B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER # 84
B.A.S.I.C. NEWSLETTER # 84
I Cor. 16:9 “For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
October 30, 2006
The following Reformation message is sent to us by Pastor Mark Bohde. Pastor Bohde and family have lived in Thailand for a number of years. He taught and preached about the Lord. He also was in charge of an orphanage in which he took care of the orphans and taught them about their Savior. Pastor Bohde and family returned to the U.S. during the last year because of his declining health. He is slowly recuperating with his family in Texas. We pray to the Lord for his full recovery.
THE REFORMATION The Reformation was first and foremost a missionary movement. God used Martin Luther to proclaim the Gospel to a world that was dieing under the work righteousness of the Papacy. Luther’s missionary work put him in great danger from a very hostile world. God initiated the movement and caused it to flourish throughout the world in spite of the hostility and power of the Papacy and its allies. It appears that we are faced with a similar situation. The Gospel is being lost as church after church falls from heresy into apostasy. The world around us is becoming increasingly hostile to Christ and His followers. How should we respond? First, we know that God’s will has not changed regarding our generation. We know that God our Savior “desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” The Holy Spirit tells us through Peter, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” Like Luther, let’s take the offensive. There is nothing that we cannot accomplish, if we remember the words of Zechariah 4, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” I saw God’s power, when I worked helping newly arrived Hmong refugees. I saw God’s mighty Spirit act, accomplishing things that were well beyond our ability or expectations. Perhaps the greatest that I saw, happened on a Sunday. Even though I wasn’t a pastor, the Pastor of my church asked me to lead the effort to evangelize the Hmong. This included starting and holding Sunday worship services with the help of a Hmong translator. One week I and three other people agreed to meet together at the church on Friday. We decided that we would fast and pray all night, asking God, by His power, to bring some of the Hmong into His kingdom. I cannot tell you why, but we asked the Lord to cause 30 people to believe and confess Christ on the following Sunday. We knew that the Lord must cause the increase and we knew that we were praying for what the Lord Himself wanted (but I cannot tell you why we asked for 30 new believers). On the following Sunday afternoon The Lord gave us His answer. After worship service, we asked all who believed in Jesus to stand up. Fifty to sixty people stood. We immediately went from family to family and person to person among those who stood. We explained the Gospel again. All said they believed and wanted to follow Christ. The following several weeks, we went from house to house cutting strings off wrists and throwing household idols into the trash. My Hmong friend told me that if they weren’t willing to give up their idols, it meant that they were still trusting in them. It was a time of great rejoicing. It is my fervent hope that we in the CLC who possess God’s truth might be willing to put aside our fears and inadequacies, and go on the offensive. The Psalmist said, “I will cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.” Beginning with prayer, and moving in the power of the Spirit, we can make this Reformation Day and the days following a time of great rejoicing as the Lord adds to His Kingdom.
Mark Bohde
***************************
A Study of the Creeds The Apostles Creed and some questions were listed in the previous BASIC. Here are the answers for the Apostles Creed – I believe in God – Heb. 11:1, the Father – Is. 64:8, Almighty, – Is. 13:6, Maker of heaven and earth. – Gen. 1:1 And in Jesus – Lk. 1:31, Christ – Mt. 16:16, His only Son, – Jn. 1:14, our Lord; – Jn. 20:28, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, – Mt. 1:20, born – Lk. 2:7, of the Virgin – Mt. 1:23, Mary, – Lk. 1:27, suffered under Pontius Pilate, – Mt. 27:27-31, was crucified, – Mt. 27:35, dead, – Mt. 27:50, and buried; – Mt. 27:59-60, He descended into hell; – I Pet. 3:19, the third day He rose again from the dead; – Jn. 20:1,16, He ascended into heaven, – Acts 1:9, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; – Mk. 16:19, from thence He shall come to judge – II Cor. 5:10, the quick and the dead; – II Tim. 4:1, I believe in the Holy Ghost; – II Pet. 1:21, the holy Christian church, – Eh. 5:27, the communion of saints; – I Cor. 1:2, the forgiveness of sins; – Col. 1:14, the resurrection of the body; – Rom. 6:5, and the life everlasting. – I Jn. 5:11 Pastor David Koenig