Heartland News & Prayer

December 5, 2010 by Wendy Carter.

Christmas Greetings:“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”(I Peter 5:6)

Gary and I were very excited Friday afternoon when we saw William come out of the arrival gate at the Toronto airport.  We learned he got his Canadian visa last Wednesday and he was on the plane the next day.  We are all still quite amazed that he passed this challenging test; our country is very afraid that this young man will not return home.  It took him an hour to plead his case with the Thai lady in Bangkok who was representing our Canadian government (where the temperature was 90 degrees!).  He wasn’t exactly sure whether Toronto customs would let him through, but he entered quite easily with only a few questions asked.   We immediately shopped for warm clothes on our way home and took him to Swiss Chalet for supper.  He has never eaten French Fries.  The Macdonald family brought him along with them after church today to buy a Christmas tree for their home.  He has so much to learn as he has just come to us with only his English language.  Please pray for a quick adjustment and good health during this cold and flu season.  A big thank you to everyone as you have him in your homes for meals, take him to ordinary events that happen day by day in your lives or contribute to his needs financially.  Also thank you Nghiem family for giving him a room in your home to stay for the next six months.  God, indeed, has His hand in all this.  The above verse is William’s favourite.

So did you start filling your Christmas boxes for Haiti this past week?  How many pairs of pants or skirts do you own or how many electrical base plugs do you have in your home?  We were to put in 5 cents for each one.  This collected money will go to FAIR, a part of our Fellowship denomination, that will forward these funds to this very needy country in January.

Continue to pray for Debbie Macdonald contending with her broken arm.  Last Monday she was able to receive a lighter cast and no surgery is required.  If she moves quickly she still feels a lot of pain.

Home Group will happen this coming Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Burton home.  We will continue watching the video  on the 400th Anniversary of the printing of the King James Version Bible.

Everyone is sending around the youtube video,  www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7Jr9oKVE. Have you seen it yet?  Amazing how so many in the world can be reached so quickly.  If you can’t see it right away just go to www.youtube.com and search on the longer form above.

Enjoy that good old white stuff that may get here this week!

Wendy
wendy.carter@kainos.org
This blog is a summary of our 9:00 Sunday morning services held at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON L6Y 0H3, 905-230-8116.  It can always be found at www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca.

William’s Story by Gary Carter & William:  Adoniram Judson travelled to Burma (now Myanmar) by boat from the US in the early 1800s.  He was sick many times, jailed, and lost 3 wives to death and yet was able  to translate the Bible for this country.  The Gospel took root.  There are about 180 tribes of people in Burma.  William is from the small Chin tribe which is mostly Christian but very much disrespected.  About five years ago Gary began a relationship with our friend, Richard who ran an orphanage.  Gary and Steve visited him last spring.  Near the end of their visit they met William and his parents in Yangon where millions of Buddhists live.  His father is a pastor and they had moved there to reach these people.  William became a pastor as well.  Now that William is visiting us we need to help him become more fluent in English and he needs to ask us questions so he can learn all the little things he needs to know to teach English well in his country e.g. distinguishing between “he” and “she”.

William says he is very thankful to Heartland for inviting him over to Canada and is praising His God for helping him to cross many “rivers” to get here.  Even though no more than five people are legally allowed to gather together in a home in Myanmar Christians invite as many unbelievers as possible to their homes for they are willing and open to come at this time of the year.  They will have several Christmas parties starting on December 1.  Christmas is explained and many are won for Christ.

Even though we try our best we cannot do everything.  William submitted his desire of coming to Canada to God.  He travelled to Bangkok and there his visa was denied during the first interview.  He prepared much better for his second interview and the second lady seemed to listen more carefully.  He told her about his church and said, “My God is a living God in me.”  Burmese people don’t respect his Chin people but God has used the smallest things to make big things happen.  God has brought him from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the richest.  He is very blessed and so are we - particularly for the freedoms we experience in Canada. Myanmar is a spiritually bankrupt country with lots of oppression; the people are looking for a solution, not a Saviour.  Check out I Corinthians 1:26-31.

Andronicus & Junias/Junia (Romans 16:7) by Steve Macdonald: So who are these two friends of Paul?    Andronicus’ name means “man of victory; conqueror of men.”  It is not certain if the second person is a male (Junias) or a female (Junia). Jerome (340-420 A.D.) wrote that Junia was a female. John Chrysostom (345-407 A.D.) wrote, “Oh! How great is the devotion of this woman, that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!”

These two people were Jews (most likely Benjamites similar to Paul) who did some jail time maybe with Paul or at another time.  In any case, they were  willing to sacrifice their personal freedom and endure hardships for the cause of Christ Jesus; for this Paul honoured them. Paul uses the Greek word “episemos” meaning “eminent, prominent, distinguished, outstanding, renowned.” This word is only used twice in the New Testament. (The other occurrence is with reference to Barabbas, Matthew 27:16.).  Andronicus and Junia are placed in some good company.  They were believers before Paul – probably when Paul was still going from town to town beating and imprisoning believers.  It has been suggested that these two were among the “visitors” or “strangers” of Rome mentioned in Acts 2:10 (King James Version).  Did they become Christians on the first day of Pentecost and then return to Rome to be the first ones to preach the Gospel there?  Were they among the early followers of Jesus or converts of the 70 disciples that were sent out (Luke 10)?  We simply don’t know. They were, however, successful in bringing many to Christ and demolishing temples of idolatry.

In Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, Andronicus was one of the Seventy Apostles. Andronicus was made Bishop of Pannonia (an ancient province of the Roman Empire located over the territory of the present-day western half of Hungary with parts in Austria, Croatia,Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The tradition holds that they were capable of performing miracles, they drove out demons and healed many of sickness and disease. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Andronicus died as a martyr. In the Oriental Orthodox tradition, Andronicus departed in peace one day before the departure of Junia.

Martin Luther (Part II) by Chris Burton: From 1514 Luther was not only a theology professor at Wittenberg University but also the priest at the City Church in Wittenberg.  Luther observed that many people in Wittenberg were not coming to him for confession any more.  They were buying indulgences or forgiveness which was completely repulsive to Martin Luther.  Some even paid ahead of time so they could do all the sin they wanted to do.  He believed that one had to live a life of humility to receive God’s grace.  By 1507 trade in indulgences had increased because the Papal Court and Bishop Albrecht von Brandenburg were having financial difficulties.  Peter indulgences were sold to rebuild the Basilica in Rome. A Dominican monk, Johann Tetzel sold them to redeem sins of the deceased.  He is quoted, “When money clangs in a box, souls spring up to heaven.”

Luther had preached against this indulgence abuse. On October 31, 1517 it is said that Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of Castle Church.  Did this really happen?  There was no open discussion of the theses in Wittenberg and no original printing of the theses could be found. One thing is for sure Luther wrote a letter to his superiors on October 31, 1517 in which he denounced the sale of indulgence and asked for repayment and removal of the misunderstandings. With the letter he included 95 theses which were to be the basis for a discussion on the topic. Luther sent his these to a few bishops and some friends, not expecting a quick response.  By the end of 1517, however, copies of the 95 Theses had been printed in Leipzig, Nuremberg and Basel. Some humanists and princes passionately approved of the theses, but parts of the Roman Church completely rejected them. Priest Tetzel called Luther a heretic. The avalanche was unstoppable. In 1518 Luther said he was not striving to unhinge the papacy.  The Papal Court began an inquisition in Rome.

Foreign Phrases Changed by One Letter (Part II) by Steve Macdonald:

Idios Amigos: We are wild & crazy guys.
Le Roi est Mort, Jive le Roi:  The king is dead.  No kidding.
Posh Mortem: Death styles of the rich and famous.
Pro Bozo Publico: Support your local clown.
Felix Navidad: Our cat has a boat.
Quip Pro Quo: A fast retort.
Mazel Ton: Tons of good luck.

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