Some time ago I heard someone talk about religious convictions and yesterday especially I was thinking again about religious people.

When thinking about religious people the seven woes of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 23 come to my mind. Please listen to the first woe in Matthew 23:13+14:

“‘WOE TO YOU, TEACHERS OF THE LAW AND PHARISEES, YOU HYPOCRITES! YOU SHUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN MEN’S FACES. YOU YOURSELVES DO NOT ENTER, NOR WILL YOU LET THOSE ENTER WHO ARE TRYING TO.'”

In John chapter three Jesus talks to the Pharisee Nicodemus and tells him that he must be born again.

Are you born again or just religious?

On a calendar from JAPAN, which is hanging on a wall in our house, I am finding the following (APRIL 2014):

“HE SAID TO THEM, ‘GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOOD NEWS TO ALL CREATION.'” – Mark 16:15

“Outreach in Japan takes many forms.

Some of our missionaries put on events such as

English classes,

Korean cooking classes,

church cafe nights and

gospel choirs

to bring new people into the church.

Others get involved with their local communities and spread the gospel through the networks of friends they develop there.”

Maybe we can learn from the missionaries in JAPAN how to go about to be obedient to the above commandment of the Lord.

“Feet First Foot care,” says the advertisement.

We are encouraged to look after our feet.

In the ad I am reading also that the Foot Care is safe, hygienic, and done with the right equipment.

But our feet are also slipping. Our feet are also stumbling.

That’s why the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:105:

“Your word  is a lamp to my feet …”

Reading the Bible …

… MADE ME LEAVE MY JOB.

I used to work in a coal mine in Germany (Herne and Bottrop) as an electrician before I left.

… MADE ME ENTER A BIBLE SCHOOL.

Bible school BRAKE

Picture / Bibelschule Brake

The Bible school I entered grew to be the largest in Germany during the years I studied there. (Bible school BRAKE)

… MADE ME JOIN A MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

I joined WEC International in Germany.

…MADE ME GO TO THE MISSION FIELD.

The Lord used WEC International to send me to Thailand to work there as a missionary. I arrived there in the year 1966 just before Christmas.

That’s how it all began.

Today is Saturday, April 26, 2014 and the Bible is still a lamp to my feet.

Foot Care does not only have to do with our body.

Keys open Doors

“Christ is the great master key of all the chambers of God:

there is no treasury of God which will not open and yield up all its wealth to the soul that lives near to Jesus.” – C. H. Spurgeon

Anzac Day service in Kaitaia

Today I attended Kaitaia’s civic Anzac Day service at Te Ahu’s main hall.

Anzac Day service in Kaitaia

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day and in  the newspapers I am reading about the sacrifice of those who went to war.

“The ultimate sacrifice,” it says today in one paper and yesterday I read in one paper, “Generations keep memory of sacrifice alive.”

“Lest We Forget”

The Bible tells us also about sacrifices.

This is what the Bible says about the sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ made for us:

Romans 3:25:

The Lord Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for sin. We are made right with God, when we believe that.

Ephesians 5:2:

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice himself for us? The answer is that he loved us.

Hebrews 10:10:

We are also made holy by the sacrifice of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is “the ultimate sacrifice,” and generations have kept the memory of his sacrifice alive.

My father went also to fight in WW 2 and never returned.