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Worldwide Grand Bible Exposition!
The Latter Rain...
alvation comes from God, whom the Bible calls as the Living God and Savior. God is employing a human being in order for His will to be fulfilled ... and that is the salvation of man.
Our Lord Jesus Christ will bring two kinds of salvation, through the Bible. At the time He assumed human form, He saved Israel from its sinfulness. That is written in Matthew 1:21, which says-
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
However, when He comes again, for the second time, He will bring salvation to the faithful. And, the Bible is teaching us how we can become one among those people that our Lord Jesus Christ will save come judgment day. The first verse that we have to pay attention to is Ephesians 3:6, which says-
"That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel."
St. Paul, the Apostle, said, "The Gentiles should be fellow heirs." But before we continue analyzing this verse, let us find out from the Bible: who are called "Gentiles" and why are they also called "heirs?" In Ephesians 2:11-12, this is what is written--
"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."
In those lines, St. Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus of their former conditions. According to the Bible, during those times, "they were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." Therefore, Biblically speaking, the Gentiles are those who were apart from Christ. They were "strangers from the covenants of promise," ... they were the hopeless, and they were without a God in the world because they were not part of Israel. And we, who live at the present time, may also be called Gentiles if we will use the Bible as our basis.
According to St. Paul, for the Gentiles to be a part of the salvation that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, they have to be made parts first of the body; and only after that will they become partakers of a promise in Christ by the Gospel.
You will notice that St. Paul made reference to a "body" ... a body into which the Gentiles must integrate themselves so that they also become heirs. The explanation to that may be read in Colossians 1:18-
"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence."
Therefore, the body whose head is Christ is the CHURCH. At this point, we must understand that the Gentiles, like us, must join the body, or the Church. And when we say that we must join the Church, it means that we no longer have to build any. We no longer have to establish our own church just for us to become partakers of a promise in Christ.
And whenever we say "join," or be a part of the body, of the Church, it denotes that, there is already an existing Church. In fact, this Church already exists even before the promise of salvation was given to the Gentiles. There is an existing Church even before Paul was made apostle. And this was the same Church that our Lord Jesus Christ taught, when he assumed human form. ... And there can never be another church.
Today, there are preachers who claim that another church had appeared in the Philippines. And according to them, this church was different from the one in Israel. If this is the case, it would appear that, despite the fact that there was already a church in Israel, another church appeared in the Philippines. As far as the Bible is concerned, such a belief is wrong because, according to St. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, in 4:4-
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling."
There is just one body ... there is no other body. And the proof that there is only one body can be read in Colossians 3:15-
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which ye are called in one body; and ye be thankful."
Here, St. Paul is addressing the brethren who, in the beginning were Gentiles, but were eventually called to one body. In other words, the body that the early Christians (the Israelites) made themselves a part of, is also the same body, or church, into which the Gentiles were being called upon to join. Now, if the Gentiles will just integrate themselves to the body, then, the Church will remain ONE.
It is against the teachings of God, and of the Holy Scripture, that other churches is built in other places, let's say in the US, or in England, or in Germany, or in Rome. They also claim that another church had also been founded in the Philippines. The truth is, God did not give any right to anybody to build his own church. It is indeed disgusting that today, a lot of ministers build churches of their own. They deliberately oppose and defy what the Bible said - that, the Gentiles, like us, must join or make ourselves a part of the body, or the Church, for us to be saved.
And what is the reason why we must abide by it? It is because, as far as God is concerned, He did not give anybody His consent to build a church right now in our time. This is what Psalms 127:1 says-
"Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that built it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
The verse mentioned of a "house," which becomes useless if it is not built by the Lord. Let us now ask the Bible. What is being referred to as the "house," which only God has the right to build? In I Timothy 3:15, it says-
"But if I tarry long , that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
If you have noticed, in the New Testament, the word house refers to the Church of God. This is, truly, the house of God because it was built by God, Himself. That is why, if, in our time, you come across churches, whose founders are also their ministers, you can be sure that they are NOT REAL!
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Welcome to The Grand Bible Exposition
Worldwide Reality...
"The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." -Isaiah 52:10
"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." -Acts 28:28
Grand Bible Expo Here!
We came to his room greeted by an empty bed; an uneasy sight in a place like that. But lo and behold, he was down the hallway, shining sterille and smelling of amonia dreams and spittle on chins and stale gloves. Inching down the hallway slowly, balancing foot after foot on a walker with split tennis balls on either poled end to prevent scoffing the tile. Dressed in loose fitting pants that fell from his waist, emaciated and pallid arms, sunken cheeks...his eyes were huge and half closed under thick glasses that he could barely keep on his face; his stubble maintaining stubborn strands of black among the white and brittle majority.
I turned after initializing myself as my Father's daughter to him, having only seen him roughly 4 times during the entirety of my life. Behind me and quickly progressing I saw a woman, old, but happy, with eyes that were happily lost with a determined half grip and a European mouth.
"Bella!" she cried. "Oh, Bella!" She grabbed my arm and embraced me, holding me to her shaking chest. And I, after initial secondary bouts with shock, smiled halfly and held her to me quickly. She stood up straight and, before I could reilize anything else, began to dance. She grabbed my hand and told me to dance with her through thick accent, and so, dance I did. We spun in laughing circles, my father all the while absolutly hysterical with chortled laughter.
The room from which the woman had emerged was a room in which many other women sat, staring idly in circles to nowhere, some looking lost beyond conceivable return, and those that were lucid looking miserable beyond all possible conception. And the cycle ends and begins anew; the new generation of lost boys lay dormant and alone in nursing homes.
Another woman came out, mumbling incoherently and clutching a baby doll to her breast protectivly, eyeing both myself and my father with an inexplicably queer mixture of glad amusement and suspicious content. When my great uncle wanted to go to his room to the bathroom, his roomate, an ex-soldiur from the second world war, stood pants around his ancles and hopelessly shitting himself before the door.
My great uncle used the public restroom.
He wanted so badly to be outside, so we took him there, his hands cold and shaking, his nose protruding and his ears protruding furhter around his shrunken skin.And speaking to him gently of silly things, of simple things, of the functionings and progression of lives of family, we walked. He seemed indignant, and with good right. "Diane", my father began, reffering to the daughter of this man. "Do you know Diane?"
"Why the hell wouldnt I know Diane? She's my goddamn daughter!"
"Well...uh, sorry," my father started with a look at me and another half escaped chortle.
"So have you any friends here?" I quickly blurted. "Friends? I havent had the time to aquire friendships yet," he said, regal in his posture and tone. "I've only been here for two days..."
My great uncle George has been there for going on two years now.
My father got up to go to the bathroom, and that left me there with George. We sat, and I crumbled leaves from the bottom of a flower pot between two fingers. He looked at me for a minuite or two, and then out at the sky.
"It's too soon." he said suddenly.
"Too soon for what?"
"For death." he said.
I looked to him and I saw that there was an increadible sadness in his eyes. "It's too soon."
I spoke something to him, and began to try and say something of actual meaning save immidiate and useless sympathy, but the nurses had come. There was real recognition in him, though. And all I wanted was to extend myself. And all I wanted was to let him know that I was there to listen...and to tell him that inevitabilities are, although hard to ignore, ultimitly pointless to regret the timing of.
As he saw us off in the elevator, he walked away from his walker and he hugged me. He hugged me tight around the waist and I saw something in his eyes when I looked to him as the doors were closing. I promised to write him and to visit him again, and soon. And I want to, I truly want to. I barely know that man but feel such compelling love for him. I want to help him. I want to speak to him and learn him, I want to know him, and to see him off with as much ease as he can muster.
Jesusfuckingchrist inevitabilities are frightning and stonewalled, but love, love is fucking huge. For better or for worse, it is fucking huge.
*lana*
This story is from the book Jesus Freaks.
Strengthened by Angels
Ivan Moiseyev, 18 years old, U.S.S.R., 1970
Although he had never been there before, Private Ivan "Vanya" Moiseyev knew what awaited him at the Major's office. The Communists were endlessly calling him to headquarters for talks, trying to "re-educate" him, to talk him out of his faith in God.
It was lunchtime. The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky and the snow was glistening. As Moiseyev walked along the snowy sidewalk, he praised God for this time alone, time to sing and pray.
The morning was so bright, at first Moiseyev didn't notice; suddenly, it caught his eye. A bright star began to fall from heaven. Like a comet, it came closer and became bigger and bigger.
He looked up to see an angel above him, bright and powerful. Moiseyev's heart was filled with joy--and fear.
The angel did not descend all the way to earth, but hovered about two hundred yards above the ground. He walked in the air above Moiseyev as though walking along the same road. Then the angel spoke:
"Ivan, go. Don't be afraid. I am with you."
Ivan couldn't speak, but his joy was like fire within him. Somehow he made it to Major Gidenko's office and knocked quietly at the door.
Major Gidenko, head of the Political Directive Committee, looked up as the young soldier enter. Ivan Moiseyev had been interrogated again and again by many others and had never backed away from his faith. Still, Gidenko was certain he could solve this problem.
"Moiseyev, you don't look like a poor pupil to me. Why are you not learning the correct answers?" he asked.
"Sometimes there is a difference between the correct answers and the true ones," Ivan answered. "Sometimes God does not permit me to give 'correct' answers."
"So, God talks to you? Who is this God of yours?" As soon as he had asked the question, Gidenko regretted it. Ivan leaned forward in his chair, his face glowing with joy at the opportunity to share his faith.
"Sir, He is the One who created all the universe. He greatly loves man, and sent His Son..."
Gidenko interrupted. "Yes, yes, I know the Christian teaching. But what has that got to do with being a soldier? Do you disagree with the teaching of the glorious Red army?"
"No, Sir."
"But you do not accept the principles of scientific atheism upon which is based our entire Soviet state and the military power of the army?"
"I cannot accept what I know to be untrue. Everything else I can gladly accept."
"Moiseyev, no one can prove the existence of God. Even priests and pastors agree on that."
"Sir, they may speak about not being able to prove God, but there is no question about knowing Him. He is with me now, in this room. He sent an angel to encourage me."
Gidenko stared intently at Ivan. At last he spoke wearily, "I am sorry, Moiseyev, that you will not be reasonable. Your persistence will do nothing for you except bring discomfort. However, through the years I have found that men like you often come to their senses with a little discipline.
"I am ordering you to stand in the street tonight after taps are played. You will stand there until you are willing to reconsider this nonsense about talking Gods and angels.
"Since the temperature is likely to be thirteen degrees below zero, for your sake, I hope you quickly agree to behave sensibly. Tomorrow we shall make a plan together for your political re-education. You are dismissed."
Gidenko expected Moiseyev to hesitate, to reconsider. Instead, he squared his shoulders and walked quietly to the door.
"Private Moiseyev!"
When the soldier turned around, Gidenko noticed he was a little pale. Then he had understood the order!
"You will obey my instructions in summer uniform. That is all."
That night, as the bugle sounded, Ivan made his way down the stairs of the barracks and into the snowy street. He recoiled from the icy blast of wind that burned his ears and made his eyes water. His thin, summer uniform was no help in the bitter cold. He glanced at his watch. It was one minute after ten o'clock.
Tonight, he would have a long time to pray! But for the first time since he had been in the Soviet army, prayer did not come easily. He was worried. Could he stand out here all night? What if he froze to death? Would they let him freeze to death? What if he got so cold he gave in to their demands?
The "what ifs" flooded his mind and left it spinning. He knew he had to think of something else. Then he remembered the angel who had visited him that morning. The angel had said, "Do not be afraid, I am with you!" Suddenly he realized the angel's words had been for tonight! Although he could no longer see him, Moiseyev knew the angel was still there with him. He began to pray fervently.
It was twelve-thirty when he was distracted from his prayers by the crunching of snow. Bundled in their overcoats, hats, and boots, three officers were slowly making their way toward him.
"Private Moiseyev, have you changed your mind yet? Are you ready to come in and get warm?"
"No, comrade officers. As much as I want to come in and go to bed, I cannot. I will never agree to remain silent about God."
Even in the dim light Moiseyev could see the officers were amazed and confused. How could he stand such cold?
"Do you plan to stand out here all night long?"
"I don't see how anything else is possible, and God is helping me." Ivan checked his hands--they were cold, but not too cold. He could still move his toes easily. It was a miracle! He looked at the officers and could see that even in their coats they were already shaking from the cold. They were stamping their feet and slapping their hands, impatient to return to their heated barracks.
"You'll feel differently in another hour," the senior officer mumbled as they quickly turned away.
Ivan continued to pray for all the believers he knew. He sang Christmas carols. He prayed for every officer he knew and knew of. He cried out to God on behalf of the men in his barracks. But gradually his mind seemed to be floating somewhere out side of his head. As much as he tried, prayer eluded him.
Ivan was dozing on his feet when, at three o'clock, the senior officer on duty woke him and let him return to the barracks.
For the next twelve nights, Ivan continued to stand in the street outside his barracks. Miraculously, he did not freeze, nor did he beg for mercy. Ivan continued to speak about his faith to his comrades and officers. He sang about the glory of Jesus Christ in his barracks, though this was strictly prohibited. To those who threatened him, he replied, "A lark threatened with death for singing would still continue to sing. She cannot renounce her nature. Neither can we Christians."
Soldiers around him were converted, impressed by his ardent faith.
His commanders continued to interrogate him, trying to get him to deny Jesus. They put him in refrigerated cells. They clothed him in a special rubber suit, into which they pumped air until his chest was so compressed he scarcely could breathe.
At the age of 20, Ivan knew that the Communists would kill him. On July 11, 1972, he wrote to his parents, "You will not see me anymore." He then described a vision of angels and heaven which God had sent to strengthen him for the last trial.
A few days later, his body was returned to his family. It showed that he had been stabbed six times around the heart. He had wounds on his head and around the mouth. There were signs of beatings on the whole body. Then he had been drowned.
Colonel Malsin, his commander, said, "Moiseyev died with difficulty. He fought with death, but he died as a Christian."
The father of this Christian hero writes to us, "May it be that this living flower which gave the fragrance of its youth on the cross should be an example for all faithful youth. May they love Christ as our son has loved Him."
Letter from Vanya to his parents--
Written June15, 1972
"My dear parents, the Lord has showed the way to me... and I have decided to follow it... I will now have more severe and bigger battles than I have had till now. But I do not fear them. He goes before me. Do not grieve for me, my dear parents. It is because I love Jesus more than myself. I listen to Him, though my body does fear somewhat or does not wish to go through everything. I do this because I do not value my life as much as I value Him. And I will not await my own will, but I will follow as the Lord leads. He says, Go, and I go. Do not become grieved if this is your son's last letter. Because I myself, when I see and hear visions, hear how angels speak and see, I am even amazed and cannot believe that Vanya, your son, talks with angels. He, Vanya, has also had sins and failings, but through sufferings the Lord has wiped them away. And he does not live as he wishes himself, but as the Lord wishes."
We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling short-changed. Quite the contrary -- we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
-Paul the Apostle, Martyred in Rome, 65 AD (Romans 5:3-5 The Message)
It's incredible how much more sense God makes when you think of Him as Father Almighty. When we don't understand why something has happened, when we don't understand the way God has answered or seemingly ignored our prayers, we can remember our parents. When we were young, we didn't understand why we couldn't eat candy for dinner. We didn't understand why we couldn't go out to DC with our friends without our parents. We didn't understand curfews or rules or punishments. We believed our parents were there solely to make our lives miserable.
As we get older, we understand the rules a little more. Later, we may make the same rules all over again for our kids, even with the same punishments.
So it is that we don't always understand God. We must simply trust that He is Almighty (which isn't really so simple.) Sometimes we may see later through mistakes or near-mistakes how very right God was and is. But not always. And sometimes we may understand more as we deepen our spiritual relationship with Him. But not always.
Perhaps in Heaven, when we are one with Him, we will understand.
But, until then, we'll have to trust that He is God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, of all that is seen and unseen. And, unlike our earthly fathers, we can trust Him 100% as our omnescient God.