Back From New Zealand (Ray Comfort)

Back from New Zealand-Ray Comfort

How can you demonstrate that you love someone? You could buy them an expensive ring. I’m sure that would help, because it’s tangible evidence of a sacrifice. Still, it comes back to belief. If the person you love chooses not to believe that you love them, there’s nothing you can do about it.

I was in New Zealand recently at a university where local Christians had organized a debate between myself and an atheist. Just before it started a tall outspoken man named Ryan enthusiastically approached me and said something like, “I’m honored to meet you. I have watched your videos on the Internet, read your material, and here I am actually getting to meet you. I am really excited about this debate.” As he was walking back to his seat I called out, “Which side are you on?” and he replied, “I’m against everything you stand for.”

During the question-time Ryan asked some good questions. The next day he showed up at another meeting at which I was speaking, then he listened to me again, for another hour or so at a church service. Afterwards, we chatted, I signed a book for him, we had our photo taken, and he even helped on the book table. I really cared about Ryan and was pleased to hear him say at the end of the evening, “Man, why are you so likeable!!!” The fact that he could feel my love and concern for him was more powerful than any argument I could give him for the existence of God.

Some of you who are atheists read everything I write as if I write in hatred. Yet I love and care about you. If I could have lunch with you, I would, and I would gladly pay the tab. But if you refuse to believe that, I can’t do anything about it.

You accuse me of making money from the sale of my books, but did you know that I have preached open air more than 5,000 times and never been paid? I do that because I love people and care where they spend eternity. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother with preaching, blogging, producing a TV program, or writing Christian books. I had a very successful business before I became a Christian and could have made a good living, but I chose to spend my life pleading with people like you to consider where you will spend eternity.

So think about my motive, and then please think of God’s motive for the cross: “But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us” (Romans 5:8, Amplified Bible). That’s the ultimate sacrifice. It’s up to you to believe it.

One wage packet you don’t want to collect

“Hey I just saw your new billboard on the 105 near my house. Thanks for clarifying for me that it is illogical to believe that things don’t just come from nothing ‘magically.’ Seriously, how can milk and honey just exist? Their mere existence proves that God exists since everything has a creator. I have one concern though, based on your logic. Who created God? Did He just magically appear? According to what your arguing, it’s silly to believe that. I mean, everything has a creator right? Things don’t just magically appear out of thin air. So who created God? Or is your brand of logic only applicable against what you disagree with? Thank you for solidifying my beliefs.”

Atheists often plead ignorance when it comes to the Initial Cause–as to what came before the Big Bang. Whatever it was that created the material for it to take place, had to be non-material (therefore free from the law of entropy), as well as dwell outside of the dimension of time (time logically demands that everything has a beginning and an end).

The Spirit of God qualifies for both (see Genesis 1:2). He is spirit (without a material body). He created time and is therefore not subject to it (revealed in the perfectly fulfilled Messianic prophecies).

You are right when you say that nothing “magically appears.” God is eternal–without beginning and without end, but He is also perfect in holiness. So whatever you do in this life, make sure you are right with Him because you don’t want to collect your due wages (see Romans 6:23). www.NeedGod.com

Keep it Simple

“You march ahead unchanged, repeating the same falsehoods. I’m not talking about reasonable differences in interpretation, I’m talking about outright misinformation (such as the bizarre idea that male and female have to evolve separately for each species . . . ” Euphimist

It’s difficult not to be repetitive with accusations such as the above. But here goes. There are an estimated 1.4 million species on the earth. Each species has both male and female (not counting worms and a few others). Let’s believe that each species did evolve. Let’s then zero in on the giraffe. After the big bang, there was a pre-giraffe animal. Millions (perhaps billions) of years pass until today, and now we have a male and female giraffe. Evolutionists believe that the two didn’t evolve separately. Such a thought is “bizarre.”

I know that you think I am intellectually slow, so please be patient with me and explain to me in very simple terms where you believe the female giraffe came from, and then explain how and why the other 1.4 million species ended up with both male and female.

I look forward to your comments.

Teens to analyse lads’ mags as part of GCSE

GCSE pupils could be analysing sexually explicit lads’ mags as part of a Media Studies course, it has emerged.

Teens could compare the ‘style and tone’ of magazines such as Nuts, FHM and Zoo, notorious for displaying semi-naked women on their covers. The latest edition of Zoo features “Britain’s sexiest blondes – 14 topless pages proving they really do have more fun!”

Family campaigners are outraged at the move by assessment body AQA. The news follows a survey last week which showed nearly nine in ten 14 to 17-year-olds had viewed pornography. And alarmingly almost one in five confessed to accessing pornography more than once a week – mostly online or via mobile phone.

The updated syllabus is currently being taught to children aged 14 to 16, with the first examinations due to take place next June. The examination requires students to “identify/describe targeting of specific markets by magazines and comics eg ‘lads’ mags’”. They should “analyse/interpret the relationship of content to target audience in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, social and educational background”.

Margaret Morrissey, Chairman of campaign group Parents Outloud, said: “If we want to bring back some vestige of normality for our teenagers then we have got to stop exposing them intentionally to such things.” An AQA spokesman insisted the magazines were not a compulsory part of the syllabus. Last year MP Claire Curtis-Thomas warned that notorious lads’ mags such as “Zoo”, and “Nuts” were little more than pornography and should be given age-appropriate 16 and 18 certificates. Mrs Curtis-Thomas voiced her concerns after commissioning The Top Shelf Report which recommended introducing “statutory guidelines that are comparable to the existing standards for video, film and television.”

In the report a sample of sixth-form students were surveyed and it found that 100 per cent of girls who looked at “The Daily Sport”, “Zoo” and “Nuts” expressed being angry, offended or upset by the images they contained. One fifth of male students sampled admitted that looking at this material encouraged them to see women as sex-objects.

http://www.christian.org.uk/news/20090407/teens-to-analyse-lads-mags-as-part-of-gcse/

Evangelism, Super Apostles and Mixed-Up Priorities

Evangelism, Super Apostles and Mixed-Up Priorities

J. Lee Grady

After visits from three evangelists in four days, I figured it out. We’ve neglected the heart of our mission. Something amazing happened to me last week during a ministry trip to Texas and Oklahoma. God sent three unexpected visitors over the course of four days to confirm something He is doing in the church today.

Last Thursday when I was speaking at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, my friend Sujo John called to say he wanted to drop by the campus and attend the conference with me. Sujo is a full-time evangelist who is originally from India. He surrendered to the ministry on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was buried under the rubble of the World Trade Center. “In this turbulent season when our movement is being shaken, refined and redefined, we must return to the simplicity of our mission to reach the lost all around us.”

On that horrific day as Sujo lay under the concrete and twisted metal, he wondered if he would live until nightfall. But that did not stop him from praying with about 20 people who were trapped with him. They all died before Sujo was rescued, but they stepped into eternity with faith in Christ as their Savior because Sujo led them in a sinner’s prayer. After Sujo learned that his wife, Mary, was safe (she also worked in the World Trade Center but was late for work that day), they both left their lucrative careers in the financial industry and gave their lives to full-time evangelism.

Since then Sujo has traveled all over the world sharing his testimony and warning people of the urgency of this hour.

On Friday, the second day of my meetings at Christ for the Nations, I got a text message from Scott Hinkle, a full-time evangelist from Phoenix who happened to be in Dallas. He came to the campus to attend the meeting in the main student auditorium.

Scott grew up in a rough-and-tumble New Jersey neighborhood outside New York City and became a Christian during the Jesus Movement in the 1970s. He has spent most of his adult life taking the gospel to places most Christians avoid. Every year he takes an evangelistic swat team to Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and wins prostitutes and partygoers to Christ. He is one of the few charismatic ministers in the United States devoted to equipping believers in soul-winning.

After I left Dallas I flew to Oklahoma City to speak at a church in nearby Norman. On Sunday afternoon I got a text message from Kevin Turner, a full-time evangelist who is based near Tulsa. He wanted to come to my meeting at Riverside Church. I was thrilled because I had never met Kevin, even though we’ve talked on the phone many times and Charisma published an article about his unique ministry in 2007.

Kevin directs Strategic World Impact, a ministry that has taken him to some of the most dangerous places on the planet. He was mentored by the late Leonard Ravenhill, the radical revivalist whose writings still inspire many of us today. Kevin carries Ravenhill’s sobering passion for lost souls and has shared the gospel in refugee camps, war zones and killing fields. He can’t talk publicly about most of his work because it would put his colleagues in jeopardy.

It wasn’t until I saw Kevin seated in front of me at Riverside that I realized this might be more than a coincidence. Three full-time evangelists in four days. Was God saying something here? Maybe it was just a fluke. But it caused me to realize how desperate we are in this hour for the ministry of the evangelist—a ministry that we have sidelined and neglected in recent years.

In the 1980s and ‘90s we charismatics emphasized the need for apostles and prophets. I cheered this movement because I believe we should reclaim every spiritual gift in the New Testament that has been avoided or neglected.

We need true apostles and prophets because they keep the church moving forward in our global assignment and provide heavenly direction and strategy. Yet apostles and prophets have been controversial, not only because some people reject them on theological grounds but because some self-proclaimed apostles and hyper-mystical prophets have abused and misused their gifts and authority.

Today some of these people have slipped over the edge of orthodoxy—and have taken segments of the church off the cliff with them. Some have promoted the concept that apostles are spiritual supermen who wield rigid, hierarchical control over churches and leaders, resulting in authoritarianism and abuse. Others have perverted the apostolic model to create a financial “downline” that brings loads of money to a few at the top of the food chain—ignoring the fact that the Bible says apostles should be models of humility who serve from the bottom.

And some prophets have traded in their originally pure message to promote bizarre doctrines and cryptic predictions that often prove to be hokum. Is it possible that while we were celebrating the super apostles and building fan clubs for the prophets we were ignoring the primacy of our evangelistic calling? I know one gift is not more valuable than another. But when I read about the five-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11, I can’t help but notice the placement of the evangelist.

Paul wrote: “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers” (NASB, emphasis added). The evangelist is not more important, and God’s kingdom is not a hierarchy. But evangelism is in the center because it is the very heart of God’s mission. In this turbulent season when our movement is being shaken, refined and redefined, we must return to the simplicity of our mission to reach the lost all around us.

God wants to visit us with fresh evangelistic fire that will burn up our selfishness, refocus our priorities, rid us of quirky doctrinal distractions and ignite our hearts with a holy love for people who don’t know Jesus.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

Tree of Life Church

We are growing praise the Lord – growing in depth and growing in the numbers of people we are impacting.  Last Sunday we had a lady baptized in the Holy Spirit and start speaking in tongues – she was healed in the week as well, praise the Lord.

Next Sunday we are having a pastor and his wife come and join us who run a church in Tooting and the director of the FGBMI of London-East is also coming.  We are overwhelmed by the love and support people are showing us at the moment.

We are planning a healing crusade in August – please pray for wisdom for us and boldness.  Will keep you updated on this website and on your church website http://www.treeoflifechurch.org.uk

Blessings,

Ben

The War is Over

This is a powerful comment about what most people consider to be the gospel and what the BIBLE teaches us the gospel is.

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Andrew Wommack in Holland Teaching on Salvation and Holy Spirit Baptism

This is how people should be getting born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit – no hysteria, no carnal displays- but simple teaching of the Word of God leading to a response of faith. If you are not a Christian or not baptized in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues, then please watch this and pay careful attention.

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Holy Is The Lord God Almighty

The earth is full of HIS GLORY – His goodness and purity. He is awesome and wonderful and holy and good and pure and I love HIM forever.

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Indescribable

This is a beautiful video made to a beautiful song. I love this song because it is all about God and sung to God. That is true praise in my opinion – TO God and ABOUT God.

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God is GOOD!

I think one of the most important things that we need to realize is that God is god and good means GOOD!
Religion twists the words good and evil all the time.  Isaiah 5.20 says “Woe” to people who call good evil and evil good.

A Christian gets sick and people actually waste their time and energy asking why God would do such a thing, or begging God to heal them, or fighting fantasy spiritual battles with demons.  God is good.

God has already redeemed that person from all sickness and disease (Isaiah 53.4-6).  All we need to do is realize that God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Are you in need of finances to pay your bills?  Get happy – God is good.

Are you in need of healing power?  Get happy – God is good.

Have people let you down, hurt you, picked on you?  Get happy – God is good.

He is good.  He is good.  His love endures forever, and He is good.

The Father is good – He sent His Son.  The Son is good – He died for our sins, gave up His life as a burnt offering so we could be redeemed.

The Holy Spirit is good.  He is the Comforter.  He is Love.  He is Kind.  Some Christians feel like rubbish and they think the Holy Spirit is “convicting them”.

Absolute nonsense – the Holy Spirit is a Comforter, not an accuser.  The closer you walk with the Holy Spirit the more comforted, the more holy, the more joyful you will be – not more dejected, more condemned and more defeated!

God is good and good means good.
Blessings,

Ben

Dadsense by Anita Renfroe

So you heard what a mum says to their children all day, so what does a dad say? Enjoy…

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