Category: The Shepherd Publications

TIME TO TARRY
It was David H. Bickersteth that wrote: “Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile. Come ye aside from all the world holds dear, for converse which the world has never known, alone with me and with my Father here, with me and with my Father not alone. Come, tell me all that ye have said and done, your victories and your failures, hopes and fears; I know how hardly souls are wooed and won; My choicest laurels are bedewed with tears. Then fresh from converse with your Lord, return and work till daylight softens into even; the brief hours are not lost in which you learn more of your Master, and his rest in heaven.”
Songwriter David Bickersteth captured vividly the charge of Jesus to His disciples while on earth. “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” Mark 6:31. The disciples alongside Jesus Himself have been busy so much that they had little or no time for

SACRIFICING FOR MISSION
David Livingstone was a Scottish physician (Medical Doctor), a pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian era. He said, “Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties but the tie that binds me to Your service and to Your heart.” He spent thirty-three years in the heart of Africa. He endured much sufferings as he labored to spread the Gospel and to open up the continent to other missionaries.
Livingstone once remarked: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?…

EXIT!
I realize sometimes that I was a member of a particular group on Facebook but cannot remember how and when I found myself there. All I noticed was that I get updates and posts from that group almost on a regular basis. I do not seem to be convenient reading many of those posts, but I decided to remain there just to watch and make some personal observations. The group has to do with dating and love. One will wonder seeing those posts and comments that reveal the corrupt and immoral state of the undegenerated mind.

OVERCOMING GUILT
Andrew was seven when, one winter morning he left the house to catch the school bus without his coat. His mother called after him, but he ignored her. Finally, his father began calling, but Andrew could see the school bus coming up the road and didn’t want to miss it. He turned and watched from the school bus stop as his father raced toward him with Andrew’s coat in his hands. Moments later, Andrew’s dad crossed an icy patch on the sidewalk; his feet flew out from underneath him, and he hit the ground hard, his head making a loud cracking noise as it hit the sidewalk.

SPIRITUAL DISTRUPTION
One of the most gifted speakers in church history was John Chrysostom. His denunciation of the lavish extravagance of the rich, ruling class, and his condemnation of human excesses infuriated many, including Empress Eudoxia who arranged for him to be exiled. When he was told of his fate, Chrysostom responded: “What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. Will it be the loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out. Poverty? I do not fear. Riches? I do not sigh for. Death? I do not shrink from.”

A GOOD NAME
Carl Geary died a month ago from a heart attack as he campaigned for the small country town. Despite his sudden death, he still polled over three times as many votes as his rival in the election in Tracy City, Tennessee. His widow, Susan Geary, was not surprised by the election results. “The day he passed away, people were calling with condolences and saying, ‘We’re still voting for him,’ she said.

Geary was known for telling the truth and served on the city council. He received 285 votes to his rival’s 85. “I knew he was deceased. I know that sounds stupid, but we wanted someone other than the current Mayor,” said Chris Rogers, owner of the town’s Lunch Box restaurant

HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS ESSENCE Part 5: Receiving the Holy Spirit
John 7:37-39 says:
37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive:…
This is an open invitation to everyone who believe in Jesus as the Saviour of the world, and not to unbelievers. The unbelievers who still commits sin have no part in this all-important experience. The number one condition therefore is to be free from sin through faith in the atoning blood of Christ and to live a holy life void of inner pollution.

After the salvation and holiness experience, Jesus says “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” The Holy Spirit is the water of life that makes an ordinary man become extraordinary. Many of us have

HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS ESSENCE
Part 4: Holy Spirit and His mighty works
“God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Hebrews 2:4. This single edition dedicated to the mighty acts and workings of the Holy Spirit is only a preamble and a glimpse into what the Holy Spirit can do through yielded vessels that choose to allow themselves to be used of Him.

Starting with the early Apostles, Peter got the Holy Ghost and his first sermon swept about 3,000 souls into the Kingdom at a goal (Acts 2:41-47).

HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS ESSENCE
Part 3: Holy Spirit in tongues and power

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8. The coming of the Holy Spirit brings undeniable power. If you have ever read about any anointed man, the secret of the anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the power behind the mighty works of the early Apostles.

Through the years, God has used men who knew what it meant to be endued with the power of the Holy Spirit.

HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS ESSENCE
Part 2: Holy Spirit: Treasure in earthen vessel
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” II Corinthians 4:7. The Holy Spirit is the Treasure that dwells in the earthen vessel of man. But not any man, only a transformed man. Whether you call Him the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost, ‘Holy’ or ‘holiness’ is inseparable from His name. His nature is holy, His dwelling place is holy, and He can only abide in Holy vessels.
The reason for the absence of His power in our world today is because the vessels that claim to carry the treasure are defiled.