Design of the Week – He Delivers
June 8, 2011 at 9:23 pm | Posted in Designs of the Week | Leave a commentTags: abortion, Alpha, America, ateasetees, Bible, bill, cable, car, Christian, church, circular, compromise, death, death.life, deliver, design, design of the week, email, evangelism, faith, God, gospel, grace, hell, holy, hope, Israel, Jesus, judgment, junk, just, law, letter, life, love, mail, marriage, mercy, mock, money, murder, occupation, Omega, package, paper, pastor, peace, Post Office, postal, prayer, punish, rebel, repent, sacrifice, salvation, scripture, service, sin, stamp, ten commandments, trust, truth, worker, wrath
This week’s (second) design is called He Delivers.
The design is in the Occupations section of our store and is a play on the Postal Worker. The design shows a red stamp with an image of Jesus and the Greek letters Alpha and Omega. Obviously, the postal workers make their rounds delivering our mail. Some of it is junk – circulars, efforts by car and cable companies to get us to use their service, etc – and some of it is stuff we need. Things like our bills (ok, you could argue that we don’t need these but…), letters (you know! those things that people write on paper…the old email?), and packages that we’ve ordered.
Unlike the postal workers, when we talk about Jesus delivering, we are talking about His sacrifice and the effect it has on anyone who recognizes their sin and repents. Jesus’ deliverance is from the sin in our hearts. He cleanses us completely and moves us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). He has delivered those who repent and trust in Him from the wrath that awaited them from a just God who must punish sins. His deliverance is the most amazing thing that a man can experience.
Sadly, like the mail we receive, many don’t want anything to do with the deliverance that Jesus offers. They see His wonderful offer like you and I see the junk mail. They rebel against Him and mock His life and death. The truth is, the deliverance that Jesus offers is more valuable than the most precious piece of mail that we could ever get. If you haven’t been delivered by Jesus, please repent of your sins and trust in Christ alone to save you. Please, while there is still time!
Persecution Fridays: Vietnam
April 15, 2011 at 6:51 pm | Posted in VOM Fridays | Leave a commentTags: abortion, America, ateasetees, Bible, Christian, church, communist, compromise, death, delay, evangelical, evangelism, evangelist, faith, fellowship, field, God, gospel, government, grace, Hanoi, hell, Ho Chi Minh, holy, hope, Israel, Jesus, judgment, law, life, love, Luis Palau, marriage, mercy, miracle, money, murder, pastor, peace, prayer, Protestant, repent, salvation, scripture, service, sin, soccer, tactic, ten commandments, Thanh Long, truth, vibrant, Vietnam, volunteer, world, young
For more news on what’s really happening to Christians around the world go to the Voice of the Martyrs website: www.persecution.com
Vietnam: Evangelism Thriving
Evangelist Luis Palau made history on April 9 when he preached at the Protestant centennial celebration in Vietnam, becoming the first U.S.-based evangelist to preach at a major event there since the 1975 communist takeover. The 76-year-old evangelist preached on two consecutive nights at the Thanh Long Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, which was not the venue the event organizers had originally sought. Event organizers had planned to hold the event in an open field, but government officials allowed the event only on the condition that it be held in the soccer stadium.
Organizers requested permission to hold the event months in advance, but the government granted approval just three hours before it was to begin. These delay tactics seem to have become standard procedure for the Vietnamese government. For the past two years, the central government’s Bureau of Religious Affairs has waited until the last minute to approve Christmas events held by house church groups.
It was an “absolute miracle” that the event was held, said the leader of Vietnam’s Evangelical Fellowship of house churches. Hundreds of volunteers and technicians worked heroically to move equipment from an open field in one part of the city to the soccer stadium in another part of the city. Organizers had to notify thousands of people of the venue change. They used word of mouth, website announcements, Twitter, Facebook and text-messaging to get the word out. The evening began at 9 p.m., just two hours late.
Luis Palau began his message at 11 p.m., delivering a clear evangelistic sermon. When the service ended, after midnight, about 800 people came forward to receive Christ. On the following day, Sunday, April 10, more than 12,000 people filled the stadium, and more than 1,000 came forward at the call to follow Christ.
Dr. Nguyen Xuan Duc, president of the Vietnam World Christian Fellowship, told Compass Direct News that he was very encouraged about the future of the church in Vietnam. “These are watershed days for Protestantism in Vietnam,” he said. “There is no fear, but rather wonderful spontaneity and irrepressible joy. Events like this happen in spite of the government and without the blessing of some overly conservative church leaders. What we see is young, vibrant, lay-led, internationally connected and very media-savvy.”
The Palau team traveled north to Hanoi, where they planned to host a similar event the weekend of April 16–17. At the time of this writing, government officials had not approved the event.
“Again they said today, ‘Of course you have the permission, but not in a large open field,’ said Palau in a statement to BosNewsLife. “It will be held in a covered coliseum, which means smaller crowds, and less visible,” he added.
Newslinks 01/09/11
January 9, 2011 at 8:33 pm | Posted in Newslinks | Leave a commentTags: abortion, ad, Afghanistan, Allen West, America, apartment, appeals, appropriations, artichoke, Asia, ateasetees, atheist, attack, ban, Beth Moore, Bible, bill, birthright, blasphemy, border, Bush, candy, cartel, casualty, ceiling, Chick-fil-A, Christian, Christophobia, church, citizenship, commission, compromise, control, court, day of prayer, death, debt, defense, Democrat, dismissal, Dold, drug, ECFA, Egypt, electrolysis, episcopal, eric holder, evangelism, evangelize, extremist, faith, family, fasting, federal, Fitzpatrick, focus, food, Francis Chan, fuel, fully alive, funding, gallup, George Washington, global, God, GOP, gospel, government, governor, grace, hairstyle, Haiti, Harry Reid, health care, healthcare, hell, Hindu, HIV, holy, Homeland Security, homeschooling, homosexual, homosexuality, hope, Hoyer, India, inspection, intolerant, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic, Israel, Issa, Jesus, John Boehner, John Piper, judgment, justice, killer, kit, law, lawsuit, leader, lease, lesbian, life, lifelong, Louie Giglio, love, majority, marriage, mercy, Mexico, Michael Steele, Michele Bachmann, military, mind, misleading, money, murder, naive, national, New Hampshire, new year, Obama, oil, Pakistan, passion, pastor, peace, Pelosi, persecution, petroleum, Planned Parenthood, policy, pope, positive, prayer, Prop 8, prosperity, reagan, recall, recruit, reduction, regret, regulation, religion, repeal, repent, Republican, reserves, resolution, resurrection, RNC, safe sex, safety, salvation, scam, scripture, self, service, sin, sodomy, Speaker of the House, state, Steve King, stimulus, students, Ted Haggard, ten commandments, truth, unclear, Valley Forge, vicious, wall, welfare
Sunday’s Newslinks brought to you by At Ease Tees
Passion to 22,000 Students: Be Free, Fully Alive in Jesus
People want to be here. That’s the sense you get when you come to the Passion 2011 conference that opened Saturday, New Year’s Day, with 22,000 students.
Beth Moore: Control Your Mind, Focus on ‘One Thing’
American Churches Begin 2011 with Prayer, Fasting
Atheists Declare Religions as ‘Scams’ in New Ad
Global Church Body Condemns ‘Vicious Attack’ in Egypt
Islamic Extremists Protest Efforts to Change Blasphemy Laws and Free Christian
Louie Giglio Surprises Passion Crowd with Haitian Family
Attendees of the Passion conference on Sunday heard about a family that survived the Haiti earthquake that destroyed their home and killed two family members. What the crowd did not expect was to see them walk out on stage. Continue Reading Newslinks 01/09/11…
Persecution Fridays: China
October 9, 2010 at 7:18 am | Posted in VOM Fridays | Leave a commentTags: America, ateasetees, Bible, building code, car, China, Christian, church, compromise, courage, death, demolished, evangelism, faith, faithfulness, God, gospel, grace, holy, homosexuality, hope, Jesus, judgment, law, life, love, marriage, mercy, money, murder, oppressor, pastor, peace, police, prayer, raid, repent, room, Russian, salvation, scripture, service, sin, Spirit, study, Taishan, ten commandments, training, truth, violation, witness
For more news on what’s really happening to Christians around the world go to the Voice of the Martyrs website: www.persecution.com
China: Christians Detained
On Sept. 21, nearly 200 police officers demolished a prayer room at Taishan Christian Church in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, citing a “building code violation,” according to China Aid Association.
After the demolition, dozens of church members held a church service and police officers tried to disperse them. A member of the church said a line of police prevented them from removing their belongings from the prayer room. This is the second such incident in less than a month. Authorities had previously raided the church on Aug. 30. “The last time they came here, they tore down six of the eight rooms,” the church’s pastor said. “About 200 people came again and surrounded the entire place. Then, they totally leveled the buildings, stating that the structures violated the building code.”
On Sept. 22, following the most recent demolition, police raided the Chen Pengyi Church in Wancheng district, Henan province, where several believers were gathered for a Bible study and training session. Police detained an American pastor and a Russian pastor as well as more than 30 attendees. One believer’s car was also confiscated.
Pray that God will continue to give these believers a steadfast spirit of courage and faithfulness amid these challenges. Pray that their witness will help awaken their oppressors to the saving knowledge of Christ, and pray that those detained will be released.
What is the church?
June 28, 2010 at 6:30 am | Posted in Christianity | Leave a commentTags: action, agenda, America, ateasetees, band, believer, Bible, blockbuster, body, bride, burden, called out, character, Christian, church, clique, compromise, control, convict, death, definition, discipline, ekklesia, elder, ethnicity, evangelism, facade, faith, flock, forgiven, funds, goal, goat, God, gospel, grace, grounded, group, hair, hell, holy, Holy Spirit, hope, income, Jesus, judgment, law, life, line, logic, lost, love, lure, maturity, mercy, ministry, money, movie, murder, numbers, nurture, past, pastor, peace, prayer, Precept, prestige, prize, promise, repent, responsibility, roles, rooted, sacrifice, salvation, scripture, secular, sermon, service, sheep, shepherd, sin, skin color, souls, suicide, summer, ten commandments, tithe, trust, truth, unforgiven, unity
It seems like such an innocent question doesn’t it? Logic would say that there should be a simple definition for what the church is and that should be that. Unfortunately, there isn’t. Well, I take that back. There is a simple definition of what the church is. A large number of those who profess Christ even seem to know what this definition is. What’s odd is that, while they know the definition, it doesn’t match up with what they are living out. Taken to the next level, this same oddity seems to be true for local churches. Attendees can give the Sunday school answer for the question but, looking at the church/individual, there’s a discrepancy. Before I go where I’m going, it would be helpful to have the definition of what the church is according to the Bible: Continue Reading What is the church?…
