Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Jesus Is Our Comfort in Times of Grief

By J. R. Miller

Many in bereavement, though believing the doctrine of the future resurrection, fail to get present comfort from it. Jesus assured Martha that her brother should rise again. “Yes, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” she said. The hope was too distant to give her much comfort. Her sense of present loss outweighed every other thought and feeling. She craved back again the companionship she had lost. Who that has stood by the grave of a precious friend has not experienced the same feeling of inadequateness in the consolation that comes from even the strongest belief in a far-off rising again of those who are in their graves?

The Master’s reply to Martha’s hungry heart cry is very rich in its comfort. “I am the resurrection.” This is one of the wonderful present tenses of Christian hope. To Martha’s thought the comfort of resurrection was a dim faraway consolation. “I am the resurrection,” said Jesus. The resurrection was something present, not remote. His words embraced the whole blessed truth of immortal life. “Whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die.” There is no death for those who are in Christ. The body dies, but the person lives on. The resurrection may be in the future, but there is no break whatever in the life of the believer in Christ. He is not here, our eyes see Him not, our ears hear not His voice, we cannot touch Him with our hands; but He still lives, thinks, feels, remembers and loves. No power in His being has been quenched by dying, no beauty dimmed, no faculty destroyed.

This is a part of the comfort which Jesus gave to His friends in their bereavement. He assured them that for the believer, there is no death. There remains for those who stay behind the pain of separation and of loneliness, but for those who have passed over, we need have no fear.

How does Jesus comfort the friends who are left? As we read over the story of the sorrow of this Bethany home, we find the answer to our question. You say, “He brought back their dead, thus comforting them by the literal undoing of the work of death and grief. If only He would do this now, in every case where love cries to Him that would be comfort indeed.” But we must remember that the return of Lazarus to his home was only a temporary restoration. He came back to his old life of mortality, temptation, sickness, pain and death. He came back, too, only for a season. It was not a resurrection to immortal life; it was only a restoration to mortal life. He must pass again through the mystery of dying, and the second time his sisters must experience the agony of separation and loneliness. It was merely a postponement for a little while of the final separation.

But Jesus gave the sisters true comfort besides this. His own presence with them brought them comfort. They knew that He loved them. Many times before, when He had entered their home, He had brought benedictions. They had a feeling of security and peace in His presence. Even their great grief lost something of its poignancy when the light of His face fell upon them. Every strong, tender and true human love has comforting power. We can pass more easily through a sore trial if a trusted friend is beside us. The believer can endure any sorrow if Jesus is with him.

The trouble with us too often is that we do not realize the presence of our Master though He is close beside us, and miss altogether the comfort of His love. Mary stood with breaking heart by the empty grave, crying out for her Lord, who even then was close behind her, but unrecognized, “she supposing Him to be the gardener.” A moment later, however, the speaking of her name in the old familiar tone of voice revealed Him to her, and instantly her sorrow was turned into joy. So we stand oftentimes in the deep shadows of grief, longing for comfort, yearning for love, while Christ is close beside us, closer than any human friend can be. If only we will dry our tears and look up into His face, believing, our soul shall be flooded with His wonderful love and our sorrow shall be swallowed up in fullness of joy. There is never the least doubt about the presence of Christ in our times of trouble; it is only because we remain unaware of that presence that we are not comforted.

Another element of comfort for these sorrowing sisters was in the sympathy of Jesus. There was a wonderful gentleness in His manner as He received first one and then the other. Mary’s grief was deeper than Martha’s, and when Jesus saw her weeping He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Then, in the shortest verse in the Bible, we have a window into the very heart of the Master, and we find there the most wonderful sympathy.

“Jesus wept.” It is a great comfort in time of sorrow to have even human sympathy, to know that somebody cares, that someone feels with us. It would have added something—very much indeed—of comfort for the sisters, if John, or Peter, or James, had wept with them beside their brother’s grave. But the tears of the Master meant incalculably more. They told of the holiest sympathy this world ever saw—the Son of God weeping with two sisters in a great human sorrow.

This shortest verse in the Bible was not written merely as a fragment of the narrative—it contains a revealing of the heart of Jesus for all time. Wherever a believer in Christ is sorrowing, One stands by, unseen, who shares the grief. There is immeasurable comfort in the revealing that the Son of God suffers with us in our suffering, is afflicted in all our affliction, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. We can endure our trouble more quietly when we know this.

There is yet another feature in the manner of Christ’s comforting His friends which is suggestive. Human sympathy is a sentiment. Our friends weep with us; they tell us they are sorry for us, yet they can do very little to help us. But the sympathy of Jesus at Bethany was very practical. Not only did He reveal His affection for His friends in coming all the way from Peraea, to be with them in their trouble; not only did He show His love by speaking to them words of divine comfort, which have made a shining track through the world ever since; not only did He weep with them in their grief, but He also wrought the greatest of all His miracles to restore to them their heart’s joy.

No doubt thousands of other friends of Jesus in bereavement have wished that He would comfort them in like manner, by giving back their beloved. Often He does what is in effect the same—in answer to the prayer of faith He spares the lives of those who are dear and who seem about to be taken away. When we pray for the recovery of our friends who are sick, our prayer, if we pray acceptably, always ends with, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” Even the most passionate longing of our affection we subdue in the quiet confidence of faith. If it is not best for our loved one, if it would not be a real blessing, if it is not God’s way, then, “Thy will be done.” If we pray thus, we must believe that the issue, whatever it may be, is God’s best for us. If our friends are taken away, there is unspeakable comfort in the confidence that this was God’s will for them. If they recover, it is Christ who has given them back to us, as He gave back Lazarus to Martha and Mary.

It is important that we have a clear understanding of the subject of sorrow, in order that when it falls to our lot to suffer, we may receive blessing, and not hurt, from our experience. Every sorrow that comes into our life brings us something good from God. There is in Jesus Christ an infinite resource of consolation, and we have only to open our heart to receive it. Then we shall pass through sorrow sustained by divine help and love, and shall come from it enriched in character and blessed in all our life. Our griefs set lessons for us to learn, and we should diligently seek to get into our life whatever it is that our Master would teach us. In every pain is folded the seed of blessing—we should make sure that the seed shall have an opportunity to grow, and that we may gather its fruit. In every tear a rainbow hides, but only when the sunshine falls upon the crystal drop is the splendor revealed.

Excerpted and adapted from The Ministry of Comfort (Hodder & Stoughton, 1901). Published on Anchor October 2013. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.

Now that we are saved do we need to keep the Ten Commandment and Jewish festivals and kosher eating laws?

by Dennis Edwards:

Some people like a religion of rules and regulation and church services etc. But the law of Christ is above all that and says we should be motivated by love in all we do. We are no longer under a don't do religion, but a do religion: go sell all you have and give to the poor, go into all the world and preach the gospel, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, heal the sick, cast out devils, freely you have received freely give.

But most people like to feel righteous so they would rather have a don't do religion and then they can feel justified because they didn't break the Ten Commandments and didn't break the kosher laws and have kept the Sabbath. Read Isaiah 58. It’s a condemnation of self-righteous religious church service and rule keeping, which make God sick. That's how God feels about your service to him if you are not out living the gospel message by actively loving others! Love is above all those other things.

Each fellowship has their rules and regulations but they must remember that most of those rules are ones that they have decided are important and therefore they follow them. The trouble comes in when they try to use God's word to justify the rules they wish for their congregation to keep, and condemn others who don’t. We do not need rules more rules. We need more people getting out loving others into the Kingdom of God. If your rules and regulations are not motivating you to love others then what good are they, but to make you feel righteous before God. Yet your righteousness is nothing but stinking menstrual clothes.

This has been the raging religious controversy since the time of Cain and Abel to the present. Abel’s simple obedience pleased God and showed that obedience is what God wants, not sacrifice. Cain wanted to show his righteousness by his works. He was not humble enough to obey God and sacrifice the lamb God desired. No, he would offer a sacrifice of the works of his own hands. Here's the problem: Abel an honest sinner was willing to obey God and depended on God's righteousness to save him. Cain thought he was righteous enough since he was hard working, much more so than his brother who did nothing but watch sheep all day. Thus we see the beginning of the battle royal between those who believe in God's righteousness, that God alone can save them, and those who believe God needs some help from us and prefer to trust in their own righteousness to save them.

I would rather stand with Mary Magdalena, Rahab, Ruth, Tamar, David, Paul, and the prophets who stood by faith alone in God's righteousness to save them and keep them saved. My own righteousness fails me many times a day. If righteousness comes through our rule keeping, kosher laws and church attendance and services then Christ has died in vain. Jesus alone, He is all I need! That’s what Paul argued.

But the whole point is that the law of love is in fact more than the Ten Commandments. Instead of NOT lying and NOT killing and NOT stealing etc, which obviously you will not do if you are walking in love, it's about treating others how you would want to be treated in any given situation. We now have a Proactive religion instead of a Don't Do religion. That's why the Bible says that love is the fulfillment of the law. By walking in love for those in need Jesus showed us that love was higher than the law.

We as sincere Christians have graduated from the old school, or at least we should have. But a lot of people would prefer to have a Don't Do religion and feel righteous in their don't doing than a Proactive religion which motivates you to get out and help others. Not only does the book of Galatians talk about this, but Romans and Hebrews and James and John, also. By reading the gospels if you look carefully you find the Son of Man breaking the Sabbath, just like the high priest would do and be guiltless.

We shouldn't be striving to keep the Ten Commandments, but striving to keep the New Commandment; to love and treat others as we would want to be treated. We should be striving to keep the commandment of forgiveness, of giving unto others, of preaching the gospel, of loving our enemy, of doing good to those that hate us, of helping the widow and the orphan, of speaking the truth with our neighbor, of not loving money nor material things.

By accenting the Ten Commandments you're going back to kindergarten. When you should be those that can take meat, you are still feeding on the milk. But many churches teach this sort of stuff and it's a shame. God wants more than your don't doing. He wants to come into your life and make you a vessel he can use to love and help others. It's more complicated, and most people don't want complications.

You see the focus is different. Paul says, do not use your liberty as an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. The focus is on love and helping others, being proactive, getting out witnessing and helping the poor, etc. Jesus took following God to a different level and Paul seemed to get the point more than any of the disciples. He tells us that love is a more excellent way![1] Some people call it Old Testament Christianity vs. New Testament Christianity.

Peter and James in Jerusalem had to compromise to please the many Jews who converted and still kept the law. Paul was out with the Gentiles and though the Jews persecuted him wherever he went he preferred to convert the Gentiles and make new bottles out of them instead of trying to pour new wine into old bottles. When Paul did go back to Jerusalem and compromised with James on this very principle, he ended up losing his head. But we got all those epistles to read because of it, so God does get great victories out of seeming defeats.

Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, and the scriptures if read and studied with an open heart and mind, I believe, will lead you to these conclusions. Ask God by His Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the wonderful things contained in His Word. The Holy Spirit promises to lead and guide us into all truth. Could the Holy Spirit perhaps be speaking through these words? Pray and ask God to show you himself what interpretation is correct. Please let me know what He shows you.

When I had my God experience I found out that God was love and that love was the answer. I was able to go home and apologize to my father whom I had not spoken to for various years due to a physical fight we had had. It was not rules that motivated me to do that but was God's spirit of love working in my heart. From my reading of the gospels I see Jesus going around doing good and breaking the religious rules over and over again purposely to try to help us get the point that it is not in that direction. The letter kills but the spirit gives life.

But this debate reminds me of the evolution/creation debate where both sides look at the evidence and come up with totally different conclusions. Just like the evolutionists cannot understand the creationists view point because "they are spiritually discerned," you brethren that still want to keep the law,

"have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For you being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish your own righteousness, have not submitted yourself unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes."[2] 

That’s what Paul. Jesus has saved me and Jesus will keep me saved. It is none of my own self-righteousness.

Every church has their rules as every club does. But let us not confuse church or denomination rules with God's law. Many churches give lip service to Salvation by grace but in fact have a mixture of grace and works. The obligating of these Sabbath and kosher and Ten Commandments laws is actually a mixture of grace and works. Jesus saves me, but I need to keep myself saved? Sorry, I can't do it. I couldn't save myself, nor am I able to keep myself saved by a keeping of some old religious rules that could never save in the first place. The rules were meant to show us that we are incapable of saving ourselves and are completely dependent on the love and mercy of God.

"That if it be by grace, then is it no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work."[3]

For me, I am totally dependent of the complete mercy and love of God. My own righteousness is stinking filthy rags. Sorry, fellows, I do not think you understand salvation yet. You are still trying to save yourselves, even though you say you are not. Maybe it's the self-righteousness you get by rule keeping that blinds you to the simple truth of the gospel. We have a new a better covenant. It's just so simple that many miss it.

[1] 1Corinthians 13
[2] Romans 10:3-4
[3] Romans 11:6

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Kelvin's conundrum: Is it possible to believe in God and science?

By Peter Crutchley, BBC Knowledge & Learning, Oct. 22, 2013

Lord Kelvin is a giant of 19th Century science. He was also a devout Christian who found a way of reconciling his science and his faith.

In addition to the Kelvin Scale of absolute temperature, for which he is usually remembered, his pioneering research in the fields of mechanical energy and mathematics proved vital in the task of laying the first transatlantic communication cable which connects Europe to America.

Kelvin was knighted in 1866 for his key part in this mammoth engineering feat.

He was also the first UK scientist to be elevated to the House of Lords and maintained that his life-long Christian faith supported and informed his scientific work.

Kelvin was born William Thomson in Belfast on 26 June 1824, moving to Scotland when his father, James Thomson, was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow in 1832.

Kelvin himself became a professor at the University of Glasgow in 1846 and in a 53 year career his scientific achievements were many and diverse.

He married childhood sweetheart Margaret Crum in 1852, but her health broke down on their honeymoon and for the next two decades Kelvin was distracted by her suffering, with his wife dying in 1870.

Kelvin would eventually remarry. He met Fanny Blandy in Madeira in 1873. In May 1874 he returned to Madeira. As he approached the harbor, Kelvin allegedly signaled to the Blandy residence “will you marry me?” and Fanny signaled back “yes”. The couple married the following month.

Kelvin believed science must be treated with reverence, as he explained:

"I have long felt that there was a general impression that the scientific world believes science has discovered ways of explaining all the facts of nature without adopting any definite belief in a Creator. I have never doubted that impression was utterly groundless.

"The more thoroughly I conduct scientific research, the more I believe science excludes atheism. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion."

His mother died when he was six years old and his father raised eight children

He suffered heart problems and nearly died when he was nine years old

He campaigned against legislative independence, or Home Rule, for Ireland

He allegedly declared “there is nothing new to be discovered in physics” around 1900

He remained something of a celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic until his death

Attendance at a chapel was part of Kelvin’s daily routine and he faithfully studied the Bible.

Kelvin’s background and his father were considerable influences on him as Dr Andrew Holmes, a lecturer in the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s University Belfast, explains:

"In all his endeavours, Kelvin sought to integrate his faith, politics, and professional interests. His Irish background was very important in shaping him.

"He came to the same position as his father: that the universe was a designed system that could be understood because God created the human mind in order, among other things, to understand the natural world.

"He is widely regarded as one of the preeminent physicists of the nineteenth century."

Kelvin strongly opposed Darwin’s evolutionary theories of natural selection believing Darwin ignored evidence of God’s design in creation, and he refused to believe that atoms of dead matter could ever come together to make life. The laws of thermodynamics (how energy is derived from heat) were, to him, a sure sign of intelligent design.

Darwin and Kelvin’s disagreements demonstrate that tension between prominent scientific and religious figures is nothing new.

Two of today’s leading scientists, the world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins, author of ‘The God Delusion’, have been outspoken in their opposition to religion.

So is it common to find modern day scientists who, like Kelvin, retain a strong Christian faith, or are the two fields now just too far apart?

Professor Elaine Ecklund, Autrey Professor of Sociology at Rice University, Texas, was involved in conducting a 2005 survey of scientists at top US research universities, which found that 48% had a religious affiliation and 75% believe that religions convey important truths.

"Of course it would be inaccurate to say that there are more scientists who are Christians than not; the opposite is true. But there are certainly many scientists who do see their scientific work as connected to and even flowing from their faith," Professor Ecklund said.

Francis Collins, the American physician-geneticist, famously stated: “One of the greatest tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war.”

So are science and religion naturally in conflict?

Stephen Hawking in his book ‘The Grand Design’ wrote: “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”

Professor John Lennox, professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, countered Hawking’s argument in an article published in 2010.

"Much of the rationale behind Hawking’s argument lies in the idea that there is a deep-seated conflict between science and religion. But this is not a discord I recognise," Lennox said.

Lennox, who has engaged in a number of debates with Richard Dawkins, believes that far from being at odds with science, the Christian faith actually makes perfect scientific sense.

"For me, as a Christian believer, the beauty of the scientific laws only reinforces my faith in an intelligent, divine creative force at work. One of the fundamental themes of Christianity is that the universe was built according to a rational, intelligent design.

Some years ago, the scientist Joseph Needham made an epic study of technological development in China. He wanted to find out why China, for all its early gifts of innovation, had fallen so far behind Europe in the advancement of science.

He reluctantly came to the conclusion that European science had been spurred on by the widespread belief in a rational creative force, known as God, which made all scientific laws comprehensible,” Lennox said.

What Christ’s Love Did

A compilation


Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit … You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.—Romans 5:5–81

*

You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.—Psalm 18:352

*

It is interesting to think of the new era of love which Jesus opened. Of course there was gentleness in the world before He came. There was mother-love. There was friendship, deep, true, and tender. There were lovers who were bound together with most sacred ties. There were hearts even among heathen people in which there was gentleness almost beautiful enough for heaven. There were holy places where affection ministered with angels’ tenderness.

Yet the world at large was full of cruelty. The rich oppressed the poor. The strong crushed the weak. Women were slaves and men were tyrants. There was no hand of love reached out to help the sick, the lame, the blind, the old, the deformed, the insane, nor any to care for the widow, the orphan, the homeless.

Then Jesus came; and for three and thirty years He went about among men, doing kind things. He had a gentle heart, and gentleness flowed out in His speech. He spoke words which throbbed with tenderness. … There was never any uncertainty about the heartbeat in the words which fell from the lips of Jesus. They throbbed with sympathy and tenderness.

The people knew always that Jesus was their friend. His life was full of rich helpfulness. No wrong or cruelty ever made Him ungentle. He scattered kindness wherever He moved.

One day they nailed those gentle hands upon a cross. … It was a sore loss to the poor and the sad, and there must have been grief in many a household. But while the personal ministry of Jesus was ended by His death, the influence of His life went on. He had set the world a new example of love. He had taught lessons of patience and meekness, which no other teacher has ever given. He had imparted new meaning to human affection, He made love the law of His kingdom.

As one might drop a handful of spices into the brackish sea, and therewith sweeten its waters, so these teachings of Jesus fell into the world’s unloving, unkindly life, and at once began to change it into gentleness. Wherever the gospel has gone these sayings of the great Teacher have been carried, and have fallen into people’s hearts, leaving there their blessings of gentleness [and love].—J. R. Miller3

*

It must have been wonderful to spend time with Christ, with Somebody who liked you, loved you, believed in you, and sought a closeness foreign to skin-bound man. A person would feel significant in His presence. After all, those [disciples] who knew Christ personally went on to accomplish amazing feats, proving unwavering devotion. It must have been thrilling to look into the eyes of God and have Him look back and communicate that human beings, down to the individual, are of immense worth and beauty and worthy of intimacy with each other and the Godhead. Such an understanding fueled a lifetime of joy and emotional health among the disciples that neither crowds of people, jeering insults, nor prison, nor torture, nor exclusion could undo. They were faithful to the end, even to their own deaths.

People don’t go out and get tortured and arrested for somebody who doesn’t love them. If somebody loves us we will do all kinds of things in their name, for them, because of them. They will make us who we are.—Donald Miller4

*

In the New Testament, we are told of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. He, of course, was a terrorist to the Christians. God graciously tracked him down with His love to make him one of His choice apostles. Those who were once [Paul’s] friends now threatened his life. The disciples put him in a basket and lowered him over a city wall that he might escape his tormentors.

For me, the torment was within. God planted the feet of some who lifted me in a basket of love and persuasion and lowered me over the walls I could not scale on my own. Such is the grace of Christ who meets us where we are.

Readers of English poetry will recall the turbulent life of Francis Thompson. His father longed for him to study at Oxford, but Francis lost his way in drugs and failed to make the grade on more than one occasion. Those who knew him knew that inside was a slumbering genius, if only his life could be rescued.

When Francis Thompson finally succumbed to the pursuing Christ, he penned his immortal “Hound of Heaven,” describing the years behind the moment of transaction:

I fled Him down the nights and down the days.
I fled Him down the arches of the years,
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
of my own mind: And in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
Down titanic glooms of chasmed fears
From those strong feet that followed, that followed after
For though I knew His love that followed
Yet I was sore adread
Lest having Him I have naught else beside.

What a wonderful day it was when I stopped running and, by His strength, let the embrace of His love envelop me.—Ravi Zacharias5

*

One evening … there suddenly came into my heart an intense longing—I felt compelled to cry aloud to some unseen power for help; my broken body was so weak that I could not raise my voice above a whisper, so in an earnest whisper I pled, “If it could be possible that there is a God out there somewhere—reveal Yourself to me; if You are there You have heard what my husband says and how he prays, and You can reveal Yourself to me.” I seemed driven by some power beyond myself to call and call. …

This was unusual, for the simple reason that I had always been rather self-righteous; I had lived a very moral life and was quite proud of it—I was self-satisfied. Whenever I looked back on my past life and remembered the humanitarian work I had done, I was quite content; for had I not risked my life in certain types of rescue work? Even when I had come right to the very gates of death and a great fear settled on my heart, I would call to mind and take much satisfaction in the thought of those years of sacrificial service to man; but now they looked like “filthy rags” to me. It was as though my eyes had suddenly been opened and I saw myself in my true condition for the first time in my life—my past works appeared as nothing. My service had not been as unto God, or my motive that He should be glorified. The burden of sin and self increased until it seemed greater than I could bear, and at length I began to weep.

I wish I could tell you just what took place at that time in my heart, but it is absolutely impossible. The new birth is a mysterious, supernatural work which is done by the Lord Himself, and I cannot tell you how He did it, but He completely changed my heart! … I was not alone any longer, for I felt His presence in that room as real as if some member of the family were standing by my sickbed, and I was talking to Him as naturally as a little child talks to a parent. I told Him all about it, and I knew He heard and understood, for a sweet, ineffable peace, past understanding, and a cool restfulness, came over my troubled spirit. I had seen no vision, heard no voice, nor otherwise evidenced anything with the natural senses, but I had heard the “still small voice” in my heart, and had come into such a real, personal contact with God that I could truly say, “I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him.” All my unbelief had fled—God was real, indeed, and I was “a new creature in Christ Jesus”—”The light had broken in!”—Virginia Brandt Berg6

Published on Anchor October 2013. Read by Bethany Kelly.
Music by Daniel Sozzi.


1 NIV.

2 ESV.

3 A Gentle Heart (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Company, 1896).

4 Searching for God Knows What (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010).

5 Jesus Among Other Gods (W Publishing Group, 2000).

6 From http://virginiabrandtberg.org/the-hem-of-his-garment/the-light-breaks-in.html.

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