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God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

The work of the Spirit is not to tell us what the [Bible] means. That we must determine by a disciplined study of the text. The Spirit inspired these writings and He does not short-circuit them by whispering in our ear what they mean. When we pray for His help we do not pray that He will spare us the hard work of rigorous reading and reflection. What we pray is that He would make us humble enough to welcome the truth. The work of the Spirit in helping us grasp the meaning of [the Bible] is not to make study unnecessary but to make us radically open to receive what our study turns up, instead of twisting the text to justify our unwillingness to accept it.
John Piper

When church discipline is being carried out properly there are several additional attendant responsibilities: 1. Confidentiality. At every step the matter is to be kept confidential at that level. For example, in step two the only parties who are to know about the matter are the individuals bringing the charge and the witnesses. This is vital. Violating this principle can cause great damage. 2. The sin being confronted must clearly be a sin, not some vague complaint or personal preference. There must be a clear violation of a biblical command or principle. 3. One must always approach a brother who is in sin with true humility and love (Galatians 6:1-5). To approach one with a spirit of pride is both unbiblical and counter-productive. 4. The church must be consistent and show no partiality in carrying out church discipline. Each member must be treated equally with complete fidelity to the Word of God. 5. Earnest prayer should attend every step. God is the one who grants repentance and He must be approached regularly. 6. Disclosing lurid details of sins is not helpful and is often very destructive to both the charged brother and the church body. Great care should be taken in the public disclosure of such matters. 7. The entire church is to be involved in the final steps, the urging of repentance and if there is no repentance, the actual discipline process. It does no good for the church to finally withdraw fellowship from the person if many of the individual members continue to fellowship with him as if nothing had occurred. 8. Forgiveness should be immediate when the brother repents. Full restoration should take place when the matter has been cleared up. If the discipline process has been public, the forgiveness and restoration must also be a public matter. The whole church can then express the wonderful joy of seeing the process work and a brother restored. (In a case where church leaders have fallen, restoration to an office may take some time for trust in them to be restored. In some situations, a leader may never be placed back into a position of leadership). 9. Church discipline is very seriously frowned upon and often criticized or made fun of, not only by the public but also by a number of evangelical churches. Yet, it is Christ’s command to His church. Our allegiance should be to the Sovereign One over our church body – Christ. We must be zealous to carry out His commands rather than fearing criticism by those who are not aware of these biblical responsibilities or by those who simply ignore them. 10. Finally, it should be clearly taught that the immediate purpose is to recover our sinning brother, but that is not the only intent. A church that practices church discipline demonstrates to the world its desire for holiness. It is also a deterrent to sin among the remaining members and it brings glory to the Head of the church – the Lord Jesus Christ.
Curtis Thomas

    • Kavrings

    Posted on
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    CATEGORY CUISINE TAG YIELD
    Dairy, Eggs, Grains Breads, Ethnic 24 Servings

    INGREDIENTS

    -Diana Lewis-VGWN37A
    1 c Butter
    1/2 c Sugar
    1 c Milk:whole
    1 Egg
    4 ts Baking soda
    5 3/4 c Flour
    10 Cardamon;seeds crushed
    1/2 ts Salt

    INSTRUCTIONS

    Method; Cream butter and sugar; add slightly beaten egg, then the milk and
lastly the dry ingreidents, which have been sifted together. stir as little
as possible. turn the dough out onto a floured board, shape into small buns
and bake 10 minutes in hot oven (425) when done cut each roll in half and
return to oven. bake in a slow oven(200) till light browned. these rusks
are delicious served with hot fruit soup. This is a recipe from grandma
cookbook published in
1920
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

    A Message from our Provider:

    “A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.”

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