Good Forgetters

Two little boys got into a fight. But the next morning Johnny took his cap and headed for Bobby’s house again. 

Surprised, an older member of the family said teasingly, "What! Going to play with him again? I thought you had a fight last night and was never going to have anything more to do with him? Funny memory you have." 

Johnny looked a little sheepish, dug his toe into the carpet for a moment, then flashed a satisfied smile as he hurried away. "Oh! Bobby and me’s good forgetters!" .

The Cats and the Ancient Chinese Vase

 

A man wanders into a small antique shop in San Francisco. Mostly it's cluttered with knickknacks and junk. On the floor, however, he notices what looks like an ancient Chinese vase. On closer inspection it turns out to be a priceless relic from the Ming dynasty whose value is beyond calculating. It is worth everything else in the store put together.

The owner clearly has no idea about the value of this possession, because it's filled with milk and the cat's drinking out of it. The man sees an opportunity for the deal of a lifetime. He cleverly strategizes a method to obtain the vase for a fraction of its worth.

"That's an extraordinary cat you have," he says to the owner. "How much would you sell her for?"

"Oh, the cat's not really for sale," said the owner. "She keeps the store free of mice."

"I really must have her," the man countered. "Tell you what--I'll give you a hundred dollars for her."

"She's not really worth it," laughed the owner, "but if you want her that badly, she's yours."

"I need something to feed her from as well," continued the man. "Let me throw in another ten dollars for that saucer she's drinking out of."

"Oh, I could never do that. That saucer is actually an ancient Chinese vase from the Ming dynasty. It is my prized possession, whose worth is beyond calculation. Funny thing, though; since we've had it, I've sold seventeen cats."

To All Those Considering Suicide

One woman had a very intimate experience with suicide and wanted to share her story. We were so moved by her story, her faith and her desire to help others that we simply had to share this from her blog: 

To All Those Considering Suicide

Time stood still. Minutes seemed like hours as the panic rushed in while I read the text that my friend sent me. She told me that she was going to commit suicide. I was states away from her and had no way to stop her from doing what she was proposing. I said a quick prayer asking the Lord for much needed wisdom and called her cell phone. When she answered, I could only hear a sobbing hiccup of a "hello." I remember begging her not to commit suicide and telling her that there was hope.

"You don't know what's it's like, Emmy! You have no clue!" She sobbed.

Oh, but I did. I knew exactly where she was... only all too well. Memory after memory came flooding back as I reminisced how often I had wanted to kill myself as well. Times when I had thought that there was no hope. Times when I was so lonely or hurt that death seemed the much better option. Oh yes. I knew how she felt. But I also knew now that there was always hope. There was always a better way than suicide, and that's what I began to share with her. I soon had to return to work, and was reluctant to hang up the phone. After extracting a promise from her to not kill herself, I went into work and pored over what had just happened. The whole incident brought up memories that were still too fresh to not hurt. Memories that I had tried to bury but were still right there. It was then that I realized that my own experiences had not been in vain. That God had used those experiences in my life to help me save someone else's life. So, here's my story, and the beautiful hope that comes along with it.

When I was in grade school, my parents were having one of their fights again. As always, I was the child that took the brunt of the blame. We children were sent to our rooms so that we wouldn't hear them fighting, but nothing could block out those voices. Accusation after accusation against me was yelled downstairs. At one point they even said that I was the reason for all of their fights and marital problems. I tried my best to block out the words but never managed to do so. I asked my sister if Mom and Dad were going to get a divorce because of me. She held me tight as she told me that, that would never happen. I sat there in my room listening to them fight and wished right then that I could swallow a bottle of 409 so that they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. The only thing that kept me from doing it is that I thought it might hurt and not actually kill me. That's when the first thoughts of suicide came.

All throughout junior high and high school, I was suicidal. I would never admit my intentions to anyone, but suicide was always at the front of my mind. After constantly being told how ugly, fat, and stupid I was, I just assumed that no one loved me and that I wasn't good enough for anything. For years, I endured emotional, psychological, and sometimes physical abuse. I would sit at my desk and just think of what would happen if I took my life. Suicide was my day dream. I dreamt that if I killed myself, then, maybe my parents would realize what a great kid I actually was. I did everything I could to please them, but it was never enough. Being as I had no real friends, I was so overwhelmingly lonely. I would day dream about people wishing that they had taken the time to get to know me better when I was still alive. Then they would see what a great person I was, right? I would day dream about how much it would hurt people if I killed myself. I wanted to hurt them. They hurt me, so it was only fair that I did something so much worse to hurt them. I wanted to just have an escape from the pain. I thought suicide was my only escape. I could find none other. If I died, I wouldn't have to deal with the overwhelming pain. The feelings of inadequacy would never bother me again. I would never be told that I wasn't good enough again. Joy filled my heart as I thought of that. Suicide brought me joy, but it also brought me misery. Honestly? I didn't want to die. I wanted to get married and have children, but I also knew that it could never happen. I tried so many times to start to commit suicide, but something always stopped me. Something always got in the way of my actually carrying through with my plan.

It was in this deep, dark mire that Jesus reached and gave me everlasting hope. I had been a Christian for quite some time, but had never really lived like it. That didn't matter to Jesus. He came right where I was and held out His open hand. With a lot of hesitancy, I took His hand and was pulled out of my pit of suicide and depression. I now can say that without Jesus I would not be alive today. He showed me that there is always hope. That HE is my escape. When the yelling and emotional abuse started, He gave me the strength to get through it. He told me that He had better plans for me than suicide, and that He wasn't finished with me yet. When I could escape the fights, I would run to my room, plug in my headphones, read my Bible, and just weep. But in those times, I felt Jesus more so than ever before. He was right there beside me, lifting me up, and comforting me. When the emotional abuse would sometimes turn into physical abuse, and I thought that I just couldn't take it anymore, He was right there beside me at every step. I know some of you may think that I'm crazy, but I promise you, that He never let me go. He became my best, best friend. I love how David puts it in Psalms. In Psalm 69, David beseeches God to save him from the mire and the pit. Then in Psalm 70 verses 5, 14, and 16 we can see that David saw that his hope was in the Lord: "For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. I will go in the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." Praise the Lord that He is our hope and salvation!

Now, as a young adult, I sometimes still struggle with depression and thoughts of suicide. I still wish to end my life instead of putting up with the pain, but let me tell you something. Suicide would be the most selfish thing that I could do. Suicide only thinks about me, me, me, and me. Why I'm unhappy. Why I'm hurt. Why I shouldn't be here. How I think that other's should treat me. I find that in those times when I am depressed, I need to check my focus. What am I focusing on in those times? I can guarantee you that when I'm depressed and suicidal, that my thoughts are always on me and my problems. Instead, my thoughts need to be on Jesus and His works. During those times, you'll find me breaking out into a praise song in the middle of the crowd. I may be singing way off key, but I'm praising my Lord and remembering all that He has done for me. I will walk around and purposely look for things to thank the Lord for that I've never thanked Him for before. I'll thank Him for the road and the people who built the it, or for person who just smiled at me. Only then, will I find myself rising above my struggles, and find the blessed hope that Jesus has given me. The hope for living.We can again find examples of this in the Psalms as David, in his darkest hours, praises the Lord Almighty for His wondrous works!

My friend, if you are considering suicide, there is hope! I've been right where you are. I know your pain. I know your hurt. I know your loneliness, but I promise you that there is hope. There is a way out. Jesus has promised us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that He will not bring anything into our lives that is more then we can take. There is always hope. I know that right now, all you can see is the darkness of your struggle, but look up my friend! Start praising the Lord. I promise you that if you do, your life will change radically in the way you view it. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, He is standing right there with you in that pit with an outstretched hand, just waiting for you to take it. There is an end to your struggle and there is hope. Let Jesus show you what it is.

May God bless you!

<3 Emmy"

(via alifelivedwithhope.blogspot.com)

Albert's Quotable Quotes 2014

The utility-based approach to church ministry is most dangerous. We use people instead of empowering people. If they are deemed as not useful, we reject them. The result is an enslaved people, bound by duties, rules, laws, guilt and fear. Instead of having love and reverential fear for God, they develop a dreadful fear for Him. Their spirits cry for liberty but the church leadership gives them bondage instead. In time, they become disappointed and leave the local church. Some recover in other good churches but many do not. They have 'lost their faith', thinking that their abusive church is the representation of all Christendom. They want absolutely nothing to do with God or His Church anymore. AK

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The danger of our healing testimonies is that we only proclaim what Christ has done for us and not who Christ really is. Yes, eight years ago, the Lord had miraculously healed me instantly of my chronic back pain and nerve-pull caused by Ankylosing spondylitis. However, today, what is proclaimed is not about the healing but the Healer... not about the miracle but the Miracle Giver... not about man but God.
My personal miracle cannot heal you... only Christ and Christ alone can! Seek Him and Him alone! Your miracle is in the hands of Christ alone.
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We need more ministers than preachers! There are so many people who need to experience the Gospel of Jesus through His loving touch. They need healing in their souls, spirits and bodies. We can become God's hands extended and touching them for Christ. We can minister healing in the name of Jesus. We can get rid of the demons that oppress them... in the mighty name of Jesus! We can bring healing by letting the love of Jesus flow through us. Yes, we can do all these because we are the servants of the Most High God. We have been given power and authority to minister! We are His ministers!
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Did Judas see Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and raised the dead? Did he see Jesus walked on water? Did he listened to all his sermons and teachings? Did he attend the best fellowship in the world? What happened to Judas? His story shows that when one has a different heartbeat from the Lord, one runs his own life and follows his own agenda. The King is there but He is never your king. And you are never a part of His kingdom because you have your own kingdom. The end result is destruction in spite of having walked so close to Jesus.
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Grace and I have been healing the infirm and casting out demons, in the mighty name of Jesus, for the last eight years. We have witnessed thousands of miracles. Some believers misunderstood us when we say that we are "healing the sick". They say only Jesus can do the healing miracles and not us. They are absolutely correct. We can do nothing.... absolutely nothing without Christ.
We are not the "Chef" who cooks the gourmet food. We are only the "waiters" who serve the customers. We do not take credit for the great food that satisfies the customers even though we may say that we "serve and feed" the customers.
The only problem with some believers is that they refuse to be "waiters". They want the "Chef" to do the serving too. They want Him to carry the dishes to the customers at the table.
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When Jesus had given authority and power to His disciples to cast out demons and heal the sick, He did not go with them. (Luke 9:1-2. 10:1, 9). He instructed them to serve His miracles to the people in need. If we understood this concept, we should see countless people healed and delivered. Remember, we are not the "Chef" but the "waiters". We only serve the miracles that Jesus is doing!
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We do not stay at the Cross. We move on to Resurrection. Then move further to a powerful walk on Pentecost. God does not just save us from darkness, He empowers us to challenge darkness.
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Jesus is alive! We no longer fight for victory but we fight from victory! He saved us from darkness so that we now can overcome darkness!
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The Bible is full of testimonies of divine healing. When the infirm read such testimonies, they get encouraged in their faith and start believing God for their own divine healing. Today, there are also many healing testimonies too. If the Lord has miraculously healed you, be sure to share about His goodness and miracle with others. You have been the recipient of grace and share His grace with others. Your own healing testimony may be the catalyst of increased faith and more healing miracles!--------------------------------------------------

Many small people, experiencing small miracles, in many small places, sharing their small miracles, building more faith, having more miracles, touching more lives, making more believers and transforming this small world for Christ!
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There are people who keep advising us not to minister healing to the infirm because if they are not healed, then they would be very disappointed and will forever doubt whether there is a God. Strange logic! These may be the same people who do not share the Gospel with the lost just because some of them may not believe and thus they prove that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really ineffective. This type of logic is not from God but from the devil. Who will benefit the most when the Gospel is not shared and the power of God not made manifest? We will continue to minister healing and preach the Gospel with power and authority of the Lord. We thank God for the thousands who got healed and saved because there are many children of God who continue to persevere in spite of such discouraging advice!



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Faith must explore what is opened to us. Peter did not doubt that Jesus could walk on water. He only doubted whether he himself could walk on water. He was not opened to explore the possibility that he could walk all the way to Jesus! We all believe that Jesus can heal but do we believe that Jesus can heal through us?


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What do most church leaders do when they do not experience miracles in their churches? They do what I did for 23 years – they give excuses. I used to say that when Jesus wants to heal somebody, He does not need to go through me to do so. One excuse that I seldom gave was that I personally lacked the faith to believe that Jesus would heal through the Church.
Lacking the faith to believe that Jesus can heal is not only a present-day problem it was there since the time of Christ. We read in Mark 6:1-6 that Jesus encountered this type of unbelief when he ministered with his disciples at his hometown, Nazareth. They believed that they were so familiar with Jesus whom they recognized as the carpenter's son in their little town. And such familiarity blinded their faith. I was too familiar with Jesus and had put him in my little theological box.Nine years ago, I bowed before Him and let Him out of my little prison. Since then, I have witnessed thousands who were miraculously healed by the Lord through his Body - the Church.
--------------------------------------------------To whom God has assigned a task, He will give him or her the appropriate authority and power to achieve the task. That's why God has to give us the Holy Spirit when the assignment is to fulfill the Great Commission. The task is massive but the Holy Spirit moving through the Church is much more awesome than the task at hand. If only all in the Church will allow the Holy Spirit to work through them! AK

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Did Judas see Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons and raised the dead? Did he see Jesus walked on water? Did he listen to all his sermons and teachings? Did he attend the best fellowship in the world? What happened to Judas? His story shows that when one has a different heartbeat from the Lord, one runs his own life and follows his own agenda. The King is there but He is never your king. And you are never a part of His kingdom because you have your own kingdom. The end result is destruction in spite of having walked so close to Jesus.





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Can you recall how you struggled to become what your friends and relatives told you what you should become? It was a time of confusion and everything seemed so uncertain. Nothing seemed to correspond with the desire within you. Then the Lord Jesus found you. Suddenly you discovered that the true joy of being yourself was to become what your Creator wanted you to be. You did not allow their opinions to bother you anymore. You stopped comparing yourself with others and began living for God. Life may not be perfect but you are now guided by His Word. You know that when your life journey gets a little tedious or overwhelming, you can always call on Him. He promised that He will never leave or forsake you. He will continue to bless you with wisdom and courage to take charge of your life journey. The question is, for the remaining part of your life, would you continue to trust Him even when the future seems obscure and the journey seems uncertain? Would you?




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Never, never take busy-ness for the kingdom of God to mean fruitfulness in the kingdom of God. You may be serving just to fulfill your potentials instead of fulfilling the call of God in your life.

What is God asking you to do in spite of the fact that you are very gifted and can do many things? When you seek to fulfill your own potentials, you are doing for self-fulfillment. But when you obey the call of God and zero in on serving His bidding, something happens not only on the outside but also inside.

The faith to obey and submit is the key. As you serve the Lord, the Holy Spirit will cause great transformation within you. You become more and more like Christ. A transformed life is very powerful because by sheer "Christlikeness", this life will impact society. Your transformed life will be the light by which others see the love and grace of God.

You can DO without BEING but you cannot BE without DOING. Keep serving the Lord with this end in mind.


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If you know how to place one day in the hands of God, you'll know how to put your life in the hands of God. For God just needs only one day at a time from you to give you a whole of life of success! And success is becoming the person that God wants you to be!

AK

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Whenever the Holy Spirit leads you to an assignment, it is because He is setting you up for a blessing with your name on it. Are you called to be an Usher? How about a Sunday School Teacher? Are you called to be a Worship Leader? Are you called to serve in an Orphanage? Are you called to give free tuition to poor kids? Are you called to be a Preacher or Pastor? Whatever God's assignment is for you during this season of your life, it is meant to bless and not exploit you. Don't let the devil convince you and rob you of God's best. God is positioning you so that you are in the finest condition to receive a great harvest that is specially designed for you.


Albert Kang


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Mountain-moving faith is useless if you do not command the mountain to go in the name of Jesus.
Albert Kang



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The Mirror or the Face
When you look into a mirror and find that your face is dirty, you have to check whether it is the mirror that is dirty or it's your face. Knowing which one to clean will surely help! When you read the Word of God and it reflects who you really are, it is definitely not the Word of God that is wrong. Don't get rid of this spiritual mirror. Go humbly to Jesus for the cleansing stream from Calvary. You will come out as pure as snow!


Albert Kang

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Prayers or Demands
In prayers, instead of requesting from God, we have been making demands. In the course of time, we have gotten terribly upset when those demands were not met. We have deemed that our prayers were reasonable and logical. God should answer them... according to our way. Even though, we claim to be followers of Christ, we have unwittingly made Christ to be our follower. We tell Him how He should answer our prayers and do what we ask. He is now our servant and we are His masters. As long He answers accordingly, our faith in Him remains. However, if a series of demands were not met, we'll fire Him. He will no longer be in our employment. We'll look for another servant.


Albert Kang






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I COULD HAVE DONE MORE

Oskar Schinler

The film Schindler's List chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler. Through his unselfish activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved. After Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz, he began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could. For money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany. On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could, and on the other hand he was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition produced in his factory. He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist; by the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.

When the Germans surrendered, Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go. The most emotional scene of the film was when Schindler said good-bye to the financial manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. As he embraced his friend, Schindler sobbed and said, "I could have done more." He looked at his automobile and asked, "Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this." Taking another small possession he cried, "This would have saved another one. Why didn't I do more?" (James Forlines, Men's Beat of Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions, April 1999, 4.)

One day Jesus is going to split the eastern sky and come for His own. It will not matter then how much money we have in a mutual fund or how many bedrooms we have in our homes. The temporary satisfaction we have in vacations and nice cars will be gone. Only what we have done for the cause of Christ will matter. The Privilege we have only now, is to use God's resources for things that eternally matter.

(From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, The Grace of Giving, 6/11/2011)