• Quick Question & Answer
• Our Children's Blood
• Christian Viewpoint: Your Life tips
• E-pistles: 'Are we to pray until God answers?'
• Evangelism Tip: Dealing with the Cults
• What are you reading?
• Cambridge Cameo Bibles

Introduction

The boy Jesus sat with the Teachers '...asking them questions. Everyone was amazed at his understanding, and his answers.' Holy Bible, Lk. 2:46-47 NIV

Children of God!

Father wants us ever learning of His Truth, by asking, listening, and doing His will. We learn a lot by putting questions, and you've certainly sent some stonkers to our Quick Q&A. You'll find dozens answered in this issue.

We want your views on Creation, abortion, raising kids, tips for a happy Christian Marriage and more of your Water Baptism photos

US atrocities continue daily in Iraq with the spilling of Our Children's Blood. It has to stop!

E-pistles answers a pertinent question about Christian prayer. And this month's Evangelism Tip shows you how to deal with cults.


You're beautiful!

Colin Melbourne

The Happiest Donkey in the Bible: Christian Q&A

Your quick questions on Christian topics answered. Old chestnuts and new ones.

Did Jesus go to Hell, what is God's attitude to hermaphrodites, can Christians have tattoos, will God heal my barren womb, and which Bible would Paul use today?

"I love the Questions and Answers pages, and how you answer straight, not trying to water it down!"
Amanada

Our Children's Blood

Look into their eyes, and dare to see yourself. Each of these Iraqi children was born under the longest, most expensive, bombing campaign ever inflicted on a nation.

Half a million Iraqi children perished during barbaric western imposed sanctions.

Now they are being gunned down daily by 'our' troops. Horrific war crimes such as Fallujah, Ishaki, and Haditha are not exceptions, they are routine.

None of these kids has heard the Gospel of Christ once in their brief lives. Yet all this is being inflicted on them by people masquerading as 'Christians'.

Have your Say

Top Books for Beautiful Women

There are no Plain-Janes in Christ, no rejected lovers: Jesus makes all His daughters beautiful.

A woman's outward beauty begins to fade when she hits 18. It's tragic.

But real beauty only starts when she is born again. The unfading beauty God finds so precious, and is of eternal value.

E-pistles: Should we pray until God answers?

Mosheso asks: "Jesus, in Mk. 11:24, taught that we get what we ask for when we pray, yet the parable of the widow Lk. 18:1-8 implies we should keep praying until we get the answer.

If we believe the first time we pray, why keep pleading like the widow? Does God wait and eventually answer grudgingly, only after being worn down by our repetitive praying? Are we to pray until God answers?"

What a marvellous thoughtful question!

It doesn't add up does it? Yet that is precisely how many people pray, begging and endlessly repeating the same things. You meet them in prayer meetings, if you ask why they pray like that, they point to the widow's example, and say Jesus told me to do it!

Of course He didn't. They've missed the whole point of the parable, haven't they?

Aren't you glad you are not God, so you don't have to listen to it. He's so patient with us.

Occasionally they get a prayer answered; more from God's pity than anything else. They take that as confirmation their method was right, and keep pedalling the treadmill to wear the LORD down and prise another answer from His clenched fist.

What an awful picture of Him to carry around. Thank God He's not at all like that.

You are right Mosheso, believers get what they ask for the first time they pray in faith. That is the teaching of Mk. 11:22-25. All our prayers should be prayers of faith, like this. You walk in love and forgiveness (v. 25), ask believing, and it is done (v.24). That is how Jesus prayed, walked, and commanded. (Notice, He spoke to the tree. v.14, and tells us to command mountains to move.)

Christians must learn the difference between walking by faith and walking by sight. E. W. Kenyon's classic little book Two Kinds of Faith is astoundingly clear on this vital topic.

So what was the meaning of the unjust judge story?

Simple: God tells us in Lk. 18:8

Will he (God) keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

Jesus was contrasting Our Righteous Father with the unjust judge. Making the point, that since even a wicked judge grants justice eventually, how much more quickly will a righteous one.

The parable is to show us that God, being righteous and merciful, grants a righteous request immediately without the need for endless begging, because it is a righteous request and He is Just. Only in this way can these Scriptures be reconciled with the rest of the NT. Yet this very passage is being used by false-teachers to teach the exact opposite of what God wants us to understand from it!

Please don't listen to phonies who corrupt God's Word to support their idolatrous false doctrines.

God is good, kind, perfectly just, and outrageously generous. He's not waiting for you to count off prayer beads, or repeat daily prayer requests, He's looking for you to embrace your full redemption, have faith in His Promises, and act on them believing.

That is why Jesus ended the example with this:

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
Lk. 18:8b

You will learn a lot more on faith and prayer from Kenneth Hagin's books.

What We Are Reading: "Identification"

The truths of this classic on Redemption drop like jewels from Heaven into your spirit. Most Christians have never understood the thrilling implications of why Christ had to identify with us in our sinful humanity. They come as a revelation the first time you understand. One that will leave you blessed, rejoicing, triumphant, and walking in Christ's Victory. Get it: Do it!

Life-changing E. W. Kenyon books

Power Evangelism Tip

Dealing with Cults

Even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach a Gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
Gal 1:8

Be clear in your mind and spirit who the pseudo-Christian cults are, and how to deal with them when you are evangelising.

The Holy Spirit has pronounced eternal condemnation upon anyone proclaiming a Gospel other than the one Paul preached to the Galatians. That is serious: Very serious.

All cults are idolatrous and accursed. They lead people to trust in idols, icons, flags, statues, and the Catholic Mass, or demons such as those worshipped by Mormons (LDS), or to embrace false doctrines like Jehovah's Witnesses, the SDA (Adventists), and ICC etc. None of them proclaim the Gospel, but a demonic perversion of it. There are many other minor cults too.

As soon as you become effective in public witnessing for Christ, Satan will send his children to distract you. Here's what you need to know:

• Be alert to the Lord: He will tell you through your spirit when somebody you are dealing with is in a cult.

• They are trained to lie: Often, when you quiz them, they have all the 'right answers', but they are trained to use deception; Moonies even call it 'divine deception'. So the only way you can weed these out is by listening to the Lord, He will let you know they are lying to you.

• Don't waste time with the cults: The reason the Devil sends them is to distract you from soul-winning, and try to keep you discussing doctrine. While you are preoccupied you miss those who want to get saved. I've had cults come and butt-in whilst I'm actually praying with a person on the street to receive Christ.

• Leave the Crabs: So I've learned to be very firm, but polite, dismissing the cults to focus on the people Jesus has sent me. Get after the fish. Toss the crabs back.