Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
Anabaptist
Voice
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
03/14/01
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
Volume 2
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Volume 4
The Anabaptist Voice
09/09/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear Friends,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The weather here in southern Arizona is slowly getting cooler. Last night, it
rained for several hours with much loud thundering and lightning. It rained
over an inch! Thank you, Lord.
One of Michi’s cousins in Japan, Dr. Ken Kida, is sick and in the
hospital. He is 80 years old, and is the president of a Christian college in
Japan, the Ya
manashi
Eiwa College. Please pray for him.
We just received a new book about the Hutterite story through the
centuries. Our son Patrick who lives at the James Valley Hutterite colony has
his story in the book along with some pictures of him. He is one of the rare
converts to the Hutterite way of life. The book is titled “From The Tyrol To
North America” written by Astrid von Schlachta and is sold by Pandora Press.
Last Saturday our former foster daughter Stephanie Reedy called. It is
wonderful to talk with her. Thank you, Stephanie, for calling us. And our
oldest son Mike called again, as he’s been doing each week. It is a joy to be
able to talk with him. We are blessed with wonderful children. Naomi is doing
well these days. She is busy crocheting, being helped by her dear friend, Mary
Matchin. She is happy to have fellowship with Mary and also with Krishta
Brown. Krishta takes her out shopping and such, and they have good times
together. Thank you, Lord.
Michi spoke with her brothers in Japan. One of them is a retired editor of
a Japanese language dictionary. He said that the dictionary took 18 years to
finish. Wow! Michi has been working on her songbook now for six years and has
started to create a topical index for it. Please pray for her. Here is a
photo of Michi enjoying the evening sky in front of our house. Note the
blue streak in the sky and the night bird in the upper right corner of the
photo.
We have been following the Hutterite custom of family singing gospel songs
on Saturday evenings. It sure is a blessing to us that we can sing together.
Michi has been rather uncomfortable driving the car these days, so Don has taken
over the job of driving her shopping. She is so grateful for her wonderful
husband. Yesterday he took her shopping to Costco for the first time.
Last Sunday, on the way to the church, we saw a long train not moving at
all and blocking the road. After waiting for about eight minutes, Don
prayed for the train to move. Immediately after he prayed, right after the last
word, the train began to move. It was an amazing sight! Thank you, Lord. We
thought we might not get to the church on time, but we were there right on time.
Our Heavenly Father is showing us His love in many different things these days.
Don and Michi watched a video about the Hutterites in Alberta. It was made
by the Canadian government in 1964 and was very well done. A young girl
answered questions, and she did so well.
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
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, “People will know that you are my
disciples by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
How To Be Saved?
Don Murphy
09/09/2009
Become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ! He came to earth to show us how to
be saved and He gave His life for that purpose. He came to make disciples that
would live to please God and be accepted into His kingdom.
At the end of His ministry, Jesus gave us the Great Commission: “Go
and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I
have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20)
Being a disciple requires action, it requires that our hearts be right with
the Lord and this will show in our actions. Pointing to His disciples, Jesus
said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For
whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother." (Mt 12:49-50)
A disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is a person who lives in accordance
with the teachings and commands of the Lord Jesus Christ, a person who lives a
life of love.
What is the will of God?
Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and you must love
your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:37-40, Mark 12:30-31)
The key word here is ‘love’. Love God above all things and love your
neighbor. The apostle John wrote: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives
in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we
will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are like
him.” (1 John 4:16-17)
The apostle Paul wrote: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved
children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:1-2)
Jesus said, “If a person wants to be My disciple,
he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Mt 16:24,
Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23)
The apostle Paul wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)
A disciple is a person who strives to be dead to the world but alive in
Christ. They sanctify Christ in their hearts.
Believer and Disciple
Are all believers disciples of Jesus? Do all believers attempt to live in
obedience to all of the commands and teachings of Jesus? The answer is
obviously no.
The Bible reveals that there are several levels of believers. We see that
in the Parable of the Sower where four classes of believers are described. Only
the one class of believers is acceptable to our heavenly Father. The first
group hears the Word of God but fails to properly understand it. The second
group of believers fail to persevere while the third group of believers are
caught up in the world and lose sight of the kingdom of God. The forth group of
believers are those who produce the fruit of a holy life, these are the
believers who are disciples of Jesus, who are accepted into heaven.
If we are an actual disciple of our Lord Jesus, and not just a believer,
we will not be accumulating wealth since our master has ordered us not to do
that, as wealth is very deadly to our souls. (Mt 6:19, Mt 19:23)
If we are loving God above all things, we will not be trying to serve two
masters: God and money. (Mt 6:34)
If we are loving our neighbor as ourselves, we will be sharing all
material goods in common with him. (Luke 14:33)
But, sadly, most all believers are not
disciples of the Lord Jesus, are they? Jesus taught this in the
parable of the sower and the startling evidence of the truth of this statement
is found in John 8:31-59 where Jesus is talking to a group of believers who try
to kill Him.
Someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
Jesus replied, “Make every effort to enter through
the narrow door, because many, I tell you,
will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up
and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open
the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don't know you or where you come
from.’ Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our
streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don't know you or where you come from. Away
from me, all you evildoers!’”
The apostle John wrote: “We know that we have come to know him if we
obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him’ but does not do what he
commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word,
God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6)