=====================================================================
Vol. 3                                                       Issue #7
			The Edifier Online
ISSN: 1521-9178                                         October, 1998 
===================================================================== 

Contents:
Calvin and Wesley on the Christian Life by Richard M. Riss
I Know It by Joshua Smith
Times of Refreshing Music Ministry - Tom Mackey
THE MARKED TRUTH by eljay
ALOT ON MY MIND by eljay
A Sacred Assembly - A Year in Review by David Staley
God's Blessings On My Life (with Poem: Talents) by Janae L Ivie
SWEET JESUS by Janae L Ivie
A Song of Unity by Anonymous
Final Words

=====================================================================

            Calvin and Wesley on the Christian Life
                              by
                        Richard M. Riss 
                        RRISS@drew.edu
   
Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Glenwood Landing, NY Meeting jointly 
with The United Methodist Church of Sea Cliff, NY August 2, 1998

With respect to the Christian life, most of what John Wesley
said in the eighteenth century was in perfect agreement with what
John Calvin had said two centuries previously during the time of
the Reformation.  In fact, on this topic, the comments of these
two towering figures were very similar in many respects to what
was said by many of the other well known devotional writers of
history.

One of them, Martin Luther, had such a profound effect upon
Wesley that Wesley said on a number of occasions that his
conversion experience of May 24, 1738, the famous Aldersgate
experience, was a direct result of the reading aloud of Luther's
PREFACE TO THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.  Here's what
Wesley said about this: "In the evening, I went very unwillingly
to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's
preface to the Romans.  About a quarter before nine, while he was
describing the change God works in the heart through faith in
Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.  I felt I did trust in
Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given
me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from
the law of sin and death."

Luther's PREFACE to the book of Romans, is, of course, still
extant, and it does say some things about the change that God
works in the heart through faith in Christ.  In this work, Luther
wrote, "to fulfill the law, we must meet its requirements gladly
and lovingly; [and] live virtuous and upright lives without the
constraint of the law, . . . as if neither the law nor its
penalties existed.  But this joy, this unconstrained love, is put
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Chapter
5."  Further on, Luther writes, "Faith, however, is something
that God effects in us.  It changes us, and we are reborn from
God, John [chapter] 1."  He goes on to say that faith is a
confidence in God's grace which "makes us joyful, high-spirited,
and eager in our relations with God and with all mankind.  That
is what the Holy Spirit effects through faith."  For Luther,
"righteousness . . . is God's gift, and shapes a man's nature to
do his duty to all. . . .  His own righteousness, which He
confers through the medium of faith, is our only help."

It would appear from John Wesley's JOURNAL that at the society 
meeting at Aldersgate Street, God did bring about a change in 
Wesley's heart similar to what Luther describes in these passages 
from his PREFACE that were read at that meeting.

There was, however, a theological difference.  This became clear
in 1740 when Wesley preached and published a protest against what
he felt was an overemphasis upon predestination on George
Whitefield's part.  Wesley felt that Whitefield's Calvinistic
emphasis constituted a denial of free will, and that it was an
unnecessary encouragement to people to relax Christian
discipline.  This brought about what has been described as an
irreparable breach between Wesley and Whitefield.
Interestingly enough, however, it was not Calvinism, so much
as Lutheranism, that was vulnerable to the second of these two
criticisms.  Calvinism, in its understanding of the "third use of
the law," did emphasize and successfully maintain Christian
discipline in its effort to avoid criticisms of this very kind
that had been brought to bear against Luther and the theology of
the Reformation.

The first of these two concerns of Wesley's, with respect to
the question of free will, was eloquently expressed by Wesley's
mother, Susanna Wesley, who wrote to him in 1725 to the effect
that if the individual has no choice as to whether he or she is a
recipient of the saving grace of God which transforms the heart,
and if, as a consequence, some people are irretrievably bound up
in sinfulness, with the effect that they are predestined to hell,
then, "it directly charges the most high God with being the
author of sin, . . .   For 'tis certainly inconsistent with the
justice and goodness of God to lay any man under . . . a . . .
necessity of committing sin, and then to punish him for doing
it."  For this reason, she felt that "the doctrine of
predestination as maintained by the rigid Calvinists is very
shocking, and ought utterly to be abhorred."

While the rigid Calvinists of the eighteenth century may
have held such views, what about John Calvin himself?  It is
instructive to make careful comparisons between John Calvin and
John Wesley on these issues, especially since Calvin is
considered the fount and source of nearly all that is believed
and practiced by Presbyterians, while Wesley was the founder of
Methodism.

Calvin is often criticized for his stance on justification
by faith alone, as though, according to his understanding, good
works were irrelevant.  However, Calvin states quite clearly in
his INSTITUTES, Book III, Chapter 9, section 1, that "The faith
by which alone, through the mercy of God, we obtain free
justification, is not destitute of good works."  This, of course,
makes perfect sense, since the change that is wrought by God in
the heart of man, if it is genuine, will normally result in acts
of kindness, benevolence, and altruism.

On the other hand, Wesley is often criticized for an
opposite stance on the same issue.  It is often argued that
Wesley believed that good works are necessary to justification,
and that he therefore held to a form of "works-righteousness,"
according to which the individual must earn the right to
justification by performing good works.  However, Wesley's
comments specifically indicate that good works are not always
necessary to justification.  For example, in a sermon entitled
"The Scripture Way of Salvation," Part III, section 2, he wrote,
"Therefore both repentance and fruits meet for repentance are in
some sense necessary to justification. . . .  Those fruits are
only necessary conditionally, if there be time and opportunity
for them."  It would seem quite clear from these passages that
both of them believed that justification is by faith alone, but
that the faith that justifies is never alone whenever it is given
the opportunity for expression in actions.

But what about the issue of predestination?  Once again, the
viewpoints of Wesley and Calvin are remarkably similar.  In his
sermon on Predestination, Wesley expresses sentiments which
closely parallel Calvin's INSTITUTES, Book III, Chapter 21.  In
both of these works, there is a great deal of emphasis upon the
importance of understanding that God's foreknowledge of who will
be saved is not the cause of election.  Wesley writes, "God
foreknew those in every nation who would believe, from the
beginning of the world to the consummation of all things. . . .
All time, or rather all eternity . . . being present to Him at
once, he does not know one thing before another, or one thing
after another, but sees all things in one point of view, from
everlasting to everlasting. . . .  But observe: we must not think
they ARE because he KNOWS them.  NO; he knows them because they
are. . . .  What he knows, whether faith or unbelief, is in no
wise caused by his knowledge. . . ."  Then, in section 14 of the
same sermon, Wesley writes, "As all that are called were
predestinated, so all whom God has predestinated he foreknew.  He
knew, he saw them as believers, and as such predestinated them to
salvation, according to his eternal decree."

In a similar vein, Calvin wrote, "The predestination by
which God adopts some to the hope of life, and adjudges others to
eternal death, no man who would be thought pious ventures simply
to deny; but it is greatly caviled at, especially by those who
make prescience its cause.  We indeed ascribe both prescience and
predestination to God; but we say that it is absurd to make the
latter subordinate to the former.  When we attribute prescience
to God, we mean that all things always were, and ever continue,
under his eye; that to his knowledge there is no past or future,
but all things are present, and indeed so present, that it is not
merely the idea of them that is before him . . . but that he
truly sees and contemplates them as actually under his immediate
inspection."

Both Wesley and Calvin make it abundantly clear that they
believe in predestination as it is taught in the Pauline
epistles, and both understand that the foreknowledge of God does
not cause this predestination.

Is there any real difference, then, between Wesley and Calvin 
on this issue?  If there is a distinction to be made between them, 
then it would be that Wesley emphasized the freedom of the will 
while Calvin emphasized man's inability, in and of himself, to 
choose to repent and believe the gospel.

Wesley wrote, "Indeed if man were not free he could not be
accountable either for his thoughts, words, or actions.  If he
were not free, he would not be capable either of reward or
punishment.  He would be incapable either of virtue or vice, of
being either morally good or bad.  If he had no more freedom than
the sun, the moon, or the stars, he would be no more accountable
than they.  On supposition that he had no more freedom than they,
the stones of the earth would be as capable of reward and as
liable to punishment as man--one would be as accountable as the
other.  Yea, and it would be as absurd to ascribe either virtue
or vice to him as to ascribe it to the stock of a tree."

But unlike many Calvinists, Calvin himself did believe in
free will, but he felt that it was necessary to emphasize that we
cannot make proper choices without supernatural help.  In a work
entitled "The Necessity of Reforming the Church," he wrote,
"though we deny not that man acts spontaneously, and of free
will, when he is guided by the Holy Spirit, [we] maintain that
his whole nature is so imbued with depravity, that of himself he
possesses no ability whatever to act aright."

What, then, did Wesley think about depravity as it is
described here?  In his sermon entitled "Original Sin," Wesley
wrote that "the first, grand, distinguishing point between
heathenism and Christianity" is that the heathen "knew not that
all men were empty of all good, and filled with all manner of
evil.  They were wholly ignorant of the entire depravation of the
whole human nature, of every man born into the world, in every
faculty of his soul."

When all is said and done, we must be prepared for the
likelihood that by and large, Wesley and Calvin were saying
basically the same things.  This should not come as a great shock
to us if we remember that both of them carefully studied the
Bible and church history and took both very seriously.  Yes,
there were differences in emphasis, but even within the sixty-six
books of the Bible there are differences in emphasis.

So then, it should not be surprising to us if we find that
John Wesley's sermon on "Self-Denial" bears a close resemblance
to Calvin's INSTITUTES.  In Book III, Chapter 7 of the
INSTITUTES, Calvin states that "we are not to seek our own, but
the Lord's will. . . .  For when Scripture enjoins us to lay
aside private regard to ourselves, it not only divests our minds
of an excessive longing for wealth, or power, or human favor, but
eradicates all ambition and thirst for worldly glory . . . ."

Wesley said it this way: "But what is self-denial?  Wherein
are we to deny ourselves?  And whence does the necessity of this
arise?  I answer, the will of God is the supreme, unalterable
rule for every intelligent creature."

There is no question that both Wesley and Calvin would have
agreed that to be able to defer to the will of God in those cases
in which it would seem to be to our disadvantage to do so would
be an impossibility apart from the active work of God in our
hearts and minds, causing us to be willing to do so.

May God grant that He might give us new hearts and put a new
spirit within each of us; that He might remove the heart of stone
from us and give us a heart of flesh, as the prophet Ezekiel
says.  May He put His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in
His statutes, so that we will be careful to observe His ways.
This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

====================================================================

                            I Know It
                                by
                           Joshua Smith
                      jdsmith@georgefox.edu
               http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4529

              The emptiness, the heartache,
              I know them.
              The pain, the suffering,
              I know them.
              You are not alone in your strife, for I felt it too.

              I died horridly. I was hated. 
              I was mocked. I was scorned.
              What did you do?
              I was beaten. I was bruised. 
              I was broken. I was torn.
              Where were you?

              They beat you, they mock you,
              I know it.
              They curse you, they tear you,
              I know it.
              I died for you. You hated me. 
              You mocked me. You scorned me.
              Did I turn away?
              You beat me. You bruised me. 
              You broke me. You tore me.
              Did I leave you?

              Why would I leave you now?
              I wouldn't.
              Why would I turn away?
              I couldn't.
              There is a peace for you if you will seek it in me.
              It was always there. Give the pain, 
              the hurt, the scars, the tears to me.
              I am always here.

====================================================================

              Times of Refreshing Music Ministry
          
                        All were blessed...
  BEAUTIFUL!
                                     ...BREATHTAKING...
                  exquisite!
                                          Faith renewing...
           God-honoring...
                                      I wept into worship...
       TOUCHES THE HEART...
                                                           unique...
                               moving service...
      VERY INSPIRATIONAL!

                                  We thoroughly enjoyed...

   WONDERFUL PRESENTATION...

                                                WOW!  How splendid!

 These are a few of the words of appreciation
 received from those who have been blessed by
 our music ministry, especially the unique 
 musical blend of "A Classical Tapestry Concert",
 a participating worship experience.
 But words alone are wholly inadequate to
 express the joy of entering the Lord's presence
 in worship... and that is always our goal.

 WANT TO KNOW MORE?

 Please send your name, church, address and 
 phone.  We'll gladly send you more info at
 your request.
 
 Yours because we're HIS,
             Tom Mackey   (740) 366-5928
             temackey.jn17.21@juno.com
             Times of Refreshing Music Ministry
             127 Price Road
             Newark, OH 43055

=====================================================================

                THE MARKED TRUTH
                       by
                     eljay 
                 eljay@mcn.org

      The marked truth, behind any lie,
      can redeem you.

      The blade cutting, the fire scorching, the hammer smashing,
      the flood covering:  cause fear dear.

      Hotcakes in the pan, flaming fruit in a bowl, 
      torrential downpour from the sky.

      The marked truth behind 
      these I cannot tell you.

      The darting derelict in the alley,
      the mocking magician and his tricks.

      To saw a man in two would be quite a trick.
      Still, we hold these truths to be self-evident.

      The marching band, the tambourine cry, the churchbells.
      The churchbells ringing.
      Yes, churchbells ringing unto God.

====================================================================

              ALOT ON MY MIND
                    by
                   eljay 
               eljay@mcn.org

           Alot on my mind,
           it's Christmas Time.

           Presents to buy, loved ones to see.
           Who wants what, oh what will it be?

           One brother wants something for his boat.
           And which friend will I see?
           Maybe just a gift certificate, and take the pressure:
           and the fun out of the buying.

           And after the holiday is over, and we
           all have gone back home,
           there's still things to plan for,
           still things to get done.

           If I buy the gifts I want to buy, 
           my savings will be depleted,
           I suppose I must be more modest,
           something personal, (and more cheap).

           Don't get me wrong, I do not begrudge the holiday.
           I love giving.
           I love seeing all those who I love from a distance
           the rest of the year.
           I love celebrating the birth of Christ.
           I do.

           I wish I had more to give.

           Maybe I should spread some of the "giving" 
           throughout the year.

=====================================================================
 
              A Sacred Assembly - A Year in Review
                               by
                          David Staley
                    the_edifier@hotmail.com
            http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5268
                     

                October 4, 1997 - October 4, 1998

October 4, 1997 will be a day that I will always remember.  In 
Issue #5 of The Edifier Online I submitted a testimony of my 
experience at the Sacred Assembly of Christian men that gathered 
at the nation's capital that day.

An entire year has passed since the experience of having my face 
flat on the churned up ground of the National Mall in Washington, 
DC.  Over the last year a lot has happened in my life.  A lot has 
also occurred in the lives of my companions that I attended the 
event with too.  Some of it good and some rather tragic.

On the year anniversary, I seriously contemplated what had gone 
on during the previous 12 months.  I can say that spiritually, I
have grown more than previous years!  I was concerned that the event 
would be just that, 'an event' that would rank up there with my 
trip to Dinosaur National Park when I was a kid.  The Sacred 
Assembly was much more than just another day to me though.  It was 
a marker in my life.

I can honestly say that after that day, over the months that 
followed, I began to deal with certain situations more differently 
than I had ever dealt with them before attending the Sacred Assembly.  
It's hard to really put into words, for the days and months, and now 
year has had more impact on me than just an experience.  

I believe that what took place there on the ground in Washington, DC 
was an awesome display of the power of God.  So many things have
been impacted because of that day, my relationship with my wife, 
my Church life, my relationship with God and with others...I can
say that God used the Sacred Assembly to impact every facet of my 
life with a great change for the good and glory of God!

For all but one in our group, I can say that I have seen some degree
of what I speak about above in their lives too!  For one of our 
group, the Sacred Assembly appears to have been just another trip to 
an event at the Nation's Capitol.  I can't seem to fathom how this 
can be at times though, how something so powerful can be 'just 
another day'?  I pray that as the years go on my friend and brother 
in the Lord will see how God moved that day, and that he will have a
'Sacred Assembly' before the Lord that will impact him forever.

I can't remember too much of the talks there, the music, and most of
my pictures didn't really come out to show the magnitude of the 
crowd.  I do have a corner of The Washington Post dated October 4, 
1997, that was near me on the ground of the National Mall where my 
face was in the dirt.  In fact, some of the dirt is on the paper.  
My wife laminated it for me, and I have it in my Bible as a reminder 
of that day.  A day that I will never forget.  But much more than the
trivial trinket, I have a life that was touched by God in a mighty
way!  Praise the Lord!

=====================================================================
		     
            God's Blessings On My Life (with Poem: Talents)      
				 BY 
			    Janae L Ivie
			 janaeivie@juno.com
	http://members.tripod.com/~Christianpoetry/index.html

As a young child, I always went to church with my parents and had
heard the story of Jesus. One particular day, I was more attentive in
listening to the story of how Jesus had died on the cross for my sins
and how He loved me so much. I was telling my mom about it and she 
helped me by answering any other questions I had.  After that, I let
her lead me to Christ when I was six or seven.. Since I have had 
Jesus in my life, I have been blessed with lots of good things. For 
example, God has given me the gift of writing poetry. Because of this
talent, I have been published a few times. Another way that God has 
blessed me is by giving me a heart for helping disabled people. I 
used to judge them and wonder why these people were different. In 
eighth grade, my view totally changed. I started to get involved 
helping students with disabilities at my school. 

I continued to help the disabled throughout high school. Now that 
I am in college, I don't have as much of an opportunity to, but I 
look forward to any chance I may get to help the disabled community.  
They are a part of me and I will never judge a person with a 
disability.  In the past year, my dad has seen my faith grow a lot. 
For example, I have been opening up and sharing my faith more with 
people. All I do is sow the seed and let God do the rest . Can you 
relate to any of this? 

     This poem goes along with the testimony.

                  Talents

             Do you have a talent
             or know what your 
             talents are?

             Talents are special
             abilities that we enjoy 
             doing

             Talents can be playing
             a musical instrument or
             drawing pictures

             Talents are a way to show
             others what we are good at

             God has given me 
             the talents of writing poetry,
             playing the flute and piano, 
             and helping the disabled.

             Talents are a gift 
             that God gives each 
             of us.

             If you have something (s)
             that you like to do, then
             that is your talent!  

===================================================================

                     SWEET JESUS
                          BY 
	            Janae L Ivie
		 janaeivie@juno.com
   http://members.tripod.com/~Christianpoetry/index.html

             Sweet Jesus, my loving
              Savior and precious Lord

             Sweet Jesus,You love
              me so much with 
             Your arms open wide

             Sweet Jesus, my best friend
             nothing can take the place 
             of you in my life

             Sweet Jesus,
             I am waiting for Your
             return so I can see you
             in all Your glory!

===================================================================
       
                        A Song of Unity
  Adapted from some posts to the Christian Unity discussion list.

                  The Christian Unity Homepage 
                 http://www.inlink.com/~cc3c/cuc/

                  Dave Hiatt's Salvation Webpage
         http://members.tripod.com/~edge777/track.html

Sometimes we Christians tire of hearing the scriptures that at one 
time first lead us to salvation in Jesus. We've already heard the 
call and accepted it. Because we know these scriptures, or think 
we do, it's easy to forget how precious they are. 

We're already born again in Jesus, and growing up into Him who is 
the Head. We seem to have matured in our dietary habits as children 
of God. We've moved on to more meaty matters. But let us never 
forget how sweet the milk is to the babe in Christ.

These scriptures must never grow old in our memories. We need to 
repeat the salvation message from the Bible and hear it continually,
anytime the world may be listening in. It is the very gospel, the 
"good news" to the world that Jesus is the way out of sin.

The repetition of the several scriptures on salvation, is neither 
noise nor a song of single note. These scriptures, and scriptures 
like them, constitute a musical reprise of verse in the song of
Christian unity: a chorus of the gospel of the common salvation. 
Part of a song with verses and melody known to all who have 
accepted that salvation, and in which every member of the body of 
Christ can give voice by the power and life of the Holy Spirit in 
which all members share. In the song of Christian unity, the gospel 
of salvation in Jesus Christ is the refrain which will be sung over 
and over again, until it is eventually heard by an entire world 
without ears to hear, whether they like the music or not.

(Mat 24:14 KJV) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in 
all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come.

(Isa 45:23 KJV) I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my 
mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every 
knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

The hymnal of salvation is the first music we ever really heard when
we became Christians. And if we stand near enough to those 
inter-denominational walls, and listen carefully, we can hear it 
again, and know who's on the other side. Because all our brothers 
and sisters in Christ have learned it, too. They may seem to us to 
be only little ones in their understanding of the words, but if 
younger, yet no less deserving of our Father's love. And our love as
well.

(Mat 18:6 KJV) But who so shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged 
about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea

Now we need only learn to sing it in unison, and let the world hear 
the harmony and love we share together in the family of God. To let 
the sweet sound of salvation in Jesus be heard over the din of 
doctrinal disagreement. Then the world will know that we are the 
disciples of the only begotten Son of the one true God.

(Rom 5:8 KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

(John 15:13 KJV) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay 
down his life for his friends.

(John 15:14 KJV) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you.

(John 13:34 KJV) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one 
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

(John 13:35 KJV) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye have love one to another.

It's a familiar tune, that goes something like this:


James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons 
believe that--and shudder." 

The Bible says that everyone sins. Everyone is imperfect and requires 
God's grace--His gift of salvation, to enter Heaven: 

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," 

Romans 3:10-11 "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not 
even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.'" 

1 John 1:8-10 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves 
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all 
unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to 
be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 

Isaiah 64:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and 
all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like 
a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." 

You must be born again. To receive Jesus into your heart and 
receive the Holy Spirit is an amazing thing. The old sinful self is 
erased, and a new, clean person is born. You have a clean slate, 
like starting over. A transformation into a man/woman of God begins. 
If this truly happened, you will lose desires to sin and look toward 
God. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new 
creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 

John 3:3 "In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can 
see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" 

John 1:13 "children born not of natural descent, nor of human 
decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 

John 3:5 "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter 
the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh 
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." 

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through me.'" 

To accept Christ, you must repent; acknowledge you are a sinner, 
admit you need and want God's help, and ask forgiveness. God will 
forgive!!! He does because he loves you more than you can possibly 
ever imagine. More than any human can love...more so even than a 
mother. Infinite love. 

Acts 17:30 "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he 
commands all people everywhere to repent." 

Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all 
perish." 

Hebrews 8:12 "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember 
their sins no more." 

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid 
down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our 
brothers." 

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only 
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal 
life." 

John 1:10-12 "He was in the world, and though the world was made 
through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which 
was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who 
received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right 
to become children of God--" 

God is faithful. He keeps his promises. If you do this, he will 
forgive you and you will receive salvation. Please do it...Christ is
the ONLY way!!! 

John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes 
him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has 
crossed over from death to life." 

Romans 10:9-13 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is 
Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, 
you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and 
are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are 
saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never 
be put to shame.' For there is no difference between Jew and 
Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who 
call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will 
be saved.'" 

John 3:35 "The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in 
his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." 

1 John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of 
the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 

You can pray a very simple prayer to accept Christ, if you have 
chosen to do so. Pray this: "Dear Heavenly Father: I am a sinner. I 
need your help. I accept your grace and want you to enter my heart. 
Please forgive me of my sins, and fill me with your Spirit. Wash 
away my sinful ways and transform me. I accept Jesus Christ into my 
heart today. In Christ's name, AMEN." 

====================================================================
                   	     
                             Final Words

I pray that you will be encouraged and edified by this issue of The
Edifier Online.  There is a lot of great stuff that I really believe
were made for this issue.  I have lots of poems that are still 
slotted for future issues or perhaps even a special issue dedicated 
to just poetry.  

You may have noticed that The Edifier Online has been assigned an
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).  Although, The Edifier
has existed fine without one, I thought it would be a nice thing to
do for this publication.  FYI, the ISSN number is: 1521-9178

Feel free to send in some feedback to either me or the authors of 
the various pieces you find in this or other issues of The Edifier
Online!  Your input would be greatly appreciated!

Finally, as I always say, if you haven't submitted anything to The 
Edifier Online, but would like to, please do so.  Just send your 
submission to me, David Staley, at: the_edifier@hotmail.com  or if 
you have any questions please email me and ask.

Until next issue, until the Lord returns, may God bless you 
and keep you!  

In Christ,
David Staley

The Edifier Online:  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/6749
Email: the_edifier@hotmail.com

====================================================================










