22 November , 2012

Dear Friends,

On this US Thanksgiving Day, we find ourselves with so much to be thankful for that it is hard to know where to begin!

Growing Family. We write this update to you today from the home of our daughter Nicole, and her husband Eric, in Horseheads, New York. God has blessed them, along with big-brother Asher, and all of us, with a new baby boy. Cayden Robert McCrorey was born a week ago, and he is beautiful! We are so blessed to be able to be here to lend a hand and visit them! This Sunday we will participate in the dedication of Cayden to the Lord, along with Eric's parents.

Growing Church. Converge International Fellowship has officially been open for 7 weeks. It has been a wonderful and exciting time! On October 24, at the Annual Convention Meeting of the International Baptist Convention, we were officially welcomed as an Associate Member Church (see photo). Think about it! Today a church is ministering and growing that did not exist a year ago! God is so good! Each week we see new faces and meet new friends. God continues to bless us with families and students who come to us from countries as diverse as England, Cameroon and China. At one of our LIFE Groups recently a new friend from South Africa joined the group, and an old friend rejoined the group from Denmark via Skype!

God has been making it clear to us that ministry to the International Student population is going to be an even larger component of our mission here than we ever imagined. We continue to meet students in need of everything from language assistance to housing. Please pray for us as we seek His direction to minister to this diverse and open group.

Healing bodies. Bob spent four days in the hospital in Darmstadt last week with a kidney stone. God was so good through it all – if it had been a week later, it would have been on our departure date for the US! God is so good – He even made sure Bob had an aisle seat right in front of the lavatory on the flight over here!

Faithful Friends. While we have been blessed with new friends from all over the world, we know that it is our long-term faithful friends like you who make it all possible. We are blessed by your love, support and prayers for us as we live, work and minister in Darmstadt. Thank you for your participation in our mission! We could not do it without you! Please join us in giving thanks to God for His eternal faithfulness!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

~ Bob & Carol

Anti Christ Revealed?

A friend asked me about a new YOUTUBE video that has gone kind of viral...he asked for my thoughts.

Here's a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlT9SYR6jq4&feature=share

Here are "my thoughts":

Over the course of my lifetime there have been claims that a prominent personality, generally disliked by conservatives, is the Anti-Christ. John Kennedy, Henry Kissinger, even Ronald Wilson Reagan ("6 letter per name = 666 - obviously it's him!"). I had a pastor when I was a kid who showed us a book that he kept in his office - the title was "100 Reasons why Mussolini is the Anti Christ!" He kept it there because it reminded him of how we can get distracted from the important teaching about the end times when we get focused on the minutia and major on the minors.

There are two things about the end that we need to be concerned about:

1. Be prepared.  Jesus makes it clear that we are to be ready for His return, period.  That means living a life that is faithful.  We are to abide in Him, love God with all our heart, and obey His teachings.
2. Prepare others.  Our orders are clear:  "Go, teach, baptize."  Our focus is to be spreading the gospel to as many as we can, and allow God to open their eyes to see His glory in the face of Christ.

That being said, the Bible uses the word “antichrist” only four times, with one instance in the plural, in the following verses:

• Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (1 John 2:18)
• Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22)
• And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:3)
• For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. (2 John 1:7)

As you can see, much of the direct references are to an attitude, or spirit of antichrist, which has certainly been displayed and personified many times in human history.

Paul talks about the "Man of Lawlessness," who is often associated with THE AntiChrist of end times teachings, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (as is "The Dragon," "The Beast," "The False Prophet," and "The Whore of Babylon," all in Revelation). I think it is clear from Paul's teaching that his identity is not revealed until the end; that the Holy Spirit will hold his power in check until He is removed; then the AC will burst force onto the world scene - until Jesus overthrows and destroys him.

Paul concludes his discussion of that material by saying,

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."

• The identity of the AntiChrist is not revealed. 
• The Holy Spirit holds AC at back until He is removed. 
• Jesus defeats AC. 
• We have been chosen and saved by God. 
• We are to focus on standing firm on the Word of God.

That's the bottom line. Those are "my thoughts..."

This kind of stuff (the YouTube post) is always fascinating, but usually questionable in its reliability. You've got a guy translating material from one language to another to another to another. Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek then English. Believe me, there is a lot of room for error just translating from one language to another, let alone 4 times!

As I said, fascinating, but probably not all that reliable. Best to stand firm on the Word that we DO know, than to be distracted by a stretched translation of what MIGHT be possible.

Worthy--Or Unworthy?

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.Ephesians 3:19

From AW Tozer:

The love of Jesus is so inclusive that it knows no boundaries. At the point where we stop loving and caring, Jesus is still there—loving and caring!

The question may be asked: “How does the living Christ feel today about the sinful men and women who walk our streets?”

There is only one answer: He loves them!

We may be righteously indignant about the things they do. We may be disgusted with their actions and their ways. We are often ready to condemn and turn away from them.

But Jesus keeps on loving them! It is His unchanging nature to love and seek the lost. He said many times when He was on earth, “I have come to help the needy. The well do not need a doctor—but the sick need attention and love.”

We are prone to look at the needy and measure them: “Let us determine if they are worthy of our help.” During all of His ministry, I do not think Jesus ever helped a “worthy” person. He only asked, “What is your need? Do you need My help?”

Sent from the Mornings with Tozer, by A. W. Tozer. For devotionals like this one for your iPhone, visit us at43rdElement.com