“Here’s the world with millions, millions, millions dying. They were dying while you were sleeping last night, while you were fooling around somewhere! God is saying, “Who will go for Us?” “
Tag Archives: Faith
An “Average” Christian Life – No Way!
I set up the PA system and started preaching before I lost my nerve. Within seconds a demon-possessed man manifested and screamed an obscenity at me so bad that I cannot repeat it. Even though I’m regularly verbally abused on the street, I have never been called anything like that before.
I was momentarily stunned. 
Not so much stunned at the man actually, but more that God had let that happen to me just as I had begun to preach. He knew how weak I’d been this morning. He knew I’d needed extra help. I mean, I had asked Him for a special blessing today!
I recovered and kept preaching anyway.
After that incident, the time the two other ladies and I spent there was wonderful. I really loved it. God put two special young guys in my path who, underneath their bravado, were hungry for the truth. We had amazing conversations. I was asked by both of them (separately) :
“With so many religions out there, and so many gods, how do you know which one is the truth?”
How would you answer that?
It’s when I’m out there that I see that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is so very important. We absolutely need Him when we are out there. Without Him, we literally can do nothing. But with Him we can do all things. It is our real relationship with the LIVING God that counts when we are in the firing-line. Religious platitudes, clichés and one-liners do NOT work. Sinners see right through all that rubbish.
But…if you’ve been with Jesus…well, they can see that too.
Here’s what I learnt today:
I wanted God to make my way easy, I wanted Him to pave the way for me, after all, as I told Him, I was going out there for Him.
But He didn’t do that. He doesn’t always give us what we want, but He does give us what we need. He lets us see the truth of the sinfulness of man; He lets us have confrontations with demons. And in doing so He lets us see ourselves too.
In essence, He lets us see reality.
Why? B
ecause that is where He is – in the midst of the dirty, the sinful, the demon-possessed, that is where He is working.
And that’s where He calls us to go with Him.
“ “I will make the place of my feet glorious”—among the poor, the devil-possessed, the mean, the decrepit, the selfish, the sinful, the misunderstood—that is where Jesus went, and that is exactly where he will take you if you are his disciple”. (Oswald Chambers)
He won’t drop rose petals on our path for us, He won’t pamper us and cater to our self-pity, our comfort, nor our convenience. He lets us be confronted, shocked and disgusted. And then He says:
“Even so….will you still follow Me?”
Missionary Quotations – Richard Wurmbrand1
“It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, as it is in captive nations today. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their terms. It was a deal: we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching; they were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.”
“The following scene happened more times than I can remember. A brother was preaching to the other prisoners when the guards suddenly burst in, surprising him halfway through a phrase. They hauled him down the corridor to their beating room. After what seemed an endless beating, they brought him back and threw him bloody and bruised on the prison floor. Slowly, he picked up his battered body, painfully straightened his clothing and said, ‘Now, brethren, where did I leave off when I was interrupted?’ He continued his gospel message! I have seen beautiful things!” Tortured For Christ
(Two quotes today, because they are both so good I couldn’t choose – blessings!)
Hero of the Faith: Australian Missionary Arrested in Nth Korea
This man needs prayer. His name is John Short, an Aussie missionary caught with Christian literature in North Korea. He faces potentially 15 years of hard labour.
The Saviour’s Hands
When I look at the Saviour’s hands
What do I see?
I see hands that have
Worked hard
With wood in carpentry.
Hands that have known
A nick, a cut or two
As they moulded
And chipped away,
Making something of use
Callouses perhaps.
Scars on His fingers,
Maybe.
My Lord was not afraid
To live in reality.
Hands tanned brown
From being out of doors.
Town to town
He Walked
Calling sinners to
“Repent!
(For the Kingdom of Heaven
Is at hand)”
Hands that were used to
Cushion His precious head.
Sleeping rough at night,
Seeking the lost sheep,
He had no bed.
Hands that were raised up
In prayer before dawn.
Tears splashed down
On those hands
As the Father’s will
Sought.
Hands used to touching
What others would not dare
Lepers, the demon-possessed –
Our true condition
Before Him laid bare.
Hands that were warm,
Always giving
Never idle,
Full of holy life,
And truly living.
Hands that pointed to Truth
That held not back.
These hands were unafraid
To be attacked.
Hands that took
The nails –
He could have resisted.
Hard, cold, real nails
But He, for the Father’s will,
Persisted.
OH Lord, if the Church could only see
How far we are
From being,
Truly being
Your hands and Your feet.
How cold and limp
And lifeless our hands hang down
Too afraid of men now
To Call them to repent
From town to town.
Hands white from fear
Of speaking out the Truth.
Hands cold-
Keeping them safe
And aloof.
Hands that feel not
A tear drop in prayer
Hands that are only raised
At concerts
Or in the sporting sphere
And scars?
No.
Hands kept neatly manicured
We dare not break a nail.
In the Master’s service,
They tremble and flail.
Hands that are neatly folded
Asleep on our comfy beds
Hands that hide and cower
When opposition is met
Wake Up Church!
Stand up.
Raise your hands,
Heavenward!
For if not us His Body –
Then, WHO WOULD?
It is time
It is time
To Speak the Truth again.
Don’t let the devil your hands bind.
Stand in His strength
And point to the Saviour
For all men to find.
Will you let your hands go brown?
Will you let them be of use?
Will you get a nick or two for Him,
Just like Jesus did for you?
Bible Prophecy: We Are Close to Christ’s Return
Today we want to consider some well-known and often quoted prophetic verses of scriptures, not so much as a teaching exercise but, as a reminder of how close we are to the return of Jesus.
The verses we refer to are found in Luke 17: 26-28:
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;…”’
There are, in fact, two very different aspects in these three verses.
- In the first (verses 26 and 27) Jesus tells his disciples that before He comes again it will be like the days of Noah when people were leading carefree lives unaware of the impending disaster about to overtake them.
- In the second (verse 27) He tells them it will be the same as it was in Sodom before it was destroyed.
It is interesting to note that in both cases people were eating and drinking, buying, selling and marrying; in other words leading apparently normal and carefree lives. Yet in both cases they were behaving in a manner unacceptable to God. In the days of Noah it was corruption and violence (Gen. 6:11) and in the days of Sodom it was sexual abomination, especially homosexuality (Gen 19). In time each was judged for their, different but, unacceptable behaviour.
But Jesus also says that before His coming again both of these sinful behaviors will be present in the world and He clearly warns of the consequences of such behaviour.
If we look around the world today we see violence and corruption abounds everywhere: we see it between tribes, nations, within societies and even in families. Certainly none of this is a new phenomenon, yet it appears to be on the increase everywhere; frequently confirmed by governments and law enforcement authorities, stating that violence is on the increase and becoming more difficult to deal with. In the light of Jesus’ remarks to His disciples, the question we surely have to now ask ourselves is: “How close are we to the point where God will not tolerate it anymore and step in to deal with the problem”?
Of course homosexuality and general sexual promiscuity is everywhere and also on the increase, being encouraged by the media, also governments, especially in the West. Even Christian denominations are now openly allowing practicing homosexual leaders to minister and teach their congregations; in flagrant violation of God’s Word which explicitly condemns such behaviour. The increase in these evils in recent years has been astounding.
In addition the secular world not only mocks God but denies his very existence. God will not tolerate such behaviour for much longer.
Surely, the world is fast approaching the point of the days of Noah and Sodom, which Jesus warned would happen before His return. We can only conclude that there cannot be much time left before Jesus returns to correct matters. As the Lord said to Abraham:
“Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.” (Gen 18:20, 21)
Let us ask ourselves: Are WE at this point yet?
And if not, how close are we…?
Bible believing Christians need to constantly remind themselves of this and not become complacent and allow themselves to be seduced by the ways of the secular world.
It is interesting to note that when Lot tried to warn his two sons-in-law to leave the city because God was about to destroy it, they would not listen because “his sons-in-law thought he was joking”. (NIV Gen: 19:14).
Even now, in our day, we see that many have disregarded the warnings that Jesus is coming soon, even to the point of ridicule.
But those Christians who hear and understand Jesus’ prophetic words of what will take place beforehand – that God will not forever tolerate the gross sin being perpetrated in the world today – must stand firm and persist in warning others of the nearness of His return.
Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in this new series “Bible Prophecy”.
Missionary Quotations: William Booth1
“Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.” 
One Woman’s Stand Against the Lie of Chrislam
This link was blocked from American YouTube. This German woman is a true hero of the faith. At an interfaith concert where Chrislam was being promoted she alone stood, and proclaimed “Jesus is Lord!” as everyone else sat. Click on link below to see what she did.
“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow HIm, but if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word.”
Missionary Quotations – Amy Carmichael3
Actually it’s a poem:
“We follow a scarred Captain,
Should we not have scars?
Under His faultless orders
We follow to the wars.
Lest we forget, Lord, when we meet,
Show us Thy hands and feet.”
Bible Prophecy: Why Study It?
Amongst Christians, there seem to be two schools of thought concerning Bible Prophecy. One school of thought, possibly the vast majority of Christians, simply chose to ignore it; while at the other extreme they embrace it to the point of ridicule.
So how should we Christians regard Biblical Prophecy? To answer this question we need to look at a few facts concerning prophecy in the Bible and then ask ourselves a few pertinent questions. Hopefully we will be able to come up with a sensible answer to this apparent dilemma.
Firstly, let us make it very clear that we believe, and know, that the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God.
There are various estimates about how much of the Bible concerns prophecy, but we go along with the view of a number of Bible scholars who have calculated that some 30% of the Bible is prophetic; therefore making 
prophecy a substantial portion of the Bible. They also calculate that 80% of Bible prophecy has been fulfilled; leaving 20% of it unfulfilled.
The Bible contains about 31,000 verses and if we assume one prophecy = one verse, we find that over 9,000 Bible verses are prophetic with nearly 2,000 prophetic Bible verses remaining to be fulfilled.
Since God included so much prophetic insight in His Word, how can we simply ignore it? Primarily prophecy is a message from God, not merely foretelling future events. Of course it goes without saying that we have to be careful not to interpret unfulfilled prophecy to suit our position, whatever that may be. Date setting is one particular example where some Bible scholars have opened themselves up to ridicule, as well as bringing disrepute upon Christians in general and the Bible in particular.
So yes, we believe in the importance of Bible prophecy and the need to study it to try to help us explain some of the events currently taking place or unfolding in the world. Some of these we will look at and discuss from time to time.
We also believe that we need to be aware of the “signs of the times” so that we are not like the people (and religious leaders) of 2,000 years ago who, from prophetic scriptures then known to them, should have known the time of Jesus’ coming.
We don’t want the rebuke they received from Him when he said in Luke 12: 56:
“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” NIV
Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in the new series of “Bible Prophecy” on this blog.
Grace and Truth 