There have been many complaints lately about the way Google searches are far less informative than a decade ago. A number of new search engines have emerged to overcome this.
One of the best is Tusk which aims to stop censorship in search. It even has its own AI, Gippr, a throw back to Ronald Reagan.
I had a play with Gippr this morning , and had this amusing response to “What is the Uniting Church in Australia?
I have made Tusk my default search engine to see how it compares to Duck Duck Go
The rabbinic teaching is that before the binding of Isaac, God’s grace was largely shut off from the earth. But Abraham’s act of obedience and Isaac’s act of radical surrender opened up a channel for the grace of God to come upon the nation of Israel, and through Israel to flood the entire world. The faithful sacrifice of the one (Isaac) opened up floodgates of mercy for the many. Kirt Schneider
When we understand that Isaac was an adult who willingly offered himself as a sacrifice in obedience unto his father, we see in him a type of Messiah Yeshua in the clearest terms. While no sacrifice would be comparable to the one Jesus made when He gave Himself up for the sin of the world, Isaac, like Yeshua, knowingly offered up his own life on that altar, fully expecting to die there. Kirt Schneider
A chilly 3 degrees this morning. We might get the first frost of the year on the weekend. An enjoyable ride along Culgoora Road to this property where the welcome is as cool as the weather. #cycling #Narrabri
People often get hung up about how to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Here are 4 simple steps. Follow these steps in a posture of humbly receiving from God.
It is obvious that the Lord delights to give good gifts to His children. Often, all you have to do is ask. In Luke 11:11-13, Jesus says:
“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If you have never received the Holy Spirit, then ask your Father in heaven who will gladly give Him to you.
Faith is the key to every part of the Christian life. We receive when we believe.
Take hold of promises like Luke 11:11-13, and the other places where Jess promises the Holy Spirit. Read the book of Acts. Take hold of the promise that God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The gift of speaking in tongues requires that you open your mouth and say something.
Some people really stumble over this. God will give you words to speak in your heavenly prayer language, but you have to speak them out. You might only get one word to start with but as you speak it by faith, more will come.
Some people see words in their mind, others hear words, yet others just speak fluently. God deals with each of us differently and according to our faith. So leet God give you the words to say.
To open your mouth and say something might involve a giant leap of faith, but do it anyway.
Our ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit is a two way street.
God is wanting to speak to us, and we need to listen. The voice of God often comes to us as a whisper that is so easily overwhelmed by the noise of the world and our own thoughts. We need to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Take time to tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received.”
Observation
Jesus Calls together the Twelve, and he gives them authority to heal every kind of sickness and to cast out demons.
He sends them out to Israel. They are not to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans. Their mission is to announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. They are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure the lepers, and cast out demons.
Application
First Jesus passes on authority to the disciples. Then He sends them out to exercise that authority to demonstrate that the Kingdom of God really is here.
The signs of the kingdom are very powerful miracles. They are to:
* heal the sick. They have authority over every kind of sickness, so this is will not be a problem.
* raise the dead. This is a very powerful miracle, not seen everyday, a sure sign that God is with them.
* cure lepers. Leprosy was not just a physical sickness, but it caused social isolation as well.
* cast out demons. The Kingdom of God is much stronger than the kingdom of the Devil
This commission is still for Christians today. We are to tell people about the Kingdom of God, and the message is to be backed up by signs of God’s power
Prayer
Holy Spirit come and fill me with your power. May I experience your miracles in my daily life. Amen.
By Charles Gardner —
The coronation taking place in Westminster Abbey this Saturday is not just about the crowning of a new king.
If the service follows precedent, it will also be much focused on the King of Kings, the ruler of the universe.
This is symbolically reflected in the orb and scepter, part of the ceremonial regalia made of gold and decorated with precious stones, with the globe-like orb surmounted by the cross, representing Christ’s dominion over the world.
King Charles III will be handed a copy of the Bible as “the most valuable thing that this world affords” and will be anointed with oil from the Mount of Olives, where his grandmother Princess Alice is buried, and where Jesus sweated drops of blood as he agonized over his impending death for our sins.
Princess Alice of Greece, the late Duke of Edinburgh’s mother who became a nun in later life, was recognized as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ for saving the lives of a Jewish family during World War II by hiding them from the Nazis.
Charles, meanwhile, has shown much compassion to Holocaust survivors, regularly inviting them to special teas. In fact, he has reached out a helping hand to many struggling people over the years with practical ventures like the Prince’s Trust, funding business ideas for those who might not otherwise find such support.
One beneficiary told the BBC how Charles had literally saved her life. When she was suicidal and in prison, she prayed to God and with the help she received from the Trust, was able to set up a thriving business.
Charles clearly has big shoes to fill, but it is hoped that the 74-year-old will gain a greater personal knowledge of the Lord who was the Rock of his mother’s record-breaking reign.
As someone has pointed out, it is too much to expect him to live up to his spiritual title of Defender of the Faith if he has not been truly born again of God’s Holy Spirit (see John 3:3), so we must obviously pray for his salvation – that he will hear the “still, small voice” of the One who created the beautiful environment about which he is so passionate. (See 1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 46:10)
The story is told of a British king of earlier times who visited a chapel in Edinburgh with his entourage. They duly began chattering among themselves, but were sternly rebuked by the preacher quoting the words of the prophet Habakkuk: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)
I pray that, like Jesus, Charles too will become a servant king.
The Queen’s 70-year rule (1952-2022) mirrors the duration of Israel’s Babylonian exile and has seen the UK drift relentlessly away from the moral moorings of our Christian faith in spite of Her Majesty’s example. I pray that, as with Israel under Nehemiah, we will now recognize our folly in turning away from God’s commands and go back to the Bible.
Charles’ grandfather King George VI called the nation to prayer during the last war and God came to our rescue. Oh, that Charles would do the same! Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was also a dedicated Christian who is reported to have confessed to a chaplain that she would like to have witnessed the return of Jesus in her lifetime so she could place her crown at his feet!
Among the hymns likely to be sung in the Abbey is Jerusalem, which has become something of a national anthem here. William Blake’s words reflect a somewhat strange theology centered around the belief that the Messiah once visited these ‘sceptered isles’.
But if building Jerusalem in England’s ‘green and pleasant land’ means restoring the faith of our forefathers, I will be singing it heartily with the rest of them.
Beyond the pomp and circumstance, this great event is really all about Jesus. When he first came among us, the Wise Men asked: “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him?” (Matthew 2:2) And when he was nailed to the cross, even his enemies unwittingly acknowledged that he was King of the Jews.
But he is also King of the Universe, the name above all names, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)
You see, when we look at Isaac’s own willingness to yield his life freely to his father in complete trust, we see an image of Messiah Jesus Himself foreshadowed in Isaac. Like Isaac, an adult who willingly offered up his life in obedience to his father, Abraham, so too does Yeshua willingly offer up His own life in obedience to Father God. Kirt Schneider
New Life Narrabri 
