We Love God!

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

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

I grant it costs much to be a true Christian. But who in his sound senses can doubt that it is worth any cost to have the soul saved? When the ship is in danger of sinking, the crew think nothing of casting overboard the precious cargo. When a limb is mortified, a man will submit to any severe operation, and even to amputation, to save life. Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything which stands between him and heaven. A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.

J.C. Ryle

We Love God!

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

Tassies

January 24, 2023

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Dairy, Eggs, Grains		Dessert	72	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3	c	Butter or margarine; softened
1	pk	(8-oz) cream cheese; room temp
2 2/3	c	Sifted all-purpose flour
3	c	Coarsely chopped pecans
4		Eggs
3	c	Light brown sugar; firmly packed
1/4	c	Butter or margarine; melted
		Few grains salt
1/4	ts	Vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Work softened butter and cream cheese in a bowl until blended. Stir in
flour. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill thoroughly. Heat oven to 350
degrees. Working with a small portion of dough, shape heaping teaspoonfuls
of the dough into 1-inch balls. Keep rest of dough refrigerated. As balls
are shaped drop them into the cups of ungreased 1-3/4 inch muffin tins.
Press dough to cover evenly the bottom and sides of each muffin cup.
Sprinkle about 1 heaping teaspoonful of nuts over bottom of each cup. Beat
eggs in a bowl; gradually add sugar and melted butter. Blend in salt and
vanilla and beat until light and frothy. Spoon 1 tablespoon egg mixture on
top of nuts in each cup. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 250 degrees
and bake 10 minutes longer. Cool cookies in muffin tins and remove
carefully. Repeat with remaining dough, nuts and filling. Makes about 6
dozen cookies.
FROM SANDY PIERCE,
REDBOOK, DEC 1972, "THE GREAT
CHRISTMAS COOKIE-SWAP COOKBOOK"
From a collection of my mother's (Judy Hosey) recipe box which contained
lots of her favorite recipes, clippings, etc.  Downloaded from Glen's MM
Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

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“Love – a gift from God”