Saturday 31 December 2011

Crowned With Goodness - Happy New Year!


Happy New Year to all in our Lord Jesus! 

I can't believe that 2011 has just ended. It's been an amazing year to be sure. A LOT has happened, many changes, many sorrows, and also many joys. Floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, revolutions, revolts, victories and defeats, death and destruction, and also revival and joy! These are just the amazing paradoxes of this year. In it all we can say: 'Eben-ezer...Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' (1 Samuel 7:12b). It is really exciting and humbling to think that we live in days when history is being made. It is days in which our God and our Heavenly Father is working mighty things that we at times do not know or understand. But we can be sure, as His children, that they are always good and full of infinite wisdom. Personally I can declare that He has been faithful. 'Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and they paths drop fatness.' (Psalm 65:11). Amen! Jesus is very good!


Now a new year is before us - 2012! A new beginning and full of new opportunities to experience God's goodness and faithfulness! It is a time of making new resolutions....unfortunately, I'm very bad at keeping them! We need His grace always. My prayer for this new year, it to know the Lord Jesus more. To lose myself and find Him more. It is not always easy, but this is true life and yes, true joy. I want to spend time with Him more. I want to rely and trust Him more fully. I want to see Jesus lifted high in my life, my family, in the Church, and around the world. 

At this moment, let us also remember our brothers and sisters  in the Lord around the world who are suffering and are persecuted. I have in mind the sad bombings of Churches in Nigeria this past Christmas. May the Lord strengthen them and comfort them. 
Tonight is also the 1st anniversary of the bombings of the Church in Alexandria, Egypt where many died and many others were injured. 12 months later, Egypt has undergone unbelievable change. The Church in Egypt has suffered a lot and yet in the midst of that darkness, the Lord Jesus shines in His people. That is a comfort for all His people everywhere. I believe that next year will bring many more changes both on the personal level and on the more general, worldwide level, some perhaps may not be what we would like to have. But through it all, He will be with us and we will see Him, if we just look up to Him and call on His name! 

The following video clip has gone viral on the internet. Though you will most probably never see it on the normal media. It happened a few weeks ago in Cairo, Egypt in the Moukatam Cave Church, during a long 'Night of Prayer and Return to God' meeting in which at least 70,000 people attended. Earlier this year, some members of this Church experienced martyrdom during one of the many attacks on Christians this year. See what the Lord is doing.
'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:21) 
'The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.' (Proverbs 18:10)

Thousands in Egypt shout JESUS for 10 consecutive minutes. It was also totally spontaneous! 

The song "Hail, Jesus, Your my King!' in Arabic while the congregation shouts JESUS!

Amen! May the Lord give us more of this worldwide in this coming new year! 

Before ending, I just want say thank you to all my friends for encouraging me. This year I started blogging. It has been an amazing experience. I look forward to being blessed by all of you again this new year! 
God Bless,

Monday 26 December 2011

Merry Christmas! This Day in History: Christmas Truce, 1914

Merry Christmas to all! 
Well, this is the end of this lovely day, spent happily and quietly with my family. The Lord gave us a good and blessed time together. We worked, sang, laughed, prayed, ate, and opened presents together. A really special time. It is hard to believe it's come and gone so quickly. This is life. It goes very quickly. But with Jesus, this is never the end...it is always only the beginning! Because of this day 2,000 years ago, we can have life and hope for tomorrow, as well as today. A new year is now before us and we can always rely on Him to be with us to guide us and to satisfy us. Let us rejoice in Him! Let us love and fear Him! He is our life! 

Today I'd like to share a small historical event that took place during WWI. It was the Christmas Truce of 1914, when Christmas brought a glimpse of the final peace that will one day come because of the first and second coming of the Prince of Peace. It also shows how the Christmas carol, 'Silent Night' has brought  many people, far and wide and under difficult circumstances together, through the grace of the Holy Spirit. 

Unfortunately it's late now and I feel pretty tired after such a lovely but long day, so I won't be able to write about it myself! But I'll give you some links and a documentary video clip.   





In WW2, Christmas brought similar moments of peace and reconciliation...even if it lasted one night. Click here to watch Silent Night - A touching WWII true story (a few graphic war scenes and  perhaps a bit of course language). 


God Bless, 


Tuesday 13 December 2011

Libera - Inspirational Music

Hello again, my dear reader friends! It's been a while since my last post and Christmas is almost upon us! I believe it is an amazing season...not because of all the silliness that goes on around in the world during that time, but because of the amazing thing that we remember at this special time every year. How the Great God of Heaven and Earth and all that is in them, the Great God of the Universe, our Great Creator, should love us so much that He would give us His most precious Son to redeem us from sin and death and give us eternal life to all who believe and receive His salvation. I never ever cease to wonder at this. This greatness that choose to be a small helpless baby, born in a very poor home, and in a poor, dirty manger. To grow and become a Man and die on a horrible cross...all for us! It is beyond our understanding! But we can accept it with humility and thanksgiving and give our lives to Him as an offering. Thank you, Lord! 
This is the GOSPEL:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His 
        Only begotten 
        Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
        Perish, but have 
        Everlasting 
        Life" 
John 3: 16
Amen!
We do not want to celebrate this season in the way the world celebrates...just gifts and material things...but it is a time to worship our Redeemer.
***************** 

Recently, I discovered an amazing boys choir based in London, called Libera. They mainly sing classical sacred music and they are just amazing and so heavenly. You've probably already noticed the music video I put on the top of the blog for the Carol of the Bells...I think this is the best version I've found for it so far. Here is some more for you to be blessed by this Christmas time:





Be Blessed. 

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