Author: Life Focus Ministries

Who are we? Dr Robert McQuillan is recognised as an inspiring encourager, counsellor, mentor to ministries and Bible teacher ministering meaningfully on the prophetic edge. Robert and Maureen, a gifted communicator with an uncanny insight into knowing 'where people are at', delight to bless and encourage God's people and ministries... and touch the hearts of the unchurched in the marketplace. Contact: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com

HOW ARE YOU HANDLING HOLY WEEK?

(April 05, 2023) Mama Lava caringly asks a question…

Hi again! How are you all?

I’m honoured that you’ve joined me on the Back Porch today! And I have a sincere question for you… How are you handling Holy Week?

I don’t mean your plans, agendas, and schedules. I am not asking about church services, egg hunts, and family gatherings. I am referring to your inner wellbeing.

Are you conflicted? Do you recognise the joyous meaning of Easter, but find it difficult to overcome the lofty burdens you are currently carrying?

Me too! It can be challenging to focus on victory when we feel threatened by defeat. But God is ministering to me through an unlikely character in the Easter story, the stone.

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BLACK FRIDAY! BRIGHT NEW TOMORROW!

(April 5, 2023) Robert McQuillan recalls last Easter… 

Why last Easter? you ask. It’s almost this Easter, Good Friday is only a couple of days away!

That’s the very reason I’m recalling last Easter, especially Good Friday. Oh I know we’ll be rejoicing come Resurrection Sunday when we’ll all joyfully praise God for the fact that Jesus overcame death, defeating what’s called the last enemy (Acts 2:24)! Hallelujah!

But… think about Friday, Good Friday, the most solemn day of what we call Holy Week. This is the day when Christians bemoan the fact that Jesus went through so much agony and pain even before He was treated as a criminal and nailed to an ugly cross on Calvary’s hill!

So what was good about that? Who came up with the ridiculous title of Good Friday? So strange, so weird! I would have called it Black Friday! 

Actually it appears no one knows who first called it Good Friday. Some think that maybe somebody first termed it God’s Friday, anticipating all that God was achieving through His Son’s sacrifice on Calvary –

  • All our sins forgiven.
  • A clean slate for us on genuine repentance and accepting Jesus as Saviour.
  • An incredible relationship with God (first one having been broken back in Eden).
  • A guarantee of heaven and home for eternity!
  • God’s public announcement of His love for humankind. (As Dr Richard Winter writes in The Cross-Centrepiece of the Gospel of Christ).
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THE CROSS: CENTREPIECE OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

(April 03, 2023) Richard Winter highlights the deeper meaning of Calvary’s cross…

Anyone who has ever attended a wedding should be familiar with centrepieces. They tend to be the focus or centre of attention… it is the central or most important feature. The centrepiece of the wedding is the bride; the centrepiece of the reception is the couple.

In other arenas of life we can see that the centrepiece of –

  • Philosophy is the love of wisdom.
  • Science is knowledge
  • History is facts.
  • Most religions is works.

God’s centrepiece
The most important centrepiece of all time is the centrepiece between the Old and New Testaments – the cross of Calvary where our Saviour Jesus hung between two thieves.

That cross is the centrepiece of the gospel. And why? It focuses our attention, especially on Good Friday, on Jesus who alone is our salvation!

In Jesus’ day crosses were seen as death and defeat. But Jesus wasn’t defeated! The blood that spilled from His wounded side –

  • Drowned death,
  • Extinguished the flames of hell, and
  • Completely covered the accusations of our enemy the devil!
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WHEN THE CROSS BECOMES AN IDOL…

(April 03, 2023) Geri B challenges…

We have all heard the saying, ‘The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history!’   And unfortunately, this can oft be said that as Christians we ignore the lessons of the Old Testament, the warnings of the New Testament, and repeat the sins of Israel in our day and age.

Let me hone in on one example: that of the elevation of the symbol of the cross not only in traditional denominations, but also increasingly throughout independent and pentecostal churches; which at times overshadows the work of redemption done by Christ through the shedding of His blood  that washed away our sins forever.

I would even go so far as to say that the cross has become a focus for worship, rather than the Lord Jesus Christ! Not deliberately I suspect; but most certainly in a way that detracts from the focus on Christ that God the Father requires.

We are lifting up a cross, and an empty one at that; rather than exalting the one who was crucified on it, and who has the power to grant us life, eternal life!

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IN THE GARDEN

(April 02, 2023) Richard Winter reflects…

It’s often said that in the olden days things were different. Some will remember in those olden days that we had a garden at the back of our home… we grew most of our vegetables, some flowers and some fruit trees.

Everybody loves a garden. Whether you like to work in a garden, whether you plant it, or just like walking through one that somebody else has done all the work in, there is beauty in a garden.

The Holy Bible has a lot to say about either gardening or planting, or sowing and harvesting. Gardens feature in scripture from the beginning of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation. All of them are important to God’s plan… three on this earth, one not.

The three earthly ones were places of sadness, although the third became a place to rejoice over! And the fourth? Well let’s look at these four pivotal biblical places that have changed the way God’s people live… and can live.

The first garden was creation…

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GOD ON THE MOVE SUPERNATURALLY

(March 31, 2023) Steve Rees reports for GodReports…

A fourth-generation pastor, Scott Pearson echoes the Lord Jesus in saying that –

  • The fields are ripe for harvest.
  • To reap lost souls.
  • The church should look to the Book of Acts for inspiration and power!

Co-founder of a school of supernatural ministry, Pastor Pearson believes it’s time for the church to wake up and perform the works described in Acts. For 20 years, he has carried the presence of God outside the four walls of his church performing signs, wonders and miracles in the lives of thousands of people at restaurants and malls, on city streets, and even in a biker bar.

God is on the move
‘It’s time to do more than just sit in a church service and watch others or hear about what others are doing. It’s time for us to take God outside the four walls of the church and bring the kingdom everywhere we go,’ Pastor Pearson says.

His recently published first book, God on the Move, is like a modern-day sequel to Acts. Pearson practices what he preaches. Subtitled Encountering the Love of God, this book is filled with testimonies of salvation, healing and deliverance. A half-dozen significant testimonies of God’s healing power will fill the pages of his second book.

Once a week, Scott Pearson (right) prays for the sick at a healing room where many people report complete recoveries from cancer and other illnesses. For many years, he taught courses on evangelism and supernatural encounters to Youth With A Mission (YWAM) students preparing for ministry during what’s called Holy Spirit Week. He hopes more opportunities arise to share testimonies of God’s miraculous acts.

Supernational encounters
Four months into 2023, God continues to supernaturally save, heal, restore and deliver people through Pearson’s dependence on the Holy Spirit who, he says, will move through anybody.

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MARCH UPDATE & ROUNDUP

(March 30, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, shares and requests further prayer…

During March we prayed concerning the following –

EGYPT
(1) Brutalised grandmother
Regarding the vexatious civil lawsuit being brought by three Muslim men against Mrs Thabet, the Christian grandmother whom they brutalised, there is no further news.

(2) Adoption denial
As reported in RLPB 686 (March 22), the court declined to rule in the lawsuit brought by a Christian couple regarding their right to adopt Shenouda, a boy they had raised for four years since he was found abandoned inside a church as a newborn [RLPB 682 (March 1)]. Consequently, the State’s decision stands: Shenouda (5) will not be returned to his adoptive Christian parents. It is imperative that the law be amended to give Christians the legal right to adopt children under Christian Family Law.

TURKEY: Concerning adoption
Islam permits guardianship (foster care) for orphaned and abandoned children. However, it bans adoption so as to ensure non-biological children do not receive inheritance. On February 6, Turkey was struck by a series of devastating earthquakes which are estimated to have killed up to 46,000 people. In response to questions about whether children orphaned by the quake could be adopted, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) issued a fatwa (religious ruling) explaining that, while Islam bans adoption, ‘there is no obstacle for marrying’ earthquake-affected children.

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PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES QUERIES

 

(March 28, 2023) Dr Robert McQuillan shares thoughts on this query…

Dr Robert
It’s been quite some years since we attended a pentecostal church having moved interstate and not finding one in the new city we moved to. Having recently moved again, we found a few in our new home town. But we’ve been surprised to find no one speaking in tongues during the service in any church we visited. I mean, we were always used to free flowing worship and towards the end someone (even up to three) would speak in tongues and someone would bring the interpretation. It was always an encouraging time, even if some challenge came through.

Also, at some point, usually after the announcements, the pastor would ask if anyone had a testimony to share, and usually two or three people would indicate that they had. And it was a time of joy and clapping of hands unto the Lord as people willingly came to the front and testified how God had blessed them in answering prayer.

But we haven’t come across this happening in any of the pentecostal churches we’ve visited. Doesn’t this happen anymore in pentecostal churches? Sarah.

Hi Sarah

I’m sorry to say that I too have noticed this for many, many years in pentecostal churches visited. Nor have I observed pentie pastors sharing prophetic messages or words of knowledge! Altar calls for prayer healing, yes. Sad really as I know the blessing speaking in tongues, followed by interpretation (as in 1 Corinthians 12:10) brought to hearts, as did prophetic words! I can well recall when Maureen and I would be ministering in certain pentecostal churches and would speak words of knowledge over certain people, the congregations rejoiced. But afterwards some pastors would ask in wonder, ‘How did you know (such and such) about “So and So”?’

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DEFEATING LIFE’S GIANTS

(March 28, 2023) Brian Bell shares a timely meditation…

David’s encounter with the giant Goliath is recorded in 1 Samuel 17 and must surely be one of the most well-known scriptural records.

Many of us have profited from the life of David and his experience of the Lord and we are familiar with his many encouraging psalms. In revisiting this topic, I offer some thoughts which, while they may not be new, I personally found them beneficial.

A defiant giant  
The scriptural record in 1 Samuel tells us about Goliath’s defiance of God and also of David who alone came to face him. I see Goliath as a type of spiritual opposition – which is still prevalent today! Even manifested through actual people who may say harsh, unkind, even untrue words to us or about us, just as Goliath did with David.

The apostle Paul tells us we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 6:12). This tells me ‘flesh and blood’ people are used to be defiant against the Lord’s work, the Lord’s word and the Lord’s people.

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LOOKING BACK… OR AHEAD?

(March 26, 2023) Maureen McQuillan brings great encouragement … 

It’s almost April and in a couple of weeks with joy and thanksgiving we’ll remember all that our Saviour Jesus did for us to assure our salvation.

April 2023 already!
And still the world is one of uncertainty for many! Crime increases, Ukraine is still suffering from Russian attacks, speculation about China’s intentions, covid is still here, scams, hacking, life savings losses, higher interest rates, more earthquakes… and other bad news that we hear about daily!

For many life has had its disappointments: even today some tragedy could befall even a Christian. It’s a time when so many people need encouragement, even a simple but meaningful thank you!

Are you perchance looking back with regrets? Wondering what’s next, or what to do about some issue? Today’s scripture was Hebrews 11:2 and good news – ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’

Now there’s a different way to spell faith! C-o-n-f-i-d-e-n-c-e! It’s the key to getting through each day, whatever comes along.

Shattered dreams
Currently Robert and I are re-watching that brilliantly produced Foyle’s War series set in England during the terrifying days of WW2. We were only babies quickly becoming children back then, but we can recall the sirens warning of German bombers, of being hurried by our parents to shelters. (Would you believe that my family’s hidey hole was the cupboard under the stairs! Not that that would have protected us!).

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