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The Healing Power of Prayer

by Geoff 24 June 2022 No Comments

The Healing Power of Prayer

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Renewal Journal 4: Healing:
https://renewaljournal.com/2014/12/02/healing/

The Healing Power of Prayer

These Articles are now added to Renewal Journal 4: Healing

The Stunning Science behind the Healing Power of Prayer

Article written by Dr. Don Colbert.  Dr Colbert graduated from Oral Roberts Medical School in 1984. Dr. Colbert has practiced medicine in Central Florida and has been board certified in Family Practice for over 25 years.

Even a mere 30 seconds of prayer, acknowledging God and giving thanks for all the blessings in your life, can have a powerful effect on your body, mind, and spirit.

If you have a regular practice of prayer, then you are well aware that benefits are very real and wide-ranging. Many people who engage in these activities report psychological and spiritual benefits such as a sense of greater clarity, purpose, gratitude, presence, sense of connection, and overall well-being. However, these sorts of subjective benefits can be hard to measure scientifically. Interestingly, despite the difficulty in quantifying the spiritual effects of prayer, there have been many studies looking at the physical benefits of this ancient practice. A 2013 Pew Research Poll estimated that over half of Americans pray daily.

A University of Rochester study found that over 85% of people dealing with a major illness turn to prayer.

Every religion or spiritual belief system has a form of prayer or meditation as a foundational principle. This shows that prayer is not merely a cultural phenomenon but a fundamental aspect of the human experience. Yet, many people still struggle to reconcile belief in the power of prayer with a scientific worldview. Duke University’s Harold G. Koenig, M.D, author of several books on faith and healing, says “studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick, and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster. So how does that happen? Harvard Medical School cardiovascular specialist Dr. Herbert Benson discovered what is called the “relaxation response.”

This is the physiological state that occurs during prayer. It involves the autonomic (automatic) nervous system shifting over to a parasympathetic (rest and digest) dominant state, as opposed to the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) state that most of us spend the majority of the day in. The act of prayer has shown to increase certain helpful neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which help promote a state of relaxation, focus, motivation, and well-being. But the effects are not confined to momentary relaxation. Long-term prayer can actually rewire and rebuild the brain! With the ability to scan the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers have been able to note the physiological changes that occur in the brains of those who pray regularly.

Lisa Miller, professor and director of Clinical Psychology and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University conducted a study on 103 people who were at a high risk of depression. Using MRI, she found that those who prayed regularly tended to have a thicker cerebral cortex which has been associated with less depression and anxiety. Another study has shown that urban children with asthma cope better when incorporating prayer into their lives. Prayer is also good for your heart. Christians have been shown to have lower average blood pressure than non-believers. Prayer also is correlated to less heart attacks and quicker recovery from heart surgery. There is even evidence to suggest that regular prayer will help you live longer! So with all these benefits, you should consider incorporating prayer as part of your daily regimen.

A study published in the journal Sociology of Religion titled “Prayer, Attachment to God, and Symptoms of Anxiety-Related Disorders among U.S. Adults,” looked at the data of 1,714 volunteers. What they found is that those who pray with a loving and protective conception of God experience a more dramatic reduction in anxiety related symptoms compared to those who pray without the expectation of comfort or protection. This shows us just how important faith actually is! The publishers believe that the emotional and spiritual comfort from prayer to a loving and compassionate God offers a sense of hope and security while praying with a more judgmental conception of God breeds resentment, rejection, and detachment. So understanding the character of your God is important.

The most beautiful thing about all of this research is not only that it validates the ancient wisdom behind prayer, but it also shows us how incredibly easy it can be to implement powerful healing practices into our lives. With so many benefits on the physical, psychological, and spiritual levels, there is really no reason to not pray or meditate every single day!

The best times of day are first thing in the morning and right before bed. However you can pray in the car on the way to work, in line at the grocery store, sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, or before you eat your meals. Even a mere 30 seconds of prayer, acknowledging God and giving thanks for all the blessings in your life, can have a powerful effect on your body, mind, and spirit. So what do you think? Have you been inspired to reinvigorate the prayer in your life?

Source: Breaking Christian News (bold font added)

Israeli Research Shows Prayer is Good for the Body as Well as the Soul

An Israeli study has found that praying regularly can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 50%. The study, which was funded by the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C., found that women, who have a significantly larger chance of developing forms of dementia, could stave off the disease through prayer. The findings confirm earlier studies that indicated religion can play a positive role. “We found that people with higher levels of spiritual well-being had a significantly slower progression of Alzheimer’s disease,” Yakir Kaufman, the head of the neuropsychiatric department at Herzog hospital in Jerusalem said.

The Israeli organization Melabev has ten centres serving about 600 Alzheimer’s patients for whom prayer is part of the daily routine. “If prayer is done in a centre or a religious facility, it is communal and there is a social aspect,” Susan Sachs, the director of public relations and development at Melabev said. “It gives hope and perspective, and for many people it helps retain their dignity. They’re doing something that they did all their lives.” Melabev provides an alternative to institutionalizing Alzheimer’s patients by providing a full day of activities. Sachs estimates there are 100,000 people suffering from the disease in Israel.

The centres provide them with laminated cards with the most popular prayers printed in large type, although many of the patients rely on memory, which also helps strengthen their cognitive function. While prayer has some cognitive elements, it strengthens emotional functioning even more. As the patient’s cognitive function declines, his or her emotional function may be strengthened, according to Leah Abramowitz, the head of the Institute for the Study of Aging at Melabev. She said that, “It’s like a baby who can feel his mother’s emotions and will start crying if she is angry or tense. It’s like the person who is fully blind having more acute hearing.”

Prayer can also lower stress levels – one of the risk factors for Alzheimer’s. Other risk factors include high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. As people live longer, there is more chance that they will develop dementia. Israel’s life expectancy – 80 years for men and 84.2 for women – is the world’s fourth-highest, exceeded only by Japan, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Professor Rivka Inzelberg of Tel Aviv University, who led the research, told a conference that the study indicated that 50% more women than men suffer memory impairments. She said “rituals, like prayer, are especially comforting to Alzheimer’s patients. Prayer is something that went into their long term memory many years ago. It is a ritual that is very comforting for them.”

Source: The Media Line
Renewal Journal, 2017

How I Learned to Pray for the Sick

This article is a result of my search for effective ways of praying for the sick. I found it produced results after persisting in hope and faith.  At first, it was mostly in hope. I know that God answers prayer, but we don’t always know how. Gradually my faith grew as I persisted in faith, believing that God answers prayer and that God heals. The tide changed and waves of healing blessings flowed more fully.

When I was young, we prayed for the sick in general terms, such as “Please God, heal Mr or Mrs So-and-so. Amen.”  Generally the people we prayed for seemed to improve and sometimes we saw rapid improvement.

Then I discovered intimacy with God and the power of his Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, in new ways. Jesus told us to seek this: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). We all need to ask, seek and knock, and Jesus promises that we will receive, find and have the door opened (Matthew 7:7-8).

So my journey in praying for others, including praying for the sick, began to change as I allowed the Holy Spirit to guide me more fully. Instead of praying the same old way, “Please God, heal that sick person,” I began praying the way I was led by the Spirit.

As I read about Jesus and his disciples, I realized that they rarely or never prayed this way, “Please God heal that sick person.” Mostly they commanded healing, and Jesus’ followers always did so in Jesus’ name. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, and we have authority as we serve him and pray in his name, on his behalf.

That gradually opened new horizons for me! I began listening more to the still, small voice in my mind and heart, and found I was praying with more authority, in Jesus’ name. Increasingly I found myself led to pray, “Be healed, in Jesus’ name.”

As I persisted, the Holy Spirit quietly prompted me to take authority over attacks against the person. Sometimes (not automatically and not always) I was led to pray something like “Infirmity, get out in Jesus’ name.”

Increasingly I found more people reported that pain had gone or that they felt significantly improved. So then I realized that it helped to ask the person being prayed for how they felt. If some pain remained, I was often led to pray for them again, sometimes more than once more.

As first I was reluctant to ask how the person felt, in case there was little or no improvement! Then, gradually I realized that asking how they felt actually gave more opportunity to pray more if that was needed. When we persisted, we often saw improvement right there and then. A simple way to check is to ask, “How much pain do you have on a sale of 10 to 1?”

Blockages

Many blockages in my thinking stopped me from praying with authority. Here are a few.

  1. Not good enough. That can stop us. We think we’re not good enough for God to work in and through us. “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18). If you wait till you’re perfect, you’ll be in heaven! Confess sin quickly and gratefully move on, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, goes on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
  2. Fear of failure. What if the person is not healed? That is a common blockage because sometimes there is no evidence of immediate healing. I began saying, “We’ll keep on trusting God for more healing, however it may come.” As we persisted in faith, there seemed to be more healing, more often.
  3. No healing gift. There are many gifts of healings (1 Corinthians 12:9), and some people have a gift of faith for healing – they just expect it. I think I had more hope than faith. But we can all pray for healing, even if we don’t have healing gifts.
  4. We all experience disappointment sometimes when we pray for healing. Healing does not always happen, or it may be slow in coming. But we can persist, just as we do with medical treatments. We persist till healing comes.
  5. No leading. What if you have no leading on how to pray? That happens at times. You can still pray in faith, knowing God hears and will answer in his way and in his time.

What helped me to overcome blockages?

God’s Word helped me most. The more I read about Jesus and his followers the more my faith grew. God’s Spirit speaks his word into our hearts and lives. We believe it and act on it.

Listening more for the leading of God’s Spirit helped me enormously. Note that “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63) and that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). Often, a ‘hunch’ turned out to be a ‘leading’.

One night I prayed for a young relative who had been getting migraines. Medications had helped, but migraines persisted. I had a hunch we were dealing with an attack, so I was led to gently place my hand on his head and pray, “Affliction, get out in Jesus’ name.” I felt it go, and my young relative felt fine and has not needed medication for that since then. We don’t always ‘feel’ something, but we can pray in faith.

Why lay on hands?

Why do we lay hands on the sick to pray for them? It’s biblical. See Mark 6:5; 7:32; 10:16; 16:18; Luke 4:40; 13:13; Acts 28:8. It’s also a natural way to express care and concern.  All parents know that touch brings comfort when a child is hurt.

Biblical passages taught me to persist. Here are some: Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-10; 18:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Jesus occasionally prayed for or commanded healing more than once, as for the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-25) and the wild man of Gadara (Luke 8:26-39).

Ultimate healing and the only total healing is in heaven. Meanwhile, in this broken world we can show compassion and care in many ways, including praying for healing. I know the pain of praying for a loved one’s healing, who died. Sometimes the healing is not here, but hereafter.

Sometimes God may surprise you, as you persist in simple faith. A nurse in one of our prayer groups was led to place her hand on a lady’s back and pray, “L4 be healed, in Jesus’ name.” The pain left immediately. Apparently the problem was in the lumbar (L4 region) of the spine.

A doctor, and my college class, once prayed for and laid hands on a lady student who was scheduled for an operation to remove a growth in her abdomen. Later that same day her specialist could find no growth, so they cancelled the operation.

Recently we prayed as a small group for a man with diabetes problems. When he had a blood test it registered normal, so he testified in church and gave thanks to God.

Healing is not always so quick. But it’s always a blessing to pray for one another. Sometimes it helps to pray in a believing group where those praying contribute their different spiritual gifts and insights. You can pray in the Spirit and often receive the Spirit’s leading on how to pray with authority in Jesus’ name.

Many people discover that God is real and personal, and they believe in him because someone prayed cared and prayed for their healing. We pray – God heals.

I pray that you will find peace and joy as you pray in faith for others, led and empowered by God’s Spirit. Just bless them in Jesus’ name.

Geoff Waugh, Renewal Journal, 2017

Now added to Renewal Journal 4: Healing – renewaljournal.com

rj-04-healing-1
Renewal Journal 4: Healing

Isa 40,31
Prayer ~ Good for the Body as well as the Soul

Mt 7,7 A S K
How I Learned to Pray for the Sick

See Also


The Lion of Judah: The Ministry of Jesus


Prayer and Miracles


The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF
Jesus healed, as did his followers.

Bible Study, Easter, Good Friday, Jesus, Jesus Christ , , ,

The Life of Jesus – Appendix 3: The Gospels

by Geoff 6 June 2022 4 Comments

An Appendix from the book (free PDF)

The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story

Appendix 3: The Gospels

The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF

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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.
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 Birth and Boyhood
2 Ministry Begins
3 First to Second Passover
4 Second to Third Passover
5 Passover to Pentecost
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
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

Appendix 3: The Gospels

The Gospels are not a biography, although much of their good news is biographical. They tell the story of God’s love revealed perfectly in Jesus.

Matthew tells the love story

A despised, hated tax collector for Rome, Matthew admired Jesus and left his lucrative business to travel on foot with Jesus and the growing crowd of his followers. A staunch Jew, Matthew likely wrote his love story in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Middle East at that time.

They copied their Scriptures (our Old Testament) in Hebrew scrolls, but from the time of the Jews return from captivity in Babylon, around 538 BC, they spoke Aramaic, a dialect of Hebrew, which spread through the Middle East. It became the native language of Palestine used by Jesus and his followers.[1] Matthew quotes liberally from the Hebrew Scriptures, showing that Jesus fulfilled their prophecies. Matthew’s story was reproduced in common Greek, used widely at that time following Alexander the Great’s conquests.

Matthew the evangelist wrote especially for Jews.  He begins his gospel presenting Jesus Christ as the son of David, the son of Abraham.  He ends his gospel with the Great Commission declaring that Jesus sends his followers into all nations.  In Jesus, God’s covenant embraces the whole world.

This radical evangelistic missionary gospel shocked traditional Jews.  Matthew insists that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, backing up his claims with many quotations from the Old Testament.  He argues that Jesus did not do away with the Scriptures, but fulfilled them.[2]  He emphasizes the missionary nature of Jesus’s ministry and of his church.

This gospel continually confronted the Jewish Christian community as well as other Jews.  Here is a persistent and urgent call to mission.  The good news is for all people, not only for Jews. Matthew begins his Gospel telling of the coming of Jesus the Messiah who proclaims God’s kingdom.  The figure of Jesus the Messiah is announced by John the Baptist, as prophesied.

The beginning of the ministry in Galilee shows Christ’s design for life in God’s kingdom, again fulfilling prophecy.  Chapters 5-7 gather the words of Jesus together in The Sermon on the Mount in which we are challenged to seek first the kingdom of God.  Here is the kingdom charter, the ethics of kingdom living.  The chapters that follow demonstrate God’s kingdom in the works of Jesus.

Matthew gathers the discourses of Jesus as teaching segments throughout his narrative.  He often uses the phrase “kingdom of heaven” for kingdom of God in typical Jewish reverence for the word God.

Jesus’s ministry is summarised in Matthew 4:23 as teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.  This statement introduces the words and works of Jesus in chapters 5-9.  Then in Matthew 9:35, the same statement is repeated.  Here it introduces the mission of Jesus’s followers.

The mission discourse, commencing from Matthew 9:35, tells of Jesus’s plan for the spread of God’s kingdom.  His disciples will continue his ministry.  They will proclaim the kingdom of God.

The chapters following the mission discourse show the radical nature of the mystery of God’s kingdom.  This mystery is revealed by Jesus to those committed to him, but concealed from others, as indicated in the parable discourses of chapter 13.

Matthew, the only gospel writer to use the word church, points out that Jesus’s church has his authority.[3] The church is the agent of God’s kingdom, and manifests the kingdom in the world.

Tensions with the keepers of Israel’s traditions reached flash point and boiled over into Jesus’s arrest and execution.  That is the volatile setting in which Jesus pressed his authority and invitation as the ministry ends.  The king is crowned with thorns and crucified.  Apparent defeat in death is then turned into the amazing victory of resurrection.  Christ the King reigns.  We all ultimately acknowledge his reign in the end.  In Jesus’s victory we see God’s kingdom fulfilled.

Mark tells the love story

Probably as a young man in Jerusalem he knew and hung around Jesus and his followers. His love story is a condensed version, the shortest account, and possibly the first cab off the rank. It’s likely that Matthew and Luke both used much of Mark’s story in their similar stories, now called the three Synoptic Gospels.

Mark may have been the young man he alone refers to who ran off leaving his linen sheet with the mob who grabbed him in Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested late at night. His family may have lived in a big house where many met to pray and it may have had the large upper room where Jesus ate the Passover. Mark, possibly known as John Mark, joined Paul and Mark’s cousin Barnabas and then joined Barnabas again on missionary journeys, and was with Paul in Rome. He travelled with Peter who called him ‘my son’ and most likely gave him most of the information he used in his Gospel. Jerome, a leader in the early church, told how Mark established the church in Alexandria in Egypt. [4]

Mark gives a vigorous, concise account of Jesus.  The narrative moves swiftly.  A brief prologue leads immediately into Jesus’s ministry as he appears proclaiming and demonstrating the kingdom of God.  Kingdom life fills the pages.

Central to that drama is the cross.  Mark has been described as a passion narrative with an introduction.  Jesus is introduced as the Son of God in the first verse.  Chapters 1‑8 reveal the mystery of the Son of God seen in Jesus’s three year ministry, based in Galilee.

Then the drama shifts in chapter 8, with Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.  Jesus immediately predicts his death and prepares his disciples for it.  The Messiah must sacrifice his life.  The way of the Son of Man is the way of the cross.  Chapters 11‑16 describe that final week in Jerusalem.

Holy Week, the last week of the earthly life of Jesus, may be summarized this way as a general guide.  The different Gospels record different events, each one telling the Gospel, the good news, in their own way.  So this arrangement is just an estimate of the sequence of the momentous developments in Holy Week.

This summary of events in Holy Week follows the outline in Mark’s Gospel:

Palm Sunday  –  Day of Demonstration
Mark 11:1-11 (Zech 9:9)  –  Jesus enters Jerusalem

Monday  –  Day of Authority
Mark 11:12-19  –  fig tree rebuked, temple cleansed

Tuesday  –  Day of Conflict
Mark 11:20  –  13:36  –  debates with leaders

Wednesday  –  Day of Preparation
Mark 14:1-11  –  anointed at Bethany

Thursday  –  Day of Farewell
Mark 14:12-42  –  last supper

Good Friday  –  Day of Crucifixion
Mark 14:43 – 15:47  –  trials and death

Saturday  –  Day of Sabbath
Mark 15:46-47  –  tomb sealed

Easter Sunday  –  Day of Resurrection
Mark 16:1-18  –  resurrection appearances

These passages remind us of events from the most momentous week in all history, and indeed in all eternity.  The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, took our sin upon himself, died in our place, and conquered death. He alone is the Saviour of the World.  All who believe in him, all who trust him, will not die but live for ever with him.

Luke tells the love story

Physician and historian, Luke gives us unique accounts of the earliest days in Jesus’ life. The only Gentile author in the Bible, he addressed his two books, Luke-Acts, to his Gentile friend Theophilus. He provides carefully researched historical insights into Jesus and his followers. He alone records Jesus’ famous and confronting parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.[5]

Dr Luke carefully researched the accounts of healing and miracles. He joined the teams on Paul’s second and third missionary journeys though Turkey (then called Asia or Asia Minor) and Greece, and on their fateful trip to Rome which included being shipwrecked on Malta. He carefully described those adventures in the ‘we passages’ in Acts. Paul valued him highly.[6]

Luke wrote with a different emphasis from the other writers of the New Testament who all grew up steeped in Israel’s traditions.  He writes especially for his community.

Luke the historian describes Jesus’s central place in human events.  Jesus is the Saviour of the whole world.  No one is excluded from God’s offer of salvation in Jesus.  The poor, despised and outcasts (such as Gentiles) are especially invited into the kingdom of God.  Luke gives a clear, ordered account of the spread of God’s kingdom in the ministry of Jesus (Luke’s Gospel) and in the early church (The Acts of the Apostles).

Luke the traveller makes “journey” a strong theme in both his books.  He tells of events along the way, on the road.  This especially applies to Jesus’s final journey to Jerusalem.  That last journey began after Peter’s declaration that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus explained that terms of his death and resurrection.

Luke the missionary, who often accompanied Paul, tells of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, first in Jesus, then in his followers, and then in the church’s missionary expansion. Luke refers to the Holy Spirit often in both his gospel and The Acts of the Apostles.

Luke the doctor, emphasizes Jesus’s compassion and healing power for all who came to him.  His gospel abounds with stories of Jesus’s care for people.  He includes many accounts of Jesus’s compassion for the poor and for outcasts.

Luke the evangelist, tells of Jesus’s saving power and includes some of the most famous parables which summarise the good news of God’s kingdom.  Parables of the prodigal son, the lost coin, the good Samaritan, the rich man and Lazarus, and the rich fool are unique to Luke’s evangelism story.  So are the accounts of the Samaritan leper, the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’s feet, and Zacchaeus.  These were despised people who responded to Jesus.

If you have a Bible with section headings containing cross-references, as in the Good News Bible and New Revised Standard Version, you can easily locate the passages unique to Luke.  They have no cross-references.  Those passages give a feel for Luke’s emphasis in telling the good news about the kingdom of God.

John tells the love story

He may have been Jesus’ young cousin, a son with his older brother James of the successful fisherman Zebedee who employed others in his business in partnership with Simon and Andrew. John’s mother may have been a sister to Jesus’ mother Mary, identified by early church leaders as Salome. She wanted Jesus to allow her sons to sit beside him in his new kingdom. She was with John and with Mary at the crucifixion where Jesus committed his mother into John’s care. John writes about the disciple whom Jesus loved, usually identified as John himself, who reclined on Jesus’ chest at the last supper.[7]

John’s Gospel and his three letters emphasize God’s love revealed in Jesus. Famous verses like John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 describe that love:

“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.” (John 3:16)

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” (1 John 3:16)

John was an eye-witness to the ministry of Jesus.  He belonged to the inner circle of disciples with his brother James and with Peter the natural leader.  John may have been the youngest of the disciples.

Throughout his Gospel, John emphasized that he recorded what he had seen and heard.  He states early in the Gospel that he, with others, witnessed the life of Jesus the Christ, the Logos, the living Word of God.

John describes how he was there at the crucifixion witnessing that stupendous, agonizing death. He emphasizes that he wrote so that his readers would believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

“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 20:30-31)

 [1] Matthew 1:21, The Passion Translation.

[2] Matthew 5:17.

[3] Matthew 16:18-19; 18:17-18.

[4] Mark 14:12-16, 50-52; Acts 1:12-14; 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:36-39; Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; 1 Peter 5:13; and http://www.ldolphin.org/johnmark.html.

[5] Luke 1-2; 10:25-37; 15:11-32.

[6] Acts 16:10-17, & 20:5-21:18, & 27:1-28:16; Colossians 4;14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 24.

[7] Matthew 20:20-21; 27:56; John 13:23; 19:25.

See also


Kingdom Life in the Gospels


The Life of Jesus

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Biblical Feast Days from The Life of Jesus

by Geoff 9 May 2022 3 Comments

Biblical Feast Days from The Life of Jesus

History’s Great Love Story

 

The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF
The full Feast Days overview is in the PDF Appendix

A Brief Overview

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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story
A Chronology adapted from The Life of Jesus

Free PDF books on the Main Page
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com

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 now date our diaries and calendars from the time of his birth.

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 Birth and Boyhood
2 Ministry Begins
3 First to Second Passover
4 Second to Third Passover
5 Passover to Pentecost
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
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   

Appendix 2

The Feast Days

Leviticus 23 briefly covers all of the feasts of the Lord. There are three annual feasts that the Lord commanded all Israel to celebrate in Jerusalem — Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Here is Leviticus 23 from the Easy-to-Read Version (biblegateway.com).

The Special Festivals

23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: You will announce the Lord’s chosen festivals as holy meetings. These are my special festivals.

Sabbath

3 “Work for six days, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, will be a special day of rest, a holy meeting. You must not do any work. It is a day of rest to honour the Lord in all your homes.

Festival of Passover  (Exodus 12:1-11;  Numbers 28:16-25)

4 “These are the Lord’s chosen festivals. You will announce the holy meetings at the times chosen for them. 5 The Lord’s Passover is on the 14th day of the first month just before dark.

Festival of Unleavened Bread

6 “The Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th day of the same month. You will eat unleavened bread for seven days. 7 On the first day of this festival, you will have a special meeting. You must not do any work on that day. 8 For seven days, you will bring sacrifices offered as gifts to the Lord. Then there will be another special meeting on the seventh day. You must not do any work on that day.”

Festival of the First Harvests  (First Fruits)

9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: You will enter the land that I will give you and reap its harvest. At that time you must bring in the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest. 11 The priest will lift the sheaf to show it was offered before the Lord. Then you will be accepted. The priest will present the sheaf on Sunday morning.

12 “On the day when you present the sheaf, you will offer a one-year-old male lamb. There must be nothing wrong with that lamb. That lamb will be a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 You must also offer a grain offering of 16 cups of fine flour mixed with olive oil. You must also offer 1 quart of wine. The smell of that offering will please the Lord. 14 You must not eat any of the new grain, or fruit, or bread made from the new grain until you bring that offering to your God. This law will always continue through your generations, wherever you live.

Festival of Harvest or Weeks  (Pentecost, Numbers 28:26-31)

15 “From that Sunday morning (the day you bring the sheaf to be presented to God), count seven weeks. 16 On the Sunday following the seventh week (that is, 50 days later), you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 On that day bring two loaves of bread from your homes. That bread will be lifted up to show it was offered to God. Use yeast and 16 cups of flour to make those loaves of bread. That will be your gift to the Lord from your first harvest.

18 “With these grain offerings bring one bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs for burnt offerings to the Lord. There must be nothing wrong with these animals. Offer them together with the grain offerings and the drink offerings. The smell of these offerings made by fire will be pleasing to the Lord. 19 You will also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering.

20 “The priest will lift them up with the bread from the first harvest to show they were offered with the two lambs before the Lord. They are holy to the Lord. They will belong to the priest. 21 On that same day you will call a holy meeting. You must not do any work. This law continues forever in all your homes.

22 “Also, when you harvest the crops on your land, don’t cut all the way to the corners of your field. Don’t pick up the grain that falls on the ground. Leave it for poor people and for foreigners traveling through your country. I am the Lord your God.”

Festival of Trumpets  (Numbers 29:1-6)

23 Again the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Tell the Israelites: On the first day of the seventh month, you must have a special day of rest. Blow the trumpet to remind the people that this is a holy meeting. 25 You must not do any work. You must bring an offering as a gift to the Lord.”

Day of Atonement  (Leviticus 16:1-34; Numbers 29:7-11)

26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The Day of Atonement will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy meeting. You must not eat food, and you must bring an offering as a gift to the Lord. 28 You must not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement. On that day the priests will go before the Lord and perform the ceremony that makes you pure.

29 “Anyone who refuses to fast on this day must be separated from their people. 30 If anyone does any work on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people. 31 You must not do any work at all. This is a law that continues forever for you, wherever you live. 32 It will be a special day of rest for you. You must not eat food. You will start this special day of rest on the evening following the ninth day of the month. This special day of rest continues from that evening until the next evening.”

Festival of Tabernacles  (Booths, Numbers 29:12-40)

33 Again the Lord said to Moses, 34 “Tell the Israelites: On the 15th day of the seventh month is the Festival of Shelters. This festival to the Lord will continue for seven days. 35 There will be a holy meeting on the first day. You must not do any work. 36 You will bring offerings as gifts to the Lord for seven days. On the eighth day, you will have another holy meeting. You must not do any work. You will bring an offering as a gift to the Lord.

37 “These are the Lord’s special festivals. There will be holy meetings during these festivals. You will bring offerings as gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings. You will bring these gifts at the right time. 38 You will celebrate these festivals in addition to remembering the Lord’s Sabbath days. You will offer these gifts in addition to your other gifts and any offerings you give as payment for your special promises. They will be in addition to any special offerings you want to give to the Lord.

39 “On the 15th day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you will celebrate the Lord’s festival for seven days. The first day will be a special day of rest, and then the eighth day will also be a special day of rest. 40 On the first day you will take good fruit from fruit trees. And you will take branches from palm trees, poplar trees, and willow trees by the brook. You will celebrate before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You will celebrate this festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This law will continue forever. You will celebrate this festival in the seventh month. 42 You will live in temporary shelters for seven days. All the people born in Israel will live in them. 43 Why? So all your descendants will know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters during the time I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

44 So Moses told the Israelites about all the special meetings to honour the Lord.

 

An Overview

God gave Moses the dates and details of the annual festivals.

  1. Passover(Pesach) – Nisan 14-15
  2. Unleavened Bread(Chag Hamotzi) – Nisan 15-22
  3. First Fruits(Yom Habikkurim) – Nisan 16-17
  4. Pentecost(Shavuot) – Sivan 6-7
  5. Trumpets(Yom Teruah) – Tishri 1
  6. Atonement(Yom Kippur) – Tishri 10
  7. Tabernacles(Sukkot) – Tishri 15-22

Each month began with a new moon. Passover fell on the first full moon of spring. The first three feasts, Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits in March/April included the spring harvests of wheat and barley. The fourth one, Pentecost, marked the start of the summer harvest in late May or early June. The last three feasts, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles in September/October included the autumn/fall harvests of grapes, figs, and olives.

The Spring Festivals

(1) Passover. The festival year began with Passover on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan 14) when the unblemished lamb was slain. The angel of death “passed over” the Jewish homes with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. Our Lord was sacrificed on Passover, the Day of Preparation.

(2) Unleavened Bread – a week. This feast began on the next day (Nisan 15) beginning at sunset and lasted for seven days. Today the unleavened bread (Matzah) is striped and pierced, as was Jesus’ body.

(3) First Fruits. Celebrated on the day after the Sabbath, they brought the early crops of wheat and barley to wave the sheaf before the Lord. They sacrificed Passover lambs on the 14th of Nisan; then the first day of Unleavened Bread was the 15th; with the Feast of First Fruits celebrated the third day on the 16th of Nisan. This third-day celebration points to Jesus’ resurrection.

(4) Pentecost. On the Sunday after the seventh Sabbath (50 days after Passover) they offered two loaves of bread with leaven/yeast and new meat offerings, marking the beginning of the summer harvest. The Holy Spirit was first poured out at this festival in Jerusalem.

The Autumn/Fall Festivals

(5) Trumpets. The 1st day of the seventh month was celebrated with blowing the ram’s horn. The trumpet was the signal for the field workers to come into the Temple. It reminds some people of the ram caught in the thorn bush that became a substitute sacrifice for Isaac, Abraham’s son, on Mount Moriah.

(6) Atonement. This highest of holy days fell on the 10th day of the seventh month. A day of fasting and sacrifices, it was the only time once a year when the High Priest sprinkled blood on the golden mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies behind the thick curtain in the tabernacle and then later in the temple. Our atonement is found in Jesus’ blood shed for us.

(7) Tabernacles – a week. The 15th day of the seventh month commenced a week of celebrating in booths, a reminder of God’s care during the 40 years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. He led them there with a pillar of fire and smoke above the tabernacle. He leads us by his Spirit.

A Winter Festival: The Feast of Dedication (Hanukah) in December celebrated the cleansing of the temple in 165 BC when olive oil burned for eight days during the Maccabean revolt against the Greek empire. Jesus attended this optional feast before his final Passover sacrifice the following April.

Related Books

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A Chronology from The Life of Jesus

by Geoff 9 May 2022 2 Comments

A Chronology adapted from The Life of Jesus

History’s Great Love Story

 
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF
A full chronology is in the PDF Appendix

A Brief Overview

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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story
A Chronology adapted from The Life of Jesus

Free PDF books on the Main Page
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com

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 now date our diaries and calendars from the time of his birth.

Contents

Preface
Introduction
1 Birth and Boyhood
2 Ministry Begins
3 First to Second Passover
4 Second to Third Passover
5 Passover to Pentecost
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
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   

Appendix 1 – Chronology

A full chronology of The Life of Jesus is in the PDF Appendix 

The Last Supper
Preparation of the Passover – Mt 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16; Lk 22:7-13
Washing the disciples’ feet – Jn 13:1-17
The breaking of bread – Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19
‘One of you shall betray me’ – Mt 26:21; Mk 14:18; Lk 22:21; Jn 13:21
‘Is it I?’ – Mt 26:22-25; Mk 14:19
Giving of the dipped bread – Jn 13:26,27
Departure of Judas Iscariot – Jn 13:30
Peter warned – Mt 26:34; Mk 14:30; Lk 22:34; Jn 13:38
Blessing the cup – Mt 26:27,28; Mk 14:23,24; Lk 22:17
The discourses after supper – Jn 14:1-16:33
Christ’s prayer for his apostles – Jn 17:1-17:26
The hymn – Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26

Gethsemane and Trials
The agony – Mt 26:37: Mk 14:33; Lk 22:39; Jn 18:1
The thrice-repeated prayer – Mt 26:39-44; Mk 14:36-39; Lk 22:42
Sweat and angel support – Lk 22:43,44
The sleep of the apostles – Mt 26:40-45; Mk 14:37-41; Lk 22:45,46
Betrayal by Judas – Mt 26:47-50; Mk 14:34,44; Lk 22:47; Jn 18:2-5
Peter smites Malchus – Mt 26:51; Mk 14:47; Lk 22:50; Jn 18:10
Jesus heals the ear of Malchus – Lk 22:51
Jesus forsaken by disciples – Mt 26:56; Mk 14:50
1) Trial with Annas – Jn 18:12,13
2) Trial with Caiaphas – Mt 26:57; Mk 14:53; Lk 22:54; Jn 18:15
Peter follows Jesus – Mt 26:58; Mk 14:54; Lk 22:55; Jn 18:15
The high priest’s adjuration – Mt 26:63; Mk 14:61
Jesus condemned, buffeted, mocked – Mt 26:66-67; Mk 14:64-65; Lk 22:63-65
Peter’s denial of Christ – Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:54-62; Jn 18:17-27
3) Trial with Pilate – Mt 27:1,2;  Mk 15:1; Lk 23:1-4; Jn 18:28
Repentance of Judas – Mt 27:3
Pilate comes out to the people – Jn 18:29-32
Pilate speaks to Jesus privately – Jn 18:33-38
4) Trial with  Herod – Lk 23:5-11
Jesus mocked, arrayed in purple – Lk 23:5-11
5) Trial with Pilate, scourged – Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Jn 19:1
Jesus crowned with thorns – Mt 27:29; Mk 15:17; Jn 19:2
‘Behold the man’ – Jn 19:5
Jesus accused formally – Mt 27:11; Mk 15:2; Lk 23:2
‘Behold your King’ – Jn 19:14
Pilate desires to release him – Mt 27:15; Mk 15:6; Lk 23:17; Jn 19:12
Pilate’s wife message – Mt 27:19
Pilate washes his hands – Mt 27:24
Pilate releases Barabbas – Mt 27:26
Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified – Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Lk 23:25; Jn 19:16

Crucifixion
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross – Mt 27:32; Mk 15:21; Lk 23:26
They give Jesus vinegar and gall – Mt 27:34; Mk 15:23; Lk 23:36
They nail him to the cross – Mt 27:35  Mk 15:24,25; Lk 23:33; Jn 19:18
The superscription – Mt 27:37; Mk 15:26; Lk 23:38; Jn 19:19
1) Father, forgive them – Lk 23:34
His garments parted and shared – Mt 27:35; Mk 15:24; Lk 23:34; Jn 19:23
Passers-by and the two thieves revile – Mt 27:39-44; Mk 15:29-32; Lk 23:35
The penitent thief – Lk 23:40
2) Today you will be with me in paradise – Lk 23:43
3) Woman, behold your son; son behold your mother – Jn 19:26,27
Darkness over all the land – Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33; Lk 23:44,45
4) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? – Mt 27:46: Mk 15:34
5) I thirst – Jn 19:28
The wine vinegar – Mt 27:48; Mk 15:36; Jn 19:29
6) It is finished – Jn 19:30
7) Father, into your hands I commit my spirit – Lk 23:46
Rending of the veil – Mt 27:51; Mk 15:38; Lk 23:45
Graves opened, saints resurrected – Mt 27:52
Testimony of the Centurion – Mt 27:54; Mk 15:39; Lk 23:47
Watching of the women – Mt 27:55; Mk 15:40; Lk 23:49
The piercing of his side – Jn 19:34
Taken down from the cross – Mt 27:57-60; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53; Jn 19:38-42
Burial by Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus – Mt 27:57-60; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53; Jn 19:38-42
A guard is placed over the sealed stone – Mt 27:65-66

Resurrection
Women carry spices to the tomb – Mt 28:1  Mk 16:1,2  Lk 24:1
The angel had rolled away the stone – Mt 28:2
Women announce the resurrection – Mt 28:8  Lk 24:9,10  Jn 20:1,2
Peter and John run to the tomb – Lk 24:12  Jn 20:3
The women return to the tomb – Lk 24:1
The guards report to the chief priests – Mt 28:11-15

APPEARANCES OF CHRIST
1) To Mary Magdalene – Mk 16:9,10; Jn 20:11-18
2) To the women returning home – Mt 28:9-10
3) To two disciples going to Emmaus – Mk 16:12; Lk 24:13-35
4) To Peter – Lk 24:34; 1 Co 15:5
5) To ten Apostles in the upper room – Lk 24:33;  Jn 20:19-23
6) To eleven Apostles in the upper room – Mk 16:14; Jn 20:26-29
7) To 500 at once – 1 Cor 15:6
8) To James – 1 Cor 15:6
9) To disciples at the sea of Tiberias – Jn 21:1-23
10) To eleven disciples on a mountain – Mt 28:16-20
11) Eating together – Acts 1:4-5
12) The Ascension – Mk 16:19  Lk 24:50-51  Acts 1:6-9

 That chronology is included in Crucified and Risen

*
Crucified and Risen – Blog
Crucified & Risen – PDF

A Holy Week, Passover & Resurrection All1
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BLOGS INDEX 4: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)

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The Life of Jesus

by Geoff 8 May 2022 4 Comments

The Life of Jesus

History’s Great Love Story


The Life of Jesus – WestBow Press – PDF

WestBow Press – The Life of Jesus
Amazon – paperback, hardcover, Kindle

Amazon:   

Koorong: 

Also available as: The Life of Jesus Renewal Journal PDF eBook
Renewal Journal version with extra images

Renewal Journal version – The Life of Jesus
The Life of Jesus PDF eBook – extra images

Also available updated as a PDF eBook: The Amazing Life of Jesus

PDF eBook: The Amazing Life of Jesus

Expanded version with extra Bible passages included in The Story of Jesus:


The Story of Jesus – Blog – expanded
The Story of Jesus PDF eBook

This PDF is an expanded version of The Life of Jesus with extra Bible passages included.
The same Contents and Chapters with more detail added.
Page 4 of the PDF lists some of the additional passages

An expanded version of The Life of Jesus
with extra biographical Bible passages added

The Life of Jesus PDF eBook
Renewal Journal version – extra images

Permission: you can freely reproduce and share these resources and books, including printing (just include the source). You can print, distribute, and market your edition of any of my books – “by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:22)

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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story

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Geoff Waugh – founding editor of the Renewal Journal
Free PDF books on the Main Page
Permissions: You can reproduce any Renewal Journal resource freely, including in print.

 

Review Comments

* Our team recently came across your book entitled The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story, and we were captivated from start to finish. Your writing style is not only engaging but also remarkably insightful, and the story-line/topic you’ve crafted is nothing short of compelling. Its unique qualities and the emotions it evokes have the power to resonate with readers on a profound level. ~ James Mendez (Skylark)
* 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)
* This is a wonderful book and can be read over and over. Thank you. ~ Kerry Rawson
* This is a great read. Simple and easy language that even my children can read as a guide, and have a better understanding of the Life Journey of Christ, as they read it in the Gospels. Thank You. ~ Florence
* Good clear language for a seeker to read and understand the life of Jesus. ~ Duncan Gibb
* 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.
* I keep this book with my Bible. It is especially helpful when reading through the Gospels. ~ Cathy Hartwig
* This book is for those who question Jesus’ reality as the Son of God, and for those who search for the details of His amazing life on this earth. ~ Judith Abrey
* The book is beautifully written and I have learned and understood a lot. I am recommending this book. ~ Kattie Mayson (Amazon 5-stars)

* I had the pleasure of reading your book last night. It is truly exceptional, providing fresh insights. The Life of Jesus effectively directs readers to the profound and uplifting news about who Jesus is and the significance of his actions. Thanks you so much for this blog site about Jesus Life. ~ Christiana Michael.
* I experience enrichment through this profound portrayal of Jesus’s life. A compelling read with straightforward and accessible language. This remarkable book is a true gem, deserving to be revisited time and again. ~ Henry
* Impressive! This book is truly outstanding! Congratulations on this remarkable accomplishment. Keep up the exceptional work! ~ Rachael Diaz
* Your book cover looks fantastic! Your writing style is exceptional, and I loved how the story unfolded, keeping me captivated. ~ Solomon Emordi
* Offering fresh insights, The Life of Jesus points you to the great good news of who Jesus is and what he did. ~ Back cover
* I read your book last night. This is a great book. Thanks for writing this for all of us. ~ Nabeel Sharoon from Pakistan who translated it into 5 languages..

 


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.
See The Life of Jesus – in 6 languages if you’d like Nabeel to translate your work.
Free PDFs are on this page, including links to the English versions and PDFs.

Other Translations

The Life of Jesus in Hindi, Indian Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, & Pakistani Punjabi.

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Share this link on your media, eg Facebook, Instagram, and Emails
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com
Geoff Waugh – founding editor of the Renewal Journal

This book is available 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

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 Passovers
4 Second to Third Passovers
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

Jewish scholar argues for Jesus’ birth in Spring, Nisan 1, the first day of the first month.

See also Devotional Books

A 7 Lion
(7) The Lion of Judah – Blog
The Lion of Judah – PDF
6 books in one volume

* 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

A Holy Week, Passover & Resurrection All1
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – Blog
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – PDF
3 books in 1

A Christian Passover All
Christian Passover Service – Blog
Christian Passover Service – PDF
A Retelling of the Last Supper


RISEN: long version – Blog
Risen! –_PDF
12 resurrection appearances

0 A Mysterious Month All3
Mysterious Month – Blog
Mysterious Month – PDF
Jesus’ resurrection appearances & our month in Israel

A Kingdom Life
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – Blog
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – PDF
4 books in 1

Popular Books – by Geoff Waugh

Revival Books – gift ideas

Renewal Books – gift ideas

General Books – gift ideas

Devotional Books – gift ideas

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 & Videos)

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The Life of Jesus – in English and Urdu
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www.renewaljournal.com

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The Lord’s Prayer – various versions

by Geoff 11 January 2022 No Comments

The Lord’s Prayer

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History’s most famous prayer, taught by our Lord, is usually called The Lord’s Prayer.
Pray as you read!

Here are various versions of Matthew 6:9-13 (from the Sermon on the Mount).
See more on Bible Gateway – https://www.biblegateway.com/

 

King James Version (1611)

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

(KJV)

 

New King James Version

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
(NKJV)

 

New International Version

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[1]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[2]

  1. Matthew 6:13 The Greek for temptation can also mean testing.
  2. Matthew 6:13 Or from evil; some late manuscripts one, / for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
    (NIV)

 

Good News Bible

9 This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven:
    May your holy name be honored;
10 may your Kingdom come;
    may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need.[1]
12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done,
    as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
13 Do not bring us to hard testing,
    but keep us safe from the Evil One.’[2]

  1. Matthew 6:11 we need; or for today, or for tomorrow.
  2. Matthew 6:13 Some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

 

The Passion Translation

9 Pray like this:

‘Our Beloved Father,[1] dwelling in the heavenly realms,
    may the glory of your name
    be the center on which our lives turn.[2]
10 Manifest your kingdom realm,[3]
    and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth,
    just as it is in heaven.
11 We acknowledge you as our Provider
    of all we need each day.[4]
12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done[5] as we ourselves
    release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.
13 Rescue us every time we face tribulation[6]
    and set us free from evil.[7]
    For you are the King who rules
    with power and glory forever. Amen.’[8]

  1. 6:9 Jesus invites us into the same relationship with the Father, as His Abba.
  2. 6:9 An alternate reading of the Aramaic text. The Aramaic word for “name” is shema (the Hebrew word, shem), a word with multiple meanings. It can also be translated “light,” “sound,” or “atmosphere.” Placing a light, like a lantern, in an enclosed space magnifies that light. This is the meaning here of God’s name being made sacred and magnified as we focus our lives on him. The Greek is “treated as holy.”
  3. 6:10 Or “Come and begin your kingdom reign.”
  4. 6:11 Or “Give us bread [or life] today for the coming day.” Bread becomes a metaphor of our needs (physically, spiritually, and emotionally). Jesus is teaching us to acknowledge Father God as our Provider of all we need each day. Both the Greek and Hebrew Matthew can be translated “Give us this day our bread for tomorrow” (or “our continual bread”).
  5. 6:12 Or “Send away the results of our debts (shortcomings),” used as a metaphor for our sins. The Aramaic can be translated “Give us serenity as we also allow others serenity.”
  6. 6:13 Or “Do not let us be put into the ordeal of testing.” God never tempts man. See James 1:13–14.
  7. 6:13 Or “the Evil One.”
  8. 6:13 As translated from the Aramaic, Hebrew Matthew, and most Greek manuscripts. The Aramaic word for “forever” means “until the end of all the universes.”
    (TPT)

See Also

Herrnhut
24/7 Worship & Prayer


Israeli research – prayer is good for the body as well as the soul

IB prayer passionLet’s Pray
Ideas for studies
*
*

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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The Lord’s Prayer – various versions

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Cherishing the book he once feared

by Geoff 3 May 2021 No Comments

Cherishing the book he once feared

The Voice of the Martyrs

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Border guard kneeling in front of woman

Cherishing the Book He Once Feared
Before he escaped across the Yalu River into China, Park Chin-Mae was a border guard, tasked with keeping North Korea’s citizens locked inside their own country and keeping contraband — especially Bibles — out of the country.

“They know the Bible is the enemy,” Chin-Mae said of his fellow border guards.

But once he fled to South Korea, Chin-Mae began attending Christian services at a resettlement center. He was tasked with laying out Bibles before the service began. As he did so, he realized he was safely holding in his hands the same book that could have gotten him killed on the other side of the border.

He started to read the Bible and soon found himself drawn to follow the Christ he had encountered in its pages. “I didn’t just read it like any other book; I read it and I took every word of the Bible into my heart,” he said.

Give to Help Persecuted Christians
Man reading Bible
Chin-Mae is safely out of North Korea, but many followers of Christ are still trapped and suffering inside the secretive nation. And it’s not only North Korea where our Christian brothers and sisters suffer. Believers face persecution in more than 70 other nations.

For more than 50 years, The Voice of the Martyrs has helped Christians persecuted for their witness around the world. VOM founder Richard Wurmbrand said of this work, “Our duty is to give a piece of bread to the wives and families of persecuted and jailed believers.”

That need still exists today. When Christians’ homes and churches are burned, or pastors and evangelists are beaten, imprisoned or killed, families are often left without financial support. VOM responds by helping persecuted Christians with living expenses, children’s educational needs, relocation within their nation, vocational training and other forms of assistance.

Stand with Persecuted Brothers and Sisters
Share this special opportunity with your friends and family.

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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Terrorist saved by JESUS Film

by Geoff 24 April 2021 No Comments

Terrorist saved by JESUS Film

He killed many but never heard of Jesus until he watched this film

Joel News International

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Jesus Film Project carries more than 30 short and feature-length films and has partnered with more than 1,500 ministries to see more than 500 million indicate decisions to follow Jesus.  Many missions organizations have called the JESUS film “one of the greatest evangelistic success stories of all time.”

By Mark Ellis –
Scene from JESUS Film

Taweb* is a terrorist who killed many people, including more than a dozen children. As time went by, however, he felt a growing uneasiness about his role in the killings.

“For most fighters, it’s nothing to them, all the killing,” Taweb told the JESUS Film Project. The lack of peace caused him to leave his band of fighters for a break. After he arrived in his home village, he learned about a visiting team showing the JESUS film privately, house-to-house.

He was intrigued that the film was in his mother tongue. He wasn’t planning to watch the film, but God intervened, and Tawab found himself at one of the private screenings.

“By accident, I watched the JESUS film. I had never heard of Jesus before. I had never heard the message of peace.”

As he watched the story about the life of Jesus taken from the Book of Luke, the power of the Word and the Spirit touched his heart and he became a follower of Jesus. “Taweb found himself transformed by the Holy Spirit as he heard the Word of God, the gospel. The ‘worst of the worst,’ a murderer of innocent children, was forgiven, at peace, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus,” according to the JESUS Film Project report.

After Taweb accepted Christ, he asked the ministry team if they would show the film in his home. When they did, his entire family became followers of Jesus.

“The next night 45 families in his village gathered to watch and they all became believers – about 450 people in all – in this highly resistant area,” the report stated.

In the next four months, 75 of his fellow militants laid down their weapons and became followers of Jesus. “Today, each one of them leads a home church and they are passionately and boldly reaching the people around them, mostly by using ‘JESUS.’”

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)

If you want to know more about a personal relationship with God, go here

To learn more about the JESUS Film Project, go here

See also another Jesus film story:
Jesus appears as a bus driver to a Muslim pilgrim

See also

The JESUS Film

Radicals can’t stop the Jesus Film

West Africa: A terrorist accepts Jesus

Revival Blogs Links:

See also Revivals Index

See also Revival Blogs

See also Blogs Index 1: Revivals

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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Books by Geoff Waugh – free PDFs

by Geoff 21 April 2021 No Comments
Renewal Journal
Logo: lamp & scroll, basin & towel, in the light of the cross

Books by Geoff Waugh – free PDFs

Inspiring articles, discounted books, free PDFs
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NEW – Revivals Index updated and expanded

20 Renewal Journals

1 Revival,   2 Church Growth,
3 Community,   4 Healing,  
5 Signs & Wonders,   6  Worship, 
7  Blessing,   8  Awakening,  
9  Mission,   10  Evangelism, 
11  Discipleship,   12  Harvest,  
13  Ministry,   14  Anointing,
15  Wineskins,   16  Vision,  
17  Unity,   18  Servant Leadership,  
19  Church,   20 Life

Topics Index
Authors Index
Revivals Index – updated 2020
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 & Videos)

Sections on the Main Page:

Popular Books
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story
The Queen’s Faith
The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages
EnCOURAGE: Love One Another
Inspiration
Flashpoints of Revival
God’s Surprises
100 Bible Quotes
Bible Story Pictures & Models
New Christian’s Guide
Jesus on Dying Regrets
The Lion of Judah
Discovering Aslan
Living in the Spirit
Your Spiritual Gifts
Great Revival Stories
Body Ministry
Renewal Journals

Revival Books
Revival Fires
Flashpoints of Revival
God’s Surprises
South Pacific Revivals
Great Revival Stories
Best Revival Stories
Transforming Revivals
Renewal and Revival
Renewal: I make all things new
Revival: I will pour out my Spirit
Pentecost on Pentecost & in the South Pacific
Anointed for Revival

Renewal Books
Living in the Spirit
Your Spiritual Gifts
Fruit & Gifts of the Spirit
EnCOURAGE: Love One Another
The Leader’s Goldmine
Great Commission Mission
Teaching Them to Obey in Love
Jesus the Model for Short Term Supernatural Mission
Body Ministry: The Body of Christ alive in His Spirit
Learning Togetherin Ministry
The Body of Christ: Part 1, Body Ministry
The Body of Christ: Part 2, Ministry Education
Church on Fire Blog
Keeping Faith Alive Today
Study Guides:
1. Signs and Wonders
2. The Holy Spirit in Ministry
3. Revival History
4. Holy Spirit Movements through History
5. Renewal Theology 1
6. Renewal Theology 2
7. Ministry Practicum

Devotional Books
Inspiration
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story
The Queen’s Faith
The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages
New Christian’s Guide
100 Bible Quotes
Bible Story Pictures & Models
Perpetual diaries and journals
Jesus on Dying Regrets
Crucified and Risen
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection
Holy Week
Christian Passover Service
RISEN
Mysterious Month
Kingdom Life in Matthew
Kingdom Life in Mark
Kingdom Life in Luke
Kingdom Life in John
Kingdom Life in The Gospels
A Preface to The Acts
Discovering Aslan
Lion of Judah series:
(1) The Titles of Jesus
(2) The Reign of Jesus
(3) The Life of Jesus
(4) The Death of Jesus
(5) The Resurrection of Jesus
(6) The Spirit of Jesus
(7) The Lion of Judah

General Books
You Can Publish for Free
God’s Surprises
Looking to Jesus: Journey into Renewal & Revival
Light on the Mountains
Journey into Mission
Journey into Ministry & Mission
Pentecost on Pentecost & in the South Pacific
Exploring Israel
King of the Granny Flat, by Dante Waugh
My First Stories, by Ethan Waugh
By All Means, by Elaine Olley
Travelling with Geoff, by Don Hill

Renewal Journals
Renewal Journals Vol 1: Nos. 1-5
Renewal Journals Vol 2: Nos 6-10
Renewal Journals Vol 3, Nos 11-15
Renewal Journals Vol 4: Nos 16-20

Popular Books – Gift ideas


The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF


The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus – PDF eBook


The Queen’s Faith – Blog
The Queen’s Faith – PDF  Platinum Jubilee edition 2022


The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages – Blog
The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages – PDF
Queen Elizabeth II describes the significance of Christmas & Easter
Gift Edition in colour, Basic Edition in print
* The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages is an appealing, highly unusual and very creative anthology. ~ Alison Sherrington
* What an amazing collection! This has so many wonderful Christmas messages and is a great addition to any family during the holiday season.  ~ Jenny & Benny

 


EnCOURAGE: Love One Another – Blog
EnCOURAGE – PDF
Hundreds of ideas for Christians & Christian groups
Amazon – free gift note available – $7
Hundreds of ideas for Christian groups with a wealth of activities, studies, prayers, and resources for groups of all ages.

 


Inspiration – Blog
Inspiration – PDF
24 stories to touch your heart
Amazon – Gift Edition in colour – $20
Amazon – Basic Edition in print – $7
* I really enjoyed this book. It helped me to understand more about what I have been going through.  ~ James Bird

 

A Flashpoints Koorong1  

Flashpoints of Revival – Blog
Revival Fires – Blog
Flashpoints of Revival – PDF updated 2020
Stories of revivals – same updated text in both books
Chapter 7: Twenty-first century revivals
Amazon – free gift note available – $5.19
* I know of no other book like this one that provides rapid-fire, easy-to-read, factual literary snapshots of virtually every well-known revival since Pentecost. As I read this book, I was thrilled to see how God has been so mightily at work in so many different times and places. I felt like I had grasped the overall picture of revival for the first time” ~ C Peter Wagner

 


God’s Surprises – Blog
God’s Surprises – PDF
Biographical stories of current revivals in over 20 countries
Gift Edition in colour – $25, Basic Edition in print – $11.56
Condensed from Journey into Mission: * I have read many similar stories, but this one exceeds them all. … Geoff has done well to not only be in so many places and seeing God at work but also writing a book about it all.  ~ Barbara Vickridge
* I’m reading your book God’s Surprises and I can feel the power of God and a tremendous desire for a Revival in Italy, where I live.   ~ Francesco Trentinella.

 


100 Bible Quotes: Bible Verses to Memorize – Blog
100 Bible Quotes– PDF
Key Bible verses, chapters, and passages
Gift Edition in colour – $24, Basic Edition in print – $7
100 Bible Quotes gives you the most popular and well known Bible verses grouped in 12 themes for easy memorization. Additional sections add other Bible passages.

 


Bible Story Pictures & Models – Blog
Bible Story Pictures & Models – PDF
Children’s pictures activity book
Large Edition 8×11″ – $7, Small Edition 6×9″ – $7
* Bible Story Pictures & Models stands out above the rest, looks and sounds original, fun and very inspirational … Your stories are great for teaching children basic bible stories. Your illustrations and models are all terrific for them to color and create. It is all very well done and inviting for your targeted young readers.  ~ Ellery Alouette.

 


New Christian’s Guide – Blog
New Christian’s Guide – PDF
A basic guide to the Christian life
Gift Edition in colour – $11, Basic Edition in print – $5.50
New Christian’s Guide is an introductory guide for new Christians starting out in their life in Christ. It covers basic essentials including Jesus’ instructions on loving God and loving others.

 


Jesus on Dying Regrets – Blog
Jesus on Dying Regrets – PDF
Advice about the top 5 regrets of the dying
Amazon – Gift Edition in colour – $13.88
This small book explores Jesus’ advice about the top 5 regrets of dying patients.

 

A 7 Lion
The Lion of Judah – Blog
The Lion of Judah – PDF
six books combined into one book
Amazon – free gift note available – $18.81
The Book Depository – free airmail
* 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.

 


Discovering Aslan – Blog
Discovering Aslan – PDF
Devotional commentary about Jesus
from The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Gift Edition in colour – $35, Basic Edition in print – $15.50
* This is a remarkable work and something quite unique that I’ve not come across before ~ Russ Burg
* One of the most interesting devotionals ever! As a huge fan of all things Narnia, I am so grateful for this deeper aspect of the truths in C.S. Lewis’ stories. ~ Belinda S.
* Best companion work I know of. … Either for a young person who is interested in exploring more, or as a resource on a pastor’s desk, it is an invaluable companion to the original series.  ~ Amazon Customer
* This is a great companion when you read, and is a stand-alone teaching on the depths of teaching that C.S. Lewis weaves into Aslan’s character. Definitely worth your time.  ~ Steve Loopstra

 

Living in the Spirit study book
Living in the Spirit – Blog
Living in the Spirit – PDF
The Holy Spirit and The Christian Life
Amazon  – free gift note available – $10
* I find the study material to be balanced in theological emphasis and exceptionally well organized and presented. ~ Bishop Owen Dowling
* This book is not only good for personal use but also GREAT for group study. Even good for a Sunday School class. ~ SW
* If you are a Christian you need to read this book, it helps to understand the Holy Spirit and how he works in your life.  ~ Allen R Lancaster

 


Your Spiritual Gifts – Blog
Your Spiritual Gifts – PDF
To serve in love
Amazon  – free gift note available – $7
* Good basic biblical material.  ~ Vanessa Hart
* Good home group study. It’s down to the home group to work as a team to put the theory into practice fitting in with existing church structures. ~ G Sinclair

 


Great Revival Stories – Blog
Great Revival Stories – PDF
Revival accounts from world leaders
Amazon – free gift note available – $11.40
* Full of true accounts of what happens to whole towns and cities when God’s people humble themselves, pray, and the Holy Spirit rushed through with his transforming power. Loved every minute of these stories. ~ Jo Swan
* Great compilation of Revival Happenings: Great book. A compilation of reports from revivals from around the world. Really helpful in preparing for a sermon series on Revival! ~ Kristina S.

 

 

Body Ministry
Body Ministry – Blog
Body Ministry – PDF
The Body of ChristAlive in His Spirit
Amazon – free gift note available – $10
* This resource will be of benefit to all ministry leaders and teachers. I recommend it for positive change and for allowing the Holy Spirit, the Great Teacher, to have full reign. ~ Valerie Caraotta

 


Renewal Journals – links to 20 Renewal Journals
4 books comprising the 20 Renewal Journals
Amazon – free gift note available
* I am enjoying these Journals a lot! Read about things that the Bible talks about, but they are happening in our day and age around the world. ~ Deborah Mares
*
The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages – Blog
The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages – PDF
Quotes from The Queen:
To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example. (2000)
*
Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life, and never travelled far. He was maligned and rejected by many, though he had done no wrong. And yet, billions of people now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them because Christ’s example helps me see the value of doing small things with great love, whoever does them and whatever they themselves believe. (2016)
*
We remember the birth of Jesus Christ, whose only sanctuary was a stable in Bethlehem. He knew rejection, hardship and persecution. And, yet, it is Jesus Christ’s generous love and example which has inspired me through good times and bad. (2017)
*
The Christmas story retains its appeal since it doesn’t provide theoretical explanations for the puzzles of life. Instead, it’s about the birth of a child, and the hope that birth 2,000 years ago brought to the world.  Only a few people acknowledged Jesus when he was born; now billions follow him. I believe his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all is never out of date. It can be heeded by everyone. It’s needed as much as ever.  (2018)
*
Of course, at the heart of the Christmas story lies the birth of a child, a seemingly small and insignificant step overlooked by many in Bethlehem. But in time, through his teaching and by his example, Jesus Christ would show the world how small steps, taken in faith and in hope, can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding. (2019)
The discovery of the risen Christ on the first Easter Day gave his followers new hope and fresh purpose, and we can all take heart from this. …  May the living flame of the Easter hope be a steady guide as we face the future.  (2020 Easter)
Every year, we herald the coming of Christmas by turning on the lights. And light does more than create a festive mood. Light brings hope. For Christians, Jesus is “the light of the world”  …  The teachings of Christ have served as my inner light, as has the sense of purpose we can find in coming together to worship. …  Let the light of Christmas, the spirit of selflessness, love, and above all hope, guide us in the times ahead.  (2020 Christmas)
Amazon link – The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages
Gift Edition in Colour available
Amazon Reviews:
*****
1.  ‘The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages’ is an appealing, highly unusual and very creative anthology.  This book would be the perfect Christmas present.
*****
2. I haven’t seen anyone else draw the events of these years together in this way before. A fascinating read. 5 Stars.
*****
3.  A new and innovative approach to the Christmas Story and its clear message of peace and goodwill to all. It is a rewarding experience to read it from cover to cover.
*****
4.  The Queen Would Be Proud – 5 stars: What an amazing collection! This has so many wonderful Christmas messages and is a great addition to any family during the holiday season.
*
21st Century Revivals
Chapter 7 in Flashpoints of Revival (2020 update)

Aslan Series

a-aslan-cover-new-1Discovering ASLAN:

High King above all Kings in Narnia

A devotional commentary on Jesus, the Lion of Judah, from The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

7 chapters – a chapter on each of the 7 Narnia books.

Discovering Aslan – PDF

Amazon & Kindle – Discovering ASLAN
* This is a remarkable work and something quite unique that I’ve not come across before ~ Russ Burg
* One of the most interesting devotionals ever! As a huge fan of all things Narnia, I am so grateful for this deeper aspect of the truths in C.S. Lewis’ stories. ~ Belinda S.
* Best companion work I know of. … Either for a young person who is interested in exploring more, or as a resource on a pastor’s desk, it is an invaluable companion to the original series.  ~ Amazon Customer
* This is a great companion when you read, and is a stand-alone teaching on the depths of teaching that C.S. Lewis weaves into Aslan’s character. Definitely worth your time.  ~ Steve Loopstra

Individual books on each story by C S Lewis:

Discovering ASLAN in ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in the Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe– PDF

Discovering ASLAN in ‘Prince Caspian’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in Prince Caspian– PDF

Discovering ASLAN in The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in The Voyage of the ‘Dawn Treader’ – PDF

Discovering ASLAN in ‘The Silver Chair’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in The Silver Chair  – PDF

Discovering ASLAN in ‘The Horse and His Boy’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in The Horse and His Boy– PDF

Discovering ASLAN in ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in The Magician’s Nephew– PDF

Discovering ASLAN in ‘The Last Battle’ – Blog
Discovering Aslan in The Last Battle – PDF

Lion of Judah Series

A 7 Lion
The Lion of Judah – Blog
six books combined into one book
The Lion of Judah – PDF
READ SAMPLE
Amazon links
* 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

The Lion of Judah Series – Blogs

1  The Titles of Jesus – Blog
The Titles of Jesus – PDF

2  The Reign of Jesus – Blog
The Reign of Jesus – PDF

3  The Life of Jesus – Blog
The Life of Jesus – PDF

4  The Death of Jesus – Blog
The Death of Jesus – PDF

5  The Resurrection of Jesus – Blog
The Resurrection of Jesus – PDF

6  The Spirit of Jesus – Blog
The Spirit of Jesus – PDF

7  The Lion of Judah – in one volume – Blog
The Lion of Judah – PDF

*

 

Revival Books – gift ideas

Click image or title to see Blog


Revival Fires – updated to 2020 – Blog
Revival Fires – PDF
READ SAMPLE
Amazon edition
* I know of no other book like this one that provides rapid-fire, easy-to-read, factual literary snapshots of virtually every well-known revival since Pentecost. As I read this book, I was thrilled to see how God has been so mightily at work in so many different times and places.I felt like I had grasped the overall picture of revival for the first time” ~ C Peter Wagner

 

Revival Fires – Blog
Revival Fires – earlier PDF
READ SAMPLE

 

A Flashpoints Koorong1

Flashpoints of Revival – updated to 2020 – Blog
Flashpoints of Revival – updated PDF
READ SAMPLE
* I know of no other book like this one that provides rapid-fire, easy-to-read, factual literary snapshots of virtually every well-known revival since Pentecost. As I read this book, I was thrilled to see how God has been so mightily at work in so many different times and places.I felt like I had grasped the overall picture of revival for the first time”  ~ C Peter Wagner


Revivals Awaken Generations – Blog
Flashpoints of Revival in Korean

 

a-gods-surprises-all
God’s Surprises – Blog
God’s Surprises – PDF
Current biographical revival stories
READ SAMPLE
Amazon Gift Edition
Condensed from Journey into Mission: * I have read many similar stories, but this one exceeds them all. … Geoff has done well to not only be in so many places and seeing God at work but also writing a book about it all.  ~ Barbara Vickridge
* I’m reading your book God’s Surprises and I can feel the power of God and a tremendous desire for a Revival in Italy, where I live.   ~ Francesco Trentinella.

 

Community and Ecological Transformation
South Pacific Revivals – Blog
South Pacific Revivals – PDF
Community & Ecological Transformation
READ SAMPLE
* Dr Geoff Waugh shares the message of revival clearly through the simplicity of the Word and his own personal experiences, being part of God’s big revival story in the Pacific. His book is a must read for all who follow Pacific Revivals and world movements of the Holy Spirit.  ~  Romulo Nayacalevu, Fiji

* South Pacific Revivals gives some very illuminating information about numerous little-known revivals in the region… A surprising number of movements after 1950 are provided – including islands and places I had never before heard of! A number of remarkable personal testimonies are included, and photos are dotted throughout the book. Some useful appendices are included, such as ‘Characteristics of Revivals from Acts 2’ and ‘Examples of Repentance and Revival’.  ~  Blue Yonder

 

*


Great Revival Stories – Blog
Great Revival Stories – PDF
Revival stories from Renewal Journals
READ SAMPLE
* Full of true accounts of what happens to whole towns and cities when God’s people humble themselves, pray, and the Holy Spirit rushed through with his transforming power. Loved every minute of these stories. ~ Jo Swan
* Great compilation of Revival Happenings: Great book. A compilation of reports from revivals from around the world. Really helpful in preparing for a sermon series on Revival! ~ Kristina S.

 


Best Revival Stories – Blog
Best Revival Stories – PDF
Part 1 of Great Revival Stories
READ SAMPLE

 

 
Transforming Revivals – Blog
Transforming Revivals – PDF
Part 2 of Great Revival Stories
 READ SAMPLE

 

A Renewal and Revival2
Renewal and Revival – Blog
Renewal & Revival – PDF
Renewal Journal Articles
READ SAMPLE

 


Renewal: I make all things new – Blog
Renewal – PDF
Part 1 of Renewal and Revival
 READ SAMPLE

 


Revival: I will pour out my Spirit – Blog
Revival – PDF
Part 2 of Renewal and Revival
READ SAMPLE

 

A Pentecost on Pentecost B
Pentecost on Pentecost & in the South Pacific – Blog
Pentecost on Pentecost – PDF
Revival stories from Pentecost Island
READ SAMPLE

 

Anointed for Revival
Anointed for Revival – Blog
Anointed for Revival – PDF
Stories of Revival Pioneers
READ SAMPLE

 

 

Renewal Books – Gift ideas


Living in the Spirit – Blog
Living in the Spirit – PDF
The Holy Spirit and The Christian Life
READ SAMPLE
* I find the study material to be balanced in theological emphasis and exceptionally well organized and presented. ~ Bishop Owen Dowling
* This book is not only good for personal use but also GREAT for group study. Even good for a Sunday School class. ~ SW
* If you are a Christian you need to read this book, it helps to understand the Holy Spirit and how he works in your life.  ~ Allen R Lancaster

 


Your Spiritual Gifts – Blog
Your Spiritual Gifts – PDF
To serve in love
READ SAMPLE
* Good basic biblical material.  ~ Vanessa Hart
* Good home group study. It’s down to the home group to work as a team to put the theory into practice fitting in with existing church structures. ~ G Sinclair

 


Fruit & Gifts of the Spirit – Blog
Fruit & Gifts of the Spirit – PDF
Personal and group studies
READ SAMPLE

 


EnCOURAGE: Love One Another – Blog
EnCOURAGE – PDF
Hundreds of ideas for Christians & Christian groups
Amazon edition

 


The Leader’s Goldmine – Blog
The Leader’s Goldmine – PDF
Hundreds of ideas for Christian groups
An earlier version of EnCOURAGE

 

A Great Commission Mission
Great Commission Mission – Blog
Great Commission Mission – PDF
The teaching of Jesus on mission
READ SAMPLE

*

A Teaching Them to Obey in Love
Teaching Them to Obey in Love – Blog
Teaching Them to Obey in Love – PDF
Part 1 of Great Commission Mission
READ SAMPLE

*

A Jesus the Model Globe
Jesus the Model for Short Term Supernatural Mission – Blog
Jesus the Model for Short-Term Supernatural Mission – PDF
Part 2 of Great Commission Mission
READ SAMPLE

*


Body Ministry: The Body of Christ alive in His Spirit – Blog
Body Ministry – PDF
The Body of Christ alive in His Spirit
READ SAMPLE
* This resource will be of benefit to all ministry leaders and teachers. I recommend it for positive change and for allowing the Holy Spirit, the Great Teacher, to have full reign. ~ Valerie Caraotta

*

A Learning Together in Ministry
Learning Together in Ministry – Blog
Learning Together in Ministry – PDF
Chapter 15 of Body Ministry: Mutual Eduction
READ SAMPLE

 


The Body of Christ: Part 1, Body Ministry – Blog
The Body of Christ, Part 1, Body Ministry – PDF
Part 1 of the book Body Ministry
READ SAMPLE

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The Body of Christ 2: Ministry Education
The Body of Christ: Part 2, Ministry Education – Blog
The Body of Christ, Part 2, Ministry Education – PDF
Part 2 of the book Body Ministry
READ SAMPLE

 


Church on Fire Blog – Blog
Church on Fire – PDF
Renewal in Australian Churches
READ SAMPLE

*


Keeping Faith Alive Today – Blog
Keeping Faith Alive Today – PDF
Group studies on Prayer, Bible reading, & the Holy Spirit
READ SAMPLE

*

cover-new-3
Word and Spirit – Blog
Word and Spirit – PDF
The vital union of God’s Word & God’s Spirit
READ SAMPLE

Study Guide Series

Signs & Wonders
1. Signs and Wonders – Blog
Signs and Wonders – PDF
Study Guide on Signs & Wonders
READ SAMPLE

A SG Holy Spirit in Ministry
2. The Holy Spirit in Ministry  – Blog
The Holy Spirit in Ministry – PDF
Study Guide on the Holy Spirit in Ministry
READ SAMPLE

*

A SG Revival History
3. Revival History – Blog
Revival History – PDF
Study Guide on Revival History
READ SAMPLE

*

A SG Spirit Movements
4. Holy Spirit Movements through History – Blog
Holy Spirit Movements through History – PDF
Study Guide on Holy Spirit Movements through History
READ SAMPLE

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A Renewal Theology 1
5. Renewal Theology 1 – Blog
Renewal Theology 1 – PDF
Study Guide on Revelation, Trinity & Mission
READ SAMPLE

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A SG Renewal Theology 2
6. Renewal Theology 2 – Blog
Renewal Theology 2 – PDF
Study Guide on Jesus, Holy Spirit & Humanity
READ SAMPLE

*

A SG Practicum
7. Ministry Practicum – Blog
Ministry Practicum – PDF
Study Guide for a Ministry Practicum
READ SAMPLE

 

Devotional Books – Gift ideas

A Inspiration (Colour) All Mod
Inspiration – Blog
Inspiration – PDF
Short stories to touch your heart
 READ SAMPLE
* I really enjoyed this book. It helped me to understand more about what I have been going through.  ~ James Bird

 


The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages – Blog
The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages – PDF
Queen Elizabeth II describes the significance of Christmas & Easter
* The Queen’s Christmas & Easter Messages is an appealing, highly unusual and very creative anthology. ~ Alison Sherrington
* What an amazing collection! This has so many wonderful Christmas messages and is a great addition to any family during the holiday season.  ~ Jenny & Benny

 


New Christian’s Guide – Blog
New Christian’s Guide – PDF
A basic guide for new Christians

 


100 Bible Quotes: Bible Verses to Memorize – Blog
100 Bible Quotes – PDF
Bible verses & passages on themes


Bible Story Pictures & Models – Blog
Bible Story Pictures & Models – PDF
Pictures to colour & models to make
* Bible Story Pictures & Models stands out above the rest, looks and sounds original, fun and very inspirational … Your stories are great for teaching children basic bible stories. Your illustrations and models are all terrific for them to color and create. It is all very well done and inviting for your targeted young readers.  ~ Ellery Alouette.

 

Perpetual diaries and journals


Perpetual Diary – Blog
A month to a double page opening
Perpetual Diary – PDF

Same content as:


Journal & Planner – Blog
A month to a double page opening
Journal and Planner – PDF

Same content as:

A Christian Journal & Planner
Christian Journal & Planner – Blog
Christian Journal and Planner – PDF
A month to a double-page – Amazon link

*

A Annual Journal & Planner2
Annual Journal & Planner – Blog
Annual Journal and Planner – PDF
A week to a double-page – Amazon link


Jesus on Dying Regrets – Blog
Jesus on Dying Regrets – PDF
Advice about the top 5 regrets of the dying
READ SAMPLE

 

*
Crucified and Risen – Blog
Crucified & Risen – PDF
The Easter Story
READ SAMPLE

 

A Holy Week, Passover & Resurrection All1
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – Blog
Holy Week, Christian Passover & Resurrection – PDF
3 books in 1
READ SAMPLE

 

A Holy Week All
Holy Week – Blog
Holy Week – PDF
Summary of the events of Holy Week
READ SAMPLE

 

A Christian Passover All
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

*

Shorter version
RISEN: short version – Blog
Risen –_PDF
READ SAMPLE

 

0 A Mysterious Month All3
Mysterious Month – Blog
Mysterious Month – PDF
Jesus’ resurrection appearances & our month in Israel
READ SAMPLE

*

Kingdom Life Series


Kingdom Life in Matthew – Blog
Kingdom Life in Matthew – PDF
Personal and group studies
READ SAMPLE

*


Kingdom Life in Mark – Blog
Kingdom Life in Mark – PDF
Personal and group studies
READ SAMPLE

*


Kingdom Life in Luke – Blog
Kingdom Life in Luke – PDF
Personal and group studies
READ SAMPLE

*

Kingdom Life: John
Kingdom Life in John – Blog
Kingdom Life in John – PDF
Personal and group studies
READ SAMPLE

*

A Kingdom Life
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – Blog
Kingdom Life in The Gospels – PDF
4 books in 1
READ SAMPLE

*

A A Preface to The Acts
A Preface to The Acts – Blog
A Preface to The Acts – PDF
An introduction to the book of The Acts
READ SAMPLE

 


Discovering Aslan – Blog
Discovering Aslan– PDF
Devotional commentary about Jesus
The Lion of Judah
from The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
* This is a remarkable work and something quite unique that I’ve not come across before ~ Russ Burg
* One of the most interesting devotionals ever! As a huge fan of all things Narnia, I am so grateful for this deeper aspect of the truths in C.S. Lewis’ stories. ~ Belinda S.
* Best companion work I know of. … Either for a young person who is interested in exploring more, or as a resource on a pastor’s desk, it is an invaluable companion to the original series.  ~ Amazon Customer
* This is a great companion when you read, and is a stand-alone teaching on the depths of teaching that C.S. Lewis weaves into Aslan’s character. Definitely worth your time.  ~ Steve Loopstra

The Lion of Judah Series

A 1 Titles
(1) The Titles of Jesus – Blog
The Titles of Jesus – PDF
READ SAMPLE

*

A 2 Reign of Jesus
(2) The Reign of Jesus – Blog
The Reign of Jesus – PDF
READ SAMPLE

*

A 3 Life
(3) The Life of Jesus – Blog
The Life of Jesus – PDF
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Africa, Bible translations, Christian mission, mission , ,

God’s love – changed a culture

by Geoff 7 February 2021 No Comments

God’s love – changed a culture

Cameroon: How understanding God’s love can change a culture

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Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, “Could God ‘dvu’ people?”

There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally they responded.

“Do you know what this would mean?” they asked. “This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, while all that time we rejected His great love. He is compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people.”

+++

Translator Lee Bramlett was confident that God had left His mark on the Hdi culture somewhere, but though he searched, he could not find it. Where was the footprint of God in the history or daily life of these Cameroonian people? What clue had He planted to let the Hdi know who He is and how He wants to relate to them?

Then one night in a dream, God prompted Lee to look again at the Hdi word for love. Lee and his wife, Tammi, had learned that verbs in Hdi consistently end in one of three vowels. For almost every verb, they could find forms ending in i, a, and u. But when it came to the word for love, they could only find i and a. Why no u?

Lee asked the Hdi translation committee, which included the most influential leaders in the community, “Could you ‘dvi’ your wife?”

“Yes,” they said. That would mean that the wife had been loved but the love was gone.

“Could you ‘dva’ your wife?” Lee asked.

“Yes,” they said. That kind of love depended on the wife’s actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and cared for her husband well.

“Could you ‘dvu’ your wife?”  Lee asked. Everyone laughed.

“Of course not!” they said. “If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water, never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would be compelled to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say ‘dvu.’ It just doesn’t exist.”

Lee sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16, and then he asked, “Could God ‘dvu’ people?”

There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of these elderly men. Finally they responded.

“Do you know what this would mean?” they asked. “This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, millennia after millennia, while all that time we rejected His great love. He is compelled to love us, even though we have sinned more than any people.”

One simple vowel, and the meaning was changed from “I love you based on what you do and who you are,” to “I love you based on who I am. I love you because of Me and not because of you.”

God had encoded the story of His unconditional love right into their language. For centuries, the little word was there—unused but available, grammatically correct and quite understandable. When the word was finally spoken, it called into question their entire belief system. If God was like that, and not a mean and scary spirit, did they need the spirits of the ancestors to intercede for them? Did they need sorcery to relate to the spirits? Many decided the answer was no, and the number of Christ-followers quickly grew from a few hundred to several thousand.

The New Testament in Hdi was released last year, and twenty-nine thousand speakers are now able to feel the impact of passages like Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, ‘dvu’ your wives, just as Christ ‘dvu’-d the church.…” Pray for them as they absorb and seek to model the amazing, unconditional love they have received.

Source: Bob Creson, Wycliffe Bible Translators

Joel News 848, Feb 6, 2013

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