When prodigals tread up the path to righteousness, God can’t sit still. Heaven’s throne room echoes with the sound of slapping sandals and pounding feet, and angels watch in silence as God embraces his child.  (Max Lucado)

Ron Nelson with his daughter and grandson

Today, Bibledonate.org lost one of our board members (and my brother-in-law).  Ron Nelson of Carrier, Oklahoma lost his battle with pancreatic cancer early this morning.  We rejoice at his victory in Christ but we are saddened by our own loss.

When drawing up regulations, government agencies place a value on human life in order to weigh the cost versus the benefit of proposed rules and legislation.  The EPA has valued a “stastical life” to be worth $6.9 million dollars. They believe the less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for restrictions on pollution. 

I couldn’t begin to tell you how they determined the value of a life to be 6.9 million dollars and not sure I really care; however, I am certain I wouldn’t accept that amount of cash for any single member of my family, nor would anyone else — but it did make me reflect about the value of a soul in God’s eyes and it reminded me of something I once heard…

If someone handed you a crisp, new $100 bill would you take it?   Of course you would!  But what if you were walking down an alley and glanced down to see an old, wrinkled $100 bill laying in the drainage gutter.  What if the $100 bill had a corner or two torn from it.  What if it was muddy and wet?  What if it was written on?  What if it had been wasted on drugs or prostitution?  Would you pick it up?  Of course you would — it’s still has the same value of the crisp, new $100 bill.

You have tremendous value in God’s eyes.  It doesn’t matter if you’re old and wrinkled.  It doesn’t matter if you are muddy and wet.  It doesn’t matter what you look like.  It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done.   You’re worth more than $100.  You’re worth more than $6.9 million.   You’re worth so much that God watched His own Son struggle and die on the cross so that you might live with Him forever.  God is looking down on you and he is reaching for you — because you are so valuable to him.

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Created in the image of God (Gen 1:27) by the God who created the universe (Amos 5:8).  Formed from dust, we were given the breath of life (Gen 2:7).    Having given us dominion over every living creature (Gen 1:27); He even let us name the animals, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field (Gen 2:19). 

He clothes us with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10).  He feeds us (Proverbs 10:3).  He directs our steps (Proverbs 20:24) yet we have no idea what He has prepared for us (1 Corinthians 2:9).

We take refuge under His wings (Psalm 91:4) but the wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23).   So God sent His son Jesus (Matthew 3:17) to teach (Luke 11:1), to heal (Matthew 8:7), and to cast out demons (Mark 1:34). 

Jesus was betrayed by a friend (Luke 22:48) and denied by those He loved (Luke 22:57).  He was judged wrongly (Luke 23:24-25), then  tortured, savagely beaten (Mark 16:15-16) and brutally crucified on a cross (Mark 15:25). 

Separated from God by our sin, Jesus died for YOU so you may be reconciled to God(Romans 5:6-11).  Do you not know that you will judge angels? (1 Corinthians 6:3)   Do you realize who you are, you child of God?

www.bibledonate.org and www.fivesimplesteps.org

After a  forest fire in Yellowstone National Park,  forest  rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the  inferno’s damage. One ranger found a bird literally  petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the  ground at the base of a tree.

Somewhat sickened by  the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a  stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks  scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.

The  loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster,  had carried her offspring to the base of the tree  and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could  have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her  babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had  scorched her small body, the mother had remained  steadfast…because she had been willing to die, so  those under the cover of her wings would  live. 

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  (Psalm 91:4) 

www.bibledonate.org and www.fivesimplesteps.org

Mount Everest:  29,035 Feet.  To put  this mountain into perspective, if you jumped out of an airplane cruising at 29,000 feet, it would take a little over 3.5 minutes before you hit the ground.  Since the late 1950′s, men and women have pushed themselves to the summit — a place where virtually nothing can survive and birds cannot soar.   Those who have tested themselves against the great mountain have been effected in profound ways.  In 1996, one in seven people to reach the summit did not survive the descent.  It has tested the accomplished and vanquished the ill-prepared.

What you may not know is that over sixty million years ago, Mount Everest was little more than a sand bar on the ocean floor.  One day, pressure began to build underneath the sea floor.   Underground plates began to push away from each other, which allowed molten rock to push upward through the resulting gaps.   Over time, the rock formed a reef; a habitate for marine life — but God wasn’t satisfied with a reef.  After several million years, the boiling, molten rock continued to push the reef upward until it broke the surface of the sea and formed what would have been a beautiful island — but God was not building an island. 

Plates continued to pull, press, and tug deep within the earth.  It was extremely violent as molten rock continued to push the Island upward and eventually formed a large beautiful hill, covered with flora and fauna.   But God was not building a hill.   He created additional turmoil under the plates to stimulate further growth.  Over time, the beautiful hill had become a mountain.   But God wasn’t building just any mountain, so He continued to work on His masterpiece.  The mountain continued to grow until it reached the perfect height.  When God had finished, He crowned the mountain with a beautiful blanket of glistening, white snow. 

God had taken a sandbar that could hardly be recognized at the bottom of the Ocean and over sixty million years, He molded it into the greatest mountain on the planet.  We all face adversity over the course of a lifetime.   What we may not realize is that adversity is often one of God’s greatest gifts.  

I know, you’re asking yourself if this could possibly be a true story.  The answer is “yes.”  Underneath the white robe of snow, seashells can be found all across the summit of Mount Everest.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. 

Prayer:

Wonderous Father, we are amazed at your creation.  It is difficult for our simple minds to understand the purpose of adversity.  Ignore our simplistic prayers to relieve us of our burdens.  Mold us in your image so that we may receive the crown you have prepared for us.  In the name of Jesus,

-Amen

Bibledonate.org receives numerous letters and email messages from Christians around the world, each and every day.  From time to time, I come across a letter that must be shared.  This is one of those letters.   Please take a moment to read this letter from a persecuted Christian, teaching the Word of God, in a Leper Colony.    

Dear Brethren in Christ, I am very happy to write you this letter as I pray and hope you will answer my writing for the holy bibles for myself and the christian lepers that are with me.  I want to brief you little about myself. Sir i was born to the family of a chief priest – a well known idol worshipping family, and married to the daughter of another such family. we had four children, and lived their idol worshipping life happily. Then everything changed.

My wife came back from the city where she had gone to buy goats for our annual festival. She came back to inform me of his encounter with a man of GOD that told him about Jesus Christ and it was the first time she was hearing of that name. she also told me the man of GOD said we should accept Jesus Christ as our only lord and personal saviour.

We never really understand what it means to accept Jesus Christ as our only lord and personal saviour until two months later, April 25,when my Wife encountered this man of GOD again and he accompany my Wife back to the village, that he now taught us what it means to accept Christ as our lord and saviour. On the 10th of May, 1994, we were baptized and started our home fellowship. It was then that the trouble started.

The villagers including my Wife’s dad abducted my Wife and sacrificed her to their gods, and that same night they came to our house in the middle of the night and set our house ablaze, and I lost my 2 sons and daughter to the inferno. It was only a miracle that I managed to escape that night with my only surviving son, but by the time the villagers got to know about why we were running from our village, they too planned to use us for rituals, and they believed we are accursed for believing in Jesus Christ. But God had a purpose for me in life, and made one of the elders in the village to have compassion on us and let us escape before the day we were to be used as sacrifices to their gods. We eventually settled in O. Leprosy Centre where we were received with open arms. We were free from all the disturbance as the lepers are rejected people in our society back here. I was afraid to preach the gospel again as I was afraid of death.

But on October 27, 1999, God spoke to me in my dream that I should not be afraid of death, for death is the gateway to eternity in Heaven for we the believers…that HE preserved me and allowed all those persecutions to happen to me so I can serve him…. by the next day when I woke up I realise for the 4 years I have been with the orphans, none of them have ever heard of the gospel, and none of them knew anything about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So I started to preach the gospel of Jesus to them.

Initially they refuse to listen as they believed nobody loves or care about them and that Jesus I talk about is no different. But after much preaching and praying for six months, I was able to convert 10 of them for Jesus Christ. Today I am happy to say we are 163 in number, and we now have a church that is called Udororogbei Leper Community Bible Church

 We have been serving and doing the work of GOD diligently even with all the hardship and untold neglect from the members of the larger society. We don’t even have a church building, and we use under trees for our worship and services, but our major problem is the holy bible for 16 Elders in the Church and they are old and they can only read the GIANT PRINT BIBLES.Please do send us the Giant Print Bibles as soon as possible so that Souls will have God’s Word to study.

May God Bless you For the work you do for the cause of the kingdom In Christ. Evangelist Michael Gekpedonieh Our Mail Contact Address is written below (removed).

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It is because of such situations, that  Bibledonate.org has a purpose.   I just wanted to share this with you.

When I was a puppy, we played chase and I made you laugh.   You held me close and loved me despite the messes I made and the shoes I chewed.   We were the best of friends.

Somedays you would scold me.  I would roll over and you would rub my tummy and tell me it was okay.  My housetraining took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together and I tried really hard.

I remember laying in bed together.  You told me about your days, about your troubles, about your dreams and your fears.  We snuggled for hours and I would wait for you to fall asleep because I didn’t want to miss a word you had to say.  We went for long walks and played in the park.  I liked to ride in the car but it scared me.  But as long as I sat next to you, I knew I would be okay. 

I remember the time you shared your ice cream with me.  Do you remember when I shared my cookie with you?  I missed you so much.  Everyday I would wait patiently, for the sound of your car and the thump of your door closing.

Summer turned to winter and back to summer again.  Tug-a-war, fetch…  I lost track of time because we had so much fun.   The ends of my hair started to turn white and I couldn’t play chase like I used to.  My back hurt a lot but you were always there to rub me and love me. 

I feel bad most of the time and I can’t walk very well anymore.  I can’t even see your face but I sure can taste you when I give you kisses.   I can’t wait to get the shot you’ve been telling me about.    I really want to go to the place where I can chase butterflies and run with the wind.   You will be there too, won’t you?  Please tell me you will be there too!

www.bibledonate.org

Iran’s Supreme Court says an evangelical pastor charged with apostasy can be executed if he does not recant his faith, according to a copy of the verdict obtained by a religious rights activist group. 

Christian Solidarity World says Iranian-born Yousef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in 2009 and given the death sentence late last year, could have his sentence suspended on the grounds that he renounce his faith.

Those who know him say he is not likely to do that, for if he were disposed to giving it up, he would have done it long ago.

If Nadarkhani does not recant, his fate is unclear. It’s believed his case would then be remanded to lower courts in Iran.

Recently the U.S. State Department issued the following remarks: “We are dismayed over reports that the Iranian courts are requiring Yousef Nadarkhani to recant his faith or face the death penalty for apostasy, a charge based on his religious beliefs. If carried out, it would be the first execution for apostasy in Iran since 1990. He is just one of thousands who face persecution for their religious beliefs in Iran, including the seven leaders of the Baha’i community whose imprisonment was increased to twenty years for practicing their faith and hundreds of Sufis who have been flogged in public because of their beliefs.”  Christian and human rights groups say apostasy isn’t even codified in Iranian law.

“From a human rights perspective, you can’t criminalize someone’s choice of religion, much less execute them for that,” says Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. 

Nadarkhani, from Rasht, on the Caspian Sea, converted to Christianity as a teenager. He is reportedly an effective pastor, who has converted an unknown number of people from Islam to Christianity.  Some believe he has about 400 people in his church.

Iran has ancient Armenian and Assyrian churches. The Evangelical Church of Iran is relatively new, church officials tell Fox News, a product of the legacy of Anglican missionaries who were in Iran in the last two centuries. Even after the Islamic Revolution, Iran been fairly tolerant of the older Armenian and Assyrian orders, which date back to the early days of Christianity, but has been less accepting of Evangelical conversions. 

Firouz Khandjani, a spokesman for the evangelical Church of Iran, lives in exile in Eastern Europe. He fled Iran for Turkey for security reasons, but says even in his new homeland he’s not safe, and was informed he could be targeted by Iranian agents in Turkey.

Khandjani says a sort of “soft persecution” began after the Revolution, with Christians generally losing many civil rights, including access to top jobs in the country, but has increased since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

Khandjani himself was arrested and released 18 years ago. But he says about 40 people have been arrested, many of them also released, since Ahmadinejad became President.

“I can’t say Ahmadinejad is persecuting us, but the hard-liners around him are. The leadership needs hard-liners to permit them to do what they want. They need their support.”

It is hard to get a number on how many Evangelical Christians there are in Iran. It is not a large number in this country of 70 million, but reportedly, the numbers continue to grow. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran estimates there may be 4,000. Khandjani believes the number to be as high as 200,000. Many of them watch evangelical television stations beamed into Iran from the United States.

Ghaemi says, “Most churches in Iran operate with some degree of secrecy. They operate in homes. People take their batteries out of their cellphones and leave them at the door. They show up at random times so as to avoid the appearance of a crowd filing in. The current government sees them as a threat.”

Ghaemi says there had been a tacit agreement between the Ministry of Intelligence and the Church of Iran, whereby if worshippers were open, and told the Ministry where they were going, the government would leave them alone. The government appears to have broken that “gentlemen’s agreement.”

Firouz Khandjani said the church wanted to be out in the open, and had asked to have physical churches in which to operate under the previous presidential administration.

“It was in the time of Khatami. We believed it was possible. He was more open to minority groups, but unfortunately, he didn’t have the will. We had believed in him.”

A court in Shiraz, Iran, recently released a group of Christians who had been arrested for subversion. The court ultimately ruled that they were just exercising their right to practice their religion. Human rights advocates say the higher courts should follow their example.

Sources say while the Iranian regime doesn’t look fondly upon conversion, it is proselytizing that really rankles them.

Khandjani made a plea to America. 

“The U.S., which is fighting for freedom, has to take care of this situation. This is the 21st century. We are not a military group. We want to worship God, according to the Gospel, and being persecuted is not acceptable.”

During Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, he and a group of travelers arrived at a river crossing where the swift water had overflowed it’s banks.   There they found a man, without a horse, waiting at the edge of the river — afraid to cross on his own.  The President’s traveling party began to cross horseback, one by one, each fighting for his life. 

The lone traveler watched the group traverse the treacherous river and then asked President Jefferson to take him across.  The President agreed without hesitation.  The man climbed onto the back of the President’s horse and the two made it safely to the other side of the river where somebody asked him, “Why did you ask the President to help you?” 

The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the President of the United States who had carried him safely across. “All I know,” he said, “is that on some of your faces was written the answer ‘No’ and on some of them was the answer ‘Yes.’  His was a ‘Yes’ face.” 

Remember… “Yes Faces” are carved in stone but nobody will remember the “No Faces.”

www.bibledonate.org and www.fivesimplesteps.org