PASSION!

Entering a church in Nigeria is unlike anything I have known elsewhere in the world!

For there is a level of intensity, a passion for Christ, that, in my experience, exists nowhere else. Quite simply, that is why we hear of more miracles in this country than elsewhere and why Nigerians travel the world, setting up vibrant churches everwhere.

For they are a passionate people! In life generally - which can be challenging to a Westerner - and for God! Simply, they have a hunger for Jesus unmatched anywhere.

So once again I am forced to conclude that we can have as much of God as we really want. How much we receive depends on our real desire, our true hunger for Him. The more we sell out to our God, the more of Him we receive.

Not necessarily in riches and worldy blessings. For although Nigeria is a rich country, their wealth is syphoned off by corrupt leaders, but spiritual riches and blessings abound!

You may argue that this is just 'Nigeria', but this is not the case. For Nigerian pastors travel the world and are just as successful in creating vibrant and growing churches in South Africa, the UK, America and elsewhere.

Their success comes from their simple, deeply based committment to God, to evangelism and spiritual growth of the people.

May more of it rub off on me, Lord!

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FROM THE WORD

THE NATURE OF GOD (3 OF 3)
Contrary to much popular belief today, God is both a loving and a judgmental (but just) God. God loved and judged early man, loved and judged Israel, loved mankind enough to send His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us. He will finally judge ALL mankind on Judgement Day. Living as we do in the Age of Grace, it is easy to forget this.

OLD TESTAMENT
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:2-6)

NEW TESTAMENT
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 John 3:16)

"For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:30-31)

DAVID’S DOODLINGS

HEAVENLY TRUTHS GOD HAS SHOWN ME (9 of 12)

Unexpectedly given one afternoon when I wasn't feeling very well. How often God works like that! Kept my human input to a minimum.

God has shown me that...

... without Him, we will never fulfil our potential.

... the more I get into Him, the more He gets into me.

... the more time I spend with Him, the more time He has to make changes in me.

... His love never fails, but other's love may.

... the reward for loving others is found in Heaven, rather than on earth.

... life is to be our investment in eternity.

Please feel free to quote these quotes. Acknowledgement of David Tait as the author would be appreciated. There are now more than 800 David sayings for you to view at ...

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A MESSAGE FROM ROY

Although this PGIM! e-letter is sent free, some readers have decided to support this Ministry one or more times a year by sponsoring a week's PGIM! @ USD $50.00. Can I ask you to consider sponsoring a specified week/s? You will get an acknowledgement on your particular week/s of sponsorship (unless you do not want it). If you are interested to help this very informative & helpful newsletter, please email me, Roy McGreevy, as it is God who authored this idea through me in the USA. roy@kscbtv.com. I look forward to hearing from you... thanks. Roy

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused***

*** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***

269. UNUSUAL MEMORIAL
A newly appointed young preacher was contacted by the local funeral director to hold a graveside service at a small country cemetery.

There was to be no funeral, just the committal, because the deceased had no family or friends left. The young pastor started early to the cemetery, but soon lost his way.
After making several wrong turns, he finally arrived a half-hour late. The hearse was no where in sight, and the workman were relaxing under a nearby tree, eating their lunch. The pastor went to the open grave and found that the vault lid was already in place. He took out his book and read the service.

As he returned to his car, he overheard one of the workman say, "Maybe we'd better tell him that's a septic tank."

268. WHY GOD CREATED EVE
the first 10 reasons why God created Eve.

10. God was worried that Adam would frequently become lost in the Garden.
9. God knew that one day Adam would require someone to locate and hand him the remote.
8. God knew Adam would never go out and buy himself a new fig leaf when his wore out and would therefore need Eve to buy one for him.
7. God knew Adam would never be able to make a doctor's, dentist, or haircut appointment for himself.
6. God knew Adam would never remember which night to put the garbage on the curb.
5. God knew if the world was to be populated, men would never be able to handle the pain and discomfort of childbearing.
4. As the Keeper of the Garden, Adam would never remember where he left his tools.
3. Apparently, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden.
2. As the Bible says, It is not good for man to be alone!
And finally, the Number 1 reason why God created Eve...
1. When God finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, scratched his head, and said, "I can do better than that."

Now one of the most comprehensive sources of Christian Humour on the Net with 670 sermon fillers for your entertainment and use at ...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/laugh.php

A NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

This morning, I woke up in the room I am sharing (until tonight when my wife arrives!) with my two Nigerian friends, Collins and Ike.

There was a gentle noise in the room, that I just couldn't quite work out. I looked around in the dark wondering what was going on, and suddenly realised that my two friends were praying - with intensity! And this was very early morning, I can assure you. But they did go back to sleep later when I was awake, mind you!

The committment to prayer here is tremendous - and it works!

A humbling Nigerian experience!

FACTS FOR FUN

LAST WEEKS QUESTION: How does scratching relieve an itch?

ANSWER: When something irritates your skin, the nerves that transmit messages of pain send a message to the brain about the irritant. When you scratch, you cause yourself mild pain that distracts those nerves. That is why scratching usually only works for a few minutes before the itch comes back (unless the irritant is gone).

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Why does the face get red when it's hot out?

Answer Next Week.

SOME FUN FACTS
795. TAKING ITS TIME
The giant sequoia tree, which produces millions of seeds, can take 175 to 200 years to flower. No other organism takes so long to mature sexually. (Some of us, of course, never mature!)

796. NUMBER PLEASE
Gon Yang-ling of Harbin, China, has memorised more than 15,000 telephone numbers! (And I have difficulty remembering my own.)

797. YOU'VE GOT TO BE QUICK!
If you are a mayfly. For this insect lives less than one whole day. The mayfly hatches, mates, and lays its eggs, and dies - all within a short 24 hours. (Now I lay me down to – die! So sad, for it will never see a second sunset.)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
DENIM

Answer at the end of A David Musing

You can download a 250 item sample Trivia Book at Truly Trifling Trivia

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BE INSPIRED WITH A MESSAGE FROM INSPIRATIONAL TAPES

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ANOTHER NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

My enduring memory from our first trip here, was the state of the main highway through the middle of the country. To say it was full of potholes was an understatement. The potholes were simply joined by small bits of tarmac! The largest one we saw (but drove round) had the huge truck and trailer unit in front of us completely disappear from sight, finally climbing out the other side! You get the idea! When corruption abounds, the metal and seal is reduced from specifications, and this is the result!

Expecting a similar trip this time, you can imagine my, and Collins surprise, when we found the potholes had been filled and we were able to drive along at speeds of over 100kph! Mind you there were twice as many police checkpoints as before (to help prevent hijackings and bandit attacks) but the trip was a real dream and twice as fast.

Mind you they tell me that not all the road has been fixed yet! Will find out more tomorrow!

A truly surprising African experience.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY FACTS

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY FACTS
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." .....
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Genesis 2:18, 21-24)

Nothing has changed! Let's see the facts at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/maffacts.php

LIFE'S A LAUGH

FORWARD THINKING
A man having lunch at a Chinese restaurant noticed that the table had been set with forks, not chopsticks. He asked why. The waiter said "Chopsticks were provided only on request."

"But," the man countered, "if you gave your patrons chop-sticks, you wouldn't have to pay someone to wash all the forks.."

"True," the waiter shot back, "but we would have to hire three more people to clean
up the mess."

MODERN TECHNOLOGY
My five children and I were playing hide-and-seek one evening. With the lights turned off in the house, the kids scattered to hide and I was "it." After a few minutes, I was able to locate all of them.

When it was my turn to hide, they searched high and low but couldn't find me. Finally one of my sons got a bright idea. He went to the phone and dialed; they found me immediately because my pager started beeping.

You'll find much more real life humour at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/lifelaugh.php

A FURTHER NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

My experience has generally been that somehow, the presence of the Holy Spirit seems greater inside a building than at an outdoor venue. I know this is really ridiculous, but this was my thought - until last night that is!

We had an outdoor evengelistic meeting here in Benin City during which many people were saved, many others filled with the Spirit, whose presence was there in power.

Thank you Lord for what you did - and for reminding me that you are not limited by my simple human thoughts!

A sobering but exciting African experience.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ....

A unique look at what may have been like to visit the Tabernacle of Moses.

A free PDF download at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/pdf/bk8.pdf

FAMOUS WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE BIBLE

JONAH

Someone who brings bad luck or misfortune. Comes from the prophet Jonah, because God would not let him go when he disobeyed Him, and that brought repercussions for the other travelers on the boat in which he attempted to flee from God.

Many more God Facts at...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/gfacts.php

A DAVID MUSING

I have to write this musing a few days ahead of time, as tomorrow we are going to a village for 3 days, where the internet will likely not be as readily available, and if it is, certainly slower!

Last time we visited Orlu, Tony and I experienced the heart of both Nigeria and God! For in one of the meetings, the power went off, the people praised and worshipped with no instruments to assist, and the heavens opened! My hands were covered with gold dust, the very first time I had that experience.

So this trip, I am really looking forward to taking my wife Kathy, there. As I write she is just landing at Lagos Airport, after a draining 30+ hour trip from New Zealand. Then she has to catch a minibus (Van that should hold 10 people but they squeeze in 16!) for a further 3-4 hour trip to Benin City. It's not all fun! But I will be so pleased to see her after 8 weeks apart, the longest separation of our 34 years of marriage!

Before she comes, she may have the opportunity to see the baby of our Lagos hosts, Tobi and Blessing, which is being born as I write! Never a dull moment in Africa!

So goodbye until next week - when my Kathy will be here to share the experiences of this amazing country.

His servant and yours

David Tait

Word Puzzle Answer: MINED

REPRODUCTION OF NEWSLETTER CONTENT

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LINKS

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ABOUT US

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our website
wwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.

Walking With Jesus Ministries
3 Hetley Crescent
Taradale
Napier 4001
New Zealand

Phone: (06) 8449-377 International (+64) 8449-377
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz

Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!

For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
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