Category Archives: Testimony

Get Over Yourself!

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Some years ago I read of a poll of Americans who were asked what their greatest fear was. To my surprize, number one on the list was “Public Speaking” and number two was “Death.” That meant that at a funeral, most people would rather actually be dead in the casket than having to give the eulogy!

What is it exactly that scares us about public speaking? I am sure there are many things we could think of in answer to that question. Its something each of us should ask ourselves.

I remember distinctly a February day in 1986. I had dreaded this day for about a month, ever since the day I saw my name posted on the Bible Seminary schedule for “Preaching Assignment.” Though I had preached numerous times before, this day was going to be different. Not only was I to preach for 20 minutes to my student peers, but this time, for the very first time, my preaching was to be recorded on video. More than that, for the hour that followed the preaching, I was to sit through the ordeal of watching myself preach on television.

What was it about that day I dreaded? I knew I was called to preach. I knew I had something of worth to say (because I was going to present the word of God). So what was it that terrified me so much?

The night before was spent in earnest prayer. I was almost sick to my stomach. I certainly did not feel I could eat any food. I sought to soothe my conscience by suggesting to myself that this was spiritual activity – I was seeking to be close to God by skipping a meal – fasting. But the truth was, I was only missing the evening meal because I was a nervous wreck. God did not have much to do with the whole thing.

When the moment came for me to preach, I sought refuge in the only place I knew… the grace of God. My prayer was that He would help me as never before. That He would come and help me with supernatural help from His throne.

Now you the reader must understand something. As a child I was incredibly shy. I hardly talked at all. One incident from my childhood illustrates this. My mother, visiting my kindergarten school after the first semester, met with my teacher to inquire as to how I was doing. The teacher’s exact words were, “well, Mrs. Samson, we think John is doing ok.”

My mother asked, “why do you only think he is doing ok?”

The teacher said, “well, John has not actually spoken yet!”

I don’t know if God looked down on that little boy all wrapped up in himself and thought it was a nice challenge for Him. During the rest of my childhood I did not talk very much at all; certainly I could not explain myself and my feelings. (In fact, I only seemed to express myself with my feet when I kicked a soccer ball!). Yet after the age of 15, when I knew God had called me to preach was I able to string sentences together to preach His message. I have no doubt that God chose that little boy to be saved and called him into the ministry to be His herald! There is no greater calling and honor in this world.

So back to the seminary in England… Continue reading →

An amazing recovery

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I am very thankful to God right now. Many of you have been praying for my friend Jim who died (for 18 minutes) back in June. The fact that he is even still alive is a miracle. He’s been living at my home gaining strength and gradually we have seen him take small steps on the road to recovery… until THIS AFTERNOON he was well enough to go back to work for the very first time since his massive heart attack. ALL GLORY TO THE LORD.

Suffering, Sickness and Healing

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PJ Smyth is a young and dynamic Reformed Pastor from South Africa. I have never had the privilege of meeting him but I have prayed for him (as a great many others have also) in hearing of his battle with cancer at such a young age. I have followed his health updates (online) over the last six months or so and have also passed them on to others who have prayed. We can give thanks to God that after extensive and invasive chemotherapy, he is now declared “cancer free” by the doctors (or in remission), and we pray that would continue.

Its been a long battle but he recently had enough energy to preach a sermon concerning his learning process over the last year or so. It is VERY insightful and heart warming. It will do your heart and your head much good!

You can hear it here:

Someone in attendance took notes as PJ was speaking. Here’s what they wrote:

8 ways he has tried to live in response to his cancer this past year (Note that at times in these notes I refer to PJ as “I”!)

1. I reflected on the possible sources of sickness

a. The fall Genesis 3:3. You will surely die. The common pattern of this world is live, get sick, die. Romans 8 we are in bondage to decay. There are no 120 year old faith healers!

b. Foolish living. Sowing and reaping. If you crash your car don’t blame others. Poor diet, pollution, etc.

c. Satan (Luke 13, Acts 10:38). The default option of Jesus and the local church is to treat sickness as the work of Satan.

d. Sin. John 9. Jesus said “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…” He doesn’t say all sickness is caused by specific sin, but it can be.

Psalm 32. David is sick because of his sin.

1 Corinthians 11. Many were sick and some had already died because of abusing communion.

Usually it is not a specific sin that leads to death but it can be.

“Sin deserves death and it is because of God’s mercy that we are not each struck down whenever we sin.” – Carson

e. Direct from God. Actively instigated or actively permitted.

Knowing that God is in control (God’s sovereignty) is very comforting. If it was outside of his rule it would mean he cant heal us.

If he can’t prevent it how can he stop it? How can he use it for my good either? We would lose Romans 8:28.

If you try and rescue God from responsibility for suffering then you rescue him from being God, and that is about as uncomforting as things can be.

2. I reflected on the possible sources of healing

a. the power of the cross – the place of victory over sin and all its evil relations – sickness, suffering and death.

Matthew 8 “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah” Isaiah 53 is about the cross, so there is a clear link between the cross and healing. Some feel it is automatic. Some say that Christ purchased healing for us and by faith we apply for divine health now automatically. Others say the cross is the source of all healing power but if someone is not healed it is not a failure in the cross or faith because it is not automatic. Believing the automatic link is the primary source of confusion and disillusionment when healing doesn’t happen.

PJ believes completely that God heals today but he does not believe the automatic link. We can have success in healing without believing in this automatic link.
Continue reading →

Jesus Kristus Kurios

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It was a typical day in ancient Rome. As they entered the dreaded arena they had only to say two words and they could live: Kaiser Kurios – Caesar is Lord. Instead they proclaimed: Jesus Kristus Kurios — Jesus Christ is Lord — and paid for the privilege with their blood.

The early Christians followed Christ, not out of mere preference, but out of conviction. Can we say the same thing?

Chris Powers recently put a video together based on the song “All I Have is Christ” written by Jordan Kauflin. He sets the song in the context of preaching Christ in a country that’s closed to the gospel. I found it very moving. Let me know what you think.

Lyrics

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

© 2009 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

What do you think about this?

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Its interesting to note the content of the apostle’s preaching in the New Testament. They did not preach “divine healing” as such, though they certainly were used mightily by God in healing. They preached Christ as the crucified and risen Lord and Savior and summoned people to turn to God in repentance and faith. Having said this, I believe healing can certainly be a means whereby God opens people’s hearts bringing attention to His reality, in order to draw people to Himself.

Signs are meant to point to something. A road sign is put up to point people in a certain direction. The sign is not something to be wondered at or marvelled at. Its whole purpose is to point people to something other than itself.

Not all signs should be followed. If someone in Dallas, Texas (in central southern USA) wishes to get to Los Angeles (to the west), he should avoid signs that point to Florida (to the east). There are false signs and lying wonders just as there are true signs that are ordained by God. Peter spoke of “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) God has often used signs, both in the Old Testament and the New, to point people to Himself as the one true God and to the Lord Jesus Christ, and especially to Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross for sinners.

The sign is never meant to take the place of the cross; just the opposite; its whole purpose is to point people to it. In the same way, Divine healing is a sign of God’s great heart of compassion for sinners and is meant to point people to the cross, where Christ crushed the powers of sin, death, hell and the grave.

Healing is not the gospel, but is meant to point people to it. The gospel is Christ Himself, His Person and His work, which includes His virgin birth, His sinless life pleasing the Father, fulfilling every requirement of the law of God in thought, word and deed, as well as His substitutionary death on behalf of sinners on the cross, as well as His triumphant resurrection. The Gospel includes all that He achieved because of this, and especially that although all of us have commited high and cosmic treason against God because of our sin, He has shown His great love for the world. Based on the God breathed Scriptures alone, sinners are brought into right standing with Himself (justified) by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, all to the glory of God alone. All those who put their trust in Christ as Lord will find Him to be the perfect Savior; He will save them completely for they will in no way perish but instead have everlasting life.

As wonderful as any testimony of healing is, unless it is accompanied by the gospel, it is like a sign without information; utterly useless. Jesus said, “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” I would also ask, “What does it profit a man if he gains healing for his entire body, if he then loses his soul? and what does it profit a man should he see even the dead raised to life, if he does not hear the only gospel that saves?”

Romans 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Though I do not doubt God’s ability to raise even the dead, I do wish the Church at large would herald the one true biblical gospel and I very much wish it was present in this video clip (below).

After a massive heart attack took this man’s life, the cardiologist felt an overwhelming urge to pray over his body.

Oh Amazing, Effectual Grace

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I was 15 years old and a fairly new Christian in Chester, England. My father had just started a Church that was meeting in our home, and though growing, did not have any young people my age.

I loved the Sunday services taking place in the home, and yet, I had to admit, also craved fellowship with Christians my own age. I was seemingly the lone Christian in my class at High School and though I often shared the gospel with people, I sometimes felt the barrage as my school friends raised their objections. I felt the need to hang out with young people who shared my new faith in Christ. I managed to find a group of like minded people about 14 miles away in a little village called Little Neston.

After gaining permission from my parents, once a week I got on my bicycle and cycled to Little Neston to attend the group. Led by a wonderful Christian High School teacher named Mark Thomas, the group was hungry for God. As I recall, the group did not engage in the normal outside activities youth groups do. We just pursued God, wanting to know Him and His word more deeply.

Mark would prepare and lead us in Bible studies and would play his guitar as we worshipped the Lord, while others took turns on the only organ in the room, or percussion instruments that were always near at hand. The group was made up of young people from a number of churches in the area, but we all just dropped our denominational tags at the door, so to speak. All who came just wanted God. Once a month, our gatherings became all night prayer meetings (usually on a Friday night because there was no school the next day).

In one such gathering, a second adult couple came. The husband was an itinerant Methodist minister and the wife was an accomplished pianist (if I remember correctly).

Something unusual took place that night. In one of the times of silence as we were waiting on the Lord, the wife singled me out and said, “John, I am not going to say this is a word from God or anything, but as I was praying, a picture came to my mind about you…” I was a little taken aback. I had not met the lady before and did not know what to make of it. Apparantly, this was a one off for this lady too – she was not known to share anything of this kind.

She went on, “John, in my mind I saw a picture of a honeycomb – and over it was the word “Grace.”” She said, “I believe God is going to make you a preacher, known for grace. There will be intense opposition from people at times. Some will cover their ears not wishing to hear the gracious words that flow from your lips; while others will find in your words, some of the most grace filled words in God’s vineyard. God is going to use you mightily as one of His chosen vessels.”

Mark turned to me and said, “John, that is a very powerful picture. My advice to you is to just leave it with the Lord, and if it is something from Him, He will bring it to pass. Don’t worry about it. If it does not mean much to you now, perhaps it will one day.” Looking back, I think Mark gave me some very sound advice.

This meeting took place in the early 1980’s and to be honest, I completely forgot about it… that is, until one day recently. I was looking at the blog comments here and noticed words of thanks and appreciation and also comments filled with hostility and anger; people excited to read an article I’d written or hear a sermon I had preached, as well as people who had the exact opposite reaction. Then I looked at the top of the blog and noticed the words, “Effectual Grace.”

Then it hit me! The little picture this lady had 30 years before was being fulfilled right before my eyes. I felt peace flood my soul. I also felt that God was encouraging me that I was right in the purposes of God, right on track, being a voice for Him in sharing from the honeycomb, the honey being the message of the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I prayed, “Thank You God for lavishing me with such grace that You would choose me to be Your child, and to speak to others of Your great triumphant and effectual grace. How I love You Lord! Oh Amazing, Effectual Grace!”

Amazed By Common Grace

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Common Grace. It is a term used in theology to describe the grace God gives to every living person on planet earth. It is called “common, but because everyone alive gets it.

Grace by definition can never be demanded. God gives grace, not because He has to, but because He decides to. The scripture says that God “makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).

How gracious this is of God. God doesn’t discriminate against the non-Christian in sending His rain, but gives it freely to saint and sinner alike. That should amaze us. It should take our breath away in fact. Yet the concept of common grace doesn’t usually do that for us. We’re very much accustomed to it, because it is so common, but we must always remember that God is exceedingly gracious in dispensing this kind of grace on people. The point being, He in no way has to.

Through the use of a short story, I’d like to give you a glimpse into why common grace should amaze us.

The story concerns a young Christian lady of 18 years of age in York, England. Born in Malta, of Irish parents, she was engaged to be married to a bright young man in the British military. The plan was that after the war was over, they would both serve the Lord as missionaries together, wherever He would lead them to go.

Sent over to France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the young man was thrust into the battle for the city of Caen in Normandy, France. Tragically, just weeks afterward, on July 10, 1944, he was killed by one of the enemies’ bullets.

On hearing the news of her fiance’s death, the young lady was obviously devastated. Grief filled her heart. In attending church services in York, for the next several months she would hear dramatic testimonies of Divine protection, as loved ones returned back home recounting the stories. All of these returning soldiers were protected from imminent danger. Many of these soldiers were extremely conscious of the Lord’s direct intervention in keeping them alive, and yet, the young lady had to live on knowing that the man she loved was not coming home. Continue reading →

O Lord, give me poverty of spirit

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“O Lord, make me poor in spirit.” That’s not a prayer I have heard uttered in a long, long time. That is a sad fact. What is even more sad and to my shame is the fact that it is not a prayer I have heard myself pray in quite some time. That’s because poverty of spirit is quite possibly the underlying root cause difference between the Christian whose life is marked by seeking God and the prayerless saint. To be poor in spirit is to recognize utter and complete dependance upon the Lord. It is to say “Lord, I am nothing without You and I need You desperately.”

In our culture, to be independent is a virtue. Yet in the kingdom of God, the more we are aware of our need of God, the more our spiritual life can grow.

I believe poverty of spirit has two major components to it. First of all there is a recognition of the seriousness and vile nature of sin. John Wesley described it in the following way, “He has a deep sense of the loathsome leprosy of sin which he brought with him from his mother’s womb, which overspreads his whole soul, and totally corrupts every power and faculty thereof.”

The second component is this attribute of dependence upon God. Kent Hughes writes, “Just as no one can come to Christ without poverty of spirit, no one can continue to grow apart from an ongoing poverty of spirit. Poverty of spirit is foundational because a continual sense of spiritual need is the basis for ongoing spiritual blessing. A perpetual awareness of our spiritual insufficiency opens us to continually receiving spiritual riches. Poverty of spirit is something we never outgrow. In fact, the more spiritually mature we become, the more profound will be our sense of poverty.” (The Sermon on the Mount [Crossway, 2001], 22)

As you read these words today, join me in asking God for this poverty of spirit, to rid the heart of human pride and to realize the depth of our need of Him. There is no merit in praying such a prayer for this is merely a recognition of reality. We need Him more than we realise. Understanding this is foundational for life in the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is the first of the Beattitudes, for Jesus “opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” (Matt 5:3)

This poverty of spirit is illustrated in this testimony here: From a 2008 interview with Bob Kauflin, published in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God (pp. 149-151). Hopefully, most of us will not have to go to such low depths to discover just how much we need Him:

I helped plant a church in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1991. I began to feel increasing anxiety at different times when we first planted the church. Then in January of 1994 my wife and I were at a couple’s house for dinner, and I cracked. My life fell apart. Mentally I had no connection with what I was doing, no connection with the past, no connection with the future. I didn’t know why I existed. These were the thoughts that went through my brain. That began a period of maybe three years where I battled constant hopelessness. I would wake up each morning with this thought: “Your life is completely hopeless,” and then I would go from there. It was a struggle just to make it through to each step of the day. The way I made it through was just to think, What am I going to do next? What will I do? I can make it to there.

It was characterized by panic attacks. For the first six months I battled thoughts of death. I’d think about an event that was three months away: Why am I thinking about that? I’m going to be dead by then. I had feelings of tightness in my chest, buzzing and itching on my arms, buzzing on my face. It was a horrible time. And in the midst of that I cried out to God, and I certainly talked to the pastor that I served with and other pastors that I knew—good friends—trying to figure out what in the world was going on with my life.

Five or six children at that time, a fruitful life, a fruitful ministry. And this is what I discovered: although I’d been a Christian for twenty-two years (since 1972) I was driven by a desire to be praised by men. And I wasn’t succeeding. When you plant a church, you find out that there are a lot of people who don’t agree with you. People who came to plant the church left. All of that assaulted my craving to be admired and praised and loved and worshiped and adored and applauded. God, I believe, just took his hand from me and said, “Okay, you handle this your way.” I knew the gospel, but what I didn’t know was how great a sinner I was. I thought the gospel I needed was for pretty good people, and that wasn’t sufficient to spare me from the utter hopelessness I felt during that time.

I would read Scripture. It didn’t make sense to me. It didn’t affect me. I remember lying at bed at times just reciting the Lord’s Prayer to myself over and over and over, hoping that would help. I couldn’t sleep; then at times all I wanted to do was sleep. I remember saying this early on: “God, if you keep me like this for the rest of my life but it means that I will know you better, then keep me like this.” That was the hardest prayer I’ve ever prayed.

During that time I read an abridged version of John Owen’s Sin and Temptation and Jerry Bridges’s The Discipline of Grace.

About a year into the process I talked to a good friend, Gary Ricucci, whom I am now in a small group with at Covenant Life Church. I said, “Gary, I feel hopeless all the time.”

He said, “You know, Bob? I think your problem is that you don’t feel hopeless enough.”

I don’t know what I looked like on the outside, but on the inside I was saying, “You are crazy. You are crazy. I feel hopeless.”

He said, “No, if you were hopeless, you would stop trusting in yourself and rely completely on what Jesus Christ accomplished for you.”

That was the beginning of the way out. And I remember saying to myself literally hundreds of times—every time these feelings of hopelessness and panic and a desire to ball up in a fetal position would come on me—“I feel completely hopeless because I am hopeless, but Jesus Christ died for hopeless people, and I’m one of them.”

Over time I began to believe that. And today when I tell people that Jesus is a great Savior, I believe it, because I know that he saved me. That’s where my joy comes from. My joy comes from knowing that at the very bottom, at the very pit of who I am, it is blackness and sin, but the love and grace of Jesus goes deeper.

My Journey Into Grace (2)

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As I shared on the blog yesterday, I have not always been reformed in my thinking as a Christian. In coming to embrace the doctrines of grace, certain things impressed me. I was very much impressed that most of the great theologians of the church taught these doctrines of God’s Sovereignty. While they certainly had their differences on some things, when it came to the doctrine of Divine election, they all seemed to be in complete agreement.

None of these men individually, or even all of them collectively, could be in any way classed as infallible, yet because they all saw these issues in the same way, I remember thinking that this fact alone should cause me to pause and reflect a little.

I realized that it would be the height of pride on my part to dismiss everything they have to say without giving them a fair hearing. God had used these men greatly as his champions in church history; entire nations were affected by their ministries, both in their day and on into our own, and humility would teach me to at least become somewhat familiar with their words and works, and not just read what others might say about them with all the bias that usually goes with that.

However, it was not the greats of church history that carried the most weight with me. It was not their writings and commentaries, as good as they were. What convinced me was seeing the doctrines clearly taught in Scripture. Understanding what Paul taught in Romans 8 and 9 as well as Ephesians 1 and 2 (after dispensing with much of my human traditions in the process) had a huge effect on me. Yet what brought me all of the way over into seeing it, and much more than that, embracing it, and delighting in it, was seeing the doctrines taught through the words of the Lord Jesus Himself. Continue reading →

My Journey Into Grace

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I was born and raised in Chester in England. My father was a Baptist Evangelist and yet I never really grew up in Church. That really is a strange scenario and one I now view as in no way biblical. But that was the reality.

My Dad used to travel extensively to preach, and that meant that my mother and I seldom went with him to Church. That was until my Dad became the pastor of a local Church.

I remember being extremely bored with Church as a child and was far more interested in soccer (called football over in England). I wanted to be a pro-soccer player. My favorite part of the Church service was the benediction – I was so glad when it all was over!

I remember seeing my Dad reading and studying his old black leather King James Bible (I was probably around age 9 at the time) and thought to myself, “that looks so boring to me – spending hours with a book that’s hard to read, in language I cannot understand – you’ll never catch me doing that.”

One Sunday night, when I was 14, my father did ask me to go with him to hear an Evangelist preach. His sermon was on the second coming of Christ. I remember him looking at the crowd, but yet it seemed that his gaze was focused on me, as he said “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” My first thought was “how does the preacher know of my sin? How does he know I am a sinner?” Like a bolt from the blue I realized my lost condition and that I would be embarrassed with shame if I had to stand before God in that condition.

An appeal was made for salvation and I responded by raising my hand, walking the aisle, signing the card provided… but more than anything I just knew of my need for Christ to be my Savior to hide me from the fierce judgment of God. When I later returned to my seat (after around 15 minutes in a counseling area) my father still had tears streaming down his face. I think it was the first and only time I saw my father cry. Some time later he told me that my parents had been praying earnestly for my salvation for many years.

I then started attending the church on a regular basis, but as I look back, one of the biggest changes in my life was evident in my love for Bible study. I would spend all my allowance money on Bible teaching tapes… I just couldn’t get enough. I would spend 3 – 4 hours every night learning the Scriptures and hearing Bible teaching. That same passionate desire for the Word of God is still present in my life today.

My first 20 years as a Christian were spent as an Arminian. I would never have used such a term to describe myself, but looking back I can see that I held to the doctrines taught by Arminianism. For the most part, I was never really exposed to the doctrines of Grace that I now consider so precious. Oh, certainly, I met many a Reformed man in my time; in fact, many of them were my instructors and professors at the Bible College I attended in England, but no one ever sat down with me to try to explain the Reformed faith. Continue reading →