Highly recommended for an evening when you are tired of all the bad news in the world!!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
The Pilgrim's Progress - Free movie
Like other distributors during this Covid-19 crisis, Revelation Media is offering a free movie during the summertime.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Paul Apostle of Christ
In the event that you have Netflix, and if you wonder how to spend an evening, here's a great suggestion.
The movie "Paul Apostle of Christ" tells the story of the final days in Rome. Paul and Luke are facing persecution from Roman authorities.
You may find the first ten minutes a bit hard to get into because the movie jumps between four parallel stories in Rome. These stories blend into a powerful ending and a surprising set of details on the life of Paul.
This is a great movie during a time in which divisions around the world, and within societies, are pitting one group against another, against still others.
The call to love as Christ loved our enemies is a powerful theme that is relevant for our times.
Watch it! Paul Apostle of Christ.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Christians persecuted in Iran - and the results
Few people have heard that the number of Christians is growing faster in Iran than almost anywhere else in the world.
If you listen to this video, you'll gain an insight into something that no major media in the world is covering. Two women tell their story of coming to Christ, how they evangelized a large portion of their capital city, and then how they even started a church in the worst prison in Iran. Amazing stuff!
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Jacob and Esau - A Message by Ravi Zacharias
I greatly enjoyed this message by Ravi Zacharias. He examines the nature of human worth, the relational struggles between Jacob and Esau, and the ladder to heaven in a way that stirs the heart.
Ravi's discerning spirit and blending of Scripture with real-life situations made him a speaker who could minister to 40,000 university students at once, or 60,000 Promise Keepers.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
George Muller's faithfulness
Once a man that was corrupted with money, he had only two shillings (about 50 cents) in his pocket, and God pressed on his heart to begin an orphanage in Bristol, England. After a life of stealing money and asking it of men, he was determined to rely on God alone. In every need, from buildings to food for the many orphans, he always presented his prayers to God, and never once to man. In that time, over $7,000,000 was sent to him for building and maintaining these orphan houses. And in all the years since the first orphans arrived, the children never had to go without a meal. Not once. Sometimes the mealtime was almost at hand and they did not know where the food would come from, but the Lord always sent it in due time.
George Müller had complete faith that God was good. In his time, he built 5 large orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans. His life, began giving in to greed and self-satisfaction, but it became one of incredible works for God. His chief passion and aim of his ministry were to "live a life and lead a ministry in a way that proves God is real, God is trustworthy, God answers Prayer." May we all find this confidence in God and may we encourage it in our children!
George Müller had complete faith that God was good. In his time, he built 5 large orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans. His life, began giving in to greed and self-satisfaction, but it became one of incredible works for God. His chief passion and aim of his ministry were to "live a life and lead a ministry in a way that proves God is real, God is trustworthy, God answers Prayer." May we all find this confidence in God and may we encourage it in our children!
A short video is part of a longer presentation in cartoon form of Geroge Muller's life.
A Jew Forgives Those Who Killed Her Parents.
The story of Hanna Miley is compelling and worth studying. Her's is a story of vengeful anger being miraculously transformed into reconciliation and love for her former enemies.
George and Hanna, who presently divide their time between Germany and the USA, are well known to an increasingly large circle of Christian believers. I met Hanna almost ten years ago at a conference in Antioch, (Antakya) Turkey.
When the German military was taking in Jews to be sent to concentration camps, a family wanted to save Hanna. At that time, a trainload was being prepared with a determined, limited number of Jewish children to be sent to England. There was no room for seven-year-old Hanna to get on board in Cologne, but miraculously, a German permitted her on "as the last child." The date was July 24, 1939, shortly before World War II. The kinderttransport trains rescued 10,000 Jewish children from Germany.
In England, she was given a home with a Christian family. Only much later did she come to know that her parents were Jews. She eventually traced the path her mother and father took from her home town to the concentration camp. The trip to forgiveness first took her through years of detective work.
Her father and mother were stripped of their business and ripped from their home. She read documents showing the name, dates, and addresses in German, decades after it all happened. Then, she found other documents, showing they spent six months in Lodz Getto under inhuman conditions. More documents were discovered in this sad detective experience. These showed her parents being taken to the forested area of Chelmno, Poland where a brutally efficient killing operation was underway. May 3, 1942, in the ledger, shows the date of her mother and father being burned in the gas chambers.
Taking the Scriptures literally, that she should love her enemies, Hanna prepared herself with the help of German believers. Learning to forgive those who took her parents' lives was not going to be easy. Germans and Americans came alongside her. Her path to forgiveness and the eventual breakthrough to larger and larger circles has occupied me through George and Hanna's frequent prayer letters.
How I thank God for this dear family. Hanna's book is called A Garland for Ashes and is available here. It took her four years to complete her autobiography. What began as a sentiment of vengeful anger and hatred was transformed into a journey that you can now read in the comfort of your own home. Her release from bitterness has brought blessing to thousands.
Note: This blog focuses on faithfulness - those who lived in former years, and those who are still alive. Hanna's story is one of the most touching you will come across. At age seventy-five she wrote the book and now at age eighty-eight, she is a living testimony to the power of God's redemptive love in Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Perpetua - Faithful unto Death
Perpetua was a North African who refused to bow to Caesar's demand to abandon her faith in Jesus Christ. Like many modern heroes of the faith, she would not bow the knee. Here is a new clip in cartoon form.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Justice Too Long Delayed
The Editorial in Christianity Today is thought-provoking. I suggest you not only read it but copy it and keep it on reference during these days of trials and storms in the USA.
Jesus Made Me Kosher - Literally
Many wonderful stories are coming out all over the world. The technology of the internet enables us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
Here is a short, but powerful story from a Jewish woman who learned how her past understanding of Psalm 22 made her instantly aware of the truth of the one who said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Saturday, June 13, 2020
50 Years being Faithful in Men's Quartets
If you enjoy listening to Men's Gospel Quartets, you will drink in the varied rhythms of The Cathedrals.
They traveled across the USA for five decades. Their focus was always on Christ and his salvation, but their songs communicated in many ways, all enjoyable.
We recently spent an evening in the presence of the Lord listening to them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=_3phdLAoZME&feature=emb_title.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Where are Canadian Baptists on Racism?
June 2, 2020
Dear David,
Dear David,
For the last days, my heart has been broken by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th—the tragic culmination of a sea of wrongs that the black community has suffered in the US and in Canada. I am sad; I am angry. I am worried about my friends who are directly affected by racism daily in Canada, the US, and around the world. There are days since then that it seems clear what I should do and days when I don’t know what to do—but I wish that I did. I must act today by writing to you and calling us to action to do our part to end racism. As Christians, we must passionately pursue the eradication of racism by actively obeying the words of Jesus to love one another.
I wish we had sent this out earlier. There is no excuse for silence in the face of racism, but I hope you will trust that my hesitation was born of wanting to act wisely and well and to avoid contributing to the body of injuries that have been sustained by our black family members over many generations.
Racism has no place in the family of God and certainly not in CBOQ, Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. We must ensure that within our sphere of influence and leadership, racism is replaced by Christ’s truth, love, and acceptance. At the sight of it, we must call it out. At the sound of it, faint or strong, we must run toward that sound and speak change into being. We also must do what we as Christians are to be known for, to love, to pray, and to extend care. Please join me in developing ways to love and show care today and every day, particularly to the people of color in your community. Please join me today in creating a gathering for prayer among those who are tuned in to your calls to action. Lastly, I ask of you today that you listen to the pain and hurt of those who live daily with the ugly reality of racism and who are affected deeply by its weight and wounds. Believe people when they tell you about what they have experienced. Stand with me, as CBOQ, against racism and for the whole, unfractured family of God.
I spoke with Rev. Wendell Gibbs today, from First Baptist Church Toronto, who reminded me that “Sympathy is unnecessary and unhelpful. Empathy is required.” He said that I, as a white person, must feel the burden with him. And so, I choose to carry this burden with you, Wendell, and others that experience racial injustice. I don’t know where feeling this burden with you may lead me, but that’s okay. I will learn as I go, and we will journey together. So, without knowing just yet what to lift and carry, I feel the weight and believe that I’m carrying something.
Lord open our eyes to see what to carry and reveal to us, we pray, what we should do that will administer true justice and show mercy and compassion.
Peace be with you,
Tim McCoy
Executive Minister, CBOQ
Tim McCoy
Executive Minister, CBOQ
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Is God giving the whole world an unexpected Sabbath?
Very rarely do we take the time to think about the Sabbath.
Could it be that one of the effects of Covid-19 is that the Almighty God is slowing us all down?
How do we interpret our times of quietness and "waiting before the Lord"?
Solitude is not the same as loneliness.
Quietness before the Lord brings us once again before His glory.
I highly recommend this interesting article on Sabbath Rest by John Mark Comer. You'll be so inspired to rethink the time you set apart for God.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Who is the Top Covid-19 Doctor? Dr. Bonnie Henry!
What does it take to be the top doctor during the Coronavirus crisis?
Read what The New York Times defines as the "Top Doctor".
Sunday, June 7, 2020
A Prayer for the United States of America
Today, take time to pray with this video. (3 minutes)
A prayer for America.
Saturday, June 6, 2020
The Cross and the Switchblade - Watch it for free
Fifty years ago a movie came out about transformation in the slums of New York City. God was at work in the life of Nicky Cruz and a score of other gang members. The Mau Mau gang squared off against the Bishops, day after day. ... Until one day, David Wilkerson invaded the gang members' turf.
If you've watched it before, or only want to see it for the first time, you can click on the internet connection. For free.
Friday, June 5, 2020
Miraculous Changes in the past 70 years - Part 5
"These are undoubtedly significant times, but we should not try to predict when Christ will come again. He said that. 'No one knows the day or the hour when He will come again.'
This is part five in a series of five blog posts in which James Wardroper, Senior Citizen, living in Ontario, a retired teacher, comments on the growth of the Christian church in the last 70 years. He is the author of "The Light-Bearer's Saga", a set of eight books, recounting history from a Christian perspective from 427 AD to the present, with volumes beginning to appear in September 2020.
There is evidence that in ancient times China was a monotheist society and that the name for God was Shang-Ti. There is also evidence of the knowledge the God of the Bible that is to be found in the ancient Chinese script.
China did not embrace Buddhism or other religions until about the sixth
century BC.
What has happened in China to bring back the knowledge of God is another fascinating story of His intervention in human affairs.
In the early days after Christ, the gospel was conveyed to China by Nestorian missionaries and was known as the Church of the East (not the Eastern Orthodox church). They grew to be the largest church on earth by the year 1000, but then various attacks and massacres, such as by Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, decimated it, so that there are only a few such churches these days.
The modern missionary movement to re-evangelize China started in the 19th century. It was marred by its close association with the interests of the colonial powers which led to the Boxer revolution. The first missionaries settled and founded churches in the port cities, which seemed to be the sensible thing to do.
It took the insights of Hudson Taylor to realize that China, which consisted of 12 provinces would never be evangelized that way, so as an act of faith and without visible means of support, he founded the China Inland Mission. He and his followers adopted Chinese dress and had to learn the many local languages. Operating by faith, the C.I.M. became the largest mission in China. and Hudson Taylor's name is revered by the Chinese church to this day.
In 1949 all missionaries were expelled from China, and the communists under Chairman Mao Tsedong waged a ruthless war on the national church until in 1967 Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, declared that, apart from the puppet “Three-Self ”church, the church had been wiped out. A year or two later, reports began to circulate that there were two million Christians in China. Then the reports indicated that now there were four million, then eight million, and then thirty-two million. More recently I asked a friend who had recently returned from teaching English in China, “Is it true that there are a hundred million Christians in China.” “Oh no,” he replied, “there at least 130 million and some say to 150 million.” All we can say is that no one really knows, because, the different house churches in the same areas do not even know each other. Local churches seem to have been formed under the leadership of individuals who have had their own personal divine encounters.
China's president for life, Xi Jinping, is now waging total war on all religions, (not just Christians). All Chinese must now defer to the state, and no one can buy or sell or even get on a bus if their political views are not correct. To do this he is using face recognition technology. The latest is, that in view of the Coronavirus, people have been wearing face masks. Regardless of that, the church is now under intense persecution.
Despite the persecution, one of the world's greatest missionary movements is the Chinese “Back to Jerusalem Band”. Something like 100,000 individuals (no firm number) have gone out without visible means of support, to take the gospel back along the Silk Road to Jerusalem where the original Nestorian missionaries came from.
There are
other great spiritual movements around the world, particularly in Africa, South
East Asia and South America and they have their own stories.
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Miraculous Changes in the past 70 years - Part 4
"These are undoubtedly significant times, but we should not try to predict when Christ will come again. He said that. 'No one knows the day or the hour when He will come again.'
This is part four in a series of five blog posts in which James Wardroper, Senior Citizen, living in Ontario, a retired teacher, comments on the growth of the Christian church in the last 70 years. He is the author of "The Light-Bearer's Saga", a set of eight books, recounting history from a Christian perspective from 427 AD to the present, with volumes beginning to appear in September 2020.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
"We live in days in which miracles still happen, and God is in the process of demolishing spiritual roadblocks that have resisted the gospel for centuries. I have witnessed the enormous changes that have taken place, so I will now relate my own experiences."
"The next blockage to the gospel has been that of conservative elements of the Roman Catholic church.
"In AD 397, all the catholic bishops met at Carthage and declared their agreement on the apostolic authorship of the books which we still have in our modern Bible. In a slow drift over the centuries, the church which called itself catholic (i.e. universal) slowly departed from the base of scripture.
"While agreeing that there have been many godly individuals over the centuries who never left the Roman Catholic church, great men like Wycliffe and Huss sounded the alarm, but were brutally silenced by the church authorities. It finally took the insights of Martin Luther, as professor of the Bible, to recognize how far the church had departed from its scriptural base and to raise the alarm.
"The church authorities tried to silence Luther, but the German princes came to his rescue and hid him While in hiding, he translated the Scriptures into German so that ordinary people would be able to understand the teaching of the apostles for themselves. From then on, the reformation spread to many countries.
"The Roman Catholic Church then had its own counter-reformation, which did much to reform the practice of the church, but that did not address the issue of the departure from the apostolic teaching. Moreover, Protestants were regarded as heretics and the centuries that followed were marred by hideous bloodshed in wars and intrigues between Catholics and Protestants.
"The hostility remained unchanged until in 1962, Pope John 23rd summoned the Vatican2 council, where it was pronounced that Protestants were no longer heretics, but “separated brethren”. Immediately the walls seemed to come down, and many Catholics and Protestants began to have fellowship with each other. Much still remains to heal the historic division, but the process seems to be well underway."
(Note: In a later blog I will outline the tremendous growth of the Protestant church in South America as the Gospel has entered every level of society. - DKP).
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Winnipeg ought to be the Pandemic Envy of North America
In the spring of 2020, life in Winnipeg is more than just convenient. It may be the most fortunate city on the continent when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Winnipeg is one of the largest cities in North America to so far sail through the public health crisis with few cases of the disease, almost fully functional hospitals and an economy where only a handful of remaining businesses are not allowed to reopen.
And as if to underscore the rationale behind this second phase of Manitoba's reopening strategy, the province once again reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, nobody in hospital with the disease and an active provincial caseload of 10.
Miraculous Changes in the past 70 years - Part 3
"These are undoubtedly significant times, but we should not try to predict when Christ will come again. He said that. 'No one knows the day or the hour when He will come again.'
HOWEVER ...
We live in days in which miracles still happen, and God is in the process of demolishing spiritual roadblocks that have resisted the gospel for centuries. I have witnessed the enormous changes that have taken place, so I will now relate my own experiences."
James Wardroper, Senior Citizen, living in Ontario, a retired teacher, and author of "The Light-Bearer's Saga", a set of eight books recounting history from a Christian perspective from 427 AD to the present, with volumes beginning to appear in September 2020. Here are his thoughts on the events of the last 70 years.
JEWS TURN TO JESUS
"About 200 years later, some Jewish sages met at Tiberias on Galilee and compiled the Talmud. This form of Judaism distanced itself from anything Christian. So that if any Jew became a Christian, his family would usually hold a funeral service. It is sad to relate that over the centuries, many professing Christians have turned against the Jews and persecuted them. Jews were mostly excluded from the Holy Land until the 19th century, when Baron de Rothschild and Sir Simon Montifiori, as well as some influential evangelical Christians, encouraged Jews to settle in their ancient homeland.
"In 1917 General Allenby took the city of Jerusalem from the Turks. (That is a fantastic story in itself). It was followed by the Balfour declaration, which allowed Jews to return to their ancient land. This was immediately countered by Arab resistance, mainly incited by Amin el Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. In WW2 Hitler sought to exterminate the Jews in death camps and the Grand Mufti went to Germany in WW2 to see how he could help Hitler in his "final solution."
"Hitler killed millions, but those who escaped had nowhere else to go to, but their ancient homeland and a flood of Jews tried to enter the Holy Land. The British then attempted to halt the flow and set up their own concentration camps on Cyprus. Finally, they withdrew from trying to maintain the peace in Palestine, which what was for them had become a hopeless cause, and in 1948 the U.N. decided to recognize the state of Israel. Immediately three Arab armies sought to eliminate the young state, which had no real army. Several terrorist gangs united to form one, and successfully resisted the Arabs until the U.N. forced a Ceasefire.
"Those who know the Old Testament would be aware that Moses told Israel that if they sinned, they would be scattered among the nations, but that eventually they would be regathered. This has now happened twice to Israel, but to no other nation, or country.
"Up till this time, practicing Jews refused to recognize Jesus as their Messiah, but at about the time as the restoration of Israel, a new phenomenon appeared, namely, that of Messianic Jews do not call themselves Jewish Christians but are Jews who, while retaining their Jewish Heritage, recognize Jesus as their Messiah and live in the light of the New Covenant as prophesied by Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 31.31).
"While in Israel in 1974, I met a certain Messianic Jew who had been one of President David Ben Gurion's bodyguard. At the time when I met him, there were 3000 Messianic Jews in Israel. The last time I was there was in 1995 when there were 12,000. By this time, there are so many more, both in Israel and around the rest of the world, that we have no idea of the actual number. At the same time, antisemitism is increasing around the world which in turn is causing many more Jews to emigrate to their ancient homeland."
Monday, June 1, 2020
Miraculous Changes in the past 70 years - Part 2
These are certainly significant times, but we should not try to predict when Christ will come again. He said that. “No one knows the day or the hour when He will come again.”
"Between 2000 and 2012, Dr. David Garrison traveled widely in the Muslim
world and documented
how many millions of Muslims were
coming to Christ each year, mostly through dreams and
visions. What he found is written
in his book: “A wind in the house of Islam”, in which he documents how
millions of Muslims are coming to Christ each year.
"A Muslim Imam spoke on Al Jeziyya radio: “Six million Muslims are turning to Christ each year; this must not happen,” but I have heard a much larger figure than that.
"The country where the gospel is growing the fastest, on a proportional
basis, is Iran, where to become a
Christian could lead to torture or a death sentence. The second fastest after
that is Afghanistan. How do I know that?
I was at a conference on evangelism and was sitting at a lunch table
with an Iranian man and an Afghan woman. I mentioned that
I had heard those facts, to which
they responded: “Oh we know”.
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