Avoid trivial pursuits. You are a child of God, destined for glory, and called to do great things in His Name. Do not waste your life on hobbies, sports, and other recreational pursuits. Do not throw away the precious moments of your life on entertainment, movies, and video games. Though some of these things can properly have a 'small place' in the Christian's life, we must be careful not to give undue attention to temporal and fruitless activities. Do not waste your life. Employ the time of your youth in developing the character and skills necessary to be a useful servant of God.
I desire to cast my crown at the feet of Jesus, and to cry grace! grace! Dear Sir, what a charming word is that? I am sure I can freely own, that all my salvation is of grace, unmerited, distinguishing, electing grace!
Repentance was never yet produced in any man's heart apart from the grace of God. As soon may you expect the leopard to regret the blood with which its fangs are moistened, as soon might you expect the lion of the wood to abjure his cruel tyranny over the feeble beasts of the plain, as expect the sinner to make any confession, or offer any repentance that shall be accepted of God, unless grace shall first renew the heart.
How could we have such a low view of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have to manipulate men psychologically to get them to come down and pray a prayer? ...How many times have I heard evangelists say, "It'll only take five minutes."? No my dear friend, it will take your life-all of it! "We're just trying to attract people and then we'll gradually bring them in further and further." That is what the cults do, that's not what Jesus did. Notice that in the gospels every time a great crowd is following Jesus, he turns around and says something so radical to them that most of them walk away. Of course Jesus probably would not get invited to teach evangelism
Do you wonder about the trials in your life? Well let me just let you know the purpose of them is to cut away everything in your life, so that Jesus does become your life, and it's worth it.
It makes me so angry, when men treat the glorious gospel of Christ as though it was a first step into Christianity, that takes ten minutes of counselling, and then you go onto greater stuff.
The goal of the Christian life is the pursuit of an intimate knowledge of God that leads to a greater estimation of His worth, a greater satisfaction and joy in His person, and a greater giving of oneself for His glory.
The word trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas, which means threefold or three in one. The Bible affirms that the one true God exists as a Trinity: the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three distinct persons who are distinguishable from one another, and yet they share the same divine nature or essence and relate to one another in unbroken fellowship. It is important to note that the word trinity is not found in the Scriptures, but was first employed by Tertullian, one of the early Church Fathers, to describe what the Bible teaches about the triune nature of God.One True God, 12
In modern day evangelism, this precious doctrine [of regeneration] has been reduced to nothing more than a human decision to raise one's hand, walk an aisle, or pray a "sinner's prayer." As a result, the majority of Americans believe that they've been "born again" even though their thoughts, words, and deeds are a continual contradiction to the nature and will of God.
Am I saying that a Christian is without sin? No, because in 1 John we learn that Christians do sin and if any man does not acknowledge his sin he knows not God. He's not walking in the light. So what is the difference? What am I really getting at? What I am getting at is this: If you are a genuinely born again Christian a child of God. You will walk in the way of righteousness as a style of life, and if you step of that path of righteousness the father will come for you. he will discipline you . he will put you back on that path. But if you profess to have gone though the narrow gate, and yet you live in the broad way. Just like all the other people in your highschool just like all the other people who are carnal and wicked. The Bible wants you to know that you should be terribly terribly afraid. You know not God. Sermon:Shocking Youth Message
Those who suppose that the doctrine of God's grace tends to encourage moral laxity are simply showing that, in the most literal sense, they do not know what they are talking about. For love awakens love in return; Knowing God (The Grace of God, 152)
False teachers are God's judgment on people who don't want God but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires. That's why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him, he is the judgment of God upon them, because they want exactly what he wants, and it's not God. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWMrKcFKqzk
grace never changes what is right. It does change our relationship to what is right by giving us a desire and the power to do right, but it never redefines the standard of right and wrong.Law-and-Gospel