Tragedy, Judgment, Grace

Bill Muehlenberg of CultureWatchCultureWatch – 11.01.11 – Bill Muehlenberg’s commentary on issues of the day…

Whenever a major disaster or national tragedy breaks forth, a heated debate tends to arise within Christian circles. Opinions tend to be polarised, with two sets of extremes on offer. On the one hand are those who claim this is all the judgment of God, and people need to repent. On the other hand are those who argue that God would never do such things, and it is ridiculous to drag God into any of this.

From a biblical point of view, I tend to find both perspectives unhelpful. The truth is, we often simply do not know – and are not told – why a particular event happens. Are the floods in Queensland the direct and specific work of God, whether in judgment or for some other reason?

Who knows? I can’t say that it is or it is not. We simply cannot know for certain. So we need to be careful about rushing to judgment here. The truth is, when God acted in the Old Testament, he generally revealed his purposes in his actions. He would communicate his purposes to man, often through his prophets. Thus divine actions were explained by divine speech.

We now refer to this as speech acts. God acts, but he utters his intentions along with it. There are countless examples of this found in the Old Testament. For example, Yahweh says to Jeremiah, “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?’ then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law’” (Jer. 16:10-11).

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Prayers answered – Brisbane river did not reach its expected peak

Crowd at parliament stepsDear family & friends in Christ across Australia and around the World,

We thank our faithful Heavenly Father for the tremendous answer to yesterday’s prayers as the Brisbane river did not reach its expected peak. Thank you so much for praying.

When around 100 Bible-believing God-fearing Christians gathered at the Victorian Parliament steps yesterday 12th January a few people asked Pr Daniel as to why he gave such short notice regarding the prayer meeting. He responded, “It was because the  need was immediate and he had the sudden prompting of the Holy Spirit to stand in the gap for the Queensland and our nation of Australia.  It was not so much about how many people came for the meeting as it was about Bible-believing God-fearing Christians around the nation uniting in prayer and standing together in the gap for our nation.”

We thank God that last night Channel 9 and Channel 7 News covered part of the prayer meeting on the steps of the Victorian Parliament, taking the need for prayer to homes all across Australia.

Click on the following link to watch the brief news flash on Channel 7 which was a very positive report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1yWlUPvxtY

Also, click on this link for our highlights footage of the meeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wi7VQjaGqI

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Prayer Rally on Victorian Parliament Steps a Great Success

100 Christians gather to pray at Victorian ParliamentChristians on their knees in repentance to the LordDear family & friends in Christ in Australia and around the World,

Firstly, We want to praise and thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for stopping the rain just in time in downtown Melbourne, so that we could have the prayer meeting on the steps of Parliament. 

For those of you living out of Melbourne, there was heavy rain pouring down all night and early morning, but after we prayerfully asked our faithful Heavenly Father to stop the rain so that we could have the prayer meeting, He answered our prayers. Glory to God.

Around 100 Bible-believing God-fearing Christians from many churches, denominations & cultures dared the rain and gathered today Wednesday 12th January 2011 at midday at the Victorian Parliament steps in Melbourne to prayerfully repent and stand in the gap for our nation of Australia, particularly for the flood crisis in QLD and the fires in WA.

We thank and praise our prayer answering God that thousands more gathered around the country at the same time to bring our nation of Australia before the Lord’s heavenly throne of grace and mercy to seek Him to heal our land as in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.

It was a very rare sight to witness around 100 Christians fall on their knees in repentance and prayer, kneeling right on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in full view of all the public in the city of Melbourne.

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Toowoomba disaster / Urgent Prayer meeting on Wed 12th Jan at Parliament steps in Melbourne from 12 to 1pm / Pr Daniel

Toowoomba FloodsDear family & friends in Christ,

I hope you received my last email on Saturday regarding the floods in QLD, calling on the church to repent and pray for our nation.  I hope many of you are standing in the gap in prayer, repentance and  fasting.
 
As per the warning we received from the Lord at the all night prayer meeting last Friday, we were told that much more disaster was yet to come, but if we as the church would stand in the gap for our nation that we could avert the disaster.
 
No one ever expected an inland tsunami in Toowoomba as described by the media this morning!   I watched the news and was shocked to see land, houses, cars and people getting just simply swept away. What  got my attention was that the insurance companies were calling it an “Act of God” as categorised in their policy.
 
As the flooding continues in QLD, the nation is faced with another major crisis with raging fires in WA. There are 2 things we can do, we can simply say, ‘I am not affected, so who cares. This is just another natural disaster’, and then turn and go to sleep.  Or we could get on our knees and cry out to the Lord to protect our nation.  Just put yourself in the place of those who are victims of the flooding or fires. These are our fellow Aussies who are in great trouble right now.
 
We are calling on all Christians in Victoria to gather at the parliament steps in Melbourne on Wednesday the 12th of January 2011 (tomorrow) from 12 to 1pm to pray for the people of QLD and stand in the gap for our nation in this hour of crisis.   We need to ask God to forgive us and save our land from any further disaster.

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Nearly 70 Thousand Make Commitments for Christ in Dominican Republic

Dominion Republicby Aimee Herd : Jul 19, 2010 : Joshua A. Goldberg – Christian Post

“Projects like this show that evangelism is not only for pastors, but for anyone who longs for those around them to experience the hope and love found only in Jesus Christ.”

 The Christian Post reports on the effectiveness of BGEA’s My Hope ministry in the Dominican Republic, as 69,188 people turned to the Lord during the evangelism outreach this year.

Over 5,500 churches worked together on the project which involved programs where Christians opened their homes for meetings and events—a combined total of 59,000 of them—including a TV sermon and testimony from either Rev. Billy or Franklin Graham.

Bill Conard, Vice President of international ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association noted, “These faithful Christians took a bold step in inviting their friends and neighbors to their homes, and God truly worked through their efforts and prayers.”

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Are the QLD floods the result of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel?

Avigdor Liberman meets with Kevin Rudd in JerusalemDear family & friends in Christ,Flooding of Biblical Proportions

It is 11.50pm on Friday night the 7th of January.  You might wonder what I am doing in my office at this time.  Well we are all at the all night prayer meeting at the CTFM base.  We started the prayer meeting at 7.30pm and would be  finishing at 6am but this issue was so urgent, I thought I must  get the info out to you as soon as possible, so that we can repent on behalf of Australia.

Around 8pm on Friday night the 7th of January we had a strong prompting by the Holy Spirit to repent on behalf of Australia. As we started doing so, I was reminded that every time America went against Israel, there was disaster in the land and this has been documented over the years.

Then at once I was reminded of Kevin Rudd speaking against Israel in Israel on 14th December 2010.  It is very interesting that Kevin Rudd is from QLD.  Is God trying to get our attention?  Yes,  I believe so.

Also the Lord said to us, “ I will humble Australia and bring her down on her knees. As she has taken pride in my blessing, and man has taken the glory and not given it to Me”.

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Mocking of Jesus on channel 10/Answers to prayer in Rockhampton QLD

Kitty FlanaganDear family & friends in Christ,

1 )I received this info yesterday and thought it was important that we act on it ASAP.

The link below is a portion of a program aired on Channel Ten on 4th Jan. While God has a sense of humour, this goes way beyond what is acceptable.

If this was about the Muslim faith and Allah there would be demonstrations and riots on our streets. How dare they speak about of Saviour like this!   I have heard that Channel 10 has been swamped with complaints.  I would encourage you to do the same and ask for a public apology.

To register your complaint call channel ten Melbourne, details as follows:

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Leaders From 70 Nations Meet in Sweden for Pentecostal World Conference

Worshiping the LordFriday, 27 August 2010 12:00 PM EDT Adrienne S. Gaines News – Featured News   

A cross-section of Pentecostal-charismatic leaders from more than 70 nations met this week in Stockholm for the 22nd Pentecostal World Conference.

Hosted in Sweden for the first time in 55 years, the triennial event was held Tuesday through Friday with a focus on equipping churches for spiritual leadership in the next century. Speakers included Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia; Young Hoon Lee, pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea; and German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.

“We need the wind of the Spirit to sweep over the Pentecostal movement to renew the evangelistic zeal and empower us for the challenges of this century,” said Bishop James Leggett, former general superintendent of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) and chairman of the host organization, the Pentecostal World Fellowship (PWF).

Members of most of the classical Pentecostal denominations were present, including leaders from the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.), Church of God of Prophecy, Assemblies of God (AG) and IPHC. Jack Hayford of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, spoke during daytime sessions, along with Oral Roberts University President Mark Rutland, Swedish pastor Ulf Ekman, and Magnus Persson, pastor of United church in Malmo, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Glorious Praise & Worship ushered in the new year at CTFM base

Powerful WorshipDear family & friends in Christ,
 
The Ushering in of the new year was celebrated around the world with fire crackers, parties and family gatherings at homes etc, but the most exciting news is that there were also groups of Christians around the world who came together in prayer and worship to usher in the new year!  Glory to God!
 
Some of you may be surprised to know that also there was a another group of people who were very active during new years eve night, and that was the satanic cults and witchcraft covens. In fact we received messages that the covens had surrounded the Catch The Fire base and covered a five kilometre area trying to stop what we were doing.  We were also informed that some coven members were in attendance at our meeting.
 
Well glory to God, we were so excited to hear the news that the covens were trying hard to disrupt our meeting. This so challenged the people that the place exploded with mighty praise and worship right throughout the night. The presence of God was so strong, at times the people could hardly stand up! There was an amazing spirit of intercession at the meeting and warfare prayer.
 
The place was just bursting with God’s mighty presence. As the new year was ushered in, People danced, and shouted out loud proclamations of victory and declared prophetically “AUSTRALIA FOR JESUS!” three times. Then the showfars and trumpets sounded, while the musicians lifted up worshipful praise to Jesus. People aslo danced with banners and tambourines. 
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WE NEED Another JESUS MOVEMENT

Jesus MovementBy J. Lee Grady

Share In today’s hip, sophisticated churches, we often forget to preach about Jesus. Let’s get back to basics.

I became a serious Christian at the tail end of the Jesus movement. I was too young to remember the hippie beads, tie-dyed shirts and “Jesus Is Groovy” slogans, but the songs were still popular when I was in college (from musicians such as Andrae Crouch, Love Song and Barry McGuire), as were the movies (especially The
Cross and the Switchblade.)

The Jesus movement was like a spiritual tsunami that washed over hundreds of thousands of young people in the late 1960s and early ’70s and brought them into a personal relationship with Christ.  Some of these kids had been drug addicts and social misfits; most were just average Joes and Janes who discovered that Jesus is a lot more exciting than traditional churches had led them to believe…

Lately I find myself waxing nostalgic for those days-not because I want to return to the awkward fashions and hairstyles of 1972, but because I miss the spiritual simplicity of that era. The Jesus
movement was primarily focused on-surprise!-Jesus. Theology was not complicated, pastors weren’t trying to be hip or sophisticated or tech-savvy; and we hadn’t yet created a Christian subculture with its own celebrities and political power bases.

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Global warming has slowed down over the past 10 years, say scientists

Measurements from space are used to see how temperatures are changingBy Daily Mail Reporter 26th November 2010  [Not necessarily the views of Catch the Fire Ministries]

The rate at which global temperatures are rising has slowed in the past decade, scientists said today. In a report published today, the Met Office said the slow in the rate of warming was down to a combination of natural variation in the weather and pollution. Scientists say one of the major factors is the rise in heavy industry and pollutant ‘aerosols’, particularly in Asia.An upsurge in industrial emissions such as sulphur which are being pumped into the atmosphere reflects sunlight and could lead to a cooling effect.

A NASA thermal satellite image of the Earth. Measurements from space are used to see how temperatures, particularly in the Arctic, are changing.

Changes in the amount of water vapour in the stratosphere may also be a factor, the report suggests.

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Vatican: Koran encourages ‘killing Christians’ AKI

KoranMillions of dead Christians later…..finally, real “dialogue.” Now, duck!

Vatican City, 22 Oct. (AKI) – The Koran is a text that encourages Islam to impose itself with force and permits the killing of Christians, said Lebanon’s Catholic Patriarch of Antioch Archbishop Raboula Beylouni, addressing a Vatican meeting of Middle East bishops.

“The Koran gives Muslims the right to judge Christians and kill them with Jihad,” he said. “It gives orders to impose religion with force, with the sword. For this reason, Muslims don’t recognise the freedom of religion among themselves or others.”

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Miracle healing testimonies now on Youtube

Miracles DVDDear family & friends in Christ,
 
It is with great excitement we wish to bring to your attention that the ‘Miracle Healing Testimonies’ are now on Youtube. 
 
Recently CTFM held a special service where 10 powerful testimonies of people healed of Cancer, Blindness, Deafness, Depression and a lady raised from the dead were shared at this meeting.  Several doctors gave evidence and medical reports were presented to prove how God had healed many people in the last few months at CTFM meetings. This powerful night of testimonies was also filmed by CBN.
 
A new release of the DVD called ‘MIRACLES’ is now available from CTFM office for $15 + postage capturing these amazing testimonies. You can buy your copy by calling our office on 03 9794 8211.  (more…)

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Wishing you a blessed CHRISTMAS and a victorious New Year/Pr Daniel

The Nalliah FamilyCTFM TeamDear family & friends in Christ in Australia & Around the World, 

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas, in addition to a victorious New Year in 2011, overflowing with the supernatural power and glorious presence of the Holy Spirit!

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart  for believing in and supporting the vision of Catch The Fire Ministries to take Australia and the Nations for JESUS!  Thank you for your support, prayer, action and many forms of contact that have been such a blessing to me, my family and each team member.

I pray God’s richest blessings upon you and your family during this extraordinary season of remembering the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!  I just love Australia and the people of all nations. I just absolutely love to see souls won into the Kingdom of God.

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Jesus is the Reason for the Season / A wonderful night of Christmas Carols

Christmas Carols with Candles at CTFMDear family & friends in Christ,

Oh, how we wish each of you were here to join us last night Sunday the 12th of December at our very special CTFM Christmas Carol service!

If you could not make it, you missed a glorious night of exuberant singing of Christmas carols, praise & worship. The CTFM Apostolic Centre in Hallam (Melbourne) was packed out with many families bringing their children to enjoy a very special night together celebrating the birth of the Christ child, enjoying delicious food and fellowship as the body of Christ. 

The DVD will be available shortly for $15 plus postage. Please call our office on (03) 9794 8211 or email angelene@reformationharvestfire.com

The night started off with an exciting time of praise to King Jesus and then moved into a wonderful time of Christmas carol singing, starting with ‘Joy to the world, the Lord has come!’ The CTFM Sunday school children sang ‘Away in a Manger’ on stage as everyone was so blessed to see the little ones giving God the glory.

This followed by a very special couple, Victor & Christine (the parents of Tania G) singing ‘Mary’s Boy Child & Silver Bells”. The crowd joined and started singing along which was beautiful.

Then Pr Jenny Jack read the Story of the Nativity from Scripture from Luke 2:1-20  followed by a CTFM youth who read out a fantastic poem that he had written which blessed the hearts of many. There was more singing of carols and then the CTFM youth sang a special song as everyone stood on their feet giving glory to God.

Pr Daniel shared a brief message and said, “Christmas is the only possible time most people think of Jesus. When we walk into a shopping centre, you hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ mentioned through the carols which are played. This is a wonderful time to share Jesus with everyone you know.

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