A message for everyone in Liverpool

The first man Adam died, the oldest man Methuselah died, the wisest man Solomon died, the meekest man Moses died. 

Patriarchs, prophets, princes, princesses, prime ministers, presidents, politicians, philosophers, peasants and paupers all die. 

The mighty Pharaohs passed away, the conquering emperors of Rome had to succumb to this mighty foe, Alexander the Great could not withstand the onslaught of death. 

The rich, the poor, the famous, the unknown, the wise and unwise, the religious and the heathen, the terrorist and the law abiding alike must fall beneath its cruel stroke.

Lest we forget - Sister City - Poppies in the Moat

"Lest we forget". The amazing sight of poppies filling the moat at the Tower of London is a vivid reminder that there are something's in life that we dare not forget. The sacrifice of the men in WW1 was costly but effective. I suppose The issue for our generation, as our forces leave Helmand and Afghanistan is whether our forces have achieved their goal there and in Iraq - I guess only time will tell! As a Christian these great sacrifices remind me of the price that Jesus paid to provide redemption. The price was great - His death - but the outcome is assured - salvation for those who turn to God and believe. The New Testament teaches that "Christ died for our sins" the result of which means that if we "confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Men and women gave their lives for our freedom and we salute them. Let's make sure we don't make a mockery of the freedom that was bought both at Calvary and in WW1.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2810085/The-field-remembrance-grows-Tower-London-moat-nearly-ceramic-poppies-commemorating-World-War-s-victims.html?ito=social-facebook





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

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)

No one can be certain that there is life after death!

I hear a lot of people saying that you are welcome to your beliefs about God, the afterlife, judgement for sin etc but you can't be sure. The main logic behind this is that we only get one chance at life and that no one comes back to tell us what is on the other side.

All of this of course is true if you only have access to personal experience but of course we have far more than that. We have a vast history of people who have not just anecdotal evidence but personal history and experience with God.

As a Christian I have become convinced that the bible is the word of God. You would need to read it for yourself and do some research to check this out. Most people say that they don't have time to do this. BUT if your future destination in the next life hangs on the truthfulness of this book then it would be wise to look into it seriously.

History has proven the bible to be trustworthy and to date no freshly discovered fact has proven it wrong. The bible speaks about matters of ordinary life as well as about spiritual issues. Archeology, geography, medical science to name a few have eventually proven that the bible was accurate. Let me give you one example. In Leviticus 17.11 the bible states that 'the life of the flesh is in the blood".  This was stated thousands of years before medical science discovered the vast plethora of things that blood contains to maintain human life. I could on... about the planetary system. the water cycle, oceanic currents and much more.

My point is that if the bible can be trusted in things that we can verify it gives us the confidence to trust it in areas where we have no expertise i.e. the spiritual.

As I close may I state some of the things the bible does say about the unknown.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Hebrews.9.27)

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5.28,29)

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved Acts 16.31

It is all true. I trust that you will be richly blessed as you consider this blog.

For more blogs, podcasts or videos log into www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Would you die for what you believe?

I heard this week of a young man in Iran who has been taken to court and prosecuted for being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This young man is faced with a stark choice of either denying what he passionately believes and saving his life or standing for his faith and potentially losing his life.

If you were faced with this choice what would you do? Do you have such strong convictions that you would risk your life to stand up for them?

The whole idea of anything being so important that you would risk your life for it is quite foreign to the current western way of thinking. For most of us the issues that we deal with are not life threatening. What if, however, we were faced with this type of choice? How would you evaluate things in your life? From a top down view how would they rank in priority? 

Health, Wealth, Relationships, Family, Beliefs, Car, House, Comfort, Safety etc. If you had to decide what were the most important things in your life and had a choice about what to keep and what to let go I wonder what your priorities would be?

I suppose if we are realistic it might depend on our circumstances when the question was asked. For instance - if you were ill you would not be so focused on your house, car etc. If you were in a plane which had developed problems with its landing gear you would be more interested in getting a parachute than being in the first class section!

Now stop and think for a moment. Your body will die but you, the real you will never cease to exist. The Bible says ‘it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgement’ (Hebrews.9.27). This is one of many statements from the Bible that teach that there is life after death and that we are accountable to God. God sent His Son, Jesus into the world to pay for our wrong, sin and evil by His death on the cross. Jesus rose from the dead three days later so that the message of ‘the forgiveness of sins’ could be made known to the world.

Now if you really believed all of this you would soon realize that there is nothing in life that is as important as knowing God. All other matters only relate to this life and have no relevance to the next. So if pushed a Christian realizes that to lose their life in this world only opens the door to the next. As they are already forgiven and heading for heaven there is nothing to gain by recanting their faith. The one they believe in, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only one who can save them in this life and secure their destination in the next.

If it was you. What hope would you have and where would your loyalty lie?

To find out more about the message of the Bible visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk. Videos podcasts, blogs and audio podcasts can be accessed through this site.