The
earliest, oldest New Testament text has finally been released to the
public. You may read the Codex Sinaiticus online - but only if
you know Greek! To read it in English, you need the only
English translation we know.
The H. T. Anderson English
Translation of the Codex Sinaiticus, with the three extra early New Testament books
and the Sonnini Manuscript of Acts 29 included,
is now available only at
www.Apostolia.us.
Note:The
world's oldest surviving Bible, which has been scattered around
the globe for more than a century,
has
been published in full online. Along with the Codex
Vaticanus,the Codex Sinaiticus is considered the oldest known
Bible in the world
Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve: with the Greek
Odes of Shalome: A new treatment of Odes of Solomon
Authentic Peter: The Recognitions of Clement
Kata Mattyah: Hebraic Matthew, New Translation
Epistle of Barnabas: the Greek and a new translation
Faith-Sharing:How to Win Friends and Influence People for
Jesus
Six Easy Messages to teach others how to
witness.
Twelve More Easy-to-Understand Lessons based
on
digests of lectures, books, conversations and experiences, demonstrating quick ways
to improve and increase your
ministry's outreach.
How to witness - One frequent question
has been: “Why should these children be Christians anyway? They already have
their religion, don’t they?" Other related questions include, "Do we really
want to manipulate with our faith?” and “Won’t they come to church if they
want, just like going to the grocery store?”
Winning friends and influencing people
for Jesus is not a special ministry, done by special people, with special
titles or special degrees, at special times or in special ways; but winning
friends for Jesus should be the natural and normal ministry of any
congregation or individual member. But winning friends for Jesus can't be a
normal response to Grace if our motives for sharing are unclear.
A great way to break ice is to do
something nice. That’s charity. We learned all about charity the last time.
Remember the definition? “Charity (or love or agape) lives in order to die
to self to care for another, spend for another, giving itself away for the
sake of the beloved.”
Following Jesus is simply not a
viable option in their lives. Why? Because the majority has never had the
Jesus-life presented in genuine and useful ways. So what’s helpful in
sharing our faith is first discovering points of contact between the good
news and the needs of its hearers. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a
minute.
Riding double is the city boy's mode of
transportation. Riding double down a steep hill might seem dangerous. We
might say that that boy perched on the handlebars might be exercising "the
foolish faith of youth." But the fourteen-year-old kind of faith really
isn't foolish at all.
My friend (not me, of course)
received three identical letters in the mail over the course of a year. Each
letter was headed by the bold words, “Earn $50,000 in 90 Days or Less!” My
friend threw the first two letters away because he thought it was a joke.
But the third letter came at a time when there wasn't enough money to make
the bills, so he read it carefully.
Beyond
Faith-sharing: How to Win Friends and Influence People for
Jesus
12 Easy-to-Understand Lessons based
on
digests of lectures, books and experiences, demonstrating quick ways
to improve and increase your
ministry's outreach.
There are basically two opposite styles of doing (or not doing) the business
of the church (and degrees in between): the inward-focused (or
maintenance-minded) and the outward-focused (or mission-minded). Each church
style has five characteristics.
Evangelism is what we do to make faith a useful option to
undisciplined people. After all, "Christ has no hands but our hands, no feet
but our feet, no tongue but our tongue...." Our objective is to bring people
into the full faith, life, church, mission -- help people to become fully
what they were meant to be in the Savior.
Jesus really did love people, as evidenced by the invented
(or borrowed) Koine Greek word for "love," agape (
agaph).
This word represents the distinction of Christian love apart from other
loves. Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones devised a diagram that helps us
to visualize agape as distinguished from “love”: agape looks outward from
the ones whom Jesus loved, and extends even to the enemy.
Secular people do not contemplate God or spiritual things,
but television personalities, movie and music stars, video games, and
romance novels. Yet secular people are still religious people who have an
inherent need for religion “to help explain the meaning of life in ultimate
terms,” including those experiences that their secular influence cannot
define (such as death, suffering, ecstasy).
The first question is, "How severe is the debt?" If monthly
payments exceed available income, then a financial counselor is probably
needed. A volunteer counselor can negotiate lesser payments or a moratorium
on assets until the collateral or assets are sold.
Youth ministry is the most productive of all for reaching
people, for children, especially teens, are so impressionable and
interested. The traditional idea of church youth activities, Bible reading,
singing "Do Lord," preaching "be good," no longer illustrate the modern
church youth method or movement.
"We've never done it that way before!" Local
traditions must go! "Ponder anew what the Almighty can do!" The new church
must define a new constituency. In 1906 there were 198,000 Protestant
churches. Less than half exist today, mostly due to the failure to redefine
constituency as the times changed. 55 Protestant churches go out of business
each week. In the last 100 years, 43,000 Methodist churches have closed; now
200 close per year. The price tag is that the congregation must have the
ability and desire to identify and reach a new constituency.
The identity of
the founding pastor makes a great difference in the new church setting.(In many churches it makes no difference who
the pastor is.)Contrary to the popular
belief, the small church is the strong church; the large church is fragile and
the pastor can make the difference in whether it stays together or falls apart.
Gifts provide the body of Christ with functional members. If one member of
the body is absent, then it may not function properly. This is because the
motivational gifts are perspectives from which the member of the body
accomplishes the tasks that Christ and the church has given that one to do.
Such gifts are carried on through this dimension into eternity. (“Heaven is
a four-letter word - WORK!”)
The foundational questions for determining purpose are, “Why do we exist?”
and “Who are we to serve?” Every right decision based on a wrong assumption
is a wrong decision. Ministry plans must be drawn from purpose! Is it for
THEM - or just for us? The reasoned response to these proverbs makes up the
“mission” or “purpose statement.”
A Case statement is the first document that you will need to
develop for your non-profit strategy. It is the single most important
document because all other marketing and ministry documentation will be
developed around your Case Statement. Developing a strong Case Statement is
the spring-board in all other development activities.
How do we get people to attend our meetings? Newspaper ad?
Only 10% of newspaper readers will read your ad. Bulk mail? Only .5% - 1%
can be expected to respond. Flyers? Depends on placement and layout. Phone
calls? A good start. But here's how to do it quickly and effectively.
Reaching Men -
men of faith are so
painfully shy of showing their godly glory in the public domain – in society
or workplace – in family or faith-community. Harry Denman stories.
Total Consecration
- We are called to faith in Yahshua and to our church, but our
highest calling is to be consecrated to our Father in Heaven and his
Kingdom.We professed our creed a
little while ago; now let’s examine just how far we’ve progressed from profession
to consecration.
OFF THE
BURNING TRASH
THE AUTHENTIC PETER:
The Preaching of Simeon Kefa (Simon Peter)
From the Journal of T. Flavius Clemens
True Names Edition
This is the
Authentic Peter as portrayed by his disciple and successor Clement.
INCLUDES:
The autobiography of
Clement of Rome.
The Travels of Clement and Peter.
Other disciples - James, Zacchaeus, Barnabas
Famous debates transcripted:
vs. Gnostic
vs. Occultists
vs. Astrologers
vs. Mythologists
An encounter with the murderous Saul of Tarsus
Teachings on and/or demonstrations in:
Deliverance
Nazorean Faith
Yahshua Messiah
The Echad
The Primal Adam
The Standing Man
Rechabites
Resurrection
Faith Healing
Food ordinances
Eating with Others
PLUS:
Authentic letters between Peter and James, Clement and James.
Available in printed form
perfect-bound, 6 x 9, paperback, 360 pages, 11 point type.
Complete audio free with purchase of paperback.
True Names Edition
This is a Slow Read This is the Real Thing
This is a product of the
combined effort of Simon Peter, Clement (Phil 4:6), Ted Dornan and Jackson
Snyder.
