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Category: evangelism
The Life of Jesus in English and Hindi
The Life of Jesus – in English and Hindi
History’s Great Love Story
The Life of Jesus in Hindi
The Life of Jesus in Hindi with English Headings – PDF
‘Two-page view’ from the PDF top right corner
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF
Permissions: You can reproduce any Renewal Journal resource freely, including in print.
Translator: Nabeel Sharoon
Nabeel Sharoon in Pakistan has translated my book The Life of Jesus into 5 languages:
Hindi, Indian Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, & Pakistani Punjabi. Free PDFs are on this page, including links to the English versions and PDFs.
See The Life of Jesus – in 6 languages for more information about Nabeel Sharoon
Other Translations
Hindi
The Life of Jesus in English and Hindi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Hindi & English Headings – free PDF
Indian Punjabi
The Life of Jesus in English & Indian Punjabi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Indian Punjabi & English Headings – PDF
Urdu
The Life of Jesus in English and Urdu – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Urdu & English Headings – PDF
Sindhi
The Life of Jesus in English & Sindhi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Sindhi & English Headings – PDF
Pakistani Punjabi
The Life of Jesus in Pakistani Punjabi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Pakistani Punjabi & English Headings– PDF
The Life of Jesus in Hindi, Indian Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, & Pakistani Punjabi.
The Story of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog in English
The Life of Jesus in English and Hindi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Hindi & English Headings – PDF
The Life of Jesus in Indian Punjabi – Blog
The Life Of Jesus in Indian Punjabi & English Headings – PDF
The Life of Jesus in English and Urdu – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Urdu & English Headings – PDF
The Life of Jesus in English & Sindhi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Sindhi & English Headings – PDF
The Life of Jesus in Pakistani Punjabi – Blog
The Life of Jesus in Pakistani Punjabi & English Headings– PDF
You can freely reproduce and print these PDF books
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Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com
Geoff Waugh – founding editor of the Renewal Journal
This book is available in from WestBow Press, a division of Zondervan with this cover:
The Life of Jesus – Blog
WestBow Press version – The Life of Jesus
The Life of Jesus – WestBow Press – PDF
Amazon link – paperback, hardcover, Kindle
Also available as
Renewal Journal and WestBow Press versions
* This is a very informative, amazing, and powerful book. Thanks to the author for investing hours of research, expressed with his masterful command of language. ~ Alex Johnson (5-stars)
* Be enriched. A most helpful telling of the life of Jesus using the biblical text and adding some background and charts. Anyone using this book will be enriched. ~ Rev Dr John Olley (Amazon 5-stars)
* Geoff Waugh has written a very helpful devotional book about the Saviour of the world who is also the loving presence in believers. Having known Geoff for over sixty years I can testify that every word written proceeds from his own heart of love for Jesus and for all God’s children. Geoff has avoided trying to manufacture some theory or new twist to make the book more colourful. He has used Scripture as his main source and has been faithful to both the divinity and humanity of Jesus as expressed in the Gospels. His use of chronology for headings and the many sub-headings makes the book simpler to absorb, even for an enquirer or new believer. It reminds me a little of Leon Morris’s beautiful book The Lord from Heaven. I warmly commend this book. ~ Rev Dr Tony Cupit, Former Director of the Baptist World Alliance.
* The book is beautifully written and I have learned and understood a lot. I am recommending this book. ~ Kattie Mayson (Amazon 5-stars)
* I read your book last night. This is a great book. Thanks for writing this for all of us. ~ Nabeel Sharoon (Pakistan)
* Be enriched. A most helpful telling of the life of Jesus using the biblical text and adding some background and charts. Anyone using this book will be enriched. ~ Rev Dr John Olley (Amazon 5-stars)
* Geoff Waugh has written a very helpful devotional book about the Saviour of the world who is also the loving presence in believers. Having known Geoff for over sixty years I can testify that every word written proceeds from his own heart of love for Jesus and for all God’s children. Geoff has avoided trying to manufacture some theory or new twist to make the book more colourful. He has used Scripture as his main source and has been faithful to both the divinity and humanity of Jesus as expressed in the Gospels. His use of chronology for headings and the many sub-headings makes the book simpler to absorb, even for an enquirer or new believer. It reminds me a little of Leon Morris’s beautiful book The Lord from Heaven. I warmly commend this book. ~ Rev Dr Tony Cupit, Former Director of the Baptist World Alliance.
* The book is beautifully written and I have learned and understood a lot. I am recommending this book. ~ Kattie Mayson (Amazon 5-stars)
* I read your book last night. This is a great book. Thanks for writing this for all of us. ~ Nabeel Sharoon (Pakistan)
Facebook Links:
https://www.facebook.com/LifeofJesus.GeoffWaugh
https://www.facebook.com/HistorysGreatLoveStory
The Life of Jesus provides a brief overview of history’s great love story. It gives a summary of the birth and boyhood of Jesus and describes his ministry through three Passover Festivals.
The book includes a detailed chart of a chronology of Jesus’ life and ministry and examines why such a popular, loving, and compassionate young leader would encounter intense hostility and opposition causing his crucifixion.
The mystery and wonder deepen because his resurrection transformed his followers and millions of lives. We date our diaries and calendars from the time of his birth.
Contents
Preface [see below]
Introduction [see below]
1 Birth and Boyhood
2 Ministry Begins
3 First to Second Passover
4 Second to Third Passover
5 Passover to Pentecost
Conclusion
Discussion Questions [see below]
Appendix 1: Chronology Chart
Appendix 2: The Feast Days
Appendix 3: The Gospels
Appendix 4: Alternative Chronology
Appendix 5: The Shroud of Turin
Appendix 6: Publications
Model of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time
Preface
Why would such a good man who loved so profoundly and helped so many people be killed? Why did he provoke opposition?
If God walked among us in the person of his Son, why would people want to kill him? Why did so many vehemently oppose him?
That puzzled me as a boy. It still does.
The greatest love story the world has ever seen led to the excruciating death of crucifixion.
Many people have given their lives for other people as soldiers do in war. They die for others, defending home and country. But Jesus’ death was different. God’s Son chose to die for us because of his immense love for us. He took our place. His death gives us life. He is the perfect, sinless, eternal sacrifice for us. His blood cleanses us from all our sin as we trust in him. We are forgiven.
But why did so many good people, good religious people, hate him? That puzzled and fascinated me, so I explore that mystery in this book. I wanted to write a summary overview that people of all ages could read.
I always believed in Jesus. Even as a small boy I loved to hear and then read stories about him. He was so unique, so different. I believed his story as a boy and trusted in him. I still do and I hope you do too.
Jesus did what was good. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, set people free from addictions and evil, performed miracles, and even raised dead people. Huge crowds followed him and wanted him to be their king.
Now billions follow him, captivated by his love, the greatest love story of all. You can do that also. I invite you to simply pray something like this: Thank you Lord for all you’ve done. Forgive me for any wrong in my life. I trust in you and give my life to you.
Introduction
The year on our calendar or diary reminds us of when Jesus was born, approximately. We count the years from his arrival. So when you look at your diary or calendar you can be reminded again of Jesus.
They called him Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) of Nazareth, the same name as Moses’ famous general who led God’s people into their Promised Land. Yeshua means God saves, or God is salvation.
That name comes to us in English through many translations from Yeshua or Y’shua in Hebrew and Aramaic, then translated into Iesous in Greek, then to IESVS in Latin and later as IESUS as printed in the first edition of the King James Bible in 1611. Later that century ‘J’ replaced the ‘I’ so the English name became Jesu (vocative) and Jesus (nominative) but eventually just Jesus in English. Other languages have translations such as Jesu, Yesu, and Isa.
English translations of the Bible used the name Jesus for Joshua/Jesus of Nazareth, and the name Joshua for others with that same name.[1] So in English, the name Jesus became unique and sacred for Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. The angel Gabriel announced his name before his birth to both Mary his mother and to Joseph who married Mary.[2] Gabriel explained that Yeshua (Joshua/Jesus) had that name because he would save his people from their sins.
The great love story had begun. Jesus came to save us and give us eternal life.
His followers recorded that story of his life and his love in the good news of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The rest of the New Testament explores the mystery and wonder of that amazing life and love.
Scholars have a bewildering array of theories about the Bible and about who wrote what, and when, and where, and why. I’m content to run with traditional explanations that have been used throughout most of history.
Jesus’ unique and wonderful life, his brutal death for us, and his powerful resurrection, all reveal his and God’s eternal love for us all. You could pause and thank him right now even as you read this.
John’s Gospel emphasizes God’s eternal love revealed in Jesus. It includes the most famous passage in the Bible:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17, NKJV).
That love, powerfully shown on the cross, has transformed billions of lives, restoring believers to an intimate and eternal relationship with God and with others.
Three physical metaphors help me to be constantly aware of, and grateful for, God’s presence with us always:
(1) Light surrounds you. By it you can read this. The sun always shines, even when it’s hidden from us. Light shines around us though we may be unaware of it. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. We can live in his light.
(2) Blood pumps through your body right now, cleansing and healing. We may be unaware of it until reactions like alarm alert us to our beating heart. Jesus’ blood cleanses from all sin, always. We can trust him for he is with us.
(3) We may breathe without being aware of it, or we can be aware and take deep breaths, as you may have done just now! Breath purifies our lungs and body. God is Spirit and like breath or fresh breeze, he can purify us.
May the light of God’s love breathe life in you right now.
We’ve been made in God’s image to have an eternal, loving relationship with him that even transcends death. We can know and experience God’s unconditional love no matter how far we stray from him. Those who stray most are often the most grateful for his forgiveness and love. We all stray in many ways and we all need forgiveness and we can and should be truly grateful.
God knows and loves us as we are. That makes praying or talking to him easy because he already knows our failures and struggles and welcomes us just as we are. The more honestly we come to him the more he can transform us.
If we have trouble believing we can at least say, “God, if you’re there, help me.”
Some thoughts may get in the way when we pray or want to talk to God. Just give him those thoughts. He already knows all about it and loves us as we are.
If we reject God’s love and mercy by ignoring him and going our own way, we condemn ourselves to eternal darkness away from his light and love.
If we accept his love and forgiveness by believing in him, by trusting him, he gives us life, his eternal life. That makes us new. We are transformed.
Vast numbers of people worldwide of all faiths, and of none, have prayed the prayer in the popular hymn by Charlotte Elliot, ‘Just as I am’ which includes these adapted verses:
Just as I am, without one plea
But that Your blood was shed for me
And that You bid me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fighting and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
God welcomes us and we can all pray that prayer. A title for Jesus, as in that song, is the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away our sin.
The Life of Jesus is a vast topic with millions of books written about it. I hope my small contribution gives you a helpful overview. I quote from the New Revised Standard Version unless indicated otherwise, and include many footnotes that you can explore to discover more.
Best of all, of course, are the inspired Gospels now in over 700 different languages in Bible translations and a further 3,500 languages have Bible portions, especially the Gospels. Read and respond to those Gospels.
[1] Iesous (Yeshua) is translated as Joshua in these verses: Luke 3:29; Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8.
[2] Luke 1:31; Matthew 1:21.
Start of Chapter 1
It began at the beginning, this great love story, for “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”[1]
Why did he do that? For us.
He did it for you. He loved you so much he created you to know and enjoy him now as you read this, and forever. He offers you intimate, infinite love. He created you through the wondrous union of your parents’ ecstasy.
He made the earth for us to inhabit and care for and rule. He made the heavens (plural) for us to inherit, the physical firmament and also the realms of vast, eternal glory prepared especially for us.[2]
He created us free to accept or reject his astounding love. Sadly we went our own way. We all, like sheep, went astray. We all turned to our own way. So God laid on his Servant, his Son, all our iniquity.[3] God saves us through his Son in their great love for us all. You could pause and thank him now as you read this.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve enjoyed intimate, unashamed relationship with God and each other. Then, like us, they believed lies and went their own way, losing Paradise. But God still blessed and sustained them and their descendants who chose to love him and live for him. Sadly only a few did.
Noah and his family loved and obeyed God and he rescued them from the great flood. People ridiculed him for obeying God and building a huge boat on dry ground – not even in a dry dock. The rainbow became the sign of God’s covenant to Noah and his descendants including us.
Abram, a wealthy sheik from the wide fertile Tigris and Euphrates valleys in western Asia, north-west of the Arabian Peninsula (now Iraq), loved and obeyed God. Renamed Abraham (God’s friend) he journeyed to the Promised Land, now called Israel, from the name given to his grandson who wrestled with an angel or with the Lord.[4] Circumcision became the covenant sign for them and for their descendants through whom God would provide his salvation for us all.
Abraham and his descendants walked that verdant Promised Land, as did Jesus and his followers. So did our family for a month in December-January, 1981-82.[5]
[1] Genesis 1:1.
[2] John 14:1-6; 1 Corinthians 2:9.
[3] Isaiah 53:6. See Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the fourth Servant Song, along with Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-7.
[4] Genesis 17:5; 32:28; 35:9-10.
[5] See Exploring Israel in General Books and Biography on renewaljournal.com
Conclusion
The life of Jesus is history’s great love story. The overview in this brief book points you to the great good news of who Jesus is and what he did. That story is told best in the Bible, God’s inspired word.
I hope this brief commentary points you again to that God-breathed living word. It gave me fresh insights as I researched the harmonized story of these gospels.
Many writers discuss the popular five love languages: affirmation, service, gifts, time, and touch. Jesus demonstrated all these in various ways.
He affirmed and admired faith, especially faith in him for healing and help.
He served daily and showed it dramatically by washing his disciples’ feet.
He gave his life for us and ultimately he gives eternal life to all who believe.
His three years of quality time with his followers prepared them to serve.
His touch brought physical and spiritual healing and freedom to multitudes.
I love the way John summed up the reason for writing his Gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)
That is my prayer for you, my reader. Here is my echoing sonnet, penned over fifty years ago.
Sin stalks the soul, and permeates the whole
Of life lived here where we, while bound by fear,
Hunt far and near for freedom to appear
From pole to pole with our minds in control.
That worthy goal seems mockery. Sin stole
Our freedom dear, left pain and woe to sear
Each life, a mere heartache, or sob, or tear,
Like a lost mole, blind, dirty in its hole.
God’s love stepped in to fight and conquer sin
Through Christ who bled and died and rose as Head
Supreme of all who claim Him Lord. Our fall,
Clamour and din may end in Him. We win
Release from dread, freedom, life from the dead,
Unbound from gall, in answer to His call.
Discussion Questions (for use in groups)
Chapter 1: Birth and Boyhood
1. What is one of your favourite Christmas carols and why?
2. What surprises you most about the Christmas story?
3. What challenges you about the boyhood and youth of Jesus?
What would you like people to pray about for you?
Chapter 2: Ministry Begins
1. Why do you think Jesus’ public ministry began after his baptism?
2. What puzzles you most about Jesus’ ministry? (eg casting out spirits)
3. What challenges you about being a disciple of Jesus?
What prayer would you appreciate receiving?
Chapter 3: First to Second Passovers
1. Why do you think John 3:16 is so popular and well known?
2. Who can you identify with in Jesus’ early ministry (eg Nicodemus, Samaritan woman, disciples, religious leaders)
3. What do you think challenged Jesus’ disciples?
What prayer would encourage you just now?
Chapter 4: Second to Third Passovers
1. What impresses you most about Jesus?
2. What challenges you most about Jesus?
3. What surprises you most about Jesus?
What prayer would help you just now?
Chapter 5: Passover to Pentecost
1. What shocks you most about the crucifixion?
2. What helps or challenges you about Jesus’ death and resurrection?
3. What interests you most about the Holy Spirit?
What prayer support would you like now?
Map in the book
See also Devotional Books
(7) The Lion of Judah – Blog
The Lion of Judah – PDF
6 books in one volume
READ SAMPLE
* Looking for a great book to help you meditate on the wonder of Jesus in all his richness and grandeur and love? Geoff Waugh has helpfully and thoughtfully brought together wide-ranging biblical passages… Read this book prayerfully and you will not be the same! ~ John Olley.
* This book is full of information, biblical information. I have learned so much from it … If you want to learn more from the Bible, this is the book to read. ~ A. Aldridge
*
Crucified and Risen – Blog
Crucified & Risen – PDF
The Easter Story
READ SAMPLE
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – Blog
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – PDF
3 books in 1
READ SAMPLE
Christian Passover Service – Blog
Christian Passover Service – PDF
A Retelling of the Last Supper
READ SAMPLE
RISEN: long version – Blog
Risen! –_PDF
12 resurrection appearances
READ SAMPLE
Mysterious Month – Blog
Mysterious Month – PDF
Jesus’ resurrection appearances & our month in Israel
READ SAMPLE
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – Blog
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – PDF
4 books in 1
READ SAMPLE
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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival:
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‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’
‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’
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“But when I got to the fifth chapter of Matthew something supernatural and unusual happened in my mind.” He read: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” After reading this verse, he believes the Holy Spirit fell upon him – and filled him – as his heart and mind were regenerated.
Pakistan: ‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’
Like other boys in his Pashtun tribe along the Pakistan-Afghan border, he was sent to a madrasa at age four, where he was compelled to read, recite and memorize the Koran. “The children mimic or copy the mullah,” says John Taimoor, founder of The Crossbearers, a ministry devoted to presenting biblical Christianity within an Islamic context.
By age 14 he stumbled across the name ‘Isa,’ the Arabic name for Jesus in the Koran. “I read the name of Jesus and became curious,” he says. “The Lord reached me right in the mosque.” When he asked the mullah about Jesus, he was told that he should find ‘The Book of Isa.’ “Nobody had ever heard of a Bible.”Taimoor searched for a ‘Book of Isa’ for two years. When he asked his teacher or inquired at the library he was met with suspicion. “What are you up to boy? Do you want to become a Christian?” they asked.
“I begged him to get me a Book of Isa.”
He met a young man at school rumored to be a Christian. “I begged him to get me a Book of Isa,” he says. “He got so scared he never returned to school again. He thought they would stone him or kill him.” There were times Taimoor rode his motorbike 30 to 40 miles because he heard about a gathering of Christians. “No one was willing to give me a Bible, they were so scared. But being strong-willed, the more people stopped me, the more determined I became,”Taimoor adds.
One day he happened to meet a missionary passing through the area north of Islamabad handing out small New Testaments. Taimoor spied the man from a distance and hurriedly rode his motorbike toward him. “He looked at me and greeted me like a Muslim and said, ‘This is the Book of Isa.’”
“It hit me like a bullet,” Taimoor says. “I was almost paralyzed.”
Hesitantly, he asked the missionary the cost of the book. “Nobody can pay the price for it,” he said. “If you want it, you can give me whatever you would like to give.” Taimoor fished into his pocket and pulled out the U.S.equivalent of 20 cents.
“The Holy Spirit fell upon him”
Racing home, Taimoor underwent a ritualistic cleansing, deciding this would be appropriate before reading such a book. “I didn’t understand it in the beginning,” he says. “But when I got to the fifth chapter of Matthew something supernatural and unusual happened in my mind.” He read: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” After reading this verse, he believes the Holy Spirit fell upon him – and filled him- as his heart and mind were regenerated.
“I got saved without the help of any individual,” Taimoor recalls. “I didn’t say the sinner’s prayer or go to any altar call,” he says. “Within six months I discovered Jesus Christ is God in human flesh.”
It would be five years before Taimoor had any meaningful contact with other Christians or saw the entire Bible. In the meantime, he set out to memorize the New Testament. “As a Muslim, I thought every good Muslim memorizes the Koran,” he recalls. “Naturally, Christians must be memorizing their books.” He thought he should memorize the books before meeting other Christians. He also feared the book might be taken away from him at any time.
When his mother found out about his new faith she told him, “If I had known you would become a Christian I would have strangled you as a baby.” Several years later, Taimoor’s mother and brother both became believers.
“My ministry is to establish new communities of ‘messianic Muslims’ “
Because Taimoor’s faith developed outside of mainstream Christendom, some of his views would be considered provocative to Christians. “I respect Muhammad and use him next to the Bible and the church as the third great witness of the glory of Christ,” Taimoor says. “I am proving to the Muslims the God they worship is the same God as ours,” he says. He believes Muslims are like Jews – they worship the same God as Christians – but reject Jesus as Messiah. Many Christians will not understand John’s strategy because it sounds like compromise. “To some degree it is,” he admits. At the same time, he emphasizes his main thrust is to prove that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. “We worship Him as the Creator and the Savior.”
One of Taimoor’s ministry objectives is to establish new communities of ‘messianic Muslims’ throughout the Middle East based on the Book of Ephesians. He likes to say his travel style is patterned after John Wesley. “I work in a circuit and then move on. I move fast,” he says. “Some will follow along.”
“If I had not become a Christian I would have been a Taliban,” Taimoor says. His houses near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan are lined with prayer rugs, and have the feel of an Eastern worship center. They’re completely filled with Islamic books except for one – the Bible. People can stay there for extended periods while they read and memorize the Scriptures. “When people come here they want to know what this black book is all about,” Taimoor says. “If they’re serious, I tell them they can stay.”
Group meetings in his homes can last up to six hours, but he refuses to call this ‘church,’ instead preferring the term ‘Jaamat Rabaani’ – which means‘ gathering of the people of God.’ “If it looks like a church they will burn it,” he says.
“There are a lot of people in the Middle East who are really hungry and seeking,” he notes. “They only fear Western missionaries because they think they are cultural terrorists. We need to be one of them and go in on their level.”
Source: John Taimoor
Joel News 893, November 2, 2014
There is an ongoing underground revival in the Muslim world. Over the past 20 years more Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) than in all the previous centuries together. See links:
Iran: where Christianity is growing fastest
Iran – fastest growing evangelical population
Iran: How two women brought hope in Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison
Many Muslims are turning to Christ
Jesus and Muslims: Life in the desert
18,000 Muslim leaders led to Christ in West Africa
Jesus appears to a Middle Eastern Muslim for a month
Iman hated Christians until Jesus raised him from the dead
Muslim woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus
If you want to know more about following Jesus, go here
Now on
BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)
GENERAL BLOGS INDEX
BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)
BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)
BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)
BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)
BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)
BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)
BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)
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Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border
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God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart
God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart |
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| Share good news – Share this and any page freely. Over 100,000 views of blogs in 2020. Share this link on your media, eg Facebook, Instagram, Emails: God’s Grace can reach any heart Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.comThe story of Pastor Bessarab, a former criminal who became an evangelist, pastor, and martyr.
Dear Brother or Sister in Christ, In eternity, I believe we may see how God wrote chapters into the lives of people we knew on earth and also into the lives of our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. In 2004, I traveled to Tajikistan [northern neighbour to Afghanistan] a few months after a pastor named Sergei Bessarab was shot to death in a small city called Isfara, where Bessarab had planted a church. In my book When Faith Is Forbidden, I share Bessarab’s story and introduce readers to his widow, Tamara. In addition to meeting Tamara, I also met the man — also named Sergei — who had prayed for Bessarab’s salvation. The two men had met in prison while Bessarab was serving time for his criminal activities. In prison, Sergei prayed every day that Bessarab would come to Christ. But Bessarab was less than grateful for his friend’s concern. “Don’t waste time praying for me,” Bessarab told him. Sergei remained steadfast in prayer, however, and Bessarab did eventually bend his knee to Christ. The former criminal became a bold witness for his Savior both inside the prison walls and, after his release, as a pastor on the outside. In addition, he made frequent return visits to the prison to share the gospel with inmates. Soon after Bessarab and Tamara moved to Isfara and planted a church, which began to grow as Muslims turned to Christ, a headline in the local paper asked the pointed question, “What’s Going to Be Done About Sergei Bessarab?” On Jan. 20, 2004, the son of a local mosque leader answered the question, shooting and killing Bessarab as he strummed his guitar during his nightly time of worship, Scripture reading, and prayer. In my book, I close Bessarab’s story with words spoken to me by his friend Sergei just months after the shooting: “One day we will meet this person who killed [Pastor Bessarab] because we have a prison ministry all over Tajikistan. And we will be ready to tell him about Jesus.” A front-line worker in Central Asia recently met with Bessarab’s widow, Tamara, who told him how God has extended her husband’s legacy. When the young man who killed Bessarab was convicted and sent to prison, Christians were waiting there to meet him, just as Sergei had promised. In God’s amazing providence, the killer was eventually assigned to a cell with a Christian prisoner who had been led to Christ and discipled by Bessarab! And over time, the mosque leader’s son became Bessarab’s spiritual grandson, placing his trust in Christ. Bessarab was once a convicted criminal. Many would have written him off spiritually. His killer was also far from God, and some may have written him off as well. But God’s grace can reach any heart. If you need a reminder of that today, picture the final chapter of this story: Pastor Sergei Bessarab stands worshiping before God’s throne for all eternity — side by side with the man who ended his earthly life! In Christ,
This is an update from a story in When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians. Receive a complimentary copy for a donation of any amount at vom.org/forbidden. |
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