EVERY ASPECT OF JESUS BIRTH & LIFE PROPHESIED

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“We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth” John 1:45
Every aspect of our Lord’s birth, life, character, ministry, arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension were predicted hundreds of years in advance.
We’re told he would be born of a woman (Genesis 3:15); to a virgin (Isaiah 7:14); of the seed of Abraham (Genesis 12:3); of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10); through the line of David (Isaiah 9:7); in Bethlehem Micah 5:2); and that HIS name would be Immanuel (God with us) (Isaiah 7:14).
The virgin birth and all the other aspects of our Lord’s life, having been accurately predicted, were wondrously fulfilled, proving His origin and identity. Jesus told His enemies to search the Old Testament Scriptures, for “these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).
The same Bible that pinpointed His first coming is brimming with references to His return. Let’s rejoice in His virgin birth today, and await His victorious return.

Extracted from article by Dr David Jeremiah Turning Point.

Nick brings hope to Uruguay

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Nick Vujicic
God is using Nick Vujicic to introduce people around the world to the transforming power of JESUS CHRIST. I already have two posts on Nick – Nick on Oprah Winfrey’s Show and Nick in Cambodia. If you didn’t see Nick on 60 Minutes take a look on YouTube. 

On 22 October Nick arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, to talk about the freedom God has given him. Vujicic spoke boldly about the transforming power of God’s Word before politicians and journalists at Uruguay’s House of Parliament. Thousands of Uruguayans watched on television. Director of Operation Mobilization, Uruguay, Alejandro Las, was appointed as his official translator.

President Mujica also met with Vujicic and they joined in prayer as Alejandro translated.
“In the last few years it must have been the closest encounter he has had with the gospel in his life,” reflected Alejandro.
The front page of the Uruguayan newspaper the next morning proclaimed, “Vujicic Challenges Abortion Laws at Teleton”. His time at the centre for handicapped children brought a great deal of media attention, which he used to proclaim a biblical perspective on abortion.
In a press conference soon after, an OM journalist asked him about his views on separation of church and state.
Vujicic said, “When people see me, they say,“Wow Nick! We love your values; we love your attitude; we love your strength; we want your joy! But don’t tell us anything about your God. But for me you can’t separate the two. It’s only because of my faith that I have what I have.”

The streets in Montevideo were covered wall to wall with posters of Nick Vujicic. His testimony was aired on the three largest secular television channels in the country: Teledoce, Canal 4 and Canal 10.
At the Rambla, the recreational coastline of Montevideo, nearly 15,000 people stood for two hours in the chilly night air to hear what he had to say.
“If you want to know about the peace that has set me free, that will set you free, lift up your hand,” he shouted. As Alejandro fervently translated the message, a drug addict standing near the OM team raised his hand.
Another hand went up. Followed by another.
The dark sky over Montevideo’s shoreline witnessed hundreds of hands go up as individuals indicated a desire to know the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

Foundation for Affirming Moral Absolutes

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Truth and Transformation
Without the cross of JESUS CHRIST the world has NO foundation for affirming moral absolutes, for calling corruption by its name – SIN.  The cross of Christ is also the only available force that can withstand and push back the storm of moral relativism that is upon us.
Thanks to the cross of JESUS, we have a firm basis – empirical, historical and philosophical for affirming moral absolutes without the same moral law condemning us. The cross does not just provide a philosophical framework for moral absolutes. It also provides the WAY to deliver us from SIN.
By the cross GOD shows us that the power He wants us to have is not the power to Lord it over others, not power to exploit and oppress, but power to sacrifice ourselves for others.
Of course, God knows we can’t do this in our own strength so He sends the third person of the Trinity, Holy Spirit to indwell all believers. The transformation of the disciples at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in power is the same power available to Christians today. They were able to disregard the threats of the Jewish leaders, rejoice in persecution and deliberately chose to disregard the state and continue preaching JESUS. This is real evangelism.
The author of Truth and Transformation, Vishal Mangalwadi described by Christianity Today as India’s foremost Christian intellectual is authentic. Vishal has spent time in jail in India for civil disobedience in helping the lowest caste, Dalits. He has planted churches there, is an international lecturer, social reformer, political columnist and author of fourteen books.
Truth and Transformation is a must read for anyone concerned with the state of current world events.
I like Vishal’s explanation for the rational cynicism that has now become the hallmark of secular universities. “The west has exchanged its worldview shaped by the Bible for a lie that the human mind is an accident of blind chance, no more valid than an animal brain”. Remember most of the prestigious universities in the UK and USA commenced as Christian Institutions, e.g. Oxford and Harvard.

The Tri-une nature of God is the foundation for human thinking and feeling.

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Jonathan Edwards, one of America’s greatest thinkers and theologians in “An Essay on the Trinity” from “Treatise on Grace and Other Posthumously Published Writings” (Cambridge UK 1971) provides a remarkable description of how the three persons of the trinity relate to each other.
Summary: The Father is God existing in the primal, unoriginated, most absolute manner. God the Son stands forth eternally as a work of God’s THOUGHT (thinking). And God the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as an act of their JOY (feeling). They are co-eternal and equally divine.
Also John Piper in his book “Think” says it well: God’s existence as a Trinity of Persons is the foundation of human nature as head and heart, thinking and feeling, knowing and loving.
God’s “thinking” and “feeling” are deeply part of His Trinitarian being.
God made the world so He can communicate, and we his creatures receive, His glory; and that it might be received by both the mind and heart.
If we are to live as people made in the image of God to glorify Him fully, we must engage our mind in knowing Him truly and our hearts in loving Him duly.
The mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fire of the heart.

HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD

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A wonderful example of a man who lives eternally now is LOREN CUNNINGHAM, founder of YWAM (Youth With A Mission). Loren Cunningham’s dream began with a vision – waves of young people moving out across the continents announcing the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole earth.
Decades later, Loren’s vision was realised. YWAM has grown into an interdenominational movement of Christians from around the world dedicated to presenting the Gospel to their generation.
The amazing story of Youth With A Mission demonstrates that God does speak to HIS children, those who will obey Him. He does guide and provide for them in miraculous ways which not only impacts their lives but also the world to the glory of God’s Kingdom.
Loren’s book “Is That Really You God? is truly an adventure in hearing and obeying the voice of God.  As Loren  explains, hearing the voice of our heavenly Father is a basic right of every child of GOD.  Don’t make guidance complicated, says Loren. “It’s actually hard not to hear God if you really want to please and obey Him! If you stay humble, He promises to guide you. ” Proverbs 16:9.

Loren offers three simple steps that have helped him and the leaders at YWAM to hear God’s voice:

1. Submit to His Lordship – silence your own thoughts and desires and the opinions of others. Make it clear to the Holy Spirit you need to know God’s thoughts/direction.

2. Resist the enemy – use the authority Jesus has given you to silence the voice of the enemy. James 4:7, Eph. 6:10-20.

 3. Expect an answer – expect your loving heavenly Father to speak to you. He will. John 10:27, Ps. 69:13, Exod. 33:11.

Start living eternal now by listening to and obeying the voice of God. He has a plan for your life. 

Can you come to a belief in God purely from the evidence?

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There is A God by Anthony Flew

HERE IS WHAT THE WORLD’S MOST NOTORIUS ATHEIST  SAYS IN HIS BOOK.                                                                               

Professor Antony Flew, former Professor of Philosophy, Oxford University.

“Can the origins of a system of coded chemistry (DNA) be explained in a way that makes no appeal whatever to the kind of facts that we otherwise invoke to explain codes and languages, systems of communications, the impress of ordinary words on the world of matter?” p. 127
He pointed out that natural selection can’t explain the origin of first life. Ultimately, a vast amount of information is behind life, and in every other case, information requires an intelligent source, so it is only reasonable that there be a Source behind this information as well.

He is adamant that his conversion to theism does not represent a paradigm shift, because his paradigm remains simply to follow the argument where it leads.

“I must stress that my discovery of the Divine has proceeded on a purely natural level, without any reference to supernatural phenomena. It has been an exercise in what has traditionally been called natural theology. It has had no connection with any of the revealed religions. Nor do I claim to have had any personal experience of God or any experience that maybe called supernatural or miraculous. In short, my discovery of the Divine has been a pilgrimage of reason not of faith.”

“There Is No God” was published in 2007. Professor Antony Flew died in 2010 at 87, hopefully before he died he met the true God who he had discovered through Natural Theology, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

A MAN WHO LIVED ETERNAL NOW

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John Wesley statue
Statue of John Wesley outside Wesley Church in Melbourne, Australia.

John Wesley considered every thought word and deed in light of eternity.
Wesley preached with unceasing zeal that complete holiness was the primary fruit of a vibrant faith in Christ and of course the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. Wesley wrote “until you press believers to expect full salvation from sin, you won’t see revival. Before I preach love and grace I must preach sin, law and judgment.”
Consumed by the thought of the shortness of time, the great work to be done and the need for haste in doing it, on he marched, preaching, pleading, warning and guiding.
Wesley pleaded with men and women to repent and by faith make peace with God or suffer an everlasting hell. He was determined to declare the whole counsel of God in Christ and give warning of the dreadful consequences of rejecting the Gospel.
When he was 83 he made a note in his diary that he was regretful that he could not write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes. He preached almost up to the day he died. truly his vigour and zeal in old age were the reward of his faithful stewardship of time.
He did indeed consider every thought word and deed in light of eternity.

Information complexity in a simple microbe defies evolution

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Stanford University researchers needed 128 computers to even partially simulate the microbe Mycoplasma genitalium, which has only 525 genes (complex bacteria such as E Coli has 4,288 genes).
As co-researcher Markus Covert explained “running a simulation for a single cell to divide just one time takes around 10 hours and generates half a gigabyte of data”.
They reported “the depth and breadth of cellular complexity has turned out to be nearly unbelievable”.
I would suggest therefore that to believe this complexity in a living simple organism came about by random chance is totally unbelievable.
Ref: Stanford researchers produce first complete model of an organism – news.stanford.edu 19th July, 2012.

Man with no arms and legs living eternal now

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Nick Vujicic

The amazing 30 year old evangelist Nick Vujicic, born without arms and legs is one of the most inspiring examples I know of a man who truly understands what it means to be living eternal NOW.
“Nick” as he is known, spoke recently in Vietnam, May 22-26, 2013 to many thousands. He spoke at seven official events, including two in large stadiums in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Three of the major events were televised nationally on VTV and he did numerous television interviews. After only 4 days, you would have been hard pressed to find a Vietnamese who had not heard about “Nick”.
Though not allowed to preach in public events, he took the country by storm as a motivational speaker. He became an instant hero and idol.
The unprecedented tour was sponsored by a consortium of a Hoa Sen business group whose Chairman Le Phuoc Vu is a devout Buddhist.
It seems Mr Vu, the lead organizer and sponsor wanted to do something positive for Vietnam’s youth, many of them aimless, purposeless and lacking role models.
Mr Vu’s answer to critics on spending so much on “Nick’s” events said, “In the spiritual perspective, the amount is negligible, Nick’s story is a great source of encouragement for the disadvantaged, the disabled , orphans , the poor, …. It is like water for thirsty people in the desert, very precious.
At a private dinner party for Nick at Mr Vu’s estate which included two Buddhist advisors to Mr Vu, he turned to Nick and said, “I see GOD in you, such hope and joy”
At the Hanoi stadium event a little girl with Nick’s identical condition was brought to him. When they met Nick asked her (National TV and thousands in the stadium), “DO YOU KNOW WHY I LOVE GOD? BECAUSE HEAVEN IS REAL! ONE DAY WHEN WE GET TO HEAVEN WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ARMS AND LEGS. AND WE ARE GOING TO RUN, AND WE ARE GOING TO PLAY, AND WE ARE GOING TO RACE”
News reports said, “participants burst into tears” at this powerful expression of Nick’s faith.
Nick is a man who by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling him knows how to live eternal now
He has learned to swim, surf and skydive, is married to a beautiful woman and has a son, has authored best selling books and is the epitome of purpose, joy and gratefulness.
see complete article by Reg Reiner in The Christian Post 05/06/2013.