Thursday, October 28, 2010

Another Reformation??

The culture of our day walks further and further away from a serious relationship with Jesus Christ, and the church continues to question some basic teachings of Scripture. This Sunday we will ask you to consider this statement: If God were to raise up another Martin Luther today, do you believe the United States could experience a Reformation? Listen to Christian Crusaders beginning Sunday, October 31, 2010 at www.ChristianCrusaders.org.


Scripture: Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon You Will Be Free delivered on Christian Crusaders October 31, 1999 by Rev. Larsen:

Martin Luther was a spiritual captive. As a German citizen he was politically free to go about his business. As a member of the Roman Catholic Church of his day, he was bound to the laws of the Church which could be found nowhere in the Bible. Was he free as an Augustinian monk seeking to appease an angry god? It is clear that wrong religion has put many people in captivity. Spiritual freedom knows no geographical boundaries. You could be a spiritually free man in Hitler's Germany and a slave in Clinton's America. How then are we set free spiritually? Here is the answer: "If you will abide in my words, you are my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."


Share the Good News
If you know anyone who might benefit from the Gospel-based messages available on Christian Crusaders, let them know about the ministry. Anyone in the country can listen anytime on ChristianCrusaders.org. Members of a church small group, a relative in a nursing home, a neighbor going through a difficult time . . . inviting any of them to listen might be a real blessing in their lives.


On the Light Side
A three-year-old went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother that there were two boy kittens and two girl kittens.

“How did you know?” his mother asked.

“Daddy picked them up and looked underneath,” he replied. “I think it’s printed on the bottom.”

Friday, October 22, 2010

Do You Believe God Is in Debt to You?

Have you ever thought to yourself, “I may not be perfect, but at least I am better than a lot of people. I am basically a good person. Shouldn’t God reward my obedience?” We look to others’ faults to sometimes build a case for ourselves. Beginning Sunday October 24, a tax collector’s prayer will help us find the true meaning of righteousness.


Scripture: Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon Who Is the Greatest? delivered on Christian Crusaders July 29, 2001 by Rev. Larsen:

It is difficult for us to humbly bow and confess our need for God’s help. There is a common attitude that says verbally or in behavior, “I don’t need Christ. I can control my own behavior. I can live a good enough life that, at the end, God will say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter your heavenly home.’ I have a good mind and an adequate education to work out my own salvation. I don’t need a Savior. I am my own savior. I am a strong person and will face difficulties as they come, without any crutches offered by religion.” Replying to this attitude, Jesus speaks, “Unless you change (be converted) and become as a child, you can’t enter the kingdom of Heaven.”


On ChristianCrusaders.org
Would you like to know more about our speakers – Rev. Homer Larsen, who has been Christian Crusaders’ speaker since 1961, and our associate speaker, Rev. Steve Kramer? On our Web site, www.christiancrusaders.org, you will find information in the navigational bar under “About”. You can also find news from the latest issue of our quarterly newsletter, the Crusader. Just click “Newsletter” and “Crusader Bulletin” in the navigational bar. The theme of our next issue is Relationships. Rev. Larsen writes the lead article for the newsletter.


On the Light Side
An elderly gentleman was strolling through the park one beautiful day when he came upon a child sitting on a bench busily saying his ABCs. The old man waited until the child was through, then said, “I see you’re practicing your alphabet.”

“No,” replied the child. “I was praying. I don’t know how to pray very well, so I just give God the letters, and he puts them into the right words!”

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Don't Give Up

How do we react when we ask God in prayer for something and do not get an answer? Are we disappointed with him and feel we don’t need him anymore? Do we become so angry with God that we discard him in unbelief? Tune into www.ChristianCrusaders.org beginning Sunday, October 17 to hear a parable of Jesus that will both comfort and challenge those facing an injustice in their life.


Scripture: Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming?’

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”


Renewing Reflections
It is our prayer that Renewing Reflections will be a blessing in your life this coming week. This quote is taken from the sermon Why I Keep on Praying delivered on Christian Crusaders July 30, 2006 by Rev. Larsen:

Keep on praying. Keep the faith. Be constant in prayer, for when you’re constant in prayer, there are wonderful surprises in store for you. One of the most wonderful surprises that is in store for us as we live a life of prayer is a promise that Jesus gives in Luke 11. He’s telling his disciples to, ask, seek, and knock. He says that the end of his little talk, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” What’s the surprise he’s promising? God himself, the Holy Spirit! You soon learn that your relationship is growing, and you experience His presence in your life.


On ChristianCrusaders.org
Wish you could relive last week’s particularly inspiring sermon? Can’t quite remember the name of a book Rev. Larsen mentioned sometime in August? Want to give a friend some comforting words on death?

You can find what you’re looking for with Christian Crusaders’ online sermon search tool. With this user-friendly feature, you can instantly access hundreds of archived sermons, as far back as 1999, searching by topic, date, or Scripture passage.

Listen to the sermon right at your computer, read it online, print it at home, or order it on a CD or cassette tape. Get the Good News of Jesus Christ twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week!


On the Light Side
A man had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed before him at family meals. Then he would ask the blessing.

One day after his usual combination complaint/prayer, his little girl asked, “Daddy, does God hear us when we pray?”

“Why, of course,” he replied. “He hears us every time we pray.”

She paused on this a moment, and asked, “Does he hear everything we say the rest of the time?”

“Yes, dear, every word,” he replied, encouraged that he had inspired his daughter to be curious about spiritual matters.

However, his pride was quickly turned to humility. “Then which does God believe?”