@ work

I havn't had time to post lately because I've been quite busy with work. Here is my past fortnight in brief...

• I got engaged to the lovely girl that I have been dating for 4 years.
• I had a health scare, but with prayer support and the blessing of God, it turned out to be a minor issue. Praise God for His faithfullness and thank you to everyone who upheld me in their prayers. Our God is faithful.
• I am planning an engagement party.
• I am being trained to be Sharepoint Portal administrator and K2.NET developer at work. This is very exciting and will open the door to many excellent career opportunities.
  
• Went to Churchtogethor on Sunday night. It was a great night with over 18000 people from different churches in attendance, remembering that we are One body of Christ.
• Right now I am restoring our company portal from Indonesia to our local portal here in Perth.
• I have cut back on coffee during the week but increased my coffee intake on the weekend.
• I got up on the speakers box in Perth city on Sunday before church togethor to tell everyone about our God...
  
• I am attending MC again. I did not want to uproot my fiancee when I am not fully planted @ RV.
  
• And thats all.... GBU all.
  

If you are deceived...

Islamic terrorists. You claim to serve God. You do not serve my God. My God is the God of all LOVE. My God made the greatest sacrifice of all. He gave His son to die for us. Through my God there is no more death but only life.

You murdered another 30 people in Bali on Saturday. Many who never knew God and will now not have that chance. You took their lives. But count yourself blessed that you are still here to receive salvation from the one true God. He will not take your life in return. He only wants your hearts.

How could you kill innocents you murderers. You may argue that no one is innocent, well look at yourself. Do not be deceived. There are no virgins waiting for you. Repent while you still can. God is love and He is well able and willing to remove all of your sins and accept you as a son. To love God means to love people. To hate those who God loves is a sin. You say Allah is great! He is. Allah akbar! But do not be afraid. You believe in God, believe also in Christ. Only Christ can forgive you. He is the One who redeems. He is more than a prophet. He is not God’s son by means of the flesh. He is God’s son by means of the Spirit. Christ was born through a virgin. There was no defilement. God had only pure love for you. He who was rich became poor for you. He who was a King became a servant to all. That is love. That is the nature of God. Test God on this. Ask God to show you the truth. He is faithful.

John 3:16 “God so loved the world that he gave His only son, so that whoever will believe in Him will not die but have eternal life.”

I do not condemn you and neither does God. The day of condemnation will come. But today is the day of SALVATION. Salvation is for all who will believe.

Love does reign.

Bali

The terrorists struck again. Please lift Bali up in your prayers. Let's stand togethor and hold our neighbour up before God. The Balinese are beautiful people who do not deserve this. I have been hearing stories that are causing me to believe that Gods hand is truly on the nation of Indonesia. God is love and God is life. The God who created us is the same God who paid for our sins through the death of His Son - Jesus Christ. He is definately not a God that encourages people to commit murder.

God bless the Balinese.

Sunday

Watched a message recorded at Hillsong conference 2005. The speaker was Reinhard Bonke. Reinhard is an evangelist.

Since the year 2000, he has seen 38.5 MILLION people come to the Lord in Nigeria. WOW!!! He is a very hot fiery preacher. He told of how certain churches in Germany asked him to stop preaching so loud. I love his response... "How can I pur like a kitten when I see what the devil is doing to the German people. I want to roar like a lion 'JESUS SAVES! JESUS SAVES! JESUS SAVES! JESUS SAVES!' I want the whole the world to hear me roar!" (paraphrased).

Went to church today. There is a very strong sense that revival is about to come. Hearts are expectant. One man from the Solomon Islands testified of an email sent to him yesterday by a pastor in PNG, who last week baptised 1,300 people in one day. That is exciting. If you are a Christian, be expectant. Throw off every thing that hinders and eagerly expect the miraculous.

Jakarta Prayer Tower

I know this sounds silly, but I just realised I can upload photos. Here is a picture of the Jakarta prayer tower currently under constuction in Indonesia.

Ambassador

am·bas·sa·dor (m-bs-dr, -dôr)n.
1. A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time.
2. A diplomatic official heading his or her country's permanent mission to certain international organizations, such as the United Nations.
3. An authorized messenger or representative.
4. An unofficial representative: ambassadors of goodwill.
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Points to note:

• "A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative..."
  We have the highest rank (Sons and daughters of the Most High). We are appointed (We are saved and called by God. Sent out into all the world. Given authority and weapons to cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of our God. And we are accredited (by the blood of Jesus).
• "An authorized messenger or representative. "
  We are authorised by Christ to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils, and basically see Gods will done on earth. We are official representatives. We should live the gospel. Reflect Christ. Glorify Him. Point all man to the Cross.
• "ambassadors of goodwill". This one goes without saying.

Point to live: 2 Corinthians 5:20

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."

No matter where. No matter when. We are all full time ministers. We have received the ministry of reconciliation. Saved by God and called by God.

Why good news?

The Gospel – why is it called good news? Well, the answer is simple. When the Gospel is preached, the Gospel happens!

The Verdict

Just in from Indonesia:
Just a brief note to inform you of the verdict in the case of three housewives - Rebekka, Ety and Ratna - who were charged with Christianization because they allowed some Muslim children to attend their Sunday School called "Happy Sunday". The children had the parents permission but the ladies, witnesses and judges were constantly under the threats of violence from hundreds of Islamic radicals who threatened to kill the three ladies, witnesses, pastors, missionaries and even the judges if the women were acquitted.

Today they arrived in 9 trucks and brought a coffin to bury the accused if they were found not guilty. Their violent threats continued in their speeches before the session began. When the Panel of Judges read the verdict finding the three ladies guilty of all charges and sentencing them to 3 years imprisonment, the crowd erupted with "Allahu akbar" or "Allah is Greater"

The ladies will appeal the verdict, but the question of justice under such intimidation is under question. Please pray for these three beautiful, gentle women who were just trying to help save the children of prostitutes from going down the same pathway.

The Crime of Teaching Sunday School

Alan Meyer posted this on philbaker.net...

These women deserve a moment of your prayer time today. A friend personally attended the final day of the trail of 3 Christian women in Indonesia, undergoing prosecution for the crime of teaching Sunday School.

Here is his first hand report of the event:
Before the case began the Islamic radicals took over the court for more than an hour, conducted an Islamic worship service and conducted a serious of speeches using a megaphone stating:

1. If the three ladies are not found guilty or are given a light sentence then they have a plan and will bring Islamic justice and are willing to shed their own blood in jihad. They said it would be the sweet smelling blood of martyrdom.
2. The three ladies would never be forgiven and would never be allowed to return to their village in peace.
3. That they would wipe the smiles off the faces of the three women.
4. That anyone who has stood with and supported the three ladies share in their guilt and would share in their punishment.
5. That they were not afraid of the Christians because Islam is the one and true religion and is far more glorious than Christianity and it is backed up by the power of Allah.
   When the proceedings began, the court today was relatively quiet with only a few murmerings and interjections of "Lies!" "Haram! (Unclean)".
   

The main points of the Defense were:

1. The Prosecutor in his summation had listed all the witnesses and summarized their testimonies. However, several that were named as witnesses whose testimonies were quoted had not in fact testified, and had not even attended the case or been sworn in.
2. That none of the witnesses had actually seen, heard or experienced the Happy Sunday program and had only presented hearsay reports and therefore there existed no evidence of any wrong doing.
3. That no evidence was presented to prove the charge that they had "deliberately lied", "deceived", "forced the children to change religion" or that the children had attended "against their own will".or "without parental consent". Since noone had testified or provided any evidence that the 3 ladies had deliberately lied, used deception, forced the children to change their religion, that they had attended against their own will or without the permission of their families was not proved. Furthermore - all witnesses, including the Prosecutor had said they were still Muslims and had never changed their religion, and that the children had attended freely and with parental permission was proved by the photographic evidence of their parents participating in Happy Sunday activities.
4. That the panel of judges should dismiss all charges, find the three ladies not guilty, and release them from prison.
   

As soon as the Defense finished, the Judges stated that the verdict would be announced next Thursday 10.00 am Jakarta time, and they then closed the session. As the radicals began leaving the court some began shouting "Allahu akbar" and "Baldy" of the chief judge, but their minders quickly quietened them and ordered them out and on to the trucks.

Now it is time for the intercessors to go really go to work as the judges sit down to make their decision and to write the reasons for their decision. Please mobilize people to pray as these dear sisters in Christ are facing the potential of 5 years imprisonment or if acquitted, the potential of being killed, having their homes burned down and their families attacked. Your urgent prayer support for the ladies at this time would be greatly appreciated.

Church on the weekend…

I had a fantastic time at church on Sunday night. I went to Bethany Church of God in North Perth. It is mainly and Indonesian church with the Sunday morning service given in Indonesian. The evening service is an international service given in English. It is made up mainly of Africans, Asians, and Caucasians. It really was something. The Africans worship like crazy. They are so pumped and energised. They dance and sing and shout for joy. Worship went for more than one hour. The preacher is also an African. He preached a fiery 10 minute message on John 14:1,6. He exhorted us not to fear anything that this world throws at us because our Lord is Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Many people responded to salvation.

At 7.30 pm the Soweto Gospel choir performed and worshipped with us. They have been touring Australia from South Africa performing beautiful African worship. Oh my goodness… It was so encouraging and inspiring to see them. They were very tired since they had just come from a performance at His Majesties theatre. Some of them were losing there voice when talking, and no doubt they were very hungry, but it seems that they would not open their mouth to sing praise to God half-heartedly. Every single word from their mouths was so passionate. The tears that came from one of the choir members eyes as she was singing praises to God speaks a 1000 words. You could not help but dance and shout with them.

The Soweto Gospel Choir travel the world to raise money for Aids orphanages in Africa. They are doing such great work for our Mighty God.

God is good. Dia Allah baik.