closetojesus.org

My wife and I were discussing Isaiah 28:9-10 this morning. This is a verse about teaching your children about God. It is in the context of fallen Ephraim.  (Ephraim had strayed from their former glory. Ephraim had fallen because both the people and the priests were drunkards.) Could it be they had forgotten to teach their children God’s truth?

Read more »

A Small Price to Pay, written by Harvey Yoder, is the biography of Mikhail Khorev.  This book is based on interviews that Mr. Yoder had with Mikhail Khorev. It is the story of a young boy who was taught by his father and mother to love God. He grew up to serve God in communist Soviet Union and was imprisoned for his faith.

Read more »

I was remembering a church service from several years ago.  Something happened in that service that proved to me the importance of having the pure word of God. It was near the beginning of worship when a man stood up and read the following verse from his Bible. Read more »

I am reading a book called The Soul Winner by Charles H. Spurgeon. As with all Spurgeon it is a great book. I just finished the chapter called Sermons Likely to Win Souls.  In it he expounds on seven points to remember for your message. if you want to win people for Jesus.  I’m listing them here for handy reference. Read more »

I have just completed reading Goforth of China by Roaslind Goforth. This is the second edition published March, 1938 and it was given to me by one of my children. I have read other books about Jonathan Goforth, but this book has made a deep impression on me.

Read more »

I started Close to Jesus in 2003 and since then software for running a site like this has made many advances. The old software I used became plagued by spam comments and it didn’t have a facility to prevent or remove these comments. I originally planned to get the new site 100% ready before switching over, but when I started the conversion and saw how many spam comments (and the bad things they said), I knew I had to drop the old site immediately. I will be converting the old articles to this new site over the next several months. Perhaps you will get a chance to read some of the old stuff during that time!

God bless, Mike

I remember talking to a man about his son. It was at a wedding. I asked him where his son was that night. He told me that his son stayed home. He wasn’t interested in coming with his family. The man admitted that he could not get his son to do what he wanted him to do. He said this with the tone of defeat. The incredible thing is, that his son was only 13 years old! Read more »

Take a moment to think deeply about your family. Think about your children and their relationships with each other. What comes to mind? Are they loving, caring, and involved in each other’s lives? Or, does disharmony or distance characterize their lives together?

Read more »

I got lost once when I was a teenager. It happened at a Boy Scout retreat. Several of us were out hiking when we saw a deer. We gave chase and were separated from each other. I can tell you that it is easy to get disoriented in the woods. (Especially when you are young and inexperienced.) I was lost in the woods for most of the day. By the time I made it back to camp, I was cold, tired, and hungry. I was also in trouble. Read more »

What happened?

I have been in a long-running dispute over control of my domain, closetojesus.org. It’s a long story and not quite finished, but the long and short of it is that my hosting company hijacked the administration of this domain.

I am in the process of getting it back. My strategy may not have been the right one, but it’s what I decided to do. I let it expire and am now waiting to claim it again (once it passes through the redemption period).

What now?

I purchased another domain, closetojesus.net. I have now put the closetojeus.org content up on the new domain. Once I get closetojesus.org back again, I will move the website content back to that domain and most likely point closetojesus.net to it as well. This may take up to 90 days.

God bless, Mike (February 9, 2005)