A History Of The Early Church To A.D 500

At the outset we are faced by the difficulty of deciding whether there is or ought to be in any real sense a Christian society at all. A common notion is that original Christianity consisted in a recognition of the vital truths of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, and that all organisation is a departure from primitive purity. It is pointed out that in the history of most religious movements we find the first incentive given by some enthusiastic prophet, who with his immediate followers is swept forward on the crest of a wave of fanatical emotion. Those who come after him, however, are not able to maintain this exalted position, and endeavour to preserve what they can of the Master’s spirit by reducing his teaching to a code and hedging it about with the protective barrier of an institution. But in the process a great deal of the original enthusiasm and freedom is inevitably lost. This, it is often contended, has been the fortune of Christianity. The original inspiration of Christ’s teaching has been organised out of recognition. In so far as He can justly be said to have founded a society at all, it was an invisible society, the limits of which were set not by material rites but by moral and spiritual considerations alone.

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Listening To The Spirit In The Text

Although the subject matter of this essay has been brewing over a long season, its present impetus stems from writing the commentary on Paul’s letter to the Philippians during Winter and Spring of 1994. As I worked through Paul’s text with great care, I experienced an ongoing encounter with the living God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — an encounter which happened in two ways. On the one hand, as I exegeted the text so as to articulate its meaning for the sake of others in the church, I was often myself so overcome by the power of the Word that I was brought to tears, to joy, to prayer, or to praise. On the other hand, I was also regularly experiencing the text of this letter in church settings, in such overwhelming ways, that I felt compelled to mention it in the final paragraph of the Author’s Preface: Click Here To Download The Book

The Leadership Secrets Of Billy Graham

When you hear the name Billy Graham, do you think first of his leadership? Most of us do not. We recall his preaching to vast crowds in stadiums. We see the gracious television guest, appearing with hosts from Johnny Carson and David Frost to Larry King and Barbara Walters—always responding with gentle wisdom, explaining the gospel, but humbly admitting his own limitations. We remember his leading the nation in dramatic times of grief, or helping inaugurate presidents, but more as national pastor than leader. Click Here To Download The Book

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