Monthly Archives: September 2018

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

HERE I AM; SEND ME: UNDERSTANDING THE CALL OF GOD PART 01

Matthew 22:14 (KJV) For many are called, but few are chosen.
Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV): Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you;I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
It arrived in a gold-edged envelope. Carefully opening the flap so as not to damage this exquisite correspondence, out came an invitation:
You are cordially invited to have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen in Buckingham Palace at 11:00 AM, Wednesday 21 October ….
No matter what was already scheduled for that day and week, you can be sure that the recipient of this invitation would ‘clear the decks’ to make sure they were available for their appointed time.
Yet believers in Christ have received something much more prestigious and infinitely more valuable. It is referred to as ‘the call of God.’ It is a sobering and awesome responsibility and yet it is indisputably the highest of honours.
Life is much more than about mere survival: what will I eat, drink, wear, or sleep. Also, it is more than success, which connotes a temporal worldly reward. Ultimately, it is about significance: making a difference, ‘leavening a mark’ in the hurting, fallen world. Yet, in order to reach true, lasting, eternal significance, one needs to partner with God – on His terms! This can only be done by responding to ‘the call of God.’
All great men and women of God, past and present, obeyed the call, paid the price, never lost focus, and, through faith and patience obtained the promise (Hebrews 6:12). Many cook up their own idea and come to God to endorse it. Yet, those who are bountifully fruitful simply accept God’s call, timing, and idea. And never forget, the God idea is the the only one that works, the man-made, home-cooked idea, does not.
In order to understand the ‘call of God,’ it is important to see the following:
The Call of God Can Be Personal
A young Samuel was raised in life and ministry by the high priest Eli. He was already in God’s service before he personally new the Lord. While it is honourable to be serving God, it is of the utmost importance to ‘come to God,’ let God ‘come into you,’ and grow in your knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). We need to k’lift up you gates, and be lifted up you everlasting doors, and the king of Glory will come in (Psalm 24:7, 9, 10; Revelation 3:20).
How can we forget that transformational incident on the Damascus Road when Jesus called a vicious, violent, and malevolent man from Tarsus. ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’’ The religious bully, blinded by the bright light of God’s glory, fell off his donkey and asked: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Here is a man who thought he was ‘serving God’ by persecuting the infant Christian church; instead, he now understood that He not only ‘tried to serve’ a God he didn’t know but also offered service that was ‘erroneous’ and defiled. Whatever Saul did to Christians, he did to Jesus personally.
Samuel’s call and Saul’s call were personal. God knew them and their name even when they did not know Him. Yet with the privilege came awesome responsibilities. In Saul of Tarsus’, he would be shown the great things he would suffer for the Lord’s sake (Acts 9:16).
The Call of God Can Be Universal
There is a universal call of God for the ‘whosoever wills.’ There is none more important than the call which is given to everyone: say ‘Yes’ to the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.  God wills that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4).
Acts 2:39(KJV): For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
The universal call is not just for salvation and Spirit empowerment; it is also for service. This is well-illustrated when God, high and lifted up on his throne of glory, asked the question: who shall we send and who will go for us? A wise young Isaiah put up his hand to the call and replied, ‘Here I am Lord, Send me.’ (Isaiah 6:8). And God did.
The Call of God Has Responsibilities
The privilege to be called of God also contains sober responsibilities. This is a particular challenge in our day, where a growing communal immaturity expects, even demands, perks and privileges, while trying to ignore the commitment and responsibilities that come with it. Yet responsibility and privilege go hand-in-hand and attempts to sever this connection will only result in dysfunction and disaster.
Responding to the call of God means that the Almighty becomes ‘the boss.’ Where we go, what we do, when we do it, are now determined according to God’s timetable, not ours. He is the Commander-in-Chief. Our cherished autonomy is set aside for the greater good of the greater call. While God does not want to micro-manage your life – when to brush your teeth, what to eat for breakfast, or which colour of socks you must wear – there is a strong awareness that our personal desires are irrelevant when serving the Lord. Like royalty, we are committed to doing our duty without thought of whether we want to our not.
While there is a sincere desire in the heart of God’s people to serve Him, we will be tempted to seek to cleave to ‘the comfortable, familiar, and safe.’ While to the flesh this seems reasonable, to the Spirit it is a hindrance and offence. After all, those who ‘play it safe’ have no need to put all their trust in Lord, since their trust is in those things which they know. We cannot please God unless we exhibit continuous faith and trust in him. The familiar will become a distraction and detour from the divine call and invariably causes us to remain on the ‘wrong side of the fence.’
TO BE CONTINUED

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

HERE I AM; SEND ME: UNDERSTANDING THE CALL OF GOD PART 01

Matthew 22:14 (KJV) For many are called, but few are chosen.
Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV): Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you;I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
It arrived in a gold-edged envelope. Carefully opening the flap so as not to damage this exquisite correspondence, out came an invitation:
You are cordially invited to have an audience with Her Majesty the Queen in Buckingham Palace at 11:00 AM, Wednesday 21 October ….
No matter what was already scheduled for that day and week, you can be sure that the recipient of this invitation would ‘clear the decks’ to make sure they were available for their appointed time.
Yet believers in Christ have received something much more prestigious and infinitely more valuable. It is referred to as ‘the call of God.’ It is a sobering and awesome responsibility and yet it is indisputably the highest of honours.
Life is much more than about mere survival: what will I eat, drink, wear, or sleep. Also, it is more than success, which connotes a temporal worldly reward. Ultimately, it is about significance: making a difference, ‘leavening a mark’ in the hurting, fallen world. Yet, in order to reach true, lasting, eternal significance, one needs to partner with God – on His terms! This can only be done by responding to ‘the call of God.’
All great men and women of God, past and present, obeyed the call, paid the price, never lost focus, and, through faith and patience obtained the promise (Hebrews 6:12). Many cook up their own idea and come to God to endorse it. Yet, those who are bountifully fruitful simply accept God’s call, timing, and idea. And never forget, the God idea is the the only one that works, the man-made, home-cooked idea, does not.
In order to understand the ‘call of God,’ it is important to see the following:
The Call of God Can Be Personal
A young Samuel was raised in life and ministry by the high priest Eli. He was already in God’s service before he personally new the Lord. While it is honourable to be serving God, it is of the utmost importance to ‘come to God,’ let God ‘come into you,’ and grow in your knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10). We need to k’lift up you gates, and be lifted up you everlasting doors, and the king of Glory will come in (Psalm 24:7, 9, 10; Revelation 3:20).
How can we forget that transformational incident on the Damascus Road when Jesus called a vicious, violent, and malevolent man from Tarsus. ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’’ The religious bully, blinded by the bright light of God’s glory, fell off his donkey and asked: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Here is a man who thought he was ‘serving God’ by persecuting the infant Christian church; instead, he now understood that He not only ‘tried to serve’ a God he didn’t know but also offered service that was ‘erroneous’ and defiled. Whatever Saul did to Christians, he did to Jesus personally.
Samuel’s call and Saul’s call were personal. God knew them and their name even when they did not know Him. Yet with the privilege came awesome responsibilities. In Saul of Tarsus’, he would be shown the great things he would suffer for the Lord’s sake (Acts 9:16).
The Call of God Can Be Universal
There is a universal call of God for the ‘whosoever wills.’ There is none more important than the call which is given to everyone: say ‘Yes’ to the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.  God wills that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4).
Acts 2:39(KJV): For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
The universal call is not just for salvation and Spirit empowerment; it is also for service. This is well-illustrated when God, high and lifted up on his throne of glory, asked the question: who shall we send and who will go for us? A wise young Isaiah put up his hand to the call and replied, ‘Here I am Lord, Send me.’ (Isaiah 6:8). And God did.
The Call of God Has Responsibilities
The privilege to be called of God also contains sober responsibilities. This is a particular challenge in our day, where a growing communal immaturity expects, even demands, perks and privileges, while trying to ignore the commitment and responsibilities that come with it. Yet responsibility and privilege go hand-in-hand and attempts to sever this connection will only result in dysfunction and disaster.
Responding to the call of God means that the Almighty becomes ‘the boss.’ Where we go, what we do, when we do it, are now determined according to God’s timetable, not ours. He is the Commander-in-Chief. Our cherished autonomy is set aside for the greater good of the greater call. While God does not want to micro-manage your life – when to brush your teeth, what to eat for breakfast, or which colour of socks you must wear – there is a strong awareness that our personal desires are irrelevant when serving the Lord. Like royalty, we are committed to doing our duty without thought of whether we want to our not.
While there is a sincere desire in the heart of God’s people to serve Him, we will be tempted to seek to cleave to ‘the comfortable, familiar, and safe.’ While to the flesh this seems reasonable, to the Spirit it is a hindrance and offence. After all, those who ‘play it safe’ have no need to put all their trust in Lord, since their trust is in those things which they know. We cannot please God unless we exhibit continuous faith and trust in him. The familiar will become a distraction and detour from the divine call and invariably causes us to remain on the ‘wrong side of the fence.’
TO BE CONTINUED

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

JERUSALEM: A MAGNET FOR CHRISTIAN VISITS PART 02

In Part 01 of our series about Jerusalem and Christians visits, we learned that the ‘river of pilgrimage’ has been flowing from the very beginning of the church age. Christians constitute the highest amount of sacred visitors to a holy city which is also sacred to Judaism and Islam, too. This growing phenomena in Christian visits is even more remarkable considering that neither Christ nor the apostles command it, and there is more of a spiritual, rather than geographic, emphasis in Christian worship.
We also learned why Christians visit Jerusalem. They can be summarised in two key words:
Devotion: From the very beginning, Christians have been motivated to visit Jerusalem so that they can ‘walk where Jesus walked.’ Following in the footsteps of the Master is a strong sign of devotion.
Education: Pious believers visit Jerusalem because they want to learn more about the Bible. Considering that Jerusalem is mentioned over 811 times in the KJV, it is indisputably the premier city of Scripture.
What is remarkable is that these twin pillars of devotion and education can be applied across the board, to pilgrims from every denomination and every century of the church age.
The Tourism Factor
To the ancient practice of Christian pilgrimage we need to add the phenomena of modern mass tourism. It is a multi-billion dollar growth industry and has been particularly potent since the end of the Second World War. How does modern tourism affect time-honoured Christian pilgrimage?
We begin by defining tourist: An individual who temporarily leaves their home and travels in order to pursue pleasure and holiday-making.
There is both domestic and international tourism. In many countries incoming non-residents and non-immigrants receive a ‘tourist visa,’ whether their purpose is business, religious, or recreational. Specifically, an international tourist is a person who enters a country for the purpose of touring, pleasure, leisure, and/or sightseeing.
Since the Second World War, there is has been a measurable rise in the disposable income and discretionary time. No longer is tourism reserved for the rich and famous; travel costs have become more affordable. This means that working class people can now do international tourism. Many nations, especially those with limited natural resources, welcome the trend towards mass tourism as a means of earning hard currency, providing jobs, and building better international relations.
The advent of the modern tourist industry has had an incalculable effect on Christian visits to the Holy City, especially since 1967. After the June (Six Day) War, Israel captured territory which contains some of the most important holy (Biblical) sites in the world. In recognition of this fact, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism sought for ways to attract as many Christian visitors as possible. Naturally, Jewish tourism was also encouraged but with only 14 million Jews worldwide and 6.5 million in Israel alone, the potential of mass Jewish tourism is limited. The Christian world offers tens of millions of potential visitors., who can visit the Biblical sites, invest money, and return home as good-will ambassadors.
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism began the (Christian) Pilgrimage Promotion Department. Starting with virtually no knowledge of Christianity, the department learned the vocabulary used by different Christian denominations, the numerous holy and feast days, and the significance of the major and minor holy sites. They produced travel posters (the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth was a favoured pre-1967 theme; since then the skyline of Jerusalem is the most common), and pilgrims’ maps. Christians worldwide have been encouraged to visit their favourite holy places of Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem, all under one roof.
Full-page ads were placed in Christian periodicals stating ‘Come walk where Jesus Walked…Israel Government Tourist Office.’ Israel Information Nights, which featured film and talks, were hosted in major centres. Free or subsidised tours were offered to pastors and Christian leaders with the goal that they will bring a tour of their own in the future. Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism embarked on an ambitious program of training Israelis as licensed guides, building hotels, importing air-conditioned top of the line tour buses, and including archaeological sites, museums, and the Yad Va Shem Holocaust Memorial onto the tour itinerary. While the Ministry of Tourism seeks to attract all kinds of tourists, including secular holiday-makers to Tel Aviv and Eilat, it has been especially effective in targeting Christians to come to Jerusalem.
The efforts of the pilgrimage promotion department and the ministry of tourism have paid off. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, tourist numbers to Israel have increased from a 1972 figure of 727,533 visitors to a 1990 total of 1,341,700.
Here are some interesting statistics:
Tourism to Israel (of which 2/3rds are Christians and 90% plus of these visit Jerusalem) was a follows:
1970-1979:      7.7 million total
1980-1989:      12.6 million
1990-1999:      20.3 million
2000-2009:      19.3 million (the second intifada of 2000-2004 is the reason for the dip)
In the year 2016 alone, there was a grand total of 3,069,800 tourists.[1]
Palestinian Arabs are also interested in being part of the tourist industry. Since 1986 Bethlehem University offers a tour-guide course and school of hotel management. Since the Oslo accords of 1993, the Palestinians are custodians of some important Biblical sites, like the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the city of Samaria (also known as Sebastiyah), and Jacob’s Well (John 4) near Nablus. Even in Israeli hotels in Jerusalem, Tiberias, and elsewhere, many of the employees are Arabs.
There is evidence that Jerusalem is the universal destination of all Christian Holy Land tour itineraries and a regular stop on the vast majority of private Christian visits. One survey called estimated that over 90% of Christians visited Jerusalem. Even Northern Europeans who have a winter ‘sun holiday’ in Eilat on the Red Sea, using a chartered flight, make sure they stop by Jerusalem to visit holy sites before returning home.
The promotion and marketing of tourism to the holy land definitely explains the increased number of visitors. Yet these promoters do not have to do a ‘hard sell:’ Jerusalem is a magnet for Christian visits in its own right. TO BE CONTINUED.

[1]Statistics courtesy of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.

Articles, Education, Prophecy, Teaching

JERUSALEM: A MAGNET FOR CHRISTIAN VISITS PART 02

In Part 01 of our series about Jerusalem and Christians visits, we learned that the ‘river of pilgrimage’ has been flowing from the very beginning of the church age. Christians constitute the highest amount of sacred visitors to a holy city which is also sacred to Judaism and Islam, too. This growing phenomena in Christian visits is even more remarkable considering that neither Christ nor the apostles command it, and there is more of a spiritual, rather than geographic, emphasis in Christian worship.
We also learned why Christians visit Jerusalem. They can be summarised in two key words:
Devotion: From the very beginning, Christians have been motivated to visit Jerusalem so that they can ‘walk where Jesus walked.’ Following in the footsteps of the Master is a strong sign of devotion.
Education: Pious believers visit Jerusalem because they want to learn more about the Bible. Considering that Jerusalem is mentioned over 811 times in the KJV, it is indisputably the premier city of Scripture.
What is remarkable is that these twin pillars of devotion and education can be applied across the board, to pilgrims from every denomination and every century of the church age.
The Tourism Factor
To the ancient practice of Christian pilgrimage we need to add the phenomena of modern mass tourism. It is a multi-billion dollar growth industry and has been particularly potent since the end of the Second World War. How does modern tourism affect time-honoured Christian pilgrimage?
We begin by defining tourist: An individual who temporarily leaves their home and travels in order to pursue pleasure and holiday-making.
There is both domestic and international tourism. In many countries incoming non-residents and non-immigrants receive a ‘tourist visa,’ whether their purpose is business, religious, or recreational. Specifically, an international tourist is a person who enters a country for the purpose of touring, pleasure, leisure, and/or sightseeing.
Since the Second World War, there is has been a measurable rise in the disposable income and discretionary time. No longer is tourism reserved for the rich and famous; travel costs have become more affordable. This means that working class people can now do international tourism. Many nations, especially those with limited natural resources, welcome the trend towards mass tourism as a means of earning hard currency, providing jobs, and building better international relations.
The advent of the modern tourist industry has had an incalculable effect on Christian visits to the Holy City, especially since 1967. After the June (Six Day) War, Israel captured territory which contains some of the most important holy (Biblical) sites in the world. In recognition of this fact, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism sought for ways to attract as many Christian visitors as possible. Naturally, Jewish tourism was also encouraged but with only 14 million Jews worldwide and 6.5 million in Israel alone, the potential of mass Jewish tourism is limited. The Christian world offers tens of millions of potential visitors., who can visit the Biblical sites, invest money, and return home as good-will ambassadors.
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism began the (Christian) Pilgrimage Promotion Department. Starting with virtually no knowledge of Christianity, the department learned the vocabulary used by different Christian denominations, the numerous holy and feast days, and the significance of the major and minor holy sites. They produced travel posters (the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth was a favoured pre-1967 theme; since then the skyline of Jerusalem is the most common), and pilgrims’ maps. Christians worldwide have been encouraged to visit their favourite holy places of Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem, all under one roof.
Full-page ads were placed in Christian periodicals stating ‘Come walk where Jesus Walked…Israel Government Tourist Office.’ Israel Information Nights, which featured film and talks, were hosted in major centres. Free or subsidised tours were offered to pastors and Christian leaders with the goal that they will bring a tour of their own in the future. Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism embarked on an ambitious program of training Israelis as licensed guides, building hotels, importing air-conditioned top of the line tour buses, and including archaeological sites, museums, and the Yad Va Shem Holocaust Memorial onto the tour itinerary. While the Ministry of Tourism seeks to attract all kinds of tourists, including secular holiday-makers to Tel Aviv and Eilat, it has been especially effective in targeting Christians to come to Jerusalem.
The efforts of the pilgrimage promotion department and the ministry of tourism have paid off. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, tourist numbers to Israel have increased from a 1972 figure of 727,533 visitors to a 1990 total of 1,341,700.
Here are some interesting statistics:
Tourism to Israel (of which 2/3rds are Christians and 90% plus of these visit Jerusalem) was a follows:
1970-1979:      7.7 million total
1980-1989:      12.6 million
1990-1999:      20.3 million
2000-2009:      19.3 million (the second intifada of 2000-2004 is the reason for the dip)
In the year 2016 alone, there was a grand total of 3,069,800 tourists.[1]
Palestinian Arabs are also interested in being part of the tourist industry. Since 1986 Bethlehem University offers a tour-guide course and school of hotel management. Since the Oslo accords of 1993, the Palestinians are custodians of some important Biblical sites, like the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the city of Samaria (also known as Sebastiyah), and Jacob’s Well (John 4) near Nablus. Even in Israeli hotels in Jerusalem, Tiberias, and elsewhere, many of the employees are Arabs.
There is evidence that Jerusalem is the universal destination of all Christian Holy Land tour itineraries and a regular stop on the vast majority of private Christian visits. One survey called estimated that over 90% of Christians visited Jerusalem. Even Northern Europeans who have a winter ‘sun holiday’ in Eilat on the Red Sea, using a chartered flight, make sure they stop by Jerusalem to visit holy sites before returning home.
The promotion and marketing of tourism to the holy land definitely explains the increased number of visitors. Yet these promoters do not have to do a ‘hard sell:’ Jerusalem is a magnet for Christian visits in its own right. TO BE CONTINUED.

[1]Statistics courtesy of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.