But as for you, continue in what you have learned...

2 Timothy 3:10-17
First, I have a question for you! Apart from Scriptures, what do we know about God? O.k. by the window, it's a beautiful day, we can see  beauty, design and order, coming from a loving creator, God. How do we know that he loves us? We need a revelation, i.e. lift the curtain. God has chosen to lift the curtain. Do we need to guess about God? God has spoken to lots of generations and inspire them to write that down for our benefit.
Unlike Paul whom I suppose was a formidable character, Timothy, Paul's adopted son, was a young man rather timid. In his letters, Paul encourages Timothy.
Today, my headings are P for purpose, U for usefulness and N for nature.

1) Purpose.
The purpose of the Bible is to equip the man of God for 'every good work'.The Bible brings you salvation through faith in Jesus-Christ (2 Timothy 3:15) Thus as early as in Genesis 3:15, some see a prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion,' he will crush your head' is alluding that Jesus'sacrifice has got rid of Satan, also, Noah's event shows us God dealing differently with the human race, then the call of Abram..eventually Christ comes and fullfills all these prophecies.
In the last book of the bible, in Revelation, we have the picture of a new Heaven and a new Earth.

2) Usefulness
v16 The bible is useful to keep us on the right path (psalm 191). As somebody once said, to prevent truth decay. In v 13 Paul mentions 'evil men and impostors'. Lots of people twist the Gospel, the latest being the Da Vinci code that picked up on late legends or Erich Von Daniken who is laughing all the way to the bank with  his book, "Chariots of the Gods"  . he Reformation led by Luther happened because people wandered away from the truth of the Gospel. Luther knew that they had to go back to what God had said.

3) Nature
The bible is 'God-breathed', says Paul, this is such an important piece of information. The bible is good, whole and accurate. Those scribes copied the manuscript year after year with great care and therefore, God's word has been preserved by the Holy Spirit.  If you want to know someone, it is not good to guess, you must not pidgeon hole people, it is the same with the Lord, He is revealing himself in the bible so we have to open the book, we have got to explore it!
In the Old testament, there are lots of examples where we see God going after his people. Then Jesus says I'm here now, come to me. He wants us to know him. Amen
Rev. S. A

News about the fundraising event!

So far so good, signatures are piling up. There is no date at the moment so watch this space!

I have posted photos of our half-term hols in the family/parish blog. Here are the 'important' ones, they summarise the hols, bbq galore and bird watching, very relaxing hols. Praise the Lord!

Imogen may not seem very excited about visiting the birds reserve...however, the bribe is in the 'excellent mocha' she was allowed to have there. (at a reasonable price, of course!)

I must stop rambling and dash to our PCC meeting. Have a blessed evening!

Higher and higher

That's it, he has made his mind up! I'll explain, my husband, the Rev. Steven A will go up the spire of Hixon church. I did try to make him change his mind. Questions such as: 'Are you sure it's safe? and 'Think about doing something else!' but to no avail. As we are off to beautiful Oxfordshire next week, the 'exploit' will not take place until after the 6th of November, depending on the weather, of course.
Did I forget to mention anything? Oh yes, Steven hates ladders! There must be a pedantic term to describe this condition..

Monday..off...light stuff!

Yes, monday and thursday are my days off school and I love it! Don't get me wrong, I love going to school and teach but at the moment, the thought of being free to do what I want is fab..

Well, sometimes things don't go quite the way they should.

For instance, Imogen somehow didn't hear her alarm so I hear this tiny voice, mum, I'm running late..Emerging slowly,..me : what time is it? ..8..oh and could you iron my black top?

Oups, this is when duty calls, so I get up and go straight away in the kitchen to iron that thing..of course, i should have done it last night..but it was getting late...In the end, she was right, i took her to school and came back straigth away..and a warm and cosy smell of coffee was waiting for me,

courtesy of Steven..

Later on, I got a text from Imogen, mum, I forgot my notes for college, could you bring them please..

So, at lunch time, I did and this time headed to Liddle for a bit of shopping. I was supposed to buy their delicious 100% arabica coffee but of course, I came back with more stuff, namely, chunky kitkat..and hot cross buns..these are healthier than croissants, of course they do not taste the same...

A cycle in discipleship.

Being Christ's disciples can be tough. If you want other people to know about Christ, there will be problems, attacks, crisis, worries of all sorts along the way. Matthew 11:28-30.
1 Invitation for refreshment. Jesus invites us for refreshment and reloading. He knows about the pressures of life. We can get weary. He is inviting us to be renewed. He does not want us to be broken down. He wants us to be refreshed : the living water, (John 4:10) the true vine (John 15:1). Note that the word for gentle in Greek is 'tamed', a friend but watch out, Jesus is not a push over, he is quite firm when he has to be, when he dealing with the Pharisees for instance. Also note the importance of reading the Scriptures, Jesus invites us to get some nourishment, to feed on the Word. Let's dwell on the word 'yoke', here we understand 'well-fitting' so the yoke will not hurt the animals. Think about custom-made shoes! Jesus doesn't say that everything will be easy. He invites us to be worried about the priorities of the Kingdom, the right concerns.
2 Invitation into a work-out : ask, seek, knock: Matthew 7:1
Jesus invites us into a journey, into a relationship. Working with God, with our brothers and sisters. Come and explore. That journey can be tough as we mentioned it before.
3 Reminder that our God is a loving God. You, as parents give good things to your children so will our Father in heaven. Matthew 7:9-12
4 Reminder about the journey. We can choose between two paths, the broad easy one leading us away from our Father or the narrow one. Imagine a mountain path, not easy. If we do what Jesus says, if we trust him and obey him, (Hebrews 12: 1-3) we will be more efficient during our journey.Still in our moments of despair let us think of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, God won't test you beyond your forces.
Rev. Steven Abram
I hope you enjoyed reading those personal notes I jotted down at Milwich tonight.

How to pray

Last saturday, we spent a day in Doxey church listening to Mother Winsome. The theme for the day was Transformation in Christ: coming close to God on the path of holiness. Here are some personal comments.


During the first session entitled Personal Holiness, Sister Winsome engaged us to speak about prayers. She asked us some challenging questions, first, did we pray at all ? or was is 'arrow prayers' ? How did we pray? Was it in a quiet place? without interruption? Sister Winsome told us she had to get up at 5 a. m. to spend this special time praying otherwise she would be distracted by all sorts during the day..


Soon, questions were fusing..Was bible reading same as praying? No, as this was not the same, not establishing this special conversation between us and the Lord. However, you could meditate on a verse or two then pray. Also listening to Christian music was a good introduction. Praying is this special time with your Father, when you speak to him and he listens to you and speak back to you. One cannot exagerate the importance of silence and concentration. So much so that she gave us some tips, if anything distracts you, write it down and keep on concentrating..


You may know it already, it's a sort of discipline. It does not come naturally, we need to persevere!

Blessed be your name!

New job

I have started teaching in a new school. It's great and it keeps me busy! However, my routine is about to change. Whereas I used to go to bed between 23 and midnight, I seriously need to think about going earlier, say 10 o'clock! Unfortunately my body does not like changes and to catch up loss sleep I ended up falling asleep on thursday morning after sending Imo to school, until 11! Oops, lazy me! Oh i forgot to mention that to get to school for 8, I need to get up between 6 and 6:30..Ok I realise I have had cushy until now. Plenty of workers get up even earlier. I've managed to get away. The best exemple was when i was teaching at the Isle of Man and living in the boarding school, i could get up at 7:30 if need be (late nights again marking obviously!!) and be fresh and ready at my desk at 8! This was the exception. I remember the days when I was hired as a cleaner in Slough college, I had to be there for 6! and to this day I cannot remember how I managed that job and then be at Dorothy Perking for 9..Money was scarce and I desperately wanted to go back to the Auvergne and see my mum...
Going back to the present! I am enjoying very much this new position and everything about it, so praise the Lord! He has rescued me once again and I am so grateful!
Tonight is Imo's birthdy party.!

Having a great time in Camargue!

After a week at my cousin's Catherine who lives in a scenic village north of Antibes, we moved to la Camargue for nearly two weeks. Today is Imogen's birthday, 14! so we have the 'mission' to find a restaurant in the little town of Saintes Maries sur la Mer. We are blessed with a hot weather and today a lovely breeze makes it bearable! I will post photos and details on the family/parish blog.

Explore this website : rejesus.co.uk

It is well worth it. On their home page, this is their introduction:

Two thousand years after he walked the earth, Jesus of Nazareth remains one of those most talked-about and influential people who has ever lived. In the pages that follow, we explore his life, character, teachings and followers.
We look at how he has been quoted, misquoted, filmed, reported on, worshipped and argued over. Please feel welcome to click, explore and post your questions, thoughts and prayers.

Content on rejesus is arranged in four main areas:
Story contains modules about Jesus’ life, downloads and a pub quiz to test your knowledge.
Lives looks at Jesus’ famous followers from ancient saints to modern day heroes.
Spirituality has modules that aim to help you discover more about prayer and the inner life.
Creativity contains modules that show how Jesus has been interpreted and explored.

In the Lives section, I found out who was Jackie Pullinger. At 22, Jackie Pullinger wanted to become a missionary, but no society would take her on. So she went on her own to Hong Kong and began a pioneering work among drug addicts and Triad gang members that continues today. As a young girl at Sunday School she decided she wanted to be a missionary - and that was before she really knew what a missionary was. But as she grew up, she forgot about her childhood ambition for a while and became a student at the Royal College of Music.
It was only when she started meeting regularly with other Christians in a friend’s home that she thought about being a missionary again. Then one night, she had a dream.
“I saw a vision of a woman holding her arms out beseechingly as on a refugee poster. I wondered what she wanted - she looked desperate for something… Then words moved past like a television credit: WHAT CAN YOU GIVE US?”
After a series of dreams and vivid experiences, Jackie decided she would go to Hong Kong. The trouble was, no one else agreed with her.
She applied to every missionary group she could think of, and also to church organisations and the Hong Kong government - but all the doors closed in her face. You’re too young, you’re too inexperienced, you have the wrong qualifications, she was told.
She was about to give up, when the vicar of a church she helped in told her, against the received wisdom of everything else she had heard, to go to Hong Kong anyway. Want to read more, click on the link http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/jackie_pullinger/P2/

or go on Jackie Pullinger's website, http://www.ststephenssociety.com/ at the moment you will have to click on Enter Flash version as the html is under construction..

In the Creativity section, I chose to go on 'Jesus and hope', an interactive exploration. I quote the explanation given by their maker:

This ideosyncratic exploration is full of deeper meaning and reflections on what the Bible has to say about Jesus and hope – it’s best approached slowly with an open mind. Produced by Bruce Stanley.

I thought that it was brilliant, deep and fun at the same time.

In the Spirituality section, I found a Happiness e-course. Wow!
This course takes the wisdom and simplicity of Jesus and combines it with the latest interventions from the world of positive psychology to help you find happiness and meaning in your life. Follow this free 8 week happiness course, complete the exercises and see what occurs for you.

Lord, thank you for our brothers and sisters who decide to leave everything they have to bring the Good News of your Salvation in dangerous zones, they have no fear because they believe in You, they persevere even when everybody says no go, they listen to you Jesus, instead of choosing an easy way out. May you pour out abundant blessings on them, their family and team and give us the same boldness of mind, us who live in a comfi setting in the West. Amen.

Gospel for Asia

Have you heard of this organisation Gospel for Asia. Tonight, I thought i'd share an article of their newsletter and the following video shows one of their missionaries in action in a slum there. Please click on the arrow to start the film!



Here is the article:

A personal message from Gospel for Asia President K.P. Yohannan

The photo was shocking. There, on the front page of the Indian Express, my eyes were drawn to a picture of a small boy—he couldn’t have been more than five years old—lying on a sidewalk next to the busiest street in Mumbai (Bombay), India.

This nearly-naked boy was lying next to a dog—a female dog. And as I looked closer I could see that this little skinny, ragged child was drinking the dog’s milk!
My eyes moved from the photo to the caption below it, which read, "This dog is his mother."
Horrified, I began to read the article that accompanied the photo, and it laid out the grim reality that was so vividly portrayed in that picture. It talked about the 100,000 kids walking the streets of Mumbai—a city of nearly 15 million people. These kids will never know their parents. The article also talked about the government trucks that come around in the early dawn hours to haul off the bodies of those people—mostly the children—who died during the night.
As I read this article, my heart was breaking, because I knew that these homeless children were but a fraction of those who make up the horrifying human equation in India. Mumbai also has the unfortunate distinction of having one of the world’s largest slums. With five million residents, there are as many people living in makeshift shacks in the Mumbai slum as there are living in Chicago and Houston combined!
And I know that this overwhelming problem isn’t exclusive to Mumbai. In South Asia alone, more than 90 million children go to bed hungry every single day; another 134 million children between the ages of seven and 18 have never been to school. India alone has as many as 150 million child laborers, the largest number of any country in the world! That amounts to one in seven children over the age of five forced into child labor in India. Just think about these children working 12 to 18 hours a day for only a few pennies. No wonder this little boy I saw in that newspaper picture was taking comfort in a mama dog. It may have been the only time he felt that someone truly cared for him. Find out what you can do to help a child in South Asia
Here is their link :
http://www.gfa.org/slum-dog-boy

Humour

We have always had a way with words!

....says the Vicar! Enjoy!

The Father's letter

Jews do come to faith in Jesus...

I would like to quote an article that I have read in this amazing website, jews for jesus. I hope that it will enlighten any Jewish readers who are still wondering if Jesus is the Messiah. Follow the link:

http://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/1986_01/07Glad

QUESTION: Would it be possible sometime to explain in the Newsletter how Isaiah 53 is interpreted by Jews who are nonbelievers in Jesus? Is that chapter included in the Hebrew Scriptures? Is it read in the synagogue? Is it discussed in Hebrew school?

ANSWER: Isaiah 53 is definitely included in the Hebrew Scriptures. Jewish religious leaders down through the ages have had too much respect for the Scriptures to tamper with them. They would not delete a controversial passage. On the other hand, they will use a variant translation wherever possible in order to play down or entirely avoid the obviously Christological portent of some Old Testament passages.
With Isaiah 53, however, no matter how freely one interprets the language, the passage very obviously describes one who was allowed by God to suffer and die for the sins of others. It so closely parallels the life, ministry and death of Jesus of Nazareth that nonbelieving Jewish scholars have been hard pressed to find other logical interpretations.
There are two most widely used Jewish explanations concerning the identity of the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. One theory holds that the passage refers to the entire nation of Israel; the other theory holds to the thought that the passage refers to Isaiah himself. The obvious answer to both of these explanations is that the pronouns used there do not lend themselves well to either theory.
A minority of Jewish people do hold to another thought, which is that the passage does refer to a suffering messiah, but not to Jesus. Proponents of this idea say that there will be two messiahs—one the Messiah ben Joseph, who will come to suffer, and the other Messiah ben David, who will come to conquer and reign.
Although Isaiah 53 is definitely contained in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is omitted from the liturgical synagogue readings during that portion of the calendar year when the Prophet Isaiah is normally read.
As for this "problem passage" being discussed in Hebrew school, it would be highly unlikely below seminary level. Generally the prophetic writings are not studied at the lower levels of religious training that comprise the experience of the average Jewish person. For this reason, most Jewish people are unaware that the Isaiah 53 passage even exists. A very common response from a Jewish person who is shown that text for the first time is, "That's not from our Jewish Bible. That sounds like the New Testament."

Showing a Jewish person Isaiah 53 does not automatically guarantee that he or she will believe in Jesus. Isaiah himself wrote that as a nation, Israel would hear and not understand, and they would see and not perceive (Isaiah 6:9, 10).

Nevertheless, individual Jews do come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, often without ever having seen Isaiah 53. When such people see the passage for the first time, they are usually quite startled to discover that it was there all along.

Isaiah 53

1Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who consideredthat he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?9And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makesan offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Day away!

Some time ago, we went to Barlaston Church, a beautiful modern church south of Stoke on Trent to spend a day of reflection on the team's strengths and weaknesses. There was one or more representatives of each church. We thoroughly enjoyed this time spent together praying and getting our brains tickled. The theme was to define our involvment at key strategic levels in our community.

Our speaker, George Fisher, reminded us that we are not living any longer in a country where Christianism is the norm but in a country where secularism and humanism have taken over. In fact some see Christians as the 'enemy'. It reminds me of Psalm 37:19-21 (NIV) 20 But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke. So most people think they can get on with their life without the church, without the Lord! Consumerism has taken over people's mind. They have the idea that whatever they want, they should get! If they disagree with the style of praying/preaching in a church, they may decide to go somewhere else instead of working things out! The sad thing is that now many people do not have a clue what Christianity is about! They may not even know the Lord's prayer.

So how do we reconnect with the community ?

We may want to read again 2 Corinthians 6

3We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;

We should not be afraid of letting people know that we are Christians. 

Let your colleagues, your friends, your boss/es, notice the fruit of the Spirit in you. For example, they would realise that unlike them, you, as a Christian seems to be immune to the arrogance or nastiness of 'the boss' or the 'floor manager'....They will notice your 'virtues'.

Part of George's job is to visit churches anonymously to see what kind of welcome he gets! At lunch, he was telling us that in one church, nobody spoke to him at all. Gloups!

Also your church sign is capital! How to get your church noticed! Here are a few comments!

Autumn leaves, God doesn't.

If you are looking for a sign to come back to God, this is it!

Where will you be sitting in eternity,

smoking or non-smoking ?

How to connect again ? A few ideas...

Have a sign in your church saying : Non-members welcome ...

Psalm reading sessions!

Get some non-believer friends to be part of a 'sceptic anonymous group' to whom you will tell the Good News.

What do you do to line up with the Lord's mission and not block the way!
Let's pray for a renewal of our Christian faith in Great Britain! In Christ.

Touching Godliness through submission

by K.P. Yohannan

The truth is that when I ordered that book I had no idea what it was about. In this book, K.P.Yohannan explores how we are to submit to God in all aspects of our life. I also liked the prayer at the end of each chapter. This book is riveting, well written, deep and thorough, full of pertinent exemples, Bible quotations and humour too.

The introduction is straigth to the point, very powerful. ...These followers of the Lamb have a distinct mark about them: Submission.

In chapter 1, KPY explains that the Lord has 'established order and peace for mankind through authority and submission to authority. Adam disobeyed the Lord's first command and we have the desire to resist authority. Of course if you are a parent or work in education you already know that children say 'no' quicker than 'yes'.

He quotes Romans 13:2 Consequently he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Now I can think of many occurences in my life when I rebelled instead of surrendering.

'During his whole life...Jesus lived in submission to those who had authority over Him' p 27

I must resist telling you more about it.

This book has been a real blessing as it has stopped me from 'rebelling' instinctively. Where at work, I would at times express concern about decisions made by the bosses, I don't any longer. It has stopped me from feeling downhearted and upset as I know that the Lord is totally in control.

Finally, you can order it direct from Gospel for Asia website, http://www.gfa.org/

Enjoy!

A Christian site you want to talk about with your friends!

I have discovered a really good site. Whether you are a Christian or not, you will enjoy exploring this site.

http://discover.godrev.com/

I liked The Father's Love Letter above all.

Easter Holiday

This Easter holiday, we stayed in a CL campsite at Kidlington, north of Oxford. It was such a lovely site by a small river. We went to Oxford to do a bit of sightseeing and I remembered my way round the town. Parking is so costly though. We managed to park in Kimble street, near the Pitt River museum.

I managed to do quite a bit of reading. I took that book:

Power Evangelism, signs and wonders today by John Wimber with Kevin Springer.

I found that book so rich and compelling! In the first chapter, John reminds us that we are at war, and that Jesus is about his Father's business, which is releasing those held captive by Satan. He then gives us his personal view on how to enter the warfare : we need to listen to God's voice' He explains what Power Evangelism is about, giving us his personal experiences on using the gifts of the Spirit. Though the book was written in 1985, its tenets are very modern. In face his comment on the Western society thinking that supernatural is fantasy and only the material is real is still so true!

If you have read that book, do drop me a line!

The Long Silence

Have you heard this story before ?
At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some groups near the front talked heatedly - not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.
"Can God judge us? How can he know about suffering?" snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. "We endured terror ... beatings ... torture ... death!"
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. "What about this?" he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched for no crime but being black!"
In another group, a pregnant school girl with sullen eyes. "Why should I suffer?" she murmured. "It wasn't my fault."
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering he permitted in his world.
How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had been forced to endure in this world. For God leads a pretty sheltered life they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leaders, chosen because they had suffered most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In the centre of the plain they consulted with each other. At last they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, he must endure what they had endured. Their decision was that God should live on earth - as a man!
Let him be born a Jew. Let the legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.
As each leader pronounced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people assembled.
When the last had finished pronouncing sentence there was a long silence.
No one uttered another word. No one moved.
For suddenly all knew that - God had already served his sentence.

Taken from "Voice " magazine. Autumn 1970

'It is accomplished'

<sup>Jesus said: It is finished. John 19:30 Let's rejoice and celebrate Jesus-Christ's victory over death.
Two years ago, when I was still living in Manchester, I was telling one of my friends how I found it amazing that all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection. Unfortunately she rejected the few I mentioned one by one in a very curt way and I was sad that these evidence did not convince her at all! I still pray for her and invite you to pray for her too.
Yesterday, I just happened to read such an interesting article by D. James Kennedy entitled Christ: the Fulfilment of Prophecy. According to D. J. Kennedy, 'well over two thousand prophecies are to be found in the Scriptures, most of which have already been fulfilled. Now this is awesome. Praise the Lord! Here is the website: http://www.coralridge.org
I'd like to mention a few prophecies found in the Old Testament that I find extremely poignant.
In Psalm 22, David's personal lament expresses his distress although he is righteous. It echoes Jesus' same cry when he is agonising on the cross: My God, my God why have you forsaken me ?' Ps 22:1

David takes us straight to Jesus' torture in the hands of the Roman soldiers ..they have pierced my hands and my feet. Ps 22: 16

Further on, David complains that 'they (people) divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing .Ps 22:18 This is exactly what the Roman soldiers did with Jesus' garments when he was already dead. This action couldn't have possibly engineered by Jesus himself.

Jesus, our King, died on the cross to redeem us of our sins. This is explained by Isaiah
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed. Isa 53:5
Our salvation is already foretold by Isaiah.

Though Jesus was completely innocent, he was arrested and sentence to be crucified as if he was a criminal!
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth. Isa 53:9
Salvation is mentioned again in Psalm 68
Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.
As the evening draws on, I would like to conclude with this powerful prayer
..but you Lord,
-misunderstood by your closest friends
-betrayed by one you had a right to trust
-seized and manacled and hustled
-spat on and struck and flogged
-strung up tight on an agonising cross
-dying of thirst, heat, suffocation, shock, exhaustion.. Help me, Lord, always to prefer your way to your enemies'way, your cross to their triumph. And challenge me, sharply, to trust God, as you did.. In Jesus-Christ, Amen.
from Just as I am by Ruth Etchells</sup>