We know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is God and we are not! Yet, there are times when God humbles Himself far beyond anything He would ever ask us to do. For example, He came as man to this earth and suffered the worst indignities known to mankind. Hardly a fitting thing […]
Man sometimes goes to so much trouble to develop training on the “how-to”s when God has already outlined what we need to know in His Book. Take a look at Paul’s example on how to be an effective witness for Christ as outlined for us in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2.
• In spite of persecution and […]
We wanted to share a few memories from Asia and the wonderful people we met there.
Please continue to pray for the pastors we trained there. We hope God will allow us to return soon.
If you would like to help support us in our mission, please take the time to donate today.
Word Among Us is an explosive teaching ministry that brings the Word of God in its simplest form to the people. Its teaching is contemporary and relevant to today’s life styles while remaining true to the fundamental principles of the scriptures.
Senior Pastor Tom Harrison once said in regards to stewardship:“Money was created for one thing only—to be used for God’s purposes.”In my opinion, this is one of the wisest statements ever made. All that we have belongs to God and even though He allows us to enjoy it for a season, He wants us to remember that we actually own nothing. Our possessions and our money are merely on loan and we must never forget that we have been given them for the purpose of fulfilling His will.
Giving is not easy to talk about under the best of circumstances. But in today’s economy, it is even harder. People everywhere are feeling the squeeze—even businesses and nonprofits. We have to remember, though, that God’s call on our lives isn’t put on hold just because the economy is faltering. He still expects us to use what we have to carry out His purposes. Word Among Us Ministries is committed to doing just that.
You probably know by now that we will return to Myanmar in November to put on a second seminar for the year. This time, we have invited a young couple to join us who will be teaching on the subject of music and worship in the church, and we are hoping to be able to help them with their trip expenses. We believe God is asking Word Among Us to go to Myanmar twice a year for as long as the door is open, and to teach the Bible to pastors, students, and missionaries and equip them for teaching in the villages where they have planted churches.
Because of your generous giving, so far in 2008 we have been able to provide Pastor Philip with funds to help with:
·Rice and financial support for victims of cyclone Nargis
·The rebuilding of a structure demolished by the cyclone where a Christian Sunday school for Buddhist children meets
·Travel and housing expenses for missionaries from outlying villages to attend our seminars
·Major repairs to the pastor’s house in Chin State
·Furniture rental, supplies and materials for putting on two seminars in Yangon
·Travel expenses for Pastor Philip to their churches in outlying villages
In addition to what has already been done in the name of Christ, there are other needs we feel God is leading the Ministry to help with right now. These include:
·Support to 12 missionaries that will go out in December to various villages witnessing to the Buddhist nationals (cost per missionary is $100, for a total of $1200 we hope to give)
·Purchase of 13 textbooks to be used in the Bible College (we will take these with us on the plane)
We appreciate all that you have done to help this local group of missionaries minister to their people. We know that in times like these giving is harder than ever, but we do ask that you make it a matter of prayer and just do what you feel God would have you do. We covet your prayers for a safe trip and, even more, your prayers that God will be glorified in all that we do. These present days appear to be a time when God’s heart is turning to the nation of Myanmar and we are humbled by the small part He’s called us to play in what He is doing there.
As we look at the condition of the world today, the words of 2 Kings 7:9 loom large in our minds:“…We are not doing what is right. This day is a day of good news and we remain silent…”
Even though this passage speaks to the conflicts and challenges faced by the Israelites in the days of the kings, its truths can be applied to our “sometimes” reluctance to take the gospel to our neighbors at home and abroad. To a large degree, we tend to leave evangelism to the missionaries and the evangelists, yet God has called all of us to proclaim the Good News. Remaining silent is not an option.
In the words of then-Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
If we drag our feet in telling others the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we might have Life, then Satan triumphs—he has his way and the multitudes are lost. Now is the time—more than ever in all of history—for “good men” to stand up and do something. There is an urgency today that supersedes any ever experienced before.
The time is short, and we must do what is right. We can remain silent no longer.
History records the words of General Dwight D. Eisenhower when he came upon the victims of the death camps in Europe:“Get it all on record now—get the films—get the witnesses—because somewhere down the track of history someone will get up and say that this never happened.”
Truer words may never have been uttered. Although none of this started just yesterday, we are seeing today a vast increase in the number of individuals and organizations claiming that the Holocaust either never happened or is greatly overstated—that it is all a myth originally created by the Allies of World War II to demonize the Germans.
The claim also maintains that the Jews then spread this myth as part of a grandiose plot to bring about the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and eventually to garner support for the continuance of the state of Israel.
In more recent years, Muslim nations have jumped on the bandwagon in denying the reality of a Nazi massacre of Jews. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said, “They have fabricated a legend under the name Massacre of the Jews, and they hold it higher than God himself, religion itself and the prophets themselves.
If somebody in their country questions God, nobody says anything but if somebody denies the myth of the massacre of Jews, the Zionist loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to scream.”
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal commends Ahmadinejad as being “courageous” and Mohammed Mahdi Akef, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader, denounces what he calls “the myth of the holocaust” in defending Ahmadinejad’s position. Newspapers funded by the Saudi Arabian government routinely downplay the significance of the Holocaust or deny its existence altogether.
Elsewhere in the world, British author David Irving has maintained that “less people died during the Holocaust than on the backseat of Edward Kennedy’s car.” Irving also claims that “there were no gas chambers in Auschwitz.”
In France, attempts have been made to tie the Holocaust in with the Biblical massacre of the Canaanites by the Israelites. In Iran, based on the story in the Book of Esther, author Nasser Pourpirar claims that Purim was the original Holocaust during which the Jews exterminated all the original people of what is now Iran and Iraq.
Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union has promoted the theory of a secret tie between the Nazi party and the Zionist leadership. Here in the States, many institutions of higher education have removed the Holocaust from their curriculum. The list of claims denying the Holocaust goes on and on ad nauseum.
The Holocaust remains the most documented tragedy in recorded history—no other tragedy has as much witness from the killers, from the victims, and from the bystanders—yet there are those who are successfully erasing its existence from the pages of the history.
This rewriting of history—this denial of events that are known to have happened—is banned in a number of countries around the world. These bans on Holocaust denial are generally found in countries that have legal systems that limit speech in other ways. Holocaust denial is protected by the First Amendment in the United States.
We must ask ourselves:Will the World Trade Centers be next?
Today’s political buzzword is a word that’s been around for a very long time. How amusing that parties on both sides are now boasting as if it were their own startling new discovery!
All the hoopla is about the little word “change.” Enormous promises are spewing forth from candidates all over the place as to what this “change” will look like once they are elected into office. Although it’s true this great country of ours must undergo radical change to prevent its nosedive into destruction, isn’t it also true that “change” got us into this mess in the first place?
From a biblical perspective, God says He is a God that does not change. This is evidenced early in the Book of Genesis where we see God interacting with man He created. God gave Adam explicit instructions as to which tree in the garden he was not to eat from and He never changed His position on that—even when Adam decided to change the rules and thus introduce sin into the world.
Then consider the Chosen people of God—the Jews, as we call them today. God selected these chosen ones from all the peoples on the earth at that time. He saved them from extinction by sending them down to Egypt and then brought them back out again 400 years later in order to re-establish them in the land He had promised they were to occupy forever. He gave them the Law to equip them for fellowship with Him until the time Jesus came to fulfill that Law. Although it’s true the Chosen ones changed God’s Law by adding their own rules and regulations to it, scripture tells us that God never changed it one iota.
After Jesus’ advent, death, resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit was sent to inspire men to write more of God’s eternal—and unchanging truths—in what we now call the Bible. But here’s the problem:mankind has once again taken it upon himself to interpret these eternal truths as only he sees fit. As a result of this distortion, he teaches the lies that lead believers far from God’s intended purpose for their lives.
In view of all this, wouldn’t you say that the changes men have made down through the ages is what has brought us to the mess we’re in today?If that is so, then the only change we should be considering today is the one that will take us back to the One who never changes—the One who keeps His promises. He is the only One who can keep us—and this great nation—from ultimate destruction!