The Anabaptist Voice
08/13/2008

Dear friends in Christ,

       Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have been praying for you, and we know you have been praying for us.  Thank you.  We are grateful for your prayers.  Don had another episode of Atrial Fibrillation, but it was not too long.  Praise God.  We know that your prayers are strength for us.  Larry Barbier from the CDO church came to visit on Tuesday morning.  Naomi was not feeling too good so Larry prayed for her.  It is so wonderful to have fellow Christians together.  We feel it is our strength.
      Naomi’s fourth set of cockatiel babies this year are growing, and their parent birds are getting rowdy and rather nosy in their demands for food to feed their babies.  When Michi and Naomi start to make meals, they fly to the kitchen, expecting to be fed.  While we are sitting at the dining table, even if we are not eating, they come to us and want to be fed.  When we are eating, they come and want to eat from our plates.  They are a lot of trouble but a joy to have.  Here is a photo of Naomi with her brother David and her parents Michi and Don.
       This week, because the CDO church had a visitor preaching on creation science again, we went to a different church for the Sunday service, to the New Life Baptist Fellowship.  We knew our dear friends Joe and Sharon Shanton would be there, but we also found other friends there, such as Dawn Rita who came and sat next to Naomi.  We also met Linda Dowdle and Karin Noah from the Monday morning ladies worship meeting and Karin’s husband Dennis.  It is so wonderful to be together with friends in the body of Christ.
     The sermon was about trusting the Lord, having intimate fellowship and dwelling with Him.  We are to trust the Lord God Almighty all the time, especially when one is in trouble.
      When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.  In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.  (Psalm 56)
       Don attended the biweekly CDO men’s 6:30 am Monday prayer breakfast at the Coco’s Restaurant with five other men, Nathan Moon gave the devotional.  Michi and Naomi attended the 9 am Monday morning worship meeting at Linda Dowdle’s home.  We all were blessed!

Peace Amid Tribulation

       Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)
       This week we have had a bit of tribulation – Don has heart trouble (atrial fibrillation on Sunday evening), Michi has back pain and Naomi has been dizzy with stomach pain.  So we often need to say with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  (Phil. 4:13)  It is very true that living in the kingdom of God brings us righteousness, peace and joy through the Holy Spirit.  (Rom. 14:17)  Jesus told us that unless we become like a little child we will never enter the kingdom of God.  (Mt. 18:3, Mk. 10:15, Luke 18:17)  When we are born again and become a little child of God, we can and should rest in His fatherly care in the midst of our tribulations and then we will have the peace of the Lord in our souls.

Watch Out, Be Alert

       Jesus said, "Watch out that no one deceives you.  Many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am' and will deceive many.”  (Matt. 24:5, Mark 13:6,  Luke 21:8)
       The Gospels record Jesus as telling His disciples 20 times that they should watch out, be alert.  The apostle Peter wrote, “Be sober and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8)
       So even though we rest in the care of our heavenly Father, we still must be careful of what we see and do.  This is especially true of the church that a Christian attends.  Is it a church that lives according to the teachings of Christ?  Check their statement of faith; does it say that they believe that a Christian must obey all the commands of Christ?  If it does not, watch out, be alert!
        John Wesley in his song “Happy The Souls” addresses this issue in verse 8:  “Ye different sects, who all declare, ‘Lo, here is Christ!’ or ‘Christ is there!’  Your stronger proofs divinely give, And show me where the Christians live.”

Michael Sattler and the Evangelicals

       Michael Sattler (1495-1527) was one of the early leaders of the Anabaptists, and one of its first martyrs.  He was educated at the University of Freiburg and entered the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter near Freiburg, Germany, as a monk, advancing to the position of prior of that large monastery.  Through his studies of the scriptures and, no doubt, influenced by the new reformation theology in circulation, Sattler left the monastery in 1523.  He joined the Anabaptist movement and in 1526 met with some evangelical leaders in the city of Strasbourg, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito.  After a number of discussions with them, he found that their beliefs did not include a need to live in obedience to all of the commands of Christ.  He listed for them some of the results of living according to the teachings of Christ:
  *  Christ is the head of His body, i.e., of the believers, the congregation.
  *  As the head is minded, so must its members also be.
  *  The foreknown and called believers shall be con­formed to the image of Christ.
  *  Christ is despised in the world, so are also those who are His; He has no kingdom in the world, but that which is of this world is against His kingdom.
  *  Believers are chosen out of the world, therefore the world hates them.
  *  The devil is prince over the whole world, in whom all the children of darkness rule.
  *  Christ is Prince of the Spirit, in whom all who walk in the light live.
  *  The devil seeks to destroy, Christ seeks to save.
  *  The flesh is against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
  *  Those who are spiritual are Christ's; those who are carnal belong to death and to the wrath of God.
  *  Christians are fully yielded (German gelassen) to God and have placed their trust in their Father in heaven, shunning the use of worldly weapons.
  *  The citizenship of Christians is in heaven and not on earth.
  *  Christians are the members of the household of God and fellow citizens of the saints, and not of the world.
  *  They are the true Christians who live according to the teachings of Christ.
  *  Flesh and blood, pomp and temporal, earthly honor and the world cannot comprehend the kingdom of Christ.
  *  In sum: There is nothing in common between Christ and Belial. 
       Because of Sattler’s concern over these differences between their evangelical beliefs and his Anabaptist beliefs, he wrote to them that he could no longer remain there without doing a special dishonor to God, therefore he left that area. 
       The next year Michael Sattler was arrested in Germany on charges that he was a heretic, that he did not support the beliefs of the state church.  He was convicted and sentenced to death, which occurred on May 21, 1527.  His sentence read, “Judgment is passed, that Michael Sattler be delivered to the executioner, who shall lead him to the place of execution, and cut out his tongue; then throw him upon a wagon, and there tear his body twice with red hot tongs; and after he has been brought out of the gate, he shall be pinched five times in the same manner.”

Disobedience Means Unbelief

       “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  (John 3:36)
       “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.”  (Heb 3:18-19)
       Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him…  If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”  (John 14:21-15:10)
       Now, dear ***, may the Lord God strengthen your heart so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.  (1 Thess 3:13)

Your Anabaptist brother and sisters in Christ,

Don, Michi and Naomi Murphy
www.AnabaptistChurch.org

Jesus said, "Do not resist an evil man."  (Mt 5:39)  He means do not resist evil with evil but respond with love, the Calvary type of love that Jesus demonstrated with His death on the cross.

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