The Story of Li An – A True Story

During the time I was persecuted because of the Gospel, I was once condemned to die. But the Lord protected me. Instead of taking my life they threw me into prison.

Some time afterwards, something strange happened. The judge who had sentenced me got into trouble himself. Because of his political activities he was himself sentenced to a long prison term. He was not only put into the same prison, but he was put into the same cell with me.

After he found out my name he started to cry, “O God, I surrender. Oh Jesus I really surrender.”

He went on for four or five minutes and then turned to me. “So it is you. Do you remember me? Your life was in my hands. I had already sentenced you to die and I did try to execute the sentence many times, but every time I tried to get you executed something happened which kept delaying the execution. But who would have thought I would be here, in prison, with you? I see that your God has preserved your life. You are in His hands. But I am in the hands of the Marxists. They will not let me live. Forgive me please. I need your Jesus.”

I looked at him. He had been my judge. Now I was his judge. And the Lord told me what kind of sentence I should pass on him.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father” (Matthew 10:29).

God forgives, and so should we.

Writer of the Month –  Li An is from China. Because he is well-known in China, he requested that his real name was not published. We have used the pseudonym, Li An.

©1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

Abraham

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. (Hebrews 11:17) Temptation is Satan’s way of getting us into his camp – away from God. A test is God’s way of bringing us closer to Himself – away from Satan. Abraham knew the difference. God must have had great confidence in Abraham, and Abraham in God. God’s vote of confidence in Abraham not only concerned his obedience, but also his faith and love. Obedience – When the Lord commanded Abraham to offer his son, he responded immediately. He did not plead for time to consider the consequences. He did not argue with God. “Early the next morning he got up…” (Genesis 22:3). Obedience without reservation. Faith Isaac was the child of promise. How could God keep His promise and let Isaac die? Because Abraham knew: God is able. “He reasoned that God could raise the dead” (Hebrews 11:19). What faith. Abraham had never heard of anyone having been raised from the dead yet he believed: God is able. Faith without doubt. Love Who comes first?   Isaac was the answer to God’s promise, the child of his old age, the laughter of his life. His dearest possession on earth. Yet, God came first. Love without limits. Abraham passed the test. Have you? If Abraham was to have received an award it would have contained this inscription: “Abraham, pioneer of faith – friend of God.” ©1995 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

The Deadly Embers Of Lust — by Greg Laurie

A number of years ago, my wife, Cathe, and I had a friend in Virginia who offered us the use of his cabin for a few nights. We thought it would be fun, so we got directions and drove out to this little place in the woods.

Trouble was, it was wintertime … and cold! The cabin had a heating system that required you to throw logs into a furnace in the basement. Well, we were freezing, so we kept throwing in the wood constantly. My background in lighting fires was buying a Dura-Flame log at the market or just turning on the gas in our fireplace. Raised in California as I was, I hadn’t built many fires.

My friend had told me you had to clean out the furnace from time to time, and dump out the ashes. “But be careful,” he’d instructed. “Those embers can stay hot for a long time.” One night after we’d been there a couple of days, I threw out a whole bucket full of ash out into the forest. I was shocked to see 30 or 40 live embers go out with it. The embers landed on the leaves and immediately started a number of little fires. Then a breeze came, blew the embers around, and I thought I was going to burn the whole forest down. It was a terrifying experience.

Cathe was already in bed, it was late at night, and I was in my pajamas. Running back into the cabin, I grabbed an ice bucket about the size of a drinking glass and filled it from the tap. But how was I going to put out all those mini-fires I had started? Calling out to God, I eventually got all the fires extinguished. But it was a terrible night. I kept waking up and going outside to check and see if the fires were really out.

It’s amazing how one tiny spark – one little ember – can cause so much damage. The Bible asks the question, “Can a man take fire into his lap and not be burned?” In that verse, the Bible is speaking about sexual fire, the fires of lust. How devastating those fires can be! We all know people who have had their lives ruined because they could not control their sexual passions. God has given us a clear word on these matters, urging us and warning us to remain sexually pure until we are married, and then faithful to our spouse after that.

Think what a different world it would be if people didn’t commit adultery and fornication and immorality. Think how different our own nation would be. Think how different the church would be if we could get these areas under control. How many divorces could have been avoided? How many families would still be together today? How many fathers would still be at home to raise their children?

Jesus said of His day that it was “a wicked and adulterous generation.” If it was true of His time, how much more true is it today? According to many statistics, 40 to 50 percent of all married men have had extramarital affairs. And it’s no wonder, because we are constantly bombarded by sexual imagery everywhere you look.

It reminds me of the ancient city of Corinth where sexual sin was also rampant. In the apostle Paul’s day, the temple of Aphrodite sat atop the hill above the city. Aphrodite was the goddess of fertility and one of the chief idols worshiped by the people of that day. From Aphrodite’s temple as many as a thousand prostitute princesses would walk through the streets of Corinth wearing specially designed sandals that left the words “follow me” imprinted in the sand. Many of the men in Corinth did just that, to their own ruin.

We’re seeing that same message everywhere we look today, aren’t we? Follow me. Give in to your impulses. Cast aside your hang-ups. You deserve this. But then we hear the voice of Jesus calling us to follow Him. And an important part of following Him is to do what His Word tells us to do and be sexually pure.

Are you a single person right now who is fooling around sexually? Are you a married person dabbling in sexual fantasies or unwise and compromising relationships? Are you a guy surfing the Net on a regular basis to look at pornography? How deeply this will damage your life, your family and your relationship with God! It will affect you in ways you can’t even imagine right now.

If only we would think about things like that before we fall into sin; the damage to our witness, to our integrity, and most of all to the Lord Himself. Think about the repercussions of that little fling, that little one-night stand. Think about your son. Think about your daughter. Think about your reputation. Think about how you’ll be reaping the results of this for 10 years … or the rest of your life.

You say, “Well, God is a forgiving God and He will forgive me.” Yes, He is a forgiving God. But the Bible tells us very plainly that we will reap what we sow. Just don’t go there! Don’t even take the first step by indulging that first lustful thought. The first step in that direction is taking a trip to Fantasy Island.

Do whatever you can to take practical steps to build a wall of protection around you and around your family. Be very careful in your conversations with the opposite sex. Most affairs don’t begin out of raw lust. They begin with people working together, being together. It can even happen in the church and the people you serve with. You know what I mean. You’re around this woman and she’s a little more understanding than your wife is. She laughs at your stupid jokes that your wife doesn’t laugh at anymore. She tells you how cute and clever you are. It puffs up your ego. You’re digging it, and you become closer and closer friends. Maybe you start to e-mail, text message or talk on the cell phone.

You tell yourself it’s all harmless, but deep down you know you’re only lying to yourself. Be on your guard, my friend. Don’t let even one of those little live embers start a fire, because you never know where that fire may end. It may burn down a forest. It may take down the house where you live and destroy people you love inside.

Maybe Smokey Bear was right. The best way to put out a forest fire is never to start one to begin with.

RECALL NOTICE by Kathy Kearney

The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.

This defect has been technically termed “Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality,” or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some other symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction

2. Foul vocal emissions

3. Amnesia of origin

4. Lack of peace and joy

5. Selfish or violent behavior

6. Depression or confusion in the mental component

7. Fearfulness

8. Idolatry

9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this SIN defect.  The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs.  There is no additional fee required.

The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE  procedure.  Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician,  Jesus, into the heart component.  No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:

1. Love

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Patience

5. Kindness

6. Goodness

7. Faithfulness

8. Gentleness

9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING:  Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.

DANGER:  The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace.  The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility.

Thank you for your attention!

Please visit Kathy’s website

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A Day to Remember by Jonathan Falwell

Fifty million.

It is an astounding number that most of us cannot even begin to comprehend.

But it becomes an even more daunting number when we consider that there have been almost 50 million abortions in this nation since the procedure was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973.  Even with a recent downward trend, about 1.2 million abortions are now performed in our nation each year, mostly for the sake of convenience.

For this reason, today (Friday, January 21), thousands of Americans will gather in our nation’s capitol (and in other cities nationwide) in an effort to honor the innocent victims of abortion.  On this day to remember, our hearts break for the terrible holocaust that exists in our nation.

I want to ask you some questions about abortion.

Do you know when an unborn child’s heart begins to beat?

It begins beating with the baby’s own blood on Day 22, according to National Right to Life (www.nrlc.org).  The fact is that abortion does indeed stop a beating heart—50 million of them in our nation alone.

My friend Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the Liberty University School of Law, noted this week that about one-in-five of our nation’s youth have had their lives terminated through abortion.

Did you know that minorities have been excessively affected by abortion?

African-Americans account for about 12 percent of the population, yet comprise about 37 percent of abortions each year in the U.S.  Further, while Latinos make up about 15 percent of the population, they account for about 22 percent of the annual abortion count.

Here’s the most important question: Do you think God cares about the unborn?

Psalm 139:13 certainly indicates that He does.  That verse reads:

“For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well” (NKJV)

This verse shows that God is concerned for us and ministers to us even within the womb.  He loves us—whether we are born of kings or in the worst instances of poverty—and has a plan for us, even from the very beginnings of our lives.

This is why we, as followers of Jesus Christ, must continue to speak out for the unborn.

I encourage all of my readers to spend some time in prayer today.  I urge you to pray that:

1. We will be able to elect lawmakers who respect life and will work to protect the unborn and others who are often seen as insignificant members of society.
2. Our churches will work to train their members to be activists for the unborn as part of their Christian service.
3. The nation’s homes for unwed mothers, including our own Liberty Godparent Home in Lynchburg, Va., will receive the necessary funding to save more innocent lives than ever before.
4. The pro-life movement in America will grow and have an increased influence, especially among young people nationwide.
5. We, followers of the biblical Christ, will live out II Chronicles 7:14 every day: “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” And boy, does our land ever need to be healed!

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