Books

Books have been published and produced for hundreds of years. Some people predicted their demise with the advent of modern technology, such as Kindles and other electronic devices for reading. 

However, as a visit to a bookshop makes clear, books are still being produced in large quantities in hard copy, both hardback and paperback. There are still vast numbers of people who love to hold a book and turn the pages, and many also find looking at a screen a numbing and difficult experience.  

Reading is vital for education and the gaining of information. The Apostle Paul, right up to the end of his life, maintained his reading regime as he asked, in the last letter he wrote addressed to Timothy, that books be forwarded to him and also the parchments (2 Timothy 4.13). The Apostle John, in a statement of hyperbole or exaggeration to make a point, said, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." (John 21.25). He indicates that we only have a sample in the Gospel accounts of the wonders and miracles performed by Jesus.  

Getting a Deep Clean

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

 In January 2016, in N. Ireland there was an outbreak of a bacterial infection called Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. In a two-week period it caused the death of three infants. This infection causes breathing difficulties and tissue damage. It is reported that the bacteria can take hold in areas such as sinks and in water pipes with stagnant water and can live for several days on various surfaces. A university bacteriologist reportedly said that this is a bug which is very common in nature. The hospital ordered a deep clean of the neo-natal ward involved and succeeded in eradicating the infection.

Who reminds you of Jesus?

The following anecdotal stories came to my attention many years ago. They remind me of the immense need in the world for people to know they are loved. The New Testament scriptures state, 'But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,' Romans 5:8. 

Did Jesus really claim to be God?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

One of the recurring themes of Jesus’ teaching was explaining who He was and why He was here. He didn’t leave that issue open to conjecture. To people around Him, his most controversial and confrontational statements concerned His claim to be God.

National Holocaust Day 2023

Photos from own collection

Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration camp.  More than 1,100,000 men, women, and children lost their lives here.  Multiple train tracks led in to this extermination camp, no Jew ever came out!

All over the nation, places of public entertainment are closed, and last night a state ceremony was held in the Warsaw Ghetto Square in Jerusalem to honor the Jewish people who perished at the hands of Nazi Germany.

The flag was lowered to half-staff, and prayers were recited.  Holocaust survivors lit the six torches that symbolize the Six Million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust under Hitler's Final Solution.

Despite the process of dehumanization and annihilation that the Nazis unleashed on the Jewish People, necessitating a struggle for survival in the worst of circumstances, many Jews continued to exercise creativity, pursue education and culture, recite prayer, and observe the holidays.

"Many of those who struggled to maintain and preserve the human spirit did not survive the horrors of the Holocaust, but their deeds and actions are a reminder to future generations of the stamina and nobility of the human spirit," the Yad VaShem website states.

The Nazis packed Jewish people like cattle into railroad cars as they shipped them to their final destination at labor and extermination camps.  Those camps were part of Hitler's "Final Solution" to kill all of the 
Jewish People.

The Nazis intended that no Jew would survive the Holocaust.

Multiple tracks led from all over Europe to concentration camps like Auschwitz.  Jewish people were crammed into cattle cars and shipped to these death camps.  Very few survived.

Many were gassed immediately upon arrival and their bodies burned in ovens.  

Those who were healthy enough to work when they arrived were literally worked to death.

Two-thirds of European Jewry, that was one-third of all world Jewry, died in the Holocaust.

This horrible, unfathomable number—six million murdered—does not count the many Jewish children who will never be born because of this genocide.

Whole families were destroyed.  Some Jewish people who came out of the Holocaust were the sole survivor of their family.  They were left completely alone.  Many communities were utterly erased.

Those who came to Israel from Europe were a remnant.

Some of those who were gassed and put in the ovens were the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles of our Bibles for Israel Ministry staff.

May We Never Forget.

Paying tribute to the six million who perished in the Holocaust.  
Never Again!

Used by permission  

"The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.   Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing."  (Isaiah 51:3)

 

Who was Jesus?

Photo courtesy of Storyblocks

Mar 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

Photo courtesy of Storyblocks

 All that the centurion witnessed on that historic day brought him to this conclusion ‘truly this man was the Son of God’ As we consider all that the Saviour said and did, we conclude the same. How fundamental is this truth in days when so many try to deny it!

 Our passage today brings us to Calvary and reminds us of all that happened there. This day was pivotal in the history of the world. It was planned before the world began, spoken of in the Garden of Eden and illustrated by pictures and type throughout the Bible.

The Lord Jesus Christ is at the centre of these events as the Lamb of God that bears away the sin of the world. Have you been to the foot of the cross and realised what the Saviour did for you? Have you bowed the knee in repentance and believed in your heart that it was for you personally that He died? Do you believe that the man who died on that cross that day was none other than the Son of God? If not, then this remains the single most important thing that you can do in your life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved!

Jesus Christ was a unique man. He was unique in His birth; born of a virgin Mat 1:23. He was unique in His life; in Him is no sin 1 Jn 3:5. He was unique in His death; death had no claim on Him. He was unique in His resurrection. There have been those who set out to disprove this truth of the resurrection and ended up writing about the evidence that supports it after they themselves came to trust the one that they wanted to disprove. Truly this man was the Son of God!  

No hiding place - do you like privacy?

Do you like a bit of privacy? I felt sorry for a famous footballer last year when I saw him, his wife and little one (no clues as to who it was for the sake of privacy) trying to fish for crabs on the Wirral. They did well to remain unobserved for so long. Their backs were to the people who were strolling along the promenade, the buggy was facing the sea, a packet of chips was on the back of the buggy and the only clue of any wealth was the pack of Tesco's Finest pancetta. They were quietly fishing for crabs when someone spotted them. You can imagine what happened next; people were queuing up for a photograph or an autograph and the peace was shattered. It wasn't long until 'the Mrs' decided that it was time to go and they moved on.

Four things For Heaven - Acts 13

1. If you ever want to be in heaven you will need to have a desire to hear the word of God. Salvation is only available through faith and faith comes as a result of hearing the word of God.

2. If you ever want to be in heaven you will need to get to the point where you realise that you are not worthy. You are not worthy to tie the laces of the Lord Jesus, you are not worthy to be accepted by God. You, like everyone else, have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When you get to this point you will understand that only one person can save you, he is called the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. If you ever want to be in heaven you will have to accept that not only did the Lord Jesus Christ die for our sins but that he rose from the dead on the third day. This is the most highly attested fact of history! If you do not believe that Jesus is alive there is no point in me telling you that you need to turn from your sin to him for salvation.

4. In closing please understand this. God is offering to everyone forgiveness for everything that they have ever done, will ever do or could ever do. No one is excluded, no sins are unforgivable except for the sin of unbelief. Unbelief cannot be forgiven as you are refusing to accept God's forgiveness. 

I am praying that you will know God's forgiveness today. Please let me know if you do.

Acts 13Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

13 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. 6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: 7 which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief,thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men andbrethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24 when John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 but he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.

50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.

Stephen Hawkings and the Afterlife!

We all have come to understand that life is constantly changing and that nothing lasts for ever. In many ways this is a tough and sad reality. Most of us find it hard to accept that we will grow old, that loved ones will pass on, that children grow up and leave home. You know the types of things that I am talking about. Sad realities! It is hard to see people you love deteriorate! It is unbelievable that people who once were so capable do not now even know what day it is or the difference between a cup of tea and a plate of soup.

I have good news for you. 

The Bible teaches that God made us with an eternal soul. The real person lives in this body and though the body ends in physical death, the soul lives on. Many people don't believe this! They think that better education, social conditions and the developments of the 21st century remove the need to think about matters of life and faith.

Stephen Hawking, British Physicist and author dismisses the notion of an afterlife. To quote he said recently 'I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark'. This argument sounds very feasible especially when proposed by such an intelligent man. It does however ignore the fact that we are not just biological computers. It ignores man's consciousness which the best of brains have grappled with but have to admit is beyond their ability to explain. Consciousness cannot be defined in purely physiological terms. Add to this the evidence for the supernatural and the spiritual and you have many questions which without the revelation in the Bible we will struggle to answer. 

Let me introduce the book which has for generations provided answers. Answers that could not find their source solely in the mind of a human being. This book is the Bible. It is easy to dismiss the Bible as the purely the writings of men but that would not be doing justice to the information it contains and the consistency of its message. The Bible has an inbuilt testing system of prediction and fulfilment which either stands or falls on the substantive evidence of archeology, science, history, geography and social development. There have been no developments to date in any of these disciplines which have produced evidence which undermines the truthfulness and probity of the Bible.

If all of this is true may I suggest that we should pay more attention to what it teaches about life, death, the afterlife, God etc. One of the books of the Bible (John's gospel) specifically states that it was written 'that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you might have life through his name'. My prayer is that this will be the outcome if you choose to read the Bible for yourself.

For more information text the word INFO to 07747 101352 

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

All posts have the aim of pointing people to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour or to aid Christian growth and development.