Displaying items by tag: Praise

For Christians there were many precious moments at the Olympics that were little reported by mainstream media. Olympians from across the nations were committed Christians and quick to publicly give glory to the King of Kings. When the Fiji rugby team won a gold medal, they formed a circle in the centre of the field and burst forth in a rendition of a gospel hymn; ‘We have overcome by the blood of the lamb in the Word of the Lord, we have overcome’. Also, British swimmer Daniel Jervis, who came fifth in the men’s 1500m freestyle, was quick to praise God: ‘The thing I’m most proud of in my life is that I’m a Christian, and obviously God was with me tonight, and I’m just really grateful to be representing Him’.

Sidqi’s family had strong ties to Islamic extremists and hated Christians. He harassed his Christian school friends - but they responded with love. When he beat up a boy and stole his jacket, the boy brought him another jacket the next day, saying ‘You might need this in winter’. These Christians had Sidqi’s attention, and he became friends with the people he had hated. When the father of his friend had an accident, the Christians gathered around to pray for him. Then, when his cousin had an accident, his mother prevented her father from helping someone from that side of the family. Sidqi saw the difference between Christianity and Islam and realised his community had been spreading lies about Christians. He began joining his Christian friends to read the Bible. Then when he prayed to Jesus, ‘Who are you?’ he saw a bright light. A hand touched him. A voice said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’

Pastor Said Deeb, in Beirut, had a strange feeling on the day of the explosion. ‘ I felt something bad was going to happen,’ Deeb explained, ‘as if the Holy Spirit was saying, “Go! Go! Go!”’ He was uneasy, sent 34 staff home, and cancelled Bible classes for 200 children. ‘They thought I had lost my mind, but it was the Holy Spirit's prompting’, he explained. Then the unthinkable happened - 200+ people dead, 7,000 injured, and 300,000 made homeless. ‘I thought this was the end, but the Lord had another plan. Despite the horror of Beirut’s deadly explosion, God is bringing something good from the ashes. I'm seeing people come to Jesus like never before, never! - and a big number of priests coming to deeper faith, priests coming for the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the signs and wonders following. So it's the time for Lebanon.’

Paul joined the Freemasons to help his tree surgery business and as part of his search for healing after deaths in his family. Becoming a Freemason did in fact help his tree business; it grew by one-third. He wasn’t interested in the secret ceremonies, rituals, symbols, and oral pledges. In fact, he later found the same words were used by witches and warlocks. Paul’s wife had a double personality, causing him intolerable pain. In domestic agony he remembered God from his childhood and prayed: ‘I don’t know if You’re there. I’m such a sinner. I haven’t spoken to You for years. But I need help. I’m desperate.’ Two days later, after taking down a tree for a lady, she came up to him and said, ‘The Lord has been speaking to me. You’ve been praying. I’d like to help you.’ He now is Pastor Paul and leads men out of Freemasonry. To read his testimony click the ‘More’ button.

Team GB swimmer Daniel Jervis has thanked God and his family church for their support during his Olympic participation. ‘I want to thank my village of Resolven and I want to thank my church, Sardis Baptist Church, Ammanford church in Ammanford, who have really been supportive of me, and everyone back home who has been praying for me. ‘I am proud of many things in my life, but the thing I'm most proud of is that I'm a Christian. Obviously, God was with me tonight, and I'm just really grateful to be representing Him,’ he told the media just after he finished his last race of the games.

Sayan’s story: ‘I am ten years old and come from a very poor family. My father was an alcoholic, and my mother worked as a maid to support our family. My father abused my mother and used the money she earned to buy alcohol. Life was very difficult for us. Thankfully, after a Christian lady met my mother and shared the Gospel with her, she repented and became a disciple of Jesus. I too have become a disciple. When she learnt of the power of prayer as a follower of Jesus, my mother began praying for my father. Soon he gave up drinking and has turned to Jesus as well. Today, I am very blessed and thankful to Jesus for bringing peace and joy into our lives. Please pray for others in our village and surrounding area who need Jesus also.‘

‘Every time your heart beats, someone, somewhere, has died without ever hearing the name of Jesus.’ In 1999, a small group of people read that statistic, and asked the question, ‘Am I willing to live a big life, with big Kingdom impact?’ They said yes and set out on a journey beginning in Iran and then crisscrossing the globe with the good news of Jesus Christ in a movement called Biglife. Biglife empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for Jesus, so that God’s disciple-making movement grows, even in places where great faith is needed to be a Christian let alone share your faith. Now from Asia to Africa, Europe to the Americas, Biglife finds people of peace and empowers them to share the Good News where they live. They are reaching lost souls by shining Christ’s light into the world’s darkest places.

Last year you prayed for justice for a Franklin Graham event after posters for Graham’s ‘Time For Hope’ event were banned from Blackpool buses. Nevertheless, thousands heard him speak at the town's Winter Gardens, and hundreds responded to his altar call. Blackpool council refused the posters because of concerns that he would incite hatred because of past comments he had made about Islam and homosexuality. This week the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was awarded over £100,000 in damages as the council said they accepted the advertisements were not offensive, and in removing them they did not take into account that this caused offence to other members of the public. They also regretted they did not consult with the organisers before taking their decision.

She was going to try out for the Olympics. Then in February Quanesha injured her femur. ‘Eleven weeks of frustration, limitations from physicians, doubt from others, and not being able to train was a big challenge. My coach definitely didn’t think I would be able to compete at the US trials for a spot on the Olympic team.’ But she would not be held down by negativity. ‘Being an Olympian is a promise God made to me before the trials or injuries. I held on to that promise through the good and bad. Being an Olympian is great, but it could never be as fulfilling as the joy of knowing how my faith was tested beyond measure and I held on to God’s promise with all the trust I had, and He never left my side.’ On 30 June Quanesha qualified for the Olympics.

Largely thanks to campaigning Christians, one of the most wicked proposed changes in the law ever to have been conceived in this country has failed to win approval. An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, intended to legalise abortion for any reason up to birth, has been withdrawn after being selected by the Speaker for debate and a vote. Jesus has the victory over death and destruction, and is right beside those who promote justice, righteousness, life, health and peace to a very sick society.