Thứ Sáu, tháng 8 29, 2008

GOD GAVE HIS SON. ISSUE NO. 18 AUGUST 19th, 2008

I John 5:11 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”

Galatians 1:4 “who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”

Titus 2:13-14a “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us…”

Romans 8:32 Amp. “He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?”
Dear Friends,
Emie and I send you a warm “hello” to you from the Philippines, in the name of Jesus. We pray that the Lord will edify, exhort, and encourage you in all areas of your life and service to Him. May the Lord’s best blessings overflow in your life as you faithfully serve Him. “I will bless them and the places surrounding My hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.” ---Ezekiel 34:26

All of our lives----you life and my life----came into being by the will of God. The first 5 words of the Bible are: “In the beginning God created”…and in Genesis 1:7 the word of God says: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed life into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Even the atheist who is spouting off his or her statements of unbelief in God---are unwittingly doing so with the very breath that God Himself breathed into their lives. Every breath they take and every breath we take---is a gift from God. The Bible says in Psalm 136:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” ---and that is a good command to obey because it is His mercy and goodness that sustains our lives. Every good thing in our lives comes from the Lord and He is ever so worthy of our thanksgiving and praise.
The Scriptures at the top of the page share about the greatest investment of all time---that was made that we might have eternal life. In Mark 15:37 the Bible says: “And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.” Jesus breathed His last in order that we could have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. The day any of us who believe in Jesus---breathe our last---it will not be the end but a new beginning. It will be graduation day and we will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus. That is good news but in the meantime---let’s do the best we can to share the gospel with new people, encourage one another in our Christian faith, and do the work that God put us on this earth to do. God gave us His best—and let us give our best in service to Him. Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.”

Emie would like to share a few words:
Dear Partner,
Greetings to you in Jesus name!
I would like to share how God orchestrates people to come our way. I met a lady in the grocery store, her name is Lina. We exchanged cell phone numbers and texted each other. We scheduled to meet at Duken’s Donut shop for coffee. We both have different intentions---she is an agent of Sun Life Insurance. She offered me a policy for Sun Life Insurance. And I offered to her my “Heavenly Assurance.”
I presented to her the benefits of the Heavenly Assurance. I told her: “You can have joy, peace, fulfillment, and salvation. If you need healing the Specialist doctor will heal you for free. [I also told her] that if you need emotional healing He is there to heal and comfort you.”
As I was sharing with her she started crying…but was trying to hold back her emotion and tears. I found out from her she had been bleeding for a month…and was newly separated from her husband who has another woman. That caused her a lot of pain. I invited her to come to church the next day (Sunday), she came and
accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
After 3 days my husband and I visited her store as Lina and I had agreed. She was waiting for us, and came inside my car where we prayed and read the word of God for her. She was crying and pouring out her heart to us. Lina is now a Christian & she asked me to be her friend forever.
I thank God for her life. Please pray for her that God will heal & comfort her.
Love,
Emie
I would like to ask you to pray for the Pastors and churches we are helping to establish.
As I have mentioned in the past, most of these churches we have directly pioneered. A few we have allowed to affiliate with us so they could have fellowship with other pastors and churches and more prayer support. Many of these are the only born again Christian Church in their area. As the per capita income in the Philippines is about 4% of what it is in the states and most of these churches are located in rural areas that have a living standard below the national average, finances are a challenge in many of these churches. As a result of this we help the church pastors with some financial assistance. I have also mentioned that Region 8 where these churches are located is the least evangelized region in the Philippines with only about 1% born again when I first came here in 1992, so every church that is pioneered in un-reached areas is a great blessing. Most churches vary in attendance from 20-50, with a couple 85+, and the medium average attendance is in the mid forties. In the month of July, the total average Sunday attendance of men, women, young people, and children for all the churches was over 770 people. As mentioned in the past, the majority of these people came to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord as a result of Eternal Life Ministries Intl’s: crusades, bible studies, church services, radio broadcasts, and one on one evangelism. These are the Islands, Churches, and Pastor’ names:
SAMAR LEYTE BILIRAN
Catarmen: Pastor Ludring Tacloban: Gordon & Emie Culaba: Pastor TJ Comendo
Canavid: Pastor Arnel Tacloban, Bliss Pastor Jun Comendo Canavid: Pastor Nick
Zumaraga: Pastor Dario Abuyog: Pastor Undo Cabucgayan: Pastora Felly
Calbiga: Pastor Leo Baybay: Pastora Nerry Looc: Pastor Teddy & Pastora Gena
Villareal: Pastor Levi Sinambag: Pastor Roberto Bato: Pastor Roger
* Isidro:Pastor Elpedio Palarao: Pastor Rico
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,” –Mark 16:15 NAS

The weekly radio broadcast, the children’s feeding outreach, and other areas of ministry are doing well. We continue to pray for God rich blessings on each of you and once again would like to extend our thanks to you for your prayers, encouragement, and financial investments that help us share the gospel and bring people to come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. God reward and bless you always.
In His love,
Gordon & Emie
P.S. Please continue to pray for God’s blessings upon our health, abundant provision for the financial needs of the ministry outreaches, for His protection, fresh anointing and clear guidance.
Finances: In this area we could use some extra help at this time to cover all the ministry needs. Please pray the Lord will touch the hearts of able and willing people to give as the Holy Spirit leads them. Thanks & God bless you.