Shall we give up, or shall we rise up? This is no time for the church to doubt God's Word, this is the time for us to rise in defense of the Bible.
Shall we shut up, or shall we speak up? The watchmen God set upon the wall were to never hold their peace day nor night! Everywhere we go, we must take seriously our Lord's command to be salt and light! Satan's crowd is not afraid to speak up for sin, and we should not fear speaking a word for Christ!
Shall we despair, or go to prayer? Some believers have been paralysed by fear of the future. But this is no time for despair! God is still on the throne! Our powerlessness is the consequence of our prayerlessness. When God's people pray and fast all the forces of Heaven are loosed! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world! (Richard Jones, Faith in the Future)
Sis Burchell writes: With faith always reach out, and walk with Him hand in hand. I have always felt the need to preach the Gospel to our young people. Evil forces are at work in today's youth- my vision is for our youth to be saved. They are our tomorrow.
Br Gordon of New Zealand shares the need that we be wary that we don't mistake mere emotionalism, feelings, passive compliance, or impulse, for the Holy Spirit, in contrast with God's leading, which is always in accord with His written Word. We must be sure to hear the small, still voice of the Holy Spirit, Who will enlighten our minds from His Word. (John 16:13).
Christ must reign in our lives. We are living in the realm of time, and as much time as we have for our Lord and Master, He will have for us. If we will confess Him before man, He said He will confess us before His Father and all the angels. If we cannot spend time with him now, how are we going to go in Paradise? Only the "Overcomers" are going to make it (Rev.2, and 3). Though we have fear and trembling, we will compromise with no man (Matt.15:9). I love sinners, for whom Christ died. For sinners, not for the self-righteous. (Br.L.Hague, Paddington, Qld)
We need to believe God for the impossible. He is still the unchanging God (Mal. 3:6, Heb.13:8). So often we limit the Holy One of Israel. Truly there is nothing too hard for the Lord of lords, and the King of kings. (Cawkwells, Toowoomba, Qld)
Help if you see a need. Don't wait to be asked, do acts of kindness without looking for a reward. Hebrews 13:5, according to the Greek, says: "I will not, I will not cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will not let you down." The Lord is good. I believe God is going to raise up spiritual Levites in these end times, to truly sing and dance in the freedom of the Spirit. (Br P.Hall, Toowoomba, Qld)
Let us grow closer to Him always- there is no "safer" place, and more peaceful and happier place to be. (Sis Joyce, Vic)
God knows all about
Your present weakness and trial.
He knows what you are going through.
He understands your hurts,
He has not forsaken you,
Or forgotten about you.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
Went through great suffering Himself
And it is He who comes to strengthen and to comfort you
In your affliction. Listen to Him! He understands!
He does understand.
I used to say Jesus didn't know how I felt.
But He knows. He suffered for my hurts and weaknesses.
He loves me as I am, and that is more important than what man says.
The days are getting shorter.
What love we all know.
All we want to do is share it.
What a great God we have!
(Sis K., Whyalla)
Winning souls is the one dearest thing to the heart of God. He sent His Son to die. The main duty of a Christian is to win souls. If you do not warn and plead with men, you have blood on your hands (Ezekiel 3:17-19). There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Lk. 15:7). Jesus said the worth of a soul is so great- "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul." Every Christian ought to win souls for Christ. (Sword of the Lord)
Only 700 people; actors, writers, producers, mostly with utterly no regard for the morals of millions of TV viewers, are right now destroying nations. These 700 people, with only wealth as their goal, produce 75 % of all the TV shows. And what is their religious and moral record?:
They make fun of Christianity and they are lulling millions of Christians to sleep. (America's Promise Ministries)
The world-wide marketing organisation "Ekklesia", with a potential "salesforce" of millions, the product everyone needs, at a price everyone can afford, is not doing its job all that well. Most local "managers" are so busy making their "stores" look good and their members understand the "rules", that they give little if any time for sales training. Most outlets are ignoring specific instructions from their international headquarters. And this is in spite of the personal example of their principal. (Advert for Evangelism Explosion, Direction Magazine, 8/93)
Christians in Sudan are given five minutes to pack their things, and then are stowed on trucks. They are taken many kilometres into the desert and are dropped there. They are left to their fate. Most of them are slowly dying. 700,000 Christians have been driven into the desert in this way. It is an international scandal, and nobody mentions it. People are desperate. Christians are crucified in great numbers at a time. (Amnesty International report, 1/93)
The Australian Government is trying to bring in restrictive United Nations laws which threaten to outlaw the open preaching of the Gospel. These laws could hinder Christian schools from declaring that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A preacher of the Gospel could be charged with religious intolerance or other offences. Literature that presents the Gospel- that salvation is only in Christ, could be deemed illegal. Pastors, evangelists and street workers could be fined and imprisoned for propagating the Gospel. (Festival of Light, 6/93; AOG Minister's Bulletin, 7/93)
To be happy is a wonderful feeling,
You feel you're floating on air,
The ecstasy within your heart
Blinds out all worries and care.
Its not always found in marriage, or work,
It happens sometimes against your will,
I believe it's found in being secure, In Jesus
- then your heart would feel a thrill.
He is always there for us, to speak to Him,
Of thoughts, that have troubled our mind,
He is a great Source of comfort,
His plans are the best one can find.
If one day we'll go to Heaven,
We will meet Him face to face,
With silver hair, and eyes like fire,
He'll say, "Enter child, you've won the race."
(Sis Margaret R, Hallam, Vic)
You cannot become a general before going through boot camp. God is wanting us to seek Him. He wants the people of God to come together, totally led by the Spirit. Too long we have been caught up in receiving from the hand of the Lord without seeking the face of the Lord. Receiving the blessings of God is easy- seeking the face of God takes effort. Fasting, prayer, even a measure of the likeness of Christ, as He sweated beads of Blood. This is the Body God is calling out- out of the Laodicean Church which is predominant in Australia. The preaching of the "blessings of God" Gospel (on its own) is "another gospel"- a crossless gospel. (1 Cor. 1:18). (Br David Bruce, Toowoomba)
The latest abortion technique is called Dilation and Extraction. This barbaric method involves stabbing the unborn child at the base of the skull while she is still in the womb, and sucking out her brains with a catheter. This causes her skull to collapse and thus makes the rest of the extraction easier. (CVN, 8/93)
Clinton's corrupt administration actively promotes abortion, and supports research into transplanting fetal tissue obtained from induced abortions. It is likely to allow the abortion pill- RU486 to be used in the US as a kind of human pesticide. Clinton wants to enshrine in law the right to kill the unborn, without any kind of regulation- for all nine months of pregnancy. (Faith in the Future, 93)
Br Edland of WA shares his concerns on our modern-day education system: Church schools have capitulated to the state. Christian education, is the responsibility of parents and the church. It strengthens children to fight the worldly humanistic (Anti-Christ) influences. Why bring the children to God's assembly once-a -week, and then send them to the godless temples of humanism for five days each week? Children NEED to be protected from the media and the insidious influence of the State education system. We, as parents of these God-given gifts, our children, have to love and discipline them, so that we can teach, train, and control them. "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jer.10:2). Luther said, "I am afraid that schools will be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour, explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of the youth. I advise no-one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the word of God, must become corrupt." Wesley warned that to send children to a worldly education system, "is little better than sending them to the devil.. they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness."
(1 Cor.6:20) Are we, as Soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Tim.2:4) strong
in deed? (2 Cor 10:11)
Have we a passionate love for divine truth (Lk.13:24)- or are we afraid to step
beyond the traditions of men? (Acts 5:29)
The judgment of God is in this land today. "The church" consists of
people born of the Spirit, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, who live their lives
as living sacrifices, picking up their crosses daily, denying themselves of this
life, seeking a heavenly home. Its aim is to do God's will- it pursues nothing
but the lost, and its purpose is to proclaim the praises of Jesus (1 Peter 2:9).
(Br Paul Sheehan, Toowoomba)
He placed no emphasis on his clothes, his appearance, or the opinions of others. He was bold and courageous and challenged the hypocrisy and double standards of his time. His message was: Repent. He talked it and he walked it. He died for his beliefs rather than remain silent about sin.
No church would have called him as a pastor. He didn't play any musical instruments or sing; he didn't have a wife who could take Sunday school. He wouldn't have been invited to join the church board either- he didn't look right, smell right, talk right or dress right. He wouldn't have been asked to be an elder or a deacon- he wasn't popular enough. He'd have been battling to be accepted as church member. He was a straight talker, who wouldn't molly coddle or flatter or ingratiate himself to anyone because of their wealth, social position, or influence. He didn't go out of his way to be popular with anyone- yet he was immensely popular with Jesus.
He wouldn't be allowed in most pulpits because of his outspoken ways and his fearless denunciation of sin and hypocrisy. His message would have been considered too "hard hitting or negative". He would be labelled a stirrer, radical, hot-tempered, unpredictable, ill-mannered, insulting, insensitive, too holy, too serious. As for his appearance... "How could anyone represent our church looking like that? He might be too blunt and actually challenge someone to repent. What will they think of our church?"
The Lord Jesus Christ called John the Baptist the greatest man that ever lived (Matt.1:11). If more Christians were like John the Baptist we'd see repentance, revival, and power in our lives and the life of the church. (Adapted from Br Barry Goode, GOOD NEWS, 8/93)
Super-dooper facilities, super-star personalities who attract the crowd. A gospel "packaged" and "marketed" like a plastic toy. Success measured in terms of quantity, quantity, quantity.
The Scriptural indicators of a successful church are "faith, hope, and love". How many husbands are lovingly leading their wives, how many wives are humbly following their husbans, and how many children are cheerfully obeying their parents? Authentic husbands, wives, and children- these are the measuring devices by which we should be gauging the "success" of our ministries. When such qualities become a reality in our churches, growth will come. (Extract from CVN by Ps Norman Pyle, 8/93)
Next fall, when you see geese heading South for the winter... flying along in V-formation... you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way!
As each bird flaps its wings it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V-formation the whole flock add at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.
If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed in the same direction. -When the head goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose takes the lead. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs. With people, or with flying geese going South. Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. What do we say when we honk from behind?
Finally... and this is important... when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose, and follow it down, to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group. If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. (Submitted by the Cawkwells, Toowoomba, Qld)
STAN DUNN
Our home was right opposite a pub. My parents spent much of their time there-
they were alcoholics.. I stole from anyone and everyone. I was always lying. I
began to smoke and drink. I got involved with gangs and caused as much trouble
as I could. At 13 I was brought before the law, for house-breaking. I left school
at the age of 14, and spent my nights in drinking, using drugs, fighting, and
chasing anything in a skirt.
My interest in the occult deepened, and I often prayed to the devil. One night I got very drunk, picked up a girl and hit her. For this I spent nine months in jail. For another assault, I received a sentence of three years. While in jail, I met David, a Christian who visited the prison. I thought, "What is this guy on?" He had a smile a mile wide. He told me that he was a Christian. I decided this was for me. But my interest in spiritual things did not last. In 1976, I killed a 20 year old woman, and for this I received a life sentence. The authorities labelled me as one of the most dangerous and high risk inmates in the prison system.
David wrote to me to tell me to ask the Lord for forgiveness. In 1985 I finally got down on my knees in my cell, and asked the Lord to forgive me- the sinner of all sinners- to come into my life, and to take complete control of it. As I said this, I saw and felt a bolt of white light enter into my heart. After this I refused cannabis, and said, "I've got the Lord Jesus, that's all I need". Although I am still serving a life sentence, I have been set free by the Lord. I long to do His will in my life.
Hallelujah!
A church which does not exist to do good in the slums and dens of the city is a church that has no reason to justify its longer existing. a church that does not exist to reclaim heathenism, to fight with evil, to destroy error, to put down falsehood, a church that does not exist to hold up righteousness is a church that has no right to be.
Christ's glory was to lay aside His glory. The glory of the church is when she lays aside her respectability and her dignity, and counts it to be her glory to gather together the outcasts, and to seek amid the foulest mire the priceless jewels for which Jesus shed His blood. To rescue souls from Hell and lead to God, to hope, to heaven; this is her heavenly occupation.
Let the church look to the conversion of the wandering, the teaching of the ignorant, the help of the poor, the maintenance of the right, the putting down of the wrong, and the upholding of all hazards of the crown and kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Spurgeon)
Rampant marital infidelity. Broken marriages. Defiant homosexual behaviour. Violence on the streets and in the media. Drug addiction.
Billy Graham once said, "It's back to the Bible, or back to the jungle". Without a wave of evangelisation , "barbarians" -our own unrepentant generation- are going to take over the land. Wesley's mission statement was, "We want to reform the nation, particularly the church, and to spread scriptural holiness over the land". The Good News still has power.
Churches are structured for the churched culture, not the unchurched. The "hymn/prayer, hymn/testimony, hymn/preach, hymn" pattern is fine for the Christian fringe, if that's your target. But we have to get the message across to the unchurched culture. We've got to be absolutely fundamental- to focus on the cross. The gift of the evangelist is to bring people to the cross. (Ev. Luis Palau)
Before I was a Christian my interests and ambitions were self-centred, not Christ-centred. My only desire was to be a professional soccer player. I didn't know where I was going in my life. I can remember when God first spoke to me. It was when I was in Sunday school at the age of 5. When I came to Australia in 1960, a friend of mine used to invite me to a Christian fellowship at the school. One morning I was handed a Gideon's New Testament in a school assembly . At night I used to read it, before I went to bed. I had been taught about Christ's first coming, but I had never heard about His second coming. I discovered that I wasn't ready to meet Christ if He should come again. So, I accepted Jesus into my heart and life as my Saviour and Lord. Then, after I was baptised in water in the Bairnsdale river, Jesus baptised me with the Holy Ghost. God has given me many promises by His Spirit, and He has never broken any of them. God has done many great things for me. (Ivan Bell, Vic)
The Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and whether it was the city, the sea, or the wilderness, danger surrounded him. To the carnal mind, this man would appear to be a trouble maker with a death-wish, lacking in wisdom. But to the spiritual mind, it is plain to see that this man would rather save souls than save face (Matt.10:22). (Br P.Sheehan, Toowoomba, Qld)
There is nothing to disturb the comfortable, it is all designed to comfort the disturbed. There is nothing to root out sin. -Don't say anything to hurt anyone's feelings. Don't say anything that would interfere with their lifestyle. Don't mention sin or condemn it. But in a general way speak of what a wonderful blessing God is, and how wonderful it is that we have Him at our beck and call, to do for us whatever we may want done. There is no price attached to the Gospel.
The Bible predicts that in the last days there shall be apostasy- a great falling away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is a holy God! We live in the age of cheap grace, of a Christ without a cross, the gospel of the good times. We need a vision of God- His holiness, His glory, and His power- power to save and also power to damn the disobedient and gainsayers. People are lost! The woe of a godless eternity awaits them!
If any man will come after Jesus, he will have to deny himself, take up his cross and follow! We need the fiery power of God, off the altar of God, to touch our lips, to purge sin, to give us a fire in our soul and a zeal for God. (Adapted, from Faith in the Future, 2/93- Ps Jack Jones)
The Governor's School at Little Rock- the curricula of which was personally planned and implemented by Bill and Hillary Clinton- is really a monstrous course in occult mind control- he describes it as "one of my proudest achievements". Clinton's School takes gifted teenage boys and girls, who are made to feel special, elitist and superior- "chosen ones" to revolutionise the world, and overturn despised traditional values. Cut off from parents, students are subjected to an intense, Nazi-like indoctrination and mind control program with a pro-lesbian and homosexual propaganda. Films bombard their minds with images of rioting, bloodshed, murder, anarchy, and rebellion. Their teachers are radical feminist abortionists and goddess worshippers, who guide them in New Age "therapy" exercises, allow sexual promiscuity and profanity, and train them to reject the "obsolete" Christian religion of their parents. President Clinton wants to set up a vast satanic network of Governor's Schools across the US- to turn America's public schools into occult, black magic laboratories just like the one set up in Little Rock. (Adapted, from Texe Marrs, Flashpoint, 6/93)
All souls live forever. Where we will spend eternity is our decision.
The hope of eternal life belongs to those who:
I was born in Scotland, to a mother who didn't want me, or my five sisters. I was put in an orphanage- it was very hard and cruel, with floggings, beatings, and punishments. I never saw my two sisters till I was 14, when my aunt and uncle came to take me home with them. My new mother gave me sandwiches, and at 6 am every day she sent me out to look for work. I wasn't allowed to come home till dark. I moved out from home into a boarding house, and at 16 I started to drink. After I had spent two years in the army, my life was boarding houses, new jobs, and drinking. While I was working in a factory, an accident took my right arm off at the shoulder. Money came to me from the accident- I spent it on drinking. Two friends and I left for Australia, and for a while things went alright. I spent all my money, and had just enough left to buy methylated spirits to drink. I would steal to buy drink and drugs.
Then I met a man in Canberra, who took me to church. There I was converted, as I asked Jesus Christ into my life. God delivered me from smoking 50 cigarettes a day, and from alcohol, and He filled me with His Holy Spirit. I went back to Scotland and told my old friends about my new life in Christ. God delivered me from grudges and from being a hopeless drunk, thief, and liar. (James McDade, Melbourne, Vic)
Our minor complaints are just that- minor and insignificant compared to the inhumane treatment that our sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus endure. Let us put aside bickering, jealousy, bitterness, grudges, complaints, and partiality and learn to give thanks in all things. Remember our brothers and sisters who are constantly harrassed, with beatings, torture, imprisonment, rejection from families, confiscation of property, etc. , etc. in communist and Islamic ruled countries. They help us see more fully the hope and steadfastness so often mentioned in the New Testament. The Body of Christ is still broken for us, and blood is still shed to keep the Gospel alive! Remember and pray! (Br Guy Davidson, Harewood, WA)
aims at a kind of consensus in interreligious relations. This occult event, funded by Rockefeller and the Illuminati, will show to the world Christians and Muslims, Zoroastrian sun worshippers, witchcraft priestesses, Buddhists, voodoo high priests, Hindus and Bahais meeting together- studying, meditating, celebrating, and even worshipping with one another. At the 1893 Parliament, the view was promoted that : "We accept all religions as true." The joint goal of these ecumenical pied pipers is "Unity"- to bring all the world's faiths and religions together as one. It is promoted by witches, satanists, and saturated with false Eastern religion. It is a giant step toward the global unification of all religions and cults. Some are proclaiming that the much heralded New Age messiah- Lord Maitreya may finally make his appearance. High ranking Roman Catholic notables, including Mother Theresa will be there. This Parliament will kick off a 7-year New Age Plan, which was first formulated by the Club of Rome/Illuminati. Observers believe this Parliament could signal the inauguration of the long prophesied Mystery Babylon- the Worlwide church of the devil, prophesied in Revelation 13 and 17. (Trinity World Forum, 93; and Flashpoint, 6/93)
In our day, Caesar has become seizer. In the US, as in almost every Western industrial nation, taxes at all levels consume in the range of 40% of men's productivity. Egypt under Pharoah extracted a mere 20% ( Gen. 47:24). Yet voters today are barely aware of what has taken place since World War 1. In 1914, no Western government extracted anything close to 10%. How many Christians have ever thought about the fact that if they were granted a 50% tax cut, they would be the economic equivalent of Pharoah's bondservants? How many of them understand that the tax rate that Samuel identified as the judgment of God (1 Sam.8;15-17) was one-quarter of what most Christians pay today? (Br. Rushdoony, Chalcedon Report, 1993)
Before we will see spiritual revival across Australia, churches will need to repent and prepare themselves for spiritual warfare. The church (the Bride of Christ) appears in many cases to not be ready for the coming of her groom- Jesus (Rev.21;2). She, instead of being radiant in her wedding garments, looks dirty, fat and unhealthy. Ii is time for the church to shake off her apathy and flabbiness and put on the full armour of God, so that she can stand against the devil's schems. (Kerry Medway, Aussies Afire, 8/93)