Luke B Bennetch

Johnny pulls his shoes on reluctantly as mother encourages him to hurry or the school van will have to wait on him. “I can’t stand school this year,” he offers with a sigh.

“Oh Johnny, next year you will have Brother Mast for a teacher and then you will enjoy it a lot more.”

“But Mom, he’s just as bad. The boys say he’s stricter than Sister Ellen. They got in trouble yesterday just for sliding on the wet hall floor.”

The Church of Jesus is a living organism with many parts contributing to the whole body. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” This very truth makes church life a wonderful experience when we each find our place in God’s plan. The health and vitality of the whole body is dependent on the well being of each member. Likewise, the overall good health of the body will affect each member and empower them for greater service to the larger body.

The doctrine of sanctification is often misunderstood and neglected in our day. If we want to be called children of God, we must be sanctified and have the process of sanctification continuing in our lives. Without sanctification, no one will see God and live with Him in glory.

Nature shows us clearly that living things reproduce themselves. This process generally produces a baby that is feeble and needs nurture from its parent. The “Living Christian Faith” will also reproduce itself and this will result in “babes in Christ” who need nurture and help to grow to greater usefulness in the church. Babies often require much sacrifice and work on the part of their care givers. We must understand how to care for the babies that are born into our number and be willing to make the sacrifices needed.

Anabaptists in the Reformation were often called "the radicals." They took an active stand to call the church back to the Bible. They went forth witnessing and preaching to everyone they could. When called into question about their faith, they valiantly shared the Word knowing it probably would mean torture and death. They were hated, persecuted, and killed for this active faith in God. Many would not back off or compromise their faith because of personal danger. They were men of "conquest" for the kingdom even though sometimes it may have looked like defeat.