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Return to main pageFebruary 1998 - 'Incontro' 9.
"Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love." (Rev. 2:4)
In Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, 5:25b-27, the apostle describes
the love which Christ has for the Church, and defines it as being His very
Bride. He loved her so much that He gave Himself for Her to sanctify Her.
All this speaks to us of the great love of God towards His Church. It is
therefore clear, or at least that is what we hope, that just as during
the time of engagement there is great passion in both partners, so it should
be between Christ and the Church. He loves the Church and the Church should
in her turn repay this love with attitudes of zeal, praise, passion, love
and obedience.
Until now we have spent a few words on the love of Christ for the Church
and on this subject we can be sure that the plan and promises of the lord
for His Bride will never change. The thing, which instead, 'worries' the
Lord, is certainly this Bride of His, which at different times he must
encourage to remain faithful to the promises made. So much so that in Revelation,
chapter two, in verse four, we find this exhortation given to the Church
to return to her first love. The Church, therefore, is encouraged to maintain
this love constant and vibrant.
In what way?
Remembering that:
1. Without the first love, zeal and service are useless.
2. No church has the right to exist without the first love (Rev. 2:5)
3. Without love, all is lost.
But what are the signs of the lost love?
A. Not necessarily the absence of activity (Rev.2:2), nor the absence of orthodoxy (Rev.2:2), or the absence of patience in standing for Christ. (Rev.2:3)
B. Rather they are the absence of:
Personal love in service
Joy in the activity we do for Christ
Putting others first - love for others.
But how is the first love lost?
A. By neglecting the contact and the communion with God through Scripture
reading and prayer and above all - obedience.
B. Because of spiritual pride, because we often forget how unworthy
we still are.
How then to regain the lost love?
A. Going back and thinking on the experience which we have had in the
past, when we became 'engaged' to Christ, and of the atmosphere in which
we lived went we first knew Him.
B. Repenting, confessing that in moving away from Him we have sinned,
and promising to change.
C. Returning to the Lord and beginning once again to do the works of
before. (Rev. 2:5)
for Centro Agape, Francesco Picone
What are you known for? For your sweetness? For your tongue? For your
irritability? For your faith..? Maybe I will never know the things about
me which have an impact - that which I will be remembered for. However,
when as communities we think of one another; when at Cefalų the
believers think of the dear brethren at Catania, or at Cinisi they remember
the brethren at Nicosia... what is it that we remember?
First of all we need to remember to PRAY. A constant prayer, one that
is specific, which thanks God for that which He has accomplished in my
brothers and sisters, and still continues to accomplish.
As Christians we must be remembered for the WORK OF OUR FAITH. What
will a minute woman, of albanian origin: Mother Theresa of Calcutta, be
remembered for? Above all for her works. How much more should we, who are
radicated in the full biblical truth, leave an indelible mark through the
works of our faith.
And again: we should be known, as believers and as communities, by
a LOVE WHICH LABOURS - which goes out of its way to be that which, though
far from easy, is more than necessary. A love which brings us to consider
the needy one, he who necessitates help - though not being necessarily
our 'ideal type'...
Finally, amidst a trembling, unstable world we must be remembered for
the ENDURANCE OF OUR HOPE. Not a doubtful feeling, but a certainty based
upon the unchanging promises of God. Enduring and constant - not like waves,
or like flags...
Do I convey these realities? Do I think on these truths? May it be
so!
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February 1998 - 'Incontro' 9.
Dear brothers and sisters of the IES, first of all - welcome back and
above all - a good 1998 to you!
How did you spend this festive time? Well, I hope. Here at Milazzo,
we are thankful to God for having given us god spiritual times, made happy
by, not only the usual weekly meetings (in Christmas format!), but also
by the plays put on by the children and the young people (which brought
life to the community) and by 'agapes' which allowed us to enjoy happy
moments of fellowship.
Usually, these are the best periods, because they reserve us the possibility
of seeing each other more often and therefore discovering again the beauty
of being together (Psalm 133).
However, as you know, the objective of this news magazine is to give
news on the activities of each community. I want to, therefore, communicate
the outcome of the conference: "New Life in the Family", organized at Milazzo
from November 21-23 (1997) (viz. 'Incontro' n.8). This was a conference
reserved for couples, where, between moments of study and personal application,
it was possible yo analyze the typical problems in the life of a couple
and also to provide the basis and practical suggestions, to produce, as
the very theme of the conference suggests, a new life in the family. There
were different international speakers (from Spain and the USA) and
the collaboration of Agape Italia (a specialized organization in these
kind of gatherings). There were a good number of participants who came
from different parts of Sicily and some even from further away.
One particularly meaningful moment was the worship service which followed
the conference, a service made up entirely of testimonies, where every
participant expressed his opinion on the conference and above all on the
points which had touched an interested them most. Various weaknesses emerged
as well as the desire to remedy and improve family life.
We wan to thank the Lord for the possibility given to us to be able
to organize this meeting and for the great blessings which He gave us during
these three days of conference.
Pino Picciolo
October 1997 - 'Incontro' 8.
Marinello '97
From August 31 until September 6 at Camping Marinello at Oliveri (Messina),
the 12th Camp for Families and Singles was held. As usual, the participants
were divided into groups, in such a way that each participant could enjoy
a program and themes of study appropriate to the particular age range.
The themes which were developed were interesting. For the adults, Rod Jones
(elder of an Evangelical Church at Naples), chose the life of Abraham -
an example to be followed by all believers. The youth, instead, were led
by Pastor Gaetano Di Francia, and they looked at the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5-7). At the end, after having examined the verses one by one,
it was great to discover that certain truths contained in the passages
are not so difficult to put in practice, if we really love the Lord; for
this reason Jesus was able to say: "Be perfect as your Father is perfect"
(Matthew 5:48). A passage which invites youth to sanctify themselves in
their faith, and which invites other believers to put in order and measure
up their own lives before the Lord.
The children and teenagers, led by Kurt and Patrizia Locher, had their
programs, and certainly between a song and practical work project they
learnt something more about the Lord.
Obviously apart from the studies, we were also able to have much free
time, which between sports activities, games and the sea allowed us to
get to know each other better and to establish new friendships.
In conclusion, it is necessary to express gratitude to the Hasenfratz
family and to all the other collaborators, for having given life
to this camp; the greatest thanks and appreciation, though, go to the Lord
who offered us this new possibility of knowing Him better and experiencing
the joy of being together.
Pino Picciolo
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October 1997 - 'Incontro' 8.
Interview with Tonino Brancato, City Counsellor of the majority party
in the Town Council of Castelbuono.
How long have you been a city Counselor?
Since 1993, but before that I had been put forward as candidate and
had finished as first of the non-elected.
Could you briefly describe the responsibilities of a City Counselor?
A Town Council is governed by a council of which the mayor is the head.
The function of a city counselor is that of supervising the action of that
Town Council and that of the mayor to verify that their action is done
legally and transparently. Furthermore he is to encourage the Town Council
to go through with political programs.
Must a counselor of the majority follow the indications of his party,
or may he dissent?
There are 14 city counselors in the majority party, and before voting
on some matter we first meet to confront our ideas. At that point all the
disagreements are exposed and worked out.
It has happened that occasionally I have voted in disagreement with
my own party's position.
Have you ever voted together with the opposition against the Town
Council which is backed by your party.
No. However, in the the main discussion in the City hall, a counselor
of a minority party convinces me of the validity of his argument as to
some amendment, I can support him, and that has happened. It is, of course,
possible for good ideas to come even from the minority!
Is this your first political experience?
I had an experience with the Trade Unions when I worked at Milano
for 15 years with FIAT. My work mates elected me to defend their rights
before management.
What led you to get involved in politics?
I have always liked being involved in social activities. When I was
still 12-13 years old I was part of an association which cared for the
interests of large, needy families. I used to type letters to help these
people.
Does your family approve of your political involvement?
Generally speaking: yes. In the 'hot' moments, when the various gatherings
are planned and occur one after the other, then it becomes heavy. Obviously
it is time taken away from the family; yet, I was surprised to find that
my wife and children remind me of my commitment. In the most difficult
times they have been of great help to me - especially my wife.
You are an Evangelical believer and city counselor. At times we hears
that: politics is a dirty business and that a Christian cannot be involved
in politics without compromising. What is your answer?
As Evangelical believers we cannot close ourselves in and isolate ourselves.
We must be present in society and offer our contribution. Jesus says that
we are "the salt of the earth". Of what use is the salt if it remains in
the saltshaker? However, I must say that it is not always easy to remain
clean, but it is possible. We must be ready to commit ourselves to fight
to avoid any compromise. A believer must never give in to something in
which he does not believe.
Does your faith influence the way in which you regard politics?
I have asked myself this many times and I answer: of course, because
before being a politician I am a believer and I seek to show that fact.
It seems that believers are constantly put under the microscope, there
is always someone ready to criticize any mistake we make. In those times
we need to have the humility to recognize our mistakes.
In a town like Castelbuono one would expect a politician to participate,
preferably in the front row, in all the festivities of the Roman Catholic
religion. What do you do in that context?
I have never participated in those festivities. I have always been
invited to take part in the local festivity for S. Anne, as well as other
religious ceremonies. I have never participated, explaining the reason
for my abstention to my city counselor colleagues.
Is your faith always respected, or have you encountered at times
a lack of understanding or intolerance?
My colleagues accept the way I see things. At times some of those people
who have voted for me ask me why they didn't see me 'with the candle'.
I then I explain the reason why I am against those things. I have never
had any type of difficulty in refraining from participating, rather I have
always received full understanding.
During November there will be new elections. Will you candidate yourself
again? Why?
I am still unsure. I would like to see the completion of those things
which we were unable to finish during these four years. But it does not
only depend on me. Before running as candidate myself again I want to know
what kind of political agenda there will be. I also want to know if the
voters who voted for me will give me their vote again. If not I will stay
back home. I will definitely not be without things to do even there!
We thank brother Tonino who kindly answered our questions. Not all believers
are called to involve themselves personally in politics. However we do
have a responsibility which the Lord has entrusted to us all. In Jeremiah
29:7 we read: "Seek out the good of the city where I have deported you,
and pray the Lord for that city; for from the good of that city depends
your good."
In Philippians 2:1-3 the Lord tells us: "I exhort, before every
other thing, that you might raise up supplications, prayers, intercessions,
thanksgivings for all men, for the kings and for all those who are constituted
in authority, that we might lead a quiet, tranquill life in all godliness
and dignity. This is good and pleasing before God, our Saviour."
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Since November four of us have begun to attend a course for 'monitors'
at Catania. This course is organized by the school "David's sling" at Rome
and is divided into 10 lessons in which there are theoretical and practical
parts. In the three previous lessons we examined the biblical basis of
evangelism to children (like the analysis and study of Matthew 18 on the
Greek text), certain notions of psychology, the qualities of a good teacher,
where to reach the child and various methods of communication (even practical
ones). The thing which always makes me think is how the Lord sees children.
He does not despise him and does not consider him as being unable to understand
because of youth, rather He tells us that we must be like them to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven. The important thing, therefore, is to try and take
the child as a model as to his qualities, such as humility, availability
and trust, seeing that at times we are wary and do things only for a second
end.
It is a very interesting course, and I thank the Lord for the opportunity
to attend it, so that I might serve Him better in this field.
Stefania
Requests:
For the start of a scout group
For a youth music group
Praise:
Calendars in the prison at Nicosia
Course for 'monitors' at Catania for 4 sisters.
From August 30 until September 6 there was a family camp at Oliveri
(Messina). I was able to spend a week of true peace and serenity. Despite
the fear of bad weather, trusting in God I went along and I really enjoyed
myself, especially with my group of 'old' young people. With Gaetano Di
Francia we studied from the Gospel according to Matthew, from the Sermon
on the Mount. I felt as though my 'bones were shattered' - I was obliged
to look again at parts of me, of my character, which I thought were in
a good condition.
"You are the salt of the earth", "You are the light of the world" (Matthew
5:13 and 16). It is a wonderful thing to hear from God that we are indispensable
to the world and above all it is extraordinary to consider the worth which
He has given us. Often we put ourselves down, we let ourselves go having
the courage to insinuate that we are not of any worth, despite the fact
that we believe in God. So doing we become insipid and dark and we ignore
the worth and the love which He has for us. So doing His words lose their
meaning. Personally this was a time of revival, an encouragement to demonstrate
truly to the world that I am a child of His, behaving in the way which
He commands, with mercy and decision, despite the injustices which life
has in store for us. Yes, I want to be "light of the world, salt of the
earth" because only in that way will I be able to glorify our Father who
is in heaven.
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The choir was started by Elizabeth Jarrett, wife of the pastor of the
"Hope Church", at Termini Imerese. Seeing she had majored in music, she
wanted to use this gift for the Lord. At the same time she thought it would
be nice to have the collaboration of the members of the other Mennonite
churches. So the choir was born. The name: "Messengers" was added only
some time after.
Elizabeth made an announcement in every Mennonite church, and so arranged
an appointment at the Centro Agape (Palermo) for anyone interested in being
part of the choir.
She was surprised to see many people respond to the vision. Right from
the start these people committed themselves to learn to sing together and
later on to learn to read music. It is a new experience for almost everyone
in the choir. Every week they have a great time. Singing an above all enjoying
fellowship and new friendship, thanks to the choir.
Elizabeth is very patient in teaching the various parts and following each section of the choir. After the practices, obviously, come the concerts. It's great on those occasions to be able to praise the lord together, lifting up His Name before many people.
During 1996 there was the first presentation of the musical "Then Came the Morning". It was requested by many different churches. In 1997 the choir prepared another musical - this time for Christmas, called: "The Wonders of His Love." Once again it was requested by different churches.
These concerts are ideal for evangelization because the Gospel is sung and narrated. The message is very clear - that is why they are called "The Messengers". For Christmas there was an added dimension. Harry Jarrett, our pastor, Elizabeth's husband, created a drama group which..... to compliment what was read and sung. It was nice to see.... costumes act out the story in this way.
The choir has grown in these two years and now there are 45 members
in it.
They continue to have new projects and visions for the future
and are currently working on a project for Easter. Why not consider using
'The Messengers' in your church in the near future. It's really worth
Carol McMahon
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The last news item we gave you was that our pastor, Floyd, after 16
years on mission here in Italy had returned home. Our church is not 16
years old, but he was our first spiritual father, so as soon as we received
the news of his departure we felt bewildered. We all loved Floyd and we
didn't want him to leave, but there was also another problem. The sheep
would be left without a shepherd and there was the danger that the church
would have strayed. After his departure we understood that those were thoughts
which satan was putting in our minds to weaken us. That, just as Floyd
had taught us, from God's Word, we were not 'Floydians', but 'Christians'!
Our church still feels great affection fro Floyd and his family but we
have not based our faith in him, but in Christ.For this reason, after his
departure and with the coming of our new pastor: Pino Arena, the church
has continued to grow. While Floyd was still here the community was like
a branch of the Capaci church. We had the same pastor, the youth leaders
were brothers from Capaci and many of our young people faced difficulties
because not everyone could go to Capaci for the young people's meetings.
The special meetings were always held in the hall at Capaci because it
was larger than ours. Even the Christmas programs were done together at
Capaci. You can imagine the changes which we have had in the church. Not
only was our new pastor, Pino Arena, facing the beginning of a new ministry,
but the whole church. When we found ourselves having to 'get to work' and
walk with our own feet, then I understood God's great plan.
For us, as a church, the moment had come to grow and to do so it was
necessary for each one of us to assume our responsibilities. As a church
we thank God for having replaced Floyd and his family with Pino and his
wife, Rosanna, equally exceptional people! We already knew them quite well
since they were involved in leadership at Capaci. They have been a great
blessing to us and I invite you to pray for them, in that they have,
though only a young couple, a great responsibility. We pray that they might
continue with the same energy with which they began and which has enabled
them to fit in immediately both with the whole church and each single member.
So, with Floyd's departure we thought that all had finished, instead
it was only the beginning. The church has continued to grow, new people
have accepted Christ and now attend.
Among those are Piero, Masina, Andrea, Francesco and Salvo. Francesco,
engaged to a one of our sisters had been frequenting for quite a while,
but only recently did he accept the Lord. New youth groups have been formed
with new leaders and this has contributed to the young people's growth
and increase. Since the beginning of December, we have left our church
building, because it was too small. We want to praise God because he causes
His church to grow. We are at the present time renovating the new hall
which we have found and for the time being we are being accommodated at
the Centro Agape (Palermo). I thank God for these brothers and for the
love which they demonstrate as they take care of us. I think this is truly
a great example for everyone - to understand that brotherly love is not
only a word, but a practical act. For the first time, this Christmas we
were able to organize a Christmas program of our own, as 'Shalom' church,
even though we were not in our own building. During past years it was good
to be able to organize it with the brethren from Capaci, but as we know,
to grow it is vital that the children leave their parents! For us, Capaci
until a short time ago was like a parent, but the time has come even for
us to pull away and walk on our own. Fellowship and Christian unity are
good and need to exist, even with the other churches, but each one of us
is a member of a local church and needs to be active in it.
I ask you to pray for us and for the new building, because there is
much work to do and we need finances and time to do it, and the men have
little free time and are obliged to work on Sunday.
I am thankful to God for the blessings which He is giving us and I
encourage you to always trust in God, because when all seems to be finished,
He is always there, next to us, to pick us up and smooth out any situation.
Never tire of praying for us.
I Thess. 5:17-18
Costa Mariella
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Return
to indexOctober 1997 - 'Incontro' 8.
When summer is nearing the question is often heard: where are you going
on holiday? It seems that in summer all the activities stop, but it is
not that way with the work of the Lord or with our spiritual walk, rather
the summer often brings us many new experiences and opportunities to serve
the Lord.
On June 15, eight young people from our church participated in the
Mega-Incontro Giovanile at Catania. We are sorry for all those young people
who did not participate; despite the heat it was great to be together.
During July two girls: Luisa and Francesca, were baptized. Let us pray
for them that they might be an example to their families.
Our building is often used to accommodate different people and this
summer we were able to have an American missionary couple from Albania.
We were blessed and challenged by their testimonies. Then for about a month
we had and albanian man from the city of Permet, in Albania (do you remember
the pump given to that city? 'Incontro' June '97). In the past he was of
great help to our missionaries there and for security reasons he
was obliged to leave Permet. Let us thank the Lord that he has now
been able to join his family again and let us pray that the seed of the
Truth might spring forth in his heart.
Various young people spent part of the summer involved in missions.
Davide took part in the program: Love Europe and spent time in England.
Enza and Elisa served as teachers for the children's camps at the AIA and
then together with Ivana they went on a 'Mission Vacation' to Tunisia,
where they were able to take 'precious gifts' - the Word of God.
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to indexFebruary 1998 - 'Incontro' 9
In these last months in my community there have been different changes.
We have recently introduced a praise group during the worship service which
leads us in singing. We are thankful for that.
There have also been some new conversions, new brothers and sisters
who really desire to work for the Lord.
Unfortunately, though, not all the changes are happy ones. In fact
we have had adversities which have discouraged us. Several months ago a
dear sister fell from her balcony and we thought there was no hope for
her; we praise God, though, for His mercy and this sister is still with
us! Another brother has recently been going through hard times because
of a serious illness which has hit him and we fear for his life.
We want to glorify God, however, for the strength which He gives us,
for His love and for His mercy towards us. Of course we would prefer to
give you only joyful news, but we even want to share with you not only
the joys but also the suffering and the trials which we are going
through.
We encourage you to pray for us.
Lucia Ferrante
Prayer requests:
Pray for Gianna and Carlo and for the serious physical problems which
they face.
Pray also for the new believers and for their spiritual growth
Praise items:
Let us praise God for the new converts who have become part of God's
big family.
On the 10 July last, at the airport: Falcone e Borsellino (Palermo),
we greeted our pastor: Floyd Blosser.
Together with his family they were leaving to return to their country
of origin: America. I thank God for having given us Floyd Blosser and Janet
and for the works done through them.
This event has prompted an important change in our church: Paolo Ribaudo,
already an active member and collaborator of Floyd, is now our new pastor.
Together with his wife: Rosi Pedalino they are already 'at work'. They
have organized various work groups called 'departments'. Each one has a
specific responsibility: social, evangelistic, administrative, missionary
and so on... all with a common objective: to work for the church so that
she might grow in Christ.
Thanks to the counsel of brother Francesco Picone and somewhat tired
of having to define ourselves as 'those of the church of Capaci', we have
decided to add the name Emanuel to our church-name; from mid-August our
church is now called: "Emanuel (God with us) Evangelical Church".
I wish to finish by devoting a verse and a half from Psalm 23 to my
pastor, to his family and to my brothers and sisters: "The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me
beside the still waters."
Lo Bello Giovanna
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A happy 1998 to all the churches of the I.E.S.!!!
Another year has past (according to His will)
and we trust that this new year as well will go by with peace and with
the faith which the Lord places in our hearts.
To begin in the best way, we want to share a
wonderful piece of news with you - that is: since November we have a new
brother in our community. His name is Alessandro, a young man of 20 whom
the Lord has called to be part of His family, after having knocked
at his heart for a number of years. Praise God!
And just as the angels rejoice every time someone
is converted to Christ and therefore is born again, even we rejoiced at
Christmas as we considered the birth of He who must be considered the most
important, the greatest, the best, the most faithful, the most righteous,
and so you can go on... and who am I talking about? Well of course - of
Jesus! In fact, both on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we met and exchanged
small gifts.
On the evening of Christmas Day, instead, the
church gathered for the Christmas Service. It was really great to listen
to the songs prepared specially by the choir, by the youth group and by
the Sunday School children. At the end of the service there was also the
Candle Ceremony; in fact each one of us held a lit candle to symbolize
the coming of Christ who represents the 'Light of the World'.
A few days after Christmas, and precisely on
December 28, we were happy to receive a nice visit; we were happy to have
as guests the group: "The Messengers" who already many of you are acquainted
with. We listened to their performance, dedicated to the Lord and notwithstanding
the fact that they are not professionals, they were really great! We were
all astounded by the high quality of their musical. It was also a good
time of witness for all the unbelievers resent that evening, and I tell
you, there were really many!
Finally, to end the activities held during the festive season, we also want to let you know what we did on the first day of 1998; don't worry, we certainly did not try fortune-telling to know how this year will go, but we did do something far better - that is, we came together to share the joys, sufferings and trials which during the past year made us grow, as well as our intentions with the Lord for the new year. We also had a good prayer-time and as we say: he who prays at the new year, prays all the year (and grows in the faith.)
Talking about prayer, we want to share with you a prayer request for a young girl from our church. Her name is Elvira, she is 17 years old and unfortunately a genetic illness has been discovered in her eyes which, in time, could produce blindness. Of course we do not know how long it will be before the illness develops but let us in the meantime pray that the lord might give peace and rest to the hearts of Elvira and her parents.
And with that we end and we send you greetings - large as Etna!!
Stefania e Patrizia.
Stefania and Patrizia
.
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"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)
On the bass of this commandment, in our church
about eight months ago we formed an evangelism group of about 15 people.
The group meets every 15 days and has as objective the spiritual preparation
of evangelists filled with the Holy Spirit, ready to confront the world.
The book which we are studying is titled: "Principalities
methods od evangelism", by Franco Santonocito.
As we began the study of the second chapter I
was very surprised to read the answer given to the following question:
"What are the consequences in the local church which does not evangelize?"
The author answers as follows:
"Unfortunately when a local church reaches a
considerable number of members, often evangelism passes into a less important
position. That is when trouble begins. Energy is invested on social action,
on the importance of spiritual gifts, on organizational super-structures..
there is fighting and division, worldliness, spiritual pride and general
dissatisfaction which end up in a spirit of negative criticism and poisonous
backbiting; so much so that rather than being like a stream that receives
and gives, the church becomes like a puddle whose water is stagnant and
dirty and smelly."
At first these words left me shocked, then they
led me to think how important it actually is to share the message of salvation
with others.
In my opinion, the basic reason which a believer must have in his life is must be that of leading those around, to salvation. Often times, work colleagues, certain friends, school friends or neighbours do not even know that we are Christians because we are ashamed to witness or we say that we have not had the opportunity to do so. Whatever the reason, let us realize that these are only excuses! Let us seek, rather, to see things as they really are and when we look at those who are around us, may we see them as lost people who will burn in the lake of fire!
Let us not allow our excuses for a lack of zeal in sharing the Gospel, disguised by other commitments or 'I haven't got time', to make us end up totally indifferent!
If we have only but a small part of the love which God has had towards us, let us, motivated by this love, let others know the wonderful alternative to eternal death: salvation!
Marilena Lombardo
From August 20 until September 2 we had a special guest, whom we particularly
enjoyed having: Daniel Ehmann. He was a missionary in our city until
two years ago. Now, Daniel, after having spent some time in Canada, his
country of origin, has returned to Italy to serve the Lord at Milano. We
were really pleased to have had hi with us. In the course of his visit
Daniel conveyed a series of studies on the theme: "The Love of God" and
we would like to share with you different aspects of those studies.
Each one of us desires to have a sincere, loyal, faithful, trustworthy,
sensitive friend. All these qualities are the attributes of Jesus: our
best friend. It was He who chose to love us for first, while we were yet
sinners..
Paul, writing to the Ephesians prays that they might know God's love
and in I John 4:8 it is stated that 'God is love' - not 'love is God' -
underlining the fact that it is a characteristic of his. He cannot do anything
else but love us, he cannot stop loving us because He never changes. He
does not stop from loving us even when we sin, because He loves us just
as we are. The measure of His love is the life which He gave for us. (John
15:13)
To build a serious, stable bond, of whatever kind (friendship, marriage,
etc..), there needs to be time and commitment: thus it is with God, but,
above all, we must take down any barrier and open ourselves completely
to Him.
When Jesus was about to confront the cross, He knew that His death
was necessary and that He was within the will of God, but He could still
freely express His suffering and His feelings when He said: 'Father, why
have you forsaken me?'. In the same way, we can, at times, feel abandoned,
but we know that God loves us.
The Bible points out two aspects of the relationship which Jesus, while
He was on earth, had with the Father. The first regards the fact that Jesus
devoted times to prayer, therefore to dialog with God; the other element
is the service which the Lord was carrying out. Thus, if prayer allows
us to communicate with our heavenly Father, to tell Him all that
we have on our hearts, to serve Him, using the gifts given to us by God
puts us in a condition to express concretely how much we love Him.
At the end of the studies we were encouraged to do the following:
Return
to indexFebruary 1998 - 'Incontro' 9.
True or False?
How much poison is necessary to make something
poisonous? Very little. Even one drop. How much error is necessary to make
a belief heretical? Certainly very little. But it is not always so simple
to define.
In God's Word we find a strong exhortation to:
"...fight strenuously for the faith.."
Our I.E.S. is born, amongst other things, to
take a clear position of 'biblical orthodoxy' before numerous movements
and individuals who, though living within the 'so-called' evangelical circle
certainly propagate that which has little which can be called wholesome
or even biblical. Though not having the desire to embark on a crusade against
such people and movements, yet we feel it is timely to inform those who
might be ignorant of that which, in reality, is today promulgated in a
cloak of credibility.
In this brief article we wish to reiterate our
conviction that only that which is explicitly biblical must be believed
and promoted. Dangerous infiltrations and mixes coming from the world of
New Age, from human traditions and from secular humanism often spoil, even
only with one or two 'drops' the message presented.
A case in point: Robert Schuller. American, pastor,
tele-preacher, author of different books. Growing popularity in certain
circles; present, on certain occasions, even here in Italy.
Here are, amongst other things, certain statements
he makes:
"L'errore classico del cristinesimo storico č
che non abbiamo mai iniziato dal valore della persona. Piuttosto, abbiamo
iniziato dal fatto di essere 'peccatori indegni'..."; e ancora: "il nocciolo
del peccato č una mancanza di auto.stima... il peccato č
auto-abuso psicologico... il peccato pių grave č quello che
mi porta a dire: 'Io sono indegno. Io non posso avere alcun diritto di
essere figlio divino se tu mi esamini al mio peggio.' Poiché una
volta che una persona crede di essere un 'peccatore indegno', č
molto dubbioso se possa onestamente accettare la grazia salvifica che Dio
offre in Gesų Cristo."; e per completare: "Gesų non ha mai
chiamato una persona - peccatore..."
Now tell me: how much error is necessary to make
a person false?
Just like the believers at Berea, even we should
consider those things which are said, however apparently credible the source
is, in the light of the sole authority - God's Word.
Destination: M.V. Doulos.
We want to devote a little space each time to one of our young people who is the other side of the world - in mission on the ship: Doulos.
At this point Salvatore is going through a time of formation at Singapore. In a few days he will board the ship.
We want to take this opportunity to remind you to pray for him.
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February 1998 - 'Incontro' 9
October 1997 - 'Incontro' 8.
From 31.10.97 to 2.11.97, at Palermo - the Annual Conference of the
Mennonite churches. The theme: "Evangelism".
From 21-23.11.97, at Milazzo - Conference: 'New Life in the Family'.
Organized by Agape Italia and Gaetano Di Francia.
Sunday, 14.12.97, at Cefalų, meeting of the 'Incontro Team'.
Saturday, 10.1.98 - at Cefalų; General Council of the I.E.S..
24-26 April - 6th Youth Weekend
1-3 May - 6th Pastoral Gathering.
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