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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The Spiritual Awakening of Richmond King

Richmond, King, evangelist
I would like to share with you the testimony of a twenty-nine year old man from Liberia, named Richmond King.

Richmond's Testimony
I got saved at the age of fifteen and was trying my best to serve the Lord. Unfortunately, I backslid at the age of sixteen, and fell back into sin and lustful desires. After approximately ten years, I started cohabiting with a girl without fear of any punishment from the Lord. During this ten years period, I heard some salvation messages, but my heart was still filled with the lust of the world.

In March 2013, my girlfriend and I decided to visit her mother. When we arrived at the house, her mother told us that there was a testimony of a girl whom Jesus took to heaven and hell (Testimony of Linda from Sierra Leone). After witnessing the video, my girl friend and I wept bitterly for our sins that night and decided to rededicate our lives to Christ. After that, we started making plans to get married, and we got married December 27, 2014. We did not get married with rings, because of my research on jewelry from the Bible. Our families persecuted us, yet we stood strong and for the truth.

There were two encounters that I had with the Lord. One was the next day after we rededicated our lives to  Christ and the other was few months later. These experiences brought a tremendous change in my life. The first one happened the next day after we rededicated our lives to Christ. I decided to take a fast that day and while going through the fast, I decided to take a little rest. But before taking my rest, I made a statement and I said Lord what will you want me to do in the future. And after making this statement, I when to sleep. It happen between sleep and wake, I hear a voice speaking to me but I did not see anybody. The Bible I was reading before going to sleep was right over my head. In the vision, a small book was attached to the Bible and the voice told me to eat the book and I ate the book and swallowed it. After that, I awoke from sleep.

From that time until now, Scriptures can just be coming to my mind any time I am teaching the Bible. And when people ask questions, I can answer them directly from the Scriptures.

The second experience was between sleep and wake. During this encounter, I heard my name announced on a huge stage, and the people were speaking about healing happening to them, but I did not see anything. However, I heard the noise of the crowd. In this encounter, I was announced as an evangelist.  After this experience, I knew my calling in the five-fold ministry.

Thank God I did not die in my stubbornness against God and perish in hell. By the grace of God, I will stand for Jesus in this generation.

-- Richmond King

[END OF RICHMOND'S TESTIMONY]

Richmond's Wake Up Call
Praise the Lord for making Richmond to be a testimony of the saving power of Jesus Christ!  He could have died in his stubbornness against God and perished in hell like so many others do every day. But instead, when the Lord awakened him to his true spiritual condition, he repented with all his heart. He and his girl friend wept bitterly for their sins and rededicated their lives to Christ.

Look at what God can do! He can do the same for you or someone you love. But when they determined with God's help to live godly lives, then their families began to persecute them. "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Tim 3:12).  The devil was satisfied, as long as they remained asleep spiritually. But as soon as they woke up and began to follow the Lord according to the Bible, then the persecution came. As soon as they determined to embrace the Scriptural requirement of inward and outward holiness, then they were persecuted by their own loved ones. But they stood firm in the truth.

Let me encourage you that if you desire to live a godly life in Christ, you will be persecuted. Count on it! But stand firm, and rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer. Endure to the end. Those who endure to the end will be saved.

And not only did the Lord rescue Richmond from a life of sin that was taking him down to hell, but He called him to preach. That call was on his life since before he was born. The Scripture says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Eph 2:10). Now we can see why the devil deceived him away from the Lord after he got saved and wanted to keep him from serving the Lord. The devil knew that any preacher who fulfills his God-given calling is going to do serious damage to the kingdom of darkness by the power of God.

The experience Richmond had when the Lord called him to preach was not unlike what happened to the prophet Ezekiel, who wrote:

"Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe. Then He said to me, 'Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.' So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.' Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth." (Eze 2:9-10 - 3:1-3)

Richmond asked, "Lord, what will you want me to do in the future," and God directly answered him. That was nothing less than a supernatural encounter with the living God. Praise the Lord!

My Personal Invitation to You
In closing, please let me say that if you are backslidden -- you were once saved, but are now away from Jesus Christ,  He is calling to you today to return to Him.  He leaves the ninety-nine other sheep in the flock to pursue you -- that one lost sheep. Wake up from your spiritual slumber! Return to Him with repentance and weeping.  "Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.'" (Hos 14:2). He will forgive you, and heal you. If God could do it for Richmond, who was away from God for ten years, He can do it for you.

There is nobody on earth more miserable than a backslidden Christian.  It's a terrible place to be. You might fool yourself into believing that your having fun, but the truth is that deep down inside your soul is aching. You have no peace.  The only answer is to cry out to the Lord for mercy and turn your back on sin. Stop sinning. Don't ever go back that way again! Separate yourself from the world and consecrate yourself to the Lord once again. Pour out your heart to God in a covenant prayer something like this one.

And when you return to Him, find out what the Lord wants you to do for Him. Then serve Him with wholehearted devotion. "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." (2Ch 16:9). Work hard for the Lord and you will have a great reward in heaven. Live your life in holiness, righteousness, and truth, and strive to enter the kingdom of God through the narrow gate.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read Ezekiel Moses Testimony of Heaven and Hell, Why Not Live Together Rather Than Marry?, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Drifting Away, The Lord Healed My Backsliding, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Five Divine Revelations, Tattoos and Body Piercing, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, The Evil Spirit of Alcohol, The Truth Set Me Free, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, The Straight and Narrow Path, Ask for the Ancient Paths, James Agboola Revelation of Heaven and Hell, and Aim for Perfection. You are also invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Prodigal Restored to God

Today I would like to share a testimony from a brother in South Africa, named Lusindiso, who was away from the Lord.  But God used the testimonies of His mighty deeds in the lives of other believers to bring Lusindiso back to Himself.  Here is his personal testimony:

I grew up in a Baptist Church. In my early teens, I then stopped attending church for worldly things like football. In my late teens, I realized I had a spiritual problem. I went from one witchdoctor to another looking for solutions until one day someone in one of the prosperity churches invited me. After a long time there, with no breakthrough in my spiritual problem, my finances were drying up, as they really ask for money there. Everything is about money. They have campaigns whereby you have to come with all your salary plus bonus and sell your things, and put it all in an envelope with a request, which they say they will pray over in Israel for God to answer your problems.

I then stopped going to any church. One day while browsing through the Internet, I came to a website, where I read a story of a certain ex-satanist from DRC, another African country about three hours flight from South Africa. I then began thinking seriously about my salvation more than my spiritual problem. Then while browsing through the Internet, I came to EternalDestinations.info, from which I read a lot of heaven and hell testimonies that really shook me. My uncle has been inviting me to his church. I then decided to go there. Ever since that time, I have been attending there. However, I have been giving them the testimonies from your website, as they are not a holiness church.

Their leader (the Bishop) has been introducing these testimonies to different groups (youth, mothers, fathers, etc). He has even given me the task of compiling these testimonies, and the corresponding videos, to give to these different groups, so that they may read and start letting go of certain things that the church wasn’t aware were sins before God.

In short, I am in a church that is still striving for holiness through the testimonies found from your site. We thank God for that. It’s not easy, as some are resisting what comes out of these testimonies. Perhaps they feel they cannot be told what to do by a ‘new congregant’ such as me. But I believe with time, God will help us, though we may not have time.

Lusindiso Mfidi

[END OF BROTHER LUSINDISO'S TESTIMONY]

Praise the Lord for bringing brother Lusindiso back to Himself by the saving power of Jesus Christ, through the testimonies of what He has done in the lives of others!  Likewise I pray the Lord will also use Lusindiso's testimony to bring more prodigals home.

My Personal Invitation to You
In closing, please let me say that if you are backslidden -- you were once saved, but are now away from Jesus Christ,  He is calling to you today to return to Him.  He leaves the ninety-nine other sheep in the flock to pursue you -- that one lost sheep.  Return to Him with repentance and weeping.  "Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.'" (Hos 14:2) He will forgive you, and heal you.  But don't ever go back that way again!

There is nobody on earth more miserable than a backslidden Christian.  It's a terrible place to be. You might fool yourself into believing that your having fun, but the truth is that deep down inside your soul is aching. You have no peace.  The only answer is to cry out to the Lord for mercy and turn your back on sin.  Separate yourself from the world and consecrate yourself to the Lord once again in holiness. Pour out your heart to God in a covenant prayer something like this one.

It all begins with giving your life back to Him. Won't you do that today?

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.The prodigal son image was uploaded to Wikimedia as a donation by the Brooklyn Museum, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read "Covenant Prayer," "Drifting Away," "The Truth Set Me Free," The Lord Healed My Backsliding, "Holy Living in a Perverted World," and a poem by my daughter called "The Good Shepherd." You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

You Give and Take Away

One of my Russian friends from Ukraine has an amazing story of God’s miraculous provision and protection that I would like to share with you. Due to the fact that he is still a refugee who has found asylum from persecution, I will just call him Viktor. He has a wife and three children. Here is Viktor’s story.

“We lived in a large city in Ukraine where I was born and raised under communism. In the late 1980’s, I worked for the communist party as the third Secretary of Education for my region. My wife Irena also worked and cared for our three small children, Vitaliy, Oleg, and Lubov.”

I Know What it Means to Be Poor
“We were so poor that I had to search for a few small coins called kopiyka, worth only a few pennies, so that I could ride the tram to work. I remember one day saying to Irena, ‘Where are the fifteen kopiyka we had?’ and she replied, ‘I gave those to you yesterday so you could take the tram.’ So I know what it means to be poor.”

“President Mikhail Gorbachev brought about radical reforms in the Soviet Union, beginning in 1985 with perestroika, which was ‘reconstruction’ aimed at ending the economic stagnation. In 1986 he began glasnost, which allowed greater openness and freedom, including freedom of speech. And in 1987, he enacted a law that allowed for the private ownership of businesses. So I saw the opportunity to get out of poverty and decided to try my hand at being an entrepreneur. I tried many different small businesses, but one after another they failed. I tried selling roses and then artwork, but neither of these was successful. I also got certified in doing home exterior siding, which was a type of stucco. I got the third degree certification and did this for a while, but I could not earn a living at it.”

Successful Business Venture
“Eventually in 1989, after a few years of failed attempts, I struck out on a new venture to start a company that produced cement. The venture capital I received was in the form of a small loan for only 3,000 rubles (roughly US$20 at that time) from a fellow neighbor. During the first year, my company experienced a $10,000 return on investment. By the second year the return was $1,000,000 and by the end of the third year, we had a $50,000,000 return on investment. The success was not due to my great business wisdom and abilities. I knew that God was blessing my efforts. There were just too many instances where I struggled in vain to reach business deals and then something would happen where all the pieces would come together perfectly in a way that could only be explained by the involvement of God’s hand. I was not necessarily a mature Christian, but I considered myself a believer in Jesus Christ and I prayed to Him often inside my heart.”

“The business grew to a level that was beyond my wildest dreams. We reached the point where my company was producing four million tonnes of cement per year. And the company had become a conglomerate with many different businesses inside of it, including a bank. I had a fleet of cars, trucks, and even some planes and ships. Since the company had 160 cars, I could drive a different car to work each day, and they were Audis, Mercedes, BMWs. What a change from the days of searching for fifteen kopiyka to ride the tram to work! I gave each of my 300 employees a free car, an apartment, and a free trip on my plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for vacation each year. I was on the Board of many companies I either founded or participated in creating, and in some case I was the Chairman of the Board. I was traveling all over the world on business, including the United States, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. I worked with the biggest investment banks and insurance companies in the States and had an American corporation with an actual address in New York City. In fact, I was the first private Russian businessman to go to China and reach a business deal. This was such an important event, that the Chinese did a photo op with me and businessmen from other countries in front of the memorial for Mao Tse-tung in Tsiananmen Square.”

Relocating Displaced Germans
“Of course, the Soviet Union as we knew it collapsed in 1991. At one point in 1992, on a trip to one of the southern states of the former Soviet Union, I discovered that some of the people living there were Germans who had been displaced from their own country during the Second World War. So I decided to help them. I began a project to relocate them back to Germany at my own expense. I was having them shuttled back to Germany in my vehicles. When the German government found out, they wanted to fund my project. About that same time, a Ukrainian media company asked for permission to come and film a documentary about my project that would be aired on television, and I agreed to it.”

“When the documentary was produced, they did not even interview me or the displaced Germans. Instead what they aired on TV was a skewed story that did not tell the truth. It was a disinformation program made to look like the Ukrainian government was leading this project. This was seen on TV in Germany and when the government found out, they directed the funds to the Ukrainian government’s bank account. So even though all of this was being done at my own expense, the corrupt Ukrainian government was getting all the money for it that was supposed to be transferred to my bank account. This incident, along with the other things that were happening, put me in a very high profile position. I was targeted by corrupt government leaders, because I was one of very few wealthy private businessmen in the former Soviet Union at that time.”

Becoming a Target
“One day, I was called into a meeting with some Ukrainian government officials. I sat in a meeting room at a table surrounded by several key individuals. They passed a document to me and asked me to sign it, turning over to them all my assets. They said that if I did not sign it, they would kill my whole family. Even when I signed it, they immediately locked me in a dungeon under guard. While I was in the dungeon, I made a deal with the guard that if he would help me escape, I would help him get out of the country. He was eager to flee the country for a better life, so he agreed to the deal. I escaped and fled to Vienna, Austria. But unfortunately they considered the guard responsible for my escape and killed him, so I was never able to help him get out of Ukraine.”

“While I was hiding in Vienna, I knew I could not call my wife to tell her where I was or what had happened. Surely our phone was bugged and the government was monitoring all calls. So one day my wife Irena received a phone call at our home from a man who said, ‘Come to Vienna and visit your grandmother.’ She knew that something had happened to me, because I had been gone for so long and she had not heard from me. And she understood this call was an encrypted message from me. So she arranged for a car to take her and the children to Vienna. On the night before she was to leave, she was up late in our home, preparing some food for the long trip. She was in the kitchen with the window open to let the steam out and she heard a loud crash against the front door of the home. Upstairs in their bedrooms, even our children Vitaliy, Oleg, and Lubov heard this dreadful sound. Irena went to the front door and opened it. Because the kitchen window was opened, it created a strong draft when she opened the door and flames immediately rushed into the home. Someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail at our front door. In case you don’t know what that is, it is a bottle filled with gasoline and a rag stuck in the top. They light the rag on fire and throw the bottle. When it crashes into pieces, the fuel splashes all over and immediately sets the area on fire.”

“So Irena gathered the children together and they got out of the house without being harmed. It was a miracle. And they stood there outside the home during the middle of the night watching it burn as the fire department came and fought the inferno. Irena took the children and fled to Vienna. As they approached the customs border on a foggy night, the car in front of them was stopped and checked. But when her driver pulled the car up to the checkpoint, the guard simply waved them on to pass without being checked. This was another of many great miracles that happened. She and the children met up with me in Vienna, and this was the beginning of a new journey in which we became refugees fleeing for our lives for the next eighteen years. We had to move about from one country to another, only staying for short periods in each one. We lived in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Egypt and other countries during this time. But our Soviet Union passports soon expired and we could not go back home to renew them. So we were a family without a country. And we had no money either.”

Our Lives as Refugees
“Often times I was completely out of money and we had to collect all of our coins together just to buy a loaf of bread to eat! I recall making many calls to friends around the world, asking if they could help us financially. And we were so grateful for the many times they did wire money to us to get us through another month. I recall one time I scraped up enough money from the whole family so I could buy a phone card to call a friend and former business associate in the United States. He had helped us many times before and I was once again calling him to see if he could wire us some more money. There I was in the middle of the night in a phone booth with limited time on the card, asking him if he could help us. He said, ‘Viktor, you know I care about you and your family. And I’ve helped you as much as I can. But I have a family, too. And I need to take care of them first. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to help you this time, buddy.’ As I hung up the phone, I was so discouraged. I wondered where I would get the money to feed my family. Just then the phone in the phone booth rang and I picked it up. A voice of someone I did not know on the other end said, ‘May I speak to Viktor?’ I said, ‘Yes, this is Viktor! Who is this?’ He said, ‘Never mind. Three thousand dollars is being wired to your name via Western Union today.’ So in this way we saw God provide miraculously over and over again, too many times to recount.”

“We eventually took refuge in a major European city. From one year to the next, we continued to survive there. But we were always under short notice from the Immigration Department to leave the country. We had to obtain an attorney to fight for us. God sent us to a lawyer who had recently graduated from law school and worked for us pro bono, meaning at no expense to us. Our time expired so many times, and we got letters telling us we must leave. This created so much stress in our lives, because we knew that if we returned to Ukraine, we would be killed. We knew they would probably be waiting for us in the airport. But somehow God allowed for us to get one extension after another while our case was being adjudicated in the courts. And this went on year after year for sixteen years! Much prayer went into this, and our lawyer was not a believer. But when he saw the amazing things that were happening, he knew we had the favor of God upon us. For example, in one court hearing, we had the harshest judge we could have gotten and she somehow ruled in our favor to grant us a stay for another brief period. Our lawyer said afterward, ‘I don’t know what church you go to, but whatever you are doing, it must be working. This is incredible!’”

Thrown into Prison
“So it continued like this for many years, always wondering if this was our last month in the country. And many incidents happened that terrified us, causing us to call out to God. I had to make trips outside the country to try and get help, but I had to do so with fake passports that were made for me, since I did not have a valid one. This worked for many years, but as technology got better, it caught up to me. One day as I was trying to leave the country, I was passing through customs at the airport and they questioned the validity of my passport. They pulled me aside, causing me to miss my flight and they interrogated me. I figured I had better come clean, so I showed them all of the fake passports I had and told them I was a refugee. They did not believe me and threw me in jail. I was there for three months and grew my beard out long during this time. I was so depressed. They called Irena and the children in for interrogation and questioned each of them separately to try and check the accuracy of my story. Eventually our lawyer got me out of prison miraculously when it seemed so hopeless to us.”

Many Friends and Loved Ones Killed
“But there were many more trials to endure. During this period, back in our home country that we had fled from, representatives of the Ukrainian government kept trying to determine my whereabouts. They interrogated many of my former business associates. When my former associates did not produce the desired information, they were tortured to the point of permanent physical paralysis and even death. Three quarters of our family was killed in an attempt to destroy us. For example, we received news at one point that my mother had been killed in a mysterious car accident. It was an obvious attempt to get us to return home for her funeral. But we didn’t fall for this. At other times, the gangsters who were after me sent rebels from Chechnya to try and hunt me down and kill me. But God protected me and did not allow them to succeed. There are just too many miracles to tell. I would have to write an entire book to do that. But God was clearly with us.”

The Final Decision
“In 2009 we got the final letter from the Immigration Department telling us that all of our appeals had been denied and this was the final decision. They told us that there would be no more appeals allowed and that we had thirty days to get out of the country. Once again, we prayed and asked our church to pray. Somehow we got permission to remain in the country for thirty more days. And we continued to receive thirty days at a time each month after that for nearly a year. Finally we had our court date in the summer of 2010 for the judge’s final decision. As usual, friends from our church were there to support us in prayer. They anointed the doorposts of the building with oil and prayed for a miracle. When the judge gave her decision, it surprised the courtroom, as she actually criticized the Immigration Department. She announced that we would be granted the status of Internationally Recognized Refugees and be allowed to remain legally in the country. When the judge announced her verdict, a wave of the Holy Spirit went through the courtroom. We felt the presence of the Lord and all began to weep for joy. Then our weeping turned to laughter as we shouted ‘Hallelujah!’ to the Lord who saved us from destruction and gave us refuge. My health and my entire family’s health has been adversely affected by the stress all these years, but we trust the Lord will even heal that.”

Free at Last
“After we received our official citizenship documents, we traveled as a family back to Vienna for a holiday together where it all began eighteen years ago. What a joy it was to legally be out of the country for the first time in all those years. As we crossed the border into Austria, we stopped and celebrated with praise to Jesus Christ. As the psalmist wrote: ‘Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped.’ (Psa 124:7). It feels strange to feel normal once again.”

“Since then we have traveled together to France and Italy on holiday and that was also wonderful. Then I even went by myself to Israel on a holiday that was the fulfillment of a dream. As I traveled about in that country, I sensed the wonderful presence of the Lord. There was such peace and joy throughout that whole trip. And my driver who was a Muslim testified that he too sensed this peace and joy like never before. He gave his life to Jesus and later told me that his wife also gave her life to the Lord. Praise God!”

“So you can see that God has been good to us. He brought me from rags to riches. And He seemed to do so in order to show me that He could also take it all away. He did take it all away. We lost all of our worldly wealth. These gangsters took it from us, but we have forgiven them completely and we are free. We have the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit and no one can take that from us. Now we have our legal freedom, too! And right after we we obtained our new legal freedom, God provided the venture capital for my new business project, so we became free financially too! And we rejoice over all the Lord has done for us.”

What About You?
As you can see, the Lord has done amazing miracles for Viktor and his family. Jesus loves them so much and heard all of their prayers these many years as they fled from persecution. I asked him why he believes the Lord so blessed his business and he said, “I think He wanted to show me that He could give it all to me and take it all away, too.” Like Job who said, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away,” Viktor has learned to praise God no matter the situation – in times of plenty and times without. I want to encourage you today that no matter what your situation, if you cry out to him to save you, He will hear and answer.

I’m reminded of a song by Matt Redman called Blessed Be Your Name.



It goes like this:

“Blessed be your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s all as it should be
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name.”

If you have not yet put your faith in Christ, I urge you to do that today. He loves you and wants you to know Him personally.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Saved By a Vision of Second Coming - O. Moses Alabi

Omolade Moses Alabi
This is the testimony of my friend, brother Omolade Moses Alabi, a Nigerian man living in the United Kingdom. He has been married for twenty years to his wife, Celestina. Together they have four children, three boys and a girl. He is currently 48 years old and was born again in 1988.

Here is his testimony:

“I was born in the United Kingdom but had my early life in Nigeria, and came from a nominal Christian family. We seldom went to church on a regular basis, and when I did, it is just to go and 'eye' and 'spy' the ladies! I was 22 years old; I was not ready to be born again. I had a few girlfriends and I wanted to enjoy life, which included lots of fornication. Fornication was the only sin I knew. I hated beer, since it's not that sweet; I hated cigarettes, because my Dad didn't smoke. I somehow planned out my life, ‘Maybe when I’m forty or fifty years old I will get religious, But not now.’

One night I was asleep, and in the middle of the night, and I saw the sky parted. Jesus Christ descended on a white horse. Out of fear and shock, I woke up trembling. Fear gripped me. If there was anything I knew about Jesus, it was about His second coming, which I was totally unprepared for.

As I was about to go down on my knees to repent, I heard a voice say, ‘Don’t do it now. Remember your girlfriends.’(for the first time, I recognized satan's voice!) As I thought about those words, then I heard another voice in my right hear say, ‘This may be your last opportunity.’ I knew that was the Lord, so I got on my knees and repented right there.

I went back to sleep. When I awoke the next morning, the sky was so brand new! I felt light! I felt clean, holy. I felt like a new baby. When I looked at the sky it was like heaven on earth.

I began to read the Bible at that time and it came alive like never before. I had read the Bible previously, but now I began to understand it for the first time. Initially I did not want to tell my mother, because I knew she would want to bring me to church right away, and my conversion had not really sunk in yet! Yet I had no doubt already received the peace and joy of the Lord.

A few days afterward, I was sitting on my front porch. I used to like wearing a lot of jewelry. So I had my rings and my gold necklace. And as I sat there, I heard the Voice of The Holy Spirit calling my name. I turned here and there, wondering where the voice was coming from as I saw no one! The voice continued saying ‘Lade, look at yourself.’ I looked at myself and it seemed strange for the first time, although I had never heard anyone preach about jewelry. So I went inside and took off all my jewelry. I put it into an envelope and later buried it. Some time later I heard a sermon against wearing jewelry, and also read it from The Word of God.

One or two months after I was born again, during one of the church services, when the preacher gave an altar call invitation. I thought within myself, ‘Oh, that's not for me. I have accepted the Lord genuinely in my bedroom.’ But the Lord said, ‘Go forward and give your life to Me publicly.’ So I did.

After we said the sinner’s prayer, the pastor instructed us to go to one side where a counselor would speak with us. But the Lord said to me, ‘You go sit down'. (I had already become a regular member and known by the small group leaders)

Then when I moved to England twenty-five years ago, I had the opportunity to go to school, but the Lord said, ‘Don’t go to school.’ I thought, ‘What? What will people say?’ I did my best to apply to colleges two consecutive years, but they could not trace nor find my application details that were duly submitted.

So I chose a day to sit before The Lord to hear right and not hear amiss! So I prayed, ‘Show me, Lord. Where is that in the Bible?’

Then something amazing happened. I didn't know where to start reading or scroll to in the word, so I just flipped open the Bible to Acts 4 and read verse 13, which says, ‘Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.’ (Act 4:13). Although the apostles were uneducated and untrained men, the rulers and elders recognized that they had been with Jesus.

So I prayed another prayer which came into my heart that the Lord will remove from me any spirit of fear, so that I may be able to stand before wise, learned and unlearned people of the world with complete boldness, with no inferiority, or inadequacy complex. He did it instantly and I arose from prayer with full confidence and assurance that all is well.

The Lord also laid upon my heart that I will be his signboard or signpost. This meant that I would be the one to raise banners for him throughout my nation, as it says in Psalm 60:4-5.

So I have learned that if you want to receive direction from the Lord, He can direct you so easily. It’s very simple for Him to do that, if you ask Him to. The problem is that we are so deaf when He does speak to us. Just listen to His voice and obey Him. He will lead you.”

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog, such as The Truth Set Me Free!, The Joy I've Come to Know, and The Lord Healed My Backsliding.  There are more testimonies on the Home page of this blog as well. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.