True Discipleship

 

True Discipleship (Extract from booklet)

Introduction

 The pathway to true discipleship begins when a person is born again. It begins when the following events take place: 1. When a person realizes that he is sinful, lost, blind and naked before God. 2. When he acknowledges that he cannot save himself by good character or good works. 3. When he believes that the Lord Jesus Christ died as his Substitute on the Cross. 4. When by a definite decision of faith, he acknowledges Jesus Christ as his only Lord and Savior. This is how a person becomes a Christian. It is important to emphasize this at the outset.

Too many people think that you become a Christian by living a Christian life. NOT at all! You must first become a Christian before you can live the Christian life. The life of discipleship outlined in the following pages is a supernatural life. We do not have the power in ourselves to live it. We need divine power. Only when we are born again do we receive the strength to live as Jesus taught. Before reading any further, ask yourself the question, “Have I ever been born again? Have I become a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus?” If you have not, receive Him now as your Lord and Saviour. Then determine to obey Him in all that He has commanded, whatever the cost may be. —William MacDonald

School lessons

 

In teaching ‘Religious instruction, at the state schools, I have come to the highlight of the curriculum (B2).

After lessons from Moses, 10 commandments, Tabernacle and two covenants, we study the Bible book of Romans.

The summary of the teaching is as follows:

1    The Gospel about Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of David proven true by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death.

2    The need for the Gospel is graphicly portrayed in the lesson book as a man behind prison bars. Also a good-o-meter is used. An odd child will claim not to have sinned, while another will be despaired of hope because of guilt.

3    Then the difference between wages and a gift is highlighted. “Sin pays off with death. But God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

4    This lesson brings the students to ‘faith in God, faith in Jesus Christ as Lord’ as the only means to salvation. The memory verse is Ephesians 2:8

“You are saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own” (CEV)

5    The fruit of the Gospel. ‘People do good things because they are saved.

6    The goal of the Gospel. This heading is linked to Romans 8:15- “God’s Spirit does not make us slaves who are afraid of Him. Instead, we become His children and call Him Father.”

7    The hope of the Gospel. With our eyes fixed on Jesus the future has eternal hope –“ I am sure that the suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us” Romans 8:18

8    The Body for the Gospel. First we consider the body of the believer surrendered to God. Then we consider the gospel blessings for the Christians as a body of people.

9    The final lesson directs the students to a flowering plant. This illustrates our need to be rooted in the word of God, producing seed bearing flowers, sharing, singing about Jesus the Lord.

10  The final verse:

“God planned for us to do good things and to live as He has always wanted us to live. That’s why He sent Christ to make us what we are .” Ephesians 2:10 (CEV)

 

I can only say –‘ What a great privilege it is to bring this glorious Gospel to many children who have never heard it.’

 

I cannot fathom why some many churches etc, treat this work with disdain – the children are adults in the making, and many will never hear a clear Gospel again. About two thirds of our classes have never been to church! And Oh how I long to see them in heaven.

comments to  johnmckee@internode.on.net

Birth of Jesus

 

This Autumn (Northern Hemisphere) season is most likely when Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was born!

 There is no prescribed holy day for the birthday of the Messiah mentioned in Scripture.

 As Believers, each day that we call upon His name in praise or prayer, we celebrate Him!

 Even so, most Christians celebrate Christ-mass in the winter, but it is not likely that Yeshua was born in that season, and certainly not on the pagan winter solstice of December 25. 

Lambs for Temple service could be raised anywhere within a 9 km (5.5 mile) radius of Jerusalem, but it seems that Bethlehem was an especially well-known source of sacrificial sheep.

 

Jesus was born in Bethlehem amidst the Temple sheep, God chose Yeshua from before the creation of the world to be our perfect lamb without blemish.

 

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Messiah, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."  (1 Peter 1:18-20)

 

While the Bible does not specify the timing of Yeshua's birth, like it does for His death and resurrection, we can determine its approximate timing:

· Miryam (Mary) conceived when her cousin Elisheva (Elizabeth) was in her sixth month of pregnancy (Luke 1:24-26).

· Elizabeth probably conceived early in the fifth month of the Jewish calendar (Av or early July).  This is likely since the angel Gabriel appeared to her husband Zachariah while he was serving in the Temple as a priest in the division of Abijah (Luke 1:5), and advised him that Elizabeth would become pregnant (Luke 1:11-24).

· The Talmud and other historical sources reveal that the Abijah served during the last two weeks of the fourth month of the Jewish calendar (Tammuz), which is about late June.

· And the Bible says that after Zechariah came home from his service (in early Av), Elizabeth conceived (Luke 1:23-25).

Nine months of pregnancy and another six months of Mary's pregnancy (15 months total) brings us to the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (Tishrei), during which the Fall Feasts occur, including the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

Through these Biblical, historical, and linguistic clues, we can come to a fairly educated guess that Yeshua may have, indeed, been born during the season of the Fall Feasts, which includes Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) occurring in September or October.

Extract from 'Messianic Bible'