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- Written by Bob Robertson
I believe that God had a plan for America.
The late Peter Marshall wrote, “God had put a specific ‘call’ on this country and the people who were to inhabit it.”
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea
to shining sea.
I believe that the future of America lies in the morality of its law-abiding citizens.
The laws that the nation passes cannot be enforced on a lawless people. A democracy requires a people whose conscience keeps a selfwatch over their behavior.
John Adams (member of the drafting committee for the Declaration and later President) said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
James Madison (a chief architect of the Constitution) said, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government–far from it, but we have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for selfgovernment, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in
law! (Katharine Bates)
--Bro. Paul
- Details
- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
The signs that point to the Lord’s second coming abound.
Lk. 21:28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
What are some of the prophetic signs?
- Return of Israel to the land (Ezek. 38:8; Mt. 24:32-33)
- Alignment of the nations (Mt. 24:7)
- Riding of the four horsemen (war, famine, disease, and death– Mt. 24:7; Rev. 6:1-8)
- Weapons of destruction (Rev. 6:8, 9:15)
- Increase of knowledge (Dan. 12:4 – travel; Rev. 11:9 – technology)
- Earthquakes (Mt. 24:7)
- Fear (Lk. 21:26)
- False messiahs (Mt. 24:5, 11, 24)
- Deception (2 Tim. 3:13; Rev. 13:14)
- Economic unification (Rev. 13:16-17)
- Increase of lawlessness (2 Tim. 3:1-7)
- Evil imaginations and sodomy (Lk. 17:26-30)
- Drugs, murders, immorality, and theft (Rev. 9:21)
- Scoffers (2 Pet. 3:3-4)
- Occultism (Mt. 13:37-39; 1 Tim. 4:1-3)
- Apostasy of the church (Lk. 18:8; 2 Th. 2:3; 2 Tim. 4:3-4)
- Persecution of believers (Mk. 13:11)
- Evangelization of the world (Mk. 13:10)
Jesus promised to return like a thief at a day and hour when the unfaithful did not look for His return (Rev. 3:3). In 1 Cor. 16:22 Paul closed the letter with the word “Maranatha.”
The Lord comes. Let’s look up and work while it is day for the “night is coming.”
Bro. Paul
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- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
Ezek. 34:26. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
Finney said, “A revival of religion may be expected when Christians begin to confess their sins to one another.” Do not take broken relationships to the grave with you! Jonathan Edwards wrote among his resolutions,
“Resolved, Never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour, before I should hear the last trumpet.”
James (Jas. 5:16) said, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed.”
Continue to pray for continued outpouring! Matthew Henry noted, “When God is ready to pour out unusual mercies, He sets His people a-praying.” Jonathan Edwards wrote, “When God has something very great for His church, it is His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of His people.”
Thank you for your faithfulness, love, and concern for others. Winfield FBC is an extraordinary people.
Bro. Paul
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- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
I would like to dedicate the month of February to prayer for the upcoming Spring Revival. Revival is a fresh awakening and new beginning. Revival is a return to the Lord in every area of life. Revival is reconciliation and restitution. Evangelist Don Graham will be the revival preacher March 4-7.
Steps Toward Revival
- Resist conviction no longer. Rev. 3:19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Refuse substitutes for genuine sorrow. Heb. 12:17. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
- Return to first love. Jer. 3:14. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- Remove idols of the heart. 1 Sam. 7:3. And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, [then] put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
- Renew obedient service to God. Rev. 2:5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
- Restore broken relationships. Mal. 4:6. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
- Receive grace and forgiveness from God. Hos. 6:1. Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
I look forward to a great day on Sunday!
Bro. Paul
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- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
Here’s a daily look for your times of prayer:
1st Day: Sunday
Travel to Jalapa
Church service at night
2nd Day: Monday
Share Christ and give out invitations
Clinic work and Eyeglasses
Christmas party at the Los Pinos church
3rd Day: Tuesday
Distribution at the Jalapa dump
Youth conference at night
4th Day: Wednesday
Share Christ and give out invitations
Clinic work and Eyeglasses
Christmas party at the Los Laureles church
5th Day: Thursday
Share Christ and give out invitations
Christmas party at the Los Terrero church
Clinic work and Eyeglasses
Christmas concert/play-drama at night
6th Day: Friday
Travel back to Guatemala City, Miami,
Birmingham, and home
Bro. Paul
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- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
As you know, the three-year commitments to the most recent building fund campaign will come to a close on February 1, 2018.
The members of First Baptist Winfield sacrificed in the past to construct this facility, and it stands today as a testament of God’s blessings
on the previous campaign efforts. If you took part in the previous campaigns – THANK YOU!
Please prayerfully continue to support the final push – “FINISH THE RACE.”
In 2018 the church will begin the last four years on the debt repayment schedule. Will you make a commitment this year to support the
needs for 2018?
Compare this to four laps on a track:
Lap 1: January to December 2018
Lap 2: January to December 2019
Lap 3: January to December 2020
Lap 4: (Victory lap): January to December 2021
Victory is near!
Let’s finish the race strong. Why commit? A commitment to this campaign will help the church anticipate the level of giving to the budget and building fund this year. NO SPECIFIC PLEDGE AMOUNT
IS ASKED. Simply, will you commit to support your church needs next year. It expresses gratitude to God for what the church means.
The Commitment Card.
The commitment card will come to your home in the mail and can be returned on COMMITMENT DAY, NOVEMBER 19. The card can be returned
- Through Sunday School;
- The offering plate in the service;
- Box in Fellowship Mall;
- By mail;
- In person to the church office.
Thank you for what you will do!
Paul T. Murphy, Pastor
- Details
- Written by Dr. Paul T. Murphy
Please come and explore the Old Testament with us on Wednesday Nights this fall. The study is entitled Step by Step Through the Old Testament.
Promotion Day in Sunday School on August 27 will be a great day to gather at 9:00 a.m. Our wonderful teachers are inviting and planning on a full house. This will be a good day to start back to SS or begin for the first time Inviting people one by one is how Jesus did the work of evangelism.
Rick Warren related the experience of hearing his dying father tell the passion of his heart to reach one more. Warren recounted, “The Thursday night before he died, Alyssa, my niece, and Kay and I were in that room by his bedside. All of a sudden my dad got very agitated, and he tried to get up and he tried to get out of bed. And Kay said, ‘Jimmy you’ve got to lay back down. You're sick; you're dying.’ He kept trying to get out of bed, very agitated,
trying to get out. And finally Kay said, ‘Jimmy, what are you trying to do? What do you want?’ He said, ‘I've got to save one more for Jesus. Got to save one more for Jesus. Got to save one more for Jesus.’ He said that probably a hundred times in the next hour. ‘Save one more for Jesus. Save one more for Jesus.’ That is a man on a mission.”
—Bro. Paul