Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Is Liverpool like the City of Rome?




In a number of ways Liverpool is like the city of Rome; not least because it is built on seven major hills. These are;

  • Walton Hill,
  • Everton Brow - or Ridge,
  • High Park in Toxteth and the Toxteth Ridge,
  • Mossley Hill,
  • Childwall Hill,
  • Olive Mount and the Old Swan Ridge,
  • and Camp Hill in Woolton.
The above list make up the seven, distinctive, and genuinely geological ‘high points’ of our wonderful City.
Another association that we have with Italy’s ‘Eternal City’ is our many remarkable public and civic buildings in the city-centre, which were built by the Victorians. these stand as a glorious testament to their belief that, just as Rome was the capital of that great empire, so Liverpool was the trading capital of the British Empire - in fact, it was the 'second city' after London. (information freely available on the web)
In closing may I quote the first section of the Book of Romans in the Bible. These are words that are worth repeating:

Romans 1 New King James Version (NKJV)

Greeting

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of Godwhich He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


For more information visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk
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Monday, September 29, 2014

Eavesdropping!




I was sitting in a shop listening to two shop assistants chat as they sort out the clothes on the display racks.

Eavesdropping is good fun sometimes; especially when it is harmless. You can learn a lot by just listening. I've had just been reading about how upset the FBI and the various security agencies in United States are about the highly secure encryption system of the new iPhone 6. Eavesdropping will be very difficult for them when it comes to these types of phones.

Did you realise that God is always able to eavesdrop on everything that you and I think and say. There is a little verse in the bible which seemed to be seriously scary when I was a child. It is this "Thou God seest me". This verse is found in the Bible, in the book of Genesis chapter 16 verse 13. It is really a statement describing the all seeing eye of God. In the calamities of life when we think the one else notices; God does. It was a relief to the lady in this story in Genesis to understand that God saw her and her circumstances even when she thought everybody had forgotten.

Maybe you find it a relief to know that God notices and understands your circumstances even though others seem to be unaware of them.

It could also be quite a frightening thing to realise that God is aware of everything that is going on in our lives. In a slightly different context it says in the gospel of John (John 2:25) that Jesus did not commit himself unto people because he knew exactly the way men operate and the way they think.

Again there is a passage in the Old Testament that is very very frightening. Frightening in the sense that God knows me inside out and knows everything about me (yet He still loves me - see ROMANS 5:8). David, the Shepherd King writes in Psalm 139 about his awareness of God's knowledge. He actually bares his soul to God and says "search me O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts". It is a brave man who invites God to analyse the depths of his mind and to determine and understand his thoughts. But David realises that God already knows his heart and he is willing to submit to God's scrutiny.

It is because of God's knowledge and awareness that he planned the scheme of salvation through the death of his own dear Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before the world began God had already ordained that his Son would pay the price for sin upon the cross outside Jerusalem.

Christ died for sins, He was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead (1 Cor 15).

It is my privilege is to tell you that through this man, Jesus, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. If you turn from your sin, turning to God and confessing that you are guilty he will not turn you away.

Please get in touch if we can help you further through our website www.seekthetruth.org.uk.

Stephen


For more posts and info visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk
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Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Williamson Square, Liverpool, UK


This was the scene today in Williamson Square, Liverpool City Centre. We were running our twice weekly street meeting (you might spot me preaching beside the band stand). The Vision Express Vision Van was out to raise awareness of sight problems.

The bible says that we all have sight problems. The old saying goes "there are none so blind as those who will not see". The gospel was preached to 'open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins" (the Bible - Acts 26:18).

The question is: are we so blind that we cannot see that God is the creator and the judge? Do we refuse to see that we all do wrong and are guilty before God? Have we closed our eyes and our minds to the truth that God loves us and sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.

I am praying that you will pick up a bible today (you can also access one on the internet - to read an internet bible click here) and read, slowly, thoughtfully and honestly about the offer of salvation that God is making to you. The offer will not always be available and you will not always be in the right state to accept it.

For more information or to ask questions please click this link - www.seekthetruth.org.uk


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Monday, September 22, 2014

Loneliness - it's a major problem in our society!


One of the most undesirable experiences that a person can encounter is that of loneliness. Some look back to childhood days when they were surrounded by family members; there was laughter, companionship, helpfulness, mutual care and love. However the enemy, death, gate-crashed the family and one after another, loved ones were taken and loneliness followed.
Perhaps others feel the emptiness of loneliness because a spouse died after many years of happy marriage. How often we have heard the following sentiment expressed, "It’s not too bad during the day when I can get out and about, but it is when darkness falls and I am alone in the house. A house that formerly was alive with chatter and friendly banter is now silent."
If loneliness on earth for a period of time is so sad and painful, what an awful thing it must be to experience this for eternity. For every soul that dies without Jesus Christ as Saviour the only outlook is the "blackness of darkness forever" Jude v.13. Some foolhardy and spiritually ignorant people have the mistaken idea that when they arrive in hell they will meet their friends and enjoy an eternal party! Since the judgment of God will be absolutely righteous, no two people will have the same sentence allocated to them and so each will be alone for eternity. What a horrendous thought, lonely and in the dark, under the judgment of God for all eternity.
However, there is One Who can save us from such an eternity of woe. In wondrous love God sent His Son to die for sinners. He bore the judgment so that we, so undeserving, could be rescued from hell. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, experienced loneliness in His life. He was, "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" Isaiah 53.3. We read that He was homeless, John 7.53-8.1 "And every man went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the mount of Olives". He had no comfortable shelter, "Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head" Matthew 8.20. However, when we want to see the depth of the loneliness He suffered for us, we must come to His death. As He anticipated His sufferings He said, "Reproach hath broken My heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" Psalm 69.20. But it was when He hung in the agony of dark Calvary’s cross He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Matthew 27.46. God left Him alone when "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" 1Peter 2.24. 

H. K. Burlingham wrote these words:
"Alone upon His cross, God’s judgment Jesus bore,
He paid in full the cost of glory evermore:
His precious blood was freely shed,
And Jesus crushed the serpent’s head!"

"The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin" 1 John 1.7.
 By trusting Him as your Saviour you will never experience eternal loneliness, but will enjoy the bliss of His companionship both now and for evermore.

For access to more articles, audio messages and 
video bible teaching visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk.


Written for FTMP by a Guest Blogger (copyright Assembly Testimony)
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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

A Comparison of Cities



In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, the opening paragraph reads, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.’ 

The two cities were London and Paris and records life as it was leading up to the French Revolution. Dickens observations of his day are timeless and well fit the day we live in too.

The Apostle John wrote the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ at the close of the first century AD and majors upon two cities at the end of the Book, Babylon and Jerusalem, also a third city, the New Jerusalem. Those chapters also speak of  Heaven and Hell but more of that later!

The first recorded city is found in Genesis 4:17, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.” Cain was the first person to be born into the world and he became a murderer when he killed Abel, his brother. From the beginning of time cities have been associated with murder. In our day there are cities throughout the world that record over a thousand homicides every year.

Genesis 10 to 12 tells us of the beginning of two notable cities, Babylon, built by Nimrod, and Nineveh built by Asshur (Assyria). 'And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.'

A true story of a city beneath the waves involves an island called Pavlopetri, off the south east coast of Greece. Forty years ago an oceonologist first observed the submerged city and recently a team of Australian scientists have charted the streets, walls and buildings and produced a very interesting documentary about this lost city.

Genesis 19 tells us of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities of extreme wickedness that God rained fire and brimstone upon. The man Lot and his two daughters escaped to a place called Zoar which lays at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. Although there is no biblical record of the whereabouts of the remains of these cities many believe that they are at the bottom of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a lake and the lowest place on earth, it is about 1400 ft. below sea level and is over 1000ft. deep. Israeli scientists are presently drilling in the centre of the lake, for forty days and forty nights, to a depth of 300 meters, taking core samples for analasis to determine (amongst other things) previous volcanic activity and possible future ones. The present conflict of Gaza and Israel is indicative of the hatred between Arab and Jew, which will spread further affecting neighbouring nations and the world at large.

John tells us in Revelation 17 and 18 of the destruction of Babylon (in Iraq) both religiously and politically. Babylon epitamises all religious rebellion to God, embracing all false cults and religions of the world. Christ will destroy all of these along with the political power of the Beast with all his military might at Meggido in the valley of Jezreel. Jerusalem is called in Psalm 48 and Matt. Ch.5 “The city of the great king”. It is the city where Christ will reign universely.

Exerps from the opening paragraph of this month’s editorial of the Society for Distribution of Hebrew Scriptures reads, ‘ ‘JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN. From the time of Israel’s first carrying away into captivity under the Babylonian conquest until 1948, Jerusalem had been in the hands of Gentiles. To judge from its physical state in the year of Israel’s return, the Gentiles had done precious little with the land in all the years of occupation. Over the centuries the city has been destroyed twice, besieged twenty-three times, captured and re-captured forty four times. We cannot think of any city that has been the subject of so much destruction.’ Jerusalem has been the devil’s target to destroy from the beginning, but he has not succeded and he never will.


I mentioned earlier a third city called The New Jerusalem. Revelation ch.21 begins, 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.' That will be a great city to live with Christ. 

Will you be there?  God bless.

Written by a Guest Blogger for FTMP
For more info go to seekthetruth.org.uk
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A Comparison of Cities





In 1859 Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, the opening paragraph reads, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.’ 

The two cities were London and Paris and records life as it was leading up to the French Revolution. Dickens observations of his day are timeless and well fit the day we live in too.

The Apostle John wrote the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ at the close of the first century AD and majors upon two cities at the end of the Book, Babylon and Jerusalem, also a third city, the New Jerusalem. Those chapters also speak of  Heaven and Hell but more of that later!

The first recorded city is found in Genesis 4:17, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”Cain was the first person to be born into the world and he became a murderer when he killed Abel, his brother. From the beginning of time cities have been associated with murder. In our day there are cities throughout the world that record over a thousand homicides every year.

Genesis 10 to 12 tells us of the beginning of two notable cities, Babylon, built by Nimrod, and Nineveh built by Asshur (Assyria). 'And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.'

A true story of a city beneath the waves involves an island called Pavlopetri, off the south east coast of Greece. Forty years ago an oceonologist first observed the submerged city and recently a team of Australian scientists have charted the streets, walls and buildings and produced a very interesting documentary about this lost city.

Genesis 19 tells us of the destruction of Sodomand Gomorrah, two cities of extreme wickedness that God rained fire and brimstone upon. The man Lot and his two daughters escaped to a place called Zoar which lays at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. Although there is no biblical record of the whereabouts of the remains of these cities many believe that they are at the bottom of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a lake and the lowest place on earth, it is about 1400 ft. below sea level and is over 1000ft. deep. Israeli scientists are presently drilling in the centre of the lake, for forty days and forty nights, to a depth of 300 meters, taking core samples for analasis to determine (amongst other things) previous volcanic activity and possible future ones. The present conflict of Gaza and Israel is indicative of the hatred between Arab and Jew, which will spread further affecting neighbouring nations and the world at large.

John tells us in Revelation 17 and 18 of the destruction of Babylon (in Iraq) both religiously and politically. Babylon epitamises all religious rebellion to God, embracing all false cults and religions of the world. Christ will destroy all of these along with the political power of the Beast with all his military might at Meggido in the valley of Jezreel. Jerusalem is called in Psalm 48 and Matt. Ch.5 “The city of the great king”. It is the city where Christ will reign universely.

Exerps from the opening paragraph of this month’s editorial of the Society for Distribution of Hebrew Scriptures reads, ‘ ‘JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN. From the time of Israel’s first carrying away into captivity under the Babylonian conquest until 1948, Jerusalem had been in the hands of Gentiles. To judge from its physical state in the year of Israel’s return, the Gentiles had done precious little with the land in all the years of occupation. Over the centuries the city has been destroyed twice, besieged twenty-three times, captured and re-captured forty four times. We cannot think of any city that has been the subject of so much destruction.’ Jerusalem has been the devil’s target to destroy from the beginning, but he has not succeded and he never will.


I mentioned earlier a third city called The New Jerusalem. Revelation ch.21 begins, 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.' That will be a great city to live with Christ. 

Will you be there?  God bless.



Written by a Guest Blogger for Liverpool Photo Blog
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Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Tall Ships Festival, Greenwich

Tall Ships Festival, Greenwich. Privileged to preach about the grace of God to the Woolwich crowds.








For more posts and info visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Location:London,United Kingdom

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Saturday, September 06, 2014

Seek the Truth Bible Media - Podcast - Troubled Times

It's the weekend! Maybe you can find some time to relax and listen to the latest podcast from Seek The Truth Bible Media. Troubled Times - Does the Bible have anything to say about the days in which we live? It does and we cannot afford to ignore it.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/seek-the-truth/id397674698






Location:Liverpool, UK

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