Guest Blogger

I've donated by space in the blogosphere to the re post of an interesting post by the General Overseer(head honcho/big cheese) of the Church of God, Cleveland, TN, today. Here is a link to his stuff.

What's interesting about this post is that I love the reference to church in a bar and the implications it could have to a denomination founded out of the holiness movement of the 19th century...


Jesus At Matthew's House! Prayer in the Pub
Posted by: Raymond in Prayer Stories, Prayer Evangelism, Global Focus.
Apr 12
2009
Joel News reports on happenings around the world, often related to prayer.

Most people who know Europe, don't see the In the Netherlands as spiritually ripe place. But there is a fire-ball set of Christians there who refuse to give up. The hardness of the area has emboldened them. And the distance between the church and the culture has forced them to meet the lost on their own turf.
A growing network of Christians in the nation now share Jesus with people through the ministry of healing. One of them is Marjan Spijkman. Last month, she organized an evening on 'miracles and healings.' Not unusual, you think?
What was different was the location. She didn't conduct her meetings at a local church. That would not have reached the people she wanted to reach. She conducted her meetings in a local pub right downtown.
"Nine people, mainly women from the neighborhood, showed up," she reported. Nine people - and God. Remember when Jesus went to Matthew's house and scandalized the Pharisees? Well, Jesus is back at Matthew's house again.
Marjan said, "God was powerfully present!" Healings were reported from a variety of conditions - rheumatism, emotional wounds, urinary problems, and other hurts. "One woman, who was nearly deaf, could hear again, to the surprise of her daughter and the other guests." Marjan noted, "These women have a reputation in their neighborhood for being hard and bitter. But Jesus Christ touched them, they cried in our arms. Afterwards two women applied for an introductory course about Jesus. The owners of the pub invited us back and suggested that we would use the larger room in the pub, as they are expecting more people to come."
The gift of prayer, offered to unbelievers or skeptics, in places of darkness, may be the greatest door of hope we can place in front of lost people. When we do, God shows himself alive to these people. The effect is so different than trying to argue and rationally meet their objections to the gospel. When God's loves people so powerfully, they are suddenly open to truth they previously resisted.
Give the gift of prayer!