Here today and gone tomorrow

Why I love laminin

2012-02-01T18:40:00.000Z

Since many of you may not know what laminin is, here is a dictionary definition:

lam·i·nin: a fibrous protein present in the basal lamina of the epithelia

Got it? I first heard about laminin in a sermon by Louie Giglio about how we can see the glory of God in His creation, be it the vastness of the universe or the intricateness of the smallest parts of the human body.

But what is so special about laminin and what does it have to do with the glory of God? And why talk about laminin to illustrate how God cares for His children? Take a look at the video clip below to get a picture of it and prepare to be amazed!

I want to join Louie Giglio in saying that I love laminin! However, I don't see laminin as a "proof" that the Bible is true, but rather as a beautiful picture of a biblical truth, namely that Jesus Christ holds all things together - even the very cells in your body! And yes, even laminin itself is made by and holds together in Christ!

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17, ESV)

At this very moment, Jesus Christ is holding this world together - your world and mine. Now there's a reason to be thankful and give Him all the glory!

A faith-destroying seminary and a faith-giving God

2012-01-14T15:52:00.002Z

The following is the testimony of Anita Kupfermann, who pursued theological studies in Germany only to find her faith being destroyed by what was being taught. She writes about how she lost her confidence in the Bible as the inspired and inerrant word of God as a result of the so-called “higher critical method” taught at the Theological College of the German Baptist Union. But God pursued her and by His grace gave her an unshakable faith in Christ and the trustworthiness of God’s word. Her testimony was recently published both in German and in English.

Please pray for the situation in Germany and for God’s grace and truth to reach through to those who are being taught (and those who are teaching!) a false view of God and His word.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my story!

My name is Anita Kupfermann and I would like to tell you about my time studying theology. It is my hope that this little account of my experiences will serve as a warning and an encouragement to you. I would like to warn you of how the so-called “Higher Critical” (Historical Criticism) method left my relationship with God, and therefore my entire life, severely damaged. Yet I equally hope to encourage you! I can testify with great joy and thankfulness that the Lord Jesus Christ, during my time at university, healed my unbelief and called me to follow Him.

I hope and pray that God will be glorified through these pages and that you, the reader, will be encouraged to fully trust the Word of God.

My Time at Theological College & the Higher Critical Method (HCM)

Through my parents I was confronted with the Christian faith at an early age. I regularly went to Sunday School and was baptised at the age of 14.

A full ten years later, whilst working at a nursery, I was gripped by the desire to do something else with my time, something equally meaningful. I wanted to submit myself to the Word of God and reflect on my walk with God.

Although I had been baptised, I realised that I did not know the Bible. I couldn’t say I had a living relationship with God. I longed to know God better, to better understand what being a Christian meant. So, I decided to attend a theological college for ten months. My hope was that these ten months would supply what was missing in my faith.

Right from the beginning of my time at theological college I was confronted with Biblical criticism in the form of the “Higher Critical” method, (HCM). The HCM is the current philosophy of understanding and explaining Bible passages at German universities, as well as at many free-church theological colleges. According to this philosophy the Bible is not understood to be the inspired Word of God but a contradictory, mistake-prone, human work. Just like any other piece of literature it must be critically questioned and examined. This method of approaching the biblical texts normally leads to rejecting the historicity of the Bible - in other words, the historical accuracy and reliability of the Bible is questioned. Simply put, the Bible’s stories are just myths that never happened.

An example of this technique may help explain what it looks like in practice.

Mark’s Gospel has its origin dated back to roughly 70 A.D. According to the HCM, it is categorically denied that it was possible for Jesus Christ to have seen the future. However Mark’s Gospel reports that Christ predicts the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This prophecy was perfectly fulfilled: in 70 A.D. the Romans razed the temple to the ground. The majority of critical researchers believe that the prophecy in Mark is a fake prophecy, (vaticinium ex eventu). Only after the event, they assume, was Jesus’ prophecy added to the text. The Gospel of Mark cannot have predicted the future destruction of the temple, therefore it must have been written afterwards.

With this fixed, faithless presupposition, the Holy Bible is critically evaluated until all her reports are questionable. A few more short examples give a fuller picture of the results of this modern critical scientific approach to the Bible:

• Adam and Eve never existed. Rather, they are merely literary symbols for all of humanity. Hence, there never was a real fall into sin.

• Noah and the ark is a legend, not a real event.

• The first five books of the Bible were not written by Moses. Instead they were compiled by at least three different writers over a long period of time. Moreover they are, at least in part, contradictory.

• The Ten Commandments did not come from God but slowly evolved from various stories. This happened a long time after Moses had died.

• The conquests such as those that are recorded in Joshua never happened.

• Jesus’ words and deeds in the Gospels were often invented later by well meaning Christians. Therefore, much of the Gospels is simply fictitious. For example; Jesus never talked about His death, much less His resurrection. Furthermore His identity as the promised Christ and as the Son of God was also invented at a much later date. He never wanted to start a church or reach out to the Gentiles.

• Paul is not the author of the New Testament letters to the Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy, or Titus. Neither did Peter write the letters ascribed to him.

These are just some of countless examples. The theories of the HCM were not taught at this theological college, or in my later studies, to merely acknowledge them. Instead they were taught and proclaimed with conviction. Under the influence of such teaching, the reliability of the Bible was increasingly questioned. I became more and more convinced that the Bible is not the infallible Word of God but a jumbled collection of human, (i.e. imperfect) thoughts about God and life.

An unavoidable question-mark was now next to every person and event in the Bible. Moreover, as well as my new discoveries about the unreliability of the Bible, my ethical convictions were also brought into question. At the college we discussed themes such as homosexuality and sex outside of marriage. Were these perhaps permissible after all? In short, I felt my doubts about Christianity and the Bible grow and grow. If everything is not as it was written then, how could I be sure of anything I believed?

My scepticism blossomed as we took up the theme of world religions in our classes. Faced with a deep crisis of faith, I seriously considered giving up Christianity. My lecturers were so certain that it could only be good for me to give up the fundamentals of my former faith. Only such a “deconstruction” would give me a new mature and responsible faith. Such was their conviction for my life, and I desperately hoped that they were right.

My Time at the Theological Seminary

After these ten months I returned to my old job for a year. During this time I toyed with the idea of furthering my education. As the questions raised by the HCM still occupied my thoughts, I was keen to further study theology. In addition I rather liked the thought of becoming a pastor. So it was that 2007 saw me begin to study theology at the Theological Seminary of the German Baptist Union. I received no call to this by God, even if I tried to talk myself into believing this was the case. I talked with many people about my plans, but not with God Himself.

In the meantime I no longer sought to question the HCM as I was well familiar with its teachings from my previous time at college. However, the criticism of the Bible was to increase dramatically over the next few years.

I can still remember, for example, a lecturer leaving a lecture hall, stopping at the doorway to say, “Tomorrow we’ll kill Moses!” He meant that the following day we would be taught that historically, Moses never existed as the Bible taught. Furthermore I learnt that many of the Old Testament accounts were nothing more than myths and legends; far removed from history and reality. The Jewish worship of Yahweh, - the temple system, services, festivals, and commandments, - was mostly copied from the religions of Israel’s neighbours at that time. Over hundreds of years the biblical texts were added to, changed and consciously manipulated by numerous unknown authors. This is why the Bible is (apparently!) so full of contradictions. If given room to do so, the HCM swiftly gains power, tearing through every point of doctrine like a hurricane, until assurance of faith lies shattered.

I heard many students say that these “academic” discoveries were a great help for them; at the time I agreed, or at least talked myself into agreeing. In reality I was beginning to reap the bitter harvest of my new, “mature” faith. At the end of the second semester I came to the firm conclusion that the Bible was totally unbelievable and thus I laid it aside at the bottom of my bookshelves. I had no more desire to read it, let alone to try and live according to it. I did not pray any more, nor did I ask God for help or wisdom. I was just too confident of my new critical attitude.

Despite having no inner relationship with God, I continued with the outward appearance of wanting to be a pastor. I preached and seemed religious – at least whilst in church! It was a different story when I was with my fellow students. There I did not hold myself back, increasingly getting drunk at parties and losing my distaste for lying and cheating. I especially enjoyed gossiping and slandering the other students. In this case I had a specific target, a group of young men who annoyed me beyond all else. They wholeheartedly believed in the Scriptures as the Word of God. There was a small group of students in my semester who defended the trustworthiness of the Scriptures - even in our classes. This greatly irritated me and other students and thus we delighted to spread rumours about them.

In doing this I was not in the least bothered by my conscience. I had long lost any fear of God or an eternal punishment. The words of warning in the Scriptures weren’t important to me. The god I had discovered through my studies did not get angry, respected people’s doubts and forgave everyone everything. What did I have to be afraid of? Why not have fun and live life to the max? This was my new philosophy for life, and this was how I lived. However, once the initial euphoria had left, life became worse and worse for me, until I felt there was nothing for me to stand on. An inner emptiness made it increasingly clear that I had no true life or peace. In books critical of the Bible and in conversations I tried to find what I was missing, but to no avail.

Finally I asked an evangelist I met at a church event to pray for me. I longed for a real relationship to God but felt unable to ask Him. It was as if I had lost any ability to pray.

The Change!

A few weeks later the preacher’s prayer was answered. On the 6th December, 2008 the Lord opened my eyes to see my guilt and godless life.

The catalyst for this was a polemical speech given by a lecturer at a film evening at the seminary. Above all, he mocked those who put their trust in the reliability of every word in the Bible. One of those being mocked sat right in front of me and didn’t react. I talked to him afterwards and he assured me that he was not ashamed of his faith. His inner peace and assurance made me stop and think. I asked myself how the rest of the Bible-believers, or “Fundis” (short for fundamentalists) as we called them, reacted to all this.

To my great amazement they did not consider boycotting the classes. Instead they continued to meet together every day to pray for the mockers, lecturers, and the entire seminary. I saw that the Lord was their shield, that He had given them a firm faith. The Bible says that Christians do not live for themselves anymore, but for Him who died for them. Thanks to these young men I was able to see that the grace of God was working in them. They did not feel forced to defend themselves. I did not think this was a normal reaction to such a situation and I was greatly impressed. They simply passed the humiliation that they suffered on to Christ, and so anger or a desire for revenge simply had no hold on them.

After all these events, I drove home to spend Christmas with my family. There I recognised even more that I had despised God through my embrace of higher criticism. I had denied God’s word, rejected God’s grace, and mocked God’s servants. Worse than all, I had called myself a Christian and cared nothing for the atonement Christ bought at the cost of His life. This I realised to be an unbearably dreadful mistake. Over Christmas and with many tears I repented of many things, seeking God in prayer, and rejoiced to know His full and free forgiveness. With a glad heart I bought a new Bible and began to read it eagerly and joyfully; today I enjoy this book as much as I did then!

I called on the Lord Jesus Christ, humbling myself before him. I entrusted my life to Him and told Him that from now on I would believe His Word, no matter what questions I might have. To this day I do not have an answer to everything, but I am fully convinced that the Bible is completely inspired by God; inerrant and infallible in all that it teaches. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the sovereign grace that He poured over me in letting me see my sinfulness and the Saviour who has given me such forgiveness.

Dear Reader,

I am so happy that you have read my testimony to the end. God has richly blessed my life and by His grace I believe that His Word is truth. (John 17: 17) It is very precious to be able to believe with childlike faith; I do not bother myself with any doubts or so-called academic discoveries that call into question the trustworthiness of the Bible. Instead I find in Christ, the true subject of Scripture, all the riches of wisdom and insight. Let us trust our Lord and Saviour, for then He will bless us. My prayer is that you, too, will be saved from unbelief and that your faith in God and His Word will grow from strength to strength.

In Christ,

Anita Kupfermann

Treasures in heaven

2012-01-09T20:41:00.001Z

After attending a wedding in London last weekend, this is what I saw when I arrived back at my car:

The first thing I thought about was whether my SatNav (GPS) had been stolen. I had placed it inside the glove compartment. Sure enough. The glove compartment had been left open and the SatNav was gone. I looked around for anything else that might have been destroyed or stolen. Thankfully that was it - a broken window and a stolen SatNav. Some of my car papers were still there, my CD collection was still there, and other small bits and pieces were still there. I was disappointed that my Gideon New Testaments were still there, too. They could have at least taken one of them along as a complimentary gift - much more valuable than a SatNav!

Well, I called the police to report the crime. My initial reaction was a mix of shock, anger and hurt. But that soon changed to thankfulness. I know God was in control and He allowed this to happen for a reason. He could have stopped the thief and protected my car from damage. But He didn't. He knows why and He knows best. I can rest in that. And I am thankful that nothing worse happened. I usually also always have my car radio/CD player in the car, but on that day, I forgot to take it with me to the car when I went to the wedding. That annoyed me at first when I was in the car and I realised I had forgotten the radio. At the end of the day, I was very thankful that God allowed me to forget it for once! I am also very thankful that nothing else was damaged or stolen and that the window that was broken through was the smallest window in the back of the car. So it's just some broken glass and a missing plastic/electronic item. Not a big deal really in the light of eternity.

God then reminded me of the following verses in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 19-21:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

This is life on earth. Thieves broke through my car window and stole my SatNav. But neither my SatNav nor my car is my treasure. My treasure is Jesus and everything He is for me: peace, joy, forgiveness, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. No thief or anybody else can ever take away any of that. In Jesus, I have a treasure that surpasses everything in life and that can never be taken away from me.

I hope the person who stole my SatNav also finds out what is of real value. Later on as I reflected with disappointment that the thief did not take a New Testament, I remembered that I had put some Christian music on my SatNav. So my prayer is that whoever uses my SatNav in future may listen to that music and that this may be a means for them to come to know the truth of God's word and the gospel of Jesus Christ. If this happens, then I will be very happy to have suffered the loss of some small temporary treasure, so that someone else could find an eternal treasure of unsurpassing worth.

PS: To any (potential) thieves reading this: If I get another SatNav, I will never again leave it inside the car - not in the glove compartment or anywhere else. Just so you know...

Strength in weakness

2012-01-01T12:44:00.001Z

Are you weak? Do you feel weak? Do you know that you are weak? Are you wondering how you will ever cope with everything this year?

Here is a wonderful promise for the new year. It comes from none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God:

Jesus says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

What is your weakness? Is it a physical weakness? An illness? A fear? A burden? A besetting sin?

The apostle Paul also had a particular weakness. We do not know what exactly this was. He called it a "thorn in the flesh". Maybe this was the same thing you have. But even if not, it does not matter. Jesus has the answer to all our weaknesses, whatever they may be.

Paul says he prayed three times to the Lord that this thorn in his flesh would depart from him. His prayer was answered, but not in the way he was hoping for. God did not take away whatever it was that Paul was struggling with. But his prayer was still answered...

Jesus answered Paul's prayer by telling him two wonderful truths:

1) "My grace is sufficient for thee."
2) "My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Jesus' grace is sufficient for everybody. No matter what your weakness is, how difficult your struggle, how hard your trial, how great your sin - Jesus' grace is enough. Look to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus for help. He is merciful and gracious. If you have fallen down and feel like you have lost it all, there is hope. Jesus's grace is sufficient.

Someone has defined grace as "God's Riches At Christ's Expense". I think this is a great definition. Grace is God's unmerited favour towards us, which came to us through Christ and His death on the cross. As sinners, all that we deserve from God is His just punishment. But because Jesus suffered this punishment for all those who believe on Him, there remains no more punishment for God's children - only grace. The grace that comes through Christ is all-sufficient and more than enough for every situation. Songwriter Chris Tomlin states it as follows in one of his songs:

All of You is more than enough for all of me

For every thirst and every need

You satisfy me with Your love

And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my sacrifice

Of greatest price

And still more awesome than I know

You're the coming King

You are everything

And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want

More than all I need

You are more than enough for me

More than all I know

More than all I can say

You are more than enough for me

This first truth that Christ's grace is sufficient is wonderful and you will find it to be true if you know Jesus as your personal Saviour. Remember:

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace.
And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.
(Jerry Bridges)

But the second truth is also very important...

Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness. The truth is that you will never know and experience Christ's strength until you recognise your own weakness and sinfulness. If you think you have it all together and do not need any help, if you think you are not such a bad sinner, then you will not know the grace or the strength of Christ. Jesus Himself said in Mark 2:17,

They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Will you admit your weakness and sinfulness to God? He already knows everything about you. There is nothing you can hide from Him. Jesus Christ did not come to condemn sinners, but to call them to repentence and save them. If you will turn away from your sins and place your faith in Christ as your Saviour, He will not turn you away. His all-sufficient grace is available for you today.

As I look forward to this year and the years ahead, I realise that I am attempting great things. My path into missions so far has not been easy and it will not get any easier. I have not yet even properly left my home to live and work in another culture. I have not yet given serious effort to learning the language of the Tarahumara Indians, let alone given serious thought to the great responsibility of translating God's word for them. And, to be honest, I don't think I am the best person for the job. I know my own weaknesses and struggles. I know I am just a sinner, saved by grace. But I do believe God is calling me to serve Him in Mexico. And if God accomplishes anything good through my life, then it will be all His work through me - His strength in my weakness. All the glory goes to Him.

Jesus says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness."

What was Paul's conclusion about his "thorn in the flesh" after receiving this promise from the Lord? This is what he says in 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10:

Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Paul recognised that his weaknesses ("infirmities") were actually something to glory in, to take pleasure in and to be most glad about. Not for the weaknesses as such, but because it was though his weaknesses and struggles that He saw his need for Christ and Christ showed His all-sufficient power and grace to meet his every circumstance.

May God also use our weaknesses in 2012 to remind us of our need for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we will run to Him and find Him to be our all-sufficient Saviour.

Where is the glory of Christmas?

2011-12-17T14:26:00.001Z

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, NKJV)

In this verse, we find what is perhaps the shortest description of Christmas: "the Word became flesh". Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God (here called "the Word"), became a human being of flesh and bones just like us and was born as a baby in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.

It is here that we also see the glory of Christmas - in the person of Jesus Christ. Those who lived with Jesus and saw Him tell us: "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

But what exactly is that - "the glory of Christ"? And how does one see it? Perhaps you are thinking of the bright light that shone around the angels as they proclaimed the Saviour's birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-9). That is certainly one expression of Christ's glory, but one that was rarely seen on the earth.

The glory of Christ that the gospel writer John is describing here is not a glory that is full of light but a glory that is "full of grace and truth". And that is how we see Christ's glory today. We see the portraits of Christ in Scripture and we see that He is beautiful and wonderful and glorious.

The glory of Christ is full of truth. Jesus came to earth to tell us the truth - about ourselves, about the world we live in, about our hearts, about our sin, and about God. He came to warn us that God is a righteous Judge who will give everyone a just punishment for their sins - eternal suffering in hell. That sounds shocking, but it should tell us just how great and terrible our sins really are in the sight of a holy God. Jesus was never afraid or ashamed of speaking the truth. He spoke about hell more than any other person in the Bible.

But the glory of Christ is also full of grace. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20). Grace is unmerited favour. It is God giving us something we don't deserve. What we deserve is hell. But God gave us His Son. He gave us His Son to act as our Substitute and take the punishment we deserve on Himself by dying on the cross. Jesus was born to die. Through His death, Jesus defeated sin and brings life to all those who believe in Him.

The glory of Christmas is the glory of Christ. Take a closer look at Christ this Christmas. Read about Him in the gospels. Also consider these words from the Puritan writer John Owen in his book The Glory of Christ:

How glorious the Lord Jesus Christ is in the eyes of believers!

When Adam sinned, he stood ashamed, afraid, trembling, as one ready to perish for ever under the severe displeasure of God. Death was what he deserved, and he fully expected the sentence to be immediately carried out.

In this state, the Lord Jesus Christ in the promise comes to him, and says, ‘Poor creature! How terrible is your condition! How deformed you are now! What has become of the beauty, the glory of that image of God in which you were created? See how you have taken upon yourself the monstrous shape and image of Satan? And yet your present sorrow, your physical return to dust and darkness, is in no way to be compared with what is to follow. Eternal distress lies before you. But now, look up and behold me, and you will have a glimpse of what infinite wisdom, love and grace have purposed for you. Do not continue to hide from me. I will take your place. I will bear your guilt and suffer that punishment which would sink you eternally into the hideous depths of hell. I will pay for what I never took. I will be made a curse for you so that you may be eternally blessed.’

In the same vein the Lord Jesus speaks to all convicted sinners when he invites them to come to him.

If you don't see any glory in this, you have not yet seen Christ properly. Ask God to open your eyes to behold the glory and beauty of Christ - it will change your life!

There is no greater truth, no greater grace and no greater glory than in Jesus Christ.

Santa Claus = bad news

2011-12-05T21:07:00.000Z

You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

Now here's a good reason to be thankful that Santa Claus does not exist! According to this song, he would be out to get you...

Listen to John Piper explain why Santa is bad news and what the good news of Christmas really is:

Because we are all bad and sinful, Santa Claus would be bad news for us. But thankfully, Santa has nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas. There is much better news...

Because we are all bad and sinful, Jesus Christ is good news for us. Jesus came to earth to save us from the bad news. The bad news is that we have all sinned and rebelled against God and deserve His eternal judgment. And there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We were hopelessly lost and condemned to an eternal hell as the just punishment for our sins against an infinitely holy and righteous God.

But it was on that starry night in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago that the good news of Christmas was proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds:

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Jesus Himself is the good news of Christmas. The Son of God became a man. He did not come to judge us for our sins. He came to save us from our sins. How? By dying on a cross and taking God's divine wrath on sin on Himself as our substitute.

Because of His sacrifice made once and for all, Jesus Christ now offers you the free gift of salvation, forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)

This is the good news. This is the gospel. This is why we celebrate Christmas.

An interview on missions

2011-12-04T14:37:00.000Z

Recently, a friend of mine from my time at Bob Jones University asked me if he could do an interview with me. He wanted to ask me about my experiences so far on my way into missions.

Some of the questions he asked me were:

- What drew you to missions?
- What are your plans for future ministry?
- What don't a lot of people know about cross-cultural missions?
- What are some unique challenges and opportunities in your ministry?

Click the link below to read my answers to these and other questions:

http://grace4sinners.blogspot.com/2011/11/interview-michael-schmid-missionary-to.html

There are also a number of other interesting articles on the Grace for Sinners blog that you may find interesting and helpful.

No longer a slumdog

2011-12-03T13:21:00.009Z

Maybe you have seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire. I have not seen it myself, but I hear it gives a good picture of the terrible conditions which people in the slums in India experience.

Earlier this week, I received a free copy of K.P. Yohannan's new book No Longer a Slumdog from Gospel for Asia. I started reading it yesterday and could not stop reading until I had finished it late in the evening!

I found the book to be both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. Heart-wrenching because it is filled with many sad stories from the lives of the Dalits, the lowest and most despised and mistreated people in the Hindu caste system, who are also called the "untouchables" and who live in some of the worst conditions imaginable. Parents cannot afford to send their children to school, because they need their children to earn money to support their livelihood by child labour, begging or even child prostitution. They are also without hope because, they truly believe that they are being punished for something they did in a former life.

But the book is also heart-warming because it also gives many stories of how Dalit children and children of "other backward castes" are given the hope they lack through the ministry of Gospel for Asia. Through the Bridge of Hope programme, children who would never be able to go to school are not only given a free eduction, but also good meals and medical treatment. Most importantly, they are taught the gospel of Jesus and see His love extended to them through the GFA workers and missionaries. And they come to see that Jesus changes lives offers hope to everybody - even to them.

Consider this story of how the lives of 8 Dalit sisters were changed through GFA's Bridge of Hope programme, taken from the book No Longer a Slumdog:

The question I had to ask myself while I was nearing the end of the book was "What now?" Earlier that day, I had posted the following quote from William Wilberforce on my Twitter account:

You can choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.

These words were echoed as I read the following on page 121 of the book:

I must warn you, my reader - you can no longer say you didn't know. Through this book, you've seen their faces. I am sure you have felt their pain. The question I need to ask is - and I ask on behalf of those children and the God who cares for them - what will you do now?

Later on, K.P. Yohannan quotes C.S. Lewis and Amy Carmichael:

The more often we feel without acting, the less we will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less we will be able to feel. (C.S. Lewis)

We shall have all eternity to celebrate the victories, but we have only the few hours before sunset in which to win them. (Amy Carmichael)

I believe both of those statements are very true and I felt burdened to act in some way, to be involved in what GFA is doing in giving hope to the Dalits through Jesus Christ. This is one easy way I can do it - simply by spreading the word here on my blog. Other ways of being involved are through prayers and finances.

For just $28 (or £20) a month, is possible to provide education, food and medical treatment for one of those children at a GFA Bridge of Hope centre. I went to sleep last night with a desire to sponsor one child, but when I woke up this morning, I had second thoughts. Maybe I should just make a one-off donation to GFA instead... That would be cheaper in the long run... Besides, I don't even know where my own support will come from... But then God spoke to me very clearly through my daily Bible calendar. The two verses for the day were the following ones:

Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. (Deuteronomy 15:10)

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

The message could not have been any clearer. $28 a month is not going to hurt my budget that much. And if it does, and I have to give up some things, then so be it. I want to make use of this opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child who does not know all the privileges and comforts I have known in my childhood. And I want to help a child come to find hope and salvation in Jesus Christ - something of eternal value.

What will you do after you have finished reading this? Why don't you start simply by ordering your own free copy of the book No Longer a Slumdog? You can order it here from GFA USA or here from GFA UK.

What is linguistics?

2011-11-21T20:33:00.002Z

Since September, I have been studying applied linguistics at the Bible & Missionary Training Centre of New Tribes Mission. Many of you may be aware of that, but really have no clue what linguistics really is. The reason I know that is that I myself sometimes have no clue what I am doing here… ;-)

So let me try to briefly explain linguistics as best as I can. Simply put, linguistics is the scientific study of a language. This is what would be necessary for learning an unwritten language and creating an alphabet for such a language. Among other things, linguistics involves the study of sounds (phonetics), sound systems (phonemics/phonology), structures of words (morphology), structures of sentences (syntax) and meanings (semantics).

We started in September with phonology and then moved on to advanced phonology in October where we studied such fascinating (or not!) subjects such as archiphonemes, portmanteau, bi-directional partial fusion and displaced contrast. Please don’t ask me to explain any of these – I just about made it through those by the skin of my teeth! ;-)

Now we are studying grammar (morphology) where we are making lovely little charts and “tagmemic formulas” such as this:

N = +	NUC	nrt	±	MAR	dual compl redup	±	MAR	pl high tone
N = +	It		±	Dual	#1	±	Pl	#1

I wonder how much more fun this can get...

See below for some more photos from my class and from my work ...

... and let me know if you spot some mistakes. :-)

Halloween or Reformation Day?

2011-10-31T17:45:00.000Z

Today is 31 October 2011. What do you call this day?

My assumption would be that many of you know this day as "Halloween".

However, I prefer to call 31 October by its less known designation: "Reformation Day".

On this day, many Christians remember the historical period in the 16th century known as the Reformation and, in particular, Martin Luther's nailing of his "95 Theses" to the door of the church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. This event sparked the Reformation, in which Luther and other reformers such as John Calvin and John Knox spoke out against false doctrines and practices of the church in an attempt to reform it.

The reformers pointed to the Bible as the inspired Word of God and the sole authority for religious faith and practice (sola scriptura). They confirmed the biblical teaching that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man - there is no other way of salvation (solus Christus). Furthermore, as God's Word says in Ephesians 2:8-9, salvation is a gift of God given by grace alone (sola gratia) and through faith alone (sola fide) - it cannot be earned or achieved by good works. Therefore, since salvation is totally a work and a gift of God, all the glory belongs to God (soli Deo gloria). These beliefs have become known as "the five solas."

So do we remember today as Reformation Day or Halloween? Shall we think about Luther and the Reformation or about the devil his doings? Who is the winner?

Actually, I don't mind what name you want to give for this day. Although I prefer the designation "Reformation Day", I have no problem with people who refer to today as "Halloween", as that is what it is most commonly known as. I'm not interested in a "name game" or in scoring points in favour of one name over the other or the like.

But I do want to get address this symbolic "fight" between Martin Luther and the devil... Although symbolic by way of the names "Reformation Day" and "Halloween", there was and is also a real fight going on between the devil on one side and Luther and every other human being on the other side.

Room in Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German
and where he is said to have thrown an inkwell at the devil

As much as I greatly admire Martin Luther, I readily admit that he is no match for the devil. The devil is real and evil and far more powerful than Luther, or than any of us human beings for that matter. Indeed, that is precisely what Luther wrote in the first stanza of his most famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great,

And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

So there is no hope for anyone to stand a chance against the devil.

However, neither Luther nor any of us are the devil's greatest enemy. The devil's greatest enemy is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And although we are no match for the devil, the devil is no match for Jesus Christ.

These are the next two stanzas of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth is His name,

From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And tho' this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us;
We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim --

We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,

For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

If you do not have Jesus Christ, you will most certainly lose the battle against the devil and will remain forever under his bondage and, like him, suffer eternal punishment. Jesus Christ is your only hope to be freed from the devil and from sin, death and hell. When Jesus Christ is at your side, you can know that the devil is no match for Him and you need no longer fear him.

How is this possible?

When Jesus, the perfect and holy Son of God, came to this earth as a sinless man, He came to die and to provide eternal life. Although He had done no wrong, He died on the cross to bear God's just wrath against the sins of all who put their faith and trust in Him. By doing this and by rising from the dead after three days, Jesus destroyed the power the devil had over sinful beings like Martin Luther and you and me. And He provided a way for us to escape.

In Hebrews 2:14-15, we read:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Anybody who believes on Christ and calls out to Him for salvation in faith and repentance, will be saved (Rom. 10:13). Who or what are you trusting in today? Yourself and your own strength? A church? A religion? Good works? None of this will be able to save you! Run to Christ - He alone can save! (Acts 4:12)

This morning, I read the following lines in a book called The Valley of Vision:

Jesus strides forth as the victor, conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing might;
He bursts the bands of death, tramples the powers of darkness down, and lives for ever.
He, my gracious surety, apprehended for payment of my debt, comes forth from the prison house of the grave free, and triumphant over sin, Satan, and death.

May you have the same assurance that Martin Luther expressed in the words of this prayer:

O Lord, I do not deserve a glimpse of heaven, and I am unable with my works to redeem myself from sin, death, the devil, and hell. Nevertheless, you have given me your Son, Jesus Christ, who is far more precious and dear than heaven, and much stronger than sin, death, the devil, and hell. For this I rejoice, praise, and thank you, O God. Without cost and out of pure grace you have given me this boundless blessing in your dear Son. Through him you take sin, death, and hell from me, and do grant me all that belongs to him. Amen.

Bibles for the London Olympics

2011-10-13T14:44:00.002+01:00

Here are three interesting facts about London:

1) It is the city with the most international visitors of any city in the world.
2) London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers.
3) Next year, it will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

Needless to say, London will be bursting at its seems when the Olympic Games are held there from 27 July to 12 August 2012. It is expected that over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will be coming to London in those weeks, not to mention all the spectators and regular tourists!

London has been preparing for the Olympics not only by building stadiums and other sports venues, but also by building new hotels. And the Gideons International in the British Isles have been preparing for the Olympics by seeking to provide Bibles for all hotels and guest houses in and around London.

Last month, I had the opportunity to join around 180 other Gideons from the British Isles to visit these hotels and guest houses and offer them free Bibles for every room.

I went along with a Gideon couple to visit hotels and guesthouses at Heathrow airport and the surrounding area. We enquired whether all their rooms were equipped with Gideon Bibles or whether they had Bibles that needed replacing. Many hotels were already equipped with Gideon Bibles. Of course, there were also those that did not want Bibles. In those cases and in cases where they already had Bibles, we were able to offer a New Testament to the manager or the staff which was well received in most cases, even where the manager/staff may well have been from another religious background. The greatest joy was to come to hotels/guesthouses that did not have any Bibles but whose managers were eager to receive them. In the space of the four days that the Gideons were in London, more than 50,000 Bibles were given away free of charge.

For more than a century, God has blessed the ministry of the Gideons International with its unique business model - giving away its main product free of charge! In the last year, more than 78 million copies of God's Word were distributed worldwide by the Gideons.

God still uses His Word today to change lives. Take a look at this video with a testimony from a man who intended to commit suicide in a motel room but instead had an encounter with God's Word and was given a new life:

Sierra Tarahumara - A sovereign and clear calling

2011-08-31T16:28:00.003+01:00

After my time in Mexico this month, I believe that God is calling me to work in the Sierra Tarahumara among the Tarahumara Indians. God's guidance in this matter has been remarkable, not just in the past month, but over a number of years. Although I have often been unsure about my future and how God would lead me (and still am in some matters), looking back, I can clearly see God's hand at work in my life, sovereignly directing circumstances and leading me into His perfect will.

After many years of wondering about God's will and, in particular, the question whether I should go into missions or not, God made this calling clear to me during my time in Papua New Guinea at the Interface programme of New Tribes Mission in the summer of 2007. I received my calling first and foremost from the Word of God, not from other circumstances. One of the Bible passages that spoke to me in this regard was Jesus' promise in Luke 10:29-30:

And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

It was also during that time that God gave me a burden specifically for Mexico, when I first heard that there were about 200 languages there without a translation of God's Word. Although I had never been to Mexico (or any country in Latin America) before, I knew that this could be where God would want me to go. I did not need any further challenge or motivation to prepare to go to the mission field. On New Years' Eve 2007, I was reading a blog post of some NTM missionaries, challenging people to go on short-term mission trips. As I was reading it, I thought to myself that that was all very nice and good, but I didn't need that since I already knew that God wanted me to become a missionary and wanted to obey Him. Then I came to the end of the blog post, where they listed the various destinations where the short-term mission trips would be held the following year and I startled when I saw that Mexico was one of them. I saw this as from the Lord, not as a way to consider the question of whether I should go into missions long-term, but as an opportunity to get to know the country and the people of Mexico, for which God had given me a burden.

So in the summer of 2008, I visited Mexico for the first time, working together with a team from NTM at the contstuction of a missionary training centre in the state of Chihuahua, in the north of Mexico. During my time there, God gave me a greater love for the country and its people. We were also able to visit a tribal group who were still in need of the gospel - the Tarahumara Indians. As I was speaking with some of the missionaries towards the end of my time in Mexico, I told them it could well be that I would be back in a few years time. Little did I know then how some circumstances would change for me (my decision to join Pioneers rather than NTM) and yet how my words would still be true and God would sovereignly and clearly confirm my calling to work among the Tarahumara.

After becoming acquainted with Pioneers and interested in their work, I was able to attend one of their mission conferences at the end of last year. While at the conference, I met with the leader of the work in the Mid-Americas region and enquired specifically about the work in Latin America. He told me that Pioneers were only ministering in two countries in Latin America: Peru and ... Mexico! So at the beginning of this year, I got in touch with a team in Mexico and was amazed to find out that not only did this team work in Chihuahua, the same state I visited in 2008, but they even worked among the Tarahumara, the very same people group I had visited! I became very interested in their work and was then invited to come and visit.

In God's providence, the Pioneers Mid-Americas conference was to be held around the time of my visit, so I was able to attend the conference before going down to visit the work in Mexico. While at the conference, I met the whole team of missionaires who are working among the Tarahumara and heard them giving reports of their ministry. But what impressed me much more was to see and experience the great love, respect, unity and passion for God among the team members. I quickly knew that I would love to work with them, no matter where! Different team members also told me how they had been praying for several years for someone like me to come - someone with an interest in learning and working with the language and in doing translation work. I already knew that they had started praying for me after hearing about my interest and already felt part of the team before even meeting them! But after meeting them, I already knew that I wanted to join their team and told them that I did not even need to visit the work in Mexico in order to know that.

Still, of course, I was very thankful for the opportunity to go back to the Sierra Tarahumara with them and get to know their ministry and the Tarahumara Indians better. The time I spent there was further confirmation that God has a place for me there where I can serve Him with the gifts He has given me. The Tarahumara language will be challenge, but I am very thankful for the ground work that has been laid by the missionaries in creating a dictionary and grammar book and I hope to use these to study the language during my final year of studies at NTM (in Applied Linguistics).

While there have been numerous times in my life when things were difficult and the future was unclear, God always knew about all the circumstances and faithfully led me in His way. Proverbs 20:24 says,

Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

How good it is to know that God is in control of our lives and our future! We do not need to - nor can we - know all the details of our future. And when we are confused and do not know why certain things are happening in our lives, we can completely trust and rest in God. He is a good and sovereign Father who cares for His children and works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). And God will accomplish His purposes.

Psalm 37:23-24 says,

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

Mexico in colour

2011-08-25T11:03:00.001+01:00

Here are some more photos from my time in Mexico. As you can see, Mexico is quite colourful! However, it is not always this green - only in the rainy season, which is generally only around the month of August...

The photos below are from some beautiful landscapes I was able to see and some dear Tarahumara people I was able to meet. I was also able to become acquainted with and help out a little in the missionary clinic and the learning centre in the mountains. Many Tarahumara people have to hike for several hours to get to the clinic where they can receive medical attention. I had my first experience in driving an ambulance to pick up a patient who was unable to walk to the clinic and to take a lady who had been bitten by a rattlesnake to the nearest hospital (about a 5-hour drive away).

It was also a joy for me to see the literacy programme developed my the missionaries and to help a young man who was learning to read. It was a strange experience, because here was me helping this man read his language correctly, and yet I had no idea what the words on the page meant. But because the alphabet and pronunciation is almost like Spanish, I could correct him when he was not pronouncing the words correctly.

But the greatest joy was probably to see and experience the love and care the missionaries showed to the Tarahumara people. Whether it be taking care of their illnesses, providing food and shelter for them, teaching them how to read and write, or simply spending time with them and taking an interest in their lives, the missionaries put aside their own desires, needs and time schedules and showed the love of Christ to them. My prayer is that the Tarahumara people would not only know they are loved by the missionaries, but that they would also come to know the great love that Jesus has for them.

This last photo was taken in one of the German-speaking Mennonite areas. The words on the poster are in German and are a quotation of Jesus' words in John 14:6:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

The world needs to know Jesus, the only Saviour and the only way to God the Father. However, for many people today, this message is in a foreign language. I pray that the Tarahumara will soon be able to hear the wonderful message of the gospel in their own language and come to know Christ as their Saviour. And I pray that God would be able to use me somehow to bring this to pass.

Mexico in black and white

2011-08-20T17:06:00.000+01:00

Here are the first few photos from my time in Mexico. These photos were all taken when we went out for a hike to a remote village in the mountains.

Scenes of Lincolnshire

2011-07-12T15:29:00.001+01:00

During our five weeks of Mission Simulation, we also went on two hikes within the county of Lincolnshire. Below are some photos from those hikes and the beauty of God's creation that we were able to enjoy.

Learning Palaka

2011-07-11T16:37:00.001+01:00

When my classmates and I were living in tents for the last 5 weeks, the vast majority of our time was spent learning a foreign language and culture. For me and 3 other students, this has meant studying the language and culture of the Palaka people in the Ivory Coast. As our "language helpers", we had a couple who were missionaries among the Palaka for several years. It was a lot more difficult than I expected and at times quite frustrating, but it was a good experience for me.

Recording my language helper as he explains

in Palaka how to make a fire

Listening and editing the sound files

Phonetic transcription of the recordings

Entering transcriptions and translations

into the computer program CLAware

Taking part in a "cultural event"

(meeting a group of women on their way to fetch water)

At the marketplace

This sure does look like I am dancing ...

( ... but I have no idea what I was doing there!)

It's not so easy to ride a bike in one of those outfits!

Making a fire

Greeting the women who arrive with the food

Singing a Palaka song

The song we sung on the last photo was a Christian song that was written by the Palaka people. It was extemely hard to memorise at first, but now I can't get it out of my head. A phonetic transcription of the song might look something like this:

jɛˈsax pəˈtɛŋɡɛ ˈzʲɛzuˌkɾi nɨŋˈɡ͡be wǔˈsɛɾɛˌna

no̞ˈtɛ w̤aˈpɔ̃ weˈpɔ̃nˌkitiˈkʷɔ̃ jeˈnajo̞

zʲeˈzu wuˈkujo̞ wɔkaˈpɛlɛ kame̞ˈna

jɛˈsax pəˈtɛŋɡɛ ˈzʲɛzuˌkɾi nɨŋˈɡ͡be wǔˈsɛɾɛˌna

Here is the English translation:

You must believe on Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.

Otherwise, when He comes, you will be judged.

Jesus died for our sins.

You must believe on Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.

Living in tents

2011-07-09T14:24:00.002+01:00

For the past five weeks, I was able to experience what it would be like living in tents with much simpler living conditions, learning a completely foreign language and culture, and being almost totally cut off from communication to the outside world. This part of my training is called "Mission Simulation" and although, it is not really an accurate simulation of what life is like for many missionaries today, it was nevertheless a good experience for me to adjust to different living conditions and different methods of learning a language and culture.

The first set of pictures I am posting below are just to do with life in the tents and on the campsite. All quite self-explanatory, except maybe for the two different kinds of little blue "houses" - one with a bucket as a toilet and the other with a bucket to use for taking a shower...

Mission Simulation set-up

2011-06-03T16:03:00.001+01:00

The field from my previous blog post is now my new home. It is now no longer empty but full of tents and people.

Yesterday, our Cross-Cultural Communication class set up our tents for what is called "Mission Simulation". For the next 5 weeks, we will live in these fairly simple conditions (no proper toilets or showers, no internet, e-mail, telephone or mobiles, and electricity from a solar panel just to use for our laptops and rechargeable batteries).

Most of our time for the next 5 weeks, we will be doing culture & language acquisition. I will be studying the Palaka language and culture together with 3 other students. We will have 2 hours a day with a couple of missionaries who will be speaking Palaka to us. We will record what they say and then spend the rest of the day listening to and analysing those recordings to learn as much as possible from it (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure etc.). Looking forward to it!

This will be my last blog post for a while as I will not have any internet access for the next 5 weeks.

Below are the first pictures from yesterday and today when we set up and moved into our tents. The last photo is of the tent I will be sharing with two other young men.

The field

2011-05-27T11:35:00.001+01:00

The field is ready.

This is where in about one week's time, our Cross-Cultural Communication class will be setting up our tents for a 5-week experience called "Mission Simulation".

In those five weeks, we will be living without many modern conveniences and spend most of our time with culture & language acquisition (CLA). Eight hours a day, we will be learning a foreign language and culture from a "culture & language helper" (CLH).

The language I will be learning is Palaka, a language spoken in the Ivory Coast by about 8,000 people. I will be learning the language from a missionary who used to minister to this people group.

As I visited the campsite this morning before breakfast, it was hard to imagine that I would soon be living here for over a month together with all my classmates. We will have alsmost no contact with the outside world.

I hope to post some more photos and write a bit more next week once we have set up our tents and while I am still able to access the internet.

Just stop and think

2011-05-26T19:06:00.000+01:00

What is life about?

What is your life about?

Just stop and take 15 minutes to watch and think about this video:

This could be the greatest day of your life.

Stop and think.

What's this?

2011-04-07T19:00:00.000+01:00

I took this photo today. I have no idea why it turned out the way it did. There was absolutely no photo editing involved. Anybody want to attempt a guess at what it is?

A North Cotes hymn

2011-03-30T20:12:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, I had the opportunity of learning a little bit more about the history of North Cotes and St. Nicholas Church from the church warden. I was also able to visit the church and have a little tour of it. Its history goes back at least to the 13th century.

One of the things that interested me the most was to find out about a hymn that was written here many years ago, out in the middle of nowhere. The tune is aptly called “North Coates”. I found out that this hymn is not even sung any more in the church in North Cotes. That’s really unfortunate because if it’s not even sung here, I wonder where it still would be sung today.

Nevertheless, the words of the hymn are very good and worth dwelling on and worth reposting on my blog:

O my Saviour, lifted

From the earth for me,

Draw me, in Thy mercy,

Nearer unto Thee.

Lift my earth-bound longings,

Fix them, LORD, above;

Draw me with the magnet

Of Thy mighty love.

LORD, Thine arms are stretching

Ever far and wide

To enfold Thy children

To Thy loving side.

And I come, O JESUS; -

Dare I turn away!

No! Thy love hath conquer’d,

And I come to-day;

Bringing all my burdens,

Sorrow, sin, and care,

At Thy feet I lay them,

And I leave them there.

Why don’t you make this your prayer today?

Missions or Jesus?

2011-03-19T20:44:00.001Z

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:16-20)

Many of you will be very familiar with this text. It is the classic passage on missions. You may have heard a number of sermons on this text before. But this blog post is not primarily about missions. I believe if you take a step back and look at these verses, you will see that they are also about something else, something that is even more important than missions.

The question I want you to consider is, “What is your relationship to Jesus Christ?” This question is much more important than the question “What is your relationship to missions?”. If you do not have a right relationship to Jesus Christ, it will be of no use challenging you about missions. Before you get involved in missions (and even after you get involved in missions), you must make sure that you have a right relationship to Christ. If you do not have this right relationship to Jesus, your mission efforts will be in vain. But if you have a right relationship to Jesus, you will not need to be challenged about missions – your involvement in missions will be a natural result. So what is your relationship to Jesus Christ?

From these five verses at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, I have six questions for you today.

Question 1: Have you met Jesus?

In Matthew 28:16, we read, “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.”

Here we see that the disciples had a meeting with Jesus. There was a specific time and place for this meeting. Now this was not their first encounter with Jesus. They had been together with Jesus for several years. But each disciple did at one time meet Jesus for the first time. And it was an encounter that changed their life.

What about you? Have you had an encounter with Jesus that changed your life? Have you repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus? Have you come to know Jesus as your Saviour, as your Lord, as your God, as your King, as your Shepherd and as your Friend?

Before you can be of any value on the mission field and before you can live any kind of a life that pleases God, you must have had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. This is the basis for everything that follows, including the next five questions. You must start by meeting Jesus and knowing Him as your Lord and Saviour.

Question 2: Are you worshipping Jesus?

Verse 17 says, “And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.”

Are you worshipping Jesus? Or are you doubting? Are you worshiping other things? Who or what has the greatest worth for you in life? What is it you are living for?

You don’t even need to answer this question. It is already evident by the way you live. In Matthew 7:20, Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” With reference to this verse, Mark Cahill writes, “Whether you love Jesus or Satan will be evident by how you spend your time and resources.”

Worship is far much greater and much more important than missions. In his book Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper writes,

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Question 3: Are you listening to Jesus?

Verse 18 starts out with these words: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying...”

When you read the gospels, you see very soon that Jesus has a lot to say to us – especially if you have a Bible where the words of Christ are marked in red. In one sense, Jesus has a message to give to us, and in another sense He Himself is God’s message to us. You see this especially in the Gospel of John.

In John 1:1, Jesus is called “the Word.” So Jesus is the Word, but He also speaks words to us. In John 6:61, Jesus says, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Jesus’ words are not throw-away phrases. They are words of life! You need to hear His words so that you can live! Peter understood this very well and when Jesus asked His disciples if they would also leave Him, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Have you understood this truth and are you listening to Jesus so that you might have life? If you really are one of His sheep and know Him as your Shepherd, you will be listening to His voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Question 4: Are you trusting Jesus?

Let us now read the rest of verse 18: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

The Lord Jesus Christ has all authority and power! He has power over all creation, over all people, over sin, over illnesses, over death, over demons and over Satan. Nothing can have greater power over you than Jesus! Because He has all power, you can trust Him to fulfil His promises.

This does not mean that you won’t have difficulties in life. You will have difficulties and hardships. But you can trust Jesus in the midst of the worst situations in life, because He is greater than all! Romans 8:31-39 says the following:

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You will have difficulties in life, but you can trust and depend on Jesus in all circumstances! His authority is greater than what you may think or feel!

When Jesus speaks – listen! And when Jesus speaks – trust! Sometimes when Jesus speaks, He commands. When Jesus commands – obey! Trust and obey! This leads me to my next question for you today...

Question 5: Are you obeying Jesus?

Continuing in Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...”

These well-known verses are often called the Great Commission. Concerning these verses, Hudson Taylor said, “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed.” Jesus Christ, who has all authority, commands us to be involved in missions! Every Christian can and must be involved in one way or another. Not all can go as missionaries – many must stay to send and support missionaries. John Piper says, “There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient.” What kind of a Christian are you?

But Jesus spoke on many more matters other than just missions! Are you obeying His commandments? Your obedience to the words and commands of Jesus is a good indicator of the kind of relationship you have with Him – whether you truly know Him or not. In 1 John 2:3-5, we read, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

Question 6: Are you looking to Jesus?

For our last question, consider the final words of Jesus in this portion of Scripture: “and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

This little word “lo” in the King James Version is translated in the New International Version as “surely” and in the New Living Translation as “be sure of this”, but the literal meaning of the underlying Greek word is this: See! Behold! Look!

Where are you to look? To Jesus! In Hebrews 12:1-2, we read,

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When are you to look to Jesus? Always! He Himself says, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” If Jesus is always with you, you can always look to Him.

Why are you to look to Jesus? Because He is your only hope! Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” This is how you get saved! By looking to Jesus and realising that you needed God’s help. This does not change after you are saved. You still need Him. And you still need to look to Him. All the ends of the earth must look to Jesus. That includes you.

When you look to Jesus, you seek to meet Him, you behold His beauty and worship Him, you watch His lips to receive instruction from Him, you show your trust in Him and your dependence on Him, and as you do, you receive power to obey Him.

Is this your relationship to Jesus?

Lessons from a rainbow

2011-03-09T19:33:00.000Z

This morning, I saw a rainbow in the sky. I always enjoy seeing a rainbow, but this time, as hard as I looked at it, I could not see much beauty in it. It was partly hidden behind grey clouds and against a backdrop of grey sky. The colours almost got lost in all the dreary greyness. I was quite disappointed with this rainbow. Certainly not a stunning shot for a photo. Not even worth attempting to take a photo of.

Many times, when I see a rainbow, I am reminded of God's covenant with Noah to never again destroy the whole earth with a flood (Genesis 9:8-17). And I often think about these verses from the Bible (Lamentations 3:21-26).

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

God's mercies are indeed new every morning and his faithfulness is great! But many times we do not realise that. God's faithfulness is a bit like our experience with rainbows. Let me explain...

Many times we do not see a rainbow or maybe the rainbow we see is not as pretty and clear as we would have hoped. Maybe we remember seeing some beautiful rainbows in the past, but we haven't delighted in one for quite a while. Why is it only on some few remarkable days that we see an amazing rainbow? Why don't we get to see a beautiful rainbow every day? Does this mean that on most days there just aren't any rainbows?

As I thought about this, it struck me that there probably is a rainbow every day - somewhere in the world. Actually, my guess would be that there probably are countless rainbows every day! The only reason why we only see one occasionally is that we can't see the complete picture. Our view is limited to our close surroundings. But there are rainbows everywhere - all the time.

Similarly, God's faithfulness is everywhere. Every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. On some days you will see it very clearly. On other days you may not see it at all. But it is still there. God's faithfulness reaches to the clouds (Psalm 36:5) and is unto all generations (Psalm 119:90).

Because God is and will always be faithful, you can completely trust in Him at all times. You can know that He will do what He has promised. Therefore, hope in God. Wait for God. And seek God.

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. (Lamentations 3:26)

The Lord is my Shepherd

2011-02-17T21:03:00.002Z

It's one of the most beautiful and most well-known passages in the Bible. A prominent passage in many children's Bibles. A psalm memorised by many children at home, in church or in school. Verses that give hope to those who have lost their way and are looking for guidance and help. Words that have been put to song in many languages and that have become a classic hymn. Truths providing comfort for many who are mourning and grieving the loss of a loved one. Words of life. Words for life.

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

As stated in the first verse, the truths of this beautiful psalm apply to those who know the Lord as their Shepherd. However, from the Bible and from our own experience we know that "all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6a). Just like a sheep that leaves its shepherd and is helplessly running into destruction, so our sin of turning away from God has also brought us to the place where we are headed for destruction and are helpless to save ourselves. Our only hope would be for God, our Shepherd, to come looking for us and to save us. This is exactly what God did by sending His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said that He "is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). In order to save us, Christ gave His life for us on the cross. That is why Jesus is called the Good Shepherd: "I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).

One important question remains: Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Shepherd?

If you do, then the truths of this psalm apply to you.

If do not, then you can come to know Him today as your Shepherd. Simply cry out to Jesus and ask Him to save you and give you a heart of faith and repentance. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

Who painted the sky this morning?

2011-02-07T19:18:00.000Z

This was what the sky in North Cotes looked like this morning:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

(Psalm 19:1-6)

Meditation on death

2011-02-05T11:40:00.001Z

Very quickly there will be an end of you here (Job 9:25-26; 14:1-2; Luke 12:20; Heb. 9:27); look what will become of you in another world. Today man is; and tomorrow he appears not. And when he is taken away from sight, he also quickly passes out of mind.
Oh, dullness and hardness of man's heart, which thinks only upon the present, and does not rather care for what is to come! You ought to order yourself in every act and thought, as if today you were on the point to die. If you had a good conscience you would not greatly fear death (Luke 12:37). It were better to avoid sins than to flee death. If today you are not prepared, how can you be tomorrow? Tomorrow is uncertain, and how do you know if you shall have a tomorrow?

These words are quoted from a book entitled The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, a monk who lived in the 15th century, before the Reformation. As I was reading through the book, these words reminded me of the theme of my blog: "Here today and gone tomorrow". The Imitation of Christ is divided into four books. The quote above is from the first book ("Admonitions Useful for a Spiritual Life") and the 23rd chapter which is entitled "Meditation on Death".

Death is not a topic we like to think about a lot. But the day of your death is the day of your destiny.The Bible makes very clear that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). So while we have this life on earth, we should be preparing ourselves for that day. Are you ready to meet your Maker? What will be said of you on that day of judgment? Will you stand guilty in your rebellion against God before Jesus Christ, the Judge, and be condemned to an eternal punishment in hell? Or will you stand righteous before Him and have entrance into heaven, not because of any good deeds you have done, but because of His mercy in forgiving your sins and covering you with the righteousness of Christ when you trusted in Him as your Lord and Saviour? Jesus Christ still holds out forgiveness and everlasting hope to you if you will only turn to Him in faith and repentance. He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). If you know Christ as your Saviour, you need not fear death. Will you come to Him today?

Thomas à Kempis closes his chapter "Meditation on Death" with the following words:

Labor now to live so that in the hour of death you may rather rejoice than fear. Learn now to die to the world, that you may then begin to live with Christ (Rom. 6:8). Learn now to forsake all things (Luke 14:33) that you may then freely go to Christ. Chastise your body now by repentance (I Cor. 9:27) that you may then have sure confidence.
Ah, fool, why do you think to live long, when you have not one day that is safe? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched from the body! How often have you heard them saying, That man has fallen by the sword; that man has drowned; that man by falling from a height has broken his neck; that man died while eating; that man has come to his end while playing! One perished by fire, another by the steel, another of the plague, another at the hands of robbers; and thus death comes to all, and man's life suddenly passes away like a shadow (Job 14:2). Who shall remember you when you are dead?
Do now, my beloved, whatever you are able to do; for you know not when you shall die, neither what shall befall you after your death. While you have time, heap unto yourself everlasting riches (Matt. 6:20; Gal. 6:8). Think on nothing but your salvation; care for nothing but the things of God. Keep yourself as a stranger and pilgrim upon the earth (I Peter 2:11), and as one to whom the affairs of this world do not belong. Keep your heart free, and lifted up to God, because you have here "no continuing city" (Heb. 13:14).

The quotations above are from Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ, New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who desires to have a closer communion with Christ and to be an imitator of Christ. The book includes many helpful prayers centred around Christ and His work.

How much is Jesus worth?

2011-01-15T15:31:00.002Z

$15 for a Bible, $10 for a necklace with a cross, $2 to put in the offering plate in church on Sunday and maybe $20 for the Salvation Army once a year… Christianity really seems to be quite affordable. But is that all it takes to be Christian? Somebody might say you must give 10% of your income to God. But even that is quite affordable. Is Jesus worth only that much? Just our loose change and maybe a little extra every now and then?

Think about it: What is most the most valuable thing or person in the universe, which we should give everything for in order to get? The answer is simple: Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ surpasses riches, family, health, religion, houses, holidays, fame, cars, fun, music, sex, drugs and football by far. This life on earth will soon be over and all you have accumulated and achieved will be gone forever. Here today and gone tomorrow. But one thing will not be gone - your soul. Your soul will live on forever in one of two places: heaven or hell. Then everything you have lived for on earth will account for nothing and will be worthless – unless you lived for Christ.

Jesus once said,

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)

Your soul is far more valuable than everything this world offers. Therefore, you should make it your top priority in this life to guard and protect your soul and make sure that it is not lost in the everlasting torments in hell when this life is over. Seriously, who cares about movies or football? Don’t get me wrong. These things are not necessarily bad in themselves. I love football. But they are completely worthless and absurd in light of eternity! What difference will it make to your life 100 years from now? Hopefully, these kind of things will not make the decisive difference in that they kept you away from the most important thing - the salvation of your soul.

Jesus Christ is the One who will make the difference when it comes to the eternal destiny of your soul. Therefore, He is infinitely valuable. All the money in the world cannot buy your way into heaven. Jesus has already paid the price for you by shedding his own blood on the cross and dying for the sins of the world. God gave everything so that you could be forgiven. And this shows you how great your sins are in the sight of God – the perfect, holy Son of God had to suffer a cruel death on the cross and suffer God’s wrath. It was the only way your sins could be forgiven.

What will you give in order to know this God and have Jesus Christ as your Saviour? In one of His parables, Jesus made the following point:

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)

This is what Jesus is worth – everything. All your possessions, all your time, all your money, all your health, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, all your dreams, all your relationships, all your past, all your present, all your future. Every penny, every word, every thought, every deed, every breath, every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year. All your life.

Not only is Jesus worth giving up everything in order to know Him, He is also worth giving up everything in order to make Him known to others, even if this means being ridiculed, despised, hated, persecuted, abused and tormented by others for His sake. The apostle Paul regarded these things merely as a “light affliction” compared with the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:13). This kind of attitude has also been demonstrated by countless Christians who have died for their faith throughout history – from the earliest days of Christianity right until today.

The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther, whose life was under threat when chose to remain true to his faith in Christ, penned these words in the last stanza of his famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”:

Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Somebody once said, “Until you find something worth dying for, you’re not really living.”

Are you clinging on to worthless, deadly pleasures, or are you giving everything for the greatest treasure?

Jesus’ worth is immeasurable. Treasure Him above everything.

(The 5-minute video below probably does a much better job of communicating what I am trying to put down in my own words.)

See, amid the winter's snow...

2010-12-20T19:56:00.000Z

Haven't we been surprised by all of the snow in recent weeks?!? Well, at least here in Europe... It seems like everybody is commenting and twittering and blogging and posting photos about the snow! Okay, so now it's my turn!

Let's start with some pictures from the snow we had earlier this month in North Cotes, close to the end of the school term - from what I heard, it was the heaviest snowfall in that area anyone can remember!

Credit goes to Marina for most of these photos - thanks for letting me use them!

Because of the snow, we had a number of prolonged power and internet outages and, for a few days, we were completely cut off from civilisation as the only road out of the neighbourhood was impassable! The annual Christmas programme had to be cancelled for safety reasons and a number of local churches in Grimsby also cancelled their Sunday services.

All of this was just a week or so before term break when we were to go home again, so we were getting a bit worried about whether that would even be possible. But, praise God, the snow melted away more and more, so that everyone could get out once the holidays began! :-)

There were no problems whatsoever on the road driving back to Germany, but then the very next day it started snowing again! This past weekend, I went to a wedding in northern Bavaria, where we saw even crazier amounts of snow! See for yourself...

As Christmas approaches, all of the snow brings to mind a lovely Christmas carol:

See, amid the winter's snow,

Born for us on Earth below,

See, the tender Lamb appears,

Promised from eternal years.

Hail, thou ever blessed morn,

Hail redemption's happy dawn,

Sing through all Jerusalem,

Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Lo, within a manger lies

He who built the starry skies;

He who, throned in height sublime,

Sits among the cherubim.

Say, ye holy shepherds,say,

What your joyful news today;

Wherefore have ye left your sheep

On the lonely mountain steep?

"As we watched at dead of night,

Lo, we saw a wondrous light:

Angels singing 'Peace On Earth'

Told us of the Saviour's birth."

Sacred Infant, all divine,

What a tender love was Thine,

Thus to come from highest bliss

Down to such a world as this.

Teach, O teach us, Holy Child,

By Thy face so meek and mild,

Teach us to resemble Thee,

In Thy sweet humility.

Merry Christmas, everybody! Hopefully any snow you may have will add to the Christmas spirit and remind you of the wonderful words of this beautiful carol. What a wonder that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth to bring us peace and hope and life!

kʰæn ju ɹid ðɪs?

2010-12-04T09:36:00.001Z

wɛlkʌm tʰu ðə ɪntənæʃnəl fənɛtɪk ælfəbɛt (ɑⁱpieⁱ) wɛɹ wɹdz ɑɹ spɛld ɛgsækli æz ðɛⁱ ɑɹ pɹoᵘnæᵘnst. ðɪs ɪz wʌd ɑⁱ hæv bɪn lɹnɪŋ ðə pʰæst fju wiks ɪn mɑⁱ kʰɹɔs kʰʌltʃʊɹəl kʰɔmjunɪkeⁱʃnz kl̥æs. si bɪloᵘ foɹ sʌm pɪktʃəɹz ænd wɑtʃ dænjəl mɛⁱk ə mɛs ɔv θɪŋz.

Translation:

Can you read this?

Welcome to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) where words are spelled exactly as they are pronounced. This is what I have been learning the past few weeks in my Cross-Cultural Communications class. See below for some pictures and watch Daniel make a mess of things.

And here is Daniel trying out one of those difficult R sounds...

The most fun class of the year so far! =)

Please repent of your sin

2010-10-25T16:36:00.000+01:00

Please repent of your sin.
It is killing you.
It is killing others.
It is contributing to the horrific nature of the world.
It is separating you from God.
It could cause you to spend eternity in the conscious, eternal torments of hell.

Repentance is a gift that God gives.
Repentance is the love of God in action.
Repentance is only possible because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

And friends, you and I, we are sinners. And Jesus came to save sinners.

These words were spoken by Mark Driscoll in a sermon about the fall of man. Don't take this as a personal accusation or judgment from my part. I am just as bad a sinner as anyone else and I know it. So I am not pointing the finger at you. But the Bible says that we all are sinners and God warns us about the consequences of sin. Don't let sin destroy you. Come to Christ in repentance and let him change your heart.

If you want to know more about how Jesus Christ's death on the cross can save you from your sins, I recommend you listen to Mark Driscoll's sermons on the fall and on the cross.

As the great Puritan writer John Owen said, "Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

6 minutes of good news

2010-10-08T19:07:00.001+01:00

No matter what nation or people group or culture or language or religion, the gospel is good news for everybody. It is good news for you. Good news for every day of your life and for all eternity.

Will you take just 6 minutes to watch the following video about the gospel and find out how this is good news for you?

Think about it.

Meditate on it.

Let it sink in.

Believe the gospel and live.

You never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never outgrow your need for the gospel!

Woodlands survival

2010-09-28T13:42:00.002+01:00

Last week, I spent 4 days out in the woodlands in Derbyshire receiving survival training with my classmates as part of our Cross-Cultural Communication course. On site, we were provided with a few pots and pans, a limited amount of water every day, and an experienced instructor to give us training in how to survive in the woods. We were able to bring our sleeping bags and clothes and food, but only what we were able to carry on our backs. Tents were not allowed. We would have to learn how to build our own shelters from what is available in the woods.

We packed our cars early Monday morning and drove for about 2 1/2 hours to a place in Derbyshire where we could leave our cars.

From there, we hiked about 40 minutes into the woods.

After we arrived, our instructor Dave first taught us how to build a shelter.

And then it was up to us to gather materials for a shelter...

... and to make a shelter that would hopefully be waterproof!

Here is the finished product and my bed for the next three nights (with a makeshift mattress out of branches and foilage)!

This was what our camp looked like:

We learned how to make string from plants...

... start a fire ...

... even without any matchsticks or the like!

Plenty of smoke!

And useful for roasting a chicken or two!

We also learned how to make traps for animals...

... and where and how to find and make sense of animal tracks.

We had great weather every day, with just a few raindrops landing on my face on Thursday morning at around 5 a.m. - because my head was sticking outside of the shelter, not because my shelter wasn't waterproof! ;-)

And then it was time to pack our bags and head back to the car park again.

Goodbye woodlands!

The first to arrive back at the car park! =)

All in all a great experience - learned lots of interesting new things and had a good few days out in the woods with my classmates!

Tweet!

2010-09-13T19:10:00.002+01:00

There you have it. I joined Twitter. I never really wanted to, but a friend kept telling me I should join, so I thought I would give it a try. Not sure how it all works yet and not convinced that I really want to keep it, but maybe some of you out there can persuade me otherwise...

So if you are on Twitter, you can now follow me @michaeltschmid.

Tweet!

Life without limits!

2010-07-25T19:47:00.000+01:00

Are you living life to the full? Or are you struggling with your daily circumstances and quickly become depressed? Life is not always easy. In fact, everyone of us will have to go through really difficult times. But this does not mean that there is no hope and we cannot have joy.

This morning in church, I was greatly encouraged when we watched the following amazing video about Nick Vujicic, a man who probably has much more reason to despair of his circumstances than any of us, but whose life nevertheless is bursting forth with joy. If he can find joy in his condition, then so can you!

Visit Nick's website at www.lifewithoutlimbs.org.

Jesus says: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10b)

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence

2010-07-17T11:10:00.001+01:00

What are you doing with your life? When we look around in our society today, we see people who in our eyes are wasting their lives - drunkards, drug addicts, beggars, prostitutes, criminals, prisoners etc. What we tend to (or want to) forget is that the hard-working, honest, church-going businessman with a wife and two children and a nice home may just as well be wasting his life, if he is living only for this life and what the world has to offer.

Several years after writing his excellent book Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper and his ministry Desiring God will be releasing a new movie entitled "Don't Waste Your Life Sentence" on 20 August 2010. This movie tells the story of people who have wasted their lives and have become rejects of society, but have had their lives radically changed by the gospel. They have found hope and peace and freedom in Jesus Christ and now have a reason to live again and the desire not to waste their lives.

You can see the trailer here:

What can we learn from these kind of people who were failures and have lost everything? Probably a lot more than you realise...

For more info on the movie, visit http://beta.desiringgod.org/dwyls.

The greatest truth

2010-06-16T14:21:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday, I once again had the opportunity of giving a short gospel message at a local nursing home. Over the past 10 months or so, I have been speaking from the gospel of John, starting at the very first verse and moving on bit by bit. This past Sunday was the day when I came to what is probably the most well-known verse in the Bible:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

This one sentence has been translated into different languages of the whole world more often than any other sentence.

Why?

Because it tells us the most important message that people in the world need to hear today. For many reasons, John 3:16 is the greatest truth there is. Take a look at how this verse can be broken down:

God – the greatest Giver

so – the greatest degree

loved – the greatest motive

the world – the greatest company

that He gave – the greatest act

His only begotten Son – the greatest gift

that whosoever – the greatest invitation

believeth – the greatest decision

in Him – the greatest Person

should not perish – the greatest deliverance

but – the greatest difference

have – the greatest certainty

everlasting life – the greatest possession

(This breakdown has been slightly adjusted from a blog post I found on the internet a year or two ago and found to be very helpful for a Bible study I was preparing.)

God dramatically intervened in history some 2,000 years ago by sending His only Son to this world. Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of people from every tongue and tribe and nation. By placing our faith in Christ, we can have our sins forgiven and receive eternal life.

God’s invitation still is open to “whosoever”. The only question is: What will you do with Jesus? Will you believe in Him or reject Him? There is no other alternative. The world’s greatest truth calls for your greatest decision.

How to enjoy the World Cup finals without committing idolatry

2010-06-08T10:55:00.000+01:00

The following article is by my friend Vic Gill and was originally posted on the website "That I may know Him".

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen (1 John 5:21)

With the World Cup 2010 Finals fast approaching, the world embraces itself for what commentators call the ‘world’s biggest sporting showdown.’ For one whole month 32 national football teams will converge upon South Africa to compete for the most coveted ‘relic’ of the sporting world – the 18 carat gold World Cup Trophy. Not to mention the accolade of the teams name going down in footballs hall of fame. It’s meant to be the crème da le crème of all sporting events and you can be pretty sure that this event will engulf the world for its four week long duration. Football will literally take over.

It just so happens that on Sunday 11th July – the same day as the World Cup Final – my wife and I will celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary and run the London 10k marathon for Leprosy Mission, all in one day. Now, I’m not a sports fanatic or football crazy either, but here’s hoping that England makes it to the final. Wouldn’t it be even better if England goes on to win the world cup? I sure do hope so. Football, like anything good, noble and worthy can be enjoyed and it can be enjoyed even more when you know that life is not about football, but about the glory of God’s Son, Jesus Christ and His pleasure. That is what man was made for. But something has gone wrong.

What’s gone wrong?

Something needs to be said about a major event like this from a Biblical perspective. God’s Word is not vacant but penetrates into every facet of life. The Bible has something to say about everything, and yes, even the hysteria that surrounds major sports tournaments. The worship of the One True God has been replaced by so many millions of people with the worship of football. Generation after generation is being brought up with more knowledge about their football team than their Creator.

I am deeply troubled about the way in which football is religiously followed by the masses. It is a sad reality to see how sport is idolised and worshipped by so many millions of people. It is the equivalent of a modern day religion for the masses. It has its own stars, celebrities, relics, mantras, chants, followers and experts. Loyal fans even employ the use of Biblical language to express the emotion they feel. Some call it the ‘beautiful game.’ Good players are often called ‘God’; transferring players are referred to as ‘Judas.’ Chants such as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘When the Saints go marching in’ are belted out from the stands. Managers are encouraged with slogans such as ‘In Rafa We Trust.’

What is Idolatry?

You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3)

Idolatry is the love of someone or something more than the love of the God who created you and gave you life. Whilst many may not practice the idol worship of statues, the modern day form of idolatry is bowing at the altar of self and celebrity. The worship of anything that is not the One True God is idolatry. Idolatry is not just the bowing to idols and statues; it is the allegiance and condition of the heart and mind. It is what you are devoted to. It is what occupies your mind and your thought life. Where you spend your money, time and talk is usually a tell-tale sign of what your god is.

This generation has made a god out of football. It has given football more time, love and affection than God. If you have done this, you are guilty before God and will be judged by Him on judgement day. You are sinning against God when you live for anything else but God. The very God who created you and gave you breathe is ignored, rejected and replaced with idols such as football.

So here are three things you can do to enjoy the 2010 World Cup Final without committing idolatry.

Let your treasure be Christ

Jesus said: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

You can enjoy the 2010 World Cup Final without committing idolatry. One way is found in the above words of Christ. Let your treasure be in Christ first and foremost. The distribution of your time, money and strength is a display of the condition of your heart. If your treasure and heart is in anything other Jesus Christ, then you need to repent, make a u-turn and place your treasures in the right place. As you watch the football, keep reminding yourself of the eternal treasures of salvation and unsearchable riches which are in Christ Jesus. Let your hope and joy be rekindled each time you think about Jesus. Know that after the football tournament, whether your team wins or not, you have a spectacular trophy that awaits you in the heavens. Joy, real joy is the outcome of knowing, following and walking in Christ. The joys of repentance are worth more than all the diamonds in the earth.

Spend More Time Giving Him Glory

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. (Revelation 4:11)

Another way in which you can enjoy the 2010 World Cup Final without committing idolatry is by spending more time with Him. I am certain that many hours will be spent enjoying and watching World Cup Football. However, the child of God should have a soul stirring desire within their hearts to spend time giving Him glory. Redeem the time and use it wisely. You were made to worship God. You were made to adore God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength. Many Christians are miserable because they spend so little time in God’s presence. Don’t waste countless hours watching football and then give God a passing nod. You were not made to worship man or football. You were not made to religiously follow a football team. You were made for God’s pleasure so that you could enjoy Him for ever. A.W. Tozer said, “Jesus Christ came to make worshippers out of rebels.” Worship Him above all things and let every other pursuit fall into the shadow of this awesome and great privilege. Football will come and go, but God will stand tall forever, abiding eternally.

Speak less about football, more about Jesus

He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)

The final way in which you can enjoy the 2010 World Cup Final without committing idolatry is by telling others about Jesus the Saviour. This is incredibly soul satisfying. It brings pleasure to the heart to talk about the Master. During the World Cup season make it an effort to speak less about football and more about Jesus. Tell the world of the soul satisfying Saviour. Tell your football watching friends about the Saviour who died for their sins. Speak much about the sinless Saviour who gave Himself as a ransom for many. Speak about the final judgement seat of Christ before which all humans will one day stand. As Christians we are not to drop our guard and we are certainly not to go passive because everyone else is preoccupied with the football. Remember that during the tournament many millions of people are still dying and going to hell. Remember that many people are still living in complete darkness. Remember there that there are still villages where the Gospel has not been preached. Remember there is a world outside of football which still lives in sin, death, disease, sickness and misery.

I believe if you do these things, you can enjoy the 2010 World Cup Finals without committing idolatry.

Article republished with kind permission of the author Vic Gill.

My creed

2010-05-28T23:37:00.003+01:00

In my Church History class, we recently were looking at different creeds of the early church. These were written to define clearly what the church believed in, often as a response to heretical teachings of the time. One of our assignments in this class was to write our own creed. I thought it might be good to post it on my blog, too. I want my faith and beliefs to be based on the Word of God and I trust that this creed also is a reflection of that. So here we go...

My creed

God is the sovereign Creator and King of everybody and of everything. Everything exists for His glory.

God has revealed Himself to man by His creation, by His Son, and by His Word. The Bible is the verbally inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.

There is only one God who exists in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is eternal. He has always existed and never had a beginning.

God created the universe and all that is in it in six days. On the sixth day, He created man in His own image. Although created sinless, the first man chose to sin against God, with the effect that all of his descendants – the whole human race – are born with a sin nature. Every person therefore is a sinner by birth.

Since God is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin, He must punish sin. He is completely righteous and loves righteousness and therefore must hate unrighteousness. Every sin is ultimately against God and His righteousness. Even just one “little” sin is such a great offence against God and His righteousness that the just punishment is eternal death and everlasting suffering in a literal hell. By breaking just one of God’s commandments, man has become guilty of them all. Man is by nature totally depraved and dead in his trespasses and sins. He can do nothing to save himself from God’s just wrath.

Because of God’s great love, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for sinners. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a human being and was born by a virgin, so He did not have a human father and He did not inherit a sin nature. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth and shed His blood on the cross where He died for the sins of mankind as their Substitute. On the cross, Jesus Christ bore not only the sins of men, but also the full wrath of God on these sins, so that man’s sins could be atoned for and forgiven. After three days, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, showing that God was satisfied with His payment and that He had won the victory over sin and death.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, any person who places His faith in Christ as his Lord and Saviour is forgiven of his sins and receives the gift of eternal life. The Holy Spirit regenerates and indwells such a person so that he becomes a new creation in Christ and can never lose his salvation. Those who reject Christ or place their trust in anything else for salvation remain dead in their sins and remain condemned to eternal death.

Jesus Christ will forever be King of kings and Lord of lords. Every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Warm fuzzy tarantulas

2010-04-22T15:36:00.000+01:00

Recently, I read a book which made the following statement: "We keep fondling smooth roaches and warm fuzzy tarantulas in the dark."

Now you might begin to wonder what kind of books I am reading. It was actually a theological book on regeneration or what Jesus Christ meant when He said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)

So what does this have to do with roaches and tarantulas? They serve as an illustration of what effect the new birth has on a person.

But before we get to that, consider the following statement the Bible makes about a person in his natural state:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1-2, ESV)

A person who has not been given new life in Jesus Christ is described as being spiritually dead and following Satan ("the prince of the power of the air") and his desires, all the while not realising that he really is in bondage to the devil and his will.

So what can one do to be set free from this bondage? The Bible shows us that we need God's help to be set free:

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26, ESV)

This is what John Piper sees as the new birth. In his book Finally Alive, he writes,

And here is the key to liberating people from the captivity of the devil. God grants repentance - that is, he awakens the life that sees the ugliness and danger of sin and the beauty and worth of Christ. That truth sets the prisoner free.

And then he comes to this illustration:

It's what happens when a person in the dark fondles an ebony brooch hanging around his neck, and then the lights go on and he sees it's not a brooch but a cockroach, and flings it away. That's how people are set free from the devil. And until God does that miracle of new birth, we stay in bondage to the father of lies because we love to be able to tell ourselves whatever we please. We keep fondling smooth roaches and warm fuzzy tarantulas in the dark. (Finally Alive, p. 58)

I think this is a great illustration of how our attitude to sin changes once we are born again. All of a sudden, we see it for what it is - ugly and dangerous - and we do not want to have any part in it.

And this is also a good test for anyone who wonders if he has been truly born again. What is your attitude to sin? Do you cuddle it and play around with it? Or do you fling it away with disgust?

This does not mean that a person who has been born again will never sin, but it does mean that such a person will not continually live a sinful lifestyle.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9, ESV)

Regeneration brings about a wonderful change in the life of a person. He is saved from God’s wrath and is given spiritual and eternal life and becomes a child of God. All this is possible because of Christ’s substitutionary atonement for our sins on the cross. Although we may never fully understand the mystery of regeneration, we can never thank and praise God enough for the great work He has done for us who believe in Him.

Jesus died - so what?

2010-04-02T06:00:00.008+01:00

Today is Good Friday. This is said to be the day in the year on which Jesus Christ was crucified and died. But it doesn't really matter if it was precisely on this day or on some other day, the important thing is the historical fact that Jesus Christ did actually die on the cross. And 2,000 years later, this event still has a bearing on the life of every person in the world today - including you.

So what does Good Friday have to do with you? And how could the killing of an innocent man ever be called a "good" event and be celebrated by Christians?

Whether you think you know the answer or not, please take 10 minutes today to watch the following video clip of Paul Washer speaking on this subject.

I am not but I know I AM

2010-02-27T12:50:00.001Z

Who am I? What is my identity? The first time we find someone in the Bible asking that question is in the third chapter of Exodus. In this chapter, God reveals Himself to Moses out of the burning bush and tells him that he is chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt:

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:10)

Moses immediate reply is,

Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11)

Who am I? This is actually more a rhetorical question than anything else. What Moses is really saying is, "I am not fit enough for this great task. Surely I am not the right person to do this. I don't have the necessary courage, strength or ability to do this. I am a nobody."

It is interesting to note God's answer to Moses. He does not tell him, "No, Moses, you are the man! You have great qualities. You received an excellent education in the house of Pharaoh. You are a trained military leader. You showed that you are in charge when you killed that Egyptian. Nobody can stand against you. You are amazing! You must believe in yourself!"

None of that. In fact, God never really directly answers Moses' question
"Who am I?". Instead, He says,

Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. (Exodus 3:12)

God's answer to Moses' question "Who am I?" is "I will be with you." God does not in any way contradict Moses' own assessment of himself as a nobody. But He gives him this amazing assurance: "I will be with you." This is all that matters. I doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter that you see yourself as incapable. It does not even matter that you are incapable. With God, all things are possible. You and God make a majority in any given situation. In fact, God alone makes a majority. He is in sovereign control over all things. He is with you. Just trust in His power, not your own.

God then for the first time reveals His personal name: "I AM" (Exodus 3:13-14). God is the self-existent One. He has no beginning and no end. He has no need of anything. He is the ultimate and greatest reality in the universe. And He is the One who says to Moses, "I am with you."

Based on this promise, Moses obeys God's command and goes to Pharaoh to tell him to let the Israelites go. Initially, there is a setback, and things only seem to get worse, so that Moses asks God, "Why did you ever send me?" (Exodus 5:22, ESV). But God knew what He was doing and used Moses in a mighty way to fulfill His purposes and bring glory to His name.

I am not.

I am not able.

I am not sovereign.

I am not God.

I am a nobody.

But I know I AM.

Even though I am not, I know the One who calls Himself "I AM".

I know the self-existent, eternal, all-powerful God.

And I know that He is with me.

That is all that matters.

I am not but I know I AM.

How about you? Do you know who you are? Do you recognise that you have nothing good in you apart from God?

If you are a Christian, God has given you a similar command to go. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus Christ told His followers,

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

This is an enormous task that still applies to all of Christ's followers today. We might ask ourselves the same question as Moses did: "Who am I that I should go?" And God gives us the same answer. Christ introduced this command by saying,

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)

And immediately following the Great Commission, He gave us this promise:

I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20b)

What a great promise! Yes, you can fulfill God's great purposes on earth and bring glory to His wonderful name! But you cannot do so in your own strength. You must recognise that you are nothing and trust fully in Jesus Christ and in His power working in you and through you. In this way, all the glory goes to Him.

I am not but I know I AM.

Do you know I AM?

("I am not but I know I AM" is the title of a book by Louie Giglio.)

Examine yourself

2010-01-14T16:33:00.000Z

If you are reading this, chances are you call yourself a Christian. (At least many of my friends and those following my blog call themselves Christians.) So if you call yourself a Christian, this blog post is especially for you.

I recently listened to a powerful sermon on Matthew 7 by Paul Washer in which he challenges the reasons many people give for believing that they are Christians. It made me think a lot about how I can tell and know for sure that I really am a Christian.

What reason would you give if someone asked you on what you based your belief of being a Christian?

Paul Washer gave this message to several thousand young people at a youth evangelism conference in 2002. It subsequently became known as the "shocking youth message". It may shock you, too, but I would like to encourage you to listen the whole 1-hour sermon.

If there is no way you will now listen to a whole 1-hour sermon, then at least take a look at this video of the message "in a nutshell" (3 min):

And if you want to know more about the background of this message, take a look at this video (12 min):

2 Corinthians 13:5 says:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves...

New year, no fear, Jesus is near

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000Z

It's 2010! Happy New Year!

My 2010 diary has the following words of Christ as the verse for the year:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14:1)

This verse is extremely comforting to me. I do not know what 2010 will bring. Nor do I know what will happen after 2010. I don't even know what will happen in the next 5 minutes. But when looking at the world we are living in today, there is cause for concern. Especially when we realise that there are many things that are beyond our control.

But in John 14:1, Jesus tells us that we do not need to fear. And He mentions two things that should take away our fear:

1) Faith in God
2) Faith in Jesus Christ

If we place our faith in God and in His Son Jesus Christ, there is no reason for us to fear anything or anyone.

David the Psalmist wrote:

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God have I put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? (Psalm 56:3-4, NASB)

This is true. God is above everything. He is greater and stronger and wiser than anyone or anything. The almighty God is the Creator of all things and all people and is in control of every situation, every circumstance of everyone's life. If our faith and trust is in Him, we are under His care. We can live in complete peace even though there are wars all around us.

Later on in John 14, the Lord Jesus says:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

Only Jesus can give the peace that passes understanding. When He is near, there is no reason to fear.

These thoughts remind me of a beautiful song I learned during my studies in the USA. It was written by Ron Hamilton and is called "How can I fear?".

The second stanza of the song is as follows:

When I’m alone and I face the unknown,
And I fear what the future maybe,
I can depend on the strength of my Friend -
He walks along with me.

And the chorus then goes:

How can I fear? Jesus is near.
He ever watches over me.
Worries all cease; He gives me peace.
How can I fear with Jesus?

(See the video below to listen to the whole song.)

What Christmas means to the parents grieving over the killing of their 11-year old son

2009-12-21T20:18:00.001Z

On 1 May 2009, 11-year old Sam Riddall was tragically killed in a hit-and-run incident. Today, four days before Christmas, the hit-and-run driver responsible for Sam's death was given a hospital detention order.

But what possibly can Christmas now mean to Sam's parents Martin and Rachel Riddall?

Martin Riddall gave the following statement outside of the court this afternoon:

In four days time we celebrate Christmas and it’s going to be our first Christmas without our Sam. It’s going to be very hard for us indeed, because we still miss him very much.

At Christmas we remember that God sent his son Jesus into the world to bring peace. It’s the same God that is giving us the strength and helping us to forgive Hannah for the terrible thing she’s done to us by killing our son.

It’s not easy, it’s not going to be easy. But with God’s help we know that it is possible.

For Martin and Rachel Riddall, Christmas means that "God sent his son Jesus into the world to bring peace."

When we think of Christmas, we remember the birth of Christ. At His birth, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)

Jesus came to bring peace because there was no peace between God and man. Man had rebelled against God and become His enemy. When Jesus came into this world to bring peace, He chose to take the punishment of God for our sins on Himself by shedding His perfect blood on the cross. Trusting in Christ's work for us on the cross is the only way that we can have peace with God again. That is why peace is the message of Christmas.

Consider the following verses from the Bible:

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." (Colossians 1:19-20)

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1)

Once you have asked placed your faith in Christ and have asked God to forgive your sins, you will receive His peace. And you will also be able to forgive other people even for the very worst crimes.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." (Colossians 3:13)

Because Christ has forgiven us, we can forgive others and live in peace with God and man. This is the meaning of Christmas for Martin and Rachel Riddall. God offers us peace through Jesus Christ. What does Christmas mean to you?

(Click here to see the news story along with a video of the Riddall family statement on the SkyNews website.)

The Innkeeper

2009-12-13T12:59:00.005Z

In Luke 2:7, the Bible makes the following brief statement about the birthplace of Jesus Christ:

And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

No room in the inn for the Messiah. But there was room somewhere with the animals in a stable or in a cave maybe.

Have you ever wondered if Jesus returned to visit the place of His birth? Maybe even to meet the innkeeper who did not have room in the inn that night but who provided an alternative shelter for Joseph and Mary and Jesus. Here is a beautiful poem by John Piper which imagines what such an encounter between Jesus and the innkeeper could have been like.

The original poem can be found here.

Awayo's story

2009-11-12T13:35:00.001Z

Recently I had the opportunity of translating a short NTM video into German. I'm not sure when and where the German version will be available, but here is a version with English subtitles.

This is a 10-minute video is about a man called "Awayo" from the Moi tribe in Indonesia. He represents just one of many people groups in remote corners in the world who live in fear of the spirits and who die without hope. But Awayo's life was changed dramatically when he came face to face with the truth. You can listen to him tell his story in his own language with English subtitles. This is Awayo's story.

AWAYO - Fear to Faith (English subtitles) from New Tribes Mission on Vimeo.

In the footsteps of John Wycliffe

2009-11-07T15:29:00.000Z

Over my first term break, I was able to visit the town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire.

This was where John Wycliffe lived and where he became the first person to translate the Bible into English.

John Wycliffe was born in 1324 near the village with the name Wycliffe in Yorkshire. At the age of 16, he enrolled at Oxford University and studied philosophy and Christianity. He was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Church at the age of 37 and ministered in Lutterworth. But he questioned some of the Church's doctrines and criticised the corruption of the clergy. He wanted to make the Bible understandable to all those who did not know Latin or the original biblical languages, so he translated the Bible into English for the first time, some 200 years before the time of the Reformation. John Wycliffe thus later became known as the "Morning Star of the Reformation." Wycliffe and his followers, known as the "Lollards", preached the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins by faith in Christ's substitutionary death on the cross throughout England. Wycliffe said: "The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere...any additional rules made to govern men's conduct added nothing to the perfection already found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

In Lutterworth, you can still see the church where Wycliffe preached, the Parish Church of St. Mary:

This is what it looks like from the inside:

And this is the pulpit Wycliffe is said to have preached from:

The church also has a Wycliffe memorial, which shows Wycliffe preaching:

The inscription below reads as follows:

SACRED TO TE MEMORY OF

JOHN WICLIF

EARLIEST CHAMPION OF ECCLESIASTICAL REFORMATION IN ENGLAND;

HE WAS BORN IN YORKSHIRE IN THE YEAR 1324;

IN THE YEAR 1375 HE WAS PRESENTED TO THE RECTORY OF LUTTERWORTH:

WHERE HE DIED ON THE 31ST DECEMBER 1384;

AT OXFORD HE ACQUIRED NOT ONLY THE RENOWN OF A CONSUMMATE SCHOOLMAN;

BUT THE FAR MORE GLORIOUS TITLE OF THE EVANGELIC DOCTOR

HIS WHOLE LIFE WAS ONE IMPETUOUS STRUGGLE AGAINST THE CORRUPTIONS

AND ENCROACHMENTS OF THE PAPAL COURT;

AND THE IMPOSTURES OF ITS DEVOTED AUXILIARIES; THE MENDICANT FRATERNITIES,

HIS LABOURS IN THE CAUSE OF SCRIPTURAL TRUTH WERE CROWNED BY ONE IMMORTAL ACHIEVEMENT,

HIS TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE INTO THE ENGLISH TONGUE.

THIS MIGHTY WORK DREW ON HIM, INDEED, THE BITTER HATRED
OF ALL WHO WERE MAKING MERCHANIDISE OF THE POPULAR CREDULITY AND IGNORANCE:

BUT HE FOUND AN ABUNDANT REWARD IN THE BLESSING OF HIS COUNTRYMEN, OF EVERY RANK AND AGE,

TO WHOM HE UNFOLDED THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.

HIS MORTAL REMAINS WERE INTERRED NEAR THIS SPOT: BUT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO REST IN PEACE.

AFTER THE LAPSE OF MANY YEARS, HIS BONES WERE DRAGGED FROM THE GRAVE, AND CONSIGNED TO THE FLAMES:

AND HIS ASHES WERE CAST INTO THE WATERS OF THE ADJOIINING STREAM.

Although John Wycliffe heavily criticised the Catholic Church and sought to show the people that the truth is to be found in Scripture and not in any church tradition, he was never excommunicated nor did he ever leave the Church. In 1428, 44 years after Wycliffe's death, Pope Martin V had his remains dug out of the grave, burnt and thrown into the river Swift, hoping to erase the memory of Wycliffe from history. But instead, a chonicler by the name of Fuller observed: "They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift, a neighbouring brook running hard by. Thus the brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; and they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine which now is dispersed the world over."

Today, there is a Wycliffe Memorial in Lutterworth, which was erected in June 1987 and displays the following Bible verses:

"Search the scriptures." (Jn. 5:39)
"The entrance of thy words giveth light." (Ps. 119:130)
"Be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Heb. 6:12)
"Be thou faithful unto death." (Rev. 2:10)

Today, there are over 100 English translations of the Bible. The town of Lutterworth is also home to the British headquarters of the Gideons International, and thus a centre for Bible distribution around the world.

Can I trust God?

2009-10-17T08:55:00.000+01:00

Since starting my studies at Bible school, I have been virtually inundated with lessons from the Bible. While I have been gaining a lot of factual knowledge, much more importantly, I have been blessed by being able to apply what I have been learning to my own life.

In my class on the Pentateuch, I was particularly gripped by one question that kept cropping up: “Can I trust God?” It has been amazing for me to see how often this is the question that is asked in the first five books of the Old Testament.

It starts with the very first human beings, Adam and Eve, to whom God had given just one commandment: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16b-17). Everything else was allowed for them. But, as we learned in class, once Eve was temped by Satan, she doubted the sovereignty and majesty of God, the holiness of God, the goodness of God, the motive of God and the integrity of the word of God. Eve’s problem was that she now doubted the only One who could help her! Both she and Adam chose to believe Satan’s lie that God was trying to keep something good back from them and therefore ate of the forbidden fruit. Immediately afterwards, they realised what a terrible mistake it was not to trust God. It changed their – and our – lives on earth forever bringing sin and pain and a threefold death (physical, spiritual and eternal). If only they had trusted God!

Later, we see Abraham, who in many ways was a great example of faith, asking himself the same question: “Can I trust God?” He demonstrated great faith by following God’s call to the Promised Land, but once a famine hit the country, he decided to take matters into his own hands and flee to Egypt, showing that he did not believe God would take care of him. Once in Egypt, he felt compelled by fear to lie about the identity of his wife, again without entrusting the matter to God. And he repeated this same sin later in his life. But God was taking care of him all the time. As he grew old and his wife Sarah bore him no children, both he and Sarah again did not trust God, but instead devised their own plans to have children through their handmaid Hagar. But God had earlier promised him that his children would be as many as the stars in heaven. And God kept His promise. Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac when she was 91 years old and Abraham was 100 years old. Nothing is impossible with God!

And then when we move on to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and read we story of how God brought the Israelites out of Egypt back to the Promised Land, we see how God miraculously intervened on behalf of His people to show Himself as mighty and glorious, but again and again, the people of Israel forgot what God had done for them and murmured and complained. How could they not have trusted God in simple matters when they had seen His mighty hand work wonders among them over and over again?

But then it comes down to us, you and me. Have we ever asked ourselves, “Can I trust God?” If we are Christians, maybe we would not say it out loud, but we show it by our thoughts and actions. How many times has it been true in our lives that we thought that God could or would not take care of us? How many times have we tried to take matters into our own hands without trusting God? And how often have we seen our own plans ultimately fail only to realise that it would have been better to trust God? Surely, if you know Christ as your Saviour, you will have experienced God’s love and power and goodness in your life. From my own life I can say that God has been good to me beyond measure, despite the fact that I have often failed Him. I cannot understand why God would want to shower His goodness on me, all I can say is that He is an amazing, wonderful and faithful God! And yet, there are times when I struggle to trust Him, when I ask myself this very question, “Can I trust God?” But every time I ask myself that question I must come back to the answer, “Yes, totally and absolutely!” Who else can I trust if not God? I can see God’s faithfulness to His children all through His Word and all through my own life as well as in the lives of others. May we learn to trust Him more and more for the praise of His glory.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. (Psalm 42:5)

This is NTM UK

2009-09-11T21:28:00.010+01:00

So now it's time to introduce the headquarters of New Tribes Mission in the UK, including the Bible & Missionary Training Centre (BMTC) where I just started studying...

Right after passing the entrance, you come to my dormitory, named "William Carey".

Further down the road are the NTM UK Headquarters.

Outside this building, there is also a memorial to Royal Air Force soldiers who used to be based right here.

And this is the BMTC building in which the classrooms, the chapel, the teachers' offices and the library are located:

The first year of training at the BMTC is the Biblical Studies course. My class consists of 25 students from 9 different countries (England, the Faroe Islands, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway and the USA):

Here is us learning about the Pentateuch:

First week of classes is over - having a great time so far!

This is North Cotes

2009-09-05T18:45:00.001+01:00

Welcome to North Cotes! This will be my home for probably the next 3 years as I study at the Bible & Missionary Training Centre of New Tribes Mission.

North Cotes is a small village south of Grimsby on the east coast of England. It is surounded by lots and lots of fields, such as this one:

After entering North Cotes, this is the next sign you see:

There are no shops whatsoever, not even a petrol station or a post office. However, there is an inn.

And a church.

And a phone box.

These are the nearest destinations when you are in North Cotes.

More about New Tribes Mission in a later blog post...

When you go past New Tribes Mission, you come to a gun club.

And when you go even further, you come to more fields.

And eventually, you will come to the beach. (It's about a 20 minute walk from New Tribes Mission.)

And this was what the sky looked like when I first visited the beach:

I had no umbrella.

But thankfully, it didn't rain on my way back!

07/08/09 10:11:12 - A snapshot in time

2009-08-08T15:40:00.005+01:00

Yesterday, at 10.11 a.m. and 12 seconds, the date and time was 07/08/09 10:11:12. Sky News asked viewers to take a snapshot in time at this precise moment.

Here is my snapshot of what I was doing then:

I was just sitting at work, translating a text from German to English for the Statistics Department of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Click here to read the news story on the Sky News website.

Click here for a video of the news story.

And click here to see all of the photos that have been submitted to Sky News. Last time I checked, my photo was number 14 of 177.

The story of John Calvin

2009-07-29T20:22:00.001+01:00

500 years and 19 days ago, John Calvin was born (10 July 1509).

Most people - including myself - don't know much about this man, even though he had a tremendous impact on history. But his life story is very interesting. I found the following two-part documentary on Calvin on the German TV channel "Deutsche Welle (DW-TV)". They are about 30 minutes each but well worth watching in my opinion.

There was also a very good article about John Calvin in The Times recently:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6632482.ece

The faith of Abraham

2009-06-15T17:26:00.002+01:00

God's Word tells us that is was Abraham's faith in God, not his works, that made him righteous in God's eyes.

And [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6)

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Rom. 4:1-3)

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Gal. 3:6)

But what about the following verses?

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (James 2:20-21)

It is interesting to note that Abraham seems to play a central role in the faith/works debate.

What I also found interesting is that, in this context, the main example from Abraham's life here in the book of James is Abraham offering his son Isaac upon the altar. James says that it was this act that justified Abraham. But what kind of an act was it? Was it only works-related? Did his faith even matter?

Let us for a moment imagine the scenario that God tells Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, but Abraham says no. For one thing, it would seem then that he could not have been justified by his works. But what reasons could such a (hypothetical) decision have had? I see only two possibilites:

1) Abraham did not really believe that God's will was good for him.
2) Abraham did not want to obey God.

Of course, these are just hypothetical statements, but we can see how closely the faith of Abraham would have been related to his works. And we also see this in another place in Scripture:

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Heb. 11:17-19)

Abraham had the faith that God could raise up his son Isaac from the dead. He truly believed that God could do this. What a demonstration of his faith! But wait... It doesn't say that Abraham believed that God would raise his son from the dead. Only that "God was able to raise him up". God gave Abraham no guarantee of this. God did not say to Abraham: "Sacrifice your only son Isaac and then I will raise him up again." He just said: "Sacrifice your only son Isaac." Period. So although Abraham had complete faith in God, it was still the greatest demand God had ever made on him. Isaac must have been Abraham's greatest treasure in life. And now God wanted to take that treasure from him. So, in addition to Abraham's faith, we see a second aspect in his life: his obedience to the will of God. Without his faith and obedience, Abraham never would have had any works to show. Abraham's works were a direct result of his obedience and his obedience was a direct result of his faith. It all belongs together. Therefore we can say that Abraham was justified by his faith, and at the same time we can also say that he was justified by his works.

But the question we should ask ourselves today is: Do I have that kind of faith? Do I completely trust God and am I convinced that His will for me is good and that He can do all things? That nothing is impossible to Him? Even the things that seem so impossible in my own eyes? And am I willing to obey God even though it costs me everything? Even though He wants me to give Him all the things that are most precious to me in my life?

Can we say that we have the faith of Abraham? I know I still have a lot to learn from his faith.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!

(Originally written on 13 March 2007)

29 April - The day I was in the White House and saw Obama

2009-05-18T19:01:00.002+01:00

This was my first visit to Washington, D.C. and it was an unforgetable experience. And yes, I actually got to go inside the White House and see President Obama - no kidding! Although maybe not quite the way you think, so let me start from the beginning of my Washington adventure...

I arrived in D.C. just after 12 pm and found plenty of free parking close to the Jefferson Memorial.

As I had never been to Washington, D.C. before, I didn't really know where I was and how I would get to the places I wanted to see, but I knew that the Washington Monument was one of those places, and thankfully, that can be seen pretty much from anywhere.

After I got there, I made my way to the the War Memorial which is between the Washington Monnument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Then, on to the Lincoln Memorial...

From there, I made my way to the White House and passed the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Since I work for the German counterpart of the Federal Reserve (the Deutsche Bundesbank), I thought I might try to get a look inside. So I started making my way towards the steps. But I didn't get too far before a security guard stopped me. I told her that I work for the German central bank and was just wondering if it was possible for me to take a look inside the Federal Reserve building. The security guard said that, yes, if I had my Bundesbank ID card with me, someone might be able to show me around. But unfortunately, I had left my ID at home and so I couldn't get in. :-(

But not to worry, the real highlight was yet to come - the White House. This is the first glimpse I got of it:

I walked up closer to the White House and passed by the White House Visitor Center where I asked if it was possible to get inside the White House, but I was told that U.S. citizens would need to contact their senator first and would probably have to wait for at least two months, and foreign nationals would have to contact their embassy to get permission. So I pretty much gave up on the idea...

Then, as I walked towards the White House, I noticed some helicopters landing and a dad saying to his kids: "Do you see the three helicopters? The President is in only one of them..." (Oh, really? Not in all three of them?) As the helicopters disappeared from sight, I went as close as possible to the White House to take some more pictures:

I thought this was the front of the White House, but soon found out that it was actually the back of it.

Just a few minutes after taking these photos, I was taken by surprise... There was the sound of motorbikes and before I knew what was happening, there was a motorcade with the "Beast" passing right by that road where I stood to have my picture taken! "How crazy is that?", I thought. "I just arrive at the White House during my first time in Washington, D.C. and President Obama passes right by where I am standing!!" I quickly took out my camera to get video footage of the Beast. "Perfect!", I thought. Only once I was sure that it was all over did I press the button to stop the video recording. However, in all my excitement I had not pushed the button properly the first time, and so I only started recording once it was all over!! As I was to find out later, it wasn't President Obama but Vice President Biden who was inside the Beast. So this is all I got to show for my story - a non-video of a motorcade with Biden in the Beast. Or, better said, a video of the moments after...

After all the excitement and disappointment with my recoding skills, I went around to the front side of the White House, where I met up with a friend from college who works there for the Secret Service.

And thanks to him, I was even able to go inside the White House! That was so cool because I thought there would be no way of me getting to have a look inside! Here's a photo of me in one of the rooms inside the White House. (I can't remember the name of the room, but it's on the ground floor facing the U.S. Treasury.)

I thought I'd better not post the photo of me sitting at the desk in the Oval Office or I might get in trouble... ;-)

After that, we went up the old post office tower from where you can get a good view of the city. On this photo, you can see the distance I walked from the Washington Monument to the War Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial:

Down the tower and towards the White House again, near to the spot where I first saw the helicopters and the motorcade, and guess what I got to see next... The President's helicopter "Marine One" bringing him back to the White House from an appointment in another state!

So I did get to see the President after all! Although it was a bit difficult to make him out through the tainted windows... ;-)

I was also able to see other places, including the Capitol, but they were no longer a big deal anymore after my White House experience...

So that was Washington, D.C. in about five hours. This may be something I will be talking to my grandchildren about... =)

25 April - Pretty Place

2009-05-16T13:31:00.001+01:00

On 25 April, my friend Olaf and I drove up into the mountains, along the South Carolina-North Carolina border, to the "Fred W. Symmes Chapel" which belongs to the YMCA in Greenville, SC. It is better known as "Pretty Place" and below you will see why...

There is an inscription on the beam that can be seen at the top of the above picture, but even with the use of flash, it's not possible to see it on the photo. But it reads as follows: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills". These are the beginning words of Psalm 121:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

What a wonderful Psalm to remind us that God is bigger than all our problems! And what a perfect place to illustrate this truth. We may see mountains of problems all around us, but the cross stands above them all. With Jesus as our Saviour, we can know that we are secure in the almighty hands of God, no matter what happens.

20 April - New Tribes Mission headquarters

2009-05-14T21:36:00.002+01:00

New Tribes Mission (NTM) is a Christian mission organisation that aims to bring the gospel to unreached tribes. Even in today's day and age, there are still some 2,500 people groups that have not heard the good news of Jesus Christ. NTM was founded in 1942 by Paul Fleming to fulfil the Great Commission of Christ and "teach all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20). Today, NTM has over 3,000 missionaries all over the world who need to learn a completely different language and culture so that the gospel message can be effectively communicated to the different tribal groups. This is the mission that I want to work with in the future.

NTM's headquarters are in Sanford, Florida, and I was glad I was able to stop by there for a visit as a part of my road trip.

The building used to be a hotel, but now it is full of offices, meeting rooms and apartments. While I was visiting, I was able to meet up with Dar Gail, Kara and Heather, who I know from the NTM mission trip programme. (I went on an NTM mission trip to Papua New Guinea in 2007 and on one to Mexico in 2008.)

After taking this photo, we actually went to a German restaurant in town!

And here is the building with the guest apartments where I spent the night:

It used to be a naval academy or something like that and they say it looks a bit like a ship...

There was a special welcome for me at the door to my apartment:

Along with the Gideons, New Tribes Mission is my favourite Christian/missions organisation. Both organisations are passionate about making Jesus Christ known through the Bible. The Gideons focus on the languages that are spoken by most people and that already have Bible translations, whereas New Tribes Mission focuses on the languages that are spoken by smaller people groups which do not yet have God's Word in their own language.

The mission statement of New Tribes Mission reads:

Motivated by the love of Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, NTM exists to assist the ministry of the local church through the mobilizing, equipping, and coordinating of missionaries to evangelize unreached people groups, translate the Scriptures, and see indigenous New Testament churches established that truly glorify God.

The ministries of both the Gideons and NTM are vitally important so that people can come to know God through the Scriptures and be saved through faith in Christ. My heart goes out especially to those who have never heard of Christ and who do not have any means of hearing because they do not yet have God's Word in their own language. While it is true that here in Germany (or in the UK or the USA etc), there are also people who do not know God and who need to find Him, they still have the opportunity to get a Bible at any time in any church, library, bookshop or maybe even from their next-door neighbour. And there are Christians around them who can tell them the good news. However, there are many places in this world where people will never hear of Christ's love for them unless someone goes and tells them. That is exactly what New Tribes Mission does and that is what I love them for and why I want to support them fulfil Christ's command, not just with some of my money or some of my prayers or some short-term involvement, but with my life.

16 April - Bellevue Baptist Church

2009-05-13T17:36:00.010+01:00

The day after visiting the Gideon headquarters, I had the chance of visiting Bellevue Baptist Church in the Memphis area of Tennessee.

I had actually never heard about that church before, but once I heard that it was the church of well-known preacher Adrian Rogers, I was interested in taking a look. (I had heard him on the radio a few times and found him to be a very good preacher.) Bellevue Baptist Church is located just across the road from Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary in Cordova, TN, and it is the biggest church I have ever seen. The auditorium seats over 7,500 people and the church membership exceeds 20,000.

Since there is not enough room for all members to attend a service at the same time, there are three identical services at different times every Sunday.

But there is so much more to the church building than just the big auditorium. There are many different Sunday school rooms for different age groups. Below are some photos I took just of the rooms for the youngest age groups (in fact, these are not the actual rooms, just the entrances that lead to the rooms).

Then there is a welcome centre, a library, a bookstore and giftshop, a collection of historical items of the church and probably several other rooms that escaped my notice.

Outside the church, there is a lake, a massive parking lot, sports and athletic fields and a beautiful garden.

And then there is one more thing that Bellevue Baptist Church has become known for - three huge crosses that can be seen from miles away. The centre cross is 150 feet tall.

And this shows what is most important about the church and about any Bible-believing church - the message of the cross. It is here where justice, mercy and grace meet. In the short video clip below, you can listen to Adrian Rogers, the former pastor of Bellevue, explain this concept of how justice, mercy and grace meet at the cross.

Adrian Rogers is also the founder of Love Worth Finding Ministries.

15 April - The Gideons International

2009-05-11T20:04:00.001+01:00

Nashville, Tennessee is the home of country and gospel music. What I did not know until recently was that it is also the location for the headquarters of The Gideons International. For more than 100 years, the Gideons have been placing and distributing God's Word all over the world. My father was a Gideon and I have also been one since 2006. So, when I found out that I would be travelling by Nashville on my road trip, I just had to stop by the headquarters of the Gideons!

The plaques outside the main entrance display three different Bible verses:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Holding forth the word of life. (Philippians 2:16)

Christ died for our sins. (1 Corinthians 15:3)

The first verse from the Gospel of John are probably the most translated words in the world.

On the other side of the Gideon headquarters, there is an "International Court" with a wall bearing plaques of this verse in all of the languages that the Gideons distribute their Bibles in.

It is not a coincidence that this verse is the most translated piece of Scripture - it contains the most important truth people need to know. That God loves everybody. That He gave His only Son to die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins which we could not pay for ourselves. That, by placing our trust in Christ, we can have our sins forgiven, our relationship with God restored and the assurance of eternal life with God in heaven. Martin Luther called this verse "the Bible in a nutshell".

This verse is the reason why the Gideons exist and distribute Scriptures - so that people can find salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. And in doing their work, the Gideons believe the following promise of God which is also displayed in the entrance inside the headquarters:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

Today, there are some 280,000 Gideons in 185 countries. And God's Word is going out in the world. On average, more than two Bibles are distributed by the Gideons around the world every second of every minute of every hour of every day! And, as God promised, His Word does not return void. The Gideons have witnessed in their ministry that God's Word has had the power of changing countless lives, giving people hope and a future through Jesus Christ. You can listen to just a few testimonies from such people here. It can change your life, too!