Staff List & Mailing Address
Staff List & Mailing Address
Staff List & Mailing Address
MORNING STAR STAFF:

EDITOR IN CHIEF
Toby Trudel - Nashua, NH

SENIOR EDITOR - Biblical Department
Geoffrey Kragen - Roseville, CA

SENIOR EDITOR - Christian Life Department
Teresa Giordanengo - Canonsburg, PA

SENIOR LITERARY EDITOR
Al Murillo III - El Paso, TX

WRITING STAFF
Jerry Johnson - Modesto, CA
J.C. Trudel - Naples Park, FL
Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA
Dr. Charles Wootten - Matoaca, VA

SENIOR PUBLISHER - DOS Version
Steve Paulovich - Derry, NH

DIRECTOR OF NETWORK DISTRIBUTION
(AMERICA ONLINE and COMPUSERVE Networks)
Jerry White - Germantown, MD

DIRECTOR OF NETWORK DISTRIBUTION (GENIE Network)
Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA

DIRECTOR OF NETWORK DISTRIBUTION (DELPHI Network)
Derrick Shipman - Greenville, SC

DIRECTOR OF BBS DISTRIBUTION - USA
Walter H. Bauer Jr. - Sugar Land, TX

BBS DISTRIBUTION - USA
Bruce Derouen - Beaumont TX
Danny O. Dennis - Opelika, AL
Jack Lavallet III - Alpharetta, GA

INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
Sharon Sanders - Jerusalem, Israel
Lars Storstrand - Minde, Norway
Peter Cunliffe - Noisiel, France
Roger J. Obe - Iloilo City, Philippines
Scott Walters - Punchbowl, NSW, Australia.

OFFICE SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN
Patrick Auriemma - Nashua, N.H.

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MORNING STAR is produced and published monthly, by a staff of
born again believers in Jesus, located across the United States
of America. Correspondence to MORNING STAR may be sent via the
U.S. Postal Service or one of several computer networks.

POSTAL ADDRESS: P.O. Box 7755 Nashua, NH 03060-7755

ELECTRONIC MAIL LINKS:

America Online E-Mail (DOS Files): MStarDOS
America Online E-Mail (MAC Files): MStarMAC
GENIE Network E-Mail: M.Wilkinson1
COMPUSERVE Network E-Mail: 74270;1265
DELPHI Network E-Mail: Derr1ck
(Note on Delphi name: It is a number "1" between the "r" and "c")

Letters
Letter From the Editor
Letter From the Editor
Welcome to the February issue of MORNING STAR. In each of the
first four issues I had the pleasure of announcing that this
magazine had reached another part of the world. Well, the
miracle continues. A letter came to us from a friend in
Australia, who downloaded the computer version of MORNING STAR
from an local network. This was truly exciting news from "down
under". Praise the Lord!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

This month's issue contains articles on a wide range of
Christian ministries. Our Feature area and most of our
Christian Life Department are dedicated to this theme.

HELP WANTED! 

A lot of folks have inquired as to how they can help with this
magazine ministry. Our greatest need is articles, specifically
those for our regular monthly columns so that we can continue
offering a quality publication every month. If you have
something to contribute that doesn't seem to fit into any of
these areas, send it in anyhow! The following is a list of the
regular columns which we accept material for, along with a brief
explanation as to the purpose of each. Please copy this list
and send it to some friends.

NEW IN CHRIST: Articles on the basics of Biblical Christianity,
geared to help new believers grow in their faith. Also, stories
of the experiences of new believers.

BIBLE STUDY: Verse by verse studies of books or chapters from
books in scripture.

SPECIAL STUDIES: Studies of particular doctrines, concepts and
themes in scripture. Each study may draw from several scripture
books in one article.

MESSIANIC STUDIES: Studies related to the Jewishness of
scripture and the relationship of the Tanakh to Yeshua (Jesus)
and to the New Covenant books (New Testament).

ANEE M'AMIN: (I believe) Testimonies from Jewish believers in
Jesus.

WITNESSING COLUMN: Articles and stories related to teaching
others about God's love and forgiveness through a relationship
with Jesus.

THE WORD FOR TODAY: Articles/studies related to the application
of the Word of God to the world we live in today.

PRAYER GUIDELINES: Articles/studies on the many aspects of
prayer, an often neglected part of our lives as believers.

BIBLE QUIZ: Questions & answers, trivia, etc.

PEOPLE PROFILES: Stories about and interviews with our fellow
brothers and sisters in the Lord who have something unique to
share with us all. 

YOUNG ADULTS: Articles/stories from believers in their teens
and twenties. (Note: articles from authors under 18 must be
accompanied with a written note of permission to publish from
their parent or legal guardian.)

TESTIMONY: Testimonies from gentile believers in Jesus.

MINISTRY PROFILE: "Close up" looks at particular ministries. 
Small local ministries as well as large international ones are
featured.

L'CHAIM: (To life) Articles/stories concerned with our
physical well being.

MUSIC COLUMN: Song lyrics, articles and stories concerning the
realm of Christian music.

CHEF'S CORNER: Our recipe column.

POTPOURRI: An assortment of poems, wisdom, quips and quotes.

BOOK REVIEWS: Reviews of books/periodicals that can benefit the
Christian community. We can also use this column to review
computer software and other products.

NEWS DESK: News stories from both the Christian and secular
world that are of interest to believers. Send in those
clippings!

FUTURE ISSUES:

If you are interested in submitting an original article, story
or poem for Morning Star, here is a list of upcoming themes to
help inspire thought. Don't feel limited to these topics
however!

March - RELATIONSHIPS
(Marriages, family members, friends, occupational)
Deadline : January 18

April - CHANGED LIVES #2
(Prison inmates)
Deadline : February 15

May - ISRAEL
(44th anniversary issue)
Deadline : March 21

June - BIBLICAL COUNSELLING
Deadline : April 18

July - WOMEN'S ISSUES
Deadline : May 16

Remember, we cannot use copyrighted material without prior
written consent from the writer or publisher.

SEND IN YOUR LETTERS!

We love hearing from our brothers and sisters across the USA and
around the world! Please send in a post card or contact us via
one of the E-mail links. Your comments, questions and
suggestions are wanted and welcome.

MORNING STAR accepts literary contributions from believers
wherever they may live. It is our policy to publish testimonies
as they are originally submitted with minimal alteration of the
text. Opinions stated in these testimonies do not necessarily
reflect those of the MORNING STAR staff. The content of MORNING
STAR does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any
computer network.

In service to Jesus the Messiah,

Toby Trudel
Editor in Chief MORNING STAR
Your Letters
Your Letters
Just a quick note to say that your mag (do you call an electronic
publication a magazine?) has made its way down under! It got
here via FIDONET from a BBS called the FileBank which sends
several meg of files to us poor Aussies every month.

Anyhow, I'd very much like to get some back issues + subscribe
and help you distribute around Australia (Well, I'll throw them
on the major Christian BBS's around Sydney and hopefully they'll
spread from there.)

Scott Walters
Punchbowl, NSW, Australia.

A few months ago I asked for prayer for a friend named Jim. 
Here is an update: A while back I asked for prayer for Jim an
IV leader here at NIU. Jim's family was victim to a terrible
tragedy a couple of months ago when his mother was shot and
killed by his uncle. Well, his uncle is now in prison and
recently committed his life to Christ! Jim is very grateful to
God for turning this tragedy into something good and has
developed a very close relationship with his uncle and has
forgiven him. Thanks all for your prayers and please continue to
pray for Jim and his uncle. In Christ,

Daryl Kinton
DeKalb, Illinois 

Grace and Peace! Well, Morning Star has been simply
outstanding! My favorite articles was the one in issue #1 about
hospital visitation, and the testimony of Janette Kragen in
issue #4. These win my best-articles-of-1991 awards!

Mark Cole
Lawrence, Kansas

Thanks for a wonderful online magazine. Is there a normal
issue date that I can expect to look for a new issue of Morning
Star? When I get the new issue I will begin to distribute it
throughout the Chicago area on local Christian BBS's.

Kenneth R. Schar
Chicago, Illinois

I am IMPRESSED with the Morning Star on line magazine. I know
the time and work it takes to put everything together for a
magazine like this. Keep up the good work!

Rick Bruchner
Washington, Pennsylvania 

Hello, I've really enjoyed Morning Star. Keep up the good
work. The reason that I'm writing is that I work at a
Christian TV station in Kansas City. (TV-50) I gave a copy of
Morning Star to the production manager and he liked it to. He
wanted to know if anyone representing the magazine is in KC or
will be in KC anytime soon. If so he would like to have you on
one of our shows to tell about Morning Star. Let me know if
anyone will be in town ... Let me know if I can help with
anything from a video aspect.

Jeff Farmer
Kansas City, Missouri
Commentary
Commentary
Ministry - Who's Responsibility Anyway?

"...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." 
(Matthew 28:19-20)

Throughout the Church's history, many battles have been waged
over the differences between clergy and laity, the professional
and the amateur. A third player has been added in contemporary
times: the para-church ministry.

One major question arising from the presence of these three
groups is, who does Ministry? The laity often believes the
responsibility to minister is the clergy's. This view is
grounded on financial support of the clergy by the laity. A
view also held by many in the laity is that ministry should be
left to the professional.

Church leadership understands that their responsibility is to
care for their flock. Therefore, the para-church ministry
should be the one to reach outward into the world. Other
leaders believe that since their commitment is to disciple the
laity, the laity is to carry out ministry.

Often the thrust of these views, even when correct, is that the
work of ministry belongs to someone else.

This issue of Morning Star focuses on ministry. Several
articles review para-church and church-based ministries. There
are many of these around today, and the Lord greatly blesses
them. But, if our focus is only on the professional ministry,
the clergy and the missionary, the real issue is missed.

Who is to minister? According to God's Word, every believer is
to go and make disciples. Christians are to model the love of
Christ to their neighbor. "'...Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This
is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Matthew 22:37-40).

Jesus modeled this love when He put the needs of others ahead of
His own. He died on the cross, not because He wanted to, but
because it was necessary for our salvation. He demonstrated
that Biblical ministry is giving first priority to advance the
kingdom into the world. This requires that we put the needs of
others ahead of our own. This is in direct contrast to the view
of the world, a view which states that self always comes first.

The responsibility to advance the kingdom belongs to each and
every believer. We are Christ's ministers to the world. The
question isn't, are we clergy, laity, church or para-church? 
The only question is, if we are believers, are we ministering?

God gives every believer the responsibility to serve Him. "For
we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians
2:10). This opportunity exists within the framework of daily
life. True ministry requires getting past the idea that it is
something unique, or outside of our normal lives. We must
reject the tendency to compartmentalize our Christianity from
our secular lives. This distinction is unknown in Scripture. 
Our faith must permeate all aspects of our life. There are no
areas exempt from our relationship with the Lord.

If we are walking faithfully with God, then we will find that
ministry is a normal part of our lives. We will see that we can
care for others during the regular flow of our day.

Consider this: One of the most important ministries is that of
the mother. As a mother, you have the opportunity to model
God's love to your children. You can teach them the truths of
Scripture. You are given their early years in which to model
for them the Lord's ways. 

Fathers should demonstrate the reality of integrating their
relationship with the Lord in their lives. They should model
integrity. They should show what Christ's love was all about,
by placing the needs of their wives and children ahead of their
own.

It is in the context of family that children are taught the ways
of the Lord. "These commandments that I give you today are to
be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). Children
are trained to withstand the attacks of a sinful world,
depending on God, as their parents do. They can also be taught
that they are fallible and in need of forgiveness. Children can
learn this as they see their parents admit their own failures
and ask the children's forgiveness. 

The Christian family ministers by being an illustration of God's
love, mercy and forgiveness. The Christian marriage is to be a
picture of Christ's relationship to His church. As society's
families disintegrate, what greater ministry than demonstrating
what the family should be? 

Christians in the workplace minister by their willingness to be
servants to employers, their employees and co-workers. Many of
the people you work with are hurting. What are you doing to
reach out to them with the love and comfort of God?

Many of us have skills and gifts from God that we can share with
others. Are you literate? (I suspect so or you wouldn't be
reading Morning Star.) Then you can help children or adults
learn to read. If people are to be saved, they must hear about
Christ. If they are to grow, they must be able to read His
world.

Do you know your neighbors? Have you considered that they need
someone to care about them? You can minister by loving people. 
This shouldn't be done with the ulterior motive of getting
another star on a spiritual report card. Jesus cared for the
needs of people because they were valuable as people. He healed
and fed all who came to Him. He did this even if they didn't
choose to follow Him.

John tells us, "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). Jesus died for all, even those
that reject Him. We are to show God's love to all, for only He
knows who will be saved.

God calls all believers to minister. You need to be willing to
go to the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes. Ask to have the
sensitivity to see the need of those around you. Ask to be open
to the leading of the Holy Spirit, seeing the lost as God sees
them. Touch the hurting. Love the unlovable. Choose to be
God's light in a world of darkness.

"...'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty
and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger
and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did
we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will
reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'" (Matthew
25:37-40).

We are to be the answer to the prayer of the disciples. "Then
he (Jesus) said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but
the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field'" (Matthew 9:37-38). 
Let us rejoice as we go into the harvest field.

Features
Teen Challenge Training Center, Inc.
Teen Challenge Training Center, Inc.
"The Quiet Miracle"

The Teen Challenge Training Center is America's largest and most
successful drug and alcohol program. Many years have passed
since the story of the "Cross and the Switchblade" thrilled and
excited the nation. The feature film told the story of David
Wilkerson, who left his small town Pennsylvania pastorate to
pioneer a work on the streets of New York City among street
gangs and drug addicts. The book and film challenged the hearts
and captured the imagination of millions. Out of David
Wilkerson's vision for the street people, grew the need for a
training center. Though Wilkerson eventually moved on from Teen
Challenge ... THE SAGA CONTINUES!

Frank Reynolds, the original director, began the Training Center
with 8 men in a farmhouse on a small dairy farm in Rehrersburg,
Pennsylvania, 35 miles east of Harrisburg. Construction of the
first housing unit began in July of 1962. From the humble
beginnings in that small farmhouse, the Center has grown to a
thriving complex of buildings on 500 acres that now houses and
cares for 250 students. Facilities grew to include an
educational wing, dormitory areas, and shops which house 22
different vocational fields in which the men are trained. 
Housed on the premises, along with a library, classrooms, and
offices, are a print shop, auto body and mechanic shops,
building and construction shops, industrial shops, and
greenhouses. In addition to these, there is a dairy farm with
125 head of Holstein cows and 120 young stock. There is also an
IBM Main Frame Computer, communication technology, and a fully
operational recording studio. The Center works with men who
have had life-controlling problems with drugs, alcohol or crime.
It initiates them in a rehabilitative process to the point
where the students can learn to function as productive members
of society. Applying Christian principles and moral standards
as well as responsibility towards family, society and a good
start toward legitimate vocation, the program is widely
recognized as a total cure for the whole man. 

The men come to the Training Center, commonly called "God's
Mountain," from inner city programs all across the United
States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the Bahamas. The ages of the
men range from 16 and older. The Program combines Bible
instruction to build Christian character, academic subjects to
upgrade their schooling, and vocational skills to help to
prepare them to compete in today's job market. There are also
classes where the men can prepare to earn their G.E.D. The
Remedial Reading Department teaches men who have no reading
skills or are in some way learning disabled. Classes are taught
in both English and Spanish to accommodate the specific needs of
each student.

Teen Challenge receives no government funding. "God's Mountain"
is a faith venture supported by churches of all denominations,
civic groups, and interested individuals. Your support is
needed and truly appreciated. A secular facility of equal size
would cost in excess of $40,000.00 per day to operate. Because
of the faithfulness of God and our stewardship of the finances
He has given us, we are able to operate for just in excess of
$15,000.00 per day. Your investment in these lives is an
integral part of our continued success. Students pay nothing for
the training in order that the program can be made available to
those who need it the most.

Through Christ, we are succeeding in our goal to turn these
former "rejects" of society into useful Christians who make
solid contributions to home, church, and community. With an
over 70% cure rate, the Training Center in Pennsylvania stands
alone, able to stand the scrutiny of unbelieving psychologists,
government investigators and take its place as the standard of
drug and alcohol rehabilitation in the world today.

For information call or write:

Teen Challenge Training Center Inc. P.O. Box 98 Rehrersburg, PA 
19550 (717) 933-4181
Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers
Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers, USA
In October 1971, a group of Christian officers from the Los
Angeles, California, Police Department had a burden to share
Christ with their fellow officers. They began to pray about how
they could effectively present the Good News of Jesus Christ
with others in their departments.

As a result of their prayers, a year later the Fellowship of
Christian Peace Officers (FCPO) was born. The group was
incorporated in 1974 and in May 1988, with chapters from coast
to coast and hundreds of members and friends, a major move was
made to relocate FCPO's National office from Los Angeles to
Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Simply put, the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers has been
established to show "our people" the way to a life that has real
purpose and meaning - found only in a relationship with Jesus
Christ. 

FCPO USA is made up of believers throughout the criminal justice
system, represented individually and by chapters, across
America. They are "banded together" for one principle purpose:
to share the GOOD NEWS about Jesus Christ with their colleagues
and then to help them integrate this GOOD NEWS with their own
daily living.

Membership in the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers is
unlike any other organization. When you join FCPO, you actually
become part of a "ministry team" of men and women who come from
all divisions of the criminal justice system - a ministry that
reaches beyond your own local community and into the lives of
others like you across America. You will find that FCPO can
become a very effective tool to help you share your Christian
faith with your co-workers. 

Those in FCPO are well aware of the strong common bond that is
shared by those in the criminal justice system, a "camaraderie"
which cannot be imitated by anyone outside our own unique
profession.

But because of this special relationship, we are often provided
with "opportunities" to share our faith with our otherwise "hard
to reach" colleagues. FCPO'ers are actively involved in this
"sharing" through a combined ministry concept of evangelism,
discipleship and fellowship which is all based upon prayer. 

We in FCPO are firmly committed to the goals of effective
evangelism and discipleship to every member of this "great
community." We also believe in training our members for this
opportunity and equipping them for this mission. Presently, we
have more than 1500 members nationwide as well as the Canadian
FCPO and a host of friends overseas.

Prayer is the central focus of all chapter activities. Outreach
meetings are also a priority. Some chapters have monthly
meetings while others have quarterly meetings. These are
usually centered around a meal to which the unsaved can be
invited.

If there is no chapter in your immediate area, we would like to
show you how to get one started, should you feel led to do so. 
There are no fees or dues collected to become a member of FCPO. 
This is a faith ministry, in which we depend entirely upon the
contributions of faithful supporters who share this great vision
with us. 

For more information contact:
FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN PEACE OFFICERS USA
P.O. Box 11547
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401-2547
(615) 622-1234
Bill Rudge Ministries
Bill Rudge Ministries
An International Outreach Challenging Believers To Reach Their
MAXIMUM POTENTIAL IN CHRIST

In his teenage years, Bill Rudge participated in many rebellious
activities--even illegal ones. Through his dedication to weight
lifting, he became the instructor at a health spa, and
eventually gained notoriety in the karate dojo as "Godzilla."

Bill tried almost everything imaginable, but his restless spirit
would not be tamed. His search for meaning and purpose was not
fulfilled through any of his youthful involvements, not even
when he hitchhiked across the country to find himself. But on
May 23rd, 1971, at the age of 18, "Godzilla" was tamed. His
life was dramatically changed through a personal encounter with
Jesus Christ!

Three months after accepting Christ, Bill and his young wife,
Karen, enrolled in Bible college where he served as youth leader
for an area church. He also taught classes in physical fitness
and self-defense at the college and the YMCA.

After graduating from Mt. Vernon Bible College (now L.I.F.E.
Bible college East) in 1975 with a B.A. in Bible, Bill served as
youth minister of a church in North Carolina and trained with
Youth for Christ.

In August, 1977, Bill and Karen started Bill Rudge Ministries of
Living Truth, Inc., with absolutely no money, no staff and no
facilities--just a lot of God-given desire and determination. 
While most thought the goals of these two young people could
never be achieved, Bill and Karen believed that God would be
faithful to fulfill what He led them to do -- and He has!

Bill has literally built his life and ministry on Phil. 4:13 --
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." As a
result, he has faced the challenges of overwhelming obstacles
and has seen the Lord do "the impossible" through his life and
ministry.

Bill now realizes that even before accepting Christ, God had His
hand on his life and was protecting and preparing him for his
future ministry. For the first ten years, Bill directed a
multi-faceted ministry. He developed one of the most effective
outreaches to youth his area has ever seen; he researched and
confronted the cults, occult, and other spiritual counterfeits; 
and he ran innovative total health and fitness, and self-defense
clinics for various groups and schools.

Then the Lord thrust him forth into an international outreach
ministry which is impacting tens of thousands of lives locally,
nationally, and internationally (Acts 1:8) through his speaking
engagements, radio broadcasts, TV programs, cassettes, books,
and pamphlets.

God has taken Bill's youthful experiences and his past abilities
and talents and miraculously redirected and increased them to be
used for His glory. God changed him in many ways:

From total commitment to weight lifting and karate - to total
commitment to Christ;

From victim of peer pressure - to standing alone and conqueror
through Christ;

From totally out of control - to living under Christ's Lordship;

From hitchhiking across the country running from God - to
traveling throughout the world proclaiming Him;

From having no potential - to leading a ministry whose theme is
"reaching your maximum potential through Christ!"

Bill, an ordained minister, is a dedicated and determined man
with an exciting background, a dynamic ministry, and tremendous
goals and vision for the future. He daily seeks to live under
the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to glorify the Lord with every
aspect of his life!

Bill Rudge is founder and president of a growing international
outreach ministry that challenges believers to reach their
maximum potential in Christ. Truly, Bill's life and ministry
present a tremendous witness of God's mercy, faithfulness,
protection and power!

The following is a brief overview of just some of the many ways
Bill Rudge Ministries is impacting the lives of thousands for
Christ locally, nationally and abroad (Acts 1:8)!

Radio broadcasts on stations in our local area, throughout the
United states and around the world.

Referral ministry - providing vital assistance and resource
information to hundreds of people every year.

Research Division materials (pamphlets, books, cassettes and
videos) and personnel available to hundreds of people for
reference and research.

Ellis Stewart (Research Division director) and Jim Weikal
(Research Division assistant) and other staff speaking for area
churches and groups.

Bill's speaking engagements in churches, schools, conventions,
crusades and rallies throughout the United States and abroad.

Bill & Karen's (and the many others who go with them) Missionary
Outreach Tours to countries around the world.

Use of the facilities, property and Conference Center by
numerous youth and adult groups.

Distributing thousands of Bill's cassettes, books, and pamphlets
and Bibles to spiritually hungry people around the world.

Hundreds and hundreds of letters are received every month from
those in the local area, throughout the United States, and
around the world who are being helped, encouraged, and motivated
to totally live for the Lord!

All that is done and accomplished is made possible by the
faithfulness of our Lord and the prayer and generous love
offerings and mission dollars of the many individuals, groups
and churches who stand with us!

For more information contact:
Bill Rudge Ministries
220 North Buhl Farm Drive
Hermitage, Pennsylvania 16148-1718
(412) 983-1223
International Ministry
International Ministry
One of the most exciting things going on in American College
Campuses is the vast numbers of internationals coming to them.
One of the biggest needs these students have is to make American
friends. Imagine being college age and going to a different
culture and basically having to wing it. If someone who knew
the ropes became your friend, he would be your friend for life. 
It would totally change your entire outlook of that country!

That's why my wife and I see befriending internationals to be so
key, not only in meeting a very practical need in people's
lives, but also in reaching people with the gospel of Jesus
Christ.

In the book of Acts, there are basically two cross-cultural
missionary strategies going on. First, there is Paul, going to
other countries to reach those other cultures for Christ. 
Second, there are internationals coming to Jerusalem, and
Christians reaching them in their home city. This is what
happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and with the Ethiopian
Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). If you have a burden to reach people
with the gospel, I would strongly recommend you check out your
local campus! It is also much less expensive than going to
another land to evangelize, and you don't have to learn a new
language (although this can be helpful).

The University of Kansas, like most campuses, has an
International Students Association that is hungry for volunteers
to become host families and help with activities with
international students. Every year we host a new student. The
first year we hosted a family from Taiwan. Lee is a business
man, his wife is a lawyer. They have a daughter in grade school
who has really enjoyed joining our family field trips. They were
very eager to know how Americans operate, and practically
invited themselves to our Church!

That year, we were also involved with a couple from Beijing
University. She was studying religion, so no doubt she was
studying us. He was studying American families. They were
devastated by the massacre at Tiananmen Square. It was an
opportunity to mourn with those who mourn. She wrote her thesis
on Chinese students who become Christians in the United States. 
She also taught our daughter Gretchen a little bit of Chinese,
by translating children's books into Chinese.

We also became close friends with Mucund, a medical student from
India. He invited us to a Hindu wedding, which was quite fun. 
We have learned a lot from him about the upper class in Bombay,
India. He is very interested in the Bible, but presently is in
medical school, which is a total immersion type of experience.

Last year we hosted another student from Beijing, China, who
learned English listening to his shortwave radio! The first
semester he was by himself, so we saw him a lot. During the
second semester, his wife joined him here. One of the
highlights of last year was Thanksgiving. We invited a group of
Internationals over, including a family of Pentecostal
Christians from the Soviet Union! They came here to flee
religious persecution, just like the pilgrims. It was
interesting talking to Christians who had suffered for their
faith. They kind of took up the ball, and shared the gospel
with everyone else who was there.

Last Easter we invited another group of international families. 
The children had an Easter Egg hunt, and I psyched myself up to
say a few things about how I had discovered the true meaning of
Easter. We also showed a Christian movie. This year, we are
hosting Stella from Cyprus. Cyprus is an island that is located
between Greece and Turkey. She is an Orthodox Christian.

One part of my strategy is to see how I can plug into other
people's ministry (so as not to re-invent the wheel). For
instance, my wife has been involved in teaching English in Small
World; an organization set up to meet the needs of wives of
international students (often times these women's visas do not
have work permission, and they do not even know English- you can
imagine how lonely they could feel). We also volunteered to do
nursery for a Chinese Bible Study. We will also have a picnic
for an organization called Operation Friendship.

Some people think that it is wrong to 'proselytize' people from
other cultures. I believe they have a point if your attitude is
selfish and the only reason you are involved in international
ministry is to "lay your trip on them". But if you genuinely
care about people, and share your lives with them, as well as
meet needs in their lives, then I believe you will genuinely
reach them with the true meaning of the gospel.

For more information write to:

Mark Cole
1544 Delaware
Lawrence, Kansas 66044

America Online Network contact: MarkC88
Sepher Ministries
Sepher Ministries
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness..."
2 Timothy 3:16

Sepher Ministries is a church-based counseling/discipleship
ministry. Services include counseling, teaching, and outreach. 
Sepher is under the umbrella of Foothill Bible Church in
Lincoln, California. Lincoln is just north of Sacramento,
California's capital.

Sepher, founded in 1990 by Pastor Geoff Kragen, is a unique
Christian counseling ministry in three ways. First, while it is
serving a geographical area, it is not a para-church ministry. 
One position the ministry takes is that counseling should go on
in the context of the local church. The exception to this
position is the recognition of the special needs of clients who
suffer from physiologically-based disorders. The ministry works
with clients who are under the care of psychiatrists, when they
require drug therapy. Clients dealing with drug or substance
abuse problems are also required to be in related support groups
in order to receive counseling through Sepher Ministries.

Second, the ministry is carried out from a pastoral as opposed
to a clinical perspective. While taking input from secular
research and diagnostic technics, the foundation of care is the
sufficiency of Scripture. Recovery comes through the client's
recognition of the need for growth in their relationship with
God, not changes in circumstances. Clients, Christians and
non-Christians alike, come because the approach is Biblical
versus secular. 

Referrals come from local pastors who are concerned with the
lack of biblical emphasis among those who represent themselves
as Christian Clinical Psychologists. These pastors, who may not
have the time, inclination or gifts to counsel, feel it is more
appropriate to refer to a pastor rather than a psychologist.

Third, biblical counseling, as practiced at Sepher, is an
intensive form of discipleship working with individuals,
families and groups. The purpose is to help people become what
the Lord intends them to be as individuals, as parents, as
spouses.

Because of this position, Sepher Ministries is a church, not a
para-church-based program. Individuals need more that just the
time of a counselor. They need to be part of a local body where
they can be cared for. Christian clients are required to attend
a local church of their choice. This philosophical position
required the ministry be affiliated with a church within the
community. This not only demonstrates to the client that Sepher
practices what it preaches, but that the ministry is accountable
to local church leadership.

Sepher is committed to the truth that God, through His
Scripture, is adequate to meet the needs of people. He has
given Sepher the opportunity to minister in these areas. Sepher
by being identified as a Counseling/Discipleship ministry has
become involved in three areas, counseling, teaching and 
outreach. The services provided are delineated as follows:

COUNSELING

Individual - The core of any counseling ministry is the care of
individuals on a one-on-one basis. An orientation session is
provided and then, on the judgment of the counselor and client,
sessions with individuals will continue as needed. 

Marriage - The foundation of the local church is the family. 
The surrounding community acts as if committed to bringing down
both the family and the institution of marriage. Society's
values are often a direct attack on the marriage and therefore
even the Christian marriage is sometimes in trouble. The
counselor works with couples together and individually in a
format similar to that used with the individual client.

Family - The stress of life, blended families, and the dramas
of family break-up affect all members of the family. The
Christian family is not exempt from these difficulties. 
Counseling is provided for the family as a unit and also for the
individual members, including the children.

Pastoral - There are times when those involved in ministry also
need the availability of counseling. Frequently, they are not
able to get these services due to concerns over privacy and
confidentiality. To meet these needs, Sepher provides
counseling services to those involved in ministry and also to
their families.

Planned future services - Marriage Groups - While marriage
counseling is provided for those needing more intensive work,
sometimes the marriage simply needs a tune-up. The marriage
group is a setting in which couples can work together. They
will deal with the functional problems of married life.

TEACHING

Counselor Training - Since the church is to be the base for care
of the believer, Sepher will work with local laity, equipping
them for counseling within the body. The ministry retains the
right to chose who will be accepted for training in this
individual setting.

Planned future services - Agape Groups - The local church is to
be the family environment in which believers care for one
another. Agape groups will have fourteen weekly training
sessions. The sessions are will aid the participants in
becoming more effective care givers within the community of
believers. As believers learn to care for one another, some of
difficulties of dealing with circumstances may be avoided. This
care may help individuals escape the necessity of more intensive
counseling.

OUTREACH

Support to Sepher ministries and it's commitment to discipleship
has allowed Pastor Kragen to serve in the world of online
ministries. He has become involved on the American Online
System in the following areas:

Modem Ministry - Using modern technology, the ministry of
discipling, counseling and teaching has expanded nation-wide. 
It is made available to individuals who may never have exposure
to either the church or to Christians. This is carried out
through articles, group opportunities and here in MORNING STAR
magazine.

Chat Rooms - This is the computer version of the telephone
party- line: here believers are encouraged to grow in the word.
They are given the opportunity to have their Biblical questions
answered. Prayer requests are taken. Time is provided for
believers to pray for one another. The non-believer is exposed
to the gospel, and a nation- wide prayer chain is provided.

MORNING STAR - this is an online Christian Magazine
emphasizing Biblical teaching, witnessing and discipleship. The
editors are striving for a balanced content including both
doctrine and application. A focus on the entire Bible is also
stressed by featuring several writers who are Messianic
Believers. The magazine is distributed world-wide on online
systems, in a disk version and by subscription to those without
computer resources. As an extension of Sepher Ministries,
Pastor Kragen provides Senior Editor functions to the Biblical
Department of the magazine. 

If you would like to reach Pastor Kragen, you can contact him at,

Sepher Ministries
C/O Foothill Bible Church
P. O. Box 236
Lincoln, CA 95648

He can also be reached on American OnLine
Email address: Pastor1
Loving Your Neighbor
Loving Your Neighbor
Every Christian should be involved in the ministry of being a
responsible member of their community. Jesus told us that we
are to love one another. This is the proof of our relationship
with Him. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, He also told us
we have a responsibility to care for our neighbor. We need to
be concerned not only with the spiritual but also the physical
condition of our neighbors.

Too often we are so involved in our church, our ministry and our
work, that we forget we are part of a larger society. There are
many ways Christians can reach out to their communities, from
providing child care for a neighbor, to helping an adult learn
to read, or being a Big Brother or Sister. One way of giving to
our community is by donating blood.

Blood donation can benefit both the community and the local
church. Many local blood banks do not have an adequate supply
of donors. This is especially true during holiday periods when
the demand for blood rises as more accidents occur.

There are several ways to get involved with your local blood
bank. You can be a regular blood donor. This usually takes no
more than a half hour. You can usually donate every eight weeks.

You can encourage your church to set up a blood club. As
members of the church donate, they can designate their
contribution to go into the church's account. When anyone in
the church uses blood, they can get credits from the church
account. These credits are applied against the blood charges on
their hospital bill.

Large churches can often arrange for the local blood bank to
come to the church to take contributions. The church could
advertise a donation day for the community. This might get
people from the neighborhood to participate. It would also be a
way of letting the community know that the church is concerned
about being a good neighbor.

There are other opportunities at you local blood bank beyond
whole blood donations. Individuals can get involved with the
Pheresis Donation. The Pheresis process removes platelets and
other material from whole blood. This material can be used for
leukemia patients. These patients are no longer capable of
producing them for their own needs. This type of donation can
be done every eight weeks. If matched with a specific patient,
donations can be made as frequently as three times a week. The
choice to donate to a specific patient is up to the donor, and
is not required to participate in the Pheresis program.

Finally, individuals can become bone marrow donors. The
potential donor is tested to identify specific physical
attributes. If the donor is matched to a patient, then he is
given the opportunity to donate bone marrow to save a life. If
he is matched, then a hospital stay and surgery are required. 
Individuals who have participated in this program have found it
extremely rewarding.

All three areas of donation give the donor the chance to provide
something needed to save the life of a fellow human being. This
is a very real way to demonstrate our appreciation for what the
Lord has done for us.

If you or your church are interested in involvement in any of
these programs, contact the Red Cross, your local blood center
or community hospital to receive specific information and
requirements for your area.

Biblical Department
Witnessing Column
Sharing JESUS With People by Danny O. Dennis
We as Christians must first and foremost remember while sharing
JESUS with others that the word Christian means CHRIST like. 
Many times we rely on our own emotions and feelings about
certain matters and show little of what Christ is. This is not
meant to be a sermon or to sound "preachy" but I am at times
very disturbed by the image we as on-line Christians portray. 
We too often (without even realizing it) sound like the same
Pharisees we like to put down. Yes, the Bible does tell us to
rebuke our brothers and sisters but it also tells us to examine
the plank in our own eye before we try to remove the speck in
our brother's eye. Above all, we must do and say everything in
love just as our precious Jesus does. If we will follow these
few guidelines (and they are only guidelines) we will be more
grounded in God's word and think before we speak or judge
prematurely. For me, having these guidelines in clear view
while on-line has been a tremendous help to me and helps me to
remember it is not important what I think but it is important
what God's Word tells me.

1. We plant (WORD) and water (TESTIMONY) but "God giveth the
increase... (1 Corinthians 3:1-11)

"So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters,
but God who gives the increase." (1 Cor. 3:7)

2. We're all in the same boat.
(Romans 3:23) "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God." (Romans 3:23)

3. We're not perfect, just forgiven. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast." (Eph. 2:8,9)

4. Jesus created the heavens and the earth, laid down his
powers as God and came to the earth to bleed, suffer, and die
so you and I would not have to taste death and hell (Luke 19:10,
Philippians 2:6.7, John 10:18)
New In Christ
New In Christ
"New in Christ" is a regular MORNING STAR column written
primarily for people who wish to learn more about the basic
teachings of Biblical Christianity.

The editorial staff of MORNING STAR encourages all readers to
freely use this information to help new Christians grow in their
walk with the Lord.

===================================================================
                        THE HIDDEN HELPER
===================================================================

Over the past ten to fifteen years there have been a lot of
movies concerning spirits, ghosts, psychic phenomena and demon
possession. This trend began back in the seventies with the
movie, "The Exorcist." Since then, there have been hundreds of
films and books dealing with supernatural forces. I can
confidently say many people accept the possibility that some
type of forces such as these exists. In fact, you might be
accused of being "narrow minded" if you said it was totally out
of the question. What's amusing, and also sad, is that when you
try to explain how a person can be literally possessed by the
Holy Spirit, many would say the idea is utterly ridiculous and
it's all phony. This shouldn't come as a surprise. The world
has always been ready to believe in anything seductive and evil.
Mankind has also been ready to reject that which it really
needs.

The Bible states clearly that all true Christians are in fact
possessed by the Holy Spirit. (John 14:17, Romans 8:9, 1st
Corinthians 6:19, 2nd Timothy 1:14, 1st John 2:27, 3:24) The
Holy Spirit is a person, not just an influence or something
similarly vague. Many attributes of His personality are
mentioned in the New Testament. He has a mind (Romans 8:27), a
will (1st Corinthians 12:11), and feelings (Ephesians 4:30). He
also engages in personal activity, as He reveals (2nd Peter
1:21), teaches (John 14:16), witnesses (Galatians 4:6),
intercedes (Romans 8:26), commands (Acts 16:6,7), and testifies
(John 15:26). Since He has feelings, He can be grieved
(Ephesians 4:30) and lied to (Acts 5:3). As He is God, He can
be blasphemed (Matthew 14:31,32). 

One of the most incredible things the Bible tells us, is that
when we become born again believers we actually are changed into
an entirely new creature. (Romans 6:6, 2nd Corinthians 5:17,
Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:10) Scripture does not say,
however, that our lives undergo a complete transformation which
occurs in a split second. Although we receive the Holy Spirit
as soon as we turn from sin and accept Christ, (Acts 15:8,
Galatians 3:2-5), the change in personality, thoughts, behaviors
and desires is more gradual. We are born again, not into
spiritual maturity, but rather as spiritually newborn babes. 
(1st Peter 2:2) This means that we have some growing up to do. 
God's word calls the growth process from the point of your new
birth a renewing. (Titus 3:4)

The transition from being a baby Christian to a more spiritually
adult one takes time. It occurs only as fast as we allow the
Holy Spirit to work within us. It's not the same rate of growth
in everybody either. To put it another way; you aren't the one
making the changes. You can stop or slow them down though. You
control the brake pedal, which is your will. It's your choice
whether or not to take your foot off of it. Just because you
possess the Holy Spirit, doesn't mean you lose your free will. 
Also it possible to commit sin in your life, though you're a lot
less likely to. In fact, the rest of your life is going to be a
constant struggle between your new self under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit and your old self, (old nature), which wants to
do as it pleases. They are completely opposed to each other. 
(Galatians 5:17)

Of course if you've made a sincere commitment to the Lord, you
should steer your free will in the direction of His word. It is
up to you to enforce some self discipline and control what you
do with your body (1st Corinthians 9:27). The good news is
that all Christians can rely on the Holy Spirit when they pray,
to give them strength in their battles against their human
(sinful) nature. That's one reason He's been given to those who
believe; to be a powerful source of strength and guidance, who
can be called on at any time (John 16:13, Ephesians 3:16). By
reading God's word and praying, the Holy Spirit within you will
let you know how to deal with the everyday complex affairs in
life. (Galatians 5:16)

Christians should pattern their lives after the teachings of
Jesus. Continually pray to the Lord for guidance in the
difficult areas of life. God's word refers to this behavior as
walking after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1, Galatians 5:25) It is
called this because it's the presence of the Holy Spirit within
us, that gives the power to resist evil It is also the Holy
Spirit that will resurrect our bodies one day just like He did
Christ's. (Romans 8:9-16) The Holy Spirit is a busy person. 
You might not hear Him, but when you pray, He prays with you. 
He asks for those things you don't know how to ask for, or for
those things you don't even realize you need! (Romans 8:26,27) 
He becomes your best friend on this planet. (As Christ is in
heaven at the moment) The more you allow Him to do with your
life, the more He will, and the more you will grow as a
Christian.

The Holy Spirit is the one who bonds all true Christians
together in one spirit on this planet. (Ephesians 2:18, 2:22,
4:3) That's the biggest reason for the smile you see on the
faces of so many Christians. It's the comfort, joy and hope they
have in their hearts, given them by the Holy Spirit. (John
14:16-18, Romans 15:13, Acts 9:31) Born again believers have
the wonderful reassurance that their lives are approved of by
God, and that He is with them. They know this by the presence
of the Holy Spirit within them. (1st John 3:24 & 4:13)

Of course it's not always peaches and cream for Christians. 
Once you become born again you've signed a declaration of
spiritual warfare against you know who. There is a real Satan
that exists. He hates all human beings, because we are God's
creation. He especially despises Christians. Keep in mind he
doesn't have to waste his time hassling non-Christians. He's
already got every one of them chalked up in his column. (Do you
remember who Jesus says goes to heaven in the third chapter of
John? If not, you might want to take a look!) The world laughs
at the idea of there being a real devil. Many religious people
who aren't born again don't even realize that they are "in his
back pocket." This demonstrates how adept he is at deception. 
(More on Satan in a later issue.)

Christians must always be prepared to defend themselves from
spiritual attacks by this hater of God. He is more powerful
than any human being, but he can only do what God allows him to
do and no more. He'll always look for your weak points. He
will often tempt you in those areas that you have the hardest
time giving up to the Lord. These include the physical,
emotional or mental aspects of our makeup. The Bible tells us
how we are to defend ourselves from his attacks. Here's the
key: If our complete selves, (body, soul and spirit), are under
the control of the Holy Spirit, we have only to turn to Him for
help in fighting these battles.

What kind of weapons do we have in our struggle with the devil? 
The Bible gives us a list of all the spiritual armor we have to
take into battle with us. (Ephesians 6:10-17) Remember,
there's no choice. Once you declare yourself a Christian,
you're at war. But it's a war we are guaranteed victory in, as
we have the firm promise of Jesus Himself to protect us.
Bible Study
Jonah - A Story of God's Love
The Bible Study column examines specific sections of Scripture. 
This is the third of a four-part series on the book of Jonah. 
Future columns will include individual Psalms and books from
both the Old and New Testaments.
=================================================================
                             JONAH                         
                    "A Story of God's Love"

                           Chapter 3                       
                   "The Second Call of Jonah"
_________________________________________________________________

Poor Jonah! He had been called by God to bring a message of
impending judgment on Nineveh. He did want the Ninevites to
repent and be saved. After all, these fierce Assyrians were
sworn enemies of Jonah's people, the Israelites. So what did he
do? He ran away. But God didn't allow him to escape. Jonah
was caught up in a supernatural storm. He was thrown overboard
into the raging waters. A special fish was created by the Lord.
It swam up and swallowing Jonah, sheltered him within its belly
for three days and nights. Now he was on his way to Nineveh. 
(See Morning Star Issues 3 & 4 for the analysis of Jonah
Chapters 1 and 2).

Sometimes God, who knows what is best for His children, may act
in ways that appear to be unmerciful. Jonah certainly must have
felt God was being unmerciful when God forced him to go to
Nineveh.

Jonah had been called to a very difficult mission for an Old
Testament Prophet. God's specific intent was for Jonah to bring
the Ninevites a warning of God's impending judgment. Jonah's
reluctance is understandable. He knew that God was merciful to
those who turn to Him. Jonah feared that the people would
repent. Then God would spare them. Jonah did not want to be
the instrument of salvation for Israel's enemy.

When Jonah fled from God, he hoped God would choose somebody
else to carry the message to Nineveh. Through a series of
supernatural interventions, God told Jonah he was going to
Nineveh willing or not. Chapter 2 concludes with Jonah lying
on the shore, having been thrown up by the "sea-monster."

Between the time Jonah refused God's call, and his realization
that he wouldn't be able to get away with it, he demonstrated
his faith and trust in God. Jonah's behavior demonstrates that
it is possible to be aware of attributes of God, be obedient to
His call, and yet not have an obedient spirit. Jonah succeeds
in caring the warning to Nineveh. But his desire for the
destruction of the city doesn't change.

This chapter is more than a passage dealing with Jonah's further
adventures. It shows God's infinite mercy toward His creations.
The analysis of Chapter 3 will examine the mercy of God toward
all men. The lesson drawn from the chapter will be one of God's
mercy towards believers.

Mercy toward all men

Jonah 3:1-2 Jonah found himself unable to flee God's will. He
realized he still had faith and trust in the Lord, even though
unhappy with the assignment. So, once more, God called him to
travel to Nineveh and give the message of God's judgment. God
cared about both Jonah and the Ninevites, both Hebrew and
Gentile. 

God gave Jonah another opportunity to serve. He was given a
second chance to be used by the Lord. Sometimes, when a
believer refuses to obey, the opportunity to serve is lost. If
God calls you to speak to that stranger, and you don't, you may
never get another chance. Praise the Lord though, for He is a
patient and loving Father. He constantly works with His
children giving them numerous chances to serve Him, bringing Him
glory. "The Lord, The Lord God, compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger (patient), and abounding in lovingkindness and
truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives the
iniquity, transgression and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7).

3:3-4 So, Jonah brought his eternal message: God judges sin. 
It is amazing how difficult this is for people today to
understand. GOD JUDGES SIN. Some believe that God is so loving
that He cannot bring Himself to judge sinners. Others claim
there is no such thing as sin. In contrast, there are those who
believe they will get another chance to come back and do it
right. But God says, "...man is destined to die once, and after
that to face judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27). 

Judgment for the Ninevites was first to be temporal. Since the
wickedness of the people was so great, God promised to destroy
the city in forty days. Implicit in the promise was the
withholding of judgment if repentance occurred. The
pre-delluvian world had 120 years (the time it took to build the
Ark) to repent to be saved from world-wide flooding. The wicked
of Noah's day did not repent, and so their world was destroyed. 
"My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal,
his days will be a hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3). 

It took Jonah only three days to walk through Nineveh. The city
measured about sixty miles in circumference. He conveyed God's
message of judgment to its citizens. 

In article #1 the following quote was drawn from "The Paranoid
Prophet" by William Backus. This is the fictional response of
Jonah's psychologist on first seeing him. "My first impression
(of Jonah) was of more white blotches. They covered his face,
arms and hands. What had caused them? I had never seen the
like. Behind the blotches was sunburn, from the bald patch on
top of his head down to the massive calves showing beneath his
long tunic." * Jonah's condition was a product of being in the
fish for several days and nights. 

Imagine the effect this strange individual would have had on the
Ninevites. This possible disfigurement may have been why Christ
called Jonah a sign to the city. "For as Jonas was a sign unto
the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this
generation" (Luke 11:30). If this is a valid assumption it
simply means that people would be even more aware of his
presence.

3:5 Much to Jonah's chagrin he experienced the greatest success
of any evangelist in the entire history of the world. Billy
Graham would be thrilled to see such spectacular results. Here
is an entire city which came to know the Lord. Through Jonah's
proclamation and the working of the Holy Spirit, everyone in the
city repented of their wickedness. This was exactly what Jonah
had feared.

First, the people manifested faith in God. They believed that
God meant it when He said He would destroy the city for its
wickedness. Solomon expressed it well when he said: "The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the
Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10 With the citizens
realized of the truth of the divine message, they responded by
calling for a fast and putting on sackcloth. Note that all the
city repented, for this was the response from the "greatest to
the least of them."

3:6 Even the King, when hearing Jonah's message and of the
subsequent response, put on sackcloth and ashes. He too
repented of the city's sinfulness. It is very possible the
king, more than any other individual, was responsible for the
city's evil condition.

3:7 Nineveh's ruler proclaimed the fast, making it official. 
He carried this action even to the extreme of dressing the
animals in sackcloth. He exhorted his subjects to turn to God
and repent of their sins and violent behavior. The King hoped
that if God saw true repentance in Nineveh, He would save them. 
As Jonah was aware, this was a legitimate hope.

Nineveh's widespread repentance was another supernatural act. 
Only through God's intervention, combined with the power of the
Holy Spirit, was an entire people able to turn to Him. It is
only through the direct intercession of God that any are saved. 
And only the Holy Spirit working in the heart of the sinner, can
more that heart to repent. "For He chose us in him before the
creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In
love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus
Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will"
(Ephesians 1:4-5).

As expected, with the repentance of Nineveh, God relented. He
did not judge the nation. God did not bring down destruction. 
This greatly upset Jonah, as the next article will show.

This is the appropriate point to make a parenthetical comment on
the repentance of God. Does God change His mind? God says, "I
the Lord do not change" (Malachi 3:6). This is true. What is
referred to as God's repentance is an anthropromorphism, a word
that means describing God's actions in language people can
understand. When Scripture speaks of God changing His mind, it
refers to the fact that God can change His actions in response
to man's repentance, or lack thereof.

Mercy toward Believers

The lesson in this passage is as follows: Even if you have
missed previous opportunities to serve God, He will open other
doors so you can be used by Him. But you must be willing to
carry out His work.. As with Jonah, you are not called to save
the world, but to carry the Good News to people. The sinner's
decision to repent, turning from wickedness and violence, is
between him or her and the Lord. When the child of God puts
aside the stubbornness that causes her from joyful service, then
the loving Father will provide numerous additional opportunities.

Jonah's basic problem was attitudinal. He believed that when it
came to the Ninevites, his views out weighted God's Every
believer is sometimes angry at God. He knows he needs to pray. 
But his attitude when praying is poor. "I'm praying because I
know I'm supposed to. I don't really want to. I'm not really
sorry, but I know I'm supposed to be so it's Your problem to
make me." 

Obedience coupled with reluctance is not necessarily wrong. 
Obedience in action often brings about a spirit of willingness. 
However, in these situations it is better to confess a negative 
attitude to the Lord. For even if you serve out of obedience,
you will not experience the joy that comes with the desire to
serve. Wouldn't it be better to say with the prophet "yet I
will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. 
The Sovereign Lord is my strength..." (Habakkuk 3:18-19)?

Believers can experience abundant blessings because of the
Lord's willingness to use them as His instruments. You can
build for eternity. All you have to do is to be open to God's
leading. What a joy to be able to lead a meaningful life. So
many today are looking for a chance to do something that will
last and be of significance. However, only Christians are given
this opportunity.

Can you think of anything more joyous than being a creature of a
loving Creator Who is not only willing but desires to use you as
His instrument? He doesn't need to use people at all. He
simply wants to. Paul recognized this when he said "To me, the
very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the
Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to
light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages
has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that
the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the
church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He cared
out in Christ Jesus our Lord..." (Ephesians 3:8-11).

Your Christlike walk and words can convey a divine message to
the unbeliever. Through your obedience to the Lord's calling,
sinners' lives can be changed for all eternity. Someday you
will be able to stand before the Lord and meet the souls who
were saved through your willingness to serve. While salvation
can only come about by God at work in the sinner's heart, you
can take an active part in this process by being His chosen
instrument.

Can anything be more exciting than building for eternity? 
Believers secure in the Lord's will are enhancing the ministry
of constructing an eternal building. This is God's church. You
have so much to be grateful for. Pray that you will stand
before the Father and be so blessed to hear "...Well done, good
and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will
put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your
master" (Matthew 25:21).

* THE PARANOID PROPHET, William Backus, Bethany House
Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1986, p. 15.
Special Studies
God is Revealed in His Third Covenant
The Bible is an account of God's relationship to man, a covenant
relationship. We find this from the day of creation to the
eternal relationship we can have with the Messiah. In the
previous article of this series we saw that man had broken the
Adamic covenant. As a result, God was to bring world-wide
flooding as His judgment. This is the third in an ongoing
series on God's covenants.

=================================================================
                GOD IS REVEALED IN HIS THIRD COVENANT
=================================================================

Even before judgment was executed, JEHOVAH-ELOHIM began to move
in covenant grace to preserve His next covenant man. Out of the
Godly line He chose Noah, a man who was keeping the Adamic
Covenant.

But Noah found favor with the Lord. This is the line of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked
with God. Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, with all your
household, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in
this generation.' (Genesis 6:8,9; 7:1, JPSA [Jewish Publication
Society of America]).

God ordered Noah to build an ark. This ark of safety preserved
Noah's family and selected segments of the animal kingdom. "For
My part, I am about to bring the Flood--waters upon the
earth--to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is
breath of life; everything on earth shall perish. But I will
establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark,
with your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives. And all of
that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the
ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. From
birds of every kind, cattle of every kind, every kind of
creeping thing on earth, two of each shall come to you to stay
alive. For your part, take of everything that is eaten and
store it away, to serve as food for you and for them" (Genesis
6:17-22 JPSA). Noah did so; just as God commanded him, so he
did. 

This ark is a picture of the body of Christ, a type of our
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also a representation
of the symbol of the fullness of the Godhead because of the
three stories, or levels, and their function within the ark.

The text repeats that the earth was corrupt. "The Lord saw how
great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised
by his mind was nothing but evil all the time... The earth
became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with
lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all
flesh had corrupted its ways on earth..." (Genesis 6:5,11,12
JPSA). It was as if God was looking at the earth in pity and
with much longsuffering.

Even so, "the long-suffering of God waited" for 120 years while
the ark was being prepared. During this time Noah must have
acted as a "preacher of righteousness." He warned of the
judgment to come receiving much scoffing and similar
persecution. This was possibly similar to the discriminatory
persecution of the Christian community in the 1980s and 1990s in
the United States. It probably didn't rival that of the early
Christians. 

God used the 120 years to show how He provided Noah with the
necessary strength to serve Him. This strength was given to
show that "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that
as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness" (Romans 5: 20,21 NKJV). Noah learned, as Paul
says, God's "grace is sufficient for you, for (His) strength is
made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9). As a father
gives strength to his son, so God gave strength to Noah.

The promises of the Noahic Covenant restated God's purpose for
mankind as outlined in the Edenic Covenant. The Noahic Covenant
added responsibilities and restrictions which revealed God as
JEHOVAH- ELOHIM. He is God in covenant relationship with His
people. He is ruler and overruler in the affairs of men. 

"Crosses and obstacles in an evil course are great blessings,
and are so to be counted. They are God's hedges to keep us from
transgressing, to restrain us from wandering out of the green
pastures so that 'by disciplining them leaves His signature to
turn man away from action...to spare him from the pit'
(Job 33:16,17,18, JPSA) to make the way of sin difficult, that
we may not go on in it, and to keep us from it whether we will
or not. We have reason to bless God for both restraining grace
and for restraining providences." Matthew Henry on Hosea 2.

The promises of the Noahic Covenant included God's blessing upon
Noah and his sons, productivity and a whole multitude of
descendants. It included the responsibility to govern all living
creatures. Also allowed, for the first time, was the eating of
meat. God's blessings continued with the earth safeguarded from
further curse. Fulfilling the Solaric Covenant (Genesis
1:14-18), the four seasons were established. God also promised
that there would never again be planet-wide destructive
flooding. (See Genesis 8,9; Leviticus 11; Isaiah 54:9,10;
Hebrews 11:7.)

Not only were there promises of blessing, but there were
promises of cursing as well. The curse given in relation to
this covenant is a part of the gradual, ongoing, unfurling of
the curses in Scripture. Thus far we have seen the curse upon
the serpent, upon the woman, the man, the ground, Cain, and now,
Canaan. (See Genesis 3:14-19, 4:11, 5:29, 8:21, 9:25; Romans
8:19-23.)

Noah, after being mocked by Ham for being drunk, pronounced the
prophecy of blessing and cursing. (Ham was the father of
Canaan). The prophecy consisted of three parts. God promised,
as the God of power, Japheth geographical expansion. This is
the characteristic of his descendants, the European nations. As
history has shown, the European nations led the way in opening
international trade and settlement. In the 1990s the prophecy
continues, leading to a one- world government. This can be seen
in the rising of a United States of Europe. The promise adds
that Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem. As St. Augustine
said, "...in the churches which the apostles, the sons of the
prophets, reared..." thus referring to the blessing that was to
flow through all nations through the Hebrew race. 

Canaan was to be the servant of Japheth. This was fulfilled in
the subjection of the children of Israel to Greece and Rome. The
Israelites were economically conquered by Tyre and Carthage, the
ancient centers of wealth and merchandise. And later by Egypt,
the empire of might and the oldest of civilizations. "What are
we all but descendants of Japheth, who dwell in the tents of
Shem; and what is the language of the New Testament, but that of
Javan spoken in the dwellings of Shem?" (Alfred Edersheim, Old
Testament Bible History, I:56-57). (Javan is modern Greece.) 
The national and temporal blessings and cursings are set in
motion. As a point of interest, it was to be through the seed
of Shem that the Messianic blessing would come on all the
families of the earth. The modern international relationships
stemming from these three, while complex, are quite simple when
seen in context. But that's beyond the scope of this lesson!

The terms of the Noahic Covenant were faith and obedience
(Genesis 6:22,7:5;Hebrews 11:7;I Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:5). The
cautions; not to eat flesh with blood (Genesis 9:4), and the
forbidding of murder (Genesis 9:6), were backed with capital
punishment. "But for your own life-blood I will require a
reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I
require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his
fellow man! Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his
blood be shed; For in His image did God make man" (Genesis
9:5-6). 

God reiterates the oath found in the Genesis passage in Isaiah
54:9, which says, "For this to Me is like the waters of Noah, as
I swore that the waters of Noah nevermore would flood the
earth..." The blood sacrifice of this covenant was fulfilled
with the offering up of the clean animals, a soothing aroma to
the Lord. This occurred after the Deluge had abated (Genesis
6:19,20; 7:2,3,8,9; 8:20).

The rainbow became the seal of the covenant. "God further said,
'This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and
you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. 
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of
the covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over
the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My
covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all
flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to
destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it
and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living
creatures, all flesh that is on earth. That,' God said to Noah,
'shall be the sign of the covenant that I have established
between Me and all flesh that is on earth'" (Genesis 9:12-17,
JPSA). 

This seal of the covenant was placed in the sky between heaven
and earth, and between God and man. This was so that both could
look upon it and remember His covenant mercy. In the poetic
language of an unidentified German writer quoted by Edersheim,
"The rainbow, caused by the influence of the sun upon the dark
clouds, would show to man, that what was from heaven would
penetrate that which rose from the earth; and as it spanned the
gulf between heaven and earth, it would seem to proclaim peace
between God and man; while even the circumstance that it bounded
the horizon would symbolize how the covenant of mercy extended
to earth's utmost bounds."

God herein is revealed in that all administrations of His
authority in relation to earth and to Man pass through the
remembrance of His covenant mercy (Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation
4:3,10:1). God has reasserted His authority to Man and that only
by His mercy are we alive today.

During the next covenant era, covering the period from Abraham
to Moses, God was known as "EL SHADDAI," the Almighty. Next
month's article will entail a discussion reflecting on that Name
and how it relates to the Abrahamic Covenant.
Bible Quiz
Bible Quiz
GETTING THINGS ORGANIZED

Any ministry hoping to be successful needs to be organized. The
Bible has many examples of people who had good organizational
skills. Match the people in the first section to what they
organized in the second section. The answers may be found by
looking up the scripture verses listed after their names. (No
peeking!)

1.  APOSTLES (Acts 6:17)
2.  DAVID (2 Samuel 24:1-2)
3.  GIDEON (Judges 7:4-7)
4.  JACOB (Genesis 33:1-4)
5.  JESUS (Luke 10:1)
6.  JETHRO (Exodus 18:9-24)
7.  JOSHUA (Joshua 6:1-7)
8.  MOSES (Exodus 13:17-20)
9.  NEHEMIAH (Nehemiah 2:17-18)
10. PAUL (Acts 15:40)

a) He suggested Moses organize judges to help him.
b) He organized his family when he went to meet his brother.
c) He organized a census of the children of Israel.
d) He organized seventy followers in pairs.
e) He organized deacons to assist them.
f) He organized for the defeat of Jericho.
g) He organized soldiers for battle by using water.
h) He organized a mission trip.
i) He organized the Israelites for a trip into the wilderness.
j) He organized the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall.
Messianic Studies
Was Paul the Founder of Christianity? by Avi Snyder
The Messianic Studies column explores the world of the Messianic
Believer. Like the church at large, Messianic Judaism contains
much diversity. It is made up of numerous views as to what it
means to be a Messianic Jew, who we are, what we call ourselves
and what we believe. This column will be used to explore this
variety, giving the reader a broader perspective of Messianic
Judaism than found elsewhere, exposing those of us who are
Messianic Believers to the wide spectrum of practice found
within the movement. Hopefully we will succeed in helping our
Jewish brothers and sisters to understand why we follow Yeshua
as our savior.

We also hope that what is provided here will give our gentile
readers both a better understanding of their Jewish brothers and
sisters in Christ, as well as the Jewish roots of their own
faith.
==================================================================
                WAS PAUL THE FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY?         
                            by Avi Snyder
==================================================================

In the past several decades, a particular program of reclamation
has been undertaken by the Jewish people. It does not involve
the rejuvenation of the land, nor the replanting of trees.
Instead, it is the reclamation of one whom many regard as
Israel's greatest native son: the reclamation of Jesus (Yeshua)
of Nazareth as, if nothing else, a Jew who deserves a rightful
place in the history of our people.

However, while we are willing to reclaim Jesus to some degree,
there is another first-century Jew whom we adamantly reject:
Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul. Why the acceptance of the one
and rejection of the other? "Because," some reason, "Jesus was
born a Jew, and he died a Jew. He had no intention of starting
a new religion. His teachings were Jewish, and his life was an
example of fidelity to the faith of our fathers. But Paul, on
the other hand, not only veered away from Judaism, but his
teachings laid the foundation for twenty centuries of 
misunderstanding and abuse from the Gentiles." Or so the
argument goes.

But is the argument accurate and justified? or is it possible
that Paul himself has been the victim of misunderstanding and
abuse? Is it even possible, after nearly two thousand years, to
know with any certainty precisely how Paul regarded us, and
what significance he placed upon his own identity as a Jew?

Yes, it *is* possible to know. We have at our disposal not only
the biographical account provided by his traveling companion,
the physician Luke, but we also have Paul's words. These words
were preserved in the letters he wrote to various congregations
of believers in Jesus throughout Europe and Asia, as well as
his personal correspondence to close friends. From these
primary source materials, an accurate portrait of the man's
attitudes and character emerges.

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this
city (Jerusalem). Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in
the law of our fathers..."  Acts 22:3

Commenting upon his early passion for observing the practices in
which he had been trained, he described himself as:

...a Hebrew of Hebrews: in regard to the law, a Pharisee;...as
for legalistic righteousness, faultless.  Philippians 3:5,6

But while en route to the city of Damascus, Saul records that he
encountered one who had claimed to be the promised Messiah of
Israel; one whom the young man Saul had known to have been
crucified by a Roman guard; one whose followers in Jerusalem
insisted had been raised from the dead in fulfillment of
prophecies contained in the Holy Scriptures.

Saul insisted that he encountered the resurrected Jesus of
Nazareth. The meeting irrevocably altered his life:

About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from
heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice
say to me, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you,
Lord?" I asked. " I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting"
he replied. Acts 22:6-8

Then in Damascus, a fellow Jew named Ananias informed Saul of
the work God had in store for him: "You will be his witness to
all men of what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:15). And so,
Saul, also known by his Greek name, Paul, spent the greater
part of the remaining three decades of his life in foreign
nations where he taught the Greek-speaking Gentiles about the
"Christ" - the "Messiah".

Did his life among the Gentiles eradicate or even lessen his
sense of being a Jew? His words would indicate that they did
not. "I am an Israelite myself," he wrote to the congregation
in Rome, "a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin"
(Romans 11:1). That he continued to identify himself as a Jew
can be seen in the fact that, upon entering each new city, the
place he visited first was the local synagogue, provided a
minyan warranted a synagogue, of course.

In speaking to his countrymen first, Paul followed the precedent
set by Jesus himself who had proclaimed his message initially
and predominantly to the household of Israel, and who had told
his early disciples, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts
1:8). Or, as Paul later put it, "first for the Jew, then for
the Gentile" (Romans 1:16). But this principle of "first for the
Jew" was more than an act of obedience, it was the outworking of
Paul's continued love and concern for the Jewish people. "My
heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites," he wrote,
"is that they may be saved" (Romans 10:1).

But many, though not all, of his countrymen rejected his 
pronouncement, and this caused him no little distress. So deep
was his sadness, that he was constrained to write, "I have
great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish
that I myself were cursed and cut off from Messiah for the sake
of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel"
(Romans 9:2-4).

His sentiments nearly echo the cry of another communicator of
God's revelation to our people and to the world: the prophet
Moses, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed, "
Moses admitted before the Lord after we had worshiped the
golden calf. "They have made themselves gods of gold. But now,
please forgive their sin - but if not, then blot me out of the
book you have written" (Exodus 32:31-32). Two men, separated by
several centuries, but united in a love for their people that
prompted each to offer his life in exchange for the well-being
of the nation.

But unlike his predecessor Moses, Paul was commissioned to carry
his message primarily to the world at large - to the Gentiles.
In light of Paul's extensive Jewish education, one might
wonder, "Why would God choose a mind like Paul's - a mind so
thoroughly imbued with Jewish law, custom, and thinking - to be
the chief herald of the Messiah among the Gentiles? Why not
pick a Gentile convert to the Messianic movement, one who could
communicate to his own?" At first glance, the selection of Paul
might seem to be a baffling choice, to say the least.

But on closer examination, it needn't seem baffling at all.
Needed was someone who could speak to the Gentiles in a manner
that they could understand, while assuring the faithful
translation of a Jewish message into a Gentile setting. And
Paul was the perfect candidate for the position. He spent his
boyhood in Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor noted as a center of
Gentile culture. Though Paul's father, a Pharisee, would have
kept him from indulging in any of the common pagan practices,
Paul had the opportunity to observe the Gentile culture and
modes of thought. Who, then, could be better equipped to
guarantee the proper transmission of a Jewish message to a
Gentile world than an expert on Jewish law and theology who
also possessed an understanding of the world beyond the
boundaries of ancient Israel? Who, indeed, but Paul.

And a threat existed that only Paul was qualified to check. As
the number of Gentile converts surpassed the number of Jewish
believers in the Messiah, there was the danger that the Gentile
Christians might lose sight of the Jewish origins of their faith
and look upon the majority of disbelieving Jews with disdain.
They might even conclude in ignorance that God was finished with
His ancient chosen people. But Paul, the ardent Jew, by whose
labor these Gentiles had heard of the Messiah, carried the
authority to meet the danger head-on. Only Paul could admonish
them so bluntly: "Do not be arrogant," he warned, "but be
afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches (the
Jewish people), he will not spare you either...And if they do
not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is
able to graft them in again" (Romans 11:20-21,23).

And yet, Paul is often accused of refashioning the Jewish
teachings of Jesus into a pagan religion completely cut off
from its middle eastern origins. Were it not for Paul, some
speculate, Christianity would have either continued to flourish
as a sect within Judaism, or it would have met a natural death
within the embrace of the culture that had first given it life.

There are two problems with this line of reasoning. On the one
hand, it presumes a discrepancy between the teachings of Jesus
and the teachings of Paul. The former is regarded as
authentically Jewish; the latter is regarded as thoroughly
pagan. But an honest investigation of the documents indicates
that no discrepancies are to be found. Instead, we discover a
development of thought, beginning with the teachings of Jesus
and faithfully disseminated by the rabbi from Tarsus to the
Gentile world at large.

Concerning the purpose of the Law, Jesus taught, "These are the
Scriptures that testify about me..." (John 5:39). Paul
reaffirmed this position in his letter to the Galatians where
he wrote, "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Messiah
that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24).

As for the Law's duration, Paul continued, "Now that faith has
come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law"
(Galatians 3:25). Here again, he merely echoed the teachings
of Jesus: "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John.
Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being
preached..." (Luke 16:16).

If we accept the Jewishness of Jesus' teachings - and most
Jewish scholars do - then we must accept the Jewishness of the
teachings of his disciple. The Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner
writes, "There is nothing in the teaching of Paul - not even
the most mystical elements in it - that did not come to him
from authentic Judaism." (1)

Many scholars acknowledge that the teachings of Jesus are
distinctly Jewish. But what about Paul? We believe that a
comparison of Tanach, the sayings of Jesus, and the letters of
Paul reveal a distinct harmony. Consider what Paul, Jesus, and
the Hebrew Scriptures have to say about..

I. The Law: a. Tanach - "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate
on it all day long." (Psalm 119:97) b. Jesus - "Do not think
that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)
c. Paul - "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is
holy, righteous and good." (Romans 7:12)

II. The Law's Purpose: a. Tanach - "Your word is a lamp to my
feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105) b. Jesus -
"These are the Scriptures that testify about me..." (John
5:39) c. Paul - "So the law was put in charge to lead us to
Messiah that we might be justified by faith." (Galatians
3:24)

III. The Law's Duration: a. Tanach - "The time is coming,"
declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah... I will
put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts."
(Jeremiah 31:31,33) b. Jesus - "The Law and the Prophets were
proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of
the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is
forcing his way into it." (Luke 16:16) c. Paul - "Now that
faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of
the law." (Galatians 3:25)

In the second place, history reveals that the breach between
Judaism and the Messianic movement had already taken place
prior to Paul's new commitment of faith. Tensions with the
local religious authorities had even culminated in the death of
a Jewish believer named Stephen. Paul is implicated in the
aftermath of the matter, but not as a disciple whose teachings
fomented strife. Rather, he is depicted as the Messianic sect's
most ardent adversary. Paul himself concedes as much in a letter
to the congregation in Galatia, "...how intensely I persecuted
the church of God and tried to destroy it" (Galatians 1:13). To
blame the schism on the teachings of Paul is to overlook the
fact that the schism had already occurred.

The actual reason for the schism did not center around any pagan
innovations introduced by Paul, nor did it center around a lack
of harmony between the teachings of the Nazarene and his
apostle. The conflict centered around who Jesus claimed to be.

He claimed to be the Messiah.

Are the teachings of Jesus and of Paul in harmony with each
other? We believe they are. Are these teachings inconsistent
with the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures? We believe they
are not.

Is Jesus the Messiah? We believe he is. We invite you to
consider the matter for yourself by examining the New Testament
which records his teachings, his assertions, and the prophecies
in the Tanach upon which he based his claims.

------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) From Jesus to Paul, Joseph Klausner, Ph.D., The MacMillan
Co., New York, 1943, p. 466.

Written by Avi Snyder, copyright 1981 by Jews for Jesus, 60
Haight St., San Francisco, CA, 94102. Reprinted by permission.
Anee M'Amin
I Asked God to Show Me the Truth by Robyn Wilk
ANEE M'AMIN is Hebrew for "I believe". Every month this column
will feature the testimony of a Jewish believer in Yeshua
(Jesus). 

==================================================================
                I ASKED GOD TO SHOW ME THE TRUTH
                         By Robyn Wilk
==================================================================

I was raised in New York in a Conservative Jewish home, and I
began to attend Hebrew school when I was seven. My family
celebrated all the Jewish holidays, and I went to synagogue
regularly. When I was twelve we moved to Kansas City, Kansas.
The membership dues at the Temple were so expensive that my
family decided not to attend services any more. We still
celebrated Jewish holidays, but gradually their meaning began to
dim. And I lost sight of who God was.

I went through school not thinking or caring about God. I was
Jewish, and that was all that mattered. My home life was
unhappy, and I looked to alcohol and marijuana to satisfy my
need to feel loved and wanted. I felt that I had no purpose in
life. I even tried to commit suicide a few times, mainly to get
someone to tell me that they cared whether I lived or died.

In 1980 I went to college to pursue a bachelor's degree in
music. To fill my emptiness I got involved with drinking and
partying again. My flute teacher, a professor at the university,
happened to be a Christian, and I noticed something different
about her. She actually cared about me - something I did not
expect.

Then one day a girl in my dorm started to tell me about Jesus. I
didn't let her say much before I jumped in with a few comments
of my own. I said she didn't know what she was talking about. I
was Jewish and that was all that mattered. Her next comment
really made me angry.

She said I would go to hell if I didn't believe in Jesus. What
nerve! I stormed off to my room. How could she tell me that I
was condemned? But then I started thinking about what she had
said. I told God that I believed in Him and that I certainly did
not want to go to hell. Then I wondered if what she had said was
true. I had to find out, and there was only one way. I asked God
to show me the truth, and I promised I would believe in whatever
He showed me. All the while, however, I was hoping with all my
heart that the truth would be Judaism or anything else, except
Christianity!

God answered my less-than-honest prayer. One day in English
class we were all assigned topics for our term papers. My
teacher handed me a slip of paper with the words "How we got the
devil." I stared at it in disbelief. How could that be my
subject? I knew God was up to something. Writing that paper
forced me to read the Bible. When I looked for a Jewish Bible, I
could not find one. I had to buy a complete Bible one with both
covenants. I started to read it and found it fascinating. As I
read more, I started to realize that I had a wrong idea of
Jesus. In late April, Josh McDowell came to campus and spoke on
Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and God started getting through
to me. He really was going to answer my prayer!

A few nights later, I talked to the girl who had witnessed to me
and asked questions for about four hours. When I finally decided
I wanted to accept Jesus, it took me another few hours to say
His name. Finally I asked Him into my heart.

I went back to my room, and a wonderful feeling kept going
through me until I fell asleep. When I awoke, I felt different.
I had a love inside me that had never been there before. I now
knew God in a personal way.

Three weeks later I had the unpleasant task of telling my Jewish
parents. When my dad picked me up from college, I told him I had
become a completed Jew, and that I believed Jesus was the
Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. When we got home I
told my mother, and she literally fell back on the bed in shock.
That summer my relationship with my parents was very tense.

Then during Christmas vacation we all went to Florida to visit
my grandparents. Coming back from a Christmas Eve service, I
forgot to take off a Christian symbol I was wearing that I
should have known would infuriate my Jewish parent. Seeing it,
my family got very angry with me. I went out for a while. When I
came back, my father was waiting for me. He physically dragged
me down the street saying unmentionable things about what I
believed. No one would talk to me, and I felt like I had ruined
my family's life.

A few days later as I swam in the ocean I got stung by a
poisonous man-of-war. Someone called an ambulance and they
pumped adrenaline into me. God used that incident to bring my
parents around to talking to me again. As I lay there close to
death, they realized that they would rather have me alive, even
as a Christian.

The next few years brought ups and downs in my relationship with
my family Eventually my mother forbade me to read a Bible or
pray in her house. Then in April of 1988 I announced to my
parents that I felt God was calling me to be on staff with Jews
for Jesus. My father asked me to go with him to a rabbi and
discuss what I believed. I agreed because I loved him and I
thought this would bring him to a point where he would see the
truth. After two sessions, where the rabbi was convincing my
parents that I was deceived and dishonoring them, I knew I never
should have gone. After that second meeting my parents told me I
was not Jewish anymore. They said I should stop reading the
Bible and see that there was more to life than God. My mother
wrote me out of her will and said I could not come to her house
again as long as I was a Christian. She and my grandmother also
sent me several letters saying I was disgrace to the family.

Yet through it all I am confident that what I believe is true.
Matthew 7:7 says "Ask, and it will be given to you: seek and you
will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." God answered my
prayer when I was seeking for the truth, and He promises the
same to all who come to Him.

Robyn is currently serving with the Liberated Wailing Wall.

(From the JEWS FOR JESUS NEWSLETTER - Volume 2:5752)
The Word for Today
The Word for Today by J.C. Trudel
Scripture has much to tell us regarding how we should live on a
day-to-day basis. The Bible always has a "Word for Today." 
But, the most important words are those that bring salvation to
the sinner. Two words which must be understood to be able to
accept God's gift are Grace and Repentance. In this, the first
of two articles dealing with grace and repentance, God's grace
will be examined. Next month, the need for Repentance will be
explored.

=================================================================
             AMAZING GRACE....HOW SWEET THE SOUND!
=================================================================

Each time I sing the hymn "Amazing Grace," I reflect much on the
times when I did not know about God's amazing grace. Most of my
life I believed what I was taught. I was saved by baptism, good
works, trials, by participating in certain devotions and
rituals. I was told that outside of my church (religion) there
was no salvation.

As a youth, I memorized all the answers of the catechism,
without being sure as to what many answers meant. So many
questions needed so much explanation. The explanations never
came, for the teachers were the products of the same inadequate
teaching I was receiving.

I came to the United States after the death of my father. I
went into the US Air Force for four years. I remember, while in
Okinawa, an old M/Sgt tried tell me about salvation through
God's grace and faith. I brushed him aside abruptly, feeling
that my religion was doing it all for me. I even remember
confessing to the priest that I had gone to a wedding in a
protestant church. He severely reproved me, as this was
consider sinful in those days.

Many years went by. My religious experience was very
monotonous. I never felt the assurance that my sins were
forgiven and that I would go to heaven if I were to die. I
feared death, dangers, thunderstorms, and many other things,
because I never felt free from sin and the guilt of the past. I
feared going to Hell, feeling totally unworthy of heaven.

As many questions remained unanswered, I quietly searched and at
the age of 37, the Lord gave me an interest in reading the Holy
Bible. I read it for many years, and attended Bible studies
where I worked. These were held during the Wednesday lunch
hour. Slowly, but surely, God's Word began to open my eyes.

Reading of Scriptures was forbidden in the church in which I
grew up. I was amazed to read in Acts 17:11, "And they searched
the scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was so."

Then in Ephesians 2:8,9 I read, "For by grace you are saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God. Not of works, lest any man should boast."

These verses awakened me to the reality that I could never do
any works sufficient to bring salvation to me. I could never
suffer enough, or be good enough to earn salvation.

I had been visiting my wife's cousin at the hospital and the
poor man was in horrible pain for months. One day, a nun came
by and told his wife, "He sure earned his heaven with all that
suffering." The wife asked me what I thought of that statement
and I truthfully answered, "He could suffer many times what he
has suffered and still not have earned his heaven."

Deep-rooted in the human heart is the idea that we can make
ourselves worthy of heaven. Some believe that we can earn our
salvation, as if God can owe us anything for whatever we do. 
Great numbers refuse to accept God's gift of salvation because
they do not understand what His saving grace is all about.

When asking about the meaning of grace we get a variety of
answers like: "I say grace before meals." Or, "A state of grace
is being without sin." Others would answer, grace is the way
one conducts himself, or the way one walks gracefully. Some
describe grace as the strength God gives during times of trials.

Able Bible teachers speak of "prevenient grace", the Divine
influence which leads one to seek salvation. They describe
effectual grace, that which produces conversion, if not
resisted. Actual grace is that which enables one to live
rightly, resist temptations, and to do one's duty. Habitual
grace is described as the effect of the indwelling Spirit. This
results in a life characterized by the fruit of the Spirit:
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. (Galatians 5:22,23).

But when we speak of saving grace, what is meant is the kindly
disposition in the mind of God, unmerited favor. I was born in
sin, lived out that sin in my life, and therefore deserved
eternal punishment. Yet, in His grace, God gave me the very
best when I deserved the very worst. He gave me salvation
through the shed blood of His only Son Jesus Christ.

It was very hard for me to accept my salvation as a gift due to
my earlier religious training. I had been taught to trust in
works as the basis for my salvation.

Grace is totally independent of man's works and activities,
called the works of "the law" by the apostle Paul. In Romans
3:28 and Galatians 2:16, he makes it clear, "the law" and grace
cannot both be instrumental in our salvation. It's one and not
the other. It's grace.

The law says: We have a work to do. Grace says, It's done.

The law says: A price must be paid. Grace says, All is paid.

The law condemns. Its purpose was to supply a standard of
righteousness. Grace justifies. Receiving Jesus-Christ as our
personal Lord and Savior changes our position from that of a
condemned sinner to that of justified saint. We are acquitted
and declared righteous in the eyes of God. Under the law, we
are servants working for wages. Under grace, we are adopted
sons enjoying an inheritance. (John 1:12,13 and Romans 8:15,16)

Grace is the only way to salvation. Man has not a single thing
with which he can purchase his justification. God cannot lower
His standards to accept what we can offer. We can never measure
up to what God demanded of us. Justification is an act of God's
free grace by which He pardoned all our sins and accepted us as
righteous in His sight. This can only occur when the
righteousness of Christ is imputed to us and received by faith
alone.

If this amazing grace is to be received by faith alone
(Ephesians 2:8,9), then we must have a clear understanding of
what faith is.

Most people, unfortunately, believe that faith means religion, a
body of beliefs. Religion is not always based on God's word,
but teachings which people accept as truths to direct their life
by.

The faith which is often described as the hand which receives
God's gift of salvation is called "saving faith." This is to
exclude it from the other erroneous definitions of the word
faith which have nothing to do with salvation.

Many good definitions of the true meaning of "saving faith" have
been given. Here are a few:

Faith in Christ is a saving grace, by which we receive and rest
upon Him alone for salvation. It depends on accepting Him as He
is presented in the gospel.

Faith is "the act of the penitent only," aided by the Spirit,
and resting upon Christ alone. It is that act, or habit of mind
in the penitent, by which, under the influence of the Divine
grace, he puts his trust in Christ as the only and sufficient
Savior.

Faith is a sure trust and confidence that Christ died for my
sins, that He loved me, and gave Himself for me. It is to rely
on the merits of Christ, that for His sake God is certainly
willing to show mercy to us. It is the flight of the penitent
sinner to the mercy of God in Christ.

It is indeed difficult, in a world that sings "I did it my way,"
to accept that we can't be saved by our own efforts or works. 
Faith is opposed to works, when by works we mean good deeds upon
which a person depends for salvation" (Galatians 3:11).

However, living faith will produce works in the same way a
living tree will produce fruit (James 2:26). People which have
only intellectual faith can remain 18 inches from salvation. 
"Intellectual faith" can only acknowledge that the gospel facts
are true. "Heart faith" means the willing dedication of one's
life to the obligations that those facts entail (Romans 10:10).

Some have presumed that James, in his epistle, was in
disagreement with the apostle Paul's writings on grace. What
James was denouncing was a dead formal faith which is merely an
intellectual assent. Paul was rejecting dead works without
faith. Paul is combating legalism or dependence upon works for
salvation. James was combating antinomianism, the teaching that
it does not matter so much how one lives, so long as he
believes. Paul and James are not two soldiers of Christ opposed
to each other; they are standing back to back, facing enemies
coming from opposite directions.

How often I thank God for His amazing grace, for saving a wretch
like me, for washing away all my sins with the precious blood of
His Son. Daily, I abide in the refreshing shadow of His wings. 
I know my name is written in the Book of Life, and engraved in
the palm of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). His amazing grace brought
the peace that only He can give. He took away all my fears and
the guilt from my past of sin. The Christ that died for me
became the Christ in me as he gave me a new life. Daily, he is
changing me, drawing me closer and ever closer to Him. He
causes me to long for His return, to see Him as He is, and to be
like Him (1 John 3:2). The signs of the times tell me Christ is
returning soon. He is coming to gather His own (1 Thessalonians
4:15- 18 and John 14) as He promised. He will do this, for He
is faithful.

Now you know more about how to be saved and be assured of
eternal salvation. Are you willing to make the boldest step of
your life in the direction of heaven? Jesus said: You must be
born again. He did not say: Try it, you might like it, it's a
good idea. He said, "You must be born again" (John 3:3). You
must receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and trust in
Him alone for your salvation. You must be willing to repent and
to start a new life in Him. He will not fail you and the
benefits are eternal.

If you are serious about being sure of going to heaven when you
die, you can go to a Bible believing and preaching church. 
There ask the pastor, a church elder or deacon, or a good, solid
Christian to assist you in receiving Jesus as your personal Lord
and Savior. Time is short, do not wait too long. Do not say: 
I'll wait until I am older as you may not get older, and Jesus
said He would come as a thief in the night.

If it is impossible for you to go to such a church, you must do
certain things with all the sincerity of your heart. It is
there where God will look to see if you really mean what you are
saying to Him.

1. You must confess to God that you are a sinner. 2. You must
express sincere repentance and ask God to forgive your sins.
3. Tell God that you want the gift of eternal life that Jesus
died to make possible for you. 4. Tell Him that you receive Jesus
as your personal Lord and Savior, and as the Master of your life.
5. Tell Him that you accept His gift of eternal life through Jesus.
6. Thank Him with all your heart for that gift and for the
sufferings and death of His Son which made it possible. 7. Ask Him
to send the Holy Spirit to help you in your new life and to lead
you to new brothers and sisters in Christ.

As you are now "born again," rejoice in the assurance of
salvation in God's grace received by faith. Amazing grace, how
sweet the sound! Don't spend another moment without it. Get an
eternity with God with it.

J. Trudel

Note: Much of this article comes from the Bible and the book
"Knowing the Doctrines of the Bible" by the late Myer Pearlman,
published by Gospel Publishing House, Springfield, Missouri. 
It's a priceless book which I have been studying for a few
years. Therefore I must humbly give him credit for his God-given
wisdom and knowledge, and his labors in writing the book.
SCUD Warnings
SCUD Warnings by Jerry Johnson
S piritual
 C ounterfeits
  U ndermining
   D octrine

W A R N I N G S 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

                             JANUARY 12, 1992

                           Church Bulletin for

                      FIRST CHURCH OF THE GREAT I AM            
                             AND I AM GREAT

                       Opening musical meditation              
                          Organist, Irving Ego

                             "I DID IT MY WAY"

                        Congregational Affirmations

             Hymn # 267  "GLORIOUS THINGS OF ME ARE SPOKEN"

                        Chorus # 82 "I LOVE ME LORD"

                           Offering/Offertory                   
                           Soloist, Ima Best

                  "MY NAME IS THE SWEETEST NAME I KNOW"

                       Congregational Affirmations

                Chorus # 14 "GOD IS SO GOOD (AND SO AM I)"

                           World's Best Choir

                      "JOYFUL, JOYFUL, I ADORE ME"

                                 Sermon                     
                      (Part 16 of a 28 part series)

                              Pastor Feelgood

       EVEN MORE PEOPLE THAT YOU CANNOT LOVE UNTIL YOU LOVE YOURSELF

                              Closing Chorus

        "FATHER (JESUS/SPIRIT/INSERT YOUR NAME HERE) I ADORE YOU"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD! PASS THE MIRROR!

I freely, readily and happily admit that the bulletin had all
the subtlety of a Mack truck going downhill in fifth gear with
no brakes.

But to be frank, the new emphasis on "self esteem" in and out of
the church is none too subtle: Everywhere you turn, there are
self-esteem classes, books, and videos...and if I hear one more
person say "you can't love anyone until you love yourself," I
WILL SCREAM!!!!!!

OK......I'm feeling better now.

I promise I will try to discuss this in a calm and rational
manner. Did I hear a snicker?

So why am I so obviously opinionated about self-esteem? Am I of
the old school that focuses on the utterly degenerate,
worthless, wormlike state of man? No. Do I have such a damaged
image of myself that I have to project it on others? No, and if
you listen carefully you can hear my friends breaking into
hysterical laughter. Am I blindly rejecting a concept simply
because I have not examined it? No.

So, what's my complaint? Well, in random order, let me share
some observations and thoughts, and then you can draw your own
conclusions.

1) If you watch the talk shows or watch almost any commercial on
T.V., you'll notice that people are encouraged to base their
self-esteem on their talents, abilities, looks, etc. There are
a couple of basic problems with that approach.

First, if you base your self-esteem on something that can be
damaged or taken away in a car crash, you're building your
self-esteem on sand, not a rock (see Matthew 7:24-27).

Second, suppose you were the King of Engineering at your high
school of 2000 students...in fact, you're were so good that you
got accepted at M.I.T. Now, you are at M.I.T. and suddenly,
instead of being King of the Hill, you are in the middle,
spelled a-v-e-r-a-g-e, of a group of geniuses. Then, what
happens to your self-esteem when you are just one of the crowd? 
Your ability hasn't changed, just your peer group. No matter
what your talents or abilities or how gifted you are in them,
eventually someone will come along who is better.

2) Have you ever noticed that when people are asked to describe
themselves, they usually begin by identifying what they do;
accountant housewife, lion trainer, rather than describe their
character or personality? Is it just because that's the easiest
way to describe ourselves, or is it because we have been taught
that what we do is who we are? Psalms 139:13-16 indicates that
God formed us and knew us in the womb. Even then, before we
could DO anything, He was relating to us in love.

God loves us for who we are, not what we do! 

That idea is exciting! Scripture states that God made us for
His pleasure (Revelations 4:11) and that he delights in His
people (Psalms 149:4).

Now, before we get too cocky, we also need to acknowledge that
God didn't HAVE to love us. Let's be honest, we're not THAT
irresistible. But he loves us, knowing us, because of who He
is! What makes one painting a valuable masterpiece while
another adorns motel rooms? Ultimately it is that someone
decided that it was worth a lot of money to them to possess it. 
At one time in Europe's past, tulips were such a rage that a
single bulb of a rare variety sold for $20,000. Try to sell a
bulb for that much today and you'll get a wrap around dinner
jacket and a bus trip to an asylum.

The world is fickle and what is of value one day may be
considered worthless the next and it is that same world that
sets the (ever changing) standard for "self esteem."

The Lord God Almighty chose to love us so much that he paid the
price of His son's blood to redeem us. Our value, esteem, is
based on Christ's price, not our virtues and because of that,
our value will never depreciate. God's market is incredibly
stable!

3) Believe it or not, this is the fourth time I've tried to
write this part. I was having great difficulty in explaining
this point without rambling to a far greater extent than normal.
Then my family and I attended a local Filipino Social Club
Christmas party. As part of the event there were both adults
and children doing both modern and traditional dances and there
was singing and playing of instruments. That is when I noticed
it.

There were some people who were a delight to watch...some were
good, some were not so good, but they put out a great effort and
were fun to watch. Then there were others, some quite able, who
were obviously very concerned about how they looked as they did
their thing. The trouble was, somehow it was very obvious that
they were aware of themselves, and, somehow, that was a
distraction. It was as if we were no longer able to enjoy the
talent displayed, but had to take the feelings of the
participant into account.

That's one of the extremely problematic side effects of the
self- esteem teaching. Self-esteem tends to lead to
self-consciousness which leads to various levels of
self-obsession. Growing up, I was taught a very simple, but
profoundly wise, song in Sunday School. The first line went
like this:

"Jesus, and Others and You, what a wonderful way to spell joy."

The order was the focus of that song, and it is the Biblical
focus.

The people that are described as being self-confident in an
ability usually are NOT focused on how they think they look
while doing the activity...they are too concerned on doing what
needs to be done for the activity to be done well. It's a lot
like trying to walk a straight line in the snow; if you lock
your focus on something in the distance and not get distracted,
the line will be straight but if you are constantly looking
behind to see how you are doing, the line will look like it was
walked by someone with a blood alcohol level of 2.3.

4) Mark 12:30 and 31. "Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. The
second is this; love your neighbor as yourself." This verse,
and its parallels, have been grabbed and now the self-esteem
theology supporters have used it to create a new commandment:
"you can't love others UNTIL you love yourself."

The trouble is, to the best of my knowledge, this is the only
generation that has ever interpreted the verse this way. Why
now? Simple, because that concept did not come from the Bible
of the ages, but from the book "The Art of Loving" by Erich
Fromm which was used in the fifties by pastors as a marriage
manual because there were none written with a Christian focus
and belief structure. What was espoused in pastors' chambers 40
years ago has slowly become part of the mythos of the 20th
century and we have Christians that are believing it today.

So what's the big deal?

First of all, the most basic rule of Biblical interpretation is:
if a verse states something very clearly, don't look for
inferred or hidden meanings. If you take the verse at face
value, you are to love God, period. Then, love your neighbor AS
(you love) yourself. The self-love is assumed as a reality,
not instructed as a commandment. Simple behavioral science
clearly indicates that we all do what we do because, for
whatever reason, desire or need, we WANT to. Due to our sin
nature, we often choose inappropriate ways to try to fulfill our
needs...but we still, at some level inside ourselves, do what we
want.

"But what about suicide...how can that be self love?"

Say you are watching a group of kids playing a pick-up game of
street football. One team is losing and suddenly one child
grabs the football saying, "I don't like the way you are
playing. I'm taking my ball and going home!" Most of us would
consider that child a poor sport and spoiled.

That is basically what someone does when they commit suicide. 
They don't like the way the world is treating them so they take
their ball (their life) and go home. Incidentally, most people
commit suicide in such a way that the person they want to make
feel the worst will find them. Sorry...that may be sad and
sick, but it is the way it is and it IS self love, in the most
sinful sense.

5) So what's wrong with loving yourself?

Let's take a slight trip to the Biblical side of all this:

II Timothy 3:1 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in
the last days. PEOPLE WILL BE LOVERS OF THEMSELVES..." This
list goes on to include being abusive, brutal and slanderous. 
This verse defines the self-love as a sign of terrible times,
not good times. In the Greek, the word "lovers" is philautos,
which is being fond of yourself - the very definition of self
esteem!

So, are we to hate ourselves?

Get real!

We were bought with the blood of Christ! What we need to do is
do just as the verse says and love God first and completely, and
pour out our lives into others.

"Those who would be greatest should be the servant of all." The
person who said they knew what it was like, and look how He
turned out!

Next time: "Make the buck stop here" - a look at the Prosperity
Gospel.
Prayer Guidelines
Prayer and Humility by Michael Wilkinson
Humility - Too often humility is perceived as an attitude of
false subservience. The image of Uriah Heep, from the novel
DAVID COPPERFIELD, springs to mind. Heep was the individual who
constantly bragged of his humility. Humility is the virtue that
when rewarded is lost.

The attribute of humility, from a Scriptural perspective,
requires having an accurate self-image. Humility lacks a good
self-image (see this issue's SCUD column). An accurate
self-image means knowing who one is before God. If a believer
is to pray to the Lord in a meaningful way, then there must be
humility, the presence of an accurate self image.

In this first of a new series on prayer, the relationship
between humility and prayer is considered.

=================================================================
                            PRAYER AND HUMILITY                 
                            by Michael Wilkinson
=================================================================

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as
raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be
merciful to me a sinner'" (Luke 18:13). Today, Jesus is seen
more as a friend and ally than a master. As a result, the
strong pleading and affirmation of lowliness, made by the tax
collector, appears strange to some believers. It might be
called outlandish or phony by the scornful. Yet Jesus said that
this man went away justified.

When we pray, we must come to the Lord with humility. This is
true whether our prayer is one of repentance, praise, petition
or thanksgiving. This is not to say that we should come in
trepidation. The scriptures say we may "...come boldly to the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16). The key to our boldness
is the knowledge that God is for us, as we come to receive
grace, acknowledging our need. The humble man or woman freely
acknowledges NEED. We must never forget that we need God. We
can offer Him only repentance, necessary for forgiveness and
fellowship. We can give worship, owed to Him by all creatures.

We praise God and hold Him in awe, for His love bridges the
great chasm between God and man. Humility is simply the
recognition of how vast the separation between God and us was. 
It is accepting we did nothing to bring Him down to us. It is
He who has reached down to us in love and still does. "'For all
those things my hand has made, And all those things exist,' says
the Lord. 'But on this one thing I will look: On him who is
poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at my word'"
(Isaiah 66:2).

Humility is an attitude, a lifestyle, we must practice. Never
pray that God would humble you. That would be contrary to the
admonition of scripture which is "Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord..." (James 4:10). Also, you would not want God to
humble you. He humbled the Israelites during the time of the
Judges by giving them into the hands of their enemies (Judges
2:13-23). He humbled Nebuchadnezzar, making him insane for a
time (Daniel 4:33-34). He humbled Zechariah by taking away his
speech (Luke 1:18-20). He humbled Saul of Tarsus by taking away
his sight (Acts 9:3-9). Later Paul was given the mysterious
thorn in the flesh "...lest I be exalted above measure" (2 Cor.
12:7). 

Now God is understanding and would probably not visit such
terrible things upon someone in simple answer to a foolish and
ignorant prayer. Yet, prayer, communication with the almighty,
is a serious matter. God does not want to have to humble
people. He wants to bless us. As servants and children of God,
we want to please Him.

Praying for others is an important part of humility in prayer,
especially if we put the needs of others first. The scriptures
teach us "...in humility, consider others before yourselves. 
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also
to the interests of others" (Phil. 2:3-4). This is not to say
that prayers for oneself are invalid or less important to God. 
Yet prayers for others are a ministry that is pleasing to God. 
Much praying of this type needs to be done. "And pray in the
spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints" (Ephesians 6:18).

If we are to pray, we must know to Whom we pray. If we pray, we
must recognize our need. Prayer then requires humility, and
accurate self- image. Let us pray for ourselves and others
considering who God is, His love of us and our need of Him.

Keep the faith and keep on praying.

Christian Life Department
People Profile
People Profile
Morning Star Senior Editor, Teresa Giordanengo, conducted this
interview with Peter and Hanneke Jacobs from Irvine, California.
Peter and Hanneke are the founders and directors of Nitelite
Ministries. Two of the hymns they have written are featured in
this month's Music Column, and Nitelite Ministries is featured
in the Ministry Profile section. Peter attended Azusa Pacific
University until he went into full time Christian Ministry and
Hanneke has her BA degree in English from the University of
California.

Teresa: Peter and Hanneke, I am inspired by your music and want
to share it with the whole world. God never makes a mistake, so
when He brought the two of you together, He definitely had a
purpose in mind. Peter, when did you turn your life over to The
Lord?

Peter: In 1969, I gave my life to the Lord, and Hanneke
followed in 1971. Almost immediately, the Lord put us into one
of the first contemporary Christian groups coming out of the
early seventies Jesus Movement, "Children of the Day." We were
only nineteen years old, and had been Christians for less than a
year. But, as we found out, God loves to use young people,
(Jeremiah was only twelve), and that is the basic premises of
our ministry today. 

Teresa: One can readily see that God wasted no time in getting
you both involved in His work. Hanneke, as a busy mother, what
do you remember about those first days in the Lord's work? 

Hanneke: In 197l, Peter was ordained into the ministry, and we
were married in 1972. Our oldest daughter, Christi, was born in
1973, to be followed by her brother Tim in 1975. In 1981, the
Lord brought us a beautiful three-year-old Korean girl named
Aimee, who made our family complete. 

We both taught music at Calvary Chapel's school (K - 8) for
seven years, where we realized the calling on our lives: to use
our musical gifts to teach scriptural truths and lead children
into a deeper relationship with the Lord. We are so thankful
for that time of getting to know children. 

Teresa: Being around children every day, I am sure you could
see the need for good Christian based music especially in
today's society. When did you begin to write your own musicals
Peter?

Peter: In 1984, we began to write and record musicals. During
this time our first children's character, COLBY THE COMPUTER,
was "born". We wanted to teach children, in a creative way,
about the reality of walking with the Lord; topics like: what is
our purpose here?, the importance of love, and prayer, God uses
kids, be doers and not hearers only, and the relevance of the
Bible in children's lives today. Through COLBY and other
characters such as CHARLIE CHERUB, STARVIN' MARVIN AND
NANNYBIRD, we have tried to make learning about God both fun and
natural, showing children that the Bible is relevant in their
own lives today! It never occurred to us that God would take
these characters all over the world! 

Teresa: Now that these characters are all over the world, when
did your Nitelite Ministries begin Hanneke?

Hanneke: Approximately two years ago, the Lord led us to begin
our own ministry. Armed with the prayers of many who joined
with us, we opened a small office in our home, incorporated as a
religious, non-profit organization, and began Nitelite
Ministries. What a blessing this has been! Sometimes it is
difficult to believe what the Lord has done in such a short
time! 

Teresa: Peter I know you play the part of COLBY THE COMPUTER in
full costume. Tell us a little about that.

Peter: COLBY has had many new opportunities and has appeared at
many churches and conventions across the country, from
Anchorage, Alaska, to South Carolina. After the children of each
area study the program, I, as COLBY, go in and perform with
these children, and it is a real blessing. 

In response to a strong call to expand our ministry to teens, we
started a performing ministry group called HEARTSONG. This group
ministers through song, choreography and personal testimonies
year-'round. In addition, it is our desire to help launch young
Christian artists who have