God Leads Us To Minister To Others

JESUS PREPARES THE WAY – WITH PERFECT TIMING

While praying for guidance before going into town today, I saw an image of part of St Mary de Crypt church and also a kind of headdress. I wondered whether it was a Scottish kind, as it seemed to have a feather.

As I had no idea of timing for what seemed to be indicated, on arrival in town I immediately went to Southgate Street to the south end of the building by the railings, which was what I saw. No-one was there, so I hung around for a few minutes. As I was meeting Ed shortly I headed for The Cross and we went for coffee.

After coffee we headed for the St Mary de Crypt railings corner. I was excited to see a family standing at that corner. I went up to them and asked the parents if they had any kind of connection to Scottish or Irish dancing or headdresses. They laughed and said “No, sorry!”

I then decided to go in to the church to see if the answer was there. Nothing was evident, so we chatted to an elderly lady in a pew. It transpired she was on the church team and we had a lovely chat with her. After we had chatted for a while, another member of the church team came up to her and said: ”There’s a man here wanting to see a priest”. We said to the elderly lady we’d accompany her to the front to see the man, as it might be more appropriate for two men to see him. She spoke to the man, a substance abuser, and we all quickly agreed that Ed and I would talk with him.

Long story short, he wanted to confess various evil things he had done (his words), people he’d scammed etc and wanted forgiveness. We quickly established he had genuinely reached rock bottom and desperately wanted real help. He had become alienated from both parents, wife and children.

I explained what surrender and forgiveness meant on his part, what Jesus would do for him, and did he want to take that route. He assured us he did. He then proceeded to confess what he’d done and wanted forgiveness for. In the process he said he’d been to a Shaman (witch doctor) in recent times. We then assured him that in Jesus he would find hope for the future.

Later it became clear to me – when I checked Google Images – that the headdress I’d seen was a Shaman type headdress. Finally we ended up at another local Christian venue where his immediate, practical issues could be addressed.

There Is Hope !

Many today are suffering a lack of hope in their lives. It can be so easy to focus on our problems to the extent that we shut out everything else.

The is an Australian guy called Nick Vujicic who was born without arms or legs. Nick was of course bullied at school and at age 10 tried to kill himself, as he could see no hope in his life.

Believe it or not, today he is married with two children and an international motivational speaker speaking to thousands with a great message of hope. 

no arms no legs no worries

Check out this video of him speaking in a jail in the USA:

https://youtu.be/tZ0nmxq9qnU

Painful Foot Receives Healing Touch

She came in with a walker which she parked behind her chair. She explained she had multiple problems due to various pains and illnesses.

Her right foot was currently the most painful. I offered to pray in the name of Jesus. She wasn’t sure who that was, so I gave her a short explanation of who he was and what he did. She agreed to prayer and allowed me to place my hand on her foot.

After a minute or so I asked how it felt. She said the pain level had gone down by 50% and there was a noticeable tingling feeling in her foot. I prayed some more, at which point I became aware –  in my body – of the power of the Holy Spirit at work. (Normally when people experience healing I don’t feel anything happening, even if they do). I suggested she thank Jesus tonight before she goes to bed. She said she would.

I prayed for another lady with ongoing problems in her life. She had Muslim parents, but was happy to be prayed for in the name of Jesus. We talked about prayer and she noticed the “Footprints” poem on the wall opposite, saying “that’s Jesus isn’t it?” I lifted it off the wall and read it to her. As we came near the end I found myself getting emotional about the content, and I could see she was too.

Lastly, I was introduced to a guy from Eastern Europe who was in a bad way. As his life story unfolded, I learned that both his parents had been really cruel to himself and his twin brother growing up. He was now estranged from his twin, although he only lived 30 miles away. Worst of all, this man had lost his wife to cancer two years ago and he was still suffering badly the effects. He had also been sexually assaulted by a man whom the police couldn’t trace and this was eating him up inside too. He is an alcoholic and the doctors have told him he is likely to be dead within a year.

At intervals he kept crying his eyes out, saying he had nothing to live for. He had already tried to kill himself. I told him God was his only hope, as he would not abandon him. He told me he went into the local Catholic church to pray most days. I prayed for him and that his relationship with his brother might be restored.

She Was Headed For The ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ Event

When we arrived in town we noticed a sign advertising a ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ event nearby. 

A woman saw our healing banner, so stopped and asked: ‘are you with the Body,Mind and Spirit event? I replied: ‘no,it’s better than that!’ That seemed to throw her off balance, so she asked me to explain.

I told her we were Christians from different churches and were offering healing in the name of Jesus. I advised her to reconsider going in to the other event, since there were different spirits at work there – that were NOT of God. Satan (The Devil) offered lots of appealing attractions, but ultimately they just appealed to mankind’s lusts and idolatry and so led people away from the true God and a loving eternity in Heaven.

We talked about how you get to Heaven. She maintained she was basically a good person and therefore God would accept her on that basis. She was rather taken aback when I told her that the Bible says that God regards our best deeds as equating to a woman’s filthy menstrual cloth. She explained she had been brought up a Roman Catholic and believed that gave her an assurance.

I told her from my own experience how we get ‘born again’ – by surrendering our lives to Jesus in repentance and faith. Sadly, she wasn’t interested to talk further and headed off to the ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ event.

 

Jewish Man Healed By Jesus Christ The Messiah

We were doing Healing On The Streets (HOTS) in the town centre and he saw our sign. A young guy in his twenties, he came up and chatted to us. He had a doctor’s appointment in an hour’s time for a severe pain in his side.

On a level from 0 to 10 it was an 8 in severity. We told him we were Christians and he mentioned he was Jewish. That caused my heart to jump, as I felt sure Jesus would heal him as a sign of His Messiah-ship. The pain in his side also took on a new meaning to me, as I reflected on the spear wound inflicted on Jesus.

As I prayed for him I acknowledged out loud mention of the wound in Jesus’s side. After commanding healing for about 10 seconds I asked him :’how’s the pain now?’

He replied:’it’s gone!’ Before we could respond he said: ‘I don’t need to see the Doctor!’

I suggested he go and tell the Doctor what had happened. I also said: ‘it would also be good if you could take time out, later on today, to thank Jesus your Messiah (Mashiach) for healing you’.

1 Peter Chapter 3 Verse 15

 I went for a coffee upstairs while waiting for my grandchildren who were at the Church summer club on the ground floor. All the others in the room were women, except for an older man, so I went and sat by him and chatted. He was a retired lorry driver and, like me, was waiting while his grandchildren had their fun at Church club.

He was very friendly; and as we had nearly 2 hours to kill we had quite a long conversation. Somehow we got on to matters of faith. He had attended Sunday School as a lad, like most of our generation, but that was the last of his regular churchgoing.

I explained the steps I had gone through while trying to find out what was ‘real’ in the spiritual realm. I went on to share my testimony in some detail, which caused him to realise that that there were such things as ‘God encounters’. I explained how I had got down on my knees in my bedroom and confessed my sins (repentance) and asked Jesus to forgive me. I also testified how the next day on the way to work everything seemed new – even the colours of the world looked brighter!

A subsequent experience several days letter led to my encountering God’s love in a very powerful and personal way. God showed me how much he loved ME! As I grew in the Christian life God showed me his heart for the poor, the needy and the rejected, which led me to volunteer roles on the street and elsewhere where I encountered those with many kinds of problems. Most of those I met had terrible childhood experiences, leading me to realise that such damage led to severe knock-on effects in later life.

Soon after becoming a new Christian I had had a conversation with a (supposedly Christian) woman who said to me that the miracles that Jesus did as recorded in the Bible ‘never really happened’ – in her view these ‘accounts’ only illustrated ideas or concepts. I had been appalled at this, so much so that I went straight home and cried my eyes out- at this woman’s offence against Jesus and his works. As I was weeping in my bedroom Jesus suddenly appeared in my room, put his arms around me and comforted me. I never saw his face, but I recall thinking afterwards ‘how brown his arms are!’

Back to the present. My wife entered the room, I introduced my lorry driver friend who then said, in a humorous way: ‘your husband’s trying to convert me!’  My wife replied: ‘yes, I can imagine that’

One regret: I had omitted to bring any gospel tracts with me. My friend didn’t use the internet, so a tract would have been a nice parting gift…………..

Before we parted to collect our respective grandchildren, he said to me: ‘I appreciated our chat. You have a very gentle and respectful way of putting these things across’.

Bible: 1 Peter Chapter 3 Verse 15: ‘ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect’.    

Not Sure If You Are A Christian?

      If you want to test yourself to see whether you are a Christian, ask yourself these questions and answer honestly:

1. Do I believe that Jesus Christ came from Heaven for the express purpose of reconciling mankind to God the Father?

2. Do I acknowledge that the fallen human nature is predisposed to sin, and that only Jesus can redeem my life from sin and make me acceptable to a holy God?

3. Do I believe Jesus died on a cross, that God raised him from the dead and that he is now alive for evermore?

4. Do I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price for my sins?

5. Have I ever acknowledged to God that I am a sinner, in need of God’s forgiveness?

6. Did I ever pray to Jesus to become a Christian? If so, was I sincere in my heart about what I was asking?

7. If someone asked me, could I give examples of some sins that God has forgiven me for?

8. Do I believe that I can talk to Jesus in prayer and he will answer?

9. Do I believe Jesus is able to forgive ALL my sins and make me a brand new person?

10. Do I accept Jesus as my Lord, in charge of my whole life from now on, putting him first instead of myself?

11. Am I doing my best nowadays, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live a changed life that will please Jesus my Lord?

12. Do I want to forgive others in the present – and also from the past – for what they did to me?

13. Do I have a desire to read the Bible regularly?

14. Do I pray regularly, not just asking for “things”, but to cultivate a personal relationship with God?

15. Do I want to meet regularly with other Christians, to encourage and be encouraged by them?

16. Do other people see genuine evidence in my life of a love for God and my neighbour, as Jesus commanded?

17. In what ways do I lay down my life for my fellow man?

18. Do I know what it is to experience persecution for my faith in Jesus Christ?

19. Do I have stories to tell of how God has worked through me to bless others?

20. Are any of your family/close friends Christians? If not, have you ever witnessed to them about the importance of your own faith?

If you want to know WHY you should become a Christian after reading this, see  this page

 

5 Years of Pain Gone in 7 Minutes Thanks to Dr Jesus

After a fight outside a nightclub he had ended up in a coma for three weeks. When he came round that’s when he first noticed the chest pain. Doctors weren’t able to tell him what the problem was, or resolve the pain.   

He told us he had spent thousands of pounds over the years to get rid of his chest pain, but nothing had worked. We challenged him to try Dr Jesus – what did he have to lose? We also pointed out it was FREE!

He sat down in the chair. At the outset, on a scale of 0 to 10 his pain level was a 7. After a couple of minutes with us (and Jesus) it had gone down to a 5. We persevered, commanding the pain to go in Jesus’ name and minutes later he reported it was now a 3.

Soon afterwards it was gone. He said he felt like there was a “pleasant buzzing feeling” going round his body. We told him that was God at work.

He was pretty dumbfounded at what had happened!

We shared about Jesus with him and gave him a pack to take away which included the “Why Jesus?” booklet which explains the need for repentance from sin and surrender of your life to Jesus.

 

 

The Need For Repentance Preaching Alongside Signs and Wonders

DISTURBING PROPHETIC DREAM posted by a young Aussie,  Jeremiah Johnson:

“Several months ago while I was extensively studying Matthew 7:22-24 and asking God for increased revelation, I had one of the most disturbing prophetic dreams of my life. The Scripture I was studying in Matthew says,

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name did we not cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”

In the prophetic dream at night, I was taken to hell where I saw all these leaders and individuals who had performed miracles, cast out demons, and prophesied. What I was shown next, I will never forget. The Holy Spirit showed me long lines of people behind all of these leaders. He immediately revealed to me that these were all the people that had received the miracles, prophecies, and had been at one time delivered. As I gazed at the people in these lines, He said to me, “Did they not RECEIVE miracles, prophecy, and deliverance, yet I never knew them?”

I woke up from the dream alarmed and startled. I said to the Holy Spirit, “So there are not only people that will perform signs, wonders, and miracles that will be sent to hell, but also people who receive all these things that will be in hell. Why?”

Immediately the Holy Spirit spoke again to me and said, “Because those that worked miracles, prophesied, and cast out demons never preached the full gospel of Jesus Christ which is the message of repentance. They were so in love with the gifts that I had given them that people became trophies and souvenirs to them.

When My power would manifest in their ministries, they would tell people that I loved them, but never that they needed to repent for their sins. I tell you that a great deception will sweep over the signs and wonders movement in the earth. Beware of the ministries where miracles and prophecies will flow, but the message of repentance is not preached. You have been warned.””

20 years in Prison for Stabbing and Other Violence

As an 8 year old child his father showed him how to clean and assemble a handgun. As you can imagine, from then on things went from bad to worse and he ended up addicted to drink, drugs and violence. He told me he had served 20 years altogether in his 47 years of life.

Amazingly, he has come out the other end and is now going round schools warning children of the dangers – and consequences –  they face if they go down a similar route. He told me doesn’t hold back when he describes prison life in all its messy details.

What brought about this remarkable change? He met Jesus in prison and is now  a born again Christian. Needless to say his father is at a loss to understand him and has rejected him. He told me that God had never let him down and, although he has never had a lot, he has always had enough.

I was really touched by his story. I gave him my website URL and invited him to send me his testimony, setting out what he was like before he became a Christian and the change that happened in his life afterwards. We discussed local churches and I suggested one he might like to try out. Finally I prayed for him that God might use him powerfully to reach others.

A great day!