OUT OF THE BOX

NO SWIMMING POOL, NO TOILET PAPER Throughout history Christians have suffered persecution and faced fiery trials for the word of God, for the testimony of Jesus, and for righteousness sake. There are many today who are imprisioned, tortured, persecuted, and put to death for their faith. However, there are also many of us who have no concept of real suffering for Jesus’ sake. We complain at small inconveniences as if we have paid such a great price. One pastor’s wife said she was suffering for the Lord when she and her husband left their nice home in California and moved back east into a house without a swimming pool. My friend Adam Kuczma was the head of the Methodist Church in Poland when it was still under communist control back in the days before the Berlin Wall was taken down. He was talking to a lady in America when she told him, “I want to go to Poland and suffer for Jesus.” “We don’t have toilet paper,” he responded. “I don’t feel led to go to Poland,” was her immediate reply...

This article probably describes SOMEONE YOU KNOW. Interestingly, all the main points in the paragraphs below came to me while listening to a lady complain about her friends at church. She exemplified most of the principles discussed. — Billy Long SELF-CENTEREDNESS “Self-centeredness” and “selfishness” are two different things. A selfish person wants his own way, his own advantage, pleasure, and comfort without regard for others, and does not care how it affects others. A self-centered person evaluates and judges everything according to how it relates to or affects him, and is oblivious to how it affects others. A selfish person will deliberately hurt you. A self-centered person will hurt you and not realize it. A self-centered person has great difficulty in relationships because he has inner struggles with what he assumes others think about him. He wonders what they really meant by something they said. Self-centered people only get along with people who are givers and those strong e...

In the South we address our parents as “Daddy” and “Mamma.” These are terms of endearment and less formal than “Father” and “Mother.” Although my father drew close to the Lord in his latter years, My mother, Jessie Lois Long, was always the more spiritually zealous of the two. Mamma was not shy about her Christian experience and was always ready to share her testimony or pray for anyone anywhere. Any guest in our home was a captive audience and was prayed for if he or she happened to mention an ailment or problem. Mamma once prayed for a visiting insurance agent. He received his healing right there in her living room. The family’s reputation was important to her. She was fearless when it came to sharing her Christian testimony or taking a stand for her faith, and it was important to her that no one in the family do anything that would appear to be a bad testimony or bad example for a professing Christian. I called her one night and told her that our church had a square-dance the night ...

This article is meant to be a discussion of current times, not end times. I don’t want to get into theological debates around eschatology. Some emphasize the great falling away while others argue that the Gospel will conquer. There is often an element of paradox in spiritual truth. The Bible speaks of great evil and darkness while also speaking of the glory of God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of a person’s perspective on end times, it is indisputable that we are currently in a time of world-wide intensity, as seen in nature, politics, economics and sociological dynamics. Nations are filled with conflict and distress. Those that seem to be at peace are better described as being in a malaise (that vague sense of ill-being and debility that accompanies the onset of an illness). Even people who lack spiritual perception can sense the urgency of the times. We are moving into an era of troubled people and troubled times, a time when the devil will be active and angry, ...

GRACE, FAITH, WORK, TRAVAIL, OBEDIENCE, REPENTANCE: TERMS THAT STAND IN CONTRAST BUT NOT IN CONTRADICTION A CHALLENGE FROM FRIENDS I had four separate conversations with friends that caused me to have concern with some of the doctrinal trends that have been developing in the church over recent years. One friend was telling me that, under the New Covenant, Christians do not have to repent. Grace has brought forgiveness and a believer does not have to “repent” of sins. A second friend was telling me that the terms “obey” and “obedience” were part of the Old Testament Law, and therefore, not appropriate for the New Testament Christian. A third friend expressed concern over my sermon entitled “The Blessing is Beyond Obedience” and that this message undermined faith. On a fourth occasion a friend expressed a mild disapproval at my teaching on “travail and labor in Intercession.” His implication was that travail seemed to suggest “works” rather than faith. The e...

If you are hungry to know more about how the Holy Spirit worked in the early Christian church, and if you are hungry to understand and experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit, y ou should order my book SPIRITUAL POWER FOR EVERYDAY LIVING.  Go to my website at the link shown below to order your copy. https://www.billylongministries.com/ The book clarifies many misconceptions and contains practical teaching with many examples and testimonies of the gifts at work. It is an excellent tool for teaching others about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. ---Billy Long

GOOD CHEER AND TRIBULATION “You are highly favored…the Lord is with you.” Like 1: 28-30 "And a sword shall pierce your soul." -Luke 2: 35 A supernatural word from God does not mean your life will henceforth be easy and free of grief and pain. Sometimes, to the contrary, it may mean the suffering, hardship and tribulation involved in entering the kingdom of God and extending it into a hostile world system. The Apostle Paul’s commissioning word from God included the phrase, “I will show him how great things he must suffer for My sake.” The angel Gabriel visited Mary telling her that she would be the earthly mother of Jesus. We celebrate these words at Christmas as we sing about the joy and wonder of it all, while often failing to recognize the perplexities that accompanied the fulfillment of that revelation. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a song inspired by the subsequent word given to Mary by the elderly prophet who warned her of the grief she would someday suffer at Je...