BibleBC Teen Ministry - "Rebels with A Cause"

Trip to the Holy Land - Day 2

2010-06-23T11:35:00.003+01:00

First Day of the Tour – Thursday 15th April
We woke up in the morning not knowing exactly when the tour bus would arrive to collect us due to an admin mistake by the tour company. I rang them and was told that it would be there in 30 minutes! We rushed downstairs for breakfast, and Doron Hoffman the tour guide eventually found us and we jumped aboard! We joined a tour group that had already been together since the previous Monday. After picking up a few more people, we drove up to the summit of the Mount of Olives for a postcard perfect view of the Old City. If you ever see a photo of Jerusalem, it is most likely from this spot, showing the Temple Mount area from the eastern side. Doron gave us an overview of the rich history of the city up until the present time. The most memorable point for me was when he explained the topography of the city and described how it was always from the northern side that the city was ever taken as the other sides had a great height advantage for defense. He then described how the Jews took the city from the eastern side during the 1967 war. We took some photos and all packed into the bus again. The next stop was the Church of All Nations located next to the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane. (Note the “tradition” word, as this was mentioned throughout the rest of the day!) I must say Gethsemane was not like I imagined, of course Jerusalem looks little like it did back in Jesus’ time. I had imagined taller trees but Olive trees are not that big. I don’t mind being corrected there, but the whole valley and mountain would have had olive trees according to Doron, and they have no idea where the garden was! The church which was only built in the 1950’s had a large flat stone near the altar and when we went inside there was a bunch of people kneeling down before it and kissing it. This was supposedly the place where Jesus knelt to pray “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” in Matthew 26. Does God want us to kiss this stone??
From there, we went on to a place called King David’s tomb, and again, it was admitted not where King David’s bones are kept. We were told that that place was kept secret so that the bones weren’t stolen. Besides that, the room was not anything special. In the same area was a place they called the Upper Room, even though it was again admitted it wasn’t the real site and was hopefully close by. I agree that how is anyone supposed to know really, but why call this place the Upper Room and bring us there then!! (tourism of course!) If there is anything I was glad for, it was that I’m glad I have the 100% true and accurate word of God to trust in! Going to Jerusalem was an experience of a lifetime, but if you “only” have your bible to picture these places, you have more than enough! (Matthew 24:35)
We entered the old city through the Zion gate which is still riddled with bullet holes from the 1967 Six Day War and perhaps some others. We passed a group of people celebrating a boy’s bar mitzvah. Four people held a small canopy emblazened with the star of David over his head. Another two people were playing what I’d describe as djembe drums and everyone was singing this tribal like song and clapping to the beat! They were on their way to the Western Wall perhaps to read the torah and pray. Doron took the opportunity to describe the bar mitzvah a little and we walked down into the Jewish Quarter of the old city. There was some excavations of a Roman street called a cardo that dated back to the Byzantine period (324-638). This would have been the main street in the city where business was conducted. We also saw the local synagogue, and some old pavement that dated back to the time of Jesus. At a certain vantage point, we stopped to view the Western Wall from a distance and Doron talked about it from there before we actually went down to it.
Nearby, there was a massive gold Menorah (seven-branched Jewish candlestick) and I went over to have a look. Funnily enough, this hassidic Jewish guy came up to me and put out his hand and said Shalom emphatically! I smiled and shook his hand, but suddenly as he shook my hand he bowed his head and started to pray in Hebrew. I could only laugh, and after a while he looked up at me and asked my parent’s names (he is still shaking my hand at this point!). He repeated the question so I went ahead and told him and he continued to pray and then stopped, looked at me, and put out his hand gesturing for money! I said that I had no change and he quickly retorted saying, I can give change! Ha, I just said sorry and he walked off coldly. However, I still enjoyed his swindling attempt :-) For about the 4th time, we saw the Western Wall and I think everytime I went to see it something different was happening. Today, there were a lot of boys, perhaps all having their bar mitzvah like the other one we see earlier. They were all reading the torah, and we saw so many people coming and going with a little procession of sorts from the large wardrobe sized ornate wooden containers that stored the scriptures (called Torah Arks I think), either putting back, or taking out the massive scrolls (approx. 3ft tall) encased in beautiful metal containers.
To be honest, I got a little bored for the next hour as we walked along the Via Dolorosa, said to be the route Jesus took to Calvary, and is marked by the Catholic stations of the cross, well, at least the old ones as Pope Benedict apparently adjusted them when he came into power, removing Veronica and something else I think. It’s true this route would have looked much different back in Jesus’ time as Jerusalem was smaller, the Bible says He “suffered without the gate” in Hebrews 13:12. But now everything is within the newer walls which are only 500 years old. The other thing I don’t like about the stations of the cross is they say Jesus fell three times, but I can’t find so much as a stumble my Bible! Anyways, we ended up in a church called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which contains the hole in the ground which Jesus’ cross was put into, the slab on stone His body was laid on when He was taken down off the cross, and a nice wooden sepulchre where Jesus body was laid, all according to tradition of course! The wooden sepulchre was falling apart with age, so there was a steel structure erected around it to clamp it in place and keep it standing. Perhaps they should just stick with the “sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid” (Luke 23:53). Notwithstanding, I still appreciate going there: the pictures of the people kissing the slab of stone where Jesus' body was laid, and rubbing their garments on it so that the garments would somehow become holy stay clear in my mind. How sad this was.
Next, we walked through the Muslim quarter and enjoyed a nice middle eastern schawarma for lunch. This was a tortilla wrap with shaved meat (who knows what kind!) and salad. We might call it a döner kebab from any Turkish fast food place in Europe. From there, we walked out of the Old City north through the Damascus gate. The final port of call for our whistle stop tour of the Old City was the Garden Tomb (the other place in town that has Calvary and the tomb of Jesus!). That being said, I agreed more with their hypothesis for the location of the tomb as it was based heavily on Bible evidence. They argued the evidence that it was indeed Joseph of Arimathaea’s. The site is owned and maintained by the Anglican community, and they were sure also to give the gospel in their presentation so I got to throw in a few amens while salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was preached. If you aren’t saved yet, the Bible says in John 14:6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And again in Acts 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Confess and forsake your sin and call upon Jesus and ask Him to apply the blood of His finished work on the cross to your heart! For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13
It was late in the afternoon when we got back to the hotel, so we went for a quick swim, and looked around the hotel a bit. But we weren’t going to stay put in the hotel when there was still so much to see and so much of the day still left! They say that you should definitely go visit the Holy Land when you are younger and it can be quite physical walking around everywhere in the heat of the day, and I agree! The whole trip we went non-stop and I barely had time to write my journal at night we were so busy! We headed out to see Absalom’s Pillar in the Kidron Valley. This is on the eastern side of the Temple Mount very near the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane. It was fun to explore it, although it turns out that according to scholars it is not actually from David’s time (approx. 1000BC) but around Jesus’ time! I read that people would throw stones at it because it represented Absalom and his rebellion, and parents also were said to have brought their naughty children there and taught them what happened to Absalom!! Right next to the Pillar is a place I originally thought was called the Tomb of the Prophets. But researching it later, I found that it is the tomb of a priestly family called Bnei Hazir, and next to those tombs is a monument called the Tomb of Zechariah (from 2Chr. 24:20-21). Although, again, this is a traditional presumption, with no evidence to suggest it to be true. As we finished exploring the area it began to be dusk, and an adhan, or Islamic call to prayer began to be broadcast from a nearby mosque in the Siloam area and it echoed hauntingly throughout the valley mixing with another adhan coming somewhere from the Old City, perhaps the Al Aqsa mosque. We walked up towards the Old City and tried to go see Omar Schindler’s grave nearby but the cemetery was closed. From there, we entered the Old City through the Zion gate and headed down into the Jewish quarter for some kosher food. From there, we went into a nearby shop, and Noel and I were talking to the shopkeeper for a good while, asking him all sorts of questions. He was quite the character, saying he was a Levite with an extra gene than others normally have, and he talked about standing up as a Jew against their enemies and talked about how Arabs would be scared of him when he was working out in the fields where he was from! As I said, quite an interesting guy, Noel and I would have stayed talking to him for ages but the shop got busy so we took our leave. From there, we got a few more photos of the Western Wall and then took a cab over to the viewing point on the Mount of Olives for a night shot of Jerusalem before we headed home. The cab driver was Arab and he spoke honestly about his struggles to understand the Jewish people from his Islamic point of view. We got back to the hotel absolutely wrecked, we laughed a little together about the day and then got some much needed rest. Check out the pics here

Trip to the Holy Land - Day 1

2010-06-08T18:08:00.011+01:00

Travelling to Israel – Tuesday 13th April

I worked a little in the morning at the church office, while also tying up a few loose ends of preparation before we left. I charged the video camera and backed up my hard drive and after praying with Pastor I went to collect Noel from his house! We went down to Carrigaline to get my luggage and Dad also made some chicken for my lunch. I had to eat it in the car as we were already running a small bit late. When we arrived Barry was already there and his family had already left. It didn’t take us long to check-in and we went upstairs and had some coffee and talked about the trip. Going through the security check point, Barry got frisked which I thought was funny! The flight to London was very short and I got talking to a guy next to me who was heading back to Newcastle, Australia, but originally from Co. Kerry. After we landed, we eventually found Terminal 5 after taking a first class train there :-) We ate some dinner (I had some nice chilli con carne), and wandered around for a while as our flight wasn’t for a few hours. Went into the Apple store and also read and studied a bit before our boarding gate number was announced. At B44, there were Hassidic Jews praying out of the windows which was strange to see. The wore hats and black suits, and had long locks growing at the sideburns while the rest of their head of hair was much shorter. Some would pray out loud, and all of them moved rhythmically, either bobbing forward and back at the waist, or swaying side to side, or both! In time, we would see this sight again at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. I slept well enough on the 5hr flight and noticed that British Airways are a little more comfier to travel with than the United Airlines plane had been the year before.

Arriving in Israel – Wednesday 14th April

We touched down to a round of applause at 5.30am local time and then disembarked and headed through customs. Ariel from Diesenhaus Tours was there to meet us and talked with us while we were waiting for our bags. It turned out, he actually wasn’t waiting for us at all and was supposed to be meeting an American couple named Mr. And Mrs. Rushling!! So he left us with a cab driver and we headed straight to Jerusalem. Though we were tired (we arrived 3.30am on our body clocks), it was beautiful to see the morning sun glowing in the horizon and to look out of the window of the cab and see the landscape of Israel. Although it was nice and quiet on the roads, the cab driver assured us it would get busier and later on he would weaving around traffic like a madman and overtaking on inside lanes and things. We would come to learn that this was normal! It only took about 35mins I think to get to hotel, as we got close to Jerusalem we were looking up at Jerusalem and I was reminded of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew saying, a city set on a hill cannot be hid. When we arrived, we checked in to our room, got our things together and had a lovely breakfast and headed straight for the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Old City

We entered on the western side of the city through the Jaffa gate and headed through the Armenian quarter. The descending streets were narrow cobblestone with a step down every now and again. The shops on either side belonged to Arabs selling various trinkets, souvenirs and even archaeological items. We soon saw a sign for the Western Wall and after a security checkpoint much like the airport, we stood looking at the Wall and beyond it the Temple Mount area. The section of the wall used for prayer by the Jews was a little smaller than I expected, but as we passed through into the Men’s only section (it’s pretty much men only!) it was an intrigueing sight! The Jewish men, some with their long hassidic locks, were wearing items like kippahs and black hats, prayer shawls and phylacteries. Some were looking into their Hebrew prayer books were praying out loud and moving rhythmically as they recited them. The whole place was alive with prayer, some men with their faces pressed against the wall, written prayer requests were pushed into the cracks of the wall as high as a person could reach. Some of the white limestone blocks dated back to the days of Herod the Great! The whole area has been treated as a holy place for the Jewish people since the time of Suleiman the Manificent in the 1500's. Though I’m not sure as to the actual reason as I heard officially (on a tour) that the area is the closest place the Jews can get to the spot where the Holy of Holies was when the Jewish Temple stood in the Temple Mount area.

As we walked about staring and gawking at the Jews, they were very tolerant with us Gentiles as we took pictures though they didn’t want to talk to us! I thought it would have cool to have had enough Hebrew to be able to understand what they were praying about.

After visiting the wall, we found the queue for the Temple Mount Area, which was actually right next to the Western Wall site. I thought there might be an entrance fee but there wasn’t. We ascended a wooden ramp structure that provided access to the gate in the wall which was maybe 30 feet from the ground below. We got some good shots of the Western Wall and also took some funny photos with some riot shields we found stacked there! We were greeted by a group of security guards kitted out in full riot gear as we entered through the gate in the wall. Noel asked for a photo but they flatly refused! Immediately, we saw the Al Aqsa Mosque directly ahead and over the trees to our left you could see the gold leaf covered Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately the Dome was closed for renovations and also we could not enter the Al Aqsa mosque as we weren’t Muslim. We took some photos as we passed by a group having some sort of Koran study and to the right was a circular area for washing feet, perhaps ten taps or so. The Dome of the Rock was ornately tiled with portions of the Koran in blue and white. It had four doors one facing North, South, East and West. Next to the Eastern end was a smaller open dome which was called the center of the Universe. I heard that according to Jewish tradition, this was the place God began to create the universe!

After leaving the Temple Mount area, we found our way back to the Western Wall area and headed down towards the dung gate. Outside the southern part of the Temple Mount wall was a place called the Davidson Center, I think we paid something like 30 shekels to get in there. I didn’t really know what exactly was in there but we saw a walkway going across the top of the Old city wall and we wanted to go up there! It turned out to be more fun than we expected as we got a spectacular view looking south out of the Old City towards Siloam and the City of David, and you could also see the massive wall in the distance dividing Israel from the West Bank area. As we walked along the wall eastwards we saw the Mount of Olives which is basically a big graveyard! Some people said that one reason why is that they think they will be first to be resurrected when Jesus comes back! As we came off the wall, there was old houses preserved from Ottoman empire times, I think perhaps a couple of hundred years old. The floors were beautifully mosaiced and there was also another area nearer the Huldah Gates (now bricked shut, it was the entrance to the temple area in Herod’s time) where there was remnants of ritual baths that were used for cleansing before entering the temple area.

By this time we were quite tired, but one more site needed a quick visit just before we finished up for the day! The pool of Siloam! Siloam is situated towards the south-east just outside the old city of Jerusalem. We left through the dung gate and passed by the City of David ruins where there are excavations that date back to the Jebusites which inhabited Jerusalem before David took the city in battle. Now, all of a sudden, going down a steep hill we found ourselves in what Barry called the “real Jerusalem”! The streets were plain and simple houses lined both sides of the streets. Dusty, old run-down vehicles were parked here and there, and we even passed some pro-palestinian banners which denounced the City of David tourist site we just passed further up. We passed a mosque on the left and reached the bottom of the hill. We knew we should have seen a sign for it on the hill so Barry took out his guide book and looked at the hebrew phrases in the back! I saw a guy, probably muslim at a bus stop so I said, “efo (where, according to the book) pool of Siloam”? I wasn’t sure how he would react to us dumb tourists but he very nicely pointed back to the nearby mosque and told us in english! However, it turned out that we didn’t quite enter the pool through the right entrance. All the same, an old arab man said he would show us the “real siloam pool where Jesus “healed the blind man” for a “donation”! He showed us the exit section of Hezekiah’s tunnel and said that this the genuine spot and the other place was a lie! We took a few photos and gave him 10 shekels and then headed back to the hotel for some rest! On the way back, we picked up some pizza and then got some sleep before we headed to a nearby baptist church for some preaching!

After a cab, and then some walking we found the church on a side street off of another street called Salah Eddin street. It was called the First Baptist Bible Church of Jerusalem. Excited, we went in to find that we had missed the Bible study, as they had recently changed the time from 6pm to 5pm!! Disaster! Well, praise God after a few moments with Pastor Abdullah, he suddenly said, sit down, we will have an extra service! He preached in arabic from John 6:17-24 while another man translated after each sentence or two. I had never heard preaching through a translator but I don’t think it hindered in any way the delivery of the message. The sermon was about how we can get away from God, yet He is never far and never leaves us. He actively seeks us, and when we are back in the light, we are stronger for it. Stronger in love (as we are forgiven much), and stronger in faith (as He has delivered us). I am very thankful that we went, and although we could not make it Sunday as we would be in Galilee, we determined to go back again the next Wednesday. After much fellowship and testimonies after the service, we headed back home, through the Damascus Gate on the northern end of the Old City and passed the Western Wall, and out the Jaffa gate (on the east side) towards the hotel. What an amazing day!

Carrauntoohill Climb

2010-01-10T18:28:00.004Z

Last week, we got the opportunity to climb Carrauntoohill, near Killarney, Co. Kerry. Bro. Eric brought us up and kept us safe, teaching us what to do if we slipped and started falling down the ice! The climb was not only beautiful, you wouldn't think it was in Ireland(!), but also challenging as we had to kick through the ice to get a foothold.
Coming down was fun sliding down the ice at first, but as we started down a place called the Devil's Ladder we had to cut each step out of the ice and took so long trying to get down it started getting dark!

Spiritually, there were plenty of illustrations about the Christian life to be learned, about the staying encouraged in Christ and enduring hardness (2Tim. 2:3), knowing that our struggles work in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2Cor. 4:17). Also about walking circumspectly (Eph. 5:15) as Christians, being careful about every step and being sure we have sure footing lest we fall!

Check out more pics here

Men's Meeting at Lighthouse Baptist Church, Swords, Co. Dublin

2009-09-06T15:05:00.004+01:00

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to bring a few guys up to a men's meeting at Pastor Pittman's church up in Swords! Missionary Keith Hamilton, Barry Keating and Josh Ledbetter came with me and we had a time just travelling up there in the car!
It was great to meet with brethren from around the country and we also got to hear Dr. Roy Thompson preach a message called Four Things Men Need to Believe.

Download an mp3 of the preaching.

August 2009

2009-08-23T17:44:00.005+01:00

This month was also very enjoyable! We took a small break from weekly discipleship on the Saturday even and began watching some preaching from the Youth Conference in California.
We visited a local Nursing Home and sang to the people there and I also got to give my Testimony of Salvation.
On a less spiritual note (!) we just had some fun activities like a visit to the Cliffs of Moher, Paintball, and also after our Church Getaway we went surfing at Inch Beach near Dingle in Co. Kerry! (pics here)

July 2009

2009-08-23T17:33:00.004+01:00

We made a visit to the Logos ship when it docked in Cork!
But the highlight for July was Victory Youth Camp 2009! We all went over to Waterford for a week of preaching, singing, fellowship, sports and bonfires! It was so much fun! Check the pics here!

WCBC Youth Conference 2009

2009-08-23T17:06:00.005+01:00

Some of the church teens went to Lancaster, California in April to the West Coast Baptist College Youth Conference. We had an awesome time!! Check out the pics here. The guys also went to Yosemite National Park after for a camping trip (pics).

Here is my day-by-day journal from that time:

Tuesday
Barry had stayed over in my house and both of us didnt get much sleep as we were thinking a lot about the upcoming trip, the flight, and all that God was going to do! Dad dropped us to the airport and we met the teens there. Spent a while chatting with Tommy’s parents and Pastor stayed with us too, discussing the technical details and we were wondering about complications with Josh re-entering the country as an American without proof of residency in Ireland. The flight over to London was short, we saw the millenium wheel out of the window as the plane descended into London Heathrow. After arriving, we looked around (saw a Ferrari!), ate some food and left for our gate. Our boarding passes had to be re-issued but the Lord gave us the opportunity to talk to a lady named Andrea. Gave her a tract and praying that she has read it. The 11 hour flight to LA was standard, watched a James Bond film called Quantum of Solace but it was ridiculously sensational, with a bad story, and a sorry main part. A heartless man, who can’t sleep because of his past, and although is good at his work, is addicted to drink and is very rebellious. Unfortunately I was smack-dab in the middle of the centre 5 seats (so was Josh). So when I asked to get out, I had to make sure I stayed out and got all I wanted to do done so I wouldnt bother the people sitting next to me. I got to witness to a Vietnam veteran named Robert. He was a 6 day a week church-going Roman Catholic who seemingly knew about the need to get saved but didnt seem too interested. He changed the subject a lot but he took a tract anyway. On a side note, bro. Bob Zemeski was also on the flight with his wife. She said that they were going to see his brother for about 2 weeks. We didnt talk much as I didnt want to bother them. On arrival, it took an hour to get through all the checks, and we got a shuttle over to LAX Rent-a-Car, where Nico (and Paul) was waiting for us. Got a lovely 8 seater Ford E-150 Econoline van! Since Johann, Basie and the girls didnt arrive for another 5 hours or so, we drove around LA, and visited the Universal walk area. There was a sky-diving tube, the car from the latest Fast and the Furious film, and many sights and also beautiful weather, with not a cloud for a good 100 mile radius! We tried to find the Hollywood sign, which wasnt far away but I had gotten the wrong GPS address so we got lost (kinda!) and then just headed for some Taco Bell :-) When the others arrived, Gina collected her car from Enterprise and we headed off to Lancaster and dropped the teens off at West Coast.

Wednesday
After little sleep from jet lag, I managed to make it to first hour at the college and found all the teens up as well. Bro. Keeley taught on the life of Christ from Matt. 12 and 13. He explained the unpardonable sin and other doctrines too. Headed back to collect Barry and Tommy and eat some breakfast afterwards and then made it for chapel at 10.30am. Bro. Kenny Baldwin preached up a storm and all the teens were blessed from his preaching on being in the way from Gen. 24. We spent the afternoon travelling around Lancaster looking at shops and also got some supplies for the trip to Yosemite next week. The lads really enjoyed Wal-Mart and bought root beer and beef jerky and other things! In the evening, we headed back after Taco Bell to the preaching. They did a game called Youth Pastor’s Feud (like Family Feud), and also a cool thunderstorm sound effect thing with the congregation. The skit this year was called M.A.D. and had Jeremy Whitman as a Janitor-turned-Secret Agent! Then Dr. Goetsch’s play was staged and he summed up the message from the play in a short address. Unfortunately, we were all dying from jet lag and trying our best to stay awake.

Thursday
After some breakfast, we headed from our Days Inn hotel to the campus. While the teens had a much-talked about and enjoyed session with Bro. Baldwin and Bro. Skelly, we went to a Youth worker’s session with Cary Schmidt and Jurt Skelly. Boy was this a blessing and I have many things to try and implement when I get back home to Ireland. At 10.30am, we all headed off to Six Flags: Magic Mountain. The teens were so excited about that. We only managed 3 rides (some 4), because the queue for the X2 rollercoaster was almost 2 hours long! But, it was certainly a crazy experience! I was feeling sick even after we got back to Lancaster at 6pm! We got something to eat and played a bit of soccer before we headed home. In the evening, we looked around at the gym and the bookstore while we waited for the session to start at 8pm. We watched another episode of M.A.D. and Bro. Skelly preached on making a difference from John 5. We weren’t too tired this time but still a few signs of jet lag left. Poor Josh had lost $100 somewhere, and also had a chapped that seemed to really get him down during the day.

Friday
In the morning, we went to the morning sessions for Youth workers. Gina, Ruth and Lydia came too. Dr. Goetsch preached the cancer that is infiltrating our society and the cure from the Bible! After that there was a Q&A session where he answered a question I had about difficulties with giving parents advice about their teenagers while still being young and unmarried myself. Basically both Bro. Skelly and Bro. Schmidt told me the same thing Pastor has told me and that I am really handcuffed not being married! Dr. Chappell preached the final session and really preached up a storm! There were loads of decisions made to turn to the Lord for not just salvation, but putting away sin and choosing to answer a call to full time Christian service. For the afternoon, we just relaxed and the boys worked out in the gym and kicked around a ball. I read a bit and rested in the van! We went to IHOP for dinner, unfortunately Nico and Johann didnt make it cos they were out looking at motorcycle parts. Luke, Sharon and Ruth were there though as they had went shopping with the girls. We had a good munch and went home for an early night.

Saturday
We went on bus visitation and also door knocking in the morning! I got to go with Oliver and we had great fellowship despite it being quiet at the doors. Afterwards we got packed lunches and headed for Santa Monica beach! It was lovely to swim in the pacific ocean and also play some soccer and tag rugby on the soft sand. I think it was about 70 oF which is about 20 celsius outside in the sun. We drove down places like Sunset Boulevard and took some pictures with the Hollywood sign in the background before heading home and eating some pizza. Josh stayed over with myself and Barry at the Days Inn as Tommy has an early start tomorrow on the bus at 6am!!

Sunday
Tommy and Johann ended up getting up too early as they misheard the guy saying get up at 6am instead of be there at 6am! They had a good time on the bus all the same. The rest of us went to 8.30am service where Pastor Chappell preached an awesome message on the cross. Afterwards there were various Sunday school classes to go to. The guys, minus Josh, went to Dr. Rasmussen’s class and he was starting a study on 1 Tim, which was interesting. Afterwards, we went on Nico and Ruth’s bus route. They were having a Superhero theme and Bo Johnson was dressed up like Batman, and Ruth was a “Super Fabulous Fairy”. I think thety had about 33 kids come to sunday school. This was such a blessing because the area we went to was very rough. I spent the bus journey talking to a kid named Jonathan. This kid had 2 other brothers and each of them had a different dad. Afterwards, we ate lunch and headed out to get the rest of the supplies for Yosemite, which took way longer than we expected and we barely made it to 5.30pm church on time! Dr. Goetsch was preaching on the Valley of Bones in Ezekiel. A very polished message but he can quote so much scripture it is amazing!

Monday
Today we headed off to Yosemite after 6.30am breakfast at West Coast. The guys were real excited, and we drove about 5hrs or so, enjoying the ever chaging scenery along the way and getting excited to see lots of snow patches when in the park. We stopped off at a view of El Capitan where I took a photo I promised for Eric. Then we found our camp spot and set up. We headed off as soon as possible for the 3.4 mile 2700ft ascent to the top of Yosemite Falls! Unfortunately, Tommy got sick along the way (twice!), and Nico took him back down as we pushed for the top. Sounds like a K2 or Everest expedition! We also lost Barry and Josh along the way, so it was just me, Johann and Basie when we reached the snow-capped top and basked in the success the climb and beauty of the God’s creation. We took a few pictures, ate a bag of cheetos and headed back only to find Josh and Barry just arriving, so we explored a bit more, slid around in the snow and headed back down. Actually, along the way we talked to a lot of people, but in particular, two Jewish girls who were on their high school spring break. I managed to bring up the Old Testament stories about the Messiah and ask them about Hebrew and that, but never gave them a tract unfortunately. Talked to some more people from Michigan at the top and gave them a tract too. And the guy in the Yosemite supermarket was already saved when I gave him a tract so that was cool! When we arrived back, after a few people slipping and getting cut (Barry!) we ate some steak sandwiches and went to sleep! Poor Tommy wasn’t in the mood for food, so I was left contemplating the scenario that he wouldn’t want to do the 8.4 mile 4800ft Half Dome hike tomorrow, and was considering our alternatives. Prayerfully, we will still go as Nico says it isn’t as steep a gradient climb as the Upper Yosemite Hike. We’ll see!

Tuesday
Today, I got up a little early and had some breakfast. It was freezing outside so I spent a bit of time in the van having devo’s, and when everyone woke up, I found I needed to rally their morale to try and get everyone on board for another day of hiking! I managed somewhat, albeit a few faces were eyeing me bitterly and the rest of their body language showed by lagging behind the other. God must really hate my bad attitude too!! Tommy was still sick so we only just about made it to the first waterfall which I think was called Vernal falls. Unfortunately there were a ton of steps after that which equated to a stairclimber 4000! After waiting for a few people and the group breaking in two we finally made it to the second Nevada falls! Beautiful place as the pictures hopefully show! Nico cooked us some noodles and we all sat down to a comfy rest in the sun. It was between these two falls I noticed a cold coming on, but by that time it was to late to do anything about it so I just ploughed on with my first mission ... HALF DOME! We officially lost 3 unmotivated lazy lactose guys at this point! I’ve seen them have tons of enthuasiasm for other things but this challenge just didn’t seem interesting or worth it to them, ah well! Nico, Barry, Basie, and myself took off and had the best time ever, jumping around in the snow and enjoying the great scenery. Basie showed great character by walking with a good spirit despite chaffing off most of the skin on his heel the day before with unworn boots he had gotten from Leon before he left for South Africa. Barry was all gusto too which I was impressed to see. Nico of course loves all the hiking and I really enjoyed seeing massive growth in him since attending WCBC. We made it literally a few hundred feet from the base of the final cable climb, but there was no morale, nor time left and I was on my own to the closest point I could squeeze until we had to head back. We powered it down easily and when we got to the Nevada falls the others had already left so I headed as fast as I could to catch up with them as it was snowing at high altitudes and as we got lower, raining! I didnt want them waiting in the rain at the van, or walking to the tent on their own. I caught up, we headed down, the others came shortly after, we made it to the shop for some hot dogs just before it closed, we all had a lovely hot shower and sang gospel songs, and then Nico cooked our food in the shower room cos the snow was real heavy by dark! We cooped up for the night, but our tent was went, and we were wet and cold by the morn and I had developed a knockout cold!

Wednesday
Our plans for the Sequoia Tree park or San Fran or Fresno for evening church went out the window once we woke in the morning freezing, with our stuff all wet and the snow covering everything! We packed up (well I didnt I was incapcitated in the van!) and Nico drove back to West Coast. I took some Nyquil and went to bed when I arrived back. I couldn’t bring myself to go to church either that evening and slept the whole van journey, the evening we got back after dinner, and also the whole night! I dont really know what the guys did other than church and watching a basketball tournament that Luke Miller was playing in.

Thursday
I was starting to recover at this stage, we got up, ate, went to chapel where Bro Ball preached an awesome message on Luke 16. Then we headed out after lunch to visit an Air Museum. It was pretty cool, then we needed to bring a few people for present shopping before we got back for dinner. We had a get together in the evening, for our going away and also Basie’s upcoming 16th bday! I spent a bit of time resting while the others messed about. We had room devos and 10.30am and then I slept until the morning.

Friday
We had 6.30am brek, said our goodbyes, headed for LAX Rent a Car, and then LAX. Checked Johann and Basie on our flights, flew 10hrs and now I’m here in London Heathrow :-)

Later on Johann and Basie didn't get on our flight to Cork and had to wait a couple more hours for the next flight as their seats had been cancelled due to a mix-up after I switched their previous flights from LAX. We all got home safely in the end, praise God!

Death and Hell and My Part ...

2009-02-26T18:38:00.003Z

I'm sitting here in the office with a Subway sandwich and musing about Soul Winning! Today one of my guitar students who is about 10 years old was reading this 5 inch thick book called DEATH by Terry Pratchett! He explained that the character was humourous and the storyline went something along the lines of death being a good guy who translates people to another place. The onus was on the person's beliefs as to where they would go! Not heaven ... or hell, but wherever and whatever they believed would happen afterwards! Apparently one fella thought if he had a potato or something blah blah then he would be okay. Or another lady went somewhere nice cos that's what she believed would be.
To make a long story short, i could only ask him whether it was fictional or true! Would it have been okay for me to witness to him on the job? Is giving him little bits of truth or things to think about okay? How far does Christ want me to go? How do i apply verses to my life properly like ...
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Heb 9:27
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. 2Cor. 5:11a

Youth Group Update!

2009-02-18T10:08:00.010Z

Boy, it's been a long time since I've updated this page but that doesn't mean that there was nothing going on! I've also added two preachers to the forum in the hope that it will become much more active!
Bro. Dan Eberly has retired from his job in America and is working with our church now, he has been an awesome blessing and already made such a difference to many souls here.
Bro. Keith Hamilton is a missionary to Ireland who just finished 4 years of deputation and just granted a years stay here despite the recent changes to immigration laws here in Ireland, praise God!

So here's a brief summary of the last couple of months! Prayerfully I will be able to keep up to date with all this in the future and not have to gloss over too much!
At the end of October '08, the teens went to the Irish Naval Base here in Cork. There was a lot of interest in this trip and we had 16 teens in total! Since then I tried to book a tour of the Collins Army Barracks but our church insurance couldn't provide the €6.5 million in indemnification they required!!During November we went to Mitchelstown Caves. The caves themselves aren't that great to be honest, especially if you have gone to Alliwee Caves. They say the same thing for Doolin Caves! BUT we had an awesome time travelling to and from there, we also had a nice munch at SuperMacs :-)At the end of December I took some of the guys down to Camden Fort for an adventure! It is an abandoned fort that goes back to the mid 16th century. We explored all these underground tunnels and had a great time together!But the highlight since i last wrote here was the Teen All-Nighter we had in January this year! We had an awesome time, Bro. David came down and helped us with the sports and we had about 24 teens there! Here is a ton of pics of the event!Just this week, we went down to Gougane Barra, the source of the River Lee that flows through Cork to climb the mountains! It was a good laugh!
Last night we had a get-together at the Eberly's house, we ate some GOOD food and played Guesstures, that is a crazy game!

We have now started a weekly discipleship study in the place of Teen Night to train up the teens so that they will have a better and closer walk with Christ, so that they are grounded in the faith and so that they will have answers for their friends and others AND get out soul winning!!

Upcoming events include a trip to the WCBC Youth Conference in California, and Victory Youth Camp 2009 (stay tuned for more video promos!!)

Here and Now

2009-01-22T12:33:00.002Z

I am now in Ireland and plan to stay until the Lord moves us. We arrived on Oct. 1st and have hit the ground running. We have a home and are becoming more and more involved in the work here at BBC of Ballincollig. We had the joy of being a part of the Christmas Cantata " Born to Die". The future looks bright as we serve the Lord. We know our future does not depend on the government or banking system but on the Lord. From time to time I will update our life, goals, and progress as serve the Lord here in Ireland.

Victory Youth Camp 2008

2008-07-30T15:24:00.003+01:00

We just had the awesomest time this year at camp! From the new venue with it's wide ranging facilities to the hard-hitting preaching that changed the teens from the inside-out, God worked mightily last week!
We saw 114 campers and workers come from 10 different churches, 9 got saved and 4 received assurance that they were 100% heaven-bound!
There was great music, fun bonfires, tasty food, crazy sports and games and a late night treasure hunt hike!

Check out more pics here: Victory Youth Camp 2008 Pics

Revival 2008 Thoughts - midway through!

2008-06-26T11:43:00.006+01:00

Well, our church's Spiritual revival meetings have been going on for 4 days now, and we have seen FOUR souls saved, and loads of new visitors, and ALL of us have been helped tremendously by the preaching of the word of God, and the wonderful music and singing of Bruce Frye! Here are just a few of the pictures of this revival. I will be adding more to the Church's website (www.biblebc.com) and will bring more updates as they develop!
As I am sitting here in the Church Office, it is POURING raining outside! Drats! Our plan is to go downtown and sing and preach on Patrick Street, Cork, but the Lord has other plans. Hmm. yes, the devil may be turning on the rain to keep us out of the city, but the Lord may know of a better time and have a better reason for us not going out today.
We may end up just going out later in the afternoon, but it gets iffy getting everyone organized. Oh well, we do our best!

Revival Pics

2008-06-26T11:42:00.001+01:00

Preacher's Fellowship

2008-06-17T11:09:00.003+01:00

Had the privilege of attending a fellowship meeting yesterday in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath! It was just an awesome time, and there was many people there who are busy serving the Lord here in Ireland. Some very faithful men were there, and we enjoyed some awesome preaching testimonies and fellowship. Also the missionaries got to briefly discuss the ongoing difficulties with the Irish Government about their Immigration status. One missionary family has already been sent home and many others are very unsure about their stamps being renewed ...
Please pray for them.

Teen Group Update

2008-06-09T10:01:00.003+01:00

Things have been busy but very good since I last posted here! While Pastor was away in California, he had time to develop a myriad of ideas. We spent the last two weeks developing some of those things, the biggest development for me was stepping up the Youth Ministry and finally naming our group! We are now called the Rebels!!! (allow me to elaborate!)

Firstly, for those of you who don't know, Cork is nicknamed "The Rebel County", as a result of the support of the townsmen (incl. the Lord Mayor!) of Cork in 1491 for Perkin Warbeck, a pretender/impostor to the throne of England during the Wars of the Roses. Also, the name has referred to the prominent role Cork played in the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and its position as an anti-treaty stronghold during the Irish Civil War (1922-23). Today, our hurling team carries the nickname, the rebels!

The TEEN years are often associated with rebellion, as you might already know! Some teens embrace rebellion as what they’re supposed to do, or some teens get frustrated that everything they do is expected to be worthless, and rebel!

Unfortunately, parents have the same views! They just expect the worst from them and the world is teaching parents to just get used to it. That is not encouraging for a teen at all. Listen to this quote about the mindset of some parents. (If you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last.) That’s encouraging! Just because they made mistakes, doesn't mean their teens should go and do the same!!

SO, as teens are following the wrong things, and the world, they ought to rebel against the world’s idea of who they should be and what they should do! And do it the BIBLE WAY …

We looked at Moses, denying the pleasure of sin for a season to suffer affliction with the other Hebrews. A little with God is better than anything this temporal world can offer!

Later in May we had a Hawaiian Luau Party! We played coconut bowling and had a BBQ! It was great fun, and the teens learned about letting their rebellion shine! That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Phil 2:15
We looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's rebellion against King Nebuchadnezzar. They fought the right enemy by not conforming, had the right God, and had a right heart before all.

At the end of May, we went down to Tralee, Co. Kerry for Paintballing! However, all the girls went shopping while we warred and battled as mighty men of paintballing valour!!
Just last Saturday, we celebrated "Everyone's Birthday" in one night! We bought each other presents and recorded a video-time capsule message that we will watch this time next year and laugh at our immaturity! This was great fun!
We also learned about Solomon's pursuit of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes, and I exhorted the teens to learn from him, rather than make the same personal mistakes themselves. We found out that the pursuit of happiness in worldly things leads to emptiness, depression, disappointment, consequences, and judgment both in this life, and the next.
Fulness of joy is in walking with Jesus Christ personally and daily, through reading and learning from God's Word, talking with Him in prayer, and yielding and living to please Him.

Next Saturday, we hope to go out on the streets with video cameras and conduct a "Good Person" survey a la Way of the Master! Unlike Ray Comfort found in America, you'll find a lot of people in Catholic Ireland will actually accept the fact that they aren't that good! Our aim is to prove that according the Bible:

Good works will in no way offset our bad works (it doesn't matter how many old lady's you help to get across the road!)
That we need to get saved now, as it is judgment time THE MOMENT we die! (Catholics seem to want to cross that bridge when they come to it)
That we can know for sure in this life that we have a home in Heaven!
That Jesus is the only way!

There are many many issues that we could deal with but these seem to be most common, foundational, and most important to deal with.

Brethren, pray for us ...

Prayer and Supplication

2008-04-21T12:38:00.003+01:00

Prayer has been foremost on my mind for quite some time. But recently, I seem to be bombarded with both the intense need for it, and my shameful lack of strength in this area! Yesterday, Pastor preached on not just praying, but Gethsemane praying! (Matt.26:36-46) He showed us the power of that prayer time which prepared Jesus for His last steps to the cross, and how important our prayer is in our Christian lives! It was certainly enlightening! Having read a little of E.M. Bounds, David Brainerd, and Spurgeon on the matter, how Billy Sunday never preached a sermon without first soaking it in prayer, it makes me look at the Bible with new eyes. Not just full of prayer, but full of events that occurred because of prevailing prayer, or because of the lack of it ...
I was teaching the teens last night about soul-winning again, and exhorting them to go out and witness. We had Teen Night on Saturday also, and I was longing for some teens to be there, some to get saved, and some to fall in love with the Lord and follow Him. I was left asking what drives me the way it does to serve the Lord, how can I point them to the Lord I love, How will they get convictions and desires of their own for spiritual things?
The answer for these things begins with prayer! I need to be "prayed-up" so I can love them with a Christian love. I need the power of the Holy Spirit when I preach to them. I need their hearts to be soft to the Word of God. I need to be close to God and right with Him if these things are going to be possible! Where does this leave them if I'm not doing that?
Let's not neglect this needful ministry, and utmost privilege to come boldly before the King of Kings!

How few of us can compare ourselves with Mr. Joseph Alleine. "At the time of his health," writes his wife, "he did rise constantly at or before four of the clock, and would be much troubled if he heard smiths or other craftsmen at their trades before he was at communion with God; saying to me often, 'How this noise shames me. Does not my Master deserve more than theirs?' From four till eight he spent in prayer, holy contemplation, and singing psalms, in which he much delighted and did daily practice alone, as well as in the family. Sometimes he would suspend the routine of parochial engagements, and devote whole days to these secret exercises, in order to which, he would contrive to be alone in some void house, or else in some sequestered spot in the open valley. Here there would be much prayer and meditation on God and heaven."

The Longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows!

2008-04-15T08:56:00.004+01:00

Amen, it's been an encouragement to read the comments from believers in different countries! Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Pro. 27:17
When I reflect on another week spent serving the Lord my heart is honestly overwhelmed ... since the last post my mum and sister came back safely from the Philippines! I certainly missed them and the house was much different without them :-(

Spent the week trying to get various things done in the office while Pastor is gone! Tallying the Men's Retreat expenses, planning for the church picnic etc.
The Bible study was good on Wednesday and we had two of the visitors from the previous Sunday there too! That was awesome! Bill did a great job filling in while Pastor is away.

Pastor and Ruth were at the WCBC Youth Conference last week and many teens presented their bodies a living sacrifice to God!! Amen!
They have left California now and are in Hot Springs, Arkansas! Pastor preached in Alabama on the Sunday and Bro. Dan Eberly was there too. (He and his wife are moving here next September praise God!) They will see Joel and also visit Champion Baptist College where Buddy teaches. The Pastor, Dr. Eric Capaci is definitely a Spirit-filled preacher and I love his not only his energy and enthusiasm but his messages are always so practical! He is an exhorting Barnabas for sure!

There was no Teen Night or Bible Institute this weekend so it was much needed extra time to work on my message. Bill, Joseph, Barry and I went out door-knocking on Saturday afternoon in an estate called Wyndham Downs. Barry and I found there that weren't alot of people home (it was lovely weather) but we did get to give the gospel to a few people (Amen!) and prayed that the tracts would be read. We came across a teen who used to come out to Teen Night for a while but she decided it wasn't for her. Please pray for her salvation!

Dad preached Sunday morning on being dead to the law. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Rom. 6:14 He showed us how the law had condemned us and revealed our wicked sin. But now, through the blood of Jesus Christ we are dead to the law and freed from sin!!
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Rom. 8:1-2
It was a message straight from the heart! Yet another blessing to have a saved Dad (and family!) who loves the Lord and is an example to follow.
We had 4 new visitors, and many new faces back for the morning service so that was a blessing to see.

I preached in the evening on the importance of having our heart soft and inclined to God!
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Isa. 55:3
I looked at how I got saved and how we should live everyday like we just got saved! I didn't know anything about living for God but that didn't mean that I couldn't! We just need to have a heart to listen and obey each step of the way. Looking unto Jesus always for our sustenance and guidance at every moment! Without Him we can do nothing at all ...

I sung a song called Are You Willing? by Niki Lott and Alicia Reagan. Powerful lyrics ...

Jesus left his home in Heaven and came to earth to die
In the garden He prayed, Father not my will but thine
He gave His life a sacrifice that you and I might live
He gave until there was no more He could give

He was willing to pay the price in full
He was willing to give for us His all
He was willing to come and die on the cross
He was willing His Father to obey
He was willing to wash my sins away
He was willing to yield whatever the cost
He was willing …

Christ is asking you today to give to Him your all
He longs to see your life surrendered to His call
Christian, will you die to self? He died that you might live
Is a living sacrifice to much to give?

Are you willing to pay the price in full?
Are you willing to give to Christ your all?
Are you willing to take and carry your cross?
Are you willing His commandments to obey?
Are you willing to serve near or far away?
Are you willing to yield whatever the cost
Are you willing …

Full surrender of everything is the only way
That a living sacrifice can on the altar lay
Oh, will you say?

Lord, I’m willing to pay the price in full
I am willing to give to you my all
I am willing to take and carry my cross
Lord, I’m willing your commandments to obey
I am willing to serve near or far away
I am willing to yield whatever the cost
Lord, I’m willing … I am willing … Are you willing?

Serving on the Lord's Day

2008-04-07T17:55:00.004+01:00

Well Sunday was a great day indeed! Our Pastor is away in America with his daughter Ruth having a look at some Bible colleges. And boy are they having a time!!

We sure do miss him!

Bro. Kevin preached in the morning about coming into His presence (Exo. 33:14). It was definitely a word from the Lord that Bro. Kevin was learning, and he preached straight from the heart! He showed us how Moses spent time with the Lord just to be with Him, where He is, in all His glory and majesty! He also showed us how guilty we all are of just coming to Him to ask petitions, and then finishing our prayer. No seeking His face with the whole heart. It was certainly convicting ... Moses' life was changed through this encounter, and so could we if we really hungered to be with the Father in the same way.

After a lovely dinner with (what's left of) Pastor's family, we spent the afternoon down at the Activity Centre. Johann brought his french exchange student Hugo over, and also his friend Ivan and his french student (can't spell his name!). We just had some fun, watched some funny youtubes, including our ads for the upcoming Victory Youth Camp!
http://www.biblebc.com/Activities/YouthCamps/2008/index.htm

Choir started back up again at 6.30pm. We are singing a beautiful hymn called Constantly Abiding! I'm lookin forward to seeing some new faces, and also seeing those who are away come back (Ruth and Gina).

Bro. Martin preached the evening service! I didn't get to hear it as I was with the teens learning how to witness to the unsaved. We looked at how the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul! (Ps. 19:7;Gal. 3:24) Charles H. Spurgeon said, "I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the needle, and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man's heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it." Check out http://www.wayofthemaster.com/

We also had a great time of singing! We all sang a new song called I Am Accepted that Bro. Buddy Blunkall taught us last week when he preached at our church!

All in all, it was a great day. Praise God!
John

A Day in the (Abundant) Life!

2008-04-06T09:56:00.002+01:00

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Jn 10:10
Everyday spent living for the Lord is certainly a day well spent!

Yesterday, we had the chance to go out Soul Winning and spend some time talking to people about the glorious gospel and their need for Jesus Christ. Barry and I found that most people are way too busy to consider such things. Some people even got offended that we would mention Christ or the fact that they would have to face Him after they die ...
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Heb 9:27

However praise God a handful of people did stop and listen!! Please pray for Vol, Catherine and Seamas that they would repent and trust in Jesus for eternal salvation! Also pray for those we didn't meet. Every time I hand out a tract I take comfort in the promise that God will always honour His word, even if I didn't get to witness well.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isa. 55:11

We also got the chance to meet with Tadgh and talk to him about salvation. I am praying he will finally let his guard down and get saved! Pray for him, he will be coming to church today!

In the evening we had a teen activity and had lots of fun. We sang some great songs and learnt about abiding in Christ, and fulfilling our entire purpose for being alive in Him ... to bear fruit and bring glory to God! Johann's french exchange student came along, and amazingly enough we had a copy of the Bible in french for him! I know it's not a coincidence that he was coupled up with Johann and will be in church and studies while he is here in Ireland. Pray for his salvation!!

Well, it's time to go to church, pray for Bro. Kevin O'Keeffe who is preaching this morning while our beloved Pastor is away in the US with Ruth!

In Christ,
John

Why the KJV??

2007-06-25T19:31:00.000+01:00

Dear Fellow Christians, here’s the PROOF, that what you have is not the Bible, and the KJV is the inspired word of God in the English language, and the only Bible version that can truthfully be called such………

PRESERVATION

Jesus says in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 that “Man shall not live by bread alone but by
EVERY WORD of God.”

Proverbs 30:5 says “EVERY WORD of God is pure.”
Therefore since EVERY word of God is vitally important, you’d better make sure you’re
Version of the ‘Bible’ contains EVERY word, in its pure form.

The Bible says over and over that God would preserve his word forever,

PSALM 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation
forever. (KJV)
(Even if God preserved 99.99% of his words then this promise is a lie or else he is
incapable of preserving them.)

MATTHEW 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (KJV)

1PETER 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth (endures) forever…… (KJV)

MATTHEW 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away. (KJV)

According to God himself throughout all generations the perfect word of God was here
on earth without error, without omission, and without addition.

Most modern day ‘Scholars’ and Christians reject this concept of preservation. Ask
your Pastor and he’ll probably say that God failed to preserve his word, and only the
“original writings”, of the Bible’s individual books were inspired.

He’ll probably tell you that ALL copies of the Bible today have errors and are different to what was originally written down. In this, he makes God a liar (see Romans 3:4).

Paul says to Timothy in around AD 67 that He possesses the “HOLY SCRIPTURES” Paul could not have been speaking about the original writings of these scriptures which were written between 500-2000 years before Timothy was born. Paul says that these same “HOLY SCRIPTURES” are inspired by God,

2TIMOTHY 3:15-16 And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

The doctrine of the people that translate modern versions, the people that use modern versions and the people that write footnotes for modern versions is that, the inspired, infallible, inerrant, word of the living God is now lost and we only have about 95-97% of the Bible today.

According to the Bible itself, God’s exact words have been preserved throughout all
generations. Christians that believe in one Bible version (KJV) are the only Christian
group on earth that still believe they hold the preserved word of God in full, without
error.

MANUSCRIPTS

It is well known that throughout the centuries since its existence the Catholic Church has been desperately trying to corrupt the Bible to bring it into agreement with it’s apostate beliefs (for example adding the Apocrypha to the Old Testament canon to try and justify doctrines such as ‘praying for the dead’ and ‘saints as mediators’.)

Despite this obvious treachery, all modern versions of the Bible (NWT, ASV, NASV, NIV, RSV, NRV, REB, Living Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Amplified Version, Good News for Modern man etc.) translate their New Testament from the Westcott and Hort reconstruction of the Greek text. Brooke F Westcott and Fenton J Hort reconstructed their text from TWO 4th century Catholic Greek manuscripts, ‘Vaticanus’ (B) and ‘Sinaiticus’(Aleph).

The 5200 Greek manuscripts of the majority text have been mainly ignored in the new translations. The NKJV is the only exception but this is a merge of the two text types.

UNDISPUTED FACTS concerning Westcott and Hort are,
- Westcott was a firm believer in Mary worship.
- Westcott rejected the literal account of creation as given in Genesis.
- Westcott rejected a literal heaven and the second coming of Christ.
- Westcott confessed to being a communist by nature.

- Hort believed in keeping Catholic sacraments.
- Hort believed in the washing away of original sin from baby sprinkling.
- Hort rejected the infallibility of the Bible.
- Hort rejected the Trinity.
- Hort didn’t believe in Angels either.

- Both rejected a literal Hell.
- Both men were involved in the Occult; they started ‘The Hermes Club’ in 1845 and the ‘Ghostly Guild’ in 1851. Hort joined a secret club called ‘The Apostles’ also in 1851. All these clubs believed in NECROMANCY, strictly forbidden by the Bible.

UNDISPUTED FACTS concerning the two Catholic 4th century manuscripts, from which they got their Greek text, are,

- ‘Vaticanus’ was found in a library in the Vatican.
- It contains the Apocrypha in the Old Testament.
- The manuscript omits the entire books of 1Timothy (No doubt because of anti-catholic verses in 1:4, 2:5, 3:2-4, 4:4 and 6:3-5), 2Timothy (No doubt because of anti-catholic verses in 1:9, 2:15, 3:5, 3:15-16), Titus (No doubt because of anti-catholic verses in 1:6-7, 1:16 and 3:5) and Revelation (No doubt because of Revelation 17 where Rome is judged)
- In ‘Vaticanus’ the Book of Hebrews conveniently stops at 9:14, omitting verses 9:22, 9:25-28, 10:10-14 these are the verses that totally destroy the notion of the ‘mass’.
- ‘Vaticanus’ is a catholic corruption of the Bible.

- ‘Sinaiticus’ was found in a monastery in Egypt, in a RUBBISH BIN. It was about to be destroyed by the monks because it didn’t match up with the standard Bible text, when a German scholar stole it and brought it to Europe.
- It also contains the Apocrypha.
- ‘Sinaiticus’ contains the ‘Epistle of Barnabas’, ‘Shepherd of Hermas’ and ‘the letters of Clement’ in its New Testament, all four books teach unbiblical doctrines and that’s why we don’t have them as part of our canon.
- ‘Sinaiticus’ is also a catholic corruption of the Bible.

Luther, Wycliffe and other reformers ignored ‘Vaticanus’ as a corrupt Catholic PERversion of the Bible when they were translating the Scriptures (‘Sinaiticus’ wasn’t discovered yet) which it clearly was.

It is abundantly clear the Catholics had corrupted the Bible in the 3rd and 4th century and these two manuscripts are just a continuation of this corruption. There is also evidence in the modern Bibles that are translated from their two perverted manuscripts,

It is agreed as truth that one must believe on Christ before he is baptized but Catholics completely reject this doctrine and baptize babies, who cannot believe. 5000 Greek manuscripts contain this truth in Acts 8:37 (as preserved in the KJV) but Catholics removed it from the Bible in direct violation of Revelation 33:19, hence it is missing in ‘Sinaiticus’ and hence all the modern corruptions that take their translation from it, it is very OBVIOUS,

Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the
eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he
answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (KJV)

Acts 8:36 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”
Acts 8:38 And he ordered the chariot to stop. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. (NIV)

It is no surprise that verse 37 is missing in all the modern versions, Catholic corruptions are all they are, not Bibles.

It is because of these corrupt manuscripts that 1Timothy 3:16 says ‘ “He” was manifest in the flesh’ rather than ‘God was manifest in the flesh’ (KJV).
And it is because of these manuscripts that modern Bible translations remove the verses they remove, Even though God said,

DEUTERONOMY 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
And
REVELATION 22:19 … if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book.

Even older manuscripts than ‘Vaticanus’ and ‘Sinaiticus’ support the KJV readings, such as the ‘Pashitta’ 145 AD and the ‘Old Latin’ 157 AD. Manuscripts such as The ‘Old Syriac’ and The ‘Armenian Bible’ are from around 400 AD and these also support the KJV readings.

The KJV is the only version today that did not translate their Bible from the afore-mentioned 2 Catholic perversions.

CONSPIRATOR TRANSLATORS

2PETER 3:15-16 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. (KJV)

These verses prophesy exactly what is happening today, people don’t understand the King James Version and instead of reading it they’d rather change the Bible to suit themselves.
Modern translators have completely ‘wrested’ (twisted) the Bible text, they have messed with and corrupted the word of God, changing and watering down verses that they don’t like.
For example, Psalm 12:6-7,
Obviously these scholars don’t believe God can preserve his word (that’s why they like to call verses “spurious” and why they put two conflicting endings on the Gospel of Mark) that’s why they decided to change Psalm 12:7 so that it no longer promises absolute preservation of the Bible text. Observe,

PSALM 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation
forever. (KJV)

PSALM 12:6-7 The promises of the LORD are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. Do thou, O LORD protect us, guard us ever from this generation. (RSV)

Other versions say something similar, corrupting the verse so that it talks of preserving people instead of God’s words.

NIV....... you will keep us safe
NASB... Thou wilt preserve him
NRSV... You, O Lord, will protect us
REB...... you are our protector
LB......... you will forever preserve your own
NAB...... You, O Lord, will keep us

They have also corrupted many other verses that deal with the word of God,
Such as Luke 4:4 where Jesus says, “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

In the new versions Jesus merely says “man shall not live by bread alone”. There can only be one answer as to why the ending of the verse has been chopped off when one considers that, aside from bits of verses there has been up to 25 WHOLE VERSES taken out of the modern versions. Clearly corrupters have torn out the rest of the verse because they don’t like references to EVERY word of God.
(Or references to the word of God in general, because they’ve messed with it)

1PETER 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow
thereby: (KJV)

1PETER 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk……… (NIV)

ROMANS 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (KJV)

ROMANS 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the word of Christ. (NIV)

REVELATION 22:19 … if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book. (KJV)

Try to find the following verses in your modern version. At least some if not most will have been removed
Matt 17:21
Matt 18:11
Matt 23:14
Mark 7:16
Mark 9:44
Mark 9:46
Mark 11:26
Mark 15:28
Luke 17:36
Luke 23:17
John 5:4
Acts 15:34
Acts 24:7
Acts 28:29
Romans 16:24

These and other verses have all been taken out of the Word of God by Catholic conspirators, followed by Westcott and Hort, followed by the crooked translators of your “Bibles”.

With whole verses and parts of verses removed, somewhere in the region of 8% OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IS GONE FROM MODERN VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE.
See the omissions in the Lord’s Prayer for another example.

According to the word of God, the Lord has taken their names out of the Book of Life (Revelation 22:19) and therefore they are condemned to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).

But seeing their condemnation, these scholars and others like them have decided to change Revelation 22:19 so that they no longer lose their place in the book of life, observe,

REVELATION 22:19 … if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book. (KJV)

REVELATION 22:19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (NIV)

It could not be made plainer.

There are other verses in the Bible which warn of those who pervert God’s word but the modern scholars have done their best to get rid of these references to THEM so they won’t be found out by Christians.

2CORINTHIANS 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as
of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. (KJV)

2CORINTHIANS 2:17 For we are not like so many, peddlers of God’s word… (RSV)

MODERN IDEAS INFLUENCED ALL MODERN TRANSLATIONS

We would all agree that in the present day there is a serious lack of the FEAR of God in most people, therefore why should it be so hard to believe that modern Bible scholars have been messing with the Scriptural text, allowing their personal (and modern) opinions to get the Bible to say what they want it to say, and what this modern wicked society wants it to say.
Here’s the proof,
We all know that in the last number of years there has been a wide acceptance of homosexual lifestyles, to the point that if one speaks out against homosexuality they’re considered to be on the same level as a racist. (I hope) You’d agree it is a filthy abominable way of living.
The word of God angrily speaks out against this filthiness, but the modern scholars have once again, without remorse ALTERED the Biblical text to suit themselves and this ungodly culture.

DEUTERONOMY 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a
sodomite of the sons of Israel. (KJV)

DEUTERONOMY 23:17 “There shall be no cult prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a cult prostitute of the sons of Israel.”
(RSV)

1KINGS 14:24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all
the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
(KJV)

1KINGS 14:24 And there were also male cult prostitutes in the land… (RSV)

1KINGS 22:46 ……… Sodomites ……… (KJV)
1KINGS 22:46 ……… Male cult prostitutes ……… (RSV)
2KINGS 23:7 …… Sodomites ……………… (KJV)
2KINGS 23:7 …… Male cult prostitutes …………… (RSV)

Sodomites (homosexuals, Gays or whatever you want to call them) are obviously not the same thing as males who involve themselves in ritualistic prostitution, one of these Bibles is WRONG. The modern versions no longer contain God’s disapproval of the homosexuals (that would just be too offensive, wouldn’t it?).

1KINGS 15:11-12 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did
David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (KJV)

That certainly wouldn’t go down well in today’s society! The modern translators made it homosexual friendly though,

1KINGS 15:12 He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land and
removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (RSV)

Also in 1Corinthians 6:9 the NIV changes the word “effeminate” to “male prostitutes” and they’ve taken out “abusers of themselves with mankind” and put in the ‘non-offensive’ “homosexual offenders”. Thus ridding the Bible of any real condemnation of ordinary HOMOSEXUALS.

Is it any wonder churches are ordaining homosexual ministers?

Another modern idea which has influenced modern translations is the idea that Jesus
couldn’t have been born of a Virgin, most liberal scholars and theologians think this
story is a myth, accordingly the translators have cunningly attacked this doctrine with
their bias versions.

In your modern version Joseph is Jesus’ father, the word ‘pater’ was inserted instead of ‘Ioseph’ in Luke 2:33, see also Luke 2:43 in the NIV.
LUKE 2:33-34 And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken
of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is
set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken
against; (KJV)

LUKE 2:33-34 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: “This child is destined to
cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken
against. (NIV)

The virgin birth becomes a “young woman” birth in the modern versions.
ISAIAH 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (KJV)

ISAIAH 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a young woman will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (RSV)

There’s plenty more evidence, such as the changing of ‘the creation’ details to coincide with modern views etc. but you should be convinced by now. Your ‘Bible’ and every other modern version of the ‘Bible’ on the market is translated from two Catholic manuscripts, which are corruptions of the Biblical text that God inspired, Your ‘Bible’ removes verses that God inspired, Your scholars call into question verses in God’s word even though God said he would preserve his word forever.
Lastly, today’s scholars (without remorse) have twisted God’s words and have tried to bring the Bible into agreement with modern, liberal ideas.
What you have is not the Bible.

In His time ...

2007-04-30T00:37:00.001+01:00

I just simply had to post something today! It's been ages since I posted, but I've come away from this weekend with a reminder of God's blessed assurance. It's so easy to pass by familiar scripture, and think, "Yup, know what that means .... next". How about, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Pro. 3:5 ?
Now how about living it!?
Recently, compared to when I started coming to church, I've honestly felt a decrease in my passion for His work. Less out of love and more out of duty. We had scheduled Revival meetings with Bro. Buddy Blunkall for Gospel Light Baptist Church, Hot Springs, AR. preaching some Spirit-filled messages, and also our Men's Spiritual Retreat down in Bandon ran the same week. I thought, wow this is exactly what I need, thank you Lord! I began fervently praying for revival to begin first in my heart, and also in the hearts of those around me. Yet God only seemed to answer the latter. I put the best work I could into serving Him that week, but that's all it was in the end ... work. I began to get slightly bothered, why Lord? I want this, I really do. Yet still, nothing. My Bible reading continued to suffer, I still couldn't figure it out. I could see God was still using me, but why was I struggling so much.
Bro. Martin and Lumi's wedding came so fast this month and the music preparation was not where I wanted it to be. On top of that Ronelle got a cold and thought she wouldn't be able to sing, and there was still things that needed to be ironed out after the dress rehearsal. Praise God all went magnificently, and it was the beginning of a little lesson God used in my life to teach me about His control, and my lack of trust in it!
I had calculated that a Revival and Men's Retreat would add up to a spiritual boost in my life. Anybody would have told you that that was an obvious thing to expect!! I wasn't expecting things to go exactly the way I wanted them to, but I still expected them to go in the same general direction! God told me, in My time, the way I have decided. It's funny how I always look to understand a situation and try to be in control. Thank God for His patience, and willingness to teach us and not have us ignorant :-)
Please feel free to post how God is working in your life ...

Beautiful Boracay

2007-02-04T09:38:00.000Z

The pool where we stayed in Boracay!
Mum and Dad enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery
The beach!!!
Wow!
A view from Mount Luho.

Christmas: Reason for the season!

2006-12-26T22:16:00.001Z

Christmas was so wonderful this year! I wonder though, how many people have come to know the real event that goes on? It seems Ireland stocks up on products, drinks, lights, and trees. Ireland teaches us exactly what is done at this time, and the only questions that are asked are, Why do I have to put up with all this stress? Why does everyone get gifts and end up in debt? The answer, Jesus, doesn’t seem to suffice. Why is that?

By nature, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God (Rom 3:11, 1Cor 2:14).
I personally didn’t, and I found Jesus knocking on my door, and drawing me unto him. He was relentless! I ignored, put up a front of anger, but I couldn’t get the things I was hearing out of my mind! I kept hearing more too …

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (II Corinthians 4:4)
It amazes me to see how mankind will hold to anything, ANYTHING, that’s not in the Bible … evolution, communism, astrology, atheism etc. and believe anyone promoting these things.
I read about a reporter who saw 3 girls looking at Christmas presents in a window. One girl was blind and the other two were describing the various toys to her. The reporter marvelled at the thought of how difficult it would be to describe without sight what the toys looked like. A famous preacher D.L. Moody likened it to describing the things of God to an unsaved person, and to make matters worse, they aren’t interested unless the Father is drawing them (John 6:44).

Christmas is about the birth of a child, and not just another child, the only begotten Son! God in the flesh, who came down to live a sinless life and die for the numerous sins we have all commited. Who would rise again and defeat death, hell and Satan so that we could have the option(!) to choose eternal life!!!
This is one of the most significant events in history, without it we would all be lost. A significant event that happened 2007 years ago. The year of our Lord! This year I was blessed with the opportunity to worship Him in spirit and in truth, to bring honour, praise and glory to His name, and really celebrate the reason for the season!! And wow what a difference it is to be in the joy of the Lord! What did you do this Christmas? Do you know, if you died tonight, where you will spend eternity?

Jesus is waiting, not too far from here …

John Mahony.
www.biblebc.com

Praises to His name!

2006-12-07T21:41:00.000Z

Recently after a trip to America to learn more about the Reformer's Unanimous ministry (reformu.com), we learned about the value of a daily prayer journal. Pastor then preached on our need to not just read, or even memorize the word of God, but to meditate on it! Psalms 1 tells us that a man is blessed when he meditates on God's truth in his heart daily. (see The Write way to worship Pt. 1 and 2 here)
The testimonies we heard of people who had developed a dynamic love relationship with Jesus Christ were just amazing. These people were both regular church attenders who didn't know Jesus personally, to people who had come from the depths of sin addictions that were killing them fast. Both now converse with God daily and have found His will for their lives, and He is healing broken marriages, self righteous attitudes and wicked lusts.
The journals have opened up the Bible to our members in an amazing way! People who found it hard to study for themselves, people struggling with personal trials and people who knew their relationship with God wasn't what it used to be. Let's be honest, who feels that they are exactly where they ought to be in Christ!!
I am glad to say there has been much answered prayer, and many are learning so much, and growing in grace (II Peter 3:18). I believe part of the journals effectiveness is it's layout into sections, giving us different ways in which to communicate with God. Through Bible reading/meditation, time spent listening to preaching of His word, prayer time (divided further), time in wise counsel, and then leadings/convictions of the Spirit. I Corinthians says, Let all things be done decently and in order (I Corinthians 14:40). The ordered layout really helps to focus in specifically on each way possible to hear from God and prayer becomes so sweet!
Here is an excerpt from my journal, Personal prayer time - Praises:

Thank you Lord for being Almighty God (Revelation 11:17)
Thank you Lord for being forgiving and merciful to me (1 John 1:9)
That my sins are as far as the east is from the west! (Psalm 103:12)
That You first loved us! (1 John 4:19)
That we can show You love (John 14:15)

I can tell you my praises section is mostly jam-packed with so many things i can be thankful for in the life Jesus has given! Also, some things are tough to deal with too, God is really showing me where i fall down, and sins that are in my life. I take comfort in Proverbs 24:16 and II Corinthians 12:9,10. I know sin doesn't make me a sinner but i sin because i'm a sinner, but we can be sanctified! (John 17:17) I want to hear Jesus say well done, thou good and faithful servant. Who wants to hear I never knew you?!?

Study in Daniel just Awesome!

2006-12-06T22:20:00.000Z

Well, Wednesday evenings couldn't be better! A normal crowd of about 20 people gather around a huge square set of tables and face each other and the Scriptures as we go through verse by verse through the entire Bible! These days, we, as a church are going verse by verse through the Book of Daniel, and man oh man is it amazing! So practical, but also quite challenging! Obviously someone smarter than us wrote it, and yet intended us to learn it. And learning it we are! We just began chapter 3, and are endeavouring to place our feet in the shoes of Nebuchadnezzar, as well as more importantly, in the shoes of those brave, faithful young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! Tonight we discussed and learned about the image Nebuchadnezzar set up, and why, and how it directly relates to the image that the anti-christ will put up in Revelation chapter 13. We also saw how religions burn their opponents, while God dies for His enemies to save them from burning! What an awesome God we follow!
I so encourage you dear reader to come out and learn this Book of books! You will never be the same for knowing the truth, for Jesus promised, "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!" (John 8:32).
Until next time, God bless you and use you for His glory!
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
www.biblebc.com

Youth Camp 2006

2006-07-09T15:38:00.000+01:00

This year's Victory Youth Camp down in Bandon was the best camp ever according to the kids and adults!