The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Revering God's Word

 We live in a challenging age that is both hostile to reverent Christianity and very friendly toward external religion. But God’s Word remains the same, despite the irreverence with which it is treated. It is still to be accepted as holy by God’s people.

 When they do so, they reap untold spiritual benefits, and His church becomes the force for truth that it was meant to be. Sinners are then converted, and God’s people experience God-sent awakening and true revival.

 May our God be pleased to grant us in 2006 and beyond what He once granted to Scotland in 1840.

 "It was a common thing, as soon as the Bible was opened, after the preliminary services, and just as the reader began [here, you will observe, it was the simple reading of the Word without preaching; yet such was the power upon the minds of the people], for great meltings to come upon the hearers. The deepest attention was paid to every word as the sacred verses were slowly and solemnly enunciated.

 Then the silent tear might be seen stealing down the rugged but expressive faces turned upon the reader.…It was often a stirring sight to witness the multitudes assembling during the dark winter evenings - to trace their progress as they came in all directions across moors and mountains by the blazing torches which they carried to light their way to the places of meeting. The Word of the Lord was precious in those days, and personal inconvenience as little thought of when the hungering soul sought to be satisfied.

 “Hear the word of the Lord, You who tremble at His word: Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, “Let the Lord be glorified, That we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed” (Isaiah 66:5).

 Jerry Marcellino.

 This extract is from an article in the Gospel Witness Jan. 2006, published by the Toronto Batisit Seminary. Jerry Marcellino has been pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church, Laurel, Mississippi, since 1993.

The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

The Restoration Fund

The Minister's Page The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

 Bringing spiritual hope and physical care, Mission Aviation Fellowship uses light aircraft in developing countries so that people in remote areas can receive the help they need.

 In Bangladesh, MAF's new Amphibious Caravan aircraft is bringing hope to people in remote communities. One of the world's poorest countries, development is severely hindered by its geography and climate. Countless rivers and the huge Ganges Delta make travel to receive vital medical help difficult and slow. The new aircraft can reach destinations quicker, often making the difference between life and death.

 Since one of MAF's key activities in Bangladesh is the provision of medical emergency flights, the layout of the new aircraft with its larger cargo door makes it easier to load patients on stretchers, while the extra space inside makes the journey more comfortable. For an elderly lady in Chittagong, an emergency flight to Dhaka, saved her life. She had diabetes and had fallen into a coma. Pilot Marco Koffeman transported her safely to hospital where she received vital medical attention. Another emergency flight rescued a 45-day-old baby suffering from extreme diarrhoea and dehydration. Pilots Rune Karlsson and Chad Tilley flew the baby safely to hospital. After a few days of treatment, the child was out of danger and recovering well.

 With its ability to fly even in poor visibility, the Caravan is ideal for the unique flying conditions in Bangladesh where frequent early morning fog hampers vision. On a flight to a DFID (Department for International Development) project with the British High Commissioner, the weather was particularly bad. Marco explains, `It was dreadful weather all day, and we came back in rain and low cloud. It would have been a very demanding flight in the old Beaver, but thanks to the more sophisticated instruments of the new Caravan it was no problem. I doubt if I could have landed in the Beaver.'

 Our team supports the work of doctors on board floating hospitals. These are towed to different areas of the country every few months, making it possible for people in the remotest places to receive medical treatment. Marco flew British orthopaedic surgeon Dr Jameson-Evans to Jibon Tari, the floating hospital operated by Impact Foundation. There he performed surgery on 30 people, mainly children with club feet. A few days later, Marco returned to the hospital with Dr Lourie who continued the operations. He operated on a further 35 people. Club foot is a common problem in Bangladesh where an estimated 10% of the population suffer some disability. A simple procedure changes the lives of these patients, enabling them to enjoy a better quality of life. For surgeons travelling to the floating hospitals, long and tiring journeys overland are no longer necessary. The reduced flight time in the new plane maximises the time surgeons spend in the operating theatre.

 MAF is involved at the heart of reaching vulnerable people, whether they are in physical or spiritual need. You will find more information about their work at the MAF UK website

Mission Aviation Fellowship, Castle Hill Avenue,Folkstone, Kent CT20 2TN Tel:01303 850950

The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Seek ye first... Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness, And all these things shall be Added unto you  Karen Lafferty's rent was due. Her car payment was, too. Having left a well-paying job to pursue a call to ministry, Karen began a journey into uncharted territory.  Believing that where God guides, He provides, Karen stepped out in faith. But now her savings were gone, and bills were due. She spent the day on the phone trying to stir up interest in guitar lessons. She didn't want to go back to singing in nightclubs. If only she could get a job where she could make money and still be involved in ministry, but nothing seemed to open up.  Karen went to a Bible study that evening. The pastor was teaching on Matthew 6. Karen remembers, "When he read verse 33, 'But seek first His kingdom,' I just thought, Yeah, that's the answer. So I went home … and my rent still wasn't paid - but my joy was back."  Karen picked up her guitar. The words of Matthew 6:33 began to fit the tune she played, and an "alleluia" descant took shape over the top of it.  Karen shared her new song at a youth service. It was easy to remember and caught on immediately. It was 1971, the height of the Jesus Movement, and people from all over the world were in attendance at Calvary Chapel in Southern California. When they returned to their native countries, they took "Seek Ye First" with them.  When Karen woke up the next morning, her rent still wasn't paid. But within days she received a letter that led to a check which paid not only her rent and her car payment, but also covered the cost of the Bible-training course she had hoped to take.  The next year Karen recorded her simple Scripture song on an early Maranatha! Praise album. By the time she felt the tug to missions in 1978, God had taken "Seek Ye First" around the world.  And as a testament to God's promises, and Karen's obedience to the words that she set to music, the royalties from "Seek Ye First" have provided 80 percent of Karen's income as a "musicianary"-for over 30 years!  "The song is the simplest thing I've ever done musically," Karen says today. "Anyone could have written it. I'm just grateful God allowed me to write it."  And live it. Lyrics by Karen Lafferty © 1972 Maranatha! Music. Copyright © 2006 by the Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine. Story told by Nancy M. Hunter, a retired nurse, now a freelance writer from Rio, Illinois.

In The Garden   I come to the garden alone   While the dew is still on the roses   And the voice I hear falling on my ear   The Son of God discloses.   And He walks with me, and He talks with me,   And He tells me I am His own;   And the joy we share as we tarry there,   None other has ever known.   He speaks, and the sound of His voice,   Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,   And the melody that He gave to me   Within my heart is ringing.   I’d stay in the garden with Him   Though the night around me be falling,   But He bids me go; through the voice of woe   His voice to me is calling.   Words & Music: C. Austin Miles, 1912   This hymn was sung in the 1984 movie “Places in the Heart,” which won two Academy Awards.

The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

The Light of the World

 Light not only exposes the darkness; it shows and provides the only way out of the darkness. This is where every Christian should be jumping to the task. The problem of man is the problem of a fallen, sinful, polluted nature. Can nothing be done about it? We have tried knowledge, we have tried education, we have tried political enactments, we have tried international conferences, we have tried them all but nothing avails.

 Is there no hope? Yes, there is abundant and everlasting hope: 'Ye must be born again'. What man needs is not more light; he needs a nature that will love the light and hate the darkness-the exact opposite of his loving the darkness and hating the light.

 Man needs to be taken hold of, and he needs to get back to God. It is not enough just to tell him that, because, if we do, we are leaving him in a still greater state of hopelessness. He will never find his way to God, try as he may. But the Christian is here to tell him that there is a way to God, a very simple one. It is to know one Person called Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He is the Son of God and He came from heaven to earth to `seek and to save that which was lost'.

 He came to illumine the darkness, to expose the cause of the darkness, and to make a new and living way out of it all back to God and to heaven. He has not only borne the guilt of this terrible sinfulness that has involved us in such trouble, He offers us new life and a new nature. He does not merely give us new teaching or a new understanding of the problem; He does not merely procure pardon for our past sins; He makes us new men with new desires, new aspirations, a new outlook and a new orientation. But above all He gives us that new life, the life that loves the light and hates the darkness, instead of loving the darkness and hating the light.

 Christian people, you and I are living in the midst of men and women who are in a state of gross darkness.They will never have any light anywhere in this world except from you and from me and the gospel we believe and teach. They are watching us. Do they see something different about us? Are our lives a silent rebuke to them? Do we so live as to lead them to come and ask us, `Why do you always look so peaceful? How is it you are so balanced? How can you stand up to things as you do ? Why is it you are not dependent upon artificial aids and pleasures as we are? What is this thing that you have got?'If they do we can then tell them that wondrous, amazing, but tragically neglected news, that `Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners', and to give men a new nature and a new life and to make them children of God. Christian people alone are the light of the world today. Let us live and function as children of the light.

Martin Lloyd Jones   

Taken from "Studies In The Semon on the Mount".   
Copyright The Inter-Varsity Press.   

The Minister's Page Guild News Revering God's Word The Restoration Fund
"Church Humour" Mission Aviation Seek ye first...
In The Garden Light of the World Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Global Day of Prayer for Burma in London on March 11

 CSW along with several other groups are to hold a Day of Prayer for Burma in London on March 11 as part of a global prayer initiative.

 Jonathan Aitken will lead devotions and speakers from the Karen, Chin and Kachin ethnic groups will share prayer topics.

 Guy Horton, a human rights campaigner who in 2005 presented the ‘Dying Alive’ report into the ‘slow genocide’ of the ethnic groups, will also be speaking.

 Other topics for prayer will include support for the work to bring Burma before the UN Security Council and safety for those facing the ongoing attacks of the Burma Army. The Day of Prayer has been arranged by CSW, Karen Aid, the Karen Action Group and the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People.

 Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: “Even as CSW campaigns for change in the political sphere, we are fully aware we must also pray for the people of Burma. The ongoing human rights abuses in Burma must drive us to our knees. I would urge as many as possible to join us for the Day of Prayer for Burma.”

 For more information on the Day of Prayer, please call 020 8329 0031 or email janebave@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk

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 (Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962. There are an estimated one million people internally displaced inside Burma. It is estimated that about 10,000 people a year are killed by the Burma Army. )

 “Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;” Psalm 34.14-15

 More Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all previous centuries combined. All over the world, men and women who heard about Jesus Christ and chose to follow him were brutally slaughtered for their choice. The onslaught has continued unabated into our new century. How will history record our response to the plight of the persecuted? Will we be remembered as those who rescued the perishing or as the silent majority?

 Jesus tells us in John 10:10 (NAS) that ‘the thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I have come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly’. We are the body of Jesus Christ on earth, and we have a mandate to ensure that the people of God have life and life more abundantly. I believe that we have been called to three roles. We are Ambassadors of Prayer, interceding for persecuted Christians. We are Kingdom Ambassadors, advocating publicly for our brethren and we are Financial Ambassadors, providing resources for this noble cause.

 The need is urgent. Your partnership is vital. We do not stand alone. In Isaiah 41:14b we are reminded that God Himself will help us.

Beverly Pegues
President and CEO,
Window International Network

PS WIN 1040 is pleased to be working in partnership with CSW and others to promote prayer for the persecuted church. For more details and to sign up for e-mail prayer points please visit www.win1040.com/prayerpoints

Edited by Iain MacKillop for the members and friends of
St. Peter's And St.Andrew's Church Thurso. Many thanks to all who contributed

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