Exloring Life Eternal

Prayer Points from WIN:

The millions of people living in the coastal regions of the Indian Ocean, that panic will not take over and create chaos. Pray for comfort and healing for the survivors of the earthquake. Pray that all who are affected will receive sound counseling.

Relief workers and churches to powerfully sense the strength and presence of the Holy Spirit and be able to express grace in the midst of turmoil. Pray that relief workers will have the necessary finances to provide the Christian medical teams with food for the public kitchens they are manning as they feed 1,000 people a day.

Indonesian Christians in the devastated region to boldly speak the Gospel, recognizing the urgency of the message of Jesus Christ. Pray that the pastors and believers will have wisdom and discernment as they share Christ's love.

The millions who began asking probing questions about God when the tsunami struck to seek Him now.

The Christian Church in Indonesia: for unity, strength and wisdom for those in leadership. Pray that they will continue to find favor with community leaders and will continue to have an open door to plant eternal seeds.

Pray against corruption by officials and others in authority. Pray against such things as women and children being abused, spread of disease, looting of belongings, relief items being hijacked, expired food and medical supplies being distributed.

Give thanks to God that He is in control. Thank Him for those who have survived and will survive.

Window International Network [win@win1040.com]

Three simple questions that can help determine if someone is having a stroke. Good info to remember, as it may help someone down the road ... IS IT A STROKE?

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

*Ask the individual to SMILE.
*Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
*Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify
facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

How many of you "use" (i.e. refer to) the weather in evangelism? (I don't just mean you hope that it doesn't rain when you plan a picnic.) I.e. Have you seen any climate changes as you seek the Lord corporately?

After realizing that Jesus is Lord of the "heavens above," I have come to appreciate the weather & how the Lord desires to be glorified in this arena of life as well. Two times this past week, during church meetings, the Lord began to send rain at the exact moment that the call to humble repentance was being given out!! Oh, the glory of the Lord!!

I am increasingly convinced that Jesus aluded to the weather in this way in the sermon on the mount (i.e. God uses the weather to get our attention, whether we are righteous or unrighteous, good or bad.) I also firmly believe that James was written to provoke believers to repent that the "early rains & later rains" of the land might return to the land & famine pushed back. Note that James closes with an invitation to pray & otherwise express your heart to the Lord!!

Again, the Lord Jesus is sovereign & so very, very good!!

Blessings on you all,
Mert

CF: "Healing the Land," by Winkie Pratney addresses this matter pretty clearly: REPENT & BELIEVE! The environmental crisis actually a matter of moral crises (cf. Isaiah 24). I close.

A confirmation:
====
GOD OF THE UNIVERSE CONTROLS THE WEATHER IN KYRGYZSTAN
from a private, unnamed sources in Kyrgyzstan

(29 Mar) "As we wrote to you about 3 hours ago, we deeply felt the dangers that our national colleagues in our neighborhood felt, about the continued looting of the city, particularly in our neighborhood. Nearly 100 men from our neighborhood had gathered to plan strategy to defend their homes and families from the anticipated looting. They came with clubs, sticks, pitchforks, and a VERY few had rifles. We met for nearly an hour as they plotted how to set up a watch schedule throughout the night. We knew in the natural they would be completed inadequate to face hundreds of angry looters. Right after we sent the prayer request out, and many of you responded immediately saying you were praying, God did something amazing! Suddenly storm clouds gathered, and in a very few minutes hail and incredibly strong winds blew in!"

Initially, N., X. and Y. were alone at the house, and were praying. X. thought that our house was being pelted with rocks. Then she shouted with joy, “Hail is falling!” We ran outside to see what was happening, and the wind was blowing ferociously while hail pelted the ground. About this time we knew a massive demonstration was occurring. We believe God began to “put out the fire!” When A., B. and C. went outside again, rain was pouring down, and the temperature was dramatically lower. We all know that hail typically follows very hot weather in situations where cold fronts and warm fronts meet. This was not at all the situation here. It was a cool day and still as could be. There was no sign of any inclement weather. All we can do is praise God! You cannot imagine the hope that filled our hearts as we believe it was a clear demonstration from our God about Who is REALLY in control!

=====
From Robert Hoskens:
Last Saturday the snow and ice was still heaped up over my head in some places, and a few cars that hadn't been driven all winter were still covered with snow. But by today most of the snow has melted. I mention this because Cheryl and I just read in our morning Bible reading that God controls the weather: in Job 37:10-13 we see that He sends ice, thunderstorms and rain "for correction, or for His land, or for loving kindness." The unexpected hailstorm in Kyrgyzstan we mentioned above is proof of this Bible truth! The political unrest in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan is completely in God's control.
www.agape-biblia.org [agape-biblia@narod.ru]

One God, One Day, & the Face / Phases of the Moon

In discussions with Muslims about the Trinity, I have found the following observation to be useful to them as an opening to understanding more about the way that God has used the Hebrew word "One" [e'had] in an expansive and dynamic way.

God is described as "One" [e'had] in Deut. 6:4. That is a primary source for the understanding that He is One. A Muslim friend says, "If you believe that one is three and that three are one, I really don't want you as my accountant!!" Of course he sees in the Qur'an that teaching that God is One.

I have pointed out to Muslims that the first place where God used the word "one" in the Torah is in Gen. 1:5, "the evening and the morning were "One" [e'had] day." The next place is where the man and wife are one flesh. But, so their minds don't wonder too long, I go back to the evening and morning. There is a conjunction "and" in there in order to properly define the "One" [e'had] day. Without that conjunction connecting the evening and morning, there would not be one day as God defined it. I prayed for an easy illustration of this. The face of the moon shows one day. This is especially useful when we can look up and see the darkness of the "evening" on one side of the face of the moon and along side it is the brightness of the "morning" light part of the moon. We are seeing "One" [e'had] day on the face of the moon!! It is also very dynamic, not at all static, but changing moment by moment, however is still perfect.

I have used this and told our friends that every time they look at the moon they can think of the unique Oneness of God and how He demonstrates oneness for us in the "One" [e'had] day which is visible right there. I have also mentioned that the crescent Moon shown in Islamic architecture and literature should remind them of the explanation of the oneness of God.

[If you wish to mention this to friends], I will list the dates of the first quarters of the moon for this year 2005. That is when the phase is most visible in the evening.

April 16, May 16, June 15, July 14, August 13, September 11, October 10, November 9, December 8.

Blessings by the One God,

David Depew
dpdepew@earthlink.net