The Barnabas Blog

The last post concerning spiritual growth should not be perceived to be the most important. In fact, this series will be somewhat disjointed and I will write as things come to mind during my own contemplation of what has gone into my own spiritual growth. I have come to understand that spiritual growth is a constant battle (Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 4:4) and it will continue to remain until we a re released from our battle. I once heard J. T. Pugh state, “There are no permanent spiritual victories this side of the Rapture.” The second principle that I find in spiritual growth: 2. Feast on the Word John Cumming -- The empire of Caesar is gone, the legions of Rome are rotting in the dust, the avalanches that Napoleon hurled on Egypt have melted away, and the pride of the Pharoahs is fallen. Tyre is but a rock for bleaching fishermen’s nets , Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind but the Word of God still survives. All those who threatene...

“All my life as a musician, I have striven for perfection. It has always eluded me. I surely had an obligation to make one more try.” Verdi Quotes like these can make an incredible impression on you if you allow them to. If you mind ever gets really stretched by a new idea or new vision, it will never return to its original dimensions. If I am not growing then I am declining. Those who quit reaching for perfection will find themselves being kidnapped by the urgent and the insignificant. This soon leads to a spiritual shallowness. This shallowness, with the progression of time, will erode the greatness out of the soul. The question is posed, “How does one obtain such a desire toward perfection?” This desire is never easy and will always be just out of our grasp. But as we strive toward that mark that has been set up before us, great growth of the soul will occur. These are a few of the steps that I believe...

I spent all of the morning and on into the mid-afternoon today in small town America . I had the occasion to attend a funeral of a man who is very distantly related to me by marriage. His name was William “Bill” Adkinson who lived in Defuniak Springs , Florida . He was born there and he died there. Because of his distant relation to me, I am uncertain if I ever recall having met him. I was more acquainted with his 92 year old father, one of his half-brothers who attends our church here in Dothan , and one of his brother-in-laws. He had a fairly protracted struggle with a severe liver disorder which apparently had been related to his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam . He was very active in his church, in his community, and with his family. He served as the captain for the Argyle Volunteer Fire Department and had spent the last 23 years involved in this venue. In addition to that, he was a butcher at one of the local meat markets. Because of his trade, h...

How To Make A Man of God I found this quote on another site that I periodically go to. This was quoted in a sermon from John MacArthur entitled "How To Make A Man Of God." The quote is not original with JM and the source is unknown. It stirred within me a greater desire to proclaim the Truth. It also stirred within me a passion for those people that I preach to every week. May God help us to awaken our own sleepy souls. . . . . Fling him into his office. Tear the “Office” sign from the door and nail on the sign, “Study.” Take him off the mailing list. Lock him up with his books and his typewriter and his Bible. Slam him down on his knees before texts and broken hearts and the flock of lives of a superficial flock and a holy God. Force him to be the one man in our surfeited communities who knows about God. Throw him into the ring to box with God until he learns how short his arms are. Engage him to wrestle with God all the night through. And let him come out only when he...

I first heard this story in the spring of 1985. In fact it was the opening lecture in my first nursing class. After twenty years, I still think of how important the simple things are. May you think of the simple things too! The year was 1818 and Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis (pronounced ZEMMELVISE) was born into a world of dying women. The most magnificent hospitals of the day were losing one out of every six young mothers to a mysterious scourge commonly referred to as “childbed fever.” For twenty-six years this disease would continue to incapacitate and destroy young mothers in the throes of labor and at times even destroying the lives of the newborn children. In 1844, at twenty-six years of age, the now Dr. Semmelweis, decided that there was a connection between the mothers’ deaths and the practice of physicians. A doctor’s daily routine began in the labs where autopsies were performed. It was in the process of the autopsies that physicians would perfect thei...