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"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning" (John 15:26,27).
Last
night we heard a mission presentation by Jake and Nancy Shenk who first
went to Africa in 1958. Jake recently had some health problems and was
discharged from a 15 day stay in the hospital only the day before.
Nevertheless he and Nancy were in our service and plan to return to
Africa as soon as he is able. They continue to bear a burden for the
needy souls of the African people after serving in that continent over
50 years.
Many
years ago Brooksyne and I read a book titled "For This Cross I'll Kill
You" by missionary Bruce Olson. It's the testimony of his ministry as
he took the gospel message to the Motilone Indians of South America
when he was only 19 in 1961. As he lived among them he discovered that
the Holy Spirit had already prepared their hearts for the Gospel seed
with a long-standing, orally repeated legend that could not be
adequately explained by the Motilone people. Bruce had to live among
them to earn their confidence and favor. In time he was able to
present the Gospel message after the Holy Spirit revealed to him
answers the Motilone people sought to know. *
Thank God for the witness of the Holy Spirit! In John's Gospel Jesus gives His final teaching to the disciples prior to His death. Repeatedly He speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not only anticipating His death but His return to the Father. He told the disciples the Spirit of truth "will testify about Me." Have you considered the many ways this has taken place in your life? I've also heard remarkable stories from the mission field, such as Bruce Olson's, where the Holy Spirit has prepared the hearts of people years and even generations before the missionary came.
But consider the phrase, "And you must also testify." This verse grips me because Christ emphasized it following His teaching on the witness of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we need to be careful that our proper dependence on the Holy Spirit does not become a dodging of our personal responsibility in witnessing to others. Christ said, "You must also testify."
How are you testifying today? It begins by living a life that consistently demonstrates Christ-like character, which itself will stand out in today's morally decadent age. I hope you also have tracts, booklets and other helps available to distribute to the seekers around you. I hope your "space" bears a witness to your faith; it may be a poster or plaque with an expression of faith. But I hope you also are prepared and bold in your verbal witness of who Christ is and what He has done. The Holy Spirit is surely faithful in His part. Are we being faithful in ours?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: Father, You have called us to be faithful witnesses wherever we live and in whatever we do. You haven't delegated this responsibility just to those in vocational ministries, but to all who have experienced Your forgiveness through salvation. By Your grace we will be shining lights throughout our darkened nation so that others will see the glory of Christ in our lives and hear the message of hope in our faithful witness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Click
on the link to open and play.
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
"Song For The Nations" Video Jim Gilbert
"People Need The Lord" Video Steve Green
"Each One, Reach One" Video The Motivators
"Send Me" Video Planet Shakers
"Rescue The Perishing" Video Billy & Cindy Foote
*
The initial experience that the book is based on took place in the early
sixties. Bruce Olson is still in active ministry for our Lord. Several
years ago I had fellowship with a missionary who personally knows him
and he told me of Bruce's deep unconventional dedication to the Lord. The
title of the book I read has been changed to "Bruchko". His website has some remarkable stories about his ongoing ministry. (FYI:
This is one of those sites where music comes on automatically!) You
can also order the book I referred to in today's encouragement and I
can assure you it's a captivating read.
"How Can I Break The Silence?" is an excellent online booklet dealing with testifying about our faith: You can either read it online as a pdf or order the booklet here.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Photo by Doris High
"You Also Must Testify"
"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning" (John 15:26,27).
Last
night we heard a mission presentation by Jake and Nancy Shenk who first
went to Africa in 1958. Jake recently had some health problems and was
discharged from a 15 day stay in the hospital only the day before.
Nevertheless he and Nancy were in our service and plan to return to
Africa as soon as he is able. They continue to bear a burden for the
needy souls of the African people after serving in that continent over
50 years. Many
years ago Brooksyne and I read a book titled "For This Cross I'll Kill
You" by missionary Bruce Olson. It's the testimony of his ministry as
he took the gospel message to the Motilone Indians of South America
when he was only 19 in 1961. As he lived among them he discovered that
the Holy Spirit had already prepared their hearts for the Gospel seed
with a long-standing, orally repeated legend that could not be
adequately explained by the Motilone people. Bruce had to live among
them to earn their confidence and favor. In time he was able to
present the Gospel message after the Holy Spirit revealed to him
answers the Motilone people sought to know. * Thank God for the witness of the Holy Spirit! In John's Gospel Jesus gives His final teaching to the disciples prior to His death. Repeatedly He speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not only anticipating His death but His return to the Father. He told the disciples the Spirit of truth "will testify about Me." Have you considered the many ways this has taken place in your life? I've also heard remarkable stories from the mission field, such as Bruce Olson's, where the Holy Spirit has prepared the hearts of people years and even generations before the missionary came.
But consider the phrase, "And you must also testify." This verse grips me because Christ emphasized it following His teaching on the witness of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we need to be careful that our proper dependence on the Holy Spirit does not become a dodging of our personal responsibility in witnessing to others. Christ said, "You must also testify."
How are you testifying today? It begins by living a life that consistently demonstrates Christ-like character, which itself will stand out in today's morally decadent age. I hope you also have tracts, booklets and other helps available to distribute to the seekers around you. I hope your "space" bears a witness to your faith; it may be a poster or plaque with an expression of faith. But I hope you also are prepared and bold in your verbal witness of who Christ is and what He has done. The Holy Spirit is surely faithful in His part. Are we being faithful in ours?
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: Father, You have called us to be faithful witnesses wherever we live and in whatever we do. You haven't delegated this responsibility just to those in vocational ministries, but to all who have experienced Your forgiveness through salvation. By Your grace we will be shining lights throughout our darkened nation so that others will see the glory of Christ in our lives and hear the message of hope in our faithful witness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
"Song For The Nations" Video Jim Gilbert
"People Need The Lord" Video Steve Green
"Each One, Reach One" Video The Motivators
"Send Me" Video Planet Shakers
"Rescue The Perishing" Video Billy & Cindy Foote
*
The initial experience that the book is based on took place in the early
sixties. Bruce Olson is still in active ministry for our Lord. Several
years ago I had fellowship with a missionary who personally knows him
and he told me of Bruce's deep unconventional dedication to the Lord. The
title of the book I read has been changed to "Bruchko". His website has some remarkable stories about his ongoing ministry. (FYI:
This is one of those sites where music comes on automatically!) You
can also order the book I referred to in today's encouragement and I
can assure you it's a captivating read."How Can I Break The Silence?" is an excellent online booklet dealing with testifying about our faith: You can either read it online as a pdf or order the booklet here.
Send
a message to Stephen &
Brooksyne.
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Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture
references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version.
© 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation,
New King James
Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the
King
James Version.
Personal
Mission Statement:
"I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ
I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord.
My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and
to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
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