As a part of our annual Q Series, this was a question that was turned in: Are there ghosts?
Check out the video below…
The Scriptures I reference in this answer:
For other Q&As from this series, check out discussions about the Bible here, and questions about the mark of the beast here, and a question about a Christian losing his/her salvation here.
Four times in the opening two verses of one of his psalms, David cries out, “How long, O Lord?”
“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?”
It does sometimes feel like the unpleasant season is lasting “forever!” David lays it out: “Every day it seems like Your face is hidden, I’m trying to come up with my own escape plans, my heart is breaking, and the bad guys are taking advantage of me! O Lord, how long will You let this last?”
David turns to prayer again and again. He asks God to hear him, enlighten his eyes, and silence his enemies.
I have … I will … You have … You will!
O my soul, keep looking up. Keep crying out.
“It’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus was a healer. We don’t know the exact number of people He healed, but it was certainly in the thousands, as on many occasions the Gospel writers tell us He healed ‘multitudes.’ We don’t know all the afflictions people suffered from, but they included leprosy, a deformed hand, swollen limbs, hemorrhaging, blindness, deafness, lameness, paralysis, seizures, a severed ear, and even death.
“It’s tempting to believe that all these people were healed by their faith, but we don’t know that for sure. We do know, however, that they were all healed by Jesus.
“I’m not just playing with words here.
“There are about forty different descriptions of healings in the four Gospels (some are described in more than one place), but faith is said to play an explicit part in only a little more than one-third of them. And in most of those healings, the faith of another person, not the afflicted, is stated. Faith is not even mentioned in the majority of Jesus’ recorded healings. Only twice did Jesus remark about someone (the centurion in Matthew 8:10 and the Gentile mother in Matthew 15:28) having great faith before He healed that person’s loved one.
“The common factor in all Jesus’ recorded healing miracles was Jesus Himself—not the faith of the sick people or their loved ones.” —Lynn Eib, in Peace In The Face Of Cancer
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
God Has A Plan For Your Life
“Before I formed thee…I knew thee…” [Jeremiah 1:5]. There are prenatal forces of God at work in a man’s life which he may be unconscious of for long enough; but at any moment there may break upon him the sudden consciousness of this incalculable, supernatural surprising power that has got hold of his life before he has got hold of it himself.
Another force at work is the prayers of other people. You are born into this world and will probably never know to whose prayers your life is the answer. … Our lives are the answers not only to the prayers of other people, but to the prayer the Holy Spirit is making for us, and to the prayer of Our Lord Himself. …
When once Paul realized God’s call and knew the meaning of his life, there was no competitor for his strength. Is there anything competing for our strength in our devotion to the call of God?
From So Send I You
Isn’t it amazing to think that not only has God had a plan for your life before you even arrived on earth, but that your life is an answer to prayer?!
The Apostle Paul lived the first part of his life oblivious to God’s call. But once he had his encounter with Jesus, his whole focus and passion changed (see Acts 9:15-16; Galatians 1:15-16).
What about you?
I recently read four very insightful booklets on how Christians can best prepare themselves to share their faith in Jesus with their Muslim neighbors. You can read my complete review of these booklets by clicking here. Below are just a few quotes that caught my attention.
“‘America’s mosques are loaded with people who grew up in church’ [says Carl Ellis]. Ellis says that many converts to Islam are African-American males who see traditional churches as male unfriendly and as failing to address their real needs.”
“God is bringing thousands of Muslim immigrants to our shores every year. These people are coming from Islamic nations where they could not be evangelized before. Yet here in America, they are free to listen and respond to the Gospel. In this ‘land of the free’ they do not have to fear horrible consequences if they believe the gospel and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
“Our hearts should be increasingly burdened not only by the enormous spiritual need of the 1.4 billion Muslims, but also by the apathy of the missionary movement towards them. … Instead of being evangelized, Muslims are evangelizing. …
“It is reported that Muslims are counting on Europe, the birthplace of the Reformation and the modern missionary movement, to become completely Islamic within the next few decades. In England more than 300 closed churches have been converted into mosques. … Muslims are now a majority in 44 countries of the world.”
“When you are discussing the Bible with the Muslim, it is important that you read the Bible verses in context. The Muslim has developed an intricate system of ‘abrogation’ or substitution of one verse for another, due to the random way the Qur’an is written. He will have a tendency to try to find verses in the Bible that ‘contradict’ each other. Anyone witnessing to a Muslim must know the Scriptures thoroughly and be able to lead the Muslim to understand the meaning of passages in relation to the setting in which they are found.”
“The Muslim will be impressed with a Christian’s words only if he experiences genuine friendship from the Christian and sees him living a consistent moral life. A Christian’s lifestyle must match his testimony.”
“It is better to win the Muslim as a friend than to win an argument and lose his friendship.”
“Christians should be aware that Muslims are people who seek after God!”
“Here, surely, is a key to witnessing to Muslims, both in the United States and around the world: Love them as Jesus loves us. … You must give your SELF to your Muslim friend—not just the gospel!”
“A cardinal rule is: Never become involved in arguments—especially theological ones! Nominal and even irreligious Muslims often become fanatical advocates of their faith when pushed by argument. The truth is: We have argued and debated for hundreds of years without success. Let us now become witnesses—not debaters!”
“No religion on the face of the earth deals with forgiveness of sins except Christianity. … The concept of God as a loving Heavenly Father is completely foreign to a Muslim. … Show him from the Bible how God has provided a way whereby all sins can be forgiven, and every trace of guilt can be completely removed. This is a very powerful tool in witnessing.”
“One way the power of the Holy Spirit is demonstrated is through physical healing. If your Muslim friend or a member of his family is sick, offer to go and pray for him. He will deeply appreciate your concern, and when the person is healed, this demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power will be convincing—often the key to his accepting Christ as Savior and Lord.”
Some other helpful resources on this topic are two books from Nabeel Qureshi: Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and Answering Jihad. Also, check out Praying For Muslims.
“…they thought to do me harm” —Nehemiah
Nehemiah had enemies on almost every side as he attempted to complete his work (the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem). Check out his enemies’ strategy and his response to them—
Enemy’s tactic #1—Get Nehemiah preoccupied with attending meaningless meetings.
Nehemiah’s response—“I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?”
Enemy’s tactic #2—Send out letters slandering Nehemiah.
Nehemiah’s response—“There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.” Then he prayed, “God, give me strength.”
Enemy’s tactic #3—Try to scare Nehemiah into running away.
Nehemiah’s response—“Should someone in my position run from danger? I know that God wouldn’t like that.”
Nehemiah had a vision from God and he stayed focused on that.
The result: “When all our enemies heard [that we had completed our project]…they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.”
This is Part 7 in my series on godly leadership. To read my other posts, please click here.
Last week I reviewed a book calling Christians to pray for Muslims to come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Prayer must be our first priority. But often times prayer will open the door for us to speak and act in love to share our faith with our Muslim friends.
I recently read a quarter of booklets that I would highly recommend to you—
These booklets will help you understand the mindset of Muslims, learn more about the questions Muslims ask of Christians, some thoughtful ways to answer those questions, and the lifestyle that will be the most appealing for Muslims to open their hearts to Christians.
In one of the booklets, Ron Peck says, “It is our prayer that this knowledge [in these booklets] will encourage true believers in Jesus to reach out in love and share the life-changing gospel of Christ with Muslims God has brought to our shores. We also pray it will challenge Christ’s followers to take a stand against the missionary efforts of Islamic governments overseas as they endeavor to Islamize our nation.”
Given the fact that about 15 percent of all U.S. immigrants each year are followers of Islam, and that most statisticians agree that in the United States there are about 25,000 converts to Islam every year, now is the optimal time for Christians to be prepared to share their faith in Jesus with their Muslim neighbors.
Tim Elmore is always suggesting ways to help those who work with students—parents, teachers, coaches, youth workers—to more effectively interact with young people.
Many of us (adults and students) struggle with wanting things to happen NOW! As a result, we tend to look for shortcuts. Dr. Elmore suggests that a “second mile” mindset will serve us all better. Check this out:
“In order to move from the ‘shortcut’ mindset to the ‘second mile’ mindset, let me suggest these shifts:
Stop Asking Shortcut Questions…
Start Asking Second Mile Questions…
If you are leading students today, I would highly recommend you check out Dr. Elmore’s latest book Marching Off The Map.
Craig T. Owens 
The Q Series—Parables, End Times, And Prayer
August 21, 2017 — Craig T. OwensHere’s what we discussed, along with the time this discussion appears on the video:
We will be answering your questions one more time next Sunday. Please click here to find all the ways you can submit your questions.
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