The Significant Events of 1979

I encourage you to watch an exclusive video interview of Joel Rosenberg.

He addresses:
• The significant events of 1979
• The effectiveness of The Jesus Film in reaching the peoples of the Middle East
• Prophecies in Matthew 24 and Joel 2

I especially enjoyed the true story of an Iranian woman’s vision of Jesus while watching the film.

24 Hours

I had planned a day and a half to clean the house for weekend company. My sovereign Lord had other plans for me!

Yesterday afternoon, Guillermo, an electrician, came by to work on our A/C. I could not identify his rich accent.

“I am Colombian… Colombian coffee,” he replied to my question.

We talked more and I gave him a tract on the Spirit-filled life in Spanish.

This morning, Marco came to do an annual pest treatment on our home. We have talked many times over the years about spiritual things. Today, he opened up about the physical abuse he suffered as a child and how he would like to help others who are suffering.

After he left, I had shopping errands and had good conversations with Ana, Walter, Beth, and Amy. I had tracts for each of them which they were very glad to receive.

When I got home I wanted to have my daily devotional with the Lord and get going on my housework.

The doorbell rang. Our neighbor, Sharon, dropped by and I invited her in. We have talked about the Lord several times. Today was one of our best conversations. I gave her Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter.

After she left, I knew I really had to get going with dusting and such, so I turned worship music on and worshiped the Lord for the incredible privilege of talking to seven people in twenty-four hours about the hope and forgiveness they can find in Jesus Christ! I am grateful that he kept my heart open and available to these sweet souls on a very busy day when I normally would want to rush from one thing to the next, trying to check things off my to-do list!

Pray for Father Zakaria Botros

I just read about Father Zakaria Botros in a blog post (go to the very last paragraph) and felt impressed that we should pray for him and his effective ministry in reaching Muslims for Christ.

Father Botros, an Egyptian Coptic priest, reaches 50 million Muslims a day via satellite television.

Joel Rosenberg explains, “. . . he’s taking on Islam verse by verse, chapter by chapter, hadith by hadith and he’s deconstructing it. Then because he’s a believer in Jesus, he explains . . . the truth. Now, people call in to his show and they’re furious.”

Thank you for praying that many will come to Christ through his ministry. Also pray for his personal safety.

Paul on the Road to Damascus… Again

God is using the life of Paul to reach Syrians for Christ.

The premiere showing of Damascus, a film on the life of Paul, was seen by more than 1,000 influential Syrian leaders. See the trailer.

When Paul encountered Jesus, his Messiah, in Damascus, “the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.’” (Acts 9:15)

How exciting to think that God may still be doing that through this film! Join with us in praying for God to use this film in reaching the people of the Middle East.

Rebuilding Babylon

Joel Rosenberg says that the U.S. is contributing to the re-building of Babylon. Learn more about The Future of Babylon Project on his blog.

The Waiting Room

If you have Christian magazines, take some with you next time you are visiting a waiting room.

Your pediatrician might enjoy having Focus on the Family magazines for his waiting room or exam rooms. The magazine could be their monthly newsletter magazine or a subscription. Take a handful of Significant Woman tracts with you on your mammogram appointment for the waiting room. (Beginning Your Journey of Significance and Living a Life of Significance).

Maybe you have a Christian video for your doctor’s waiting room or flyers for your church’s next big outreach event.

Be sure to ask permission to leave materials at:
• A medical office (doctor, dentist, clinic)
• An auto mechanic’s
• A professional office
• And anywhere with a waiting room

Some other materials you might donate to a waiting room:
• Worldwide Challenge magazine
• Creation magazine
• Answers magazine
• Tracts

You might enjoy reading some more stories from my waiting room experiences.
• Well-behaved kids in a waiting room
• Taking a stand against obnoxious TV programming in waiting rooms
• Recycling
• More suggestions

“One Master”

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” ~ Luke 16:13 NLT

“Just watch a child standing before a selection of candy after he has been told he can have something. Perhaps he ends up just looking. . . and looking. Maybe you see him reach for one thing, only to pull his hand back and start for another. What is the problem? Does the child not like candy? Certainly not! The problem is that the child likes all kinds of candy! It’s hard to choose one thing when your appetites and tastes draw you to many things. Every follower of Jesus faces the same challenge. Jesus puts it succinctly: You cannot divide your loyalties. You can have only one prevailing passion, only one master.”

Quoted from a footnote in the Discover God Bible, Luke 16:13 NLT, p. 1885.

The Discover God Bible will help you know God more deeply. Packed with 9,000 study notes, as well as articles and guides to Biblical teaching and themes, this Bible will help you see God as He is revealed in the Scriptures and also help you respond to Him and discover purpose in your life.

Bill Bright, said, “We can trace all of our human problems to our view of God.”

This Bible was born from that conviction.

To buy a copy for yourself, visit the Resources of the Discover God website or order from your favorite book supplier.

A Small Act of Kindness

Mark had just helped Bill pick up the books, sweaters, and other items he had just dropped. They were walking home from school and Mark continued to walk with Bill and they ended up spending the afternoon getting to know each other. Mark continued on home.

They saw each other around school after that and went on to attend the same high school, where they saw each other occasionally.

Just before graduation, Bill reminded Mark of the day they met.

“Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” he asked. “I cleaned out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. . . I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent time together talking and laughing, it turned things around for me. You see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more; you saved my life.”

This true story comes from Randy Alcorn’s In Light of Eternity, pages 121 and 122. Randy goes on to encourage his readers that God is watching and will reward us in Heaven for being faithful to Him. (To me, it would be reward enough to know that I had helped prevent a suicide!) We will probably be amazed in Heaven when we find out that some of the small things we did for others ended up helping them in a significant way.

I also highly recommend this book to clear up misconceptions people may have about what the Bible teaches about eternal life. If you aren’t excited about going to Heaven, this little book is for you! You may even find you will be more eager to share your faith with others so they can enjoy eternity with God, too!

From Spears to Palm Branches

A handful of men stood outside their huts and brandished spears at the strange metal bird that buzzed overhead. They had probably never seen a plane before and WE had never seen THEM!

Several photographs were just released of an Amazonian tribe in Brazil that has never been contacted.

We should remember to pray for the remaining 100+ tribes around the world that have not had any contact with the outside world, and therefore, with the Gospel.

Secular anthropologists believe these tribes should NOT be contacted and work to enact laws to prevent missionary work among them.

We know, however, from the Bible that God’s Kingdom will include people from every tribe and language. Some day these very men may be holding palm branches before the throne of God!

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” ~ Revelation 7: 9 – 10 (NIV)

Increase in Earthquakes

A current post mentions Cyclone Nargis which ravaged Myanmar and the recent strong earthquake in China. Hal Lindsey details the increase in earthquakes and other events predicted in Matthew 24. These increasing events could very well be the “birth pains” before the return of Christ.