SUPER BOWL OUTREACH BLOG

Grey Cup! Day 4 - BC Place Stadium

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 16:45:09 GMT

Grey Cup! Day 4 - BC Place Stadium

Today was day 4 of the Grey Cup and Game Day at BC Place. A photographer joined us to take many pictures at our 3 ministry locations. As soon as he sends the pictures they wll be sent. Until then these are 3 videos showing my ministry location and 2 videos showing Ernie's ministry location.

You can see the crowd flow at each location. The busiest location was in front of the stadium where Andy, Gerry and Mason were preaching.

Grey Cup '24! Day 2 - Vancouver

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 16:42:40 GMT

Grey Cup '24! Day 2 - Vancouver

Day 2 went well. We arrived about 11:00 AM with a large crowd already in the area for the annual Grey Cup Festival Stampede Breakfast . I believe it is hosted by the Calgary team as a way to promote the Calgary Stampede. This means there were lots of souls in our area early to hear the Gospel and the crowds stayed large all day.

Again, there was much support from the Christians in the crowds, Ernie spoke with a young Christian couple from Fort St. John and Ken a gentlemen who needed some Christian assistance with a situation where he believed his car was stolen. Often evangelists serve the fans in different ways depending on what they need.

Below are some pictures and videos from the day.

Grey Cup '24! Day 1 - Vancouver

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 16:27:52 GMT

Grey Cup '24! Day 1 - Vancouver

Dear Friends - Day 1 of the Grey Cup mission was very fruitful. There are six of us laboring for the 4 days. One group was comprised of Ernie & his wife Ingrid, they live in Chiliwack, Canada about 90 minutes from Vancouver, and me. The other team was Andy Schmelzer, Mason Goodknight and Gerry Collins.

We labored for 7 hours at the Grey Cup Festival.

Our location was here: Canada Place Way. This was one end of the Grey Cup Festival activities held on Canada Place Way. The festivities were a street festival replete with zip line, concerts and vendors.

Here's a view of the street Festival

Ernie, Ingrid and I worked our corner for 7 hours. Several good conversations. Lots of affirmation from Christians.

One Pastor from the the First Nations, which is a word for Indians in Canada, stopped to listen for about 15 minutes. He said he had never seen open air preaching before and was excited about it.

Here's a couple of videos of Ernie. The first one he begins the day by singing a hymn. And the other videos show him preaching at different times during the day.

NFL London - Ministry Team Interviews

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:52:59 GMT

NFL London - Ministry Team Interviews

The members of the NFL London ministry team were asked to answer 3 questions:

1. What did you enjoy about the ministry in London?

2. Why did you enter Gospel ministry?

3. What is your primary reason on why you continue in Gospel ministry?

Richard Walker:

 Bill DOC Schank:

 Brandon Alsobrook:

NFL London - Sunday 13 Oct.

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 12:41:28 GMT

NFL London - Sunday 13 October

https://www.nfl.com/international/games/london/

NFL London - Monday 14 Oct.

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 12:37:36 GMT

NFL London - Monday 14 Oct.

https://thelondonproject.co.uk/bios/alex-brito

https://www.mosaicmulticulturalchurch.org/

NFL London - Wednesday 16 Oct.

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 12:35:07 GMT

NFL London - Wednesday 16 Oct.

The Daily Devtional was led by Pastor Ryan King from Grace Baptist Church of Wood Green . Pastor King is an American but has lived in London for 21 years. His father and brother also Pastor churches in London. They are part of a larger network of churches called the Association of Grace Baptist Churches (southeast) .

Pastor King's messgae from Ezra 3 was about Israel's return to Jerusalem and how they began, key word, began to build the foundation of the temple so they could place the altar and begin to worship God.

Today there were two teams: Bobby's team ministered at and around St. Paul'sl Cathedral and King's Cross Train Station again. David's team went to Wesminster where Parliament is located. Ministry location: David's Team .

NFL London - Tuesday

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 11:56:05 GMT

NFL London - Tuesday 15 Oct.

Tuesday saw the day begin with Pastor Matthew Stratton from Romford Evangelical Free Church lead the team in our daily devotionals. His message:

Then the three teams departed for: Kings Cross train station; Picadilly Circus and Stratford Station.

Kings Cross team: Bobby, Kara, Lydia, Jimmy, Philip, Philipa and Robert.

Pictures:

Video:

Stratford Train Station team: David, Doc, Tom, Richard.

Pictures:

Video:

Picadilly Circus team: Bill, Adam, Whitney, Karoline, Jerardo, Brandon.

Pictures:

Video:

Commonwealth Games - Artilce

Sat, 20 Jan 2024 10:45:17 GMT

Commonwealth Games article

This articles was written as a result of SFOI UK's presence at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Commonwealth Games

Game on: Christians join in prayer and outreach as Birmingham hosts Commonwealth Games

05 August 2022

GILLIAN MCDADE-HASTINGS

United Kingdom

God has been doing "incredible things" on the streets of the English city of Birmingham. That's according to Lee Gater, mission director at evangelistic organisation Burn 24-7 UK and one of many Christians engaged in prayer and evangelism in the city as tens of thousands have gathered to take part in and watch the Commonwealth Games.

Gater says many people have been open to receiving the Word of God in a way he has not experienced, with healings taking place during the daily witnessing.

“In Birmingham people have been more open, compared to other cities throughout the UK," he says. "I spoke to a Muslim and he opened up to me and shared with me about 'seeing the man in white' in his dreams. We shared with him that the ‘man in white’ is in fact Jesus and this is the description given in Revelation. A lot of Muslims have been very open and have been asking questions about the Trinity and how Jesus is the son of God. The conversations are always respectful."

A praise service took place at St Chad’s Catholic Cathedral. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Birmingham

The Commonwealth Games began on 28th July and run through until 8th August, with more than 20 sports represented in the competition, the city is packed with fans cheering on the thousands of athletes competing at sporting venues across the West Midlands.

Churches and Christian organisations are there, too, providing chaplaincy support and prayer and engaging in outreach work. They have also been involved in supporting the anti-human-trafficking campaign, ‘It’s A Penalty’ , which educates people and aims to prevent exploitation.

Rachael Howson and Lee Gater on board a bus in Birmingham. PICTURE: Burn 24-7.

A praise service organised by Birmingham Churches Together took place at St Chad’s Catholic Cathedral on 24th July to mark the opening of the games. The service, which was organised by Monsignor Tim Menezes, Dean of St Chad’s Cathedral, Dr Beverly Lindsay, of the Association of Jamaican Nationals UK , Laurence Sharman, executive director of the World Prayer Centre, and Robert Mountford, of Birmingham Churches Together, was followed by gathering outside on Cathedral Green where a choir sung the famous song by Bill Withers, Lean on me when you’re not strong.

The World Prayer Centre, which is a global house of prayer based in Birmingham, hosted a service at Gas Street Church in collaboration with Gas Street Music, with the aim of praying for and blessing the Commonwealth nations. At the service, the World Prayer Centre's Sharman prayed for Birmingham to be a blessing to every nation and territory. The prayer centre also held a session via Zoom to enable people to come together and share their experience of the work so far.

Christians make up less than half the population of Birmingham while the number of Muslims is around 22 per cent. The city also has a sizeable proportion of Sikhs, Hindus, Jews and Buddhists.

Volunteers from the various organisations have been stationed at landmarks and venues around the city including the Bullring, which is the main shopping area, the Alexander Stadium, the NEC, the Arena and Edgbaston, the home of cricket.

Outside St Chad’s Catholic Cathedral. PICTURE: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Birmingham

Across the West Midlands, unbroken prayer sessions have been taking place at various venues. Burn 24-7 UK is holding 336 hours of non-stop worship and prayer at the Elim Life Church. The hope is that with this continual canopy of prayer over the region, visitors will put their trust in Jesus and return home to share the Gospel with family and friends.

Rachael Howson works with Youth With A Mission but during the Commonwealth Games, she has been part of Burn 24-7 UK. Howson has been taking part in the outreach work and she is keen to share the love of Jesus with those she encounters.

“What we really felt from the Lord is that God has been speaking to us in Burn about the importance of partnering with missions, so we have been doing worship and prayer in the prayer house, 24/7," she says. "We have been here through the night and during the day, worshipping and praying for the Commonwealth Games.

“Each day we have a number of people - anything from two to 16 – who come and begin with worship in the presence of the Lord and then head out into different parts of Birmingham to carry the love of Jesus and to see who He wants us to speak to."

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Howson says the outreach workers are not on the streets to debate with people.

“We are there to share the love of Jesus - whoever is open to hearing this. On one of the days we ended up having two conversations that were an hour long. I love Jesus and therefore a lot of my lifestyle is aimed at honouring Him."

A 'destiny bracelet' on Rachael Howson's wrist. PICTURE: Courtesy of Rachael Howson.

Howson had the opportunity during an evangelism session to share the good news of Jesus with two Muslim girls.

“One of the girls said she had heard about the cross but never really understood it. She said the way I was explaining it made sense. I thought this was incredible. It shows that when you talk from your heart, about your own experience of the cross and of Jesus it makes such a difference. Personal testimony is so powerful."

Among the other organisations evangelising are Healing On The Streets and Birmingham City Mission . BCM is running a digital poster campaign across the city during the games. Three posters have been designed to encourage people to read Psalm 23 and throughout the two-week period, the posters will be displayed at least 75,000 times at bus stops in Birmingham.

Also involved in evangelism activities include Operation Mobilisation , The International Mission Board , Victory Outreach Birmingham and the US-based Sports Fan Outreach International. SFOI mobilises teams of volunteers to go to sporting events and evangelise to people.

Bill Adams, chief evangelist with SFOI, says thousands upon thousands of people are in Bullring area of Birmingham, providing unlimited opportunities for the team to communicate and minister the Gospel.

“The local authorities have, as ministers of God, allowed us to evangelise and the weather is ideal," he says. "Secondly, the people are receptive and there have been many substantive conversations. Above all Christ is being proclaimed and in that we rejoice!"

Gater, meanwhile, says the volunteers have been giving out Gospel tracts and 'destiny bracelets' with different colours on them, each representing a different part of the Gospel.

“One guy said to me, 'Lots of people are doing outreach from many different faiths,' he recounts. "He asked me, 'How do you know yours is the right way?' I thought this was a good question. God led me to ask him if he needed healing for anything and he explained that he had been experiencing pains in his hand and thumb. As we prayed for him, God healed him and the pain left."

“We are just going where the Holy Spirit leads us. God is doing great things on the streets.”

Results?

Tue, 10 Oct 2023 05:54:43 GMT

Results?

What are the results of preaching and teaching the Word of God in the open air?

Let's define results.

From God's perspective we live in a dark world. A world of sin and death.

The Word of God is Light and Life.

The results of open air ministry are centered around the goal of bringing the Light and Life into an area that is dark and dead. The Church's job is to bring this Light and Life into areas that are dark and dead.

As you know when the Light and Life of God is brought into an area It produces results.

You have to value that the Light and Life of God are being brought into an area that is dead and dark. If you do then you rejoice (Phil 1:18) whenever and wherever the Light and Life of God are proclaimed.

Thus the results of preaching and teaching the Light and Life of God in the open air are pleasing to God as He desires His Light and Life to be proclaimed throughout the world.

Why preach Christ in the open air?

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 11:03:42 GMT

Why preach Christ in the open air?

The Apostle Paul rejoiced when Christ was preached ( Phil 1:18 ) and said in 2 Corinthians 5:14 that the love of Christ constrained him to preach the Word.

You begin with these motivations and then add that faith comes by hearing ( Romans 10:17 ) and in I Corinthains 3:6 Paul says, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" meaning our job is to sow and water the Word.

You have the understanding then that man believes the Word because he hears it and since our ears work everywhere faith can happen anywhere man hears the Word.

Thus, preaching Christ in the open air ultimately is done so man can hear and respond to the Word.

The reason is that simple.

The next step you take is the delivery of your message. Is it: clear, Scriptural, Christ centered, doctrinally correct, etc. Delivery of the message is where the preacher's study, prayer and preparation are on display thus the need for experience and training.

Ultimately preaching Christ in the open air is for the benefit and blessing of the hearer which leads to SFOI's constant mission to preach Him amongst fans and local citizens at major sporting events and why we have expositional preaching training and encourage all evangelists to be men of prayer and the Word. ( Acts 6:4 ) and to aspire to the qualifications of an Overseer / elder ( I Timothy 3:1-7 ) because they are preaching and teaching the Word.

SFOI UK Sports & Events Schedule: 14-6-23

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:33:49 GMT

UK Events:

https://www.sfoi.uk/uk-league-fixtures

https://www.sfoi.uk/festivals

https://www.sfoi.uk/uk-stadiums

#JesusisLord #Christianevangelism #GreatCommission #openairpreaching #reformedopenairpreaching #Christianity #evangelism

SFOI UK Sports & Concert Schedule 20-5-23

Sat, 20 May 2023 10:32:55 GMT

UK Sports & Concert Schedule 20-5-23

SFOI UK Sports & Concert Schedule 18-5-23

Thu, 18 May 2023 13:17:47 GMT

SFOI UK sports & concert schedule 18-5-23

SFOI UK Trustee Rev. W. W. Adams shares evangelism opportunities. For questions contact Rev. Adams: 020-8133-6955 or UK@sfoi.org

SFOI UK Sports & Concert Schedule 16-5-23

Tue, 16 May 2023 22:29:59 GMT

SFOI Daily Sports & Concert Schedule 16-5-23

SFOI UK Sports & Concert Schedule

Mon, 15 May 2023 09:10:33 GMT

SFOI UK Sports & Concert Schedule 15-5-23

SFOI UK Trustee Rev. W. W. Adams shares evangelism opportunities. For questions contact Rev. Adams: 020-8133-6955 or UK@sfoi.org

ASTOUNDING ANSWERS to PRAYER in SUDAN

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 07:45:01 GMT

ASTOUNDING ANSWERS to PRAYER in SUDAN

Under Jihad and Sharia

When Frontline Fellowship began to minister in Sudan over 26 years ago, the situation was most severe. Sudan, then the largest country in Africa, was in the grip of the longest war in African history, under a radical Jihadist dictatorship, which enforced Islamic Sharia law on all.

Genocidal Scorched Earth

No missionaries were allowed, the government of Sudan were waging a genocidal scorched earth campaign against the Christians of Southern Sudan and in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

Serving the Suffering

Yet, by God’s grace, we succeeded in smuggling in hundreds of thousands of Bibles and Christian books, we helped to establish over 100 Primary schools and a high school, a number of Bible Colleges and Medical clinics and provide them with thousands of Christian textbooks.

Freedom for South Sudan

On 9 July 2011, South Sudan was recognised as an independent state and its secession from Sudan internationally recognised.

Reversal of Fortunes

Two years ago, Sudan’s dictator, Omar Al-Bashir, after almost 30 years in power, was overthrown and put on trial for corruption, oppression and murder. Sudan also pledged to hand over Al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial on war crimes and genocide charges. This was the first time in the modern history of the Arab world that an architect of a coup went on trial.

Dramatic Developments

In the last two years, a series of astounding developments have been announced. A Declaration for Freedom of Religion was signed by the Transitional Government. A Religious Affairs minister was appointed to ensure Freedom of Religion. The Apostasy Law under which many Muslims who converted to Christianity had been executed, was scrapped. Public flogging was abolished. A process aimed at restoring democratic civilian rule was begun. Restrictions on NGO’s were lifted by the government. Laws abusing women have been scrapped. For the first time in 30 years, publishers in Sudan have been promised Freedom of the Press.

Peace Accord Agreement

The government of Sudan has signed Declarations of Peace with rebel groups, including the SPLA-N in the Nuba and with the government of South Sudan.

Hopeful Answers to Prayers for Peace and Freedom with Justice

Although we have been praying for peace and freedom with justice, these astounding developments have exceeded the hopes and prayers of many of us. It has also enabled our Mission teams to deliver hundreds of thousands of Bibles and Christian books to hundreds of schools and churches throughout the remote Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, an island of Christianity in a sea of Islam.

A New Era of Opportunity

Churches are being rebuilt; schools are being established. Boreholes are being dug, farms are being cultivated, crops harvested. Christians in Sudan are daring to hope for a new era of unprecedented opportunities to fulfil the Great Commission in what has been, for centuries, a strictly Islamic state.

A Call for Ongoing Prayer

Please continue to pray for the Christians in Sudan and for our ongoing mission projects in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have Faith.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

Learn More of this Incredible Country

For the background to this colossal conflict, see Sudan in Crisis at a Crossroads .

To understand the incredible courage and resilience of the Nuba Christians, see the film: Missions to the Nuba Mountains of Sudan (also available in German and French). To understand Sudan’s history, read Faith Under Fire in Sudan.

Changing the course of the World

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:57:28 GMT

Views From an Evangelist

Can man change the course of the world? Can he move the thoughts, ideas and products of his age in a new direction that directly the existing direction of the world?

At first glance you would say no. In God’s design you are born into a world that already is moving in a particular direction based on the guiding governmental, ecclesiastical, educational and business philosophy of the day. You almost by default are swept up into the existing system and begin to live in light of it; even if your life begins an extreme circumstances, let’s say you are born into a religious niche, you remain part of the system.

However, the Scriptures teach you reap what you sow; this is one of man’s greatest problems – trying to reap where he did not sow- so he doesn’t always understand the cause and effect. But Rev. George Whitefield and even Rev. John Wesley apparently did. They both sowed so much that reaping was inevitable. In Rev. Whitefield’s case he was perhaps the great singular evangelist ever; preaching 18,000 sermons and so much in the American Colonies that he was more well known when he died in 1770 than future first President George Washington. Contemporary author Tommy Kidd wrote a book entitled “George Whitefield: Americas Spiritual Founding Father“.

Meanwhile Rev. Wesley preached so much in the UK that eventually the Methodist Church was birthed. He set out to form “Holy Clubs’ or discipleship groups throughout because he perceived the members of the Church of England needed to be discipled. He organized the initial Holy Club in Oxford in 1729 with his brother Charles and of which Rev. George Whitefield became a member but Wesley’s goal was to form these clubs throughout the land and he did it. Many volumes have been written but suffice it to say it appears to be an agreed upon truth that he and were the primary Whitefield contributors to the 18th Century revival.

It is written too that what spared England from the rebellion that France was experiencing during the same time was the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley and his Methodist preachers.

The point is they changed the course of the world. Did they set out to do that? Not in a way an historian might view political changes but yes in the way the Kingdom of God works. They believed that faith comes by hearing and that men need to be discipled. They laborer strenuously on both fronts and left a Christian legacy that influenced the world for 200 years.

So yes it is possible to change the course of the world. Is that what you want to do? Or perhaps the better question is are you willing to labor so strenuously that the course of the world will be changed? That’s the question in our day: are we prepared and willing to labor to the degree necessary to change the course of the world? I.E to see the Kingdom of our God advanced into all the world?

Because if we will labor that degree we will see it altered.

Responding to Hecklers

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 14:19:11 GMT

Heckling experiences by real life evangelists

We recently asked our SFOI 1000 Evangelists to share their heckling stories with us and we enjoyed reading their responses and what they had learned from their experiences. Take a look at four responses below.

My Adventure in Open-Air Preaching

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 07:21:47 GMT

My Adventure in Open Air Preaching

by Pastor Brad D. Evans

Memorial Day 2018. I stood in Union Square, New York City, attached to a personal voice amplification system. I was nervous. I opened my Bible and stepped forward, lifted my voice and began to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Strangers passed by. Some stopped to listen. A few hecklers showed up. A few even drew closer to seek out a personal conversation about the message.

Why would a conservative, Presbyterian pastor do such a crazy thing? Humanly, you can blame it on my friend Al Baker, veteran church planter and street preacher, and on his friend, Bill Adams. They had invited me to come to New York that weekend to instruct a group of young men in the basics of preaching. We stayed at a mission school and every morning Al and I would lecture on preaching. Our audience was a group of about a dozen young men who had travelled at their own expense from places such as Georgia, Ohio and Oklahoma. Their eagerness to preach and sacrifice in order to learn was both humbling and encouraging.

Then, after the lectures and a time of prayer, we would hop on the subway and head to Union Square where we would take turns giving open air messages and being available to anyone who wanted to discuss what we were preaching.

By that time of my life, I had spent close to forty years preaching God’s Word each Lord’s Day both morning and evening to my congregation in Connecticut. I had engaged in personal and door to door evangelism many times in my life. But rarely had I ever gone out into the streets and preached the gospel in sermonic form. This was new to me. It was a bit frightening. It was also something I would do again in a heartbeat.

The theological and biblical logic of open air preaching is simple. We believe that God has appointed the preaching of the Word as a means of grace, as a primary instrument for working His salvation in human hearts. It is perfectly fitting to set preaching at the center of a Christian worship service. But why would we limit preaching to that setting? It fitting to learn from the preachers in the book of Acts and take our preaching to the streets. We should take the gospel within earshot of lost, needy sinners.

Combined with my long experience of regular preaching, here is a handful of counsel about open air preaching that I would encourage you brothers to try sometime.

First, know what you want to say. Have a text and an outline as you would for any sermon. Drive your point home clearly. Use repetition. Remember, people are hurrying past. If you ramble, those passersby will not get your point.

Second, feature brevity and boldness. Don’t assume you will have people listening to you even for as long as 15 minutes. So, get to the point, and come back to your point several times. Use short sentences in the active voice. Avoid cumbersome passive constructions. Mix vivid descriptions of the truth with punchy imperatives that call the listeners to faith and repentance.

Third, focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. Bill Adams, a veteran street preacher and director of Sports Fan International Outreach, would typically begin his street sermons by saying, “We are out here today to lift up the Name of Jesus Christ.” Exactly. Remember that Jesus said that when He is lifted up he will draw all men to Himself. This lifting up included both His work on the cross and preaching about His work on the cross.

Fourth, don’t try to go it alone for street preaching. You need a preaching partner for several reasons. You need someone else present for prayer and moral support. You need a partner to engage with those who might have questions while you preach. You also need a partner to help ward off inevitable hecklers. The Apostles always did mission as a team. We should heed their example.

Finally, Preach! Get out there, lift up your voice and proclaim the Word of God. Don’t try to share a “fireside chat” in a public forum. Rather: “Go up to a high mountain, O Zion herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God.’” Isaiah 40.9

MAGNA CARTA

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 10:04:44 GMT

MAGNA CARTA

"…I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" Genesis 12:1-3

Most Valuable

15 June marks the 806th anniversary of the proclamation of Magna Carta. Magna Carta has been one of the most valuable exports of Great Britain to the rest of the world. Magna Carta has truly blessed all the families of the earth. Magna Carta was the first Statute, the first written restriction on the powers of government.

Foundational

Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede, 15 June 1215, recognised foundational Scriptural principles: Justice must not be sold, delayed, or denied; no taxes may be levied without the consent of representatives of those being taxed; no one may be imprisoned without a fair trial by a jury of their peers; property must not be taken from any owner without just compensation. Religious freedom is foundational and must remain inviolable, with all "its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired."

First Bill of Rights

Magna Carta is recognised as the grandfather of all Bills of Rights. Magna Carta was the inspiration for the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the model for the English Bill of Rights of 1689; and for the Bill of Rights of the United States of America.

Greatest Constitutional Document

Lord Denning described Magna Carta as "the greatest Constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot."

Reformation

During the greatest century of Reformation, in the 16th century, there was a tremendous upsurge of interest in Magna Carta and strenuous efforts to apply these Biblical principles of justice and freedom into all areas of British life.

Liberty

Magna Carta is an important symbol of liberty today. It is greatly respected worldwide by both historians and lawyers, as a potent foundational document for the protection of personal liberties. It has been described as one of the most important legal documents in history. "Do not remove the ancient landmark…" Proverbs 23:10

God-Honouring

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, wrote Magna Carta, which declares: "John, by the grace of God, King of England… know ye, that we, in the presence of God and for the salvation of our soul and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs and unto the honour of God and the advancement of the Holy Church and amendment of our realm… by this our present charter confirmed, for us and our heirs, forever; that the Church of England shall be free and have her whole rights and her liberties inviolable…"

Bible-Based

The Bible was clearly recognised as the foundational authority for Magna Carta. "You shall do no injustice in judgement. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbour." Leviticus 19:15

Justice

Magna Carta established the right of Trial by Jury to protect the accused from capricious condemnation by authorities. The high value that Christianity, from its inception, has placed on the individual is in stark contrast to the ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Chinese, Greek and Roman cultures, in which the individual was always subordinate to the state. True liberty, individual rights and respect for human personality found no place in the ancient world.

Christian Emphasis

It was the Christian emphasis on the individual that established the freedoms and rights enshrined in Magna Carta of 1215 and the later English Petition of Rights of 1628, the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and in the American Bill of Rights of 1791.

Under God and Law

Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, challenged King James I, that Magna Carta gave the Courts of Common Law the right to provide justice "from the highest to the lowest" because the king was "under God and the Law." "'You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above…'" John 19:11. All civil authority is delegated by God and answerable to God.

The Christian Roots of Liberty

Dr. Alvin Schmidt, in How Christianity Changed the World, documents that the freedoms and liberties expressed in Bills of Rights and Declarations of Independence, are extensions of Magna Carta, which is thoroughly Christian. Civic freedoms and liberties could not have occurred had it not been for the Christian values that prompted and shaped the formation of these documents, all of which are extensions of Magna Carta. Magna Carta is revered throughout the world as the cornerstone of modern freedom.

Reaction to Tyranny

Sir Winston Churchill noted in his History of the English Speaking Peoples, that the rights and liberties of English speakers owes more to the vices of King John, than to the virtues of any man. King John was one of the worst kings that England ever had. His cruelty and capriciousness drove the barons of England to mobilise and compel King John to set the royal seal to Magna Carta, or Great Charter.

Habeas Corpus

The sealing of Magna Carta, 15 June 1215, was a splendid victory for the English people. It marked an end to the arbitrary power of any ruler to throw a man in prison without granting him opportunity to prove his innocence. Magna Carta decrees that any man arrested must be tried in court and if it cannot be proved that he has done wrong, he must be set free. "To no one will we sell, to no one deny, or delay, right or justice." "He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord."Proverbs 17:15

Just Weights and Measures

No taxation is legal that is not authorised by those being taxed. Weights and measures must be standardised. "You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:35-36

Parliament

A Great Council of nobles and bishops is to advise and guide the king in governing the country. This Great Council soon developed into the English Parliament, which is the model and mother of all parliaments (Exodus 18:21).

Rule of Law

The right of a fair Trial by Jury of one's peers, the right of having a voice in the running of the government and in determining taxes, the right to a just and uniform standard of weights and measures for money and goods, are just some of the many blessings which have flowed from Magna Carta. "Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate… let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." Amos 5:15,24

The Authority of the Archbishop

Archbishop Stephen Langton strongly sympathised with the Northern barons who openly rebelled against King John. The Archbishop declared that if John refused to negotiate, then he would excommunicate every man in the Royal Army. The Barons advanced on London, where they were warmly welcomed. By the time they had pursued the king to Staines, Magna Carta included 63 demands. On Monday, 15 June 1215, the Barons met the king in a meadow named Runnymede, on the South bank of the Thames River, halfway between Staines and Windsor. John agreed to the demands, but another four days were spent in hammering out the details of the wording and in making copies of the document. On Friday, 19 June, John fixed the royal seal to Magna Carta.

Enduring Legacy of Liberty

Despite attempts by King John to violate his commitment and the hostility of Pope Innocent III to Magna Carta, the regency of John's younger son, Henry III, reissued Magna Carta in 1216 and his son, Edward I, reissued Magna Carta in 1297, confirming it as part of England's Statute Law.

The Dooms of King Alfred

During the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, there was an upsurge of interest in Magna Carta as lawyers and historians traced the principles of freedom in the Great Charter, to Biblically-based laws enacted during the times of the Anglo Saxons, such as The Dooms of King Alfred the Great at the end of the 9th century, which begin with The Ten Commandments, The Case Laws of Exodus and Christ's Sermon on the Mount. "…It is not good to show partiality in judgment. He who says to the wicked, 'You are righteous', him the people will curse; nations will abhor him." Proverbs 24:23-24

Restoring Liberty

Both James I and his son, Charles I, attempted to supress the discussion of Magna Carta and this led to the English Civil War of the 1640s and the execution of Charles for high treason. The violation of the Rights of Englishmen as outlined in Magna Carta led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which ousted the Catholic James II, welcoming Protestant William and Mary to the throne and the signing of the English Bill of Rights in 1689. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34

Charter Rights in America

The colonists in the 13 colonies of North America protested the violation of their chartered rights as outlined in Magna Carta when Parliament failed to provide redress for their grievances. In 1687, William Penn published The Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property: Being the Birthright of the Free-born Subjects of England, which contained the first copy of Magna Carta printed on American soil. Penn's comments reflected those of Coke's, that Magna Carta was fundamental Law. The American colonists quoted extensively from Magna Carta concerning their rights to Trial by Jury and Habeas Corpus. The American founding fathers declared that their Constitution was to preserve their rights and liberties as enshrined in Magna Carta. The American founding fathers claimed Magna Carta as foundational for their American Constitution of 1789, which became the supreme law of the land in the USA. In 1976, Britain lent one of the four surviving originals of the 1215 Magna Carta to the United States for their Bicentennial celebrations and also donated an ornate case to display it. A replica is still on display in the United States capital crypt in Washington DC.

From Sea to Sea

William Stubb in his Constitutional History of England, published in the 1870s, documented that Magna Carta had been a major step in the shaping of the English people as a nation governed by laws under God. The British dominions, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa, all regard Magna Carta as foundational to their laws and sought to model their Constitutions on its provisions.

Birth Certificates of Freedom

Four exemplifications of the original 1215 Magna Carta remain in existence and are held by the British Library and the cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury. At least 13 original copies of the 1215 Magna Carta were issued by the Royal Chancery at the time. These were sent to county sheriffs and bishops who made more copies and ensured that the provisions were understood by the population. The original Charters were written on vellum sheets, using quill pens, in abbreviated Latin. Each was sealed with the royal great seal using beeswax and resin, most of which have not survived. The 63 numbered clauses of Magna Carta were introduced by Sir William Blackstone in 1759 as the original Charters formed a single, long unbroken text. The four original 1215 Charters will be on joint display at the British Library this year, to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.

Precious Heritage

Lincoln Cathedral's original copy of the 1215 Magna Carta was being displayed at the World Fair in New York when the Second World War broke out and spent the war years in Fort Knox. Prime Minister Winston Churchill attempted to gift the Charter to the American government, hoping that this would encourage the USA, then neutral, to enter the war, but Lincoln Cathedral refused to hand over the rights to such a precious heritage.

Invaluable Documents

Only one exemplification of the 1216 Charter survived and is held in Durham Cathedral. Four copies of the 1217 Charter exist, three of these are held in the Bodleiam Library in Oxford and one at Hereford Cathedral. The Australian government has a 1297 Charter on display in the Members Hall of Parliament House, Canberra. The National Archives in Washington DC has a copy of the 1297 Charter. (In 2007, a 1297 Magna Carta was sold at an auction for US$21.3 Million, the most ever paid for a single page of text.)

Christian Heritage

The Church in England played a central role in drafting Magna Carta, initiating the negotiations between the Barons and the king and at least eleven other bishops were present at the signing of Magna Carta, along with its author, Archbishop Stephen Langton. "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17

Continental Clash and Contrast

It was not surprising that Pope Innocent III reacted with hostility to Magna Carta and attempted to annul it. The Inquisition was being established on the continent with its Corpus Juris, while the Church in England was establishing Habeas Corpus and Trial by Jury. "…Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you." 2 Chronicles 19:2

The Threat from Brussels

For those who think Magna Carta is only a matter of distant interest for historians, Britain's membership of the European Union is threatening to undermine our Chartered Rights as Englishmen. Brussels is attempting to create a unified European criminal code which would abolish Trial by Jury, Habeas Corpus and other safeguards entrenched in Magna Carta. More influenced by the papal Inquisition and Napoleonic code's Corpus Juris, if allowed to progress unchecked, an EU prosecutor could issue European warrants, which could violate the foundation stones of our freedoms established in Magna Carta. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Psalm 127:1

God's Law or Chaos

Those who reject God and His Law have no objective basis for justice. If one rejects Creation and the Law of the Creator then social and moral chaos is inevitable. What does secular humanism offer us? "You came from nothing! You are going nowhere! Life is meaningless!"From goo to the zoo to you, from mud to monkeys to man. No ultimate standards of right and wrong. Situation ethics and relativism have led to the lawlessness tearing families and communities apart. We need to return to God's Law of perfect Liberty. "But he who looks into the perfect Law of Liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." James 1:25

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage… For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:1,13

Dr. Peter Hammond

Frontline Fellowship

Daily Devotional 11.6.21

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 06:55:27 GMT

Daily Devotional 11.6.21

Faith in a Sea of Unbelief

"And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

This narrative, gives us an example of faith and unbelief, in order that we may learn how mighty the power of faith is, and that it of necessity has to do with great and terrible things and that it accomplishes nothing but wonders; and that on the other hand unbelief is so fainthearted, shamefaced and trembling with fear that it can do nothing whatever. An illustration of this we see in this experience of the disciples, which shows the real state of their hearts. First, as they in company with Christ entered the ship, all was calm and they experienced nothing unusual, and had anyone asked them if they believed, they would have answered, Yes. But they were not conscious of how their hearts trusted in the calm sea and the signs for fair weather, and that thus their faith was founded upon what their natural eyes saw. But when the tempest comes and the waves fill the boat, their faith vanishes; because the calm and peace in which they trusted took wings and flew away, therefore they fly with the calm and peace, and nothing is left but unbelief.

But what is this unbelief able to do? It sees nothing but what it experiences. It does not experience life, salvation, and safety; but instead the waves coming into the boat and the sea threatening them with death and every danger. And because they experience these things and give heed to them and turn not their fear from them, trembling and despair cannot be suppressed. Yes, the more they see and experience it the harder death and despair torment them and every moment threatens to devour them. But unbelief cannot avoid such experiences and cannot think otherwise even for a second. For it has nothing besides to which it can hold and comfort itself, and therefore it has no peace or rest for a single minute.

Therefore, God bestows faith that it should deal not with ordinary things, but with things no human being can master such as death, sin, the world, and Satan. For the whole world united is unable to stand before death, but flees from and is terrified by it, and is also conquered by it; but faith stands firm, opposes death that devours everything, and triumphs over it and even swallows the insatiable devourer of life. In like manner, no one can control or subdue the flesh, but it reigns everywhere in the world, and what it wills must be done, so that the whole world thereby is carnal; but faith lays hold of the flesh and subdues and bridles it, so that it must become a servant. And in like manner no one can endure the rage, persecution, and blasphemy, infamy, hatred, and envy of the world; everyone retreats and falls back exhausted before it, it gets the upper hand over all and triumphs, and if they are without faith it mocks them besides and treads all under its feet and takes pleasure and delight in doing so.

The heart so severely experiences in this battle sin and death, the flesh, Satan and the world, that it has no other thought than that it is lost, that sin and death have triumphed, and that Satan holds the field of battle. The power of faith however experiences but little of that. This is set forth in our narrative, when the waves not only dashed into the boat, but even covered it, so that it was about to go under and sink, and Christ was lying asleep. Just then there was no hope of life, death had the upper hand and had triumphed; life was lying prostrate and was lost.

This story is a comforting example and doctrine, how we should conduct ourselves, so that we may not despair in the agony of sin, in the peril of death, and in the tumult of the world; but be assured that we are not lost, although the waves at once overwhelm our little boat; that we will not perish, although we experience in our evil conscience sin, wrath, and the lack of grace; that we will not die, although the whole world hates and persecutes us, although it opens its jaws as wide as the rosy dawn of the morning. These are all waves that fall over your little bark, cause to despair, and force you to cry out: “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”

From: https://www.1517.org/articles/faith-in-a-sea-of-unbelief

Teaching by Doing

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Fri, 28 May 2021 06:33:51 GMT

Teaching by Doing

Recently, my brother David Day invited me to join him for evangelism outside the Montgomery Biscuits' Riverwalk Stadium. He encouraged me to take my two oldest girls, six and four years old, along to pass out some tracts for the first time. So I asked the girls if they'd like to come along, to which they both replied excitedly, "Yes!" Their excitement built up throughout the week until we got into the parking deck. My oldest said, "Daddy, I'm scared and nervous." I replied, "So am I, baby." So we decided to pray and sing Isaiah 41:10 (thank you Corner Room!) and our fears were calmed. This was just one of many, many teaching and learning opportunities that the Lord provided to my girls and me. We covered everything from what God expects of us in evangelism, His effectual calling of men to Himself, natural man's downright refusal to submit to God, their rejection of the gospel, how God calms and uses us despite our fears and shortcomings, and much more. I've never been in a context with them where I had their attention for so long and they listened so intently.

I'm grateful for this first experience, and I won't soon forget it. Lord willing, there will be many more like it! Take your kids' witnessing. I promise everyone will be blessed!

By Chris Brown

Supernatural Power for World Missions

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Tue, 25 May 2021 07:49:40 GMT

A Supernatural Power for World Missions

23 May was Pentecost Sunday.

For a Christian not to be Spirit-filled is a downright sin. If you are not filled with the Spirit then you are living in sin. God commands us in Ephesians 5:18: “Be filled with the Spirit” and if you do not obey then you sin by neglect (James 4:17).

By indifference to the Word of God, by apathy to His commands, by spiritual laziness and carelessness, by a sluggish and lukewarm response to God’s great command to be filled with the Spirit, the church has been filled by the world, by the flesh and by the devil with sinful, half-hearted, lukewarm, semi-saved, half-saved, pseudo-saved and even unsaved poor imitations of the real thing.

We, Christians, are in a full-scale war, but we do not seem to be doing much fighting! The church is being attacked by the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:13). Deception, sin and worldliness are crippling and undermining church outreach and growth. Worse still, we do not seem to be aware of it. All of us have friends and family who are under the attack of the evil one. We have family members chained by the devil, friends trapped in addictions and sinful habits and the church has sheep who are being carried away captive by the false prophets and filthy demons of hell (Isaiah 42:22). Secular humanists are deceiving, distracting and deluding Christians.

Satanists and occultists are undermining and assaulting the leaders and the work of the church by incarnations, hexes and subtle spiritual warfare. By tempting, blinding, deceiving and deluding Christians to engage in false priorities, embrace false doctrines, adopt false agendas, employ human solutions, become ensnared in sinful habits and addictions, by keeping Christians from the Bible and hindering us from prayer, the devil has tragically rendered whole congregations ineffective. Many have accepted a false god, a false gospel and a false mission.

The devil is waging an all-out war against the forces of Jesus Christ and many seem to be confined to barracks, tamely singing choruses and enjoying fun and fellowship.

Napoleon once said as he looked over the vast expanse of China: “There lies a sleeping giant – let him sleep; for if he wakes, he will shake the world!” Today the devil could be saying the very same of the church: “There lies a sleeping giant… if he wakes, he will SHAKE THE WORLD!”

We can liberate the world for Christ (1 John 5:4). We can reach every tribe, tongue and people for Christ in this generation (Mark 9:23). Christianity without Christ’s mighty Holy Spirit is dry, dull, powerless, inept and ineffective. Christianity in the power of the Holy Spirit is dynamic, fresh, spiritual, powerful, invincible, earth-shaking, history-making!

The greatest power in the universe is the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

There is no limit to what God can do in and with and through you (Mark 10:27), if He is not quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19), No limit!

It was said of the Christians of the first century that they “turned the world upside down” and that is exactly what true Christianity, in the power of the Holy Spirit, always accomplishes! Read through the Book of Acts and notice the incredible impact that the Christian lifestyle and message had on the Roman Empire. Whenever the Gospel was proclaimed in the power of the Spirit there was either a Revival or a riot! Indifference was impossible to such a radical message and such an invincible power (Roman 15:18-19).

Are you dissatisfied with your present spiritual experience? Are you frustrated by the inroads that the world and the flesh have made into the church? Do you long to see Christians making a greater impact on society? Is it a burden of your heart that the evangelisation and discipleship of the whole world in this generation becomes a reality?

If you determine to stop quenching and resisting the Holy Spirit and humble yourself and pray and seek His face and turn from your wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14); if you seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness with a thirsty heart (John 7:37-38), then as you ask, seek and knock, God promises to fill you (Luke 11:9-13) with supernatural power from above and vibrant spiritual vitality and life. God promises. He assures us (Matthew 5:6). He stakes the honour of His Name (John 14:16) on these promises, stating that as we fulfil the simple conditions, He will work miracles and endue us with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

What, then, do we need in order to turn this world upside down, right side up, back to God? What is needed for us to reclaim the nations for Christ?

Well, firstly we need dedicated Christian disciples whole-heartedly committed to Christ (Acts 20:24) and freed from the chains of sin, selfishness and worldliness (Hebrews 12:1). We need Christians filled with the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, we need these Christians to be able to be led by the Spirit into God’s will (Romans 8:14) to do and to say the right things, at the right time, to the right people, in the right place. God gives the very best to those who leave the choice to Him. For God’s master strategy of freeing this world from satan and turning it to Christ, we need Christians Master controlled so as to know the most appropriate word or effective action to do or to say to the most prepared person, at the most crucial time, for the greatest effect and the best results (Romans 12:1-2). We need Christians led by the Spirit!

Thirdly, we need Christians who will pray in the power of the Spirit (Jude 20). God acts in answer to prayer and if we do not pray then we cannot expect God to act. Prayer releases the power of God. The only foundation for spiritual work is prayer. Prayer is our priority. A prayerful life is always a powerful life. A prayerless life is always a powerless life. Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer, except that which is beyond the will of God. When we pray in the Spirit (John 15:7) then we are releasing the greatest power in the universe. The Church needs Christians who will pray in the Spirit.

Fourthly, we need Christians endued with supernatural power to win the spiritual war at present raging (Acts 1:8). There are far too many of our friends, families and churches that are being undermined, chained and crippled by the forces of evil (2 Corinthians 4:4). The time has come to rise up and go out in the power of God’s Spirit and annihilate wickedness and worldliness. We must set the prisoners free (Isaiah 61:1). We must win the victory (Romans 8:37). We must win our world for Jesus (1 John 5:4) and in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus we shall, we must, we will prevail.

In order to set free the prisoners of sin and satan the Lord has given believers power to bind evil (Matthew 12:19). We can restrict, limit and oppose the powers of rebellion, doubt, unbelief, sin, perversion, slavery and hatred (Matthew 18:18). We have power to overcome the gates of hell, to storm the very strongholds of evil (Matthew 16:18-19) and to set the prisoners free (Luke 11:22). To announce liberty to the captive (Luke 4:18). As the Lord Himself declared: “I have given you authority so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy and nothing will hurt you.” Luke 10:19

Even the demons must obey us when we give them a command in Jesus Name (Luke 10:17; Acts 16:18; Mark 16:17). This is because, as we place ourselves in submission to the power of God, we are able to resist the lesser power of the enemy (James 4:7). “Greater is Him who is in us, than him who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

The Church of Jesus Christ needs dedicated Christ centred, Bible based, prayerful Christians endued with God’s supernatural power in order to win this spiritual world war and turn people back to God.

As John Wesley said: “Give me one hundred men who love God with all their hearts and who fear no one but God and who hate nothing but sin and I will change the world.”

We need:

Christians who will love God with all their hearts (Mark 12:30).

Christians who fear no one but God (2 Timothy 1:7).

Christians who hate sin (Proverbs 8:13).

Christians who will make an impact on this world (Acts 19:6).

This is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), for to be filled with God’s Spirit is to be filled with the very nature of God (Ephesians 3:19) which is to be filled with Christ (Colossians 2:9, 10), which is to be filled with love, wisdom and knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19). They are synonymous and inseparable. To be filled with God’s power (Acts 1:8) is to be filled with His love, knowledge and wisdom (Romans 5:5) and the power of that love and wisdom of Christ’s Holy Spirit shows itself in dynamic action, that moves the world, back to God.

The mark of a Christian is love (John 13:15).

The mark of love is action (1 John 3:18).

He is able to do far more abundantly above all we could ask, or think, or dream of, by the power of His love working in us (Ephesians 3:20).

We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit!

How do we receive the fullness of power in our lives?

The Spirit of God is received through the Word of God. As we expose ourselves to the Word of God, as we submit to its authority, we open ourselves to the powerful working of God’s Spirit who works through the Word of God (Galatians 3:2).

As we submit ourselves to the Word of God (James 1:21), we open ourselves to the work of God’s Spirit (John 16:13).

The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit fills clean vessels in response to surrender and faith.

It is the Word of God that cleanses us (John 15:3).

The Word of God imparts and builds up faith within us (Romans 10:17).

The Word of God accomplishes the purposes of God (Isaiah 55:11).

That is why 1 Thessalonians 2:13 teaches us that God is at work in them who believe and receive God’s Word in faith.

As we surrender to the Son of God we will receive faith from the Word of God (Galatians 3:14).

We will find that the more we get into the Word of God, the more the God of the Word gets into us.

To summarise: As we accept, believe and submit to the Word of God, we simultaneously receive cleansing from the Word and the infilling of Faith which leads to the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit. The more we are filled with and under the influence and control of the Bible, the more we are filled with the Spirit, coming more and more under His influence and control (Galatians 5:25).

Now, this infilling is both a process and a crisis. You are responsible for the process of being continually filled with God’s Spirit, by continually receiving and applying God’s Word. “But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in His Law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm 1:2-3

God will respond at times with a crisis, where you have a spiritual encounter and experience with God’s Holy Spirit in order to prepare you either for some work or some hardships, some task or some responsibility by doing a work within you, renewing your minds, effecting inner healing, preparing you for ministry, endowing you with a gift, empowering you for witness, anointing you in worship or in prayer, or calling you for some task.

This could be called the overflowing of God’s Spirit. When you are faithful to the process of being filled with God’s Spirit you will find time and again occasions when the Spirit overflows from within you (John 7:38).

The fruit (or evidences) that this fullness of the Spirit produces is to be seen in any life surrendered to God and thirsty for His Word. It is real love, overflowing joy, deep peace of mind and heart, exceptional patience, real kindness, true goodness, invincible faithfulness, genuine humility and great self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus said that we will know a person by his fruit (Matthew 12:33). The Spirit shows His presence through love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Love is seen through actions. These actions are the type that make an impact that change our world and accomplish God’s will.

A Christian filled with God’s Word is filled with faith and love and power. Such a Christian is able to be directed and guided by God into His perfect will to accomplish His mighty purposes. Such a believer who is filled with God’s Word finds that as he prays sincerely from his heart (John 16:24), according to the Scriptures cherished in his mind, he has a vital contact with and union in Christ. “If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7

As the will of God - as revealed in the Scriptures and the desires of the Christian - as transformed by the Scriptures (Romans 12:2) meet and harmonise together they make combined contact with God’s prayer answering power and God’s purposes are accomplished. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

This is spiritual dynamite! Actually, this is spiritual nitro-glycerine! This is praying in the Spirit! It releases that mighty power of God that is needed to transform our lives and change our world.

Fire, Wind and Water

Three of the greatest natural forces in the world are fire, wind and water. These three forces reveal something of the power of the Creator. On the Day of Pentecost, the fire of God, the wind of the Holy Spirit and the living waters of Jesus Christ moved in great power and the Church was born.

Search Your Heart

Do you know what it is to have the fire of God's Word burn within you? Do you what it is to have the wind of the Holy Spirit lead and guide you? Do the living waters of Christ flow from your heart?

Power for living, power for guidance, power for prayer, power for missions. Your world needs this power. Your church needs this power. You need this power. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16

“Be filled with the Spirit…” Ephesians 5:18

“Pray without ceasing…” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Go ye therefore…” Matthew 28:19

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:17-21

Take from Frontline Fellowship

Get in the Game: Lessons Learned

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Wed, 19 May 2021 07:22:19 GMT

Lessons Learned by Ken Hisle

I've been ministering for around fourteen years and when I first got out there one of my first thoughts was, "why isn't everyone out here doing this? The church is definitely falling short of what they should be doing". People like me started to realize, I need to be going out preaching the Gospel! I need to be sharing the Gospel with my neighbours. When people realize the importance of that, they then wonder; "what's wrong with everyone else"? And then you start trying to fix everyone around you that are christians, even those that are mormons.

The body of Christ has all different members for all different parts of it. If we were all the mount then we would not function as the body of Christ. I used to say things to people, get angry at people whilst out on the street, for not understanding what I was saying and for not understanding that they were sinners. The church were not really being about evangelism so for me, it was a real struggle at that point all those years ago because I didn't really know how to weigh all that stuff out in my mind.

In time, and by being around more mature believers who have been preaching longer, you start to see how immature you're being about it all. You're zealous but in a sense, too zealous at times and then you start to hurt people's feelings and causing problems. I once told a pastor I really loved that I couldn't understand how he justified just having a couple of people in his church doing street evangelism, and through that I ruined a relationship that was really important to me.

You do think, in those early days, people need to be out on the streets, but you have to realize that not all of us are to be, that's no what all of us are called to do. This is something you learn by being around more mature believers. This is something that really stands out with me more than anything else from the lessons I've learned. I'm still learning from people like my brothers Joe Toy, Mark Yoho and Bill Adams.

You can really hurt other believers without meaning to by accusing them of not being about what God would have them be about because maybe their calling isn't preaching. Don't just grab a scripture out of the Bible, throw it out there and have it be whatever it is you want it to be. You have to understand the word of God. For instance, I would go to the mall with a small evangelism team in the winter. I would have a conversation with a muslim called Abdul that would come back every year. This guy was blown away by my knowledge of the Word, and also some of my knowledge of Islam. When you talk to people who can see that you truly know what you're talking about, that goes a long way with them. Abdul explained that he had Christians come up to him in the past saying "you need Jesus", and when he asked them why he needed Jesus, they were not able to provide an answer. We have to know what it is we are talking about, we can't just go out there acting like we have all the answers.

If you don't have the answer, be mature enough to say, I don't know, that's a good question, give me your number and I'll look it up and get back to you. It shows people you don't have all the answers and you're not afraid to say it. We all go through the same zealousness, we all go through thoughts of "I have it all figured out, why doesn't everybody else"? But God is with us through these times, it's all part of the learning.

Preaching during a Pandemic

Wed, 12 May 2021 09:48:20 GMT

Preaching during a Pandemic

Despite the restrictions placed upon us during 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, preaching has continued wherever possible, sometimes virtually and with the help of social media lives. This isn't the first time that open-air preaching has been hampered by a pandemic. Throughout the years and centuries evangelists have responded to plagues and epidemics.

If anything, preaching becomes more prevalent during a pandemic, people are more inclined to listen, to pray, to ask God to heal their loved ones. Faith has the opportunity to flourish to a higher level in believers, and to grow in souls previously unsure of their belief. Evangelists can distinguish themselves from the rest of the world upon the once bustling streets they were previously ignored on.

As life returns to normal, will we be mistreated by the ignorant in the way some of us were pre-pandemic? Will we be screamed at, asked to move on, spat upon or even physically attacked? Perhaps as the quiet streets fill up with footsteps once again, those footsteps will slow as they pass us by. Those ears will hear us, the bodies they belong to will remember the prayers they offered up during the difficult times of lockdown. The individuals may not be so dismissive of the Gospel and souls may finally be ready to be saved.

Daily Devotional 3-17-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:53:09 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-17-21

God So Loved the World...

In today’s world, God is not so much dead. He is cancelled. He is not to be spoken about. If he is, there’s nothing good to say about him: ‘he is uncaring and grim’.

How different this is from what the Bible actually says about God. Consider the most well- known words in the Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

For God so loved the world… God… Yes, he does exist.

At the recent Anglican Connection Online Conference, Dr. Henry F. (Fritz) Schaefer, one of the world’s leading quantum chemists, commented:

“The laws of nature look just as if they have been selected as the most simple and elegant principles of understandable change by a wise creator. Belief in the decipherability of nature strongly suggests the existence of a cosmic mind, who can construct nature in accordance with rational laws.”

Dr. Schaefer also drew attention to the words of Francis Collins, Scientific director of the (US) government’s Human Genome Project, on the discovery of the human genome: “It is humbling for me and awe-inspiring to realize that we have caught the first glimpse of our own instruction book, previously known only to God.”

The Bible tells us that God’s essential nature is love. In Psalm 145:8-9 we read: The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

The theme of the love of God permeates both the Old and New Testaments. What is more, we find that his love is not sparked by something attractive about us. God loves because love is at the very heart of his being.

Now it’s important to note that our English word ‘love’ translates four Greek words (the language in which the New Testament was written). One word is eros, from which we get our word erotic. It’s a word associated with intense emotional feeling. It’s a word that pagan religions have long used in part as a reference to the mystical experience of the supernatural. One form of yoga in Hinduism exploits sexual intercourse as a technique for achieving spiritual enlightenment.

But nowhere does the New Testament use the word eros. It uses a rare word in the original Greek: agape. There are no rapturous, mystical experiences associated with agape. Rather, agape is committed to serve the best interests of the ones who are loved – self-centered us.

Furthermore, John tells us, God so loved the world that he reaches out to all men and women. This is breath-taking. God could have shut humanity down at the moment of their rebellion. We deserved nothing less. But God in his love, had a bigger and very costly plan in mind that would benefit a world that rejected him.

God gave the world a gift. He gave us his Son…

John is not saying that God loved world enough to give his Son. Rather, it was out of God’s love for the world that he gave his Son.

In the first instance this means the Son personally reveals what God is like to us. As Jesus says later, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). More than ever we need to hear and respond to him.

But God did not only give his Son to shine his light of revelation into a dark world. The gift was to reach its climax and fulfillment with the Son’s crucifixion. God’s love is seen not so much in the coming of his Son, but in the death of the Son, the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ.

This was the action of a holy and just God whose love found a way to forgive, rescue and restore men and women who had shown no love for him. Extraordinarily, God in and through his Son, was willing to make great sacrifices for undeserving people. We needed a Saviour because we are sinners. And God himself was willing to take the initiative to do it at great cost to himself. It is here we see the immeasurable depth of God’s love.

And John tells us of the offer that God holds out – So that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Eternal life is contrasted with perishing. John doesn’t tell us what perishing is, but it does tell us that it will be a most unwelcome experience. Elsewhere we learn, mainly through Jesus’ own teaching, that it is a very serious thing to refuse God’s gift. The perishing won’t be perpetually partying on with friends. They will lose everything that is good, beautiful and true. T.S. Elliot put it this way, Hell is oneself. Hell is alone…

Life eternal, on the other hand, is the experience and joy of a life that is appropriate in the coming age. It will be a life of perfection and beauty, where there will be no more pain or suffering, self-interest or injustice; rather it will be the fullness of joy in the glory of the Lord.

And John tells us who will benefit: Whoever believes in the Son… We can’t achieve eternal life by our own efforts or merits. We are totally dependent on God’s generous gift. To turn to Jesus, the Son of God and to trust him, is the key to our benefiting from God’s precious gift.

Have you turned to Christ? Are you aware that at least one-in-five people around us are open to an invitation to explore Christianity? Pray. The fields are white unto harvest. God can’t be cancelled.

From: https://anglicanconnection.com/god-so-loved-the-world/

Daily Devotional: 3-16-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Tue, 04 May 2021 11:13:15 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-16-21

Interpreting the Logos

In Greek philosophy, the logos remains an impersonal force, a lifeless and abstract philosophical concept that is a necessary postulate for the cause of order and purpose in the universe. In Hebrew thought, the Logos is personal. He indeed has the power of unity, coherence, and purpose, but the distinctive point is that the biblical Logos is a He, not an it.

All attempts to translate the word Logos have suffered from some degree of inadequacy. No English word is able to capture the fullness of John’s Logos when he declared that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Attempts have been made by philosophers to translate Logos as logic, act, or deed—all of which are inadequate definitions.

God’s Logos does include action. The Logos is the eternal Word in action. But it is no irrational action or sheer expression of feeling. It is the divine Actor, acting in creation and redemption in a coherent way, who is announced in John’s Gospel.

That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us is the startling conclusion of John’s prologue. The cosmic Christ enters our humanity. It is the supreme moment of visitation of the eternal with the temporal, the infinite with the finite, the unconditioned with the conditioned.

Coram Deo

Reflect on this truth: God became flesh to accomplish your redemption. Have you accepted His gift of salvation?

Passages for Further Study

John 1:1–2

John 1:15

From: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/interpreting-logos/

Daily Devotional: 3-15-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 08:14:52 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-15-21

The God of Second Chances

So you have problems. Your nerves are frayed. Mole hills seem like mountains to climb. You look for a means of escape, but there doesn’t seem to be one. And so you turn to alcohol. At least you can drown your problems for a few hours. Or you turn to drugs, perhaps with a doctor’s prescription, just a little something to calm your nerves. But your problems don’t go away. The morning after reveals the same hurdles to cross.

Let me suggest a different approach. This approach involves turning to God. It involves coming to Christ. It involves saying with David of old, “But as for me, I trust in Thee, O Lord, I say, ‘Thou art my god'” (Psalm 31:14).

Believe me, David had problems. When he was a youth, King Saul attempted to kill David, more than once. Then when David became King, he committed adultery and had the woman’s husband murdered. David had to live under a burden of guilt until God forgave him and restored him. Then David’s first son, the child of the adultery, died in infancy. Later, another son gathered an army in an effort to overthrow his father.

But David always turned to God and confessed, “I trust in Thee, O Lord.” David knew that God always leads His children through their problems. David trusted God and learned this lesson first hand. Is this a lesson you also need to learn? Then you need to turn to the living God. You need to commit your life to Christ.

And to help you, click here and you can listen to a sermon that answers the question, “Does God Change Lives?

From: http://dennyprutow.com/daily-devotions/

Daily Devotional 3-12-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 20:55:57 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-12-21

Love Your Neighbor

“Love your neighbor.” Perhaps he rolls in riches, and you are poor and living in your humble dwelling next-door to his mansion. Every day you see his estates, his fine clothes, and his extravagant parties. God has given him these gifts; covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with what you have, if you cannot better it, but do not look upon your neighbor and wish that he was like you. Love him, and then you will not envy him.

Perhaps, on the other hand, you are rich, and the poor live nearby. Do not scorn to call them neighbors. Admit that you are bound to love them. The world calls them your inferiors. In what way are they inferior? They are far more your equals than your inferiors, for “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.”1 Your clothes are better than theirs, but you are in no way better than them. They are men, and what are you more than that? Pay attention that you love your neighbor even though he be in rags or sunken in the depths of poverty.

But perhaps you say, “I cannot love my neighbors because no matter what I do for them they respond with ingratitude and contempt.” All the more reason for the heroism of love. Would you be a featherbed warrior instead of bearing the rough fight of love? He who dares the most shall win the most; and if the path of love is rough, tread it boldly, still loving your neighbors through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they are hard to please, do not seek to please them, but to please your Master; and remember if they spurn your love, your Master has not spurned it, and your deed is as acceptable to Him as if it had been acceptable to them.

Love your neighbor, for in so doing you are following the footsteps of Christ.

1) Acts 17:26

From: https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/daily-devotionals/latest/?gclid=CjwKCAjwnK36BRBVEiwAsMT8WCR8UteIwaWlAyP4o9ZIuAWio8l7qmAM1nDcB3pFiYr-jOUNkgMsShoC68IQAvD_BwE

Daily Devotional3-11-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:43:50 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-11-21

The Fifth Petition: Forgive Us Our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors

In the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, the verb “forgive!” is imperative, indicating both the gravity of the offenses we commit against God and the anguish over committing them. These offenses are of such magnitude that only the Father can forgive them, for he has a Father’s heart. The matter is taken up with him urgently, incessantly. The imperative shows that the petitioner won’t take “no” for an answer. It is a plea that won’t let go unless it is assured of complete forgiveness. The petition allows us to give a full and desperate confession of sin. One hears the echo of David’s prayers.

For I know my wrong-doing, and my sin is always in front of me. I have sinned against You, and You only. I have done what is sinful in Your eyes (Ps 51:3,4, NLV).

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin (Ps 32:5).

Every single thought and act arising from our sinful human nature requires heartfelt contrition. They are offenses toward God’s holiness, utterly despising and denying his existence and goodwill toward us. These include a soul-loathing of God’s commandments and the expressed directions of Scripture for our lives.

The petition does not reduce sins into simple misunderstandings or pretext-laden explanations. The Greek word translated “trespasses, offenses, or debts” refers to a debt owed, emphasizing the ensuing obligation to repay. In this sense, the meaning of “sin” adds to the emphatic and imperative “Forgive!” The plea’s urgency is because there’s no possible way I can repay the debt I owe as a result of my offenses against God and my neighbor. In the prayer, we do not only plea for forgiveness for our acts, but who we are at the root: sinners, characterized throughout by our sinful human nature. Thus, not even with our very lives could we ever repay for our offenses against the holiness and honor of “Our Father in heaven.”

Jesus read the hearts and minds of sinners and realized the need to gather all those pressing feelings into the simple prayer, “Forgive us our debts!”

The Father’s response is not only immediate, but at the cross, he anticipated our plea, and through Christ’s sacrifice, our sins were forgiven. If we want to see evidence of our Father’s answer to the fifth petition, we need only to look at the cross and the empty tomb.

He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14, CSB).

Christ offered the totality of his holy being, and the entire debt of our sins fell on him, not only for our trespasses but for our innate sinful human nature. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

The petition has a second part: “as we forgive our debtors.” Jesus’ parable of the two debtors contains his own best explanation of how these two phrases of the petition relate to each other: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Paraphrasing Matthew’s report, a king wanted to settle accounts with his servants. One owed the modern equivalent of $2,000,000,000 USD. Since he couldn’t pay, the king ordered to sell him and his entire family into slavery and impounded his goods until the debt was paid. But the servant fell on his face, begged for mercy, and promised to repay every cent. The king had compassion. He did not just reduce the debt to a payable amount but wiped out the entire amount. But the forgiven servant had a co-worker that owed him about 100 days of labor at minimum wage. He also begged for mercy and time to repay. But the forgiven servant would not have it and had him thrown in jail. That didn’t sit well with the other servants who went and told the king, who suddenly had a new name for the guy: “You wicked servant.” The king saw that everything the servant had done was wicked. He had put on an Oscar-winning performance for mercy and tried to take the king for a fool. The king saw who he really was and withdrew his forgiveness, then threw him in jail until he paid his two billion! “So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart” (Matt 18:23-35).

The point of the parable and the petition is to have us flee to Christ and confess our unforgiving hearts.

But can anyone really forgive from the heart?

We would, of course, wish to re-write the parable according to our own idolatrous heart seeking applause for its pious life. We would think that we not only ask forgiveness from our hearts for an unpayable debt, but also that after being forgiven we would search out our debtors and forgive them from our hearts. But the point of the parable and the petition is to have us flee to Christ and confess our unforgiving hearts. We must see our capacity for forgiveness as the Roman officer saw his capacity for belief: “Lord, I forgive, help thou my unforgiving spirit!” “Lord, I am not completely sincere in my plea for forgiveness, and even less do I forgive others from my heart.” For both sincerity and heartfelt forgiveness, we must flee to Christ, and by faith, see him as our perfect substitute in the petition for forgiveness.

Martin Luther understood from the Scriptures that the sin-bearing Christ was also the forgiveness-seeking Christ.

Now, that Christ has sin is testified by the Holy Spirit in Psalm 40:12–13: “For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head” (NIV). Then Psalm 41:5 says, “I said, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord; heal me, for I have sinned against you’” (NIV). (1)

When he became sin for us, he prayed from his heart, “Have mercy on me, Lord,” “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” For he was all: sinner, supplicant, debt payer, debt paid, and forgiver. He alone was able to plead with complete and perfect sincerity on my behalf: “My Father, forgive me, the sinner, even as I have forgiven from my heart all those who have offended me.” We are indeed complete in him, and in him alone do we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

From: https://www.1517.org/articles/the-fifth-petition-forgive-us-our-debts-as-we-forgive-our-debtors

Daily Devotional 3-10-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 12:22:53 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-10-21

Water into Wine

In his book, God and Stephen Hawking, Dr. John Lennox notes a current objection to miracles that says: ‘Now we know the laws of nature, miracles are impossible’. To which Dr. Lennox responds: ‘From a theistic perspective, the laws of nature predict what is bound to happen if God does not intervene… To argue that the laws of nature make it impossible for us to believe in the existence of God and the likelihood of his intervention in the universe is plainly false’.

God’s people understand that ‘the laws of nature’ are the observable regularities that God the creator has built into the universe. However, such ‘laws’ do not prevent God from intervening if he chooses. When he does, we are able to identify the irregularity and speak of it as ‘a miracle’.

A wedding in a small, impoverished village. In John chapter 2 we read of a wedding that Jesus and his close followers attended in Cana in Galilee (2:1-11). A critical situation had arisen: the wine had run out. And Mary, Jesus’ mother, who seems to have been involved with the preparations for the wedding, had turned to him and asked him to do something.

Jesus’ response might seem harsh to us: “Woman, “What concern is that to you and to me?…” he said.

Woman was Jesus’ usual form of address, as we find when he spoke to the woman at the well (John 4:21) and Mary Magdalene in the garden after his resurrection (John 20:15). It was also the address he used when he spoke to his mother from the cross, putting her in the care of John, the beloved disciple (John 19:26). On no occasion did this imply harshness or indifference.

Furthermore, his response: “What concern is that to you and to me?…” is a Hebrew idiom. While literally it means, ‘What to me and thee’, we need to consider the context. So, on the lips of the evil-possessed in Mark 1, it means, ‘What have we in common with you?’ (1:24). Here, as one commentator observes, the probable meaning is, ‘Your concern and mine are not the same’.

Jesus was saying to Mary that he was no longer just her son but was now entering his time in public ministry as the Son of God incarnate, the Messiah. His work would now involve taking up the primary purpose of his coming. His response to Mary’s “they have no wine” would be much deeper and more significant than generously alleviating the pressing need at a wedding.

Water jars. In verse 6, John tells us: Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification,… As John’s Gospel was written in the first instance for a Jewish readership, it is fair to say that John, who uses symbolism throughout his writing, wants us to understand the purpose of the water: it was for outward and ceremonial cleansing of people who were physically and spiritually unclean.

The wine. Jesus directed the servants to draw from the water jars and take the beverage to the steward, the wedding master of ceremonies, for tasting. Recognizing the fine quality of the wine he spoke with the bridegroom, complimenting him for leaving the best wine, contrary to custom, until the last.

We are left in no doubt about the quality and superabundance of Jesus’ action. He had provided for a bridegroom in his dilemma – saving him from potential legal action, for a bridegroom was responsible for the cost of the wedding. Jesus also provided a generous wedding gift: the new couple could have sold the balance of the wine to start their new home.

Some critics have responded to Jesus’ action in turning some 120 – 130 gallons of water into wine as a purposeless ‘luxury’ miracle. It’s said this miracle is unlike every other supernatural act of Jesus. On every other occasion he showed God’s concern for those in physical need.

What then do we glean from this remarkable event?

In verse 11 we read: Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in (on) him. None of Jesus’ actions were simply designed to assuage human suffering. Yes, they do show God’s compassion, but they also pointed to Jesus’ uniqueness as God’s Messiah. In John’s Gospel they are spoken of as signs revealing the glory of Jesus.

Furthermore, because this sign is not followed up with John’s usual spiritual discourse, we need to look more carefully at the detail of the narrative. As we observed, in verse 6 John had indicated that the water in the six stone jars was used for the Jewish rites of purification.

Given the direction of John’s narrative to the hour when Jesus said he would be glorified – in his crucifixion, we can say that the water, now turned into wine, symbolized the day when Jesus would generously provide the perfect, once and for all time spiritual cleansing for the sins of an unclean humanity – through his shed blood on the cross.

Significantly, John the Gospel writer tells us that the disciples believed in (or, on) him. They did not simply believe that he was the Messiah, they put their trust in him.

Jesus’ turning the water into wine was the first occasion John records when Jesus chose to intervene and act outside ‘the laws of nature’. It was the first of the signs authenticating Jesus as the Word of God, the Son of God incarnate.

Prayer: Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

From: https://anglicanconnection.com/water-into-wine/

Daily Devotional: 9.3.21

Mon, 05 Apr 2021 13:39:02 GMT

Daily Devotional 9.3.21

Plumbing the Depths of His Person

When we consider Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Logos who became incarnate, we note instantly that in any attempt to plumb the depths of His person we are stepping into the deep waters of the nature of God Himself. In Hebrews 1:3, the author describes Christ as “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”

Imagine someone who not only reflects the glory of God as Moses did after his encounter with God on Mount Sinai, but who actually is the very brightness of the divine glory. The biblical concept of divine glory is reiterated again and again in the Old Testament. Nothing can be likened to that glory that belongs to the divine essence and which He has placed above the heavens. This is the glory manifest in the theophany of the shekinah, the radiant cloud that displays the pure effulgence of His being. This is the glory of the One who dwells in light inaccessible, who is a consuming fire. This is the glory that blinded Saul on the road to Damascus.

Coram Deo

Jesus has given His glory to you as a gift. Read John 17.

Passages for Further Study

Hebrews 1:1–4

From: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/plumbing-depths-his-person/

Get in the Game: It's Time to Go

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:38:35 GMT

It's time to stop saying you're going to do, and start to just do it!

Bill Adams recently sent out a social media video explaining what he means by saying; "It's time to go". When out preaching the bible truly comes alive for him, the scriptures jump off the page and the words make sense. But this can only happen the more that you read it, the more that you speak it. God spoke directly to Adam and Eve and yet they did not believe Him which is why they sinned. When we speak as evangelists we get the same response, people who simply do not believe, people who have not taken the time to read the bible and understand the words within it. How can you dismiss the bible as a fairytale without truly exploring the text?

Bill explains his simple process of how, if after he has a dialogue with someone when out preaching, and after repeating himself twice, they still show no language of belief, he ceases the conversation and moves on because he does not want to spend time speaking with someone who simply does not believe. One of the problems Bill faces is people saying they are not going, but not always using that phrase to say it. It's time to stop beating about the bush and say what you really mean. But more importantly, it's time to go!

Listen to Bill's video in full here:

https://www.facebook.com/sfoi.org/videos/451282536116845

Get in the Game: I Can't Afford It

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 09:02:00 GMT

I Can't Afford It...What does that really mean?

There are times when we invite people to join us at events, and on some occasions, someone will say; "I I can't afford it". But what does that really mean? Being more specific in your explanation can help us to help you, but when you do tell us that you can't afford it, have you truly explored what it is that you cannot afford?

Take a look at Bill's video below has explores the question, I can't afford it, what does that mean?

Flying Free: Preaching after the pandemic

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 10:33:18 GMT

Flying Free: Preaching after the Pandemic

In the UK restrictions have meant not only has there been little to no opportunity to preach at sporting events, we could also face the risk of being arrested for doing so. How does one justify travelling to preach, or pop to the local shops to proclaim the word of God instead of to buy a bottle of milk?

Sports games have seen no fans which means nobody to hear you, and even if you did still stand proudly outside old Trafford, you won't be allowed to raise your voice and risk saliva particles flying through the air. All of this leads to a feeling of being trapped. We have so much to say and no-one to say it to.

But that doesn't mean we can't still get the message out, we just have to find new ways to do it. Hope Together has a great website and an entire section on lockdown evangelism.

Take a look at their inspiring video here:

You can read the full page on lockdown evangelism by visiting the Hope Together website:

Daily Devotion 3-8-21

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 11:40:18 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-8-21

Showing Your Love for God

How do you express your love for your parents? Or how do your children express their love for you? One way children show their love for their parents is to obey them. Yes, when children try to please their parents by obeying them, such obedience is an expression of love.

The same thing is true in your relationship with God and with Jesus Christ. Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). You see, God is just not laying down the Law when He comes to you with the Ten Commandments. Not at all. God is giving you an opportunity to display your love for Him. This is really what the Ten Commandments are all about. Following them is an expression of love.

Let’s face it, you are not showing love for God when you use the name of His Son as a swear word. And you are not showing love for God when you neglect the weekly time of worship each Lord’s Day. And what about your neighbor? God expects you to love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself (Matthew 22:39). But you are hardly showing love for your neighbor when you spread malicious gossip about him or her.

All of these things and much more are wrapped up in the Ten Commandments. So to really show God that you love Him means living your life in obedience to these commandments. God has given them to you. And they provide you a way to express your love for God. “Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

Where do you stand in all of this? Are you loving God by keeping His commandments? To help you understand the teaching of the Bible along this line, please click here and listen to a message called, “Showing Your love for God.”

From: http://dennyprutow.com/daily-devotions/

Daily Devotional 3-4-21:

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 10:56:24 GMT

Daily Devotional 3-4-21

The Fourth Petition: Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread

The petition begins by pointing us toward God’s abundant grace. The prayer assures us that our daily bread is a provision of the “exceeding riches of his grace” (Eph 2:7). The food on our table has been set there by the Father’s gracious hand. So that with each bite we partake in, we hear “by grace are you fed, and that is not of yourselves” (cf. Eph 2:8).

Grace has a crunchy feel on our mouth, it is tasty on our tongue, and our lips sip it as we imbue that cup of hot cocoa. Yet, it is grace, pure and simple. It is grace made manifest in the plate. Even though the horn of plenty on our table is there as the fruit of our labor, that is also a gift of God’s grace. The health for our labor comes from the same source. Health, work, and food, all carry the same label, “Provided by the Kingdom of Heaven.”

These are blessings we are called to share. In the post-Second World War, the United States distributed 100 million CARE packages to war ravaged areas. These contained basic rations of milk powder, cheese, rice, and beans. Most Americans participated in the funding, sending, and distribution. Today, hundreds of nations have joined the world-wide effort “to feed the hungry” through organizations that provide “daily bread” to millions of empty tables. “For I was hungry and you gave me food” (Matt 25:35). We are called to be God’s answer to the prayers of millions for their “daily bread.”

However, many of us, through the gift of God’s grace as well, are able to fill our pantries through our daily work. As proud of our labor as we may be for “putting food on the table,” each meal is a heavenly sent CARE package. This grace from God is a gift we take too much for granted. What’s more, the table is set by God’s grace on believers and unbelievers, the world over. “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Matt 5:45). Whether or not we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” the provision is there on our table, for some meager, for others plentiful.

For those of us who pray from the abundance of our tables, Jesus’ intention in the Fourth Petition was more like, “Give us this day our daily gratitude.” Our thankfulness would include all those who took part in setting our tables. There’s a whole cloud of people who in a figurative way, sit at the table with us, from the farmer to the stocking clerk. We give thanks for them, too, pray for their provisions, and recognize them as instruments of God’s grace.

Martin Luther was well aware of the vast reach of this Petition. Commenting on the Fourth Petition in his Large Catechism he said,

Here, now, we consider the poor bread basket, the necessaries of our body and of the temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread and, on the other hand, against everything which interferes with it. Therefore you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour-bin, but to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of sustenance. For if God did not cause it to grow, and bless and preserve it in the field, we could never take bread from the oven or have any to set upon the table.

Luther even extended the Petition to include the government, local authorities, and even the centers of commerce, for their responsibility in providing our daily bread.

However, it is difficult to read “give us our daily bread” without hearing the distant echo of the Old Testament manna sent from heaven to the Israelites.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day (Exod 16:4).

With the incarnate Christ, that promise became a Messianic prophecy fulfilled in him.

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty (John 6:32-35).

Picture the moment. There is a large gathering of Israelites. Before them is the Incarnate Manna, the Bread of Heaven, Jesus the Christ. And he himself is teaching the listeners to pray daily for the bread which comes down from heaven. Grace has come down from heaven and is before them daily, feeding them with his words. He is teaching them to daily pray to be fed from his flesh for eternal life.

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh...This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever (John 6:48-51, 58).

In, with, and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine, we commune with Christ’s real presence in the Sacrament of Communion. Yet, even at our tables, his presence is with us through the bounteous gifts of his grace. Indeed, in the food we eat, in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, his all-sufficient grace is there answering our prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

From: https://www.1517.org/articles/the-fourth-petition-give-us-this-day-our-daily-bread

Get in the Game: SFOI Americas Cup Outreach 2021

bill@sfoi.org (Bill Adams) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:44:04 GMT

Are you coming to New Zealand?

Lord willing SFOI will be in New Zealand for two weeks from the 7th March to the 21st March 2021.

SFOI has traveled to Auckland before for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Auckland is a port city and has many ministry locations.

Anyone can join us for this outreach and we encourage as many as possible to do so. In general the plan is to evangelize in Auckland at the port and around the city from 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM daily.

Accommodations: private home in Auckland. [Holds 10 people. Cost per person: $750].

Meals: On your own at the home and when out.

For more information or to register please use the register here button below.

Get in the Game: Preaching Tips Learned from Stand-up Comedy

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 09:31:27 GMT

Written by John Coble

I was involved with doing stand-up comedy many years ago and before I started doing evangelism. It was a fun hobby and I performed at a few open-mic nights in and near Nashville. In hindsight, it seems like God was using stand-up comedy to prepare me for something better – preaching the gospel in public!

1, Introduce yourself, say "hello" – give people a few seconds to recognize you and pay attention. When you are out on the sidewalk, it may take someone a couple seconds to figure out who is talking and where to look.

2. Repeat what a heckler says on the mic—even though it may be an insult. Many people probably didn't hear the heckler, since he doesn't have a mic and you do. You want people to know what "heckle" you are responding to.

3. Do NOT let a stranger talk on the mic. Even if it makes it more difficult or makes you seem less congenial, don't do it. If someone wants to talk on the mic, they are likely drunk and you don't know what that person is going to say.

4. When using a handheld mic, point the mic towards your mouth and keep it pointed towards your mouth, even when you turn your head. The mic is like an arrow pointing toward your mouth, so people know where to look. Get familiar with using a mic and adjusting the height of a mic stand. Also, it's counter-intuitive, but covering the mic with your hand WILL cause very annoying feedback.

5. Don't try to talk over people who are laughing or cheering. Don't try to talk over traffic horns, sirens, etc. Just wait a few seconds and don't stress about it. It might be a good time to take a drink of water. (But Do talk over people who are attempting to interfere with your presentation.)

SBO ’20 – TEAM LEADER – JOE HINSON

chris@isbilltech.com (chris@isbilltech.com isbill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:52:53 GMT

SBO ’20 – TEAM LEADER – JOE HINSON

I have been married for going on 23 years to Missy. We’ve been together since high school. We have 2 sons, Seth 16 and Ben 12. We live in Denton Texas about an hour north of Dallas.

I lived as a false convert for several years until around 10 years ago when by God’s grace I came into contact with Ray Comfort’s “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and “True and False Conversion”. The first message helped me to truly understand the Gospel and the second revealed my complete absence of Faith in said Gospel.

Currently my family and I are making preparations to relocate to the Provo Utah area to Lord willing be a part of disciples being made and see churches being planted.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Find Joe on Social Media at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.hin

Twitter: Sola_Fide_

SBO REGISTRATION PAGE

chris@isbilltech.com (chris@isbilltech.com isbill) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:52:45 GMT

SBO REGISTRATION PAGE

What to do to register for an event:

First, read the Roles of Men and Women.

Second, please only register if you can and will attend SBO ’20 if your application is approved.

Third, if you have previously attended the SBO email Hannah at: info@sfoi.org and indicate you want to attend SBO ’20. You will receive an email confirming your application was received.

Fourth, if this is your first SBO and you have not registered previously please complete the registration form on this page: SBO Registration.

Fifth, two references are required for everyone. One from your Pastor testifying you are a member in good standing, and the other from your spouse or if you are single from your employer or someone else in authority in your life.

These are the guidelines for spousal and other references for SBO ’20. When you ask for references they must answer the question to your particular situation. Clink on the link that applies to you:

Men who are single.

Men who are married.

Women.