31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mark 8:31-38 (NASB) Read 30-38 on the site.

One of the major weapons of our enemy is attacks centered on provoking our pride, to incite us to be deeply concerned about what others think of us in relation to our profession of faith and how we walk the narrow path set before us by God…. Continue reading →

1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. Matthew 24:1-4 (NASB) 

My brethren, stop, take a deep breath and take an honest look at what is going on all around us and what has been going on for last couple of years. My dear brethren, in 2019 I was in fantastic physical condition. I and a friend were all prepared to spend two weeks hiking and climbing mountains in Colorado that June. I spent over a year conditioning myself to be physically ready for it. I had all my gear ready…. Continue reading →

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and life; no one come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

We continue with the time our Lord spent with His disciples in preparation for His separation for them as He was arrested, tried, crucified, died, and laid in a tomb. In John 13 He has told them that He is about to be betrayed by one of their number and that Peter this very night will deny that he ever knew the Lord at all. All of these are extreme jolts and tests of their faith therefore our Lord encourages them greatly. In this post we will look how He begins this by exegeting John 14:1-14. Continue reading →

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-10 (NASB)  Read verses 7-10 on the site.

I have in my possession a book published as part of series of books called the “Library of Spiritual Classics.” The one I have is Volume One, which is titled Practicing His Presence. It is made up of three volumes. Two of the volumes contain the letters of Frank Laubach while the last volume is simply letters and interviews of Brother Lawrence, a 17^th Century French Monk…. Continue reading →

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’   (1 Kings 22:18-23 ESV) Read verses 22-23 on the site.

There is not a day during the week that goes by without me becoming involved in a discussion with friends about this or that very well known “Christian” figure saying or doing something that reveals fruit of apostasy in their lives and ministries. It used to be a surprise and we all marveled, but not anymore…. Continue reading →

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. – Hebrews 12:11

How happy are tried Christians, afterwards. No calm more deep than that which succeeds a storm. Who has not rejoiced in clear shinings after rain? Victorious banquets are for well-exercised soldiers. After killing the lion we eat the honey; after climbing the Hill Difficulty, we sit down in the arbour to rest; after traversing the Valley of Humiliation, after fighting with Apollyon, the shining one appears, with the healing branch from the tree of life…. Continue reading →

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” (Matthew 13:51-52 NASB)

Charles Spurgeon spent the last several years of his ministry contending with “liberalizing” efforts within the Evangelical churches in England in what came to be known as the “Great Downgrade Controversy.” That “downgrade” gained momentum not only in England, but here in the United States and around the world…. Continue reading →

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. (Titus 2:11-14 NASB)

There are false Christians today in the world, there were in the past, there will be in the future. The world is always full of false Christians. As I have been saying for many years, there are more false Christians than true ones. I’m afraid to say there may be more false prophets than true prophets…. Continue reading →

4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Revelation 18:4-5 (NASB) 

The world system, for the most part, is extremely tolerant of religion as long as it is not evangelical Christianity. However, it has no problem with that version of Christianity that is politically correct…. Continue reading →

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 NASB)

When I was first enlisted to become part of the CRN team, I was actually quite shocked for two reasons. The first reason was that Ken Silva had actually chosen me. I was very surprised about that. However, sadly, the other surprise was that there was an immediate effort by some professing Christians bent on stopping what we were doing…. Continue reading →

34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 (NASB) 

I have been working on writing a commentary. It is very tiring, but also exciting as I dig into an Epistle that I thought I knew pretty well, but now I think I will almost have it memorized. Here is a list of the different offenses of the Gospel that can cause us to not be the witnesses that we should be.

26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26 (NASB) 

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9 Therefore, we also from the day which we heard, do not cease praying for you and asking that you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 to walk worthy of the Lord in every way pleasing to Him in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)

It seems my life has become a continuous series of tests and trials, putting me into places of contention in which it is clearly apparent to me that the way I have gone before is not how God would have me go and be walking worthy of the Lord in every way pleasing to Him in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God…. Continue reading →

I began reading John Owen’s book Communion With The Triune God edited by Dr. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor back in 2008 as we awaited the birth of our 1st grandson. I read it in the waiting rooms prior to the various ultra-sound tests and other doctor visits that go with that. On the day of his birth, I read a few pages and stopped as that blessed event finally arrived. For some reason, I put the book back on the shelf with the bookmark in place and left it there when I got back home. Then at the end of April of this year, I reached a level of mental and spiritual exhaustion that required that I take some time off…. Continue reading →

“Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”—1 Timothy 6:17.

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving and does not for a solitary instant withdraw His hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; He is manna always falling round the camp; He is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from His smitten side; the rain of His grace is always dropping; the river of His bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of His love is constantly overflowing…. Continue reading →

The HTML processor for WordPress does not seem to like my HTML coding for using subscripts to mark the scripture passages in Spurgeon’s devotional. NO, it couldn’t be me and my confused state, right? [Mike suffered a stroke in April.] Please forgive me for the sloppiness. I tried for over an hour to get the subscripts to work, but it won’t do it. In any case, I rejoice that so many of you have been praying for me and have let me know you are going through your own trials or someone close to you is…. Continue reading →

With my ongoing recovery from my stroke [Mike had a stroke in April], and all that goes with that, I have found myself severely limited as far as resources and time in developing these posts. Things that I could handle in just a few minutes only a couple of weeks ago now seem to consume all my time. I sometimes feel like I have been demoted to the status of the youngest, least trusted child. As I stated in yesterday’s post, this is most definitely a faith step. Today I would like to post this devotional by Oswald Chambers from “My Utmost for His Highest for I agree that what has happened to me is part of God’s plan of stretching me and changing me for His purposes, for His glory. – Mike Ratliff Continue reading →