Parents - beware of Harry Potter books, and Pokemon. They cast a spell over children, attracting them to the occult.
To some, Christianity is an argument.
To many, it is a performance.
To a few it is an experience. (Abigail, Gawler, SA)
I hear a lot about doing the work of God. Go to the furthest reaches of the earth, that's the work of God. Become a pastor, teacher, or some sort of social worker, that's the work of God, they say. Be a counsellor, a youth group leader or lead worship, that's the work of God. Pray, fast and perform miracles; that's the work of God, they say. Yes it's pious, yes it's religious... but it's not the work of God! Have we forgotten that the best we can do is as dung to the Lord? John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (Paul, Blackwood, SA)
I am an ex RC but now set free from bondage, fear, and free from that lying, idolatrous doctrine. You can imagine how indoctrinated I was , having been raised in an RC orphanage... Praise the Lord, He changed the heart of a bigoted RC and now I have the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, and not Mary... I was 48 years in that wicked doctrine. I so love the Word of God - as it was the Word of God that set me free. By His Word we are made overcomers. (Val, Caloundra, Qld)
The children and youth of today truly do need God in their lives and an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. there are so many voices and things (interests, peer pressure, activities and leisure and sport, pubs and clubs and so on that vie for their attention and involvement, but it is only God who truly satisfies, loves them, and gives life and a purpose for living and eternal life to those who repent of their sin and accept Jesus into their heartand life to be their Saviour, Lord, and Friend. (Leone, Medina, WA)
Get everything out of it
Do not read anything into it
Let nothing remain unread in it
Read it through
Pray it in
Work it out
Note it down
Pass it on
(Trevor, Wahroonga, NSW)
He Loves God and his neighbour
He Overcomes the world
He is Righteous
He Denies himself (Philip Varda)
Forsaking (Renouncing, giving up, turning away from)
All (Self righteousness, good works, sacraments, purgatory, human achievement,
indulgences)
I (personally)
Trust (believe, rely on, have faith in)
Him
The Lord Jesus Christ, the only nmae under heaven by which men can be saved
(Acts 4:12); the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), the only way
to the Father (John 14:6). (Proclaiming the Gospel)
Adelaide will host "The Odyssey of Spirit" concert in October 2001. It is billed as "an exciting and spectacular concert highlighting and recognising the many faiths which make up the SA community". The concert is being organised by the SA Multifaith Association, which "involves Indigenous, Bahai, Buddhist, Hindu, Islam, Jewish, Sikh, Unitarian and all mainstream Christian religions under the umbrella of the SA Council of Churches". The patron of the Multifaith Association is Dr Ian George, the Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide. (Various news clippings)
A certain man had an 8 year old son. He was a non church-goer. But he thought he would take his son to church one Sunday. So when he came home after the service he asked his son if he liked the service. This is his reply: "I liked the people they were friendly, the preacher was good, also the singing. But what I liked the best was the $10 note that I got out of the bag they passed around."
On rainy days
He helps us see the rainbow
In difficult moments
He helps us find a smile
During times of uncertainty
He helps us stand firm
When we are discouraged
He keeps us from giving up.
(Thanks to Sis Abigail)
An alcoholic mother has been off alcohol now for over one year and has reunited with her family again. She gives all the praises to God. She started attending a church and Christians there helped her and she saw her need. Of all my grandchildren she was the most unlikely to make this decision. Isn't this wonderful? But we shouldn't be surprised really as we read in Hi Word that He didn't go to the learned, the rich, famous, or most religious, but to the needy, the prostitutes, the lepers... We just don't know who God has His hand upon. He saved even me. (Gwen, Peak Hill, NSW)
...I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warmed, reproved, instructed...
When the church seems dead and the work is slow...
When the attendance is off and the songs too low;
When the prayers of the saints lack fervour and power...
When the preacher's sermons seems stale and sour,
Why not pause with self-examining eye, and ask... "Lord is it I?"
A wise old owl lived in an oak,
The more he saw the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
We should all be like that old bird.
How much I want to live on the other side of the cross where true life in Christ is. There's no life this side - only the world, the flesh and the devil; destruction and misery. I badly see my need to live on the other side of death - surrender. (Mariann, Barmera, SA)
I still remain in jail. It has been six long years, but the passage of time has been made easier with the Lord. I continue to write my inspirational articles and have already successfully completed one book, "Reflections from a prison cell". Prison could have made me a broken man without Christ in my life. Trials and troubles still best me, but... I too shall be free one day. (Mervyn, Toowoomba, Qld)
I am reading a book called "800 Horseman" by Col Stringer. Have you heard of it ? It tells the story of the Australian Light Horsemen, who opened the doorway for the liberation of Jerusalem from centuries of Turkish rule. These Aussies achieved what no other nation, including the Crusaders, Napoleon, German and British armies could do. (Brian F., email)
An un-careful word is able to stir up a fight
A hard word is able to destroy a life
A bitter word is able to pass on hate
A harsh word is able to wound and to tear down
A good word is able to soft the pain
A pleasant word is able to make the day happy
A word in season is able to decrease the stress
A compassionate word is able to heal and give strength
(From the Greek magazine The Voice Of The Gospel)
Following on from "Healing Services?" (#58 p. 14)... Luke 9:1-4 speak of the power and authority that Jesus gave to the twelve disciples to drive out all demons and to cure diseases but there is a second important part of the message - 'Take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town." I wonder where this message leaves so many of our modern 'gifted healers' with their ministries so tied up with reaping monetary riches? (Ian & Jenny, East Maitland, NSW)
I have just returned from India. People are coming to Christ everywhere. At Emmanuel Ministries 1,100 students graduated - taking the vow of martyrdom - and each will go to an unreached village. No wonder the enemies of the cross are getting angry. (Eddie, Bracken Ridge, Qld)
Rev. K. Samson Roberts welcomes evangelists: 8-22-93 Sita Nagar 2nd line Guntur-522001, Andra Pradesh, South India.
Dr. Kumar, head of a Christian mission organisation, "Eye Openers", is serving among the very rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. Their Medical Center is surrounded by more than 300 villages, where they want to conduct Free Medical and Eye Camps. They need sponsors for expenses of medicines, power, and glasses...
People spend 50% of their time thinking about money - how to get it, how to spend it, how to save it... If any sin seems to dominate our society it is the pursuit of material things. They are so important they take the place of GOD. Even Christians are far too thing-centred. Money in our culture is a mark of greatness... At the heart of the matter is our dependence on material things. We accumulate them. We go into debt to acquire them... Things enslave us, not only our bodies but our hearts, which no longer have room for anything or anyone else. All the money in the world will not help us in the day of trouble... The folly of seeking earthly treasure is that we have to leave it all behind... We must smash the altars of money from our hearts. (John White)
The Vatican has astonishing wealth in real estate, stocks, shares, and gold, with large investments across the world. The Catholic church is the biggest financial power, wealth accumulator and property owner in existence. She is a greater possessor of material riches than any other single institution, corporation, bank, giant trust, government or state of the whole globe. The pope, as the visible ruler of this immense amassment of wealth, is consequently the richest individual of the twentieth century. No one can realistically assess how much he is worth in terms of billions of dollars. (From The Vatican Billions, at www.chick.com)
December 25th is not Jesus Christ's birthday but the birthday of the Pagan Sun god... The queen of Babylon (Semiramis) ordered the world to celebrate the birth of her son, Tammuz... .All over the world on the 25"' December, the sun was worshipped by these various names: Tammuz, Horus, Osiris, Sol, etc. It was a time for orgies, sacrificing of babies to Baal (the sun god), drunkenness, and merriment. Semiramis ordered trees to be decorated with little balls representing the sun. God forbade the Jews to decorate trees as the heathens were doing (Jer. 10:1-4). When the Roman Catholic Mass was first said on midnight, December 24th, around the year 394 A.D, it was the Mass of Christ, or Christmas. The Roman Catholic Religion changed it from Baal's birthday to the birthday of Jesus... We see the Virgin Mary and a little Baby, both with the sun around their heads. (Alberto Rivera, Former Jesuit Priest, 'The Force' Volume 15)
I will... assume my religion heretical (i.e. be a spy by posing as a Protestant), for the propaganda of the Mother Church's interest... I will when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate and exterminate them from the face of the whole earth, and that I will spare neither sex, age nor condition, and that I will hang, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants' heads against the wall, in order to annihilate forever their execrable race... I will secretly use the poison cup, the strangulation cord... or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity or authority of the person or persons whatsoever may be their condition in life, either public or private as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agent of the Pope...
Tract distribution certainly still does have its place in the twenty first century. Clearly, we need go no further than the efforts of the Jehovah's Witnesses to illustrate the point. The Jehovah's Witnesses are diligent field workers who are willing to suffer rejection and humiliation for their cause. They distribute literature and tracts that are topical. Their workers go to great lengths to build bridges of friendship and lasting relationships into the community. We could certainly learn a great deal from the strategies adopted by these people.
Tracts are an important link in building Christian community. They allow us to leave the comfort zone of our church buildings and go forth to labour in the vineyard as God would have us do. Tracts give us the opportunity to interact with other people from all walks of life and share the message of the hope that there is in Jesus. (Alistair, Exmouth, WA)
Here in the USA, we had quite an interesting Presidential election this time... the election was too close to call and the whole country held its breath waiting to see who the next President would be. In the end Mr. Bush was the winner, which is good because his party, the Republican party, is more friendly to Christianity and "family values" in general.
Anyway, I found myself praying for my country almost every day during this
election and I've been thinking: why not continue to pray for my country? Why
wait for an "emergency?" I don't know what the Lord has in store for the USA,
we are getting pretty depraved as a nation, but why not pray for our countries,
for the souls of the politicians and bureaucrats? It is better than standing
by and doing nothing, content to sigh and say "that's just the way it is." (Stephanie,
Los Angeles, USA)
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