For the past few days I have been so ill and depressed that blogging wasn't possible. The worry about finding help to get this single wide and barn finished has sent me into a panic struck quandary. The weather has been delightful, albeit some high winds made nights inside a garden shed fairly noisy.Last night I couldn't sleep, by 4am I was so distraught Rio and I went for a walk trying to clear my mind and seek "calmness."
Trying to find electric poles to get the electricity turned on has been a major hurdle and I feel like a hamster on a wheel, running as fast as I possibly can yet going nowhere.I have long since started to question if I am supposed to have a home. Please God, don't let me die in this shed.
Yet I still go on somehow trying to find a way to get the roof on this barn, utilize the building supplies already purchased to renovate the single wide and find the funds to buy more supplies. But there is JUST Me, Myself and I - and I have no idea how to do it alone.
Still the weather is just gorgeous and this week I'll start working on the brochures and articles for the trail riding groups in the region, advertise a few stallions and keep plodding on praying for a miracle in my life.
I'm marketing one stallion - for sale - that I wanted to buy 3+ years ago and it's hitting me hard that here we are in breeding season and I can't even return to my work, my career, because I can't get the barn finished.
This particular stallion I would have walked over broken glass to acquire before I met Robert & Sylvi Huckins. My, how times have changed.
Being without a hauling truck prompted my boss to ask why I didn't "lease" a one ton truck for he was confident that I could lease one for less than $250 a month. I started laughing.. I rather doubt that anyone could lease a truck for $250 a month and even if such was possible, that amount is more money than I make in a week. I would have to work over a week to pay the rental, and a week to pay the insurance.
Sounds good to me!
My grand-children returned from California where they spent an entire week being deluged by rain and storms. It was warmer in sunny Ruidoso-By-The-Sea than Southern California.
My youngest daughter managed to retrieve the stranded truck in Texas, so I can now relax from fearing they had lost that vehicle.
Life would be good.. if I could only acquire a home and see my mother before she dies.
One of the topics that came to my attention in the past 3 days an unbelievable revival in the Muslim communities around the world. These are simply the tip of the iceberg - to which I say, "Praise the Lord."
Although Muslim have been wrongly taught about Jesus the Messiah by their religious leaders, many of them are now coming to faith in the real Jesus of the Bible. Charisma Magazine wrote an interesting report that states, “…a tsunami of faith is quietly overtaking the Muslim world. Islamic adherents are laying aside their allegiance to Muhammad to follow Jesus Christ, despite the social ostracism, persecution and possible martyrdom that converts to Christianity face.” Middle East expert Joel Rosenberg believes more Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last 30 years than at any time in history. “The vast majority of those conversions have happened since 9/11,” he notes. He relates some of their stories in his book, Inside the Revolution.
One missionary to Iran, who asked to remain anonymous, says a “tremendous” number of Muslims there are seeing that “Islam as a religion has failed them personally, economically, spiritually and socially.”
When Christians witness to Muslims they need to overcome some common misconceptions their Islamic leaders have taught them about Jesus, such as:
- Jesus was not the Son of God but merely a messenger (prophet).
- Jesus was not crucified, nor did He ever resurrect from the dead.
- Anyone who believes in Jesus as the Son of God will be accursed.
But despite these erroneous ideas about Jesus, many Muslims are seeking the truth and discovering the real Jesus is indeed the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind.
May the LORD burden us to pray for and witness to the Muslim people. They need our Christian love and compassion just as much as any other race of people in the world.
Son of Hamas leader forsakes and exposes Islam, and starts following Jesus
Christians and Muslims should take note of part 5 of this series where Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of the Hamas founders, talks about the reason he forsook Islam and turned to Jesus Christ. Of special interest is the fact that Hamas torture and kill their own members inside the Israeli prisons and no one is safe. One verse that changed this young man's life was where Jesus said, "Love Your Enemies."
http://www.christian-faith.com/forjesus/son-of-hamas-leader-forsakes-and-exposes-islam-and-starts-following-jesus
Visions of Jesus Stir Muslim Hearts
Chris Mitchell
CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief
In a time where the world's attention is riveted on events in the Middle East, CBN viewers have come to appreciate Chris Mitchell's timely reports from this explosive region of the world. Mitchell brings a Biblical and prophetic perspective to these daily news events that shape our world.
JERUSALEM - The Muslim call to prayer resounds through a large part of the Earth, where more than one billion people call themselves Muslims.
Throughout the Islamic world, many Muslims from Gaza to London are also responding to the call to global jihad, where the goal is to take over the world for Islam. It's a clash of civilizations with the Christian faith in the middle.
Throughout the nearly 1,400 year history of Islam, Muslims have resisted the Christian Gospel. Many Christians tried to reach them with the good news, but with little success.
But according to many reports from the Middle East and around the world, that history is changing.
"I see many, many Arabic-speaking people turning to Christ, accepting Him as Lord and Savior,” said Nizar Shaheen, host of Light for the Nations, a Christian program seen throughout the Muslim world. "It's happening all over the Arab world. It's happening in North Africa. It's happening in the Middle East. It's happening in the Gulf countries. It's happening in Europe and Canada and the United States-in the Arabic-speaking world. Everywhere, people are accepting Jesus."
"What's happening nowadays in the Muslim world has never happened before," said Father Zakaria Boutros, an Egyptian Coptic priest who is one of the foremost evangelists to the Muslim world. He says a cross-section of Muslims are accepting Jesus Christ. "Young and old, educated and not educated, males and females, even those who are fanatic."
One fanatic Muslim who came to faith in Jesus Christ is Samer Achmad Muhammed. He studied for years to become a Wahhabi sheik, one of the most virulent forms of Islam. He hated Christians and the church, but his heart changed when he heard the Gospel.
"I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ, Jesus forgave me for my sins,” he said. “He gave me eternal life and peace. And the second thing, I really suffered in my daily life, but I had peace, I had joy because Jesus entered my heart."
Muhammed is just one of many who are coming to Jesus. Heidi Baker of Iris Ministries sees thousands of African Muslims receiving Jesus and getting baptized.
"It's probably the only place in the world where they are coming so quickly,” she said. “Many people are having dreams. They see Jesus appear to them. Probably half our pastors were leaders, imams in Moslem mosques. They were leaders in these mosques, now they're pastors."
Another significant evangelistic movement among Muslims links China and Jerusalem. Chinese house churches plan to send at least 100,000 evangelists from China through many predominantly Muslim nations all the back here to Jerusalem.
This quiet but powerful movement of itinerant evangelists is bringing the story of Jesus Christ into the heart of the Muslim world. Technologies like satellite television and the Internet also penetrate the world of Islam.
But beyond technology, many say a supernatural dimension is at work throughout the Islamic world.
"There is an end-time phenomenon that is happening through dreams and visions," said Christine Darg, author of The Jesus Visions: Signs and Wonders in the Muslim World. “He is going into the Muslim world and revealing, particularly, the last 24 hours of His life - how He died on the cross, which Islam does not teach - how He was raised from the dead, which Islam also does not teach – and how He is the Son of God, risen in power."
"We receive lots of letters about people who have had dreams about the Lord, visions, even miracles,” Shaheen said. “When they watch the program, they say yes, we had a dream or a vision, and they accept Jesus as Lord."
But Muslims who accept Jesus face persecution, discrimination or even death. Despite the dangers, many continue to live out their faith and lead others to Jesus Christ.
"Jesus loves all people, Jesus changes all people and Jesus is the One who places love and peace,” Shaheen said. “I was not like this but Jesus changed my life and I am not scared to talk about Jesus because praise is unto Him."
Some believe the Church's response to jihad must be a fearless proclamation of the Gospel to Muslims. Through prayer and evangelism, many see an unparalleled opportunity for the Gospel.
"I anticipate that very soon – perhaps within two or three years-we are going to see the greatest harvest in history," Shaheen said.
Tens of Thousands of Muslims Coming to Christ, Says Iranian Ministry Leader
The Middle East, which has become almost synonymous with violence and Islam, is experiencing an unprecedented level of Muslims becoming followers of Jesus Christ, said Sam Yeghnazar, founder of Iran-focused Elam Ministries. There were only about 500 Iranian Christians from a Muslim background at the time of Lausanne I in 1974, he said. But over the past 30 years, more Muslims have come to Christ than in the past 1,300 years.
“Iran today is a closed land with countless open hearts,” said Yeghnazar. “It is the most open nation to the Gospel in the entire world. Tens of thousands of Iranians are turning to Christ.”
“Betrayed by the government, disillusioned with the religion, depressed by the prospects of the future, Iranians when they come to know the Lord Jesus Christ are completely transformed,” he said. “They proclaim Christ in the marketplace. Entire families, men and women, are coming to Christ.”
Two weeks ago, two of Yeghnazar’s people were imprisoned and within a week they brought six people to Christ, he shared.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/tens-of-thousands-of-muslims-coming-to-christ-says-iranian-ministry-leader-47265/
More Than Dreams: Muslims Coming to Christ Through Dreams and Visions
March 2011
Throughout the Muslim world men and women without knowledge of the gospel or contact among Christians have experienced dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. “In the last days,” says God, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28 )
For decades, a well-documented phenomenon has been occurring in the Muslim world—men and women who, without knowledge of the gospel, or contact among Christians in their community, have experienced dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. The reports of these supernatural occurrences often come from “closed countries” where there is no preaching of the good news and where converting to Christianity can invoke the death sentence. But these are more than just dreams. Setting them apart is the intense reality of the experience and the surrender of one’s heart and mind to Christ in the wake of the dream. A common denominator appears to be that the dreams come to those who are seeking—as best they can—to know and please God.
Beginning in 2002, a group of people interested in this phenomenon took initial steps in bringing it to the attention of a worldwide audience through a series of video programs. Numerous on-site interviews were conducted with former Muslims who had experienced a dream or vision of Jesus resulting in their conversion to Christianity. From the outset, the producers endeavored to represent a global cross-section of Islam in the series, and for that reason, stories were sought in Arabic-speaking countries, Muslim areas throughout Africa and Asia and the secular Muslim nation of Turkey.
The project’s goal was to create versions of these stories in multiple languages, and, in league with ministry partners around the world, disseminate the product globally both to evangelize unbelievers and encourage those who have already experienced a dream or vision of Jesus that they are not alone. The following five stories were put together into the video series called More Than Dreams:
More Than Dreams Video Programs
The distribution strategy of More Than Dreams involves a multi-pronged approach in which each of the five stories will be dubbed into different languages in order to reach the largest target audience possible. It is estimated that Islam numbers over one billion followers worldwide. Through satellite broadcasts and massive “home video” distribution on VCD, DVD and VHS, it is hoped that More Than Dreams will reach millions of Muslims. The producers are allowing distribution partners to use the programs and even make copies for evangelistic purposes without royalty payments. The website morethandreams.tv provides more information on the series as well as on partnership opportunities.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
