This is a very special report that will bless you to read, from my co-pastor Liviu, who leads a weekly prison ministry, about what marvelous things God did last week.
The 3rd chapter of the book of Exodus tells us about the unforgettable encounter of Moses with God. God called Moses from a burning bush, which wasn’t consumed. After this meeting, Moses’ life was going to be changed forever, as a servant of the living God.
On Thursday, 22nd of April 2010, God used another Burning Bush to change the lives of about 60 people, inmates in the Aiud Penitentiary. Burning Bush Church is a Gypsy Church in the South East of Romania.
The story of this Church is amazing. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, a Gypsy from this village, Toflea, left Romania for Germany. There, he heard the Gospel and became a born again Christian. With a new heart, he came back to Romania and started to share the gospel with his family and friends. His life was a living testimony to the grace of God. In a few years in Toflea, God brought an amazing revival. Today the Burning Bush Church has about 3,500 members and 2,500 children. The revival is authentic and you could see this looking at their lives. They study the Bible; love the Lord; pray, worship with passion; and travel all over the country to share the Gospel of grace, especially in gypsy communities. Last year, I invited them to join us in an outreach in a Gypsy Village close to Cluj. The Lord used them amazingly, as part of the message and some songs were in the Gypsy language. At that meeting the Lord put the desire in my heart to invite them to the prison where I serve weekly and organize a meeting for Gypsy inmates.
By the grace of God, last week the meeting took place. The pastor of the Burning Bush Church, Dumitru Ion (Onita), together with 22 singers from Toflea, joined our Rescue team in the fight to win souls for the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit used their famous songs to prepare the field for sowing the word of God, which was preached with power and passion by pastor Onita.
Looking at chapter 5 of Mark, he talked to the inmates about the healing, but above that, about the salvation of the man from Gadarenes, a man with an evil spirit. The man changed after his personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
Convinced that only the Lord Jesus can save them, forgive their sins and offer them a new chance and direction in life, all the participants knelt down, and they were prayed for, for the salvation of their souls. There were many tears of repentance and sincere prayers were lifted, asking for the mercy and grace of Jesus. Towards the end of the message, the participants were encouraged to follow the example of the man from Gadarenes and when they go back to their cells, to tell the others what the Lord has done for them and about His grace and mercy. (Mark 5:19).
We had a time of personal prayer with each one and again a time of worship. Every inmate that didn’t already have a Bible received one.
The meeting was video-recorded by an officer, and he said that will put it on their internal television to be watched in every cell. The officer was so touched by the meeting than he said that was the best day of his entire service in prison. We need to pray for this man because I am sure that God spoke to him.
The Christian Television recorded the meeting from the back and did some interviews at the end. The inmates didn’t mind his recording, praise the Lord.
I asked the brothers from Toflea to go again to the gypsy village, and they said that we must soon plan another outreach there. I hope that I will build a relationship with them and have more activities together.
I have great time every Thursday at prison sharing and studying the Gospel, but so far this Thursday was special. Praise the Lord for everything.
Month: April 2010
A cleansed temple is a place of fruitful ministry
Today we looked at church at the last part of Luke 19, about Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, and the fruitful ministry that resulted from it. We also applied that to our individual lives and what we need Him to do in us for His glory. The message audio can be heard by clicking here, in English and Romanian.
Don’t honor “mother earth” — it’s full of His Glory
Romans 1:18-25 gives a biblical perspective on the veneration of the planet this “Earth Day”:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
So laughworthy, these atheists
So, now there is a group of atheists in America petitioning for the “National Day of Prayer” to be replaced with a “National Day of Reason.” How silly. Atheism is the most illogical, unreasoned belief system in the world and in the history of the world. And they pretend they believe in “reason?” Atheists are no better acquainted with reason than they are with God.
Chris Tomlin — “Jesus Messiah” Name above all names
Philippians Study
Last night at the home fellowship, we began a study through the book of Philippians. That study of the opening verses of the book can be heard in streaming audio by clicking here.
The study is in English and Romanian, and looks at the issue of who the word of God is for, can we interpret it for ourselves, and if so, what is the role of the church leader in teaching?
Easy to Prove a Negative
Okay, so if you’ve debated atheists long enough, you’ve several times heard them whine about how you’re being unfair in the debate by requiring them to provide evidence for their beliefs, because, as they like to put it, “you can’t prove a negative” or “you can’t prove something DOESN’T exist.”
It’s nonsense, though. It is actually quite easy to prove a negative assertion, if that negative assertion is true. I wouldn’t break an intellectual sweat trying to sufficiently prove to you that there is no pink elephant sitting on my couch, there is no person on earth who is 40 feet tall, or that there is no Santa Claus or Easter bunny. It would be easy to find empirical evidence sufficient to persuade all but the most delusional of people that those negative assertions are entirely true, and not just provable, but proven.
The atheist’s problem isn’t that he is helplessly painted into a corner trying to defend a negative assertion–the non-existence of someone. His problem is that his negative assertion not only lacks supporting evidence, but is at odds with an infinite amount of evidence to the contrary. His problem is that the reason he cannot prove God isn’t there, is that he is simply wrong.
SonDay @ Five
Here is my video devotional from last night’s Sunday at Five in Dallas. It looks at John the Baptist, and how we can be used of God to prepare the way into people’s hearts for Christ to come in.
If you have trouble playing the video in this format on your computer (particularly for macs), it is also available in another format now on YouTube here.
Ministry update – salvation at the church today
A 16-year-old girl who has been coming to our church services and outreaches for about 8 months now responded to an invitation at the close of the service today wanting to be saved. Lili and I explained to her how she could be saved and she prayed with us, making a profession of faith that seemed to be quite authentic.
It was after a message I preached from Luke 19, which I had preached in America at the beginning of March on the parable of the minas. If you’d like to hear it, you can scroll back to the first Sunday in March and listen to the recording. The message was recorded today in Cluj, too, but most of the readers of this blog are English-speaking, so this time I am only posting today’s recording on my Romanian ministry site. If you would like to hear it and need the link, let me know and I’ll supply it.
How it happened….
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
New song on video
Here’s a new song that we did at an outreach for men struggling with alcoholism this evening. The words of the song and an English translation are below. The song is called “Pacatul Meu Te-a Rastignit/My Sin Crucified You.”
Sunt uimit și copleșit
I’m amazed and overwhelmed
de harul ce m-a mântuit
by the grace that redeemed me
Când pe cruce ai murit
When on the cross You died
Tu la mine Te-ai gândit
You thought of me
Chorus:
Păcatul meu Te-a răstignit
My sin crucified You
Din dragoste Tu Te-ai jertfit /2x
Out of love You sacrificed Yourself
O, Domnul meu, nevrednic sunt
O, my Lord, I am unworthy
chiar numele să Ți-l pronunț
To even speak Your Name
Sunt mântuit prin jertfa Ta
I’m saved through Your sacrifice
Te voi slăvi de-a pururea
I will praise You forever
Păcatul meu Te-a răstignit
My sin crucified You
Din dragoste Tu Te-ai jertfit
Out of love You sacrificed Yourself
Păcatul meu Te-a răstignit
My sin crucified You
Tu la mine Te-ai gândit
You thought of me
Păcatul meu Te-a răstignit
My sin crucified You
Pentru mine ai murit
You died for me
Walk of Faith - Dave Bunnell 