Dear Friend,

I had to repent from some beliefs which were quite important to me, but which got in the way of revival. Please read through the following page:

http://www.charlesfinney.com/public-confessions/spiritual.php

–
In Christ,

President Tony

THE REFORMATION

The Reformers, one and all, applied the prophecies of the “Man of sin” and the “Antichrist” to the Papacy. John Knox, for instance, wrote, “The Pope is the head of the Church of Antichrist. As for your Roman Church, as it is now corrupted, I no more doubt but that it is the synagogue of Satan, and the head thereof called the Pope, the man of sin.”

Cranmer at his trial, gave what he knew was his dying testimony, “As for the Pope, I refuse him as Christ’s enemy, and the antichrist with all his false doctrines.” It was this conviction based on prophecy that made the Reformation. Bible prophecy added great strength to this God-led movement. Bible prophecy may not be the sole foundation but it provided a solid foundation. The Papacy was condemned by both precept and prophecy.

Martin Luther never felt free to break with the Church of Rome until he discovered Justification by faith and had nailed his thesis on the church door. He still believed the Pope was the vicar of Christ and the church of Rome was Christ’s church. He merely aimed at reforming the Catholic Church. It was the discovery from Bible prophecy that finally gave him strength to make the full and final break. He discovered that the Pope was the Antichrist, the “Man of Sin.” He then burned the Pope’s Bull. To him his former church was but a counterfeit system. Now separation from Rome was not separation from Christ, but separation from Antichrist. This discovery produced the Reformation. It gave it it’s foundation and strength. The Reformation, we do well to remember, was born of a dual discovery:- The discovery of the true Christ and the discovery of the Antichrist. Prophecy had foretold the Reformation and prophecy had given the foundation. Is it any wonder that the Papacy, felt that at any cost, it must turn the evidence. The stigma must be removed.

The Jesuits were established as the silent arm to counter the Reformation. They had no allegience to any except their own order. And the order was entwined with protecting the papacy, although they could even assassinate the pope if he did not conform to the correct papacy. Cut off from earthly ties and human interests, dead to the claims of natural affection, reason and conscience wholly silenced, they knew no rule, no tie, but that of their order, and no duty but to extend its power. It became a deadly order. To combat these forces of the self-sacrificing Protestants who were willing to die for Christ, Jesuitism inspired its followers with a fanaticism that enabled them to endure cold, hunger, toil, and poverty, the rack, the dungeon, and the stake. While vowed to perpetual poverty and humility, it was their studied aim to secure wealth and power, to be devoted to the overthrow of Protestantism and the establishment of the papal supremacy.

THE END TIMES DOCTRINES

Secular historians record the tactics of Counter-Reformation Rome. The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Under the stress of the Protestant attack there arose new methods on the papal side.” In those pages, Ribera (a Jesuit scholar) is identified as the founder of the futurist school of interpretation [Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 23, p. 213. 11th edition]. Rev. E. B. Elliot gives a synopsis of the prophetic positions published by Jesuit scholars as follows:

So at length, as the [16th] century was advancing to a close, two Jesuits published their respective, but quite counter opinions on the Apocalyptic subject: the first, Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), a Jesuit Priest of Salamanca published an Apocalyptic Commentary [Apocalypsin], about 1585 A.D. on the grand points of Babylon and Antichrist, what we now call the futurist scheme. The second man, Louis de Alcazar, also a Spanish Jesuit, but of Seville, published Vestigatio Arcani Sensus in Apocalypsi, published in Antwerp in 1614 on main points what we now designate as the praeterist scheme.

These two eschatologies were invented solely for the purpose of protecting the papacy. Ribera and Alcazar both spun their primary apparatus from the 70th week of Daniel by putting the antichrist either in the remote past or the remote future, taking him out of the present where the reformationists could attack the papal system.

Ribera said that God had first given us 69 weeks and that at the baptism of Jesus in 27 A.D. the 69 weeks concluded. He said that God extended the 70th week into the future to take place at the end of the age. The antichrist is to be a single individual (not the papal system) who would not rule until the very end of time. Today there are three versions of this futurist eschatology held mainly by Pentecostals, but also many others – (1) the pre, (2) the mid, and (3) the post tribulation rapture doctrines. Then there are numerous versions of each one of those three basic schools of thought.

Alcazar said that the prophecies of the Apocalypse (Revelation) were fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed and the Jews were slaughtered or deported. By this teaching, Matthew 24 and all (but the first chapter) of Revelation, and the 70th week of Daniel were fulfilled in 70 A.D. Alcazar insists that the enemies of the church (the Sanhedrin) were destroyed; that Jesus returned to reside in the person of the reigning pope (the Vicar of Christ); and that the millennium (the amillennium) started at that time and continues today. This is still the basic stance of Catholicism. Once again, no reformer, no Protestant accepted a word of either Ribera’s or Alcazar’s teachings. [Robert Caringola, Seventy Weeks, pp. 19,31-38]

THE END TIMES CAME TO GLOBAL ACCEPTANCE AFTER 1826

Dr. S. R. Maintland (1752-1866), the librarian to the Archbishop of Canterbury, discovered Ribera’s book in his library and translated and published it in 1826 just for the sake of interest. Until this time there was not a single Protestant in the world who believed the futuristic teachings (now held by Pentecostals and many others). Dr. Maintland also wrote a prophetic pamphlet showing his contempt for the Reformation, and he did not believe that the papacy was the predicted antichristian Apostasy or Beast of Daniel and the Apocalypse (Revelation).

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) magnified Maintland’s errors. Darby read the pamphlets that Maitland produced and was persuaded. This man was the founder of the Plymouth Brethren. He thought this was a great revelation with such a simplified view of Bible prophecy, there was no need to understand the historic application. It was all in the future! Darby wrote several volumes on this new understanding of prophecy. He influenced many people, including Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921) who incorporated Darby’s views in the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. Scofield was awarded an honorary Ph.D., he didn’t earn it.

THE RAPTURE – FIRST PUBLISHED IN SPAIN ABOUT THE SAME TIME

The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, a book by Emmanuel Lacunza (1731-1801), a Jesuit priest from Chili, contains what some say is the first known reference to the modern concept of a rapture. Although “rapture” appears in the Scriptures meaning to be caught up (the Greek “harpazo” and the Latin “rapere”) The modern concept of catching up the whole church at once was first put forward by Lacunza. The closest scripture to support this view is 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” However, the details of exactly how this would happen first came from Lacunza. His book was published in Spain and then translated into English and published in London in 1827. The book was attributed to a fictitious author named Rabbi Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra. In an extensive introduction the translator, Rev. Edward Irving (1792-1834) contended that the book was the work of a converted Jew!

Knowing fully well that he was giving a false position on the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, Irving presented Lacunza’s work as a new revelation from God. Irving became one of the most eloquent preachers of his time. In 1828 his open-air meetings in Scotland drew crowds of ten thousand people. In March 1830, he held a series of prophecy meetings in which he introduced Lacunza’s ideas. [Michael J. Berry, Foundation for Restoration, p. 63-4]

In 1830 in Port Glasgow, Scotland, a 15-year-old named Margaret MacDonald claimed she had received a new revelation in a vision, then set about to share this vision of a pre-tribulation rapture with anyone who would listen. One who did was Robert Norton (1807-1883), who recorded Margaret’s prophecies and published them in a book, The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets in the Catholic Apostolic Church (London, 1861). It is uncertain whether or not Margaret ever heard or read Irving’s translation of Lacunza. Anyhow, Norton wrote that Miss MacDonald was the first to advance the idea of pre-tribulation rapture. [Note: Margaret MacDonald's vision is recorded in The Incredible Cover Up.]

The rapturist doctrine of today is quite different from the fragments of rapture of Lacunza, MacDonald and Norton. They proclaimed a partial rapture in which only a select portion of the body of believers would be chosen. The identity of this elite, select portion quickly became a focal point of confusion and disagreement. Lacunza claimed that only those believers who partake of the sacrament of the Eucharist would be raptured; Miss MacDonald said the rapture would take away only those who were filled with the Spirit; and Norton claimed that only Christians who were sealed by the Holy Ghost with the laying on of hands would be raptured.

DARBY

In the years that followed, John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), a brilliant and well-educated man from Glasgow, Scotland, developed the teaching into its current form. It was Darby who introduced this new teaching into the main current of prophetic interpretation. Darby, who was ordained a deacon by the Church of England in 1825, was acquainted with Edward Irving who translated Lacunza’s work, and had visited Miss MacDonald in the days when she was having her visions. The potential of their radical new prophecy of a rapture intrigued Darby, who was already unhappy with the lethargic conditions prevailing in many churches of his time. The pre-tribulation rapture theory became the rallying point of Darby’s break from the Church of England and the focus of his ascent to a position of leadership in the Plymouth Brethren movement.

Strangely enough, what at first was understood to be a new and special revelation was soon to be dogmatically promoted as though it had always been the eternal truth of the scriptures. Those who opposed Darby, such as Charles H. Spurgeon and George Mueller, were excommunicated.

Darby’s biographers refer to him as “the father of modern dispensationalism.” Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1842-1921) became one of Darby’s most enthusiastic promoters. The Scofield Reference Bible (1909) has influenced countless thousands of believers. It is interesting to note that the majority of Scofield’s contemporaries – men such as Charles R. Eerdman, W.G. Moorhead, A.J. Gordon and Nathaniel West – rejected the views of this new “British” doctrine.

THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL

In 1962, the justices of the United States Supreme Court ruled that official prayer had no place in public education.

The court did not rule that children are forbidden to pray on their own; the justices merely said that government officials had no business composing a prayer for children to recite.

In the following year, 1963, the Supreme Court handed down another important ruling dealing with prayer in public schools. The court declared school-sponsored Bible reading and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer UNCONSTITUTIONAL (Americans’ constitutional right to follow their own consciences when it comes to religion in the First Amendment). However, the Supreme court also ruled that as long as the approach is objective, balanced and non-devotional, the Bible may be studied as literature. Schools may also offer courses in comparative religion.

Public education for the masses, as conceived by Horace Mann (the father of American public school education) and others in the mid 19th century, was intended to be “non-sectarian.” Schools often reflected the majority religious view a kind of nondenominational Protestantism. Classes began with devotional readings from the King James Version of the Bible and recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Catholic families were among the first to challenge these school-sponsored religious practices. In some parts of the country, tension over religion in public schools erupted into actual violence. In Philadelphia, for example, full-scale riots and bloodshed resulted in 1844 over which version of the Bible should be used in classroom devotions. The media portrayed several Catholic churches and a convent burned; although there could have been many other people that died. In Cincinnati, a “Bible War” divided the city in 1868 after the school board discontinued mandatory Bible instruction.

Tensions like this led to the first round of legal challenges to school-sponsored religious activity in the late 1800s. Several states ruled against the practices. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted this view as well.

In 1995, as a reminder of the Supreme Court rulings of 1962 and 1963, a joint statement of current law regarding religion in public schools was published by a variety of religious and civil liberties organizations. This statement served as the basis for U.S. Department of Education guidelines. These guidelines, which were sent to every public school in the nation, stressed that children have the right to pray or to discuss their religious views with their peers so long as they are not disruptive. The word “disruptive” however could easily be construed to mean “not gaining converts”. Indeed, the guidelines went on to state that public schools are prohibited from sponsoring worship or pressuring children to pray, meditate, read religious texts or take part in other religious activities. This even appears to be a contradiction. Why? because “sponsoring” can easily mean that the school PREMISES cannot be used in any way for prayer, meditation, reading religious texts or taking part in other religious activities. Why not?

There had to be a ruling to clarify this: In 1990, the high court ruled specifically that high school children may form clubs that meet during “non-instructional” time to pray, read religious texts or discuss religious topics if other student groups are allowed to meet – but no younger than high school.

In 1954, in a build up to these Supreme Court rulings affecting schools, Lindon B. Johnson (who later became US President from 1963 to 1969) introduced a bill in Congress that offered tax exempt status to Churches in exchange for their neutrality in politics. In a nutshell Christians sold their liberty and freedom for money, which has grown to 500 BILLIONS of dollars in assets. It was just a short nine years later when Johnson came to his presidential term that atheists stopped prayer in schools, and challenged other religious safeguards. For instance, just nine years after that, in 1973, abortion was legalized with no outcry from the 300,000 pulpits in America.

WHAT, THEN, ARE SCHOOLS TO TEACH?

While recognizing matter, Evolution and modern thought says that we have no soul. Or at best, that there is no immortality of the soul. Schools, therefore, are to teach:

DEISM – which leads to Agnosticism (Skeptical Atheism) if the heart is hardened. Agnosticism in the form of Skeptical Atheism was first introduced by John Locke (1632 – 1704) who maintained that people are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived by sense perception. Curiously, Locke’s writings led to ‘liberty of the conscience’ (although he did not believe in one) separating the spiritual and the temporal in society. It stopped social work done for the sake of piety, replacing it with social work done for the sake of man’s perceived ‘morality’ – a removal of absolute values and homage to God in society, and replacing it with nothing – this is what is called ‘liberty’. It developed into the separation of Church and State, and secularisation of government schools and places of work, preventing salvation. In short, it is the removal of God from society, called ‘Religious Tolerance’. To understand exactly what is behind ‘liberty of conscience’, then know the difference between Morality vs. Piety, which makes reference to these ‘inalienable’ rights of the secular state of America.

David Hume (1711 – 1776) built on Locke’s ideas, denying the a priori function of the reason to directly intuit laws and principles. In this, modern Atheism was born. Hume based all knowledge purely on facts of sense or sensation (Empiricism). Hume was a close friend of Adam Smith (c. 1750), the founder of modern free market economics.

Kant (1724 – 1804) did recognise the pure reason. However, Kant limited the reason to say that principles and laws are known by deduction as opposed to direct intuition, and so he concluded they cannot be known universally. In this Kant laid the foundation for modern-day Agnosticism. He developed the notion that man created religion from a desire to intend “right” – thus according to Kant, it matters not what religion is chosen, or whether any religion is chosen at all, as it all comes from man’s “ethics” or desire to intend “right”. “Right” according to Kant, is not deemed “right” by everybody, but the concept of “right” is purely a prejudice of education. Kant ignored the plain fact that “right” is actually based on the VALUE to everyone of the good sought. That is, he overlooked the plain fact that seeking the real happiness of everybody, including our creator God, is the absolute good and the only good. Agnosticism then became mainstream based on these concepts of Kant, through T. H. Huxley in 1860 and later espoused by Albert Einstein – and practically every ignorant modern thought of the West says that morals are prejudices of education. However, this can easily be disproved.

PANTHEISM says we are not free to act, but fixed in a predetermined course by nature, and are therefore not responsible agents. No-one has the option to change one’s fate, except in ‘rare instances’. So say the most prominent scholars in Buddhism who are Pantheistic (and also highly acclaimed in the West). This is heathenism. According to this philosophy, whatever God makes, we are forced to do. God cannot condemn us, because we cannot help what we do. However, Pantheism ignores our MORAL side or the MORAL attributes of God as our rightful lawgiver and judge. We are not pre-programmed robots. Every man is free to obey or not to obey God, because this is the only way happiness can exist – us knowing that we have chosen to bring happiness is a pleasure – but only if we had the freedom, and it was absolutely our own choice and act. God cannot prevent sin because man is absolutely free. And to complement this freedom, so that it is not abused, God punishes sin which any man commits. Man’s freedom is a total responsiblity, and a total blame if abused.

BUT ATHEISTS HAVE A FAITH – otherwise, why do they practice pantheism? PAGANISM is definitely pantheistic. Why do Atheists celebrate their birthday, if they have no faith? This is a pagan custom. Or why do they teach evolution? Evolution is a pantheistic belief – a religion just as much as any other, and so secular government schools are teaching children a religion after all. Or, why do Atheists visit the psychiatrist? The techniques used by Western psychiatrists are, with few exceptions, on exactly the same scientific plane as the techniques used by witchdoctors. (E. Fuller Torrey, The Mind Games: Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists, 1972, page 8.)

SANCTIFICATION IS HOLINESS and is the natural result of justification by faith. Knowing that Christ payed in full for all our sins naturally results in holiness, immediately – our working for God in full confidence of his acceptance. The Christian life naturally consists in good works, because these are the works of faith, or faith that works by love.

If this does not happen – if we do not have these works of love, our conversion was not thorough, we did not realise what we have been saved from, and we have every right to question whether we are saved. OR, if we have ‘good’ works without being justified by faith, the works themselves do not spring from a relationship with God, so it is NOT holiness.

.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK NOW TO SEE IF YOU HAVE THE GOOD WORKS WHICH PROVE YOU ARE SAVED.

The only cure in all cases is to sincerely and honestly confess all our own sins in detail till we reach the fountain of sin and totally break it up. This is needed because people feel as if they are willing to renounce all their sins, taken all together, or in the abstract. But take them up in the detail, one by one, and there are many sins they are unwilling to give up. And until they do, they can have no peace with God who sees all those little sins they have covered up.

SO, ARE YOU WILLING TO  RENOUNCE ALL YOUR SINS?

If so, then you will confess your sins now:

http://www.charlesfinney.com/public-confessions/

A Greek Study

1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

1 Timothy 3:12 Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

Titus 1:6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

The NRSV translates these verses as “married only once,” while the NIV has “the husband of but one wife,” which makes it sound even more like it is teaching a man is forbidden to have more than one wife at a time (although he may have married and divorced several times). What does the original Greek say?

The Greek word translated “one” in the above verses is “mia” and these other 6 verses in the bible use the same word “mias” meaning “first”

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

(the meaning is obvious)

Luke 14:18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

(this could mean, the first thing they began to do was to make excuse)

Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

(clearly meaning, the first shall be taken)

Luke 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.

(which could mean, after the first hour)

Acts 24:21 Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

(could mean the first thing of importance in his preaching was resurrection)

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

(could mean, the first chance he got, he sold his birthright)

Please Note

From the verses above, we can see that the word translated ONE could be interpreted as FIRST, and so:

1. A man must remain with his FIRST wife. He cannot understand it to mean everything is ok, to divorce and re-marry, even several times, so long as he remains with one wife alone, at any given instant.
2. This “first wife” must actually be his true wife, that is, she must have been a virgin at the time (even if she has intermitted with sex with others after that, he MUST get her back with him).
3. We cannot prove that a man should ONLY have one wife from the verses in Timothy and Titus. The verses do not forbid polygyny in any sense.

“Husband of One Wife” therefore means (Still the) Husband of FIRST Wife…!

WHAT ABOUT WOMEN? – COMPARE:

1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under

threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Here a different Greek word used for ONE – “enos”. Which is

found in the next verses, which show how it should be

interpreted for women to be the wife of ONE man. It has a

different meaning:

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will

hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the

one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and

mammon.

Matthew 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these

little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do

always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Luke 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen

that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he

will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the

one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and

mammon.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for

to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the

times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Acts 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might

feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every

one of us:

Acts 21:26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying

himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the

accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an

offering should be offered for every one of them.

Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are

together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good,

no, not one.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the

world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for

that all have sinned:

Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.

For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more

the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man,

Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Romans 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the

gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free

gift is of many offences unto justification.

Romans 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by

one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and

of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus

Christ.)

Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment

came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the

righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto

justification of life.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were

made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made

righteous.

Romans 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had

conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

1 Corinthians 4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure

transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye

might learn in us not to think of men above that which is

written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against

another.

1 Corinthians 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and

one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many

members, and all the members of that one body, being many,

are one body: so also is Christ.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the

promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as

of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Galatians 3:20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but

God is one.

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined

together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,

according to the effectual working in the measure of every

part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in

love.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for

you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth

exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward

each other aboundeth;

1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under

threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Hebrews 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are

sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to

call them brethren,

Hebrews 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him

as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude,

and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the

seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the

four beasts saying, Come and see.

Revelation 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying

through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,

woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other

voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to

sound!

Revelation 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls:

every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city

was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

]]> http://alumbrados.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/%e2%80%9chusband-of-one-wife%e2%80%9d-means-still-the-husband-of-first-wife%e2%80%a6/feed/ 0 Charles Finney http://alumbrados.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/%e2%80%9chusband-of-one-wife%e2%80%9d-means-still-the-husband-of-first-wife%e2%80%a6/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alumbrados-TheIlluminated/~3/Jp_9mBiLJoM/ http://alumbrados.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/is-christian-polygamy-wrong/#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:04:53 +0000 polygyny http://alumbrados.net/?p=892 ]]>

Tithing is RESERVED for the place where you partake in fellowship and the word. Tithing is to build up the LOCAL fellowship you belong to, for you to be a part of a PERSONAL, effective witness to the world. You tithe to the church where you continually receive the benefits of fellowship and personally partake in outreach.

You do not tithe to a Television station or a para-church organisation or ministry (such as this one, or any other ministry which conducts crusades and Christian Television – Benny Hinn, Morris Cerullo, Reinhard Bonnke, TBN, Praise The Lord, etc). You do not know those ministries personally, or benefit from fellowship through them. Any money you give to them is over and above your tithe, called a free-will Offering.

The biblical term to describe a para-church organisation is an “Apostolic Ministry”. So, an individual is not to tithe to the Apostolic Ministry directly.

Apostolic ministries are answerable to the Local Church so it is for the Church to TITHE OF THE TITHES to the television stations, internet ministries, gospel crusades etc.

The same principle of Tithing applies to the Church as it does to individuals. THE CHURCH MUST TITHE OF ITS COLLECTION, to who? To the Apostolic ministries, like us. You as an individual can still give a free-will offering, but understand it is free-will, not demanded by God.

This ensures the Television station and other ministries, such as we, are connecting and working together with the local church and everyone is getting their due for what work they do. It is so that everyone finishes their job in their own vineyard before moving on somewhere else.

If any para-church Apostolic ministry has a call, God WILL PROVIDE for it, no matter if churches fail to support where they should.

The Apostolic ministry, television stations and internet ministries are mainly for the unsaved who would not go to a church. So every committed Christian should belong to a Church, and have a place they can tithe to. Or your prayer life and witness will die, if you have no fellowship, but depend on your Television.

And the Church will be very lean, and die spiritually if your church does not support these Apostolic ministries like us with the Tithe of the collection! As the Scripture says, Cursed with a curse – even the Church budgets – Ye churches have robbed God, Malachi 3:9 and

2 Corinthians 11:8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.

Keith Green’s Final Message

An Introduction By Melody Green

I want to encourage you to read the following article by Keith with an open heart. It was completed only a few days before Keith and two of our children, Josiah and Bethany, went home to be with Jesus in a fatal plane crash. The following message was a real expression of the fresh burden the Lord had put on his heart. As Keith explains, this is so much more than “just another article.” It was something that the Lord had put burning in Keith’s heart and was to be his new emphasis of message to Christians – especially those Christians in America.

I know that most of you are aware of the fact that Keith’s message almost from the start of his ministry, was “get right with God!” He wasn’t very shy about preaching it, and I know that because of his boldness, many hearts opened up to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and the reality of God. Keith so wanted to see every Christian totally sold out to the Lord – not lukewarm or half-hearted – but as he put it in one of his last concerts, bananas for Jesus!

I believe the vision for missions is a completion of Keith’s message for Christians to really be right with God. The question is this – once you are right…then what? do you just sit around in your “rightness”, or do you seek God’s direction to see how and where you can be used most effectively for the Kingdom of God? What the world is dying for is hundreds and thousands of believers who are determined to see the lost find out who their Creator is before they stand before Him on that great and awesome day.

I know it would be Keith’s greatest desire (aside from the salvation of the lost) for you to take this matter seriously before the throne of God. If you will lay all your personal goals at the foot of the cross, and ask Jesus what He wants you to do with your life, then I know Keith’s burden from the Lord will be born in the hearts of many of you – and carried to the ends of the earth! – Melody

Part I: The Call Of The Lord

A Biblical Look At The Missions Call

I recently returned from visiting some overseas missionary bases, and I must say that since returning, my life has not been quite the same. The vision and goals of our ministry have suddenly changed. The Lord definitely did something to my heart on that trip. Besides showing me how small my vision had been, He began to give me a great burden to see the ranks of His army in the field swell!

One of the greatest things God opened my eyes to was how tremendously evangelized my own country was, while the rest of the world was barely being reached. As I traveled from country to country, I thought of the millions of people I was passing through who needed to have the Gospel of Jesus shown to them in a real way – and yet there was hardly anyone there to reach them.

As I visited each mission base, I spoke with different missionaries, and picked up various pieces of literature that told the story of what was being done in different parts of the world to expand the Kingdom of God. As I read the statistics, I was shocked – I really had never known how little the need was being met!

When I returned home, I got hold of some of the leaders of different missionary organizations and set up some meetings to find out more about what was being done to fill the need. After these meetings, I decided to do a study of God’s Word (to see what He had to say about reaching the lost in other countries), and I also read through some more of the missions literature I had been given.

This article is the result of that study, and also a burning desire in my heart to see 100,000 young people released to the mission field over the next five years!

So…why should you go to the mission field?

1) Because Jesus has told you to go.

“Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

With these words, Jesus made it clear exactly what His disciples were to do – they were to spread His teachings in His name, preaching salvation unto the ends of the earth. (Rom. 10:18) If you consider yourself a “believer”, then you must consider yourself a “disciple” of Jesus – no less called and chosen than the very first 12 apostles. There are no such things as “1^st class” Christians and “2^nd class” Christians – every believer is called to spread the Good News about Jesus to those who have not yet heard. Jesus’ command is definite and clear – it is His great mandate, His “Great Commission” to the soldiers in His holy army. We must go, because our great General has commanded us to go.

2) You should go because the need is so great.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” (Matt. 9:37-38)

Ever since Jesus first spoke these compassionate words, the supply of workers in the fields of soul-harvest has always been horribly low. But today the need is the greatest it has ever been in the history of mankind. Remember, Hell is not just for the weekend! More people are alive today, and more souls are at stake, than the total number of people who have ever lived on the face of the earth in all of human history! This simply means that we can populate either Heaven or Hell by our obedience or our laziness. There are over 2,700,000,000 people who have never heard the Gospel at all, and there are only 5,000 to 7,000 missionaries worldwide, working directly with these totally unreached groups of people.¹ That means there is approximately one missionary for every 450,000 of these people! There are over 16,000 different and distinct cultures and people-groups – even whole countries, where not one single church is in existence.² There are 7,010 distinct living languages, and 5,199 of them still have no Bible or Scripture translations available in their own language!³ Do these figures move you at all? Does it matter to you that an estimated 80,000 unsaved people die every day (approximately 3,333 every hour…55 people every single minute!) to face the judgment seat of Christ?⁴

3) You should go because so few Christians are obeying the call, making the need even greater!
“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ…how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:17,14)

Right now worldwide there are only 85,000 workers on the mission field – working mainly among those who have heard the gospel before.⁵ This figure includes missionaries from all over the world of every nationality. When you compare this number with the amount of Americans selling Avon or Amway products, it is staggering. Just in America alone there are 435,000 Avon sales-people⁶ (with 1,280,000 worldwide), and over 750,000 Amway products distributors,⁷ (with over a million worldwide)! Do you realize that these two companies combined have 14 times more representatives in the United States alone than the Church of Jesus Christ has in the whole world outside of America?

And what about the Christian representatives we do have in the world? Only 9% of the world’s population speaks English, and yet 94% of all ordained preachers in the whole world minister to the 9% who speak English. And 96% of all Christian finances are spent in the United States on 6% of the world’s population. Only 4% of all Christian money is spent on missionary efforts to reach the other 94% of the world’s population! There are over 1,000,000 full-time Christian workers in the United States; while one half of the world’s population (3 major groups – Moslem, Hindu, and Chinese), 2,200,000,000 people, have only 2,417 full-time Christian workers.⁸ As you can see by these figures, something is definitely wrong. While we in America have approximately one worker for every 230 people – those who have never heard the Gospel even once have one worker for every 450,000 souls! Please forgive us, Jesus, for being too timid to obey You and reach out into all the world like You have commanded us to!

4) You should go because God gives special anointing and grace to those who leave their own land, people, and culture to do God’s will and spread the Gospel.
“And the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father’s house…and I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall also be a blessing; and I will bless those that bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” (Genesis 12:1-3)

Abram ( later to be renamed Abraham by God ) is only one of the many people in the Bible who God used mightily only after he left his own people, his own land, and his own culture. Look at the travels and ministries of people like Jacob and Moses – both of whom had to go into other lands to learn from God and be used by Him.

No matter where you look in the Bible, God always gave a great anointing a and blessing to those who served Him in a foreign land. Look at Joseph and Daniel. They were the only two men in the Bible who God raised up as successful, secular officials in foreign and heathen cultures - and they remained faithful witnesses and servants of God to the very end, and often at the risk of their very lives!

What about Jonah? He was a good example of someone who didn’t want to go to the mission field and preach to heathens! Stubborn, rebellious, and selfish – and yet God “made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” ( I pray that God would freely move like that in all our lives, “helping” us to make the right decisions about going.)

And then there’s the apostle Paul – who had such a burden for his own people and country, Israel. Oh , how he would have loved a ministry among the Jews! But what did God say? “Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21) That’s what God commanded, and “go” he did. Never was there a missionary like Paul. Take a look at II Corinthians 11 if you’d like to see a list of his qualifications: beatings, imprisonment’s, stonings, mobs, shipwrecks, the list goes on and on – and so did Paul, obeying his Master who bought him.

From Noah to Abraham, from Moses to Jonah, from Daniel to Paul, God has always given special blessing to those who, leaving the comforts of home and relatives, cross the boundaries of their little worlds to bring God’s message and blessing to the nations.

Remember Jesus’ words about this subject, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, “(Matt. 13:57)

5) You should go because America (and some other western nations) is literally drenched with the Gospel, while most other countries and cultures of the world do not have any continual, relevant witness a all.
“And thus I aspired to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man’s foundation; but as it is written, ‘They that had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.’” (Rom. 15:20-21)

It is so true that we here in America are continually bombarded with Christian witness and ministry. Almost at every turn there’s a billboard or a bumper sticker proclaiming something about Jesus. Turn the dial on your radio at any time of the day or night, and you’ve got non-stop preaching. There are several Christian satellite and cable networks. And there are over 250 different Christian magazines and publications. In most cities there’s a church on almost every corner. I am not trying to say that this is all bad – a lot of it is good, winning many souls to Jesus – but as I’ve traveled overseas, it is hard for me to believe that it is God’s will for there to be so much Gospel preaching and literature available here, while there is comparatively little or even none in many places outside of this country.

The world is going to Hell on every continent! Is it God’s fault that so few are hearing the gospel – or is it the Church’s? Aren’t we who love Jesus accountable to reach our generation with the gospel? A friend of mine has written, “this generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of sinners.” If this is true, then each of us must take a good, long look at our lives and priorities – finding out where God would have us begin to get ready to go!

6) You should go because, as Oswald J. Smith said, “No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heart it once.”
“But if our Gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (II Cor. 4:3-4)

Has it occurred to you that Jesus wants every creature to hear the Gospel? If you had 20 children to feed and plenty of food to feed them all with, do you think it would be right to give 3 of the children 10 meals, 7 children only 1 meal, and the remaining nothing – causing them to die of starvation? That’s exactly what we’re doing with the Gospel in the world today!

Because we believers are so deaf to God’s call to go into all nations, we keep most of God’s resources to ourselves! We keep feeding and reaching the same people over and over again. I am not saying there should be no Gospel preached in America, I am saying that there needs to be a spreading out of the soldiers of God, to fight the enemy where his greatest strongholds are – “where Christ is not already named”!

7) You should go because the time is short. More and more countries are closing their doors to missionaries and the Gospel, and we must go now.
“We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work.” (John 9:4)

I constantly hear of country after country where missionaries used to be welcome, but now the doors are closed to them entering. Though it is true that many Christians can still go to be subtle witnesses as doctors, teachers, engineers, etc., the Gospel can no longer be openly preached in many lands.

Although there are still vast areas of the world wide open for foreign evangelism, such as western Europe, parts of Asia, and most of the Pacific (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc.) there are many other countries where it is illegal to hold a street meeting or pass out Gospel literature. We need to sense the urgency of this hour, and obey God by reaching out to those lost in the darkness “while it is still day.”

8.) You should go because the Holy Spirit is speaking to Christian leadership all over the world that it is God’s desire for there to be a great final missionary thrust with the Gospel before the end of the age. It is His desire that every people should have the Gospel preached to them, and that the Gospel should be published in every nation and in every language. And unless YOU get involved personally, there is no hope of that ever happening in our generation!
“…And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. ” ( Matt. 24:14) “The Lord is…patient toward you, not wishing for you to perish but for all to come to repentance.” ( II Peter 3:9)

Is there any doubt in your mind that God wants everyone to be saved? If you believe this, and you really love Jesus, then WHY are you so timid about getting involved in this great thrust to bring the Gospel to all the nations? Do you think that while you’re reading this, God isn’t grieved that His Church is being so lazy and disobedient about fulfilling his commission? He knows that you agree with the Scriptures, and He’s listening to every excuse you’re turning over in your mind like, “Yes, I know that more people need to go…but He just couldn’t mean ME! I’m…just not the ‘missionary-type’…”

In Part 2 of “Why YOU Should Go To The Mission Field,” we will see what “type” of Christian you really are…

Part II: The Most Commonly Heard Excuses

The following objections are just a few of the many that Christian groups and missionary societies constantly hear from prospective recruits for the mission field. Although many may merely be excuses, we have heard them spoken so many times as serious statements from well-meaning Christians in response to the question, “Why don’t you get trained to go into full time Christian service in a foreign country?

1) “But I’m not called.”

You don’t know how many people I’ve met who have said to me “Keith, I agree that more people need to go to the mission field, but I’ve never heard God tell me to go.”

Well, the truth is that God has already told you to go in His Word. In fact, He commands you to go… “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” ( Mark 16:15) That’s right… YOU ARE CALLED!

In fact, if you don’t go, you need a specific calling from God to stay home. Has God definitely told you not to “go” somewhere outside your country to preach the Gospel? If He hasn’t, then you’d better start praying WHERE to go, instead of IF you should go – for again, you’re already called!

2) “But God needs people to stay here to be a witness to those lost in America. There’s enough need right here!”

It is true that God has called some people to stay right where they are to be witnesses for Jesus in their daily lives and professions. But again, God is merciful and just. Since America has only about 5% of the world’s population, then only about 5% of the believers would really be called to stay in this country as a witness ( that’s only about 1 out of 20) while the rest of us should go into the parts of the world where there are almost 0% believers. (In Albania, for instance, there are only “a handful” of known believers in the whole country of 2.7 million people – less than 1/2 of 1/1000^th percent!!)⁹

3) “But God needs people to stay home and financially support those ministries and missionaries who are already all over the world. In fact, my church is already supporting some missionaries with my tithes and offerings.”

You should never have to worry about there not being enough Christians staying home to support missionaries! There will always be enough people around who will not answer the call to go – who will stay home and gladly just send a check (instead of themselves) to reach to lost. After all, nothing is easier to give than money (except nothing!).

This does not mean that everyone who stays home is selfish and disobedient. As I’ve already said, there are some who know they are definitely called to stay, and they are doing exactly what God would have them do here, while they greatly support other ministries. I’m just saying that there will always be plenty of people around to financially support the pitifully few who answer the call and obey God.

4) “But my family and friends would frown upon me going.”
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me…” (Matt. 10:37)

God is very clear about whose approval we should seek. It’s shocking to me how even Christian parents react when their children say that they’d like to go for training as a full-time Christian worker. “A missionary! Are you crazy?!” It’s as if they’ve announced they’d like to be a thief or a prostitute.

It is true that God wants us to honor our parents and love our friends, but He has also made it clear in His Word that this honor and love must not exceed our love and obedience to Him and His calling on our lives. We should always try our best to explain God’s call to our families, lovingly and patiently, but the bottom line must be that we will obey Christ no matter what the cost. We should always try to get our family’s understanding and blessing when God makes our ministry clear to us, but we must also always be ready to leave “houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms” for His sake “and for the Gospel’s sake.” (Mark 10:29)

5) “But I need to stay here and lead my relatives to the Lord first. If I go somewhere else, how can they get saved?”

There was once a man who wanted to follow and obey Jesus, but he said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” Jesus’ answer to him was, “Follow me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” (Matt. 8:21-22)

This may sound cruel of Jesus not to allow the man to have a funeral for his dead father – but most likely, the man’s father had not died yet. The phrase “wait until I bury my father” was sometimes used to say “wait until my father has died.” What he was really saying was, “I’d like to follow You now, but You see, my parents wouldn’t understand. Please wait until after they’ve died, and then I’ll be more than glad to follow You!”

Jesus’ answer was appropriate… “allow the dead to bury their own dead.” In other words, “allow the unbelievers to take care of themselves, and follow Me!” Jesus doesn’t want us to throw our usefulness away because our relatives are not yet saved. The greatest witness they can see is you fully obeying the call of God on your life. Jesus didn’t want this man’s father to be buried – He wanted the young man to follow Him, and then maybe even the man’s father would come to know Him too. Obedience is truly greater than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22) – when we obey God, He takes care of all our other obligations. (Matt. 6:33)

6) “But I need to get an education first.”

I don’t believe that God wants every Christian to go to college just because, “Well, everyone goes to college now, unless they’re too dumb!” You shouldn’t go to college unless God has definitely called you to go. Just like everything else in our Christian lives, He’s the Master, we’re the servants. He’s the General, we’re the soldiers. If you’re really a Christian, you’re at the beck and command of the King. If you’re not at His command, then you’re really not a Christian.

Yes, God does call some people to go to college. Sometimes it’s to get training for a ministry calling He’s made clear to them. For instance, if you know what country you’re called to, perhaps God would lead you to learn the language and culture somewhat before you go (although the very best place to learn is within the country itself – it’s a definite “crash course”!)

Of course, another reason God might lead you to college is to minister to people right there on the campus – as well as to mature emotionally and spiritually. But be careful! Make sure you’re there in direct obedience to God, or else you’re wasting your time – and His.

7) “But I need to get married first, and then maybe my mate will want to serve God full-time on the field, rather than me going alone.”

Nothing could be a more foolish reason for putting off obeying God now. God does not want you to look for a husband or wife, He wants you to be married to Him, and trust Him for any mate He may bring into your life. I know of many single Christians serving Jesus overseas who are trusting Him for everything. And some of the most beautiful stories of God’s grace I’ve ever heard are told by couples who went to the mission field single, and then God led them to marry another whose heart was also fully devoted to serving Him there. Remember, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matt. 6:8) Trust Him!

8.) “But I have a family to support. God doesn’t want me to neglect them, does He?”

The Word of God says, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matt.6:33) If you can trust God for your needs, you can certainly trust Him for your family’s needs. You would never be foolishly “neglecting” your family’s needs by obeying God’s call to go. God will show you the way. I know of so many families – some with many children – who are on the field right now, trusting God for their needs while they minister in His name. I have never heard of ONE occurrence where God didn’t meet the needs of one of His servants and their families. As King David said…

“I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing.” (Psalm 37:25-26)
9) “But the mission field is dangerous. God would not have me put myself or my family in danger of disease or native hostilities, would he?”
“Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3)

It is all a matter of our priorities – do we look at the temporary or the eternal in making our choices? It’s true that you will probably be in more physical danger on the mission field than you would be in the suburbs of America, but that is part of the cost that we need to count when it comes to serving God. The question should not be, “Will I be kept safe wherever I go?” but rather, “What is on the Lord’s heart for me to do?”

If Jesus decided to go the way of least pain, He would have never gone to the cross. There is no place of greater blessing for you than in the center of God’s will. You must stop to count the cost, but remember one thing – the privilege of serving God always outweighs the price! “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s shall save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)

10) “Although in the past most countries freely allowed foreign missionaries to come, most people in other lands now resent them. Why should I go where I’m not welcomed?”

Did you welcome the Gospel before you were saved? The Word says that we should save some, “snatching them out of the fire,” (Jude 23) Some people just don’t want to be saved! That’s exactly why we need to go to them. The more unwelcome, the better. If they resent Americans, then you have an opportunity to show them that Christian Americans can be humble with the love of Jesus in their hearts. For the Word says, “He who is wise wins souls.” (Proverbs 11;30)

11) “But I could not afford to get the training, and raise the necessary finances to place myself (or my family) on the field.”

Don’t worry, God’ll help raise the money you need. Wherever God guides, He supplies – even if it means helping you get a job! Problems and worries about finances are usually only a surface excuse when it comes to obeying God to go. In your heart you know He’ll make a way for you!

12) “But I don’t have any special talents or abilities that would qualify me to be a missionary.”

Then you’re just the person God is looking for! Sure God can use nurses, teachers, accountants, and mechanics on the field, but it always blesses God to greatly use the one who seemingly has nothing to offer. It is this person who has the opportunity of purely representing Jesus in the endless “common” tasks that are part of the daily life of a missionary. “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (II Cor. 12:10; also see I Cor. 1:26-31)

13) “But how could I commit myself for years and years to go to the field without having a chance to see what it would be like?”

It is true that in past generations a foreign missionary had to make almost a lifetime commitment before he could go to the field. Then in most cases, he had to go to college for at least four years, and then seminary for two to four years before he could even begin his missions training and service. But today there are missionary organizations that have short-term programs for people who want to receive training and find out what serving God in other countries is like. These programs last from a few weeks to a few years in length. So now there is an opportunity to “take a look” before making a much longer commitment.

14) “But God wants me to stay in this country and prosper. The reason the rest of the world is so poor and unconverted is because their heathen religions and idolatry have caused them to live in ignorance and poverty, without God’s blessing.”

This has to be THE most selfish reasoning I’ve ever heard for not going – and I’ve heard it! Of course they live in ignorance and poverty, that’s just the reason you should go – to bring the enlightenment that comes from knowing the truth about Jesus, and to bring them the true riches of knowing Christ. If you don’t believe that the reason God has blessed you with abundance in this country is so you can be a blessing to others – then you have never understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ! “Freely you received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8)

15) “I’m just not ready to make that kind of a sacrifice and commitment.”

Ah! That’s just the point. That’s probably the underlying reason for almost every one of the above objections. In fact, you might just as well have said, “I’m not willing.” You need to decide whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus – that is the question. If you are His disciple, then “you are not your own…you have been bought with a price.” (I Cor. 6:19-20) And if you truly love Him, then you will not feel bondage, you will feel incredible excitement at being chosen to represent Him in the world! To be a servant of Jesus Christ, an ambassador, a missionary, is the highest calling a man or woman can attain to!

Now what are you waiting for??

1) Once Around Jericho by Roberta Winter; William Carey Library Publishing.
2) Ibid.
3) World Christian Encyclopedia by David Barrett.
4) In the Gap, What It Means To Be A World Christian by Dave Bryant; pg. 121.
5) U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM), Pasadena, CA.
6) Avon Annual Report 1981.
7) Amway Corporate Compendium 1982.
8.) USCWM, Pasadena Ca.
9) Operation World by P.J. Johnstone; STL Publications, 1980; pg. 91