Partakers Christian Podcasts

Saturday Testimony Story - Naz

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Naz...

Today we are hearing the story of Naz from Bangladesh... Come and listen to his story of faith... It is in the languages of English and Bangla... It was recorded in a busy Somerset cafe, so there is some minimal background noise...

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Bible Thought - Worship

 

Worship

I wonder what you think worship is! Is your view of worship too small? Worship is giving God alone (Psalm 19:2), the glory due His name in the beauty of His holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29), with reverence.

“Yes, ascribe to the Lord! The glory due his name! Bring an offering and come before him; Worship the Lord when clothed with holiness!” (1 Chronicles 16:29)

Worship is where through the use of the mind and the senses, honour and respect are directed towards God, “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)! Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

Come and explore with us, more about what worship of God is, why God is to be worshipped and how the Christian should worship God!

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Saturday Story - Malcolm Muggeridge

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Malcolm Muggeridge...

Today we are looking into the 20th Century again, this time at Malcolm Muggeridge. He was, by his own volition and renown, a determined sceptic and vocal non-believer. Until that is, he encountered Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Come and listen to his story of faith...

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Partakers Bible Thought - Forgiveness - WOW Word

WOW Word - Forgiveness

True forgiveness is not just saying sorry!! Forgiveness is to include penitence and also a desire never to do that same thing again. Forgiveness of course is a major part of Christianity, both in the way that God forgives when approached in penitence and repentance, but also in the way Christians forgive others and themselves! In both giving and receiving forgiveness, consider Jesus Christ and the enormity of His forgiveness.

Paul writes in Colossians 3:12-14 that forgiveness is part of the being in God’s family of Christians! If God forgave you for all that you have done wrong, then you also should forgive others, regardless of how difficult that might be to do. Nobody said it would always be easy though! Forgiveness enables you to have the same openness toward the person after they offend you, as you did before the event – if not more! When you truly forgive the person who has wronged you, any hurt you have will diminish.

Receiving and Giving Forgiveness

But why do we need to both receive and give forgiveness? Apart from being commanded to, a vast number of emotional and psychological problems are caused by failure to either give or to receive forgiveness.

• There is a failure to receive forgiveness. Many people try to pay for their sin by trying to punish themselves for they're past sins. These people should let go, because God has forgiven them, just as they asked!
• There is a failure to give forgiveness. When forgiveness is not offered to a person who has done you wrong, bitterness, resentment and anger may spring up in your life. There are parents who hurt; siblings who fail; and close friends who betray and reject. Yet forgive is the command, and it can only be done as the Holy Spirit and His power is relied upon.

By receiving and giving forgiveness, you will find an ability to love God more and love others more openly. Don’t let bitter unforgiveness destroy you and others, but rather let love & forgiveness build and strengthen.

God and Forgiveness

God’s ultimate concern is your holiness and not just your happiness, as you are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ! God is concerned not just about what is happening to you, but also what you are learning and how you are responding in His workshop of life, as you are being transformed. This involves both giving and receiving forgiveness.

Tests to see if there is someone I need to forgive:

• Resentment test - Is there anyone you resent?
• Responsibility test - Do you find yourself thinking, "If only this other person or persons had done this, things would have been different!" and therefore blaming others?
• Reminder/reaction test - Do you find yourself reacting negatively against a person because they remind you of someone else?
  
  To discover more about the WOW Word, Forgiveness, download the mp3

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Saturday Story 10 - Milly

Saturday Story

People meeting Jesus 

The story of Milly from the USA...

Today we hear the story and testimony of Milly, who is from Mississippi in the USA... Come and listen to her story about her Christian journey and the relevancy of Jesus Christ to her life today...

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Thursday with Tabitha - Nahum

Thursday with Tabitha

6. Nahum by Tabitha Smith

 

Nahum prophesied about the destruction of the city of Nineveh, the capital of the nation of Assyria. If Nineveh sounds a bit familiar, it might be because you’ve listened to the first instalment in this series about the book of Jonah! In some ways, Nahum is like a sequel to Jonah.

The date of writing of Nahum can be narrowed down to somewhere between 660 BC and 630 BC. We can deduce this because of the historical events that Nahum refers to during his prophecy (unless of course you don’t believe in predictive prophesy!). Like Micah last week, we don’t know anything about Nahum apart from the fact that his home town was called Elkosh. It’s not certain where this was, but it was probably in Judah because at the time of his prophesy, the kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist.

The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen to the Assyrians in about 722 BC. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had not suffered the same fate, despite an attempted siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib of Assyria shortly after the fall of Samaria. Instead, the Kingdom of Judah had become a sort of vassal state to Assyria. The Assyrian kingdom had been established by acts of terrible violence, torture and cruelty and forced deportations of thousands of people, under the leadership of Tiglath-pileser III. His campaigns were ruthless and highly successful, conquering most of the known world at the time.

Nineveh was a great city, the capital of Assyria. Jonah had been sent by God with a message of warning to Nineveh, telling of God’s imminent judgement on them for their evil behaviour.

At that time, much to Jonah’s surprise and disgust, the people of Nineveh did repent and God spared them. However, a century later, we see that the repentance did not last, and Nineveh has fallen back into evil, idolatry, violence and depravity.

Nahum’s key message is that God is going to judge and overthrow Nineveh. Nahum means ‘comfort’ and his message would have brought comfort to the people of Judah who were living under Assyrian oppression.

Nahum is written in the style of ancient war poetry. The first verse of the book tells us that Nahum received the prophecy in the form of a vision. The way he writes his book is like the eye-witness account of a war correspondent. God is pictured as a divine warrior, coming to judge the Assyrians for their evil deeds. God had used Assyria as a tool of judgement on his own people, but the Assyrians were held accountable for the wicked nature of their conquests and the ways they had lived their lives in alienation from God.

In chapter one, the book opens with a poetic description of God on the war-path. God is described as jealous (for his honour and his people), wrathful, righteously angry and all powerful. Even the rock-solid mountains melt before him and the seas dry up completely. Nothing and no-one can stand against him. At the same time, God is also described as slow to anger, good, knowing those who seek him, compassionate and seeking his people’s freedom from their oppressors. The message that Nahum proclaims is simultaneously terrible and wonderful, and it all depends on the reader’s perspective and relationship to God.

At the end of Nahum 1, Judah is urged to keep the feasts, i.e. the celebrations of their history that remind them of God’s salvation purposes and commemorate his saving works for them in the past. Judah will be restored once more.  We should not miss the significance of this - the Messiah would one day come from the remnant of Judah.

Nahum 2 launches into a prophetic account of the overthrow of Nineveh. The imagery is vivid and it’s almost as if Nahum is present in the city, watching the events unfold. The invading army arrives in the outskirts of Nineveh and the call goes out to ‘man the walls’ and take up arms. The invasion comes with speed and devastation, chariots thundering and swords and spears flashing and glinting in the sun. The invading soldiers are clothed in red with red shields, possibly indicating the original colour of the shields or their staining with blood. Siege towers are built and the river gates are opened to flood the city and destroy the royal palace.

It’s helpful here to consider what we know from historical accounts of the overthrow of Nineveh. Nineveh was attacked by a coalition of armies, principally of the Medes and Babylonians, in 612 BC. The city was sieged for a period of time which may have been as short as a few months. The invading armies closed the gates of the river Khoser, which flowed through the city, allowing the water to build up. The gates were then opened, unleashing a flood on the city which destroyed much of the important architecture and allowed the invaders to penetrate the city walls and finish the overthrow of the city.

Nahum 2 contains more vivid images of the invasion with graphic descriptions of the piles of dead bodies in the streets of the city. God asks Nineveh whether she has considered herself better than Thebes. Thebes was a great city in Egypt which was invaded by the Assyrians in about 664 BC. Thebes had appeared to be immune to attack with a natural sea defence and many allies. However, the Assyrians had conquered the city. They were now going to get a taste of their own medicine.

The book ends with Nahum surveying the aftermath of the siege and invasion. The final words are a taunting song declaring the finality of the destruction.

The ruins of Nineveh can be found today near the modern Iraqi city of Mosul. They were not discovered until the 19th century - prior to this all reference to Nineveh disappeared from the pages of history. When the ruins of the city were uncovered, many unburied skeletons were found. The city was razed to the ground. Nahum’s prophesies were fulfilled.

The book of Nahum reminds us that God is all powerful, omnipotent. He is not a tame god who is passive and powerless but he acts on behalf of his people. He is a God of justice who cannot pass over sin and evil but he must act justly to uphold his own honour and the welfare of his chosen people Israel. Moreover, God had promised to spare a remnant of his people, specifically from the tribe of Judah, in order that the Messiah, the deliverer, would come from his people. The future of the people of Israel often seemed under threat but God always faithfully preserved and restored a remnant to preserve the line of Abraham.

God is able to work even the most impossible of circumstances and most wicked of people into his sovereign plan. The seemingly ordinary list of names in the genealogy of Jesus described in Matthew chapter 1 encompasses accounts of infertility, prostitution, bereavement, displacement, adultery, murder and exile. God truly is able to make all things work for the good of those who love him, according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

God can even use wicked and pagan people in order to judge his own people and work for their ultimate good. In a few weeks’ time we will look at this issue in more detail as we look at the way Habakkuk wrestled with this.

Whatever opponents or battles you face in your lifetime, none of them are too big for God to handle. The military might of the Assyrians was legendary and they built one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Yet even they were relegated to the pages of history, the ruins of their prized capital city lying undiscovered for centuries. Our perspective is so limited. We struggle to comprehend the span of human history, and yet humans are such a brief vapour, like the dew that evaporates from the morning grass. Peter says in the first chapter of his first letter:

“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25

All earthly things will pass and only God will endure. Yet, incredibly, he cares about each one of us and knows every detail about us. The whole of history is centred around the life of Jesus, God in the flesh, who came to rescue us. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He stands in authority above all human institutions and authorities, both the good and the evil ones. His kingdom is incomparably greater than the most mighty of human kingdoms and yet it is established in an upside-down order where the first are last and the last are first. We pray “your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. One day his kingdom will be unified and complete.

Then, as Paul says ‘at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:10-11).

 

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Bible Thought - Christian WOW Word - Giving

Giving

Time, possessions and money

Giving is seemingly one of the three forbidden subjects for Christians to discuss in the 21st century! The other two being sex and power. Jesus talked about all three often!
Every person has in differing quantities: time, talent, possessions and money. In relationship to giving, the Church is to be a community where the strongest members support the weakest members. This applies not only to the local church, but also at a national and international level as well.
Too often, even as Christian Disciples we are found turning a blind eye to the suffering of others where the bare necessities of life are in sparse existence. Too often we gather possessions and people, instead of giving up our time and money generously to help the poor and needy of both our world and local communities. Too often we keep our time and talents selfishly to ourselves instead of giving them to others in need.

Spiritual Growth Indicator

Perhaps the greatest indicator of spiritual growth in the Christian Disciple concerns their giving – particularly financial giving. Paul writing to the Corinthians commands that giving is to be done whole-heartedly and cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7). WOW! For the Christian Disciple, it is not so much how much is given, but how much is left after giving. God looks beyond the amount that is given to the motive and attitude behind the giving. All of our money, time, talents and possessions belong to God anyway, so giving is to be in response to this. Giving is to be done out of love for God. Paul offers in 1 Corinthians 16:2 a three-point system for giving financially: regularly, methodically and proportionately.
Failure to give back to God's work what He has given the Christian Disciple in the first place, robs God (Malachi 3:8). The reason it robs is because the giving cannot be used to support those who are working for God. As a result of giving, the Christian Disciple will be blessed (Malachi 3:10) and have their needs satisfied (Philippians 4:19).

Old Testament

In the Old Testament, Widows were important to God, because justice is important to God as He is a God of perfect justice and consummate mercy. In the Old Testament, under the Law of Moses, God commanded provision for those who were widows, oppressed or uncared for.
The 12 Apostles would have known about God caring for the widows and through Jesus’ teaching about justice for the poor and the oppressed. We know this because if you read the Book of Acts, people were selling and sharing possessions and ensuring that all people within the Christian community were being looked after and cared for. This included making sure that everyone got fed, particularly those who had no family to care for them. And it was not just for those within the church – but from the wider community!

New Testament

The New Testament church made sure that financial giving was done and that the poor, the oppressed, the lonely and the widows were taken care of. People working fulltime for the Lord, were given recompense by others for their efforts. People gave. Paul in Romans 12:6-8 places giving as a spiritual gift! I wonder how many people have asked specifically for that particular gift. Perhaps it’s the least asked for gift; after all it isn’t one of the supposedly spectacular ones!

You and I

How are you doing? How is your giving of your time, your talents, your possessions and your money on a local, national and international level? The get out clause for a lot of Christians is that it would not be good stewardship to give to that person or that cause. Or they say the passages in the book of Acts are only descriptive of that particular time and have no relevance for us today.
Each of us has in varying quantities: time, talents, possessions and money. How is your giving of those to others doing? God gave everything so that you and I may have life and life in abundance. So by giving generously of your time, your talents, your possessions and your finances, you are reflecting that. Just as God gave and gives generously, and gave His Son as a ransom for sin. If you have run out of ideas about how to give what you have, ask God to show you and give you some creative ideas! Go live! Go give!

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Thursday with Tabitha - Micah

Thursday with Tabitha

5. Micah by Tabitha Smith

Micah came from the town of Moresheth in Judah, southwest of Jerusalem - other than that, we are not told anything else about the man himself. The book doesn’t tell us how God called him. His name can be translated as a question which asks: Who is like Yahweh?

Micah’s prophesy came during the years of kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah (who ruled between 750 BC and 687 BC). Hosea and Isaiah prophesied at roughly the same time. The main themes of Micah are God’s judgement and forgiveness. In this book we will discover the prophesy about Jesus’ birthplace and meet the Messiah as the Good Shepherd.

The book opens with a pronouncement against Jerusalem and Samaria, announcing to them that God is bringing his witness against them, like a kind of lawsuit. In the same way that a prosecutor outlines his case, God will bring charges against his people and back them up with evidence.

From chapter 2 God starts to set out his case. His people have dealt cruelly and unjustly with their fellow-men. Out of greed and jealousy they have desired what belongs to others and taken it for themselves - both houses and fields. False prophets have arisen amongst the people, speaking words that do not come from God. The prophets speak what the people want to hear, for their own pride and gain. In Micah 2:11, Micah sarcastically says that a prophet who promised plenty of alcoholic beverages would be just the kind of prophet the people desired! 

The rulers of Israel are criticised for doing evil, abusing the people they are supposed to be ruling and despising justice. The leaders accept bribes, the priests preach for money and the prophets accept cash for false fortune telling. The whole society is twisted and corrupt, so far from the way God intended them to be. Judgement will fall on Jerusalem and Samaria in the form of invading armies of the Assyrians and Babylonians.  

In chapter 4 the mood suddenly changes to one of future promise. In Micah 4:1, Micah says that ‘in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all peoples will stream to it’.  

The phrase, ‘in the last days’ is often found in prophetic writing and it usually refers to a time in the future beyond the present era, sometimes referring to the time of the coming of the Messiah. Micah foresees a time when God will restore Jerusalem and make it a focal point for the gathering of the nations. Instead of climbing to high places to worship pagan false gods, the peoples will make the ascent to the dwelling place of God and worship him alone.

Micah 4:3 is quite famous; in it Micah prophesies that the nations  of the world will ‘beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.’ Unprecedented peace will come to the world in the last days when the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, ushers in his new kingdom. These same words are found in the book of Isaiah 2:4. It is possible that Isaiah and Micah used a shared source for this, or one may have borrowed this thought from the other. 

In chapter 5 we find intriguing prophesies about the coming Messiah. Micah5:2 is often read at Christmas time. It says “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” 

King David came from Bethlehem and was an unlikely choice to be king by external worldly measures. Bethlehem was a small town with nothing really going for it.  

Several hundred years later, the greater David, the Messiah, Jesus, was born in this same small town. The Jews anticipated that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, based on this prophecy in Micah. Yet they didn’t recognise him when he arrived as he didn’t come in the way they expected. Ironically, it seems that the Jews alive at the time of Jesus knew him as the carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee, ignorant of the fact that his birthplace was in Bethlehem. You can read more about this in the 7th chapter of John’s gospel.

This coming Messiah is pictured as one who will shepherd his flock, his people, and bring them unprecedented peace.

In chapters 6 and 7 God continues his lawsuit against his people. The charges now include corrupt business practices, disloyalty and betrayal within families, violence and falsehood. The downfall and destruction of Jerusalem is foretold. However, there is the promise of hope and restoration. In Micah 7:9 the city of God speaks with a prophetic voice: ‘Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.’

The book ends with a rhetorical question that echoes the meaning of Micah’s name: ‘who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again show compassion to us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.’

In the Bible the language of the courtroom and legal process is loaded with significance. God is the ultimate Judge, and he is always just in his judgements. He cannot just ignore sin and wrongdoing, or sweep it under the carpet. Where there has been a wrong, a judgement must be pronounced and a sentence served. In the New Testament we encounter the concept of justification. This is also a legal term. To justify someone means to acquit them, to declare them righteous. The Bible teaches us that God justifies us by grace. In other words, he declares us righteous although we do not deserve it. The penalty for our sin still had to be paid and Jesus did this for us, taking our sins upon himself in his death on the cross. So sinful people can be pronounced just because Jesus paid for (or atoned) for our sins. The penalty is paid, justice is done.

Justification doesn’t mean that God lets us off for our sins, or acts as if we’d never sinned; it means that God’s holiness demanded a payment for our sin, and God himself provided the means of this payment, through the death of Jesus on our behalf. Justice and mercy meet together and love and grace are seen most clearly on the cross.

God issues his people with a challenge in Micah 6:8 - “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

These words have timeless relevance and if you would like to see how Christians are working out this truth in the world today, have a look at www.micahchallenge.org.

Micah Challenge is a coalition of Christians who take their inspiration from this verse in Micah and campaign on issues of justice. They are working to hold governments accountable for the promises they made to the poorest people in the world in 2000 when the Millennium Development Goals were set. If you need some inspiration or resources to help you get engaged with issues of justice, poverty and action, have a look at their website. If you are involved with a local church, think about how you could encourage people in your fellowship to take practical steps to speak up for those who are denied justice. Love is demonstrated in action and we are all called to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

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Bible Thought - The Christian Partaker

Partaker

Today's WOW Word is Partaker! To partake, or to be a partaker of something, can mean at least three things!

1. having the qualities or attributes of something
2. having, giving or receiving something
3. to consume

Jesus Christ was a Partaker! Did you know that? He was a Partaker, in so much as that when He became human, He adorned human flesh and blood! WOW!

Come hear more by playing and/or downloading the mp3 audio using the link below!

 

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Bible Thought - Sovereignty of God - Christian WOW Word 31

WOW Word - Sovereignty Of God

G’day! The WOW word for today is Sovereignty of God.

The sovereignty of God means that God is in control at all times and nothing can occur outside of His control and will.  God loves His creation and cares for it.  He won’t deny people their humanity when dealing with them. 

Decrees – a part of Sovereignty

Sovereign decree: When God says “Eternal life is available for all.  You may choose to accept or reject it.  Those that accept it, I will call my children.”  Your own reaction as a Christian Disciple is that you have taken up God’s offer and are trusting and obeying.

Conditional decree: When God says “I am willing to give you my opinion and help when you ask.”  Our reaction should be to read the Bible, and pray and talk to God about the situation!

Natural decree:  When God has created a lemon tree, that lemon tree wont produce potatoes.”  Our reaction should be to plan in view of that.

But!

A question often posed is one that goes “Well if God is sovereign, then why doesn’t He do something about the suffering of the masses such as those in who are dying for lack of food?” But God has done something about it!  God has provided enough food for all people everywhere, just that we in the West are greedy! So the problem is not with God, but with people! God’s provision to all people has become God’s provision for the minority, through humanity’s inhumanity to others. As for other kinds of suffering, that’s part of the reason for the cross, where God Himself experienced human suffering when Jesus died on the cross: Jesus, the man who was both fully God and fully human.  God is not so removed from our sufferings, which He Himself endured and suffered at the Cross.  Just because God allows free will to all people to sin, doesn’t mean that God is responsible for the sin – that is, and must remain, people’s responsibility! If not, we would all just be robotic automatons instead of free people.

God knows…

God’s sovereignty is inclusive in that it covers all actions of people, good or bad (Acts 2v23; Ephesians 2v10).  The foundation of God’s sovereignty is wisdom according to Paul (Ephesians 3:8-11).  So, when we are faced with a decision, God knows what is going to occur. He knows all the options and choices.  It is important when faced with making decisions to pray about it and read the Bible.  He seeks you to respond to Him with love and affection. Why not start today, and ask Him for help? God is interested in every facet of your life.  If He were not, then He couldn’t be personal, and He certainly wouldn’t be sovereign!

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