Convention Herald

The Price of Sanctification

By Dale Yocum This gracious work is a gift of God; yet there are conditions to be met. Separation from Even the Dearest Friends It must have been a very testing experience in the life of Mary to agree to the angelic announcement. Immediately, there would be the question of what her fiancé would think of her. We are told that Joseph “was minded to put her away privily” (Matthew 1:19); and doubtless Mary thought of that probability. For her it was a decision as to whether she would put first the...

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The Awareness of God

The Awareness of God

By Steve Oliver Every Christian is called to be constantly aware of God, a way of life that is enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit and cultivated by the individual believer. There are multiple passages that refer to this basic concept. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are told to “pray without ceasing.” In other words, to develop a consistent awareness of God and an ongoing communication with Him. The passage goes on: “In every thing give thanks” – so our constant communication with God is to be...

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The Course of This World

The Course of This World

By Larry Grile When endeavoring to give a sense of the Scriptures, it is important to define terms. The Scripture to which I refer is Ephesians 2:1-3. Here, Paul uses the phrase “the course of this world.” The word course comes from the Greek word aeon, usually translated age. It refers to a very long period of time. However, in this case Paul doesn’t seem to be thinking about a period of time, but is instead referring to the pattern and direction of the world order. World comes from the Greek...

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A Time of Transition

A Time of Transition

Feeling the call of God to resign from leadership in the InterChurch Holiness Convention, Leonard Sankey felt led of the Lord to present a transition process to the combined committees of the InterChurch Holiness Committee on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. Serving in some capacity since 1955, Leonard Sankey has been a rock of stability for the holiness people. Except for his time of missionary service in Honduras and Guatemala, he has been part of the active ministry of the convention. He served as...

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Criteria for Critics

Criteria for Critics

  Dan Glick For many of us, criticism comes all too easily, and I confess that I am no exception. While we indeed need to develop critical thinking skills, we do well to be on guard against becoming a critic who is constantly pointing out the wrong while we do little to build up the right. Someone has said that a critic is a person who never actually goes to the battle yet who afterward comes out shooting the wounded. Criticism that is not constructive has the power to create untold...

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Love Abounding

Love Abounding

G.D. Watson “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more …” —Philippians 1:9 In this prayer of Paul for the Philippians, we have one of those panoramic views of the elements of a complete Christian. This word “love” is emphatically the love of God. The word agape is invariably used to express a divine affection imparted to the soul by the Holy Ghost; this is the love referred to in the text.  Previous to regeneration the soul may have various feelings toward God and Christ—of...

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Loving Our Neighbor

Loving Our Neighbor

Eric Himelick In a recent survey, 42,000 people were asked who or what was responsible for their coming to faith in Christ. While Church programs represented 2-3% and a pastor of a church 5–6%, the majority (75–90% of those responding) said that a friend or relative was God’s agent of change in their life. A lot of time, effort, and money goes into Christian programs, but how much time is spent developing friendships? A few years ago, my friend Bob Lupton who has worked in inner-city Atlanta...

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The Marks of True Christian Love

The Marks of True Christian Love

John Wesley Christian Perfection implies that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, treating all men with equity, charity, benevolence, and affection. Forgive them, bear with their weakness and errors, rejoice in their prosperity, lament their adversity, and in all possible ways contribute to their improvement and happiness to the extent of our knowledge and ability, and in consonancy with obligations to God and ourselves. It therefore excludes envy, for this regrets another’s talents,...

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The Essential Holy Spirit

The Essential Holy Spirit

Rick Jones Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” (John 3:5,6)  Jesus invited those who were thirsting, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit which they that...

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Whole-Hearted Love

Whole-Hearted Love

Curtis Going The scientific experts of the day had declared it to be impossible, but Wilbur and Orville Wright made history on December 17, 1903 when they successfully flew their homemade flying machine several hundred feet along the Atlantic coast in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina—defying the odds and setting in motion a chain of events that would forever change the way we travel the world. After the fact, the newspapers largely ignored their accomplishment, and the neighbors didn’t believe it...

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