Help, my heart is not formed properly…
We found this little family a few weeks ago. Mum, Eli is 19, dad, Rowel is 21, they have a 2 year old girl and a little boy who is 4 months old. The baby, Rainiel has a heart problem. One of the walls in his heart has not formed properly. He is very malnourished, so tiny. In the photo look at the wrinkles in his little arms, poor fellow, will need a miracle to survive. He has some medications from the hospital and is monitored and seen by the hospital often. His mum seems very dedicated to him. The father, although a boy himself, works hard and they are trying their best…but how hard can life get for two children who have children. There would be nearly no education at all between the 2 parents. We often talk about peoples “lot in life”, well how would you like this to be yours…
We had a decent rain a few days ago and their whole house was soaking wet, we have since put a new roof on for them and fixed up a couple of walls on their home. Chris is taking vitamins for Rainiel every few days, we are helping with scans and transport money to and from the hospital. We are trying to save his little life.
If there is ever a need to pray, now is simply it. We say that often for the more extreme cases that we find, and truly prayer is so often the only answer.
Marco Robedillo…great preaching…
Marco Robedillo, the husband of our main pastor, Marivic, preached for perhaps the second time just recently…here is a very simple summary of what he said, very profound…
His sermon was maybe 25 minutes long, he used three main verses of scripture, and here is what he said…
“One of the problems facing the world today is poverty. Poverty is such a big problem because there is so much sin in the world. The only way to fix poverty is to fix sin. The only way to fix sin, is for people to come to Jesus.” He then made a comment about judgement…”The bible teaches us not to judge. If you judge your current situation or problem, say with poverty, you might think that you can come up with your own solution, but your only solution is to come to Jesus. He is the only one that can fix poverty, as He is the only one who can remove sin.”
How profound is that from a simple young man out of a slum.
Missionaries Wanted…must be qualified…aren’t we all…?
Here are some shots of Don Bosco, Temporary Housing – horrible place that is in need of Churches and Church Planters…check out the photo’s…what could you and Jesus do here.
You must be qualified to work in places like this, even though Jesus said “Go into all the world and make Disciples”, many don’t seem to think that this applies to them, it’s only applicable to those around them…
Some qualifications you will need to work in this place…
- An all consuming passion for Jesus and equal passion for people…
- You must not love your life, you must love the lives of others more than your own…
- You must be prepared to loose your life…maybe literally…
- You must not want earthly security, possesions and wealth…
- You must be prepared to “GO” even if someone won’t recognise you or “SEND” you…Jesus has recognised you and He has sent you already…
- You must be prepared to “GO” even without all of the resources and money in the bank…
- You must be prepared to really live by faith – not by your paycheck or offerings…you can learn this on the job, more than likely this will be the best way you can learn this lesson…
- Jesus must be your source for all things…
- You must listen to God first, well before man…(man does not like this, many people think that they are the voice of God for you)…
- You must run everything man tells you to either do or not do, by Jesus first, not the other way around…this might mean you often “dis-obey” man – so you might be seen as rebellious and un-submissive…
- You must either know how to pray, or be prepared to learn on the job…(on the job, is one of the best ways to learn)…
- You will need to fast, even when you don’t feel like it…
- You will need to understand that money is not the solution for everything, and that your level of faith or success is not always measured by your income…
Many of these qualifications don’t fit well with some of the theologies if “wisdaom” and “prosperity”…but they do fit well with the basic teachings of the gospel and with Jesus last words “TO GO”…
If you look at all of these qualifications and think I can’t do all of those things, don’t worry, because in reality there are no qualifications except to “BE BORN AGAIN”. If you are born again, you will follow Jesus and He will lead you to the lost.
Go back over the pictures, look at them, see the people (not the place) and ask yourself how can me and Jesus help that person…and then come and “DO IT”…
Bless you – Mark
Christianity – the Miracle
Christianity – the MIRACLE…
God is a Miracle and a Miracle worker, so is Jesus Christ, so are WE…
2 Peter 1:2-4, Col’ 1:27, John 14:12
Therefore, Christianity and Christians must be Living Miracles…
If we remove the Miraculous from Christianity, we are left with nothing but religion. Religion can, and usually does have the form of Christianity, but with no power to save or change anything or anyone…it can only ever be a “shadow”, it has no substance. But in the darkness of a shadow, in a dimly lit light, people will still find a place to hide and an element of comfort, perhaps a sense of peace, all of which is false, as they preform religious rituals that appease the soul and conscience of man, but change nothing.
A false miracle worker, false religion or a church movement that has lost it’s spiritual life and ability, will still draw men because of our desire to know either God or Truth, and because of the universal desire for changes that we don’t seem to be able to accomplish by ourselves.
The only saving grace in religion is this – when a person is “truly seeking the Truth”, no matter where that search begins, the Holy Spirit will guide that person to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
And once people find Jesus, they find the miracle they have been looking for.
If you have no peace, no certainty, if you are unsure about life or death, if you are not sure what is the Truth of religion, then PRAY. Ask whoever you believe to be god to show you the Truth – God will Himself, draw you to Jesus.
A caution is this – do not think your church or your pastor is “Infallible”, by all means get involved in church life and activities, support your local church, but make Jesus Christ the centre of your being, let the Holy Spirit constantly lead and guide you, as we can seek for the Truth, find the Truth and still slip into error if we ever put our faith and trust in man.
Bless you – Mark
Make Miracles Common PLace…
Determine to Make Miracles “Common Place” in your Life and World…
Jesus…the name that carries within it, “miracle working power”…
Jesus, His birth, life, death and resurrection were all miracles. He walked in the realm of the miraculous, He made miracles common place amongst men…
And perhaps one of the greatest miracles He accomplished was to give man the ability to preform miracles as He did. The day of Penticost was an incredible, unending miracle, that empowered and released men to be, in many ways, like God Himself. After this incredible day a virtual river, and unending stream of miracles flowed from the hands of apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ, as the Christ in them, flowed out through them in the person of the Holy Spirit, using the authority that is in the Name of Jesus.
Man is the offspring of “THE” Miracle Worker. Embedded deep in the very nature of man, fallen or otherwise, there is an unquenchable desire for miracles, new things, that have never been done before…it’s one of the reasons that we are so inventive and creative.
Christianity (even the beginning of humankind) began in miracles, continues in miracles, every salvation is a miracle, every answer to prayer, every victory over temptation…they are all miracles, in reality we are surrounded by miracles, things that man cannot explain.
When reason, human logic, finance, planning and strategies take over normal christian life, christianity will loose more than she realizes. Christianity is not a religion and it is definitely not a business, it is the continual manifestation of the heart, the nature and the love of a Living God…it’s a living miracle to be outworked daily in the world of man.
Man craves miracles, they fascinate him, they draw him, they challenge him. Whenever there rises up a man or women whose prayers are consistently heard and responded to by God, multitudes will flock to them to both see and receive miracles. There is a deep seated desire in man for God, which is reason every religion on the planet exists, there would be no religion at all if this desire was not present in men.
Determine to Make Miracles “Common Place” in your Life and World…
How…faith and prayer are miracle working forces in our lives and then the world…intimacy with Jesus is the only answer, develop it for yourself.
Intimacy with Jesus will fix my sin problem, will change my attitudes, will break patterns and habits in my life and bring freedom in all areas. No one can develop my intimacy for me (read that line again and again…) I must do it myself.
Unfortunately there have been thousands upon thousands of “How To Books” written for christianity (some of them are great, life changing, very inspiring, but many are simply for profit and of no use at all in developing spirituality)…there are no “short cuts”, I must get on my face before the Living God and develop intimacy with Him myself.
Bless you – Mark
