“In no other way can the believer become as fully involved with God’s work,
especially the work of world evangelism, as in intercessory prayer.”
Dick Eastman

“If the church would only awaken to her responsibility of intercession,
we could well evangelise the world in a short time.”
T.S. Hegre

“We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people
or funds. The greatest need is prayer.”
Wesley Duewel

“Prayer strikes the winning blow. All other missionary efforts simply gather
up the fruits of our praying.”
David Bryant

“God alone can choose the labourers and thrust them out, and this choosing
he does not delegate to man, or church, convocation, synod, association,
or conference. ..God is moved to this great work of calling men into the
ministry by prayer. Earthly fields are rotting. They are untilled because
prayer is silent.”
E.M. Bounds

“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
Acts 11:26

The word “Christians” appears just once in the Bible, and “Christian” appears twice. The “Christians” were the followers of Christ. They bore His name.

Yet the word “Christian” is used very loosely nowadays. According to census results, most Australians are “Christian.” Elwood McQuaid points out that “Eighty percent of Americans claim some association with Christianity.” [1] Dan Brown – author of the Christ-defaming book The Da Vinci Code – claims on his website to be a “Christian.” It’s reached the point where the term “Christian” is used VERY loosely.

For example, tooday you can be a “Christian” and:

> Believe in evolution

> Support abortion

> Never attend church

> Get drunk on a regular basis

> Deny the virgin birth

> Live in a de facto relationship

> Believe the Bible contains errors

> Pray to others apart from God

> Believe in salvation by works

> Be a homosexual

> Accept other religions as valid

> Believe Jesus did not rise from the dead

> Watch pornography

> Consult fortune tellers

and on it goes…

The bar has been set so low that many people who clearly aren’t Christians believe they are. And society regards some as “Christians” who’ve obviously never been born again. “Christian” has been redefined.

But if we regard ourselves as “Christians,” should we not live out what it means? And that is – to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means obeying His commands, living like Him, shunning sin, taking up our cross daily, and following Him faithfully. This is genuine Christianity.

Are you a Christian?

David Hunt

Notes
[1] Elwood McQuaid editorial, from “Israel My Glory” July/August 2006

Quick info on Jerusalem

> Jerusalem is mentioned by name 767 times in the Bible

> Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level

> Jerusalem was built on two mountains – Zion and Moriah

> Jerusalem is a sacred city to 3 world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

> Jerusalem has never been the capital of an Arab state [1]

> Jerusalem has been known by 70 names in biblical and extra-biblical literature

> Jerusalem became a Jewish city under King David

> Jerusalem has been regarded as a holy city for 3000 years by the Jews as a city above all others.

> Jerusalem is called the city of God in the Scriptures (Psalm 46:4, 87:3, 48:1)

> God said of Jerusalem - “This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the centre of the nations, with lands around her” (Ezekiel 5:5)

> The word “Jerusalem” is not found in the Qur’an

> Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10)

> Jesus called Jerusalem “the city of the Great King” (Matthew 5:35)

> Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem

> Jesus wept over Jerusalem

> The crucifixion of Christ – the central event in Christianity – occurred just outside Jerusalem

> Jerusalem has been overrun at least 18 times by foreign armies [2]

> The Christian Church was birthed in Jerusalem

> Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and AD 135 [3]

> During 1300 years of Muslim control, no Arab ruler or conqueror made Jerusalem his capital. [4]

> Jerusalem’s current population is 700,000

> Muslims regard Jerusalem as their 3rd holiest site after Mecca & Medina

> During the Camp David Summit in 2000, Yasser Arafat said that a Jewish Temple never existed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem [5]

> God said through the prophet Zechariah, “I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:9

> Jerusalem has more residents now than at any time in history [6]

> Around 66% of Jerusalem’s 700,000 residents are Jews

> Yasser Arafat declared on September 19, 1993, “Our first goal is the liberation of all occupied territories…and the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.” [7]

> David wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 126:6)

Sources
www.mustardseed.net
“Unholy War” by Dr Randall Price
Eastons Bible Dictionary
Holmans Bible Dictionary
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
“Israel Today” magazine, September 2005 http://christianactionforisrael.org/whosecity.html http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html

Footnotes
[1] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf20.html
[2] # During the past 2000 years, “Jerusalem..has suffered destruction some 18 times” Unholy War, Randall Price, p90 # “Jerusalem has been overrun at least 18 times by foreign armies” Who owns Jerusalem? by Lambert Dolphin,

http://www.ldolphin.org/psalm2.html

[3] “This Jerusalem in which Jesus walked was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70 after zealous Jews revolted against Rome. Not one stone of the Temple building remained standing on another, and widespread destruction engulfed the city. A second revolt in A.D. 135 (the Bar-Kochba Rebellion) resulted in Jews being excluded from the city.” Holmans Bible Dictionary

[4] # “During 13 centuries of Muslim control, no Arab ruler or conqueror made the city his capital.” Condensed from The New Republic, Martin Gilbert (Reader’s Digest, September 1995) Source: http://christianactionforisrael.org/whosecity.html # “The notion to call Jerusalem an Islamic holy city has only come about in modern times, especially after the Arabs lost the city to Israel in the Six-Day War.” http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html # “..the city of Jerusalem — in contrast to Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus — has never played any major role in the political and religious lives of the Moslem Arabs. It was never a political center, never a national or even a provincial or sub-provincial capital of any country since biblical times. It was the site of one Moslem holy place, but otherwise a backwater to the Arabs. The passion for Jerusalem was not discovered by the Moslem Arabs until most recent history.” http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html

[5] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf20.html

[6] “Jerusalem has more residents today than at any other time in its history. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the population of the nation’s capital went from 686,950 last year to 706,400. ..the increase results from natural growth, based on births & deaths. In 2004, the overall population increased by 121,000.” Israel Today Sept 05 p11

[7] Quoted in “Unholy War” by Randall Price, p233