What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
All the great religious leaders of history have one thing in common: they are dead. Only one man has risen from a grave never again to taste death. Jesus Christ died, was buried, remained in the grave for 3 days, then was raised to life again.
Jesus is unique. He is the only one proven to be the Son of God because God validated His Kingship and accepted His payment for our sins all with one incredible stroke: He raised Jesus from the dead!
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this evidence about who Jesus is:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
Because Jesus Christ is very much alive, five things are true right now that wouldn’t be true if He were just another dead religious leader like Confucius, Mohammed or Buddha.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive…Prayers are answered, We can talk to Jesus 24/7
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John McDermott
The tears have all been shed now
We've said our last good-bye
His soul's been blessed and he's laid to rest
And it's now I feel alone
He was more than just a father
A teacher my best friend
He can still be heard in the tunes we shared
When we play them on our own
I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on
And I miss him... The old man
As a boy he'd take me walking
By mountain field and stream
And he showed me things not known to kings
And secret between him and me.
Like the colors of the pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
And how to fish and make a wish
Beside the holly tree
I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on
And I miss him... The Old Man
I thought he'd live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly and the years roll by
For a father and his son
And suddenly when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance to tell him thanks
For everything, he's done
I never will forget him for he made me what I am
Though he may be gone memory lingers on
And I miss him... My Old Man
High school friends Rob Westerman and Mike Lewis went to the Kroger store with four hundred dollars in their pockets. The money wasn't meant to buy eggs and milk, however. Instead, the two friends used it to surprise 15 shoppers by buying their groceries for them.
You could see the shock and happiness in the shoppers' eyes as they realized that this stranger just paid for their groceries. One woman offered to pay for the next person's groceries. Another blew him a kiss and said, "I love you!" A third told the cashier, "That just gave me chills!" The final woman in the video cried so hard the cashier went around the counter and gave her a hug. "Now you're going to make me cry," she said.
"Let's truly love our neighbor, whatever that looks like for you. We did this with no strings attached," Westerman told Today. Lewis added that one of the women they helped that day later contacted them and shared that she had asked God for a sign because she was going through a rough time.
Westerman explained to Today, "Our goal is that people see this video and go out and be nice to people. Let someone over, in traffic, or smile at someone."
Aaron Collins passed away just three weeks after his 30th birthday, but he left a legacy that has touched thousands of people. One of his final wishes was to give a waiter or waitress a $500 tip. When his brother Seth fulfilled his wish, giving a waitress a $500 tip at Puccini's, in Lexington, Kentucky, he recorded a video and put it on YouTube. Within days, the video was viewed over one million times, and thirty thousand dollars had been donated to continue the cause, now known as "Aaron's Last Wish."
In the video, Collins gave the waitress, Sarah Ward, the $500 tip, explaining that his brother had just passed away and that giving a $500 tip was his final wish. Ward told him, "I'm going to be telling this story for the rest of my life."
Over a hundred waitresses have now received $500 tips, all of which are chronicled on the Aaron's Wish website. At first, Collins was only visiting restaurants in Lexington, but he has since given a $500 tip in every state in the U.S. He told NPR, "People have been programmed to think that good things can't happen...and it makes me happy too, at least for a few of them, show that can."
When the supermarket clerk tallied up my groceries, I was $12 over what I had on me. I began to remove items from the bags, when another shopper handed me a $20 bill. “Please don’t put yourself out,” I told him. “Let me tell you a story,” he said. “My mother is in the hospital with cancer. I visit her every day and bring her flowers. I went this morning, and she got mad at me for spending my money on more flowers. She demanded that I do something else with that money. So, here, please accept this. It is my mother’s flowers.” —
Jim and the Job
My neighbor, Jim, had trouble deciding if he wanted to retire from the construction field, until he ran into a younger man he’d worked with previously. The young man had a wife and three children and was finding it difficult to make ends meet, since he hadn’t worked in some time. The next morning, Jim went to the union office and submitted his retirement paperwork. As for his replacement, he gave them the name of the young man. That was six years ago, and that young husband and father has been employed ever since. —
During my college years, I worked as a waitress and one night I spilled an entire pitcher of ice water on a lady in my booth. I was mortified and did my best to help her dry off. I couldn’t stop apologizing. She was very gracious and kept telling me, “It’s O.K. sweetie.” At the end of the night, I went to clear off her table. She had left me a note on the back of her ticket that said, “You did a great job. Remember God Loves You.” Along with my biggest tip of the night!
I was finishing my internship at Walt Disney World so my mom flew down to spend a few days with me before we had to pack my things and fly back. We had a reservation at one of the park restaurants, and as we were seated, we began talking to this family at the table next to us. They were extremely nice and asked all kinds of questions about my internship. They were finishing up so our conversation was a brief five minutes. Mom and I had a nice dinner, and when we requested the bill, our server informed us that the family next to us paid for our entire bill. My mom, bless her heart, broke down with tears of happiness, and I shed a few myself. I will never ever forget that moment. (Facebook)
My granddaughter (10 years old) and I were Christmas shopping and stopped at the Mall’s food court for a quick lunch. We wanted different things so she when to get Pizza. She struck up a conversation with the woman in front of her. When she got to the front of the line the woman had paid for her food. My granddaughter was amazed and tried to insist that she pay for her own. The woman simply told her to study hard and pass it on when she got the opportunity.
A friend of mine and I went to lunch together and we could see our waitress was struggling. So we asked how she was doing. She said she was fine at first, but after some persuasion, she told us she was a single mom and didn’t have the money to cover her electric bill due that day. We asked how much she owed. We relayed our sympathies to her and went back to eating lunch. However, we both felt God tugging at our hearts to help her. I left the restaurant to go get cash and my friend spoke to the manager. The manager said she was a hard-working, honest person and he would allow her to take a break so she could go and pay her electric bill. When we gave her the money, her face was priceless. She told us how grateful she was as tears welled up in her eyes.
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks, our Canadian neighbors sprang into action to help clear American airspace of any other potentially dangerous flights. The action was known as Operation Yellow Ribbon, and in those uncertain first hours after the attacks, it was hugely helpful. The mission also made a tiny town in Newfoundland world-famous for its hospitality.
Canadian authorities began diverting flights heading into the U.S. to various locations around Canada to help neutralize any lingering threats, but the task was a tricky one. It wouldn’t have made much sense to pull flights away from American airspace only to route them to Canada’s major centers, so the ideal landing spots for these planes had to be relatively remote, while also having a large enough airport to accommodate all the traffic.
As luck would have it, Canada had just such an airport in Gander, Newfoundland.
The tiny town only boasted 10,000 residents, but what it lacked in population size, it more than made up for in airport capacity. Gander International Airport had previously served as a refueling stop for transatlantic flights and had served as a staging point for U-boat hunting flights during World War II. Gander ended up receiving 38 flights in the wake of the September 11th attacks, second only to Halifax’s 47 diverted flights.
Landing all the planes in Gander was easy. Figuring out what to do with the 6700-plus passengers and crew members who were stuck on the ground until flights resumed was quite a bit tougher. Towns of 10,000 people aren’t exactly built to accommodate sudden 66 percent population surges, so they didn't have the hotel or restaurant capacity to take in all these stranded flyers.
Gander’s population may have been small, but the town was also immensely hospitable. To say the locals bent over backwards to accommodate their unexpected guests would be a gross understatement. When flyers stepped off of their planes, Gander’s citizens met them with homemade bagged lunches. The town converted its schools and large buildings into temporary shelters, and when those lodgings filled up, citizens took strangers into their own homes. Medical personnel saw patients and filled prescriptions free of charge.
When the stranded passengers finally got to fly home a few days later, they couldn’t believe how wonderful their Canadian hosts had been.
in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.”
The biker pulled over and said, “Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.”
The Lord said, “Your request is materialistic. Think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking.
The supports required to reach the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources.
I can do it, but it is hard for Me to justify your desire for worldly things.
Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind.”
The biker thought about it for a long time Finally he said, “Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand our wives.
I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries,
what she means when she says nothing’s wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy.”
The Lord replied, “You want two lanes or four on that bridge?.”
FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.
FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.
FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.
FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED.
FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.
FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.
FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE
FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.
FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.
FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.
FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.
FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.
FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN
CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.
FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.
AND FINALLY, FOR ALL E-MAIL RECEIVED FROM MY FRIENDS.
BECAUSE IT MEANS GOOD
FRIENDS ARE THINKING OF ME.
SEND THE ADDRESS OF THIS PAGE TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT!
Live well, Laugh often, & Love with all of your heart!
Thank You
12. A successful marriage isn't finding the right person; it's being the right person.
13. The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
14. Too many people offer God prayers with claw marks all over them.
15. The tongue must be heavy, indeed because so few people can hold it.
16. To forgive is to set the prisoner free and then discover the prisoner was you.
17. You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive!
18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again.
Just be sure to flush when you are done.
19. You'll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck...
20. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet
the water bill is higher.
You are richer today if you have laughed, given, or forgiven!!!
preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on
the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know
what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on
the other side came a sound of scratching and
whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang
into the room and leaped on him with an eager show
of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you
notice my dog? He's never been in this room before.
He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing
except that his master was here, and when the door
opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of
what is on the other side of death, but I do know
one thing... I know my Master is there and that is
enough."
May today there be peace within you. May you trust
God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us
to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering
how to fly.
21 August 2020
Rees Howells Intercessor
Once the Holy Spirit took possession of him in 1906, Rees Howells, a Welsh miner, was led deeply into a ministry of intercession for many situations including healing, conversions and to challenge death at home and abroad on the mission field.
Called to a Life of Faith
After several years of working at one of the hardest jobs a man can do – down the mine, cutting coal, he received a call to come out from wage-earning. Rees Howells declared in obedience to God, “I do believe You are able to keep me better than that mining company.”
This was the beginning of forty years of praying for thousands of pounds and abundantly proving the Lord’s prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
The just shall live by faith
Hebrews 10:38
Called to the Mission Field
In December 1910, Rees Howells married and later he and his wife received a call to be missionaries. This would mean leaving their newly born son Samuel at home to obey this call. Samuel would grow up to become an intercessor and the story of his life of intercession is told in the book Samuel Rees Howells: A Life of Intercession. For Rees and his wife, they left Samuel in Britain, and after this long and hard death experience, they both left for Southern Africa.
Samuel Rees Howells, A Life of Intercession
Revival
Rees Howells was touched deeply by the Welsh Revival, and when he and his wife arrived on the mission field at Rusitu, Gazaland, in the summer of 1915, the fellow missionaries knew they had come from the land where revival had been, and straightaway asked if they had brought the blessing with them! Rees Howells told them, that the source of all Revival is the Holy Ghost, and that He could do among them what He had done in Wales!
Rees Howells took many meetings to preach on Revival and within six weeks the Spirit began to move upon the Christians there. Mrs Howells taught them the chorus: ‘Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me.’
You can never describe those meetings when the Holy Spirit comes down!
– Rees Howells
The following Thursday, while on their knees in prayer, the Lord spoke to Rees Howells, telling him that their prayer was heard and that revival was coming. They waited, as in the days before Pentecost and then He came. In the meeting from 10 October 1915 the whole congregation were on their faces crying out to God; like lightning and thunder the power came. “You can never describe those meetings when the Holy Spirit comes down,” said Rees Howells.
Revival Spreads to the Surrounding Areas
Whilst seeking the Lord for revival blessing in other areas the Lord brought revelation to Rees, “I was pleading His word, Malachi 3:10, ‘And try me now in this,’ says the Lord of Hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’ Then I saw the Holy Ghost descending on all the mission stations.” The vision came to pass and thousands received Christ.
I saw the Holy Ghost descending on all the mission stations
– Rees Howells
After the past blessing, the founders believed they might be led into a worldwide revival ministry. But the Lord showed them clearly that His plan was different. They were commissioned to build and sustain the largest Bible College in Wales by prayer and faith alone. At that time, the founders had only two shillings, (ten UK pence / fifteen US cents). The founders had only George Mueller (who needed ninety pounds Sterling a day), Hudson Taylor and the Old Testament Prophets to lead by example.
The first estate bought by faith for the College was Glynderwen. Buying this estate was a test case against the Church of Rome who also wanted the property.
The Lord provided the money instalment by instalment. The cost price was £6,300, but the Lord showed Rees to pay no more than £6,150. After a long battle and many tests of faith, where it looked like the Church of Rome would get the property, the owner dropped the price by £500 and the Bible College of Wales (BCW) was born!
The Dedication of the Bible College of Wales
The College was dedicated on Whit-Monday (Pentecost) June 1924. Hundreds gathered in the grounds for the special service, during this time of commercial embarrassment and scarcity of money. Long articles, describing the unique event were in the newspapers.
Bible College of Wales a Triumph of Faith, Fervent Inauguration
– Swansea Post
The press called it – God’s College – and it was, for the funds had come from Him. At one time over a hundred and forty students were in residence and one thousand meals were prepared a day! The finances that were needed repeatedly came in at the very hour of the need.
The Second Estate of the Bible College of Wales
The second mansion the founders were called to obtain was Derwen Fawr. This was one of the most desirable estates in Swansea. At first the solicitor’s clerk declared, “Derwen Fawr is sold” to another party. The director Rees Howells announced, “Derwen Fawr is not sold! God’s Word can never fail.” After another test of faith, God intervened and the College purchased their second site.
The Third Estate and Children’s Home
The time soon came for yet another advance of faith. This came with the call to purchase Sketty Isaf Estate which was adjacent to Derwen Fawr. Rees Howells was reading about the life of Dr Whitfield Guinness of the China Inland Mission, and how no-one offered his children a home during the school holidays. Dr Whitfield said this caused him more heart agony than any persecutions he had endured in China. The Lord used this to bring home to him the need for a home for missionary children. The Lord said, “I want you to make a home for every child of missionaries who cannot be taken back to the field.”
Out of this time of travail in prayer came a home for and school for missionary children. Later the school was opened to the public because of the high demand for top schools in the area. Sketty Isaf was sought after for this reason.
Without money or an influential supporting committee, no sane man would have undertaken such a gigantic scheme of buying a third estate, unless his faith was fixed unshakeably on the Faithful, Almighty God.
Sketty Isaf was purchased for £3,000. Only in a falling market, in days of depression could such a house and grounds be bought for such a low price. God’s timing was perfect.
How did the faith and prayers of a humble coal miner affect the course of World War II?
Rees Howells was a man uniquely taught of God who found the key to prevailing prayer, became the channel of a mighty revival in Africa, was taught the principles of divine healing, and progressed even further in faith until world events were affected by his prayers.
Samuel Rees Howells: A Life of Intercession
The Legacy of a Hidden Intercessor.
Rees Howells, a powerful intercessor, taught his son Samuel the principles of intercession and commissioned him some weeks before his death, stating, "Whatever you do, stand and maintain these intercessions." For the next fifty-four years, Samuel Rees Howells exercised a powerful intercessory ministry as he focused prayer on gospel liberty, in order for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be given to every creature.
With the mantle of intercession weighing heavily upon him, Samuel spent decades participating with others in their own countries, in profound spiritual struggles that shook world events and shaped history for God's glory! Discover how Samuel was led by the Holy Spirit to exercise authority over the principalities and powers, and to 'pray through' until God's purposes were fulfilled in many lethal world conflicts. Learn how God still intervenes in world history, from the Korean War to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and from the Six-Day War to the fall of the Soviet Union!
Beginning in the days of Rees Howells, this book continues this powerful story of intercession and traces its effectual legacy into the twenty-first century. Filled with principles of intercession, faith and spiritual warfare, this book provides a fascinating insight into what is possible when the Holy Spirit finds an individual, who will stand in the gap and become a channel for His intercession. (Ezekiel 22:30, Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:12.)
Richard A. Maton worked under Samuel's ministry for forty-seven years and provides us with an eyewitness account of Samuel's life of intercession. Richard is married to Kristine who joined Rees Howells' Bible College in 1936 and prayed alongside him.
"He Sattith At The "Right Hand"...Of God"........................
Closing sermon,
A preacher was completing a temperance sermon: with great expression, he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river." With even greater emphasis he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river."
And then finally, he said, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river."
He sat down. The song leader then stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, "For our closing song, let us sing Hymn # 365: "Shall We Gather at the River."
Father O'Malley answers the phone. "Hello, is this Father O'Malley?"
"It is"
"This is the IRS. Can you help us?"
"I can"
"Do you know a Ted Houlihan?"
"I do"
"Is he a member of your congregation?"
"He is"
"Did he donate $10,000 to the church?"
"He will".
The split between the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics was made public and clear with the 1521 Edict of Worms: the edicts of the Diet condemned Luther and officially banned citizens of the Holy Roman Empire from defending or propagating his ideas, subjecting advocates of Lutheranism to forfeiture of all property, half of the seized property to be forfeited to the imperial government and the remaining half forfeit to the party who brought the accusation.
The divide centered primarily on two points: the proper source of authority in the church, often called the formal principle of the Reformation, and the doctrine of justification, often called the material principle of Lutheran theology. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification "by Grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone", the doctrine that scripture is the final authority on all matters of faith. This is in contrast to the belief of the Roman Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition.
Unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Western Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, though Eastern Lutheranism uses the Byzantine Rite. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, divine grace, the purpose of God's Law, the concept of perseverance of the saints, and predestination.
Luther lived very large. He lived a life that was probably about as much as ten lifetimes squeezed into one. He was born in 1483, into a world that was medieval. It was the height of the Middle Ages. He died in 1546 as the modern world was emerging, and much of those changes had to do with Luther himself.
Of course, the singular event in his life was October 31, 1517: he posted his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door. That was the beginning of his conflict with his church. It culminated in the spring of 1521, when Luther appeared before the Diet at Worms, before the emperor and the princes, the bishops and the papal legates. Here was Luther, an obscure Augustinian monk, and he took his stand there. And that was where he uttered his famous words: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against our conscience is neither safe for us nor open to us. Here I stand.
“My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” —Martin LutherAnd so from 1517 to 1521, there was this formation of Luther as he was hammering out these doctrines of sola scriptura (by Scripture alone) and sola fide (by faith alone). Not only did Luther start the Reformation, as it were, he was also involved in organizing it. From 1521 to 1546, he was pastoring, preaching five to seven times a week there in Wittenberg, and lecturing at the University. And his students were going all over Europe and proclaiming the gospelLuther's Ministry to Children
He married a former nun and they went on to have six children of their own. They adopted another four kids or so from relatives. He endured a plague that came through Wittenberg, he endured the peasant war, and he endured church conflicts. He lived not just through this Reformation, but he lived into old age. In 1546, he died, ironically enough, in the town of his birth, Eisleben.
But what we see in Luther is a faithfulness to the end—that he clung, not just as he did in life but also in death, to the doctrine of Christ alone, and salvation by faith alone in what Christ has done for us. Martin Luther lived a remarkable life.
Martin Luther also taught kids. This was one Luther’s great legacies. He wrote the shorter catechism, or the kinbefore them.der catechismus as it was called. Every morning, Luther opened up the doors to his house there in Wittenberg, and the kids of the town came in and sat at the feet of Dr. Martin Luther as he opened the catechism
William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist, a prominent evangelical Christian figure, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. One of his biographers has placed him "among the most influential Christian leaders" of the 20th century.
As a preacher, he held large indoor and outdoor rallies with sermons that were broadcast on radio and television; some were still being re-broadcast into the 21st century. In his six decades on television, Graham hosted annual "Crusades", evangelistic campaigns that ran from 1947 until his retirement in 2005. He also hosted the radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. He repudiated racial segregation and insisted on racial integration for his revivals and crusades, starting in 1953; he also invited Martin Luther King Jr. to preach jointly at a revival in New York City in 1957. In addition to his religious aims, he helped shape the worldview of a huge number of people who came from different backgrounds, leading them to find a relationship between the Bible and contemporary secular viewpoints. According to his website, Graham preached to live audiences of 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission.
Graham was a spiritual adviser to U.S. presidents, and he provided spiritual counsel for every president from Harry S. Truman (33rd) to Barack Obama (44th). He was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson (one of Graham's closest friends), and Richard Nixon. He was also lifelong friends with another televangelist, the founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, Robert Schuller, whom Graham talked into starting his own television ministry.
Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lothian, Knox is believed to have been educated at the University of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early church reformers such as George Wishart, he joined the movement to reform the Scottish church. He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and political events that involved the murder of Cardinal David Beaton in 1546 and the intervention of the regent Mary of Guise. He was taken prisoner by French forces the following year and exiled to England on his release in 1549.
While in exile, Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England, where he rose in the ranks to serve King Edward VI of England as a royal chaplain. He exerted a reforming influence on the text of the Book of Common Prayer. In England, he met and married his first wife, Margery Bowes. When Mary I ascended the throne of England and re-established Roman Catholicism, Knox was forced to resign his position and leave the country. Knox moved to Geneva and then to Frankfurt. In Geneva, he met John Calvin, from whom he gained experience and knowledge of Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. He created a new order of service, which was eventually adopted by the reformed church in Scotland. He left Geneva to head the English refugee church in Frankfurt but he was forced to leave over differences concerning the liturgy, thus ending his association with the Church of England.
On his return to Scotland, Knox led the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Protestant nobility. The movement may be seen as a revolution, since it led to the ousting of Mary of Guise, who governed the country in the name of her young daughter Mary, Queen of Scots. Knox helped write the new confession of faith and the ecclesiastical order for the newly created reformed church, the Kirk. He wrote his five-volume The History of the Reformation in Scotland between 1559 and 1566. He continued to serve as the religious leader of the Protestants throughout Mary's reign. In several interviews with the Queen, Knox admonished her for supporting Catholic practices. After she was imprisoned for her alleged role in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, and King James VI was enthroned in her stead, Knox openly called for her execution. He continued to preach until his final days.
The theology of the Salvation Army is derived from that of Methodism, although it is distinctive in institution and practice. A peculiarity of the Army is that it gives its clergy titles of military ranks, such as "lieutenant" or "major". It does not celebrate the rites of Baptism and Holy Communion. However, the Army's doctrine is otherwise typical of holiness churches in the Wesleyan–Arminian tradition. The Army's purposes are "the advancement of the Christian religion ... of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole".
The Army was founded in 1865 in London by one-time Methodist preacher William Booth and his wife Catherine as the East London Christian Mission, and can trace its origins to the Blind Beggar tavern. In 1878, Booth reorganised the mission, becoming its first General and introducing the military structure which has been retained as a matter of tradition. Its highest priority is its Christian principles. The current international leader of The Salvation Army and chief executive officer (CEO) is General Brian Peddle, who was elected by the High Council of The Salvation Army on 3 August 2018.
Thanks for saving.
Corrie was an amazing woman, she was also very outspoken.
Would ask at a Christian meeting someone. How long have you been a Christian?
"What do you mean, I was born in the church" Corrie then would know that this person
was not yet saved...............
She herself accepted the Lord at a very young age.........................
Corrie ten Boom returned to the Netherlands after the war and set up a rehabilitation center for concentration camp survivors. In the Christian spirit to which she was so devoted, she also took in those who had cooperated with the Germans during the occupation. In 1946, she began a worldwide ministry that took her to more than 60 countries. She received many tributes, including being knighted by the queen of the Netherlands. In 1971, she wrote a best-selling book of her experiences during World War II, entitled The Hiding Place. In 1975, the book was made into a movie starring Jeannette Clift as Corrie and Julie Harris as her sister Betsie.
What grieved Corrie the most is seeing this guard slapping her sister so cruelly.
Betsie was a saint. There were a lot of flies and lice in the barracks. Betsie told Corry to thank the Lord for the flies and the lice. Corrie could not make herself do this.
Betsie said they keep the guards away Corrie so we can keep talking about the Lord to the others.
Somehow the sisters had managed to smukle the Gospels into the camp..............
“It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.”
? Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ
tags: christianity, courage, persecution, preaching83 likes
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“God will judge us not according to how much we endured, but how much we could love”
? Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ
tags: persecution43 likes
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“My wife and I were present at this congress. Sabina told me, "Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ! They are spitting in His face." I said to her, "If I do so, you lose your husband." She replied, "I don't wish to have a coward as a husband.”
? Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ
tags: christianity, suffering42 likes
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“There was once a fiddler who played so beauitully that everybody danced. A deaf man who could not hear the music considered them all insane. Those who are with Jesus in suffering hear this music to which other men are deaf. They dance and do not care if they are considered insane.”
? Richard Wurmbrand, Victorious Faith
tags: beauty, faith, insane, inspirational, music22 likes
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“Even the best of Christians are troubled by the question, "Why does an almighty God send, or at least allow, suffering?" When you are nagged by thoughts like this, say to yourself, "I am still in elementary school. When I graduate from the university of Christian life, I will understand His ways better and doubts will cease.”
? Richard Wurmbrand
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Yes, so very true Hplady...................
But the dispute has arisen over reports of the revival itself, especially the accounts by young evangelist Mel Tari of the island of Timor (population: one million), where the revival broke out September 26, 1965, a few days before an abortive Communist coup. In his taped lectures and 1971 book, Like a Mighty Wind (Creation House sales: 200,000), about Timor, Tari mentions miraculous healings, the resurrection of “ten to twenty persons” (including one man dead for two days, whose resurrection led to the conversion of 21,000), the water turned into communion wine more than fifty times, Christians walking on water, food that mysteriously multiplied, an ingested poison that did not poison, God speaking audibly, and light in the jungle at night. (Tari returned to Timor last fall after a speaking circuit in the United States—and marriage to the daughter of charismatic Presbyterian minister John Rea of Wheaton, Illinois, who helped arrange his American tour.)
Such accounts, combined with impressive—but unconfirmed—statistics (200,000 conversions on Timor during the revival, 80,000 the first three months alone), have led writers, anthropologists, missionaries, mission professors, and others to make the tortuous seventy-mile, eight-hour trip from the port city of Kupang ...
In spite of the difficulty believing the reports, one of the most respected revival historians, the Baptist revivalist J. Edwin Orr, stated that
But questioning or discrediting of the more sensational reports has not invalidated the corroborated accounts of an unusual awakening on Timor.
Two of the sources used for this revival report were written by those who visited the Timor Revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
?Don Crawford, a trained reporter, was sent to Indonesia by Tyndale House Publishers to verify the accounts, as some of the revival reports had the tone of being extremely embellished, or even outright fictitious. Though initially skeptical and suspicious of the miraculous claims being made, Crawford embraced the accounts after having heard the reports in person, as well as seeing the results with his own eyes. Crawford stated that by seeing transformed individuals as well as communities demonstrating a passionate devotion and obedience to God, he was inclined to believe their reports of miracles.
]What kind of preacher was John Calvin? It is important to note firstly, that he was one who preached through entire books, chapters, or larger groupings of Scripture, opening and explaining the meaning of various passages, and then applying the truths of those passages to the hearts and consciences of his hearers. This type of preaching has commonly been called expository preaching.
Let us examine Calvin’s preaching to see if indeed he preached the Word of God in this fashion, thus leaving us an example to follow. First, we will consider Calvin’s method of preaching and second, Calvin’s example of preaching.
Calvin’s Method of Preaching
Can it be proved that Calvin was one who “preached through entire books, chapters, or larger groupings of Scripture?” The evidence for this fact is overwhelming. Concerning Calvin’s preaching method, Steven Lawson says,
One noted expositor who “gave attention” to biblical preaching was the monumental reformer of Geneva, John Calvin. His passionate commitment to Word-centered, text-driven preaching remains second to none. For twenty-three years (1541-1564), this Swiss pastor carefully expounded God’s Word to his congregation . . . In fact, Calvin was so devoted to preaching through books of the Bible that his expositional series often took several years to complete.
2) “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. ...
3) “Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.” ...
4) “You learn more from failure than from success. ...
6) “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed.
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ...
“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, ...
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ...
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. ...
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. ...
“Without music, life would be a mistake.”