TIMES OF REFRESHING

I am highly optimistic that revival is not a phenomenon that belong in the past; I specifically believe that the Church is about to experience the greatest revival in history.  The words which form part of Peter’s sermon at the gate of the Jerusalem Temple, strengthens my conviction on this issue:  “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:  Whom the heaven must receive until the time of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 4:19-21).

The Apostle Peter, looking with prophetic insight across the ages, predicted a situation that began to exist in the church a few centuries after the Apostolic age. If we understood Peter, we should not be discouraged at the weak spiritual condition in which the contemporary church finds herself, in the face of Militant Atheism, secularism, liberalism and sundry enemies of the Christian faith.  The expression employed by Peter, “times of refreshing”, suggests there will be times of declension followed by a large-scale renewal of interest in spiritual things – what the evangelical churches have described as “Revival”, these five hundred years. 

We are familiar with the pattern: spirituality decreases, false converts whose Christianity is merely nominal enter the church in large numbers due to a lack of solid, spirit-empowered preaching, God’s people are forced to introduce human technique of evangelism, such as the church growth movement, and contemporary worship as in our own day, and worse still, a variety of human ideologies arises to compete for peoples hearts, comprehended today in a secular view of reality, such as relativism, and religious pluralism.  This situation encourages me to state that, ‘Times of Refreshing’, is about to burst on the international scene again.

Additionally, Peter’s words suggests that, all the Revivals that have occurred in Church History, have been in the eternal plan of God, so revivals are included in God’s eternal plan: God “…worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11).

I am even ready to state that Peter here predicts the Revival we call the Reformation, The 18^th Century Revivals under Wesley, Whitefield, Edward and others, and the 19^th Century Revivals under Finney, Moody, Spurgeon and others!

ANOTHER REVIVAL PREDICTED

On the basis of Peter’s word, the contemporary church is to expect another revival and prepare for it by prayer and fasting; already the usual sign that precedes revival have begun to appear: God’s people have commenced praying again!  The Apostle Peter intends us to understand that Revival will precede the second coming of Christ:  “…when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached to you:” (Acts 3:19-20).

THE MATTHEW 24 REVIVAL

In Matthew 24, our Lord Jesus Christ makes a similar statement:  “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).  The word ‘witness’ suggests that the preaching will be with power, to the extent that humanity will be impacted, in other words a global revival!

The certainty of this revival, can be demonstrated by considering that the other ‘signs’ of Christ’s second coming, mentioned by the Lord Himself – earthquakes, food shortage, global conflict, widespread lawlessness and immorality, are being fulfilled daily before our very eyes.  Global revival is next on the line!

THE DISHONESTY OF HIGHER CRITICISM

I have been thinking of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 3:1-2: “What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?  Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God”.  The oracles of God describes the Old Testament as we have it in the King James Version, from Genesis to Malachi.

The higher critics in their approach to the study of the Bible, lack the competence required to criticize scripture.  Infact, the idea of Biblical criticism is ruled out for one or two reasons.  First, ‘The oracles of God’ were not committed to the higher critics hence, they do not know the inherent rules of interpreting scripture, rules well-known to the Jews because it was to them the Old Testament was committed.  Second, the Higher critics are beyond the reach of the period of biblical revelation.  Third, these ‘Oracle of God’ had been committed.  It is for this reason that every now and then, a discovery is made which confirms the reliability of the account given in the Old Testament.

For instance, in the First century, Jesus, the God-Man confirmed the accuracy of the divisions of the Old Testament as generally accepted by the Jews at that time: “And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44).  The Jews never accepted the Apocrypha as Scripture, and Jesus confirms that they were right!  It is not… ‘the law of Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, and the Apocrypha!  There were some controversies at that time, but the canonicity of the Old Testament as we have it today, and the authorship of the books were never in doubt.  It is very convenient for the higher critics to cast doubts on the Old Testament today, but had they done so in the first century they would have made themselves ridiculous.  The reason they could make a fool of themselves today and succeed in getting recognition for their stupidity, is attributable to the two thousand years gap that exist between the 21^st century and the first century.  This absurd ignorance is imposed upon them by the long passage of time.   They need only read the gospels in order to keep up to date with the undisputed understanding prevalent at that time.  The Higher critics have questioned the existence of Jonah as a historical figure, yet Jesus and the Jews of His day took it for granted that Jonah existed: ‘…And as Jonah spent three days and nights in the fishes belly, even so shall the son of man spend three days and nights in the bowels of the earth’.  The higher critics question whether Isaiah wrote the book of Isaiah or not.  But no Jew in the first century had such a doubt: “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.  And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because, he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;…” (Luke 4:16-18).  The method of higher criticism is foolhardy, for, who is in a better position to be better informed, the Jews who lived two thousand years ago, or non-Jewish self-acclaimed critics who live in another time and in a different cultural environment?

Alicia Keys welcomes second son

 2014-12-30 10:50

Los Angeles - Alicia Keys gave birth to son Genesis Ali Dean early Saturday morning. It's baby number two for the Grammy-winner and husband, producer-rapper Swizz Beatz, who are also parents to 4-year-old Egypt Daoud.

The 33-year-old singer shared the news on her Instagram account, Sunday, with a photo of Genesis's footprints. The image also details that the baby was born at 1:52 a.m. and weighs 6 pounds, 5 ounces (2.86 kilograms).

Keys expressed excitement via a Facebook post with the caption, "the joy of joy is joy" and that she is grateful.

Dating is weird says Khloé Kardashian

Los Angeles - Khloé Kardashian thinks dating "is so weird."

The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, who filed for divorce from her estranged husband, Lamar Odom, in December 2013 and ended her on-again, off-again relationship with rapper French Montana earlier this month, admits she's still adjusting to being single and doesn't want to rush into another romance.

The reality TV beauty, who celebrated her 30th birthday last June, said: "By the time I hit that age I thought I would have kids and still be married. But because that's not the way it went, you can't sit in a ball and cry.

I had a husband, so I think there's an adjustment period, which I don't want to rush. Dating is so weird."
But Khloé hopes to find long-lasting love again.

She told the February issue of British Cosmopolitan magazine: "I don't crave sex. I talked about it more openly when I was married because it's more comfortable. I crave companionship, I just want to cuddle. I got married at 25 -- I was young, but I loved it. I do like it when you save certain things for your marriage.

Nicki Minaj talks about having an abortion

2015-01-02 09:22

Los Angeles - Nicki Minaj has admitted her abortion is the "hardest thing" she's gone through.

The 32-year-old rapper has opened up about her decision to have a termination when she was just a teenager in high school and admits it is a decision that has "haunted" her "all (her) life".

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she said: "I thought I was going to die. I was a teenager. It was the hardest thing I'd ever gone through."

Nicki moved from Trinidad and Tobago to New York as a child and went on to study at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts. It was while she was studying at the school that she fell pregnant and the father was older boy from Queens she was dating.

The Anaconda hitmaker knew at the time she couldn't go ahead with the pregnancy because she wasn't in a position to care for a baby properly.

She added: "It'd be contradictory if I said I wasn't pro-choice. I wasn't ready. I didn't have anything to offer a child."

Nicki, 32, has used her music to express her feelings about the abortion, touching on what happened on the track Autobiography, from her 2008 mixtape Sucka Free, and on her single All Things Go - which features on her latest album The Pinkprint.

In All Things Go she raps about her wishes for her younger brother Micaiah 'Caiah' Maraj and wonders what her child would have been like.

In the lyrics, Nicki - whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj - rhymes: "I want Caiah to go to college, just to say we did it. My child with Aaron would have been 16 any minute / so in some ways I feel like Caiah is the both of them / It's like he's Caiah's little angel, looking over him."

Top 10 Bedroom Mood Killers

t would be nice if we were all constantly brimming with unrequited passion like Edward and Bella ... aren’t they having the longest pre-shag OF ALL TIME? But we’re not.  Which makes keeping the mood once you’ve caught it all the more important.

1. Bad breath. While funky arm pits can be a turn on and sweat a useful lubricant, bad breath is never cool. Keep breath mints in your bedside drawer at all times, along with the condoms. Also follow the basic rule: if you’re not sure, your breath is probably a bit dodge. Oh, and minty lube might work in a pinch.

2. Washing machine kissing.I have never found someone who actually likes a tongue tonsil scrubbing. You? Exactly. Keep your tongue where you can still feel it. And start slow. You can’t go wrong with a slow, tension-building snoglet.

3. Stampeding southOne of my favourite lines ever is from The Meaning of Life is when the Cleese school master character is teaching sexual education, with the help of his wife.

“No need to go stampeding for the clitoris, boy, give the girl a KISS!”

My thoughts exactly.

3. Terrible musicThis is obviously quite subjective, so I asked my Twitterstream to give a few examples. They suggest avoiding, inter alia:
-    The Macarena
-    ‘He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother’
-    ‘Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?’
-    ‘I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie World...’
-    ‘Pump up the Jam’
-    ‘Like a Virgin’
-    De La Rey
You get the picture.

4. FartingActually, on second thought, that might actually be quite a sweet ice-breaker, if you’re both nice and it doesn’t smell too bad.

5. The phoneTell me you don’t answer the phone during sex. A friend once told me a guy texted while she was going down on him, but I hope that was just a horribly bad dream.

7. The TV, the laptop, the iPad...
Again, all totally unacceptable. Unless of course, you are porn folk. Then hey, go right ahead.

6. Children knocking on the doorOr, much much worse, children STANDING IN THE DOORWAY.

7. Inappropriate gesturesSo obvious, yet such a regular passion killer, possibly because filters are rarely at optimum setting while turned on.  Rule of thumb? Don’t compare anything to your thumb. Or shrug. Or – and I can’t stress this enough – ROLL YOUR EYES.

8. Cats
It’s creepy to have sex with a cat in the room, dude. It just is.

9. SnortingMany, many animal like noises are sexy in the bedroom. Snorting is not one of them.

10. Snoring
Like snorting, snoring is never good.

10 tips for braving long distance love

Have 'the talk'
You should probably have a bit of a chat about this giant elephant of a commitment before you decide to do it. First and foremost, figure out if this person is actually worth it, if you aren't sure...probably not.

And once you do, establish how the whole operation is going to go down.  How often will you visit each other?  Where is this relationship going?  Is the long distance permanent or temporary?  What level of commitment will you have?  It's different for every couple, but you can't build a house without some foundation, dammit! 

Trust that you aren’t crazy:
Ok, you are a little crazy, but not any more than usual.  They’ll be some crying and moments of weakness where you think that this whole deal totally sucks and you'll find yourself with ice cream, in bed, weeping.  The missing is the worst part, ugh.  You’ll survive & you're totally normal.

Hang out in your hood:
Wallowing in self pity while watching Love Actually can be cathartic but  it's probably not a great everyday occurrence.  The more active you are, the quicker the time goes.  So let your friends be your friends and pack away those sweatpants.

Be a confident queen bee:
Do you think the queen of all bees has time worry about the men in her hive messaging her back while they’re making honey?  No, she’s secure enough to know they are hard at work providing and protecting her sweet ass.  Sometimes someone doesn't communicate because they actually do forget, have lost connection, or are honestly busy.  Give your partner some leeway.  And remember how fucking awesome you are!

Don't be a cheater:
Look, people make mistakes, that's not what this is about.  But, if you or your partner continue to make 'mistakes' then you should question why you are in this relationship in the first place.  Long distance is for the committed. 

Little achievements:
Halfway, 3 more sleeps, going for a weekend away. Count that shit down!

Download as many tools for communication as possible:
We live in a world where we can talk every day, we're like the Jetsons!  Try - Whatsapp, Skype, Tango, sms, Facebook chat, Mixt, and the actual telephone.  So send messages and chat often, none of this nonsense about talking too much.  You find what works for you and do it. 

Make dates to hang out online:
Schedule times where you can virtually be together.  Make the same meal and eat it together with a video chat. Or watch a movie at the same time while smsing. Knowing the other person is there to talk to makes it feel like you are still doing the little things together too.

Sexting:
Sexting, phone sex, or any type of sexual communication is what’s separating your relationship from just being friends.  Plus, pushing your comfort zone in a safe space can bring your 'in person' sexy time to another level of trust and awareness.  

P.S. Double check who you send that naughty photo to, no matter how classy that open leg shot is, your mother is not going to appreciate the surprise.

Reminding yourself everyday of the greatest, most amazingly fantastic moment when you are reunited:
Ain’t love the best!


 

- Woman24