Podcasts about Bible college

It was by a joint resolution of Congress, signed into law by President Harry Truman, that the National Day of Prayer was established to be observed on the first Thursday of May.While having national recognition of prayer is important, what about at the personal level? After all, each of us has the privilege of coming before God in His grace and in the name of His son Jesus Christ, to intercede for our nation, its leaders, churches and families. Unfortunately, such prayer is often relegated to a single day when it should be a vital part of every day. No one knows this better than Evangelist Harold Vaughan. He is founder and president of Christ Life Ministries, Inc. Harold trusted Christ as Savior in his teen years. While in Bible College the Lord called him to enter the ministry as an evangelist. He has a passion for reaching the lost and to encourage the local church.Harold noted that prayer starts in the hearts of people, yet he sees faith-based effective prayer as being at a low ebb in the church at this time. Should we be surprised it's this way when as Harold also pointed out, many churches were not founded as churches of prayer, but rather as houses of preaching, programs, politics or personality. So listen to this broadcast and learn why prayer is such a passion for Harold, what's keeping so many believers from having a regular and effective prayer life, as well as guidance for personal prayer, family prayer, corporate church prayer and showing how this is all to be scripturally driven.

It was by a joint resolution of Congress, signed into law by President Harry Truman, that the National Day of Prayer was established to be observed on the first Thursday of May.While having national recognition of prayer is important, what about at the personal level? After all, each of us has the privilege of coming before God in His grace and in the name of His son Jesus Christ, to intercede for our nation, its leaders, churches and families. Unfortunately, such prayer is often relegated to a single day when it should be a vital part of every day. No one knows this better than Evangelist Harold Vaughan. He is founder and president of Christ Life Ministries, Inc. Harold trusted Christ as Savior in his teen years. While in Bible College the Lord called him to enter the ministry as an evangelist. He has a passion for reaching the lost and to encourage the local church.Harold noted that prayer starts in the hearts of people, yet he sees faith-based effective prayer as being at a low ebb in the church at this time. Should we be surprised it's this way when as Harold also pointed out, many churches were not founded as churches of prayer, but rather as houses of preaching, programs, politics or personality. So listen to this broadcast and learn why prayer is such a passion for Harold, what's keeping so many believers from having a regular and effective prayer life, as well as guidance for personal prayer, family prayer, corporate church prayer and showing how this is all to be scripturally driven.

In this compelling episode, Bryan sits down with Dr. Robert Smith, lecturer in Theology, Ethics, and Music at Sydney Missionary and Bible College, to discuss his new book The Body God Gives: Biblical Answers on Gender Identity. With clarity, wisdom, and pastoral care, Robert unpacks the biblical foundations for understanding gender and sexuality in a time of cultural confusion.We explore:Why this conversation is vital for the church todayHow pastors can begin engaging these topics with both truth and graceThe tension between conviction and compassion in polarized timesScriptural responses to affirming interpretations of gender identityThe debate around pronoun usage and what true hospitality looks likePractical steps for gospel-centered evangelism among transgender individualsHow Christians can respond to pressure in schools, workplaces, and public lifeWhat the future of this conversation may look like—and how the church can prepareThis episode offers thoughtful, theologically grounded insight for anyone navigating these conversations in ministry, discipleship, or daily life. Whether you're leading a church or having coffee with a friend, this conversation will help you engage with humility, courage, and biblical conviction.Get Your Copy Of “The Body God Gives”

Tim Patrick, Bible College of South Australia

In this online episode, Pastor Logan interviews Tyrone Dyck, the College Ambassador for Horizon College and Seminary! They discuss all things Bible College and share some fun experiences. If you have questions about Horizon, you can visit https://www.horizon.edu/ If you have topics, questions, or just wanna get connected, please leave a comment, or email forgiven@bethelbrandon.ca.

My Story Talk 15 Ministry at Colchester 1962-68 Part 3 Welcome to Talk 15 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Today is the final talk about our ministry in Colchester between 1962 and 1968. These were the first few years of our married life and so far I have shared with you about the birth of our first two children, our housing, employment, holidays and transport.   We have talked about the growth of the church and the reasons for it, testified to an outstanding miracle, explained how I got to know more about Assemblies of God, and how God called me to give up my teaching job and go into full-time ministry.   Today I'll be sharing first how this led me into a wider ministry, and concluding with two important lessons I felt God was beginning to teach me.   A wider ministry – the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship If I had thought initially that God's purpose in leading me into full-time ministry was just so that I could give more time to the local church, I was soon to learn otherwise. It certainly did that, but I soon began to receive invitations to preach in churches at weekend conventions, and, more significantly, to speak in Coleford at a National Day School Teachers' Conference on the relevance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit in day school teaching today.   It was there I met members of the AoG Home Missions Council and the National Youth Council who, if I remember correctly, had jointly organised the conference. The invitation came, no doubt, not only because I was a pastor who had until recently been a schoolteacher, but also because of my ministry in praying for people to receive the baptism and my role in the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship.   I have already mentioned how, while I was at Oxford, I was asked to share my testimony at the AoG National Youth Rally held in the Birmingham Town Hall and to contribute an article in Redemption Tidings entitled Pentecost in Oxford University. So I was by no means unknown in the wider fellowship, and it was probably not surprising that, when Richard Bolt resigned as Travelling Secretary of the SPF, I should be asked to take over his role of visiting colleges and universities, preaching and praying for students to be filled with the Spirit, which of course would not have been possible if I had remained in school teaching.   Universities where I conducted meetings on those early SPF travels included Oxford, Cambridge, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham, Durham, and Newcastle. Later, after I had left Colchester, I also preached in the University of Louvain (Leuven) in Belgium, and in 1972 in the majority of universities in the state of Illinois.   The purpose of all these meetings was to tell people about the baptism in the Spirit, explain why it was biblical, and to pray for them to receive as I laid hands on them at the close of the gathering. Among the many who received were the chaplain of Queen's College, Cambridge, and William Kay a student at Trinity College, Oxford, who had come to Christ at a Billy Graham meeting in London.   Valentine Cunningham, a student at Keble College, and the son of an AoG pastor, invited William to a meeting he had organised where I was to preach on the baptism in the Spirit. After he graduated he became a member of my church in Basingstoke, a close friend, a lecturer at Mattersey Hall Bible College, and a university professor who has contributed much to Pentecostal education around the world.   Val Cunningham went on to become Professor of English at Oxford and was a great help to me when I wrote Be Filled with the Spirit, a booklet published by the SPF, which proved to be the springboard for my ministry as an author.   Other former SPF members who became professors were John Miles and Michael Collins. John, after spending some years as a missionary in Congo became Professor of French at Wheaton, and Michael, after serving as SPF General Secretary, became Professor of Engineering at City University, London.   He was succeeded as SPF General Secretary by Andrew Parfitt, who after spending years in school teaching, became an AoG minister, as did Jeff Clarke who received the baptism under my ministry while he was a student at Oxford, and David Littlewood who received while was a student at Essex.   It is clear from all this that during the course of my lifetime Pentecostals have moved on from being suspicious of higher education to embracing it and playing an active role within it. This will become even clearer when we consider in a later talk the educational developments in our Bible Colleges.   Lessons I learnt at Colchester Of course, I myself had never been to Bible College. And although I had received excellent teaching from my father and from Leslie Moxham, my pastor at Elm Park Baptist, I had received no formal training for ministry, and back then there was no provision in Assemblies of God for supervision from a more experienced minister. So I was very much learning on the job and was conscious of my need for the guidance, help, and the enabling of the Holy Spirit.   But my experience at Colchester taught me many lessons. The most significant of these was learning to trust God for our needs after I had relinquished my secular employment, which I have already mentioned. But there were two other areas the importance of which I began to understand more clearly. These were:   o   the nature of the ministry God had given me o   the importance of a balanced theology of healing.        The nature of the ministry God had given me In my teens I had been greatly impressed by the ministry of Billy Graham. I had seen thousands of people walk forward in response to his appeals for salvation. Surely this kind of evangelism must be the answer and, when I felt the call to the ministry at the age of 16, I soon began to have dreams of becoming an evangelist. Later, after I was baptised in the Spirit, I came to see the importance of healing in evangelism and, as I have mentioned previously, was greatly influenced by Richard Bolt who was seeing remarkable healings in his evangelistic crusades.  And at that time the American Pentecostal evangelist T. L. Osborn had made his books on healing available to students free of charge and I had read them avidly.   So I now wanted to be a healing evangelist, a desire which was evident in the two evangelistic and healing missions I conducted at Colchester. And that was why, although I shared with others the responsibility of preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings and midweek Bible Studies, I always did the preaching at the Sunday evening Gospel Service.   But when Harold Womersley, veteran missionary of the Congo Evangelisitc Mission visited us on itinerary, he asked me – purely out of interest, I think – about what I was teaching at our Bible Study meetings. And when I told him that, when it was my turn, I just gave whatever word the Lord had put on my heart, he graciously suggested that as the pastor it was my responsibility the feed the flock by regular and systematic teaching of the truths of God's word.   This, I think, would have been at about the time that I had given up my school teaching job, and so, taking his words to heart, I set about planning various series of weekly Bible studies, and I discovered that I really enjoyed it and, to my surprise, so did those who came to hear me. It was gradually dawning on me that my primary ministry was not to be evangelism – though I have not been totally unsuccessful in that area – but teaching.   Of course, I had no idea then how that teaching gift would eventually be expressed not only in churches, but also as a Bible College principal and as a writer. But that brings me to another closely related lesson I began to learn at Colchester, the importance of a biblically balanced doctrine of healing.   The importance of a balanced theology of healing As I mentioned at the beginning of this series, ever since my father told me of the healing of my aunt who had been deaf and dumb from birth, I have always believed that God still works miracles of healing today. I grew up with the belief that everyone could be healed if only they had enough faith and that the lack of miracles today was entirely due to lack of faith.   This understanding was confirmed by the teaching of Richard Bolt and the books of T.L.Osborn and was directly related to the doctrine that Jesus died not only for our sins, but for our sicknesses too. We can claim our healing in just the same way as we can claim forgiveness of sins, and all because Jesus died for us. I embraced this teaching wholeheartedly, and that is what I preached.   But my experience as a pastor in Colchester didn't always seem to confirm this doctrine. It was great when we saw people healed, but what could I say to those who were not? Did I really have to tell them that the reason they were not healed was lack of faith, or that there must be some unconfessed sin in their life? And whereas this might apply in some cases, it surely was not true of all?   I simply could not believe, for example, that when Jack Joliffe was diagnosed with a cancer that first disfigured him and eventually destroyed him, it happened because of lack of faith or some secret sin. I knew him too well. He was a godly man, full of faith, and an elder of our church. It's all too easy for evangelists to preach these doctrines and then move on, while pastors are left with the care of Christians who have not been healed and have been wounded by the teaching that if they are sick it is somehow their fault.   But it is not my intention in this talk to repeat what I have already said at length elsewhere. My rejection of this view is comprehensively explained in my Ph.D. thesis, Healing and the Atonement, where I argue that, although there is a sense in which healing may rightly be understood to be in the atonement, it is not true to say that Jesus died for our sicknesses in exactly they same way that he died for our sins. I have also explained this in my book Just a Taste of Heaven – a biblical and balanced approach to God's healing power, which is available from my website www.davidpetts.org.   I simply mention it here because it was at Colchester that I began to question what I had previously believed about healing. Of course, we mustn't build our doctrine on our experience, but if our experience doesn't tally with our doctrine it's always good to consider whether we've understood the scriptures correctly.   So I was learning important lessons at Colchester which were to stand me in good stead for the next ten years when we would be pastoring the assembly in Basingstoke. Life is a continuing process of learning and sometimes unlearning, and Basingstoke was no exception. Next time I'll begin by telling you how we came to move there.  

We are back for 2025!Karl Deenick is a lecturer in theology and pastoral ministry at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. We spoke with Karl about his journey through engineering, into pastoral ministry, and then into theological lecturing. We spoke about his wrestle with the question: does he love the word of God and the people of God? In other words, did he love people enough to be a pastor? We also spoke about what it was like growing and overseeing a big church early in his ministry journey. We also spoke about what led him to eventually move into lecturing at a theological college.

After ten seasons of deeply gratifying, inspiring Gospel stories, Amy Townsend brings the Salt Podcast to a close. But Amy has one last recommendation to make. Click on over to listen to the Aspire podcast, brought to you by Sydney Missionary and Bible College students.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Loyalty - Kenya Bible College Graduation 02/22/2025 2025/04/06 (Podcast Date) World Ministries International Eagles Saving Nations Dr. Jonathan Hansen - Founder & President Rev. Adalia Hansen worldministries.org Visit our Rumble channel https://rumble.com/c/WarningTVJonathanHansen (360) 629-5248 WMI P.O. Box 277 Stanwood, WA 98292 warning@worldministries.org Visit our website http://www.worldministries.org/ and subscribe to Eagle Saving Nations https://www.worldministries.org/eagles-saving-nations-membership.aspx Sign up for Dr. Hansen's FREE newsletters http://www.worldministries.org/newsletter-signup.html Support Dr. Hansen through your financial gift https://www.worldministries.org/donate.aspx Order Dr. Hansen's book “The Science of Judgment” https://www.store-worldministries.org/the-science-of-judgment.html

Part 2 Loyalty - Kenya Bible College Graduation 02/22/2025 2025/04/04 (Radio Air Date) World Ministries International Eagles Saving Nations Dr. Jonathan Hansen - Founder & President Rev. Adalia Hansen worldministries.org Visit our Rumble channel https://rumble.com/c/WarningTVJonathanHansen (360) 629-5248 WMI P.O. Box 277 Stanwood, WA 98292 warning@worldministries.org Visit our website http://www.worldministries.org/ and subscribe to Eagle Saving Nations https://www.worldministries.org/eagles-saving-nations-membership.aspx Sign up for Dr. Hansen's FREE newsletters http://www.worldministries.org/newsletter-signup.html Support Dr. Hansen through your financial gift https://www.worldministries.org/donate.aspx Order Dr. Hansen's book “The Science of Judgment” https://www.store-worldministries.org/the-science-of-judgment.html

Part 1 Loyalty - Kenya Bible College Graduation 02/22/2025 2025/04/03 (Radio Air Date) World Ministries International Eagles Saving Nations Dr. Jonathan Hansen - Founder & President Rev. Adalia Hansen worldministries.org Visit our Rumble channel https://rumble.com/c/WarningTVJonathanHansen (360) 629-5248 WMI P.O. Box 277 Stanwood, WA 98292 warning@worldministries.org Visit our website http://www.worldministries.org/ and subscribe to Eagle Saving Nations https://www.worldministries.org/eagles-saving-nations-membership.aspx Sign up for Dr. Hansen's FREE newsletters http://www.worldministries.org/newsletter-signup.html Support Dr. Hansen through your financial gift https://www.worldministries.org/donate.aspx Order Dr. Hansen's book “The Science of Judgment” https://www.store-worldministries.org/the-science-of-judgment.html

In this episode, Dan and Ben share their unique journeys to faith and ministry, reflecting on the pivotal moments that shaped their calling and their decision to co-lead a church. They dive into the challenges and rewards of church revitalization, emphasizing the power of prayer, community, and collaboration in leadership. Dan and Ben discuss the dynamics of shared leadership, the role of spiritual gifts, and the importance of humility in ministry. The conversation culminates in a call to evangelism, urging churches in Canada to engage more actively in sharing the gospel and equipping their congregations for mission.Dan and Ben serve as Co-Lead Pastors of Port Kells Church in Surrey, British Columbia, bringing years of experience in church leadership, teaching, and discipleship. Ben, originally from Pasadena, California, grew up as a missionary kid in Richmond, BC, and has 15 years of pastoral experience in senior leadership roles. He and his wife, Nicole, have been married for 16 years and have four children—Xavi, Mason, Vesper, and Lennon. Dan, a Prince Edward Island native, developed a deep passion for the Canadian Church after Bible College in the U.S., later moving to BC to pastor and invest in young leaders. He met his wife, Laurelle, while serving on staff at a church, and together they have a one-year-old son, Grayson. With 10 years of ministry experience, Dan is passionate about reaching and discipling the next generation. TAKEAWAYS+There is a huge need for revitalization in historic churches.+Co-leadership allows for shared strengths and accountability.+Listening to the community is crucial for effective leadership.+God prepares the way before new leaders arrive.+Leadership should reflect a plurality, as seen in biblical models.+Tension in leadership can arise from differing spiritual gifts.+Modeling community means working through conflicts together.+Revitalization can be a slow process requiring patience.+Evangelism should be a central focus for churches today.+The songs we sing can significantly impact our faith and outreach.To learn more about Dan, Ben, and Port Kells, please visit https://www.portkellschurch.com/. To learn more about Vision Ministries Canada, please visit https://vision-ministries.org/.CHAPTERS00:00 Journey to Faith and Ministry05:10 The Call to Co-Leadership12:01 Revitalizing a Historic Church18:26 The Dynamics of Co-Leadership24:53 Strengths and Challenges of Partnership25:49 Navigating Leadership and Community Dynamics29:41 The Challenges of Revitalization35:34 Trusting God in Revitalization40:28 A Call to Evangelism in Canada#faith #ministry #co-leadership #churchrevitalization #spiritualgifts #community #prayer #leadership #history #leadership #revitalization #community #trust #evangelism #growth #discipleship #collaboration

My Story  Talk 12 Brasenose College Oxford 1959-62 (Part 3) Welcome to Talk 12 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. This is now the third talk about the years I spent at Oxford. So far we have talked about life at Oxford, its academic programme, and my spiritual experience while I was there. Today I'm going to share with you my developing relationship with Eileen, our decision to get married shortly after I graduated, and how the Lord led us straight into pastoral ministry rather than going to Bible college first. Keeping in touch Throughout the two years after Eileen and I met, we had seen each other almost every day. Clearly, this could not continue while I was at Oxford, but we kept in touch as much as was then humanly possible. Of course, in those days there were no mobile phones. In fact, access to landlines was not easy, and anyway, it was extremely expensive. So Eileen and I kept in touch with each other by writing letters four or five times a week. We also managed to see each other every two weeks. As I have mentioned already, the terms at Oxford were only 8 weeks long, so by going home for the weekend after four weeks, and by Eileen travelling up to see me for the weekend after weeks two and six, we were able to see each other on a fortnightly basis. This was very clear evidence of Eileen's commitment to me as the journey on our Lambretta scooter through the busy traffic of central London was by no means easy. Obviously, we made the most of those precious weekends. On Saturdays we would often explore the surrounding countryside on our scooter or even travel further afield visiting pretty Cotswold villages like Bibury and Bourton on the Water. Or in the summer we loved getting into one of the punts moored by Magaden Bridge and heading up the Cherwell where we picnicked on the home-made sausage rolls and egg and bacon pie that Eileen had brought with her from home. On Sundays, of course, we went to church together before Eileen made the 60-mile journey back home to be ready for work on Monday. Of course, during the college vacations (which totalled half the year), the situation was completely different. I was able to see Eileen every day again. During the week, this was in the evenings as Eileen was at work during the daytime. And I was too, at least during the weeks that the schools had their holidays. As the Oxford terms were far shorter than the school terms I was able to earn some extra money by teaching in a local secondary school, which was to prove valuable for my future ministry as I was gaining experience in teaching children of a different age group from those I had taught in the years before I went to Oxford. But apart from working hours, Eileen and I saw each other every evening and every weekend. Sundays were taken up with church twice in the day, and midweek we regularly attended the Tuesday night prayer meeting, the Thursday night Bible study, and the Friday night youth meeting. We were desperate to learn more about our Pentecostal experience and the way the Pentecostal churches did things. In fact, whatever we were doing, our relationship with each other was from the start intimately connected with our relationship with the Lord and his will for our lives, even when we went on holiday. As I have already mentioned, our first holiday together was at a Christian Endeavour Holiday Home in Devon in 1959 just before I went up to Oxford. The following year we decided to explore the Lake District together. We travelled the three-hundred-mile journey on our scooter, stopping overnight in Aintree with one of Eileen's aunts, before finally arriving at a CE Home in Kents Bank near Grange-over-Sands. We had each visited the area before, but never together, and that fortnight was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy fellowship with other Christians as well as marvelling at the beauty of God's creation as we made daily trips into different parts of the Lakes. In 1961 we decided to go further afield and to spend four weeks touring France and northern Spain. So we exchanged our 125cc Lambretta for a new 175 which we trusted would cope well with the distances we would be travelling laden with two tents and all the paraphernalia required for camping. However, the moment we set off we both had some misgivings as the weight of luggage at the rear of the scooter made it harder to handle the machine safely, but undaunted we proceeded with caution and arrived safely at Southend airport where we had booked a flight on a cargo plane to northern France. Our first night in France was spent in a cow field with the kind permission of the farmer. We were both experienced campers, Eileen with the Girl Guides and I with the Boys' Brigade, but we had never before been woken by the sound of cows champing round our tent pegs and we quickly agreed to depart as soon as possible, particularly as there were no ‘facilities' available! We determined that after that we would make sure to check into proper camping sites. We travelled down the western side of France, stopping first at Paris for the weekend, camping in the Bois de Boulogne and visiting the thousand-strong Assemblies of God Church in the Rue du Sentier led by pastor André Nicole. Little did I know it then, but that was to be the first of many visits to French assemblies later in my ministry and sparked my interest in what the Holy Spirit was doing in European countries. In Angouleme we discovered that our GB plate had fallen off and, knowing that we were legally required to display one, we visited a garage there and asked if they knew where we could get a replacement. It was then that I realised how inadequate my A Level French course had been. Although we had studied numerous French authors, it was of little practical use to us now as no one had told us how to say the alphabet in French! Finally, by writing the letters down I managed to let them know what I wanted and learnt that in French GB is pronounced Jay-Bay. They told us that they could make us one, but it would take a couple of days. As a result, we had to travel further each day than originally planned which meant that we were both rather saddle-sore at the end of each day. We crossed the Spanish border between Biarritz and San Sebastian and immediately discovered that what we were doing was culturally unacceptable. Eileen was getting hoots and wolf-whistles from passing motorists because she was wearing trousers and not riding side-saddle! Of course, this would have been extremely dangerous bearing in mind the distances we were travelling each day and, at the risk of causing offense, we decided that we had no option but to carry on as we were. Extremely tired when we reached Burgos we decided to spend the night in a hotel and enjoy the luxury of proper beds. We did the same in Madrid for two or three nights before heading for Barcelona by way of Zaragoza. But before we reached Barcelona our scooter broke down on a mountain road and reluctantly I had to leave Eileen by the roadside with the scooter while I hitched a lift in a Citroen deux-chevaux into a village called Jorba to get help. It took two days to get the scooter fixed and by the time we eventually reached our campsite at Rosas, on the Mediterranean just north of Barcelona, it was already dark. A day or so later we arrived in Perpignan in southern France, intending to travel on up the eastern side of France on our way back home. But the scooter broke down again, and after two days camping at the back of an Esso station, we were compelled to return to England by train, leaving our scooter to be brought home courtesy of the RAC. Fortunately, it was still under warranty and was repaired by Lambretta after it finally arrived back in England some six weeks later. That holiday was the last we were to have together before we were married the following year and, in some ways, was a preparation for it. Like the holiday, married life is wonderful, but not without its unexpected events, delays, and difficulties. We were learning to face problems together, to be patient with each other, and to trust in the Lord to bring us through. Perhaps that's why I tend to advise young couples, wherever possible, to go on holiday together before deciding to get married. But that brings me to how I decided to propose to Eileen. Engagement and Marriage It was during my first term at Oxford. We had been ‘going out' together for two years, seeing each other almost every day. But we had never talked about marriage. I think that must have been because I was very conscious of how serious marriage is. Divorce in those days was far less common than it is today and for me, as a Christian, it would not have entered my head. I knew that marriage would be for life. What's more, I knew God had called me to serve him, and choosing the right partner was vitally important. So I was reluctant to commit myself. But just before I went to Oxford my father had a word with me. You'd better make your mind up about that girl, David. It would not be fair to keep her waiting for three years while you're at Oxford, if your intentions are not serious. Of course, I knew he was right. I had to make up my mind. The problem was, I didn't want to give her up, but I didn't want to marry her if she wasn't the right one for me. Finally I did what I should have done much sooner. I decided to pray about it. I got down on my knees in my bedroom at Oxford and told the Lord my dilemma. I told him that I would gladly marry Eileen if she was God's choice for me, but if not, I would give her up. And as soon as I said that prayer I received an overwhelming peace and an assurance that Eileen was the girl I was to marry. So, the next time I was home from Oxford, after a long and passionate kiss, I said to her, You will marry me, won't you, darling? Yes, those were my exact words! To which she replied, Oh yes! Of course I will. So we decided to get engaged the following summer after my first year at Oxford, knowing that the earliest we could expect to marry would be after I had graduated. After gaining her father's consent, we organised a wonderful garden party to celebrate our engagement on 2nd July, 1960, and eventually were married by Pastor Alfred Webb at Bethel Full Gospel Church, Vicarage Road, Dagenham, on 28th July, 1962. And the specially invited organist for the occasion was none other than Laurie N. Dixon, LRAM, the friend through whom I had first heard about the baptism in the Holy Spirit.    Our move to Colchester After our honeymoon in Cornwall, we moved directly into our first home, a bungalow in Colchester, where I had accepted the invitation to take over the pastorate of the small AoG church there. Colchester will be the subject of our next talk, but first I need to explain why we did not consider ministry in a Baptist church and why I did not go to Bible College as originally planned. With regard to the Baptists, the explanation is simple. Once we had been baptised in the Spirit, neither of us had attended our Baptist churches apart from perhaps an occasional visit. This was largely because the minister of Hornchurch Baptist was not sympathetic to a Pentecostal understanding of scripture, and the new minister of Elm Park Baptist had stated that the Pentecostals' exegesis of Acts was entirely unwarranted. Against this, my parents had told me that Leslie Moxham, our former Baptist minister at Elm Park, had noticed such a difference in me since I was baptised in the Spirit that he had said, If the baptism in the Spirit can make that much difference to David, I want it too. Leslie was later baptised in the Spirit and eventually became an AoG minister working with my friend Colin Blackman in the Tunbridge Wells assembly. And although, as we were to discover later some Baptists were beginning to get involved in the Charismatic Renewal, it was evident to us that our future lay with the Pentecostals rather than with the Baptists. But why didn't I go the Bible College before taking on a church? The answer is that I tried to. Early in 1962 I applied to London Bible College. There was a section on the application form where you were required to give an account of your experience of Christ. So I mentioned not only how I had become a Christian, but also how Jesus had baptised me in the Holy Spirit. My interview lasted about an hour, most of which was taken up with what I believed about speaking in tongues. Was it for today? And if it was, was it for everyone? As a result, I received a letter a few days later saying that they felt I would do better to apply to a Pentecostal bible college! Interestingly, their rejection of my application is mentioned in Ian Randall's history of LBC, Educating Evangelicals. The AoG Bible College was then at Kenley in Surrey. Its principal was Donald Gee. I had had a brief conversation with him after a meeting at the East Ham Easter Convention, and he had promised to send me the application form. But this never arrived. I also heard it rumoured that the lady teaching English at Kenley, on hearing that an Oxford graduate might be coming, had, presumably jokingly, commented that he'll be probably teaching me! This, together with the fact that some of my Pentecostal friends were telling me that I didn't need to go to Bible college, because I had got it – whatever that meant! – caused me to wonder if that was the direction I should be heading. So I said to the Lord, If you really don't want me to go to Bible College, let someone offer me the pastorate of a Pentecostal church. And within a week, I had my answer. I received a letter from the Colchester assembly asking if I would be their pastor. There was a bungalow available for rent for six and a half guineas a week (£6.51) towards which they were prepared to contribute £5.00. Apart from that, they could offer nothing, and it was understood that I would need to seek full time secular employment. But that's something for next time.  

He's both a pastor and a president. Mark Jobe, President of the Moody Bible Institute, talks with Wayne Shepherd about his dual calling as both a pastor and the leader of a Bible College.  (Click for more)    Dr. Mark Jobe serves as Moody Bible Institute's 10th president, taking office on Jan. 2, 2019. He and his wife, Dee, have been married 32 years and have three adult children, Marissa, Josiah, and Grant. The Jobes currently reside in Chicagoland area where they are active members of New Life Community Church, a nondenominational, multisite church where Dr. Jobe has served as senior pastor since 1986. Mark is the Bible teacher on the program Bold Steps, with Wayne Shepherd as co-host. NEXT WEEK:  Wayne KunaSend your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:FEBC National Processing Center Far East Broadcasting CompanyP.O. Box 6020 Albert Lea, MN 56007Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Tuesday morning, the 25th of March, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We start in 2 Corinthians 9:8:”And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” We're talking about sowing seed, good seed. The Lord says that we must be cheerful givers. You don't give to the Lord reluctantly. He doesn't want your money or your effort if it burdens you. He wants you to give cheerfully and He also wants you to give bountifully. Now, any farmer will tell you that if you sow your seed in the ground bountifully, you will reap a bountiful crop, but if you hold back on your seed and you sow it sparingly, you will reap a very average to poor crop.Young farmers, I want to tell you something, when the going gets tough and it does, the one thing you don't hold back on is your seed. You always plant the best seed you can buy and you always plant generously. You know, if you have to cut back, rather cut back on your fertiliser, rather cut back on your land preparation, rather cut back on your spraying program but never, ever cut back on your seed. If you start sowing sparingly, you're going to reap sparingly. If you start sowing inferior seed the chances are you'll get a poor crop but if you sow generously, you'll reap generously. The Lord also likes a consistent giver. Farmers, you can't go for it and then pull back, then go for it again. You'll end up with nothing. If you're going to go for it, put everything in that you can and expect a good return and you'll get it and be a cheerful giver. It's a blessing to give to people isn't it. I love giving to people. I love to see the smile on their face when I give them one of my little Snowy books. Those little children's faces light up. It is such a privilege and such an honour.This Scripture is a particularly special scripture for Jill and I. When we got saved, I was going to give the farm away. That's right. I was going to Bible College, I was going to become a pastor but I said to Jill, "I'm going to pray about it.“ I went up the mountains and I fasted and prayed. I came back and God gave me this Scripture, but listen to this! Jill was having her own quiet time and God gave her the exact same Scripture. So we kept the farm and we have sowed and I think we have been more successful than if I'd given the farm away because we've used the farm for the Gospel. Remember, Jesus was given to us by our Father in Heaven. He is the ultimate giver. He gave us His only beloved Son. Jesus bless you and goodbye.

My Story   Talk 11 Brasenose College, Oxford (1959-1962) Part 2 Welcome to Talk 11 in our series where I am reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Last time I finished by sharing with you how God powerfully spoke to me after a Philosophy tutorial through a verse in Psalm 119. Today I'll be talking in more detail about my spiritual experience at Oxford, which, looking back on it, was to be far more significant for my future life and ministry than the academic programme I was following. The most important thing a young Christian can do when going up to university is to make sure right from the start that they find, and have regular fellowship with, other Christians. There are two main ways of doing this, either by joining the Christian Union or by attending a local church – or preferably both, which is what I did. Christian Union and Local Church The CU at Brasenose was part of the OICCU – Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. Each college CU would have its own weekly meeting for prayer and Bible study, but there was also a regular Saturday night Bible Study held at the Northgate Hall, situated close to the Oxford Union building. This was well attended by Christians from across the whole university, and I became a regular attender at both these gatherings. I appreciated the opportunity to meet Christians from different denominational backgrounds, and, bearing in mind my experience of the Anglican chaplain at Brentwood School, was particularly pleased to discover that some Anglicans actually did profess the believe the Bible! However, much as I enjoyed fellowship with these good people, having been only recently baptised in the Spirit, and having begun to appreciate Pentecostal worship, I was very aware that something very important was lacking in their meetings – the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, things are very different today, but in those days the Charismatic Renewal had not yet begun and most Anglicans, who in my experience tended to view other denominations as somewhat inferior, were highly suspicious of, if not totally unaware of, the rapidly growing worldwide Pentecostal Movement. And, of course, I was eager to enlighten them! But first a word about the local Pentecostal church. At the time, the only Pentecostal church in Oxford was the Elim Church situated on the Botley Road just beyond Oxford Railway Station. I was keen to attend there because, however valuable membership of a Christian union may be, there really is no substitute for the life and fellowship of a local church. So throughout my time at Oxford I regularly attended on Sundays both the morning and evening services, which meant incidentally that I missed both lunch and dinner in college because the mealtimes clashed with the times of the services. More importantly, on my very first Sunday in Oxford, it was there that I met three other students who were from Pentecostal churches, which led to our meeting regularly for prayer and to the formation of the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship.     Students' Pentecostal Fellowship The students I met after church that first Sunday morning in Oxford were, Michael Collins who came from Dorchester AoG and was in his second year at St. Peter's Hall reading Engineering, and Gladys Bland and John Miles who, like me, were in their first year. Gladys was from East Ham AoG and was doing postgraduate work in English Literature at Somerville College, and John was from Gloucester AoG and was reading English at Regents Park College. We were all delighted to meet each other because up to then there had been relatively few Pentecostals attending university. We soon became firm friends and agreed to meet regularly together for fellowship and prayer, particularly for spiritual gifts and for Christian students from a different denominational background to be baptised in the Spirit. Michael had a friend called Philip who was already Spirit filled, and he joined our prayer group too. I will never forget the day, early in our first year, when there was a prophecy in one of those meetings that people of all denominations, including professors and university lecturers, would be baptised in the Spirit. As I've already mentioned, the Charismatic Renewal had not yet begun or, if it had, we had not heard of it, and to be honest, I really wondered if that could possibly happen. But it did, and in our own small way we were to be a part of it. What we didn't know then was that similar groups were forming in other universities. There were students from a Pentecostal background at Cambridge and London Universities too, and once we heard about this we naturally wanted to get in touch with them. And a key person to help us do that was Richard Bolt. Richard had been an Anglican ordinand but after he was baptised in the Spirit in an AoG church in Durham his course at Clifton Theological College was terminated because he was laying hands on other students and praying for them to speak in tongues. Shortly after this he was welcomed by AoG and became an Assemblies of God minister based in a small assembly in Colchester. However, as the Lord was using him in healing and in leading others into the baptism in the Spirit, Richard's ministry extended well beyond Colchester as he took time to travel to universities and colleges to encourage Pentecostal students and to pray for others who wanted to be filled with the Spirit. He was certainly a great encouragement to me and my family. My mother was baptised in the Spirit under his ministry. But before I knew anything about how the Lord was using Richard, the thought had already crossed my mind that we ought to form, at least in Oxford, a university society for Pentecostal students. The Baptists had what was known as The John Bunyan Society which met every Sunday afternoon in Regents Park College where John Miles was a student. He and I attended this quite often and I mentioned to him that I thought it might be good to have something similar for Pentecostals. As a result of this, John wrote to Aaron Linford, the editor of Redemption Tidings, the AoG weekly magazine, and asked for advice. And it was at this point that Richard Bolt told us about the Pentecostal students at Cambridge and London. All this led to a gathering in London early in 1961 when the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship (SPF) was formed. Richard Bolt was recognised as its Travelling Secretary and Donald Underwood, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, as General Secretary. We organised annual weekend house-parties where students were exposed to the ministry of Pentecostal leaders, and evangelistic missions where students would sing, testify, and preach during the summer vacations. We also published a magazine known as The Pentecostal and developed a postal library service where students could borrow books by Pentecostal authors. At Oxford our group grew in numbers during our second year, partly due to an influx of students from Culham College led by Andrew Parfitt, the son of the AoG pastor at Maidstone, but also because our prayers were being answered and students from other denominations were getting baptised in the Spirit. But that leads me to how I personally started to be used in leading others into the baptism. Leading others into the baptism It all began a few weeks after I had started at Oxford when, after one of those Saturday night Bible Studies in the Northgate Hall, I was looking at a book on the bookstall which was about a revival that had broken out somewhere in Africa. Chris, one of my Anglican friends from Brasenose, saw what I was looking at and asked me if I had any personal experience of revival. So I began to tell him about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As a result, Chris started to seek the baptism and came along to the Elim church where the pastor laid hands on him and prayed for him. But nothing happened and after a few weeks Chris came to me and said, I want you to pray for me. I'm coming to your room tomorrow and I want you to lay hands on me and pray for me. I was frankly unsure how to respond to this. I was very new to all this myself and I did not know if I had the authority to lay hands on him. I didn't know if such things were the responsibility of pastors, and I wasn't a pastor. But Chris was very insistent and so I agreed. The next day was Saturday and there were no lectures or tutorials for me to attend, so I decided to spend the night in prayer. This was something I had never done before, and have not done very often since, but I realised the seriousness of what Chris had asked me to do and I wanted to get it right. When Chris came the next day, we chatted for a bit, and then he said, Well, are you going to pray for me or not? I think he may have sensed that I was putting it off because, despite my night of prayer, I was nervous about it. He knelt down in front of me, and I plucked up courage and, quietly speaking in tongues, gently placed my hands on his shoulders. But nothing seemed to happen, and I didn't know what to do, when I remembered that in the Authorised Version (which most of us were still using in those days) Acts 19:6 says that it was when Paul had laid his hands upon the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. In other words, the Spirit came on them after Paul laid his hands on them.  And I found myself prophesying over Chris that he would receive, and that he would receive that very day. At which, Chris got up, said thank you, and left me. And I was left wondering if I had done the right thing. I had my answer at eight the following morning. I was still asleep, having had no sleep the previous night, when I was woken by something digging me in my ribs. It was Chris with his umbrella. What was he doing here?             Oh, it's you Chris. What on earth are you doing here? And then it occurred to me that he might have come to tell me what had happened, so I added,             You haven't received the baptism, have you? To which he responded as he continued to dig me in the ribs,             O ye of little faith! He had, of course, received, and he told me how it had happened. After he had left me he had returned to his room and had been reading a book by, or about, the famous missionary to China, Hudson Taylor. The book emphasised that in addition to faith we need courage in our Christian lives, and Chris realised that that was just what he needed. He looked up from the book intending to say, Yes, Lord. Give me courage. But instead of doing so, he found himself speaking in tongues! Little did I know it then, but Chris was to be the first among hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have begun to speak in tongues through the ministry the Lord has given me. But that's closely related to the subject of spiritual gifts and how I began to exercise them. Beginning to exercise spiritual gifts Shortly after I was baptised in the Spirit I visited the bookshop at the AoG National Offices at 51 Newington Causeway, London. I bought every book they had on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. As a young Baptist I had received little teaching about the Spirit and none whatsoever on spiritual gifts. And I was eager to learn. I devoured books like Harold Horton's The Gifts of the Spirit and Donald Gee's Concerning Spiritual Gifts, and I learnt that the baptism in the Spirit is not an end in itself, but a gateway to supernatural gifts like tongues,  interpretation, prophecy, and healing. And I was longing to receive and be used in whatever gifts the Lord might have for me. As it happened, I didn't have long to wait. I was still in my first year at Oxford when I was confronted with a situation at the church I was attending. The Elim church in Oxford was a well-attended lively church where the gifts of the Spirit were regularly in operation. On a Sunday morning there were often prophecies, tongues and interpretation. Some of my Christian friends from Brasenose came along to experience Pentecostal worship and so far I had not been embarrassed in any way by what went on in the meetings. However, one Sunday morning, when fortunately none of my friends was present, somebody spoke in tongues but there was no interpretation. No explanation was given for this and, although I was still new to these things, I knew that the Bible was very clear that speaking in tongues in church should be interpreted. I probably should have asked the pastor about this, but he was a busy man and I did not know him very well. Consequently I kept quiet about the matter, but was still concerned that everything was not quite as it should be. Shortly after that, when Richard Bolt was visiting, I told him about this and asked him what I should do. He said, The answer is very simple David. You interpret. To which I replied, But I don't have the gift. He then said, Then ask for it. But, bearing in mind that 1 Corinthians 12:11 tells us that these gifts are given as the Holy Spirit determines, I asked, But I know God wants me to have it? His answer to this was along the following lines. The very fact that I was concerned about it might well indicate that God wanted me to have it. And, anyway, we know from God's word that it is his will that tongues in church should be interpreted. So I would be in God's will if I went ahead and interpreted it. I should pray about it and next time it happened I should ask God for the interpretation and then speak out in faith. Our heavenly Father gives good gifts to his children when they ask him. Although I still had questions, I decided to do what he said and over the next few weeks kept asking the Lord about the matter. Then, one Sunday morning it happened. Someone spoke in tongues and I waited, hoping that someone else would interpret it. But when no one did, I asked the Lord to give me the right words to say and immediately a few words came into my mind which I began to speak out in faith. I say in faith, but I have to confess that my faith was mingled with doubt. I was half expecting the pastor to intervene and say that this was not the right interpretation! But to my intense relief he said nothing, and after the meeting people came and thanked me for my interpretation. So from time to time, I continued to interpret tongues, but still with the occasional doubt if what I said could really be the interpretation. And later in the series I will tell you how God wonderfully confirmed the genuineness of my gift when I interpreted a tongue that was identified as a language spoken in Africa. God certainly did some wonderful things while I was at Oxford, and I realise now that I was already exercising a ministry while I was there. I was leading our SPF prayer group, teaching others about spiritual gifts, as well as preaching in churches from time to time. It seems that others were recognising this before I did, and I was soon asked to share my testimony at the AoG National Youth Rally held in the Birmingham Town Hall and to contribute an article in Redemption Tidings entitled Pentecost in Oxford University. The Lord was clearly preparing the way for my future ministry. Next time, I'll tell you about my developing relationship with Eileen which led to our marriage immediately after I graduated and how I ultimately decided not to go to Bible College as originally planned, but to accept the pastorate of the Assemblies of God Church in Colchester.

My Story   Talk 10   Brasenose College, Oxford, 1959-1962   Welcome to Talk 10 in our series where I'm reflecting on God's goodness to me throughout my life. Today we begin on the years that I spent at Oxford between 1959 and 1962.   For me, life at Brasenose College began on Thursday, 8th October 1959, exactly one month after I had been baptised in the Holy Spirit. I travelled there by car with Eileen and my parents, who, after helping me unpack and settle into my room at the top of staircase 11, prayed with me before returning home. This was the beginning of an entirely new phase in my life. It was the first time that I was living away from home. I would be making new friends and be challenged by new ideas.   But there are some things which remain constant in our lives no matter what else may change. I knew that my parents loved me. I knew that Eileen loved me, and that I loved her. And I knew that God had a purpose for my life and that I was now at Brasenose as part of that overall plan. So I had confidence that all would be well.   The fact that I would now be reading PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) did not faze me, even though I had never studied any of those subjects before. My original purpose in accepting the place I had been offered had been to widen my sphere of knowledge before eventually concentrating on theology in order to prepare for the ministry.   And PPE would certainly do that. But there was far more to being at Oxford than the course I would be studying. There was the social and recreational life which I greatly enjoyed. And it was a great opportunity to interact with people of all faiths and none and to share my faith with them. Opportunity, too, to tell other Christians about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and to meet other Pentecostal students and spend time in prayer with them for the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. And it was also a time when my relationship with Eileen would be strengthened even though we would be apart for weeks on end.   As I can't cover that in just one talk, today will be aboutlife at Brasenose, its domestic arrangements, its social life and sporting activities, and the academic programme and its challenge to my faith.   Next time I'll share in more detail about my spiritual experience including how the Lord led me into leading others into the Baptism in the Spirit, how I began to exercise spiritual gifts, and how we began the Students' Pentecostal Fellowship. And later I'll tell you about my developing relationship with Eileen which led to our marriage immediately after I had graduated and how I ultimately decided not to go to Bible College as originally planned, but to accept the pastorate of the Assemblies of God Church in Colchester.     Life at Brasenose When I arrived at Brasenose in October 1959 it was almost three years since I had been there previously in November 1956 when I had taken the scholarship examination. Back then I had never seen any of the students' rooms, as we were staying in a boarding house in the Woodstock Road. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But as soon as I entered my new room, I was pleasantly surprised. It was larger than my bedroom at home, was well furnished and overlooked one of the quads with a view of the Radcliffe Camera and the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in the background.   Students were usually allocated a room in college for the first year of their studies, and sometimes for the second year too, when you had opportunity to choose what room you would prefer. During my first year I discovered that the room beneath me was even larger than the room I was in and had the benefit of a bedroom separate from the main room which was used as a sitting room as well as a study.   So when I was offered the chance to live in college for a second year I opted for this room which proved to be extremely useful when we were holding prayer meetings for those interested in seeking spiritual gifts. But more of that next time. For my third year I lived ‘in digs' in a boarding house on the Botley Road, just 50 yards away from the Elim Pentecostal Church which I attended throughout my time in Oxford.   Meals at Brasenose were, in my opinion at least, of a high quality and I was introduced to dishes which I had never tasted at home. These included jugged hare and braised haunch of venison, the only meals I took a positive dislike to, probably because the meat was hung for several days before it was cooked which resulted in a rather unpleasant smell. Fortunately, we were allowed to sign out in advance for any evening meal, provided we dined in college at least five times a week.   Dinner was a rather formal occasion at which we were required to wear our gowns, and which was preceded by a Latin grace which began with the words: Oculi omnium spectant in te Deus. Tu das illis escas tempore opportuno… which means The eyes of all wait upon you O God. You give them their food in due season, and is taken from Psalm 145:15. Sadly, however, I'm not sure that many people took it seriously, even if they should have known what it meant, bearing in mind that at the time Latin at O level was still an entrance requirement for Oxford University.   Breakfast and lunch were far less formal occasions. Grace was not said and there were no requirements about a dress code or attendance. There were, in fact, very few requirements about life in college. Apart from academic regulations, what rules there were related to the time of day you had to be back in college and the time at which any female guests had to be out!     The gate in the porters' lodge was the only means of access to the College. It was locked at midnight and anyone seeking access after that would be reported to the Dean and a fine would be automatically payable. However, this could be avoided if you were agile enough to scale an eight-foot wall without being caught, something of course I never had to try!   As far as the ladies were concerned, they had to be out by 10pm. This, I imagine, is no longer relevant, as, like most Oxford colleges, Brasenose rightly accepts female students as well as men. But by the time I left Oxford the ‘swinging sixties' had hardly begun, and there was still at least a nominal acknowledgement of Christian moral values.   For residential students there was also a rule about the minimum number of nights you had to be in college over the course of a term. Any absence without permission from your ‘moral tutor' would be reported by your ‘scout'. Scouts, who were usually much older than the students, originally were little more than their servants and before my time would clean your shoes if you left them outside the door of your room.   Even in my time they were referred to by their surname only, whereas they had to refer to me as Mr Petts and address me as Sir. This was something I deplored, a tradition which harked back to the old upstairs/downstairs attitude of the aristocracy still very prevalent in the early decades of the last century. If you've ever watched Downton Abbey you'll know exactly what I mean.   Social and sport Probably the most frequent social activity at Oxford was drinking coffee and staying up until the early hours of the morning discussing religion or politics or whatever else was currently in the news. Of course, whenever I could I took the opportunity to share my faith with anyone who would listen. Most of these discussions took place either in my room or that of fellow students whose accommodation was close to mine.   And at least one of those students came to faith in Christ during his first term at Brasenose, largely through the ministry of Keith de Berry, the rector of St. Aldate's Church, but I like to think that my testimony also played a part in his decision to give his life to Christ. He went on to gain a first class degree in Chemistry and continued at Oxford to do a D.Phil., (the Oxford version of a PhD). Now, after more than sixty years he is still a committed Christian and once told me that his scientific research had only confirmed his faith in Christ.   Of course, late night discussions were by no means the only occasions when there was opportunity to witness to the truth of the gospel. So whether it was punting on the Cherwell on a lazy summer afternoon, or in the changing room after a football match, or playing tennis or table tennis (for which, in my final year, I was captain of the College team), I was always eager to share my faith.       But that doesn't mean that I was constantly ‘Bible bashing'. Far from it. I remember how on one occasion, when our team was playing tennis against another college, my doubles match had been delayed for some reason. Consequently, it looked as though I would be late for our Students' Pentecostal Fellowship prayer meeting.   But it was a three-set match, and we had lost the first set six-love and were losing the second set four-love. We had only to lose two more games, and the match would be over, and I could get off to the prayer meeting which by then had already started. But throwing away the match would hardly be fair to my partner and would not have glorified God.   Then I realised that my friends would wonder where I was and would be praying for me, wherever I was or whatever I was doing. Which inspired me to say to my partner,               Come on, John. We're going to win this match.   And we did. The level of our tennis suddenly improved, and, having lost ten games in a row, we went on to win all the next twelve, taking the match by two sets to one (4-6, 6-4, 6-0). I'm not sure that John believed my explanation that this was probably the result of answered prayer, but because of that experience I am personally convinced, not only that God is interested in every tiny detail of our lives, but that such experiences bear testimony to others of the reality of our faith.   Academic programme The academic year at Oxford began in early October and finished towards the end of June. Each term lasted just 8 weeks which meant that the long summer vacation provided the opportunity for students to get a summer job or travel abroad or, where necessary, to catch up on their reading.   Reading was, in fact, a major part of learning, and the world-renowned Bodleian Library situated virtually on the doorstep of Brasenose, provided access to millions of books and other printed items. Guidance as to which books to read was given in tutorials when your tutor would set you an essay to write in time for the following week, when you would read your essay to him and he would make appropriate comments.   At the beginning of term, he would also recommend what lectures might be helpful. Attendance at lectures was entirely optional, whereas attendance at tutorials was a compulsory part of one's course. The standard of lecturing varied immensely, some academics having very poor communication skills. As a result, attendance would steadily diminish week by week and in one case I remember the series was terminated early ‘due to an indisposition' on the part of the lecturer!   In my day, the system of assessment at Oxford, for PPE at least, was by written examination. After ‘prelims' (preliminary examinations) which were taken in March in your first year, there was no further examination until ‘finals' which were taken in the June of your third year.     I was required to take at least two papers in each subject, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, plus two further papers of my choice. I opted to take these in Philosophy as this was my favourite, despite the fact that it had been the most challenging to my Christian faith.   For example, during my second year I had been asked by my tutor to write an essay on the ontological argument for the existence of God. This was one of the arguments used by the philosopher René Descartes in an attempt to prove God's existence. During the course of my essay I said something to the effect that although philosophy cannot prove the existence of God it cannot disprove it either. It was at this point, as I was reading my essay to my tutor, that he interrupted me by saying: Oh, I don't know. I think if you mean by ‘prove' what we normally mean by ‘prove', and if you mean by ‘God' what we normally mean by ‘God', then we can probably disprove God's existence. But perhaps we can talk about it another time. This was the first time in my life that I had been confronted with such an outright denial of God's existence, and my tutor's statement shocked me deeply. It challenged everything I had based my life upon. I felt numb. As soon as he had left the room I instinctively wanted to call out to God for help. But what if my tutor was right and there was no God to call out to? But I called out anyway:             God, if there is a God, HELP! And He did! I walked into my bedroom and picked up my Bible and opened it. It fell open at Psalm 119, verse 99. My teacher had told me that he could prove that there is no God. Who was I to challenge the statement of an Oxford tutor? But in that verse the Psalmist said: I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I came later to realise that by reading the Bible the most simple believer can gain more understanding of the things that really matter than all the intellectual rationalising of the philosopher. That verse brought immediate reassurance to my heart. It was not just the content of the verse that reassured me – though it certainly did – but the fact that, of all the verses there are in the Bible, I should turn at random to that very one. This was surely no coincidence. God had spoken to me in a remarkable and powerful way. And as the years have gone by I have learned how to counteract the arguments of the atheists. I'm so glad now that I did not abandon my faith back then. People will always be bringing up challenges to our faith, but just because I don't know the answer doesn't mean that there is no answer! And until I know what it is, I just need to keep on trusting the One who said, I AM the truth.  

In this episode of ONE BROKEN LIFE, John Stroup talks with Kenny. Raised in a Christian home, Kenny knew right from wrong. His father was enrolled in Bible College, but he was determined not to live how he knew he should. Listen to this great podcast about how Kenny was at his lowest before he allowed God to completely transform his life.  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvb-NnMTgcAITfNM20pF2KQ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F3b9TcG5BDSkfTK0UwCap Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/35e83628-c4da-4309-bd0d-2e03cd2a391d/one-broken-life Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-broken-life-real-people-real-discussion/id1569230320 Podbean: https://media3r.podbean.com Soundstripe License Code: ZSJCFVTHJUP4QQNC For more information: www.freeway-ministries.com Follow One Broken Life on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OneBrokenLifePodcast Follow Freeway Ministries on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/freewayministries ONE BROKEN LIFE is a production of Freeway Ministries in Springfield Missouri. It is a series of unique conversations exploring what God can do through ONE BROKEN LIFE. Throughout this podcast, you will hear the stories of real life transformations from those who have been restored from the pit of life. Throughout the discussion, John Stroup will dig deeper into the lives of people who have been broken and radically redeemed by God's grace. 

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Watch & Subscribe on YouTubeAre you an entrepreneur struggling to find your unique edge in a crowded market? Richard Matthews' journey from a curious 9-year-old to a successful business owner might just inspire you.In this episode of the Wealthy Wellthy podcast, Krisstina Wise interviews Richard Matthews, founder of Push Button Podcast. Richard shares his fascinating entrepreneurial journey, from selling candy at school to running a podcast production company that's on track to hit seven figures.The main focus of the conversation is Richard's unique approach to entrepreneurship, which he calls "skill stacking." He explains how combining different skills at an 80% proficiency level can lead to a unique and unbeatable business proposition. Richard's story illustrates how curiosity, continuous learning, and a willingness to take risks can lead to extraordinary success.Throughout the episode, Richard and Krisstina discuss various topics, including the power of storytelling in business, the importance of mentorship, and the mindset required for true entrepreneurial success. Richard also shares insights on balancing business growth with personal life, as he runs his company while traveling full-time in an RV with his family.If you're looking for inspiration to take your entrepreneurial journey to the next level, don't miss this episode. Listen now to discover how you can leverage your unique skills and experiences to create a business that's truly uncompetable.Wealth Mastery 1/2 Day Challenge:During the Wealth Mastery Workshop you'll discover a simple, proven system to break free from money stress, build financial security, and create financial freedom. By the end, you'll have the clarity, confidence, and tools you need to develop the mindset, relationship, and system to create financial freedom.https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WCNpK5YCRWWY2P6zAqiGfgKey Takeaways3:02 Charles Bird: Super connector and mastermind9:52 Developing the Digital Alchemy Formula22:47 The curious mind of an entrepreneur34:45 AI and structure in podcast production46:49 Living a life worth telling a story aboutMemorable Quotes"Entrepreneurship is not a world for the faint of heart. It's a roller coaster and you're never doing the same thing twice. Sometimes you have no money, sometimes you're making a lot. You've got to blaze the trail yourself pretty much all the time.""Figure out what's your superpower. What's the thing that makes you you? It's a useful exercise to determine what you're the best at in the world, and then build your business around that superpower.""Live a life worth telling a story about. Take the risk that you're worried about. Entrepreneurs and people who really get the most out of this world jump off the cliff and build the parachute on the way down."Resources MentionedRich Dad Poor Dad - https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680194How to Fail at Everything and Still Win Big - https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1591847745Connect with RichardLinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardwmatthews/Connect with...

Michael Guertin Interview

Talk 8 Between Brentwood and Brasenose (1956-59) Part 1 Welcome to Talk 8 in our series where I'm reflecting on the goodness of God throughout my life. I left school in December 1956 and started my course at Oxford in October 1959, a period of almost three years. In many ways it seemed a long time to wait, but in the plan and purpose of God they turned out to be highly significant years. I gained experience in teaching. I met Eileen, the girl who was to be lifelong partner. And I received the life-changing experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But first, I need to explain how I got my place at Oxford and why I had to wait three years before taking it up. Gaining my place at Oxford In 1956, at the age of seventeen, I had already passed my A Levels and had decided to stay on at school a further year to take S Levels the following summer. S Levels – the S stands for Scholarship – were the highest level of GCE exams that you could take and were designed to support your application to university, especially if you were hoping to go to Oxbridge. However, as things turned out, I did not need to complete my S Level course because in the first term of that school year I was awarded a scholarship to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Brasenose College, Oxford. Our form master, Mr. Rennie, had suggested that some of us might like to spend a few days in Oxford and take some examinations at Brasenose College with a view to obtaining a place there. As there was only one place available I was not expecting to get it. But I decided to go even though my friend, John Bramble, was going too and I thought he was far more likely to be successful. He had always come higher than me in class and had gained better A Level results than I had. There were about eight of us altogether, each of us taking different exam papers, generally depending on what subjects we had taken at A level. There was just one paper that was the same for all of us, an English essay, the title of which was unknown to us until we sat down in the examination room. And that title was WORDS. The length of that exam was three hours and, although some boys started writing almost immediately, I spent the first 45 minutes planning my essay. I can't remember in great detail the contents of that essay but I know that I concluded it by talking about Christ, the word made flesh, the divine logos, the ultimate revelation of God Himself. I have sometimes wondered if the reason I was awarded the scholarship rather than any of my colleagues was that the Lord was honouring me because I had honoured him. Of course, I can't be sure about that, but he had helped me through my A levels when I had honoured him before the whole class when my History master had told me that I was likely to fail, and I have always sought to give God the glory for any academic success I may have achieved. And I discovered later that, of all the papers I sat during that visit to Brasenose, that essay on WORDS was awarded the highest grade – an alpha. But when I received a letter from Brasenose offering me a scholarship a few weeks later, I was totally amazed and, after discussing it with my father, I came to the conclusion that this had to be God. But there was just one problem. The place they were offering me was for three years later in October 1959, after I had completed my two years National Service. However, the Government had already agreed to abolish National Service and were in the process of phasing it out gradually. They did this by delaying the ‘call-up' which meant, in my case, that by the time they would have called me up, there would be less than two years before my course at Oxford was starting. In short, I would not have time to do National Service and, by the time I had finished my course at Oxford, National Service had been abolished completely. So, having obtained my place at Oxford, I decided to leave school at the end of term in December and start to earn some money. And at the time there was a great shortage of schoolteachers, as a result of which young people who had passed their A levels could do ‘uncertificated teaching' before going to university, and so I ended up doing almost three years' teaching before I went to Oxford. Gaining experience in teaching And, surprisingly enough, it started at the very school I had just left. Or, to be more precise, it was at the Preparatory School attached to Brentwood and standing just on the other side of the main playing field. One of the teachers was on sickness leave for a few weeks and I was asked if I would take their place as they taught French and Latin which were of course my two main A Level subjects. As it was a boarding school, I was required to live in and be the housemaster for some of the boys, which mainly involved making sure that they were in bed on time and not talking after a certain time. I was only there for a few weeks (January 15 to February 16), but I enjoyed the experience very much and learnt a great deal, not least of which was that, if you prepared your lessons thoroughly, you had relatively few problems with discipline. After Brentwood Prep I was told by the Essex Education Committee that another job was available in Brentwood, at the Church of England Primary School in Coptfold Road, only a few hundred yards from my old school. A teacher was on maternity leave and a replacement was needed until July to look after her class of 8 to 9 year-olds. The pay wasn't great as I was not a qualified teacher. It worked out at about half what I would have been paid if I had been qualified. And, of course, this was not a residential post, so I needed to travel on two buses each day to get there from Hornchurch. But I accepted the job anyway.   As in most primary schools, a teacher was responsible for teaching their class throughout the day all the subjects on the timetable. That was not a problem, but learning to keep discipline was another matter. My expectations were based on the level of discipline I had experienced as a pupil at Brentwood and the few weeks I had spent teaching at Brentwood Prep. Coptfold Road was quite another matter. Many of the children came from a less fortunate background and some of them were of rather limited intelligence. As a result, and due to my own lack of training and experience, and lack of any supervision, I found the two terms I was in charge of that class extremely difficult, and was quite relieved when I heard towards the end of the summer term that Mrs. Istead, the teacher who had been on maternity leave, was returning the following Monday. So on the Friday before she was due to return I was clearing my desk after school when the headmaster, Dr. Ward, asked me what I was doing, adding, You're not leaving, are you? And he offered to give me a different class to teach and keep me on indefinitely until I went up to Oxford. So I decided to stay and, as things turned out, I was there until the end of September 1959, my ability to keep discipline improving greatly with experience and the help of a Day School Teachers' Conference organised by the Baptist Union and held at St. Augustine's College, Canterbury in August 1957. As I look back on those years of teaching before I went to Oxford, I think I can see why God allowed it to happen that way. While I was waiting I was rather frustrated, thinking, Why am I teaching when God has called me to the ministry? But little did I know then that his plan for me was that most of my ministry would be teaching. And although the major part of my teaching ministry has been to a different age group, even when teaching at degree level in Bible Colleges around the world, I have found that God has given me the ability to teach at a level that everyone can understand, something I repeatedly hear from grateful listeners. And perhaps at least part of that ability is a result of those years I spent teaching less able children while waiting to go to university. God knows what he is doing, and he always has a purpose in what appear to us to be pointless pauses in our lives. But that brings me to an even more significant purpose in those years of waiting, for it was in those years that I met Eileen, the girl I was to marry and who was to be the ideal person to support me in my ministry. Meeting Eileen It was an incredibly hot day that Saturday afternoon. So hot in fact that the railway line buckled in the heat of the sun. It was Saturday 29th June, 1957 and we had arranged a youth rally where the young people from Elm Park Baptist would meet up with Hornchurch Baptist young people for fun and games in the park followed by an open air service. Although the churches were only two miles apart, before then we had had little contact with them, so I actually knew none of the young people there. People have often asked me how I met Eileen and I have usually replied, In the park! After a game of rounders, we sat down in groups and had a picnic tea. I noticed a group of four rather attractive girls sitting a few yards away and thought I would like to take a closer look! So I got up and walked towards them and happened to notice that one of them had taken her shoes off. On impulse, I picked up one of the shoes and ran off with it, with nothing in particular in mind other than just having a bit of fun. Needless to say, the owner of the shoe ran after me but was at something of a disadvantage as she had bare feet. I soon disappeared from view and hid the shoe under the bridge that spanned the park lake. Of course, when she caught up with me, I felt a bit of an idiot and showed her where the shoe was. We got into conversation and I asked her if she would like to come to our Saturday evening youth club which took place after the open air service. She agreed and, after sharing a song sheet at the open air, I found out that her name was Eileen and that she was just six days older than me. After youth club I walked her home and kissed her goodnight. And that was the beginning of a relationship that lasted, with a short break, for 67 years and which ended only when the Lord called her home at the age of 85. We agreed to meet again some time the following week, but the next day, after attending church in the morning, I decided to go to Hornchurch Baptist for their evening service in the hope of seeing Eileen again. She and her friend were sitting in the choir and her friend noticed me in the congregation and said to Eileen, He's here! After the service we went for a long walk in the park and from then on were to see each other just about every day. I discovered that Eileen had attended Romford County High School and had left after taking her O levels. At the time she was working at Barts (St. Bartholemew's Hospital) in London, but a year later she accepted a post in the Dagenham Education Office which was closer to home. But before that, I have to confess that there was a short break in our relationship during the last few months of 1957. I mentioned earlier that I attended a conference in Canterbury during the last week in August of that year. Everyone there was a qualified schoolteacher with the exception of me and one other person, a girl called Irene who was the same age as me and had been accepted to train as a teacher at the Chelsea College for Physical Education in Eastbourne. Irene was extremely attractive, highly intelligent, and very good at sport – she was nearly good enough to beat me at table tennis! But she was having doubts about her faith, and I spent some time with her trying to encourage her. As a result we were both very attracted to each other and, to cut the story short, because I have never been proud of myself about this, we started to see each other after the conference was over. When I next saw Eileen I told her, without mentioning Irene, that I felt we had been seeing too much of each other, that our relationship had been getting too intense – which it probably was – and that I thought we should cool it and not see each other for a while. She later told me that she had not been too concerned because she was convinced that if I was the right one for her, the Lord would bring me back to her. Which he did. The relationship with Irene lasted only a few weeks – until the middle of October, when I went to Eastbourne for a weekend to see her at her college. In short, she jilted me! But not long before Christmas the young people from Hornchurch Baptist came to Elm Park to take our Friday evening YPF meeting. And who should be singing in the choir but Eileen. I think we spoke briefly after the meeting, just polite conversation, but it was enough to arouse my interest in her again. So I sent her a Christmas card, and she replied by sending me one and enclosing this short poem: I do believe that God above created you for me to love. He picked you out from all the rest because he knew I'd love you best. I had a heart so warm and true, but now it's gone from me to you. Take care of it as I have done, for you have two and I have none. Not the best poetry in the world, but it touched my heart and I wrote to Eileen – I still have a copy of that letter – asking if she would like to resume our relationship. And from January 2nd 1958 hardly a day passed without our seeing each other.  

James 5:16-18Confess your faults one to another, and pray one foranother, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteousman avails much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and heprayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by thespace of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gaverain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. In Luke 11:1-13, the Lord is teaching His disciples topray. Over the past few days, we have been talking about the importance of prayerin our lives, and for the world around us! If there is anything we need tolearn to do, it is to pray. We go to school for twelve years to get aneducation so we can get out and get a job to make money. We might go for four ormore years so we can make more money. We might go to Bible College to learn howto preach and teach the Bible, learn to be a pastor or church leader, and thatis all well and fine. But we rarely take classes or spend the time to learn howto pray.  We must realize by now that an education, job skills, moneyand a good economy, is not what it going to take to save your marriage, to bringyour children back to God, to heal your broken heart, to give you mental,emotional, and spiritual peace. They will not save our country either. I know Isound like a broken record, but the answer to the divisions, the economy, the socialand cultural issues in America, are not going to be found in the White House,the Congress, the State Legislators, but in our own houses where righteous believersknow how to pray “effectual fervent” prayers.  When I think of prayer, I can't help but think of James 5and the prayer of Elijah. He was a man just like us; “subject to likepassions”. He had the same type of problems, challenges, emotions, andissues. His country Israel was in a mess under the heathen pagan leadership ofAhab and Jezebel. The whole nation was following the religion of Baal worship.Today, for the most part, America is following the religion of humanism. Theworship of self! We live to please ourselves. That's humanism! The last verse in Judges 21:25 says, “Everyone is doingwhat is right in their own eyes”. The land was filled with chaos,confusion, anarchy, and violence. What is the answer. Like Elijah, we can getright with God and pray! The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 is still in theBible and available for us today! “If My people who are called by My namewill humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wickedways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal theirland. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in thisplace.” The Lord's model prayer reminds us of our need for ourFather's presence in our lives and families. Of the need of ourFather'sguidance in joining Him in His kingdom work so His will is done on earth asit is in heaven. Of the need of our Father's provision every day both physicallyand spiritually. And of our daily need for our Father's pardon for oursins. In order for us to pray effectual fervent prayers thatavail much, we must have pure hearts and clean hands (James 4:7-10). As wesubmit our lives to the Lord, the devil must flee. As we confess our sins, ourhearts are purified. As we join the Father in His kingdom work, our hands arecleansed.  Amazing and wonderful, miraculous things can happen when wereally learn to pray! In my Bible, Jeremiah 33:3 still says: 'Call to Me,and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do notknow.' And we can never forget the promise of Ephesians 3:20: “Now toHim who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,according to the power that works in us”. By God's grace we should seek to learn to pray “effectualfervent prayers that avail much”! God bless!

This week, we find out that Brian just became an uncle and he's too busy to meet the baby. Frank breaks down how he was catfished and went to Bible College. The guys answer more of Cory's questions about life, parents, lessons learned, what we value most, and the proper place to keep a wallet. We learn that Cory has a crazily overstocked pantry and Frank buys peanut butter by the bucket!! Go to TheBriansWorld.com for all links and to subscribe to our Patreon! #BriansWorld #BrianBeaudoin #FrankGazerro #CoryGee #StandupComedy #Catfish #BibleCollege #Parenting #Kids

If you asked most people what is the Lord's prayer and whereyou can find it in the Bible, they would probably recite the above prayer and pointyou to Matthew 6:9-13 or to this passage in Luke 11:2-4. And in a sense, theywould be right. But if you asked someone else the same question, they might correctlyanswer and say it is found in John 17, where the entire chapter is the Lord's HighPriestly prayer just before His crucifixion. We call this "The Lord's Prayer," not becauseJesus prayed it, because He never had to ask for forgiveness, but because Jesustaught it. There is nothing wrong with praying this prayer personally or aspart of a congregation, so long as we do it from a believing heart that issincere and submitted. How easy it is to "recite" these words and notreally mean them, but that can happen even when we sing and preach! The faultlies with us, not with this prayer. Over 25 years ago I read Dr. Elmer Towns' book, “Prayingthe Lord's Prayer for Spiritual Breakthrough”, and in it I read the story ofDr. Yonggi Cho, who at that time pastored the largest church in the world inSouth Korea with an attendance of 750,000. He attributed the success and fruitfulnessof his ministry and life to reciting the Lord's Prayer first thing in themorning and repeating it throughout the day and using it as a pattern for his dailyprayer time. After reading this, I was inspired to begin doing the same andhave followed this discipline everyday since that time. I also remember that the very first book I read on prayerright after I receive Christ as my Lord and Savior on February 21,1971, 54years ago, was “Asking and Receiving”, by Evangelist John R. Rice. My dad, J.O.Grooms, along with my mother, Albertina Grooms, were both very faithful and powerfulprayer warriors. I am so thankful for their influence and for the example of mypastor, Dr. Jerry Falwell, concerning prayer during my Bible College years inLynchburg. Another dear and close friend during those years at ThomasRoad Baptist Church was R.C. Worley, who also was a great prayer warrior that Iwas privileged to pray with on a weekly basis. Today the Worley Prayer Chapelis one of the oldest and most treasured buildings on the Liberty University campus.It is still open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for prayer. The prayer that Jesus taught His disciple to pray here inLuke 11 is a “pattern prayer”. This is given to guide us in our own praying. Thefirst thing it teaches us is that true prayer depends on a spiritualrelationship with God that enables us to call Him "Father," and thiscan come only through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:1-7).We are told in John 1:12,“But as many as received Him, to them He gave theright to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”.God isour “dear” Father that delights for us to boldly come into His presence throughthe blood of His Son Jesus and spend time with Him (Hebrews10:19). Secondly, we are taught to recognize and acknowledge theholiness of our Father's name. When we enter into the presence of the CreatorGod of the universe, we enter to worship! We should take the time to rememberthe attributes and character of God by His many names in the Bible! Space andtime will not allow me to write about this but is my prayer that you will takethe time to meditate on God's holiness, His righteousness, His faithfulness,His mercy, His grace, His love, His truth, His sovereignty, His omniscience,omnipresence, omnipotence and His justice. And the list goes on and on! Prayer should not be just repeating the same words over andover again each day. But it should be from our hearts of worship, praise, andthanksgiving! I find reading five Psalms every day allows me to do all of thesewith God's own Word! There is nothing more important that you can do today thanpray! God bless!

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 11, 2025

Text a Message to the ShowIt's mailbag time!Use the link above to leave a comment or a question and we might use it on a future show!Music is by PineApple MusicHey Chaplain Update Episode 1Q 2025Tags:Chaplaincy, Bible College, Chaplains, Clinical Pastoral Education, CPE, Education, Law Enforcement, Mail, Preparation, Seminary, Theology, Training, Kansas City, KansasSupport the showThanks for Listening! And, as always, pray for peace in our city.Subscribe/Follow here: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hey-chaplain/id1570155168 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2CGK9A3BmbFEUEnx3fYZOY Email us at: heychaplain44@gmail.comYou can help keep the show ad-free by buying me a virtual coffee!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/heychaplain

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 10, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 10, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 9, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 8, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 8, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 7, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 7, 2025

Message from Gene Cunningham on February 7, 2025

Sometimes stress is triggered by other people or circumstances – things out there, many of which we don't have any control over. Other times, it's something that we bring on ourselves. Whichever of those two it happens to be, you and I, we need to know how to handle stress.   The Stress of Circumstance I wish I could tell you that there is something that you could do to avoid every stressful situation and circumstance in this world. Wouldn't it be fantastic? But it just wouldn't be real. Because no matter who we are, where we live, how young or old we are, how rich or poor we are … there are going to be those days when tough, difficult, stressful situations and circumstances arise. Sure, some stressful things are avoidable. We've been talking about those already in this series that I've called, "Stress Busters". And when it comes to dealing with needless, avoidable stress – I'm definitely all for that! But some stressful situations are totally unavoidable, and they're the ones that we're going to chat about for a few minutes today. Because it seems to me that the trick isn't to hide our heads in the sand and pretend that we can make them go away. The trick is flourishing amidst the stress. Now, you might think that's a crazy idea! Flourishing amidst the stress? Get off the grass, who are you trying to kid? I know … I know that's what some people are thinking right now. But this isn't my idea. It's something that Jesus came up with. It's something that He said to His disciples right at the most stressful point in His relationship with them. He was soon to be crucified – the plot to kill Him was well afoot and His disciples could feel it. Not only was Jesus threatened, but they were probably wondering: well, are we going to be next? When they come to arrest Jesus and nail Him to a cross, are they going to do the same to us? There can't be any greater level of stress than that. So right at that point, right at that moment, this is what Jesus says to them: The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that you may have peace. In this world you will face tribulation. But take courage; I have conquered the world. (John 16:32-33) So, the persecution is coming, they're about to be scattered, running in fear for their lives, and Jesus tells them in this world you will face persecution. The original Greek word there that sits aback of the English translation for "persecution" is thlipsis, it means pressure, stress – literally it means to have the life squeezed out of you. Just fantastic Lord, they must have been thinking. Thanks for that, just what we needed to know. A promise from God right in the moment when we're in fear of our lives and Jesus tells us – in this world you will have the life squeezed out of you. Perfect! But Jesus doesn't leave it there. He goes on to say: but take courage, be of good cheer, don't worry, because I have conquered the world. All this I've said to you so that in Me you might have … peace. The exact opposite of stress. Which would you rather have in your life – peace or stress? Well, peace obviously! But here's the nub of what Jesus is saying – you can have that peace, right in this place where the life is being squeezed out of you. Did you get that? Jesus is saying – look, you won't always be able to avoid the pressure, in fact one thing is for certain, you will have pressure, you will feel squeezed. But in the middle of that you can have confidence and peace, because I have overcome the world – something they would just see in a few short days later when Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to them. And friend, that's His message for you today. I love how this powerful truth works its way out in the life and the ministry of Paul the Apostle, who down the track, had more than his fair share of pressure. Have a listen to what he writes from out in the field, out on assignment preaching the Good News of Jesus into a hostile world. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 8 to 11: We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction that we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we could not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. There it is again, the same word that Jesus used for persecution, that exact same word thlipsis – unbearably crushed so that in their despair they thought they were going to die. You'd call that serious stress, right? And yet in the middle of all that, what gave them strength and peace? They relied on God. They trusted in Him. They were at the end of their tether, they had nothing left, life itself hung in the balance – so they did the only thing that they could do. That's what happens, especially, let me say, when we're in the business of getting out there and doing God's business; serving God. I find it to be true that whenever I'm serving God, opposition comes thick and fast. The more powerfully I feel called to step out and serve my Lord, the more powerfully Satan hurls opposition my way. It's as though the armies of hell muster in opposition and they unleash all their fury. I remember once, it was the first time I was to lecture at my old Bible College, where I'd been taught. It was a Thursday evening and I drove off from my home. Before I'd gone half a kilometre, three different vehicles had tried their darnedest to run into me. What's going on? I thought to myself. And then I realised. That's what happens when you're serving Jesus. Opposition, disruption, stress, pressure, they all get hurled at you from every direction. So, let's not be amazed. It happened to Jesus. It happened to Paul. It's going to happen – guaranteed – to you and to me. It's exactly what Jesus promised. In this world you will have thlipsisi – you will have tribulation, you will have the life squeezed out of you, but be of good cheer, be confident, don't be stressed, because I have overcome the world. And you know something, He has. Our confidence in those places at those times needs to be in Jesus – in Him and in Him alone. Sometime later, in his second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 8 to 15, Paul puts it like this: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So, death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture — ‘I believed, and so I spoke' — we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. Friend the message is clear. In this world you will have tribulation – but don't worry, because right in that place, Jesus is there, and He will carry you through. And when I've had nothing left in the tank, that's the only thing that's carried me through. Jesus. Let your confidence be in Him and in Him alone. Now that's what I call a stress buster!   The Stress of Evil Evil seems like a strong word, doesn't it? I mean, by and large, you and I don't think of ourselves as evil people. We're not a murderer, or a rapist, or a child abuser, well, 99.99% of us aren't. And so, the word evil seems just a tad strong. I'm guessing you know the story of Adam and Eve. God put them in the Garden of Eden, they had a fantastic life, they could do whatever they wanted, except eat the fruit of one of the trees in the garden. That's all. I don't think there was anything particularly special about the tree – no magic potions, no hallucinogens in the fruit. It's just that God nominated this one tree to give Adam and Eve a choice – either to obey Him or not. God always gives us a choice. Genesis chapter 2, verse 9: Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, what was the tree called? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where evil is defined as anything that rebels against God. You see, up until the point that Adam and Eve ate the fruit from that tree, they had no idea what evil was. It may have been a concept, but they'd never experienced it in their lives. They didn't know it, they had no knowledge of it. And God warned them: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will die.' (Genesis 2: 15-17) They couldn't say that they didn't know, right? But then the serpent tempted them, and Eve made the first move: So when the woman saw that the tree was in fact good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make someone wise, she took of its fruit and she ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was there with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. (Genesis 3:6-7) Would you say at that moment, when they, for the first time, knew for themselves the difference between good and evil, they were stressed? I'd think so – because the very next thing they do is to hide from God when they hear Him coming in the garden. Just think about how silly that is! But eventually God found them, and the consequences of their actions were devastating: To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.' And to the man he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.' … Then the Lord God said, ‘See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever' — therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. Now again, would you say that this evil that they'd done in God's sight caused them stress? Absolutely it did, and it was a stress that lasted for the rest of their lives. Well, right there you have it – whenever you and I rebel against God, it is going to cause us pain and stress. I don't care what it is we do to rebel against Him, but there are going to be consequences. Serious consequences. A husband doesn't cherish his wife; a wife doesn't honour her husband. Stress? You betcha! A man decides that his life is all about making money and being wealthy – so he chases after riches and sacrifices everything. Stress? Well, let's take another look at what may well be a familiar passage to you: But those who want to be rich will fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Timothy 6:9-10) Now that's what I call stress. What about anger and dissension and strife, back-biting, dishonesty? Well the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like those. I am warning you, says Paul, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-20) Now that passage tells us that all that stuff is going to end in some serious stress – for those who do those things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But from experience we know that all of those things will also create stress here and now. Strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, all that jazz. Would you like to work in a place that has one of those things happening – factions and dissensions for example. Maybe you do – well, that's what you'd call a stressful workplace. Would you like to live in a family where one member is constantly drunk? Anyone who has, will tell you that that causes tremendous stress. You're getting the picture, right? Sin – sorry to put that word up there, but that's what God calls it, or if you'd prefer evil perhaps – evil always results in stress. That's the bottom line. It promises a lot up front, it's so seductive, but it only ever delivers us stress and trouble. Some people, and maybe you're one of them … I'm being very direct here, kind but direct … some people are wanting to hang on to some bit of evil in their lives, some particular sin and rationalise it away as though it was nothing. But it's like a thorn in their flesh – it causes them stress and pain over and over again. I am not going to forgive her for doing that to me!! Okay, don't forgive her, but you're going to suffer the stress of unforgiveness for as long as you care to hang on to that sin. My friend, if you want to rid your life of unnecessary stress, then the quickest and easiest way of getting started is to root out the sin in your life, to pull it up by the root and throw it out. The moment you forgive, the moment you deal with your pride, the moment you stop quarrelling with people at work and stirring up trouble – the stress in your life starts to subside. Why? Because God only labels something as evil, as sin, if it's going to hurt us. Get rid of the sin, it stops hurting. It's that simple. The only question is … what are you waiting for?   A Time to Reflect If you had to sum-up your life right at the moment, where you're at, what you're feeling, the things that are causing you to stress out, the amount of pressure and stress that you feel under. What would you say in twenty-five words or less, where are you at in your life when it comes to stress, anxiety, fear and uncertainty? Is the picture that you'd paint me, a bright and sunny one? A bit overcast? Or maybe there is a great storm raging? I guess what I'm trying to do here is to hold up a mirror and get you to take a look at your life, yourself, your stress levels. Stress is a bit like a chronic disease, well actually, for many people, it is a chronic disease. I was listening to an interview on the radio just the other day of a man who had kidney disease. In the twelve months leading up to his diagnosis and treatment, he started noticing the symptoms, but being a typical male, he didn't go to the doctor. You know how it is, you're busy, you're focused on this or that, and this little symptom niggles away at you over here, and then it seems to go away, and then another one happens over there, and its kind of incremental, it builds up really slowly over time. After a while, he realised something was wrong, but he still didn't go to the doctor. So, by the time he was feeling really sick, and had it checked out, he was actually seriously ill. Its sometimes like that with the stress in our lives, tossing and turning at night, not feeling happy, this, that. But when you are busy, you kind of brush it aside, and all the time the stress is building up until something snaps. That's why people have break-downs. That's why relationships are torn apart. Most of us don't cut a pretty picture when we are under a lot of stress. It's not good for us and its not good for the people around us. So, how are you going? Are you noticing that things aren't what they should be? Are you burning the candle at both ends, wondering: Why am I so tired? Are you letting certain people get to you? Are money worries worrying you? Come on, what is it that has been niggling away there in your life? In you heart, in your mind? Bubbling away under the surface. And you've been trying to ignore it desperately, but the more you try to ignore it, the worse it seems to get. And as we sit here and speak about it now, you're really beginning to realise: You know what, something isn't right – I'm dealing with this stress and I've been trying to ignore it, and this is not right. God is a really practical God. You don't have to read very far in the Bible to discover that. And He is vitally interested in dealing with the stress in your life. Take Psalm 55 – its all about the treachery of a friend. Here it is in a nutshell – verses 20 and 21: My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me, with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war, with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords. Its not very nice, but it happens, and it causes stress. See how God deals with really practical stuff that happens in our lives? Just as He was interested in the plight of King David back then, who wrote that Pslam, He is interested in your plight, in your circumstances, and in your stress. And the solution to that stress, comes in the very next verse of that Psalm – verse 22 of Psalm 55, and that's what I'd like to leave you with this week: Cast you burden on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Isn't that beautiful? Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. And that is what I'd like to encourage you to do, starting this week. God wants to help carry your heavy loads. God wants to lighten your load. God wants to be part of the solution to eliminating stress and bring peace into your life. Friends, listen to it again: Cast you burden on the Lord. He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Come on, where are you at in your life? What stress are you grappling with? What are you struggling with and you are kind of thinking to yourself: I just can't cope with it anymore. I've been dealing with this for so long. I've been struggling in this relationship for so long. I've been struggling with this problem at work for so long. I've been struggling with my money problems for so long. I just can't deal with it anymore? Friend, we are often going to be under pressure. Pressure is often something we cannot avoid. Stress is our reaction to the pressure. Stress is what we do with the pressure. When you are lying there at night, turning it over in your mind, struggling, worrying, imagining all the bad things that can happen. Jesus is in that dark place with you. Jesus, who gave peace to His disciples is in that dark place with you. The Jesus that wants to bring peace to you is in that dark place with you. Cast your burdens on the Lord, He will sustain you, He will never permit the righteous to be moved. That is a beautiful truth. If you are struggling with some dark thing at the moment and you don't know how to deal with the stress, I want to take you and encourage you to read Psalm 55 this week. Maybe you read nothing else, just spend your time in Psalm 55 day after day after day. And experience the love and the power and the mercy of your Lord Jesus Christ. And in our next programme, in fact the next two programmes, in this series called ‘Stress Busters', we'll be discovering exactly how to do that. Where? Well, in the Bible of course! God's love letter to you. So I'm really looking forward to catching up with you again, next time around. Remember, cast your burdens on the Lord, He will sustain you.

Join us for a special message from Pastor Geoff Buck titled "A Cheerful Life." Pastor Geoff will be sharing through 1 Thessalonians 5 and various other verses. Pastor Geoff Buck has retired as an assistant pastor at Calvary Monterey for the past 15 years. He is a veteran of 52 years overall in church planting, conference speaking, establishing a Bible College, and pastoring. His passion and burden is to make the Bible practical in all areas of life to all ages. Personally he loves running, snorkeling in Monterey Bay, reading, motorcycles, and hanging out with wife Denise and their 4 kids and 7 grandkids. Geoff is now pursuing this ministry called Strengthening the Churches to serve and support pastors around the country. Geoff can conduct a number of different conferences, but more importantly he will minister to the personal and private needs of pastors and their families.

Most of us want to be happy, so we go looking for happiness …. everywhere.  No stone left unturned, only to discover that we can't find lasting happiness.  Because at the end of the day – happiness isn't what we're looking for.  It's joy that we're after.   The Blessing of Righteousness Over the last few weeks we have been having a discussion on this programme about the promise that Jesus made; an outrageous promise, in fact, of an abundant life. Here it is, have another listen, John chapter 10, verse 10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. And I guess that the reason that it's so outrageous is that firstly, Jesus is saying that His purpose in coming to this earth, in stepping out of heaven into the physical dimension, taking on flesh, becoming a man, dying on the cross, rising again – all that – the reason He did that was what? “That we may have life and have it abundantly.” And it is for us because this promise is made in the context of a parable, where Jesus is the Good Shepherd; the True Shepherd and we are His flock. It's a beautiful picture with a deep and rich meaning to the agrarian audience to which He said it, back in the first century. "An abundant life", but what does that mean? I had a student ask me that once when I was lecturing at a Bible College. I was rabbiting on about this "abundant life" thing as though the idea of an abundant life was completely obvious to everyone. And one of the students, a woman in her sixties, asked me, she said, "But Berni, what is an abundant life?" You know something, I think that is a really, really good question. A little while ago we aired a teaching series called, “Financially Secure Once and for All”. It was all about the fact that God means us not to find our security in money; in wealth but in Him. However much we may have or may not have when it comes to financial wealth. Now, I was interested in the response of one man to that. He sent me a sharp email, declaring that he couldn't support anyone who preaches the prosperity doctrine. You know that false idea that if you believe in God in the right way and give lots of your money away to whoever is preaching that day, you will be rich. God will make you healthy, wealthy and wise, with a big house, big car, and a great job – on easy street! It's a false idea and we should have nothing to do with that because it puts our own wealth at the heart of things, rather than God's glory. And that is not – simply NOT what we are called to do. Anyhow, the point of me telling you this story is that, the moment I open my mouth about financial security, the man who wrote me that sharp email, assumed that I was talking about monetary blessing from God. But that was, in fact, the complete opposite of what I talked about in that teaching series. What I was talking about ‘God security' irrespective of the size of the bank balance, we might or might not have. And I wonder whether that isn't the obvious thing to fall into, precisely the same wrong assumption when we start talking about "an abundant life in Jesus"? That abundance must mean, well, healthy, wealthy and wise – easy street! And so people look at their lives and think, "Well, you know, I don't fall into the healthy, wealthy and wise category. I'm on struggle-street, not easy street. My life definitely is not all good or hunky dory, therefore this promise must either be false or for someone else." Do you see my point? We can be like that man who sent that email – we judge Jesus wrongly; we judge what He said from a worldly standpoint, rather than from a godly one. Back in the early church in the first century, a controversy arose about what foods they could eat and what drinks they could drink. Remember, early Christians mostly came out of Judaism with its legal demands about a whole range of things including food and drink. And the Apostle Paul was addressing this controversy in a letter to the Roman church. And the crux of what he had to say was this, Romans chapter 14, verse 17. He said: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In other words, boys and girls, stop looking at this whole thing from a worldly viewpoint, because in so doing you are completely missing the point. God's Kingdom isn't a physical thing – it's something that happens inside you when you lay your life down; lay down your worldly desires, lay don't everything you want, for Jesus. It's about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We will look at each of those today, starting right now with righteousness, because that's the heart of an abundant life. Righteousness is a word that is bandied around a lot in Christian circles at least, and used almost never anywhere else. So what does it actually mean, "righteousness"? It means ‘a right standing with God'; it means the state that we should be in; the condition in which we are acceptable to a holy God. Now, we have all sinned and rebelled against God. That means there's an enmity; a hostility between us and God but the moment we accept Jesus, the forgiveness we have through His sacrifice on that cross, there is peace. Because the debt for our sin, which is death, has been paid by Him and now through our faith in Him and what He has done, God sees us are righteous. Just as the criminal, who has paid his debt in prison, once released, is now right with the law; so we are right with God through our faith in Jesus. That's why elsewhere in his letter to the Roman church, Paul has this to say, Romans chapter 5, verse 1: Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we now stand. See, we are back where we should be. We are justified; ‘made right,' through our faith in Jesus Christ and so we have peace with God through Him. The war is over; the battle is over; the enmity between us and God is over; the running away from God is over. And then, does Jesus say, "Well, okay. Now, keep on doing all the things you were doing wrong – that's fine, that's not a problem?" No! Just as He said to the woman caught in adultery, whom the crowds had condemned and wanted to stone to death. In John chapter 8, verse 11, Jesus said to her: … neither do I condemn you. Now, go your way and from now on, do not sin again. So, we are forgiven, back in relationship with God and then we are called to go and live out our lives and stop doing the things that have caused the problem in the first place. That's "righteousness", right there. Something that God gives us as a free gift through Jesus Christ – a right standing with Him and then something that we are called to live out in our lives. That's what Jesus came to give us, an abundant life! A life that begins with God's righteousness given freely to us and that then continues in that righteousness and there … right there is the blessing, because sin has its consequences. Sin is the thief that comes only to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus came that we may have life … real life, in all its abundance - righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.   The Blessing of Peace We are looking today at Jesus' outrageous promise of an abundant life. John chapter 10, verse 10: "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I came,” said Jesus, “that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Righteousness (we looked at that earlier) peace and joy in the Holy Spirit – those three are, in a nutshell, what the Kingdom of God brings to our lives. They are a fountain of blessing. And that little troika is put together not by me, but by the Apostle Paul, in dealing with the controversy over religious rules to do with food and drink that was raging back in the first century church. And in responding to that in his letter to the Romans he is saying, "Guys, guys, you have got a hold of the wrong end of the stick! Don't you get it? The Kingdom of God isn't about food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." That's the context and that's why we are focusing on it today because in exactly the same way as some people were taking a "human; worldly" perspective of God's Kingdom, over a bunch of religious rules, back then, you and I can easily take a worldly view of this promise of an abundant life, through our consumer oriented, twenty first century mindset. I mean, when you hear the promise of an abundant life, what's the first thing that springs to mind? Enough money to get by? Being able to have a few of those luxuries? Aaah, easy street! I mean, that's the natural reaction, right? But is not what Jesus was saying. As I said earlier, this promise of an abundant life, comes set in a parable of a shepherd and his sheep, who lived in a difficult and dangerous world out there in search of pasture, where thieves often came and wild animals came to ravage the flock and where sometimes, the shepherd had to lay down his life for his sheep. There is nothing "easy street" about that, I can tell you. But if we stopped and thought about this whole ‘abundant life' thing for just a little while and thought, well, if I want an abundant life, what would be right up there … right up on the top of my list, numbers one, two and three, I think we might come up with the same list. 1. Righteousness – a right standing with God, finally; the enmity between us and God is gone. Finally, the threat of eternal judgement is gone. Finally, we are where we are meant to be – back in relationship and right standing with God. That is righteousness. 2. Peace – is there anyone here who doesn't want peace on every side of their lives; the absence of strife? 3. Joy – a deep delight that springs out of our relationship with God; a joy that transcends the ups and downs of life - a deep joy that's there 24/7. But right now we are going to focus on the second one of these, peace! And again, remember, we are not talking here from a worldly perspective, we are taking a godly view. And that's exactly what Jesus instructed His disciples to do when He gave them His peace. He was about to be crucified. The disciples knew that – they were in fear for their own lives as well. It was a scary, scary time. They had been following this amazing Jesus around for three and a half years – the miracles, the teaching, the crowds and now, all of a sudden, the dark cloud of death hung over their decision to follow Jesus. And Jesus says to them – He says, in John chapter 14, verse 27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not let them be afraid. Do you see this "peace", not from the world's perspective; not the way the world gives it to you. He says, "Take My peace; My deep inner peace." The security; the safety that comes from being one of Jesus disciples - the sort of peace that sheep have when they are safe in the protection of their one true shepherd – the shepherd who is prepared to lay his life down for them. And the clear thing that Jesus is saying to them is, Look, My peace isn't the same as the peace the world offers you. That's why your heart shouldn't be troubled; that's why you don't have to be afraid. And as I have said previously, that promise of an abundant life – John chapter 10, verse 10, comes set in this story of a difficult, dangerous journey in the existence of a shepherd with his sheep. It comes set in the realities … the cold, hard reality of life and it's for that reason that you and I need peace because life is not always what we want it to be. Without that sort of peace we can't have an abundant life, can we? As I look back on my decade and a half now of walking with Jesus, through thick and thin, through some great places and some places that look very much like that valley of the shadow of death, that the Psalmist talks about in Psalm 23. His peace is one of the things that I value most about my relationship with Jesus – a peace that lasts, through every situation because it's His peace; it's His way, not the world's peace; the world's way. Paul, the Apostle, in Philippians chapter 4, writes about a peace that surpasses all understanding; the peace from God that guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Can I tell you – I so relate to that because so often this peace from Jesus just doesn't make sense? It completely defies logic and surpasses understanding because there are times when I should be afraid; I should be panicking; I should be running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but instead … instead I have a deep peace. Psalm 23, verse 4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. That's the peace that Jesus brings! Friend, it is better … better than any bauble or any trinket that this world has to offer – this deep inner peace from God. A peace delivered into our very beings by the Holy Spirit, Himself. And it's a peace that only comes when we first have a right standing with God, through Jesus. That's why Paul, in his list of three things that the Kingdom of God is about, kicks it off with righteousness first, then peace because peace flows out of the relationship that we have with God, through Jesus. And then … then, once we have the relationship with God and the peace that comes out of that, the next thing; the icing on the cake is joy – the joy of the Lord.   The Blessing of Joy You ask people this question: "What do you want out of your life?" And ninety nine percent of them will answer, "Well, you know, I want to be happy." And why not? After all who wants to be sad all the time? Who wants to live out their lives in darkness when the light of happiness beckons, just around the corner? But, you know, happiness isn't always what life dishes up, is it? As much as we want to be happy all the time, it just doesn't work out that way. In fact, happiness can be illusive because it depends on our circumstances; things going on around us. I mean, we are not happy when we are sick or when someone is giving us a hard time, or when we are struggling financially or when we are having an argument or a fight. I mean, you can't be happy at those times. So as much as it is something just about everyone aspires to, happiness is not all that it is cracked up to be. Happiness is linked to our circumstances and when we say we want to be happy all the time, what we are really saying is that we want all of our circumstances to be favourable – easy street, that's happiness. Well, my friend, life isn't like that. Mine isn't and yours isn't. We might have short times on easy street, but most of life isn't like that. And so, then we come back to looking at this promise that Jesus made about an abundant life and it's easy to imagine it's a sham; it's an unrealistic promise – the sort that politicians make before an election, only to renege once we have voted for them. I'm not saying all politicians' promises are like that, but you understand what I'm saying. In my country, at least, many promises are made during an election campaign, which never eventuate. And so happiness is a bit like that – a mirage in a desert. It can be illusory. John chapter 10, verse 10: The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. But I came … I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. Surely, if I am going to have an abundant life just as Jesus promises here, surely I have to be happy, right? Well, in unpacking and understanding this promise so far today, we have been looking at how Paul, the Apostle, summed up what the Kingdom of God is about. People back then, when Jesus and later the disciples, were going around talking about the Kingdom of God, well, people kind of imagined that it was something physical, there was the Roman Empire - that was THE kingdom. But there had been other kingdoms before that so they were expecting Jesus to come, riding in on His shiny white steed, with His sword held high, leading a mighty army to boot the Romans out of Israel. That pretty much is what the Kingdom of God kind of painted to them; the picture that they thought of but Jesus had a completely different take, as Jesus often does. Luke chapter 17 and verse 20 – have a listen to this: Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God was coming and he answered, “The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” for in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you. So when it comes to Jesus coming to this earth in order that you could have a life and I could have a life, that we could live out abundantly, it makes sense to me not to look at from that human perspective, the way the Pharisees were, but from the perspective of God's Kingdom. And this is why we have been unpacking Paul's nutshell of what the Kingdom of God is all about – Romans chapter 14, verse 17 – Paul writes: For the Kingdom of God is not about food or drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Well, so far today on the programme we've looked at the first two of those: righteousness – a right standing with God, we live out in our relationship with Him and peace – the sort of peace that Jesus brings; the sort of peace that doesn't make sense; that surpasses all human understanding. But what about this third one; what about joy? You know what? I spent the first thirty six years of my life looking for happiness. I left no stone unturned in my quest for this happiness thing – wealth, a big house, expensive cars, marriage, children, status, career, fame, recognition, winning at everything I set my hand to – it was all about winning for me back then. Believe you me, I looked under every rock. I was persistent. And other than some fleeting experiences of happiness, I never found it. Why? Because unbeknown to me, I wasn't so much yearning for happiness, I was yearning for something much deeper; something more lasting and abiding. What I was after was "joy". And joy is different to happiness, in that, it doesn't rely on our circumstances. It doesn't come from out there, joy comes from within, from among us, from in our midst. It's a well inside us that bubbles up, no matter what is going on, on the outside. I have experienced joy on some of the darkest days in my life. Now you can't experience happiness at those times. To be happy, things out there have to be on the up and up – the sun has to be shining. But I have experienced great joy, right, smack bang in the middle of great pain. How? Why? Because it's a joy that comes from God and that well never runs dry. Let's listen again to what the Apostle Paul wrote, that the Kingdom of God was all about – Romans chapter 14, verse 17: For the Kingdom of God is neither food or drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. You see, the righteousness, peace and joy come when we are immersed in the Holy Spirit. They come from God through the Spirit, not from us. And Jesus describes how this works in John chapter 7, beginning at verse 37: Jesus was standing there and he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let the one who believes in me, drink. As the Scripture has said, ‘out of the believers heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. The joy of the Lord, which comes from His Spirit within us, is like that. It bubbles up and then it flows out of the centre of who we are, out of our hearts, like rivers – not a tiny little stream, not even a modest or large river but rivers, a Nile and a Ganges and a Mississippi and a Rhine and an Amazon – rivers of living water. The Holy Spirit, with His righteousness, peace and joy, flows up out of us like a … like a flood tide of blessing from rivers of living water, into the lives of other people when we yield our lives; when we turn them back and live them for God. That's what the Kingdom of God is! And do you know what this overflow sounds like to me? It sounds like life in all its abundance and that's exactly what Jesus promised.

 Brooks Bible College discusses the importance of the upcoming conference being held on March 21st and 22nd of 2025. Go to www.brookes.edu and select events to register today! Support Triple Play https://www.buzzsprout.com/2112944/support Get some Swag Gear at https://www.tripleplaylife.com Brookes Bible College https://www.brookes.edu/ Christ Fellowship Bible Church https://cfbcstl.org/ Forest Park Bible Church https://www.forestparkbible.org Resource One Advisors https:// www.RS1A.com CS Design https://csdesign.online Support the show

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Monday morning, the 23rd of December, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. We go to the Gospel of Mark 3:35, Jesus says: “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” Do you remember the story? Jesus was speaking to the multitude and they came and interrupted Him. They said, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside and they are waiting for You.” And that is when He said, “Who is my mother and my brothers?”You know, I read a beautiful testimony of a young Muslim schoolgirl. She must have been a teenager, and she found Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Saviour. She was absolutely elated, but she came from a strong, devout Muslim family. She was given a little Gideon's Bible, a little blue one, and she used to hide it under her pillow. At night, before she went to sleep, she would read it and pray to her Jesus, and in the morning, early before the family got up, she would have her devotions again and then hide the Bible under her pillow when she went to school.One day, her dad came home in the middle of the day, he needed something and went into her room and found her Bible. When she came home from school, he was furious and told her that unless she repented and stopped this nonsense and started to follow Allah and become a good Muslim girl, he would disown her. She said, “I cannot because I am part of His family now.” So her father threw her into the street, literally, with nothing and she had an extremely tough time. Eventually, Christians brought her into their family, and she grew up and went to Bible College. I believe she is even a teacher of the Word at this time. But you know, the amazing thing is, she never, ever denied Christ. Her mother used to meet her under a bridge somewhere quietly where none of the family knew about it and they used to cry together, and she would bring her some food and she would bring her clothes. After many years, her father saw that she was not turning her back on Jesus and she definitely was part of His family, and by her lifestyle, eventually, she was allowed to come home and visit her father. She had the privilege of leading her dad and her mother and siblings to Jesus Christ.I want to say to you today, my dear friend, your father, your brother and your sister, are those who worship and live according to the principles of Jesus Christ. There is no doubt about that! Yes, we have got to love our biological family, but we must not be restricted because they do not want to follow Jesus. Every single one of us need to meet Him in a personal way. Why don't we do what that beautiful Muslim lady has done? By her lifestyle, she introduced her whole family to Jesus Christ.God bless you and have a wonderful day,Goodbye.

I believe especially on this occasion in Luke 8:22-26 Jesus is preparing His disciples to understand and fulfill the Great Commission that He would give them just before He ascended into heaven forty days after His death, burial and resurrection. Yesterday we highlighted His invitation to His disciples to “cross over to the other side of the lake”. Today we want to think about the words, “He got into a boat with His disciples” (v. 22).   All four of the Gospels and Acts 1 give us what we call “The Great Commission”. Five times it is repeated to make sure that we understand the passion and heart of God in reaching a lost and dying world with the Gospel. Jesus Himself didn't come just to give us some beautiful and powerful lessons about how to live life, or to give us a good example. No, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost! He came to die that we might find and have eternal life. Peter reminds us that the “Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).   Between now and the end of this year, I am going to sound like a broken record and repeat some things over and over again. Yesterday I reminded us that today there are over 8 billion people on earth. According to Joshua Project, there are approximately 17,446 unique people groups in the world with 7,391 of them considered unreached (over 42% of the world's population)! The vast majority (85%) of these least reached groups exist in the 10/40 window and less than 3% of missionary work is done among these people.   This means there are over 3.5 billion people who have little or no access to the Gospel. And while we speak, 97% of mission money and efforts take place in nations like America that is saturated with the Gospel.   I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior on February 21, 1971, in Cincinnati Ohio at Dr. Harold Rawlings home on a Sunday afternoon. A couple months later in a Sunday evening service at Landmark Baptist Temple, I heard a missionary from the Philippines, Dr. Bob Hugh, make a passionate plea to leave our seats and get on a plane and join him to tell the brown-skinned people that were sitting by the river on the Island of Cebu about Jesus. His message text was from Ezekiel 3:15, “Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat…” The title of Dr. Hugh message was, “I Sat Where They Sat”.   I'll never forget that night. The Lord clearly spoke to my heart to obey His call and to go myself and tell the lost people of the world that were lost and in captivity to sin and Satan about how Jesus could set them free through the blood of His cross. When Dr. Hugh gave the invitation, I raised my hand that the Lord was speaking to my heart and immediately went forward and knelt at the altar surrendering my life to Jesus Christ and His call “To Go”.  I was scared, and had no idea what that might mean. For some reason, I actually thought it meant that I would go to Africa, and I immediately applied to go to Bible College to prepare.   I got into the boat that night and found out that Jesus was there, and He has been there ever since! Even though I never personally permanently ended up in a foreign country, the Lord gave me the passion to facilitate missions by exhorting believers to pray, to give and to go on both short term trips and long term assignments overseas. It has been an amazing experience. When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission in Matthew 28:20, He promised them, “And lo, I Am with you always, even to the end of the age”.   Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some exciting opportunities that we have today in the eastern part of India where a great harvest of souls is happening! Please look for these extra posts on my social media accounts and share them with as many other believers as possible!   Today, can I challenge you to also get into the boat with Jesus and go to the other side!   God bless!

Dr Alan Stoddard explores the creation of an exegetical sermon outline and its transformation into a preaching outline, offering key insights to enrich your personal study and public speaking. His message includes valuable lessons from his time at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary under the late Haddon Robinson, along with effective strategies for introductions and applications. This recording was made at our 2023 training event hosted at The Creek Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Alan has a passion for disciple-making. He has been a pastor for 34 years. He knows the difference between church growth and disciple-making. His passion for disciple making encompasses three things: Good preaching. Intentional disciple-making. Sermon based small-groups. Alan is a graduate of Southwestern Seminary as well as Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. He teaches online as a adjoint professor for the Calvary Chapel, Bible College, and for Rockbridge Seminary. Alan has been married to Jeana for 37 years. They met her a blind date. Through her he came to know Christ. Alan is the father of Briana who is 23 years old and is about to graduate with a four-year degree debt-free. He is so proud of her. Alan's latest book   NEW BELIEVER: How to disciple new believers :  https://www.amazon.com/NEW-BELIEVER-How-disciple-believers/dp/B0D91NPLQ8?ref_=ast_author_dp Expositors Collective is an initiative of Calvary Global Network, CGN is a family of churches working together to proclaim the gospel, make disciples and plant churches  - thanks for being a part of what we are doing.  Suggested Episodes:  Alan Stoddard on sermon-based small groups: https://cgnmedia.org/podcast/expositors-collective/episode/sermon-based-small-groups-alan-stoddard Steve Matthewson on lessons learned from Haddon Robinson : https://cgnmedia.org/podcast/expositors-collective/episode/sermon-introductions-and-illustrations-lessons-learned-from-haddon-robinson-and-preaching-the-old-testament  Nick Cady on sermon outlines: https://cgnmedia.org/podcast/expositors-collective/episode/episode-64-start-with-the-destination-in-mind ————— For information about our upcoming training events visit ExpositorsCollective.com  The Expositors Collective podcast is part of the CGNMedia, Working together to proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, and plant churches. For more content like this, visit https://cgnmedia.org/ Join our private Facebook group to continue the conversation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExpositorsCollective Donate to support the work of Expositors Collective, in person training events and a free weekly podcast: https://cgn.churchcenter.com/giving/to/expositors-collective

How easy is it to meet someone at Bible College? How does it feel to date as an Apostolic after dating in the World? How likely are you to meet someone at your national youth events? Are there any great singles left in the Church? These are just a few of the questions we cover with the five young Singles we chatted with at ALJC National Youth Convention. Special thanks to Connor, Sarah, Emmanuel, Logan, and Brandon for spending time with us! 2024 End-of-Year Sale: You can get 40% of your Apostolic Matchmaking Consultation by applying the code: LONELY_SNOW_MORE at checkout, or by clicking this link: https://the-synchrony-project.mykajabi.com/offers/ppk4uQTu?coupon_code=LONELY_SNOW_MORE This promotion will end on December 31st, so sign up now! If you would like to purchase a gift card for your loved one, you can do so here: https://the-synchrony-project.mykajabi.com/offers/T6i4GScv?coupon_code=LONELY_SNOW_MORE #Synchpin Registration: https://the-synchrony-project.mykajabi.com/synchpin-registration These pins are exclusively for Apostolic Singles to use to recognize other singles in public spaces and create better connections. Register and pay shipping and we will mail you your own pin! Synchrony Community Members: You don't have to pay for shipping! See the Community space to give us your address and we'll mail you one absolutely free. Want to understand and remove the dating barriers that prevent your connections? Check out the course here. (Synchrony Community Members, check the Community forum to access the course for free). https://the-synchrony-project.mykajab... Download the 10 Min Connection Guide Here: https://the-synchrony-project.mykajabi.com/opt-in-d5ca0b81-abe1-4190-88ec-cb038489ca6a Save 15% on your coffee order with our friends at Kaffe117 when you put the code "Synchrony" into the checkout, or use the following link: https://kaffe117.com/discount/Synchrony Contact: If you want to join the conversation about this topic and give your thoughts, reach out on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or at questions@synchronyproject.com.

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Series: Medical “Finding Hope in the Midst of Medical Complexity” with Andrea Bourne Foster Welcome to the podcast. This episode is full of heart and hope. Today we begin our Medical series with author, speaker, educator and advocate Andrea Bourne Foster. Andrea is the mom of 2 beautiful daughters diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis and epilepsy. She is no stranger to hospital stays and ongoing procedures and we are blessed to have this most amazing mom and advocate on with us today. Let's listen in as she shares her families story. Bio: Andrea Foster is a speaker, writer, disability advocate/educator, wife and mom. Andrea has been married to Kirk since 1998 and they are parents to four young adults. Their youngest, Audrey and Annie are identical twins who were diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex at age five months. This resulted in further diagnoses of epilepsy, autism, intellectual disability and other medical complexities. Andrea and Kirk experienced grief at the loss of dreams and face daily challenges as they fulfill the role of parent-caregivers for their twin daughters. They live in Brampton, Ontario, Canada where Kirk is a professional Firefighter and have been part of Bramalea Alliance Church since 2001. Andrea holds a Master of Science in Education (Disability Studies), Bachelor of Theology and Early Childhood Education Diploma. She shares her experiences through speaking and writing. Her articles are published in Testimony Magazine (PAOC), Alliance.ca magazine, ChristianWeek online magazine and in Women Together online magazine. She has also been a guest writer for Key Ministry and guest blogger for the Huffington Post. She has been interviewed on 100 Huntley St., The Drew Marshall Show and by other podcast hosts. Andrea guest lectures at Bible Colleges and Seminaries, and is working to make Disability Studies part of all such curriculums. Andrea longs to help families not only cope, but also thrive and truly know the joy of the Lord, in spite of disability, disappointment and ongoing seasons of trial. She believes all people belong in the Church but understands that not all leaders are well prepared for ministry with people affected by disability. Her passion is to equip everyone for better interaction so the Body of Christ will become a place of belonging for everybody. One of her favourite things is encouraging other families affected by disability to press into Jesus through Bible study, Church connection and Corporate Worship. Connect with Us: If you enjoy this podcast please share us with others and be sure to follow us so won't miss an episode.  We'd love to hear from you so please leave us a comment or rating and connect with us on social media or on our website.  Email us Website: Instagram Facebook: Facebook Group Free Youtube Resource Library 

My one year at Southeastern Bible College in Lakeland Florida *revisiting my story of 1971-72

Today's guest has a fascinating history — from a theologian at a Bible College to earning a master's degree in political science from Portland State University!  I heard Dr. Joseph at a local church recently and just knew you all needed to hear what he has to say.  Christians!  Don't sit this out—God would have you influence culture through voting for the Glory of God and the common good. SPONSOR: Thank you to TUVU for sponsoring our podcast today! While other platforms thrive on addiction, TUVU is engineered for relational connection. No advertisements, no explicit content, none of the junk that leaves you feeling empty on the other sites. The first 500 to tuvu.com/heidi to get six months free! Show Notes: http://heidistjohn.com/blog/podcasts/moral-restraint-divine-intervention-christians-government-joseph-zichterman

What does it truly mean to steward God's work with reverence? This week on In Totality with Megan Ashely Pastor Phillip Anthony Mitchell of 2819 Church in Atlanta joins us to explore the profound impact of spiritual growth and the challenges it brings. From his early days at Victory Church to his current role, Pastor Phillip shares his journey of leadership, transformation, and humility, and his mission to make disciples. Together, we reflect on our formative years at Bible College, the intensity of our spiritual callings, and the urgency of spreading the gospel in a world racing against time.We also address the unique challenges of Atlanta's spiritual landscape, including the widespread influence of the neo-prosperity gospel. We confront these false narratives and emphasize the need for authentic faith in a city that's often viewed as religious. Through personal stories and pivotal moments, we offer insights into discerning truth amid the noise, highlighting the importance of grounding our faith in God's word.This episode includes personal accounts of suffering and healing, illustrating the complexities of the Christian journey. We discuss my transformative experience at a prayer service and touch on mental health struggles within the context of faith, exploring how community, love, and faith provide strength and hope. Join us for a heartfelt conversation about finding purpose and resilience through spiritual growth, with reflections on prayer, suffering, and the eternal hope that anchors our faith.Other Topics You will Hear: -Stewardship-Church Growth-Neo-prosperity -Gospel-Authenticity-Spiritual Climate-Mental Health-Faith-Community-Eternal Life-Prayer-Spiritual Journey-Discipleship-Leadership -Purpose-Hope-ResilienceThanks to our Sponsors Better Help This episode of In Totality with Megan Ashley] is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/ TOTALITY today to get 10% off your first month.Acts 242: Discipleship Conference, Oct 25-26, Atlanta, GA. Registration is open now: (http://www.acts242conference.com)“And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42Connect with us: @immeganashleyWebsite: https://www.themeganashley.comCall me at 265-792-8819My Amazon Storefront:https://www.amazon.com/shop/immeganashley Youtube: In Totality In Totality with Megan Ashley Is edited and produced by Idea to Launch PodcastsSign up for our PATREON for EXCLUSIVE access and additional:https://www.patreon.com/meganashleySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeff Solwold and Mary Danielsen discuss pastoring in these times; what does God's Word say about such a high calling? What are some challenges since the world changed in 2020? We also pursue some hard questions about the state of Bible Colleges and Christian Colleges as they navigate the diversity/inclusion road. What does it take to shepherd the flock of God today? What is the responsibility of the flock in supporting their leaders in all humility? This podcast originally aired on 8/3/23. The Upward Call Podcast   Have you tried our newsfeed website? CLICK HERE FOR CTRNN.ORG  

They met at Bible College, graduated, married, and were ready to serve the Lord together for the rest of their lives. That was until the enemy snuck in and started tempting John with feelings of hopelessness and despair.   Jill was steadfast in her fight to see John freed from the grip of Satan. While hard, she remained focused on God's will for their family. This conversation will bless you.     Follow on Instagram- @rejoicemarriageministries   Follow on Facebook - @rejoicemarriageministries   Every day, you can receive encouragement straight to your inbox through our Charlyne Cares Devotional and find free resources and prayers to pray over your marriage. To take advantage of these resources and others, visit https://rejoiceministries.org