Haggai708a

News From Dar (Tanzania) – A New church is borne in the Advent season

haggai708a — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:48:30 +0000

Asst. Pastor Joyce Isaya (The Pastors' wife)

Bondeni Praise Team

PST: Isaya Preaching

Isaya Demonstrating

Prayers for the sick

Pastor Ernest Mabwai

TAG Bondeni Jordan

PST Isaya Preaching

The Glasses

haggai708a — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:16:12 +0000

Glad that some of you still visit our blog. Well I hope this story will be a blessings and inspire you about our Great God.

Mother’s father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to some orphanage in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

The Great Depression was at it’s height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. “It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. “But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.”

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

God’s Coffee

haggai708a — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:15:14 +0000

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some
expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

“If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups………. Enjoy your coffee!

“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Author unknown

Sand or Stone

haggai708a — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:23:11 +0000

Sand and Stone

TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT.
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE.

THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH

THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE ! AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.

AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE WROTE ON A STONE:

‘TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE ‘.

THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, ‘AFTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?’

THE FRIEND REPLIED
‘WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT.’

LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.

THEY SAY IT TAKES A
MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
PERSON, AN HOUR TO
APPRECIATE THEM, A DAY
TO LOVE THEM, BUT THEN
AN ENTIRE LIFE
TO FORGET THEM.

SEND THIS TO
THE PEOPLE YOU’LL NEVER
FORGET.

I JUST DID.

IF YOU DON’T
SEND IT TO ANYONE,
IT MEANS YOU’RE IN A
HURRY AND THAT YOU’VE
FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.

TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!

DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE !

Note from Raffy

haggai708a — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:44:04 +0000

April 30, 2008

Dear Fellow Alumni,

I pray that all is well with you, your family as well as with your ministry.

As I look at your session photographs, I still remember, with fondness, the memories you left with us and how much we are blessed by your love and presence. The love of God that we shared during those twenty five (25) days will forever stay in our hearts.

I want to renew our friendship. We want to know what is going on with you, your family and your ministry so that we can continue to support you with our prayers. I would like to know how your learning experiences here at the Haggai Institute Mid Pacific Center has encouraged you to present the Gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with cultural relevance and sensitivity to your own people. I am eager to hear from you how you have more effectively evangelized your own people and train others to do the same. Your feedback is very important to us.

Be encouraged that the Lord has especially chosen you to do His work. He loves your part of the world and your life is the best witness of God’s unconditional love. Believe that the Lord God, who created you with His purpose, shall continue to equip and guide you to do that which He has called you to (2 Tim. 3:16)

I hope to hear from you through my email address: raffym@maui.haggai-insitute.com

Here is our warmest aloha from all of us in the Training Department.

Aloha ke akua

Rafael A. Mendoza

Deputy Director of Training

HI Mid Pacific Center

Science vs. God

haggai708a — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:13:21 +0000

I receieved this from a friend. It’s worth reading…any scientist out there? Would love to hear your comment on what you think. Enjoy…

‘Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.’ The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment.

‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him. Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good…!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. ‘He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent.

‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
‘Let’s start again, young fella Is God good?’

‘Er…yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student : ‘From…God…’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: ‘Is there sickness, Immorality, Hatred, Ugliness, All these terrible things,do they exist in this world?’

The student: ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

‘Tell me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice is confident: ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.

Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not.’

‘Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’

‘Yet you still believe in him?’

‘Yes.’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist.

What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own.

‘Professor, is there such thing as heat?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies. ‘There’s heat.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too.’

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

‘You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.

Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are you making, young man?’

‘Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.’ The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. ‘Flawed? Can
you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.

Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.’

‘Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’
‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do’
‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.
‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.’

The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’

The class breaks out into laughter.
‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable. Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess? you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?’

Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it every day.
It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of
God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’

The professor sat down.

Pray for Zimbabwe…Anyway

haggai708a — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:47:14 +0000

I was about to give up this blog but changed my mind after checking the stats. Some of you still log in to see. In fact there were 16 hits on 15th April.

I am sure all of you have heard or read news about the recent election in Zimbabwe. I am not sure what is the real situation there. So far we have not heard from Anyway. If you read this Anyway can you please response to this blog or write to our yahoo group so that we can pray more specifically.

Well it’s been a long time since I have posted anything as I did not receive anything intersting from 708a. In fact almost no one writes. I guess this is a guy thing. May I urge you to hang on there and please keep us in touch. Write/email me at uncleallan@allanandfriends.com if you want to post anything here.

God Bless.

Allan

Keep Pressing On…

haggai708a — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:33:09 +0000

Grace and peace to you and your family.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your
faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any
of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all
without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

May these Living Word from God encourages you to press on.

I too went through some testing from my fellow members and leaders.
I suppose these are the Devil’s way to slow us down. I have thought
of giving up my position and just go on with life. But I was
reminded that ‘Participants’ – those who seek to do His Will; speak
the Truth – will always hear comments – more negative than
positives; more jeers than cheers from the majority – ‘Spectators’.

I have made up my mind to press on and participate in His Kingdom.

Well let us not give up but press on towards the goal our Lord set
for us. Lets keep on Keeping on…

Maranatha!!!
Allan

Testing and Trials

haggai708a — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:27:59 +0000

Hello brothers!

I really miss you all! I always read your messages and really wanted to reply to all, but there were so many things happening in my church since we got back from Maui. Do you remember what George Mazala warned us about when we return to our countries that we would be under attack by the enemy? That is exactly what happened to me. I was very eager to share with the elders and members of my church what we learned from Haggai. The elders, deacons and memebers listened for a few weeks. I diligently and wholeheartedly preached about the mandate to evangelize on several sundays. People were catching on with the vision. Then suddenly, two of the elders (there were five in the elders’ council) said they do not agree with the re-directing of our church towards evanglism (the other three elders agreed with me). I was taken by surprise! What could be more appropriate and relevant (most of all important) than evangelism (and discipleship)!

This started disagreements in the elders’ council. Very malicious rumors started spreading around the church about the pastor (me) which are far from the truth. These rumors could have been cleared if only they asked the person concerned. These rumors hurt my wife, my family, the church as a whole and the pastor. I assure you my brothers that there are no doctrinal deviations in my teachings & preachings nor sin on my part. To make the long story short, there was a split in the church. These two elders with their families and other members of the church joined a nearby “mega” church. I was discouraged. I nearly quit my pastorship. After lots of prayers and consultations with members of the church, I am more convinced now to stay and lead the church out of this difficult time. The remaining people stood firm and resolved to stay and pursue active evangelism. We are now fewer, but stronger. The church is close to being financially bankrupt, but not morally bankrupt. People who stayed in church are now more committed than ever. The church resolved to be more transparent and honest (not to entertain ”talks or rumors” about other persons. Not to talk about a brother in his absence, but talk with the brother concerned). At present, “new people” are starting to attend our church. They join discipleship groups, get baptized, their children dedicated to the Lord and get married under the blessings of the Lord.

My dear brothers, be always on guard. Be free from sin, so that you will be cleared of accusations. Remain true to the Word of God. It is the final authority.

I tell you my brothers if not for my Maui experience, I could have quit my pastorship.

Victory in Christ!

Adrian

(Philippines)

God Bless Your New Year

haggai708a — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:18:58 +0000

I just made a prayer that all of us will run a good race and finish it well. I like to urge you and cheer you on to press onward and be a good soldier for our Lord.

Wishing all of you a more Fulfilling and Fruitful New Year!

Allan Yong