Experiences

MY BEST EVER CHRISTMAS GIFT

(December 12, 2023) Maureen McQuillan shares her testimony of her ‘special’ Christmas Day miracle gift…

Christmas Day is that special traditional time when we give thanks to our heavenly Father for the priceless gift of His Son Jesus who would become our Saviour.

For Robert and me, it’s also a very special day of thanking God for the gift of our precious daughter, Wendy, as she was born on Christmas Day. Indeed I give thanks to Father God not just at Christmas but many times during the year for Wendy – who when younger always reminded me, ‘Two pressies, Mummy; Christmas and my birthday, not together, but separately.’

I particularly give God thanks when out-of-the-blue I hear on TV news a latest remembrance of the horrible results of a particular dangerous tablet common back in the 60s. Why?

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MIRACLE IN THE RUINS!

(November 26, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares a great testimony of God’s caring miracle-wise…

Interesting articles this month (links below) by Angeline Selvakumari, Mama Lava, Richard Winter and Brian Bell on firmly standing our ground – spiritual battlefield ground – against Satan’s deceptions, troubles around us, false teachings, not walking behind Jesus but in Him.

Yes, in a nutshell we must continue to hold the fort (as Brian reminded us).

Decision
Last month I recalled some of my memories regarding learning to stand firm on my battlefield back in the 70s. Those enlightening experiences were in respect of Abbots Cross Congregational Church in Northern Ireland; and now another related priceless memory comes back to me regarding standing firm…

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STUNNED, SCARED, SHEPHERDED

(October 08, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares a breakthrough experience to encourage others, especially young believers feeling inadequate in serving Jesus…

According to Dr Fred Luskin, Stanford University, we have approximately 60,000 thoughts per day – 90% being repetitive!

Well, I woke up with one repetitive thought going round and round in my mind… and couldn’t switch it off! A simple but so meaningful eight-word scripture that’s had my back for decades. Then I started recalling the time some 50 years ago when that verse’s reality hit me, becoming an inner strength that I’ve never forgotten.

‘Which scripture?’ you ask, probably thinking everyone has some Bible verse that’s so meaningful to them.

  • True… John 3:16 for example: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ 
  • Maureen,  my darling wife, delights in Romans 15:13 – ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ 
  • What’s your favourite that you cling to in times of troubles?
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WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

(September 25, 2023) Mama Lava shares a devasting experience… and adds a warning about casual flippancy.

No doubt you’ve heard people casually saying, ‘God knows what is coming. So what could possibly go wrong?’ Said it yourself?

Famous last words, right? Oh, how I’m learning not to flippantly act like I am in control of anything!

Personal example…
I had hastily volunteered to babysit my grandkids, a day’s drive from my house, while my husband Michael and the girls went to a 2-day concert the weekend.

What could possibly go wrong, right?

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AMOS – GOD’S MESSENGER

(May  26, 2023) Brian Bell shares  from his heart… 

‘This message was given to Amos…’ These are the opening words of Amos 1:1NLT.

Possibly not one of the most frequently read books of scripture, here in my homeland of Northern Ireland the words in Amos 4:12 ‘… prepare to meet your God…’ have often been used as the basis for ‘evangelistic sermons.’

 Like other men God had chosen to speak His word, Amos had a very humble background. A shepherd, not what was regarded as an illustrious occupation, he came from a little town called Tekoa, some 12 miles (19k) south of Jerusalem.

God’s choices
Yet when it comes to choosing men to speak for Him, God is not primarily interested in their occupation, its status or lack of it, or their physical location. Remember how God called Noah to build the Ark and later Abraham from Ur to found the nation of Israel.

Move into the New Testament scriptures and we find Jesus chose a mixed bag of men, mostly fishermen but also a former tax collector, that have been described in scripture as ‘ignorant and unlearned men’ – a rather disparaging reference to the fact that they had not been tutored in the Rabbinical schools of the day!

God does the choosing and gives His word to those He chooses, so really all other factors are of secondary importance. Encouraging for you and me is that the Lord may enable any of us to speak on His behalf when the Holy Spirit enlightens our understanding to His word.

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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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DARK DAYS DIRECTIONS

(March 08, 2023) Norman and Margaret Moss reflect…

We were sitting in our car stuck in the middle of the road at the T junction a few hundred yards from our home in England. The engine had suddenly cut out and I, Norman, have seldom felt more helpless!

Cars passed by in all directions all intent on avoiding collision with ours, but failing to realise our predicament. However, soon people arrived, including two bright eyed youngsters eager to push and a strong man leaning through the window to help turn the steering wheel, since with the power steering gone I was not strong enough to turn it on my own.

Wrong directions
Together the group managed to park the car on a double yellow line at the side of the road. We decided to phone the AA. As we waited the night darkened and the cold increased. Then, suddenly very quickly it got pitch dark and I confess that I was afraid the AA vehicle would drive right past us.

At last we saw two blazing headlights coming towards us, shining brightly in the dark. Telling Margaret to sit tight, I eagerly stepped into the road and waved the van down, directing to a point close to us.

Obediently the driver started to turn the van round to head back towards us. Only then did I see the large letters on its side… AMBULANCE! Oh no, I thought, this isn’t an AA van! I’ve misdirected this vehicle which is no doubt rushing to aid someone in trouble!

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HEEEEELP, HOLY SPIRIT!

(December 07, 2022) Robert McQuillan shares…

I was warned decades ago when I first attended Friday night church prayer meetings about a ‘longwinded “Mrs XYZ”’ – that ‘She’ll go on and on, praying all around the world about everything and forget to stop and let others pray!’

Spiritual prayer
When we encourage people to pray, Maureen and I point out that we don’t have to pray long prayers. God will hear us, even if it’s only the shortest prayer! He sees our circumstances, knows our concerns. We simply be sincere, ask in Jesus’ name and trust God. Trusting means leaving it with Him, never trying ‘to take it back.’

The Holy Spirit, third person of the Godhead, is our helper, and will bring God’s answer. We tell folk our own prayers are sometimes brief… with our thoughts and spiritual eyes on Him! Merely ‘Help, Holy Spirit’, even ‘Heeeeelp, Holy Spirit.’ Sometimes just a desperate ‘Heeeeelp!’ Now that really rocks their boat!

No, we’re not being irreverent, dishonouring God, misusing Jesus’ name, and belittling the Spirit! Our hope is in our heavenly Father whom we know deeply in our hearts, and that He loves, His spiritual children.

Spiritual S.O.S.
Such a plea is a spiritual S.O.S call! When there isn’t time for a long prayer, that unless God moves quickly, immediately, all will be lost. It’s a little child’s cry from the heart, a ‘Daddy’ wail as it were.

Paul wrote, ‘Because you are His children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By His power we call God “Abba.” Abba means Father’ (Romans 8:4NIRV). Complete Jewish Bible reads… ‘Abba that is “Dear Father.”’

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KINDNESS MATTERS

(November 27, 2022) America’s Mercy Health releases good info monthly as part of their concern for everyone in showing the compassion of Jesus, such as these (excerpted) thankful stories featuring team members, patients and the wonderful communities they feel blessed to serve…

1). Teamwork saves mushroom poisoning patient’s life
A family group came to Mercy Health – West Hospital, sick from eating wild mushrooms foraged in nearby woods. While most were able to recover with minimal treatment and return home, one remained extremely ill.

‘The patient was admitted and liver tests kept getting worse,’ shares Dr Kevin Cronley, one of our gastroenterologists, and director of endoscopy.

There were no other health issues that could explain the worsening numbers. The relatively young patient’s health got so bad that Dr Cronley was exploring placement on the liver transplant list.

Dangerous mushrooms
From what the patient said, Dr Cronley knew what the family had foraged was the likely cause of the illness. About the same time the family came to the hospital, local media started reporting cases of people sick from eating highly toxic wild mushrooms.

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T’WAS A COLD WINTRY NIGHT, NERE A SOUND WAS HEARD…

(October 15, 2022) Maureen McQuillan recalls a childhood experience of the goodness of our miracle-working God…

Now that title may sound like the beginning of a ghost story, but it’s not. Although I could say the beginning of a Holy Ghost tale.

Background
My husband, Robert, had been sharing my childhood miraculous healing experience with some friends recently, and felt I should write about it as an encouragement to others. Especially as over the past couple of years we’ve been hearing of several committed Christians, particularly ministries, becoming seriously unwell.

As regular readers know, we strongly believe that our loving heavenly Father is the healing and miracle-working God; that in times of illness we pray to Him, asking with confidence for His help; reflect on scriptures such as 1 Peter 2:24 – ‘By His stripes you were healed’; leave it with Him, trusting Him; and then do the sensible thing – see a medical professional.

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