All Blog Posts (330)

The NFF exists to preach the Christian Message that was proclaimed by the Early Friends. Christ has come to teach his People himself.

I have heard this so many times - I wonder if anyone can explain it fully? I am presuming that it was a reaction against Protestantism, that had reacted against Catholicism and their reliance on Tradition as authority in the church. Protestants said that scripture is the sole source of authority and as Barclay rightly said,…

There is an old Indian proverb that goes something along the lines of, “he who…

Following a lengthy discussion, Brenda Redshaw (of this site), asked me to look into what Fox had to say concerning Romans chapter 7. In searching for “Rom. vi” or “Rom. 7” I turned up very few references. So I turned to searches for the concepts or phrases Fox used when he identified Romans 7 in his writing. There may be a better approach, or I perhaps could have used better phrases. I hope all readers will do their own searches and contribute what they find of significance. Here is what I…

Anne Olsen, of this site, has discovered a set of tapes containing more than 10 lectures of Lewis Benson. The date on the tapes is 1982. You will need an 8-track player to play these or need to have them converted to digital format.

Anne has offered to pay shipping. I am saying that this might apply to shipping in U.S. If you are outside the U.S. you should contact Anne regarding shipping.

If no one wants these tapes, they will be pitched. Anne no longer has equipment to listen…

[The following is based upon vocal ministry given at Germantown Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Twelfth month, the 31st.]

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed (Ex. 3:2).

One of the significant things about the burning bush that Moses saw was that it continued to burn. The bush burned and was not…

Church is supposed to be the place where Christians gather to learn from God and to draw closer to Him. However, too often church actually buffers the believer’s possible encounter with God.

The crux of really knowing God is listening to Him. Therefore, it’s easy to see how a certain component of a church service is not listening: hymn-singing and group prayers, for example. However, when the sermon is given, the congregation listens. All present assume that the minister is…

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Everyday will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name fore ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of  the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I…

Hello long time ago friends,

First I have a question. Is there a better recordng than the one I found here of Lewis Benson speaking on:

The Gospel Preached by John Wesley and its Echoes in Modern Christianity ?

I was very…

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)...For unto us a a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand,…

I recently stumbled onto a downloadable file of Stephen Crisp's allegory, A Short History of a Long Travel from Babylon to Bethel. Even though the text is not very long, it provides a lot of material for pondering. You can download this work from archive.org. Go to https://archive.org/details/ashorthistoryofa15730gut. If you…

Note: Parts 1 and 2 originally appeared on my blog, under the title of A Question of Authority. Some of this material first appeared as comments on Steven Davison's blog post, …

Note: Parts 1 and 2 originally appeared on my blog, under the title of A Question of Authority. Some of this material first appeared as comments on Steven Davison's blog post, Scripture--Picking and…

"I was crying to the Lord, to free me from the burden I groaned under; the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee, I will deliver thee’. And by the power of this Word, I was armed with patience to wait in his counsel; groaning under the body of sin in the day and hour of temptation, until it pleased the Lord to manifest his power to free me... I witness that I am regenerated and born again of the immortal Seed, and having partaken of…

There are two compelling reasons for devoting a whole session in this series to Fox’s teaching about the Holy Spirit. The first is that Quakerism is now being categorized as belonging among the many Christian movements that make the Holy Spirit central to faith and experience. The other reason is that those who are now being called to re-proclaim the everlasting gospel will encounter many Quakers, and many Christians in all denominations, who make…

There is no need to debate Scripture. It is vain to do so. All is done. It’s our time to preach the Gospel.

Reasoning from the Scriptures is why reading them aright is essential. To read them aright requires coming to the Spirit of God in you. (Jack Cuozzo and George Fox)

We all start out living to our will. But when we claim to be Christian through Christ’s salvation, we have sighed up to be His soldier. As a soldier and He our Captain, we are to do His will,…

[The following is based upon vocal ministry given at Germantown Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1 Tenth month 2017.]

In his Journal George Fox spoke of three kinds of dreams:

For there were three sorts of dreams: for multitude of business sometimes caused dreams; and there were whisperings of Satan in man in the…

Many people who have not chosen God still feel they have chosen to be good. They assume it’s possible to achieve goodness without listening to God, and this clearly implies that they feel they have not chosen evil. This is a plausible view, because only a tiny percentage of atheists and agnostics are pursuing an obviously wicked agenda. Most have good intentions. They want to do right. This profile can also fit many religious people, as we shall see.…

The main challenge to this vision of a holy church is the church’s own sinfulness...Luther’s understanding of the church as simul justus et peccatore, or “simultaneously justified and a sinner,” is helpful for describing the paradox of the church’s “now and not yet” struggle with sin. Luther’s perspective affirms the reality of the sin of the church, yet also allows that God’s sanctification is in fact at work and progressively enacting real change in the hearts, minds, and actions…

The christians were called a "city set on a hill, the light of the world, and the salt of the earth;" but when they forsook the power of God, and their faith stood in words and men, and not in the power; then their walls fell down, though the power in itself stood; and they lost their hill, their saltness, and their shining. (Works of Fox, Vol. II, p.172)

...[Jesus] began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they…

The fellowship of the cross of Christ…is not of man, nor by man; for it is in the everlasting power of God; therefore, no longer do you keep in fellowship, but as you keep in the cross of Christ (Works, 8:67).

“Restoring the Church of the Cross" is the title of the eighth lecture in the series Rediscovering the Teaching of George Fox given by Lewis Benson in 1982 at Moorestown (N.J.) Meeting. In this lecture, Benson explores the meaning and relevance of these…