By the time of the Jewish Revolt in AD 66, the Gospel had spread from Britain to the Black Sea, from Gaul (France) to Galatia (Greece), and from Egypt to the banks of the Euphrates River, covering the Roman Empire into India where the apostle Thomas was martyred. We also see the expressions “all nations” and “every nation” mean those that make up the Roman Empire at that time in history. Cindye Coates
It’s that time of the year again when we hear a lot of complaints about disappearing Christmas traditions.
This year, the Martin Place Christmas Tree is bedecked with the words “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” I love it when we try to pretend that the day being celebrated has nothing to do with Christ, but a more generic “holiday.”
David Jones copped criticism because they have abandoned the traditional Christmas window displays, which many people have for generations travelled into the city with children or grandchildren in tow to view each year.
The biggest outcry was reserved for rumours that Fire and Rescue NSW are abandoning the traditional lolly run due to health and safety concerns. Rather than throwing lollies at children while on the move, fire engines will have to stop to hand out the treats. This is out of concern for children running onto roads than any fear of hitting them in the eye with a hard lolly.
It is interesting just how much people value these traditions, even people who never set foot in church to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is like the generational memory of faith in Jesus, attending church services and celebrating real Christmas and Easter festivals continues to anchor people despite our rapidly changing culture.
Christmas is a time of incredibly good news, in a time when there is such a shortage of good news. It’s more than a long weekend, a time to get together with the family, or even a special time for the kids.
Christmas is about a God who cares about people so much that He came down to earth to live with us. The baby in the shed with the animals turned out to be the creator of everything in a human form. The story reaches its climax at Easter when we recall that Jesus Christ died to cover the wrongs of every single person.
If you haven’t been to church for a while, why not start a new tradition this Christmas?
Contrary to the weather forecast, this morning is absolutely glorious. I rode to Bunnings, then around the edge of town and down to the Riverbend Estate before heading home. #cycling #Narrabri
The letters Paul wrote to the Christians in the Early Church were written before the time of his death in AD 65. When he mentioned “the man of lawlessness…the son of destruction,” he was referring to Titus – son of Emperor Vespasian who led the Roman Army in the siege of Jerusalem. He permanently put an end to the practice of the Law of Moses by destroying the Jewish Temple in AD 70 – making it impossible to fully follow its religious customs. Cindye Coates
Scripture
Before day break the next morning, Jesus got up and went to an isolated place to pray.
Observation
Jesus, James and John leave the synagogue and go to Simon and Andrew’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with a fever. Jesus goes to her bedside and heals her.
That evening many sick and demonised people are brought to Jesus. He heals the sick people of all kinds of diseases and casts out many demons. Before sunrise the next morning, Jesus goes to an isolated place to pray.
When Simon and the others find Him, they tell Him that everyone is looking for him. Jesus tells them that He needs to go to other places as well to preach the Good News.
Application
There are times when Jesus was so inundated by people that He had to go somewhere quiet to pray.
Even the Son of God needed to refresh Himself in the presence of God. He needed to renew His strength by waiting on the Lord, and He needed to talk with the Father about the Father’s mission for Him.
We all need to maintain that connection with God in order to be effective for Him. This takes time and commitment. We must set aside time to be with the Lord, even if it means getting up early.
We must also find a place that is free of distractions.
Connecting with the Holy Spirit is as simple as this:
1. Stop. I clear my thoughts and concentrate on listening to God.
2. Look. I visualise Jesus with me Emmanuel – God is with us.
3. Listen. I listen to the spontaneous thoughts that God is speaking to me.
4. Write. I write down the conversation to make the thoughts concrete.
Listening
Lord, what else Do you want to say to me about prayer today?
Keith, as you have experienced, fellowship with me is a journey. It takes determination and consistency. Many people give up or stay in the shallow end when things get challenging. Many people just get overwhelmed by life and busyness and so fail to grow in me.
Prayer is simply stepping out of yourself – letting go of the addictions to activity and letting go of the ways of the world.
If Jesus got up early to pray, then all of my children can find time in their day to seek me.
From godreports.com
By Exjani Rojas —
ISIS operatives killed two Chinese missionaries in Balochistan’s capital in Pakistan in broad daylight. The mother of one of the missionaries publicly forgave the killers and speculated their deaths would spark revival.
“I believe these two will be like seeds to bring greater revival,” she said, per translation on Back to Jerusaelm podcast. “I pray that God would forgive the sin and evil of ISIS because they know not what they do. These two children are now gone; I trust they will inspire the church in China to be united for the sake of the Gospel and that the fires or revival will spread from China to the nations.”
Mom’s words show why Chinese missionaries will succeed in the Muslim Corridor where Western missionaries have failed. Their movement — called Back to Jerusalem because it traces the spread of Christianity from China back to its origin — is the greatest unreported phenomenon of the world.
The Chinese figure they can in the so-called 10/40 window — the most unevangelized region of the world between latitudes 10 and 40 — slip in easier, exist more successfully and evangelize more off radar than a Westerner (who stands out and draws resentments).
The Chinese missionary movement is also called “Between the Walls” — from the Great Wall of China to the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem. They want to mobilize 100,000 missionaries for the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and animists who dominate in the region.
The Back to the Jerusalem missionary movement dates back to the 1920s, to early Chinese Christian groups such as the Jesus Family in Shandong Province, who preached across villages in China. It got a resurgence out of China’s underground church in the 1980s.
“In 1988 in Henan, the church was filled with the Holy Spirit, and people starting sharing the Gospel,” a leader says in Chinese on a Back to Jerusalem documentary. “I would say 2010 was the second great filling. We started sending missionaries. Why are so many workers going overseas now? It was the work of the Holy Spirit, sending them to specific nations.”
Pastor Shen XiaoMing presides over 10M Chinese Christians in the China Gospel Fellowship. He says the taking up of the call to send missionaries into Muslim lands began with the youth.
“The Holy Spirit was working in China’s house church. Especially the youth, we experienced God’s call to reach the whole world,” XiaoMing says in Chinese. “We started praying for nations.”
Youths began studying the languages of the Muslim countries. The mission set up a training center in the Philippines. Doors began opening, young people got passports and visas, they began going to places where it was dangerous to preach the Gospel — and they were mentally and emotionally ready for it because of the persecution the Chinese church has faced for decades from the communist government.
They went to Cambodia, where they evangelized the land once decimated by Pol Pot’s Killing Fields genocide ot 2M+.
“We go inside the Buddhist temples and preach the Gospel,” a missionary says, per translation. “We love to teach the children and tell them Jesus loves them. Often, the first, second or third time, they reject us, saying ‘Why do you come here to our village to change our religion? I have been a Buddhist since youth.’”
Breakthrough comes with the miraculous healings. In a village of 600, many got healed; people see the genuine power of God and convert, the missionary says.
“There was an older woman who had a serious disease,” he says. “We prayed for her and asked if she felt better. She shook her head. Later when we were leaving, she stopped the car and told us, ‘I have been healed. Praise God!’”
They went to India, where they lifted spirits of the Indian church
“We were really encouraged to hear how God moved in China,” said and Indian pastor whose identity was obscured. “The Chinese pastors and believers had to go through extreme persecution, being jailed. In spite of all this, the Chinese church grew. That really encouraged the church (in India) to share the Gospel more joyfully.”
In India, revival is spreading in villages. Like Cambodia, supernatural healing is a gamechanger, he says.
Back to Jerusalem podcaster Eugene Bach says that when Chinese missionaries join Indian locals in spreading of the gospel, you have the teaming up of the Land of the Dragon and the Land of the Elephant.
They went to Iraq under ISIS and ministered to Kurdish and Yazidi refugees running from terrorists who sold off women and girls as sex slaves and killed men and boys who did not convert, brainwash and become militants.
Bach documents the landing of three Chinese missionaries in Kurdish region of Iraq sometime in 2013-14 when ISIS erupted on the international scene, taking over much of Syria and Iraq. While taking care of refugees and bringing joy to children who had lost their parents, they present the gospel.
Back to Jerusalem podcaster Eugene Bach says that when Chinese missionaries join Indian locals in spreading of the gospel, you have the teaming up of the Land of the Dragon and the Land of the Elephant.
They went to Iraq under ISIS and ministered to Kurdish and Yazidi refugees running from terrorists who sold off women and girls as sex slaves and killed men and boys who did not convert, brainwash and become militants.
Bach documents the landing of three Chinese missionaries in Kurdish region of Iraq sometime in 2013-14 when ISIS erupted on the international scene, taking over much of Syria and Iraq. While taking care of refugees and bringing joy to children who had lost their parents, they present the gospel.
New Life Narrabri 
