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ITINERARY 2012

2012-02-14T20:13:00.005Z

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**ITINERARY 2012**

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10th, 17th, 24th & 31st Jan + 7th Feb - Castle Gardens Primary, Newtownards

10th, 17th, 24th & 31st Jan 2012 - Victoria Primary, Newtownards

12th, 19th, & 26th January 2012 - Currie Primary School, Tigers Bay

3rd Feb 2012 - Victoria Primary, Carrickfergus

2nd, 9th & 16th Feb 2012 - Carrs Glen Primary

27th Feb: Pontzpass Primary School, Scripture Union

14th, 21st, 28th Feb & 6th March 2012 - Fairhill Primary, (Kinallen) Dromora

2nd, 9th, & 16th March 2012 - Mullaghdubh Primary, Islandmagee

5th, 12th, 19th & 26th March 2012 - Brownlee Primary, Lisburn

1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd March 2012 - Blackmountain Primary, Highfield

23rd March 2012 - Knocknagoney Church of Ireland - Youth Group

30th March 2012 - Knocknagoney Church of Ireland - Youth Group

23rd March & 30th March + 20th, 27 April + 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th May 2012 - Pond Park Primary, Lisburn.

19th & 26th April & 3rd May - 2012 - Edenbrooke Primary (Shankill Road, Belfast)

10th, 17th, 24th, 31st May & 7th, 14th & 21st June 2012 - Whitehead Primary

13th - 17th August 2012 - Living Hope Church - Shankill Road Soccer School

Why Should Christians Make a Public Witness?‏

2012-02-12T11:52:00.000Z

There seems to be a reticence on the part of many Christians to make a Public profession of their faith by, for example, witnessing to the nation about its sins - protesting against proposed changes to the law of the land which go against the Word of God. The intention of this paper is to show that there is a biblical basis to do just that.

We are called upon to CONTEND for the faith - and that earnestly:

"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Jude 1:3.

We are called upon to FIGHT the good fight of faith:

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou are also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:12.

We are given armour for defence (Ephesians 6:11-17) - and the Word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword for an offensive weapon:

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" ~Ephesians 6:17

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12.

We are called to be salt (to prevent the decay which is now so evident in our society) ans light (to show the way):

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to.be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, ans put it under a bushel, but put on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, ans glorify your Father in heaven." ~ Matthew 5:13-16

We are told that we are to Preach upon housetops that we which we learn from the Lord:

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops." Matthew 10:27

We are to cry aloud and tell the people of their sins:

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their trangression, and the.house of Jacob their sins." Isaiah 58:1

We are called upon to do this at the gate of the Lord's house - the churches:

"Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD." - Jeremiah 7:2

We are called upon to do this in the gate of the people where the rulers go in and out: 'Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and.in all the gates of Jerusalem;" Jeremiah 17:19

We are called upon to go to the house of the ruler and command him to execute judgement and righteousness and to do no wrong:

"Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thou servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
"Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgement and righteousness, ans deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no.wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place."

We are to speak to ALL the citie:

"Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
If si be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus
saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set.before you, To hearken to the words of my servants
the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." - Jeremiah 26:2-6.

We are told that there is opportunity for repentance for evil.
But if there is no repentance, judgement will surely follow:

"If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I have thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do no evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good." - Jeremiah 18:8-11

We are told that if we do not obey this command to warn the nation, whether they hear or not, that there will be consequences for us: " Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; ans thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to.warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked , and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Ezekiel 3:17-19.

The apostle Peter followed this example of telling his hearers of their sin at Penecost:

"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved if God among you by.miracles and signs, which God did by him in.the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by wicked hands have crucified and slain:" - Acts 2:22-23.

Only after they had asked him what they should do about it, did he give them the answer:

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and bethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts2:37-38.

The Lord Jesus Christ himself told us, that if we did not confess him before men, he would not confess us before the Father.

"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 10:32-33.

Permission from Raymond Stewart.

The European Convention on Human Rights

2012-02-08T19:29:00.000Z

The preamble to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) describes it as ‘an Act to give greater effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights’ (the Convention). To understand the HRA you need to know something about the history of the Convention.

The Convention was drafted after the Second World War. British lawyers and civil servants were heavily involved in its drafting. The United Kingdom (UK) signed up to the Convention in 1953 and was one of the first countries to do so. In all, 45 countries have now signed up to the Convention including most of the east European, former communist countries and several countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. The countries that have signed up to the Convention make up the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is quite separate from the European Union.

The Convention is divided into ‘articles’. Articles 2 to 14 set out the rights that are protected by the Convention. Over the years the Convention has been supplemented by a number of protocols that have been agreed by the Council of Europe. Some of the protocols just deal with procedural issues but some guarantee rights in addition to those included in the Convention. The UK has signed up to two of the protocols that guarantee additional rights (the First and Sixth Protocols) but not to the others (the Fourth, Seventh and Twelfth Protocols).

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the international court set up to interpret and apply the Convention. It is based in Strasbourg, France and is made up of judges nominated by each of the countries that are members of the Council of Europe. Since 1966 people have had the right to bring cases against the British Government in the ECHR. Over the years there have been many cases in which the ECHR has found that the UK has breached the Convention. One reason that there have been so many findings against the British Government is that there was no way that people could get redress for breach of their rights under the Convention in the British courts. This and the fact that taking a case to the ECHR can take several years were major factors in persuading the new Labour Government to pass the HRA shortly after they came to power in 1997. Many people believe that the HRA is one of the major achievements of this government.

Because the Convention is now over 50 years old some of the language that it uses is quite outdated. However, the ECHR has often stressed that the Convention is a ‘living instrument’. This means that as society and attitudes change, the ECHR will change and develop the way in which it interprets the Convention. The ECHR will, however, still tend to follow the precedents set by earlier cases - where it does not it will make it clear why it is not doing so. It is therefore important to look at past decisions of the ECHR. Moreover, the HRA requires the courts in this country to take the ECHR’s past decisions into account when deciding cases under the HRA. The ECHR now posts its decisions on the internet

Article 9: Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

2. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 9 guarantees that you can think what you want and can hold any religious belief. You cannot be forced to follow a particular religion and cannot be stopped from changing your religion. You should not be indoctrinated by the state.

It also protects the right to practise your religion or beliefs. For the practise of your beliefs to be protected they must be part of a sufficiently coherent philosophical scheme. So beliefs such as veganism and pacifism are protected.

The right to practise your religion or belief is a qualified right. This means that an interference with the right can be justified. The circumstances in which an interference can be justified are similar to those which justify an interference with rights under Article 8. (See above: the section headed ‘A qualified right’ under Article 8).

Relevant sections:

Article 10, European Convention on Human Rights

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of expression. Before the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force, the right to freedom of expression was a negative one: you were free to express yourself, unless the law otherwise prevented you from doing so. With the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into English and Welsh domestic law, the right to freedom of expression is now expressly guaranteed.

However, the right to freedom of expression in Article 10 is not absolute. Interferences with the right to freedom of expression may be permitted if they are prescribed by law, pursue a legitimate aim and are necessary in a democratic society, that is, satisfy a pressing social need. The legitimate purposes for which freedom of expression can be limited are:

National security, territorial integrity or public safety.
The prevention of disorder or crime.
The protection of health or morals.
The protection of the reputation or rights of others.
The prevention of the disclosure of information received in confidence.
For maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

Article 11: Freedom of Assembly and Association

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This Article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the state.

There are two aspects to Article 11. It protects the right to protest peacefully by holding meetings and demonstrations. This may include a positive obligation to ensure that demonstrators are protected from counter-demonstrators trying to prevent their demonstration. Article 11 also protects the right to form or join a political party or other group or association, and the right to belong to a trade union. However, the right to join a trade union does not extend to police officers, soldiers and some other groups who work for the Government. Article 11 also guarantees the right not to have to join a union.

Article 11 is a qualified right. This means that an interference with the right can be justified. The circumstances in which an interference can be justified are similar to those which justify an interference with rights under Article 8 (See above: the section headed ‘A qualified right’ under Article 8).

What Did Jesus Preach?

2012-02-06T21:09:00.000Z

The predominant focus of mainstream Christianity is the undeserved crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent forgiveness of sins that is available through accepting that sacrifice. While this selfless act was and is unquestionably momentous, and its effects exceedingly far-reaching, many would be shocked to find out that the Bible defines the gospel differently than what they have always been told. A thoughtful reading shows that accepting Christ's blood in payment of our sins—as foundationally important as it is—is actually not the focus of the "good news" that He brought and that the apostles continued to preach.
In addition to dying for our sins, Jesus Christ came to earth as a messenger from God the Father:

Behold, I send My messenger [John the Baptist], and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)

Jesus did not speak His own words, but the words that the Father gave Him (John 8:38-42; 12:49-50; 14:24). His message was not primarily about Himself, but rather the good news that the Father ordained to be announced on earth. While Jesus Christ was categorically the most important individual ever to walk this earth, the Bible shows clearly that the gospel that Jesus brought was not simply about Himself. Read His statements, and prove this for yourself:

» And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. (Matthew 4:23)
» And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Matthew 9:35)
» Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15)
» [Jesus] said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." (Luke 4:43)
» Now it came to pass, afterward, that [Jesus] went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings [gospel] of the kingdom of God. (Luke 8:1)
» The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the Kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. (Luke 16:16-17)
» And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

The inspired Word of God makes it abundantly plain: The "good news" that Jesus Christ brought was about the Kingdom of God! The "gospel of Jesus Christ" is simply the message of good news that Jesus preached—not a message about Jesus. It is not primarily a message about the events in His life and of His becoming the Savior of the world—although it most certainly does include all that. But if the events of His life are not seen in the context of what He said, the resulting "faith" will be full of error and ultimately disastrous!
The announcement of "good news"—the very best news that could be heard today—which the Father gave through Jesus Christ, was about His Kingdom being established on earth.
But what is a kingdom? It is essentially a nation, with all of its citizens, land, and laws, ruled by a government. In biblical usage, a kingdom can also mean a family from a single parent grown into a nation.
A kingdom has four basic elements: 1) a king, supreme ruler, or governing agent; 2) territory, with its specific location and definite boundary lines; 3) subjects or citizens within that territorial jurisdiction; 4) and laws and a form of government through which the will of the ruler is exercised. If we ignore any one of these essential elements—if we ignore the message that Jesus Christ brought from the Father—we will have a distorted faith, one that will not bring salvation.

Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill

2012-02-06T20:55:00.000Z

Publisher: Free Grace Press (www.freegracepress.com)

Binding: SMYTHESEWN CASEBIND
Demensions: 6" x 9"
Pages: 660
Book Weight: 2-lbs
Language: English
Bulk Order?: Please email (orders@ravenhillbiography.com)

“My father lived daily in light of eternity, always seeking to please the One who enlisted him as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Before he ever stood in the pulpit, he stood before God. He was a man of prayer. Prayer was his life and his preaching reflected the fact that he had been alone with God.”

DAVID RAVENHILL

It is titled In Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill

Mack Tomlinson says this about the legacy of Ravenhill:

In Light of Eternity...Ravenhill’s Biography – A Great Book for those seeking God

Few are raving about a wonderful book I just read “In light of Eternity” The Life of Leonard Ravenhill by Mack Tomlinson....truly a masterpiece to be cherished and a goldmine of spiritual gems and inestimable treasures. I have often pondered why we must give much enthused attention to sifting through thinly disguised abominations promoted with clever disputing – literary “pork” harbouring worms that only pollute body and spirit while we shut the window and draw the curtains against fresh air and far more beautiful enlightened views of the jewels of God as found in this well written biography of a believer.

I had heard several of Ravenhill’s messages and thought I knew what to expect...but still was struck at the inspiration of bold truths we hear are passé by today’s spiritual arrivistes. Though only a well told biography you cannot but be strengthened by the timeless verities evidenced in a man who stood for old-fashioned holiness and with his dying breath still proclaimed not just in words but even more in uncommon living example..”It is possible to live a holy life...I did it”... To a generation whose highest morality is “do your best” - this must be revolutionary insight. The book is rich in thoughts about God, words of light, letters of encouragement, poetry, hymns and truths that go to the depth of the soul to bring spiritual beggars out of the dung hill...to set them among princes again, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.

Every young Christian must read this book to hear the different voice of someone who rudely screams in the wilderness that a life of true devotion and full consecration to God is not just feasible but is the expected norm. Len says holiness comes more easily when we live, see and act always “in light of eternity” . It is no wonder that the truths concerning eternity remain today’s most attacked pillars...the real target being the purity of our walk with God. Len was a man who prayed probably more than he did anything else and spoke of many he knew who also prayed – which he called “Life’s highest Calling” every day for hours. He prayed not to be known or successful but for a deep-rooted Revival (God's way) which he believed only God could send.

Endorsements

Leonard Ravenhill was born in Leeds, England. He came to Christ at the age of 15 after the conversion of his father. At the age of 20 while working as a tailor, he answered the call of God to the ministry. He trained for Christian ministry under the saintly influence of Samuel Chadwick at Cliff College in England. Characterized by a deep life of prayer, passionate evangelistic zeal and a powerful preaching gift, his ministry drew traffic-jamming crowds in the British Isles during the 1930’s and 1940’s. His burden for souls took him all over England and different parts of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. To the Church his message has been one of prophetic piercing repentance but with the vision and hope of genuine revival.

This definitive biography covers his entire life from birth into adulthood, his calling to the ministry, training, and his launch into evangelistic work all over Britain, as well as his American years until his death at the age of eighty-seven in 1994. All these facts and much more are part of Mack’s brand new 600 page biography of Leonard Ravenhill, In Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill, a chronology of his life and ministry in Britain and the United States.
David Ravenhill

My father lived daily in light of eternity, always seeking to please the One who enlisted him as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Before he ever stood in the pulpit, he stood before God. He was a man of prayer. Prayer was his life and his preaching reflected the fact that he had been alone with God.

Charles Stanley

Leonard Ravenhill has left a tremendous legacy behind for us, but what bothers me is that it seems that he has almost been forgotten. It seems that many pastors today are not even interested in reading about a man like Leonard and are not interested in reading what he wrote or hearing what he preached. Today when I mention his name or his books, its like they stand there puzzled, not knowing who or what I am talking about. We have truly lost someone great in the passing of Leonard Ravenhill.

David Wilkerson

Leonard Ravenhill is one of the few men I’ve ever known who was a true prophet. I am delighted someone is finally writing this book.

A. W. Tozer

Those who know of Leonard Ravenhill recognize in him the religious specialist, the man sent from God to battle the priests of Baal on their own mountain top, to shame the careless priest at the altar, to face the false prophet, and to warn the people who are being led astray by him. Such a man as this is not an easy companion. He insists on being a Christian all the time and everywhere. That marks him out as different. Why do we have men of such fiery swords as Ravenhill? They are sick inside when they see the children of heaven acting like the sons of earth. To such men as these, the church owes a debt too heavy to pay.

Keith Malcomson

I highly recommend all tapes and books by Leonard Ravenhill. His writing and preaching made a deep impression upon me in my late teens and early twenties. The passion, fire, zeal, truth and conviction which was so manifest in his preaching witnessed powerfully with my my own heart encouraging me in my pursuit for the reality of God. He is one of several men who the Lord has powerfully used in my life and ministry. I have long desired to see a full biography on his life and now rejoice to see that Mack Tomlinson has accomplished such. Although not having read this testimony as yet I do highly recommend it.

http://www.ravenhillbiography.com/

Testimony of Billy Shannon

2012-02-06T20:31:00.002Z

As I think of the words of the choir singing, he knew me, yet he loved me, when he was on the cross I was on his mind”. Yet reflecting back, I believe yes Jesus had me on his mind. Jesus had me on his mind when I was born a month premature and lost a lot of weight, so much weight that I was christened in hospital. My parents and the doctors thought I might die. Jesus had me on his mind when my appendix burst when I was eight years old, and I had to be rushed to hospital to have them removed.
As a young boy I can remember my parents bringing me to Church every Sunday morning. During the morning service the children were ushered into the Sunday school. For many year’s I went to Sunday school, told many stories of Jesus, but I never learned of God’s saving grace, and salvation.

It was during my childhood when I was around ten years old that my sister started going to an after church meeting on a Sunday evening at a Church on the Shankill Rd. I always asked her to go, probably to the extent that she give in just to keep me quiet. The excitement of going was unbelievable, as I had butterflies in my stomach.

The meeting was very unusual the choruses were cheerful and everybody enjoyed singing them which I thought was very strange, as the people at the Church I went to didn’t seem to enjoy the hymns they sang and had never sang choruses.

A feature at this meeting was called “How do you do”? Someone would start of with his or her testimony and finish of with how do you do? Then name the next person to get up to give their testimony, and so on.

It was the second time I went to the meeting that I wanted to become a Christian, I enjoyed the meeting so much that I wanted what these people had. A guy named Robin prayed a prayer for me to repeat, and ask for my sins to be forgiven. I felt a glow, within me, which made me feel on top of the world. Then a few weeks later my sister stopped going, and I had no way of going, because I was only 10 years old.

It wasn’t long till I left primary school and started secondary. During the time in school the Lord placed before me, a guy named Eddie Ireland who was a year older than I. He witnessed to me on many occasions. Eddie belonged to the Church that the after Church meetings took place in that I had gone to earlier with my sister.
It was amazing how God was directing my path. There was a deep yearning in me to search after God because of my earlier experience.

It wasn’t until 15th August 1980, a Friday night I was out with my mates heading up the Ballygomartin Rd. when we happened to be stopped by two people witnessing, and one of those people was Eddie Ireland, who spoke to me at school. Eddie and his mate Stephen, shared with us their testimonies, and although there was a bit of light hearted messing around, with questions about evolution and dinosaurs, and so on, I was taking in more than I realized.

Eddie’s mate Stephen, lent me a book “The cross and the switchblade” (which I read from cover to cover) I thought that was odd as he never knew me yet he was willing to lend me a book. During that week I was what seemed to be under conviction from what had been talked about the Friday evening previous. On Saturday the 23rd August I decided to go down to their coffee bar and return the book, and to give my heart to Jesus, and this I did.

Little did I know of the struggle of my inner self between the old and new nature, things I thought were all right seemed to be displeasing to God. Now this time I had a Church and fellowship and wanted to know more about Jesus.

It wasn’t long till I started in the Shipyard, as an apprentice on the 22nd September that same year, as I witnessed to other apprentice’s it wasn’t long till they gave me the nickname the Rev Bill. There was no harm in it as it was just banter. A few months had passed and the apprentices were placing throughout the yard, I was placed in the East yard.

It did not take long before word spread that I was a Christian were I was working. Other Christians, who I was introduced to ask of what assembly I belonged to, their reply was “oh the one with the brass band”. They started discussing things I never new about, such as soul sleep, the oneness, the trinity etc. As these were brought to my attention I thought why the difference, are we not all Christians serving God?

As I started to read about these subjects I became distracted, I was searching and began to put the Lord second place, then third place and so on. I still went to church but my desire to worship had gone, I became cold and critical of people, certainly not the attributes of Jesus. Soon I stopped going to church.

Over the years I have came and went to Church and was drawn towards Christians, but found myself lacking, for some reason, dipping my foot into the water and then quickly withdrawing it.

It was coming near the end of 1989 and I was working with a young man, Stuarty Harris. Stuarty loved life and was full of joy, he was always ready to give his testimony, and speak of his Saviour. It was a pleasure to work along with Stuarty just to hear him speak, I knew that what Stuarty had was commitment and that’s what I had lacking, giving my all to Jesus. It wasn’t long still Stuart and I got shifted apart as work in our trade was running out, and we were being utilised into other jobs.

Later in the year 2000, when work picked up, I was put along with two men Dave and Robert, as the day progress I sensed that Robert was a saved, and when I asked him his answer was yes. While working with Robert we had a lot to talk about as our conversation was on the things of God, even though I was backslidden. I learned that Robert went to Whitewell although he invited me on a few occasions I declined.

Soon Robert left the Shipyard and climbed over the wall into Shorts, as did many shipyard men. Work was running out and the threat of closure as the company could not secure future orders.

Soon afterwards I left the Shipyard and followed the exodus trail into Shorts. After a few months of being there, I met Robert once again, and also many other Christians. There was a prayer meeting every Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime; little did I know I was being prayed for.

A Christian was shifted into the area I was working; for some untold desire I wanted to speak to him, and a day or so later the opportunity came. Why I wanted to speak to him I don’t know but I was compelled to do so. Paul and I got on well, and he knew I was searching, he knew there was a desire in me. I was still lacking commitment to the Lord and letting the Lord take full control of me.

One day Paul took me for a cup of coffee, but to my surprise he prayed for me as well. I was taken aback at this as this was done in view of the work force around us.
Over the years I did drink but during this last year or so that I began to drink more to excessiveness. Which happened to be every night after work as well as at weekends.

Robert invited me to Church near the beginning of 2002, I got the children minded and my wife Jacqueline and I went. I enjoyed the singing , the Choir and the sermon, but as the plea was called, “Just as I am without one plea”, I became deaf.

Later that year that year around April for two Sundays in a row I went to Whitewell as the Lord lead Robert to invite me. After the service we went home and as usual routine back into the bottle, but this time drink wasn’t helping me to forget. As Jacqueline and I were talking, I realized we had to get things sorted out. We knelt down to pray that God would reveal himself to and direct us.

That Friday after work I arranged to meet Jacqueline for lunch; while waiting at Cornmarket, there were a group of people witnessing from Everton Drive, which was very unusual for them to be out on a Friday lunch time. The Pastor of the Church spoke to Jacqueline and myself. And it let Jacqueline see that God answered our prayer from the Sunday night.

Sunday Jacqueline and I went back to Whitewell, Paster Blake give his testimony, and I remembered what his mother said to him “How could you listen to a church service like that, and leave the same way you went in”? Little did I know those words would haunt me during the next few days. The plea was given at the end of the service, I wanted to put my hand up, but the thought that my daughter would shout out over the place “why are you putting your hand up daddy” put me off.

One of the nights we went to the service we heard a guy named Kieran give his testimony, he mentioned the name Sammy Hill . The same Sammy Hill who was in the Gospel group with his friend Robin, who had prayed with me at the after Church meeting all those years ago when I was 10.

Friday 3rd May was the last of the Church Rallies and I knew I was going. I was going to put things right, I knew that If I rejected Jesus this time it may be my last chance. The Lord provided baby sitters for the children and my wife Jacqueline and I went. The plea was put forth, and I knew what I had to do, but part of me still wanted to hold back, I could feel one hand trying to hold the other arm down. My decision was made when I went in the door. I wanted Jesus the same way Stuarty knew him, I wanted Jesus the same way Robert knew him, I wanted Jesus the same way Paul knew him. The same way that the people at the after Church meeting knew him when I was ten years old.

A few months later my wife Jacqueline gave her heart to the Lord,
As the Lord answered my prayer.

Testimony of Faith Johnston

2012-02-06T20:30:00.005Z

Hello, my name is Faith/“smiler”/“bubble“, this is my testimony.. so far! I was born into a God believing household. When I was 1 year old my dad ,a policeman, tragically died.. this left my mum alone with 3 little kids all under 5years old. I don’t remember much of that time as I was so young, but I do know that God was carefully watching over and protecting our wee family…He is a Father to the fatherless and a Husband and Comforter to the widow! Exodus 22v22”Thou shalt not afflict any widow, or fatherless child”. We where sent along to Sunday school in the Free Presbyterian church, I praise God for that time, and for the faithful Christian teachers we had there!! We also went to church there, and also a little Sabbath school on Sunday afternoons and then attended the CWU hall after church on a Sunday night.. our Sundays where very busy, but very happy times!! The Faith Mission used to have meetings in halls around where we lived aswell, and mum used to take us to them, at the end of one in particular, one of the pilgrims told mum about the Faith missions camps in portadown, and how good it would be for me to go.. so that Summer of 1993,as a wee timid 11 year old, I went to the camp…I had and still have a very strong bond with my mum, and as she left me there, I sat sadly on my sleeping bag ..I didn’t know anyone, then 3 girls came over, we made an instant friendship and indeed still have to this day(I actually ended up crying leaving them at the end of that week)!! On the Thursday night they had a “midnight feast”.. it was meant to be lots of goodies and a giggle…but some of the girls started talking about death…this brought back memories for me, I wanted to go to heaven when I eventually died too…I said that to one of the leaders and she took me to the doorstep of the wooden hut.. and there I prayed with tears steaming down my cheeks, that the LORD would save me, forgive me, make me His child and keep me all me days! that night about 15 other girls got saved in our dormitory too…it was totally amazing, we had a mini revival!! That Christmas, my mums boyfriend, and our new “dad-to-be” as he called himself, died of cancer, this again rocked our wee house, but I never remember ever doubting that God had a plan in it all.. All this had made me very cautious of men, a deep painful scar …that was only healed a few years ago.. through God speaking in a Free Presbyterian meeting, Job 29vrs12+13 “Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless.. the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy”…and as the song says “YOU GIVE AND TAKE AWAY,STILL I WILL SAY,BLESSED IS THE NAME OF THE LORD” ,I praise God He gave and gives me the grace to do so, even now. High school, college and work was/is difficult at times, as it is for most Christians, but He has sustained me through it all. There are many many up’s and down’s in this life of serving Jesus, but I can truly say my God, my Father has never let me go, never abandoned me, never given up on me and will never ever leave me alone, for that I am, feel and know I’m fully truly Blessed!! I now go to the Whitewell metropolitan, and am a member of the choir, I have been so welcomed and loved right from the start, with an almost heavenly love from the family of Christ! Be Blessed!-1 peter 3 v15 “but sanctify(have)the LORD God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear(gentleness and respect)”. x:+}

Testimony of Anne Irvine

2012-02-06T20:30:00.002Z

Hello my name is Anne and thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ I have a testimony.
I was brought up in Belfast and my Mum and Dad were not saved, but they still sent me to Sunday school. I used to go with a friend. I can't really remember much about Sunday school, only that at harvest time the church was lovely with lots off flowers and fruit. From an early age I knew there was a God but I didn't know Him personnally. As a teenager growing up in the 70's it was a scarey place. I used to follow the crowd, drinking and going wild. I believe Gods hand was on me even then, because many times I could have been in danger but He delivered me. I was married at 19 and by the age of 30 I had three children. I worked in a bar as a waitress and also had a cleaning job. I was busy with life, but very lonely. I had friends, family a good husband and three lovely children but I was so lonely inside. One day a couple of Christian neighbours called to my door and they witnessed to me about the Lord. I listened to them but couldn't get the door closed quickly enough. For the next few weeks I was so miserable, (I know now I was under conviction off sin). One Sunday I went to a Church around the corner, I spoke to my neighbour who was there and asked her to call round to my home. We agreed to meet on Tuesday morning. Well from Sunday to Monday night I thought I was going mad! I couldn't sleep or eat properly, I thought my head was going crazy. Tuesday came and my neighbour called. We sat in my living room and I explained to her the way I was feeling and she asked me if I wanted to come to the Lord. I immediately broke down with tears, the struggle was over and I said YES. I literally felt a heavy weight lift from my shoulders. The Lord knew my loneliness and He told me there and then that He would never leave me nor forsake me. That was 23 years ago (1987) and He has kept His promise. A lady who worked with me when I was a cleaner, brought me to Whitewell Church. It was a bible study night. The instant I heard the Pastor preach I knew that Whitewell was the church I was meant to be. I asked the Lord into my heart in March 1987. God is good. He has been my shield, my strong tower, and He has carried me many times. He has supplied all my needs and indeed all my children's needs. He has led me to be part of a prayer ministry in the Church where I am still learning and hopefully, growing. I have let Him down many times but He still loves me. I have fallen, but by His grace I get up again and go on. He is just so lovely and kind, so full of wisdom and strength, He hears and answers prayer. He has blessed me so much and given me so many brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, He has given me His own precious Word to guide me. Life may throw many things at me but I will always be the victor when Christ is with me. He has never lost a case. Corrie Ten Boom said "There is nothing to big that GOD cannot handle, and there is nothing to small for GOD's love." I love Him and I want to serve Him to the best of my ability. My prayer is that whoever reads this testimony would think seriously about the Lord Jesus Christ and come to Him. He is only a prayer away, He loves you so much and wants to live with you forever. No more loneliness in your heart, just a peace that passes all understanding.

GOD bless

Anne Irvine

Testimony of George Irvine

2012-02-06T20:29:00.002Z

My Story for Christs glory

I grew up in an average working class family in Belfast N.Ireland in an average working class estate called Westland Drive. In many respects I was fortunate because many of my friends were Roman Catholics and as far as I was concerned the only difference was the fact that they went to a different church than I did. This fact meant nothing to me as long as we could play together and fight together, as all kids do, so what! these where my Primary school years and nothing existed except the moment. I make mention of the fact that religion is a major factor for our present situation in N.Ireland and because of our siege mentality. For many generations it has been the catalyst for our so-called troubles and we cannot seem to get past this barrier. My Christian Faith has given me the eyesalve to see past this barrier and realise that they are only nametags, if we go up to heaven they drop off, if we go to hell they burn of. According to GOD'S word there is only the lost and the saved.

I digress, my Father was a very strict man who would not suffer fools gladly or foolish behaviour, which I had personal experience of many times, at the wrong end of a rather large leather belt of which I was unashamedly terrified. As a boy I was seldom out of trouble, it seemed to dog my steps with monotonous regularity. As I grew older my neutrality started to waver and along with the start of the present "troubles" segregation became part of every day life, and with separation came more bitterness and to my shame along with bitterness came hatred.

Then in the early 70's came the paramilitary groups the U.D.A. the P.I.R.A ad infinitum, who opened their illegal drinking clubs and permitted kids of 16 myself included to openly buy and drink on the premises without fear of recrimination. At this point in time, as far as I was concerned I was accepted as a man, these were the people I would join and help fight for the "cause", WRONG, I was just about to have a sharp lesson that would soon knock that idea out of my head. Early one summer afternoon my whole, secure little world was about to have a major earthquake in the form of four large men who effortlessly scooped this 16 year old into a car, put a hood over my head, pointed a gun to my head and told me; "if you make one sound, one movement out of place you're dead". They drove me to one of their clubs and dragged me inside, still hooded and remained so throughout for what seemed like an eternity. The common term for these punishment beatings was Romper-room. Basically they seen themselves as the local police and their methods of interrogation were brutal. I was beaten and questioned about the alleged "crime", acquitted and dumped back on the street and only then was the hood removed. For month's after I was waiting for their return to finish their work, and that was the most terrifying part.

Years later I drifted back to the clubs, though I never joined up, I just bought the cheap drink before going to the disco's. Even here among our own kind we were very territorial and rival gangs would fight often with knives chains, whatever, this became a lifestyle for me until after many drunken nights and fights I met my wife and who, it must be said had a very calming affect on me, well the fighting side anyway. We were married have three children, Aaron, Ryan, and Claire.

Then on the 11th of July 1987 which is the celebration of the battle of the BOYNE which is a festive highlight for the Protestant population I was totally bombed out of my mind I decided to walk home at 02:00 in the early hours of the morning, through a republican area which is not the done thing. Many such people from both sides have not lived to tell the tale. I stuck my thumb out at a car in this republican area which stopped and I didn't even look to see who was in the car, I climbed in and asked in a drunken slur to be dropped of at the Woodvale road which every person in Belfast knows as a staunchly protestant area. Lucky for me, and on reflection, I can see GOD'S hand in it, a lone driver took pity on a drunk man which probably saved my life.

When I eventually arrived home I could not make it past the garden, I collapsed in a heap and was sick all over myself, I'm sure you get the picture, even my dog would not come near me I was so bad. Just then I remember looking up to the sky and saying if you are there GOD please help me. From that day everything pointed me towards my Church (as it is now) and I found myself there one Sunday night and the message I heard about a saviour called JESUS CHIST who gave His life that I could be forgiven for a life of past sins. I left the church that night filled with wonder about this Saviour, is it true, is it possible that my life of sin could be forgiven if I accept this JESUS Christ as my Saviour. Another thing why were these people at this Church so open and friendly with me, when all I ever knew were people filled with suspicion and aloofness. I returned to the Church in the following weeks until the 4th Oct. 1987 and after Pastor McConnell preached his Gospel message I could hold out no longer, I accepted the LORD JESUS CHRIST as my Saviour and my whole life has been turned around. Where once I lived for myself I now live to serve HIM. He saved me and healed me of asthma instantly as soon as I asked HIM, HE has given me hope were once was despair, HE has given me strength were once was fear, so you see I know that HE is real and alive and because of these facts my destiny is secure in HIM and as reference to this fact I quote

JOHN Chapter 3 verse 16 which states "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosoever believeth in HIM should not perish but have everlasting life"
Finally to all who read this may you also find peace in my Saviour the LORD JESUS CHRIST, if the good LORD can save a guilty hell deserving sinner like me then HE can save anyone.

GOD bless

George Irvine

Testimony of Glynis Corbett

2012-02-06T20:28:00.002Z

First of all I would like to thank,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that I have a
testimony to give, of His saving grace
and keeping power in my life. And to also
thank Billy Shannon for asking me to
write out my testimony.

On the 10th June 1984 at Belfast City
Hospital, I had a baby girl by section who
weighed 4,15lb. I named her Amanda Jane,
she was transferred to the Royal Victoria
Hospital for sick children to the intensive
care unit were she was very well looked after.
The doctor who was over her at that time, his
name was Dr Wiltey, who also was a christian.

There also was a very special nurse who looked
after Amanda Jane, her name was Margaret.
While Margaret was on holiday, Tuesday the 28th
June, My daughter Amanda had died. This was a very
sad time for me, as i went into depression and
would not leave my home. Among other things
my life was not the same after this.

I always knew there was a God, but did not
know He could be so close to me. I had a photo
of Amanda beside my Grandfather Sandy Black, who I
loved very much. There was one of the days when
I looked at the photo of Amanda I started to cry
I then I began to ask "Is there really a God up
there, will you help me?"

It was a few weeks later that I was in my
bedroom getting ready for work when I heard a
voice saying "come to me" at that time I did not
know that, that was in the Bible in Matthew 11v28-29.

(28) Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest
(29) Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in hearts and ye shall find rest for your souls.

I then looked around to see were the voice was coming
from, but saw no one. It was the voice of God I had heard.
I then went down to my Mums house, and told her what had
happened to me. She said that's the Lord calling you. I knew
at that time what I had to do, so I went upstairs to my
sister Deborah's bedroom and got on my knees and asked the
Lord Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to take away
my sins. I am now twenty six years saved, and have never
looked back.

I know one day will come when I will see the Lord Jesus
who died on a cross for my sins, and for your sins. I will
also see my Daughter Amanda Jane on that final day.

I believe there are women out there who have went through
the loss of a child after giving birth, I have felt the hurt,
and went through the depression, You are not alone, the Lord
Jesus Christ was my last resort, but he was my answer, and
can be yours. Jesus is a prayer away, there is a God, who
cares, and you can learn to trust in him to.

(if at anytime you feel you need to talk to someone,
feel free to contact me through Billy Shannon, by contacting
Billy's email billy@belfastoutreach.com

The Testimony of Julia Morrison

2012-02-06T20:25:00.002Z

The Testimony of Julia Morrison

My name is Julia & I want to tell you what the Lord has done in my life.

I was born into a Christian home & my family attended a Gospel Hall outside Castlewellan, Co. Down. I loved attending the Sunday School & have precious memories from those days. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it".
The Gospel Hall always had special meetings, which were great to get the locals in to hear the Gospel. Mr Hedley Murphy, a well known evangelist, was the speaker at one of them & many people were getting saved at these meetings. One night Mum & dad were driving home from the meeting & they were talking about the number of people getting saved. Unaware to them I was listening to every word in the back seat of the car.
When we got home, I said to my mum that I wanted to get saved too. So Mum simply said, "Ask Jesus into you heart & He will save you & never leave you". So we both knelt down & I prayed that prayer. I was only 5 years old. It doesn't matter what age you are because Jesus can save you. Mark 10:14 says, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God".

The Christian walk is not an easy one. It takes a real man and a real woman to follow Christ. But God has blessed me & I still keep trusting Him everyday since I was 5 years old. Even in the bad times, He has never forsaken me. I could go on & on about what God has brought me through even in these recent years due to a long term illness. As David wrote in Psalm 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me". When death looked into my face, I knew my Lord was at my side & He would bring me through it.
God has a plan for my life & for you too. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future". I think this Bible verse is beautiful & just sums me up!

I now attend the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle, Belfast. I have been blessed to have Dr James McConnell as my Pastor. If you have never been to Whitewell, come along & you'll be blessed too!
Thank you for reading my story & may God Bless you too.

Joe Phillips A testimony of GOD'S mercy and grace.

2012-02-06T20:22:00.002Z

Truly a sinner saved by GOD'S grace. Saved on the 8th August 2004, I can never thank the LORD enough for that day. A day that I can identify as becoming a child of GOD. A day in my life that the turn around was complete, a day of no going back to the things of my past... Praise the LORD.

Only recently was I asked by a brother in the LORD for my testimony, a brother who had attended the new converts class the same time as myself... I was somewhat taken unaware and hesitantly said I would take it to the LORD in prayer. He told me that someone, somewhere was just waiting to read what the LORD has done for me... so here goes. I pray all I write is pleasing to my LORD and my SAVIOUR.

My name is Joseph Phillips (Joe) born March 1954 into a catholic family. I have three older brothers and two younger sisters (all presently unsaved) whom I love dearly. My mum was a protestant but changed to a catholic so that she could marry my dad. I grew up on a small farm where money was very scarce. Life was tough. I was brought up according to the laws and teachings of the Roman catholic church. I married in May 1975 and was blessed with two girls Susan and Brenda, and two boys Stephen and Nicholas. I brought my family up as Roman Catholic's. Many people said that I was a good father but looking back I'm sorry to say that was not the case. I spent much of my time seeking pleasures of the world, things like drinking, gambling, fishing, shooting, pool, snooker and such like. All of which gave me pleasure, but for a short time. At the age of 40 I took up golf to try and keep me out of the pubs, a game that I became addicted to and my wife became a golf widow. Through all this I kept going to mass because I was brought up to believe that it was a mortal sin to miss. Now when I look back I can see I was nothing but a hypocrite... yes I was just acting the part.

My life changed big time in January 2004 when my marriage broke up due to me lusting after the things of the flesh. I then stopped going to mass knowing what I had done and what I was doing was wrong, yet I continued in my sinful ways. I moved in with Ruth, a very pretty young lady, 13 years younger than myself. It's not hard to know why I fell for her but many times I have wondered what she saw in me. Ruth had backslidden (at that time I didn't know what a backslider was) due to her marriage breaking up several years before I met her. She was a single parent with an 8 year old daughter named Jenna.

Easter Sunday morning 2004 unknown to me God began a work in my life. Ruth, Jenna and I went to Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle. It was my first time. From the moment I walked through the door I experienced the warmth and friendliness of the people greeting us. I had the pleasure of a hand shake from Pastor McConnell even though I didn't know who it was at that time. When I was told I thought it very strange that he was just dressed similar to all the other men. I was very impressed by the choir but when it came to the reading of the word and the preaching... well that was something special. I can't remember what the reading was that morning but everything about Whitewell just gripped me. We became regulars, the more I heard about Jesus the more I wanted to hear. For the first time in my life, at 50 years of age I began to hear and understand the gospel preached in all it's fullness and glory. As the weeks went past, during the appeal for lost souls I began to struggle. Weeks turned into months and the struggle became more like a battle. Part of me wanted to lift my hand but that little voice kept telling me I wasn't good enough to accept the Lord as my personal savior. Looking back I now know that I was under conviction from the Holy Spirit, but at the time I had no idea. One part of me wanted to be loyal to the catholic faith, one part was fear as to what my family and friends would say and yet I knew I must take that step of faith and be identified as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the 8th August 2004 during the appeal Ruth raised her hand to come back to the Lord and just then I knew it was a defining moment in my life. I lifted my hand and asked GOD to forgive me of all my sins and to come into my heart and my life. What a moment...Yes there were mixed emotions, from tears of happiness to an inner peace that I struggle even yet to put into words. Many times I had heard of the peace of GOD, a peace that passes all understanding, yet there and then GOD was allowing me to share with HIM his love and tender mercies.
There many things I don't understand but I know my life changed big time from that moment on.

Ruth and I were still living together, even though we tried to change our sinful ways we both knew we were not setting a good example to the unsaved. Sometimes things I say return to me as a way of correction. One such speak was on a visit to my mum who had just returned from a visit to the doctors. She told me because of the tests she had, the doctor was going to increase her medication. She told him in no uncertain terms that he was going to do no such a thing. I said what's the point of going to the doctors if you are not going to listen and take his advice. Very soon after that in church the message was about getting your house in order. I left that service with a voice in my head what's the point of going to the church if you are not going to listen and take advice from
GOD'S word. After a talk with Ruth I went back to my mum and asked if I could move in with her until such times as we could get our lives sorted out. I stayed with mum until June 2007 when Ruth and I became husband and wife. That day I received a text message from a brother in the LORD which I believe with all my heart. It was from the book of proverbs, C:3 v 5-6. TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THINE HEART: AND LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS. I stand on the promises of GOD knowing a promise is much better than an explanation! GOD has promised if we put HIM first...HE will pour out a blessing so large that there will not be enough room for us to contain it. I know the LORD has rewarded us many times over for our faithfulness. By GOD'S grace Ruth been healed from asthma and in August 2009 she was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (a form of M.E.) She was prayed for in church and anointed with oil on 9th September 2009 and yet again by GOD'S grace Ruth was healed.

I thank the Lord Jesus Christ daily for the miracle or saving my soul. 2nd Corinthians C5:17 We are told IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY: BEHOLD: ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW. Yes there are times when I fail miserably but I now know there is one GOD, and one mediator between GOD and men, the man CHRIST JESUS. Now I cling to the promise HE has given to me and to all his children... a promise that HE will never leave me nor forsake me. In Hebrews C4:16 we are told that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I would like to finish with a verse from 1st Corinthians C2:9 BUT AS IT IS WRITTEN, EYE HATH NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN, THE THINGS WHICH GOD HATH PREPARED FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM.

GOD BLESS

I pray that all who take time to read this will be truly blessed and if you don't already know the LORD JESUS CHRIST as your own personal savior BEHOLD: NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME. If you would like to begin a personal relationship with JESUS right now pray this short prayer.
LORD JESUS CHRIST I am sorry for all the wrong doings in my life. I ask you to forgive me. I thank you for dying on the cross for me. I thank you for the price you paid, for the blood that you shed to set me free from all my sins. LORD JESUS come into my life today, come in and stay with me forever, in JESUS name I pray...AMEN

Testimony by Thomas Harron

2012-02-06T20:19:00.000Z

My name is Thomas Harron and this is my testimony.

I was saved on the 19 July 1998 in the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Church Belfast, under the ministry of Pastor James McConnell a man that I have grown to respect and love over these years under his ministry.
My testimony did not begin on the night I was saved , when I look back to my youth I realize that if it had not been for GODS Grace through HIS beloved SON The LORD JESUS CHRIST I don't know where or what state I would have been in today .

As Christians we have two testimonies.

The first GODS Grace before we where saved, in that our previous life did not consume and destroy us before the glorious moment of our salvation through our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

And secondly HIS keeping GRACE in that he has promised never to leave us nor forsake us, HIS HOLY Word tells us HE is the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End, our life in and through GODS SON our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST is complete the very moment of our Salvation.

As a child I mostly grew up in a one parent family , my Dad had died at the age of only 28 I was only 3 and have no memories of him , I have often wondered what it would have been like to have my earthly father about but this was never to be .
As a child and into my teenage years I was terrified by nightmares afraid to go asleep and wakening up in the night terrified.
Up to the age of 8 me and my Mum and older sister lived with my Gran and Granada.
About this age my Mum had met another man who seemed at the time to be nice, one thing led to another and me and my Mum moved with this man to the Donegall road in Belfast, it was decided that my older sister would stay and live with my Gran and Granada.
I remember the day when I moved to Belfast we moved into a 2 bedroom terrace house with no hot water no bathroom and an outside toilet , this set the scene for the years to come , after moving to Belfast I started to attend Blythefield primary school in Sandyrow , from the outset I was bullied in the forms of physical and verbal abuse this continued in and out off school , once in primary school I thought I had got the better of another boy and challenged him to a fight after school only to find that most who would watch at one stage would join in needless to say I came out the worst .
At home after moving to Belfast things where fine at the start , and then after a time I don’t remember exactly when , my Mums partner became violent towards her , one instant I will always remember , my mums partner had become violent and my mum had locked him out of the house he then proceeded to smash the front door window and when he could not get in he went around to the back of the house kicked down the entry door and then thumped on the back door me and my mum where on the kitchen floor hiding in fear he eventually managed to break down the door and then violently attacked my mother I would have been only 8 or 9 years old at this time , these attacks on my mother continued until he eventually left leaving me and my Mum and one younger sister with another baby on the way , this man had left us in severe poverty in a house that should have been condemned due to the condition and state this man had left it in .
Coming into my teenage years after eating food I would cause myself to vomit looking back what started out looking for attention turned into something I could not control it became a compulsive action , my mum took me to the doctors and I would have told lies to make it look like it was some other type of illness , at one stage I would have been down to 4 or 5 stone in weight , the doctor sent me for a series of tests and I was even admitted to hospital , during this time in hospital I seen others with real illnesses two in particular one with severe eczema and the other with a type of cancer , even though I seen those with an illness that was real an illness they did not deserve I could not stop the charade that I had started , during this time in hospital the doctors carried out an endoscopy where they place a camera down the throat and into the stomach the results of course was that everything was normal , for many years I could not resist the compulsion to purge my stomach of things I had eaten this is now known as bulimia , this vomiting in later years eventually caused damage to the diaphragm just above my stomach where the stomach pushes through the diaphragm causing a hiatus hernia , the results of this is severe acid reflux where stomach acid travels from the stomach into the throat causing a severe burning sensation that without medicine would be intolerable .
During my teenage years bulling was always an issue in one form or another, one instance I never forget happened one day on the way home from high school I was in my 2nd year at Kelvin High school , I had started to walk up Rodent street when some younger boys where challenging me to a fight on a piece of waste ground at the corner of Roden street and Lemberg street , very soon a crowd had gathered and where taunting I remember lifting a large brick or concrete block above my head with both of my hands threatening to throw it at anyone who came near , this then changed with the brick still above my head I found myself saying that I would kill myself if anyone came near , the taunting continued I then started to hit my head with the brick continually until in a daze I fell to the ground , someone from the school came and lifted me up and led me through the crowd with a sense of concern asking me if I was all right , still dazed I walked home not telling my Mum or anyone what had happened , and at school this just gave more reasons to be bullied and verbally taunted .
Anyone reading my testimony that may have been there that day I say to you, what is done is done none of us can change the past, I hold no bitterness against you and if you are not already saved I hope and pray that you will come to a saving knowledge of GODS BELOVED SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST my SAVIOUR and my REDEEMER.
Looking back at this now I cringe at what I done, and I am amazed that my skull did not break with the force and repetition that I struck my head with that brick, and that I did not succeed in what I had done in a moment of desperation, I believe that GODS Grace through HIS Beloved SON The LORD JESUS CHRIST spared me that day from severe head damage or even death that I could have caused.
I believe that life is not ours to give or take and that the life that we are given with its ups and downs is precious and that no matter how bad things get things will always get better.
And for me things did eventually get better , my last two years at high school where spent at Larkfield high school , Kelvin high school had closed down due to low numbers of pupils , the bulling still continued but it was more verbal than physical , during these last years at school I remember one instance that I very much regret , I had been in Belfast and had purchased some heavy metal music cassettes I was sitting in front of the city hall looking at the things I had bought when an old man in a long dark overcoat came and sat beside me the old man who was well spoken and very pleasant started a conversation with me asking me about the things I had bought , after showing the man the things I had bought he then showed me the error of the music I was listening to and shared the good news of the GOSPEL with me , that day to my shame I rejected in my heart the precious GOSPEL of my now LORD AND SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST , I now realize this was one of a few missed opportunities that each of us have in this life to get right with GOD our Heavenly FATHER through HIS Beloved Son The LORD JESUS CHRIST , it would be many years after this before GOD by HIS Mercy and Grace would Save me through HIS Beloved Son The LORD JESUS CHRIST .
I left school with very poor exam results and with no real prospects, I joined the army with foolish ideals and looking for direction, disillusioned I left after only 4 months on my return I quickly found new employment as a timber treatment technician and then as a fitters helper in steam boilers or as I would now put it a human flue brush, the work was extremely dirty but it was a job for which I was grateful.
Things started to change for the when I met my wife Sanya , we where married and had children quite young but this I have not regretted , yes over the years as all married couples have we have had our ups and downs but in my wife I found someone I could trust and love someone who is more than a friend more than a wife and more than mother of our children , from the start and even before we where saved I believe that GODS hand through HIS Beloved Son the LORD JESUS CHRIST was upon me and my wife and children , I can truly say that all that I am all that I have and all I will ever be is because of what GOD has done through his beloved Son the LORD JESUS CHRIST in my life .
Before our marriage me and my wife attended the Church of Ireland in Derraghy where we where married, the Minister was the Rev GE Graham a man who was good and kind to me and my wife and children a man who I have also great respect for.
Before our first daughter was born I was made redundant in the job I had as a fitters helper, in a way I was glad to get out of that job because of the unhealthy work it was, I remained out of work for just over a year after which I went on various work placement schemes over the period of 4 years , during which I studied to obtain qualifications in engineering and electronics at Southern Itec in Newry which took 3 years, during this time I started work placement with Sam Robinson Business Systems in Lisburn.
There are many people in this life that are less than willing to give someone a chance but then there are some that will give you a chance and Sam Robinson was one of those few, this was a man that not only gave me a chance but was good to me and after the period of work placement gave me a full time job in September 1997 where I was able to build experience upon the qualifications I had gained at Southern Itec,
Before going full time with Sam Robinson Business Systems a swelling started on my right knee , in the mornings every step I would take would be accompanied with an intense pain , through the day the knee joint would generally free up through walking , this swelling along a heat generated by the inflammation started to get worse , I had various tests including x-rays , isotope bone scans and at one stage where something more serious was suspected I was admitted to Musgrave park hospital where mri and ct scans where carried out along with a biopsy , I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a condition that attacks joints in the body to a stage where mobility becomes impaired a condition for which there is currently no cure , I was around 23 years old when this started , this illness was managed through medication to reduce the inflammation in the affected joint .
While I was working for Sam Robinson Business Systems there was a work colleague named David Drysdale who was a Christian who at that time attended the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Belfast, at times David would witness to me about my need of Salvation and would lend me audio cassettes of sermons from Whitewell . One instance I remember we where both driving to a job together and as usual we got into a conversation about religion we had stopped at a petrol station on the knock dual carriageway in Belfast , still discussing religion David said to me why don't you get saved now ? , now its one thing discussing religion but when you are put in a position where you have to make a choice now that's completely different , there's a drawing in ones heart to make that decision but then for me came excuses , excuses that where more empty than needful .
On the 19th July 1998 me and my wife agreed to go a Sunday night service at Whitewell , on that Sunday morning there was a desire my heart to go to Whitewell up to this point there was always reasons or should I say excuses not to go , it was a day that I will never forget , when I arrived was amazed by the size of Whitewell and then by the size of the choir and congregation that night we sat in the balcony and listened to the service , at the end of the sermon by Pastor McConnell the Pastor gave an appeal for those who wanted to be saved and give there heart and life to the LORD JESUS CHRIST , during the appeal something came over me for which I was not prepared for nor did I expect , I was quite relaxed at the start listening to and thinking about the appeal given by Pastor McConnell and my need and want of salvation , and then my heart started beat so hard as though it was about to jump out of my chest and an uncontrollable trembling came over me , I was physically shaking from head to foot in physical and mental turmoil knowing I had a choice to make about my salvation trying to think trying to reason within myself knowing I needed to surrender and raise my hand , the congregation was singing just as I am without one plea , with so much going through my mind the most simplest gesture like the raising of a hand seemed the hardest thing to do , there had been around 20 decisions during the appeal when I surrendered and gave my heart and life to my SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST .
Driving home after the service that night I remember the sense of release I felt, it was as if something within me had died and there was no sorrow or remorse at its passing, I had an awareness of forgiveness and a new beginning.
I felt that all that that had happened to me in the past was in the past, and it was as if all that had happened had happened to someone else yes the memories remained but it was as if they where the memories of someone else.
That night as I lay in bed something happened to me that was so vivid I don't know if I was dreaming or awake , during the night I saw a hand holding a silver sword or dagger , the hand that held the dagger struck the right side of my right knee joint piercing it with the dagger , naturally I yelled with the pain of this and awakened my wife telling her that I had been stabbed in my knee trying to explain what had happened , I believe that night I was healed from the disease of arthritis , after this happened I began to stop taking the medication needed to reduce the inflammation and effects of arthritis .
About 7 years after I was healed of arthritis something started systematically attacking joints in my body , first my ankles then my knees the my shoulder , I knew that I had been healed of arthritis and I had told many people that I had been healed , once again I was referred to a rheumatologist for tests and on my first appointment explained that I had been healed of arthritis after I was saved , during this time I prayed , I would not take any arthritis medication , and what I experienced was that whatever was attacking my joints could not take hold , as one joint was infected it would recover and so would the next joint and the next until whatever it was that had happened to me had gone leaving no permanent damage to my joints .
On my last appointment when I was discharged from the rheumatology clinic I was able to tell the consultant I had been able to hike to the top of Slieve Donard in Newcastle one of Northern Irelands highest mountains with no joint problems, and since this I have climbed Slieve Donard again along with many other mountain trails, something before I was saved would have been very hard to complete.

After I was saved and over the course of the first year I was saved and after listening to various sermons , I felt an inward conviction to what I was hearing , I would raise my hand during the appeal at various meetings over that time , I know that I was saved that first night when I gave my life and heart to my SAVIOUR The LORD JESUS CHRIST , I had not backslid and I was going on in my Christian walk , but the night I was saved I was changed inside my heart , and after I was saved I was convicted within by the sermons I was hearing , I did not know how to respond to what I was hearing or what I was feeling so with my head bowed I would raise my hand surrendering to the conviction I was feeling , I now realize that my heart had been softened and I was now sensitive to GODS Holy Word .
My Wife was saved within a month after I was saved and we where both baptized some months later.
As a young Christian I had many questions , I was reading GODS Word and attending meetings at Whitewell , I also attended the new converts class at Whitewell once a month for 3 years , I found this class a great blessing and encouragement during those first years I was saved , the class was taken by Ian a man who must have a great lot of patience for I would sometimes have asked many questions , the questions I asked where not questions of debate or strife for I knew so little about the different areas of the Christian faith , there was many things I did not understand , and there was so many different opinions and views about GODS WORD and about being a Christian which was very confusing to a new convert like me , in this class the foundation was GODS Word not mans opinion and it was taught in a way that I could understand , and questions about the various subjects was encouraged for a clearer understanding of what was being taught , at the end of each class those who attended where given notes to keep for further study which I myself found very helpful .
within my heart there was and still is a want to clearly understand GODS Word, for so often we can misunderstand and misrepresent what and who we are as born again Christians, when we are saved we are not given all the answers all at once but there is a process that that each of us must go through a process similar to that of a new born child, and a process that I am still going through.

Some people say, life is what you make it, and in a lot of ways this maybe true, but life can also be what it makes you, life from the moment we are born brings many challenges, it comes with its ups and downs, some things we can control and something’s are out of our control.
As a born again Christian I have been given a second chance , I am saved , I have been forgiven , I have been healed of arthritis and bulimia and above all I have been reconciled to GOD MY HEAVENLY FATHER THROUGH HIS BELOVED SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST my SAVIOUR and my REDEEMER .
My testimony is only one of thousands at Whitewell and one of millions throughout the world who have been saved by the Precious Blood of our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, and if it was not for the testimony of our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST I and no Christian would have a testimony to share and show others the Grace of GOD through HIS beloved SON the LORD JESUS CHRIST.
In Whitewell I have witnessed precious souls being saved week after week, I have witnessed healings, and I have witnessed Pastor McConnell a man with an anointing, with integrity, with a passion and a love to see precious souls brought to a saving knowledge of our LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, and a man who loves and shows openly that he loves THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
There is a testimony I would like to leave with those who would read this and it is the testimony of the Gospel of my LORD and SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
My testimony and other testimonies are an example of GODS Grace and mercy through HIS beloved SON our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, and it is only because of what our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST has done for us that we have a testimony to share with others.
A man who I had been speaking to asked me what I had been saved from, I replied as many Christians would, I explained that my sins had been forgiven and that I was saved from an eternity in hell, he then repeated his question as if to look for a different answer, I returned the same answer but unable to satisfy the question I had been asked.
For some months from time to time I tried to reason the question I had been asked , the question what am I saved from , I did not doubt my salvation and I understood the price that my SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST had paid for my Salvation but this question bothered me .
Then one morning while I was traveling to work I found myself thinking about the same question what am I saved from , while I was reasoning this question in my mind a thought and the answer came into my mind , and the answer was that I am saved from eternal separation from GOD my HEAVENLY FATHER through HIS beloved SON the LORD JESUS CHRIST , yes I have been saved from hell the penalty of sin , yes my sins are forgiven but the love that GOD gave me and showed me in that he gave HIS ONLY SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST my SAVIOUR to die for my sins at Calvary so that I would be reconciled to GOD my HEAVENLY FATHER for all eternity shows the greatness and magnitude of GODS GRACE LOVE AND MERCY in that HE is not willing that any should perish as we read in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 ,
2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Again in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18 - 19 we read that GOD is the author of our salvation through HIS Beloved SON our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
It is only through GODS SON our SAVIOUR the LORD JESUS CHRIST that those who are saved are reconciled to GOD our HEAVENLY FATHER , our SAVIOUR The LORD JESUS tells us in John chapter 14 verse 6 ,
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Again we read in the book of Acts chapter 4 verse 12.
Ac 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Inside each of us there is a longing for something , something that we feel that we cannot reach or grasp , we try and feed this hunger with things and interests that long-term do not satisfy the hunger that we feel , some people pour themselves into employment , some into sports , some feed this hunger with drugs and alcohol , some turn to various religions , and some even become a religious Christian but are never able to commit there life to our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST and accept HIM into their heart as their own and personal SAVIOUR , so the hunger remains along with sense of being unfulfilled and the feeling of a lack of purpose and destiny .
The enemy of our soul satan is quite happy for us to fill our life with empty things that do not satisfy the eternal hunger in our soul to be reconciled to GOD through the LORD JESUS CHRIST HIS SON, our enemy is quite happy for each of us to be lost and go into eternity lost without Salvation and without hope.
There is a parable that our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST spoke of, it details the life of a rich man and a beggar, we read in Luke chapter 16 verses 19 – 31,
Luke 16:19 ¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
Luke 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luke 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Note in this parable the rich man could see the beggar and Abraham but after the judgment and in the place of
torment he never seen the face of GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER again, this parable along with other parables our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST told are clear warnings that after this life there is a final destination for both the saved and unsaved and an eternity that will be spent in the presence of GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, or an eternity of torment in hell separated forever from GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and our SAVIOUR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Christianity is not just a fire escape from the punishment of hell and its sufferings, Christianity is a new life and relationship with GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER in and through HIS beloved SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST our SAVIOUR, GODS word tells us that HE is not willing that any should perish, and there is an invitation where GODS word tells us in Matthew chapter 11 verse 28.
Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Again GODS word tells us in John chapter 6 verse 37.
Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
To those who would read this especially those who are not saved , I ask you to listen to GODS Holy Word and receive it into your heart , let him change your life through HIS beloved SON the LORD JESUS CHRIST , don't listen to the lies of the enemy , don't listen to those who say there is no GOD no hope and no purpose to this life , for those who say there is no GOD and think in there heart that their is no GOD are deceived by the enemy of our souls , it says in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 that our adversary the devil, as roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour .
Again we read in the LORD JESUS speaking says in John chapter 10 verse 10
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
In these two verses you can see the contrast, on the one hand you have sorrow and destruction and on the other, you have peace with GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and life through GODS Beloved SON the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I ask you this question what have you chosen for there is so much more to life than each of us now experience, The days preceding the return of our SAVIOUR THE LORD are coming to an end, John the Baptist said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 2. Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
when our SAVIOUR the LORD JESUS CHRIST came to this earth the first time that was the begging of the last days of this world, and now over 2000 years later we are almost at the end of those last days, as Christians we do not know the day or the hour of the return of our SAVIOUR the LORD JESUS CHRIST but the signs are clearly there that it is soon, so as John the Baptist put it, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
I ask you who read this to take warning for time is short.
As Christians we are subject to the same trials and tribulations as the unsaved, but as Christians we have a SAVIOUR the LORD JESUS CHRIST who through GODS HOLY SPIRIT is sent to help us day by day, and is there for us in time of need, and as Christians we have a direction and a destination that one day we will arrive at.
I ask you to consider carefully where will you spend eternity and in whose presence will you spend it , will you spend eternity in hell with those whom you would join in torment ?, or will you except eternal life in the presence of GOD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER through HIS BELOVED SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST , the choice is yours , and if GOD is dealing with your heart through HIS HOLY SPIRIT I urge you to surrender and accept GODS BELOVED SON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST into your heart as your own and personal SAVIOUR , ask HIM to come into your heart and save you , repent of your sins and ask the LORD JESUS to forgive you and trust in HIM to keep you , If you have come to HIM and accepted the LORD JESUS CHRIST into your heart as your own and personal SAVIOUR may I be the first to welcome you into GODS family the choice you have made is one choice in life you will never regret . Finally I would like to invite you to the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle 837 - 869 Shore Road Belfast BT15 4HS , Or you can log onto www.whitewell.com Where you can also receive live broadcasts of our services on Sunday mornings at 11:00 am , Sunday evenings at 6:45 pm and Wednesday evenings at 8:00 pm , I hope to see you there GOD BLESS .

Testimony of Pamela Gaston

2012-02-06T20:13:00.002Z

This is the story of how Jesus Christ has changed my life. It’s the story of my search for peace, contentment, satisfaction and purpose in life - a journey that started off in church trying to do the right thing, then a took me into the heart of the club scene and culminated when I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ in all His power and glory and realised that I could experience the reality of a daily walk with Him. In a sense, while I was ‘searching’ for something, all along He was searching for me and drawing me to Himself!

Beginnings
I grew up immersed in the church and was taught about God. When my best friend became a Christian I realised that if Jesus Christ came back again (as He promised to do), that I wasn’t ready to meet Him and I’d be left behind. That troubled me and soon after I asked Him to come into my life, aged 7.

I became involved in the church, doing my best to attend all the meetings, read my bible and pray, teach Sunday school etc. But looking back, my experience was one of ’trying’ - doing my best to ’do the right thing’. While I was sincere in everything I was doing, yet there was a ‘deep longing’ for more. I had no real deep sense of fulfilment, contentment or peace in my life. Eventually I became tired of the ‘stuff’ of church, grew tired of the ‘same old’ and walked away (around 1997).

The Middle Times
It wasn’t long before my search took me in other directions and I found myself walking down roads I never dreamed I’d be headed down. I became involved in the club scene and all that goes with it - binge drinking and eventually recreational drugs. I had a decent job and my ambition in life was one of ‘Work hard / Party hard’. I’d work hard during the week and look forward to the ‘adventure’ of each weekend with my mates. Life was good and I was having a ball!

Now and again I’d make a ‘guest appearance’ at church - more to keep my mum off my back than anything. Deep down I still believed (ie mentally ascented) in God, but the ‘old life’ I had was a million miles away and I was happy with that.

Over time however, what I can only describe as ‘longings’ were stirred within me. I found myself lifting my bible - but at that time in my life it was simply words on a page - it didn’t mean anything to me and I consoled myself that I could never return to that old ‘dull’ lifestyle. (I am so so thankful to God for His mercy and that He had a different plan! Now His word has become alive and real to me as I have a relationship with the Author!)

Eventually over time the appeal of my ‘partying’ lifestyle abated. While still partying hard, it wasn’t quite the same. I felt like I’d done it all, constantly reaching for a ‘higher high’ and the ‘next good time’ but somewhere deep within me was a gnawing emptiness that was growing. I’d do my best to hide it and attempt to fill it with anything I could find. (I now know it was a longing for an intimate relationship with my Creator King that I was made to walk in!) But over time I grew tired of the chase. The drugs began to mess with my mind and eventually I ended up on anti-depressants for a period, although I’d carry on as usual.

The Encounter
Now and again I’d go to hear the Glengormley Methodist Youth Choir (GMYC) as I enjoyed music. Each time I went, something happened - I now know I was experiencing the presence of God and He was drawing me. As I watched them sing, I saw something that I wanted. They had a real sense of joy, contentment, satisfaction and it was real - not some ‘put on’ religious thing. I couldn’t understand it, but it drew me. But in the back of my head, I was determined not to get to close to ‘all that’ or to those ‘church folk’.

Through a series of events which God in His sovereignty had planned, I ended up joining GMYC (a miracle in itself)! I was only in it for the music and was determined not to get too close to these ‘naïve’ Christians. But God had other plans! Each weekend as we sang, I became more aware of God - both through watching people worship God and through Him revealing Himself and His presence to me personally.

A few weeks later I was in a nite-club with friends for my birthday. Mid-way through the night I was returning to the dance floor from the restrooms to rejoin my mates when something ‘strange’ happened to me. Something made me stop at the edge of the dance floor and as I looked across the dance floor, it was as if my eyes were opened for the very first time. What I saw took me aback - I saw differently. Suddenly an exasperated feeling of ‘Is this it, Is this as good as it gets?’ came over me with such force it knocked me for six. It impacted me so deeply I had to get out of there. I went home without telling my friends (completely out of character) and had to climb in the window of my friends home, as they were still at the club! When they returned I pretended to be asleep as I was shaken inside. I now know it was God himself who opened my eyes which until then had been blinded so that I could not see the ‘light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God’ (2 Cor 4:4).

God was calling me and drawing me. In the weeks that followed there was ‘war’ going on in my head. Each weekend with GMYC, I was aware of the presence of God and I felt Him calling me - the songs we sang started to impact me and every time I heard of His love and God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me, it did something to me. But there was a struggle going on. In my mind were doubts, fears and questions. I know that Satan is a liar (John 8:44 - everything he says is a lie) and he was doing his best to put me off with thoughts of …….. ‘That’s not your thing, singing hymns and praying, sure you’ve been there before’ / ‘What about your friends - you love them so much, you can’t just ‘walk out’ on them’ / ‘You don’t know where that road would take you, you’re in control’ / ‘Sure look at you, you couldn’t ‘make it’ anyway’. The struggle was intense, yet this time was different. It wasn’t about a religion or even a belief or theory or about ‘doing the right thing’. I knew it was about coming into a living breathing, intimate relationship with the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galations 2:20).

One Sunday afternoon, tired of the struggle, from my heart, I prayed a 4 word prayer - ‘Lord, break me tonight‘. All I can say is, He did! That night at GMYC Youth Service (October 2001), Jesus Himself drew near to me - with each song I sang, my heart pounded as He called me to Himself. As a choir member spoke about the love of God, my heart melted within me. I realised that the Son of God Almighty - the one who spoke and creation came into being, the One who holds all things together by the word of His power, the One who measures the heavens with the span of His hand - LOVED ME! In spite of all the wrong I’d done. That blew my mind! And as we sang ‘I’m desperate for You, I’m lost without You’, I realised how completely lost I was without Him and how desperate I was for HIM - not for a religion, not to ‘try to be good’, not for a church, but for a person - Jesus Christ.

My prayer that night was a simple one of surrender - Lord, I don’t know where this is taking me, but here I am, take me, I’m Yours’. I was so aware that I didn’t deserve such mercy, but so humbled and all that reverberated in my mind was ’In royal robes I don’t deserve, I live to serve Your Majesty’.

A New Life
My new-found life in Christ were amazing. It was so exciting that I had found reality in a person, Jesus Christ - that even though He transcends everything yet He humbled himself and gave Himself for me - so that I could experience forgiveness, acceptance and know the reality of a relationship with Him! It was wonderful spending time with Him and in His word. Such a sense of peace, joy, contentment and a satisfaction I’d never experienced before was birthed within me and continued to grow as I walked in relationship with Jesus Christ. In Him is my purpose for being on this planet. He has literally changed my life! The more I get to know Him the more I love Him, there‘s no-one like Him! What I previously thought was living doesn’t even come close, compared to the reality of knowing Jesus Christ!

God began to do things to prove to me how real He was. Within days, a friend became seriously ill and was given days to live - we prayed and God healed her. Other instances include being referred to the City breast cancer clinic for a lump. The night before we prayed and in the morning the lump had gone. Another was finding the home I’d always wanted but was well outside my budget. Having committed it to the Lord, within 2 days, I received a phone-call offering me a gift which more than paid for the deposit!

Over and over God has proved to me just how real He is, not least in changing me from the inside out - my desires, actions, motivations, attitudes and conversation. But the best thing of all is simply getting to know Him and who He is - there is nowhere else in this world I’d rather be than in His presence.

It has been amazing to watch God working in the lives of my friends and bringing many of them to Him in miraculous ways! He has shown me that His ways and His timing are perfect.

Things have not always been easy - sometimes far from it. But He has been right with me in everything, good and bad. He has always been faithful, true and has shown me love and mercy beyond description, when I have often let Him down. I have learnt that His purposes will always prevail and its all about Him and His purposes, not mine.

At times that hasn’t been an easy lesson. On 3rd March 2008, I received a call around 8.30am with 2 words that changed everything - ‘Emily’s dead’. Emily was my cousin’s 5 year old child and a real wee star! Everyone who knew Emily had a story! She went to bed as usual the night before and never woke up again. We thank God that she asked Jesus Christ to be her Saviour when she was 4 and she’s in heaven! Its so comforting to know that we‘ll see her again.

Those were tough days for the whole family. And yet we proved the reality of ‘My grace is sufficient for Thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness’. The night before we laid Emily’s body in the ground, was one of the most special times in life - as we had prayed for angels to surround that house, I can only say, they did! As I got into the car with a strange yet very real sense of joy and peace, I put on a song which summed up that moment - ‘How can I keep from singing Your praise’. That’s His grace! Words cannot tell how sufficient HIS grace is, at the time you need it most. Of course there have been tough times, questions and searching. But He has been so faithful.

He brought me to this truth in Romans 11:36 which says ‘From Him, through Him and to Him are all things’. The source of everything I have, everything I am and every breath I take is from Him. Through Him I have hope, peace and a future. I have eternal life and right standing with God, not because of anything I’ve done, but because of the price He paid for me when He gave His life and shed His blood on the cross at Golgotha. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Cor 9:15). All praise and honour is due back to Him and ultimately one day I will return to Him!

Life is short and the only reality we have is ‘now’ - life is a vapour. Each day we make choices on what to do with the time we have on this earth - its sobering to realise the choices we make now, in particular what we do with Jesus Christ, will determine how we spend eternity. I want to use my time on this earth to love Him, serve Him and count - eternity is a long time!

The Future
He has begun something within me and has promised to carry it on to completion until He comes again (Phil 1:6). I am still learning the truth of ‘My grace is sufficient for Thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness. The story continues …..

Testimony By: Paul Wright

2012-02-06T20:10:00.000Z

I grew up in a sometimes difficult home. My mother wasn’t too well – she suffered badly with depression and was constantly plagued with debilitating migraines. She’d had a difficult childhood (mainly due to a suicide in the family – her dad) understandably wasn’t able to cope with the memories of that. My mum just fired tablets and anti-depressants into her – (to this day can’t get off them)

My dad hadn’t had a great upbringing either - as his parents divorced when he was a young child.

My dad was away a lot with his job in the military. Mum was left on her own most of the time to look after 4 kids. The marriage wasn’t good and they were always arguing from as far back as I can remember. It seemed liked my 2 brothers, my sister and I were mostly left to ourselves, although at the same time my folks certainly laid down fairly strict rules. There were some values.

My older brother and I were made to go to Sunday School, although I found it boring most of the time. I just raked around and it never really made an impact (at the time).

We lived off the Whitewell Road and my parents took us to hear Pastor McConnell a few times when we were kids at the Church up the road. And I remember going to the Church of Ireland nearby with my dad. (Again it didn’t really make much of an impression on me).

A few years on when I was 14, a girl/friend asked me to go to Whitewell on a Wednesday night – the bible class. She was a Christian – I went along….

This time I felt very uncomfortable at the meeting. I really felt under pressure, but couldn’t figure out why. What stood out was the fact that I didn’t even understand what the Pastor was talking about. How could I be feeling this way??? I didn’t tell anyone about how I felt, but the experience stayed with me.

I went to Whitewell here and there (on and off) with friends etc and sometimes on my own over the next couple of years. It was also somewhere to go instead of hanging round the street. I even put my hand up during the appeal on several occasions, but was too scared to tell anybody about it. I did feel a lot of joy in my heart for no apparent reason. (Again I didn’t really know what this meant) I didn’t pray or read the bible, so looking back it is easy to go in the wrong direction.

My dad was worried about the safety of the family with him being in the forces, so he took a job in London to move the family away from Northern Ireland.

Shortly after moving to England I got a job with a big Airline at Gatwick Airport. I was 18. It was a childhood dream come true for me. I spent 3 years working in London, but didn’t really think about the Lord with being so caught up with everything.

The family didn’t settle in England, so we moved back to N.I. – But I continued working in London and flew home on days off. Although I loved my job I was finding it difficult to manage financially and felt isolated. I remember praying and asking the Lord to help me get out of this situation I was in.

About a year and a half later I got promotion and a job at Aldergrove with the company I worked for.

When I got back home I started to go out drinking with my old school buddies to bars and nightclubs. I thought I was making up for lost time.

About 2 years later I started feeling the urge to read the Bible and decided to read a chapter every day.

My dad (who wasn’t saved) had noticed me and my younger brother both reading the bible in our bedrooms at night. (He was amazed as my brother and I didn’t get on - and rarely spoke to one another). My brother had been attending another church in Glengormley. My brother handed my dad a gospel tract about salvation.

A couple of months later my dad died of a stroke he was 49. (I was aged 22).

This was the first time I had experienced the death of a close family member. It really shook me up. I started going to Whitewell again to hear Pastor McConnell preach. I was looking for answers about life and death. But I still went out with my mates drinking. (On one occasion out in a nightclub the Lord spoke to me – He said you don’t belong here) Now I wish I’d listened to him. But I can see now that I was trying to have it both ways. Or Sitting on the fence. Still went out drinking for another couple of years.

Went to church regularly from then on but wasn’t saved. I met my then wife at 24 at a nightclub, got promotion at work etc. My Career really took off.

I got saved at whitewell when I was 26 (in Aug 95) and got married a short time later, but my wife wasn’t saved. I used to attend church on my own, but didn’t have any fellowship. I read the bible sometimes and loved attending church, but still didn’t pray or understand the importance of prayer.

I was working late a lot with a busy work schedule. Loved my job, but it was full on all the time. In my own mind I was trying to build security for myself. I’d a good job, house, money in the bank, holidays etc.

My wife and I had some problems in the marriage and grew apart. My job didn’t help. At the end of 2000, my wife left and my marriage was finally over in 2001 - I was 32. A few months after the marriage ended I was made redundant – as a result of massive cutbacks after the sept 11 attacks.

I managed to get another job working shifts at the airport, but got in with the wrong crowd - I started going out drinking again. Everything I’d worked for seemed to have gone up in smoke. I was going through a divorce, I stopped going to church. I couldn’t think straight. Everything was up in the air.

During a period of about 5 years I moved house changed jobs and finally got a divorce. I didn’t really no where I was in life. I was in the wilderness. Totally backslidden, I thought well that’s it, that’s your life. I even thought about suicide.

Just over 2 1/2 years ago I bumped into a few people from Whitewell on more than one occasion. They said I should come to church. I started reading the bible again… Within a short time I started going back to church. I was amazed to see all the regulars there.

After about a month at whitewell, pastor McConnell was preaching on the parable of the sower on a Sunday morning. I came under conviction very strongly and had to raise my hand. That was on 31st Dec 2006. I asked the Lord to plant his seed deep in my heart. I’m shocked and overwhelmed he has given me another chance.

For the last 2 ½ years I have attended Church more that I ever have in my life. I have a prayer life and read His Word regularly. Things have changed so much. Before I was hopeless, now I have hope in Jesus.

I had a wonderful experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit whilst at another church last May. I constantly feel the Lords presence in my life too. Things can still be tuff for me sometimes. But I have put my life in the Lords hands.

I heard Teen Challenge wanted to start up in Belfast a couple of years ago, and was intrigued. After a while of thinking and praying for what I could do for the Lord, I somehow got a Teen Challenge volunteer leaflet. Was thinking about asking one of the Pastors about it, but bumped into Charlaine one night and ended up talking about Teen Challenge. I attended a Teen Challenge prayer meeting in the summer of last year… My feet have rarely touched the ground since. God is good. I just want to be out there involved in winning souls for Christ. Glory to His name.

Testimony of Anna

2012-02-06T20:07:00.000Z

My grandparents were God fearing people, but they were not saved. I went to a wee mission hall run by a lovely man called Mr Lee Burn. He would round up all the children in the area and take them to the mission hall to tell them about Jesus.
I was a very shy and fearful child, afraid of my own shadow, but I felt very comfortable and drawn to Mr Lee Burn. He was a friend of my grandparents; I trusted him and loved to listen to him talk about the Bible and Jesus.
One night when I was eleven, I got saved. I’ll never forget it. I felt so happy and loved and so proud that my daddy Jesus loved me, I will always cherish the memory of that night all those years ago, it’s a pity you can’t turn back the clock.
When I was sixteen I fell in love with Michael, he was good for me and to me, we were getting married on the 28th November, exactly 1 month before my eighteenth birthday, it was all set wedding and reception all booked wedding dress ready.
My Michael went out with his friends when they had an accident in the car, and although he was in the back of the car it didn’t save his life. My Michaels beautiful neck was broken, he was taken away from me forever, and he had taken my heart with him. My life changed after that for the worse I might add, I did still love my Lord Jesus, but I rebelled and drifted slowly away.
I never blamed the Lord for his death; I just couldn’t understand it, or how I felt. I felt dead. Anyhow, I got into a new group of friends, I was lonely and began drinking and smoking totally out of control, a different person to whom I was before Michael’s death.
Time passed by, I still had Michael in my heart, but it was very badly broken, it’s funny but I knew the Lord still loved me, it only could have been him, the situations I got myself into, I hated myself and my life just wanted Michael back to waken up from a bad dream.
I was almost twenty when I had to have an operation to have my appendix out. While I was in hospital my grandfather took a severe heart attack and died. (I never called him granda I called him daddy) he was the only dad I knew apart from Jesus.
I blamed myself; I thought I could have died instead. Why was God keeping me alive? I started self harming myself after that. I slashed my wrists very badly and had to stay in hospital a few days. Three weeks after his death I was in bed with both my wrist bandaged up, I wasn’t asleep when I looked up, my daddy was standing there looking at me and smiling. He was dressed in his grey suit he got buried in. We were very close and he said to me, “You’re going to be alright love”, I never saw him again.
I wanted some normality in my life, I wanted to be married, I wanted children, and I always loved children. I met my husband and we had a daughter called Charlene. I couldn’t believe she was mine, she was beautiful. I could feel love in my heart again, for my baby.
It wasn’t a good marriage, my husband turned out to be an adulterer and wife beater. This went on for several years. My daughter was the only one keeping me in the land of the living. I started taking a few drinks again as it took the pain away for a while, I was alone, he was out drinking and womanizing.
I thought this must be my punishment for my sin; it wasn’t long before I got another beating. This time he went too far, it couldn’t be hidden. This time I had a badly broken nose and cracked ribs, as well as a black eye. I had to be kept in hospital. I wished he had killed me and set me free, but then what would become of my daughter? The doctor called the police, I didn’t press charges but I swore he would never touch me again, the doctor urged me to leave him, which I was going to.
During my marriage to him, I had four miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy and had to have my left fallopian tube removed. In the midst of all this my brother whom was ill from a brain tumour died. He was 34 years of age and left a wife and 3 small kids. Six months later my aunt died with breast cancer.
Everyone I loved was leaving my. I honestly thought there is a curse in this family. I moved back home with my grandmother who was in ill health and I looked after her. She didn’t like hospitals and looked after me as a child, now she needed me. After some time she died, well that was it. The time bomb inside my head had gone off.
I couldn’t cope with anymore heart ache and I tried to take my own life. When it didn’t work, I thought God doesn’t want me either. I was made to go see a councillor and take antidepressants; my health took a turn for the worse. There was only me and my daughter at home and she was going to Bangor Tech. I just couldn’t let my nanny go she was my soul mate, I had no one to talk to, and I needed to know if she was alright. A friend of my sister in laws took me to a spiritual church on the Lisburn Road.
They give me messages from as I thought at the time was my loved ones, even described them to a T. I know better now but at the time I actually thought there was no harm in it, and it gives me comfort to know they were all right. I went a few times.
O started praying to God again, thanking him for helping me to hear my loved ones, I thought they were nice people, they prayed to Father God and sang hymns, to be honest I believed it because I needed to for my sanity at the time. I knew no better; little did I know that God was on my case
I began to notice they didn’t read from the Bible, so when I asked them why they replied they didn’t read from any book because all religions came there and there would be too many different books to read from and they didn’t have enough time.
I asked the Lord in prayer, “”Father, if I am doing the wrong thing please give me some sort of a sign, I don’t want to do anything against your will”, and a few weeks later he did just that. One night when I was there, after the service was over a man approached me, I didn’t see him I had my back to him.
He tapped my left shoulder and asked if he could have a word with me, and we went over and sat down he told me he worked for the police and it was his first time there. He asked my questions about myself and seemed to know the answers there was something about him.
I was aware of people watching us talking and I thought they knew him, I felt odd with him. I noticed his eyes; they seemed to look into your very soul. To cut a long story short he asked me if I believed in God, I thought that was strange, I replied that I did.
He asked me if I was being tortured by the spirit of a lady with white lady and glasses, I said no as I thought he meant my nanny. He then asked me if I prayed and I said of course, what he said next didn’t sink in then but did when I went him, he told me to pray harder.
I don’t know what happened but the fear of God poured into me. My friend asked if I was alright as I went white as a sheet. I’m not surprised I didn’t feel uneasy with him but on my way home and at home the fear of God was in me. I didn’t know what was going on at the time. Please God help me what does it mean?
A few days later my cousin Dean phoned me, he is a Christian, which was unusual was as he told me he had a message for me from God. He said I was in danger and I had to stop going to that church. He said that he knew that I thought there was no harm in it, and that they were very smart people.
He told me it wasn’t my loved ones that it was the Devil to deceive me, he said the father of lies, please Anna don’t go back to that place at least until I come back from holidays and talk to you, I don’t want to upset you but please you’re in danger, and he knows you belong to God.
I told him about the man who spoke to me and he said he was a messengers from Lord, my Lord had cared enough about me to send and angel to warn me, and dean was a second warning my Lord is awesome, back slider or not he still loved me and was waiting with arms opened wide for me to repent of my sins and be forgiven. I didn’t ignore the lo0rd, I never would. I never went back to the church and I kept my word to dean as well. About a week later when I was walking up the road a woman approached me and asked if I would like to come to their church as they were starting an alpha course.
It didn’t look anything like a church from the outside, but inside was quite nice. I started going back to church and got the old feeling I had before. I could feel the love of god pulling me back to him, I wanted him more than life itself, and needed him now that void was being filled after all those wasted years of misery, I couldn’t live another day without him.
I was a walking corpse for years, a broken spirit the Lord wanted to put back together again because he loved me. I gave myself back to the Lord Jesus and not before time to. I started to feel ill again and I lost a considerable amount of weight, after numerous tests they found a tumour on the tail of my pancreas.
They said it was the size of an egg and they would have to operate, and they couldn’t tell me anymore until the opened me up. Also my spleen was swollen and could be damaged by the surgery and they were concerned about blood vessels around my spleen, in short I could bleed to death on the table. They said I was too weak at the moment to operate, and that they wanted to build me up in hospital so that I would be fit enough for surgery. They put a tube up my nose and down my throat, and hooked me up to a machine to feed me with what looked to be baby milk.
I wasn’t in the least bit worried, I knew the Lord didn’t bring me back from the depths of hell to put me back there. For he is merciful, loving and faithful to his children who love and trust him. I had great confidence and comfort in the Lord. I told the doctors this.
The morning of the operation the doctors asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with it, and did I understand the consequences if the blood vessels severed, I told them there was a wonderful god in heaven who would be there with me and who would guide their hands and nothings would go wrong.
The doctors said he wished he had my faith, I asked him did he believed in god, he looked at me for a second and said yes I do smiled and nodded his head. I was so calm I knew the Lord was with me. Before I went into hospital the Lord told me when I came out I would never smoke another cigarette and he was true to his word, that was 4 years ago and I haven’t had one smoke since, when the Son sets you free you are free indeed. Praise the Lord.
The surgery took eight hours; I was in ICU with no blood vessels severed. The operation went well and they did have to remove my spleen, and that the tumour wasn’t cancerous. How great is our God. The doctor told my mum and daughter I was right in what I said about the Lord guiding his hands, what a witness.
They said I could be a diabetic, and that I would be dependent on antibiotics for the rest of my life. I took blood poisoning a few days after going back into the ward, and had fluid in my left lung. This time I was very ill. They were drumming all sorts of medication into me and killed all my veins.
They sent for my family and said I wasn’t responding to the medications so far, they couldn’t give me any through the veins so they would have to try orally, and as I was out it how were they going to get me swallow them? They said to expect the worse over the next 24hours.
Satan wanted to kill me, but the Lord had other plans for me, as I am sitting here writing this testimony I survived. The Lord is the power over principalities, he is victorious, and I am cleansed by the blood of the lamb. Against all odds I am here today.
I am supposed to be a diabetic, and I am not, I have immune systems and have to take medication for the rest of my life. I put all my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. I haven’t taken any medication for 4 years, and the Lord have kept me germ free. I don’t get any yearly jabs, although I’m suppose to, I sit beside people coughing and spluttering and I don’t catch anything, and my doctor can prove it.
What am I saying? I am saying the Lord has out armour on me, germs just bounce off me, I have put my trust in him now for 4 years and it speaks for itself, that’s the sort of loving god we have, and against the advice of my doctor I have a better doctor, the ultimate Christ.
For anyone who is reading this and doesn’t know Jesus, I urge you not to miss out. Repent of your sins and make Jesus king of your life, he will never let you down. Please don’t leave it too late, don’t be left behind, be in the light and not in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world.

My Testimony - Richard Pinkerton

2012-02-06T20:03:00.002Z

I woke up on Friday morning with my bags packed, almost ready for my holiday which I had booked on 12th Dec 2008 to go to Thailand for 10 days during Chinese New Year (Spring Festival).

For a few days prior to Friday morning I had not exactly been as excited as I normally would have been about leaving but I couldn’t exactly explain why, even to myself. I guess that deep down in my heart I knew that going to Thailand to drink heavily, frequenting topless dancing bars was WRONG but I always seemed to try to blank that out, believing that I was just young and having fun.

Just to go off the subject a bit, I had met a young Filipino girl called Elaine just before Christmas in China (in an Irish bar that myself and the majority of my work mates would go to at weekends). Elaine and her fried Mariel are both singers in a group (very talented singers too).

I had asked this girl out on two occasions, once before Christmas and once after Christmas but she turned me down much to my disappointment. (It turns out this was simply because she didn’t know me very well or the type of person I was but after speaking to her on a number of occasions, and volunteering for singing a few times on stage, she agreed to go out with me) Just this week I had come to listen to her singing three nights, (Mon, Tue and Thurs night). Which brings us up to the present again, Friday morning.

I was having breakfast on 26th floor of the Sheraton Hotel (which is where I stay in Shenyang), and I received a text from Elaine asking me if I wanted to meet for lunch. So, of course I agreed. We arranged to meet around 12.30pm and we went for coffee and then to a Thai restaurant (of all places) for some food. We then went walking round a few Shopping Malls and took a few photographs together. We talked more than we had previously had a chance to talk in the bar and we were both asking questions about each others family and just other general things like favourite movies, music etc. I remember telling her about my brother being a Christian, she asked me if I was a Christian but I said no, and that maybe someday I could learn to be a better person…….

After that, I walked Elaine back to the Intercontinental Hotel where she stays and thumbed a taxi back to my hotel. We exchanged a few messages about how we would miss each other and I tried to cheer Elaine up by saying that 10 days would fly by and that the day I arrive back in China, I would call her right away and we could meet for lunch again.

Anyway, I raced back to my Hotel, grabbed my bags and got a taxi to the airport. I got checked through ok with time to spare and I sat anxiously waiting my flight. (when I say anxiously, I mean butterflies in my stomach because I am not too fond of flying at all). If I’m honest, its because of the frightening thought that if anything happens at 30000ft, and the plane goes down, there’s little or no chance of survival, and I was VERY afraid of dying.

I come from quite a large family, many of whom are saved and I was brought up going to church and Sunday School and taught to believe in God, who lived and then died for us all, that we might live, and who then was resurrected from the dead and ascended into Heaven to be with his Father, with the promise of returning again one day. I was not saved and had never felt convicted enough (well, maybe on a few occasions before but I never pursued this conviction and therefore still remained unsaved).

To go back to what I said previously about being afraid of dying, the reason for this is that based on what I had been taught about the bible, if a person is not saved, then he/she will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven and will be heading on a one way ticket to an eternity of flames, pain and suffering so, needless to say, you can understand why I was afraid of dying.

I boarded the flight (CA 1656, Shenyang - Beijing), seat number 23A (notice how the number 23 appears)…….My date of birth is 23/09/1981, the date I flew on was 23/01/2009, and my seat number on this flight was 23A. Spooky……

Anyway, I geared myself up for take-off and we left the runway right on time at 5.10pm, the flight time being around 1hr 15 mins. I remember thinking, “how am I going to fly the next flight (which was 4.5 - 5 hrs) if I’m already like a nervous wreck on the short flight”. The flight was a little rocky to start which sent my pulse racing a few beats higher than it already was but the last 20 mins of the flight were completely nerve-wracking for me. I thought we were goin down for sure.

There was a very pleasant Chinese girl sitting beside me who, when she saw my face turning the colour of a pint of milk, was very helpful in trying to give me reassurance and make me feel better and I thanked her afterwards and helped her off the flight with her hand luggage.

I remember thinking about God a lot on this flight (whilst practically having a cardiac arrest) and asking him to deliver me safely to Beijing, but I also remember wanting to talk to my brother, who was recently saved a few weeks before Christmas 2008. I wanted to talk to him so much!!! When I got off the flight and made my way through the transfers for International connecting flights for the next leg to Bangkok, all I could think about was God and how I needed to be saved, how I wanted to talk to my brother so much but was a little reluctant to phone him because I thought he might think I was being a bit daft and also how much I didn’t want to go to Bangkok anymore. (In retrospect I believe that was the devil at work - he didn’t want me to call my brother because he knew that today was the day when I was possibly going to be saved).

I sent my brother a text to tell him how rough the flight was and how I didn’t know how I was going to handle the next one to Bangkok. He text me back to say how scary flying can be...and added a little comment to say “when you aren’t saved that is”…….which then prompted me to reply “Will you ask the big man to keep an eye out for me?”

He then responded “I already have kid, but I also asked him that you would experience something that would change your life and bring you to him. Maybe this is it brother.”

To this I replied “Well its very close, that’s for sure”

My brothers next response to my text totally blew me away and I can remember my eyes filling up with tears when I read it, walking through Beijing airport on my own, trying to find departure gate E51.

The text message read. “Well then you’ll be fine because he won’t let you go kid”

When I read those words, I broke down and started talking to God out loud and saying “Lord…….Please DON’T let me go” “I need you, and I need you to take control of my life because I just don’t want to live like this anymore!” Right there at that moment is when I made my peace with God. How fortunate I am to be one of the lucky ones to receive him.

After I composed myself a little (because I’m sure some people were wondering why I was all teary eyed) I told Raymond I didn’t really want to go to Bangkok anymore and I didn’t know what I was going to do when I arrived there and I asked Raymond if I should turn around and go back to Shenyang, at which point he phoned me and told me that God was working on my heart and he was taking away the appetite for the things I once enjoyed. He told me that it doesn’t matter what things I have done in my life, that if I ask God into my heart, all will be forgiven.

I told Raymond that I had packed the Bible he had bought me for Christmas in my hand luggage (I always used to take the New Testament my Grandmother had bought me a couple of years before EVERYWHERE I travelled, and I ALWAYS packed it in my hand luggage but I took the Bible Raymond and Michelle got me for Christmas this time) and he said he would text me a few verses and things to read and think about. (Now remember that last sentence because it will become important later in this story)

Anyway, I had around 30 minutes before I was due to board the plane, and I had a decision to make………was I going to board that flight to Bangkok or was I going to turn on my heels and take my chances in Beijing (even though its Chinese New Year and the hope of finding a flight, train or even hotel to stay in were pretty slim because so many people travel during this week, the biggest festival week in the Chinese calendar). Raymond got off the phone and said he would phone back when he got a chance.

Decision time……..and thinking about it now, the choice was easy because the choice had already been made long before I even boarded the first flight to Beijing, and it was the right choice, I just hadn’t realised that yet - I was never going to board that flight quite simply because God had already decided he didn’t want me there. Praise the Lord!

While all these texts were flying back and forward between me and my brother, I also had a feeling that I should text Elaine back in Shenyang. I told her that the flight was really rough and that during the flight I couldn’t stop thinking about God, and told her it felt like God didn’t want me to go to Bangkok. I asked her if this sounded stupid to her but she responded by saying that it didn’t sound stupid at all, that it sounded great, and she told me to follow my heart….that it would lead me in the right direction. How right she was!

There’s a reason God placed Elaine in Shenyang and that we met and become fond of each other...that was another good reason NOT to go to Bangkok, so that I could spend more time getting to know Elaine.

I guess this was playing in my mind too, not just the fact that in my heart of hearts I knew going to Bangkok was wrong, but the fact that I had met a lovely young Filipino girl in Shenyang and we both liked each other………why should I go and ruin this good thing by hanging around in topless disco bars and clubs for the next 10 days.

So, I turned on my heels, not really sure where I was going to go next but all I knew was, I was NOT getting on that flight and that was the main thing. I made my way back to where I came through security when I spotted the Air China Business lounge, (Being a Star Alliance Gold card holder, I had free access to this business lounge) so I decided to go there in the hope that someone would be able to help me find out how I could get back through airport security and see about getting back my checked baggage before it was too late.

The two girls in the lounge were very helpful, they let me onto a computer terminal where I was able to cancel my reservation with the hotel in Bangkok so that I could minimise the amount of money they could charge to my credit card. The girls then walked me back to security where I had to have my passport visa re-stamped to confirm that I was not leaving China but in fact staying there. I thanked the girls and then made my way to the air China baggage reclaim desk to try to retrieve my baggage.

Alas, I was too late, the bag had already boarded the flight to Bangkok so I then had to fill a form out and was told to return the following day to collect my bag. When I left the Air China desk I wasn’t sure where to go next but I managed to spot a Tourism kiosk where I enquired about making a hotel reservation anywhere in Beijing for the night. Thankfully, the girl told me there was a vacancy in a Chinese hotel not far from the airport and that if I booked it there and then, they would run a free shuttle-bus service which would take me to the hotel. Fantastic I thought, just what I need!

I paid 100RMB (equivalent to £10 British money) as a deposit and then set on my way. I had to wait around 30 minutes for the bus but I didn’t mind because I then went to the 4th floor of Terminal 3 where I was earlier told that I may be able to see about getting a refund on my flights which were scheduled back to Shenyang from Bangkok on 2nd February. Unfortunately, they were unable to help me and said that I must speak to the travel agent where I originally booked the flights which is on the 4th floor of my hotel in Shenyang. I will hopefully sort this out upon my return.

Anyway, I boarded the bus and headed for the hotel. I had to pay another 1200RMB (£120) to get into my room, which was more than I had been previously told but it turned out, some of this room charge was for security deposit (in case anything was broken or stolen from the room) and I would receive some money back upon checking out in the morning (420RMB in fact) so it worked out that the room cost £88 for the night.

When I got to my room, I was texting Raymond………he said he would be busy for about an hour because he had to pick up the kids from school and things so I decided to set up my laptop computer and check my emails. It turns out that the room had no wired or wireless internet connection, (£88 per night room with no Internet connection!) Are you avin’ a laugh??

So I went back to my hand luggage and decided to lift out my Bible to have a read through the book of Romans which the bro had previously said was a great place to start. Here’s where things get even more spooky……..My Bible was GONE!!! Nowhere to be found…….I immediately thought to myself, there’s evil at work here….and I remembered back to what Raymond had said about the devil and how he works……he told me Satan would pull out all the stops to ensure that I couldn’t get close to God, he said he would try everything in his power, he would play dirty, he would hit below the belt and just do anything to prevent me coming to God…….And he was right, because I was SO sure I had packed my Bible in my hand luggage. I have no memory of lifting it back out or even packing it in my main checked baggage. It still remains to be seen where that Bible is. I’ll find out when I get my baggage back or when I return to the hotel in Shenyang.

I immediately text my bro to tell him this and he was shocked but knew this was the devil at work. He told me to say “Get behind me Satan, the name of Jesus Christ my Saviour”, which I did…….several times!!

Then I remembered that when I first arrived in China I had downloaded the full King James Bible onto my laptop so Satan had tried to prevent me from reading the Bible but the Lord had a contingency plan. 1-0 to God! Halleluiah! So I proceeded to read my way through the book of Romans while I was waiting for my brother to call.

A few bible verses stuck in my head as I read down the pages. The 2 verses in particular were……

Romans Ch 3 vs. 23 (again we see the number 23)

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

The next verse which stuck in my head, would you believe it…..

Romans Ch 6 vs. 23 (there really is something about this number today)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This number 23 was sticking in my head all the time now and I text the bro to let him know.

He phoned shortly after and talked to me, where I broke down again and cried and I just wished my brother could’ve been there beside me to give me a hug. He told me to write down a few bible verses to get me started.

Would you believe it, the first two verses he told me to write down were the same 2 verses I have just told you about. How’s that for spooky eh??

Anyway, we talked for another 45 minutes or so on the phone going through Bible verses and just talking to each other the way two brothers should talk. My brother and I have always been very close; yes we have had disagreements and arguments (some verbal and some physical) in the past but I have no doubt this will bring us even closer together and for this I am eternally thankful.

Just to go through a bit of what we talked about, I had previously been to Thailand in 2005 with some friends from work. I’ll not go into detail but I spent 2 weeks getting drunk and visiting strip bars and sex shows which is all too common in Thailand. I knew deep down I was doing wrong but again, I blanked it out and told myself it was all a bit of fun. But during my flight home I was my usual nervous self and I remember saying to the Lord “Lord, if you deliver me home safely to my family, I promise you I will never visit that place ever again”.

And I guess yesterday was a little test that God had set for me, to see if I would actually go through with it and break my promise to him……..How fortunate am I and how glad I now am that I didn’t break my promise to God. In passing this test God has shown mercy on me and has embraced me as one of his own. What a feeling!

It was getting very late, around 2.30am so I decided to give my brothers ears a bit of peace and quiet and head off to bed but before I went to bed I asked the Lord to make me strong in my faith, I told him I am only a beginner, a novice if you like, and that I’m not sure how to pray properly but I have no doubt he will teach me and make me strong.

Raymond’s fiancée Michelle sent me a message to officially welcome me “into the family” and told me to read psalm 121, telling me it is aimed at newly saved children. I read this before going to bed and I thanked Michelle for her prayers because I know I’ve had a lot of people praying for me lately, not least my brother and Michelle, but my grandparents and my good friend Stephen Moore, a born again Christian from Bangor, who was in China with me until half way through 2008, and who I am very fond of. Can’t wait to tell him all about this magnificent experience of mine. He’ll be overjoyed I’m sure.

The thoughts that kept running through my head before I drifted off to sleep around 3.30am were the thoughts of the words in the text message from my brother which broke me when I was all alone in Beijing airport.

“Well then you’ll be fine because he won’t let you go kid”

Its totally amazing how such a simple sentence can move someone in such a way that their life takes a complete U-Turn and a complete change of direction. Thank you Raymond and everyone else who have taken time to pray for me. I am forever thankful.

Just a note to finish on, as I am sitting here in Kenny Rodgers “Roasters” steakhouse in Beijing Airport again today (24th Jan 2009) waiting to collect my baggage from the returning flight from Bangkok, a thought has entered my head about a passage from the Bible which I remember from church as I was growing up and also from listening to my grandparents. I ran a search on this phrase “I go to prepare a place for you” using this downloaded Bible I have on my computer, not actually knowing where this passage came from in the Bible.

The verse(s) which appeared were from the book of John, Ch 14 versus 2 & 3 (notice the numbers again??) Are these numbers a mere coincidence??? I think not.

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Now I know God has prepared a place for me and I couldn’t be happier. Its an amazing feeling and my stomach is still turning somersaults and I’m sure it will continue to do so for a while yet.

In closing, there are a few people I’m going to start praying for and I am doing so right now as I sit here typing. Of course first and foremost I will be praying for all my family who are not yet saved but also some of my best friends, people who I know would do anything for me as I would do for them. To mention but a few Olly, Ryan and Norman. They are good people who have hardened their hearts (in the same way I had done), but you know, for all my prayers, these people must make a decision THEMSELVES as to where they want to spend eternity. Now it may take something to break them, the way I was broken yesterday, and I pray to God that he touch their hearts the way he has touched mine.

I now know where I’ll be spending eternity…………………………...do you?

Testimony of Rebekah Evans

2012-02-06T20:01:00.002Z

I grew in a Christian home, and sent to every imaginable
childrens meeting. So I knew I needed saved from
my sin. But deep down I knew that my speech, my actions,
they did not resemble the attributes that a christian should have.

Through an invitation to Whitewell Youth, I came to know
Jesus. There I seen people, of similar ages to myself. Who
passionatly loved the Lord Jesus. I wanted that assurance too.
After a few months of "fighting" against God, I finally gave in.
In Autumn 2003, Jesus took me, A wretched sinner, to be His
Child, What A Saviour!

"Jesus saught me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.
He to rescue me from danger, interposed His Precious Blood''.

Friend no matter what your situationj, or need is, Jesus will accept
you if you cfall on Him. In truth, repent of your sin that separates you
from a Holy God. And believe on His son's sacrifice on the Cross.

Testimony of Francine Graham

2012-02-06T19:59:00.005Z

I went from living for the weekend to living for Jesus within a matter of moments and I would like to take a short time to explain how God turned my life from a path of destruction that I wasn’t even aware I was on to the life God had planed for me since the beginning of time.

I was brought up in a stable home. My mum was Roman Catholic and my dad was Church of Ireland. Because my dad was not attending church, I was baptised as a baby into the Roman Catholic Church. I went to First Holy Communion, confessions and Confirmation when growing up as all the kids from my school did. I was never encouraged to read the bible and just took it for granted that because I wasn’t a really bad person that I would go to heaven and that was it, I had no relationship with Jesus and had no interest in having a relationship with someone who may or may not exist as far as I was concerned.

When I was 16 years of age I started to experiment with alcohol and drugs. This became a regular occurrence for the weekend and the drugs progressed from a bit of cannabis to e’s and eventually cocaine. These all produced a false love and feeling of security. It wasn’t unusual for my group of friends and I to drink five times a week, but there was nothing I loved more than a Saturday night at a nightclub with plenty of drugs and alcohol! I was working full time and had a car and so thought I was ok, perfectly normal but if the truth were told I was spiralling out of control slowly but surely. By the age of 20 I was dealing drugs to my friends, not to make a profit but I really thought I was doing them a favour because I thought I had found out what life was all about. I hadn’t! Not long after God would reveal what life was really all about! Hebrews 11 v 25 tells us “He (Moses) chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Here the bible tells us sin is pleasurable, but it is also saying it is fleeting or short-lived, the pleasure will soon run out and then you are just left with sin.

I met Neil when I was 20. I was working in Massereene Golf Club where he was the Assistant Golf Professional. We were friends and he knew very well what my life consisted of. He had been brought up in a born again Christian home but had been backslidden for a number of years. We went out with each other for a year and it was a miracle we stayed together as it was very rocky relationship as you can imagine with my lifestyle. One day I asked Neil if he thought I was going to heaven, he replied “No!” I went mad!! Then I asked him why. He said I had no relationship with Jesus, sin was sin in God’s eyes and there was nothing to make me different to anyone who had committed adultery or murder. I didn’t like this, but as Romans 3 v 23 tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”

We broke up not long after due to the fact that Neil knew he couldn’t marry a non-Christian and be unequally yoked as the bible says. Now this didn’t mean Catholic and Protestant as I first thought, it meant a Born Again Believer in Jesus Christ and a Non-Believer. I was devastated. I didn’t know it at the time but God was beginning a mighty work in my life and after speaking to a Christian friend I became very curious about salvation through Jesus Christ who had died on a cross to bear away my sin. A few weeks later Neil rang me out of the blue and asked me to go to Whitewell on Sunday 11 January 2004. I went and Pastor McConnell was speaking on Samson and Delia being unequally yoked, little did I know that I was there by divine appointment! When the Pastor made the appeal I felt that he was standing in front of me on the balcony telling me and only me that I needed to asked God to forgive me of my sin and get right with Him and then I could be sure I was going to heaven. Romans 10 v 9 says “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.” I raised my hand that night and got saved and began the life God wanted me to have.

Since then I have been alcohol and drug free, but more than that, I have had my sins forgiven and have the assurance that I will have a place in heaven when Jesus comes again. The Lord has changed me and moulded me and at times it has been tough going but Romans 8 v 28 assures us “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose.”

Neil and I are now married and are involved in Teen Challenge Belfast in the hope that God will use us to reach the lost, as I was, and fulfil the perfect will of God for our lives.

“’For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.” Jeremiah 29 v 11

Francine Graham

Testimony of Michael Frazer

2012-02-06T19:59:00.002Z

If one could write out God’s grace to a sinner such as me this computer could not hold it. When Jesus Christ entered my heart at the age of eight, a sinner moved from light into darkness. Such a testimony may appear mundane to others, I was not steeped in drugs or alcohol, or exposed to the horrors of the world, but I knew that I was a sinner, and there is only one name given under heaven that can save. With childlike faith I knelt at the bottom of my bed and gave my heart and my sin to the saviour. From that day in my bedroom, the Lord Jesus Christ has been my friend and my leader, and he knows the way, for he is it. Joshua 1:5 says that “Just as I was with Moses so will I be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you”. And so my testimony is this; that he never has left me, nor forsaken me.

Testimony of Mark Anderson

2012-02-06T19:57:00.002Z

To ‘testify’ simply means ‘to bare witness to’ or to declare that something is true. In the next few paragraphs there are several things that I want to ‘bare witness to’ about my saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Firstly, to anyone reading this short testimony, I want you to know that Jesus is very real! I want to testify that He is alive after the power of an endless life and that He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever! The Lord Jesus of the bible, that changed so many lives then, still moves, still saves, still heals, still blesses, still undertakes for His people and still changes lives today. I know because He has changed mine.

Just over eight years ago, I walked through the doors of The Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast. I was very disillusioned with life, with empty religion and certainly with church in general. I was desperately seeking reality and at a Sunday night gospel meeting, I found it!! As I sat in my seat tucked away in the upstairs gallery, I felt very conscious that I was in the presence of God. Deeply convicted that, my life was empty, that I wasn’t right with God and that if I was to die that night I was heading for a lost eternity, I surrendered my life to Christ. Just as strongly as I had been convicted by the power of God I was embraced by His love. My life was turned inside out. Filled with new desires, new goals and surrounded by new friends I soon found not only a place to worship, but a spiritual home.

Before long my mother and father had seen such a change in my lifestyle that they too wanted to come along and see ‘what was going on’ for themselves. Sure enough at another Sunday night gospel meeting they too gave their lives to the Lord. Today they are still going on with Him and are involved in different ministries in the church. Friend, the gospel is still the power of God onto salvation and The Lord Jesus still changes lives today!!

Not only can I testify that He saves, but also that He keeps. The God that I serve doesn’t cut and run in the bad times or only show up for the glory when all is well. Although He is the Lord of all glory, He was willing to lay aside His reputation and come and stand beside a sinner like me and He has stayed there ever since. My God has walked with me through the hard times, through the confusion, pain, weakness, mistakes and even the failures of my life. He is no fair weather friend. When I needed someone to look after me, to lead the way, I have found Him to be my Shepherd. In times when I have felt alone, He has been the friend that sticks closer than a brother, a very present help in time of need. When you need Him friend, he will always be there! I know that I have a heavenly father who loves me with an everlasting love. Love that would send His son to die for me on a cross at calvary because he would rather die than let my soul be lost! He would rather die in suffering and shame than live eternity without me!! Surely, greater love hath no man than this! When there was no eye to pity and no arm to save, His eye pitied and His arm saved. On the cross, the Lord Jesus took all of my sin and shame. All of the curse of sin that was on my life and all the debt that was to my name before God He bore away. In its place He gave me His righteousness, His goodness and His blessing. The sword of Gods wrath, which I deserved, was sheathed in the bosom of Jesus at Calvary and now I am free!!! God is not angry with me any more. Heavens ear is open, heavens resources are available in time of need. God is with us and for us and the everlasting arms are underneath and roundabout. He promised to never leave me nor forsake me, and he hasn’t. He said that none would pluck me out of his hand and none has. His word declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus and I believe it! So no matter what is round the corner for my life, it doesn’t matter because Jesus is already there.

The Lord is not just satisfied with saving my soul, setting me free and making me whole. He always goes the extra mile to bless us. His word states that he has plans for my life, plans for good and not for evil. Plans to prosper me and to give me hope and a future. Each day now has meaning and a purpose as we walk through this life into eternity. He is my hope, Christ in me the hope of glory!

If you have taken the time to read this far friend, thank you for bearing with me! But, can I leave you with a few questions of my own? You have heard my testimony, my experience, what I know to be true. What about you? Do you know Him? Are you right with God? Can you say with the hymn writer, it is well with my soul? If The Lord Jesus was to return today, where would your soul spend eternity? I know these are questions that challenged me. The Lord Jesus loves you deeply friend and wants to bless you and to help you. Its my prayer that as you mediate on the things you have read, that you will let this great saviour, this wonderful God into your own heart and life and have a ‘testimony’ and an experience of your own!

God bless

Testimony of Rachel Fleming

2012-02-06T19:55:00.002Z

My name is Rachel and I just want to tell you what the Lord Jesus christ has done in my life. I wasn't brought up in a christian home even though I was sent to Sunday school, throughout my childhood I seen a lot of things that a child shouldn't see but I believe God had his hand upon me even then. I came to the Lord just before I turned 13 and I thank God that He saved me when He did, I don't know where I'd be today if He hadn't. He's a wonderful Saviour and He's blessed me abundantly..through the Castle Lane Outreach (Belfast) being a sunday school teacher and even just witnessing for Him. I just love Him and want to tell you if you don't know Him as your own and personal Saviour you don't know what you're missing. Don't leave it too late..tomorrow is promised to no man.

Testimony of Jonny Cambell

2012-02-06T19:54:00.002Z

My name is Jonny Campbell and 3 years ago, when I was 12 I became a born again Christian! Here’s my story…

I grew up in a non-Christian home although my granny is a Christian, she took me to church with her most Sundays and I was a regular member of Sunday school, BB type groups and youth groups. I had always called myself a Christian yet really deep down I did not know Jesus as my own saviour.

By the time I got to secondary school I had got into the wrong company, left Sunday school and was living a life foe myself. However I still attended my BB style group “the Caravaners” in the Nazarene church and would call myself a Christian to most adults.

When I was 12 I was in a classroom when a Christian teacher asked about who were Christians a mate of mine said, “yea Jonny’s a Christian” This made me really embarrassed but yet left me wondering about all the childhood Sunday school classes and Bible camps I used to attend. God was bringing to my memory the gospel I had learned. It’s true when God said, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) The gospel seed planted in me years ago was starting to grow; I decided to go to the Whitwell Church where I had gone with my granny as a boy. ? I went there for a week or two and one Sunday night in July 2004 I gave my life over to Jesus Christ.

Since then my life has been totally changed. I have been saved from death, Hell, the power of sin and one day the very presence of sin! I have been given the greatest power/privilege to become a child of God “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12) Jesus Christ has given to me a life, a life full of passion, excitement and joy but I must never depart from the fact that he took my punishment on the cross of calvary. “He took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone”

Jesus Christ has saved me – he can do the same for you!

Testimony of Jimmy and Mairie Moore

2012-02-06T19:53:00.002Z

The problem of eternity had never bothered Jimmy Moore.
With a wife and eight children to care for, the present held
more than enough to occupy his mind. Despite her huge capaccity for
kindness the generosity, his wife Mairie often found it difficult
to cope when stress or trouble made it difficult. Unlike
Jimmy, the young mother took a more pessimistic view of
circumstances, leaving her husband to shoulder much of the
strain when things went wrong.

Affectionately, Jimmy recalls how his 'wee woman
preferred to pull the bedclothes over her head and wait for
the problems to disappear! However,Jimmy had his own particular
weakness and by his own defination had become 'half a pint
away from alcoholism'. Whatever their ups and downs, the
couple enjoyed the blessing of a close, loving relationship.

Unlike her husband, Mairie had no interest in any
entertainment thatrevolved around the drinking culture of
Northern Ireland. For the mother of eight, the domestic realm
presented suffient doses orf drama! with no obvious vice, her
life didn't appear to need any drastic reformation. Yet when
Mairie and her friend decided to go along to hear Pastor
McConnell preach the gospel, Jimmy had no idea how much his
'wee woman' would change.

With the sermon over, Jim McConnell ended the evening
with a familiar but solemn invitation. Looking around the silent
congregation, he waited patiently for another soul to come
forward and grasp the opportunity for salvation. Mairie was
among those who responded to the call. she may have being
small in stature, but from the moment she accepted Christ,
Mairie Moore became a mighty woman of God.

Although he didn't know it at the time, his wife was about
to teach Jimmy a lessonthat would not only give sustenance for
life but strength in the face of death. Jimmy reflects: " Mairie's
life revolved around me, the kids and our home. She had no
bad habits. From the moment she was saved, it was easy to tell
she had met the Lord. I could also tell she wanted e to know
Him too! She wanted our lives to be in harmony and united
in Christ but, at the time, it was the last thing I wanted!"

Ever since 'the wee woman' became a christian, Jimmy
Moore received an intensive course of bible therapy. Everyday,
without fail, she appied the gospel message, hoping it would
penetrate her husband's barrier of disterested apathy.
Eventually, in a bid to please her and maybe earn a little respite,
Jimmy agreed to tag along to Sunday sevice at her
church.

But whatever peace Jimmy ha in mind, he hadn't
bargained for the spiritual turmoil that Pastor McConnell's
message ignited in his heart. By the time the sermon ended,
the father of eight was in no doubt about his position before God.
Troubled by alien and unfortable feelings, Jimmy
decided there was only one thing to do, he would never set foot
in the place again. All he had to do was come up with a suitable
excuse for Mairie!

By the following Sunday, Jimmy still hadn't found a good
enough reason to miss church. As the minutes ticked away, his
stress levels rose. Agitated and restless, he tried another ploy
that he felt sure would work. Chuckling, he remembers how in
desperation he tried to provoke an arument: "when mairie
served dinner, I grumbled and moaned about hard potatoes,
hoping she would retaliate and the argument would get me out
of going to church!" But his wife knew Jimmy Jimmy better than he
thought. Instead of harsh words, she sympathised with his
plight and merely offered to exchange plates. Uncomfortable,
but resigned to the ssituation, Jimmy got his coat and
accompanied Mairie to hear the words that would revolutionise
his life.

Whatever resolve Jimmy maintained throughout the
praise and worship, it bega to waver as james McConnell
preached abut God's love for mankind. As the evening drew to
a close, Mairie's husband was once agian incomplete turmoil.
Standinding on the brink of eternity, he didn't know which way to
turn.

Suddenly the pastor pointed into the crowd and shouted
Jeus loves you!'> then with a careful aim, he fixed his next
missile directly at Jimmy Moore's heart. Pastor McConnell
looked directly at me and said "Jesus wants you". It was an
incredible moment." Finally, the message struck home. Jimmy
knew what he had to do. Like his wife, he had been won for
Christ and raising his hand in acknowledgement of his descision,
Jimmy Moore embraced salvation.

Like many others, the Snday joy at finding Christ was
eclipsed by Monday's fear of confessing Him. After a lifetime of
working in a male-dominated emviroment, he knew what to
expect from the attitude of his cooeagues and didn't relish the
prospect of certain ridicule. Even his boyhood talent for
calligraphy seemed at odds with the macho image and never
seemed an appropriate subject of conversation.

Jimmy was convnced that news of his faith would pose an
even greater threat to their idea of masculiinity. But when the
tea lady, a woman from a Roman Catholic faith, joked
about his weekend entertainment, jimmy was presnted with
the ideal opportunity to reveal his new life and status in Christ.
Taking a deep brerath, Jimmy plunged into story of how,
instead of an evening at the pub, he'd been to church and found
Christ. Whatever he exected, amused disbelief was the only
result. as a new believer, confessing Christ required courage,
but when it came to bravery, it was his 'wee woman'who
taught Jimmy most.

Asthe couple continued to worship together,
their rellationship developed an unexpected dimension. United
by Christ, they fostered as even closer, indestructible bond
of love and trust. Their marriagehad always been strong but,
as Christians, they began to appreciate the value of such a
blessing. Instead of separate interest, husband and wife shared
a new life that revolved around worship andlearning more about God.

Just asMairie had been instrumenal in bringing her
husband to hear the gospel, Jimmy also played a role in pointing
another soul to Christ. However,instead of quiet determined
pleading, Jimmy wrapped the message in song! He goes on: "I
woke up one morning with apopular tune, and 'and I love you so'
whizzing round in my head. Slowly, I started to replace the
lyrics with my own".

By the time he got to work, Jimmy wasd still humming but
as he looked out over Divis mountain, he noticed something
that added a note of praise to his tune. "I saw three huge masts
that, against the darkness of the morning sky, looked a lonely
sight. The outline reminded me of Calvary and before, I
realised what was happening. I was singing about the nail
prints in His hands, thorns upon His brow, the wound upon
His side, put there by you and me."

At the end of theday, one of Jimmy's workmates sidled
over and revealed that the tune was his brother's favorite but
he'd never heard the same lyrics. Then, glancing round to
ensure that he wasn't overheard, he confessed his secret. He wrote
poetry!

Sim months later, a woman at church presented Jimmy with
an envelope containing a surprise gift. Perplexed, he'd opened the
package to find a booklet containing his colleague's poems, one
of which had been crafted around Jimmy's impromptu and
unusual lyrics. With amazement still evident in his voice,
Jimmy explains: "I'd left work six months earlier and was
totally surprised as well as delighted by my friend's gift. One
of the poems was about me and the song I sang that dull and
dreary day. Immediately, I asked the sister for the guy's
address and then I sat down and wrote a few lines." A few
weeks later Jimmy received another envelop. It too contained
a booklet but, to Jimmy's delight, instead of a collection of
poems, he was reading his friends testimony.

Over the years, like all couples, Jimmy and Mairie had
known their share of trouble. Family life had brought the usual
portion of happiness as well as tragedy. Jimmy, the stronger of
the two,, had borne much burden while his wife relied on
him for strength.

However, the news tha Mairie was suffering from caancer of
the throat. was a painful shock for them both. But if husband
and wife shared the heartache of her diagnossis, they
participated equally in the enormous joy at her healing. For ten
wonderful years, they enjoyed the blessing of both health and
haappiness. When symptoms returned, neither knew what lay
ahead.

Jimmy's meeting with Mairie's consultant must have
seemed like a repeat of some old movie. the hospital
surroundings, office chairs, and even the diagnosis all looked
familiar. the only jarring note was the expresson of
hopelessness on the doctor's face. This time, there was no
remedy or treatment on offer. It didn't matter how sympathetic
his words, the specialist was saying that Mairies cancer was
terminal and Jimmy received the message loud and clear. His
'wee woman' was going to die. Fear and pain mingled as Jimmy
struggled to compose his feelings. He knew hathis wife had
asked for honesty and the medical profession and that the
doctor was on his way to break the news.

Struggling to regain composure, he made his way toward
the room where his wife now nursed the awful knowledge.
Jimmy's heart broke, both for himself as well as their family. At
that moment his concern was for Mairie, who had never handled
any crsis well. However, just before entering the room, the
consultant approached and asked for a quick work word. Jimmy
dreaded to hear of his wife's panic and fear but hte reaction the
Doctor described was not what either man expected.

Jimmy goes on: "Tye doctor was shaking his head in
amazement and told me that he had never witnessed such
bravery in the face of death. he told me how, when learning of
such advanced cancer, even big men had to be sedated. He just
couldn't fathom Mairie's calm reaction." Even today Jimmy
finds it difficult to relate the scenethat met his as he
entered the room.

"There sitting in a huge chair was my 'wee woman". A
young nurse had her head in Mairie's lap and my wife was
comforting her. It should have been the other way round!
When she saw me, the young woman got up and left and I
crossed to my wife and took the nurse's place."

As time passed, Mairie's condition deteriorated and it
became clear that, instead of healing, God had decided to take
her home to heaven. In the intervening time, husband and wife
shared many precious moments as they strolled through the
memories of a lifetime, sifting, smiling andsometimes laughing
at various events that had woven the fabric of all their
history.

Eventually, as the disease advanced and her time on earth earth
grew short, Mairie slipped into a coma. Still Jimmy continued
to sit by her bed and talk. He reminded her of the beautiful
place she was going to live, the sight her eyes would see, and
and the sounds that she would hear. Most of all, Jimmy talked about the
Lord who was waiting to greet her.

In the remaining moments of their time together, Mairie
and Jimmy shared one more smile before she left: "I kept telling
Mairie to squeeze my hand when she heard me. I talked to her
about many lovely things but, when I asked if she knew what
would happen when we met up again, I know for sure she heard
me! Raising her eyebrows, Mairie let me know she was
laughing when I joked that we'd have a row!" The affectionate
tease, no doubt, tugged at Jimmy's heartstrings, neverthe less,
the good-natured happiness that had characterised their \lifetime, endured right to the end.

Only those who have lost a love one can apprciate the
lonely, grief-filled hours that followin the wake of death.
Jimmy was devastated. Yet the grieving widower was to
discover an unexpected source of encouragement. Throughout
her illness, Mairie had endured many nights when the pian denied
her the comfort of sleep. It was during these dark hours that
Mairie Moore penned what she described as 'Love Letters to the
Lord'.

As Jimmy read the lines, he was privileged to trace his
wife's jounry toward a deep and intimate knowledge of the
Lord. In her final months, the bond between Mairie and her
Saviour had developed to such a degree that her heart was
drawn from this earth toward eternity. When Jimmy showed
his treasure to Pastor McConnell, he immediately recognised
the blessing it would bringto others. The words the Mairie had
witten to her Lord were eventually published and have blessed
many, both spiritually as well as practically.

Jimmy alos found a measure of consolation from an
unexpected source. The talent for calligraphy that at one one time
challenged his macho image has become a service for God. With
loving precision, he inscribes scriptural verses and dedication
in Bibles or cards for whoever requires his skill.

When Pastor McConnell led a tiny, middle aged house wife
to Christ, he may not have known how far the ripples would
reach. But from experience he knew that, when moulded by
God, Mairie Moore would never be the same. Her ministry,
conceived and born through long hours of suffering, not only
brought comfort to her immediate family, but reached people
who lived futher than Mairie had ever travelled.

Forty eight years of marriage may have taught Jimmy
Moore a lot about the "wee woman" in his life, but it was her
death that showed him most about the powerful and faithful
nature of God.

Taken from the book" Is there another one" Whitewell 50 years Jubilee"
by Lorraine Wylie. By permission.

Jim's Story

2012-02-06T19:50:00.000Z

God gave me - "A Future with Hope"
I have lived a HOPE filled life since 11.00 PM on Friday 10th April 1959. That was the night
my life was changed for good, forever, after several years of traumatic experiences, including
the sudden death of my wonderful father whilst I was still only 12 years of age. Added to this
grief, was the loss I experienced following the sale of the farm. Everything I had loved was
suddenly taken away, and it was hard for me as young boy of 12 to understand why my donkey
and cart and even my pet dog had to be parted with.
Five years later, at the age of 17, I was still grieving and so very unhappy at home in
Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland that I ran away, not only to try and escape all the
things that made me so unhappy, but to try and begin a new life in England.
This new life was to take me into the Army and the Royal Engineer's Regiment at Aldershot in
Hampshire. Soon this new life was to rob me once again of someone I had come to love so
much.
I discovered that the girl to whom I was engaged to be married, no longer loved me, and our
engagement was broken off. This stirred up all the previous grief that I had struggled with in the
past following the loss of my father.
I was so devastated by what had happened, and it hurt so much to be alone, that I came to
believe that there really was no reason for my continuing to live, so I attempted to end my life by
swallowing a handful of tablets with the help of alcohol.
I have read that "We can live for 40 days without food, 8 days without water, 4-6 minutes
without air, but ONLY SECONDS without HOPE."
I was introduced to hope by John, a member of the Parachute Regiment, he contacted me in
the Bar of the NAAFI just a few days after my suicide attempt. After a brief discussion, John and
I prayed together in Holy Trinity Church, in Victoria Road Aldershot - This was my prayer - "Oh
God if you can heal my broken heart and dry my tears and give me hope, I'll go to the Nations
of the world to tell them of the hope you have given to me."
I got up from my knees that night, a changed man, as I began my personal relationship with
Jesus, I had been born again and from that moment on, I would have the life of Christ inside of
me.
It's now over 51 years since I began my hope filled journey, a journey that has not always
been easy, simply because I came to faith in Jesus, but I can honestly say that the Lord has
helped me to keep going when things became rough.
I have proved many times, that God's GRACE is sufficient. He has helped me through the
most severe of trials, including the death of my wife with cancer in November 1983 after 23
years of marriage. Christine was only 45 years of age and our daughter Marella was only 14 at
the time.
The Lord has also brought me through two painful episodes of clots in my lung, and two major
heart attacks. The second almost fatal heart attack was in 1994 whilst I was a Missionary in Uganda, East
Africa, with my wife Ruth. We served the Lord there for six years, and He enabled us to pioneer
a new Mission which we called "Uganda Mission Of Hope." The Lord added 100 Churches to
the Mission and He also enabled us to build a Village Health Clinic, and launch a School Of
Ministry And Theology. To God be ALL the Glory for anything we achieved.

In April 1995, the Lord helped me through a major heart operation - a triple by-pass.
After returning from Uganda to the UK, I took up Pastoral Ministry in North London and was
appointed as the Pastor of the Elim Pentecostal Church in East Finchley on 31st August 1996. I
first attended an Elim Church in Aldershot in 1959, just after I was born again, John who led me
to Christ also introduced me to his Church which was then in The Grove at Aldershot, and there
I met Christine, who was the Church Pianist.
Four years after becoming a member of the Church, I was appointed to my first Pastorate in
September 1963.
I served with Elim for two years beyond the stipulated retirement age, but had to leave in
October 2007 when it was decided by both the National and the Local Leadership Team of Elim,
that the Church in Finchley needed a "Younger Minister to take it on to the next level".
Their decision was painful for me to accept and it caused me a lot of grief as I found it very hard to
leave the people that I had been Pastor of for 11 years and I had never anticipated being forced
to retire from Pastoral Ministry, because of a preference for "A Younger Minister."
Fortunately, since June 2001, the Lord has been blessing me and using me as a Gospel
Singer, and I have travelled to over 200 different locations all across the UK, to sing "Songs
from The Heart."
God has also opened many opportunities for me to serve Him on local radio over the past 37
years.
I have presented programmes on several Radio Stations and these have included - LBC in
London and BBC Radio Medway, now known as Radio Kent. At the moment I present "Music
With A Message" on Radio Star every Tuesday afternoon at 5:30pm and the 30 minute
programme reaches people all across Ireland and even beyond the shores of Ireland. - To God
be ALL the glory.
Thanks sincerely for reading my story of what God has done and is still doing for me.
On Friday 10th April 2009, I celebrated the 50th Anniversary of my personal encounter with
Christ and of my becoming a Christian.
As I look back to the night of Friday 10th of April 1959 and as I remember the awful condition that
I was in when I was introduced to Jesus - I think about the words of a song:
"Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion, He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But He made something beautiful of my life."

Jesus said - I am come that you might have life and that you might have life in all its fullness
I can honestly say that Jesus completely transformed my life for good and forever. Now
because of my faith in Him, I no longer have a past, I only have a future. A future filled with
hope because as the Bible says - Christ in you - Christ in me is - "The HOPE of GLORY." -
Please read - Colossians 1:27 and Jeremiah 29:11
If as yet you have not found real life - real peace - real joy and real happiness, then I pray that
right now, you will have a personal encounter with Jesus, and I invite you to trust Him.
Jesus said - "I am The WAY - The TRUTH and the LIFE no man can come to the Father
except through Me." That's found in John chapter 14 and verse 6.

Testimony of Evelyn Wright

2012-02-06T19:48:00.002Z

Hello, my name is Evelyn Wright, When Jesus said on the cross, ït is finished", it was reqally only the beginnning. But as i look back I did notgrasp at the time what His words truly meant. Let us all be honest, it is only when something really bad happens in our lives that God really means a lot to us! Then, when everything is well again, we fail to cry out to Him as we should and we get caught up in other things. When I look back a number of years to April 6th 1994, to the terrible tragedy, the murder of my daughter Margaret, it was then only when I began really trusting the Lord for everything. I learned to leave all at His feet, that I may be bought closer to God. No matter what happens in your life, however bad it seems. God will give that special peace and Grace when you put Him first in everything, and wait upon Him. Never lean on your own understanding in spiritual matters, take God at His word and wait upon Him. Lets face it, who else can we go to? Our departed loved ones have simply emigrated to a new home and we will all follow later. The love He has for us took Him to the cross. We are His people, so take the love He has given to and extend it to others who need comfort in their time of sorrow. It's not so hard to do when Jesus paid it all. Praise the Lord.

ITINERARY 2011 - 2012

2012-02-06T19:46:00.003Z

14th, 21st, 28th Feb & 6th March 2012 - Fairhill Primary, (Kinallen) Dromora

27th Feb: Pontzpass Primary School, Scripture Union

2nd, 9th & 16th Feb 2012 - Carrs Glen Primary

3rd Feb 2012 - Victoria Primary, Carrickfergus

12th, 19th, & 26th January 2012 - Currie Primary School, Tigers Bay

10th, 17th, 24th & 31st Jan 2012 - Victoria Primary, Newtownards

10th, 17th, 24th & 31st Jan + 7th Feb - Castle Gardens Primary, Newtownards

09, 16th, 23rd & 30th January - 2011 - Westwind Primary School, Newtownards

08, 15th & 22nd Dec 2011 - Blythefield Primary, Sandy Row

29th November 2011 - Church of the Holy Spirit, Newtownabbey - Boys Brigade

25th Nov, 2nd, 9th & 16th Dec 2011 - Brownlee Primary, Lisburn

10, 17th, 24th Nov & 1st Dec 2011 - Wheatfield Primary, North Belfast

9th November 2011 - Victoria Primary, Carrickfergus

8th & 15th November 2011 - Mountpottigner Baptist Boys Brigade Company Section

1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd November 2011 - Seaview Primary, Shore Road.

ITINERARY 2011 - 2012

2012-02-06T19:45:00.004Z

________________________________

**ITINERARY 2012**

Link Example

2012-02-06T18:38:00.000Z

This is an example of how to post a new link post. Notice that when editing this post, the label at the bottom of the editor is "Links".

Clicking the "Show all" button allows you to see all the current labels, it's important that they are spelt exactly the same way - be careful that the first letter is also Capitalised.

And that's it!

Book Example

2012-02-06T18:34:00.002Z

This is an example of how to post a new book review. Notice that when editing this post, the label at the bottom of the editor is "Books".

Clicking the "Show all" button allows you to see all the current labels, it's important that they are spelt exactly the same way - be careful that the first letter is also Capitalised.

And that's it!

RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT - A LOOK AT OLD-TIME EVANGELISM

2012-01-18T19:55:00.000Z

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.

A sermon preached at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles
Wednesday Evening, July 18, 2001

"Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost"(Acts 7:51)

Dr. I. S. Spencer became the pastor of Jonathan Edwards' church in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1828. He pastored there four years, in which time 250 people were converted and joined the church under his ministry, about 60 a year. This was before Finney's "decisionism" came into the pulpits of America, so these were not just modern "decisions." They were actual conversions that led to church membership and life-long commitment.

Dr. Spencer then refused a call to pastor at Park Street Church in Boston, the largest church in New England. But later in the year 1832 he accepted the call to start a new church in Brooklyn, New York. He had no building and only about 40 people. He remained at this church for 22 years, until the end of his life in 1854. By the time of his death the church had grown to be one of the largest in all of New York State. His biographer states, "He was one of the greatest preachers the American pulpit produced during that era." Dr. Theodore Cuyler called him "The Bunyan of Brooklyn."

Dr. Spencer did not use the modern techniques of "decisionist" evangelism. He followed the old path, the old way of our Baptist and Protestant forefathers, in guiding sinners to conversion. Narratives of Dr. Spencer's dealing with the lost are given in a remarkable book titled, A Pastor's Sketches , recently republished by Solid Ground Christian Books, P.O. Box 660132, Vestavia Hills, Alabama 35266 (solid-ground-books@juno.com), phone (205)978-9469. I do not agree with every point Spencer makes, but there is a great deal of good in this book and every pastor should have it.

Dr. Tom Nettles, professor of Historical Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has said of Dr. Spencer's book, "The republication of Spencer's sketches gives a rare opportunity for contemporary pastors, who have few if any models of pastors who understand the work of evangelism."

I present here one of Dr. Spencer's interviews with a lost girl, taken from pages 104-106 of his insightful book.

Said I (to a young woman), "Do you feel that you are a sinner, unreconciled to God?"

"Yes, I do; I am a lost sinner! "

"Can you save yourself?"

"None but Christ can save me! "

"Why, then, don't you come to Him? He is willing to save you; He loves to save sinners like you."

"Indeed, I do not know! My heart is hard and wicked; and I am afraid I never shall be saved!" She burst into tears, which she had seemed anxious to suppress, and buried her face in her handkerchief.

"How long have you been in such deep trouble of mind?"

"For three weeks," said she, sobbing aloud.

"Then for three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit."

I left her and passed on to the next individual. In a few minutes I left the room, and went on my way.

(The next week Dr. Spencer happened to meet this same young woman on the street).

"That was true – that was true, sir," she said.

"What was true?" said I. For I did not know who she was, though I recognized her face as one that I had seen.

"What you told me at the inquiry room that morning – that I had done nothing for three weeks but resist the Holy Spirit. That expression pierced my very heart. I did not believe it. I thought I was yielding to the Holy Spirit, because I was anxious and had begun to seek the Lord; And I thought you was most cruel to speak to me so. I did not believe you, but I could not get the idea out of my mind. It clung to me night and day, 'For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit.' That expression opened my eyes. And I could not let you pass us here, without stopping to tell you how much I thank you for it."

She said this very rapidly, her eyes swimming with tears, and her countenance beaming with joy. Her whole heart seemed to be embarked in what she was saying.

…She was at peace not only, but full of joy. "Oh, I am so happy," said she. "I am so happy. You opened my eyes. You told me the truth. I thought you was a cruel man. I wanted you to explain yourself, but you would not stop to hear me. As I reflected on what you said, I hated you with all my heart. But the words would come up, 'For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit.' It seems to me now, that if you had said anything else, or made any explanation as I wanted you to, I should not have been led to Christ. I can never thank you enough for the words which showed me my very heart."

…I learned that a few weeks afterwards she made a public profession of religion (of having been converted). Her pastor told me that he esteemed her highly, as one of the most intelligent and accomplished of his flock. She belonged to a very excellent family. She possessed a discriminating mind; And did she err in thinking that for three weeks she had done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit?"

Notice, in those days before Finney's "decisionism" ruined the churches, that no one "led her to Christ." She was left on her own, as Jacob was left alone to wrestle with Christ until the break of day. She was left alone by both the evangelist and the pastor, to deal with her own stubborn heart. This was the way of our old-time pastors in dealing with the lost. This was the way of Whitefield, and Wesley, and Bunyan, and all the old Baptist and Protestant pastors. This was the way that produced thousands upon thousands of converted Baptists and Protestants. This was the way God used to send the three Great Awakenings of revival to America! Read the book, and weep. The glory of the Lord has departed from our churches through weak and superficial evangelism – that leaves lost sinners in an unconverted state in our churches, literally by the millions.

And now I speak to you young people in our church tonight. Are many of you not in the same condition as that girl? Haven't you heard the gospel now for over three weeks? Night after night, in these evangelistic meetings – at Pastor Waldrip's church, at camp, and for another ten nights at our church you have come without being converted.

I say to you, in the words of our text,

"Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost" (Acts 7:51).

Aren't Dr. Spencer's words to that young girl true of you as well?

"For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit!"

1.   You have resisted Him telling you that you are going to die, and that it might be very soon – and you are not prepared for death – because you are not saved. Isn't that true? Isn't it true that you have pushed the thoughts of death out of your mind again and again and again? Isn't it true that "For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit"?

2.   You have resisted thinking about your sins, your actual sins, the ones you have committed against a Holy God. Isn't it true that you have pushed the thoughts of the sins you have committed out of your mind again and again and again? Isn't it true that "For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit"?

3.   You have resisted thinking about your inwardly depraved heart. You have pushed out of your mind the thoughts that are in your heart constantly – of lust, and greed, and blasphemy, and anger, and rebellion. Isn't it true that you have refused to think much about your desperately wicked heart of unbelief and sin? Isn't it true that "For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit"?

4.   You have resisted thinking of the fact that you deserve to go to Hell. You have refused to agree with God that it is just and right for Him to send an unrepentant sinner like you to the place of the damned, to the fire that never shall be quenched. Isn't that true? Isn't it true that you have pushed the thoughts of your punishment for sin out of your mind again and again and again? Isn't it true that "For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit"?

5.   You have resisted the death of Christ as payment for your sins. You have pushed the Saviour, crucified to pay for your sins, out of your mind. You have refused to think very much about how His holy Blood can wash away the sins God has against you. Isn't it true that you have repeatedly pushed out of your mind Christ's sacrifice for your sins and His eternal Blood being able to wash your sins away? Haven't you thought very little about how His Blood in Heaven can cleanse your sins? Isn't it true that "For three weeks you have done nothing but resist the Holy Spirit"?

You have waited so flippantly, refused Him so lightly,
You have sinned long and dreadfully, your heart is so wrong;
Oh, if God grows impatient, the sweet Spirit offended;
If no longer He calls you, doom is yours when He's gone.

Then how sad facing Judgment, you'll recall with no mercy,
That you tarried and lingered till the Spirit was gone. ,
What reproaches and mourning, if when death finds you hopeless,
You have tarried and lingered and have waited too long! ,
"If You Linger Too Long" by Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980).

(END OF SERMON)

Scripture Read Before Sermon: Acts 7:51-60.

Solo by Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: "If You Linger Too Long"

                                                                            by Dr. John R. Rice, 1895-1980.

You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.rlhymersjr.com. Click on "Sermon Manuscripts."

That’s My King

2012-01-18T19:50:00.000Z

The Bible says
He’s the King of the Jews
He’s the King of Israel
He’s the King of Righteousness
He’s the King of the Ages
He’s the King of Heaven
He’s the King of Glory
He’s the King of Kings
and He is the Lord of Lords

Now that’s my King!
David says
The Heavens declare the glory of God
And the firmament showeth His handiwork
No means of measure can define His limitless love
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing

He’s enduringly strong
He’s entirely sincere
He’s eternally steadfast
He’s immortally graceful
He’s imperially powerful
He’s impartially merciful

That’s my King!
He’s God’s Son
He’s the sinners’ Saviour
He’s the centrepiece of civilisation
He stands alone in Himself
He’s august
He’s unique
He’s unparalleled
He’s unprecedented
He’s supreme
He’s pre-eminent
He’s the loftiest idea in literature
He’s the highest personality in philosophy
He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism
He’s the fundamental doctrine in true theology
He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion

That’s my King!
He’s the miracle of the age
He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him
He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously
He supplies strength for the weak
He’s available for the tempted and the tried
He sympathises and He saves
He guards and He guides
He heals the sick
He cleansed the lepers
He forgives sinners
He discharges debtors
He delivers the captives
He defends the feeble
He blesses the young
He serves the unfortunate
He regards the aged
He rewards the diligent
And He beautifies the meek

Do you know Him?
My King is the key of knowledge
He’s the wellspring of wisdom
He’s the doorway of deliverance
He’s the pathway of peace
He’s the roadway of righteousness
He’s the highway of holiness
He’s the gateway of glory
He’s the master of the mighty
He’s the captain of the conquerors
He’s the head of the heroes
He’s the leader of the legislators
He’s the overseer of the overcomers
He’s the governor of governors
He’s the prince of princes
He’s the King of Kings
And He’s the Lord of Lords

That’s my King
That’s my King!
My King
His office is manifold
His promise is sure
His life is matchless
His goodness is limitless
His mercy is everlasting
His love never changes
His word is enough
His grace is sufficient
His reign is righteous
His yoke is easy
and His burden is light
I wish I could describe Him to you
He’s indescribable
He’s indescribable
He’s incomprehensible
He’s invincible
He’s irresistible
I’m trying to tell you
The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him
Let alone a man explain Him
You can’t get Him out of your mind
You can’t get Him off of your hands
You can’t outlive Him
And you can’t live without Him
The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree
And Herod couldn’t kill Him
Death couldn’t handle Him
And the grave couldn’t hold Him

That’s my King!
He always has been
And He always will be
I’m talking about
He had no predecessor
and He’ll have no successor
There was nobody before Him
and there’ll be nobody after Him
You can’t impeach Him
and He’s not going to resign

That’s my King!
Praise the Lord
That’s my King
Thine is the Kingdom
And the power
And the glory
The glory is all His
Thine is the Kingdom
And the power
And the glory
For ever
And ever
And ever
And when you get through with all of the forevers
Then
Amen

My King

The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews. He’s the King of Israel. He’s the King of Righteousness. He’s the King of the Ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of Glory. He’s the King of kings, and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King.

    I wonder, do you know Him?

My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful.

    Do you know Him?

He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s Saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He is the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He’s the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Saviour.

    I wonder if you know Him today?

He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captive. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent. And He beautifies the meek.

    I wonder if you know Him?

He’s the key to knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory.

    Do you know Him? Well…

His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. And His yoke is easy. And His burden is light.

    I wish I could describe Him to you. Yes…

He’s indescribable! He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hand. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. Well, the Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him, and the grave couldn’t hold Him.

    Yeah! That’s my King, that’s my King.

    Amen!

Seven Way King

My King was born King. The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King. He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King. He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. Now that’s my King. Well I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don’t try to mislead me. Do you know my King? David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament show His handiwork. My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. Well, well, He’s enduringly strong. He’s entirely sincere. He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. That’s my King. He’s God’s Son. He’s the sinner’s saviour. He’s the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s august. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s pre-eminent. Well, He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest personality in philosophy. He’s the supreme problem in high criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of proved theology. He’s the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my King. He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. Well, He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He’s strong God and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharged debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him? Well, my King is the key of knowledge. He’s the wellspring of wisdom. He’s the doorway of deliverance. He’s the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness. He’s the highway of holiness. He’s the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty. He’s the captain of the conquerors. He’s the head of the heroes. He’s the leader of the legislatures. He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the governor of governors. He’s the prince of princes. He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King. Yeah. Yeah. That’s my King. My King, yeah. His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His light is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Well. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible. I’m coming to tell you, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explaining Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him. Well, Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilot couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my King. Yeah. He always has been and He always will be. I’m talking about He had no predecessor and He’ll have no successor. There was nobody before Him and there’ll be nobody after Him. You cant impeach Him and He’s not going to resign. That’s my King! That’s my King! Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Well, all the power belongs to my King. We’re around here talking about black power and white power and green power, but it’s God’s power. Thine is the power. Yeah. And the glory. We try to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His. Yes. Thine is the Kingdom and the power and glory, forever and ever and ever and ever. How long is that? And ever and ever and ever and ever. And when you get through with all of the evers, then, Amen.

God’s Love: The Biblical Presentation

2011-11-09T19:38:00.000Z

The modern message of the gospel is "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." However, our idea of "wonderful" and the world’s may be a little different. Take a sinner through the pages of the Book of Acts and show him the terrifying scene of boulders breaking the bones of Stephen. Then smile and whisper, "Wonderful..." Listen together to the sound of a cat-o’-nine-tails as it rips the flesh off the back of the apostle Paul. Follow together the word "suffering" through the Epistles, and see if you can get the world to whisper, "Wonderful!"

After such a ride down Honesty Road, they may think the pleasures of sin are a little more attractive than the call to "suffer affliction with the people of God." John MacArthur said, "We need to adjust our presentation of the gospel. We cannot dismiss the fact that God hates sin and punishes sinners with eternal torment. How can we begin a gospel presentation by telling people on their way to hell that God has a wonderful plan for their lives?"

Who in the world is going to listen if we are so blatantly honest about the Christian life? Perhaps not as many as are attracted by the talk of a wonderful plan. However, the answer to our dilemma is to make the issue one of righteousness, rather than happiness. This is what Jesus did. He used the Ten Commandments to show sinners the righteous standard of God (Luke 10:25,26; 18:18– 0). Once the world sees the perfect standard by which they will be judged, they will begin to fear God, and through the fear of the Lord, men depart from sin (Proverbs 16:6). They will begin to hunger and thirst after the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ alone.

If you study the New Testament you will see that God’s love is almost always given in direct correlation to the cross: herein is love, for God so loved, God commended His love, etc. (See John 3:16; Romans 5:5,6,8; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:4,5; 5:2,25; 1 John 3:16; 4:10; and Revelation 1:5, among others.) The cross is the focal point of God’s love for the world. How can we point to the cross without making reference to sin? How can we refer to sin without the Law (Romans 7:7)?

The biblical way to express God’s love to a sinner is to show him how great his sin is (using the Law—see Romans 7:13; Galatians 3:24), and then give him the incredible grace of God in Christ. This was the key to reaching so many on the Day of Pentecost. They were "devout" Jews who knew the Law and its holy demands, and therefore readily accepted the mercy of God in Christ to escape its fearful wrath. When you use the Law to show the world their true state, get ready for sinners to thank you. For the first time in their lives, they will see the Christian message as an expression of love and concern for their eternal welfare, rather than of merely proselytizing for a better lifestyle while on this earth.

"How should I witness to my coworkers?"

2011-11-09T19:32:00.002Z

"How should I witness to my coworkers?"

When we interact with people on a daily basis, we have many opportunities for sharing our faith. First, be sure you are respectful to your employer and set a good example in your work ethic by working "as to the Lord" (Colossians 3:23).

When others around you grumble and complain, if you have a calm, forgiving, steadfast spirit, it will make an impression. As you respond in a Christ-like way to angry coworkers and stressful circumstances, people will see a difference in your life. Always be friendly and courteous, and show genuine interest in your coworkers’ lives. Invite them out to lunch to get better acquainted. Share their joys and sorrows by congratulating them in their good times and offering to pray for them in their bad times.

Be sure you do pray for them, then follow up by asking them about the situation you prayed for. They will be moved by your concern. If coworkers are discussing what they did during the previous weekend, you can share your excitement about attending church services or a special church event. Ask others if they have any plans for celebrating Christmas or Easter; be nonjudgmental of their answer, but be ready (if asked) to explain why you celebrate as you do.

Displaying a favorite Scripture or a devotional calendar, or reading your Bible during lunchtime, may prompt others to inquire about your faith. Bringing home-baked goods or leaving a small gift with a note on a coworker’s desk can sometimes have a greater impact than a thousand eloquent sermons. We can show our faith by our works. Others may not like a tree of righteousness, but they cannot help but like its fruit. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel, being careful not to infringe on your boss’s time.

"How should I witness to a homosexual?"

2011-11-09T19:31:00.002Z

"How should I witness to a homosexual?"

Rather than offend homosexuals by directly confronting the issue of their sinful lifestyle, modern evangelism often tries to soften the approach by saying that "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." This isn’t a new concept.

Charles Finney stated, "God is not angry merely against the sin abstracted from the sinner, but against the sinner himself. Some persons have labored hard to set up this ridiculous and absurd abstraction, and would fain make it appear that God is angry at sin, yet not at the sinner. He hates the theft, but loves the thief. He abhors adultery, but is pleased with the adulterer. Now this is supreme nonsense. The sin has no moral character apart from the sinner. The act is nothing apart from the actor. The very thing that God hates and disapproves is not the mere event—the thing done in distinction from the doer; but it is the doer himself. It grieves and displeases Him that a rational moral agent, under His government, should array himself against his own God and Father, against all that is right and just in the universe. This is the thing that offends God. The sinner himself is the direct and the only object of his anger."

So the Bible shows. God is angry with the wicked [Psalm 7:11], not with the abstract sin. If the wicked turn not, God will whet His sword—He has bent His bow and made it ready—not to shoot at the sin, but the sinner—the wicked man who has done the abominable thing. This is the only doctrine of either the Bible or of common sense on this subject" (The Guilt of Sin).

The biblical way to witness to a homosexual is not to argue with him about his lifestyle but to use the Law to bring the knowledge of sin. This will show him that he is guilty of breaking God’s holy Law, and he is damned not because of, but despite his sexual preference. The Law was made for homosexuals, as well as other lawbreakers. See Psalm 5:5 and 2 Peter 2:6–8 footnotes.

"How do I reach my neighbors with the gospel?"

2011-11-09T19:30:00.000Z

"How do I reach my neighbors with the gospel?"

Neighbors are like family. We don’t want to offend them unnecessarily, because we have to live with them. We need to be rich in good works toward all men, but especially our neighbors. The Bible reveals that this is a legitimate means of evangelism. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). It is God’s will that "with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (1 Peter 2:15).
Sinners may disagree with what you believe, but seeing your good works makes them think, "I don’t believe what he believes, but he sure does. He certainly is sincere in his faith." A friendly wave, a gift for no reason, fresh- baked goods, etc., can pave the way for evangelism. Offer to mow your neighbors’ lawn or help do some painting. Volunteer to pick up their mail and newspapers while they’re on vacation. Compliment them on their landscaping and ask for gardening tips. Invite them over for a barbecue or dessert. Pray for an opportunity to share the gospel, and be prepared for it when it comes.

"How do I witness to someone I know, like a family member?"

2011-11-09T19:28:00.000Z

For most of us, it is far easier to witness to a stranger than to someone we know and respect. An effective way to soften the message without compromise is to speak in the "first person" or in testimonial form. Say something like, "I didn’t realize that the Bible warns that for every idle word I have spoken, I will have to give an account on Judgment Day. I thought that as long as I believed in God and tried to live a good life, I would go to heaven when I died. I was so wrong. Jesus said that if I as much as looked with lust, I had committed adultery in my heart, and that there was nothing I could do to wash away my sins. I knew that if God judged me by the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day, I would end up guilty, and go to hell."

"It was when I acknowledged my sins that I began to understand why Jesus died. It was to take the punishment for my sins, and the sins of the world." Then, depending on the person’s openness, you may ask, "How do you think you will do on Judgment Day, if God judges you by the Ten Commandments?"

The Anatomy of the Church

2011-10-17T19:45:00.001+01:00

Selected Scriptures

Chapters:
The Skeleton

I. INTRODUCTION
When I go on a trip to preach in other places, I use my time to talk with people, pray to the Lord, and read books. I also find that during a trip, I am able to put aside the pressures of my regular ministry and think clearly. At times like that, the Lord impresses upon my heart certain things that are important for me to understand and to share with the people I minister to. During one of my recent trips, the Lord placed a concern in my heart for Grace Church. That church is the heart and soul of my life. Although I've been there for fifteen years, I still feel like the ministry there has just begun. I believe there is an exciting future before the church that will be filled with joy, anticipation, and potential. But I also believe that we are faced with a crisis. How we handle that crisis right now will determine the kind of future we will have.
During a recent vacation, I was playing golf with another pastor. He had a desire in his heart to build up his church, and asked me some questions about that. Then he asked me, "Is it difficult for you to pastor a church as large and active as yours? Now that your church is established, are you able to rest?" I told him, "Being a part of building a church is easy. It's like sitting in a sailboat while someone else blows it along. "

A. The Analysis

1. THE GROWTH
I can honestly say that when Grace Church was experiencing tremendous growth, many wonderful things happened. There were so many things happening that I couldn't keep up with them. God was doing His work there. That was an exciting, euphoric time for the church. I like to call that time the years of discovery. When I came to Grace Church, I didn't know much. Every week, I'd study and prepare my sermons, and on Sundays the congregation would learn together with me. I'd share what the Bible said, and people would say, "Wow! So that's what the Bible is saying!" We were taking big steps in terms of our spiritual growth and understanding, and the Lord added many people to the church. Those years were like a prolonged honeymoon. There was enthusiasm and energy everywhere. Even though we are doing many things now that we didn't do in those years, everything was just marvelous.
2. THE GOAL
When I first arrived at Grace Church, my goal was to keep the people already there from leaving. I thought that if I could accomplish that, then that would be a moral victory. I never envisioned that the church would grow to the size it is now. That's why I say that the verse that I have come to understand the most in the years of my ministry is Ephesians 3:20: "Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above that we ask or think. . . . " I have seen God do much more than I could ever imagine!
3. THE GENERATIONS
During Grace Church's early years, everybody was excited and very sacrificial. Everybody was a part of the growing together. One of the people on the church staff recently told me, "The history of a church and its people seem to always follow an interesting pattern. The first generation of people fight to discover and establish the truth. " Grace Church went throught that; the early years were a time of discovery and establishing the truth. He continued, "The second generation fights to maintain the truth and proclaim it. " We have seen that at Grace Church. The things we have learned, we have put in books and on tapes. We have trained men to become pastors, go out, and start teaching other people. We have shared what we know with other pastors. We want to maintain and proclaim the truth. Then the staff person said, "But the third generation couldn't care less about all of that. " Why? Since they weren't a part of the fight the first two generations faced, they don't have anything at stake. They tend to take for granted the things that have already been established.

B. The Anxiety

1. ABOUT CALLOUSNESS
That really scares me. I told the pastor I was golfing with that the toughest thing to deal with in the ministry is indifference. It's heartbreaking to know that there is a tendency for those who weren't a part of the building of the church to take everything for granted. Because they weren't a part of the battle, they didn't pay the price or enjoy the sweet taste of victory. They don't know what the battle was like. A person has only one life to live, and I look at what God has given me as the greatest possible use of my life: being a part of building Grace Church. But the thing that I fear is that those who weren't a part of the process of fighting, discovering, and establishing the truth will not be able to appreciate what God has done.
In Deuteronomy 6, we read that God saw that the Israelites might eventually forget all that He had done for them. First, they were reminded of the need for a. . .
a. Commitment to God
God, in His wonderful grace, chose Israel to be His people. In His mercy, He literally inundated them with divine grace and blessing. In Deuteronomy 6:3-5, He told them, "Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. " In other words, God was saying, "Israel, if you are going to hold true to the faith, you must love Me with all your heart, soul, and might. "
You are to love God in the same way. You are to love Him more than you love your car, house, job, money, wardrobe, or anything else. I once read a convicting, classic book on loving God by Bernard of Clairvaux. He said, "I have three great desires in my soul: to remember God, to contemplate God, and to love God. " How many of us are like that? If we were asked to list the three great desires of our soul, I wonder if those are what they would be.
So, God told Israel, "I put you in a land with milk and honey. I put you in the best place of blessing. You are going to need within you a commitment to love Me. " God told them they would have to show their love for Him outwardly, too, by their. . .
b. Conversation About God
God said in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. "
What are your conversations like? Do you talk about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, or virtue? Do you talk about things that are good, honest, pure, and lovely? Have you ever gone on a trip with somebody for a weekend and not talked about God, spiritual things, or what you are accountable for? If we want to keep what God has blessed us with, we must love God with all of our hearts and talk about Him. I believe one reason that God has allowed Christian radio and tape ministries to develop is to help offset the onslaught of godlessness that comes to people through the radio and television. It used to be that society wasn't bombarded by all that garbage. People used to talk to each other in their homes. Now they have the whole world continuously talking to them about godless things. That makes it difficult for a Christian to make it from Sunday to Sunday without falling away from his commitment to God. To offset the godless things we hear and see today, we are to cultivate a pure mind and talk about God.
c. Consideration of God
In Deuteronomy 6:8-9, God told the Israelites to use symbols to remind them of Him and His commandments: "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. " I believe that we should have things in our homes and offices that will make us remember the things we should be thinking about. We need to have reminders around us to help us remember our life commitment. We should love God, talk about Him, and be reminded of Him and His commands by certain symbols around us.
You say, "Why did God say all of that?" Deuteronomy 6:10-12 explains why: "And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD. . . . "
I fear that some of the people that were a part of the building process will forget the way they saw God's work being done at Grace Church. Also, there are many new people that come to the church who don't understand the sacrifice of time, talent, effort, and money that people made while the church was growing. A young couple in the church forfeited their honeymoon because they wanted to give to the church. That is one of many illustrations of sacrifice I could give. People who haven't been a part of the fight involved in building a church take for granted what has already been established. They become picky about little things that go wrong. The book When I Relax I Feel Guilty says they are the ones that are rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic while it is sinking (Tim Hansel, [Elgin, Ill. : David C. Cook Pub. Co. , 1979], p. 38). Sometimes a person will get picky about something and I'll say, "I don't care about that! There are other things that are more important!" Some people spend much of their time fooling around with trivial things when they should be more concerned about God's Kingdom.
2. ABOUT CRITICISM
The child of apathy is criticism. It is easy for a person to come to the point where he takes everything for granted, and begins to criticize any imperfections he finds in things. Author Thomas Hardy said he had a friend who could go into any beautiful meadow and immediately find a manure pile. A person shouldn't have that kind of perspective.
3. ABOUT COMPLACENCY
God has given Grace Church many wonderful people, and we thank Him for that. But I know that there are also people who come to church only when it's convenient. For them, going to church is low on the priority list. If they can't afford to go anywhere for a weekend, they come to church. They don't see any need for commitment. Some people don't come to church on Sunday nights. They think one sermon a week is enough. They should be given two hundred sermons in one week to shake them out of their complacency. Kierkegaard said, "People think that the preacher is an actor and they are to come and be his critics. What they don't know is that they're the actors and he's the prompter offstage reminding them of their lost lines. "
It is easy for people to get to the point where they expect things to be done for them. Even Christians have that attitude. They show up for church only if they think they will get something out of it. They don't understand the loyalty of supporting a pastor while he is speaking.
So, I said to the pastor I was golfing with, "Building a church is easy. The hard work begins after the church has grown. It's hard to prevent people from becoming complacent and taking everything for granted. " The teaching and the music we have is great, and there are people who work hard to take care of our children during the worship service. It's easy for us to take them for granted.
4. ABOUT COMMITMENT
Many people don't even pray like they should. Do you pray for your pastor? I am very grateful for the friends I have that pray regularly for me. I know that when I preach, some of you are are grading me on a scale of one to ten. If you think the sermon was good, then that might be enough to make you come back for another good sermon. But do you pray for me? Do you pray for those who lead and serve you? Some people are quick to criticize but not so quick to pray. Do those of you in a leadership position in your church pray for the people you lead? Or do you think that everything is going along well enough and you don't need God anymore?
Some people don't understand the warfare involved in building up a church. They just see all the good things that result from tears and toil, and take them for granted. Some people don't understand that the leaders of a church have to hold each other up because the battle against indifference becomes so difficult. They need you to be a part of what's going on. They need you to be totally committed and prayerful. They need you to use your gifts and serve the church.

A Victim of Apathy
I received a letter from a young pastor that I would like to share with you. My greatest joy in the ministry is to see young men go into the ministry. This letter is from a young man who is thinking about leaving the ministry, and it broke my heart. This is what he wrote:
This letter comes to your attention for several reasons, and although we have not met personally, I have read some of your books and heard you on the radio several times. Let me explain to you something I'm concerned about that I have not been able to correct and is causing me to consider leaving the ministry. Perhaps the Lord will use your insights to give me some light.
I firmly believe that the leadership of a church should be the very best, not only in their personal spiritual lives, but also in being an example for people they lead. I am not saying that a leader has to be perfect or superhuman, but he should have a living, growing personal relationship with our Lord. I firmly believe that if the leaders of a church don't present a lifestyle of commitment and dedication to their Lord and church, then their followers won't either.
The problem, pastor MacArthur, is that two-thirds of our elected officers attend only one service a week. I'm not saying they all have to be present every time the doors are open, but I do believe that excepting unforeseen situations, illnesses, and vacations, the leadership of a church should make a double effort to be present at the services, if for no other reason than for the encouragement of the saints and the pastor. I find it extremely difficult to believe that proper leadership can be provided when the leaders do not spend enough time with their people to find out what their hurts and fears are. At our board meetings, I find that by far the majority of the time is spent on items that have no direct relationship to the needs and hurts of people. I believe that because of that, our church has come to a stalemate, which is equal to going backwards instead of moving ahead. l have brought those things to the attention of our board on several occasions (even some of the people on our board are not faithful in their attendance), with absolutely no results.
I am not talking about men and women who simply are not able to make it to church, but people who just will not come. Some of the leaders say they are too busy, too tired at the end of the day, or don't even offer an excuse. But those leaders are not afraid to remind me that they are the power of the church. That happens often. I have come to the place where if this continues on into next year, I am ready to resign the pastorate. How is it possible for a pastor to direct his flock, establish the needed programs, and develop spiritual leadership if he can't get other leaders to back him? I'm open to your advice. I believe our church has great possibilities. But as long as we are lukewarm, the Lord will not bless us or use us.
That letter could have been written by thousands of different pastors, because it is common for people to take for granted the good things God has given them. I don't want that to happen at Grace Church. I don't want people to forget the Lord. I want them to continue to fear His name.
Look with me at 2 Peter 1:12. Writing to his congregration, Peter said, "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and are established in the present truth. " Peter had a high calling from God, and he didn't want to be irresponsible about how he handled it. He didn't want to be negligent to those he was called to teach, so he continually reminded the people of the things they had already learned. He was saying, "I know that you already know these things, but you need to be reminded about them. " Continuing in verse 13, he said, "Yea, I think it fitting, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle. . . . I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance" (vv. 13-15). There is a certain virtue in repeating basic things that shouldn't be forgotten. That is what I'd like to do now as I share with you what is on my heart.
Many pastors come to Grace Church to find out why it grows and what we are doing. They usually come to find out how things are done. They desire to know what God is doing, and some of them think they can pick up methods, tools, programs, and ideas and apply them to their own churches. However, that is like coming to pick up a body and going back home with just the skin. They're looking for the flesh of our ministries, not the internal aspects of them. Beneath the surface of things is a foundation that people don't know about. We try to tell pastors that: They may see a ministry functioning, but it is what is behind the scenes that needs to be understood.
For our study about what a church should have, I am going to use the analogy of a body from the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 12:12-31), and entitle this series "The Anatomy of a Church. " A body has four main features: a skeleton, internal systems, muscles, and flesh. A church needs to have a framework (a skeleton), internal systems (certain attitudes), muscles (different functions), and flesh (the form of the programs). The form cannot be reproduced without the other features of the body. Borrowing from Paul's familiar metaphor of the body, I want to talk first about. . .

II. THE SKELETON
In order for the body to function, it has to have structure. The skeleton is what gives a body structure. I believe there are certain skeletal truths that a church has to be committed to. They are unalterable; they cannot be compromised in any way. When I say that a church has to be committed to those things, I am talking about you and me, beloved. You and I are the church.
The first nonnegotiable requirement of a church is that it have. . .
A. A High View of God
It is absolutely essential that a church perceive itself as an institution for the glory of God. I believe that the church in America has descended from that and become a church that focuses on men. The church thinks its goal is to help people feel better about themselves: It plays psychological games with people to give them placebos. For example, that would be like trying to patch up a marriage by doing what Maribel Morgan, author of The Total Woman, suggests: Put on a black negligee, stick a rose between your teeth, and wink at your husband from under the dining room table! If you have a rotten marriage, doing that isn't going to help it. The only way you are going to have a good marriage is by establishing it on a biblical foundation and a relationship with God. Placebos aren't the answer.

1. THE PRIORITY
The church has been reduced from an organism that emphasizes knowing and glorifying God to an organization that tries to help people feel better about themselves. But if you know and glorify God, then you will feel better about yourself! If you know God, the needs in your life are answered. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. . . " (Prov. 9:10). When you have a right relationship with God, everything else will fall into its proper place. I am not saying that we are to ignore people's needs. We are to be concerned about people the same way God is. But there is a balance that must be found, and that begins with a high view of God. We must take God seriously.
Sometimes I wish God would strike people dead during the offering. I don't wish that too strongly, but I wish something dramatic would happen to show people that they must take God seriously. When a person dies, we have a tendency to say, "How could God let that happen?" We have no right to ask that. We should ask, "What are we doing alive?" God, being holy, could have destroyed man when he first fell into sin. Just because God is gracious toward us is no excuse for us to be indifferent. God must be taken seriously.
2. THE PROBLEM
a. Specified
I feel a righteous indignation toward preachers and others that take God off His throne and turn Him into a servant who has to do all the things they demand of Him. People are irreverant today; they do not know how to worship God. Some people think that worship means to induce a warm feeling. They know little about God. There are too many Marthas and not enough Marys (Lk. 10:38-42). We are so busy serving all the time that we don't take the time to bow down and wash Jesus' feet. We don't tremble at God's Word. We don't allow ourselves to be confronted by God's holiness and our sinfulness so that we can be usable to Him for His glory. We want to feel good about ourselves. We want to have our needs met and problems solved, and allow the church to be replaced by religious psychology.
You could take most of the books that are being written today, throw them into the sea, and not lose anything. Many of them are just placebos that superficially attack problems that people can't solve. During the eras when the church was holy, Christians had very few books to read, but the books they did have told them how to have a relationship with God. Most books today don't do that. I was recently told by Moody Bible Institute that a survey given at their last pastors' conference revealed that most pastors need help in dealing with families. I was amazed! I said, "You mean to tell me that even with all the books available about helping families, that's still a problem area?" The answer isn't to write more materials about the family; the problem is that people aren't taking God seriously and walking according to His laws. That's why they get themselves into the mess they're in. It's so important to have a high view of God.
b. Solved
James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. . . . " Would you like to live your life with God near you? If you draw close to God, He will come close to you. But you say, "When I get near God, it is easy to become nervous. " That's why James 4:8 also says, ". . . Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. . . . " The closer you get to God, the more you see your sin. Consequently, you will humble yourself and mourn over your sin. James 4:10 says that when you've humbled yourself before the Lord, "He shall lift you up. "
We must take God seriously and exalt Him; we don't want to have a man-centered church. We are to reach out to everyone in the love of Christ, but God is to be the focus of our worship and our life. Therefore, we shouldn't only look at the Bible as a book full of formulas for solving problems; it is a book that reveals God!
The second nonnegotiable truth is that a church must believe in. . .

B. The Absolute Authority of Scripture

1. THE UNDERMINING OF GOD'S WORD
The Bible is constantly being attacked. I recently read in a book review that Lewis Smeeds of Fuller Seminary wrote a book that says it is all right for two men to have a homosexual relationship. If a person wants to advocate that view, all he has to do is disregard the Bible. It is inconsistent for a seminary professor to deny the Bible when he is training men to minister the Word of God! But that is happening today. The Bible is being attacked head on.
I believe that Charismatics attack the Bible when they add all their visions and revelations to it. They say that Jesus told them this, and that God told them that. In the meantime, they are subtly undermining the Bible because they no longer see it as the single authority. One man said that Jesus comes into his bathroom and puts His arm around him while he is shaving. I thought, "Do you keep shaving? If you can keep shaving, then it isn't Jesus. If holy God came into the bathroom while you were shaving, you would fall to the floor so hard that you would kill yourself!" It is an awesome thing to confront an infinitely holy God! Getting little special messages from God is silliness. God's Word must be held up as the absolute authority.
The Bible is always attacked. The worst attack of all is by people that say they believe the Bible, yet don't know what it teaches. That is the subtlest kind of attack there is. There are people all across America who say, "I believe the Bible from cover to cover," but they don't know one paragraph of it. They believe what they don't know.
2. THE UPHOLDING OF GOD'S WORD
Jesus said, ". . . Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mt. 4:4). If we are fed by every word that comes out of the mouth of God, then we ought to study every word. Today, preaching has lost that. Many things are preached except the Word of God. We must teach the Bible--every word of it. That is important. It doesn't matter if you don't have an appetite for it.
You say, "I don't need another sermon; I'd rather be fellowshiping. " I hope you enjoy your fellowship, but I'm still going to keep feeding you the Word of God, because that's what makes you grow. Fellowship is important, but it does not replace the Word of God. In fact, I find that the sweetest, purest, and most rewarding fellowship is always with the Scripture. That's where my heart is. I hope that's where your heart is, too. You say, "We already know much of what the Bible says. We have been taught for a long time. " To say something like that is the height of pride! The discovery process never stops--I'm always learning new things from the Bible. The greatest joy of my preaching ministry is to study the Bible and discover things I never saw before. It's the preaching itself that is work to me! Every week of my life I learn something new from the Word that I never fully understood before. That's an adventure that no one should miss!
A pastor in Michigan once told me, "I pastor a church for only two years, and then I leave. " I said, "Have you been doing that for a long time?" He said, "Yes. I spent two years here, two years there, and two years in another place. " I said, "Why?" He said, "I have fifty-two sermons. I preach each one twice, and then I leave. " I said, "Why don't you teach the whole counsel of God?" He said, "I don't teach all of it; I just teach the parts that I think are important. " But every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God is important!
The third thing that a church must have as a part of its skeleton is. . .

C. Sound Doctrine

1. EXPLAINED
If you have a high view of God and are committed to Him, then you must go along with what His Word teaches. The teachings of God's Word make up sound doctrine. Many Christians today are vague about doctrine. There are many of what I call sermonettes for Christianettes--little sermons that are nice and interesting. Sometimes they make you feel warm, fuzzy, sad, or excited. But seldom do we hear doctrine taught or discussed. Very few people explain the truths about God, life, death, heaven, hell, man, sin, Christ, angels, the Holy Spirit, the position of the believer, the flesh, or the world. We need truths that we can hold onto. That's why it's so important to principlize the Bible. You read a text, find out what it says and means, draw out of it a divine truth, and establish that truth in the minds of people by repeating it. That's what I do when I preach. I go through a Bible passage, pull out a divine truth, teach about it using other passages, and explain the truth several different ways until it's established in your minds.
I picked up that style of preaching when I graduated from high school. My father gave me a Bible and wrote a note in it encouraging me to read 1 and 2 Timothy. I did that, and Paul's message to Timothy kept running through my mind: "If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, unto which thou hast attained" (1 Tim. 4:6; cf. 1 Tim. 1:3, 10; 4:13, 16).
2. EXEMPLIFIED
Earlier in my ministry at Grace Church, I taught from the book of Ephesians, explaining a believer's position in Christ. That study was foundational to the church. Recently I visited with my high school football coach, whom I hadn't seen for a long time. He is a Christian and also teaches the Word of God--he's a wonderful man. We were reminiscing about some of the silly things that happened when I played football in high school. Then he said to me, "John, you have made concrete for me the position of the believer in Christ. I have listened to your tapes on Ephesians chapter 1 many times and taught from that passage repeatedly over the years to young people. Understanding the doctrine of the believer's position in Jesus Christ has given me a foundation for my entire life. "
I didn't give my coach that foundation; the book of Ephesians and the Holy Spirit did. My point is that people need solid doctrine to build their lives on. I believe we must make principles from the divine truths of the Word of God and teach them, for they are foundational to the Christian life. For example, if you want to learn about angels or demons, then find out the truths the Bible teaches about them. Learning the solid content of the Bible is important.
The fourth nonnegotiable thing that the people of a church should have is. . .

D. Personal Holiness

1. A CONCERN EXPRESSED
We are all victimized by an absolutely unholy society. I cringe when I think of the philosophical and immoral filth that our society creates. Peoples' minds are corrupted and drawn away from God as a result of that. That filth is like the drippings of a broken sewer. In fact, the sewer isn't just broken; it's completely shattered and letting loose a flood. For example, I have a problem with contemporary music not only because I don't like the style of it, but because the sexual innuedos of the words are so vile. I try to explain that to young people and many say, "You don't understand; you're old. What do you know? The words are all right; I take them the way I want. "
We have to draw lines when it comes to personal holiness and be careful what we expose ourselves and our children to. It is impossible to watch some of the films in movie theatres and read trash without paying a price. It is shocking what our society creates. I say to myself, "Where are we in our society?" I stay away from movies so that I don't have to be exposed to such worldliness. I sometimes wonder, "Is that the kind of stuff going through the confused, chaotic minds of kids that expose themselves to such trash?" Christians are called to live a pure life, and we can't compromise that. We should enforce a standard of purity among ourselves.
2. A COMMITMENT EXHORTED
Second Corinthians 7:1 says, "Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. " A church should enforce that standard (see Mt. 18:15-17). That's why we implement church discipline at Grace Church. If somebody sins, we confront him.
Many Christians aren't as concerned about their personal holiness as they should be. A person's prayer life is one of the things that cultivates holiness. What is your prayer life like? What about your study of the Word of God? Do you fast? How often do you meditate on the Word of God, if at all? You say, "I'm an elder," or "I'm a deacon and I teach a Bible study. " I'm not talking about that; I'm asking, "How often do you meditate for a prolonged period of time, drawing nigh unto God in a prayer that extends beyond a moment? Where are you in terms of holiness and real communion with the living God?" Church leaders aren't the only people that should live holy lives. I should live a holy life, the leaders of a church should live holy lives, and you should live a holy life. We can't just live half-committed Christian lives and expect God's work to be done.
The last thing I want to mention that belongs in the skeletal structure of a church is. . .

E. Spiritual Authority

1. THE OFFICE OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS EXPLAINED
I believe with all my heart that a church must understand that Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15), and that He mediates His rule in the church through godly elders (1 Thess. 5:13, 14; Heb. 13:7, 17). The Bible teaches that; I didn't invent it. The Bible says that elders have the rule over the congregation in the Lord. They have authority.
That authority can be abused. There are men who wield it as if it were given to them. But they are not the actual authorities. They are simply supposed to handle the authority of the Word of God. I don't have the authority to tell Grace Church, "Put that building over there," "I want more vacations," "Raise my salary," or "I demand that those walls be painted green. " The only authority I have is to speak and apply the Word of God. When a spiritual leader goes outside of that, then he is going out of the bounds of his authority.
2. THE OBEDIENCE TO SPIRITUAL LEADERS EXPECTED
If you were to do something wrong and continue doing it, that would be disastrous. It is important to confess wrongdoing, and the role of a spiritual leader is to help people get back on the right track and move on for the glory of the Lord. First Thessalonians 5 says to "know them who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. . . . " (vv. 12-13). Hebrews 13:7, 17 says to submit to those over you in the Lord, for they watch your souls. Follow their example.
3. THE OPERATION OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS EXEMPLIFIED
We have many leaders at Grace Church; I'm just one of them. You say, "Why are you the one who always preaches?" That's just the way the gifts work out. Jesus had twelve Apostles. Every time there is a list of them, Peter's name is always first (Mt. 10:2-4; Mk. 3:16-19; Lk. 6:14-16; Ac. 1:13). He was always the spokesman. That doesn't mean he was better than the others. He simply had the gift of speaking, and the others were gifted in other ways.
Peter and John always traveled together. Because of that, you would think that John didn't say much. But he wrote the Gospel of John; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Revelation. There is no doubt that with the intimate friendship he had with Christ, he could have shared more great things. But every time he was with Peter in the first twelve chapters of Acts, he was silent. Why? Because Peter had the gift of speaking.
Barnabas was a great teacher and probably the leading one in the early church. But when Barnabas and Paul traveled together, even unbelievers professed that Paul was the chief speaker.
So, there are variations in the giftedness of spiritual leaders. But in totality, there is still an equality of spiritual authority given to those that the Bible calls elders or overseers.
Let's sum up what we've learned. If the church is going to be the body of Christ, it has to have the right framework. It has to have a high view of God. The pursuit of a church should be to know God. In seeking to know God, the authority of the Scripture must be recognized, for it is through the Bible that we can know God. A church should have a high view of Scripture, and a commitment to the teaching of sound doctrine. The people of a church should also seek personal holiness and submit their souls to the care of those the Lord has placed over them as spiritual authorities.

Focusing on the Facts
1. Describe the characteristics of each of the three generations of a church.
2. Why is it easy for the third generation of people at a church to be apathetic?
3. What was God telling Israel in Deuteronomy 6:3-5? How does that apply to us?
4. According to Deuteronomy 6:6-7, where were the Israelites to keep God's words? Whom were they to teach God's Word to? How often were they to converse about God?
5. Why might have God allowed Christian radio and tape ministries to develop?
6. What was God's command to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:8-9? How can we apply that today?
7. According to Deuteronomy 6:10-12, why did God command the Israelites all that He did in Deuteronomy 6:3-9?
8. Kierkegaard said, "Some people think that the preacher is an actor and they are to come and be his critics. " What, in reality, is the situation?
9. Some people are quick to _______ and not so quick to _______.
10. What was Peter's message in 2 Peter 1:12? Explain it.
11. What are the four main features of a body? Relate those features to the church.
12. What are the five nonnegotiable necessities of a church's structure?
13. What must a church perceive itself as? In general, what have churches in America descended to?
14. What happens when a person makes a priority of glorifying God and having a right relationship with Him?
15. Explain the specific problem that many churches and Christians have today. Why is that occurring?
16. According to James 4:10, what does God do to people that cleanse themselves of sin in humility?
17. In what ways is the Bible being attacked today?
18. What does Matthew 4:4 say about God's Word? What place does fellowship have in relation to the study of the Word of God?
19. What is sound doctrine?
20. Why do Christians need to be taught sound doctrine?
21. How are people's minds affected by the philosophical and immoral filth that our society creates? How must Christians respond to that kind of influence?
22. Describe the standard that a Christian should have (2 Cor. 7:1). What is one of the things that cultivates personal holiness?
23. Who is the head of the church? Through whom does the head of the church mediate rule over the church? Support your answers with Scripture.
24. Are spiritual leaders the actual authorities of a church? Explain. What does a spiritual leader have the authority to do?
25. What is one role of a spiritual leader? What commands are given to us in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 and Hebrews 13:7, 17 in regard to spiritual leaders?
26. Despite the variations in the giftedness of spiritual leaders, what is true about their authority?

Pondering the Principles
1. Read about the different generations of a church on page 2. Which generation is your church in right now? If your church is working now to discover and establish the truth, are you helping it along with that? What is your attitude toward learning the truths of the Bible and making them foundational to your church and personal life? If your church is fighting to maintain and proclaim the truth, are you actively helping the church with those goals? Does your life display a continual obedience to God's Word? Are you involved in teaching or sharing the gospel with others? If you go to a church that is well- established and has excellent programs, are you actively involved in those programs? Do you take time to pray for those who work hard behind the scenes? How much commitment do you have to your church? Take time now to evaluate the place that your church is at in terms of its growth. What can you do to help it be the church that it should be?
2. Bernard of Clairvaux said, "I have three great desires in my soul: to remember God, to contemplate God, and to love God. " Can you honestly say that you have those same desires? Do you show your love for God? How? Ask God to help you focus on Him in the way that you should.
3. There are five foundational things that a church must be committed
to: a high view of God, a belief in the absolute authority of Scripture, a commitment to teaching sound doctrine, the personal holiness of its people, and the establishment of spiritual leaders. Of the five items listed above, take one item at a time and explain what problems could arise if that item were missing in a church.

http://www.gty.org/resources/study-guides/40-0598/the-anatomy-of-the-church#.Tpx3HrL-6Cg

And Now for the Good News

2011-09-28T20:35:00.000+01:00

Romans 1:1-7

Chapters:
Marks of True Spiritual Service, Part 2

INTRODUCTION
In Romans 1:8-16a, the apostle Paul endeavored to open up his heart to the Roman believers. He showed his real motives for serving the Lord Jesus Christ. No greater servant has ever lived than the apostle Paul, other than our Lord Himself. This portion of Scripture forces Christians who read it today to look inside and see what really motivates them for true spiritual service. It was apparently very important for Paul to unbare his heart to the Roman believers because he was preparing by the will of God to come to them. He stopped at the very beginning of this epistle--just after introducing the theme of the gospel of God--to show the Romans how much he really cared for their spiritual growth.
Paul had never been to the Roman church and most of the Christians there had only heard about him. He wanted them to better understand him and his teaching. In verses 8-16, you can see the qualities of Paul's life, the character of his service to Christ, and the motives that moved his heart. In so doing, Christians everywhere can find a pattern for themselves because all Christians are called to serve Christ. The apostle Paul is an exceptional example of what it means to serve Christ.
REVIEW
A. Wrong Motives for Serving the Lord

1. Panic
Paul wrote to the Romans explaining that his service was not external or legalistic. He served the Lord from the heart.
a) John 4:23-24
Jesus said, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. " You cannot worship God with externals, ritual, or routines. You either worship Him from the heart or you do not worship Him at all.
b) Romans 12:1
Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. "

Homeward Bound
There is a story of an old missionary who was returning home after many years of sacrificial service in Africa. He was on the same ship with Teddy Roosevelt, who was President at that time. Roosevelt had also been in Africa, for a big game hunt. When the ship docked in New York, great crowds greeted the President, and the press covered it all: The old missionary and his wife walked off the ship unnoticed, and made their way all alone to a cheap hotel for the night before traveling to the west. "It just doesn't seem right," said the missionary to his wife in a rather bitter tone. "We give our lives in Africa to win souls to Christ and when we arrive home, there's no reward or anyone to meet us. The President shoots some animals and gets a royal welcome. " As they were praying before retiring, it seemed that the Lord spoke to them and said, "Do you know why you haven't received your reward yet? Because you're not home. " That is what Paul had in mind in his spiritual service. He didn't want to receive superficial or temporal acclaim. He was willing to wait until he went home--his ultimate home--to receive what God had promised him.

2. Prestige
a) 1 Corinthians 9:16-17
Paul said, "Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. "
b) 2 Corinthians 4:5
Paul said, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. "
c) 1 Corinthians 9:19
Paul said, "Though I am free from all men, yet have I made myself servant of all. "
3. Pride
4. Peer pressure
5. Parents
6. Profit
It was not Paul's goal to serve the Lord for money.
a) Acts 20:35
Paul said to the Ephesian elders, "I have shown you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. "
b) 1 Corinthians 10:24
Paul said, "Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth. "

B. Right Motives for Serving the Lord
I. A THANKFUL SPIRIT (v. 8)
II. A CONCERNED SPIRIT (v. 9)
III. A WILLING SPIRIT (v. 10a)
William Carey, the great missionary to India, had a willing spirit. As he was preparing to leave from England, his friends said, "Are you sure you want to go to India?" Going to India in those days was quite dangerous. Carey was alleged to have said, "I will go down [into the pit], if you will hold the rope" (S. Pearce Carey, William Carey [London: The Carey Press, 1923], pp. 117-18). That is a willing spirit!

LESSON
IV. A SUBMISSIVE SPIRIT (v. 10b)
"By the will of God to come to you. "
A. Paul's Commitment
The apostle Paul did not want to do anything outside the will of God. He began his epistle hoping to visit the Roman Christians if it was God's will, and ended it the same way (Rom. 15:32). Paul's life was regulated by a commitment to the will of God.
B. Paul's Model
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was Paul's ultimate example of one who was committed to do God's will.

1. Matthew 26:39
Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. "
2. Matthew 6:10
Jesus, showing the disciples how to pray, said, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. "
Paul conformed his life to the will of God. He was utterly concerned with serving Him.

C. Paul's Example

1. Acts 21:13-14
Luke recorded this about believers who tried to dissuade Paul from going to Jerusalem: "Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready, not to be bound only but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he [Paul] would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. " Paul was being told by everyone that if he went to Jerusalem, he would be bound as a prisoner. But Paul lived for the will of God. And his disciples were resigned to the fact that death might be the will of God for him.
2. James 4:13-15
James said, "Come now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain; whereas ye know not what shall be on the next day. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. "
The limiting factor in everyone's decisions should be if it is the will of God. The true servant is totally submissive to God's will. Paul was resigned to God's will and it didn't matter whether it brought him pain or pleasure. That kind of obedience is not fatalism. Rather, it requires the confidence of knowing that God has the best plan for His children.

Why Pray if God's Going to Do What He Wants to Do Anyway?
Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse gave a great illustration to convey the relationship between our prayers and God's sovereignty:
We will suppose the case of a man who loves violin music. He has the means to buy for himself a very fine violin, and he also purchases the very best radio obtainable. He builds a library of the great musical scores, so that he is able to take any piece that is announced on the radio, put it on his music stand and play along with the orchestra.
The announcer says that Mr. Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra are going to play Beethoven's seventh symphony. The man in his home puts that symphony on his stand and tunes his violin with what he hears coming from the orchestra. The music that comes from the radio we might call foreordained. Ormandy is going to follow the score just as Beethoven wrote it. The man in his living room starts to scratch away at the first violin part. He misses beats, he loses his place and finds it again, he breaks a string, and stops to fix it. The music goes on and on. He finds his place again and plays on after his fashion to the end of the symphony.
The announcer names the next work that is to be played and the fiddler puts that number on his rack. Day after week after month after year, he finds pleasure in scraping his fiddle along with the violins of the great orchestras. Their music is determined in advance. What he must do is to learn to play in their tempo, in their key, and to follow the score as its been written in advance. If he decides that he wants to play Yankee Doodle when the orchestra is in the midst of a Brahms number, there's going to be dissonance and discord in the man's house but not in the Academy of Music. After some years of this the man may be a rather creditable violin player and may have learned to submit himself utterly to the scores that are written and follow the program as played. Harmony and joy come from the submission and cooperation.
So it is with the plan of God. It is rolling toward us unfolding day by day as He has planned it before the foundation of the world. There are those who fight against it and who must ultimately be cast into outer darkness because He will not have in His heaven those who proudly resist Him. This cannot be tolerated any more than the authorities would permit a man to bring his own violin into the Academy of Music and start to play Shostakovich when the program called for Bach. The score of God's plan is set forth in the Bible. In the measure that I learn it, submit myself to it and seek to live in accordance with all that is theirin set forth, I shall find myself in joy and in harmony with God and His plans. If I set myself to fight against it, or disagree with that which comes forth, there can be no peace in my heart and life. If in my heart I seek to play a tune that is not melody the Lord has for me, there will be nothing but dissonance. Prayer is learning to play the same tune that the eternal plan of God calls for and to do that which is in harmony with the will of the Eternal Composer and the Author of all that is true harmony in life and living (Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure, vol. 1 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], pp. 122-23).

V. A LOVING SPIRIT (v. 11)
"I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established. "
A. Love Involves Giving
The apostle Paul wanted to give the Roman believers a spiritual gift that would establish or strengthen them in their faith. The primary demonstration of love is giving. John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. " True love always gives. Paul wasn't coming to Rome because he wanted to tour the Appian Way or see the Forum and watch chariot races. He wanted to come because he wanted to give.
Many times in my ministry as a pastor, I sometimes say to myself, "I wonder whether any one is really hearing what I'm saying. I wonder if people really appreciate me or the Word of God. " You can very easily fall into a woe-is-me complex. Maybe you've felt the same way in your ministry. If so, you must remember that as long as you look at the ministry you're in as something you give, you will never have that problem. If you look at the ministry as something you get, you will end up with a twisted view of what real ministry is.

1. Colossians 1:27-28
Paul said that "God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. "
2. Galatians 4:19
Paul agonized over the spiritual state of those to whom he ministered: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth pangs again until Christ be formed in you. " I cannot totally identify with Paul, but I have experienced severe pains in my stomach with anxiety over the lack of response to the teaching of God's Word. It is as if some people come to church with a thimble's worth of desire for knowledge and spill it on the steps going out!
3. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
Paul said, "We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. " No one is more gentle than a nursing mother with her little baby at her breast. The word translated cherisheth is a very strong term and means "to warm with body heat. " Paul was saying, "We provided you with the warmth of our body, as a mother does for her little baby, and we longed for your presence and fellowship. "
4. 2 Corinthians 12:15
Paul wrote, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. " Even if they hated him, he would still love them. The main characteristic of love is unselfish giving.
b). Love Involves Giving a Gift
Since one who loves always seeks the best for what he loves, Paul said he longed to impart some spiritual gift to the Roman believers. He wanted them to receive a charismata, or gift of grace. Because Paul referred to a spiritual gift--the Greek word pneumatikon is used--this grace gift is a gift of the Holy Spirit. 1. Romans 5:15--Paul used the same term to speak of Christ when he said, "Not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many are dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. "
2. Romans 11:29
Paul referred to God's blessing of Israel when he said, "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. "
3. Romans 12:6
Paul here spoke of the gifts of grace to the body of Christ when he said, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. "
The gifts of God's grace are used to speak of Christ, the general blessings that God gives to His people, and of specific spiritual gifts. How is Paul using it in Romans 1:11? I think he is using it in the largest possible sense. Paul may in effect be saying, "For some of you, I'd like you to receive Christ Himself, for others I'd like you to receive the blessings of God, and for still others, I'd like to minister my spiritual gifts among you. " What Paul wanted to impart to them wasn't physical, but spiritual.

C. Love Involves Giving the Word of God
So much preaching today is superficial. Endeavoring to impart spiritual depth into someone's life is a difficult task. You must build on the foundation of the Word of God. There is no point in my doing book reviews or reading emotional stories to my congregation, as some ministers do. That is sheer frivolity. If you love people, you always seek to give them the best you have to offer, and the best thing I can offer is the teaching of the Word of God.
Verse 11 gives us the reason for imparting spiritual gifts: "To the end ye may be established. " The Greek word used for establish is st[ma]eriz[ma]o, which means "to fix," "to confirm," or "to strengthen. " Paul expressed the same thought in another way in Ephesians 4:12: "For the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. " Paul wanted to use the Word of and the gifts of the Spirit to impart spiritual depth in the lives of the believers.
Is Genuine Love Your Goal?
A girl in our church who was a student at a local university said to me, "I learned a great lesson from one of your sermons on love. I always told myself that I loved the little girls in my fourth-grade Sunday school class. They all have small, frilly dresses and the cutest smiles. I told myself I would never miss my class because I love them so much. " She went on to say, "One Saturday I was attending a football game at my school--something I do every Saturday--and the Lord convicted me about not adequately preparing my Sunday-school lesson. Because I attended the games on Saturday, I was in the habit of running through the lesson early Sunday morning, but it was very shallow and superficial. God pointed out that I didn't really love those girls the way I thought I did because I made no sacrifice in my own life to give them something of eternal value. " She ended our conversation by saying, "So from now on, I will not be attending any more football games until my lesson is completed and I feel I can impart to them something of eternal value. "

VI. A HUMBLE SPIRIT (v. 12)
"That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. "
A. Mutual Benefit
Paul was not coming in as the spiritual expert to dispense information to the Roman believers. He wanted also to be encouraged by their faith. That is a demonstration of his humility.
There are many people who think they have so much to give and nothing to learn. A true servant of God, should never feel superior to others. Paul was saying, "I going to minister to you and impart my spiritual gift, but I know in return that you will minister to me as well. "
John Calvin once wrote, "Note how modestly he expresses what he feels by not refusing to seek strengthening from inexperienced beginners. He means what he says, too, for there is none so void of gifts in the Church of Christ who cannot in some measure contribute to our spiritual progress. Ill will and pride, however, prevent our deriving such benefit from one another" (The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960], p. 24). Paul was eager to learn from inexperienced beginners.

B. Mutual Blessing
New Christians have come to me and said, "I don't know why I'm talking to you. I know there must be important people for you to talk to. I know you must be busy. I'm just a nobody. " They think they have nothing to offer, but according to verse 12, the great apostle Paul himself was willing to learn from the most inexperienced of believers.
I had dinner not long ago with someone who kept saying, "I am so sorry for taking up your time. Your're probably not interested in speaking to me. " I kept saying, "Wait a minute! I appreciate your talking to me. This is building my faith and I'm having a wonderful time. " I don't want people to deny me that privilege!
The humble teacher says, "Let's learn together. "One writer said that humility is that low sweet root from which all heavenly virtues shoot. There are few things worse than a pompous teacher who treats you as if you knew nothing and he knew everything.

1. 1 Peter 5:2-6
Peter directed this comment towards elders: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of it, not by constraint but willingly; not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. In like manner, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to one another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. "
2. Philippians 2:3-5
Paul said, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. "

Conclusion
The true servant of God is always thankful. He's always prayerful because he knows that although he can thank God for what has been done, there is still much that needs to be done. And, he's willing to be the solution to the problem if it's God's will. He seeks to give to others, not only for what he can give but also for what he can receive.
Someone once wrote, I gave my service, but with a heavy heart, And with it went but little love or trust: He was my master, I must serve or die, So I gave my service for I must:--is the voice of destiny.
Then, o'er the dreary dulness of my road There came the kindling ray of better thought: I owed my service to a loving God, So I gave my service, for I ought:--is the voice of duty.
And lo! the Master made my service sweet, And, like a ray of glory from above, There came the knowledge that to serve was joy, And so I give my service, for I love:--is the voice of devotion. (Cited in A. Naismith's 1200 Notes Quotes and Anecdotes [Chicago: Moody, 1962], p. 179. )

Focusing on the Facts
1. Why was it important for Paul to reveal his heart to the Roman believers?
2. How did Paul show the Roman Christians that he cared for them?
3. What can Christians gain from reading Romans 1:8-16?
4. The apostle Paul did not want to do anything outside the ______ of God.
5. Who was Paul's model for pursuing the will of God? Support your answer with Scripture.
6. True or False: The limiting factor in everyone's decisions should be if it is the will of God.
7. What is the relationship between a Christian's prayers and God's sovereignty?
8. Why did the apostle Paul want to come to Rome?
9. The primary demonstration of love is _________.
10. What did Paul mean by saying he wanted to impart a spiritual gift to the Roman believers?
11. What is the best thing a pastor can offer his congregation?
12. What was the purpose in imparting spiritual gifts among the church at Rome?
13. How did Paul demonstrate a humble spirit in writing to the believers in Rome?
14. A true servant of God should feel superior to others.
15. What did John Calvin say about learning from others?
16. Summarize what a true servant of God is like.

Pondering the Principles
1. True spiritual service is marked by a submissive spirit. The apostle Paul would not take one step further unless he knew it was the will of God. Is your life marked by a submissive spirit? Do you endeavor to live each day in the perfect will of God? Study the following verses and let them be a model for how you conduct your daily affairs: Acts 18:21, 1 Corinthians 4:19, and James 4:13-15.
2. The true servant of God is marked by a loving spirit. We should seek to give more than receive and build up others in the faith. Paul wanted desperately to exercise his spiritual gifts among the Roman believers. How desperately do you want to use your spiritual gifts to minister to others? Read the following verses and ask God to give you the same desire: 2 Corinthians 9:14, and Philippians 1:8, 2:25- 27, and 4:1.
3. Humility is an important mark of true spiritual service. Humility does not involve thinking lowly about yourself; it is not thinking about yourself at all! Do you possess a humble spirit? Do you become jealous when someone else gets the credit you think you deserve? Do you receive an equal amount of joy when others are blessed. Over the next few days, memorize Philippians 2:3-5 and ask God to make you a humble person.

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Study+Guides/253_And-Now-for-the-Good-News

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt

2011-08-31T20:13:00.000+01:00

The rare beauty of Weakness Christianity

Greg Johnson, St. Louis Center for Christian Study

1. The Diagnosis: Quiet Time Guilt

I recently watched as a congregation I love was spiritually raped. A Christian ministry came into the church for a three-day program whose purpose was to encourage believers to pray more. During one of the breakout sessions, a man expressed his frustration with unanswered prayer. He had faithfully prayed with and for his daughter for years, and still she was not walking with God. He was broken, depressed, perhaps more than a little ashamed. How does God in his grace speak to this man? A bruised reed was crying out for help.

“You need to try harder. You need to pray more.” That was the message he was given. I was enraged. Having known this church for many years, I was horrified. What I was hearing was what one seminary professor calls sola bootstrapa. Self-reliance¾We pull ourselves up by our own spiritual bootstraps. The teachers who said such things surely meant well. The problem was not a lack of sincerity on their part. The diagnosis is far more severe. The problem was heresy. Any heresy wounds the soul.

When I look upon the evangelical world today, I see millions of sincere believers who are loaded down with false guilt by teachers who fail to grasp the basics of biblical prayer. To sharpen the point slightly, Christ’s sheep have been lied to. They have been told that prayer is a work that we must perform in order to get God to bless us. As heresies go, this one is often subtle. Prayer has become a work rather than a grace. The result has been a loss of joy in prayer.

And prayer is not the only grace we’ve turned into a work. Personal Bible study has become a source of bondage as well. A whole generation of Christians has been told that God will bless them if they read their Bibles every day, as if the act of reading the Scriptures were some kind of magic talisman by which we gain power over God and secure his favor. This is not the religion of the Bible. This pervasive belief that God gives us grace as a reward for our devotional consistency is antithetical to the religion of Jesus Christ. Prayer and Bible study—what evangelicals for the past century have called the “quiet time”¾have become dreaded precisely because they have been radically misunderstood.

It’s ironic, but the Quiet Time has become the number one cause of defeat among Bible-believing Christians today. At one time or another, nearly every sincere believer feels a deep sense of failure and the accompanying feelings of guilt and shame because he or she has failed to set aside a separate time for Bible study and prayer. This condition is called Quiet Time Guilt. And it’s a condition with many repercussions. The shame of Quiet Time Guilt manifests itself in even deeper inability to fruitfully and joyfully study Scripture. Prayer becomes a dread; Bible study a burden. The Christian suffering from Quiet Time Guilt then despairs of seeing God work in his or her life, until finally he or she simply gives up. He may continue outward and public Christian commitments like church attendance, but secretly he feels a hypocrite. What is the root of Quiet Time Guilt?

2. The Culprit: Legalism

The root of Quiet Time Guilt is legalism. Often when we think of legalism, we think of the petty man-made rules that have so often strangled the churches—rules against dancing or drinking or makeup or ‘secular’ music. But these legalistic rules are merely an outward sign of a deeper legalism of the heart. When prayer and Bible study are thought of primarily as duties (‘disciplines’) rather than as grace, both prayer and the study of Scripture become unfruitful in our lives. We put ourselves on a performance treadmill and cease relying on God’s grace to sustain us. We trust in ourselves and our consistency, becoming proud if devotionally successful—or despairing because of our inconsistency. Either way, our spiritual self-reliance short-circuits the inexpressible joy of life in Christ. The quiet time becomes a human work whereby we think we gain—or lose—God’s daily favor. When we’ve started our day with Scripture, we presume that God’s blessing will rest upon us because of it. When we fail in our quest for devotional consistency, we feel we’ve short-circuited God’s grace in our lives. Quiet-Time Guilt.

If this describes you or anyone you know, the situation is far worse than you think. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this very attitude about Bible study. “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (Jn 5:39). Yes, that’s what Jesus said. Bible study can be a sin. The Pharisees assumed the Bible a book of rules or principles for living, but failed the grasp it as a story about God’s love for his people. The quiet time can drive you far from God if you fail to understand that the Scriptures are a story about grace. The Scriptures are a story about Jesus Christ, the man of grace. His works—not our works—are the center of the biblical story. And this Jesus gives grace daily to those who fail him. How you approach the Bible—as needy sinner or as self-reliant Pharisee¾says a lot about the state of your soul.

Just like Bible study, prayer too can be sinful. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisee and the tax collector. The one saw prayer as a work, the other as an expression of need. The one who merely expressed his neediness to God—the expression of our neediness being the heart of true prayer—that one went home right with God.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 18:9-14).

Often we assume that if we really had it together and could approach God without sin, without failing, with only pure spiritual successes to offer, then God would somehow delight in our prayer more. The opposite is true. If you approach God in that manner, you approach him as his enemy. We are all fallen. If we presume to approach him as something more than needy, dependent sons and daughters, God rightly takes offence. There’s nothing more dangerous than the pride of devotional consistency.

3. The Remedy: Weakness Christianity

There are two religions calling themselves evangelical Christianity today: Strength Christianity and Weakness Christianity. Strength Christianity is that religion which places both feet squarely on the Bible and proclaims, “I am strong. I sought the Lord. I’m a believer. I’ve turned away from sin. I read my Bible and pray every single day. I’m for God!” Weakness Christianity, by contrast, places both knees squarely on the Bible and says, “I am weak, but the Lord has sought me. I believe, but help now my unbelief. I fail and am broken by my continued sinfulness. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me favor, for apart from you I can do nothing.”

Those who pursue Strength Christianity will never find joy in God, for they will never find God. Our Father refuses to be approached in that manner. They will find only increasing religious pride and secret hardness of heart. On the outside, they will project a picture of righteousness. They’ll have it all together. They’ll be spiritual. But only on the outside.

For those who stumble across the rare jewel of Weakness Christianity, however, there is provision beyond what we can possibly imagine. Our suffering, our failures, our weaknesses and disappointments all gain an incredible spiritual significance. God never says he’ll be glorified in our religious accomplishments. But he does promise that his power will be made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

Neediness is the heart of biblical religion. When we honestly lay our brokenness before God, we’re surprised to see a radically different message in the Bible. While we had perhaps expected a to-do list from Holy Writ, a program to make us righteous, or a divinely sanctioned self-help book, we instead see a shocking message that centers on our God and his grace to his broken people¾not about us and our performance and expected rewards. And when we approach God in brokenness—Weakness Christianity—we find a radically difference vision for prayer. Prayer is not something we do—a performance designed to get something from God. Instead, it’s merely a free and honest confession of our neediness to God and our spoken reliance upon him for each and every blessing. When you stumble upon Weakness Christianity, you realize that true religion is all about God’s grace, not about our devotional consistency.

4. The Shocker: Grace for the Christian

This grace is for you right now, now and tonight and tomorrow and next week and forever. The deadly assumption made too often among those who claim to heed the Scriptures is that grace is only for non-Christians. Grace is what God offers to people who don’t know Christ. Grace is what makes us Christians; but once we’re Christians, we live by our own resources. This is why advocates of Strength Christianity so often sound like evangelical Christians. They really do believe that God offers grace to unbelievers who will turn to God through Jesus Christ. And they’re right on that. What they wrongly assume, though, is that the Christian life begins by grace, but continues by human works.

I’ve seen this confusion many times. I found it ironic that the very same prayer program that so hurt the church I love included within it an absolutely wonderful children’s program. This at first puzzled me. The children who attended were pointed to Jesus, reassured of God’s love for them, and encouraged to rest in God’s mercy and total acceptance in Christ. In the adult activities, by contrast, people were told to try harder, to persevere, to do better, to be more consistent and to pray more, so that God could bless them. The children heard, “God did it,” while the adults were told, “Just do it.”

Why the difference? The difference was simple. These teachers were assuming that the children of the church were not yet Christians (…an assumption I would question). God offers non-Christians grace. The adults, however, were committed Christians. The Christian’s relationship with God rests not upon God’s grace, but upon his or her performance, particularly the performance of the ultimate devotional duty, the daily quiet time. This assumption¾that grace isn’t for Christians¾is spiritual venom, which is keeping millions of Christians in bondage to self-reliance, guilt, shame, and despair. Quiet Time Guilt is the great epidemic among Bible-believing Christians today.

If you think the purpose behind this little tract is to absolve you from the call to pray or the need for Scripture, think again. My purpose is to free you to desire prayer—to desire God. I want you to long for the pure message of the gospel, spelled out on page after page of the Bible, and to find the joyous freedom found in Christ. Prayer is a grace, not a work. It is a confession of our neediness to God, not a proof that our “relationship with God” is going well. If you think that God will not bless you today because you missed your quiet time, this has been for you. If subtle legalism has left you in bondage so that you no longer hunger for God’s word or freely call out to him in prayer, then hear this: God has already chosen you, pronounced you righteous, adopted you into his family, and promised to finish his work in you. Perhaps you have been lied to in the past. Now it is time for the truth to set you free. Free to be needy. Free to fail. Free to approach God without dread. Free to delight in him rather than in your performance.

But I have a few more theological reflections to share before you leave. Keep reading.

5. The Surprise: The Quiet Time is Optional

Imagine for a moment you’re meeting a Christian friend. “How’s your relationship with God going?” they ask you. “Well, I’m struggling with my attitude about my job—but God is teaching me to be content and to not gossip when people rub me the wrong way.” A silent stare greets the words, your inquisitor’s eyes staring you up and down. After a moment of awkward silence, the question comes again, “But how is your relationship with God?” Hmm. What wrong with this picture?

Perhaps this has never happened to you. But I’ve found contemporary Christians are often more concerned about my ‘relationship with God’ than with my relationship with God. Whose idea was it to define the sum total of my relationship with God as my devotional consistency? Your quiet time is not your relationship with God. Your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.

Yes. That’s what I said. The daily quiet time—that half hour every morning of Scriptural study and prayer¾is not actually commanded in the Bible. And as a theologian, I can remind us that to bind the conscience where Scripture leaves freedom is a very, very serious crime. It’s legalism rearing its ugly little head again. We’ve become legalistic about a legalistic command. This is serious.

But no misunderstand what I’m saying. My goal isn’t that we pray and read the Bible less, but that we do so more—and with a free and needy heart.

Does the Bible instruct Christians to call out to God in prayer? Absolutely. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Th 5:16-18). But this isn’t a command to set apart a special half-hour of prayer; it’s instruction to continually call upon God. Elsewhere the Apostle calls us to pray: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). But notice that the focus here is not on the performance of a devotional duty, but on approaching God for grace—for our heats and minds to be guarded by him. Paul’s burden is that we would rely upon God in every circumstance and therefore have peace, rather than relying on ourselves and finding ourselves captive to the anxiety that accompanies self-reliance.

Does the Bible command us to read our Bibles every day? No. Not really.

What Scripture actually instructs is that we meditate on God’s word all the time. Consider the godly man in Psalm 1. “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:2). This is not exactly the same thing as reading the Bible every day. Personal Bible reading is one—and only one—way we to meditate upon God’s word. At this point it’s helpful to consider the difference between a good idea and a biblical mandate. A biblical mandate is something that God explicitly or implicitly commands in Scripture. Loving your neighbor is a biblical mandate (Mt 5:43). Moving to Philadelphia to work in a homeless shelter, by contrast, is not a biblical mandate. Rather, it’s a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the biblical mandate to love your neighbor. But moving to Philly isn’t the only way you can love your neighbor. Similarly, meditating on God’s word is a biblical mandate. The daily quiet time, by contrast, is a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the mandate of biblical meditation.

It may surprise you to know that the concept of the quiet time as a command is a modern invention. It’s only in recent centuries that Christians have been able to actually own Bibles—the printing press and cheap paper have given us more options so far as biblical meditation is concerned. But remember that most Christians throughout history have not owned Bibles. They heard the Bible preached during corporate worship. They were taught the Bible in the churches. They memorized the Bible profusely—a first century rabbinic saying stated, “If your rabbi teaches and you have no paper, write it on your sleeve.” But for most Christians through history, biblical meditation took place when they discussed the Bible with family and friends, when they memorized it, when they listened very carefully to God’s word preached. The concept of sitting still before sunrise with a Bible open would have been very foreign to them.

We have so many options today, why do we get hung up on the quiet time? Listen to Christian teaching tapes. Invest your time in a small group Bible study. Have friends over for coffee and Bible discussion. Sing and listen to Scripture songs. Read good theology. Tape memory verses to the dashboard of your car. And pray throughout your day. I always reserve the drive to church on Sundays as a time of uninterrupted prayer for my pastors and elders, for those leading worship, and for the peace and purity of the church. Certain landmarks around town remind me to pray for certain churches, Christians I know, or causes God says are important. I suspect I spend more time praying in my car than on my knees. (Though I love praying on my knees as a concrete display of my dependence on God, I can’t do this in my car without causing an accident.)

If you have a regular quiet time, don’t stop. You’ve found a wonderful way to meditate on Scripture. You’ve set aside a specific time to call upon God in prayer. But if the quiet time doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. You should not feel guilty since you have not broken a commandment. The quiet time is an option, a good idea—not a biblical mandate. If the quiet time isn’t working for you, there are other options as well. All of them are good ones. The key is to rely on God to accomplish his plans, a reliance expressed in prayer and fed in Scripture. You have all kinds of opportunities to call upon God in prayer and to meditate upon his word. He loves you and delights in your expressions of weakness and dependence. He is glorified in your weakness.

6. The Theology of Prayer: Means of Grace

So what exactly does prayer do? That’s the question I’m often asked. There are several wrong answers to this question. Some assume that prayer furnishes God with the information he lacks. God doesn’t view it that way. He not only knows what’s going on now, he knows what will be going on next week. Indeed, he even ordained what will be going on next week¾the Bible speaks of “the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:11).

Neither is prayer an attempt to convince God to do what he wouldn’t otherwise do. He will grant our requests only insofar as they accord with his eternal purpose—his will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 Jn 5:14-15).

And I hope we’ve dismissed the idea that prayer shows God how much we love him! It’s not a work, but a grace! But often we think that prayer is something we do to obligate God to bless us. This is the subtlest of errors, for it resembles the biblical teaching. Indeed, it is a caricature of the biblical picture of prayer. Grace-empowered, grace-motivated prayer does bring blessing, but prayer isn’t a work we do that obligates God to give blessing. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. Prayer is a means of grace, not a work to merit grace.

Theologians have classically called prayer and Scripture (along with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper) means of grace—highways along which the Holy Spirit tends to travel. The means of grace are the normal instruments God uses to accomplish his saving work in and through us. Does prayer change things? Yes, because God changes things, and prayer is an expression of our reliance upon him to accomplish his purposes.

I remember about six months ago calling upon God in prayer about my finances. Starting a not-for-profit teaching ministry is hard work, and church missions committees would often rather support a missionary doing evangelism than one who is training believers. One evening I called out to God with great urgency. After a year of support raising and teaching, I could still only afford to teach half-time while working another job, and even the funds that had enabled that year of half-teaching were almost all gone. “Father, this is your ministry, not mine. If you have raised me up for this, then something must change. I cannot go without food. I cannot fail to pay my rent. If you wish me to teach, you must grant the resources to do this. If you do not enable me to teach, I will not teach. Apart from you I can do nothing.”

Was I manipulating God by threatening to stop teaching? No. And being a sovereign God, he wouldn’t have been impressed. Rather, I was confessing to God my utter and total dependence on him to fund my work.

The next day, after eight months without any new support, a new friend took me out for coffee and told me he felt compelled to support me at $100/month. That same day, I received a note from an old friend in another part of the country pledging monthly financial support. When I checked my email, I had received a message from a member of my church who had since moved away, telling me a $1200 check was in the mail.

Did my prayer force God’s hand? No. All of this was already in the works long before I prayed. But when I confessed my neediness to God, he was pleased to provide for me. Prayer was the means of grace, not a work I offered for reward. And God was glorified in my weakness. God is faithful to hear our prayers, and he delights in answering them. Prayer is one of the basic freedoms Christians have, and freedoms aren’t given to leave us in bondage. There is a cure for Quiet Time Guilt. That cure is the gospel of Christ, in whom we have redemption. Gospel—our need and God’s provision—is the heart of biblical prayer. God will care for us. We belong to him.

http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/Quiet_Time_Guilt.htm

And Now for the Good News Marks of True Spiritual Service, Part 1

2011-08-24T07:09:00.001+01:00

Romans 1:1-7

Chapters:

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Wrong Motives for Serving the Lord

1.      Panic
Some people serve the Lord because of legalism. They try to keep lists of do's and don'ts because they are afraid not to. They think that is what God requires if you're to get into the Kingdom. There are some cults that teach if you don't go to the mission field for at least two years, you won't make into heaven. Within the framework of Christianity, some people serve the Lord strictly because they feel bound to do so. They want to keep God from breaking their bubble and making life miserable for them.
2.      Prestige
Others want to make a name for themselves and to be highly esteemed by others. They seek the chief seats, playing the role of Diotrephes, who loved "to have the pre-eminence" (3 John 9).
3.      Pride
There are some people who serve the Lord because they want to be thought of as religious. For them, Christianity is a way to feed their own ego.
4.      Peer pressure
There are some people who serve the Lord because of peer pressure. Since everyone else is doing it, they've got to get on the bandwagon. They think that if they're not involved, they won't be accepted by their group.
5.      Parents
There are also some people who serve the Lord because they have been forced to by their parents or by others. They might have been intimidated for years and still feel bound by that kind of intimidation.
6.      Profit
Some people serve the Lord for money. They are simply out for the almighty dollar. Jesus, for them, is a commodity that sells.
All the above however, betray an external motive for service. It is not motivated by a pure response from the heart but an unrighteous response from the flesh.

B. Right Motives for Serving the Lord

1.      The fight for right motives
All who serve the Lord struggle from time to time with having the purest of motives. You can easily find yourself drawn into service with a wrong motive. There are times when I preach, not because I want to but because I have to. It can become a mechanical function.
There are times when someone teaches a Bible class because they think that in doing so, they will looked upon as spiritual because of gaining the leadership they had always wanted. There are times when a group will ask me to come and speak to them and my first thought is, "The last time I spoke there, they only gave me twenty-five dollars. " But that is the devil simply trying to tempt me to preach with a wrong motive.
I once was invited to speak at a university campus gathering on the credibility of Christianity, followed by a forty-five minute question-and-answer period. I spoke for three consecutive Tuesday nights, driving fifty miles one way. I ultimately received three dollars for the entire occasion! They must have felt I was worth one dollar per night! I had just graduated from seminary and money was scarce. We can be easily tempted to think like that. We can all find ourselves fighting off improper motives as we serve Christ.
2.      The fervency for right motives
In Romans 1:8-16a, the apostle Paul epitomizes what it really means to have the right perspective on true spiritual service. Although some 1900 years have past since this passage was written, it is still relevant and alive with Paul's affection. As you study this passage, you can see Paul's great love for the church in Rome, a group he had never met. And it was not like him to build on another man's foundation (cf. Rom. 15:20).
a) Paul was an initiator
The apostle Paul is most often seen as a strong, determined, confrontive, bold, and dynamic individual.
b) Paul was an intellectual Paul's logic was brilliant. He was a genius--the greatest theologian the church has ever known.
c) Paul was intimate
Paul was a very sensitive, loving, warm, and gentle man of God. He had the zeal of a prophet, the mind of a teacher, the determination of an apostle, but also the heart of a shepherd. Paul was no paid preacher with a fee in the place of his heart. He wasn't a preacher with a bag of old-hat sermons in the place of passion. He had a true shepherd's heart.
3.      The focus of right motives
Before Paul moved into the full explanation of the good news, which begins in verse 16 and runs throughout the rest of the book, he wanted to open his heart to the believers in Rome. It was most important for him to do so because the Christians in Rome don't really know him at all. They might have questions as to why he is writing to them and why if he is the great apostle to the Gentiles, why he has never come to their city before? Paul wanted to explain the question of why he was writing and why he had not come.
Because of his heart for people, Paul cared deeply about their spiritual maturity, yet had been unable to come because God has not allowed him to come. Since the Romans had never met him, the only way they could have had insight into his heart was if he wrote and then came to them. In Romans 1:8-16, the apostle opened his heart to reveal the character of his service for Christ.
a)     Paul's knowledge of externalism
Paul had been raised in Judaism and knew that the Romans might not be able to differentiate between real service to Christ and ritualism. He knew the external, religious activity of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, chief priests, and elders. He knew that much of their service was merely routine and liturgy--physical, superficial, and temporal. Paul also grew up in a Gentile world and knew how the priests of the pagan gods served. They served out of the fear that if they didn't perform certain functions, the gods would crush them, or bring calamity on their cities and towns. As a result, their service to the gods was shallow and superficial.
b)     Paul's knack for internalism
Paul summed up his entire perspective for the Romans in the statement "God . . . whom I serve with my spirit" (v. 9). He was saying that his service came from within, not from without. He served with a pure and holy motivation. What motivated him was not what people thought, or what they paid. It wasn't peer pressure or some legal obligation, but a heart motivated to accomplish the will of God.
1)     Paul's spirit
Paul affirmed that his whole heart, mind, soul, and spirit were involved in the service he rendered. For the apostle Paul, ministry was an all-out effort. He was sincere.
2)     Paul's service
We use the word spirit in the same way Paul used it. We may watch an athlete go all out in his performance, and comment, "That is spirited play!" That means he had his whole being involved in his effort. When I was in college, the "Esprit de Corps award" which was given to the football player who rendered the effort on the field. That is the sense in which the apostle Paul served the Lord.
Paul never served the Lord without a wholehearted commitment. By doing that, he distinguished himself from the hirelings--those whose labor was external and insincere (John 10:11-13). He also separated himself from the heathen, cultic priests. Verse 9 tells us that the Holy Spirit was behind the scenes, energizing the service of the apostle Paul.
It is interesting to observe that the phrase translated "to serve" comes from the Greek verb latreu[ma]o and is frequently translated "worship. " It is always used in the New Testament to refer to religious service or worship. Many think of worship as stained-glass windows and pipe organs. But the Bible says the same word that means worship also means service. The greatest worship you ever render to God is to serve Him. For Paul, service was a total commitment.
a)     Romans 12:1-2
After finishing his main theological treatises, Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. " With everything Paul had, he served to his fullest.
b)     Philippians 3:3
"We are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. " Here Paul makes the same distinction between internal, spiritual worship, and external, fleshly worship.
c)      Acts 27:22-23
Paul, in the midst of a storm on the Mediterranean Sea, said, "I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. "
d)     2 Timothy 1:3
Paul wrote, "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience. " He was saying, "You can look deep inside me and see that I serve God with a whole heart. " Paul's service was an act of worship. It was deep, genuine, and honest. That is the real measure of true spirituality. The only way to serve God is with total commitment.
e)     2 Timothy 2:22
Paul said this to Timothy, who was wavering in his faith: "Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. "

Lesson
II. A THANKFUL SPIRIT (v. 8)

"First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. "

A. Paul's Pattern

If there's one thing we know about the apostle Paul, it's that he had a thankful heart. In almost every one of his epistles, Paul expressed thanks for the ones to whom he wrote. The only exception is the epistle to the Galatians. The Galatians had defected from the gospel and were functioning in the flesh. All the churches Paul wrote to needed to be corrected, but even though he saw the need for instruction, he also could find something to be thankful for. He was always able to see God's purposes being accomplished. Paul expressed what is in the heart of all true servants of God-- an attitude of gratitude.
Some people go through life dwelling on the negative. English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy said he had a friend who would be the first to spot the manure pile in a beautiful meadow! Some people refuse to be grateful for the good that God is doing in someone else's life. If it isn't happening to them, they think it's bad. The apostle Paul didn't express his thanks by saying, "I'm so thankful for what God has done for me"; rather he said, "I thank God for you. " He received as much joy from someone else's success as he did from his own.

B. Paul's Predicament

Paul was in Corinth when he wrote this epistle. At the time, the Jewish leaders were plotting to kill him (Acts 20:3). But he never lost his perspective. Even in that particular situation he was still filled with thanksgiving. When Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, he was constantly told he would be put in chains and his life would be in imminent danger. But it never bothered Paul in the least because he had a thankful heart.

C. Paul's Praise

What was Paul thankful about in Romans 1:8? That God had given the Romans a testimony of faith that was extending throughout the whole world. History records that the testimony of the church in Rome was so strong, Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews in [SC] A. D. 49. The Roman historian Suetonius tells us why: "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome" (Life of Claudius 25. 4). "Chrestus" is the Latin spelling for Christ. The Roman Christians had such a tremendous testimony, they stirred up the entire Jewish community. The "whole world" of verse 8 has reference not to the whole world comprehensively, but the whole world of their understanding--the Mediterranean regions.
Superficial servers, unlike Paul, are never satisfied with their situations, and are therefore thankless. They focus on their own insatiable appetites for glory. Show me a thankless heart and I'll show you a proud, self-centered individual. Even when you can't find things in your own life to be thankful for, you can always find many things that God is doing in someone else's life. You should be just as thankful for them as you would be for yourself. Philippians 2:3 says, "With humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself" ([SC] (NASB). The apostle Paul was thankful in the midst of his distresses because his joy came not from his own success, but from the advance of God's Kingdom.

D. Paul's Passion

The intimacy Paul had with God was not something the other religions of his day could relate to. The Pagans thought their gods were distant and so did the Jewish people. To Paul, God was not a theological abstraction, but an intimate friend.
1.      The source (v. 8a)
"First, I thank my God. "
a)     Philippians 1:3
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. "
b)     Philemon 4
"I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers. " Paul was so in tune with God's purposes, that they became the source of his thanksgiving.
Paul said, "The Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me" (Acts 20:23). Even when he became a prisoner in the Mamertine prison, he maintained a thankful spirit. The Mamertine prison was connected with the city's sewage system, which ran by the prison door. After forty prisoners were placed in the prison hole, the guards flooded the chamber sewage system and drowned the prisoners, and started with forty more.
Regardless of his condition, Paul remained thankful to God. He was consistently filled with joy because his joy had nothing to do with his present circumstances. He was concerned only about proclaiming the cause of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2).

III. The mediator (v. 8b)

"I thank my God through Jesus Christ. "
Jesus is always seen as the Mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5). The only way Paul could come to God was through Jesus Christ.

A. John 14:6

Jesus said, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. "
Hebrews 4:16--The writer of Hebrews, having just spoken of Christ's mediatory role, said, "Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. " Apart from Jesus Christ, God would to us be nothing but a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). The only reason we can approach God is that Christ died in our behalf. Paul served his God through Christ with a heart of thanksgiving.

B. The scope (v. 8c)

"I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. "
The scope of Paul's thanksgiving was all-encompassing. By this statement, Paul showed his heart was toward all the Roman believers. He was not biased nor did he choose favorites. He didn't look for what was wrong with people. He was simply thankful.
Many people are not thankful because they don't think they have what they deserve. But if you really received what you deserved, you would be in hell forever. Paul was thankful that the faith of the believers in Rome had been spoken of throughout the world. In saying he was thankful for their faith, he was referring to the genuineness of their salvation, and the clear testimony of their lives. He was thankful that they were a redeemed fellowship manifesting the life and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, even in the midst of severe Roman persecution. Their faith added credibility and integrity to the message of Christianity.
Are You Truly Thankful?
Wouldn't it be honoring to God to be famous throughout the entire world for your faith? Some churches are famous for their pastor; others for their architecture. Some are famous for their art: others for their organ. Some are even famous for their choirs, or the different celebrities that attend. But wouldn't it be great to be famous around the world for your faith? People come to me almost daily and ask, "Could you recommend a good church in my city?" They don't say, "Could you recommend one with nice architecture or one with a pipe organ?" They want to attend a church where the pastor and the congregation believe God and take Him at His Word.
A thankful heart is essential for true spiritual service. If you are trying to serve the Lord without gratitude in your heart for what He's done for you, you are serving in the flesh with improper motives. One who is thankful realizes that God has a cause for everything that happens. One who serves externally, legalistically, or ritualistically will not find very many things to be thankful for in his life because he is not grateful for the things God has already done for him.
Do you have a thankful heart? Are you overwhelmed with thanksgiving for what God has done? If you are, that will take out any bitterness or resentment you may be feeling toward God or anyone else. There is so much to be thankful for. The devil often tempts us by saying, "You deserve better than that. You don't have to be thankful. " He attempts to play a game with our minds, but when he does, step back and say, "No! There is too much to be thankful for!"

IV. A CONCERNED SPIRIT (v. 9)

"For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. "

A. Paul's Redundancy (v. 9b)

"Without ceasing I make mention of you always. " "Without ceasing" is a negative emphasis and "always" is a positive emphasis. Paul was simply affirming to the Roman believers that he was covering all the bases and praying for them constantly.

B. Paul's Representative (v. 9a)

"For God is my witness. "
Since the Roman believers did not know Paul, he called on God to validate his ministry to them. He was saying, "God is my witness and he knows my heart. " Just as God witnessed about Christ's public ministry (cf. Matt. 3:17, 1 John 5:9-11), so also He testified concerning the public ministry of the apostle Paul.

C. Paul's Request (v. 9c)

"In my prayers. "
Paul was always in the habit of praying for the saints. He began most of his epistles with an indication of his concerned prayers for the readers. And here he prayed for a group he had never met. He never took for granted their spiritual lives. He never forgot their labor of love and continued to pray for them.
1.      The influence of the early apostles
a)     Acts 6:4
The early apostles said, "We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word. "
b)     1 Thessalonians 5:17
Paul said to, "Pray without ceasing. "
2.      The intensity of the apostle Paul
a)     Ephesians 6:18
Paul also said we're to be, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. " Paul was always praying for everyone.

b)     Ephesians 3:14-19
In praying for the Ephesians, Paul said, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. "
c)      Philippians 1:9-11
To the Philippians Paul said, "This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. "
d)     Colossians 1:9
Paul and his co-workers prayed fervently for the Colossians: "For this cause, we also since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing by the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father. "
e)     2 Thessalonians 1:11
For the Thessalonians they prayed, "that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him. "
Paul was consumed with praying for the saints. He endeavored to line up with God's will on their behalf. Paul called on God's omniscience for verification.
God, who cannot lie (cf. Heb. 6:18), was Paul's witness that he never stopped praying for the believers he ministered to. He wanted them to know that his failure to visit Rome was not because he lacked the desire, but that it was not God's purpose at that time. Paul's prayers were characteristic of a true servant's heart.

V. A WILLING SPIRIT (v. 10a)

"Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey. "

A. The Participation

Paul not only prayed for the believers in Rome, but also asked God if he might be part of the answer to his prayer. That is a refreshing statement because so many people today want someone else to do the work of the ministry rather than themselves. I have heard people praying, "Lord, raise up someone to reach my neighbor. " The real answer to that prayer ought to be the one who prayed it!

B. The Proclamation

Some years ago a film was made called The Gospel Blimp. It was about a man who wanted to bring his neighbor to Christ. He went to the extreme of hiring a blimp service to drop gospel tracts in his neighbor's yard. A group of men formed the International Christian Blimp Association to fly over their neighbor's yards depositing tracts. There are many "gospel blimp" Christians in the world. They want to bring their neighbors to Christ, but they won't simply go over to their house and witness to them.
A man once came to me after our church service and said, "I have a plan to win my neighbors to Christ. And I'd like to know if the church would give me twenty-five thousand dollars to carry out my plan. " I said, "What do you need the twenty-five thousand dollars for?" He responded, "I'm going to buy a sophisticated telephone answering system where people call in and hear the gospel. When it's in place, I'll start giving out the phone number to my gospel call-in service to all my neighbors. I won't tell them what the number is for, so they'll think it's for something else. Without knowing it, they'll call and hear the gospel. " I said very politely, "Sir, you don't need twenty-five thousand dollars from the church. You simply need to go over and tell you neighbors about Christ and what He's done for you. "
We don't need gospel blimps or other gimmicks. The key is to want to have a part in answering our own prayers. The prophet Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isa. 6:8 [SC] NASB). It becomes so easy to pray for missionaries to reach a lost world, and yet it is so hard to share Christ with our neighbors. If you pray, "Lord, I want this to be done and if need be, I'll do it," then you're showing a willing heart.

Focusing on the Facts
1. Give six reasons that people serve the Lord and describe the wrong motives behind them.
2. External service is not motivated by a ________ response from the __________ but an ________________ response from the ________.
3. Explain why people struggle with right motives for serving the Lord.
4. Describe three characteristics that show the fervency of Paul's motives?
5. Why did Paul need to reveal his heart to the Roman believers? Why might they have questions about his ministry?
6. What is the key phrase in understanding Romans 1:8-16a? Why is it so important?
7. What is the commonality between serving and worship? Give examples from Scripture.
8. If there's one thing we know about the apostle Paul, it would be that he had a _____________________.
9. True or False: A person with a thankful heart recognizes the work of God in the life of someone else.
10. Who was the source of Paul's thankful heart and who was it mediated by?
11. What does Paul mean by saying he was thankful for the Romans' faith?
12. Who did Paul call upon to validate his ministry to the Roman believers? Why did he to do that?
13. Describe Paul's prayer life to all the believers he ministered to.
14. Paul's prayers were characteristic of a true ____________________.
15. What did Paul's prayer for the Romans consist of? How did he attempt to involve himself in his prayer?
16. How can you show a willing heart to God?

Pondering the Principles
1. The apostle Paul had a thankful heart. In almost every one of his epistles, he expressed thanks to God for the ones to whom he wrote. Are you a thankful person? Do you thank God for everything that occurs in your life, no matter what the circumstances may be? Study the following verses and ask God to make you a thankful person: Ephesians 5:20, Philippians 4:6-7, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Memorize at least one of them.
2. How often do you pray? When you do pray, how much of that time is spent praying for others? Use the following passages to pray for those to whom you minister, whether it be your family, friends, or those you are discipling or evangelizing: Ephesians 1:16-19, 3:14-21, and Colossians 1:9-13.
3. A willing spirit is a mark of true spiritual service. It is the service that renders not only prayer but also the willingness to be part of the answer. If you pray, "Lord, I want this to be done and if need be, I'll do it," then you're showing a willing heart. Do you desire to be part of the solution in your prayers for others? Do you regularly pray for your neighbors, yet are unwilling to be used by God to reach them? If so, ask God to begin to make you the solution to your prayers for others. Seek to be "a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and fit for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Tim. 2:21).

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Study+Guides/253_And-Now-for-the-Good-News

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**ITINERARY 2012**

Why Should Christians Make a Public Witness?‏

The European Convention on Human Rights

The preamble to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) describes it as ‘an Act to give greater effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights’ (the Convention). To understand the HRA you need to know something about the history of the Convention.

Article 9: Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

Article 10, European Convention on Human Rights

Article 11: Freedom of Assembly and Association

What Did Jesus Preach?

Light of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill

Testimony of Billy Shannon

Testimony of Faith Johnston

Testimony of Anne Irvine

Testimony of George Irvine

Testimony of Glynis Corbett

The Testimony of Julia Morrison

The Testimony of Julia Morrison

Joe Phillips A testimony of GOD'S mercy and grace.

Testimony by Thomas Harron

Testimony of Pamela Gaston

Testimony By: Paul Wright

Testimony of Anna

My Testimony - Richard Pinkerton

Testimony of Rebekah Evans

Testimony of Francine Graham

Testimony of Michael Frazer

Testimony of Mark Anderson

Testimony of Rachel Fleming

Testimony of Jonny Cambell

Testimony of Jimmy and Mairie Moore

Jim's Story

Testimony of Evelyn Wright

**ITINERARY 2011 - 2012**

**ITINERARY 2011 - 2012**

Link Example

Book Example

RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT - A LOOK AT OLD-TIME EVANGELISM

That’s My King

God’s Love: The Biblical Presentation

"How should I witness to my coworkers?"

"How should I witness to a homosexual?"

"How do I reach my neighbors with the gospel?"

"How do I witness to someone I know, like a family member?"

The Anatomy of the Church

Selected Scriptures

Chapters: The Skeleton

And Now for the Good News

Romans 1:1-7

Chapters: Marks of True Spiritual Service, Part 2

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt

And Now for the Good News Marks of True Spiritual Service, Part 1

Romans 1:1-7

Chapters:

ITINERARY 2012

ITINERARY 2011 - 2012

ITINERARY 2011 - 2012

Chapters:
The Skeleton

Chapters:
Marks of True Spiritual Service, Part 2