The Old Nature

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Suzy Fitch

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Jason My Child

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Stu Thompson

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Gathering Unto His Name - The New Testament contains a clear pattern for how a church should operate. This book summarizes relevant scriptures to what a church is and how it affects our modern day practices.

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Karen Hoy

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I am thinking about suicide.  Can God help me?

Suicide is a tragic decision regardless of the reasons one may have for contemplating killing one's self.  In addition to seeking help from a doctor or counselor, there are some important facts from the Bible that will help you.

What is Satan's goal for you?

First, know that Satan is at work trying to lead you to destruction.  If you are not saved, the moment after you die you will be in hell.  If you were conscience of the fact that you will be either in heaven or hell forever, suicide would take on a far greater meaning.  You cannot come back after death.  You cannot change your mistake.

A story in the Bible tells of the awful shock of a man who died without being prepared.

Luke 16:19-31" TARGET="_blank">Luke 16:19-31  "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  (20)  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,  (21)  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  (22)  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,  (23)  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  (24)  And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'  (25)  But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  (26)  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'  (27)  And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house--  (28)  for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.'  (29)  But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.'  (30)  And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'  (31)  He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

Romans 8:1" TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

John 5:24" TARGET="_blank">John 5:24  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

2 Corinthians 5:17" TARGET="_blank">2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Being freed from guilt is like living with a weight lifted from life.  Knowing that you are on good terms with God will help you see life in a new way.

Having eternal life changes your perspective on the smallness of events in life.  The loss of a job or a boyfriend is insignificant compared to the great eternity that is beyond this life.

Having a new life changes the habits we struggle with.  Salvation gives you a new start in life.

Other Information about Teen Suicide / Suicide Thoughts

Read the story of Joel Hovey , who decided one day that he would commit suicide, but then found peace in God instead.

You might also be asking the following questions about suicide...

• Is the sin of suicide a special, unforgivable sin?
• Can a Christian commit suicide? 
• Why does God allow us to experience trials and suffering?
• Is going to the doctor a sign of weak faith?

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KESWICK TEACHING
What is meant by the following exhortation :—“There is the surrender that claims the filling of the Spirit”? Is this “Keswick” teaching?

Though never having been present at what is called the Keswick Convention, one naturally has a certain acquaintance with the so-called “Keswick” teaching. The motto, “All one in Christ Jesus,” is a commendable recognition of that blessed unity created by the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which exists between all true believers in this dispensation (1 Corinthians 12:13)" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 12:13) in spite of the sad divisions which rend them externally. It is good to recognise this at least during one week of the year, and better still during the remaining fifty-one. In fact, we are responsible to do so on the basis of the seven-fold unity of Ephesians 4:4-6," TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 4:4-6, and to put away everything which man has set up in addition to, or in diminution from, these seven basal facts, which may mar that unity of the Spirit, which we are enjoined to keep in the bond of peace. We are never told to keep the Unity of the Body, but to recognise it, and carry it out practically, not by forbidding the introduction of any subject, or Bible truth on which people differ, but by separation from everything which will not bear the test of God’s Word.
No doubt God has blessed the meetings at Keswick, and that, not because of any particular panacea of sanctification, peculiar to the place, but because the Word of God is generally preached on evangelical lines, and Christ presented as the object of faith and as God’s sufficient resource for every need. It is impossible for this to be done without blessing resulting. When we come to details. I fear it must be said that “Keswick” teaching concerning the reception of the Spirit by an act of faith subsequent to conversion and based on “absolute surrender” is seriously at fault. The case of the twelve disciples at Ephesus in Acts 19" TARGET="_blank">Acts 19 is adduced as a typical example of this. On the contrary, it is quite unique. I never heard of such a case happening in any country in the world since. The question which seems to lend itself to the erroneous notion here combated, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” is a mistranslation, as the R.V. (based on the literal Greek) shows, for, “Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?” The normal order is given in Ephesians 1:13" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 1:13: “m whom having believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.”
The case of these twelve disciples may be taken up later. It may suffice here to remark that the filling of the Spirit is not an attainment reached once for all, and which may puff up the recipient, or put him on a pedestal above his fellow Christians, as some spurious fillings of the Spirit seem apt to do, but a humbling and self-emptying experience, true to faith and which makes Christ more real to the soul. Such an experience is repeated and progressive. Directly that teaching on the Spirit puts Him forward as the object of faith, and eclipses the Lord Jesus Christ ever so little, the teaching is so far off the lines. Certainly “full surrender” is good and reasonable, but how much it implies is perhaps realised by few who claim to have made it. It is generally associated in men’s minds with going out as a missionary to the ends of the earth; it is needed as much and perhaps more, for the humdrum tasks of everyday life in the home, or for separation from “religious” practices and associations, which have no divine authority.
There is always danger of connecting blessing with some spiritual “Mecca,” some sacred geographical spot on earth, instead of with the Person of Christ of whom the poet sings:
“Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.”

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Do bad dreams/nightmares warn us about hell?

Dreams allow us to experience things that are not real as though they were.  That can include our “daydreams”, where our spirits create scenarios to exercise our mind and emotions, as well as dreams as we sleep, over which we have little control.  In both cases we can gauge our feelings and reactions to things that have not happened.  

The Bible is clear that dreams can be misleading and unhelpful.  Solomon said, “For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.”  (Ecclesiast. 5:3)  He is telling us that dreams of things that do not exist can distract us from the vital need to deal with the things that do.  Some people waste countless hours examining their dreams, trying to find meaning in them.  People who smoke opium have wonderful dreams, from which they must always awake to a reality that is depressing and deteriorating.  The devil can use dreams to unnecessarily terrify us, as Job experienced (Job 7:14)." TARGET="_blank">Job 7:14).  Some people experience strange nightmares if they eat a big bowl of ice cream just before going to bed, perhaps from a hypoglycemic blood sugar drop a couple of hours later.  Just because we had a bad dream or a good dream does not mean anything about it is real.  We must exercise control over our dreams by learning from the ones that help move us in the direction we should go, and ignoring the rest.

Yet God can and does use dreams to “wake us up” to realities that we have never considered seriously.  A dream about hell can make us think hard about what it would mean to be there, because we know from the Bible it does exist and real people will be there.  Dreams of great tragedies can make us taste the inevitability of our own death.  In the Bible a wise man explains it this way:  “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.   In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;   Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” (Job 33:14-17)" TARGET="_blank">Job 33:14-17)

We all tend to get comfortable with life and begin to ignore the realities of death and the eternity that lies beyond.  God would like to humble us all to take Him very seriously while we still have time to do so.  Time is running out, and He very much wants us all to be saved.  If a dream will help make us serious, He may purposefully allow it.

Alfred Corduan

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