Church and Sin
Following Jesus
Woman watched healing miracle for her painful hammer toes
From God Reports
Woman watched healing miracle for her painful hammer toes
By Ryan Zepeda —
She didn’t want to bother God with something as insignificant as pain in her toes.
Or so thought librarian Janis Jordan, who often wore high heels to work.
“It was the suit jacket days, so you show up to work looking A-plus,” she explains on a 700 Club video.
After 15 years, she left the library behind and started a career caring for special needs students at a hospital. She was on her feet even more. She walked three miles every day inside the hospital.
After several years, she finally consulted a doctor who diagnosed hammer toe syndrome, probably induced by the high heels. A hammer toe or contracted toe is a deformity of the muscles and ligaments of the second, third, fourth, or fifth toe causing them to bend, resembling a hammer. The joints can become so rigid they can’t be moved.
The doctor started talking about surgery, and Janis wanted none of it. So she endured the pain for another 10 years.
“I’m a person who keeps on moving, and I just accommodated the pain,” Janis says. “I just didn’t really focus on it, to really pay attention to it.”
Even though she’s a big believer in prayer, her concern seemed so small in light of others’ sufferings, she didn’t ask God for healing.
Then on July 4, 2019 after doing some yard work, Janice hurried inside to catch the prayer segment on the 700 Club television program. The host began to pray for someone with hammer toe, someone, he said, who hadn’t prayed for herself.
“You’re not even praying, but God is saying, ‘I can even restore. I can renew your youth,’” the host said, praying.
Goose bumps shot up her back. He’s talking about me, Janis thought.
As he prayed, she took off her shoes and saw her afflicted toes moving into the proper alignment — straightening before her eyes.
“They were going flat and the pain was just flowing (away) from them,” Janis says.
She was healed!
“This was my set time and just totally unexpected,” she says. “I was also very surprised, so God has the most wonderful surprises for you.”
Pain-free ever since, Janis now prays for the smallest of concerns in an intercessory prayer group.
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26)
“The Lord is looking,” she says. “He is looking to move on our behalf.”
How to Hear God’s Voice
In the book “Overflow Of The Spirit”, Mark Virkler and others describe a way of tuning into God called “Two Way Journalling.” In Two Way Journalling, we write down a conversation, in which we ask God a question and then write what we believe He is saying back to us.
Virkler describes the constant stream of thoughts passing through our heads as a flow of ideas. Some of these thoughts are from our own head- “I am cold”, This is boring”, “I need to remember to buy milk”, and so on. Some of the thoughts are from satan: “You are no good”, “God would never talk to you”, etc. Then we have the voice of the Holy Spirit bringing revelation, exhortation and comfort. This flow is like the social media stream where all sorts of ideas just appear as we scroll through.
To hear God’s voice, we need to filter out what the other voices are saying to us and focus on God. Virkler describes a 4- step process to aid this.
1. Go to a quiet place and still your thoughts and emotions. Write down the things that might distract you and put them to one side. Breathe steadily and slow your body down.”Be still and know that I am God.”
2. Focus on Jesus. Play worship music, start to worship Jesus aloud with your words. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
3. Recognise that the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard in the spontaneous flow of thoughts. Having quieted your mind and focused on Jesus, the thoughts in your head are more likely to be the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Listen. Receive.
4. Write down your prayers and what it seems that God is saying to you. Let it be spontaneous and flowing. Don’t analyse anything. Listen and write.
Later, read over what you have written. Does it agree with Scripture? Does it sound like Jesus? Show trusted christians and ask their opinion.
We are not saying that this is the definitive way to listen to the Spirit of God. It is a way to sharpen our focus on the Holy Spirit and to learn to walk in a lifestyle of being led by the Spirit.
“Living by the Spirit means intentionally staying tuned to the flow within, which is the Spirit, the living water that flows from the throne of God.”
Jesus said that His sheep know His voice. God gives us His constant presence and regular guidance. All we need to do is learn to listen.
Forgiveness Is a Choice
Just on a year ago, the nation was outraged when four young children were killed in an instant as they were riding their bikes to a local shop to buy ice creams. Antony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah together with their cousin Veronique Sakr. were killed on February 1, 2020, when a drunk driver crashed into their bikes.
Outrage turned to amazement as the parents of these children, devout christians, expressed forgiveness to the driver in the midst of their devastating loss. The Abdallah family have consistently modelled a way of grieving without giving in to anger or bitterness.
“After the kids’ incident happened, and the media approached me and they mentioned the driver, I just mentioned that in my heart I forgive him but I want the court to be fair,” remembered Leila last week.
Jesus told a story about a servant who owed his master millions of dollars but could not repay it. When the boss threatened to sell him, his possessions and his family, he pleaded with his boss for mercy and more time to find the money. The boss relented and the debtor went away rejoicing. Then he came upon a man who owed him a few dollars and he demanded the man pay him there and then. The boss was outraged when heard of this, and threw the first man into prison.
Jesus said this is how it is with us. God has forgiven us so much, yet we can be prone to holding a grudge against others over little things.
The Abdallahs have started a national day called I4give Day to encourage all of us to forgive. To be celebrated on the anniversary of the children’s death, the day will encourage us all to let go of the offences that spoil our relationships.
Just imagine how our lives, our families, our communities, even our nation would be changed if we could learn to make forgiveness our first reflex when we are hurt.
You don’t have to wait until next year to start forgiving others or to receive forgiveness from God. Make a start today!
Chinese President ‘Terrified’ by Surge of Christianity, Fears Church Will Be 300 Million-Strong Within a Decade
From Caldronpool
The President of China is reportedly ‘terrified’ by the surge of Christianity across the nation and fears a 300 million-strong uprising within a decade.
Dr Ron Boyd-MacMillan, director of Strategic Research at Christian charity, Open Doors, told Express that Xi Jinping is becoming increasingly concerned about the growth of the Christian Church in China, which could reach 300 million people by 2030.
“We think the evidence as to why the Chinese Church is so targeted, is that the leaders are scared of the size of the Church, and the growth of the Church,” Dr Boyd-MacMillan said.Advertisement
“And if it grows, at the rate that it has done, since 1980 and that’s about between seven and 8 percent a year, then you’re looking at a group of people that will be 300 million strong, nearly by 2030.
“And, you know, the Chinese leadership, they really do long term planning, I mean, their economic plan goes to 2049, so this bothers them. Because I think if the Church continues to grow like that, then they’ll have to share power,” Dr Boyd-MacMillan added.
Last year, an international Christian watchdog organization for persecuted Christians worldwide, warned that the persecution of Christians in China is set to rise in 2021.
In its annual Persecution Trends survey, Release International warned that persecution is thriving in Communist China, which has gone unchallenged by the international community due to increased dependence on trade.
According to the organization’s partners: “The government of President Xi Jinping is increasing its ‘clean up’ of anything that does not advance the communist agenda. They appear to believe that they can achieve this by systematic opposition.”Advertisement
Release International’s website notes: “Tough new laws controlling religion have been imposed. Non-registered churches have been raided and closed in 2020, and increasing numbers of registered churches have been made to install CCTV cameras and put up posters proclaiming communist ideals and beliefs.”
The organization went on to accuse China of exploiting the pandemic in an effort to tighten restrictions on underground church gatherings.
Bob Fu of ChinaAid said: “The Chinese Government is trying every way to take advantage of the virus by increasing the crackdown against Christian churches. It has accelerated particular campaigns, such as the forced removal of crosses.”Advertisement
It’s estimated that there is currently between 60 to 100 million Christians in China.
Leila Abdallah: ‘If it wasn’t for my faith, I wouldn’t be standing where I am today”
From “Eternity”
Antony, Angelina and Sienna Abdallah.
“God uses you in the midst of your suffering,” Leila Abdallah tells me this week.
One year ago, most of us met Leila and her husband Danny for the first time and under terrible circumstances. The couple from Oatlands, near Parramatta in Sydney, became headline news after three of their six children were killed by a drunk driver on February 1.
Antony (13), Angelina (12) and Sienna (8) had been riding their bikes to get an ice cream. They died at the scene, alongside their cousin Veronique Sakr (11).
Trying to describe to someone what being in the midst of suffering looks like, you might point to the grief and pain of the Abdallah family. Yet when you catch even just a glimpse of the torment experienced by Leila during the past year, there’s something else that stands out. The way she and her husband have responded to what so many of us would consider unimaginable.
“When you read the Bible, Jesus said, ‘Carry your cross and follow me.’ He didn’t say we are going to have a good life … He asked us to carry the cross,” says Leila, who has been a Christian all of her life.
“When Jesus walked this earth, he demonstrated to us how we should live our lives.”
“For me, I look up to him. I think that if Jesus carried the cross, then I’m going to look to him, look at the glory awaiting us in heaven, and I want to carry my cross with dignity and a smile.
“Don’t get me wrong. I feel mixed emotions. I’m heartbroken. I miss my kids, especially coming to the one year mark. I was crying this morning; I cry ever day … but I have accepted my cross and I believe that if Jesus didn’t want my kids, they still would be alive. A miracle would have happened.”
Leila is right. The Bible does record Jesus telling his followers that to follow in his footsteps will include suffering, pain and the toll of rejecting a world at odds with his humble leadership. It’s just that many of Jesus’ followers – this writer included – hope that our faith won’t be put to the sort of test Leila and Danny Abdallah are going through.
But it’s through that very test that Leila has witnessed God using her and Danny. You would have witnessed it as well. Within what seemed like minutes of their children’s deaths, the Maronite Catholic couple – members of Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral at Harris Park – spoke clearly and powerfully about the forgiveness and peace that flows from God. And they were saying those things about the man who was charged with killing their children.
“The guy, I know he was [allegedly] drunk, driving on this street. Right now I can’t hate him. I don’t want to see him, [but] I don’t hate him,” Leila told the media during the days after the accident.
“I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. It’s all about fairness. I’m not going to hate him, because that’s not who we are.”
Talk about people putting into practice what they claim to believe and live by.
Leila feels “like God used my lips on that day” with how she immediately spoke about Samuel William Davidson who, last October, pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter, as well as other charges. He will be sentenced in March.
Leila and Danny’s approach to Davidson has remained the same ever since. So much so that the first anniversary of the accident, February 1, will be i4Give Day. Created by the Abdallahs and supported by the Federal and NSW Governments, i4Give Day encourages everybody to know and practice that “there is freedom in forgiveness”.
Leila hopes that rather than remembering a tragedy, February 1 becomes an annual day “where you could find someone you can forgive or ask for forgiveness”.
Many people have asked the Abdallahs how they can forgive. Leila continues to point people back to her Christian faith – “forgiveness is essential to us Christians ” – explaining how parts of the Bible shape her outlook.
“Our Father has forgiven our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” says Leila, speaking of how she wants to live out the Lord’s Prayer. “[Also] Jesus last words on the cross were ‘Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And he asked us to forgive 70 times seven times … So I forgave [Davidson] because I trust God. He’s a justice God and I leave it in his hands.”
“God is great. God is good. God is giving us the peace of mind that they are in heaven. God is comforting us. He is close to the weary. If it wasn’t for my faith, I wouldn’t be standing where I am today.”
Leila fondly speaks of her three deceased children and their own faith. How Angelina loved praying and Antony wanted there to be a prayer room in the Abdallahs’ new home. To celebrate her eighth birthday, Sienna wanted to be “like Jesus, feeding the less fortunate people”.
“My children loved God so much.”
Before and after the February 1 accident, Leila and Danny’s values stayed the same – God and family. In that order. And Leila’s fierce bond with God even helped her to not blame him for what happened.
“When that accident happened to my kids, my love for God was so strong that I kneeled down to pray to my Father,” remembers Leila. “I [said to] God, ‘I’m crying over my kids. I’m upset.’ And God has revealed to me, ‘You’re upset about your kids – but how do you think I am feeling over the lost souls?’ If anything, that made me relate to him rather than blaming him.”
“God created the heavens and the earth, so how is God feeling about the people who don’t recognise him?
As they have done in the public gaze this past year, Leila again turns our attention back to faith and trust in God, through Jesus Christ. Her discoveries about who God is and how he relates with us have come through immense suffering on her part – but she’s willing to share insights that we all need to grasp.
This ongoing display of Christian hope through the Abdallahs has been noticed by everyone from close neighbours to people they’ve never met on the other side of the world.
“They reach out to me to tell me how much they are affected and how it touched them,” describes Leila about how people from “everywhere” have steadily contacted her family. Just as Leila and Danny have done a remarkable job of counselling other people going through grief, they too have felt loved and supported by family members, total strangers – and God.
“Grieving is already hard. Imagine having to add to it anger and bitterness?” asks Leila. “This is where you end up in mental [anguish]. But when you are grieving and you free up your heart – and you forgive others – and you surrender to God, God will send you the peace from above.
“God will carry you through it and God will give you the strength to deal with everyday life.”
Leila has relied a lot upon God to get through everyday life. “The cross does get heavy, of course, because this is your kids. It’s your life. You are aching and hollow. The most precious gift in life is your kids. The most expensive thing in life has been taken away from us; half of my kids have gone to be with the Lord.”
“Any time you feel that the cross is too heavy, just ask God and he will give you the strength to keep going and keep going and keep going.”
Leila finds strength in prayer, listening to worship music or opening the Bible. “When you ask God to come to you and touch your heart, he will give you the peace that comes from above.”
“The strength doesn’t come from within; this strength comes from God.”
Leila and Danny know life is for a relatively brief time so they want to live well for God.
“In everything we want to do, I just want to serve the Lord with all our hearts and honour God and our kids. Really, that’s what matters to us.”
“I’m a shy person but the reason that I do media is that it my chance to honour God on television and media. For people to see God … and what he wants us to be.
“I love my God. I love my God.”
From eternity.com.au
Cell Ministry in the 21st Century
Not long after we moved to Narrabri, a town of 7000 people in the wheat belt of Eastern Australia, the Lord started talking to us about a “new thing” that He wanted to do with us in this place. We weren’t sure what this new thing was, but in 1996, we stepped out in faith and left our denomination to start New Life Christian Fellowship.
About that time, I read Ralph Neighbour’s book, “Where Do We Go From Here?” which documents in great detail the decline of the evangelical churches in the USA since the glory days of the 1950’s. That trend has only increased into the current century, as leaders have recognised that a whole generation has left the church.
This decline has also been felt in Australia, perhaps more so. Since I became a christian in 1976, churches generally have lost their influence in the community and many people are suspicious, even hostile, towards any expression of christian faith.
Ralph goes on to describe the new- old cell church paradigm for churches that was far more effective than the Program Based Design. While PBD churches add never-ending programs to meet the expressed needs of special groups in the church, the cell church disciples everybody in small groups designed to grow disciples and reach out to the local neighbourhood.
In the traditional style of church, Bible Studies were optional extras for the committed members, but in the cell church the cell was the primary expression of the church. Later on, Ralph would coin the phrase “Christ’s Basic Bodies” to describe the primacy of cell groups.
This description of cell church hit me as a revelation of what Jesus intended the church to be. I was so excited to be planting a church at the same time that I was seeing what we needed to do.
Over the last 24 years I have devoted my time and energy as a Pastor to encouraging my cell leaders and equipping them for their task. Of course we gather on Sunday morning for worship and preaching of the word, but my thoughts are always about growing our cell groups. At times it has been exhilarating, at other times disappointing. Regardless of my feeling at the time, we know this is the path God has set for us.
When we started out, I believed that we would eventually grow to be a church of 1000 people. When I prayed into that, I would envisage a large auditorium filled with a huge crowd of people. Now I see 100 cell groups spread across the town and the surrounding farm lands, shining the light of Christ into the darkness.
Following a television promotion some years ago, our town was crowned “The Sportiest Town in Australia,” but by God’s grace I hope that one day it will be “The Godliest Town in Australia” as our cell groups take seriously the commission to make disciples.
Cells And The New Testament
I love the fact that Cell Church is not a recent invention, but has always been at the heart of the way God’s people have discipled one another.
The Great Commission that Christ gave the church was to “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Evangelism is an important part of the process, but it is only the start, in the same way that child birth is just the start of parenting. Maturity is the goal in both cases.
Just as Jesus ministered to both “the crowds” and the Twelve, the church has often recognised that effective ministry has to operate as both celebration and cell.
In the New Testament we are given many commands that end in “one another.” These are the practical daily keys to growing in maturity as followers of Christ.
The most well known of these commands is Jesus’ command: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34). Love is a personal thing. You cannot love a thousand people in a large group. It is possible to love one another in a much smaller group where there is space to get to know one another and to share deeply.
In Romans 12:16, Paul tells us to “Live in harmony with one another.” I live in a town of 7000 people. We don’t need instruction to live in harmony with one another. As long as we show consideration for one another, remember to drive on the correct side of the road and don’t make too much noise at night, everyone is happy. When you need instruction to live in harmony with one another, that suggest that people are close up and personal and needing to make adjustments to their words and actions. We call that love in action.
Paul tells the church at Colossae (and us also), “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16). There is a measure of openness here that cannot be seen in a big group. Admonishing is counselling or exhorting someone to a course of action. That is very uncomfortable in a medium or large sized group. But it is what groups of 6 to 12 people do very well.
As you search through the Scriptures and find so many “one another” commands, you realise just how intimate and caring relationships in the church are meant to be.
We are called to live together in an open community where deep and loving relationships develop, but which encourages new members to feel included.
Hope For Every Impossible Marriage
Marriage is basically impossible without the grace of God. But when one partner is same-sex attracted, that’s beyond impossible, right? Wrong.
Laurie Kreig writes this in Ann Voskamp’s blog:
My heart felt icy. “Why am I even in this marriage?” I silently asked Jesus. “God, help me. Please, give me some hope.”
I clicked on a Christian podcast seeking to encourage married people. The gender joking began immediately: “Is it God’s big joke that He makes men and women get married?” I braced myself, guessing I knew what would come next. I’ve heard it dozens—if not hundreds—of times.
“Seeking unity through our differences preaches the gospel.”
“I mean, seriously! We all want to have sex before we get married, but then we get married, and surprise! Men like their sports, not talking emotionally, want lots of physical intimacy, and they want to be left alone in their ‘man caves.’ Women? They like Pinterest, talking emotionally, they don’t want sex, and they want to relate in their ‘she sheds.’ But! We are in a covenant, and God hates divorce, so, ha ha! Stinks to be us. We are stuck!”Click. I couldn’t listen anymore. My cold heart squeezed in pain.
Yeah. Why is it male-and-female marriage? If you all hate each other so much, why are you even married?
The weight of their gender jabs fell extra heavily on my ears. I wasn’t just wrestling with staying in my marriage to my husband, Matt; I was wrestling with staying in my marriage to a man.
We all have our own story and this is my story.
And I am grateful to vulnerably and humbly share my story, and grateful for people to hold space for my story and the way it unfolded.
For as long as I can remember, I have been attracted to women. After college, as I wrestled with either killing myself, or coming out as a lesbian atheist, I reached out to a therapist for help with the suicidality.
This Jesus-loving counselor not only helped to remove shame and self-hatred from my life—she helped me to encounter Jesus like I never had before.
Her work through the power of the Spirit did not transform me from gay to straight, but it cleared a path in my heart to receive more of God’s love.
Read the rest of the story here:
RJ Dawson: The Parable Of The Church Chairs
RJ Dawson writes:
Then Peter and John went to church.
It was the day after the Sabbath. The new padded church chairs had arrived from Antioch. The tasteful gray tones of each identical chair matched well with the muted shades of the carpet and fabric-covered acoustic wall panels.
Strolling to the front row, the two apostles looked forward to seeing their own new church chairs with their names scripted tastefully on the backrest, but otherwise denoting a pure spiritual humility in that the chairs were identical to all the others.
They had learned this from the Master, who had decided it best to no longer sit in His huge and decorative platform throne but down among the little people in a regular chair. And His new chair was a regular chair like all the rest, of course, except for being gold-plated, just a tad larger, with His name embossed, and with special wiring and comports to facilitate better communication and access to His laptop.
The usual comforting din of low voices and polite conversation had ceased momentarily as the two great men took their seats on either side of the big chair in the center of the first row like all the rest. Church was about to begin. All was in good order.
The church song leader and choir director strode to the front. Also known as Pastor of Music, he was beaming. Some thought it was because his new contract increased his salary to match that of the top 5% of mega church song leaders and choir directors across the land. But others whispered something about a new friend. The congregation had always admired his polished taste in manner and clothing, as well as his unashamed emotive expressions and being able to cry so easily at the moving of the Spirit. He always worked very hard at putting forth an excellent expression of taste and unity toward the outside community. He handpicked and/or created the choir robe fabrics, wall hangings, platform arrangements (though he abhorred the term “platform”), and all else associated with his music and performance. He believed that God deserved the very best and was thankful for the generous monetary outlays which allowed him to give God the very best.
Read the rest of this parable here
New Life Narrabri 