What a Way to Live!

What a way to live. Even when he was not in jail, the Holy Spirit would tell the apostle Paul in every city: chains and trouble are coming. He could truly say 'remember the prisoners as though bound with them' for he was bound in the spirit, as was Jesus, when he approached Jerusalem and virtually every day of his life.

I wonder, are we so 'bound' today? Headed for 'Jerusalem'? Going there to die? Heading for chains and trouble and death? Our Master is. But you say, wait, there are some who are called to this suffering business and some who are not! This sort of thing in the first century was for Paul and the other apostles, who laid the foundation. Surely not all believers were or are called to suffer.

I agree. Those who are called to reign with Him are the ones who are called to suffer with Him. Are we people who love to go about bragging about how we will be a 'king' with Jesus some day, and in fact are a king right now? Do we have scars to prove it? Paul tells Timothy, "If we endure, we shall also reign with him..." Apostles Paul and Peter, who are the featured "sufferers" of the Book of Acts, both write to the church informing it that we have been called to join their suffering ranks if we are to be reigning some day.

No, it is not true that we are not called. It is only true that we don't want to hear the call, because it does not fit our comfort level. Here is the call:

First from Spirit-filled Peter, who rejoiced that he was worthy to suffer shame for His name (Acts 5:40-42):

I Peter 4:12 ff: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

Then Spirit-filled Paul, who after 39 lashes from a Roman guard, and a painful evening in a Philippian jail, was singing with Silas so loudly that the prisoners in adjoining compartments could not help but listen (Acts 16:22-25):

Philippians 1:27 ff: "To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me."

No one to lash us or throw us in jail yet? No one who will burn our house down or take away our income? Let's not panic, but rather, while we still can, let us be the ones who are called to "remember the prisoners, as though we were bound with them..."

That way, no one is left out of the suffering church who wishes to reign with Jesus. My own experience so far has been that the more I ask Jesus, "How can I truly relate to, 'remember', those who now suffer?" the more He shows me. Some of the responses are not too cheery. But what is good about this is that when the fire does fall here (and can it be much longer?) we who have practiced this relationship will be ready.

Yes, what a way to live had Paul. No matter what God showed him or gave him, he could say (Acts 20:23-24) that he was not moved. Unfortunately for too many of us, we listen to the things the enemy tells us are coming, and believe him. That is what the Bible would call "fear." We can believe the lies of the enemy about our future and cower in a corner threatened by it all, or believe that, even when God Himself says difficult times are coming, He will give us the sufficient grace he promises to endure. And that's what the Bible would call "walking in the Spirit." It's the only way for the believer to live.

Look for Bob Faulkner's home page on http://sermonaudio.com - There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, over 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Try God, She Said

"You should try God."

That's what my neighbor Goldie said to me on that day long ago in Ohio where I grew up. She was trying to offer some advice to a forlorn little kid she had seen moping around the neighborhood. She knew my alcoholic dad was away again. She knew my mom was in a mental hospital. That my cousin who had moved in was twice my age and size and beat me up on a regular basis. Maybe she even knew that once he had invited a friend over to watch it happen...

I surely wanted to try something. I'd try anything if I could hear from my dad. Dad and I were never that close. But He was dad, and I missed him terribly. So, one day while on my way home from school, knowing I had a lot of time to kill before my aunt would be home and take care of my cousin if needed, I decided to try God like she said. I stopped by a wooded area and dropped to my knees.

"God," the little boy said, "if you're really there, I want to hear from my dad tonight!" Simple ignorant faith. Isn't it always the best! I had no reason to think Dad would call tonight. It had been a long time since he had called, and he didn't always want to talk with me. I was in for the surprise of my life.

I still remember seeing the hands of the clock when I walked through the door of my house that evening. It was 5:45. The phone was ringing. Long distance from California. "Daddy wants to talk to you," my sister told me.

My tears streamed, but I have long since forgotten what Dad said. All I remember thinking was, "This is God. God did this."

That was the beginning.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Of Seals And Horsemen

If I understand the first few chapters of Revelation correctly, a man and a situation are coming to this planet that, it seems to me, few have anticipated and for which even fewer have prepared. So many have not even heard the Voice of Scripture. Of those who have heard, few have understood. Fewer still have believed. And of that handful, I wonder how many would be prepared, as, say, the North Koreans are already prepared, for this disaster?

Say what you will about Kim and his nation, the Christians there who have braced themselves for torture and loss will be able to face with confidence the coming onslaught. This is one reason the true church, far from pitying our wonderful brothers, honors them and looks to them for guidance about carrying the cross. Yes, what book, what fine author is there who can tell us more about the suffering of Jesus today than the North Korean believers who live it out hour by painful hour?

What is coming? One who once lived on the planet, who is being hidden from view now, will suddenly return as the world's messiah, and deceive the nations by many signs and wonders. Our media-driven and media-crazed world will have no trouble giving their allegiance to this superman. In these early efforts he will be mimicking the real Christ who was and is (though now also is hidden from view) and is to come.

The first of the seals of chapter 6 reveals that, as Hitler and others before him, this newly crowned saviour will march into countries as conqueror, and no one will fire a shot. He will mesmerize and intimidate. No one will dare to speak against him. He will seem to have the answer to world peace.

Eventually, says seal 2, there will be a reaction. A bloodbath will ensue. World War III, so long talked about and feared yet denied, will occur. Truly a war to end all wars. Seal 3, poverty, and 4, death by many other means, will follow quickly.

These four seals are seen as horsemen, the quickest form of transportation in the days when this vision was given. These things will not be spread out over centuries, but over just a few years. In that short time, one fourth of the humans living will be killed. In many places the human population will be so scarce that animals will once more become a threat to man's safety.

Throughout this period, the church of Jesus Christ, called the "saints" in Revelation, will suffer greatly, and will be victims of a concerted effort for extinction. They will die in many ways, but they will die. They will visibly be defeated, but will by God's standards thus be overcomers. We have forgotten that losing one's life for Christ is winning it eternally. And that those who hold on to their lives here are the ultimate losers. Where did that teaching go?

As this relatively short era winds down, natural wonders will herald the immediate return of the true Messiah, an angry God whose stored-up wrath will now decimate the nations opposed to Him. And then will come to pass the Scripture we have sung and heard so often, "And He shall reign forever and ever."

I challenge my fellow comfortable saints to heed the warnings, and to look to the suffering church for a way to be ready for what surely will come.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

What I Learned From A Hoeryong Prison

Such presumption. To suggest that I actually suffered in North Korea and have returned to tell you about it. How arrogant and insensitive.

But I have learned something from the sufferings of others there. I've learned to obey the Biblical mandate to "remember the prisoners." I learn from the saints there to trust God one day at a time in my own negative situations. I'm seeing that one must wait for God to open prison doors, but that one must continue to be faithful while waiting.

I hear them teach me that God's grace is sufficient.

I learn from Hoeryong that carrying the cross is not for a selected few, but for all who would follow the crucified Christ. I learn that things don't matter, but people do, and One Person in particular. I am learning that I actually need the cross, and I need the North Koreans more than they need me.

It is certainly a romantic notion that I actually desire what they have, though I want to believe that I do. I have seen my grumbling ways over the smallest of difficulties. My tolerance for pain or even discomfort or inconvenience is near zilch. Yet the spirit touched by God that He is making me, reaches out to the fellowship of His suffering and ignites a burning of the heart. There is a sweetness about it somehow. The days I spent with the suffering church in Romania were among the most difficult yet the most blessed ever.

I think that in seeing these saints move on in spite of the pain, in viewing their patience, their selflessness, I have seen Christ. It is Him I desire after all. But how shall I ever attain to this vision? I who have lived in a land of plenty, where balance is a virtue, and the quest for security is downright heroic. Very few have ripped off the mask of these two impostors to see that one is lukewarmness and the other is the love of this present evil world.

I invite my readers today to visit North Korea sites and gather more information with which to approach the Father. May we not be swallowed up with distractions. Jesus is still in great pain.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website made to ask believers to pray for North Korea. Recently I have added Bible teachings to the menu. There are nearly 300 blogs , a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com. Audio teachings at sermonaudio.com under my name.

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

The Deity of Jesus Christ - Samuel

Jesus is God in the books of Samuel.

I Samuel 2:3, knowledge. "The Lord is a God of knowledge." From Hannah's lips. And from Paul's pen, a statement to the Colossians:(2:2-3) "...to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ in Whom (Father and Christ or just Christ?) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." He knows it all, this Christ, Who is God.

II Samuel 22:2 , Deliverer. "The Lord is my deliverer." The words are David's. He speaks the same in Psalm 40:17 and numerous other places. It is generic and applicable in a number of ways to how our God sets us free from the enemy of our souls.But let's be specific. Who is this Deliverer in concrete human terms?Romans 11:26 quotes Isaiah as referring to One who will come out of Sion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. The Jewish deliverer is none other than Christ Jesus. And thus Christ shares yet another title with Yahweh, making these two , one.

II Samuel 22:3, Saviour. With this word we strike a nerve in Scripture. David begins the chorus in 22:3 by calling the Lord his Saviour. We have been conditioned to thinking of Jesus this way, for He saved us from our sins. But the prophets of Yahweh knew Him in this same way.From David to Isaiah(43:3), "I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." And from Isaiah to Hosea (13:4), where God says, "...there is no saviour beside Me."When we come to the New Testament with the words of Hosea ringing in our ears, we either have a problem or a revelation. None other than Mary (Luke 1:47), the mother of Jesus and His half-brothers and sisters, proclaims: "...my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Well, that's safe enough ,still talking about God. But in the very next chapter, the beloved physician quotes the angel of the Lord as saying, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (But Hosea said...) With Paul the excitement builds. His letter to Titus is overflowing with the Saviour theme. 1:3 "...preaching...is committed to me according to the commandment of God our Saviour." But check the very next verse: "...peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour." Whoa, Paul, what are you saying? And could you say it again? Certainly, 2:13: "Looking for...the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." In 2:10 and 3:4, it is "God our Saviour". In 3:6, it is again Jesus as Saviour. The formula "God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" is used also by Peter, II Peter 1:1.Oh, have we ever fathomed the reality of this truth? The truth is, our Saviour, JESUS, IS GOD.

II Samuel 22:4, Worthy. "I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised,"says David , 22:4. Is anyone else worthy of such praise and worship? No one. But see the Worthy One revealed in other form: In Matthew 2:11 the Magi worship a young child named Jesus. Matthew 14:33 tells of some suddenly believing disciples in what seems to be a hopeless storm. When the winds die down because of Jesus' presence, they worship Him. In the next chapter a Canaanite woman worships Jesus in appealing for her daughter to be healed. Luke (17:16) tells of a Samaritan man, healed and grateful, who falls on his face before the Master. John relates how one born blind worships Him.(9:38) Thomas, a doubter no longer, calls Jesus "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) Never is this worship refused. The writer of Hebrews quotes a Psalmist who says "Let all the angels of God worship Him." The implication of the passage is that "Him" is the Son. The final chorus of praise to Jesus, Who is God, is found in Revelation. 5:12 says, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing!" Why, because He died? Many have died. Because He suffered? No. Because He is GOD. For only God is worthy of such praise.

II Samuel 22:48, the avenger. "It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me." Paul's complementary statement: "...the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God."

Samuel thus agrees with the other witnesses of Scripture. Jesus is God.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

About Peace On Earth

True or false: Jesus came to bring peace on earth. The answer is clear but not the same answer as the world gives.

Wherever there is a true church there is division. The struggle toward the light is relentless. God's people will always strive to know, believe, abd obey God's Word. Actors in the same group will balk. They will go only so far and then stop. Hence, division. Eventually, persecution. Rejection.

How we all long for peace. But wars among the children of men will always be. Jesus did not come to solve that problem. Not yet. As He looks into the future from His day He calmly declares, "There will be wars and rumors of wars." That problem is not going away.

The children of God have their own special set of wars. But for them, the true ones, a personal peace is promised. Apostolic writers speak of the peace that passes understanding. The prophet says that God will keep in perfect peace those that trust in Him. Jesus Himself said, "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you," the you being those who are His true disciples. This promise was not given to the disciples who walked away filled with their own agendas.

Peace on earth, you ask? No, this message of the blood of a crucified God continues to divide families, communities, nations. The World Wars were religious wars, Catholic powers against Orthodox powers. In our own continent, Rome sought to subdue by political and military force, the neighbor of its ally Mexico. That neighbor, the USA, has largely stayed free of religious domination but is threatened now by Muslim inroads which likewise threaten Europe and the civilized world. War will always be, triggered by false ideas about who God is and what He wants.

But the angels, what of the angels and their beautiful song on the night Christ became flesh in a little Jewish village? They sang of "peace on earth and good will to men." Was it only a song, a vanished dream? Is there hope for this planet?

Oh yes, but all in good time. Peace will come to the entire orb when the Prince of Peace forcibly exerts His will as returning Messiah. He invites now. So subtle is His voice at times. He truly wants man to choose Him, since he has already chosen to love and die for them. No power plays. No strong arm. Those who tried such tactics in the Middle Ages got what military might produces: outward conformity. Lukewarm religion. Paganism filling the church.

The Christ of the Good News comes on the inside and saves sinners one at a time.

But the same Christ of the Good News will one day invite no longer . The heavens will open and every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that He is Lord. Yes, Kim Jong Il and all dictators from Nero to Napoleon to Hitler will bow the knee to Christ. Then the world will be free and at peace. Until then we carry the song in our heart, the promise, the reality that a warring world around us cannot comprehend.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website made to ask believers to pray for North Korea. Recently I have added Bible teachings to the menu. There are nearly 300 blogs , a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com Audio teachings at sermonaudio.com under my name.

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

The Picture

(I wrote this after this happened--The Holy Spirit is amazing)

There are moments in your life where God puts the perfect words in your mouth for that moment in time. If I never say another thing in my life, I will always remember that on this day I said something right.

Standing in bedroom last night talking to my wife,

I can see the heartbreak in her eyes.

She had been wanting something for so long and

all signs pointed to it's coming. She looks at me and asks,

"Why does God not like me?" I tell her right away,

"God loves you more than anyone ever could."

She says, "Why did He break His promise to me?

I have wanted this for so long and I knew that the Pastor

on TV was speaking to me. I knew it was time."

I told her, "God does not break promises and trust

His word and not the words of man." She counters,

"He speaks through people though."

"Yes He does", I said, "He may have been speaking to someone else."

Then she was silent. I have never seen her faith so tested and her heart so torn before.

I then looked up at this very old picture that her Grandmother had given to us.

It was a picture of Jesus with two sheep, one on each side of Him and He was holding a lamb in His arms. I told my wife as I pointed to the picture, "I would do anything to take away your hurt, but only He can repair the tear in your heart."

My wife looks at me with tears in her eyes and says, "He does not speak to me. He only stands there with that lamb in His arms." In the most gentle and loving way I could speak to her I said, "Sweetheart, that lamb in His arms is you."

Doug G 2007

Success thrives upon failure's demise.

Doug Gorman is the owner of Work Be Gone!-- http://www.workbegone.com and writes articles and stories from business to humor. Contact at support@workbegone.com for info on articles for your website!