Update! Why no-one seems to want the Love of God?

On October 12th I posted how I believe that God had answered my question of why no-one had made a profession of Christ's saving and keeping power in their lives.
God, as you can read on the post, gave me something to think about as regards the fact that His ways and timings are not always what we want in our haste.

I thank God as the seed was sown that one young man the following week trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as His own and personal Saviour.

What a joy it is to know that God is still in the unchanging position of plucking brands out of the fire.
The old devil seeks to keep the Gospel hid:
 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Satan continues to try and keep the gospel away from those who are at one with their sinful ways.
Why?
Because he knows that it will release them them from the curse of sin and that they will have peace with God.

Praise God for the Gospel.

Peter Skillen
www.braehillbaptist.org

Attacks you will not hear about on the TV News

506 ROCKETS/SHELLS FIRED ON ISRAEL THIS YEAR (Friday Church News Notes, October 26, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -

 

 On October 17 a rocket exploded next to a Jewish kindergarten in the Israeli Negev (“Rock Attacks This Year,” Israel National News, Oct. 17, 2012).

That was the 506th rocket or mortar shell that fell on Israel this year, an average of almost two a day.  

The facts speak for themselves.

Peter Skillen

www.braehillbaptist.org

Why no-one seems to want the Love of God?

The question may well be asked 'Why has there been no-one saved yet through the faithful preaching of the Gospel during this week of mission'?
In answer to my prayer God reveals His Word on the matter through a daily reading book by H A Ironside that I would use.

2 Cor 9:10 - Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; The seed is sown; there is no doubt about that. That's the Word of God's Gospel preached in its fullness. We see no results perhaps immediately yet we believe the harvest is sure.God states that His Word will not return unto Him void:

Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. It will accomplish and prosper where He sends it.We who sow the seed have that hope that the Holy Spirit will encourage the germination of the seed to bring glory to God's name.  Peter Skillen www.braehillbaptist.org  

Mission 2012

Hi All
 
Our series of Gospel meetings started on Sunday 7th October and at this time we have only two nights left.
It has been a privelage to have such a speaker as Graham Anderson from Rathfriland. He has given all who attended a great insight of the love that God has for all in this world through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Over 2300 invites have been passed into the surrounding community with a church produced leaflet called the 'Braehill Beacon'.
 
Many in our society call for peace and reconciliation yet they fail to even look at the one person who has the complete and perfect answer - the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Many believe the lie of the devil himself who wants no-one to see this Gospel that brings peace to the soul. Many will laugh at the existance of this person called Satan yet we only have to look around us even in recent times of how he empowers people to evil.
 
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
 
There is no doubt that the god of this world desires all to remain in a lost condition before God.
 
If you can come to the last two nights of the mission you would be very welcome. Come with an expectant mind and God will not fail in presenting Truth to you.
 
Details are at www.braehillbaptist.org
 
Peter Skillen

Religion! Who would have it?

This article was published in Oct 2012 in Braehills publication 'Braehill Beacon:

First of all at the outset I want to say that I don’t ‘do religion’. Religion appears to be something that is very divisive and many are fed up with it. Strange as it may seem we at Braehill also have the same thought. You might well find that strange and say ‘surely you are involved in religion by just being a church’.

Of course it depends on what you believe that religion is.  Collins dictionary defines religion as this: ‘belief in, worship of or obedience to a supernatural power or powers considered to be Divine or to have control of human destiny’.
As regards a human view on religion this is a reasonably fair definition, however why does religion then cause so much controversy in our wee country and most of the world?
I would suggest to you that it is mankind’s general application of religion that causes grief in so many areas of life. I have asked many people the question ‘Do you believe in God? Many answer  ‘yes’. I then ask do you believe what He says through His Word which we call ‘The Bible’?  Many again answer ‘yes’.   Yet when pushed many disregard the Bible and say well I do my best when it comes to God.
When we see God’s Word as just a set rules to obey that’s when many become religious in their outlook on life.
Many feel they are required to give money, attend services, be at communion, sing hymns, give to the poor, endure listening to the preacher and many other activities which they feel satisfy God in some way.
Nothing could be further from the truth. God does not want anyone to be religiously following rules and regulations in the belief that it will gain them entry into heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ stated in the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 6 : I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

So what stops men, women and children from having access to God? It is a thing called sin. Sin can be defined ‘as missing the mark’. What mark?

God has a standard that He has shown us through His Law – you might know of it as the ‘Ten Commandments’ or ‘The Law’. These are said by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians as being mankind’s schoolmaster:  
 Gal 3:24 - Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

There is no way that we come up to God’s standard or even come near it. When we look at the sin in the world and truthfully even in our own lives we see that we miss the mark completely. The question is: Is there a price to be paid?

As with all failures yes there is. God says:
Romans 6:23a - For the wages of sin is death;
God knew this and this is why He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to pay those wages because He knew that you and I could not pay them . 
All we need to have is that repentance (being sorry for our sin and turning around to God) in faith in the one who has paid the debt for us and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s that simple. He loved you and stood in your place of punishment.   
We don’t need to be religiously living a life of dos and don’ts. It’s a life of all do’s – do have your sins forgiven, do have eternal life, do be sure of a God who loves you, do be saved for eternity.
There are so many more do’s.

Trust in the Saviour who paid the debt of sin for you, by dying, shedding His blood and rising again.
He is that surety of sins forgiven through repentance and your place with Him for evermore.

Peter Skillen
www.braehillbaptist.org

INVENTOR OF THE MRI SAYS EVOLUTION IS SCIENCE FICTION

Another informative article from David Cloud www.wayoflife.org

INVENTOR OF THE MRI SAYS EVOLUTION IS SCIENCE FICTION

 MAY 10, 2012 - (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org)

The following is excerpted from an interview with Dr. Raymond Damadian that was conducted in January 2012 by Shem Dharampaul of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Dharampaul is a Fellow of the College of Physicians in Canada and is trained in nuclear medicine.

 Dr. Damadian, biophysicist, is the recipient of the Lemelson-MIT Achievement Award as “the man who invented the MRI scanner.” In 1988 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology, America’s highest award for applied science, and a year later, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame, an honor he shares with Thomas Edison, Samuel Morse, and the Wright Brothers. The first MRI scanner that Dr. Damadian and his colleagues built in 1977, “The Indomitable,” resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

 QUESTION: Why do you believe that the Bible is true?

 DAMADIAN: If you take the trouble to examine the evidence supporting the Bible and contradicting alternative theories, from my perception, the evidence is overwhelmingly in support of the biblical record and vacates alternative thoughts such as evolution. The evidence for evolution is non-existent. In my opinion, evolution is science fiction.

 QUESTION: Does the Bible’s account of creation contradict any known facts of science?

 DAMADIAN: No. Absolutely not. In my opinion evolution contradicts them.

 QUESTION: What things would you think that evolution contradicts in terms of known facts of science?

 DAMADIAN: Just as an example, it contracts the first law of thermodynamics. It contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. And it contradicts a major, fundamental law of physics, which is the law of cause and effect. The effect can never be greater than the cause, but evolution has to start with slime mold and end up with a human being. So that is an outright contradiction of the law of cause and effect. The second law of thermodynamics says that everything is running downhill. All of the processes of nature are degenerating to the point where the ultimate outcome is going to be equilibrium where no actions of any kind occur because you have a universal equilibrium. Evolution says the opposite. Evolution says that by the sheer process of chance things are not running downhill, they are getting progressively more perfected. That is an outright contradiction of the second law of thermodynamics. Evolution ducks the question of where does matter come from. The only way you can start is that you have to make something out of nothing. You have to start with nothing and end up with matter. When you go from nothing to something you are violating every one of the laws of physics that we know about. The first law of thermodynamics, the second law of thermodynamics, and the law of cause and effect.

 QUESTION: Why do you not accept evolution, since it is widely held among scientists today?
DAMADIAN: The way I would answer that is because there is no evidence for it. The known scientific evidence contradict it.

 QUESTION: Do you know other scientists who reject evolution?

 DAMADIAN: Oh, many. In fact, my general impression is that among the scientists in America the rejection of evolution is growing very rapidly. Today there is a massive amount of material that has been written by scientists against evolution. There are many textbooks written by scientists that challenge evolution for its lack of scientific evidence. One of my favorite quotes in this context is that of Sir Fred Hoyle, the British astronomer, who said to the effect that if you can believe that the human body originated from an antique life form such as slime mold entirely by chance, you should have no trouble believing that a hurricane blowing through a junkyard will yield a 747 passenger jet.

 QUESTION: What message would you like to convey to young people growing up in church today?

 DAMADIAN: I would like for them to understand that there is no scientific evidence for evolution, that evolution is science fiction, and that the real science is what Genesis describes. Genesis is the only characterization of origins that is consistent with all of the scientific evidence that we have.

 QUESTION: What would you consider the most important thing in your life to be?

 DAMADIAN: The belief and understanding that Jesus is exactly who He said He is, that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died and was crucified, and that He indeed was resurrected. And with that understanding there is nothing else to say, because Jesus says Himself as the Son of God He was there at the beginning and was there at the genesis of Creation.

 QUESTION: What do you consider to be the most important book in your life?

 DAMADIAN: The most important book is not even debatable; it is the Bible. The source of wisdom and understanding of all of that we experience and all that we know comes from the Bible. And the more that you study it and the more that you read it the more you advance your wisdom and understanding which is fundamental to everything that you do, and your future.

QUESTION: How can you be sure of going to heaven?

 DAMADIAN: In John 3:3, Jesus makes this unequivocal. Jesus said, Except that a man be born again he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And John 3:16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Distributed by Way of Life Literature Inc.’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.  We take up offerings to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 29th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/publications/index.html. Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but only from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/wayoflife/makeanoffering.html. PAYPAL offerings c an be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org

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Are you satisfied with what God says?

Last week I preached a message that looked at the Grace that we receive from God in our everyday lives. A dear minister and friend who taught me in the past of the Truth of God's Word always defined Grace as 'the free unmerited love of God'.
 Many preachers that I have come across would insert the word 'favour' instead of love however I believe that favour towards us is centred in His love.
The subject that I was looking at was the Apostle Paul who it appears had 'a thorn in the flesh' which was causing him grief.
That's something all of us possibly can relate to in this life.
Paul had spoke to God about this matter three times - 2 Corinthians 12 - and God had answered him in a way that satisfied Paul and allowed his ministry of the Gospel to continue.
2 Corinthians 12:9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
I write on this subject because I see in the faithful 'Church' - the body that the Lord Jesus Christ will return in rapture for - a decline in in listening and applying what God is saying to us.
There appears always to be a search for more than that gift of Salvation that God has given through His Son.
More and more there is a sense that the Christan wants to do it his/her way rather than God's Way. Of course the way that God wants us to live is through His Word and being lead by the Holy Spirit into all truth. - John 16:13.

Yet it seems that even God's Word on many matters is not enough. We see that He states that Salvation is without works of any kind, yet many want to include things like, Baptism, good works, Church sacraments and even church membership as a means to Salvation and a relationship with God..
Surely one prayer for us as believers should be that we pay more attention to what God says rather than what man or others say as regards the Christian walk.
2 Timothy 3:16-17All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

 NB It is only when we are 'of God' that the good works kick in.

Paul was satisfied with the Word from God.
That of course begs the question for many of us - are we satisfied with God's preseved Word on the manner of our lives or do we just crave for our own way.
 Is our Bible just a book that doesn't relate to you any more?

Consider God's Word on the matter.

Psalm 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Psalm 12:7  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

www.braehillbaptist.org