NOTHING LIKE A MOTIVATED PRAYER MEETING!

HopeAugust 27, 2016 – Author Hope Flinchbaugh shares…

I love to go to prayer meetings!

There is nothing like being in the same room with people who are motivated to seek God and find out what he’d like to do on planet earth.

Take last Thursday for example at our church’s small prayer meeting. We were all praying beautifully, but I had this sense that we were not breaking through to see God’s will accomplished in our little town.

Suddenly the Lord kindly gave me a picture in my mind – I saw many people who were intercessors standing outside together and everyone was looking up in the sky swinging (wielding) a sword or knife above their heads!

Knowing our position in Christ
Above these intercessors was a large dragon, much like a paper dragon or a float that people in China carry over their heads on Chinese New Year parades and celebrations. (more…)

SPRING’S COMING – AND GROWTH

Dr Robert & Maureen 0816 August 17, 2016 – Robert and Maureen McQuillan reflect on the season…

In the 1979 classic, Being There, Chance, a simpleminded gardener who has resided his entire life in the Washington, DC townhouse of an unnamed wealthy employer and only been educated by television, is brilliantly played by Peter Sellers.

Forced to vacate when the old man suddenly dies, wearing the deceased’s expensively tailored 1920/30s clothes, Chance wanders the unfamiliar streets.  An accident leads to meeting Ben Rand, a business mogul and confidant/adviser to the president.

His manners old-fashioned and courtly, Chance is presumed to be an upper-class, highly educated businessman, and mistakenly called Chauncey Gardiner. His simple words are repeatedly misunderstood as profound; in particular, his simplistic utterances about gardens and the weather are interpreted as allegorical statements about business and the state of the economy.

Growth has seasons
One conservation goes this way… (more…)

MEDICAL DOCTOR’S HEART ATTACK LED TO NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE IN HEAVEN

Mark Ellis newAugust 5, 2016 – Mark Ellis shares yet another incident of answered prayer and the supernatural…

As a staff physician at the University of Texas Health Center he was well acquainted with the symptoms of a heart attack. But this time, the MD wasn’t examining someone else – he was grappling with troubling signs of his own.

At home, Dr Gerry Landry (55) felt overwhelming fatigue and crushing pain in his chest for more than an hour. ‘Denise! This is serious! Please pray!’ he called out to his wife.

Peace defying understanding
Denise Landry began to pray after she called an ambulance. She also called Christian friends to pray. (more…)

WORDS OF LIFE (#1) – SALVATION

Jim McClureAugust 5, 2016 – Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, begins a series on some scripture words…

The Hebrew and Greek words of scripture are like inexhaustible mines and one finds new treasures each time the words are examined. 

I have selected just a few words from the Old and New Testaments and have sought to open them up to reveal just some of the amazing truths they contain. Firstly – salvation… (more…)

WAKEY, WAKE-AAAAY…LET’S BUILD TOGETHER

Dr Robert & Maureen 0816August 6, 2016 – Robert and Maureen McQuillan challenge both ministers and churchgoers…

Recently we’ve heard Christians comment that they feel God is giving them, their church, our nation, America and the world a wake-up call. Wake-up calls are meant to be acted on!

Decades ago, English bandleader Billy Cotton was particularly known for his rousing catchphrase intro to his BBC radio and television shows – ‘Wakey, Wake-aaaay! ’

A London choirboy, Cotton was awake to living life. Not yet 19 he had seen action in World War 1, become a pilot, worked at several jobs and commenced his own orchestra (even though he couldn’t play an instrument or read a word of music).

Billy Cotton

 

Billy Cotton went on to become a boxer and a racing driver and lived life to the full.  His was a life regarded as ‘a life less ordinary.’

This first August Encouragement article is a wakey,wake-aaaay call to both ministers and churchgoers!

Don’t miss out
Paul encouraged Jesus’ followers not to miss out on life: ‘So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded’ (1 Thes. 5:6NLT). (more…)

THE WORLD IS NOT WORTHY OF THEM

Erica GraceAugust 5, 2016 – Erica Grace, ex-missionary to South America, challenges us to remember unsung Hebrews 11 type heroes!

Have you ever known people in the ministry that you felt didn’t receive their due recognition? Marie Monsen was one of those people.

Born in Sandviken, Norway in 1878, Marie became a school teacher. She went to China in 1901 initially to help the missionary couple sent there by her Lutheran church who needed a teacher for their children.

But because of the national unrest and turn of events in China, the missionaries left shortly after Marie arrived. The mission agency back in Norway didn’t have the funds to send for Marie as well, so she stayed back waiting for her ticket to arrive.

So many people needing help
Erica 0816a Meanwhile, people kept coming to the mission home looking for help but Marie (left) was the only one there.  She would rush out to see what the emergency was and would face squalid conditions of starving, sick children. She didn’t know what do, she felt helpless and overwhelmed. The situations she faced each day seemed insurmountable. Her only solution to every situation would be to pray. (more…)

HANDLING THE BLACK DOG OF DEPRESSION (July 31, 2016)

Fred & Betty EvansFred and Betty Evans share good news…

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the western world affecting 40 million adults in the United States alone or 18% of the population.

According to Beyondblue on average, one in four people will experience anxiety at some stage in their life. Over two million Australians experience anxiety.

Recently a good pastor friend of ours, Ian Parker, preached a sermon on this subject which we thought was a succinct prescription of how to deal with this malady.

Here are some of his notes on how to deal with this often private and painful subject:

Depression is the most common form of emotional pain. There are levels of depression. Normal – Clinical – Manic. While some depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, most is caused by unfulfilled expectations. (more…)

THEBUZZ (July 29, 2016)

GLEANINGS:
WORLD – Global craziness! A call not to be silent!
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IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD INDEED!
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldThe title of that old 1963 movie is so appropriate today! Again and again it’s observed that so many people – and the world itself – are dashing madly somewhere but where? (more…)

WHAT IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN? (July 27, 2016)

Jim McClureDr Jim McClure, noted theologian, brings a biblical answer of hope to troubled souls…

At times I get theological questions from troubled people. Recently someone opened up to share a deep concern:  ‘I’ve been told that there is an unforgivable sin. Does the Bible really say that, and, if it does, how do I know whether or not I have committed it?’

Actually a number of people, even searching non-Christians, have poised this question over the years gives. And it gives rise to another question – ‘Is it possible to commit such a big sin or so many sins that we can go beyond the point where we can be saved?’ (more…)

EATEN BREAD SOON FORGOTTEN (July 25, 2010)

Dr Robert & Maureen (2)Robert and Maureen McQuillan share on the importance and value of being thankful…

As mentioned in our earlier Encouragement (https://connectingwithyou.net/2016/07/11/time-a-wasting-seize-the-day/) on July 7 we celebrated our 55th wedding Anny. We had a great day, as mentioned on Facebook!

We thanked each other for a wonderful lifetime together built on love, openness, understanding, respect, trust, faith, believing prayer and, of course, long-term commitment.

And we especially thanked God for each other, for all that he has done of us, enabling us to achieve much in life, and also graciously assisting us to use our abilities, skills and experiences to bless others and assist in building the kingdom.

Some things we did that day included going to a local morning opera – the brilliant La Prima Opera – Encore, then down the coast to a superb celebratory luncheon in Terindah Estate where we were hosted in a special celebratory way, and later back home relaxing over the delightful 1995 romantic drama, A Walk in the Clouds.

But something else, leading to this blog
First up we had collected our ‘old’ 2001 car after its service and new tyres fitted by good mechanic friend, Andrew. Despite the day being overcast with heavy rain falling, our vehicle went like the proverbial dream and we felt so safe and secure travelling along the busy, wet roads. (more…)