STEEL AND CONCRETE, March 2001
THE STEEL AND CONCRETE
MISSION FIELD NEWSLETTER
March 2001
"AT ALL COST"
by Bro. Calvert Porter
Two "Jesus" Film Evangelists Killed!
Two men helping to show the "Jesus" film in Africa have been murdered in separate incidents. Retired policeman Getachew Tessema was shot and killed for the first showing of the film in Ethiopia. In Sierra Leone the second evangelist was imprisoned and forced to take commands. When he told his captors he would not denounce his duties he too was shot and killed. The day after their funerals, Tessema's oldest son said that he and his mother and family, who had all been opposed to his Dad's new faith, wanted to become Christians like their Dad and would join the "Jesus" film team in honor of their father and the cost of his service.
Ephesians 6:10-18 is, without argument, referred to as one of the most revolutionary scriptures of all times as we come to understand what the saints are up against on a daily basis as they strive to live in perfect union with the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us to, "put on the whole armor of God." In other words, don't rely on anything less than that. Clothe yourself with your "relationship" with God and maintain it. If you do not arm yourself with the armor of God, you will be open to interferences in your hidden personal life from supernatural powers you cannot control. But buckle on the armor and bring yourself into a real loving contact with God the Father.
Remember that Paul is writing from prison. He knows all about the Roman soldiers whose armor he is describing, for he was chained to one of them. "I am an ambassador in chanins," he said. These verse quotes are not a picture of how to fight, but how NOT to fight. If you have not put on the armor of God, you will have to fight, but Paul said, "Having put on the whole armor of God, then stand." The counsel given here is as to how we are to hold the position which we have gained in Christ. We need to learn this conservation of energy, "and having done all, to stand." manifesting the full power of God. We need to have strength for the battle and this is only accomplished by drawing on the supernatural power of God. Realizing that our enemies are supernatural and not natural, that our battling is with difficult circumstances, it's altogether a battling that God is waging for us if we will draw on His supernatural forces. A Christian life lived on any other plane is an impossible life. If we stop drawing on God's strength, down we will go. Worry will break the mind, trouble will crash the spirit, and calamity will annihilate the strength of your life. The Word says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might," so no Christian has the right to be weak in God's strength. All our strength is given to us by God Himself.
"We do not wrestle against flesh and blood . . . ." If we do, then we are "out of it." Our warfare is against "the spiritual hosts of wickedness" which the world does not see. We are apt to forget that the enemy is unseen and that he is supernatural. Don't make any mistakes; Paul told us that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against tremendous powers we will never be able to withstand unless we put on the whole armor of God. When you see people doing terrible things remember who your real enemy is and that you're not wrestling against the physical person. We are to be taken up with a much more difficult wrestling, and that is the wrestling against the spiritual wickedness in high places that prevent us from seeing God.
"Praying always . . . for all saints." It is not always a time of triumph. There are not only times of taking strongholds by storm, but times when spiritual darkness falls, when the great powers in the heavenlies are at work, when no one understands the "wiles" of Satan but God. At such times we have to stand steadily shoulder to shoulder for God. How often the Spirit of God emphasizes the "togetherness" of saints. When we pray, God works in the unconsciousness of the lives of those for whom we pray. When we come into the secret place of the Holy Spirit's passion for these souls, it is His work, not our passion, and He can work through us as He likes, even if it's to allow us to be martyred for His cause, thus ushering in the salvation of others.
Finally, as we come to the understanding of the armor of God, we know that Paul never expresses the necessity to put on a covering to protect our back. It is then that we come to the reality that God has promised to be behind the saint as He forges them ahead to do and to live the "overwhelming" and "undefeated" life made possible by His Holy Spirit. Another reason that God doesn't require the committed Christian so shield his back is because there is no "retreating" in God's army. Our eternal victory is guaranteed in Him, and our commitment dictates an obedient forging ahead in the battle "AT ALL COST."
~ GOOD NEWS ~
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, in prayer plead the Gospel truth that you cannot save yourself and you must confess to Him that you are a sinner and are in need of a Savior. Accept Him into your heart as Savior and Lord. Christ command that one must repent from their sins. Read His word (the Bible) and learn of the NEW BIRTH you've been given in Christ. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. . . . " Acts 16:31
"John 3:16 ~ Inspirational Message"
Author unknown
Submitted by Barbara K. Timm
In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner; the people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley and it's awful cold in there, of a night. Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay."
The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "You go down the street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they come out the door you just say 'John 316', and they will let you in."
So he did, he walked up the steps to the door, and knocked on the door and a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 316."
The lady said, "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace and she went off. He sat there for a while, and thought to himself "John 316... I don't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm."
Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?"
He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days and I guess I could stand a little bit of food."
The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he thought to himself "John 316... Boy, I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a hungry boy full."
She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself, "John 316... I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out."
The lady came in and got him, and took him to a room and tucked him into a big old feather bed and pulled the covers up around his neck and kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he laid in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night he thought to himself, "John 316... I don't understand it, but it sure makes a tired boy rested."
The next morning she came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and she took a big old Bible and sat down in front of him and she looked up at and she asked, "Do you understand John 316?"
He said, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it."
She opened the Bible to John 3:16, and she began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there in front of that big old fireplace he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought, "John 3:16. I don't understand it, but it but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe."
You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God would be willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand it either, but it sure does make life worth living.
~ John 3:16-18 ~
16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 - Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
"THE ROAD OF LIFE"
author unknown
submitted by Sister Toni Morgan
At first I saw God as an observer, like my judge, keeping track of things I did wrong. This way, God would know whether I merited heaven or hell when I died. He was always out there, sort of like the President. I recognized His picture when I saw it but I didn't really know Him at all.
But later on, when I recognized my higher power better, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, on a tandem bike, and I noticed God was in the back helping me pedal.
I don't know when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since...life with my higher power, that it, making life much more exciting.
When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring but predictable. It was always the shortest distance between the points.
But when He took the lead, He knew delightful cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at breakneck speeds; it was all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness, He kept saying, "Pedal, pedal!"
I worried and became anxious, asking, "Where are you taking me?" He just laughed and didn't answer, and I found myself starting to trust. I soon forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure, and when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand.
He took me to people with gifts that I needed; gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey. Our journey, that is, God's and mine.
And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away, they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it. But He knew bike secrets, knew how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear places filled with rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.
And I'm learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, my higher power.
And when I'm sure I can't go on anymore, He just smiles and says, "Pedal..."
~ HUMOR AND POEM PAGE ~
"FAVORITE OCCUPATIONAL HYMNS"
author unknown ~ found on the Internet
Astronaut: "Nearer My God, To Thee"
Baker: "I Need Thee Every Hour"
Barber: "A Parting Hymn We Sing"
Baseball Batter: "Seek Thee First"
Builder/Contractor: "How Firm A Foundation" and "The
Church's One Foundation"
Canoeist: "Flow, River, Flow"
Carpenter: "The Nail Scarred Hand"
Children's Librarian: "We've A Story To Tell"
Chiropractor: "Awake My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve"
Civil Engineer: "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross"
Dentist: "Crown Him With Many Crowns"
Electrician: "O Joyful Light" and "Send The Light"
Fisherman: "Shall We Gather At The River?"
Golfer: "There Is A Green Hill Far Away"
Gossiper: "Pass It On," "It Is No Secret," and "Oh, For A Thousand Tongues"
Historian: "Tell Me The Old, Old Story"
IRS Agent: "All To Thee (I Owe)," "We Give Thee But Thine Own," and "I Surrender All"
Jogger: "The Path Of Life" Lifeguard: "Come To The Water"
Long-Distance Trucker: "On The Highways And Byways Of Life"
Mathematician: "10,000 Times, 10,000 Times"
Medical Technician: "Revive Us Again"
Mountain Climber: "The Rock That Is Higher Than I"
Newlywed: "I Need Thee Every Hour"
Obstetrician: "He Is Able To Deliver Thee"
Optometrist: "Open Mine Eyes That I Might See" and "When I Can Read My Title Clear"
Paratrooper: "Now On Land And Sea Descending"
Philosopher: "I Am Thinking Today"
Politician: "Standing On The Promises"
Real Estate Agent: "I've Got A Mansion"
Sailboater: "Deep River"
Sceptic: "Almost Persuaded"
Shopper: "Sweet By And By"
Speech Therapist: "He Never Said A Mumbling Word"
Steeple Builder: "Lift High The Cross"
Stonecutter: "Rock Of Ages"
Switchboard Operator: "There's A Call Comes Ringing"
Tailor: "Holy, Holy, Holy"
Voice Teacher: "Sing Them Over Again To Me"
Watchmaker: "Take Time To Be Holy"
Watchman: "Silent Night"
Weatherman: "There Shall Be Showers Of Blessings"
HE'S STILL THE GREAT "I AM"
by Bro. Gregory Wamsley
Like the month of March, life isn't always easy.
It may come in like a lion and go out like a lamb,
But keep in mind he's still the great "I Am."
Children begin early reading Dr. Seuss books like "Green Eggs and Ham."
I wonder if they ever get to read that He's still the great "I Am."
Later in life we face tests, trials, and maybe a scam.
May we keep faith through it all because He's still the great "I Am."
No matter who you are, senior, adult, or a child named Pam or Sam,
We must never forget we need a personal knowledge that
He's still the great "I Am."
BORN AGAIN
by Bro. Jeffrey B. Quante IV
John 3:1-21
Rains of endless evil, wicked roars of thunder,
Life was kissing death, digging six feet under.
Encased within corruption, throughout rotten, weary bones,
Logged about by darkness, a heart of hardened stone,
Hopeless was my path, chaos swiftly followed.
Sowing seeds of sin, the murky black I wallowed in.
Suddenly lightening struck me, piercing head to toe.
Pain inevitably followed, agony began to blow.
Then in grief came anointing, by a light unknown to me.
Instantly blinded by wonder, darkness turned to flee.
Drenched in my sins, washed by the blood,
Filled with His spirit, renewed by His love,
A new breath of life brought death to its end.
By the love of my Jesus, I've died to sin,
I've been born again!
1st Samuel 13:14
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"Onward, Christian soldiers"
Words by Sabine Baring-Gould
Melody by Arthur Sullivan
Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the Cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ the royal Master
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See, his banners go!
CHORUS:
Onward Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the Cross of Jesus,
Going on before.
At the sign of triumph,
Satan's legions flee;
On then Chrstian soldiers,
On to victory.
Hell's foundations quiver
At the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices,
Loud your anthems raise. (CHORUS)
Like a mighty army
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the Saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity. (CHORUS)
Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain;
Gates of hell can never
'Gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise,
And that cannot fail. (CHORUS)
Onward, then, ye people,
Join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices
In the triumph song;
Glory, laud and honour
Unto Christ the King;
This through countless ages
Men and Angels sing. (CHORUS)
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