Ethical objections to embryo research can trigger genuine progress

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The first time I saw Jesus Christ I was surprised. I was sitting on the stairs when he appeared, wearing a white robe that wasn’t a robe – it was light. I told my husband ” I saw Jesus” but he said that I was always talking about Christians and that it was probably just an illusion. But I knew it was Him. I just knew .

Fatima- not her real name- has a testimony that is increasingly common today. Born into a Sunni family in Northern Iraq, she is one of countless Muslims whose lives were transformed following a supernatural encounter with Jesus.

With half a smile and a matter of fact delivery, she explains how her first vision of Jesus was followed with a second the very next day. This time she shared it with a friend who was a Christian, who told her that it was a miracle as Jesus does not appear to just anybody.

The third time I saw Hi  I was  sick. he came and held my hand and said ‘My daughter, do not worry, I will take care of you’ I did not know how to pray but I said ‘I want my life to change’ There were some struggles that I was going through in my life at that time’

Last Monday (2 May), yet another church was burnt down in north-west Tanzania, however the church has refused to stop meeting. The church’s minister, Fortunatus Bijura, said, “Those who think that destroying our church means we won’t pray, they are wrong … We have a big tree near the church and will continue meeting there for prayers.”

Small groups create friendships through conversations, prayers, meals, and studies of Scripture. Friendships emerge as we sit across from each other and talk. It’s hard to pray for someone without becoming involved in their lives. It’s impossible to talk with someone without learning about each other, and it’s tough to study the Scripture with someone and not appreciate God’s work in their life.

One night a lady could not sleep. At midnight she went downstairs and picked up a Bible. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to church; nor had she ever opened a Bible on her own. When she opened it now, she noticed it was divided into an “old” part and a “new” part. She decided to start with the “new” part, figuring the book may have been updated.

So in the still of the night she sat on her living room floor and began to read Matthew’s gospel. By 3am she was in the middle of John’s gospel and found as she put it, that she had fallen in love with the character of Jesus. “I don’t know what I am doing ” she prayed to God “but I know you are  what I want”

It is uniquely in the Bible that we encounter Jesus. The message of the Bible is not just that help is coming – it has arrived.

God still meets people in such ways

Extract from “The life you always wanted ” John Ortberg