1 John 1:5-10 (KJV) 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1) Walking in the light is necessary because God is light (1:5). John begins his instruction by declaring that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1:5). John is affirming that the very character and nature of God is light. This means that God is totally truthful in His self-revelation. John has already declared that God is the source of life eternal, and this eternal life is also related to the God who is light.
2) Walking in the light is necessary because the child of God must not walk in darkness (1:6). The believer is not to walk or live in darkness, for in so doing he is not practicing “the truth” (1:6). The believer’s life is to be based on God’ truth as revealed in Christ; therefore it is to be characterized by faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. This is the test of spiritual truth. To deny that Jesus is the Christ is not to believe the truth (2:21-22), and it makes God a liar because God has borne witness to His Son (5:11). The Christian life is a life of faith, centered in Jesus Christ. We must continue to believe in Him and trust Him, and know that we have life, eternal life in Him.
3) Walking in the light is necessary because it enables fellowship with one another (1:7). John is not only concerned with fellowship with God, but with the extension of that fellowship as believers relate to one another in Christ. It is as we “walk in the light” that fellowship is experienced, and maintained. It is in the context of true fellowship with one another that we experience the continuous cleansing power of the blood of Christ (1:7).
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
An Earthquake in the Middle East?
The news coming out of the Middle East says an Earthquake is happening. Not a physical one as the earth plates moving, but one that could be worse.
When we see the street demonstrations in the Arab capitals of the Middle East, to some it may seem to be a sign of a popular uprising calling for reform. But when you take a closer look at the elements involved, you could very well say that Bible prophecy is being fulfilled.
When the street demonstrations in Tunisia were successful in bringing down the longtime leader of their government, this phenomena started to spread across the Middle East. Many young people using Facebook and other social networks to coordinate their efforts took to the streets in Cairo, Egypt and were quickly joined by the Moslem Brotherhood, the largest opposition group in Egypt and also a radical Islamist terror organization.
One analyst on Fox News today, who has been watching these street demonstrations very closely said they remind him of the young people who went to the streets to bring down the Shah of Iran in 1979 which brought about the Islamic Revolution of Iran. No one can deny how the Iranian Islamic Revolution has fueled radical Islamic terror throughout the Middle East and around the world.
Putting the political aspect aside, these street demonstrations are setting the stage for the prophetic scenario found in Joel, foretelling of a day when there would be a mighty militia to come to power and to go to Jerusalem in a move to eliminate the Jewish state of Israel (Joel 2:2-4). Micah also wrote 2500 years ago that many nations will gather against Israel to defile the Jewish people (Micah 4:11-13).
Listening to what our government is saying right now, they seem to be standing with “the people” in this matter. thus somewhat allowing the Moslem Brotherhood to take control.
When we see the possible overthrow of a moderate Arab leader, this does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
AFLOCKALYPSE NOW... OR NOT
End-of-the-world fever seems to have hit the masses. It's as epidemic as whatever killed thousands of drum fish in the Arkansas River. First it was 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar. Now animals are dying by the hundreds and thousands in a wide variety of places around the globe. Plus, a group of date setters are looking for the rapture to occur in just five months on May 21. Whether it's due to boredom, or fear, or a desire to rouse folks from their spiritual slumber, humans are fascinated with the apocalyptic. Yet, so far, efforts to set a date for the Rapture or Judgment Day have been incorrect and … plain anticlimactic.
Animal Deaths:
First, the drum fish died. An estimated 100,000 of these bottom feeders began floating to the surface of the Arkansas River on December 30. When thousands of redwing blackbirds fell out of the sky over Beebe, Arkansas, landing in the road and dropping onto people's cars, people started to wonder, what else is wrong with Arkansas?
But, it didn't stop there, of course. About 500 redwing blackbirds and starlings were discovered dead along a stretch of highway between New Roads and Morganza. Louisiana on Monday, January 3. In Italy, thousands of turtle doves rained from the sky onto the streets of Faenza, about 30 miles southeast of Bologna. The shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland were littered with the carcasses of two million fish. Coromandel beaches on the North Island of New Zealand were suddenly covered with dead snappers on January 4. Boaters reported seeing "a carpet of floating fish further out to sea all along the coast." All within a few days of each other.
The series of strange animal deaths has created a flurry of interest in the end times, and there are plenty of people wondering if the end of the world is at hand.
The spate of animal deaths is a bit unnerving until each case gets investigated.
-The USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Arkansas bird analyses determined that the redwing blackbirds died of blunt force trauma, likely from running into things after being spooked because of New Year's Eve noise-making. They flock together by the thousands and can easily be disturbed by fireworks or noise-makers going off at midnight.
-The doves in Italy were examined and the vets concluded the poor birds had died of indigestion from eating too many sunflower seeds from a nearby oil factory. The seeds are hard on the birds livers and kidneys.
-The unusual cold in December is credited for the Maryland fish deaths.
-The drum fish, well, the problem was likely species-specific. Possibly a disease.
The USGS notes that mass animal deaths are not that uncommon. The deaths of the fish and birds in Arkansas simply brought attention to the fact that animals do die in large numbers fairly frequently. For instance, the USGS NWHC documented eight separate events in 2010 in American alone in which 1,000 or more birds died en masse. It's sad, but not that unusual – certainly not indicative of the apocalypse... or as it has been widely called in the press... the "aflockalypse." Remember, the vast majority of towns are happily carcass-free.
Date Setting:
Adding to the excitement, a small group of believers are calling for the Rapture to take place on May 21 of this year. They've based their expectations on Bible code calculations made by 89-year-old Harold Camping. Harold Camping was incorrect the last time he attempted to predict the Rapture when he said it would occur in 1994. Camping is not alone in trying to make such predictions. Sir Isaac Newton declared the apocalypse had to wait until at least AD 2060.
Others throughout history have made their estimations, and have been wrong:
First, the drum fish died. An estimated 100,000 of these bottom feeders began floating to the surface of the Arkansas River on December 30. When thousands of redwing blackbirds fell out of the sky over Beebe, Arkansas, landing in the road and dropping onto people's cars, people started to wonder, what else is wrong with Arkansas?
But, it didn't stop there, of course. About 500 redwing blackbirds and starlings were discovered dead along a stretch of highway between New Roads and Morganza. Louisiana on Monday, January 3. In Italy, thousands of turtle doves rained from the sky onto the streets of Faenza, about 30 miles southeast of Bologna. The shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland were littered with the carcasses of two million fish. Coromandel beaches on the North Island of New Zealand were suddenly covered with dead snappers on January 4. Boaters reported seeing "a carpet of floating fish further out to sea all along the coast." All within a few days of each other.
The series of strange animal deaths has created a flurry of interest in the end times, and there are plenty of people wondering if the end of the world is at hand.
The spate of animal deaths is a bit unnerving until each case gets investigated.
-The USGS National Wildlife Health Center's Arkansas bird analyses determined that the redwing blackbirds died of blunt force trauma, likely from running into things after being spooked because of New Year's Eve noise-making. They flock together by the thousands and can easily be disturbed by fireworks or noise-makers going off at midnight.
-The doves in Italy were examined and the vets concluded the poor birds had died of indigestion from eating too many sunflower seeds from a nearby oil factory. The seeds are hard on the birds livers and kidneys.
-The unusual cold in December is credited for the Maryland fish deaths.
-The drum fish, well, the problem was likely species-specific. Possibly a disease.
The USGS notes that mass animal deaths are not that uncommon. The deaths of the fish and birds in Arkansas simply brought attention to the fact that animals do die in large numbers fairly frequently. For instance, the USGS NWHC documented eight separate events in 2010 in American alone in which 1,000 or more birds died en masse. It's sad, but not that unusual – certainly not indicative of the apocalypse... or as it has been widely called in the press... the "aflockalypse." Remember, the vast majority of towns are happily carcass-free.
Date Setting:
Adding to the excitement, a small group of believers are calling for the Rapture to take place on May 21 of this year. They've based their expectations on Bible code calculations made by 89-year-old Harold Camping. Harold Camping was incorrect the last time he attempted to predict the Rapture when he said it would occur in 1994. Camping is not alone in trying to make such predictions. Sir Isaac Newton declared the apocalypse had to wait until at least AD 2060.
Others throughout history have made their estimations, and have been wrong:
-AD 1033 was believed to be the 1000th anniversary of Jesus' death and resurrection. His second coming was naturally expected.
-In 1179, John of Toledo predicted that the alignment of many planets during 1186 would coincide with the world's end.
-Pope Innocent III added 666 years to the year that Islam was founded and came up with AD 1284 as the day of reckoning.
-AD 1689 was the year a Baptist named Benjamin Keach predicted would offer the end of the world.
-William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, believed the key date would be March 21, 1843.
-Joseph Smith, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and even Charles Wesley have offered incorrect end-of-the-world dates.
Jesus said even he did not know the time of the end, saying in Mark 13:32-33, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is."
Certainly, then, we need to watch and pray. Setting dates, or being fearful because of bird deaths, or making too much of the end of the Mayan cyclical calendar, all these things are unhelpful. The best thing we can do is to just keep doing the work He's set us to do until He comes.
Certainly, then, we need to watch and pray. Setting dates, or being fearful because of bird deaths, or making too much of the end of the Mayan cyclical calendar, all these things are unhelpful. The best thing we can do is to just keep doing the work He's set us to do until He comes.
"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing." - Matt 24:45-46 ¶
Related Links:
- Dead Birds, Dead Fish, Dead Crabs Turn Up All Over The World: Signs of the Aflockalypse? »
- The Washington Post - Update From USGS on Bird Die Off In Arkansas »
- USA Today - Hundreds of Dead Snapper Washed Up on New Zealand Beach »
- Waikato Times - Over 100,000 Drum Killed in Arkansas River »
- Freshare.net - Mass Bird Deaths Rare, Not Apocalyptic: Experts »
- Reuters - Mass Turtle Dove Death Linked To Overeating, Indigestion »
- All Headline News - More Mystery Bird Deaths Reported in Louisiana »
- Reuters - Maryland's 2 million Dead Fish Caused by Cold Water »
- Reuters - Armageddon Ready For The End »
- The Daily Telegraph (AU)
Monday, January 17, 2011
Could Tomorrow Be The Day?
As I think about end times pertaining to prophecy, I believe that God has allowed America's Constitution to be a foil to the rise of a one-world government. As we have seen in the past couple of years, that document has been attacked and abused. One sure way of America not being a vital part, is the destruction being done slowly from the inside. We are allowing it to happen.
And as we watch the events unfolding in the Middle East, I believe God has allowed, for some reason, the slowing down of Iran's nuclear program. it seemed that Iran just might attack Israel.that the super advanced The New York Times reported rather conclusively that the super advanced computer virus that at least crippled Iran's nuclear program was developed and tested by Israel, with American involvement.
From the report the virus was birth as a way to achieve the same goal that Israel wanted to do by attacking the reactor, but without sparking a Middle East war.
I also believe that something is about to happen to make the Muslim nations so jealous that they will eventually attack Israel. It is looking like Israel is setting on a vast amount of oil. The Middle Eastern countries control 59% of the oil in the world at the present. North America controls 16%, South and Central America has 8%, Russia has 5%, Eurasia and Africa with 3% each, China with 1%, and the rest of the world with 5%.
Zion Oil and Gas company has been granted a license by the Israeli government to drill for oil. Going by what Scripture says, we very well could see that Israel is setting on the "richest" of all oil deposits in the Middle East. This could be the "spark" that does it.
As each year passes, we see a quickening fulfillment of the predictions of the ancient prophets. Even those who criticize the study of Bible prophecy cannot deny that the pace of dramatic events is increasing. That means this Age is rapidly drawing to a close.
Are you ready?
And as we watch the events unfolding in the Middle East, I believe God has allowed, for some reason, the slowing down of Iran's nuclear program. it seemed that Iran just might attack Israel.that the super advanced The New York Times reported rather conclusively that the super advanced computer virus that at least crippled Iran's nuclear program was developed and tested by Israel, with American involvement.
From the report the virus was birth as a way to achieve the same goal that Israel wanted to do by attacking the reactor, but without sparking a Middle East war.
I also believe that something is about to happen to make the Muslim nations so jealous that they will eventually attack Israel. It is looking like Israel is setting on a vast amount of oil. The Middle Eastern countries control 59% of the oil in the world at the present. North America controls 16%, South and Central America has 8%, Russia has 5%, Eurasia and Africa with 3% each, China with 1%, and the rest of the world with 5%.
Zion Oil and Gas company has been granted a license by the Israeli government to drill for oil. Going by what Scripture says, we very well could see that Israel is setting on the "richest" of all oil deposits in the Middle East. This could be the "spark" that does it.
As each year passes, we see a quickening fulfillment of the predictions of the ancient prophets. Even those who criticize the study of Bible prophecy cannot deny that the pace of dramatic events is increasing. That means this Age is rapidly drawing to a close.
Are you ready?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Just Thinking
In listening to all the news reports about the shootings in Arizona last weekend, my mind has thought about all the incidents over the past few years where there has been damage done to the brain of those who have been injured, and their recovery, or lack of it. We really know very little about the brain, in comparison to what we know about the other parts of the human anatomy.
To anyone who has studied physiology, (when I was coming through high school it was Biology, I think) the human body is a virtually unbelievable organism. If you were to try to duplicate the functions of the liver, it is doubtful that a fully computerized four-story laboratory could accomplish the myriad of chemical and enzymatic processes with anywhere near the precision of the four pound liver.
And if you would study the central nervous system, you would discover that in the brain there are over 14 billion units (cells), all multiply interconnected, which process all the incoming data from our senses of vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, and send messages to the appropriate body organs and limbs, with perhaps millions of interactions occurring every minute. This one pound organ that resides within the human skull makes the Internet system appear like a simple tinker toy by comparison.
And at the base of the brain there is a gland no larger than a thumbnail, which constantly analyzes the chemical composition of the blood, especially the various hormones and mineral levels, and regulates it with an uncanny precision by sending messages to the appropriate glands and organs.
This refers only to the brain itself; we know very little about the actual function of the human mind, which although intimately associated with the brain, is not accessible to examination via a microscope. Any person with intelligence can only stand in awe at this and other marvelous works in nature, and indeed come to a reverence for God. And the realization of what God has provided for us would lead to the love of God.
To anyone who has studied physiology, (when I was coming through high school it was Biology, I think) the human body is a virtually unbelievable organism. If you were to try to duplicate the functions of the liver, it is doubtful that a fully computerized four-story laboratory could accomplish the myriad of chemical and enzymatic processes with anywhere near the precision of the four pound liver.
And if you would study the central nervous system, you would discover that in the brain there are over 14 billion units (cells), all multiply interconnected, which process all the incoming data from our senses of vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, and send messages to the appropriate body organs and limbs, with perhaps millions of interactions occurring every minute. This one pound organ that resides within the human skull makes the Internet system appear like a simple tinker toy by comparison.
And at the base of the brain there is a gland no larger than a thumbnail, which constantly analyzes the chemical composition of the blood, especially the various hormones and mineral levels, and regulates it with an uncanny precision by sending messages to the appropriate glands and organs.
This refers only to the brain itself; we know very little about the actual function of the human mind, which although intimately associated with the brain, is not accessible to examination via a microscope. Any person with intelligence can only stand in awe at this and other marvelous works in nature, and indeed come to a reverence for God. And the realization of what God has provided for us would lead to the love of God.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Just a Few Thoughts
Christianity in America is not well. There is evidence that its condition is more critical than most realize, or maybe want to admit. Every day, the Church is becoming more like the world, a world that we are to try to change to be more like the church.
We have ceased to be the "light" and "salt" that we are suppose to be. We strive to try and cope in the midst of personal, moral, and financial turmoil.
So the question comes, "How now can we live"?
In 1980, a few months before John Lennon's death, a public opinion poll asked an interesting question: "Would you say that you have been 'born again' or have had a 'born again experience', that is a turning point in your life when you committed yourself to Christ?"
A "yes" response was given by 34 percent of those polled, which would amount to about 50 million Americans at that time.
George Gallup was asked why our society isn't any better than it is, when so many claim to have been born again. Part of his response was, "There is a huge gap between mere belief, and real conviction and practice."
In 1980, religion appeared to be characterized more by "mere belief" than by "real conviction and practice". Not much has changed in the years from then to now (2011). If anything, it is worse!
One of my favorite writers is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a prison camp for his famous comments about "cheap grace":
"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
It is under the influence of this kind of 'grace' that the world has been made 'Christian', but at the cost of secularizing the Christian religion as never before. the Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world, and as the world, being no different from the world; in fact being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace. The upshot of it all is that my duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven. I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship has freed me from that.
Tolerance has become a prized virtue in contemporary society. Nobody wants to be considered intolerant so many of us let others express their opinions while we maintain a non-commital neutrality.
Luke 9:23, 62 (KJV)
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
We have ceased to be the "light" and "salt" that we are suppose to be. We strive to try and cope in the midst of personal, moral, and financial turmoil.
So the question comes, "How now can we live"?
In 1980, a few months before John Lennon's death, a public opinion poll asked an interesting question: "Would you say that you have been 'born again' or have had a 'born again experience', that is a turning point in your life when you committed yourself to Christ?"
A "yes" response was given by 34 percent of those polled, which would amount to about 50 million Americans at that time.
George Gallup was asked why our society isn't any better than it is, when so many claim to have been born again. Part of his response was, "There is a huge gap between mere belief, and real conviction and practice."
In 1980, religion appeared to be characterized more by "mere belief" than by "real conviction and practice". Not much has changed in the years from then to now (2011). If anything, it is worse!
One of my favorite writers is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a prison camp for his famous comments about "cheap grace":
"Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
It is under the influence of this kind of 'grace' that the world has been made 'Christian', but at the cost of secularizing the Christian religion as never before. the Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world, and as the world, being no different from the world; in fact being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace. The upshot of it all is that my duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven. I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship has freed me from that.
Tolerance has become a prized virtue in contemporary society. Nobody wants to be considered intolerant so many of us let others express their opinions while we maintain a non-commital neutrality.
Luke 9:23, 62 (KJV)
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Friday, January 7, 2011
The "Time" is getting closer
"As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the 'Son of Man.' "
Your passport wording will change this year:
The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.“
The words in the old form were ‘mother’ and ‘father,’” said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. "They are now ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two.’"
A statement on the State Department website noted: “These improvements are being made to provide a gender neutral description of a child’s parents and in recognition of different types of families.” The statement didn't note if it was for child applications only.
Only in the topsy-turvy world of left-wing political correctness could it be considered an ‘improvement’ for a birth-related document to provide less information about the circumstances of that birth,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins wrote in a statement to Fox News Radio. “This is clearly designed to advance the causes of same-sex ‘marriage’ and homosexual parenting without statutory authority, and violates the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act.”
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, agreed. “It’s part of an overall attempt at political correctness to diminish the distinction between men and women and to somehow suggest you don’t need both a father and a mother to raise a child successfully,” said Jeffress. “(This decision) was made to make homosexual couples feel more comfortable in rearing children.”
Another note of concern:
Set to premiere Monday, January 17 at 9:00 p.m. Central/Mountain, MTV’s new sex-and-drug dramaSkins promises to be one of the most explicit series on basic cable…and MTV is sparing no measure in promoting the show to teenagers. ► more
Although there is some 'good news' this week:
Sirius/XM satellite radio is one of the many features offered by Ford in its cars…but some programming, like Playboy Radio and Howard Stern’s sexually graphic talk show, is not appropriate for minors. Now, the auto maker is allowing parents to block explicit content from teens with its MyKey system. The new feature will debut later this year as standard equipment on the Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer and will eventually be available in most Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
Your passport wording will change this year:
The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.“
The words in the old form were ‘mother’ and ‘father,’” said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. "They are now ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two.’"
A statement on the State Department website noted: “These improvements are being made to provide a gender neutral description of a child’s parents and in recognition of different types of families.” The statement didn't note if it was for child applications only.
Only in the topsy-turvy world of left-wing political correctness could it be considered an ‘improvement’ for a birth-related document to provide less information about the circumstances of that birth,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins wrote in a statement to Fox News Radio. “This is clearly designed to advance the causes of same-sex ‘marriage’ and homosexual parenting without statutory authority, and violates the spirit if not the letter of the Defense of Marriage Act.”
Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, agreed. “It’s part of an overall attempt at political correctness to diminish the distinction between men and women and to somehow suggest you don’t need both a father and a mother to raise a child successfully,” said Jeffress. “(This decision) was made to make homosexual couples feel more comfortable in rearing children.”
Another note of concern:
Set to premiere Monday, January 17 at 9:00 p.m. Central/Mountain, MTV’s new sex-and-drug dramaSkins promises to be one of the most explicit series on basic cable…and MTV is sparing no measure in promoting the show to teenagers. ► more
Although there is some 'good news' this week:
Sirius/XM satellite radio is one of the many features offered by Ford in its cars…but some programming, like Playboy Radio and Howard Stern’s sexually graphic talk show, is not appropriate for minors. Now, the auto maker is allowing parents to block explicit content from teens with its MyKey system. The new feature will debut later this year as standard equipment on the Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer and will eventually be available in most Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
This is merely the most recent demonstration of Ford’s responsible corporate behavior. The company has consistently sponsored family-friendly television programming, while avoiding offensive shows. In 2008, Ford not only refused to sponsor the CBS sex orgy show Swingtown – it actually warned its dealerships to avoid the program. Ford’s consistent application of high standards regarding the entertainment it sponsors placed them on the PTC’s list of Top Ten TV Advertisers in 2010. The PTC thanks Ford for its choices in favor of decent entertainment. ►more
We definitely are living in the last days. Are you ready to meet God? You will one way (at the Rapture of the Church) or the other (at the White Throne Judgment). Which will it be?
We definitely are living in the last days. Are you ready to meet God? You will one way (at the Rapture of the Church) or the other (at the White Throne Judgment). Which will it be?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Obedience Is Costly
Hudson Taylor, a great man of prayer and faith, responded to God's call to go to China in the 19th century as a missionary.
"He must move men through God — by prayer," was his personal philosophy. Taylor who the first missionary to the interior of China and the founder of the China Inland Mission, after hearing from Heaven, "Go for Me to China," set out to prove his philosophy. That he did so successfully and miraculously makes for some of the most exciting reading in the records of evangelism, but also show the cost of obedience.
After his call Taylor first moved from the comforts of his home with his parents and two sisters in beautiful Barnsley of Yorkshire to Drainside, Hull, a poverty-stricken, depressing area named after and notorized by its foul ditch. Taylor had gone there purposely to work for a doctor and accumulate a little medical knowledge, and also to accustom himself to something of the loneliness and dangers of living in a strange land where his only companion would be God.
It was at Drainside Taylor learned one can trust God with his last cent. He had been called out late one night to witness to and pray over a sick woman with starving children. As he tried to pray, his words choked in his mouth because he had in his possession a silver coin that would answer his prayer and alleviate their sufferings somewhat. "Hypocrite!" he heard his heart condemn him. "Telling people about a kind and loving Father in Heaven — and not prepared to trust Him yourself, without your money!" He gave them his last coin -- only one bowl of porridge between him and poverty! As he ate that last meal he remembered the Scripture, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord."
The next day he received a package. In it was a gold coin — worth ten times the silver coin. Taylor cried out triumphantly, "That's good interest! Ha! Ha! Invested in God's bank for twelve hours and it brings me this! That's the bank for me!"
Thus at nineteen years of age, Taylor learned he could trust and obey God in every area of his life. There were many lessons to learn, but at the first he learned that a man can take God at His Word. Three years earlier he had taken Christ and trusted Him as his Saviour. At sixteen years of age Taylor had already been disappointed and sated with life. He found the religious life of his parents very dull, although he attended church very dutifully with them. He really desired horses, hunting, luxuries. Alone at home one day he looked for something to read. He picked up a gospel tract and began to read it. At the very same moment seventy miles away his mother was earnestly praying for her son's salvation. That same day Taylor prayed — his first prayer — and it was answered. He was converted to Christ!
Praying! And answers to prayer! That became the passion of his life. He learned to move men through God by prayer. He asked no man for any material thing. He laid all needs before his Lord. That doctor he had worked for at Drainside had suggested to his young assistant, "Taylor, please do remind me when it is time to pay your salary. I'm so busy, you know, I'm quite likely to forget." And forget he did. But Taylor remembered that in China he would have no one to ask anything of, only God, so he simply asked God to remind the doctor.
Three weeks later the doctor remembered — but only after he had banked his money. Taylor was broke. It was Saturday. He had no money to pay his rent. He had no money for food. He prayed as he worked until ten o'clock, glad he would not have to face his landlady. As he prepared to leave, the doctor surprised him, "What do you think? One of my patients has just come to pay his bill! He's one of my richest patients and he could have paid me by check anytime. Yet, there he is, bringing in the money at ten o'clock on Saturday night." Then he added, "By the way, Taylor, you might as well take these notes. I have no change, but I can give you the balance of your salary next week ... Good night!"
Taylor's prayers were answered. He could not only pay his rent, he had money in hand for weeks ahead — but more than that, he had proven again: God answers prayer and moves men. He could go on to China!
And he did! There were storms at sea and miraculous deliverances in that five-and-one-half months' journey to China. There was civil war when he landed at Shanghai, rebels holding the city. Fires, famine, fearsome circumstances were fought by the young missionary on his knees and God delivered him. And at the age of twenty-two, eight months a missionary, he also found himself responsible for supplying the needs of newly-arriving missionaries, the Parker family.
Taylor ministered in the river towns, married a wife and saw many miracles in converted Chinese. But on June 25, 1865, he made his move to minister to the millions of China "West of the Mountains, South of the Clouds, North of the Lake"--Inland China. At Brighton, England, on furlough, he opened a bank account: "Ten pounds" (Fifty dollars) in the name of "The China Inland Mission." His initial goal was twenty-four workers. The next May the twenty-four sailed. Then there were seventy more. And another hundred. And finally more than eight hundred missionaries ministered across the far-flung miles of China's interior. Truly this man of faith and fortitude had mastered in the ministry of moving men through God by prayer.
J. Hudson Taylor died in 1905, before the communist takeover of his beloved China. His days were days of extensive and effective evangelism. Multitudes of converted Chinese will rise up in Heaven and call him blessed. And many Christian workers whose lives were challenged and changed by the contagious Christian character of Taylor will follow in their train.
Taylor left 205 preaching stations, 849 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians -- a testimony of a life absolutely surrendered to God.
Taylor described something of the cost he and his mother experienced as he obey God's will to go to China:"My beloved, now sainted, mother had come to see me off from Liverpool. Never shall I forget that day, nor how she went with me into the little cabin that was to be my home forn nearly six long months. With a mother's loving hand she smoothed the little bed. She set by my side, and joined me in the last hymn that we should sing together before the long parting. We knelt down, and prayed--the last mother's prayer I was to hear before starting for China. Than notice was given that we must separate, and we had to say good-bye, never to meet on earth again.
For my sake, she restrained her feelings as much as possible. We parted; and she went on shore, giving me her blessing! I stood alone on deck, and she followed the ship as we moved toward the dock gates. As we passed through the gates, and the separation really commenced, I shall never forget the cry of anguish wrung from that mother's heart. It went through me like a knife. I never knew so fully, what God so loved the world, really meant. And I am sure that my precious mother learned more of the love of God to the perishing in that hour than in all her life before.
Both of the Taylors had to pay a high price for obedience!
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