Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
03/14/01
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
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The Anabaptist Voice
08/05/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of
God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friends in Christ,
We pray you are blessed under the wonderful love of our Heavenly Father.
It is wonderful that we are always covered by His grace and love.
Last Sunday, the sermon at the Baptist church was about Joseph, the son
of Jacob. He had a very difficult life when he was young. His brothers sold
him as a slave to the Egyptians. He did not do anything bad. Still, he was put
in prison. Joseph trusted God through all the difficulties.
When we have difficult time for a long time, we may think why does God
not care... Joseph trusted God. We need to trust Him more and more and rest in
Him.
Yesterday at our daily 5 pm home church meeting, the first song we sang
was “Teach Me to Obey, Lord” which Naomi wrote in 2001 and Michi put in the
melody. Naomi played the Melody harp while we sang that song. At the end of
the church meeting usually Don or Michi chooses a song. Last night was Don’s
turn so he did what he often does, he just opened the songbook at random and it
opened to that same song! “Teach Me to Obey, Lord”! God caused him to choose
the same song, and so we sang it again!
1.Teach me to obey, Lord, Teach me to obey. Out of my
free will, Lord, Teach me to obey.
Lead me and guide me with Thy precious Word, To the rock of Jesus, on which
I stand.
2.Teach me to forgive, Lord, Teach me to forgive. Out
of my free will, Lord, Teach me to forgive.
Thy Word, O Lord, is the lamp to my feet, And O Lord Jesus, light to my path.
3.Teach me to be meek,
Lord, Teach me to be meek. Out of my free will, Lord, Teach me to be meek.
Melt me and mold me with Thy loving hand, Make me like Jesus in all I do.
4.Teach me to reach out,
Lord, Teach me to reach out. Out of my free will, Lord, Teach me to reach out.
Keep me clean and free to help those in need That they may see Jesus in all
my deeds.
God is working in us,
teaching us, and we are grateful.
We’ve been working on the Anabaptist Songbook for 6 years. It sure is
taking a long time. Through that, we learned we are working together with the
Body of Christ. We get all kinds of help and we are thankful. We still do not
know how long more it might take, but it is almost done. We are grateful for
all the help we received. Thank you.
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, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
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Hutterite Social Network Postings
Even a Pig Can Sense Gentleness
Posted by Eli Stahl on August 3, 2009 at 12:19pm
One year I was assigned to work at our very interesting pig barn [on our
Hutterite colony] which looked like it had seen better days. It was a low slung
wooden building covered with a roof of straw bales to keep the cold and storms
out and the heat in. It was filled with almost 60 sows and many little piglets
each which had their own wooden pen. We would clean the pens by hand and then
feed and water each one with a wheel barrow. Each pen had its own heat lamp in
the corner and when it was filled with dry shavings it was very cozy and
comfortable. It was a pleasure to hear the contented grunts as we left for the
night. At times we would have to rush to the barn after a storm as the water
would stream through the straw bales and fill the place with water. The little
piglets would be swimming around in a foot of water and were squealing in
agony. After cleaning and pushing out the water by hand we would get it all dry
and comfy again. It was a very challenging place to work in to say the least.
Most enjoyable though if you count all the tricks I played on my cousin who I
worked with. I'm sure he still remembers the drenching I gave him after turning
the hose on him.
Many times we asked visitors to help us clean and feed and spend time
with us especially after church on Sunday. We would have some deep theological
discussions and at times we would stop enthralled with the beauty of JESUS and
what we had learned from the Word of God that week. Some times visitors would
be 
amazed
that a pig barn could be such a wonderful place. I have some great memories and
wouldn't have traded those years for anything.
One day we had one of our men stop in to see us at work. He began
rebuking us for what we had done to the sows as every one of them was loud and
angry. We had to guard ourselves from being bitten and I still have the scars
on my leg from one of the mommies who bit me after I crawled in to clean the
pen. We would hit them on the snout with our shovels to show them who's boss
and to try to control them and to keep from being bitten. I then saw an amazing
thing which I have never forgotten and will always remember the lesson learned.
This brother crawled into the pen of one of our fiercest sows who no one was
able to go near and began talking to her and calming her down. After some time
he was able to actually pet her and stand very close. He then rebuked us about
treating the animals that way and that we need to repent and change our ways and
be more gentle.
Needless to say, we immediately agreed and repented and asked God to
forgive us. It didn't take a few days and all was peaceful and quiet as we
cleaned the pens.
Even a pig knows if you're gentle....
Hutterite Colony Life
Posted by Don Murphy in response to some statements in a post by Eli Stahl, an
ex-Hutterite
Eli to Don: “I'm amazed at how you exalt Hutterite life as if living in a
colony kept you from sin.”
Don: “I'm sorry that I have not made it clear that I exalt
brotherly community, and not necessarily Hutterite life. If the Hutterite
colony is a brotherly colony then that is wonderful. But sadly in some
colonies there may be one or more men in the colony who do not live on the basis
of love and all too often bring evil and hate into the lives of others there.
If every person on the colony was a born again, baptized in the Holy Spirit
person, then the colony would be like that described in the first six chapters
of the Book of Acts, a wonderful, godly place to live.”
Eli: "I will NEVER slander the Hutterite way of life but to exalt it as somehow
being a superior way to the way other churches and believers live is simply not
scriptural....it's a good way of life BUT not the ONLY way to live!!!"
Don: “I believe that brotherly community is the highest command of love.”
Eli wrote: “Bro. Don, lets you and I visit some colonies for some spiritual refreshment and Bible studies? What do you think would happen?”
Don: “We sometimes would be blessed! You remind me of
some of the colonies that I have visited just looking for a meal or a place to
sleep as I traveled across Canada. I asked in one town if there was a nearby
Hutterite colony and they directed me to one so I drove there and went to the
kitchen because I was hungry and it was past noon. They fed me well and sent
for the minister who came and we had a good talk. Now I could have just eaten
lunch in town but it would not have been a spiritual refreshment as it was at
the colony.
“One evening I stopped at a colony that I didn't know and went to the
door and asked if there were any Christians living there. They welcomed me in
and we had a wonderful evening together. I didn't say a word about staying
there overnight but when it came time for sleeping someone just told me where I
was to sleep.
“In the 1980s when I first became acquainted with the Hutterites I was
living in Seattle and would often drive across the mountains on weekends to
visit the Warden colony where I was always welcomed.”
Eli: “There are many churches and believers giving their lives for the cause of
Christ and others....It's God's kingdom!!!”
Don: “Yes, it's God's kingdom and in His kingdom the people live according to
the teachings and commands of Christ. In the Great Commission (Mt 28:20), the
Lord Jesus told His ministers to teach the people to obey ALL of His commands.
Do you know of many churches and believers who do that?”