God's Faithfulness

God’s Faithfulness

The Lord brought much encouragement to us recently through His work in our ministry components.  In the span of two days we saw the Lord arrange for four street boys to be reunited with their families. Street Kid Outreach leader, Pastor Sunday Kafeero, took the boys home to their district, Pallisa, and shared Christ’s gospel with the parents of one of the boys. They were touched that Sunday brought their boy home from Kampala’s streets, listened to the gospel and then professed faith in Christ. The boys had professed faith in Christ at the Day Shelter where they are served in Nsambya prior to their return home.

 

In the same two days we learned that God had started 17 churches with 413 people attending in the Ruhehgeri, Rwanda area as a result of our Sustainable Church Planting Conference there in April.

God also abundantly blessed our ACTION Pastor Training Fellowship (APTF) which met during that time as we enjoyed the teaching in Systematic Theology and learned that He had led a team of five of the pastors to evangelize together and five people professed faith in Christ as a result of their ministry. God’s grace enabled these pastors of different churches and ministries to work together at the suggestion of one pastor. 

Further encouragement came as a pastor who leads ACTION's work in Bible Clubs in public schools shared about God’s blessings in his work in teaching an evangelistic Bible study in that the lessons are received with great interest on the school’s and student’s parts. He shared that there have been professions of faith made and that in the next two weeks he plans to teach four-hundred students in two large schools about Jesus and salvation. The students who complete the study are awarded a New Testament and certificate of completion.

We’re also encouraged that our new website which communicates the gospel is being viewed by an increasing number of people.

How good the Lord is to bless us and to encourage us so! We see that our labor is not in vain and that some of the good fruit that He is producing through has been made visible in the ministry! We thank the Lord and bless His name! May He encourage you today by His faithfulness, grace and ability, friend! He is working to achieve His glorious purposes in grace and He cannot fail to do all that He intends to do in the lives of His people.

Judith's Courage

Judith’s Courage

“Wait on the Lord;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 NKJV

Judith and Mum are pictured at right.

We recently visited a very poor church pastored by a friend of ours who in his own right has shown much courage in that he is now leading a new church because his previous church disbanded. He had to start over after years with the first church. Through a series of hard circumstances there are a few members from the first church now attending the new church but most attendees are new because it was very recently planted. My friend, the pastor, shared with me that the ending of the previous church was a great and painful trial for him and that starting the new church hasn’t been easy at all.  I agreed with him that it mustn’t be an easy thing for him, his family or the church.

The Sunday that we visited I preached and two people professed faith in Christ. This was received with great joy as about twenty people at the most, including children, attended the service. We noticed Judith as she hobbled up to join the young people sing God’s praises early in the service. She is a pretty teenager and she sang well and with spirit and she danced as best she could, balancing on her crutches in God’s house. We saw that one leg was visibly deformed. She had to push her body around on the crutches but showed strength and agility and yes, even poise and grace, as she moved. Our hearts went out to her; you could sense her strong determination to overcome her great disability and join her age-mates in singing. She smiled beautifully and fully.

After the service we talked to the pastor. He arranged for Judith and her Mum to go with him and me to visit Katalemwa Center, a treatment center that has helped many Ugandan children and youth with orthopedic disabilities. Judith again showed much resolve, persistence and heart as we went to the center. There we discovered that Judith has cerebral palsy and that she is indeed a courageous young woman. Her Mum thought that she had suffered nerve damage as a result of a massive overdose of quinine when she was treated for malaria as an infant. But the skilled staff told us that she has cerebral palsy and that it’s only by her own resolve that she is as mobile as she is and that it’s really quite remarkable and highly unusual that she is walking as well as she is. We were told that Judith is very gutsy and her refusal to be held down is the only thing that lets her move at all. Most people with her level of disability cannot walk. We helped her to receive braces, therapy and aids.

We count it a blessing that we were able to meet Judith and see her courage firsthand. Her heart touches our hearts; we are helped to continue with and for the Lord in our day to day struggles in Uganda. We see that Judith faces each painful day with its challenge and temptation to quit and just stop trying to move. So far she has chosen to continue to live out her life as freely as she can with much effort in great difficulty and in the face of others’ rejection and misunderstanding. Judith’s trial makes ours seem very insignificant and small. Pray for Judith as part of her difficulty lies in the spasms and impulses that constantly jerk her leg. Please pray for Judith and her Mum today that God will bless them in His great salvation and that both will continue to strive against discouragements and failure in their lives which are filled with so many hardships. Pray that they will look to the Good Shepherd who has gone before them in the path of struggle, hardship and rejection in His striving against sin for us and that they will joyfully and courageously follow Him all their days. Pray that Judith will keep hobbling, smile beautifully, and sing Christ’s honor with joy.  

REFLECTIONS

“Hail, Thou Once-Despised Jesus”

Hail, Thou one-despised Jesus! Hail, Thou Galilean King!

Thou didst suffer to release us; Thou didst free salvation bring,

Hail, thou agonizing Savior, Bearer of our sin and shame!

By Thy merits we find favor, Life is given through Thy name.

Paschal Lamb, By God appointed, All our sins on Thee were laid;

By almighty love anointed, Thou has a full atonement made.

All Thy people are forgiven Thru the virtue of Thy blood;

Opened is the gate of heaven, Peace is made betwixt man and God.

Jesus, hail! Enthroned in glory, There forever to abide;

All the heavenly hosts adore Thee, Seated at Thy Father’s side:

There for sinners Thou art pleading, Thou didst our place prepare,

Ever for us interceding, Till in glory we appear.

Worship, honor, pow’r and blessing Thou art worthy to receive;

Loudest praises, without ceasing, Meet it is for us to give.

Help, ye bright angelic spirits, Bring you sweetest, noblest lays;

Help to sing our Savior’s merits, Help to chant Immanuel’s praise!

A Hymn by John Blackwell, 1721-1819

REFLECTIONS

A Heart To Be Saved And Serve

"After this was over he made a solemn covenant with God. The date upon it is April 10, 18-. The other figures are obliterated; but the time must have been towards the close of the first decade of this century, or soon after. We can infer this from the reference in the above quotation to fifteen years of religious joy, which he did not experience until he came to Lleyn. The words of the covenant are these:-

8. I entreat Thee to enter into a covenant with me in the work of my ministry. Oh, prosper me, also as Thou didst prosper Harris, Rowlands, Whitefield, Bunyan, and Vavasor Powel. The impediments in the way of my success remove; work in me in every state of mind that is approved of God, in order to arrive at it. Give me a heart sick of love to Thee, and to the souls of men. Let me feel the power of Thy word before I preach it, as Moses felt the power of his rod before he saw its effect upon the land and the waters of Egypt. For the sake of Thy infinitely precious blood, grant me this. Amen.-C.E. O Jesus, my hope, and my all in all!

9. Search me now, and lead me in the midst of the paths of judgment. May I see in this world what I really am in Thy sight, that I might not find myself otherwise, when the light of eternity shall shine upon me, and when I open mine eyes in all the brightness of immortality. Amen.-C.E. Wash me in Thy redeeming blood.

10. Give me power to trust in Thee for food and raiment, and enable me to express my wants to Thee. May I enjoy Thy care over me as a covenant privilege, and not simply as the general care which Thou showest in feeding the ravens that perish, and clothing the lily that is cast into the oven but remember me as one of Thy family, and one of unworthy brethren. Amen.-C.E.

11. Take upon Thyself, O Jesus, to prepare me for death, for Thou art God, and Thy word is sufficient. If it be possible-but may Thy will be done-let me not linger long in sickness, nor die a sudden death, without bidding adieu to my brethren, but let me rather die after a short illness with my friends around me. May everything be put in order ready for that day of passing from one world to the other, so that there may be no confusion, no busting, no disorder, but a passing away in peace. Oh, grant me this, for the sake of Thine agony in the garden.

Amen.-C.E.

           

12. Grant, O blessed Lord, that I may not nourish or foster within myself any sin, which may cause Thee to cast me from the work of Thy sanctuary, may my days be no longer than my usefulness. May I never become, at the end of life, like a piece of furniture in a house, nothing but lumber in the way of others. Amen.-C.E.

13.I beseech Thee, my Saviour, to present these petitions of mine before Thy Father, and while I, with mortal hand, write them in my book on earth, do Thou write them in Thy book with Thy immortal pen. From the depths of Thy deserts and Thy boundless grace, and Thy usual tenderness towards Thy people, attach Thy name in Thy heavenly courts to these supplications of mine, and set Thine Amen to them, even as I set mine on my side of the covenant! Amen.- Christmas, Llangefini, Anglesey, April 10,18—.

After making this solemn covenant with his God, he writes: "After forming this covenant, I felt great calmness and perfect peace. I had the feelings of a poor man who has just come under the protection of the Royal Family, and has obtained an annual pension for life-the dreadful fear of poverty and want having left his house for ever; I felt the safety and shelter which the little chickens feel under the wings of the hen. This is what it is to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and to hide under His wings until all dangers are past."

-Christmas Evans (born in 1766) Found in Some Of The Great Preachers Of Wales by Owen Jones, M.A Published by Tentmaker Publications England 1995

REFLECTIONS

A Heart To Be Saved And Serve

"After this was over he made a solemn covenant with God. The date upon it is April 10, 18-. The other figures are obliterated; but the time must have been towards the close of the first decade of this century, or soon after. We can infer this from the reference in the above quotation to fifteen years of religious joy, which he did not experience until he came to Lleyn. The words of the covenant are these:-

"1. I give to Thee, Jesus, who art the true God and Life eternal, my body and my soul, to deliver from sin and everlasting death; and do Thou bring me into life eternal. Amen.-C.E.

"2. I call the day, the sun, the earth, the trees, the stones, the bed I lie on, the table, the study, to witness the fact that I am coming to Thee, Saviour of sinners, to obtain rest for my soul from the thunders of guilt and the fear of eternity. Amen.-C.E.

"3. Believing in Thy power, I earnestly beseech Thee Thyself to give me a heart circumcised to love Thee, and a right spirit whereby I may seek Thy glory. Endow me with those principles that shall be recognized in the day of judgment, that I may not be utterly confounded as a hypocrite. Grant me this for the sake of Thy precious blood. Amen.-C.E.

"4. I beseech Thee, Jesus, declared the Son of God with power, for the sake of the agony of Thy death, to grant unto me a portion and a covenant right in Thy cleansing blood, Thy justifying righteousness, and Thy saving redemption. I crave for an interest in Thy blood, for Thy blood's sake, and in Thyself for the sake of Thy name, which Thou hast given among men. Amen.- C.E.

"5. O Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, for the sake of Thy precious death, take my time and energy, and the gifts and talents I possess, which, with all my heart, I consecrate to Thy glory, and to the building up of Thy Church in the world, for worthy art Thou of the hearts and talents of all. Amen.-C.E.

"6. My great High Priest, by the authority of Thy High Court, ensure my usefulness as a preacher, and my piety as a Christian, like two gardens touching each other, in order that sin in my heart may not becloud my confidence in Thy righteousness; and that no foolish act of mine may blight my gifts, and wither them before the end of life. Keep Thine eye on me, and watch over me. Amen.-C.E. My Lord and my God for ever!

"7. I specially dedicate myself to thee, O Jesus, my Saviour, to keep me from the falls which come to the lot of many; that Thy name may not be blasphemed and injured with Thy cause; that my peace and confidence may not be impaired; and that Thy people may not be grieved, and Thy enemies hardened. Amen.-C.E."

-Christmas Evans (born in 1766) Found in Some Of The Great Preachers Of Wales by Owen Jones, M.A Published by Tentmaker Publications England 1995

REFLECTIONS

God's Wrath and the Worth of a Human Soul

"The Worth Of A Human Soul

The loss of the soul is the greatest loss that ever happened. If you were to gather all the losses caused by the Deluge, by the fire upon Sodom, and by the bloody wars of many ages; if you were to measure, I say, the magnitude of these losses in wealth, in kingdoms, in the blood of men and dear relations,-what grief, what woe, what pangs, what sighs, what deep and heavy groans, what dire wailing would they involve, from Abel to the present day! If all the misery of past times was gathered together into one terrible groan, it would be a trifle compared with the woeful groan of a soul that has been cast down into the unquenchable fire, not for a thousand or ten thousand years, nor for years innumerable as the sand on the sea shore, but for ever and ever. Blessed be God that we have not met with this irretrievable calamity.

There has been, on the other hand, great gain in the world, and great joy for the acquisition of wealth and glory, and for the victories obtained on land and sea, and for the possession of dear ' relations. But if you could gather together into one all the joys that have flowed in the river of time, yielding pleasure on its way to the millions of the human race; what is this after all compared with the salvation of a single soul? It is but like the chirping of a robin in the woods of Windsor compared with the jubilant songs of millions of the redeemed."

-From an Extract of a Sermon by Christmas Evans (born in 1766)  Found in Some Of The Great Preachers Of Wales by Owen Jones, M.A Published by Tentmaker Publications  England  1995

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“(4) Damnation is the greatest evil of suffering which can befall a man

It is the greatest punishment which God inflicts. This is the wrath of God to the uttermost; it is His vengeance. Who knows the power of His wrath? None but the damned ones. To be damned is misery, altogether misery and always misery. This will be more evident when we examine what damnation is. It may be considered in two ways:

1.Privately as a punishment of loss (poena damni). 2. Positively as a punishment of sense (poena senus). We have an instance of both of these in Mathew 25:41: “Then shall He shay to them on the left hand, Depart from me”-there is privative damnation-“‘into everlasting fire”-there is positive damnation.

As sin is negatively not doing good and positively the doing of evil, so damnation is a denial of  good to, and an inflicting of evil upon, sinners. Salvation is ad mali, the taking away of evil, and adeptio boni, the obtaining and enjoying of good. It is expressed in both ways in John 3:16: “God so loved the world that He gave his Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not peris”’-there is negative salvation- “but have everlasting life” – there is positive salvation. Similarly the damnation of sinners is negative and positive.

1.     Privative damnation. This penalty of loss will be the least plague of the sinner’s hell. He shall be deprived of all good, never to enjoy a good day or a good thing more. When once a man is damned he may bid adieu to all good (Luke 16:25).

2.     Positive damnation. This the schools justly call poena sensus, the punishment of sense. If it were not for this, that men will then feel both their loss and their gain-the pain which they have earned by their sins-damnation would seem to be but a dream or imagination. But their senses a well as their understanding, feeling as well as fancy, will tell them what a dreadful thing it is to be damned. It is a thing which I wish with all my soul that none of you ever know save by hearing of it, and wish that hearing of it may be a means to prevent your feeling it. But what shall I do? Who that has not been in Hell can tell what Hell is? Who would go there to find out what it is? Surely eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love Him, and likewise for them that hate Him, that is for impenitent sinners. It is the design and work of sin to make man eternally miserable, and to undo him, soul and body, forever.”

-From The Sinfulness of Sin by Puritan Ralph Venning  Published by the Banner of Truth Trust  Carlisle, PA  1965  First Published 1669

REFLECTIONS

Christ’s Passion

"A worn-out purple robe, once garment of the leader of a Roman cohort, is produced. This is thrown over His back still bleeding from every pore, while the barbarians exult aloud at this supposed witty and appropriate idea. They then break off twigs from a long-spiked thorn-bush, and twist them into a circle, which is afterwards pressed upon His sacred head as a crown. But in order to complete the image of a mock king, they put in to His hands a reed instead of a scepter, and after having thus arrayed Him, they pay mock homage to Him with shouts of derisive laughter. The miscreants bow with pretended reverence to the object of their scorn, bend the knee before Him, and to make the mockery complete, cry out again and again, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' It is not long, however, before they are weary of this abominable sport and turn it into fearful seriousness. With satanic insolence, they place themselves before their ill-treated captive, make the most horrible grimaces at Him, even spit in His face, and in order to fill up the measure of their cruelty, they snatch the reed out of His hands and repeatedly smite Him with it on the head, so that the thorns pierce deeply while streams of blood flow down the face of the gracious Friend of sinners.

How can we reconcile such revolting occurrences with the government of a just and holy God! A great mystery must lie at the bottom of them, or our belief in a supreme moral government of the world loses its last support. And is not this really the case? What befalls Christ befalls us in Him, who is our representative. The sufferings He endures fall upon our corrupt nature. In Him we receive the due of our misdeeds. With the shudder at the sight of the martyred Lamb of God, ought to be joined adoration of the unsearchable wisdom and mercy of God and the glorious accomplishment of the counsel of grace. Our hell is extinguished in Jesus' wounds; our curse is consumed in Jesus' soul; our guilt is purged away in Jesus' blood. The sword of the wrath of a holy God was necessarily unsheathed against us; and if the Bible is not a falsehood, and the threatening of the law a mere delusion, and God's justice an idle fancy, not a single individual would have escaped the sword, if the Son of God had not endured the stroke and taken upon Himself the payment of our debts."

-From The Suffering Saviour by F. W. Krummacher  First English Edition 1856 Published by The Banner of Truth Trust  2004  Carlisle, PA