“why hadn’t I been healed, though I had prayed for three years? … why was there no answer, only this stony silence in the room, that mocked my prayers.  I said  his name again, and pleaded my case in despair. Still there was no answer. Then I cried out in a fever of pain, ‘ If you are able to,heal me – otherwise tell me’ I could go no further along the road.

What happened next is something I find it hard to put into words. I know that the whole room filled with light. … I covered myself were with my shawl. I was so frightened. … the doors and the windows were shut. I then became aware of figures in long robes, standing in the midst of the light, some feet from  my bed. There were 12 figures in a row.  …..I bowed my head and I prayed. ‘ O God who are these people?’

Suddenly a voice said, ‘Get up. This is the path you have been seeking. I am Jesus son of Mary, to whom you have been praying. …you get up and come to me.    I started to weep. ‘ O Jesus I am crippled. I can’t get up’

He said ‘stand up and come to me. I am Jesus’  When I hesitated he said again a second & third time.

And I, Gulshan Fatima, who had beeb crippled on my bed 19yrs, felt new strength flowing into my wasted limbs. I put my foot on the ground and stood up.

This time of day many debate the results of their football team, the players performance, the referee and whether this was offside or that was a penalty. Was it a flailing arm? Was there intent?

Rob on the radio asks :- Were you there?  Did you see it?  Give me your thoughts.

Our personal hands on view of the game is like  testimony. We become a witness. Just like the disciples in the New Testament , John, Peter, Mark & the thorough Dr Luke. Their witness was not about football but about a person who spoke with authority, did healings & miracles and then was crucified (a miscarriage of justice)and then left an empty grave for which there is still no likely explanation except to believe those who were there at the time that he did in fact rise from the dead.

A game is for one afternoon and can be  soon forgotten. What we think about the witness regarding Jesus Christ is eternal.

I was watching this film on TV this week & was struck by the courage of the lady Gladys Aylward(who looks nothing like Ingrid by the way), especially the scene where she enters the prison compound alone during a riot . In the film she is almost axed.  Was this added to the film to give it more drama or did this really happen?

During her second year in Yangcheng, there was a riot in the men’s prison that no one could control.   The Mandarin sent her there to stop the riot.  What was a foreign missionary woman to do in the chaotic prison where convicts such as murderers, bandits and thieves were rioting and killing each other?  Gladys asked, “Why don’t you send the soldiers to stop it?  If I went in, they will kill me!”

The prison governor said, “How can they kill you?   You tell everybody that you have the living God inside you.  You preach it everywhere –in the streets and villages.”    Gladys prayed, “Oh God, give me strength” and she went in.

There were several dead bodies in the courtyard of the prison and blood everywhere.  A convict with a meat axe with blood on it was ready to strike.  Gladys prayed in her heart, “God, do your will.”  She stepped toward the man and commanded, “Hand that axe to me.”  Should he strike this “foreign devil?”  Suddenly his face dissolved into meekness and he handed her the axe.  She restored order in the hellish prison and later even helped to improve the prison conditions.

Gladys’s nickname changed from “foreign devil” to “Ai-Weh-Deh,” which means a “Virtuous one.  Gladys simply depended on God for help and served the Chinese people.

He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

Sociologist  Robert Woodberry researched this topic in 2012.

The implication is that the way to achieve the greatest social and cultural transformation is not to focus on social and cultural transformation, but on the “conversion” of individuals from false religions to faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. Or to put it another way, missionaries (and pastors and churches) will lose their culturally transforming power if they make cultural transformation their energizing focus.

Sister Aimee’s sermons were not “fire and brimstone” messages; instead, her sermons showed the face of a loving God with continually outstretched arms. She spoke of serving Jesus as the only life that offered true fulfillment. She preached a gospel of repentance and believed strongly that everyone in the world had the right to hear the gospel.

Sister Aimee welcomed everyone. She preached to the social elite of the day and also reached out to the poor and to the disenfranchised members of society. She evangelized in the South at a time when segregation was rampant. She broke down racial barriers everywhere she ministered. Sister Aimee established many Hispanic ministries in Los Angeles and established ministries to German, Japanese, Czech, deaf, and other communities also. She recognized no gender, ethnic or status separation line.

When there were questions as to whether or not the miraculous healings people were claiming were real, the American Medical Association investigated. Their report stated that the work of Aimee Semple McPherson met with their approval in every way, and that the healings were “genuine, beneficial and wonderful.”

Luke Chap 1 V 26-38

The birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. ²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!^[d]”

²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ³⁰ “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ And he will reign over Israel^[e] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.^[f]”

³⁸ Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

Mary was given five promises:- you will be pregnant,  have a son, he will be great, he will be the son of God, a king & have an everlasting Kingdom. Joseph was given the promise that his son would save people from their sins.

A king provides & protects his subjects. If we become part of his kingdom then he will hold up his side.

Has God given us promises that we don’t understand or are still waiting for? His plans always come to fruition.

Thanks TC  Dec8th

1 Must be able to plan, create & sustain a universe

2 Must be willing to make creature in  own likeness

3 In the event these creatures go wrong must be willing to do all that is necessary for repair – even death

4 Must guarantee repairs eternally

5 Must intercede for creatures

6 Must be a father /mother/friend to these creatures

7 Must be the head of all those repaired on earth and be willing to intervene in their lives & engage in relationship.

8  Must ensure that those repaired have an eternal home

9 Must work with repaired to work towards  maximum   spiritual   potential on day to day basis

10 Must love  creatures unconditionally.

Luke 15. Are  we in a place of famine or celebration. The prodigal son realised his need & came back to the father who loved him as he was. How do we view God’s love and forgiveness?

What does celebration look like in our circumstances because its doesn’t always feel like a party!!

The older brother despite being with the father was also in a kind of “famine”.

How do we move to that place of celebration(Joy) in our lives??

Thanks CW.