“Biblical discernment is not merely about identifying what is right or wrong. It ultimately seeks to determine what is governing, so that believers may distinguish between man’s will and God’s will, and walk accordingly as citizens of the Kingdom of God.“
This is the kind of statement you will find throughout Bruce Cooper’s recent work entitled From Discernment to the Kingdom of God. Every Christian should have the goal of having a better walk as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. In this work, Bruce breaks discernment topics down into easy to bite size chunks so whether you are reading it in a couple of days or over a month or so, you’re discernment skills should improve. Many would think 143 pages too long to bother with on such a subject. I’m strongly of the opposite opinion. I think that what Bruce has accomplished in this short work is masterful for many reasons. It is historically accurate, easy to follow, logical and it condenses a great amount of material in a precise and organized way. Best of all, Bruce uses scriptures throughout as his foundation stones. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in two readings.
With all of the issues that we have in our day around the issue of discernment, I think every Christian could benefit greatly from this well organized piece.
As most of you know, I comment on other’s blogs more than I write on my own. I enjoy the interaction and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I will always enjoy learning. For anyone wondering why I have been silent the past couple of weeks, I ended up in the hospital due to a blockage that caused a backup of fluids into my kidneys. My kidney function was negatively affected but I am healing now after the great work of my urology team, my primary doctor and, of course, the incredible way God created our bodies to heal. I am home but the recuperation will take awhile because of the damage done by pressures put on organs that weren’t able to function normally for awhile. I will resume commenting on other blogs when I am feeling better.
This was the perfect time for me to read this PDF by Bruce that I have been looking forward to reviewing. I have not read even half of the free PDFs that Bruce has produced but the ones I have read have been very helpful. Bruce allows you to download anything that he has written (obviously many many hours of work) at no cost. As a former teacher, I find much of Bruce’s work just like instructive handbooks. They are organized, practical, concise, and the ones I have read are easy reading and well worth the time. Most importantly, as I have stated, Bruce is consistent in using scripture as the foundation for his work.
At a time when Christians need to be just as discerning as they were back in the first century, I highly recommend that any Christian reading this post find the time to download and read Bruce Cooper’s From Discernment to the Kingdom of God.
God’s blessings…
Chris Reimers
Direct link to the download page of “From Discernment to the Kingdom of God.”
Wings of the Wind 
Many thanks for sharing this, Chris. Biblical discernment is what is greatly needed in these days.
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging recommendation of this particular PDF, and others that I have written. Sorry to hear of your bout with kidney plumbing, but so glad to hear that you are on the mend! And I am especially thankful for your continued prayers for my wife Peg and myself. Who knew that at 81 years of age, just putting my pants on could be this difficult! Exercising discernment is indeed a critical part of maintaining a balanced understanding of God’s Holy Word, and there is a dire need for it today. God’s peace, grace and blessings to you and yours, and I will be praying for a quick recovery for you, my brother in Christ. – Bruce
Hi Chris! I’m sorry for your kidney trouble. It’s good to hear you’re on the mend and I pray for your full recovery. Thanks for your recommendation of brother Bruce’s PDF on discernment.
Thank you for letting us know about this, Chris. Certainly a needed topic in our day when discernment seems to be lacking. We could all benefit from keener discernment. We will be praying for your full recovery. Sorry you had to go through this. Blessings to you and yours.
I am going to give you a Pentecostal prayer for healing of your body by first reminding you that by His stripes we were healed:
1 Peter 2:24 NKJV – 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.
I command your body to recover in the name of Jesus.
The main problem with Pentecostalism is the femininization of the church. The main problem for non-feminized, non-Pentecostals is to figure out what it means to be “born again” or to be “sons of God”. It is not just going to church on Sunday. It is actually bearing fruit.
For me, the Bible is an historical record of salvation events that actually occurred. If we get the right biblical manuscripts we can find out how far back was creation. I take that as about 5554 BC given Henry B. Smith, Jr’s paper presented to the 2018 International Conference of Creationism.
You might wonder why all that matters. Today, the most faith-building shock is that the Earth/Universe is only thousands of years old. It is like the shock of the Jews in Jerusalem after Pentecost who suddenly realized they crucified their Messiah. Now what do they do? They repent and be baptized. They become born again. They bear fruit. They sin no more. They become the temple of the Holy Spirit not just doctrinally, but really. They all proclaim this good news to others.
So, I agree with Bruce that it is not falling down under someone’s anointing or giggling or speaking in tongues or even seeing someone get healed. All of that leads to too much carnal manipulation of people trying to understand just what they should do once they accept Jesus as their Lord Whom God raised from the dead.