A FEW THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR by Charles Woodruff

-My dear wife of almost 45 years, and how she has been faithful and true.
-My four children, three of which survive. All have declared faith in Christ.
-My eleven grandchildren, soon to be twelve. They are all precious to me.
-Our church where Christ is preached, and the brothers and sisters there.
-The renewed ministry God has given me in writing and pulpit.
-Many brothers and sisters in various places who pray for me.
-A land that still has much freedom, though it is being undermined.
-I am thankful for generally good health for my wife and myself.
-The graciousness and mercy of God every day that I live.

These are just a few of the many things for which I thank God. As you enjoy this Thanksgiving, hopefully with your family, take time to reflect on the mercies of God in your own life, as well as a prayer for our nation and it’s future, and the cause of God and truth through Jesus Christ our Lord..

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (First Thessalonians 5:18).

“ By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15).

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

PURITAN QUOTES

“None have engaged against the saints but have been ruined by the God of saints”- Thomas Brooks (1608-1680).

“We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. When man’s terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God”- William Gurnall (1617-1679).

“By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil: by the fear of man, they run themselves into evil”- John Flavel (1630-1691).

There are three kinds of lies: a lie told, a lie taught, a lie acted out”-

Joseph Caryl (1602-1673).

The Paradox of faith:

“A man cannot have faith without asking; neither can he ask it without faith”

Edward Marbury (about 1590-1658).

All from “A Puritan Golden Treasury”, edited by I.D.E. Thomas; Moody Press,

Chicago, 1975; Banner of Truth edition published 1977.

ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS by Charles Woodruff

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old

paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for

your souls. But they said. We will not walk therein" (Jeremiah 6:16).

Anyone who has ever gone hiking will immediately relate to the teaching

found in Jeremiah 6:16. An old path, a trail which has been well worn by

other hikers before, is a good way. It beats having to blaze an entirely new

trail through the thick woods and underbrush. There is no rest in this new

trail blazing, but constant work. But many have proven the old paths and

arrived to rest safely. Spiritually speaking, God has said in Jeremiah that

these Old Paths would bring rest for your souls and yet He says there are

those that say, "We will not walk therein" (v. 16).

Today the old paths are not in vogue. Modern theologians, rightly called

Modernists, are departing from the old paths and blazing new trails which

God did not ordain, and they are asking young Christians to follow them.

Yet they have nothing to offer. Instead of an inspired, infallible Word of

God, they offer a mutilated "higher criticism" that dares to judge God's

Word instead of submitting to its authority.

They present Christ as a mere man, not the God-man, not the virgin-born

Redeemer who came to save His people from their sins. If they preach an

atonement at all, they do not preach a definite one, but show us a Christ

who went to the cross puzzled over whether He had done right or even if

anyone would believe He was the Saviour.They show us men with a “spark

of goodness" that needs to be kindled instead of a depraved being who in

his father Adam fell completely and helplessly into sin. This spark is called

"freewill" and is given much more standing than God’s free and sovereign

grace. But free grace is an old path.

These cutters of new paths show us a new morality which is really a

dressed up old immorality. This humanism called the new morality goes

to various extremes. Some have expected the Christian churches to

receive unrepentant homosexuals, whom they call gays (the Word of God says Sodomites! (Deut. 23:17). They call abortion "freedom of choice." The Bible says: murder (Exodus 1:16 & Matthew 2:16). They
call living together without marriage "a relationship"; the Bible calls it fornication (1 Cor. 7:2 & 5:1). Just as you can call a garbage man a
“sanitary engineer" and a coal miner an “energy cultivator", you still
can't cover up the fact that both have dirty jobs!

The fact is, according to the Bible, these "new pathfinders" don't have anything to teach or anywhere to lead. When it is all over and we each
give account to God (Rom. 14:12), those who would not submit to God's
Word will be cast into the lake of fire (the hellfire they don't believe in either!).The reason for the publication of this newsletter is because of
our firm belief that even in this new century, in this time of sexual
deviance, where sin is rampant as never before,even now, and especially in this time, we need the old paths.

Modern tools of evangelism such as radio, television, and the internet, are good, if used in a God-glorifying manner. There is ONE LORD, ONE
FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, and it is these old paths in which we seek to walk and lead others.