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Body-Builders |
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Issue 18 from |
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In this issue ·
Living in the Light of the Word — 1 ·
NEW – Old Testament Survey
Correspondence Course ·
Feedback For new subscribers: ·
Introducing
“Artios Ministries” |
Welcome to Body-Builders! This is a new series of teaching articles intended to
bless and build the Body of Christ. I trust you enjoy this the eighteenth issue, and I
welcome your feedback. For my latest personal newsletter, please click here. Every blessing, George Alexander For Artios Ministries |
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LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD —
1 LIFE AND HEALTH IN THE WORD |
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Sometimes we make it too complicated. Knowing who God is, our response to Him is
essentially to hear His word and obey it. Psalm 119 is rich with frequently quoted
verses about the Word — for example: Forever, O LORD, Your word is
settled in heaven. v89
(NKJV) Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path. v105 The unfolding [or
entrance] of your words gives light
v130 Fundamentally, we’re talking about the Bible (2 Tim
3:16,17). But the Word can come to us
specifically through reading, through prayer, through sermons, through
prophecy, and in other ways. At this time of the year, I often find myself in the
book of Proverbs. Consider these
verses from Proverbs 4: 20My
son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21Do not
let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22for
they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Pay attention to the words, listen closely to them, keep
them in your heart — why? The answer
is verse 22. Results of God’s Word They are LIFE — to those who find them. We can literally live by the Word of God. Jesus in the midst of the temptations
declared, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mt 4:4). He also
explained, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (Jn 6:63). Towards the end of his life, Moses wrote a song and
recited the words in the hearing of the people. He then told them to take to heart all these words, and
declared: “They are not just idle words
for you — they are your life. By them
you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Deut 32:47 Not empty words or idle words — they are your life. And they are HEALTH — to a man’s whole body. God’s Word can bring healing, as very many
testimonies will bear out. But it’s
not just for healing; it’s truly health. Constantly being in the Word can lead to health, wholeness and
soundness. It’s been said that 60% of pastoral problems disappear
when God’s people start to read their Bibles. A pastor friend of mine was amazed several years ago to find
that his regular counselling workload virtually vanished when he started
systematically teaching his people the Word.
“Get in the Word” can therefore be good pastoral counsel. God’s words “are life to those who find them and
health to a man's whole body.” Receiving God’s Word The text says, “Pay attention to what I say.” Don’t take it lightly, as if it were
simply one of the available opinions.
Sometimes we consult opinions:
“What does the politician say?”;
“What does the scientist say?”; “What does the expert say?”; “What does the pastor say?”; “What does God say?”. This last question should never be on a
par with the others. Opinions may be our
best attempt at expressing truth.
God’s opinion is the truth! Years ago I saw Colin Urquhart’s Kingdom Faith Teaching
Course, and was impressed that each page of the accompanying notes had a as
footer: “It’s not my opinion that matters, Lord, but what You say in Your
Word.” “Listen closely to my words.” Have you ever found yourself in a conversation or in a meeting,
and not really hearing what’s said?
You may get something, but you miss so much. My pastoral experience has frequently found me
counselling someone with the preached word from the previous Sunday. The person concerned was there in the
meeting, but somehow didn’t listen to the word — or didn’t hear — and
missed the personal application. In Job we read: “For God does speak — now one way,
now another — though man may not perceive it.” Our attitude therefore needs not to be, “If the Lord
wants to speak to me, He will”, but rather, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening.” (See 1 Samuel 3:10) And in this way we receive the Word
of God, which is then at work in us who believe (1 Thess 2:13). Keeping God’s Word Again Proverbs 4:21 says, “Do not let them out of
your sight, keep them within your heart.” It’s possible to have the word, and then lose
it. In the parable, the sower sows
the word. Some of the seed of the
word falls beside the path, and the birds of the air come and steal it away. It was right there, but then it was
lost. We can deliberately hold on
to a word, or we can open our hand and allow it to be stolen. But then we lose the benefit. Moses was dead, and Joshua had the word that he would
lead the people to take the land. He
also had a word of encouragement and exhortation concerning being strong and
courageous, not terrified and not discouraged. (See Joshua 1:1,2,6,9)
How was he to keep this word?
The answer is verse 8: Do not let this Book of the
Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and
successful. Joshua 1:8 The word “meditate” here means to murmur or mutter half
out loud. That’s how we keep the word
to obey it. Now link it with these
words, quoted in Romans 10:8, but found in Deuteronomy: … the word is very near you;
it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it. Deut 30:14 In the mouth by meditating, in the heart by believing,
we keep the word to obey it. All the words we have — words we receive while reading
privately, things God speaks to our hearts during sermons, prophetic words
we’re given — don’t lose them! It
usually helps to write them down. The
shortest pencil is better than the longest memory! Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you
sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to
God. Colossians 3:16 “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen
closely to my words.” — Receive God’s Word — “Do not let
them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;” — Keep God’s
Word — “for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's
whole body.” — By receiving and keeping, let’s go for the results of
life and health in the Word. George Alexander June 2006 Note: All Bible
quotations are NIV unless otherwise stated. For a printer-friendly
version of this article, click here.
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News and Update |
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2006 is rushing past. Here we
are now at the end of June, and the summer lies ahead. Regular readers will have noticed that there
has been an unusually long gap between the last issue and this! We’re still here however …… This issue I’m starting a short series of articles based on Proverbs
4:20-27, always a favourite passage of mine, under the general heading
“Living in the Light of the Word”.
Part 1 is on Life and Health in the
Word. All feedback appreciated. In response to a request, printer-friendly versions of the Body-Builder
Articles are now available. To access
the list, click here. “Old Testament Survey”, the first of the correspondence courses is
now available. For more information,
click here. Apart from correspondence courses, there’s general update information
on the Artios School of
Theology, and links to any
previous issues of Body-Builders that you may have missed. There’s also a link to my latest personal newsletter. If you have difficulty opening these e-mails or if the text looks weird
and you suspect it’s not showing as it was intended to (I know it looks a
little strange in Hotmail for instance), please let me know and I’ll try to
solve the problem. Alternatively, you
could try the web version (click here). I continue to receive more requests to subscribe to Body-Builders. If you have received this e-mail
second-hand and would like to be subscribed, please click here. If you’d like to subscribe a friend,
please click here.
(The friend will first receive an e-mail offering the chance to
subscribe.) Check out www.artios.org
for updates. More news and
developments soon …. Return to top
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Previous Body-Builders |
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You may have missed or
mislaid a previous issue of Body-Builders.
If so, don’t despair! They can
be accessed by clicking the links below: Issue
2 (The Beginning of Life) Issue
3 (Getting the Word Out) Issue
5 (The Purpose of the Church) Issue
6 (Pointers to Personal Purpose) Issue
8 (Laying Hold of the Word) Issue
9 (The Community of Perfect Love) Issue
10 (What Should We Do With Christmas?) Issue
12 (Internal Prosperity) Issue
13 (How To Develop Spiritual Strength) Issue
14 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 1) Issue
15 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 2) Issue
16 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 3) Issue
17 (Up and Down the Mountain) NEW! Printer-friendly versions of the
articles only are now available. To
access the list, click here. |
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Artios School of Theology |
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Artios School of Theology
is a modular course leading to a Diploma in Theology from Artios
Ministries. The first run of the
School, with classes held in Dunfermline, is currently under way. The first
module, Old Testament Survey, had eighteen students enrolled, and was completed
in June 2004. The second module,
“Acts of the Apostles” had seventeen students, and completed in December
2004. That was followed by,
“Gifts and Ministries”, “Spiritual Dynamics”, and “New Testament Survey”,
which finished before Christmas 2005. In 2006, we have done
“Romans” and “Healing”. The next
module will be “Pastoral Epistles”, and will commence in September. More information will be available soon. For general information on the Artios
School of Theology, please click here*. “Old Testament Survey”
is now available as a correspondence course (distance learning). The module comes with a notes booklet,
teaching sessions on audio, and email support. The audio teachings are recordings of the “live” class, and are
nominally 20 hours in length. There
is a charge for this course. To
apply, request more information, or ask a specific question, click here.
Other modules are
currently in preparation as correspondence courses and will be introduced
soon. * If you tried this and
it didn’t work, you may have to download an Acrobat Reader first. This is available free of charge from
Adobe. To get it, click here. |
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Introducing Artios Ministries
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Artios Ministries is a new ministry launched
officially in October 2003. The Founder and Director is George
Alexander. For 12 years, George pastored Liberty Church in Dunfermline,
Scotland, before being released in 1997 to a wider teaching ministry. The
aims of Artios Ministries are: 1.
To proclaim the Christian doctrine and principles through teaching,
literature, and other means 2.
To provide Biblical education and ministry training 3.
To promote good practice and sound doctrine in the Church of Jesus
Christ Artios
Ministries is a charitable trust recognised in Scotland as Scottish Charity
number SC 034194. |
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“Artios” is
a Greek word occurring in the New Testament. It means, “complete,
fitted, completely qualified, with all its needed parts”. It
occurs, together with another word derived from it, in 2 Timothy
3:16,17 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for
every good work.” RSV |
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Contact Information |
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Difficulties or Comments? Just click here and let us know. |
Artios Ministries 13 Whinhill Dunfermline Fife KY11 4YZ U.K. |
01383-739537 (+44-1383-739537) |
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© Copyright 2006 Artios Ministries |
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