The Bible and Life

Friday, August 15, 2025

Let Us Love

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

In order to love God, we must love our fellow man. In order to follow the Prince of Peace, we must live with man in peace.

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"We cannot pray in love and live in hate and still think we are worshipping God."

—A. W. Tozer

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

“Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” (James 3:9-12)

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Swedish Missionaries

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

THE MEN WHO COULDN’T COMPROMISE.

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Daniel Berg was a Swedish Pentecostal missionary. He was born in Vargon, Sweden, on April 19,1884. When he was about fifteen, he was saved and baptized in water through the influence of his parents who were members of the Swedish Baptist movement.

Berg's route to the mission field where he pioneered the move of the Holy Spirit in Brazil and South America was another of the Lord's involved "maneuvers" to get someone in the right place at the right time.

Born in Sweden and converted there, Berg immigrated to the United States at a time of economic depression in his home country. However, he did not receive the baptism of the Spirit in the United States. He had to return to Sweden for that.

While on a visit to his native country in 1909, Berg was introduced to the Pentecostal movement by a friend. As a result, he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit that same year. Upon his coming back to live in the United States, he met the man with whom he would minister on the mission field for some twenty years.

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Adolf Gunnar Vingren was introduced to Berg during a Pentecostal conference sponsored by the First Swedish Baptist Church in Chicago. Berg had started attending several independent Pentecostal churches in the Chicago area after returning from Sweden.

He worked in a fruit shop in Chicago for one year. During that time, he received a prophecy to go to "Para" as a missionary. He did not know where Para was. Berg joined Vingren a year later in South Bend, Indiana, where Vingren pastored a Swedish Baptist Church. While Berg was there, Vingren had a prophetic dream that he and Berg were to go to "Para." However, like Berg, he had no idea where Para was.

Vingren and Berg then returned to Chicago together, where they obtained all sorts of dictionaries and atlases and learned that Para was a state in Brazil. Para also was the capital city of that state.

So they said, "Well, that is where we have to go to do missionary work."

In Chicago, they attended the North Avenue Mission where they were dedicated as Pentecostal missionaries to Brazil by William H. Durham. The fare from America to Brazil was $90 for both of them, but they had to earn the money. Because of a revelation they had received on giving, they gave the first $90 they earned to a Pentecostal newspaper. In a very short time, the Lord returned the money, and they had what was needed for the fare.

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In 1910, the two men were able to travel to Brazil where Berg found a job as a foundryman. He used part of his salary to finance lessons in Portuguese (the language of Brazil) for Vingren.

Berg and Vingren did not have much success at first with their missionary work among the Baptist congregation which they had found. However, they held prayer meetings in the cellar of the Baptist chapel, where they also lived, and waited for revival.

Within a short time, a number of the Baptists began to speak in tongues. This encouraged the fledging missionaries, and they began to carry out their work with fire and zeal. However, the Baptist pastor stopped them, accusing them of being separatists and sowing doubt and unrest among the people. The pastor told Berg and Vingren to put away their "dreams and false teachings," or he would warn other missionary organizations about them.

Berg and Vingren refused to compromise. When they could no longer live and meet on the Baptist premises, they established Brazil's first Pentecostal church. This was officially registered on June 11,1918, as the "Assembly of God." Brazil's largest Protestant body, the Assemblies of God, grew out of this church.

~ Daniel Berg and Adolf Vingren: Men Who Would Not Compromise (1884-1963, 1879-1943 )

- 📕 The Pioneers Of Faith

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Friday, August 8, 2025

Why Priests Ate The Sin Offering

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a short article by an unknown source. Enjoy.

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In the Old Testament, priests were commanded to eat parts of certain sin offerings as a critical part of the atonement process. This practice, outlined in Leviticus 6:24–30, was deeply symbolic and served several purposes within the covenant relationship between God and Israel.

Bearing the Sin on Behalf of the People

When priests ate the sin offering, it symbolized their role in mediating between God and the people. By consuming the offering, they participated in the process of transferring and bearing the people’s sin, pointing toward God’s provision for dealing with guilt. This act prefigured Christ, our ultimate sin-bearer:

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” 1 Peter 2:24.

Holiness and Atonement

The sin offering was considered “most holy” and had to be consumed in a holy place. Leviticus 6:26. This act signified the priest’s consecration and underscored the seriousness of sin and the holiness of God. Through the offering, atonement was made, and the priests acted as representatives of God’s sanctifying work.

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Foreshadowing Christ as the High Priest

The priests eating the sin offering pointed to Jesus Christ, who is both the ultimate High Priest and the sin offering itself:

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

By consuming the offering, the priest’s actions typified the redemptive work of Christ, who fully dealt with sin on behalf of His people.

Sustenance Through Ministry

Eating the sin offering also provided sustenance for the priests, reminding them that their service in God’s house depended on His provision. In the New Testament, this principle continues as spiritual sustenance:

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” John 6:35.

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Communion with God

Finally, consuming the sin offering emphasized fellowship with God. It was a physical reminder that reconciliation with Him involved intimate participation in His provision of grace. This fellowship is fully realized in Christ, through whom we now have direct communion with God:

“We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat” Hebrews 13:10.

The practice of priests eating the sin offering was both a symbolic act of bearing the people’s sin and a typological foreshadowing of Christ’s perfect atonement. It demonstrated God’s holiness, provision, and the necessity of a mediator—a role ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, our High Priest.

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

When it's His Will

Hello everyone,. Praise the Lord!

WHEN IT'S HIS WILL

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We met an American at secret church here in San Sebastian, Spain. She is a young lady from Colorado. Her name is Sheila. I had thought that she was Hispanic, but her mother was from Switzerland and her father was a black American.

Back in Colorado she was putting out job applications and praying for God's guidance about her future. She was an English teacher. The answer to all of her job applications was, "no." Every company and school turned her down. A closed door is an answer.

But so is an open door. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she received a phone call. It was someone from Spain! The person on the other end said that they wanted her to work for them! They said that they were looking for someone just like her to teach English there in Spain!

After praying about it, she felt that the Lord wanted her to go. Her mother, and others, said it was a good idea. She agreed to the job. They even paid for her to fly there. After getting there, and before her first paycheck, her money was getting low. She realized then that she was alone and scared. She couldn't even speak Spanish!

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She went to the bank to withdraw some of her last of her money, and out of the blue, someone approached her in the lobby....

A young lady walked up to her in the bank lobby, and said that she was going to give her some money! Then an older lady walked up to them, she was the mother of the first one. She said that she also wanted to give her some money!

The mother and daughter were complete strangers and seemingly came out of nowhere! They gave her all the money she needed to get by until her first paycheck came in. Only God could have done that!

We agreed and rejoiced that the Lord will meet our needs when we step out in faith! When it's His will, it's His bill. She has now been there for over two years, speaks good Spanish now, and is active with her church.

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Friday, August 1, 2025

Those Everlasting Arms!

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

THOSE EVERLASTING ARMS!

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"Underneath are the everlasting arms!" Deuteronomy 33:27

That is, underneath every believer.

Those everlasting arms are there . . .

to bear him up,

to bear him on, and

to preserve from all real danger.

The arms of God are . . .

invisible — no one sees them;

spiritual — no one feels them;

careful — no one falls out of them;

omnipotent — no one overcomes them.

If the everlasting arms of my God are underneath me, then . . .

I may quietly yield myself unto Him;

I may confidently expect divine protection;

I may be certain that He will lift me above my foes;

I may feel assured that He will safely convey me home.

Aged saints may rejoice in this; for to them the Lord says, "I will be your God throughout your lifetime — until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you!" Isaiah 46:4

And weak believers may rejoice in this, for "He will carry the lambs in His arms, holding them close to His heart!" Isaiah 40:11

O to realize this sweet and encouraging truth: underneath me are the everlasting arms!”

~ James Smith 1802-1862

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

A Testimony

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Francis Hunter's testimony.

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I was a wild sinner when I got saved! I was smoking five packages of cigarettes a day, drinking martinis like they were going out of style, was the life of every cocktail party because I knew more dirty jokes that anyone else, and couldn’t open my mouth and say four words unless one of them was a swear word!

Then I met Jesus!

And He turned my world around! I went to an altar a wild sinner, and because we’re called to be saints, I rose up a saint of God! God placed in my heart an instant hate for evil. I looked at sin and it made me sick, so I turned and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction. My life was completely transformed in that one single moment of time.

When I stood up from the altar, even though no one counseled with me and no one prayed with me, I was an “instant” fanatic. In the twinkling of an eye, I had become a brand new creature in Christ! Somehow in a supernatural way which I do not understand to this day, God allowed me to instantly grasp and comprehend the principles of the Bible, even though I had never read it.I understood there was no room for sin in the life of a Christian.

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I immediately understood that I had to die to self because Jesus had come to live inside of me. He was in my heart and I knew it! I had an instant revelation that I had to give away to everyone I met, what God had given to me. All of this had to be a supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit, but whatever it was, I knew that holy living and total commitment were the only way to go.

I had stood there just moments before, totally oblivious to everything that surrounded me, only aware of the fact that I had made contact with a living God. I said, “God, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you ALL of me, for all of YOU!” He accepted my offer and I gave away my total being to serve Him. Never again did the woman named Frances Gardner (my name at that time) live. It was a totally new creature who stood up with the knowledge branded on my heart that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, was actually living His life in and through me.

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That new creature took off like a rocket that day! My daughter and I got into the car together and I drove down the highway toward the shopping center where my printing company was located. I literally tried to “beat” Jesus Christ into the head of every person I met. Something had happened to me, and I had this zealous desire in me to give it away to everybody. I have often said, “Jesus Christ opened my mouth, and I haven’t shut it since, and I don’t intend to ever shut it where He’s concerned!”

I could not contain within myself the wonderful thing that happened to me. I was not a “silent”

witness. There had been such a radical change in my life that I wanted every person with whom I came in contact to experience the same thing. There was a peace, a calm, a joy, a happiness, a zeal, and a fervor to share what had happened to me that could not be stopped! And I’m still the same way today!

- Francis Hunter ( His Power Through You )

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