officer in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He joined Christian discipleship organization The Navigators in 1955, where he served as administrative assistant to the Europe Director, office manager for the headquarters office, Secretary-Treasurer of the organization, and as Vice President for Corporate Affairs before moving to a staff development position with the Collegiate Mission.
Jerry Bridges Files
The healing of the demon possessed boy (Matt. 17:14–20) at first glance seems to be only one more in a series of miraculous healings recorded by Matthew. What makes this one unique is Jesus’ emphasis on the role of faith. It is true that faith is prominent in the miracles recorded in chapter 9, but in chapter 17 it is the lack of faith that is emphasized by Jesus. That God is not dependent on human faith for accomplishing His work is clear from the accounts of other miracles recorded by Matthew. The transfiguration of Jesus immediately prior to the healing of the boy is a prime example. It was a spectacular miracle; yet no human faith was involved. This is also true in the feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21) and the four thousand (15:32–38). So the first thing we need to learn about faith and the power of God is that He is not dependent on our faith to do His work. God will not be hostage to our lack of faith. The second thing we need to learn, however, is that God often requires our faith in the carrying out of His purposes. We see this in the healing of the demon possessed boy. Mark, in his account, brings this out sharply in Jesus’ conversation with the boy’s father. The father, in great distress, said to Jesus: “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). He had already experienced the failure of the disciples, so he was not sure if Jesus could help. His faith at this point may be described as no more than an uncertain hope that Jesus could do what the disciples could not do. Jesus responded to the father: “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes” (v. 23). Biblical faith may be described in different ways depending on the situation. The description of faith in Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” was appropriate for the Jewish recipients of the letter, who were facing severe opposition and needed to be encouraged as to the certainty of their hope in Christ. For the father of the boy, faith would mean believing that Jesus could heal his son. We are often like the father. We may face what seems to be an intractable situation, and because we have prayed a long time without an answer, we begin to doubt that God can answer our prayer. But we must believe that with God nothing is impossible. --Jerry Bridges
bill bright
Chuck Colson
“In his final days Bill Bright gave his staff a charge, which ended with these words: “By faith, walk in His light, enjoy His presence, love with His love, and rejoice that you are never alone; He is with you, always to bless!” Bill Bright understood that the good life means accepting that our lives ultimately belong to God. He resisted taking sedatives that would have hastened his death. He also talked with Vonette about the importance of yielding to God’s final call. Perhaps as a result of his attitude (and, I have to think, his godliness), his last moments were not the unmitigated horror his doctor had predicted. Right before Bill died, Vonette leaned close and said, “I want you to go to be with Jesus, and Jesus wants you to come to him. Why don’t you let him carry you to heaven?” She looked away, and when she looked back, her husband was no longer breathing. She saw the last pulse in his neck, and with that he was gone. She thought of the psalm “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” and the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “For it is in dying, we are born to eternal life.”4 Living the good life means not only living it to the fullest every moment we’re alive but also facing death with equanimity and then dying well. A lot of people have this wrong. They think that you live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment you can, and then when death comes, you simply accept the hard fact. The good time is over. Life is ended. The good life means accepting that our lives ultimately belong to God.” ― Charles W. Colson, The Good Life
"Trials are always accompanied by the grace to bear them. When the Lord engages us in a battle, he makes sure that we shall have the means to be victorious." —Cécile Bruyère, 28 November 1890, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 97.
"Isn't suffering the law of life since the first sin? Have you ever seen anyone escape it?
So the happy ones are not those who do not suffer, for then there would be none in this world, but those who know how to suffer. … You must take your courage in both hands and turn to our Lord , from whom will come your help. I assure you that I have experienced this very forcefully since the death of our great abbot.
One must bear everything, and be no longer borne up by anyone; and I can state firmly to you that with that burden I am perfectly content, as long as I do not look at things from the point of view of self-love and as long as, in the depths of my heart, I throw myself upon Jesus, who alone possess within himself beauty, goodness, truth, and all that could ever captivate us. … Believe me: do not be afraid to suffer in this world." —Cécile Bruyère, Letter 17 February 1877, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 96.
So the happy ones are not those who do not suffer, for then there would be none in this world, but those who know how to suffer. … You must take your courage in both hands and turn to our Lord , from whom will come your help. I assure you that I have experienced this very forcefully since the death of our great abbot.
One must bear everything, and be no longer borne up by anyone; and I can state firmly to you that with that burden I am perfectly content, as long as I do not look at things from the point of view of self-love and as long as, in the depths of my heart, I throw myself upon Jesus, who alone possess within himself beauty, goodness, truth, and all that could ever captivate us. … Believe me: do not be afraid to suffer in this world." —Cécile Bruyère, Letter 17 February 1877, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 96.
"Allow me to suggest to you a strange idea: why has the Lord not left us a portrait of himself? Tradition, I know, has passed down to us an adequate general picture of the features of the Lord; but, why, after all, did he not come in the era of photography? Quite simple: everyone would have believed naively that this portrait of the Lord was the Lord himself.
No: where is the likeness of the Lord to be found? In souls. What is the true portrait of the Lord? It is yourselves.
Another question: why is Holy Scripture, which is a continuous story from the “in principio” of Genesis to “Veni, Domine Jesu” which ends the Apocalypse, why is Scripture interrupted from the time of the Apostles until the last days? The reason is the same: it is up to the saints to write that story of our Lord Jesus Christ. ---Cécile Bruyère, Retreat, 1899, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 83.
No: where is the likeness of the Lord to be found? In souls. What is the true portrait of the Lord? It is yourselves.
Another question: why is Holy Scripture, which is a continuous story from the “in principio” of Genesis to “Veni, Domine Jesu” which ends the Apocalypse, why is Scripture interrupted from the time of the Apostles until the last days? The reason is the same: it is up to the saints to write that story of our Lord Jesus Christ. ---Cécile Bruyère, Retreat, 1899, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 83.
"You say that both time and strength are limited. Yes, certainly, when one calculates. But if we let the Lord act, if we take everything he sends, if we abandon ourselves in pure faith, if we bow our heads and say, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord,” I believe that he solves all the problems himself.
It was hard for me to believe that. Common sense told me that there are only sixty minutes in an hour, but he for whom a thousand years are as one day has proved to me hundreds of times that he is the Lord of time as of everything else." —Cécile Bruyère, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 67.
It was hard for me to believe that. Common sense told me that there are only sixty minutes in an hour, but he for whom a thousand years are as one day has proved to me hundreds of times that he is the Lord of time as of everything else." —Cécile Bruyère, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 67.
"Don't be surprised at being constantly and strangely buffeted. You will be tossed back and forth between God and the devil, but it is this action of the winnowing-fan that will purify your nature and free it from the chaff. Note that the grain that is being winnowed does not move of itself but is being shaken by another.
Let yourself be thrown about, but do not, yourself, move; far from helping the operation, you hinder it. Remain perseveringly calm. You must not always manage to unite yourself with our Lord, but you must always seek after it – without struggling, however.
Do the best you can, work more by prayer and by example than by words; but if you then have failures, do not be too distressed about it; our Lord has plenty himself. —Cécile Bruyère, 17 Febuary 1887, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 96-97.
Let yourself be thrown about, but do not, yourself, move; far from helping the operation, you hinder it. Remain perseveringly calm. You must not always manage to unite yourself with our Lord, but you must always seek after it – without struggling, however.
Do the best you can, work more by prayer and by example than by words; but if you then have failures, do not be too distressed about it; our Lord has plenty himself. —Cécile Bruyère, 17 Febuary 1887, quoted in Sister Mary David Totah OSB, The Spirit of Solesmes, 96-97.
heinrech bullinger
Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and
theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Reformation, Bullinger co-authored the Helvetic Confessions and collaborated with John Calvin to work out a Reformed doctrine of the Lord's Supper. In 1522, as a follower of Martin Luther, Bullinger earned his Master of Arts degree but ceased receiving the Eucharist. He also abandoned his previous intention of entering the Carthusian order. When he returned to Bremgarten, his family accepted his new theological views. Though Bullinger was called to lead an abbey in the Black Forest, he found its monks worldly and licentious and so returned home again and spent some months reading history, the church fathers, and Reformation theology.
theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Reformation, Bullinger co-authored the Helvetic Confessions and collaborated with John Calvin to work out a Reformed doctrine of the Lord's Supper. In 1522, as a follower of Martin Luther, Bullinger earned his Master of Arts degree but ceased receiving the Eucharist. He also abandoned his previous intention of entering the Carthusian order. When he returned to Bremgarten, his family accepted his new theological views. Though Bullinger was called to lead an abbey in the Black Forest, he found its monks worldly and licentious and so returned home again and spent some months reading history, the church fathers, and Reformation theology.
Heinrech Bullinger
“For the apostle Paul, speaking to the Hebrews, as concerning Christian faith, doth say: ‘These through faith did subdue kingdoms, wrought righteousness, were valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of aliens.’ Now, since our faith is all one, and the very same with theirs, it is lawful for us, as well as for them, in a rightful quarrel by war to defend our country and religion, our virgins and old men, our wives and children, our liberty and possessions. They are flatly unnatural to their country and countrymen, and do transgress this fifth commandment, whatsoever do (under the pretense of religion) forsake their country afflicted with war, not endeavoring to deliver it from barbarous soldiers and foreign nations, even by offering their lives to the push and prick of present death for the safeguard thereof.” -Heinrich Bullinger; From sermons preached in Zurich entitled “The Decades”
Heinrech Bullinger
“This depravation of our nature is nothing else but the blotting out of God's image in us.”
-- Heinrich Bullinger
Jan 4, 2023: Alabama Baptist: Heroes of the Faith — Swiss reformer Heinrech Bullinger, contributor to 16th century theology
Heinrech Bullinger (1504–1575) was a Swiss reformer who succeeded Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zurich. He was one of the most important writers and theologians in the Reformation movement.
Bullinger was born July 18, 1504, in Bremgarten, a Swiss town near Zurich. He was the youngest of seven children born to priest Heinrich Bullinger Sr. and his common-law wife, Anna Wiederkehr.
Their marriage was formalized in 1529, when his father became a Reformer.
Bullinger was sent to St. Martin’s Latin school in Emmerich, where he studied classical literature. In his mid-teens, he attended the University of Cologne.
The next year he was exposed to Reformation teaching. By 1522, he believed that salvation came through God’s grace.
Heinrech Bullinger (1504–1575) was a Swiss reformer who succeeded Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zurich. He was one of the most important writers and theologians in the Reformation movement.
Bullinger was born July 18, 1504, in Bremgarten, a Swiss town near Zurich. He was the youngest of seven children born to priest Heinrich Bullinger Sr. and his common-law wife, Anna Wiederkehr.
Their marriage was formalized in 1529, when his father became a Reformer.
Bullinger was sent to St. Martin’s Latin school in Emmerich, where he studied classical literature. In his mid-teens, he attended the University of Cologne.
The next year he was exposed to Reformation teaching. By 1522, he believed that salvation came through God’s grace.
john bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English writer and Puritan preacher. He was baptised 30th November 1628 and lived until 31st August 1688. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory
The Pilgrim's Progress, which also became an influential literary model. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in St John's church Bedford, and later became a preacher. After the restoration of the monarchy, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the next twelve years in prison because he refused to give up preaching. During this time, he wrote a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and began work on his most famous book, The Pilgrim's Progress.
The Pilgrim's Progress, which also became an influential literary model. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in St John's church Bedford, and later became a preacher. After the restoration of the monarchy, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the next twelve years in prison because he refused to give up preaching. During this time, he wrote a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and began work on his most famous book, The Pilgrim's Progress.
John Bunyan
“[I]t is evident that saints neither can nor dare adventure to plead their cause. Alas! the Judge is the almighty and eternal God; the law broken is the holy and perfect rule of God, in itself a consuming fire. The sin is so odious, and a thing so abominable, that it is enough to make all the angels blush to hear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy a place as that is where this great God doth sit to judge. This sin now hangs about the neck of him that hath committed it; yea, it covereth him as doth a mantle. The adversary is bold, cunning, and audacious, and can word a thousand of us into an utter silence in less than half a quarter of an hour. What, then, should the sinner, if he could come there, do at this bar to plead? Nothing; nothing for his own advantage. But now comes in his mercy-he has an Advocate to plead his cause-”If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
— - John Bunyan (1628-1688), “The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate, Explained,” The Practical Works of John Bunyan, Vol. IV, p. 251
— - John Bunyan (1628-1688), “The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate, Explained,” The Practical Works of John Bunyan, Vol. IV, p. 251
John Bunyan
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
― John Bunyan
“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” -John Bunyan
"If my life is fruitless, it doesn’t matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn’t matter who criticizes me." – John Bunyan
“I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eye lids rather than disobey God.” -John Bunyan
― John Bunyan
“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.” -John Bunyan
"If my life is fruitless, it doesn’t matter who praises me, and if my life is fruitful, it doesn’t matter who criticizes me." – John Bunyan
“I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eye lids rather than disobey God.” -John Bunyan
John Bunyan
“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.”
― John Bunyan
John Bunyan
“Though there is not always grace where there is the fear of hell, yet, to be sure, there is no grace where there is no fear of God.” ― John Bunyan
Richard Girnt butler
Richard Girnt Butler (1918-2004) was an American engineer and white supremacist. After dedicating himself to the Christian Identity movement, a racialist offshoot of British Israelism, Butler founded the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations and would become the "spiritual godfather" to the white supremacist movement, in which he was "a leading figure". He has been described as a "notorious racist".
"We will fight under one banner—the banner of Jesus Christ who is the Fuhrer … of the white people." - Richard Girnt Butler; 1918-2004, Protestant Pastor & Founder, Church of Jesus Christ Christian and Aryan Nations
"The white race is at war. Jesus Christ says you have to either be for it or against it. The war is directed at every white man, woman, and child in America. There is going to be the greatest ethnic cleansing that ever existed. We are saying that one day there will be no more Jews—ever!" - Richard Girnt Butler; 1918-2004, Protestant Pastor & Founder, Church of Jesus Christ Christian and Aryan Nations