Should I pray to start?

[mel85]

2 hours ago, Neighbor said:

How interesting. So there are local  "pastors" there.

Do those pastors that you know  read the Bible with understanding that comes of the Holy Spirit's reveal of Jesus, and then teach the word of God from the Bible using the Bible they have?

Have you ever gave Bibles, to others?

[Neighbor]

18 minutes ago, mel85 said:

Have you ever gave Bibles, to others?

Not directly without also being involved in it's use by the recipients! One exception to that is in support of a ministry by a friend that brings the Bible in Greek to the Greek Orthodox communities within the USA.

That ministry has lots of follow up. A very detailed and to me most interesting work of God upon those He calls to Himself. That one has been quite the "ride" by all involved. Amazing what and how God leads.

It is a slog however, on for decades now; there has been a revival within many a local congregation  including the leaders ( Priests) as God uses whom he will  to bring reveal of His son, our Lord and savior Jesus. But it too has taken years and even decades of time invested in the work.

What I have found over time is that time is what it takes, all in God's timing for His purposes.  It takes follow up and training up  local leaders into corporate church bodies. A one shot effort, here's Christian Tract for example, being pretty much a non starter, a very low return on investment so to speak. Yet people pass out tracts by the many millions perhaps millions per year.

To me the wearing of Christian T shirts and the like is mostly non productive activity, in fact maybe more counter productive than useful. There needs be a beginning of course, but there also needs be a tending, and a reaping. Takes time lots of time.

Some are called to do one  thing, some are called to do another. To be productive some sort of teamwork is desirable, lest the effort be just a work that gratifies ones self alone and bears no fruit at all.

Giving all glory to God, doing all things  as to glorify Him alone seems to be, even in the Bible accounts  a team effort by many a disciple.

[mel85]

19 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

Not directly without also being involved in it's use by the recipients! One exception to that is in support of a ministry by a friend that brings the Bible in Greek to the Greek Orthodox communities within the USA.

That ministry has lots of follow up. A very detailed and to me most interesting work of God upon those He calls to Himself. That one has been quite the "ride" by all involved. Amazing what and how God leads.

It is a slog however, on for decades now; there has been a revival within many a local congregation  including the leaders ( Priests) as God uses whom he will  to bring reveal of His son, our Lord and savior Jesus. But it too has taken years and even decades of time invested in the work.

What I have found over time is that time is what it takes, all in God's timing for His purposes.  It takes follow up and training up  local leaders into corporate church bodies. A one shot effort, here's Christian Tract for example, being pretty much a non starter, a very low return on investment so to speak. Yet people pass out tracts by the many millions perhaps millions per year.

To me the wearing of Christian T shirts and the like is mostly non productive activity, in fact maybe more counter productive than useful. There needs be a beginning of course, but there also needs be a tending, and a reaping. Takes time lots of time.

Some are called to do one  thing, some are called to do another. To be productive some sort of teamwork is desirable, lest the effort be just a work that gratifies ones self alone and bears no fruit at all.

Giving all glory to God, doing all things  as to glorify Him alone seems to be, even in the Bible accounts  a team effort by many a disciple.

So nice to hear this  I think we all should give a Bible and encourage one another to read God's Word.

We long for Bibles studies but here the power of darkness has blinded the eyes.

I think having a Bible is a basic thing but others are not privileged to have even a Bible.

[Neighbor]

2 hours ago, mel85 said:

I think having a Bible is a basic thing but others are not privileged to have even a Bible.

Interesting  of course. Yet  I canot help  but think how frustrating for many that have several ( Bibles) that do not necessarily know the contents of them.  Of note, least for my own noting, God sends a messenger to meet the need, for the word alone is not necessarily understandable in of itself.

I am thinking of God's seemingly odd direction given to Philip to travel counter to where it would   be more likely profitable to be sharing the word of God. Yet he was led to a man of prominence to a Queen, in the middle of nowhere, to personally share understanding of the word of God with a man that had it  but did not comprehend it.

God sent a team, not just a word only; sending of His team to follow up, not be only a word to read,  but to teach it too, did he not?

 From Acts 8: ....Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.  So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,  was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.  The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”

 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.  Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

Then 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.”

 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.  But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

[mel85]

11 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

Interesting  of course. Yet  I canot help  but think how frustrating for many that have several ( Bibles) that do not necessarily know the contents of them.  Of note, least for my own noting, God sends a messenger to meet the need, for the word alone is not necessarily understandable in of itself.

I am thinking of God's seemingly odd direction given to Philip to travel counter to where it would   be more likely profitable to be sharing the word of God. Yet he was led to a man of prominence to a Queen, in the middle of nowhere, to personally share understanding of the word of God with a man that had it  but did not comprehend it.

God sent a team, not just a word only; sending of His team to follow up, not be only a word to read,  but to teach it too, did he not?

 From Acts 8: ....Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.  So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,  was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.  The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”

 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.  Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

Then 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.”

 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.  But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

Cannot say how God will  work exactly  but if someone starts reading the Bible Holy Spirit will bless him, and it will  change him inside out.

Edited April 29, 2024 by mel85

[farouk]

7 minutes ago, mel85 said:

Cannot say how God will  work exactly  but if someone starts reading the Bible Holy Spirit will bless him, and it will  change him inside out.

@mel85 Prayer and the Scriptures are vital, indeed, and they change lives............ (as you will have proved...)

[mel85]

3 minutes ago, farouk said:

@mel85 Prayer and the Scriptures are vital, indeed, and they change lives............ (as you will have proved...)

There are some verses which says what the Word of God is like, as you read these verses,  you may feel the importance of reading and meditating the Word of God.

[AnOrangeCat]

2 hours ago, mel85 said:

So nice to hear this  I think we all should give a Bible and encourage one another to read God's Word.

Agreed, and not only reading, but we should also help each other properly interpret God's Word. In the developing world there are people more than willing to spread false teaching for their own benefit. Without access to a Bible and knowledge of it some very vulnerable people are without their first line of defense against that sort of exploitation.

[farouk]

2 hours ago, mel85 said:

So nice to hear this  I think we all should give a Bible and encourage one another to read God's Word.

We long for Bibles studies but here the power of darkness has blinded the eyes.

I think having a Bible is a basic thing but others are not privileged to have even a Bible.

@mel85 What a holy privilege indeed!

[mel85]

12 minutes ago, AnOrangeCat said:

Agreed, and not only reading, but we should also help each other properly interpret God's Word. In the developing world there are people more than willing to spread false teaching for their own benefit. Without access to a Bible and knowledge of it some very vulnerable people are without their first line of defense against that sort of exploitation.

yes for this reason only we should read the Bible again and again I should say.