Nanette Domingo Pacoli, regional director of Good News Productions International, says the gospel is best conveyed to different
people by being culturally relevant. Pacoli says the founder of GNPI learned that as a missionary in Zimbabwe.

Ziden in Zimbabwe

Ziden Nutt went to Zimbabwe with a load of gospel teaching materials. They didn’t work. Someone told him, “People can’t understand your God because he’s white. They don’t identify.”

So Nutt made new materials with Jesus Christ as a black man, and people responded. GNPI believes that cultural relevance, rather than imposing one’s own ideas of Christ, makes ministry more productive.

Asia presence

Pacoli says GNPI has branches in Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and India. Cultural relevance comes easy for Pacoli. She has an instinct for what clicks in the Philippines, reinforced by her background in secular television and advertising.

Of her days in secular media she says, “I was at my best, in that I was making a lot of money, but I was also at my worst because I led my life, my way. My friends from advertising could see I was a mess.”

Recently a friend in advertising whom she hadn’t seen in 20 years called her. They agreed to meet, and every day before the meeting, Pacoli prayed that God would give her the words to share the gospel.

“I felt I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t,” Pacoli said. On the appointed date she was taken aback to see that her friend came with someone else. “I had only been praying for one person, but now there were two,” she said.

But the opening came from her friend who said, “you’ve changed a lot.” Pacoli then talked of Jesus. “For me,” Pacoli said, “success in my work isn’t measured by the number of souls you bring to Jesus. If you bring just one, I’m happy. Anything more than that is a bonus.”

That day both women prayed to receive Jesus. The “bonus” concept drives her work. “No matter how hard I work on a television show or a movie, I don’t measure success by the number who prayed to receive Christ, because you can never tell how God works. You just have to fit in his plan,” she said.

Awards

Pacoli’s movie, All Things New, won the International Christian Visual Media award in 2009 as Best Drama under a $250,000 budget. ICVM is a body that is committed to encourage and support quality Christian media.

From 2000 to 2003 Pacoli produced the TV documentary series WWJD, introducing to the Philippines for the first time the concept of a weekly TV documentary program.

One episode of WWJD, which was about street children, won an ICVM Silver Crown Award for Best International Film. Another WWJD episode about fatherhood won an ICVM Bronze Award.

Pacoli also produces Asin at Ilaw (Salt and Light), a weekly show that has been running for 16 years, which was awarded the Anak TV Seal, a national award in the Philippines for child and family friendly shows.

Pacoli says Asin at Ilaw is “very Filipino, very characteristic of the local culture in terms of format and presentation. Now that it’s virtual, Filipinos all over the world can watch it for spiritual nourishment and be reminded of Christ’s love.”

Film showings

GNPI products are loaned to churches, which organize a film showing that is open to people of all faiths. After the film showing there is an altar call. Pacoli recalls one time when a church decided to show the film at The Fort, one of the ritziest malls in Metro Manila.

“The Fort isn’t the normal environment for a Christian film, much less an altar call,” she said. But she was surprised that many young people came, and 59 among them went forward to receive Jesus in their lives.

This year, All Things New was shown at a church in Bulacan, a province in Central Luzon. Some 20 young people received Christ that day. But Pacoli was particularly touched by one man who strongly identified with a character in movie. This man recommitted his life to Jesus and had a new view of Jesus and himself. He also learned to forgive his father.

All Things New has also been shown by churches in New York and Seattle. Pacoli said there aren’t many street children in the U.S., but the feedback was that more people began to organize youth groups to help others.

Television

Her favorite medium is television. The way God uses Asin at Ilaw, for example, always surprises her. A housewife found the program while she was switching channels. The topic was adultery, and the woman had a similar problem. The program led her to church, where she learned a new perspective of adultery. In the long run, she received Jesus.

Aside from running on television, episodes of Asin at Ilaw are also used by house churches. The program is shown, people ask questions, there are bible studies, and so far, in this way, 90 people came to receive Christ.

Multitasking

Pacoli has a hand on every stage of production–creating show concepts, scriptwriting, shooting, editing, directing, and acting. She does everything on a shoestring, and she can make things happen.

A room in her home is her studio where Asin at Ilaw is filmed and edited. She got Sockie Fernandez, an internationally multi-awarded indie director (including one film which was shown on exhibition at Cannes) to do an episode of WWJD, gratis (the award-winning episode on street children). For the film All Things New, Pacoli got professional actors with a following who also worked for free.

If she gets dry on ideas she will gather secular and Christian media friends for lunch and pick their brains. That way she gets timely secular input that she can put a Christian twist to, at no expense, and with everybody having a good time.

Pacoli says, “To see God working up close, and to see how he changes lives–and when he uses you to change lives, is such a privilege, just as much as it is a responsibility.”

New projects

For 2011, GNPI is working on several video bible studies series first on idolatry, and afterwards, on parenthood. Of the former
Pacoli says, “The subtleties of idolatry exist in everyday life, and this series will touch on many things. It raises questions about idolatry that are not commonly thought of, or brought up.”

Tackling with a small budget and looking for talent is always a challenge. She has been known to direct, write the scripts, and sometimes, even act when no one else is available.

But at the end of the day Pacoli says, “I have the best job in the world. Even if it doesn’t pay much, the blessing is awesome, overwhelming. You see changed lives because of what we do. You can’t buy that anywhere.”

Two Iranian Christian women were acquitted recently of apostasy charges and were allowed to leave their country, the Baptist Press (BP) reported.

According to the BP Marzieh Amirizadeh, 31,  and Maryam Rostampour, 28, were charged with apostasy for converting to Christianity.  They spent more than 250 days in jail for their faith.

While in prison Amirizadeh and Rostampour were repeatedly placed under great pressure to recant and deny Jesus Christ. They faced repeated interrogations, weeks in solitary confinement, and unhealthy prison conditions. Both became seriously sick during their imprisonment and did not receive the treatment they needed. Senior judges and officials also intimidated them.

Amirizadeh said, “We have seen the Lord do miracles over and over again.  He sustained us during a very difficult period.”  She also thanked those who prayed saying, “I have no doubt that God heard the prayers of His people,” the BP reported.

Rostampour, 28, said “I believe our arrest, imprisonment and subsequent release were in the timing and plan of God and it was all for His glory.  The prayers of people encouraged and sustained us throughout this ordeal,” according to the BP.

The two women faced possible death sentences for converting to Christianity and for reportedly engaging in evangelistic activities and Bible distribution.  They were arrested in March 2009 and held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison until Nov. 18 when they were given a conditional release, the BP said.

The apostasy charges however were not dismissed, and Amirizadeh and Rostampour endured a difficult six months waiting for their case to be heard in an Islamic court, where they could have been sentenced to prison again, the BP reported.

According to the BP, both young women told an Islamic judge that they would never deny their faith in Christ.  The International Christian Concern (ICC), a human rights organization, helped publicize the women’s plight.

According to Aidan Clay, ICC’s Middle East regional manager, “Their faith and endurance has been an encouragement to countless believers throughout the world,” the BP reported.

The women were warned that any future Christian activity in Iran would be seriously dealt with.  It has not been specified to which country Amirizadeh and Rostampour traveled, the BP said.

Rostampour was quoted as saying, “We hope to eventually share some of what the Lord allowed us to go through to highlight the need and the opportunity for the church in Iran, but right now we will take time to pray and seek the Lord for His will,” the BP reported.

The wildly successful “Lost” ended with a finale recently that was replete with concepts of faith and belief, where all of the show’s main characters–and many from seasons past–meet in a church, then head to the afterlife.

Carlton Cuse, who co-produced the show with Damon Lindeloff said, “The faith axis seems like it’s a big part of the show this year.  The show is a reflection of our beliefs,” the New York Daily News reported.

Lost Finale: Experts Talk Impact Of Religion On The Island

In the finale, the show’s main character, Jack Shephard, accepts his destiny and sacrifices himself, a reflection of Jesus Christ in the bible, the New York Daily News noted.

Shephard is also wounded on the side of his torso.  In his final moment with Hurley, Jack shares water with him, similar to the Holy Communion, according to the New York Daily News.

Jack is the son of Christian Shephard, who leads the show’s cast into the afterlife.  There is even a statue of Jesus outside the church in the finale episode’s final minutes, the New York Daily News said.

Chris Seay, a pastor at the Ecclesia Bible Society in Houston and author of “The Gospel According to Lost” noted that “The Biblical narrative is a big part of the larger story,” New York Daily News reported.

MTV News noted how the themes of faith, fate, suffering, atonement and redemption were recurring themes over six seasons of “Lost”.  They said religious traditions were a key to informing characters’ decisions.

James McGrath, an associate professor of religion at Butler University and an avid “Lost” fan, told MTV News, “It didn’t closely resemble any one religion, although there were points of similarity.”

McGrath cites the Hindu idea of passing into one life and remembering another one, the Catholic Christian doctrine and tradition of purgatory, and the Buddhist belief that our consciousness perceives reality wrongly, among others.  The church where they meet in the finale has iconography from Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and more, according to MTV News.

S. Brent Rodriguez Plate, a visiting associate professor of religious studies at Hamilton College said, “…the show was ultimately about the fact that we need each other….and we all die.  No religion can deny that we need each other. No religion can deny that we die. The differences come when you try and explain what happened,” MTV News reported.

We are studying the detail in Luke Chapter 22 at verse 47 where Judas and that gang approach Jesus Christ to have Him arrested.

It is possible to be physically close to Jesus Christ and have rebellion in your heart. Jesus makes no attempt to frustrate Judas’s hellish scheme. Jesus is calm and poised and in control.

Jesus knows what has to happen, that we might be saved, rescued, washed, forgiven, justified, sanctified, and anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows no fear as he faces the enemy. Jesus is Master of the whole situation.

Judas had started well, being appointed treasurer of that band of disciples, but what counts is not how well we run at the beginning, but how we complete the course remaining faithful to Jesus.

Jesus was going to the Father, but not so Judas.

Peter barges in with his sword and cuts off a man’s ear, but Jesus heals the severed ear to show that brute strength and physical resistance is NOT the way for the disciple of Jesus to walk. Peter in a sense missed! He was not going for the man’s ear, but for the man, and Jesus makes amends for Peter’s mistake.

Is this what we do today when someone makes a mistake? Do we minister to that person? Do we make amends? Or do we gossip about the mistake, and spread rumours about the person? There are deep lessons here as we see how Jesus acted on this dark tragic occasion.

This gracious healing miracle should have made the gang stop and think. It should have made the mob consider what they were doing – but NO.

A religious festival is on, but look at the behaviour of the leaders of Worship in the Temple. It is the Feast of the Passover.

Verse 52. You come out to Me as I were a common thief. Can you imagine these men in their resplendent robes trampling out down the valley to the Garden of Gethsemane? As well as the religious leaders there were around 200 soldiers, armed with weapons one would use to go and hunt a wild animal.

Verse 53. They had been such cowards. They couldn’t do this openly. They were not only in natural darkness, but they were in spiritual darkness too.

Verse 54. Jesus is led away, humbly but with dignity. And Peter follows, afar off and at a safe distance. There is no safe distance when you are distancing yourself from Jesus. Peter is watching, trailing behind, and in great danger.

We are called to come close, and draw near and be right at the very heart – involved – participating – faithfully following and serving Jesus – where He has placed you and appointed you.

The religious leaders finally had Jesus in their hands, but not His Love in their hearts.

They should have been in the hands of Jesus – the tender, loving, healing hands of Jesus. But, they took Him and led Him to Caiaphas’s house, the House of the High Priest.

They wanted to kill Christ, and have Him removed from their sight, and His Voice silenced once and for all – this troublemaker – this radical, popular preacher.

Originally here:
Word from Scotland

Author bio:
Alexander “Sandy” Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness – on the Moray Firth Coast – not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40 a.m., New Orleans time, at wsho.com.

Animated depiction of Jesus in Comedy Central's "South Park." Photo copyright: Comedy Central & Braniff Productions.

A new animated series currently under development for Comedy Central’s 2010-2011 production slate will feature the adventures of a cartoon Jesus Christ as he tries to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father,” according to “The Washington Post.”

After stirring controversy earlier this year with their depiction of the prophet Muhammad, Comedy Central writers are describing “JC” as, “a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb.”

The storyline will follow the animated Jesus as he travels to New York in an attempt to become “a regular guy.”

While depictions of Jesus continue to surface in episodes of the increasingly popular and controversial animated series “South Park,” “JC” will mark the first time the character has received his own show.

The project’s writers and producers hail from Reveille, the production company behind several popular comedy sitcoms, including “The Office” and “Ugly Betty.” According to the original thumbnail sketch, “JC” will depict God as a lazy man who spends his days playing video games and ignoring his son Jesus.

Last Thursday, Catholic League President William Donohue issued a statement concerning the new cartoon and even went so far as to refer to the show’s producers as “deceivers.”

“These are the same executives who delight in bashing Christians while continuing to censor any depiction of Muhammad on ‘South Park,”

Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production at Comedy Central, says the show is just a normal part of producing quality comedy and that “in its purest form [comedy] always makes some people feel uncomfortable.”

Donohue disagrees. “Besides the fact that there is no end to the number of comedians who have made a huge name for themselves without ever offending anyone, what is even more relevant is the fact that Comedy Central has absolutely no interest in making Muslims feel uncomfortable.”

“South Park” producers continue to feature their Muhammad character, but often cover him with a black box, as Muslims believe that any representation of their prophet is blasphemous.

Network spokesman Tony Fox refused several requests from reporters seeking comments both on Donohue’s statements and further details on “JC,” according to “The Huffington Post.”

According to several reports, “JC” is only a few steps into the preproduction process and network executives will have to okay the script and storyline pitch before the show gets the green light.

Even as anti-gay crusader George Rekers admits he traveled to London and Madrid for 10 days with a gay escort named Jo-Vanni Roman, Rekers denied having sex with the 20-year-old.  Rekers also denied being gay.

The Miami New Times reported that Rekers found Roman on the gay escorting site RentBoy.com.

Roman was paid $75 a day, plus travel expenses.  Part of his job was to give Rekers daily sexual body massages.

However Rekers, a Baptist minister and proponent of gay-to-straight conversion therapy, said on his blog that he had recently had surgery and required someone to help him carry his luggage.

After interviewing several people Rekers claimed he hired Roman, and only learned of Roman’s profession halfway through their trip.

According to the Miami Herald, Roman said Rekers hired him through Rentboy.com, a gay-sex website.  Roman described Rekers as a “very kind family-values man.”

He told Miami New Times about the nude massages but said “Rekers never asked for full-on sex and expressed no interest in attaining orgasm.”  On Anderson Cooper’s AC360 television program Roman said that Rekers had asked him not to talk about the massages.

Rekers was a co-founder in 1983, along with James Dobson, of the Family Research Council (FRC).

He is also a board member of NARTH, a group that believes homosexual desires can be “cured” with therapy.  He authored the book, “Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.”

FRC president Tony Perkins said in a statement that, “FRC has had no contact with Dr. Rekers or knowledge of his activities in over a decade.”

The statement added, “…while it’s extremely disappointing when any Christian leader engages in the very activities that they “preach” against, it’s not surprising. The Scriptures clearly teach the fallen nature of all people. We each have a choice to act upon that nature or accept the forgiveness offered by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.”

NARTH, on their website said, “We are always saddened when this type of controversy impacts the lives of individuals. ..At this difficult time for the families and individuals involved, we extend our sympathies. We also wish to reiterate our traditional position that these personal controversies do not change the scientific data…NARTH continues to support scientific research, and to value client autonomy, client self-determination and client diversity.

A new survey by LifeWay Christian Resources indicates that most Millenials are not religious and are leaving churches, although many consider themselves to be spiritual.

Youth are walking away from Christianity and the Christian church, opting instead for spirituality.

Millenials are defined as those born from 1980 to 1991.  They are aged between 18-29 years old.

Of the total surveyed, 65 percent said they are Christian; 14 percent atheist or agnostic; 14 percent do not favor any religion; and 8 percent mentioned affiliations with other religions.  Seventy-two percent said they are more spiritual than religious, the Christian Post reported.

Among those who said they were Christian were the following findings, the Christian Post reported:

Of those who claimed to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ

• 15 percent have deeply committed personal relationships with Jesus Christ.
• 81 percent of those who trust Christ as Savior agreed strongly that Jesus is the way to Heaven.
  • Most of those who trust Christ as Savior described themselves as more spiritual than religious.
  • Half of those who trust Christ as Savior do not go to church every week.

Of those who identified themselves as Christians

• 56 percent rarely or never read the Bible.
• 38 percent rarely or never pray by themselves.
• 44 percent agreed strongly that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
• 26 percent agreed strongly that salvation is through God’s grace alone.
• 25 percent agreed strongly that the Bible is the written word of God and is totally accurate in all that it teaches.
  • Most agree that churches are relevant.
  • 28 percent strongly agree that churches are relevant today.
  • 67 percent do not go to church every week.

Of the total respondents

• One-third said they made a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is still important to them today.
• One-fourth agreed somewhat that their personal relationship with Jesus Christ is important in their life today.
• 30 percent strongly believe Jesus Christ was sinless.
  • Most believe that no one really knows about life after death.
  • 74 percent say they are more spiritual than religious.

The USA Today quoted Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay as saying that should this trend continue, “The millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships.”

The findings correlated with a 2007 LifeWay survey of teenagers who drop out of church, as well as with a February survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life which also indicated that Millenials are dropping out of church.

The survey, which was conducted mainly by phone in August 2009, involved 1,200 participants and has a margin of error of +/-2.8, myFOXla.com reported.

The question about the existence of intelligent life on other planets will rise to the fore once again with the release next month of a new Discovery Channel documentary, Stephen Hawking’s Universe.

In the documentary, the British physicist will give his views on intelligent life in other planets.

Reports say he believes they exist, but warns against making contact with them, according to BBC News.

Space alien. Credit: martin_m2/sxc.hu

Hawking notes that aliens might simply raid the Earth for its resources, then move on.

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” Hawking tells BBC News.

Hawkings, in the BBC interview said, “The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like.”

The program envisages numerous alien species including two-legged herbivores and yellow, lizard-like predators, but Hawking conceded that most life elsewhere in the universe is likely to consist of simple microbes.

Professor Brian Cox, a physicist from the University of Manchester, said in a recently released BBC series Wonders of the Solar System, that organisms could be present under the ice sheet that envelops Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

Professor Cox added, “Closer to home, the evidence that life could exist on Mars is growing.  We will only know for sure when the next generation of spacecraft, fine-tuned to search for life, are launched to the moons of Jupiter and the arid plains of Mars in the coming decades,” he told the BBC.

Some Christians agree with part of Hawking’s statement–that visitors from another world could be dangerous–but they do not agree with Hawking about what the creatures actually are.

In response to Erich Von Daniken’s bestseller, Chariots of the Gods, Dr. Clifford Wilson, researched UFOs and the Bible and penned his own bestseller and rebuttal, Crash Go the Chariots.

In the end, Wilson allows for the possibility of some malevolent beings of supernatural origin, but he does not believe they are intelligent life forms from other planets. In fact, Wilson, after his research, concluded he did not believe that life exists on other planets.

The point is further elucidated by Ken Ham who looks to the Bible to explain his viewpoint. In a recent Blog posting, Ham says:

“From an evolutionary perspective, it would make sense to suggest [that intelligent alien life exists]. People who believe this possibility contend that, if life evolved on earth by natural processes, intelligent life must exist somewhere else in the far reaches of space, given the size of the universe and the millions of possible planets…but I believe a Christian worldview, built on the Bible, rejects such a possibility,” he said.

Ham says he  rejects the possibility of rational alien life because, according to the Bible, the Fall of Man and subsequent sin affected all of creation and the only solution to mankind’s sin problem was Jesus Christ.

“Jesus didn’t become a ‘God-Klingon,’ a ‘God-Vulcan,’ or a ‘God-Cardassian’—He became the God-man. It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved,” he said.

“Now, regarding animal life and plants, we cannot be so dogmatic because the Bible does not state whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. Based on the passages about the heavens and earth, however, I strongly suspect that life does not exist elsewhere.”

The most populous Islamic nation in the world is experiencing a heavy outpouring of Christianity, TIME magazine noted in latest issue.

Indonesia has some 215 million Islamic believers.  However, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Christianity is Indonesia’s second largest faith and it is growing dramatically in recent years despite outpourings of violence.  In all of Asia, Christianity has some 350 million believers.

Most of the conversions in Indonesia are Pentecostal and Evangelical.  Pentecostalism is considered by many to be the fastest growing faith in the world in terms of conversions (as opposed to births).  It is estimated that by 2050 most Christians will be living in developing nations.

Troubled Past

It is believed that some of the growth of Christianity is triggered by a wave of terrorism and the rise of conservatism among Muslims in Indonesia, which has led to laws that encourage old practices like caning for drinking beer and forcing dress codes for women.

But the move toward Christianity is also seen as an offshoot of the inception of democracy in the country more than a decade ago which led to pluralism and religious conflict.

Despite some adherence to religious freedom, for the past few years dozens of churches and theological academies were destroyed or forced to shut down by Islamic groups.  They accused Christians of trying to steal Muslim believers.  Dozens of local governments have also passed Islamic-based laws that threaten Christian rights.

Last year, the Indonesia Ulema Council, an influential Islamic clerical body, decried Christian proselytization and urged Muslims to guard their faith. “There is a real fear that Christianity is on the march,” says Mike Hilliard, a Scottish minister married to an Indonesian.  They runs an orphanage outside Jakarta that has been targeted by militant Muslims. “Because of this fear, emotions are easily stirred up and mobs can form quickly.”

Although some Christians hold prominent cabinet positions, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has done little to protect religious minorities. Nevertheless, Christians on the street seem undeterred.

Unreliable Statistics

Although local statistics of growth of Christianity in Indonesia may be unreliable, evidence has shown more boldness among the faithful.  For example, in Jakarta megachurches are found in the city, as well as unofficial churches in hotels and malls.  Asia’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ is in Manado city, eastern Indonesia, and Indonesia cable TV has 24-hour Christian channels.

Pastor David Nugroho who has a church in Gesing, Indonesia with 400 worshippers, was quoted  by TIME as saying, “People think Indonesia is just a Muslim country, (but) we (Christians) are not afraid to show our faith.”

Serving Jesus Christ Is Full Of Painful Excitements

In Luke Chapter 22, we read of that scenario in verses 31,32, where Jesus is informing Peter that he is about to be sifted, but Jesus also reassures this man who is to lead the early church that he is being prayed for. We need to know this too in these challenging and peculiar days when so much of what we have been used to is being undermined and shaken just as the Scriptures depict.

There are times when we are sifted like flour, and put through the mill and pummelled as the dough is prepared. And after all that it is the fire to bake the bread! Read how the showbread was prepared for the table in the Tabernacle. There are profound lessons there for us, and particularly as we remember the thousands across the world who are being sorely and severely persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ in these present times.

Make sure you have access to the information provided regarding those who are having a hard time. “Release International” or “Open Doors” with Brother Andrew, or “Christian Solidarity Worldwide” or the “Barnabas Fund” are all excellent sources and resources. If you have come all this way with me through Acts and Luke then make sure you are praying for those who are suffering in a way that few of in the West experience.

But returning to our passage in Luke Chapter 22 – almost before the words of Jesus have come out of His mouth, Peter is saying, “You can count on me. I'll be with You. Some of the others in the room may not stick with You Jesus, but I'll be there.”

All this has to go. All this has to be dealt with, and dealing with this pride and arrogance and cockiness can be sore. That very night – within an hour or so – Peter went and wept bitterly, when he realised that he had denied Jesus three times.

It did lead to his conversion – to his coming back – to his becoming a new man – a man who could strengthen others. It was Peter who ran to the tomb three days later when he heard that something had happened to the body of Jesus.

From the text it looks as though they were all going to go through it to some degree, and don't we all. This has been our experience. There come times of testing and sifting, when Jesus allows things to happen to shake out the lumps, and knock off the rough edges, in order to refine us. How much more has he still to do?

Remember, it is to this man Peter, at the end of John's Gospel, that Jesus says three times, “Feed My sheep, and feed My lambs.”

Very often those who are able to minister and strengthen their brethren, and truly edify and build up the Church, are those who have experienced falling and failing.

Those who know what it is to have been through the mill and who have gone through a time of sifting and pummelling, know what it is all about, and once Jesus has dealt with them, He has lifted them up, and restored them, and given them a ministry, which otherwise would have been impossible.

Is this not one of the painful excitements of serving in the front line of the Kingdom of God?

I write this article during the week when I recall that it is now forty one years ago since the risen living and ascended Lord Jesus Christ baptised me in the Holy Spirit when I was on the point of resigning and returning to Motor Insurance. I thought I had got this ‘Call Thing’ all wrong, and then the caring concerned living Christ, who had called me when I was eight years old, met me in a room in Cowdenbeath, Scotland.

What a joy and amazing privilege it has been to know the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for over forty one years.

Originally here:
Word from Scotland

Author bio:
Alexander “Sandy” Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness – on the Moray Firth Coast – not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40 a.m., New Orleans time, at wsho.com.