Tag: Christian mission

Bible Stories, Bible Study, Christian life, Christian ministry, crucifixion, Easter, Geoff Waugh, Jesus, Jesus Christ , , , , , , , ,

The Life of Jesus

by Geoff 8 May 2022 No Comments

The Life of Jesus

History’s Great Love Story


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

Also available at a Renewal Journal free PDF ebook:

Renewal Journal version – The Life of Jesus
The Life of Jesus – Renewal Journal PDF

Expanded version with extra Bible passages included:


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 the additional passages

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

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

Permissions: You can reproduce these books and any Renewal Journal resource freely, including in print.

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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story

Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com
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

* 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
* 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.

 


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.

Share good news  –  Share this and any page freely. Over 100,000 blog views annually.
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 in from WestBow Press, a division of Zondervan with this cover:

The Life of Jesus – Blog
WestBow Press version – The Life of Jesus
The Life of Jesus – WestBow Press – PDF
Amazon link – paperback, hardcover, Kindle

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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Renewal Journal – Popular Books by Geoff Waugh

by Geoff 23 February 2022 No Comments

Renewal Journal –  Popular Books by Geoff Waugh, free PDFs

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Share good news  –  Share this and any page freely. Over 100,000 blog views annually.
Share this link on your media, eg Facebook, Instagram, Emails:
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The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – Blog
The Life of Jesus – PDF eBook
The Life of Jesus: History’s Great Love Story – PDF

* 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
* 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.~ Florence
* This is a wonderful book and can be read over and over. Thank you. ~ Kerry Rawson
* I keep this book with my Bible. It is especially helpful when reading through the Gospels. ~ Cathy Hartwig
* The book is beautifully written and I have learned and understood a lot. I am recommending this book. ~ Kattie Mayson
* 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
* Geoff Waugh has written a very helpful devotional book about the Saviour of the world who is also the loving presence in believers. His use of chronology for headings and the many sub-headings makes the book simpler to absorb, even for an enquirer or new believer. I warmly commend this book. ~ Rev Dr Tony Cupit

 


The Queen’s Faith – Blog
The Queen’s Faith – PDF  Platinum Jubilee edition 2022
2-page view at the top right of the PDF
Queen Elizabeth II describes her faith
70 excerpts arranged in the ten themes of Jesus Christ, service & support, peace & goodwill, faith & hope, light & life, truth & courage, love and kindness, compassion & care, forgiveness & reconciliation, respect & tolerance.
* Took a read on the link! Really interesting and a great book! ~ Natalie Tse
* I have read this book and it is one of the most amazing books I have read to date. ~ Maria


The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages – Blog
The Queen’s Christmas and Easter Messages – PDF  Platinum Jubilee edition 2022
2-page view at the top right of the PDF.
Queen Elizabeth II describes the significance of Christmas & Easter

* The Queen’s Christmas and 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

*

A Flashpoints Koorong1   

Flashpoints of Revival – Blog
Flashpoints of Revival – PDF
Revival Fires – Blog
Revival Fires– PDF
Stories of revivals – same updated text in both books
Chapter 7: Twenty-first century revivals
* 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
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.

*


Discovering Aslan – Blog
Discovering Aslan – PDF
Devotional commentary about Jesus
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

*

A 7 Lion
The Lion of Judah – Blog
The Lion of Judah – PDF
six books combined into one book
* 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.

*

 


Inspiration – Blog
Inspiration – PDF
24 stories to touch your heart
* I really enjoyed this book. It helped me to understand more about what I have been going through.  ~ James Bird

*


100 Bible Quotes: Bible Verses to Memorize – Blog
100 Bible Quotes – PDF
Key Bible verses, chapters, and passages
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
* 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.
*  This is an excellent children’s Bible story and activity book. Our family loves it and enjoys it every day, reading a different story and creating our own pictures and models. Thanks to the author for putting this wonderful book together for families to learn more about the Lord’s Word while enjoying some creativity time as well.  ~  Jewell Hart.
* This hands-on, easy-to-use guide is laid out perfectly to use as a creative tool for simple-to-understand Bible lessons with fun and enjoyable illustrations, pictures and models to colour and create. Our children are especially enjoying it with excitement while they learn more about the Bible through the stories, along with coloring, painting and creating with the fun-packed inspirational activities. ~ Beatrix Bloom.

*


New Christian’s Guide – Blog
New Christian’s Guide – PDF
A basic guide to the Christian life
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.

*


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Hundreds of ideas for Christians & Christian groups
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Jesus on Dying Regrets – Blog
Jesus on Dying Regrets – PDF
Advice about the top 5 regrets of the dying
This small book explores Jesus’ advice about the top 5 regrets of dying patients.

*

 Living in the Spirit study book
Living in the Spirit – Blog
Living in the Spirit – PDF
The Holy Spirit and The Christian Life
* 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
* 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
* 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
* 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
* 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

20 Renewal Journals – with links

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

*

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

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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China, Christian mission, church in China, mission, persecution, prison , , , ,

George Chen – In the Garden: 18 years in prison

by Geoff 17 February 2022 1 Comment

George Chen – In the garden: 18 years in prison

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Persecution in 2022

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The World Watch List 2022

Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution, just for following Jesus. That’s 1 in 7 believers.

During the 18 years Chen had spent in prison, when he had often worried that all Christians had been killed or fallen away from the faith, God had caused the three churches he had led to increase from a total of 300 to 5,000 believers!

See Pastor George Chen’s moving labour camp story – In the Garden – YouTube 5 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6dIi6k76MQ – including Chen singing ‘In the Garden’


George Chen 1932-2021

A Tribute by Paul Hattaway

George Chen was the very first Chinese Christian I ever met in my life. In the 1980s I was a new believer in Christ, saved just a few months, when the direction of my life was radically changed after hearing Chen speak at a church in my home country. I knew next to nothing about China at the time and my life was directionless. I had never had a single thought of going to China.

I was speechless after hearing the testimony of this man who spent 18 years in prison for Jesus. He had endured horrific conditions, and had not only survived the ordeal, but had emerged with an unconquerable faith! George Chen’s eyes shone as I spoke with him after the meeting. He encouraged me to unreservedly make myself available to God, and to consider being a “donkey for Jesus” by carrying Bibles across the border from Hong Kong to the spiritually starving Christians in China, who had been without Bibles for three decades.

As recorded in my biography, the Lord miraculously propelled me to China through a series of astonishing events, despite being a teenager with no money to my name. I found myself in China just weeks after that pivotal meeting, and I had also been exposed to a type of Christianity that was completely foreign to most Westerners. I recalled my meeting with George Chen in “An Asian Harvest”:

“His testimony impacted me deeply. in the formative time of my Christian walk. He had spent longer behind bars because of his love for Jesus than I had been alive at that time.

This precious man had learned to appreciate the small blessings of life…. George taught me that the kingdom of God cannot be defeated by evil men or governments. Whatever terrible things Satan and the world can throw at Jesus’ disciples, His purposes will not be thwarted.”  …

The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).

Churches throughout China suffered continual hammer blows throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as Satan’s fury was unleashed on them. One Christian who suffered greatly was George Chen (Chinese name: Chen Minying), who endured inhumane treatment at the hands of his persecutors, only to be preserved by the hand of God. He was even given an international ministry after his release from prison.

Chen was born in 1932 to a humble family in Zhejiang Province. The chaos engulfing China at the time caused them to move to Shanghai, where George grew up. After hearing the Gospel he surrendered his life to God, and the Holy Spirit gave him a gift of evangelism.

Chen founded three rural churches with a total of 300 members, most of whom he had personally led to Christ. The believers had a hunger for the Word of God and desired to spread the Gospel, which soon caught the attention of the Communist authorities. Chen was first arrested in 1960 and imprisoned as a counterrevolutionary.

For the first three-and-a-half years, George was one of five inmates crammed into a cell that was so small the men had to lie on their sides, head-to-toe, like sardines in a can. A wooden bucket in the corner of the tiny space served as the toilet for all the men. George was often so hungry that he ate toothpaste to satisfy his cravings. Chen’s wife and son were not allowed to contact him during his incarceration, and for years he was oblivious to the fact that she had died, and his son had been killed by the Communist authorities.

In 1964, Chen was moved inland to a prison labor camp in Anhui Province, where he served a further 14 years.


Inmates at a prison labor camp in China in the 1970s.

After months of backbreaking work, seven days a week, the prison leaders were infuriated that they had been unable to make the evangelist deny his faith in Jesus.

They ordered Chen to perform the worst job in the prison, daily shoveling human excrement to be used as fertilizer. The massive amount of waste produced by 60,000 prisoners flowed into a large cesspool a short distance from the cells. He later recalled the struggle of those long and difficult years, and how he was often troubled by thoughts that God had abandoned him:

“I spent my days deep in human waste, turning it with a shovel to make compost. They thought I would be miserable, but actually I was happy. It smelled so bad that no one came near me, so I could pray and sing aloud all day.

If I was not a Christian I would have died, because the smell was maddening, and the stench terrible. But I enjoyed being alone in the cesspool, so I could pray to our Lord, recite the Scriptures, and sing hymns loudly.”

To counteract the thoughts that he had been forsaken, as he stood deep in human waste every day, George often sung the beautiful words of his favorite hymn, In the Garden:

“I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses And the voice I hear falling on my ear The Son of God discloses.

“And He walks with me And He talks with me And He tells me I am His own And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known.”

Finally, in 1978, the political situation relaxed a little in China, and Chen was released from prison and placed under house arrest. Eighteen long years had passed.

When he entered prison, the Cultural Revolution had yet to begin, and Mao held complete power. Now, the Cultural Revolution was over, and Mao was in the grave.

George was afraid that nobody would remember who he was. Most of all, he wondered if any of the Christians he had once known were still alive, or if there were any believers left in China at all. With trepidation, he slowly made his way home, not knowing what he would find.

For almost two decades, George Chen had been both burdened and blessed by the memory of his church members. Countless times, as he stood in the excrement pit, he prayed aloud for them, asking the Holy Spirit to sustain their faith and help them to overcome. As he got off the bus in his home area, he failed to recognize many of the buildings or faces of the people he passed.

Then, from behind, came a cry of shock from an elderly woman. “Pastor… is it you?” One of his former church members was still alive! In a typically constrained Chinese manner, the two did not hug, but shook hands as tears rolled down their faces. George was relieved. Now he knew that he was not the only Christian left in China. There were at least two!


Millions of books (including Bibles) were burned during the Cultural Revolution, creating a famine of the Word of God in China.

 God is Good

News of the pastor’s return spread throughout the neighborhood like wildfire, and soon the shining faces of many other believers pressed against the windows of a house he was invited to stay in. Many people were beside themselves with both shock and joy. They presumed the pastor had died decades earlier, and not a word had been heard to suggest that he was still alive.

The biggest shock was to come. When George asked one of his old friends if any fellowship of believers had survived, he was told, “Yes! God is good! He has sent His Spirit to breathe on us, and now we have many members. We are so glad that you have returned, because we do not have any Bibles and few of us remember many of the words of Jesus. Please teach us, pastor. Please!”

The Lord Jesus Christ, who promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church, had done a great miracle. During the 18 years Chen had spent in prison, when he had often worried that all Christians had been killed or fallen away from the faith, God had caused the three churches to increase from a total of 300 to 5,000 believers!

George was amazed, and he hardly slept that night as he tried to take in everything he had heard. His rejoicing was soon tempered, however, when he was told that his wife had died years earlier, and his young son had been killed. The prison officials had cruelly withheld this information from him.

Chen remained under house arrest until 1981, when he was “rehabilitated” by the government and his criminal records were erased.

Remarkably, for a man whom other Christians had forgotten about and assumed to be dead, God opened the door for George Chen to obtain a passport, and he shared his testimony in church meetings around the world during the late 1980s and 1990s. At each meeting, he invariably took time to thank the Body of Christ for sending missionaries to China in the past.

Chen remarried and spent much of his latter life traveling between his home and southwest China, where he ministered among ethnic minority groups, especially the Lisu people in the high mountains straddling the border with Myanmar. He was much loved, and he often drove a van hundreds of miles to deliver loads of precious Bibles to spiritually hungry Christians.

Although he officially retired in 2012 at the age of 80, George Chen continued to travel to China, where he advised house church leaders in Henan and Yunnan provinces. After many years spent ‘in the garden’ with Jesus Christ, his life shone into many dark places, and had become a sweet fragrance that attracted many souls to the kingdom of God.

Just a few months ago we received this photo of George. He looked fit and healthy, and we remarked that he would probably live to one hundred.

It wasn’t to be, however, and the Lord Jesus Christ finally called His servant home on October 27, 2021, when George Chen died peacefully in his sleep while in Hong Kong.

He was 89 years old.


George Chen in 2021, aged 89

Article edited from: In Memory of George Chen – Forever ‘In the Garden’

 

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 reached me right in the mosque’

by Geoff 12 February 2022 No Comments

‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’

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“But when I got to the fifth chapter of Matthew something supernatural and unusual happened in my mind.” He read: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” After reading this verse, he believes the Holy Spirit fell upon him – and filled him – as his heart and mind were regenerated.

Pakistan: ‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’

Like other boys in his Pashtun tribe along the Pakistan-Afghan border, he was sent to a madrasa at age four, where he was compelled to read, recite and memorize the Koran. “The children mimic or copy the mullah,” says John Taimoor, founder of The Crossbearers, a ministry devoted to presenting biblical Christianity within an Islamic context.

By age 14 he stumbled across the name ‘Isa,’ the Arabic name for Jesus in the Koran. “I read the name of Jesus and became curious,” he says. “The Lord reached me right in the mosque.” When he asked the mullah about Jesus, he was told that he should find ‘The Book of Isa.’ “Nobody had ever heard of a Bible.”Taimoor searched for a ‘Book of Isa’ for two years. When he asked his teacher or inquired at the library he was met with suspicion. “What are you up to boy? Do you want to become a Christian?” they asked.

“I begged him to get me a Book of Isa.”

He met a young man at school rumored to be a Christian. “I begged him to get me a Book of Isa,” he says. “He got so scared he never returned to school again. He thought they would stone him or kill him.” There were times Taimoor rode his motorbike 30 to 40 miles because he heard about a gathering of Christians. “No one was willing to give me a Bible, they were so scared. But being strong-willed, the more people stopped me, the more determined I became,”Taimoor adds.

One day he happened to meet a missionary passing through the area north of Islamabad handing out small New Testaments. Taimoor spied the man from a distance and hurriedly rode his motorbike toward him. “He looked at me and greeted me like a Muslim and said, ‘This is the Book of Isa.’”

“It hit me like a bullet,” Taimoor says. “I was almost paralyzed.”

Hesitantly, he asked the missionary the cost of the book. “Nobody can pay the price for it,” he said. “If you want it, you can give me whatever you would like to give.” Taimoor fished into his pocket and pulled out the U.S.equivalent of 20 cents.

“The Holy Spirit fell upon him”

Racing home, Taimoor underwent a ritualistic cleansing, deciding this would be appropriate before reading such a book. “I didn’t understand it in the beginning,” he says. “But when I got to the fifth chapter of Matthew something supernatural and unusual happened in my mind.” He read: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” After reading this verse, he believes the Holy Spirit fell upon him – and filled him- as his heart and mind were regenerated.

“I got saved without the help of any individual,” Taimoor recalls. “I didn’t say the sinner’s prayer or go to any altar call,” he says. “Within six months I discovered Jesus Christ is God in human flesh.”

It would be five years before Taimoor had any meaningful contact with other Christians or saw the entire Bible. In the meantime, he set out to memorize the New Testament. “As a Muslim, I thought every good Muslim memorizes the Koran,” he recalls. “Naturally, Christians must be memorizing their books.” He thought he should memorize the books before meeting other Christians. He also feared the book might be taken away from him at any time.

When his mother found out about his new faith she told him, “If I had known you would become a Christian I would have strangled you as a baby.” Several years later, Taimoor’s mother and brother both became believers.

“My ministry is to establish new communities of ‘messianic Muslims’ “

Because Taimoor’s faith developed outside of mainstream Christendom, some of his views would be considered provocative to Christians. “I respect Muhammad and use him next to the Bible and the church as the third great witness of the glory of Christ,” Taimoor says. “I am proving to the Muslims the God they worship is the same God as ours,” he says. He believes Muslims are like Jews – they worship the same God as Christians – but reject Jesus as Messiah. Many Christians will not understand John’s strategy because it sounds like compromise. “To some degree it is,” he admits. At the same time, he emphasizes his main thrust is to prove that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. “We worship Him as the Creator and the Savior.”

One of Taimoor’s ministry objectives is to establish new communities of ‘messianic Muslims’ throughout the Middle East based on the Book of Ephesians. He likes to say his travel style is patterned after John Wesley. “I work in a circuit and then move on. I move fast,” he says. “Some will follow along.”

“If I had not become a Christian I would have been a Taliban,” Taimoor says. His houses near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan are lined with prayer rugs, and have the feel of an Eastern worship center. They’re completely filled with Islamic books except for one – the Bible. People can stay there for extended periods while they read and memorize the Scriptures. “When people come here they want to know what this black book is all about,” Taimoor says. “If they’re serious, I tell them they can stay.”

Group meetings in his homes can last up to six hours, but he refuses to call this ‘church,’ instead preferring the term ‘Jaamat Rabaani’ – which means‘ gathering of the people of God.’ “If it looks like a church they will burn it,” he says.

“There are a lot of people in the Middle East who are really hungry and seeking,” he notes. “They only fear Western missionaries because they think they are cultural terrorists. We need to be one of them and go in on their level.”

Source: John Taimoor

Joel News 893,  November 2, 2014

There is an ongoing underground revival in the Muslim world. Over the past 20 years more Muslims have found Isa (Jesus) than in all the previous centuries together. See links:
Iran: where Christianity is growing fastest
Iran – fastest growing evangelical population
Iran: How two women brought hope in Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison
Many Muslims are turning to Christ
Jesus and Muslims: Life in the desert
18,000 Muslim leaders led to Christ in West Africa
Jesus appears to a Middle Eastern Muslim for a month
Iman hated Christians until Jesus raised him from the dead
Muslim woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus

If you want to know more about following Jesus, go here

Now on

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

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Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

by Geoff 15 January 2022 No Comments
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
– Matthew 25:40
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Share this link on your media, eg Facebook, Instagram, Emails:Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

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Mexico: How thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border

When Gustavo Banda opened his small church in a poor neighbourhood in Mexico, little did he know that it would become a refuge for tens of thousands of migrants on transit to the USA.  

Six miles west of Tijuana, and a short distance from the U.S.-Mexico border, lies one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. There are no paved roads, no sewage system. The hillside is strewn with garbage and crime is rampant. “When we moved here there were only people with a lot of needs,” pastor Gustavo Banda recalled. In 2011, he and his wife, Zaida Guillén, moved to Cañón de Alacrán, or Scorpion’s Canyon, after hearing from the Lord in a dream. “It was a clear mandate from God to move here even though there was absolutely nothing in this place.”
The Mexican couple was touched by the overwhelming needs of the community. “Most folks here were poor subsistence farmers. God gave me a dream that I had to build a church. We worked for eight months, day and night. We knew God was going to do something special, but nobody had a clue about what was really going to happen.” That year, Templo Embajadores de Jesús, or Ambassadors of Jesus Church, was born. Banda held services on Sunday, then hit the rugged roads the rest of the week going house-to-house, ministering to physical and spiritual needs.

‘We knew God was going to do something special, but nobody had a clue about what was really going to happen’

In 2016, the church’s focus drastically changed when thousands of Haitians, escaping poverty and back-to-back natural disasters, began to carve a dangerous 7,000-mile path through Latin America to the U.S. Many landed on the church’s doorsteps, less than 30 minutes from the San Ysidro border. “Within months, 22,000 Haitians had arrived in the city of Tijuana.” The church became a place of refuge. “I did not know, nor did I ever imagine, that there would be so many people in the church.”

Since then, Banda provided a refuge to migrants from all parts of the world. “It started with migrants coming from Haiti, Africa, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Today, we mainly have people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, and some from Mexico. We estimate about 35,000 people have come through the church. We feed them 3 times a day. We try to help them with all their needs. At nighttime, the entire church becomes one big giant dorm where everyone sets up their beds on the floor.”
Jaqueline Ortiz, 24, from Guatemala is here with her two girls. She said, “I’m so thankful to God because without the church, I don’t know where I would be. I don’t go hungry here, my daughters don’t go hungry, we have a warm place, we have a roof. All thanks to God and to the people that help us.” Most migrants stay here an average of six months before trying to legally cross the border.

‘We feed them, are family to them, baptise them, and send them on’

Church volunteers run a school for the children, oversee computer training and provide other skills that will help migrants prepare for their new life in America. Area churches and NGOs also pitch in with food and other essential supplies. “The most important thing we try to provide to the migrants is hope and to be a family to them,” Banda said. “We have only little time with them, so I want them to know as much as they can about Jesus, baptise them, and send them on.”

Banda once had a desire to be a missionary to Haiti, but Haiti came to him. And after Haiti came, all the other nations followed.

Source: George Thomas, CBN

Joel News International # 1242, January 14, 2022

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BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS (BRIEFER THAN REVIVALS INDEX)

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)

BLOGS INDEX 3: MIRACLES (SUPERNATURAL EVENTS)

BLOGS INDEX 4: DEVOTIONAL (INCLUDING TESTIMONIES)

BLOGS INDEX 5: CHURCH (CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION)

BLOGS INDEX 6: CHAPTERS (BLOGS FROM BOOKS)

BLOGS INDEX 7: IMAGES (PHOTOS AND ALBUMS)

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Mexico: Thousands of migrants meet Jesus at the border
Afghanistan, discipleship, evangelism, martyrs, Muslim, persecution, prison , , ,

God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart

by Geoff 9 January 2022 No Comments

God’s Grace Can Reach Any Heart
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God’s Grace can reach any heart
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.comThe story of Pastor Bessarab, a former criminal who became an evangelist, pastor, and martyr. 

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ,

In eternity, I believe we may see how God wrote chapters into the lives of people we knew on earth and also into the lives of our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.

In 2004, I traveled to Tajikistan [northern neighbour to Afghanistan] a few months after a pastor named Sergei Bessarab was shot to death in a small city called Isfara, where Bessarab had planted a church. In my book When Faith Is Forbidden, I share Bessarab’s story and introduce readers to his widow, Tamara. In addition to meeting Tamara, I also met the man — also named Sergei — who had prayed for Bessarab’s salvation. The two men had met in prison while Bessarab was serving time for his criminal activities.

In prison, Sergei prayed every day that Bessarab would come to Christ. But Bessarab was less than grateful for his friend’s concern. “Don’t waste time praying for me,” Bessarab told him.

Sergei remained steadfast in prayer, however, and Bessarab did eventually bend his knee to Christ. The former criminal became a bold witness for his Savior both inside the prison walls and, after his release, as a pastor on the outside. In addition, he made frequent return visits to the prison to share the gospel with inmates.

Soon after Bessarab and Tamara moved to Isfara and planted a church, which began to grow as Muslims turned to Christ, a headline in the local paper asked the pointed question, “What’s Going to Be Done About Sergei Bessarab?”

On Jan. 20, 2004, the son of a local mosque leader answered the question, shooting and killing Bessarab as he strummed his guitar during his nightly time of worship, Scripture reading, and prayer.

In my book, I close Bessarab’s story with words spoken to me by his friend Sergei just months after the shooting: “One day we will meet this person who killed [Pastor Bessarab] because we have a prison ministry all over Tajikistan. And we will be ready to tell him about Jesus.”

A front-line worker in Central Asia recently met with Bessarab’s widow, Tamara, who told him how God has extended her husband’s legacy.

When the young man who killed Bessarab was convicted and sent to prison, Christians were waiting there to meet him, just as Sergei had promised. In God’s amazing providence, the killer was eventually assigned to a cell with a Christian prisoner who had been led to Christ and discipled by Bessarab!

And over time, the mosque leader’s son became Bessarab’s spiritual grandson, placing his trust in Christ.

Bessarab was once a convicted criminal. Many would have written him off spiritually. His killer was also far from God, and some may have written him off as well. But God’s grace can reach any heart. If you need a reminder of that today, picture the final chapter of this story: Pastor Sergei Bessarab stands worshiping before God’s throne for all eternity — side by side with the man who ended his earthly life!

In Christ,

Todd Nettleton's signature
Todd Nettleton
Host of VOM Radio [Voice of the Martyrs]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJcGaHil8Ao&t=3s

This is an update from a story in When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians. Receive a complimentary copy for a donation of any amount at vom.org/forbidden.
When Faith is Forbidden book

 

See also

Iran – fastest growing evangelical population

Many Muslims are Turning to Christ

Jesus appears as a bus driver to a Muslim pilgrim

Miraculous Movements – among Muslims

Hope in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison

Iraq: Muslim from Ninevah discovered the Bible’s magnetism

Jesus and Muslims: Life in the Desert

Christians reach out to Muslims in UK

Muslim Woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus

I saw Jesus Christ

 

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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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17-year-old New Christian sparks Revival in South Africa

by Geoff 4 January 2022 6 Comments

17-year-old New Christian sparks Revival in South Africa

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17-year-old Evangelist sparks Revival in South Africa
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com

 

 

By Reinhard Bonnke, posted 9 December 2019 on YouTube.

I’ve been for 40 years in Africa – my very favourite continent. What I have seen God do in Nigeria defies all description. So mighty. So glorious. So fantastic.

When I was a young evangelist there, about 30 or 31 years of age, I was in what they then called the Northern Transvaal of South Africa.

I had a crusade there. It was a small crowd, there were only 8,000 people, and it was in an open field of elephant grass – it’s as tall as an elephant. We had our open space. There was no road. I had to drive my car through that elephant grass to arrive.

I just had preached. I just had led a few thousand people to the Lord. We saw mighty miracles of God.

I still wanted to be alone a little bit. All had gone, and I was there. The generator was still running. I switched it off. It was a pitch-black night. No star in the sky, no moon, no nothing. I could hardly see where my car was.

I saw it then, got in, switched the lights on, and drove away through that high grass.

Suddenly there was a young man in front of me and he flagged me down. I stopped the car. I pulled the window down. I said to him, “Is there something wrong?”

H came and said, “No, there’s nothing wrong, but I knew you would pass here. I found Jesus as my Saviour in this crusade, and I knew you would come past here, and that I would meet you here, because I want to receive the Holy Spirit!”

I said, “What is your name?”

He said, “My name is David.”

I said, “How old are you?”

He said, “I’m 17 years of age.”

It touched me so much. I got out of the car and left all the lights on so that I could see what I was doing, laid my hands on him, and that moment it was as if lightning struck him. That was electricity. He was bending backwards, forwards, and burst out in new tongues. It was absolutely wonderful, something I had witnessed already so often, so often.

He said, “Thank you very much. I’m now going to my home village.”

And I went to the home of the people with whom I was staying.

Now here’s the point – 4 weeks later back at home I hear people saying there is a revival in Northern Transvaal.

I said, “Who’s the preacher?”

They said, “You will not believe it but it’s just a boy! Mighty miracles are happening through that boy.”

I said, “What’s his name?”

They said, “His name is David.”

I was preaching in another area. Then I already had a trailer and this time I also had a tent that could hold 10,000 people. And one afternoon there was a knock on my door. I opened. He said to me, “Sir, do you remember me. I’m David.”

I said, “Yes. I remember you very well.”

He said, “I’ve come to tell you what happened when I left you that night.”

He said, “Early in the morning, at the crack of day, at dawn, I approached my home village. And then I saw a mother.” That was a very polite word, courtesy, among the Africans there.

“A mother came towards me and she carried her child, and the child was crying, wailing, whimpering.” He said, “I knew that mother and I knew that the week before she had lost her first child to a fever. Now the second child was just as feverish.”

He said, “Suddenly, the love of God gripped me! And although by our custom I could not have spoken with her, I approached her and I said ‘Mother, can I pray for your child?’ And she said, ‘Anything. Yes, of course!’”

He said, “I prayed for that child.”

Immediately the child stopped crying and said “I’m hungry Mum. I’m hungry.” The kid was totally healed.

The mother was so happy she ran to the chief and said, “Chief, you know how I buried my first child. My second was just about to die when David prayed for my child and he is now completely well.”

The chief said, “What! I have a daughter who’s very sick. She was born a cripple. I have seen the best doctors in South Africa and nobody was able to help her. Call David, to pray for my daughter.”

He said he was called and went to that chief’s house. And the chief said to him, “There in that hut is my daughter. She’s never walked. Go in that hut and pray for her that your Jesus will heal my daughter.”

He said, “I went into that hut and when my eyes got used to the darkness I saw the girl.”

He said, “She had twisted legs, completely twisted, like spaghetti, you know.” And there she was.

He said, “I spoke to her about Jesus. I laid hands on her, and when I started to pray, suddenly,” he said, “we heard cracking noises.”

He said, “And suddenly we realised the bones were straightening.”

He said, “The chief waited outside and his daughter walked out. For the first time in her life she walked and the chief was screaming. Everybody was screaming.”

And the chief said, “David, for the next 10 days you are going to preach here to all my people.”

You know, in Africa when the chief speaks you’d better obey. And people came from all over.

He said, “They came from all over! And I preached every day for 10 days.”

I said, “David, you told me you just got saved in my meeting. What on earth did you preach?”

He said to me, “Maruti, I preached every sermon of yours!”

I said, “Hallelujah! Then you have preached the Gospel.”

People got saved. Pastors moved in and baptised those people in water. This is what God can do.

Clear the decks. God has something great for you in mind.

Open the window and shoot in Jesus’ name.

See also

Reinhard Bonnke’s beginnings in Africa

“This Disco is a Church”

Reinhard Bonnke 1940-2019 – Legacy of Harvest

Reinhard Bonnke’s final crusade in Africa

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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Iran: A teenager hears God’s voice

by Geoff 12 December 2021 No Comments
Joel News International Edition # 1238, December 2, 2021
view on the web or translate
https://mailchi.mp/joelnews/jni1238-2697333?e=621a152865
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
– John 3:8

Iran: A teenager hears God’s voice

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Iran: A teenager hears God’s voice

Mehdi grew up in a moderate Muslim family. When the still small voice of Jesus began to call him he first resisted, but ultimately he could not challenge the beautiful truths he found.

As a Muslim, Mehdi often had the feeling that he was failing on many sides. One day he had an unsettling thought: “I’m lacking in so many ways. I will not go to heaven anyway. What is the point?” Then one day a voice inside called him: “Go and find out about Christianity.”

Mehdi was startled by this strange thought. Why would he find out about Christianity? He didn’t know any Christians and he thought Christians were odd people. On top of that, in Iran it was dangerous to be a Christian. Why would he choose the possibility of prison or death when he had a good life?
Picture: A teenager in Iran (not Mehdi)

The unusual thoughts continued, urging him to find out more. One day, out of curiosity, he took a bus to a church in a different part of the city. When he asked the pastor if he could inquire about Christianity, the man firmly replied “No!” Later Mehdi discovered the government had forbidden church members to answer Muslims’ questions about faith.

‘Find out about Christianity and learn how they think about God’

He tried to visit other churches, but got the same response. He was ready to give up when the Lord spoke to him once more: “Go and find out about Christianity and learn how these people think about God.” Mehdi wondered if he had too much alcohol to drink that evening. He tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep, conflicted by his seemingly futile search.

Then he remembered a friend who worked for a security force investigating illegal ‘underground’ activities, including ‘underground’ Christianity and illegal evangelism. Mehdi thought this might be his last chance, but he would also be taking a huge risk. “I decided to bring up the issue playfully,” which paid off. His friend gave him the address of a church that he knew was open to Muslims.

With anticipation building in his heart, the following Sunday he went to the address his friend gave him. When he got close, he could hear a service going on. A man came out and asked: “Do you want to come in?” Mehdi took a deep breath and said: “Yes!”

“The feeling I had when I entered the church was something I’ve never felt before,” Mehdi recalls. “It felt so peaceful.” He sat down in a pew, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

‘A place in which your spirit is totally at peace with your Creator’

After the service a man came up to him and asked: “You’re here for the first time, right?’ “Yes,” Mehdi replied. “Can I ask you some questions about God?” “Not here,” he said hesitantly, “but please come to my home.”

Mehdi went to the man’s home and peppered him with questions. The answers seemed strange, but in a good way. The man talked about heaven as a place in God’s absolute presence, a place in which your spirit is totally at peace with your Creator. “I hadn’t heard about the Christian idea of heaven before, but somehow his words made complete sense to me,” Mehdi said.

“He also told me that God isn’t a far-away person but someone who created the earth and put us as humans in the center. He made us in his image. He even gave us a piece of his very own Spirit. With the Christian God I was welcome the way I was. God was like a loving Father. This was a big difference from Allah, who would punish me for any small thing.”
Picture: Vank Cathedral in Isfahan

Still, his Muslim background was too strong to just let go. He wrestled in his heart. Mehdi told God: “If you really care, please show me the way.” One of his friends became alarmed by his sudden interest in Christianity and sent him to a religious leader specially trained to help Christian converts from a Muslim background return to Islam. But for everything the religious leader told him about Islam, Mehdi found an alternative in the Bible that seemed much better.

‘It was like the curtains had been opened for me’

“It wasn’t a specific moment, a lightning flash or a dream. It happened gradually that I became a Christian. It was like the curtains that had been hanging in front of the truth for a long time had been opened for me. What I saw was beautiful,” he confesses.

“I didn’t tell my family: ‘Surprise! I am a Christian now!’ They discovered gradually. I had always been a bad boy and I started behaving differently. For instance, I brought the JESUS Film home and watched it with my little brother. They’d expected me to go on drugs, or get in trouble with the police. They didn’t expect me to become a Christian.”

His parents weren’t happy about his new faith, but they didn’t give him a lot of trouble. After being discipled, Mehdi eventually chose to leave Iran. “I was 18 when I left home. Now I am 27. I haven’t been back in Iran since. It’s a big sacrifice. But despite everything, I am happy and thankful.”

Source: World Watch Monitor

See also:

Iran – fastest growing evangelical population

Many Muslims are Turning to Christ

‘The Lord reached me right in the mosque’

Jesus appears as a bus driver to a Muslim pilgrim

Miraculous Movements – among Muslims

Hope in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison

Iraq: Muslim from Ninevah discovered the Bible’s magnetism

Jesus and Muslims: Life in the Desert

Christians reach out to Muslims in UK

Muslim Woman returns from the dead to tell about Jesus

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS(BRIEFER THANREVIVALS 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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Jesus appears as a bus driver to a Muslim pilgrim
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Afghanistan, Christian mission, discipleship, persecution, revival , , , ,

Seeds of Revival in Afghanistan

by Geoff 21 November 2021 No Comments

Seeds of Revival in Afghanistan

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Afghanistan: Children ask “Where does Jesus live?”

by Geoff 16 November 2021 No Comments

Afghanistan: Children ask “Where does Jesus live?”

Joel News International # 1236, November 15, 2021.

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Afghanistan: Children ask “Where does Jesus live?”
Renewal Journal – a chronicle of renewal and revival: www.renewaljournal.com
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In Afghanistan’s arena of fear, the children of Kabul are asking a remarkable question: “Is Jesus here now? Can we meet him?”

In their present tribulation, the children of this shell-shocked nation are looking for hope – and they’re turning to perhaps their only connection with the outside world: satellite television and social media that the Taliban and ISIS-K cannot stop or censor.

Media ministry SAT-7 is broadcasting live Christian programs into Afghanistan via a powerful satellite, free-of-charge 24/7. The signal covers the entire nation, including the mountains, rural areas, and isolated villages. Anywhere people have a satellite dish, they can – and do – tune into SAT-7’s message of Christian hope in the local languages of Dari and Farsi.
Although Christians have been forced into hiding, the children of Afghanistan are certainly not hiding their curiosity about Jesus. “Where is Jesus? Can we see him? Do you have him there in the studio?” These are sincere questions they ask, using their phone apps to call or message the SAT-7 team, ready to respond day or night. “It brings tears to my eyes when I hear these Afghan children quoting Jesus’ words by heart, creating their own worship songs, and using them to deal with the intense fear they’re going through,” says Dr. Rex Rogers, president of SAT-7 USA.

One viewer in Afghanistan recently called the team, asking “Where does this Jesus live? I really want to meet him!” A few days later, he called back with a friend. After a week, he called again – this time, with 25 young men crammed into his apartment, some having to stand in the bathroom because there was no other space, all eager to know more about “this Jesus.” After a team member counselled them, all 25 prayed in unison over the phone, asking Jesus to forgive them and come into their lives. The next week, there were 50 people jammed into the apartment – desperate to hear more and have their questions answered.

This could happen only because satellite television and internet-based social media are able to reach even the most difficult places – and bring the power of the gospel and the love of Jesus to people where they are, in their homes and on their phones, in real-time.

Source: Rex Rogers, SAT-7
UPDATE: Afghanistan is on the brink of a starvation crisis, with more than half its population – some 22.8 million people – projected to face acute food insecurity this winter, according to a report by the United Nations’ World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organisation. Children are a particular concern because the consequences of hunger can affect them the rest of their lives.

PRAYER FOCUS: Pray for a great harvest for the Kingdom of God in Afghanistan. Pray that international aid organisations can come back into the country to help in the developing humanitarian crisis. Pray for those who are displaced, homeless and hungry, that they will find shelter in the short term and be able to build lives and livelihoods in the longer term.

BLOGS INDEX 2: MISSION (INTERNATIONAL STORIES)


Afghanistan: Children ask “Where does Jesus live?”

Seeds of Revival in Afghanistan.


The real enemy of Afghanistan

Iran
Hope in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison

Iran
Iran – fastest-growing evangelical population


Evangelization in North Korea



North Korea: Cherishing the book he once feared

Korea
North Korean believers meet underground

North Korea
North Korea: The blessing of forced solitude with God


Standing on our knees in Kharkov, Ukraine

vomjail
Christian missionary tortured in prison led 40 to Christ

 

GENERAL BLOGS INDEX

BLOGS INDEX 1: REVIVALS(BRIEFER THANREVIVALS 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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Afghanistan: Children ask “Where does Jesus life?”

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