Search the Community

Acts 8:34-40 New American Standard Bible 1995 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [[a]And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, [c]but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip [d]found himself at [e]Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. It's interesting to note that the meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian Bureaucrat Eunuch Government Official was quite brief because it was immediately after Philip shared The Gospel that The Holy Spirit snatched Philip away. Does it have something to do with Popular / pop psychology? (Also, as an Interesting Side Note: (Acts 8:26-40) narrative gives credibility to supporters of Short-term Christian missionary work because some Short-term Christian missionary work critics complain that short-term missionary work does Not allow Christian missionaries enough time to gradually develop a strong relationship with NonChristian people who need the Gospel.)

I'm asking what makes someone suitable to be a Christian missionary in a foreign land because the reports that have come my way vary from good to bad, with personality clashes, quitting, infidelity and divorce being at the lower end of the scale and community spirit, harmony, charitable works, multiple converts and expanding congregations at the higher end.

It would be interesting to see a few photos of the places in which you minister. And you could tell us a bit about your ministry and the people you are seeking to reach. Looking forward to some responses. Thanks!

Hi Friends. My wife and I are currently living near Calapan City, on Mindoro Island, Philippines. We are here to help look after the organization here that helps children who have cleft palate, or are orphaned for any reason. It is called the Ruel Foundation, after the boy named Ruel, who was their first patient. Last month they did 44 operations to correct cleft palates. They have a school for the children, so my teacher wife [Jan] is busy, as the pre- school teacher is also away on leave. I am a builder, handyman, so I have quite a few jobs lined up. We are living in the house of the CEO; founder, has here while she is in New Zealand for 2 months. Its quite tropical, but with fans and some air-con, we manage OK. It has taken 2 days to recover from the 3 1/2, to Sydney, then 8 1/2 to Manila flights, overnight, then 3 hour bus ride and 2 hour ferry to get here. Jan was sick on the ferry, rough trip! I will update this thread and answer any questions you may have, every day or so. Bruce and Jan McKerras, having fun in the sun!

Robert Skynner 166 Tamar House James Street Plymouth PL1 4HJ 15th February 2012 Dear Richard, I’ve been looking at the Scriptures for with regard to Michael the Archangel. Here is he result of my studies. Scripture mentions Michael five times at: Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1, Jude 9 and Revelation 12:7. Michael is addressed as ‘Archangel’ (meaning the chief angel) at Jude 9. However, at none of these five verses is it stated or even hinted, that Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel. From my copies of Russell’s (Zion’s) Watchtower, the Watchtower did for a long time teach that Michael was not the Michael: (Zion’s Watchtower, November 1879, page 48) – see the scan below: (unfortunately this scan won't copy from word). 1. At both Acts 17:31 and 1st Timothy 2:5, Jesus Christ in his post-resurrection state is described as ‘a man’ which is the Greek word ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos this word is numbered G444 in Strongs Concordance. However, the Watchtower contradicts this by claiming that Christ in the year 1914 defeated Satan as an angel, that is as Michael the archangel and not as a resurrected and glorified man: Revelation its Grand Climax at Hand, page 181, section 16. This claim is further undermined at Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26 and Luke 21:27, where Christ is at his second coming is described with the messianic title; ‘The Son of Man,’ however, angels aren’t human beings and so angels cannot be described as the ‘Sons of men.’ 2. Hebrews 1:4 states that Jesus Christ isn’t an angel, because he is: “so much better than the angels.” The context is given at verse three, where the representation of an image made by a seal in wax is made, to illustrate the fact that Christ and the Father both share the same divine nature. This is why Christ is superior to the angels. 3. The angels always refuse to accept any worship which is directed towards them, see Revelation 22:8-9. And yet at Hebrews 1:6 God the Father directly commands the angels to worship his Son; Jesus Christ. “Let all the angels of God worship him” (Hebrews 1:6, 1961 edition NWT, also all other modern and ancient translations). 4. Michael the Archangel was unable to rebuke Satan, and instead he said to him; ‘the Lord rebuke you’ (Jude 9, TEB), also translated as ‘may Jehovah rebuke you’ (Jude 9, NWT 1961 edition). Yet Jesus Christ did rebuke Satan, and he clearly did so himself at Matthew 4:10, where the 1961 edition NWT states that Christ rebuked Satan by stating: “Go away Satan! For it is written, ‘it is Jehovah your God you must worship, and to him alone you must render service.’ ” 5. At Daniel 10:13 Michael isn’t identified as God’s Son, and neither is he spoken of as being unique in any sense whatsoever. For Michael is here identified in the plural as “one of the chief princes.” So because Michael is only one angel amongst a company of fellow senior angels, just as Daniel 10:13 states. So Christ, who is uniquely the μονογενής monogenēs ‘only begotten Son’ of God (John 3:16, 3:18, 1st John 4:9-14) and that by his uniquely (ontological) nature which he shares with the Father (Hebrews 1:3), cannot also at the very same time also be Michael, who is just one senior angel amongst a company of other similar (higher) angelic beings. 6. At Hebrews 1:13 God the Father here makes a direct quotation of Psalm 110:1 and he then directly applies this to Jesus Christ: “But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” Now if Christ were really Michael the archangel, then this verse wouldn’t make any sense. For the entire purport of this passage is to state that Christ only sits at his Father’s right hand, which in Jewish terminology means a position of rank and authority, because he is uniquely God’s Son (which archangels are not). 7. We read at Hebrews 2:5 concerning the world to come, which Jehovah’s Witnesses interpret as the promised paradise earth that it won’t be a world which will be in subjection to the angels. However, at Hebrews 2:8, of this coming age we read that all things, which must surely include the new earth itself, will then be in complete subjection to Jesus Christ. So Christ cannot be an angel, or else they’d be a direct contradiction at Hebrews chapter 2 between verses 5 and 8. 8. How can Jesus be Michael the Archangel, when according to John 14:9 to see Jesus Christ is to see God the Father: “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” However, a mere archangel, who isn’t Yahweh God, cannot reveal Yahweh to us, for only Yahweh himself can genuinely reveal himself to us! Could you the reader, reveal Yahweh God to another by the sheer force of your own will? Of course not, and for the obvious reason that because the reader isn’t God therefore he or she cannot reveal someone who they are not, for it is only possible to reveal yourself to another. 9. 1st Corinthians 6:3 speaking of God’s people, states that they will soon judge angels: “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” However, if Jesus Christ is the Archangel Michael, who became this angel once again after his crucifixion, when his body dissolved into gasses, but was then recreated by Jehovah as the archangel Michael. Then to be consistent shouldn’t Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that one day they’ll judge Jesus Christ, if he’s an angel himself, in the light of 1st Corinthians 6:3. 10. When Christ returns to this earth at his second coming, we are told at 1st John 3:2 of our own resurrections; “that we shall be like him.” However, as I’ve already mentioned, the Bible states very clearly at both: Acts 17:31 and 1st Timothy 2:5 that Christ in his post-resurrection state is described as ‘a man’ (ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos). However, the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ was recreated by Jehovah as an archangel at his resurrection (he was not resurrected as a man). Then because we shall be like him, if Christ is now an archangel, then that would mean that on their paradise earth, all Jehovah’s Witnesses would likewise also lose their human natures, being instead remade into angels themselves, just like their own version of Jesus! 11. The Revelation book on page 181, section 15, applies 1st Thessalonians 4:16 to Jesus and then makes the claim that this archangel is Jesus Christ. But this text does not state that the archangel is the Lord (Jesus) who descends from heaven, anymore than it states that the Lord (Jesus) who descends from heaven is a trumpet or a voice. The shout of the archangel and the trumpet of God both announce Christ’s return; but they are not Christ himself. If the Watchtower Society is to be consistent, they they ought to concede that if Christ is the archangel then he is also a trumpet! The – οῦ suffix ending in Greek, which is used of both the archangel ἀρχαγγέλου and also of God θεοῦ at 1st Thessaolonians 4:16, is a genitive singular which implies a grammatical possession. See the back cover of the Purple edition of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation where a grammar sheet is provided at the bottom of the back cover. So the shout is the archangel’s voice and the trumpet is God’s announcement according to the use of this genitive singular tense. Finally. Speaking of Jesus Christ’s human body, Paul at 1st Corinthians 15:44 does not claim that Christ rose from the dead as a ‘spirit,’ nut instead he tells us that at his resurrection, that Jesus rose as a ‘spiritual’ (πνευματικός pneumatikos) body (σῶμα sōma). This word pnumaticos means ‘spirit controlled,’ as in the instance of the rock which Moses struck 1st Corinthians 10:4, this rock was a literal rock and it wasn’t something composed out of spirit. The word ‘soma’ (body) in the singular tense always means a physical body, and this word never means ‘a spirit’ or something non-physical (such as a ghost), when its used in the singular, which is why Christ is then called a man (anthropos) three times at 1st Corinthians 15:47-49. So at his resurrection, from Yahweh his Father (who is a divine Spirit), and through Christ who is this same Divine Spirit; Jesus could now bestow everlasting life upon his elect, so he thus became a life-giving Spirit (verse 45), whilst at the very same time he also rose as a man with a genuine physical body (soma) which was spiritually dominated (pnumaticos) by the divine spirit. Thank you Robert XXXXX FOLKS, I SEE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES OUT ON THE STREETS DOING THEIR CART WORK HERE IN PLYMOUTH, UK. WE NEED TO CHALLENGE THEM.

A few years back, while praying, God spoke to me saying, "I will send you to far away places to preach the gospel." I have been wondering ever since how far is far? NY City seems far to me. However, this year God has given me direction -- finally. "Far" apparently is USA->Africa. I have an upcoming mission trip to the Horn of Africa -- a very dangerous place. I am going to a Muslim country. If you would like to read more about it, please visit https://gogetfunding.com/mission-trip-to-africa/ There is no way I can go without the support of the Christian community. We need funds and we definitely needs prayers. If anyone has first-hand information about the place where I am going, please share it here. I do have a Nigerian partner who has been preaching for 20 years. I believe within 5 years, the radicalized Muslims will put a stop to any preaching of the Gospel in this area. Time is truly of the essence. I am currently perusing my M. Divinity degree. However, it will be put in hold a semester (or 2) as soon as we have the funds to facilitate this mission. If you can't give, please pray. I am also very interested in knowing how other missionaries raise funds for your missions and other advice that only seasoned missionaries can give me. This will be my first mission. God bless you all.