Exloring Life Eternal

A man recently gave a believer a copy of the Qu'ran. As he did so, he said: "Now that I have given you a copy of the Qu'ran, don't you have to recipricate by giving me a copy of the Bible. I'd like to receive one!" The believer was happy to comply with the request!

There remains a hunger for reading the Word of God in the country. Experience in other countries in the region shows this has happened before as a prelude to God working in a new way. Please continue to lift this country before the Lord, that we would see God working in ways we could not have dreamed of a few years ago.

http://solarpoweredbible.com/

Here is a small bible that fits in the palm of your hand and
now speaks all the books of the Bible, old and new Testament, in a real human voice. You can jump from book to book, and chapter to chapter with the press of a button. You can also jump ahead or back in 15 second intervals. It's easy to use and the batteries are built into the unit. It can be powered by the sun or a light bulb or charged from a 9 volt DC adapter (not included). Fully charged batteries will allow the unit to play for approximately 10 hours. You can listen to the human voice reading the Bible through the Bible's excellent speaker, or through ear phones (included). The unit measures 4 1/4 by 2 1/2 by 7/8 inch.

This would be great for the visually impaired or for your next
road trip. In spite of costs as high as $110 at other sites, Ken found it at:
http://www.kingdom.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=SOLBIB
for just $40 with accessories at
http://www.kingdom.com/category.aspx?categoryID=602

Now the book of Genesis is available in easy English at:
http://www.easyenglish.info

Download Genesis from the list of Bible books. In fact, you will find a wide selection of files to help you enjoy this exciting collection of biographies.
Choose one of the following:

- Alun Owen's translations in Level B EasyEnglish (2800 vocabulary) with a commentary
- Christine Muir's version in Level A (1200 word vocabulary) with short, helpful notes on the text.

There are also items at Level AEE (Accessible EasyEnglish) using very simple words in short sentences. These are excellent for anyone who finds standard English too difficult.

The kingdom of God is like the woman who lost her rings.

There was a lady who lost 3 rings that each had substantial carat weight on the high-end.

She had taken off her diamond rings while cooking & put them in a paper towel. Her husband was helpful & dutifully helped clean up the kitchen & promptly took out the trash. ... She later discovered that she was missing the rings & he immediately realized his careless mistake. ... But not before the mega trash truck had hauled their trash away!

They called the trash company & found the truck. They pulled the full garbage truck off to a vacant parking lot & emptied the whole contents of trash. Then, they hand-sorted through the whole pile of
-TRASH- Looking for a paper towel with the 3 priceless gold & diamond
rings. At last, the husband recognized their family trash & the precious crumpled up paper towel. Then, he was again able to present the 3 rings to his beloved wife of many years.

And when she had the rings, the neighbors heard, indeed the whole region heard for she called the news announcers station to tell them of the treasure lost & recovered.

And so it is with us today.

Are you looking for treasure?
Feel like you are digging through trash?
Does it stink at times?
Keep digging.

Does your brother seem to be digging through a pile of rubbish?
Remind him of the Prize & dig in with him.

Perhaps sometimes the folks digging on the rubbish heaps of Cairo wonder & dream when / if they will find some rusted old box that holds someone's treasure within.

At times Bible portions have been in thrown into trash heaps & were later used for the Glory of our Lord & the salvation of souls. Some of these were ancient manuscripts, some of these were mass produced Bibles. But the Word of God did not return void.

Be blessed today,
Mert H.
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels."

There is an old phrase about, from Kalamazoo to Timbuktoo ...
M.Q. said, "Today, we are correcting human history from here, in
Timbuktu." (cf. http://www.memritv.org/# )

Sounds like the Gospel Mission of Kalamazoo needs to send some saints
to Timbuktu in order to help Qadhafi get a few facts straight in the Q.
document. http://www.kzoogospel.org/what_we_believe.php

They clothe the naked, feed the hungry, shelter the cold, comfort the
weary, strengthen the broken hearted ... & give a correct account of
the Life of Jesus by doing the ministry of a bar-nabas: Encouraging!!

I personally never found the Quran or Muhammed's other stuff in line
with Barnabas' gift of encouragement. If you wish to get the Word of God to the folks in Timbuktu & help Qadhafi find the true Word of Encouragement:
http://www.worldshare.org.uk/pages/timbuktu.html


Peace In Christ,
Mert H.
ptap@srginc.org
www.pray-ap.info

The full text of this translation/version of the Holy Bible is now available, in full, from Sam's Club (same company-family as Wal-Mart), for just $9.95.

For more information on "The Message"
http://www.navpress.com/BibleProducts/MessageProducts/

Also on the site are some critiques & commendations from various readers ... if you read under "customer reviews"

Here are some articles for Reference by a Christian who studies the Word & the words used by the world.

This topic arises from a series of studies I have been doing on the Post-Exilic period into the early Christian era:

Hebrew Usage in the First Century
http://orvillejenkins.com/languages/hebrewfirstcentury.html

You will see this article links to other related articles. If you are not familiar with this focus of study on my website, let me refer you to the following Topic Menus there:

Language and Culture (several on biblical languages)
http://orvillejenkins.com/languages/

Theology and Christian Faith (some cross-listed on the Languages Menu)
http://orvillejenkins.com/theology/

- OBJ.

If you know Russian and you have one of these mobile devices (PALMs, Pocket PCs and Web-enabled phones), you're welcome to try out a new interface here:
www.agape-biblia.org/mobile/

If you don't have a mobile device, but you want to see how it will work on one, go to:
www.agape-biblia.org/AgapbibE.htm

with an ordinary PC and click on the "A-B mobile" button.

Nearly everything available on the full-size Agape-Biblia, almost 5 gigabytes, is also available on the mobile version:

Menu
* God's Plan for your life
* Agape Rehab Society
* Commentaries of Chrysostom
* School of Mission
* Practical Ministries
* Russian songs
* Russian sermons

A harmony of the Gospels in English:

http://www.lifeofchrist.com/life/harmony.html

(Thx to Bob H., the webmanager of http://www.agape-biblia.org )

A Christian worker recently shared or "preached" to a Bible recipient and five on-lookers. Pray that the truth shared during this time would burn in the hearts of those who heard it. Pray that the truth they have heard would cause them to hunger for more.

Norma has recently lost her daughter and is burdened with sadness. Pray that she would find comfort in God's Word and that a Christian worker would have the opportunity to lead her to the Lord.

Praise the Lord that Christian women have had increased opportunities to meet and share with Muslim women. Pray that Lord would prepare the hearts of these Muslim women for all He would have the Christian workers to share with them.

Pray for Viv to be open to the gospel and have a desire to know Jesus. Pray that the Christian worker ministering to her would have an opportunity to lead her to the Lord.

Several Christian workers will leave in the summer. Pray that God would send more workers into His Harvest.

Last year, many local believers suffered heavy brutal persecution. These believers need continual prayer. Please lift them up daily. Pray that God would restore them fully from the trauma they suffered.

Thank you for praying for the Light to shine in this land.

Contrary to teaching of some who have heard about the confidence & assurance Christians can have: our salvation is not a license to sin, but it means we are sent ... "Go & sin no more." In other words, salvation is salvation from sin. To be "once saved & always saved" is essentially a freedom from the curse of the Law, which is death, damnation, and destruction. We are saved from sin. We are not saved to sin.

To be blessed, is to be turned from sin. Any other secondary material blessings actually derive from that primary one.

There is actually a great judgment facing those who go on in sin after coming to a knowledge of the Truth: Hebrews 10 talks about this in the New Testament.

So, if you claim to know the truth, why are you continuing in Islam if you have not thoroughly studied the Word of God, which can be found in the canonized & Holy Bible if you look for Jesus & seek eternal life?

If you do know the Good News & realize the fact that the path to wisdom begins by living in light of the Reality & Rule & Reconciling nature of the Lord, then Why are you not following Jesus?


Having read some stories of "christians" who "converted to Islam," I found NO real evidence of any such conversion. As Muslims suggest, they were at best, already muslim: under the law.

The only reasons or motives I found on websites had to do with the sins of some who bore the name of Christ ... & NOTHING to do with the Bible. Essentially, some people who did not want to seek the Lord with their whole heart&mind fell for some cultural miscellany that certain forms of Islam offer (obedience to a certain cultural pattern & traditions, that is Law.) ... & that they believe that there is one (1) God.

The demons also know that there is one God. (James 2:19) So, what does faith that only 1 God exists prove? One has intelligence comparable to that of demons/jinn. Note that when James says it is "good" that his audience is aware of the existence of God, it is a sarcastic comment and does not indicate the moral perfection of his readers. In other words, it is "good" compared the "folly" of denying the existence & efficacy of God [& His Word].

Christ died on the cross, as prophesied through the willingness of Abraham to offer up his son. The tomb is now empty. ... Now that is an obedience that is both powerful & proving, convincing & conquering!!
(Reflecting Christ in our lives results in real knowledge of God & wisdom from God, not merely knowledge about God based on human wisdom.)

Let me encourage you, fear God & understand the Word of God!!

Get a Bible
Read Genesis-Exodus 34.
Read Deuteronomy-2 Kings, Ezra-Esther.
Read the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
Read Isaiah - Malachi.
Read the whole new Testament, with particular to Luke-1 Corinthians.
Study Galatians-Colossians.
Read the letters to Timothy & Titus,
Don't neglect to read James, 1 Peter, 1 John & certainly Revelation.

While you would do well to read the whole canon of Scripture, these are books that particularly outline the main purpose of God in human history.

Don't be afraid of what your peers, family, & leaders will think. Read the Bible & follow Jesus who died for you out of love for you. You will be glad you did.

If you care to write: "Mertaka at everybody dot org."
Mert Hershberger

Robert has been an encouragement over the years as I read emails from him. He has set an excellent example of loving as Jesus did, even in a very tough environment & against the "certainties" the world offers. Recently, the Lord has been gathering together again some of the "least" in this area as well. Seeing the mentally ill & the despondent & discouraged find hope in Jesus is always a great blessing to me!

Peace in Christ,
Mert the blogger

Please visit our updated AGAPE REHAB SOCIETY webpage:
AGAPE REHAB SOCIETY is www.agape-biblia.org/rehab.
We're now seeing 800++ visits per day to our whole website! ...

We just learned that Valerii Petrovich, a client whom we rehabilitated two years ago from a stroke, is now dying from throat cancer. ...

Thursday morning Cheryl and Elena were going to visit Valerii Borisovich. At breakfast we heard on the news about the domed roof collapsing on a huge market, with about 12 people being killed. Cheryl and Elena travelled right past the subway station where the market is located on the way to and from visiting Valerii Borisovich, and while at his place they heard the full details. By today the death toll has reached 64, with more people very likely still buried beneath the rubble. This is the third roof collapse on a public building in Europe this winter, with the heavy snows. The others were in Germany and Poland.

Yesterday I reached a huge milestone: I finished writing and submitted the first draft of my doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Ministry Driven Church." Now I'm waiting for my academic mentor to review it and provide feedback, so I can prepare the final draft. Here's one of the sources that I quoted:

Eternal life has to do with the total man. It concerns not only my soul but also my body. When we finally inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50), that which is mortal - our physical, frail body - will be swallowed up in life. Eternal life includes the redemption of our bodies. The inheritance of the Kingdom of God means the transformation of these bodies of flesh and blood (1 Cor 15:50). All of us, even though we have received the gift of life, are dying. With some, the descent to the grave will be a long, gradual, painful one. With others, it occurs with shocking suddenness. Some will enjoy a large measure of vigour until the very end. But we are all on our way to the grave, for we are dying, mortal creatures. (George Eldon Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, p. 69.)

Some people ask us, "Why do you work with disabled and dying people?" Our simple answer is: "Because Jesus did, and commanded His followers to do the same." The truth is, we're all in that category, and the people who think they aren't, are actually the most disabled and deluded. We have all been disabled by sin and are dying. Although when we work with stroke victims, amputees, etc., we often see significant improvement in their physical health, these physical healings are just a foretaste of the redemption and transformation of our bodies. When our clients, their families and friends see Christ's agape-love changing lives, they want the eternal life He can give!

Prayer and Praise:
1. Pray that the new law for an alternative to military service in Armenia will meet international standards.
2. Pray for positive results from the World Summit of Religious Leaders to take place this July in Moscow.
3. Intercede for Pastor Ernst Sabilo of the Belarusian Evangelical Church in Minsk, a veteran of Soviet labour camps for his faith.
4. Ask the Lord to preserve religious freedom in Russia, as the new law on NGOs may now reach all religious groups.
5. Praise God for a huge 16% increase in our website traffic this month, and pray that it will keep growing.
6. Pray that our clients Valerii Petrovich and Valerii Borisovich will be assured of eternal life as their bodies wear out.
7. Thank the Lord that the first draft of my doctoral dissertation, "The Ministry Driven Church," is finished.

Please remember to pray for Russia, and for...
Your fellow-servants,
Bob & Cheryl
http://www.agape-biblia.org/hosken-news

Agape-Biblia: www.agape-biblia.org
Agape Rehab Society: www.agape-biblia.org/rehab

Things I Cannot Do,
BUT GOD CAN!

Raise the dead.
Give sight to the blind.
Open deaf ears.
Restore a leper to health & society.
Cleanse kidneys.
Heal a wound.
Mobilize a quadraplegic.
Loosen the arthritic.
Reconcile enemies.
Release prisoners.
Change the hearts of rulers.
Return a nation to faith.
Give victory to a little guy over a giant, a lion, and a bear.
Slaughter an army of many thousands with 300 who have torches in clay
pots & trumpets.
Silence mockers.
Depose the wicked & proud in power.
Motivate the wealthy to sell all that they have & give to the poor.
Inspire one man to write poetry, laws, structural descriptions, family
& historical narrative, and coherent cosmology that endure for millenia.
Make a leader insane & then sane again.
Cast out a demon.
Direct fish to where men cast out a net.
Compel fish to pay taxes for people.
Send bread from heaven.
Multiply a few loaves & fish to feed thousands.
Prevent disease & plague from striking particular communities.
Calm a storm.
Purify a water-source instantly.
Send rain.
Raise an axehead from beneath the water.
Walk on water & enable some one else to do the same.
Make a desert bloom.
Cause an earthquake.
Part the waters.
Flood the whole earth with water.
Create the earth.
Bring a new heaven & new earth.
Unify the church in a community for His good pleasure.
Teach those who are slow-learners.
Send out a missionary.
Sacrifice his One & Only Son & raise Him again in order to have a much
larger family, thus making Jesus Christ the First Born from the dead.
Do ALL He ever said He would do in a loving way.

- list compiled by Abdul Kalimattullah

Dear Members,

I had some feedback concerning talk to Muslims about Christ crucified and His blood shed for our sin (Leviticus 17:11).

When they express their opinions as this being done by backward people, we might ask do you have any witnesses there on record who watched the crucifiction of Christ or who saw HIM raised again with holes in HIS hands & side.

Do you have any prophets or law before his time which don't agree and were witnessed as true concerning this event?

The Jew had this in their Law & Prophets but apparently were expecting a worldly king who would change everything with worldly power and so couldn't see around this to see that an "eternal kingdom" would be "of God" not man's (II Samuel 7:13, 16) which did not deal with man's sin and dis-relationship with God which the law and prophets showed and their history - a failure to do.

Messiah cut off but not for himself (Daniel 9:26, Isaiah 53:10); My servant the Branch (Isaiah 11:1, Zechariah 3:9,10) - finish sin in one day - Good Friday. It is hard to think of crucifying your Great King for your sin, but is on record: It is Written, was Jesus' way of handleing it (Matthew 4:1-11).

Sincerely in Christ,

Erland Nord

Today, I again called the priest of the local Greek Ortho church:
His name is Nick & the church is called St. Nicholas. He was out blessing homes & would be busy for the remainder of the month, unable to answer a simple 5 minute question about the Greek Bible version used in by the Greek Ortho's. Ah, well. The other day a dear local "levite" who loves to share the gospel adamantly insisted that he didn't like a church policy of encouraging generosity & mutuality.

I guess I will just have to ask a "Samaritan" while the levites & the priests busy on ahead.

Ironically, my brother Mark & I have pleasant conversations about the faith at times, and he attends a Greek Orthodox Church where the kids study the Bible. Also, I have co-workers who are Greek Orthodox (one guy helps me learn a few Greek phrases). One person seems a bit frustrated by the $ orientation of church, but that is a common blight in building oriented congregations.

But Jesus never fails.
He loves us, the cross proved it. His resurrection convinced us of it.

That is after all, why we have the Bible, so we can come to know Jesus a little better.

This note was in my inbox this AM which, I thought was ironic. (Everybody needs Jesus, & the Bible is given to us so that we can understand Jesus better.)

=====
...we had been passing out Bibles by placing them at the doorsteps of apartments in the several apartment buildings that are in our neighborhood. As we were doing this in one building, a lady saw what it was and called the local priest to come check it out. The priest arrived, saw that we were handing out Bibles, and flew into a rage. The woman told the priest that she did what the church had told her to do in reporting anything that might be against the Orthodox church. The priest began asking K. why we are doing that, calling us a “sect” and generally causing an uproar. K. told him that it is not Protestant literature or anything against the Orthodox church, but just a Bible. The priest said that a Bible was not needed for salvation, that salvation is only through him and the church. K. asked the priest if he had a Bible, and the priest defensively answered, “You think I don’t have a Bible?” The interesting thing is that he never said whether he had one or not. Then he threatened K. by saying that he would call the police. K. remained calm, only continuing to press the issue of the importance of giving the people Bibles. Then the priest started to get in his car, but not before holding out his hand so that the people around could kiss it.

We went home for lunch, and while we were eating, the doorbell rang. It was three police officers, and they asked K. to go to the station so they could ask him some questions. K. drove our van, following them to the station. They took him to a room where a fourth police officer was, and asked him what was going on. The man who processes our visas came in to reassure the other officers that our visas and work permits were all in order and in good standing. He asked a few questions also, but it was determined that we had not broken any laws and were guilty of nothing. So, they just told us to give out the Bibles one on one instead of just putting them in front of doors. So K. agreed and they told him he could go. So, K. was never arrested, spent no time in jail or anything like that. K. said they were very civil and not at all antagonistic. And, the police officer asked if they could keep the Bible there, so K. told them that was fine, and that he could bring more Bibles if they wanted them – but they all said that the one was enough.

So, K. came home. ... he walked in the door, but didn’t even tell us he was home. I heard some rustling in the other room, and asked who was there (thinking it was one of the kids messing with something). He answered that he was home, and we all had a good laugh that he was such at peace about it all! We all thanked the Lord as we listened to his story of what happened.

We are now slowing down in our Bible distribution, giving out the Bibles to people we already have relationships with and spending more time talking with them. We went to our neighbor’s home last night and had a good visit with them about the Bible. We will go to several more homes today. We have over 700 more to give out.

Please continue praying for us! We’re so thankful for all that has happened, seeing God’s hand in it all – His hand of protection, His hand of guidance, His hand of mercy. We look forward to continuing to serve and get out the powerful Word of God!

Joyfully,
J.

There is a proverb in one Arabic country: "One day as a cock
rather than ten as a hen." Meaning that it is better to live a
short life with power and honour than a long life of humble
submission. What a contrast to the words of Psalm 84:10 where the Psalmist reminds us that it is better to spend a day in God's courts than a thousand elsewhere and he desires to be a doorkeeper in God's
house. Pray for God to change the hearts of many that they may humbly
seek his face and understand the futility of seeking after
worldly things.

Just yesterday, I read a report that in 1954 a copy of the Bible was presented to the King of B. & refused. However, 50 years later, the Word has been translated & is available in the majority language. ==> His word will not fail!!!

I look forward to a day before I die when Libya will not be known as a place where terror is sourced (as it was in my childhood), but as a place where the liberating power of the Gospel is running once again, bringing life to barren places.

Don't lose heart ... Amen.

Peace in Christ,
Mert Hershberger

<+><
MSG Received

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers this past month on several important issues in regard to His work in *. The brother who has been facing questioning by authorities has had some reprieve, and he thanks you all for your prayers. He still has not received back his passport, so you can continue to pray for that, but otherwise, things have calmed down.
Pray that the Lord will maintain a hedge of protection around these who are serving Him in *.

We regret to share that the Bible Society was not able to obtain permission to enter the country with Bibles and books for the exhibition in Benghazi. Thank the Lord with us for the efforts of this important institution, and ask that they will not grow weary in exploring every possible door for entry with the Good Book. Ask the Lord to open wide the gates that His Word will be freely available to all * citizens.

=====
* is an Arab country that is ruled by a version of Sharia law.

BOTTOM LINE: PRAY THAT ALL ARABS WOULD HAVE FREE ACCESS TO THE WORD OF GOD, BOTH TO READ/HEAR IT & TO UNDERSTAND/LIVE IT.

The hermeneutics class in the undergrad univ I studied at (a class I never took, but reviewed the contents twice when friends did) emphasized the importance of observing in nature as preparation for learning how to read. George W. Carver commented that a garden is the best way to help a child think. As you grow things or watch a tree grow, you get to learn its characteristics & observe the smallest detail. Having raised plants over the years, I cannot agree more, though, man made his most foolish mistake in a garden, hence the need for humility: I need the Gentle Gaurdener daily.

Once a person has the basics of observation down, I would suggest simply memorizing a passage & analyzing it. Read several English translations / or if you only have access to one translation a solid commentary, then write your own paraphrase/translation based on them (& the Greek/Hebrew if possible). Analyze the sentence structure. Really let the words & phrases sink in. Try reading & reciting the passage with the intonation & gestures you believe the Author would have expressed them with.

Learning about the culture & geography of the Ancient Near East can help you "get into" the context of the text as well. Realize that the peoples & places were real, and many continue to today, though with some change.

Throughout, pray about how to relate what you are learning to today. Not just how you preach/teach/witness, but also how you live.

"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly ..."

EGYPT: NEW BIBLE SOCIETY HOTLINE
Bible Society (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk) - July 4, 2005

The Bible Society of Egypt has set up a brand new quick-dial telephone service. The special number will connect callers anywhere in Egypt directly to their nearest Bible Society bookshop.

This new initiative follows the recent success at this year’s Cairo International Bookfair, resulting in a 26 percent increase in sales of Bibles and Christian resources. This escalation in interest in Christian materials has encouraged the local Bible Society to try other creative ways of marketing its message.

The Society is already known for its enterprising foray into billboard advertisements in the country’s capital. The [ads] appeared across Cairo on huge, prominent poster sites inviting passers by to consider the Bible’s message.

Now, in an ingenious twist on an impact of globalization, the Bible Society of Egypt has set up a brand new telephone service. In Egypt, dialing 19000 anywhere in the country connects the caller to the nearest Pizza Hut. Thanks to some generous donors, the Bible Society has echoed this quick-dial service. The Society has set up its very own special phone number, 19250, which connects callers anywhere in Egypt directly to their nearest Bible Society bookshop. The easy-to-remember phone number is now being publicized across the country to make Christian resources even more accessible.

Source (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/content/pr040705.doc).

One man was visiting with three of his cousins who are all believers. The evening started as many such evenings would - they sat on mattresses on the floor and drank coffee together. Later, following the reading of a passage from the Bible and some discussion they had a time of prayer. He prayed: "God, if you're real then show me!" Pray for seekers like this man, that God would answer the deep prayers of their hearts – both uttered and silent.