Who Follows in His Train?

Everyone wants to be an apostle. But no one that I know wants to live the life of an apostle or speak the exact words that the apostles spoke. "Apostle" today is equivalent to "master", whereas the true apostles considered themselves servants. And like servants, they were beaten. They were poor. They were rejected, hated. They were lied about and cursed and left for dead. And because they spoke and wrote only what God breathed into their tormented souls, they were unaccepted by many.

Acts 14:19,20 tells of an incident in apostle Paul's life. The Jews try to kill him. They stone him, drag him outside the city, and leave him to rot.

Many today do not like Paul's words. Unfortunately not all of Paul's enemies are outside the church. He is hated, maligned, ignored. His words are dragged out of context, out of the Bible, out of the church, and left for dead. His clear teachings about the place of women, the qualifications for leadership, the rise of antichrist before Jesus appears in the sky are all amazingly warped and abused by modern-day persecutors of the Word.

In the category of "misunderstood" one could place Romans 8:38, or a piece of it that goes right over most heads. "I am persuaded that neither [note his first word here:] LIFE, nor death... can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." If Christ is in the heart, nothing can separate us. But if not, even "life" can do the trick. How could life separate one from the love of God? Isn't life itself from God? Though God gave life, Satan with man's help corrupted it. Human life without God does indeed separate us from Christ. Life with all its fun and beauty and troubles and sorrow is enough to distract us from eternity. Paul knew that.

Here's another "Paul-ism" that doesn't fit today's theologies. Romans 9:2 has Paul confessing that he has "great sorrow and continual grief" in his heart for his Jewish brothers and sisters, lost for all eternity if they will not come to Christ. Isn't this the Paul who said to "Rejoice in the Lord always..."? That verse is quoted often. But the sorrowing Paul, like the sorrowing Jesus, does not get a hero's welcome in the church's Main Street. Godly men weep alone, and lose the fellowship of the crowds, yet gain Heaven's company. Paul walked that life.

Paul, the giver of so many mysteries to the church, is himself a mystery. But with Paul we reach the end of our excuses. Jesus, we say, was God. We could never be like Him. Yet He calls us to do just that. Paul was not God. He is you and me. A great sinner. A self-willed religionist. A man who served his own interests. Then, he was mighty Saul, king-like in name and actions. He alone would bring revival to Israel.

Can't you see yourself in some part of Paul's old life? Selfish? Proud? Lost? Then why can't you do what he did by the same grace that was made available to him? By God's grace we can be as effective, as sold out, as anyone in the Kingdom. But the warning is real. Live like Paul, and be prepared to suffer like him too, to be rejected and despised as was His Master and ours.

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, ovber 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos3@gmail.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Is Jesus The Real Messiah - Video

I Used to Wonder

I used to wonder what it might be like to be a Black person in an all White school. That was Mrs. Harris' role in the little Christian school where I served, in the Cincinnati area. How did she feel about herself, when from morning until near evening she was around people that were so different from her? What vibes were these children sending her way? Did she feel rejected?

Then I moved to Chicago. I got a job in the Chicago Public Schools, and found very soon that there is an unwritten code here that demands that all Whites be shipped to schools where the racial balance is not quite what it is supposed to be. Such a policy is denied by the Board, but everyone knows it exists. I have been turned down at many "White" schools in this city and told that the reason is my race. I've served three schools here, and all of them have been either on the West Side or the South Side, predominantly African-centered schools.

As a Caucasian in an all-Black school, I soon came to understand Mrs. Harris. The adults have learned to accept one another pretty well, so that's never been a serious problem. But the children, as the ones in Cincinnati, have in many cases been carefully "taught" the prejudices of yesteryear. I was the "cracker" to some, "Mister Rogers" or "George Bush" to others. I've learned to cope with it. God's grace is sufficient. Mystery no more.

I used to wonder what it must be like living in a big city. The Cincinnati area is not tiny, but it surely feels that way when I go back now. I remember thinking how far I have to drive to get anywhere. I remember the fascination with all the people groups. And the fear when reading Chicago's headlines. Like the one my first week or so that told of the shooting of a prominent African American female lawyer on the West Side, one who had been loved and admired by many. How was this White guy going to make it on that same West Side, when he was definitely not loved and admired, at least not yet?

I used to wonder that, but I don't even think about it now. God has given me everything I have needed, first to survive, then to prosper. I cannot even remember my past life.

I've wondered about a lot of things. How could I ever live without processed sugar and fried foods and TV and movies? One by one they dropped out of my life. And still I live and live happily. What will it be like to be old? That one is starting to sink in too. And every step of the way, God says, "You can do it, just follow Me, I'll be Your portion today."

These days I've started wondering again. It's becoming an obsession with me, and perhaps one day I shall know the answer by experience also, though my flesh recoils at the idea now. What must it be like, I wonder, to be a North Korean in one of Kim Jong Il's concentration camps?

How would one like me fare, who desires "justice" and fairness so often, who so easily feels slighted and wronged, and who can make big deals out of almost nothing? Okay, even altogether nothing. How do the North Koreans endure having almost no food, and starvation of their loved ones and then themselves? How would I measure up if I knew I was to receive a daily interrogation accompanied by a beating, or if I were put in some solitary confinement where my claustrophobia would drive me mad?

Or at least I wonder. I don't really want to know, do I? Yet I am drawn into this struggle with a people who do know first-hand, every day, what it means. Am I better than they? Oh no! Am I promised no persecution? Not at all. Is comfort the standard by which we judge the call of God on our lives? Absolutely not. Does Jesus want all of His own to be willing to go to the cross with Him? Sounds like that's what the Word is saying.

Though God's grace will continue to be sufficient, and though no two people are called to the exact same suffering, and though we will never be tested above what we are able to bear, I still can't help but wonder from time to time...

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs , ovber 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

An Explanation for the Existence of the Christian God Movie Video

Here's a pretty good interview about someone explaining the existence of God.

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Peaceful Warrior God

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a christian video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

When God Foretold Television

God let readers in 90 A.D. know that one day all the world would see an event happening in Jerusalem, Israel. The whole visual media explosion we have experienced in the last 70 years is no surprise to Heaven.

What was the event foretold? It's the death of two men. Two men the world will hate. Prophets. They are foretold by another prophet, Zechariah, in the 4th chapter of his book: "These [two olive trees seen in Zechariah's vision] are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth." That's where they stand now, anyway. One day they will come to earth as God's witnesses (Revelation 11:3). In verse 4 the Lord through John ties them to Zechariah's prophecy by calling them "two olive trees...standing before the God of the earth."

Are they alive today? Will they be born and raised in a good Jewish home, come to Christ and go to the wilderness like John the Baptist? No, Zechariah is clear. These two men are in Heaven as I write these words. Their entrance to earth will be a miraculous visitation, as will the Antichrist's, but that's another story.

Speculation abounds as to their identity. We probably know them. They are men who never died and so must come and keep their appointment with death, as all men must. Two Old Testament men never died. One's burial place is disputed. You can take it from there. It's not the point of this article.

From the heavenlies these men come and preach God's final warning to a sick planet ruled by a sickening dictator. They will have miraculous powers, as prophets of old had. Whoever can believe the Old Testament can believe what I am writing. Those who have trouble with extra-ordinary events are in for some surprises.

Their fellow extra-terrestrial will be given power over them when God is certain that He has said all that needs to be said to corrupted humanity. Christians too will be called home via the genocide of the people of God. Their testimony will be sealed, their life's purpose will have been fulfilled.

The in-human race will have a true field day when the prophets are killed. To shame them before the world, they will allow their dead bodies to be viewed on prime-time TV as a monument to the power of the Great Leader. But as they watch, and here by the way is the reason television was invented, as they watch, these two men will slowly awaken, stand, and be caught up to Heaven. And "all flesh will see it together", the glory of the Lord. (Isaiah 40:5)

Those who glibly talk about a pre-tribulation rapture are faced with a dilemma here. In chapter 4, when John is told "Come up here," he is in the Spirit, with the Lord, and our pop theologians declare, "See! That's the time when the entire church is caught up to Heaven, just before all the trouble breaks out!"

No. That's just when John is caught up. And here in chapter 11, the same words come to these two men. "Come up here." If ever there were a model for the rapture it is these two. Their entire body and soul is unquestionably raised, as our (new) body and soul will be caught up. But no, this is not the rapture either. The rapture is when we all hear the voice of God, when Jesus returns in judgment, a judgment which His church will never bear. The Tribulation is not the Judgment.

What horrendous days will come to us, perhaps soon. Weary ones, no time for letting up or letting down. Keep the lamps burning. And you who are free, will you go in Spirit to the prisons of earth tonight where God's people languish, and intercede for them? Will you pray for citizens of brainwashed nations like North Korea, who know how to suffer, but who do not yet know why and for whom suffering is a great honor? Pray that the light of God's Word will be shed upon them that they not enter this darkest road of Earth's history without a road map.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

New Life in Jesus

Have you tried every diet, every exercise programme and still those pounds come and go, go and come! Perhaps it's time to come to God and ask Him to show you how to be healthy His way! Maybe you have already prayed and feel He has not answered your prayers. Did you ever think this blog could be part of God's answer to your prayers? God always operates through people. He knows exactly where you are and if you will trust Him, He will lead you into His wonderful plan for your life. Part of that plan is that you be healthy. God loves you beyond anything you can imagine.

God's Word, the Bible says in John chapter 3 verse 16......"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes on Him might not perish but have everlasting life." Are you a 'whosoever'?..........Then all you have to do is believe that Jesus died just for you! On that cross He took on Himself all your sin, all your sickness, all your hang ups and messes, past present and future and buried them in the depth of hell never to be resurrected again. Your only response is to say 'thank you', Lord Jesus for doing that for me. I dare you to give Him your life, alllllllllll of it! This is where Health God's way begins, at the cross of Jesus. I dare you to pray the little prayer below and watch God turn your life around!

"Lord Jesus, I confess I have done so much that is wrong, my life is a mess. I believe that you died on the cross just for me and that you rose from the dead. I receive you as my Saviour & make you number 1 in my life. I give you my sickness and all the messes in my life. Please make me brand new! Amen"

In Jeremiah God says....."Call unto me and I will answer and show you great and mighty things that you did not know."

Congratulations, you have taken the first step, you are 'born again'! Eternal life does not start when you die and go to heaven. Eternal life started the moment you prayed that prayer. Enjoy your new life and we'll talk next time.

God has a good plan for your life! Part of that plan is that you are healthy and full of life, spirit, soul and body. Yes, He really does love you and is interested in every detail of your life.

Go from a Mess to a Miracle when you walk in Health God's Way!!

North Korea - Test Your Knowledge

North Korea, a land of mystery to this day. How much do you know about the basics? (Answers below)

1. What is the capital and largest city of North Korea?

2. What is the currency of North Korea? Is it a "hard" or "soft" currency?

3. About how many people live there in about how many square miles?

4. What is its official name?

5. Who is the "eternal" President?

6. What three nations border North Korea?

7. What is the total GDP? (How much money per year?) Per capita?

8. What nation had occupied all of Korea until its defeat in 1945?

9. Which parallel divides the two Koreas?

10. What is "Juche", NK's form of government?

Don't worry about it. Most people don't know a lot about this reclusive people. Let's see how you did:

1. Pyongyang, a major city whose population roughly matches Chicago's (without Chicago suburbs),around three million.

2. The North Korean "won", different from the won of South Korea by far. One dollar is today about 2 NK won, whereas that same dollar will fetch about 950 SK. It is a virtually worthless or "soft" currency on the world's markets.

3. 23 million people in 47,000 square miles. That's a density of nearly 500 persons per square mile. For comparisons Stateside, NK has about the same population as Texas in the area of Ohio.

4. Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Of course it is not a "democracy" as we understand the word, for power is concentrated in a very few, some say one, at the top. It does not belong to the "people" at large, as they have virtually no say in how things run. The definition of "republic" includes the right to choose leaders and representation by all the people in the government. So NK is definitely not a republic. The "K" still stands. This is definitely Korea!

5. Not the present leader, who continues the worship of his cult-inspiring father. Kim Il Sung, dead for these 14 years is the "eternal" President, by law.

6. China, Russia, South Korea. The history of the peninsula is a fascinating one involving encroachments on the power structure of various peoples living there. China, Russia, and of course Japan, have been no end of trouble to this small but surviving people.

7. $40 billion. Sounds like a lot, but it is 85th in the list of GDP's worldwide. Each person receives about $1,800! And that is 149th on the list. For comparison, America has a GDP of 12 TRILLION, with an average per capita income between 25 and 30 thousand. 8. Japan. There is still much animosity between the average Korean, North or South, and the Japanese. It's a long story, and a painful one.

9. The 38th. There is a no-man's land there, complete with mine-fields, soldiers ready to start a war that never really ended, and a building that is half in North Korea and half in the South. Some selected few are allowed to take tours of this area.

10. The biggest misnomer of all: self-reliance. Yet their government is totally dependent on China, South Korea, the United States, and tons of Christian ministries for its very existence. Without reliance on other powers around them, this tiny nation would literally be starved out of existence.

How'd you do?

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.