Gotten a Rhema Lately?

Bible believers should enjoy bursting bubbles, if done with love, of course. Bubbles are all over the Body these days. Like for example the proposed difference between the logos word and the rhema word.

We're told by those who are supposed to know that the logos is the inspired word found in Scripture but not necessarily a word to bless or inspire us personally. The rhema, they say, is a special message directly from God to the heart, a personal word. It may or may not be in the Bible.

A believer, at least this believer, can accept the notion of a living God who speaks a living Word to His people, enlightening them as they are reading the Holy Word. We also must acknowledge that there are portions of the inspired Book which are very difficult to digest, other portions for which we are not ready.

So the division is not so bad, but the choice of terms won't stand a Biblical test. Yes, both words are in the Greek. Both mean roughly the same thing: an utterance, something said. The key is how both words are used in the Bible.

How about when talking about a gift of the Spirit, the word of wisdom? Seems like that should be rhema by the current definition. Nope. logos. How about when Paul is talking generally about the law and says it can be fulfilled in one word? "logos"? No, "rhema."

"I say to you by the word of the Lord..." Paul's clear personal word from God to individual believers. You guessed it. Logos.

There are times when both words fit the modern description and times when they don't. In other words, the sheep have fallen for another fad. Not a big point. But everyone reading can think of a similar silliness floating around. Let's be on our guard and give no place to anything God has not said.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Note to Pastor - About That Music

I'm getting old. That's the only explanation/apology I give for the following comments. It does not set aside the truths which I am trying to communicate. But it is a fact. And in many churches, the desires of the young have been placed over the wisdom of the elderly. Music is one of the victims of this decision. For centuries the Church has passed on a legacy of rich doctrine-laden verse, majestic-sounding melodies, true "psalms, hymns, songs of the Spirit." As with Scripture, these have been recorded (no one is claiming inspiration here) and passed on. The bad ones were weeded out, the classics remained, the collection of songs went forward.

But as I have said in another place: " ...now, the collections are set aside en masse. Entirely new collections are in place, and weekly there are new songs added to the list. A man who has been a Christian for 50 years can sit through a meeting totally a stranger to the music portion of the fellowship. And he can think he is a stranger to the church, being left behind. This has not been true in every generation. It is sadly true in this one."

English-speaking believers have exported this treasure of music all over the world. To this day many nations sing translations of the old hymns of the faith, while those who passed it to them, the Western Church, have gone on, may I say it, to lesser things. Oh, there is energy, zeal, and for the most part, truth, in the new songs. But there is little depth, character, and beauty. Little being written today can compare to the grand songs. The beat is consistently rock-folk. Guitars replace organs. No room in some churches for multi styles, multi instruments. We must get those kids in. Get rid of the old, bring in the new.

Sounds like the rantings of an old man, don't you think? But if there is any truth in what I speak, take note, and in your church, perhaps you can still "save the music." Someone, I believe, must pass on the good parts of our past to the next generation. Someone must do the weeding out of the questionable lyrics and tempos today. Someone needs to exercise discernment in this area.

If the present crop of songs is allowed to be the entire musical inheritance we leave the next church, I fear that that church will be a much weaker one, one that is much more susceptible to what is coming to the planet. We need to revive the old songs, and add to them cautiously some of the new, as we have done for so long.

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com - There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, over 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

North Korea - God's Open Door Policy

North Korea calling? To those who would touch a needy nation I offer the following:

An available position does not always mean an open door. Men can open doors too. And shut them. The doors that God opens cannot be opened by men. Or shut.

Look at it this way. Guys that are blessed with looks, charm, and all the rest, will have any number of "open doors" into a woman's heart. Although these are issues with which I have never had to deal, I can well imagine a line-up of females, each one telling my heart, "She is THE ONE." At least, in my dreams I can imagine such things! Are all these women to be his?

Or try this. A multi-talented person seeking employment will face the same dilemma. He will be hunted down like a white-tailed deer and pressed into any number of services. Are all these jobs "the right one"?

But consider Paul (I Corinthians 16:9). "An open door has been set before me, and there are many adversaries." That is true vision. Paul was not "excited" about going through his open door. First he was genuinely invited. Then he was persistently determined. He did not see all happy scenes. Paul's foretold and actual ministry was a series of incredible victories coupled with incredible suffering. Those who go through open doors because they are "excited" about "helping Jesus" need to go sit under a tree somewhere and count the cost. If the cross is not a part of the final tally, and so-called "call," it is probably a human door, not a Divine one that is presenting itself.

Also, doors in the Scripture are entry-ways to the furtherance of the Gospel, not personal furtherance. When the "vision" sees a human (usually yourself) elevated and Christ negotiable, it's not God's vision. When one sees a road of hardship but Christ lifted up, good things can follow.

There are, I have found, many doors open to North Korea. I have leaped for joy to know I can be of use in this dry and thirsty land. It would be the same for anyone reading who wants to go. There is something for you to do! But which door is yours? I counsel myself and anyone who cares to listen:

Walk carefully in the Spirit before the momentous decision is made. Listen carefully to what God is saying and to what various men are saying too. If the "call" does not "fit" and you find yourself volunteering to do someone else's work just to "be used", much damage can come your way, and to the ministry.

The Lord of the harvest knows just where we belong. Some of us may well be asked to stay right here and pay the bills of those who go... but if Christ is glorified, so be it.

Bottom line, LORD save your people! Lord deliver the prisoners! Lord, whatever it takes, whomever it takes, however you want it done, oh just do it!

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Supper with Jesus

The marriage supper of the Lamb of God. Ever think of what this means? Reservations are needed, but the meal and the eternity that follows with Christ Jesus have been totally paid for. What will it be like to sit and eat with the King of Kings? There'll be no bickering about places at the table. The apostles and other Bible-mentioned chiefs of the faith will sit at His right and left. And anyway, the honor on that day will be all His.

What will the food be like? Yes, we'll be able to eat in our new bodies. Jesus showed us that after He rose from the dead. And attire, well that's one area covered by the Revelation of John, chapter 19. Let's go there.

The chapter opens with great rejoicing for the annihilation, finally, of wicked Babylon. The smoke rising up will be a constant scene for eternity, a perpetual reminder that God avenges His people.

Then comes the announcement. It is not the feast itself, mind you, only the proclamation that we have now come to the point of the Jesus story called Wedding Day. The saints are given their clean bright linen wedding clothes, symbolic of the righteousness imputed to them all by Jesus, His wedding gift. Forgiveness. Clean slate. Holiness. Purity. And all by grace.

Then it's time to depart. Take care of some business. And eat.

One of the downsides of the so-called pre-tribulation coming of Jesus is that the passage before us is whisked away to a time seven years prior to the Babylon events. In the mind of the pre-trib theologian, any day now we'll be spirited away, while on earth will break out chaos. But it won't bother us, because after all, we overcame. The saints left behind, backslidden and unworthy, will have to deal with antichrist on their own, while we sit at the table spread by Jesus Himself.

It will be a happy day when this man-made theory dries up totally, loses its sway over Western believers, and joins the ranks of the hundreds and thousands of strange notions that have plagued God's people through the years.

You can see that the passage before us is clearly at the end of earth's suffering. You can see that the words are a mere announcement. No one sits and eats. Heaven is going out to dine. Out to a quaint little place called Earth, on the top of a hill there called Mt. Zion.

Why not eat in Heaven? First, it makes more sense for your Bride to be taken away to joy after a wedding ceremony, not to battle, as is the next thing in the text. Though the saints are dressed to dine, they must get to their dining place through a mine field readied by the Devil himself. Jesus will be coming with His saints to judge the earth's wickedness. Then we can sit and eat and rest.

But the main reason I know the Wedding Supper is on terra firma is that Jesus said so. The promise is in Luke 22, twice. I paraphrase verses 15-18:

I have really been looking forward to this Passover meal . I tell you the truth, we will not enjoy a Passover together until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. Then He took the cup, prayed, and said, Drink this, and remember, I will not be drinking wine with you until the Kingdom of God comes.

And the Kingdom of God comes, per Daniel, Jesus, Paul, and John, from Heaven to Earth when Jesus comes to judge sin, and establish His Throne in Jerusalem. The whole series of Kingdom events begins around the great Table.

Don't miss it! And join me in prayer that the closed nations of Earth, such as our dear friends in North Korea, will be able to receive their personal invitation to the Dinner, without which entry will not be gained.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

Even Unto Death

As we walk another day, we see many Christians in peril, and even being killed. We see this in India, Africa, and many points around this world. When Jesus spoke of the end days, He spoke of His sacrifice as well, as the sacrifice that many today will, and must make.

Churches burn, Christians suffer and the world speaks not of these things, but rather they speak of governments, leaderships, and the over all good of man. Who then is man that we should speak highly of him? Who is saying that man has the answers, has the wisdom, and the knowledge, to bring peace upon this earth? Do you realize that with each conflict, struggle and war, we approach the end of man as we have know him?

Have you not seen that when a conflict comes between the poor and the rich, many times the poor are the first to suffer. They burn down their own homes, businesses and churches, this is all madness, for the rich are not influenced by these things, but rather rejoice over the destruction that the poor have brought down upon themselves. Are these things new to the Christian or followers of God? No, many things that we suffer today are being suffered by other brothers and sisters around the world. There is nothing strange about these events, for even in the beginning it was accomplished, lets read;

"Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." (Heb 11:35-38)

"being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(Of whom the world was not worthy:)"
We are the Children of the Most High God, we suffer, for Christ suffered, we roam in a world, and a land, that is strange to us, for we have no home as Christ had none. He was from above, and not below, He was from God, and is God, we are to be as He is, and not as we think. This world is not our home, but a place to witness and testify of the Glory of Salvation threw the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Destitute(Not having or possessing; wanting; as destitute of virtue, or of piety; destitute of food and clothing.)
Afflicted(The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness, losses, calamity, adversity, persecution.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Psa 34.)
Tormented;(To tease; to vex; to harass; as, to be tormented with importunities, or with petty annoyances.)

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous."
We are to be harassed and tormented in these end days. Do not think that it is strange that war, murders, conflicts and persecution comes upon you, for as the word has stated that these things shall come about, it has.
These are the times of the end. A countdown was started when Jesus was born and we are almost at the midnight hour, when all this earth will be rocked as a drunkard.

"And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again." (Isa 24:18-20)

We are to endure many things, for we are, my brothers and sisters, the terminal generation that shall see great signs, and wonders, in the Heavens, and upon the earth.
"Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." (Act 20:23-24)

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." This is what we are to be about. These things that are coming upon this earth shall try our faith and also our patience. For it all comes down to faith and how we handle it.
Can your faith save you in these times of trouble? Yes. Can your faith keep you from these troubles that will come? No. Your faith gives you a weapon that you can rely upon. Many afflictions shall come upon those that believe. Just as with the conflicts that are taking place today, many Christians have their churches, homes and businesses burnt to the ground, and many will be beaten, suffer nakedness and even hunger. This all according to the will of God that must try the faith of this generation. This is not new for it happened even unto our Savior.

Our lives are purposed to be, born and die. There is always a reason for everything that happens to a believer in Christ. Are you unhappy or even disappointed in the life you have? Do you believe that you shouldn't suffer because you have faith? Have you not heard of our teacher of distresses? Read again;
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. (2Co 11:22-30)

"in perils by mine own countrymen." Do you not see this today? Have you not heard of Nations being divided, riots and conflicts? So then we must, as Paul taught, If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
Thank the Lord that we are counted worthy to suffer as Christ suffered. Hold to your faith and hope, look up our redemption draws nigh.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev 2:11) ars

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
A.R.Smith Ministries
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/

Christ's Entry Into North Korea

How will Christ change North Korea, when He goes in with His people? If this happens before His powerful second coming, He will go in with the power of His own unity, not with the organizations of men.

Clues from Paul, Ephesians. 1:2,3: The true Church is the very Body of Jesus. Not just a body of believers that happens to belong to Him. The Church IS Him! 4:3. What do we do? Keep the unity (that already exists) in the bond of peace. Recognize what is already there and flow in it. 4:13. Unity of belief may not exist until later, but essential unity is now. In God's eyes there is unity. Always has been. Men are divided, growing, imperfect, but unity is here. I Corinthians 1:10 ff. The Corinthians were divided. But Christ was not divided. Denominations formed. A sectarian spirit developed. Personality cults sprang up. But Christ was one. And is still.

Why the "division" today? People divide for a number of reasons.

• Some separate because they never belonged to Christ. "They went out from us, but they were not of us."
• Some believe they are called out to better things. Dangerous idea. But sometimes true.
• Simple differences of opinion. Paul and Barnabas, for example. But Christ was not divided during that incident. The ecumenists of our day would have begged Paul and Barnabas to stay together at all costs. "Together" is not unity in the Spirit. God had other plans for both of them. We can't figure out everyone's motive and don't need to. Unity continues on regardless. There is One Body filled with One Spirit, just as at the beginning!

Our options today as we consider moving into North Korea when things change there (soon we pray!):

• announce to all denominations, "Come together!" and let's go in to conquer. But in the large group there is much that is false. Always has been since the days when Roman Emperors forced people into the "Church." One cannot force someone into the Body. Most pagans who came in did so to save their lives. They brought their pagan ways with them and the external church has lived with them ever since. No, a thousand times NO, don't bring this mess into North Korea!
• seek God as to who is born again in the crowd that will try to press in. Let God call His true people together. He will then give discernment to those inside who are waiting for the Gospel. God's sheep will hear His voice. There will always be false Christians and cultists offering competition to the truth. The answer is not to join with those who grieve the Spirit, but to preach the truth and let God call His own to Him.

The boundaries of the true Church of Jesus remain invisible to human eyes but very visible to Christ and those who know Him. And consider:

If Christ does not go into North Korea until His second coming, how "nice" will that be? Will Jesus gingerly gather all those who wear the name "Christian" and set them up as little kings all over the land? Is that the picture you see? The Bible says He will come with wrath and judgment, utterly destroying all His enemies. Only the true Body of Christ will remain to judge the earth with Jesus.

So why not join with those true ones now? Making alliances with "Christians" that have not the Spirit of God is always a deadly unproductive road. And it gives the wrong message to the North Korean people who have been deceived these many decades.

Christ, lead on, show us how to win back the hearts of the Korean people for You, Who so deserve this offering.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Who Should Sit in Communion Chairs in a Baptist Church?

The Baptist church practices the communion as one of its two acts of faith-obedience. Much of the time, this is called an ordinance rather than a sacrament. In other words, you cannot receive salvation or grace through communion. Instead, these are purely symbolic acts that were commanded of Christ's followers by Christ Himself. This is actually the second ordinance in the Baptist church and it is patterned after the Last Supper, which was recorded in the Gospels wherein Jesus says to "do this in remembrance of me." With this in mind, participants in communion break and eat bread and drink a small shot of wine. These items are symbolic of the body and the blood of Jesus, respectively.

Traditionally, Baptists serve communion to participants wherever they are seated. However, it is up to each individual church how communion is arranged, because the arrangement itself has no theological significance. More important than seating or arrangement is the communion itself. For instance, the bread used is unleavened, as it is believed that this is the type of bread the would have been served at the Last Supper. As such, bread cubes, wafers or small crackers are passed around on plates to those who wish to participate in communion. Of course, it is also acceptable to do the "breaking of bread" from loaves, as well.

The cup is filled with unfermented grape juice. However, the Gospel passages only mention the "fruit of the vine." It is never called wine therein. Usually small individual cups are used to represent the "cup." A "common cup" that the entire congregation drinks from can be used, but it is usually reserved for small gatherings for practical reasons.

Most of the time, both the bread and the wine are served by the pastor to the deacons. The deacons then serve the congregation, followed by the pastor. In bigger churches, the pastors may often serve one another, allowing the deacons to focus on serving the congregation. Once the entire congregation has been served, everyone takes the elements at the same time. This symbolizes unity.

Communion can be held as frequently as the church desires. However, most of the time communion takes place during a regular worship service. It is important to note that communion is only taken by those who have undergone a believer's baptism, though this does vary from congregation to congregation as well. As such, there are three types of communion:1. Open communion allows anyone who professes to be a Christian to take communion.2. Close communion occurs whenever only members of a Baptist church can take communion.3. Closed communion takes place when only members of that local congregation can participate.

Custom folding chairs, Pew Chairs and other seating with many many options sure to satisfy your needs at Mill Brook Industries. http://www.millbrookindustries.com/

Antidotes For Doubt

Now there were only eleven men on the mountain with Jesus on the day He left Earth to begin another phase of His preparation for the coming Kingdom. Only eleven. These eleven had seen Him die and had seen Him risen from the dead. They had walked with Him three years and watched Him raise others from death and near-death. They had seen a disturbed Sea of Galilee hushed. Now for 40 days after His own decease and resurrection they had eaten with Him, been amazed by off and on appearances, beheld as He walked through walls. Now He stands in front of them to receive their worship, a parting gesture that will remain in their memory as they face a world that most certainly is not a friend of Jesus of Nazareth. Their hands are raised, the praise begins. And then, can you possibly believe this, the Gospel writer adds, "but some doubted."

Doubt has been showing up at church ever since. We who have the entire written testimony of these and other men in a Book that has become in itself a miracle; we who have had our own mountain-top experiences with Him, not the least of which has been a changed and changing life, often sit in our little prisons of doubt and fear and ask with John the Baptist, "Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep looking for someone else?"

That's who we are at times. We doubt Him, and we doubt what He has done for us. And we wait for a rushing mighty wind or light from Heaven that has not been promised us in these days. Some do experience unqualified and totally verifiable miracles. But not all. Maybe not even many. And both the haves and the have-nots of the miraculous must deal with the Word that says, "Blessed are those who do not see [something] and still believe."

The Jesus who left from a mountain in the Middle East will eventually return via the clouds to that same mountain. All will be gathered to Him to give an account. John in his first epistle indicates that many will be ashamed. And John shows the way not to be ashamed at that coming. In 1:28 he counsels us simply to abide in Him. Stay put. Keep believing. Keep trusting. Talk to Him, walk with Him. Let Him talk to you.

By this method, slowly but very surely one becomes aware of the dual nature of the non-physical part of man, and sees that all those doubts - which will plague from time to time - are part of the old nature, the corrupted mind, the messages from elsewhere. He will see that the new man continues to broadcast hope and courage. The key will be , which of these two power centers will be strongest, which will he feed the most?

John takes it farther than a struggle of the soul. He gives a series of tests of the whole man and the actions being produced in it. He says that the man abiding with Jesus will not have a sinning habit any more. He will have a healthy dislike of this present evil world system. He will naturally gravitate to the brothers and sisters in the Lord and care about their well-being. This man can take a look in the mirror John has fashioned and know in an instant whether there is a real Jesus and whether this Jesus lives in him. Great antidotes for doubt. Has the new nature produced a new man?

Of course, such an examination is a potential cause for concern, too.What if the image is blurred? What if staring back at him is a picture of an empty man who loves his worldliness and his vices -even chuckles about it all - and has a hidden distaste for people who are into Jesus "a little too much", which means being interpreted, more than himself ? One can throw away such a mirror of course and live with the ever-nagging and ever-growing doubt, or one can repent.

I believe now that doubt in most believers is a common possibility. The enemy will continually look for an entry place. But if Satan finds that the entry-ways are well guarded, there is a good chance he will go to some simpler task elsewhere. Doubt then becomes our choice.

As does its opposite, faith.

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com - There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, over 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

When God Abandons

It is a sad and scary truth but one we must face. God does abandon people and nations. Samson was abandoned when he persisted in his disobedience.

Israel was abandoned when she would not stop going after other gods. Jesus Himself was temporarily abandoned on the cross. For our sin, the Father turned His ear from the cryings of His only begotten Son.

Was North Korea abandoned when its leadership turned its people away from worship of the one true God and caused them to worship human idols that took over the country? Is the United States in the process of losing its protection as it allows more and more of the things that God hates? December 7 and September 11 are only two of the tragedies that have befallen our country.

One thing that is playing itself out as I write today is the inability of God-fearing moral men to find a candidate to run for the Presidency. And, though some of us may have had trouble with Billy Graham's ecumenical ways, where now is the "prophet" who whispers in the ears of our leaders the things of God? Where is a national voice of righteousness being raised up that people are hearing? Unless America repents, I believe there will be many more tragedies.

So how does the abandonment of God get reversed? We use the same cast of characters:

Samson repented. For the rest of his life he wanted to be God's man and win God's victories. God gave him that chance and came back to him.

Israel followed hard after God in Babylon, and God heard her cries for restoration. Another chance, another temple, revival! God's people prayed.

When our sins were paid for, Jesus was released from the old beaten bloody body, and was glorified and resurrected. Perfect obedience.

Consider also the persecution of the Roman Empire. As God's people preached the Gospel "underground" the entire Empire was salted down and made worth saving.

Ex-Communist countries of our day have the same testimony. Freedom came to them as the underground church became such a factor as not to be ignored any longer. Life erupted out of the death in persecution.

Today there are believers inside of North Korea spreading the Word of God, praying, believing God for a great national miracle. They are repenting that they ever followed and believed the government. It seems to me that our job now is to keep feeding that surge of life until it too erupts, to keep the Bibles flowing into North Korea, to keep sending men and women in. The refugees who come out must be reached for Christ. Many will go back in and lay their necks down for Jesus. And North Korea will be abandoned no longer.

As for America. May she only look at Chosun and see her future if she does not straighten up her act. Mercy! Mercy! Today pray for America, perhaps so very ripe for judgment. Could it be that a time will come when the prosperity of this nation will be swallowed up and totally forgotten in unimaginable poverty? Why not?

But for today, let us remember the prisoners, as though bound with them, in beloved Chosun.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Wanted - A Prophet of God

The job description for the office of Prophet, in the Biblical sense, might be a bit intimidating for modern -at least Western - believers. Yet it was a typical profile when God put His men on the planet. The qualifications included, but were not limited to:

• a desire to live in deserted, lonely habitat
• a severe limitation to wardrobe
• a similar cutback in the area of diet. The necessity of eating what is available in the wild.
• being subject to various forms of death and near-death experiences: beheading, boiling in oil, crucifixion, drowing in a deep pit, stoning, being sawn in two.

Also consider:

• applications are not available. one must live close to God and wait for a call. no call means one is not needed as a prophet. no self-made self-styled prophets need consider themselves a part of this office.
• no college training will prepare such a man. life is the training for a prophet.
• no particular secular life-calling fits the mold of prophet. one can be called from the field or the palace or the synagogue.

And then there are these tips:

• If you are a true prophet, your audience will go down, not up.
• In some cases your entire flock may be asked to follow One Better than you.
• There are no special benefits and privileges, this side of heaven. You are to live a life of perfect obedience, as a slave to the One Who called You.

Have I not properly described the men of God, named and un-named, who grace the pages of Scripture? Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, John. And have I not properly drawn a line between a true man of God and the men who are rising before us today trying to wear that same title, with their fine clothes and multi-million dollar homes and vehicles and toys?

Give us Lord, a man of God! One who is not afraid to say everything You have already said, one who cares not how small his congregation becomes as long as he is speaking the truth in love. One who will give his life for what he knows to be the truth.

One of my constant concerns is for the time period immediately following the fall of the Kim reign in North Korea. When the door is open, what will go through that door? The cults that deny Jesus is Lord of all. The religions that look holy but lack life. Mainline denominations of Christendom that have long ago exchanged the good news for a bowl of stew and a warm bed and American-style comforts.

Lord, Your sheep will hear Your voice. For that we are grateful.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

Hymn Of The Cherubim Movie Video

I love the chants from the Byzantine Chant and other Religions

Peaceful Warrior God

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a christian Ideas library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

What Is The "Tribulation" In The Bible?

"Tribulation." What's this about?

Most students of prophecy believe in a time of "trouble". It is well documented by prophets and Jesus and John:

Prophet Jeremiah in his 30th chapter sees a future era he calls "Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). The reference is to the father of the Jewish nation, a man also known as Israel. He says that this time will be unprecedented in its devastation, the same thing an angel who appears in the book of the prophet Daniel says about a "time of trouble" coming to the planet, in association with resurrections and judgments (Daniel 12:1-3). In other words, this tribulation period is the beginning of the end of all things as we know them today.

That same line of thought is repeated by Jesus in Matthew 24:21. Here the word is "tribulation", but that is simply another translation of the same Greek word translated "trouble" in other passages. Jesus too is speaking of the end of all things, which he says immediately follows this tribulation. And John's Book of Revelation describes the horrors of God's wrath, leaving no doubt to the reader that the time he describes is also the time of the end.

Now what do Bible teachers mean by "Pre"- or "post"- tribulation?

There is some major trouble coming. Unprecedented. Final. And, there's a "snatching up" , a "catching away", a "rapture" coming too. The whole issue we deal with here is , Which comes first, the trouble, or the flight? If one believes the catching up is first, he is a "pre-tribulation rapturist", whether he particularly likes such a label or not. If he believes the rapture is after the tribulation and in fact a part of the second coming of Jesus,

He is "post-trib."

Sadly, the church is seriously divided on this issue? There are those who will not accept the life or ministry of persons on the "other side" of this discussion. How that came to pass is a fascinating study but must be reserved for another time.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

How to Write 5 Articles Per Day

So here is the beginners guide to writing an article. This guide will help you to create as many articles as you wish each day.

The very first sentence of your article should introduce the reader to a problem. The problem should have some bearing on the niche or topic that you are in. So describe the problem. What is the problem through the eyes of the reader?

Then the second sentence in your article should explain why solving this problem is important. Here you might say something such as "It is important that you solve X problem otherwise matters may deteriorate and lead to such and such problem".

The next sentence, sentence number three of the introduction should say something about how you are going to solve this problem through the information in your article. So this sentence is like a summary and it rounds up the points you will discuss in the main body of the article.

Now the important elements of this article writing is that it gives you the ability to quickly write and complete an article without having to mess around with being creative and drafting. Using this system will help you to create articles extremely quickly. I can write 20 articles each and every day using a system like this.

So to reiterate, the title of the article gives the reader the essence of the problem. The first sentence will state what you intend to do in the article with regard to the problem. For instance, "I intend to teach you the four simple and quick steps you can take to eliminate bad fats from your meals starting now". Then the next sentence is going to say, "It is vitally important that you eliminate bad fats from your meals because otherwise you will continue to pile on the pounds...".

Then the third sentence is going to say, "The best way to eliminate this problem is by" and then you are going to give a summary of the ways to solve the problem before you go into the main body which will give the best methods in the form of a list or bullet points.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing to build your list:

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Writing

Want to learn how to increase your online income by effortlessly creating high priced products that your customers need and desire? Find out more here: Create High Ticket Products Fast

Janet Cole is a powerful coach and online mentor. She has over 585 articles in print and has created over 11 different products.

Creation With a Message

The existence of God & His power was & still is made clear to all of mankind through what can be observed since & as a result of creation (cf. Ps.19:1-4; Isa.40:26; Rom.1:19, 20). Apart from this general revelation (cf. Isa. 46:10), God has also provided us with special revelation through His prophets (cf. Luke 16:29, 31; John 5:39; Jude 1:3). He did not leave us clue-less as to what the purpose & manner of our existence is supposed to be (cf. Ps. 50:15; Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor. 15:3), but gave us His Word, the Bible, as a guide to life (cf. Ps. 19:7-11; Luke 1:2; 2Tim. 3:16).

Obviously, there will be those who don't like this message, because it exposes their sin & calls for change (cf. John 3:19; 8:44-45). Their reaction is normally an attempt to eliminate the truth of the Bible from their minds either by clever reasoning and/or the invention of their own god(s) according to their preferences (cf. Rom. 1:21-25; 2Tim. 4:3). This ignorance will however not change God's everlasting Truth (cf. Ps. 119:89; Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Acts 5:38, 39; 1Pet. 1:25), but will end in the judgment of those who continue in their unbelief / ignorance (cf. John 15:24; Acts 17:30; Eph. 4:18). After all, by not believing something, it doesn't automatically become invalidated and/or false. For example, a blind man may not be able to perceive light, but that doesn't void the reality of light.

Over the ages there has been many onslaughts against the Truth and presently, in my opinion, a certain well-known church-movement forms part of the antichrist's means of paving the way towards a unified religion whereby most, common religions are accepted & even included. And what better way to inject society with this kind of tolerant attitude than through a world-renown person? Straight-out lies & falsehoods can be recognised quickly whereas half-truths, such as a religion that makes mention of Jesus, but doesn't acknowledge His diety, are easily accepted & even believed (cf. 1 John 4:3-5).

Jesus warned us about false Christs & prophets that will deceive many with signs, wonders, & appearances (Matt. 24:11, 24), and He also taught that there is no other way to salvation than through Him (cf. John 14:6) as both Lord & Saviour (cf. Rom.10:9; 14:11; Php.2:11). Those who only want Jesus as Saviour, but not as Lord of their lives, will eventually contradict the Gospel by way of their lives (John 12:48; 1 Thes. 4:7-8; 2 Tim. 3:5; James 2:20, 26), and that is exactly what distinguishes geniune faith from the false (cf. Luke 3:7-9; 6:44; John 15:5).

2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you- unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Deon (Ditto / D)

Words and Truths That Will Challenge the Hearts of Leaders and Those Who Aspire to Be Leaders

I vividly remember that night when our Professor of New Testament, James S. Stewart was preaching in Lothian Road in Edinburgh, Scotland, and his powerful and animated declaration, "Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a lion. Just turn the Bible loose. It will defend itself." It was only recently that I learned that it was Charles Spurgeon who first spoke these penetrating words.

Everything which relates to God is infinite. We must therefore, while we keep our hearts humble, keep our aims high. Our highest services are indeed but finite, imperfect, but as God is unlimited in goodness, He should have our unlimited love. Do these words not challenge our hearts?

We have the truth and we need not be afraid to say so. It was another strong Christian leader who spoke these words and they are so very relevant in 2009 for those of us who are in Christ and who believe the Bible.

Having a full life is not necessarily a long life. I have just been re-reading the memoirs of Robert Murray McCheyne of Dundee, and his influential ministry certainly supports these salutary words.

The world isn't reading the Bible. The world is reading Christians like you and me, and if they don't like what they see in us, they're not going to want what we have, and we have what everyone so needs, Jesus Christ. Again, that will not be popular in certain places in 2009, but it just happens to be true.

Only one life will soon be past and it is only what is done for Christ that will last. Let that sink in deeply!

Inner purity results in outer power. We see that so perfectly clearly in the life of Jesus Christ and to a lesser degree in the life of the early Church. But what a challenge it is to me! Is it a challenge to you?

With complete consecration comes perfect peace, and these words were breathed by a saintly Chinese believer in Jesus called Watchman Nee, whose teaching and writing has inspired many. He was a leader who continues to lead today as disciples of Jesus Christ study his writings.

No one ever became, or can become truly eloquent without being a reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its language. Now, that is almost too strong but I know what the writer is getting at. Do you?

It's not the parts of the Bible I don't know that worries me, but the parts that I do. That statement from a leader is a very different field has something profound to say to each of us.

One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is losing interest in what is familiar. Again this can happen almost without our noticing as we search for something fresh to say and at times perhaps even novel. It is better to say what is true than what is new!

Tell me what you do with your time and money and I will tell you where your heart is. How vitally important that is in these times of financial crisis.

We can have no power from Christ unless we are persuaded that we have none of our own. I need to remember that frequently. Would that not be true for us all?

Sandy Shaw.

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com

Can You See Christ in the Feast of the Tabernacles

In "the Gospel of John," Arthur W. Pink suggests that "the simplest and often most effective way of studying a portion of God's Word is to draw up a list of questions upon it." After a few days of research, pondering where to start and struggling to discover the underlying symbolism associated with the Feast of Tabernacle, I decided to put Mr. Pink's idea to the test.

What is a Tabernacle? What are the Alternative names of the Feast of Tabernacle? What was the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacle? What is the significance of the "booths?" How are the answers to these questions symbolized by Christ?

Where better to start than a look at the Tabernacle itself. The Tabernacle is a picturesque illustration of Christ and His Church on earth. I believe "on earth" is a key when looking at the Feast of Tabernacle. The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a temporary, earthly structure symbolizing Christ, that according to Exodus 25:8-9 was that "God might dwell among His people." We see some aspect of Jesus Christ in every piece of its furniture, boards, pillars, ropes and curtains. Jesus came to this earth to offer us a way to the Father and a way to salvation. Christ is our Tabernacle, our place of worship and our way to the Father.

What is the evidence of Christ in the alternative names for the Feast? The Feast of Tabernacle was also known as the Feast of Ingathering and/or Feast of Booths. I believe that these are important to reference because the further reflect the significance of Jesus.

The Feast of the Ingathering speaks of a harvest and agricultural celebration. Revelation 14:115 tells us of His great harvest. "Take your sickle and reap for the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Just as Jesus came to plant the seed for salvation, He too will return for the harvest.

Also known as the Feast of Booths, it was a tribute to the memory of God's people and their struggle in the wilderness. The booths were shabby, make-shift structures of sticks, boughs, palm branches and the like. The booths were only occupied during the time of the Feast and were temporary in ever sense of the word. Jesus fulfills the symbolism of the booth by humbling Himself and coming to us in the frail, shabby, destructible body of man. Like the pilgrims of the Feast, His booth was also temporary. Jesus was here for only a short time; for the planting of the good seed. However, He promises to return and harvest those that believe. What a glorious festival there will be when He finally returns.

When I look more deeply at the Feast of Tabernacle, Christ shines through. Simply, we might say that the Feast of Tabernacle is a tribute to Christ and His amazing days on earth as the sewer of salvation. How grateful we should be that He chose to pitch His tent or build His tabernacle with us and for us as the Son of Man and Savior.

The Tabernacle is a reference of good things yet to come. As we are told in Revelation 21:3, "Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them and be their God." Jesus Christ is the Tabernacle of God. When the glorious day comes and He returns, Christ will dwell amongst His people again. For me, this is ultimately what the Feast of the Tabernacle is all about.

Copyright Anthony Mullins

Elite Coaching Alliance 2005

Anthony Mullins is the President and Life Coach for The Elite Coaching Alliance. He specializes in personal, leadership, marriage, relationship and family, christian based coaching. He is the author of the upcoming e-book "A Chronical of the Miracles in the Gospel of John." He can be reached by e-mail: anthony@elitecoachingalliance.com or by phone at 770.344.7975. Visit our website http://www.elitecoachingalliance.com

Greek Orthodox Chant Movie Video

I love the chants from the Greek Orthodox and other Religions

Peaceful Warrior God

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a christian Ideas library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Struggling With Spiritual

I have wrestled with this thing called your spiritual side for many a year. When someone would say to me, you need to get in touch with your spiritual side I would close down. I was brought up in a strict religious, church going family. I started rebelling against the church when I was a teenager, so when someone said I needed to get in touch with my spiritual side; to me they were saying go back to church.

Now for me that was not an option. I had tried going back to a few different churches and I could never find one that I felt comfortable with. A few years ago I started re-reading the Bible, it had been at least forty years since I had even looked at one. I guess I picked up one that had been changed, because it was saying things that were different than what I had been taught as a kid. Of course it was the same bible that my folks had given me when I was about fourteen. I guess maybe because I was just reading it without any preconceived notions, or maybe because I read the whole thing and not just the selected parts.

This started me on a quest, which Ill probably be on for the rest of my life. The problem I have with most churches is that they accept the bible as the final word and wont even look at any other evidence of history. If there is anything said that might contradict how they have been told to interpret it, they just say its not possible. To me that is just not acceptable. Im sure there are those who say we dont have to look because we know this is the truth. For myself, I have found that a lot of what we thought we knew as truth, turned out to be something entirely different.

About this point your probably wondering ok where is he going with all of this, weve heard all these religious arguments before. True enough, I am just trying to establish where I am coming from. This spiritual thing is a whole new ball game for me.

OK what is this spiritual side? To me it is getting to know and accept yourself. Once you start down that path, then you start to realize, you have to also love yourself. For those of us that have been around for over a half a century that is a little hard to come to grips with. After all, men had to be tough, showing emotions was not allowed. Wonder whom the insidious jackass that came up with that was?

Lets go back to loving yourself, just what does that mean. Like any form of love putting it in words is never easy. I mean, gee whiz I want to be taller, more muscular, better looking, etc. I dont believe that is what this is about. We have to accept our inter-self, how we think, act and react. When someone cuts you off in traffic, can you just forgive them? How about when it happens apologize to them for being in the way. Wow now hes gone off the deep end. Well maybe, but I have read some who say that any negative reaction is caused by our own self and if we apologize to the person that we think created that negative reaction then both will benefit.

If we cant love ourselves then how can we love anyone else? Is love, hate too strong? Well if we are uncomfortable with who we are, isnt that going to cloud how we see others? When you look up the original word for devil in the bible, one of the definitions in Strongs concordance when translated into English is adversary. Now who is our biggest adversary? In my opinion our biggest adversary is our own ego. Does your own ego keep you from loving yourself? I think it does, because we dont want to admit that we are wrong, or something we did caused the problem, no it had to be the other person. That brings to mind a saying I heard years ago, My situation is myself. Darn I think that means Im responsible for myself.

Once we can love ourselves, we can begin to love others. Now the bible says to love your enemy, thats a tough one. Well how about when someone does something that we disagree with or is against your core beliefs. What if instead of getting mad or upset with that person or thing you stopped and thought to yourself, that poor person sure must be lacking in love. Put your love out, if you cant direct it directly to that person or thing just put love out to the universe and let it go where it will do the most good. If they will accept it good if they cant then someone else can have the benefit.

If I had heard that a few years ago, I probably have said what in the world is he talking about? Has he become one of those New Ager guys with all kinds of wild ideas? Putting love out into the universe, how can you do that? Maybe thats what this spiritual side is about. Because it makes sense to me now and I can feel love and wish love to go out from me to someone or just out to the universe for whom ever needs it. Its actually a great feeling when you do it and as the old saying goes what goes around, comes around. Now I dont know about you, but for me I prefer to have love coming back to me.

Charlie Phillips has been in construction, and has done everything from labor, carpenter, heavy equipment operator and contractor. Owned and operated of his own truck over forty-eight states and three provinces in Canada. He never attempted much writing until he came across a little tool called spell checker. There are no titles after his name, just a lot of life experiences. Website: http://www.charliephillips.net

Image of the Beast & Image of God Comparison

"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."

Revelations 13:14-15

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

Revelation 14:9-11

I know these verses are speaking for a time yet to come. Some say that this is speaking about a human being that will be manifested in the Earth, and that will have nature of the devil in himself, e.g. Antichrist. Others say that is speaking of a whole system, and not just a mere man. Whatever the case might be, there are spiritual principles we can draw from these verses.

1. The devil has an image. Of course, it's exactly contrary to God's image.
2. The devil will impose that image of his upon this human being (AntiChrist), or upon a whole demonic system (kingdom), trying to rule upon the Earth. We see that this human representation and extension of the devil is Anti-Christ, Anti-God, Anti-The Anointed One, Anti-The Savior, Anti-His destiny, purposes and intentions.
3. The devil's final purpose is every person to receive the same image of the beast in themselves - some because of deception, others because of fear. This image was given power to speak, act and perform miracles (Revelations 13), so it does require the people that have received it to act accordingly, speaking its language, doing his works, even receiving its supernatural power.

It's main purpose - the self to be promoted and rise against and above Almighty God Himself.

We know that the devil fooled many angels to join him in his battle against the Lord in Heaven and they were all cast out. Now, in the Revelation events, we see him trying to do the same thing with men on Earth, gathering an army that is meant to attack the Lord when He comes from Heaven to the Earth (Revelations 19:19, 20; 20:7-8). That will be an army consisting of totally deranged, mentally distorted and emotionally destroyed people. Why? Because they will have all accepted the beast's image and that's exactly what the devil is.

Somebody will say, "Well, what does that have to do with us? The AntiChrist (man or system) is not yet manifested and nobody has yet accepted the image (mark) of the beast as Revelation says".

Here's the spiritual parallel we must draw. It's point number 4.

4. The Bible says in (1 John 4:3 and 2:18-22) that the spirit of the AntiChrist is already working in the world.

"and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

1 John 4:3

It is definitely trying to creep into the Church, into all it's structures and to respectively permeate every area of the Church life, Christian thought patterns, ways of behavior, ministry ethics, Christian moral, Bible standards and all else.

That's the spirit of religion we are dealing with. Not the pure religion that Apostle James is speaking about in James 1:27. This pure religion is actually a lifestyle of hearing God's word of truth and obeying it; it's a lifestyle of being pure, holy, separated and trustworthy. It's a lifestyle of doing good and breaking every yoke of the devil (Acts 10:38). It's a lifestyle of following the Lord every step of the way, receiving His image in us and exercising His authority in doing His will by bringing His purposes and destiny to fulfillment on the Earth, as it is in Heaven.

The spirit of religion and of the AntiChrist I'm talking about is exactly the opposite. It's being hearers only, but not doers of God's word (James 1:22-25). It's going to Church, but not actually being an integral part of the Body of Christ. It's being like the Priest and the Levite that saw the wounded man lying half dead on the ground and that passed by him, without helping him. It's being religious politicians, deceiving ourselves and the others. It's saying, but not doing, being a Pharisee, a religious fanatic, a fault finder, seeking always to find faults in others, but never checking ourselves at the same time, beholding the mote in our brother's eye and ignoring the plank in our own one. The examples are endless. That's the image of the beast - the image of self-righteousness, raising its ugly head above and against God's humility and grace.

Now these 4 points show the devil's side of things. But we all know that the devil is not a Creator - He is a counterfeiter. he takes from the Lord's principles and thwarts them, perverting them. So, let's look at the original structure:

1. The Lord has an image. It contains all Himself, His Glory, His power, His authority, His Character, His gifts and fruit, His ministries, His dreams, purposes, intentions and destiny.
2. The Lord sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ (as opposed to Anti-Christ). Jesus was the human representation and extension of God. We can see that clearly in the following Scriptures:

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

2 Corinthians 4:3- 4

"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell"

Colossians 1:12-19

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

Colossians 3:1-17

3. The final purpose of God is to place that same image of Christ on the inside of every one of us, so we can be, speak and act as God is speaking, acting and being.

The main purpose - God's Character to be developed in us in full humility, grace and peace, so we can be mature sons and daughters of God, ready to enter into the inheritance the Lord has for our lives, our families, our children, our ministries, our Churches, our jobs and careers, our neighborhoods, our cities, our nations, and to the ends of the Earth.

4. God's Holy Spirit has been working in God's people ever since Genesis 1:1-2 when He was hovering above God's Planet Earth. In our new birth, He even came to live in us. Will we ever be able to grasp what the Lord has done for us? We have the Lord of Glory living in our hearts, through His Holy Spirit.

Nikola Dimitrov

Pastor, Bible Teacher, Preacher, Translator, Educator, Author

http://www.life-of-jesus.org

The Deity of Jesus Christ - Genesis

There is no question in my mind about the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. Nor do I doubt the existence of what we have called trinity, a 3-in-one concept of the Godhead. In the case of this study I should speak of two-ness rather than three, for I center on the Son, and His identity with the Father. And in making that statement I am admitting a distinction between the two.

But there is a growing discomfort with the idea of two as we understand that numeral, as the Person of Jesus Christ the Lord is studied in detail throughout Scripture. One graduallly and then fully realizes that "two" just won't do. Yes, the distinction is there. Yes, a Father and a Son. Multitudes of passages point out the difference. But quite a number say the other truth: "I and My Father are ONE." "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." "And His Name shall be called ...the Prince of Peace...the everlasting Father!"

It is this aspect of our marvelous Lord that I wish to trace through Scripture. What a sublime mystery unfolds before us. And unlike some mysteries of Scripture that unfold themselves at last upon careful scrutiny, this one stays intact from start to finish as an enigma that shall not be solved until we have the mental equipment, viz., our glorified bodies, to comprehend it.

This Jesus. This wonderful Jesus. He is indeed a man. A perfect sinless man. He is also the very Son of God. But that phrase can lend itself to interpretations and explanations. After all, are not we sons of God, also? one will be asked. Therefore let us proclaim this other truth: Jesus is GOD. No explanation, no interpretation. Let it stand! Jehovah's true witnesses all agree, Jesus is God. Here is the proof from Genesis:

1:1, the Creator "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," says the Holy Spirit through witness one, Moses. But another witness, John, under that same Holy Spirit says in his Gospel, 1:3, "All things were made by Him (referring to the Word in verse 1) and without Him was not any thing made that was made." Paul chimes in, too, in Colossians 1:16, that the Firstborn, the Head of the body, the church is the One by Whom all things were created! And the writer of Hebrews, in an attempt to show the superiority of Christ over the angels, quotes the Psalmist as though the Father was speaking to the Son: "Thou, LORD, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth!"

But wait! Who is "the Lord" who speaks to Job in that book (38:4)? Whoever He is, He challenges Job with the same words: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" God did it. Jesus did it. The Lord did it. And who are the 24 elders worshipping in Revelation 4:11, when they proclaim the worthiness of the One Who "hast created all things"? Although in the very next chapter we see the Lamb interacting with One on the throne, in this chapter we see only the throne. And on that throne the one God. The Creator. The Word. The Firstborn. Truly in creation, Jesus is God.

11:7 speaks of Us as the singular God is speaking. "Let Us go down, and there confound their language," says God to God. But 11:8 reads, "So the Lord (singular!) scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth. Insights like this let us know that our God, though He is One, is more than "one" as we reckon numbers. God the Father speaks to God the Son, Jesus. As a member of the "Godhead", Jesus is God.

and 17:1, Almighty God.We have become comfortable with assuming that everything that happens Divinely in the Old Covenant happens because of God the Father, Jahweh, Jehovah, or some such name. With this title, Moses introduces us to the fact that there is a constant overlapping of Father and Son. One called "the Lord" introduces Himself to Abraham thus: (17:1) "I am the Almighty God..." A quick trip to the other end of your Bible will bring you face to face with Jesus Christ, who appears to John in the book of Revelation, and says in 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord ...the Almighty."

What a presumptuous title for someone to take. Unless that Someone truly is God. What other conclusion can be drawn? In His might, Jesus is God.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Placing God Under Arrest

If in the passages referring to the trials of Jesus one substitutes the title "God" in place of His name, the result is striking. John 18:12 becomes:

"Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested God and bound God. And they led God away to Annas..."

You get the idea. God was in Christ. Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." John says, "The Word was God."

The thought of puny man being given the opportunity to control his Creator is at once startling and sickening. But, yes, God is still being arrested and tormented in our own day. Totalitarian governments have unknowingly placed the Deity in custody countless times. For Jesus promised to come to His disciples in the form of His Spirit. The church is truly the very body in which the Lord of Creation lives in our day. The house of God. To arrest church members is to arrest God Almighty.

We want them to be set free so desperately. But all of our prayers cannot be directed to "Get them out of there! " for Jesus suffers willingly for the people of earth. Those that he uses to suffer are those that he makes similarly willing.

So we also say, "Lord give them grace while they are there. May they faithfully bear their cross without complaining. May they in fact be faithful until death, for we know You have said we will never be tested above what we are able to bear."

And after we finish such prayers, we look in a mirror and see if there is a cross on our own back.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

A Positive Position in Christ

The movement of positive thinking is great. I love to think positive thoughts and create positive energy and all that good stuff. Yet, unless I have a positive position in Jesus Christ, I have nothing. However, in Christ and as Gods kid I have an endless vault of positive things in my life today.

In Christ, I have a positive outlook for this day and a positive out look for tomorrow. Without a positive position as a child of God through Jesus Christ, all we have is vain philosophy and tradition. Any one can think positive but only those who have aligned themselves with Jesus Christ can enjoy the positive provision of the Father. Does that mean you cannot have a relationship with God unless you are positively positioned in Jesus Christ? Yeah, that is what I mean. How can you claim a positive relationship with God the Father without acknowledging His son, Jesus Christ?

You cannot know one (God) with out knowing the other (Jesus). Jesus claimed oneness with the Father and He, Jesus, is the one who said you couldnt come to the Father but through me. We can attempt a connection with God without Jesus and you might develop some positive thoughts but you will never have a positive position with God until you claim a positive positioned with Jesus. I realize this thought, Jesus is the way to God, is not a popular belief. Oh well, the idea has never been popular nor will it ever be. I dont seek popularity. I seek truth, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

How do you get into a positive position with Jesus Christ? It is simple; you just believe and ask Him to come into your life. Once you identify with Jesus as the Christ God grants you a positive position with Him. The words can be in any form you want. There is no exact prayer one has to pray. It is by faith we come to Jesus and God. Faith is exercise by asking Jesus into your life and heart. It works, it really does. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Dr Bob Wilkerson is founder of Challenger Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping others recover from life altering circumstances. Dr. Bob is a motivational speaker with true life story of God's power to change any individuals life. If your Church or organization is looking for a dynamic speaker please email him today. challenger7777@gmail.com

The Year the Super Bowl Hit My Town

These comments are addressed to fellow-believers.

Can't blame the devil for everything. Your own heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, says Jeremiah the prophet (17:9). The unredeemed unsaved heart is the center for evil on the earth. Satan would be powerless without it.

The heart and mind have been corrupted since those first wonderful days in Eden. There we were free and happy and innocent. When we toyed with and then grabbed disobedience a pattern began to form. Now we lie to ourselves about everything.

In my own family there is a history of neurosis, or something akin to it. One family member fears thunderstorms, another cannot drive over bridges. In my life I have noticed over the past few years a growing nervousness in enclosed spaces, especially if those spaces are 40,000 feet in the air.

I had flown all my adult life, nearly 30 years. But one night something went wrong.I had had too much caffeine, I was sitting in the back, it was night, etc. I panicked. Only in reading Scripture and offering inner praise to God was I able to come out of it.

The lie had set in. "You are in trouble. You are going to die. You will have a heart attack on this plane. You must get off NOW." I bought it. And for over two years I have dreaded the air, even though a missions call has been growing stronger.

Yes, it is "sick" when people believe lies like that. Thinking things are bad when they are good. But there is a lie that potentially is worse. Thinking things are important when they aren't.

Consider the Super Bowl. Yep I'm one of the "lucky" guys living in one of the team's cities. I have the privilege of watching grown adults around me totally stressed out about whether a bag of air will make it down a 100 yard field, safely in the possession of a man with a blue and orange uniform, BEFORE a man with another color grabs it and goes the other way.

Churches are having Super Bowl parties. One church had even decided to show the game via a live feed in the sanctuary on a screen that comes down right next to the crucifix... The NFL decided not to power the image to that connection. They could not mix the religious symbolism with the secular. Strange that the church seemed to have no trouble with it.

Our minds and our hearts just keep lying to us. Remember this song sung by Evangeline Carmichael?

The heart is a rebel, and cannot be trusted,It always is seeking its own will to do.

It has no allegiance, so desperate and wicked, The heart is a rebel, it's true.

Its love is brief as springtime, quickly growing old; Its hate is like the winter, desolate and cold.

But some day the rebel will bow and surrender, Then God's love will make his heart new.

Amen. Let's give our hearts to Jesus fully while we can.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Bold Lies

You will not surely die!

Bold, blatant, and in complete opposition to the truth. When you see a lie like this, there is no question from whence it comes. And you say, Only a demented person could tell such a lie, and only a similarly demented individual could believe it. But taking a look at Eve, the mother of us all in the flesh, one would not have thought her to be what we call now a whack job. Probably beautiful, sensitive, caring. No, lies have no boundaries. You have believed them and so have I.

Later in Moses' chronicle a king arises who did not know of Joseph. What! How could there be an Egyptian head of state who had never heard of the savior of his own land not that many years earlier? Easy. Liars were employed by former heads of state to revise the history books. We have such persons in important media positions today, revising the nightly news.

The resurrection of Jesus was the most attested major event of ancient history. But revisionists today, some of them posing as believers in Jesus -if you can fathom that! have rewritten the theology books and explained it all away. Their judgment is just.

The Watchtower Society found some very troublesome passages in the King James Bible. Truths about the deity of Christ had to be covered up. So they wrote a new Bible. And the deceivers attracted many of the deceived who bought into this lie.

Islam has an entire set of mistruths by which it comforts itself that it is a true expression of God's will for mankind. It not only denies the resurrection of Jesus, it denies His crucifixion, claiming that someone was substituted for Jesus at the last minute! It too has come up with a new Bible though God warned that His revelation is closed.

You say, who can believe such fantasies as this? Over 1/6 of the human race does. Bold, blatant, and in complete opposition to the truth.

So it is no wonder that in Tehran today [December of 2006], a collection of deceivers meets to declare to the world that 6,000,000 Jews did not die in the Holocaust. After all, if that story is true, a great injustice was done by the world to these people. If it is true, the sympathy of the world must be with Israel.

Tehran and company care not one whit whether the Holocaust is a fact. Their intention is the same as Satan's has always been: turn the affection of the world against Israel. Destroy this troublesome bunch who gave the world the Bible, monotheism, the Savior, and the greatest heroes faith has ever produced. Above all, get them out of the land, their own land, the possession of which is promised in prophecies innumerable.

As long as Israel stands, God's truth stands. So look for the lies to remain , bold, blatant, and in complete opposition to the Truth.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Why the Bible?

The Bible was written by many different authors (40, all of which were of Jewish heritage), over many years (2,000 or so from Moses - 1500 B.C. to John - 90 A.D.) with one Divine purpose. The Bible, consisting of the New and Old Testaments in the Christian cannon, consists of 66 separate books written throughout the ages, all deemed to be authoritative (divinely inspired), and brought together as one whole. The word 'Bible' means literally, 'the Book'. The word 'Testament' (as in Old and New Testament) can have the meaning of a covenant, in that God establishes an old, and then a new covenant with his people throughout history, the Lord Jesus Christ being the turning point into the New Covenant, or testament God establishes with man.

If the Bible is God's Word, that means it is God's Word to man. The Apostle Paul wrote that, All scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), that is divinely inspired and given unto man all the way from Moses through the Apostle Paul.

So how is the Word of God useful for us? In this case it can be a guide for us, a measuring stick to compare our thoughts with what is written.

Matthew 4:10 "For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

The written Word of God gives us a guide post for our lives, just as the commandments did for the Children of Israel, 3000 years ago. The Bible continues to grow worldwide and to be translated into over 1000 languages across the globe. It is also the greatest selling book of all time. Sixty-six books that come together to make one extraordinary divinely inspired book. Let it speak to you today. God bless.

Find other inspirational articles and devotionals like this one free at Jesus Devotionals & JesusDevotionals Blog. God bless.

Lance writes at Jesus Devotionals in his spare time and appreciates any link backs or promotion.

The Sabbath - Questions and Conclusions

I've studied Scripture and history, and I still have some questions about the Sabbath, and a few observations. But I also have some clear conclusions. First the questions:

1. Those who favor a Christian Sabbath, what would they say to sons of Israel who come to Christ in our day? Gentiles seem to be quite content when Messianic believers observe their old Sabbath. But upon what basis are we admitting the presence of two days of rest? Is this where Paul's "be convinced" argument works?

2. But what if Gentiles, like me, look a little farther, and want what the Jews have, since they (Gentiles) are "grafted in" branches of the same tree?

3. When the Scripture says in Colossians 2, "Let no man judge you in regard to sabbaths ," is it saying, "Don't let anyone tell you you have to keep the Sabbath to be saved," or "Don't let anyone suggest to you that the Sabbath is to be a part of New Covenant practice at all"? Or is it saying, "Don't let anyone try to make you keep the Sabbath in a certain way" ? After all they judged Jesus about His method of keeping the Sabbath, but He did keep it! Could the passage even include in our day, "Don't let anyone keep you from identifying with the ancient Jews by keeping the Sabbath if you want to" ?

4. Why did Jewish believers surrender their Sabbath to the Gentile observance of a first day? Were there just too many Gentiles after awhile, and too much power being concentrated in the Gentile church, connected to the growing affiliation with the pagan practices of the day? Was the later official church anti-semitic, and trying to distance itself from Judaism ? Are any of these things good reasons to introduce new doctrine?

5. Has God allowed these questions to remain because He wants His people to be holy every day and not just once a week?

6. Will more and more believers start coming back to Sabbath, as more and more Jewish people are saved, and in preparation for the Kingdom that could so very soon be here?

As for the observations:

Serious Sunday-Sabbath people treat this day as though it truly were the Jewish Sabbath moved to Sunday. They feel they are keeping the fourth commandment by resting on Sunday. They assemble for a holy time at church, sometimes twice on that day. For the rest of the day they engage in only wholesome activity if any at all. Some rest completely, some partially. There is no question in those homes that this day is special.

Sunday morning Sabbatarians are those who assemble, but at about 12 noon, their "holy" time is finished. Usually the rest of the day is spent in diversion and recreation having little to do with Jesus Christ. Yet if asked, they too would indicate that they believe they are keeping the first day of the week.

The "spiritually-minded" Sabbath keepers are those who believe there is no day that is special. They rest in Christ who has forgiven them from their sins. They trust Him to take care of them and keep blessing them. They stop working when they are tired. There is no structure to their observance. Consistent with a stance like this, they may also give when it feels good, but definitely not the same percentage in the same place week after week. The church attendance, Bible reading, and prayer of these people is just as erratic. In their thinking, they "walk in the Spirit." Who knows? Maybe some of them do.

Then there are those of us who have seen the seventh day as an inviting possibility. But they too can be divided up into "all day" or "part day", "serious" or "secular". And some of these folks beat others over the head with their new knowledge.

Many questions, many observations, but some unavoidable facts I present for your edification:

Scripture says that from the beginning, and in the future, even "forever", the seventh day is the norm.

The Sabbath is a perfect picture, not only of creation's end, but of the rest before Jesus' resurrection and before His work on Pentecost. The First Day of creation, the resurrection itself, and Pentecost were all days of serious work, far from rest!

The Scriptures up until the Book of Acts reveal a God who blessed and loved the Sabbath and a people, who, when they were being obedient, kept it holy unto Him.

There is no command anywhere to end the Sabbath, or any of the ten commandments. But of course the only true obedience to God in our day must come from the Spirit within us.

Sunday observance and the related (enforced) rest day came into the possession of God's people only after Gentiles flooded the Church.

Though there are indications that meetings were to follow the Sabbath in the life of the new Church, there is never a hint that the first day was to become a day of rest replacing the seventh day rest.

God's law, in the form of the ten commandments, is still being lived out through the Spirit, fulfilled in true believers. Will not the fourth commandment also be lived in this way?

Many of the reports I have prepared over the past years point people to a solid argument and a conclusion that is obvious. I'm afraid I may have disappointed my readers a bit in this one. There is still that question stirred by the apostle's comments regarding persons being "convinced" in their own mind. I am as convinced as I can be that there is something for the Sabbath for present day believers, and that it is more than a picture. Nevertheless I have not come to the conclusion that I dare to bind anyone else's conscience in this matter. If I have merely stirred up someone's holy thinking processes, so that they investigate this matter with me, I will feel I have done my job. Meanwhile we pray for the day when we all come to the unity of the faith, drawn there by that one Spirit Who has filled and led us this far, and will surely lead us Home complete in Him.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .