Why an Ivy-League Scientist Became a Christian

Downloaded from Sean Mcdowel's channel which you should follow for great discussioins and interviews about Christianity,

NY Gang Leader Turn to JESUS CHRIST! - Nicky Cruz

When Lesley and I became Christians in the 1970's the story of Nicky Cruz and David Wilkerson touched us deeply. We heard Nicky tell this story  at the Apollo Stadium in Adelaide.The place was packed. I had a portable tape recorder with me and I would still have the tape I made somewhere in my archives.It is amazing what God can do with our lives if we let Him.

"Emptying the Cross of it's Power"

This was the message I shared with both Renmark Uniting Churches on 17/3/19

Renmark West

Renmark Town Church

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”^[a]

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

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Sermon: Emptying the Cross of it’s Power

When I first started speaking in Churches it was at the Church of Christ in Grote Street in Adelaide.

Lay people in Churches of Christ are authorised to speak and conduct the communion service and do most things a minister would do provided the eldership thinks you are ready for such things.

I can tell you the first time I conducted a communion service my legs were  really shaking and trembling.

The congregation couldn’t tell because my legs were hidden behind the communion table.

I have since discovered I was in good company.

Paul tells us this in 1 corinthians 2.

“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^{[a] 2} For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.”

Todays sermon title and message comes from verses we had read out to us in the Bible reading.

 “For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Gospel.”

And not with eloquent wisdom “Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power”.

“Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power”.

And when you look at some of the other things that were said in these 2 chapters, you begin to see what this means and why it is so important to consider.

For the message of the cross he says in the very next word,

¹⁸ For the ^[g]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁸ For the ^[g]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Please note what this subject is dealing with is eternal life or eternal death.

Some believe that it doesn’t matter what we believe that we will all go to heaven regardless.

That is an idea called Universalism but this is clearly not right when we read our Bibles.

We have to make a choice while we are alive.

It is too late afterwards.

The message of the cross is the very power of God.

So what was Paul saying to us?

How can we,

 how could he have emptied the cross of it’s power?.

He was the amazing Apostle Paul,

Saint Paul who in all accounts was a very eloquent speaker and debater.

A man with much knowledge of the things of men and the things of God.

So what did he mean and why was he so emphatic about this?

One of the first things he is telling us is that we,

whether we be speaking from a pulpit,

or just sharing with friends and living normal lives in the community,

can empty the cross of it’s power.

It is the cross of Christ that is the key for us all and to all humanity.

The key to our salvation.

So how can a minister a preacher,

 like Paul

or even like me,

empty the cross of it’s power.

We can do so if we are trying to win you over as a friend,

Create a good impression,

Trying to gain brownie points by our clever dialogue,

 and even just being an all round entertaining person,

 who makes you feel good.

If that is all a preacher achieves,

 then they are making it all about them and not the cross.

They are emptying the cross of it’s power.

A famous book is “how to win friends and influence people”.

The principles of that book, no matter how helpful, will not bring someone to Jesus,

to the cross.

A preacher can’t save anyone no matter how much you enjoy having them at your church. 

It is the confrontation with the message of the cross that is absolutely essential.

An opportunity through the cross to meet Jesus.

One of the great preachers of old was George Whitfield.

He spoke to large crowds in a booming voice, long before the days of microphones and loud speakers.

Many responded to his Gospel messages.

I read once how someone came up to him as he was coming down from his speakers platform and said to him.

“That was a fine sermon Mr Whitfield”

He said “I know, The devil already told me that”

He knew the danger of him seeming more important than the message of the cross.

He knew the danger of emptying the cross of it’s power.

He knew the real power of the cross.

He knew the devil attacks us through pride.

Particularly ministers of the Gospel.

So what are some of the ways we have to guard against this emptying the cross of its power?

As Christians we can be doing this without realising it.

When people know we  are Christians we are being watched.

They are looking for us to slip up so they can say to themselves, I don’t need to be a Christian, those people don’t live up to what they are professing.

I am as good as them.

They say they are going to heaven so I will surely go there also.

They don’t realise of course that going to heaven is nothing to do with our good behaviour.

It’s about accepting Jesus and receiving Him as our saviour.

Our language can catch us out at times.

If we are in the habit of saying “Oh my God!” we are really indicating we don’t have a grasp of the cross of Christ,

 or our salvation.

That is pretty much the same as blasphemy where people use the word Jesus as an exclamation mark.

Emptying the cross of it’s power.

Christian bumper stickers were all the go once.

There was one that was popular amongst Christians.

“Christians are not perfect, just forgiven”

A true statement but not a reason or excuse for us to do what we like and then ask for forgiveness.

Emptying the cross of it’s power.

Sometimes people  wear a cross on their lapel or on a necklace around their neck.

The place to wear a cross is really in our hearts.

To some people it is just a piece of jewelry and means nothing to them or maybe something that makes them feel secure.

That they have some belief in God.

Emptying the cross of it’s power.

Another way we can be emptying the cross of it’s power is arguing about Christian things with each other and also people we hope to win to Christ.

Paul hints on this when he says he is glad he wasn’t known as one who did many Baptisms.

¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas^[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

While the doctrine of Baptisms can be an important thing to grasp on our Christian journey debating it with Christians with different ideas can be emptying the cross of it’s power.

 Arguing about issues is a waste of time.

Not when someone’s eternal life is at stake

It is not wrong for  a preacher to preach about such things but we need to let the Holy Spirit convict us of which way to go on some of these things.

Emptying the Cross of it’s power.

Some more wisdom from Paul.

Phillipians 3

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

We can be emptying the cross of it’s power when we look to education and politicians and activists to make the world right.

Politicians will never get it right unless they apply directly the power of the cross of Christ in their policies.

That is not likely to happen as they want to remain in power and don’t want to appear foolish to non believers.

¹⁸ For the ^[g]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Education is great but education will not solve the worlds ills.

We should not be pinning our hopes on education.

I once heard a quote that said if you educate a crook all you will get is an educated crook.

There is no calling to repentance in Education.

You see education in itself will not change the hearts of men and women.

I could go on with many more examples how we can unwittingly be emptying the cross of it’s power but I want to finish on a very positive note demonstrating the power of the cross.

We have a neighbour,(just down the road) Rob, who at one stage was our Pastor at the Edwardstown Church of Christ.

He left that ministry some years ago as he felt God was calling him to minister in some way overseas.

He eventually settled on Africa and started up a ministry called Tree of Life.

This was more than 15 years ago now.

Pretty much Rob acting by himself but with some supporters back here in Adelaide.

He has made several visits to Africa.

Burundi, Kenya and Tazania are some of the countries he has been active in.

He has driven taxis and buses to help pay his bills.

His method has to been to identify young men with a heart for the Gospel and to equip them and train them with resources to simply share the message of the cross.

His trainees have largely been lay people with no formal training other than what he has delivered himself.

Many have been active in spreading the Gospel amongst the various African countries.

They have often been in danger from terrorist groups and some have been attacked and threatened.

They are not necessarily part of any organised church and don’t have the backing of some large missionary organisation.

Here is a recent email and photographs I received from Rob.

He says;

“Friends, have a look at this picture.

The man with the hat , Venance , is a recently converted witchdoctor. Word quickly got around that he had changed, and those who had previously

fled the village in fear of him came back to see for themselves.  In fact  Venance welcomed them

into his home and told them what the Lord had done for him. Jonas and Frederick then shared

the Gospel with them and they too believed. People in the village are wondering what power 

it is that is at work in  Venance and Paschal

 a man previously known for his bad behaviour

and drunkenness. Well we know the answer and we thank God.”

“The following group of people are Pygmies from a nearby area. Paschal and Frederick have been telling them how the Lord had changed them and they were very open to the Gospel.

Meschack met with 46 of these people and fifteen called on the Lord to be saved.

There was much joy.

There is now the responsibility to care these new believers and strengthen them in the faith. 

Please pray that God will give wisdom to  Meschack

 and his co-workers and that the Gospel will continue to spread.”

What is clearly demonstrated here is the power of the cross of Christ, the Gospel.

These guys are not using eloquent words of wisdom just the simple message of the Gospel.

Shouldn’t we all be doing the same?

A final challenge for us.

Have we made the move from those who are perishing to those who are being saved?

We do need to respond to the Gospel.

Respond to Jesus.

We are now going to sing our concluding Hymn.

ORDER OF SERVICE RENMARK 17/3/19 

Welcome : Geoff

Call to worship: Worship leader. Psalm 27:4

Hymn: “Morning has broken”

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (NIV) val t at rw,Elaine Ledham in town

Hymn: Hymn 261 AHB  “Were you there when they crucified my Lord”

Offering:

Prayers of Invocation,confession and intercession various

Hymn: 258 AHB  “When I survey the wondrous cross”

Sermon: “Lest the Cross be emptied of it’s power”

Hymn:  “How great thou art”

Benediction

Vesper: “May our Lord,God of Peace.” Edelweiss tune

 

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"Polished stones and sharpened arrows"-Another book in my library.

"Polished Stones and Sharpened Arrows" is a book written in 1888  by a man called CW Bibb.
 The idea of this book was to help Christians share their faith with others and also help them grow in their Christian life.
I have the book in my collection.
 It's full of illustrations which when  I read the book I saw how many familiar illustrations there are that I was taught to use myself when doing personal evangelism .
 I still think there's a value with of this type of illustration even though of course a lot of the illustrations that are used in personal evangelism and stories might be anecdotal
 some maybe true some maybe just to give an illustration.
But they can be helpful so I'm going to share some of these in my  my blog

 This next story which has a historical authenticity comes in a chapter titled "Trust in Christ".

"Romans 8:18  KJV

¹⁸ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Margaret Wilson a young lady of 18, living in Wigtown, Scotland, was cruelly condemned  by James the 2nd to be drowned for her faith in Christ .
She was taken to the seashore and tied to a stake so the rising tide would slowly overflow her and give her an opportunity to recant her faith.
Calmly she awaited to the approaching tide.
 Someone asked "do you have any fears of the future."
 She calmly replied "Christ is my stay"

 As the waves came up to her mouth she repeated these lines.

 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
 nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"

 Both illustrations by John Everett Millais

Read about Margaret here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Wilson_(Scottish_martyr) 

"The Daily Quiet Time" or "Learning the Vocabulary of God" by Geoff Thompson

This was how our Aunty Doreen left her quiet time Bible and Notes etc when she died in a nursing home.

Last Sunday,13/9/15, I once again had the privilege of leading the Uniting Church Service in Renmark and Renmark West.
Here is the order of service and Bible readings and the message.
The message is based on study notes and tapes I have by the late Mr. Frank Hunting.
The alternative title comes from a book by Frank Laubach called "Learning the Vocabulary of God"
He like Frank was also one who was very disciplined in spending time each day with God. Indeed he tried to do that continuously.
If anyone is interested in copies of Frank Hunting's sermons on this subject in Digital form please contact me.
I can also make available a pdf of his Bible study notes that are complimentary to the recorded sermons.
I also recorded this talk digitally at Renmark West and this can be supplied by USB on request.
 Geoff Thompson.

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UNITING CHURCH RENMARK SERVICE  13/9/15

                  ORDER OF SERVICE

Call to Worship:  Geoff Thompson

Hymn: “Holy,Holy,holy, Lord God Almighty” AHB 65

Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving

Hymn:  “Morning has broken”

Bible Reading:  James 3:13-18;

                         2 Corinthians 5: 14-21

                          

Hymn: “I heard the voice of Jesus say”  AHB 500

Offering:

Sermon: “Learning the Vocabulary of God” or “Our Daily Quiet Time” Geoff Thompson  

Hymn :  “Brother let me be your servant”  (Altogether again 191)(blue cover)

Benediction: as per back of hymn book  “May our Lord,God of Peace”

James 3 New International Version (NIV) Two Kinds of Wisdom 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Learning the vocabulary of God or Keeping a Daily Quiet Time

When I spoke here last,about a month ago, I was talking about the most important question we can ever ask and we discussed the answer given in the New Testament.

That was about why and how we become a Christian.

What I must do to be saved!

I said this next time I would talk about where do we go from there.

How do we live out the Christian life and how do we progress in our faith.

The Bible tells us that when we become Christians we are brand new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV)

If that is so, is it obvious to people looking on that we have become a new creation?

Have our old bad habits been replaced by a Christian demeanor that attracts people to our Saviour?

Is our life such a testimony that people are drawn to the Lord Jesus?

People are watching us Christians all the time to see if we are real.

If we really do have something to offer.

Sadly we can all think of people who we think are letting the team down.

We think they are not really any different to how they were before they became a Christian.

For example they might still have a quick temper,

Might be critical of others  and always gossiping.

They may also  be quite selfish when it comes to helping others.

They  might always be wanting to put themselves first, jumping the queue, what about me?

They might not tolerate or show love to others who are different to us.

Now the thing is we all have blindnesses about ourselves and the so called “they” may in fact be us.

So how do we really allow Jesus to make a difference in our lives?

What next after conversion so that we actually do become new creations?

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV)

For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. (Phillips)

¹⁷ When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! (Living Bible)

Even though some of us can quote that verse very quickly and surely, it is not automatic that our old habits, our old behaviours have been changed in an instant at conversion.

We often use that in our persuasions of others to become Christians.

No one is an instant mature Christian at conversion.

Our Christian life is to be one of change growing more and more like Jesus.

At conversion our potential has changed, our assurance of salvation has become real but we still might be pains in the neck to others.

Don’t misunderstand me.

We have been born again but we are baby Christians.

Our walk to Christian maturity is an ongoing thing that should be making us more and more in the image of Jesus.

We find this idea of an ongoing journey to Christian maturity  in the passage below.

2 Corinthians 3:18Living Bible (TLB)

¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.

2 Corinthians 3:18Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
(Note the Amplified Bible is great to get almost every possible slant on any passage.)

So what is the best advice we can be given as a new Christian or should give to a new Christian.

How do we actually become new creations?

In other words after Decision, Conversion, then what?

Well we would hope we would be encouraged to continue to find a Church to worship in and receive sound teaching.

We would be advised to get involved in a group Bible Study.

We would be wise to regularly read our Bibles and spend time in Prayer.

These you would think are logical things for the new Christian to do.

The thing that I believe  would be really helpful to us as new Christians and even if we have been a Christian for years would be to establish on a regularly basis what some call a quiet time.

Is that familiar to you?

So why have a quiet time?

A life spent in regular daily communion with God should be the norm and is not beyond the reach of any of us.

Please note when I talk about a quiet time I am not talking about sitting in the sun enjoying God’s creation with a nice “cuppa”

So here are some thoughts about our quiet times and what we should be doing in this time that can be as little as 30mins a day.

If we do this effectively it will have a huge impact on our lives.

We will become more and more like Jesus.

These things I am about to talk about take a lifetime to work at but it is never to late to start.

So we don’t stop and say this is all too hard!

I haven’t arrived at anywhere near I would like to be with my quiet time.

So what are the elements of an adequate quiet time.

What I am about to share is drawn from Frank Hunting’s bible study on this subject and as brought out in his sermons.

No. 1   The Object of our Quiet Time:

To meet Jesus face to face.

Most of us will find this a difficult concept to grasp.

We cannot become more like someone unless we spend time with them.

Our youngest son was the last to leave our home and he was starting to get worried as he started cracking the same type of jokes that I did before he left.

He was becoming a lot like me.

Some of it good, some not.

A good  technique to enable us to visualise Jesus in our quiet time is by sitting opposite an empty chair and by faith realizing Jesus is there with us.

When we come into this place we know Jesus is here with us because the Bible tells us He is.

We are that 2 or 3 or more  gathered in His name.

No. 2  Confession and Repentance

Confession an repentance plays an important part in our quiet time.

We constantly fail in life….we constantly need fresh starts.

God has provided for this in I John 1:6-9

Note all the Ifs’

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷ but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The new start is available immediately.

Verse 7 tells us the way to live in continuous right relationship with God and our fellow men.

⁷ but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

3. Bring who we are to Jesus

There will be no growth,no change,no Christian maturity unless we do.

Bring what we are to Jesus

Some of these things we need to  bring to Jesus.

Inferiority feelings

Self sympathy

Anxieties

A critical nature

Lusts- not just sexual

Fear of responsibility

Unforgiveness

Unlove

Fears

Doubts

Dominating nature

Guilt

Hardness

Spiritual Laziness

And whatever else makes us what we are.

These and others are the things which God may show you about yourself, are the things from which Jesus saves us.

This is where our salvation becomes “full!”

 IF WE TAKE THEM TO HIM!

Ask Him to change us in the depths of our being

4.Study the Word of God

The emphasis is on the word study.

Amazing results will come over a lifetime if we just spend half an hour each day of real study.

Soaking in what Jesus said.

Which means going to the gospels time and time again and also

Studying what the apostles did and taught.

We learn hoe God thinks,

How Jesus thinks.

In 2 Timothy 3:16  we are told the following

¹⁶ The whole Bible^[b] was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. ¹⁷ It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.

5.  PRAY

Prayer has to be part of our quiet time.

It has to go beyond what might be called baby prayers.

We need to learn how to pray the way Jesus taught.

It has to be praying that enables God to work.

Enables Jesus to be in the battles people are having.

We have to learn how to “faith things into being”

We also need to pray to God bringing our own needs to Him and allowing God to deal with us.

We have already touched on that.

6. We need to learn to listen.

In Mark 9 v7 after the amazing experience Peter,James and John had on the mount of transfiguration.

God spoke to them after the others had gone and said.

“this is my beloved Son, listen to Him”

⁷ But while he was still speaking these words, a cloud covered them, blotting out the sun, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

⁸ Then suddenly they looked around and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them.

Learning to be guided by God,

listening to Jesus,

has to become part of our Christian experience.

Learning what is His plan for our lives.

(Gave demonstration here of tuning in a radio. We can’t see radio waves but if we tune in we can hear what we can’t see.)

We tune in by using the Bible, not a radio.

The Holy Spirit will speak to us through what we read.

Now we might have already been following God’s plan for our lives for many years and have known His direction, but it is helpful to revise where we are at.

For most of us, who are getting on, we need to seek his guidance for the rest of the allocated time we are given.

The actual mechanics of keeping and conducting a quiet time will include the following.

devotional helps,

Such as "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, "Our Daily Bread", "Everyday with Jesus", "Streams in the Desert" and many others.

"Awake my Heart" by Sidlow Baxter is very good.

a variety of Bible Versions

Not just one. A red letter new testament is great to concentrate on the words of Jesus Himself.

There are many versions of the Bible these days.

It’s a good idea to use a few to get all the possible meanings from the passage you study.

A parallel Bible is great to compare passages with up to 6 versions printed side by side.

using a notebook

A notebook is great to be able to keep a list of prayer points, write the guidance you think God is giving you,identifying things you need to get right and repent of.

It can be a spiritual diary that charts your growth to Christian maturity.

Getting God’s Guidance

We need to get God’s guidance and find His plan for our lives.

There are methods of guidance you can use but they must include checking against the scriptures so that your guidance does not conflict with God’s word.

It is is important to seek the counsel of mature Christians you trust to mainly makes sure your self is taken out of the equation.

In other words is that what you think God really wants you to do or is it just your own ego interfering.

Write down what you think God is saying to you.

With experience getting His guidance will become easier but often we are sure of our guidance only by looking back on the actions we have taken.

Conclusion

Well I hope that today our appetite has been stimulated to get down to business with God.

That we will make a decision that whatever stage we are at with God  and our Christian walk, that we resolve  to make Jesus truly Lord of our lives.

Not just our Saviour.

That we will go on to Christian Maturity

That we will spend time with Him each day.

That we keep working at keeping our quiet time.