Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
Anabaptist
Voice
Newsletters
Dec 1994
Dec 1995
Dec 1996
Dec 1998
Dec 2000
April 2001
Dec 2001
Apr 22, 04
Mar 17,05
Apr 14, 05
Dec 28, 05
Nov 08, 06
Jul 04, 07
Apr 02, 08
Apr 16, 08
Apr 23, 08
Apr 30, 08
May 07, 08
May 14, 08
June 18, 08
June 25, 08
July 02, 08
July 16, 08
Aug 20, 08
Aug 13, 08
Sept 03, 08
Sept 10,
08
Oct 02, 08
Oct 08, 08
Oct 15, 08
Oct 22, 08
Oct 29, 08
Nov 05, 08
Nov 12, 08
Nov 19, 08
Nov 26, 08
Dec 03, 08
Dec 10, 08
Dec 17, 08
Dec 24, 08
Dec 31, 08
Jan 07, 09
Jan 14, 09
Jan 21, 09
Jan 28, 09
Feb 04, 09
Feb 11, 09
Feb 18, 09
Feb 25, 09
Mar 04, 09
Mar 11, 09
Mar 18, 09
Mar 25, 09
Apr 01, 09
Apr 08, 09
Sermons by Eli Hofer
03/14/01
08/22/01
08/11/02
The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
The Anabaptist Voice
04/08/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friends,
Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. (2 John 1:3)
We pray you are well and be at peace in the Lord. We are well under the
wonderful love of our Heavenly Father. Praise God. The other day, Jim sent us
some pine cones, which are so tiny. Some years ago, we visited the Yosemite
National Park in California and found huge pine cones. They were almost a foot
long. God can make so many different sizes for us to enjoy. The flowers in our
yard are so beautiful, too. Here are photos of the pine cone, Vineyard church
service, and an animal show in Germany. That is an alpaca all dressed up in the
photo!
Last Wednesday the Vineyard Church pastor, Gary Stokes, came to visit us
and we had wonderful fellowship. Thank you, Lord, and thank you, Gary for
coming.
Thursday afternoon, Michi took Naomi to the physical therapy, and
while she was there, Michi went to visit our old neighbor Lorraine Fraser who
is now living in a retirement home. She told Michi that she was in a hospital,
and just got out the day before. She wishes that God would take her home. It
is not fun to live in pain. She vomited, her back is in pain, and her legs are
swollen. But the doctors could not tell what
was wrong with her. Still, her
brain works wonderful.
She gave us a big
shock! Her daughter-in-law Jaycee is no longer alive! She could not
be much older than early
40s. She died of an accident. She
had been helping Lorraine in many ways, even helped writing checks for her.
We knew her because we met her many times and she has taken care of our pets
while we were on trips. She was very kind. God is in charge.
We are to be like
little children, and just depend on our Heavenly Father.
Saturday morning Don attended the Vineyard church men’s prayer breakfast at
a Denny’s Restaurant with eight men. The discussion subject was about
complaining. We prayed for one of the men whose wife has cancer and was given
six months to live six months ago.
Tuesday we had two teams of Jehovah Witnesses, four men, came to visit and
spent a couple hours preaching to Don. We have some agreement on the subject of
pacifism. They said that they would be back. They remind us of the team of
Mormon missionaries, three young women, who came to preach to us six times in a
two week period a few weeks ago! They came once more, their seventh visit, just
to sing for us. That was nice.
When Don introduced Michi to the Jehovah Witnesses and to the Mormon
missionaries, he said, “You can tell that she is a Christian because she wears a
head covering.” (See 1 Cor 11:10-11)
How Do We Know?
Five years ago, on 4/26/2003, we attended a weekly Bible study (there were
15 adults present) at Tim Tanner's house near Deer Park, WA. Ron Henke asked a
very challenging question: How do we know that we are right concerning our
religious beliefs? The Moslems are very convinced that they are right, they
have proved that they are willing to die for their beliefs.
After pondering this question, Don concluded that the Bible teaches us that
there are at least three signs or guide posts that are given to us so that we
can rest assured that we are on the right tract. These three signs or guide
posts are:
1. Our internal witness - our relationship with God. "The
Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom
8:16) Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3, 19:14, Mark 10:14-15, Luke
18:16-17)
2. Our external witness - God’s control of events in our lives.
"We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
3. Our obedience to God - our response to His love for us. "If you
wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Mt 19:17) "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) "If you
love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) "He who has My
commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me
will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to
him.” (John 14:21) "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My
love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
(John 15:10) "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments"
(I John 5:3)
Notice that the sign of obedience is stressed very heavily in the New
Testament. It is a sure sign that a person is on the narrow path to the Kingdom
of God and will be accepted there. A person may be mistaken about the other two
signs but not about obedience for the Bible is quite clear on that subject.
However, we must remember that the obedience required is not to just one or
two commands of Christ, but to all of them. If one commandment of His is
knowingly, willfully, and continually disobeyed, then we can expect the wrath of
God upon us, just as He promised, unless we repent.
Obedience To God
The apostle Peter wrote: "Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been
chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and
sprinkling by his blood.” (1 Peter 1:1-2)
Letter VIII from Jacob Hutter to his people (Written shortly before
his capture and execution as a martyr in 1536.) “Beloved brothers and sisters,
it may be that I or other Servants of God will not be able to speak to you again
in this world, never again set eyes on you in this life, or be able to comfort
and strengthen you with words of truth. So see to it that you do not waver, but
with all your hearts firmly trust in God the Lord. Always be ready to do His
will and keep His commandments; witness to God in your words and deeds, in
your whole way of life. Let your light shine before men, so that your good
works can be seen and God the Father is glorified through you. Then Christ will
acknowledge you in the presence of His Father and before the angels in Heaven.
He will call you His sons and daughters, His brothers and sisters, fellow heirs
of His glory, and children of the living God. (1 Peter 1:1-2)
“If you love God and His people, then you will be loved by Him, by His Son,
and by all believers. If you serve God the Lord and His children with your
whole heart, then the angels in Heaven will serve. If you do not forget
the Lord’s Word, then God the Lord will never forget you. And if you
abide in God and His truth and in community with all the chosen, then God
the Lord will abide in you forever and will never forsake you. (From the book
Brotherly Faithfulness. The Hutterian Brethren are named after Jacob Hutter.)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
(2 Cor 13:14)
your brother and sisters in Christ,
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, "Do not store up wealth on earth…
You can not serve both God and mammon.”
(Mt 6:19)
Home