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“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: I know
your works and love and service and faith and your
patience” (Verse 19) .
What a wonderful testimony to receive from the Lord
regarding the motives behind the work that was being done.
They were rich in love for God and for one another. Their
faith or fidelity showed, they were dependable, reliable and
consistent believers.
From this love and faith, grew acts of service and
perseverance. God’s love in them manifested itself in doing
good to others, and their steadfastness was demonstrated by
their perseverance in their faith.
These believers were growing in the grace and knowledge of
Jesus Christ, maturing in their Christian lives and advancing
the cause of Christ.
However, at the same time, in the same church, existed
another group who actively worked against the true believers.
Their greatest opposition was not external opposition but
internal.
“But I have a few things against you because you allow that
woman Jezebel to teach” (Verse 20) .
Whether Jezebel was a real prophetess at this time, or this
is a reference to Jezebel the wife of Ahab no one knows for
sure. What is known is the influence that she exerted over the
church at Thyatira.
In 1 Kings Chapters 16-211 Kings Chapters 16-21, we read of the influence Jezebel
had not only over Ahab the King of Israel, but over Israel
itself. And she was not just a worshipper of idols but a militant
promoter of Baal worship. Jezebal opposed the people of God
with violence and attempted to replace the word of God with
the philosophies of man.
There are some who exert great influence over the church
and individuals today, often peddling their own philosophies
for their own profit. In vs. 24, we are told about these teaching
“as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known
the depths of Satan”. These philosophies do not come from
God, but from the depths of Satan. Many are deceived by
such doctrines and, instead of living lives that glorify God,
they are satisfing the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and
the pride of life.
To the true believers who had not experienced the supposed
“deeper knowledge” (depths of Satan) Christ says “I will put
on you no other burden. But that which you have, hold fast
until I come.” The burden of false teachers, false converts, of
bringing Christ’s Name into disrepute, the immoral living
and the persecution for not participating, having to stand
firm against these things and hold fast to the promises of God
is burden enough.
Christ commands true believers to “hold fast until I come”.
Christ does not say that it will be easy, but He does promise
that “He will come” and that we are to eagerly await that
day, in fact we are to look forward to and long for that day
and to encourage one another with these words. Even so
come Lord Jesus.
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MEET OUR NEW TEAM MEMBER
JOHN PALANDRI, Incoming Missions Director
I was born in Perth to Catholic parents who had the good sense
to introduce me to God, but encouraged a very “Catholic” view
of a relationship with God. I found myself in the position where I
knew of God but did not know Him personally.
I enjoyed a happy and robust family life and if I could single
out one highlight, it was how my parents encouraged us to learn
as much as we could.
In July of 1980 I joined the R&I Bank. This proved to be a
“watershed” moment for me as there I met a young lady, who in
the first instance was my teacher at the bank and later, became my
wife.
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John Palandri during Impact Africa 2009 |
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This young lady “Jenny”
shared the gospel with me in late 1980 and in
January of 1981, I gave my heart to the Lord.
One year and one week later in 1982, Jenny and
I were married.
We have two beautiful daughters who
are baptised believers and are
walking with the Lord and serving Him in their respective areas
of work. Jenny has been a wonderful mother, wife and Christian
example to all of us and I thank God daily for her.
My early Christian discipleship was under Jenny’s father, Keith
Robins, and this I count as one of the enormous blessing of my
life as Keith has become a lifelong mentor and friend as well as
being a mighty fine father in law!! Arthur Payne encouraged us to
move north to experience “faith on the edge” if you like. That was
certainly the case, as there was no church as such in Goldsworthy,
only a couple of Christians with whom we met from time to time
for Bible study. We later moved to Port Hedland.
We returned to Perth in December 2000 and it would be fair
to say at that time I was a beaten, disillusioned man, burnt out if
you like. My walk with the Lord was quite stagnant, yet He was
very gracious and guided us as a family to Craigie Baptist. Pastor
Keith Hall has been an enormous blessing and he has encouraged
us both to think beyond the “safe square” of life and to look
outwards instead of inwards. Jenny has become a primary school
chaplain because of this outlook. I, however, became increasingly
“introspective” about life and paid only “lip service” to my walk
with the Lord.
In 2007, Fay Christian went on the Impact Africa trip with
Challenge and although at the time, “it was not for me”, the Lord
had other ideas. Fay’s story has been one of great inspiration to me.
After listening to her sharing about her journey, not just to
Africa, I found “life” beginning to stir again. Keith Hall must
have recognised this and “tapped” me on the shoulder and advised
me that I was going the following year. I finally submitted to God’s
call on my life after hearing South African Pastor Willie Dengler
preach at Woodvale Baptist Church in November 2007. Africa
here I come!
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Jessica and father John Palandri during Impact Africa 2009 |
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In hindsight, 2008 was a “watershed” year for me. I like to call
it the year of my true conversion. There is no doubt that the whole
idea of doing a Mission trip was scary enough, however what the
Lord had in store for me was much more profound. To cut a long
story short, I found myself in a small room in Johannesburg, far
away from all that I knew and the Lord had tipped me upside
down and emptied all of the “junk” of the previous
27 years out of me, so I would be ready to serve Him. The
empowering of the Holy Spirit was
revealed to me in an amazing way and I can only thank the Lord for
the course of events that He put in place that led me to that point.
As Carl Carmody has said: “On a short term trip like this, it’s not
what we will do for the Lord, it’s what the Lord will do for us.” And
Impact Africa has certainly caused my life to be “impacted” forever.
I just had to go again in 2009.
To be sitting at my desk knowing that the Lord has led me to
work with Challenge is truly exciting. The sign posts have been
very clear over the past 18 months that I should be considering
leaving my secular work and seeking some kind of full time
Christian service. On 26 July 2009, the weekend after we came
back from Africa, Keith Hall preached about facing our Giants.
The message went something like this: The soldiers gasped, Saul
sighed, Goliath jeered, David swung and God made His point;
“Anyone who underestimates the ordinary has rocks in his head”!!
It wasn’t David who was under resourced, it was Goliath, and
frankly that’s how I see life for me now. I am abundantly resourced,
excited about sharing that resource and I am deeply convinced the
Lord has found somewhere I can put all of that into His Service,
and that is with Challenge!!
Please pray with our family as we begin this next chapter of our
lives in full time service for Him.
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POINTS TO PONDER
Prayer Points
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The greatest single issue that Challenge is facing is the ability
to be able to fund the current work and the expansion of the
paper globally.
- India: 100,000 English language papers, plus starting 100,000
Hindi language in April. Budget has had to double to meet
existing needs and to fund more staff.
- South Africa: Need to increase print run and the increase in
the budget to meet staff needs. We are also planning for a
special edition for the Soccer World Cup of around 500,000
papers minimum in English and some 50,000 in Spanish.
- African Prison Edition: Need to increase print run to meet the
increased need to access more prisons.
- Nigeria: Commence first edition but at this stage we have no
funds for a budget and we also need to find a reliable printer
who prints at a reasonable price. The quote we have received
so far is way out of the ball park.
- New Zealand: Our Partner organisation is struggling to do
the necessary promotion for the paper to develop a growing
quarterly print run. Again we need to have the funding to do
the job.
- Australia: We aim to distribute 75,000 papers on a monthly
basis. Please pray for promotion in New South Wales in
February and March and for funding to maintain the needs of
the home office. Pray for our new staff member, John Palandri,
coming on board in April. Pray as he seeks to raise his personal
support and as he takes on the responsibility of heading up our
Impact Africa mission work as well as other promotion and
administration work.
- Special Easter edition will be produced again this year so please
pray for much interest in the edition as we look to promote
it to churches and different ministry organisations. We would
love to see another 100,000 papers go out sowing the seed of
the gospel into communities around the nation.
Praise Points
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The very generous donations/ ongoing support.
- Responses received from around the world.
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Challenge Literature Fellowship Bank Account direct deposit details
BSB: 066162 / Account: 00900455
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Address: PO Box 978, Cloverdale WA 6985,
Phone (08) 9453 3311 or Fax (08) 9453 3006
Email: info@challengenews.org
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MY RESPONSE
Post to: Challenge Literature Fellowship, PO Box 978, Cloverdale WA 6985; or Fax to: (08) 9453 3006
Name: __________________________________________________________________________________
Address:___________________________________________________________ Post Code: ______
Email: _________________________________________________ Phone: ________________
With God’s help I would like to be a partner in supporting the ministry at Challenge in the
following way(s):
__ Prayer: Please send me updated prayer information.
__ Financial: Please receive my: __ Monthly __ Quarterly __ Yearly __ One time contribution of:
__ $50 __ $75 __ $100 __ $200 __ Other (Please specify): $ _________
Credit Card: __ VisaCard __ MasterCard
Credit Card #: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Expiry Date: __/__
Name on card: _______________________________________
Signature: ____________________________________
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Thyatiran troubles
