Easter 2016

Readings for Easter
Acts 10:34-43

Psalm 118

Colossians 3:1-4

John 20:1-9

See last year's Easter post here: http://kiranmj.blogspot.com/2015/04/easter-2015.html
There are links to a lot of posts within that link.

Readings for Saturday, March 26 2016 can be found here

Recommended readings for Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 31
Hebrews 4:14-5:9
John 18,19

Recommended readings for Maundy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 116
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

Recommended readings for today (Wednesday of Holy Week)
Isaiah 61:1-9 
Psalm 69
Revelation 1:1-8
Luke 4:16-21

Palm Sunday 2016

Readings for Palm Sunday:
Luke 19:28-40 
Isaiah 50:4-7 
Psalm 22
Philippians 2:6-11 
Luke 22:14-23:56

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ now and forever :)
This blog is turning 7 years old today, the very first post being about Palm Sunday itself.
Click here to see the post from 2009.

Ben Hooper

Today's Readings (5th Sunday of Lent, 2016)

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

For more content like what follows below, buy the book "Craddock Stories" by clicking here

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests.

The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.

“Where are you folks from?” he asked in a friendly voice.

“Oklahoma,” they answered.

“Great to have you here in Tennessee” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?”

“I teach at a seminary,” he replied.

“Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, “Great… Just what I need another preacher story!”

The man started, “See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question,

‘Hey boy, who’s your daddy?’

“Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ He would hide at recess and lunch time from other students. He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him so bad.

“When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’.

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him,

‘Son, who’s your daddy?’

“The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, “Who’s your daddy’.

This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy… “Wait a minute!” he said,

“I know who you are, I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.”

With that he patted the boy on his shoulder, and said, “Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance, go and claim it.” With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person.He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ he’d just tell them, “I’m a Child of God”

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, “Isn’t that a great story?”. The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, “You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!”

 And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, “Do you know who that man was who just left that was sitting at our table?”

The waitress grinned and said, “Of course, everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former governor of Tennessee!”

The Heroic Witness And Martyrdom Of Ivan "Vanya" Moiseyev

Today's readings (4th Sunday of Lent, 2016)
Joshua 5:9-12 
Psalm 34
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15

------
- Adapted from this page. You can purchase the book here

Ivan Moiseyev (1952-1972), known to friends and family as Vanya, was a brave soldier in the Soviet Army, but he was braver still in his witness to Jesus Christ. He was tortured for his faith and died as a Christian martyr in 1972 at the age of 20. What fuelled his faith and courage in witnessing for Christ?

His parents had raised him and his six brothers and one sister in a Christian home. They were from Moldavia, which was part of the Soviet Union at that time, and they belonged to an underground Christian church, because religion was outlawed by the Communist government.

When Vanya completed school in 1968 at the age of 16, he decided to personally commit his life to Jesus Christ and to read the Bible daily. He joined the Evangelical Christian Baptist (ECB) Church in Slabodeyska and was baptized in 1970. After his baptism he had an intense desire to tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ and the gift of new life and forgiveness of sins which he won on the cross. He preached the Gospel with great enthusiasm and joy, both in his local church and to many young people of the town where he worked as a delivery driver.

In November 1970 he was drafted into the Soviet Army to perform two years of required military training and service. When Vanya began to speak openly of God in the army, his military supervisors began a systematic campaign of intimidation and torture to silence him.

In one of his letters to his parents Vanya wrote:

Even though I am a soldier, I work for the Lord, though there are difficulties and testing’s. Jesus Christ gave the order to proclaim his word in this city, in any meeting, in a military unit, to officers and soldiers. I have been in a division headquarters and in a special section. Though it was not easy, the Lord worked so that it turned out well there. I had an opportunity to proclaim his word to the most senior personnel. But I was reviled and thrown out of the meeting.

On one occasion the sergeant in his barracks challenged him to prove that God exists. The test was that God would miraculously arrange a military home leave for a certain sergeant. Leaves were hard to get. After asking God if he should accept the challenge, Vanya agreed. All night, he sat up with the sergeant explaining the things that he would need to know when he became a Christian. The next day, an authority from another town called and ordered the leave.

The sergeant became a Christian and so did other men.

Shortly after this incident, Vanya wrote again to his parents about his determination to speak about Christ to his commanders and fellow soldiers alike. They [his officers] have forbidden me to preach Jesus, and I am going through tortures and testing’s, but I told them that I will not stop bearing the news of Jesus. And the Lord shamed them before the entire unit, when they were torturing me.

 A soldier stood up who had miraculously gone on leave and had told everyone, and he asked, “Whose power was this?” The authorities did not wish to let me go, but they were put to shame.

On his last leave home, Vanya made a recording of the ordeals and cruelties used against him in the army. At times he was starved when his officers forbade him to eat for many days. He was awakened and interrogated night after night, and often struck.

Once, after a discussion about God, Vanya was made to stand in the street throughout the whole night wearing his summer uniform. The temperature at that time was thirteen degrees below zero (-25 Celsius). He obeyed the order and stood in the street the whole night, remaining faithful to God. Miraculously, his eyesight was still functioning and he could see his officers and he could move his body despite the terrible cold. All throughout the ordeal, Vanya prayed for his persecutors.

For the next twelve nights, Ivan continued to stand in the street outside his barracks. Miraculously, he did not freeze, nor did he beg for mercy. Ivan continued to speak about his faith to his comrades and officers. Other miracles also confirmed his testimony.

Once he was run over by a truck. He was told his life could only be saved by the amputation of an arm and part of a collapsed lung. Delirious with fever he earnestly prayed aloud. The next morning, he was completely healed.

Soldiers around him were converted, impressed by his ardent faith.

His commanders continued to interrogate him, trying to get him to deny Jesus. They put him in refrigerated cells. They clothed him in a special rubber suit, into which they pumped air until his chest was so compressed he scarcely could breath. In his interrogation, Vanya testified, “I have one higher allegiance, and that is to Jesus Christ. He has given me certain orders, and these I cannot disobey.”

At the age of 20, Ivan knew that the communists would kill him. On July 11, 1972, he wrote his parents, “You will not see me anymore.” He then described a vision of angels and heaven which God had sent to strengthen him for the last trial.

A few days later, a coffin arrived at his parents' home, welded shut. Vanya's mother insisted it be opened. One of his brothers, who belonged to the Communist party, resisted, but the rest of the family prevailed. Vanya was barely recognizable. Witnesses, Christian and non-Christian alike, signed a statement which declared that his chest had been burned. His face and body were covered with lumps, bruises, and heel marks. His heart was punctured in six places.

In his last letter, dated July 15, 1972, Vanya wrote:

I desire that all of you, dear friends, young and old, remember this one verse. Revelation 2:10
Receive this, the last letter on this earth, from the least of the brethren.


Letter from Ivan Moiseyev (Vanya) to his parents

U.S.S.R
written June 15, 1972

"My dear parents, the Lord has showed the way to me...and I have decided to follow it.... I will now have more severe and bigger battles than I have had till now. But I do not fear them. He goes before me. Do not grieve for me, my dear parents. IT IS BECAUSE I LOVE JESUS MORE THAN MYSELF. I listen to Him, though my body does fear somewhat or does not wish to go through everything.

 I do this because I DO NOT VALUE MY OWN WILL as much as I value HIM. And I will not await my own will, but I will follow as the Lord leads. He says Go, and I go."

"Do not become grieved if this is your son’s last letter. Because I myself, when I see and hear visions, hear how angels speak and see, I am even amazed and cannot believe, that Vanya, your son, talks with angels. He, Vanya, has also had sins and failings, but through sufferings the Lord has wiped them away. And he does not leave as he wishes himself, but AS THE LORD WISHES."

On July 11, 1972 at the age of 20 he knew the communist would kill him

He wrote to his parent "You will not see me anymore."

A few days later, his body was returned to his family.

True Praying - Leonard Ravenhill

Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (2016)
Exodus 3:1-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-12
Psalm 103
Luke 13:1-9

True Praying - Leonard Ravenhill

If one man could influence the Christian world as this man has done, what would an army like him do? There is no field more unexplored in Christian experience and possibility than this limitless field of prayer.

Prayer means care for souls. Prayer means pain. Prayer means privacy, for often the battle is waged alone. Prayer means power. Prayer, Luther said, means “sweat on the soul.” Prayer means filling in the sufferings of Christ.

We cannot shoot fire-belching jet planes with sling shots nor repulse tanks with bottles; less still can we push back the powers of darkness with mere words.

Jude talks of praying “in the Holy Ghost.” This praying alone can bring to pass the purpose of a Holy God and put to flight the army of alien powers.

This praying is no toy soldier’s game. This is realism. This is a fight to the death — no parley with the enemy — no truce — no terms — a fight to the death!

Excerpt from “Meat for Men”

Annie Johnson Flint (1866 – 1932)

Readings for today (adapted from here):
Genesis 15:1-23
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 9:27-36

Check this link out as well: http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/story.php?id=67441

----

What is the secret behind the popularity of the poems of Annie Johnson Flint?

The answer lay in the fact that here is one who wrote from her heart; one who endured, heroically and triumphantly, throughout a long life of suffering and pain. She demonstrated to the world how God could be glorified in the midst of physical trials and tribulations few of us are called upon to bear. It is of the simple things of life that Annie writes. And yet, it is the simple things that are often the most profound.

These she expresses by words that enchant the ear, delight the heart, and minister comfort to the soul. Buffeted by the perplexities and the sorrows of life few others are called upon to bear, Miss Flint wrote out of the depths of her own experience. She lived the realities she proclaimed through verse.

Born in Vineland, N.J., her father was from Vermont, and her mother, Scotland. But her parents died before she reached the age of six, so she and a younger sister were adopted by a childless couple who lived until Miss Flint was twenty-three. She was about fourteen when the family moved to a town near Camden.

Here, as a young girl, she enjoyed two years in the public schools, followed by one year in the school at Trenton, and three years of teaching. But it was at this time that arthritis first laid its cruel touch upon her, strengthening its grip so rapidly that in less than five years she was unable to walk.

Hearing cures were possible at the Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New York, she went there, but the disease proved to be far too advanced for help. However, because of the large numbers of ministers, missionaries, and teachers that visited the resort, she found the spiritual atmosphere of the place extremely satisfying and stimulating. So she decided to make Clifton Springs her home, and remained living there till the time of her death.

At only nine years of age it was discovered that she could put words together in rhythm and rhyme. Her first poem was descriptive of frost pictures on the windowpane. Realizing that she possessed the power of painting the beauty of nature in words gave her such a thrill of awe and delight. From that time forward, everything around her went into rhyme - lessons, school incidents; all sorts of happenings, both real and imaginary. From the beginning. “verse-making was so easy and so pleasant to do that it had never seemed a work or a duty. It appeared so small a thing that I held it of no importance. I was like the Syrian General who would not have shrunk from doing some great or difficult task, but despised the seven dippings in the Jordan.”

Before she was twelve years old she was setting poems to music. Her talent seemed to be musical, and she had hopes of becoming a composer and concert pianist. But this dream was abandoned when she became unable to play. According to His mercy, she was shut in to just one mode of expression: that of poetry. Not willing to accept this to be a restriction, as the years passed, it became more and more, an absorbing occupation, as well as a solace and a delight.

Many a year had gone by before she ceased to regard her poems merely as a compensation for the loss of her music, and came to see them as the work and the ministry to which God was calling her. There is an old legend that the nightingale sings best with its breast against the thorn; and it was so with Miss Flint. The crucible of her suffering became the vehicle through which her verse was brought into full bloom.

A great number of Miss Flint's poems were written about God's great outdoors, from which she was shut off almost entirely all her life. But her radiant faith lent wings to her imagination. She sang many a song of praise, not only for the things bright and beautiful, but for all that had come from the hand of the Lord she loved. The seven volumes of her poems issued by Evangelical Publishers are bubbling over with the joy of life; with praise and thanksgiving for all created things, and the love of God that was made manifest to this world through His Son.

Something of Miss Flint's trials and suffering are told in Dr. Bingham's story of her life, “The Making of the Beautiful.” And though it was for more than forty years that she quite literally “endured as seeing Him who is invisible,” there is not a trace of self-pity or despondency, no moaning over the fate that was hers to bear, no railing against the Will of God, nor any questioning of Him Whom she was convinced does all things well.

It may be that Miss Flint's poems will never qualify for a place in the niche of fame or be found among the ranks of the immortals. But, then, she did not strive for that. Instead, she wrote for the common people of the world; men and women who face life with its burdens and its difficulties. Those who search through the rain and dark shadows, to perceive that promised rainbow, just beyond the clouds: The one encircling the throne.

God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
Refrain: But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.


He Giveth more Grace

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.
His pow'r has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

Ash Wednesday 2016

Ecclesiastes 3:20New International Version (NIV)

20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

Please read these bible verses too:

Joel 2:1-17, Psalm 103, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10, Matthew 6:1-21

List obtained from http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC/Lent/AshWed.html

Text from http://www.gotquestions.org/Ash-Wednesday.html

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Its official name is “Day of Ashes,” so called because of the practice of rubbing ashes on one’s forehead in the sign of a cross. Since it is exactly 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday, it will always fall on a Wednesday—there cannot be an “Ash Thursday” or “Ash Monday.” The Bible never mentions Ash Wednesday—for that matter, it never mentions Lent.

Lent is intended to be a time of self-denial, moderation, fasting, and the forsaking of sinful activities and habits. Ash Wednesday commences this period of spiritual discipline. Ash Wednesday and Lent are observed by most Catholics and some Protestant denominations. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not observe Ash Wednesday; instead, they start Lent on “Clean Monday.”

While the Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday, it does record accounts of people in the Old Testament using dust and ashes as symbols of repentance and/or mourning (2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3). The modern tradition of rubbing a cross on a person’s forehead supposedly identifies that person with Jesus Christ. 

Should a Christian observe Ash Wednesday? Since the Bible nowhere explicitly commands or condemns such a practice, Christians are at liberty to prayerfully decide whether or not to observe Ash Wednesday.

If a Christian decides to observe Ash Wednesday and/or Lent, it is important to have a biblical perspective. Jesus warned us against making a show of our fasting: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen” (Matthew 6:16-18). We must not allow spiritual discipline to become spiritual pride.

It is a good thing to repent of sinful activities, but that’s something Christians should do every day, not just during Lent. It’s a good thing to clearly identify oneself as a Christian, but, again, this should be an everyday identification. And it is good to remember that no ritual can make one’s heart right with God.

Also see the following links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Monday

http://aglobalworld.com/holidays-around-the-world/shrove-monday/

http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/Christian-Holidays/origins_of_shrove_tuesday.html

http://www.catholic.org/clife/lent/ashwed.php

The Royal Palace in Tehran

The royal palace in Tehran, Iran has one of the most beautiful entrances of all palaces in the world today. As one enters the royal palace the doomed ceilings, sidewalls, and columns seemed to be covered with diamonds.

When the Royal Palace was planned, the architects sent an order to Paris for mirrors to cover the entrance walls. The mirrors finally arrived in their crates. When they took the crates apart, all the broken pieces fell out.

They were all smashed while being transported. They were going to throw them all away when one of the men had an idea to see how the broken pieces would look if they fitted them together. The result is an enormous distortion in reflections, and it sparkles with diamond like rainbow colors.

That is exactly what God can do with the broken pieces of our lives if we will just turn it over to Him.

- David Yarbrough

Total commitment

Deuteronomy 26:17-19New International Version (NIV)

17 You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. 18 And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. 19 He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

From www.thewordfortoday.com.au

Imagine how honoured you would feel if a president or prime minister decided to visit you and spend the night at your house. You wouldn't leave dirty dishes piled up in the sink, clothes strewn across the floor, and a ring around the bathtub. No, you'd give the place a radical makeover!And you wouldn't make them sleep in the garage, the box room or the attic; you'd vacate the master bedroom and give it to them. Your goal would be to honour them in every way because their presence had honoured you.

Now read the verse at the top of this post:

'You have declared today that the Lord is your God. And you have promised to walk in his ways, and...do everything he tells you.

The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. And if you do, he will set you high above all the other nations he has made.

Let's take this a step further.

When the Old Testament priests entered the ministry they went through a rite called 'consecration'. From that moment on they belonged exclusively to God and were committed to obey Him in all things.

You say, 'What does any of this have to do with me?'

A lot: if you want God to use you, to honour and promote you, you can't marginalize or compartmentalize Him. 

You must commit yourself to doing His will! And that includes your time, your talent, your treasure, your body, your mind, your spirit, and your all. 

God wants 'total commitment'.

Blind Skiers

- Robert W. Sutton

A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured blind skiers being trained for slalom skiing, impossible as that sounds. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught on the flats how to make right and left turns. When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners skied beside them shouting, "Left!" and "Right!" As they obeyed the commands, they were able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending solely on the sighted skiers' word. It was either complete trust or catastrophe.

What a vivid picture of the Christian life! In this world, we are in reality blind about what course to take. We must rely solely on the Word of the only One who is truly sighted--God Himself. His Word gives us the direction we need to finish the course. 

Happy New Year 2016

Happy new year! Frohes neues Jahres! Let us praise God, for the wonderful year that was 2015. Do check out these posts:

http://kiranmj.blogspot.de/2014/12/happy-new-year-2015.html
http://kiranmj.blogspot.de/2011/01/happy-new-year-all-of-u.html

May God bless you and your family,
KMJ

Merry Christmas 2015

Hello folks! As I said last year, there are lots of posts you should see from the previous years. So here's the link to the post from last year, which then lists all the posts related to Christmas, on this blog. Merry Christmas! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad! Here is the link:

http://kiranmj.blogspot.de/2014/12/merry-christmas.html

Happy Advent!

This is a repost of the Advent post from 2013. :)

Happy Advent!


The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. Basically, it is a countdown to Christmas day from the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and can also be thought of as a new year of the Church. The Lord is coming. During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.

As mentioned earlier, Advent worship is like a journey through the Christmas story and most often people use Advent wreaths for the same. The circle of the wreath, made of evergreen branches laid flat, remind us of God, His eternity and His mercy, both which have no beginning or end. The four candles on the wreath represent the hope, preparation, joy and love, where the third candle is light pink and all others are purple, as seen in the figure. These are lit in the same order, one every Sunday. 

The first candle symbolizes faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. Read Romans 15:12-13

The second reminds Christians to "get ready" to receive God. Read Luke 3:4-6

The third candle recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ. Read Luke 2:6-15

The fourth reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth. Read John 3:16-17

There are many more interpretations of the candles - hope, peace, love and  joy or God's people, the Old Testament Prophets, John the Baptist and Mother Mary. Please have a look at references 2-4 for various interpretations, prayers and references from the Bible for each week.

The final central candle, the Christ candle is lit the day before Christmas and symbolises what John 8:12 says, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (NIV)

References:

1. http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=5

2. http://livinghopeomaha.wordpress.com/about-living-hope/bible-stud/the-meaning-of-the-advent-wreath/

3. http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/adventwreath.html

4. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/advent-devotional-guide-preparing-for-the-coming-of-christ/

P.S.:Thank you Navya Varghese for reminding me :)
This post might be updated or further new posts added from time to time. Please check the main blog.

God Will Make a Way - Don Moen

- Anonymous
See more here: http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/song-story-god-will-make-a-way.html

Isaiah 43:19New International Version (NIV)

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

An impossible situation might make you feel more depressed than excited. Don Moen’s song “God Will Make a Way” sprang from this kind of episode, a tragedy in his family In 1990, his sister’s family lost their oldest son in a car accident, as they were travelling between Texas and Colorado. Moen was unable to be with them in the aftermath, due to a previously scheduled recording session, but in his grief for them, he found solace by writing the song’s words on an airplane trip the following day.

Isaiah’s words (Isaiah 43:19) comforted him, so he rephrased them for the song’s lyrics. Friends of the family’s son came to accept God, because of the promise of heaven, and of seeing him again. The family’s own lives were fed as they involved themselves in their local church in a deeper way.

Fruit comes about in ways we don’t expect, Moen’s sister remembers.

Have you lost someone close? How are you dealing with it – does life seem unfair, maybe even impossible to comprehend, in death’s wake? There’s but one way to manage life, when death intrudes. It’s not pie-in-the-sky to hope in God and to prepare for a home with Him. I believe. If you don’t, what have you got to lose if you change your mind today? That’s what Don Moen and the prophet Isaiah have to say. There’s a way He’s made, though I cannot sometimes fathom it.

Lyrics:

God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength
For each new day
He will make a way
He will make a way

By a roadway in the wilderness
He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and earth will fade
But His Word will still remain
He will do something new today

Buy this song on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/god-will-make-way-best-don/id626456799
See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsMAXhc0QTs

Trofim Dimitrov & Thomas Hudson

- Anonymous

Psalm 5:11-12New International Version (NIV)

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Trofim Dimitrov

Trofim Dimitrov could hear the dogs barking long before he reached the pit. On the way, he prayed fervently for his enemies, the guards, who then threw him down, naked to the hungry dogs.

Immediately, a great howling was heard. When the officers looked down into the pit, they saw Brother Dimitrov kneeling in prayer and the dogs in panic.

Barking wildly, the dogs were trying to jump the walls in order to save themselves from the strange power emanating from him!

Thomas Hudson - England 1558

The crowd looked on, curious at what the martyr would do next.  Thomas Hudson had come this far without denying his faith. The bishop had questioned him again and again, he'd not weakened in prison, and now he was walking to the place of execution. At the last minute, would he recant?

Just before the chain around him was made fast, Hudson stooped, slipped out from under the chain, and stood a little to one side. A hush came over the crowd-everyone wondered why he hesitated. The Christian prayed. Only Hudson knew the real reason he had stepped down. At the last minute he had suddenly been attacked with doubts and felt his faith grow weak.

Not willing to die while feeling this way, he fell upon his knees and prayed to God, who sent him comfort. Then he rose with great joy, as a reborn man, and cried, "Now, thank God, I'm strong. I don't care what man can do to me!"

Going to the stake again, he put the chain around himself. The fire was lit.

Saint Lawrence

- Anonymous

(?-258)

"Turn me. I am roasted on one side."
 Saint Lawrence is one of the most celebrated Roman martyrs.

A church deacon during the time Emperor Valerian was vigorously persecuting Christians, Lawrence also served as the keeper of the church's treasures. He was arrested and told that to save himself he must give the church treasures to the government.

Lawrence readily agreed and told the official that it would take at least eight days to assemble them. On the eighth day, Lawrence returned to the prefect and presented him with hundreds of poor and disabled men, women, and children.

"These," he said, "are the riches of the church."
The enraged official then ordered Lawrence to be stripped, tied face down on a gridiron suspended over a bed of coals, and slowly burned to death.

Lawrence maintained a cheerful appearance throughout the ordeal and, when asked if he had any last request, responded with his last words.
"Turn me. I am roasted on one side."

His behaviour was said to have been so impressive that several Roman senators converted to Christianity on the spot, and hundreds of citizens did the same the following day.

A Lesson on Humility

1 Peter 5:6-7New International Version (NIV)

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post.

When asked, "Why is that there?"

Alex Haley answered,

"Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words & think that they are wonderful, and begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post & remember that he didn’t get there on his own. He had help."

Robert Raikes - The Founder Of Sunday School

Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Pre-dating state schooling and by 1831 schooling 1,250,000 children, they are seen as the first schools of the English state school system.

 

Raikes was born at Ladybellegate House, Gloucester in 1736, the eldest child of Mary Drew and Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher. He was baptised on 24 September 1736 at St Mary de Crypt Church in Gloucester. On 23 December 1767 he married Anne Trigge, with whom he had three sons and seven daughters. Their oldest son Reverend Robert Napier Raikes had a son General Robert Napier Raikes of the Indian Army.

 

Robert initiated the Sunday school movement. He inherited a publishing business from his father, becoming proprietor of the Gloucester Journal in 1757. The movement started with a school for boys in the slums. Raikes had been involved with those incarcerated at the county’s Poor Law (part of the jail at that time) and saw that vice would be better prevented than cured.

 

He saw schooling as the best intervention. The best available time was Sunday as the boys were often working in the factories the other six days. The best available teachers were lay people. The textbook was the Bible, and the originally intended curriculum started with learning to read and then progressed to the catechism. Raikes used the paper to publicise the schools and bore most of the cost in the early years.

 

The movement began in July 1780 in the home of a Mrs Meredith. Only boys attended, and she heard the lessons of the older boys who coached the younger.

 

Later, girls also attended. Within two years, several schools opened in and around Gloucester.

He published an account on 3 November 1783 of Sunday schools in his paper, and later word of the work spread through the Gentleman's Magazine, and in 1784, a letter to the Armenian Magazine.

 

The original schedule for the schools, as written by Raikes was

 

"The children were to come after ten in the morning, and stay till twelve; they were then to go home and return at one; and after reading a lesson, they were to be conducted to Church. After Church, they were to be employed in repeating the catechism till after five, and then dismissed, with an injunction to go home without making a noise."

 

There were disputes about the movement in the early years. The schools were derisively called "Raikes' Ragged School".

 

Criticisms raised included that it would weaken home-based religious education, that it might be a desecration of the Sabbath, and that Christians should not be employed on the Sabbath. Some leading ecclesiastics -- among them Bishop Samuel Horsley -- opposed them on the grounds that they might become subservient to purposes of political propagandism. "Sabbatarian disputes" in the 1790s led many Sundayschools to cease their teaching of writing.

 

Notwithstanding all this, Adam Smith gave the movement his strongest commendation:

"No plan has promised to effect a change of manners with equal ease and simplicity since the days of the Apostles."

 

By 1831, Sunday schools in Great Britain were teaching weekly 1,250,000 children, approximately 25 percent of the population. As these schools preceded the first state funding of schools for the general public, they are seen as the forerunners of the current English school system.

Leadership Magazine carried a story about 4 young men, Bible College students, who were renting a house together. One Saturday morning someone knocked on their door. And when they opened it, there stood this bedraggled-looking old man. His eyes were kind of marbleized, & he had a silvery stub of whiskers on his face. His clothes were ragged & torn. His shoes didn’t match. In fact, they were both for the same foot. And he carried a wicker basket full of unappealing vegetables that he was trying to sell. The boys felt sorry for him & bought some of his vegetables just to help him out. Then he went on his way.

But from that time on, every Saturday he appeared at their door with his basket of vegetables.
As the boys got to know him a little bit better, they began inviting him in to visit a while before continuing on his rounds.


They soon discovered that his eyes looked marbleized, not because of drugs or alcohol, but because of cataracts. They learned that he lived just down the street in an old shack. They also found out that he could play the harmonica, & that he loved to play Christian hymns, & that he really loved God. So every Saturday they would invite him in, & he would play his harmonica & they would sing Christian hymns together. They became good friends, & the boys began trying to figure out ways to help him.

One Saturday morning, the story says, right in the middle of all their singing & praising, he suddenly said to them, "God is so good!" And they all agreed, "Yes, God is so good."

He went on, "You know why he is so good?"
They said, "Why?" He said, "Because yesterday, when I got up & opened my door, there were boxes full of clothes & shoes & coats & gloves. Yes, God is so good!"

And the boys smiled at each other & chimed in, "Yes, God is so good."
He went on, "You know why He is so good?"

They answered, "You already told us why. What more?"
He said, "Because I found a family who could use those things, & I gave them all away."

August H. Francke and the Homeless Orphans

In the latter part of the 17th century, German preacher August H. Francke founded an orphanage to care for the homeless children of Halle. One day when Francke desperately needed funds to carry on his work, a destitute Christian widow came to his door begging for a ducat--a gold coin.

Because of his financial situation, he politely but regretfully told her he couldn't help her. Disheartened, the woman began to weep. Moved by her tears, Francke asked her to wait while he went to his room to pray.

After seeking God's guidance, he felt that the Holy Spirit wanted him to change his mind. So, trusting the Lord to meet his own needs, he gave her the money.

Two mornings later, he received a letter of thanks from the widow. She explained that because of his generosity she had asked the Lord to shower the orphanage with gifts.

That same day Francke received 12 ducats from a wealthy lady and 2 more from a friend in Sweden. He thought he had been amply rewarded for helping the widow, but he was soon informed that the orphanage was to receive 500 gold pieces from the estate of Prince Lodewyk Van Wurtenburg.

When he heard this, Francke wept in gratitude. In sacrificially providing for that needy widow, he had been enriched, not impoverished.

Proverbs 28:27 New International Version (NIV)

27 Those who give to the poor will lack nothing,
    but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.