Windows On The Soul

How can Christian missions reach the whole world, like China's 1,200,000,000 people?  How can the barriers of language, geography, politics and religion be crossed? Far East Broadcasting Company is a Christian radio mission aiming to reach into the homes and hearts of people with the gospel.  With 800 employees in program production and engineering around the world, 6 transmitters broadcast about 300 program hours per day in over 141 languages to potentially 2/3 of the world's population.  Its effectiveness can be judged from the 600,000+ letters received from listeners each year, like the following from central Russia:- "I accidentally found your station while scanning the shortwave band. Since then I have listened daily. Four months ago I obtained a New testament. I read it through three times. My whole life has changed. Suddenly I have a desire to do good to others, even my enemies.  I have no idea how to explain this, but one thing I know is that I believe in Go...

In this age of Industry Restructuring and Business Process Re-engineering, everyone seems to be preparing "Mission Statements".  Even when one consults a Financial Adviser, he asks, "What are your Life Goals?". Anyone of "?0 something" asks "What have I done with my life so far? What will I do with the rest of it?". As we start this "Missions Month", it would be instructive to look at Jesus' personal "Mission Statements". Matt.5:17 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, rather I have come to fulfil them" Matt.20:28 "The son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many" Luke 4:18 "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to free those that are bruised, to p...

What a six weeks the disciples must have gone through - first the despair of the crucifixion, then the disbelief and slow-dawning joy of the resurrection. Now notice how in anticipation of His 2nd leaving (ascension), Jesus turns the disciples vision outward with the command to " Go into all the world ", to " Feed His sheep" . Not only that, but Jesus promised an abiding "comforter" through His Holy Spirit, as well as the source of power and drive to fulfill the "command". How appropriate then that our Missions Month spans this same period, drawing to a climax on Pentecost Sunday. For surely attempts at missioning without the power of the Holy Spirit is an exercise in futility, and a life "filled with the spirit" without a mission is a contradiction, for it is the Holy Spirit that gives drive and direction. ---===X===--- Acts 2 "On the day of Pentecost...they were filled with the Holy Spirit...they spoke as the spirit gave ...

Good evangelism is more than apologetics, which attempts to give a reasoned defense of the Christian faith.  Apologetics cuts down trees; evangelism builds houses. As John Stott puts is, " You have to win a person's confidence before you can win their soul ". But good evangelism is more than being friendly, its more than inviting your neighbour to a mission at the Church. Evangelism is relating to people as Jesus did - day by day, week by week, right at the point of their need. And the best evangelistic Churches are where people truly love one another, especially across racial, social, cultural and other barriers which previously divided them. In the end, an evangelistic life-style arises out of the reality of our own experiences of Christ. If He has really changed our lives, that's great news and we will want to share it. ---===X===--- Mt.9:31 "they (the blind healed) spread the news of Jesus..." Ps.66:16 "Come and hear...I will decla...

In 2 Tim.3:1-5 , Paul warns of the perils of the last days, including “ greed, boastfulness, pride, blasphemy, disobedience, unthankfulness, unholiness, unloving, unforgiving, slander, anarchy, brutality, treachery, head-strongness, haughtiness, decadence and spiritual impotence (having forms of godliness but denying its power) ”. The Christian gospel is a message of power, but a Godly power, and we are promised that we will receive power from Holy Spirit ( Acts 1:8 ). We are warned that the Kingdom of God is not in words, but in power ( Mt.6:13 , 1 Cor.4:20, 1 Thes.1:5 ). The spirit of Christ is the power unto salvation ( Rom.1:16 ) which impacts the church’s procreation. The power we have available by Holy Spirit is the power to heal ( Lk.5:17 ), for wonders and demonstrations ( Rom.15:9 , 1 Cor.2:4 ) and against spirits ( Mt.10:1 , Mk.3:15 , Lk.9:1 ). More importantly, Holy Spirit gives us power in our personal lives - over the temptations of all flesh ( Jn.17:2 ), the p...

One of the greatest inhibitors to personal and church growth is the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt). After the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, the incredulity then ecstasy of His resurrection and His times of sharing with His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. What did the disciples feel then? I’m sure they must have felt very “flat” after their mountain-top experiences, and probably uncertainty and doubts crept in - “ What do we do now?” , “ Why has He left us like this?” . In many ways, these phases in the birth of The Church mirror the phases in the birth and growth of our children. The teenage years are times of much questioning, of moving out from under the sheltering presence of parents, to discover one’s directions and goals in the ‘real’ world - these are the “Why?” years. Then the young adult blossoms, the world is at their feet and they are prepared to take on anything, with courage and determination. Just as parents must hold back in order to release thei...

I was saddened during the week to receive the following prayer request through the International Christian Leadership electronic network. This Elder's Church has been involved for about 2 years in outreach to chronically mentally ill patients at a home, bringing residents to worship services. Some had become members. However, a fair number of the core Church members felt uncomfortable and threatened. Consequently, the Church "Session" voted to exclude these disabled members from worship. The carers have taken to conducting special mid-week services at the home. But how does one tell these people that they cannot go to "their" Church to worship any-more? This from the land of "free speech" and "freedom of religion". Please pray for this elder and his faithful band of carers. Also pray for the other members, that they might understand the " Acceptable year of the Lord". ----xxxXxxx---- Jn.8:7 " He that is without sin a...