Tune and Prepare!

by Luke Wesley {Chinese mission} On the basis of my experience in China over the past 30 years, I want to highlight five theological truths that inevitably emerge as crucial battleground issues for Christians living in a hostile, totalitarian environment. Although the experience of Christians in the U.S. is vastly different, we can learn from the faithfulness of our brothers and sisters in China. 1. Head of the Church Jesus Christ, not any government or human authority, is the head of the church. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has consistently sought to assert its authority over the church since the formation of the “new China” in 1949. I vividly remember a dialogue I had some years ago with a Chinese government official. When he asked, “Are you here to propagate religion?” I responded, “I am a Christian. If people ask about my faith or express interest, I will tell them about Jesus.” He shouted his response: “You will obey Chinese law.” There you have it. Who’s in c...

Is 11:12-12 On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time   to recover the remnant that is left of his people, He will raise a signal {banner} for the nations,   and will assemble the outcasts of Israel,   and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth Is. 62:6.10. On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. ... Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal {banner} over the peoples . Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.” ...

series: Our Living Word 3/3 Faith, became flesh ..in the XIX century England In this, third part of our study: "Our Living Word" series about the Incarnate Message we'll have a great story from the XIX century England. William Wilberforce 1759 - 1833 William Wilberforce, a British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the slave trade and then to abolish slavery itself in British overseas possessions.  He studied at St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge, where he became a close friend of the future prime minister William Pitt the Younger..  In 1780 both he and Pitt entered the House of Commons, and he soon began to support parliamentary reforms... ... Wilberforce’s abolitionism was derived in part from evangelical Christianity, to which he was converted in 1784–85. His spiritual adviser became John Newton , a former slave trader who had repented and who had been the pas...

Fulfilling your life mission on earth is an essential part of living for God’s glory. The Bible gives several reasons why your mission is so important. Your mission is a continuation of Jesus’ mission on earth. As his followers, we are to continue what Jesus started. Jesus calls us not only to come to him, but to go for him. Your mission is so significant that Jesus repeated it five times, in five different ways, in five different books of the Bible. Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21; Acts 1:8. It is as if he was saying, “I really want you to get this!” Study these five commissions of Jesus and you will learn the details of your mission on earth—the when, where, why, and how. In the Great Commission Jesus said, “ Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. ” Matthew 28:19–20 (CEV) . This commission was given to every follower of J...

 To fulfill your mission will require that you abandon your agenda and accept God’s agenda for your life. You can’t just “tack it on” to all the other things you’d like to do with your life. You must say, like Jesus, “Father,… I want your will, not mine .” Luke 22:42 (NLT) . You yield your rights, expectations, dreams, plans, and ambitions to him. You stop praying selfish prayers like “God bless what I want to do.” Instead you pray, “God help me to do what you’re blessing!” You hand God a blank sheet with your name signed at the bottom and tell him to fill in the details. The Bible says, “ Give yourselves completely to God—every part of you…to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes .” Romans 6:13b (LB) . If you will commit to fulfilling your mission in life no matter what it costs, you will experience the blessing of God in ways that few people ever experience. There is almost nothing God won’t do for the man or woman who is committed to serving the kingdom ...

My father was a minister for over fifty years, serving mostly in small, rural churches. He was a simple preacher, but he was a man with a mission. His favorite activity was taking teams of volunteers overseas to build church buildings for small congregations. In his lifetime, Dad built over 150 churches around the world. In 1999, my father died of cancer. In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he’d talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams. He relived one church building project after another. One night near the end, while my wife, my niece, and I were by his side, Dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and my wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so my wife finally asked, “Jimmy, what are you trying to do?” He replied, “Got...

credit : emerj Around 2010 I bought a "Search and Rescue" simulation game and immediately switched off the "easy mode". After many broken heli and disastrous maneuver, I learnt how to lift off, ride and navigate these hoppers. In the same time I understood how important and complex is the rescue campaign and how crucial the team work & the members preparation behind the actions.  Gd has prepared a "plan A" for the humanity. This is the Big Rescue Plan for everyone, including the invitation: to be a part of the team and of the plan itself. An education & exercise, moreover a "living out" practice in the devoted commission. The one can not sit on the base watching or operating others. There are teams shifts, engineers as backup, doctors as essential workers – and lot of hard hours in tricky & desperate situations, molding the comrades into friendship, joining the lifes to the team.  The result is a dramatic picture: We can see ...