Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

Luke 24:49

From the resurrection morning until his ascension Jesus taught about the kingdom of God. The disciples must have been the most bewildered people on earth. They still had no idea about what was in store for them. The change must have been dramatic, from deepest confusion to overwhelming joy. Feelings drifted between strong fear and boldness, between retreating and readiness to move forward. Peter had gone back to his fish, but when God called him then the old ways didn’t work anymore.
We don’t know what the other disciples were really thinking, but Jesus rebuked a number of them for their lack of faith. He simply pressed the resurrection into them. He went through the scriptures, book by book, and showed them all that was written about him, about his death, resurrection and ascension.
And now he had left them again and told them to wait. Everything must mature, have time to sink in, be prepared for the next stage. And the disciples had to learn to wait. There was only one thing they could do. Not everyone did that, there were over 500 people who had seen him after he had risen; but there were still enough, 120 disciples who prayed in the upper room. They didn’t really know what was going to happen; only that Jesus would send them help. And the help was the Helper, the Holy Spirit. So they continued to pray until the answer came.

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4

What we call Pentecost, five days after Easter, is the birthday of the church. This is when it all started a fresh. The outer sign was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the disciples and the tongues they spoke. A break made spiritually from the tower of Babel. In Christ all nations become one, and his gospel shall go out to all peoples. The 120 disciples who gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem had surely no idea of the consequences of this day. Their minds were set upon an end, not a beginning. One of the last things they asked Jesus was: “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
They were prepared for him to establish an earthly throne. He was on his way to a heavenly throne. They wanted to have an end to this time. He was preparing them for a new era, the age of the church. Now the age of the Spirit would come, the age of grace, which Jesus had taught so little about. The teaching could not begin until the Spirit had fallen and the disciples had received power to be Jesus’ witnesses, not only in Israel but even to the ends of the earth. Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit would be a helper, an adviser who would guide them into all truth and teach them of things to come.
All this must have been difficult for the disciples to understand. Since Jesus had risen just as he had said, then the Spirit would come just as he had promised. They would all be baptised in the Holy Spirit. That’s why they prayed together for 10 days and then the Spirit fell and nothing was the same again.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:17-18

What a difference! From closed doors, closed hearts and great fear for their lives, to open doors, overflowing hearts and great boldness. The experience in the upper room was not only for the upper room. It was for the streets, for the multitudes, for the whole world. The disciples spoke in tongues as publicly as possible.  People, both Jews and proselytes who had come to Jerusalem from all continents: Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, all heard their own language spoken by the disciples. The Holy Spirit shook forth on the streets. The tabernacle was gone; the temple was redundant, the veil was torn in two. The Holy Spirit, the glory, came out among the people, to every individual everywhere. The Spirit of God was now poured out; the Father and the Son gave the Spirit. The Spirit, as anointing over Jesus the high priest, had been poured out over his head and on the day of Pentecost it was poured out over the body. The dwelling place of the Spirit was no longer heaven or the temple but the earth.
This was the sign of the end times. The apostle Paul counts the birth of the church as the start of the end times. God’s dealings with one nation would become universal, God dealing with all people. God’s time of visitation to the gentiles had come. And for this time of visitation to be a time of salvation, the Spirit was needed. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Peter was filled with boldness when he preached. The Spirit was over him when he quoted the prophet Joel. One thing was going distinguish the end times and that was the ministry of the believer, the universal priesthood. The Spirit of God would not only work through kings, priests and prophets. Now all people, who believed in Jesus, would be kings, priests and prophets. That which distinguishes the people of the covenant is that all can prophesy, have dreams and visions. Through being born again, when the Spirit of God comes and dwells within us and our bodies become the temple of god, the Spirit would speak from our hearts.
You can say that the body is the outer court, the soul is the holy place and the spirit is the holy of holies. That is where the glory of God lives, the Sprit of God. Jesus had said “out of his [the believer’s] heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). He had said that about the Spirit before the Spirit was given. Now the spirit was given and these streams of living water would flow from every believer. God would lead his people as well as every individual believer by dwelling in us and walking with us. This had never happened before. This was something completely new. The river of life, the life of the Spirit, would flow down from heaven into our hearts and out to the whole world. And wherever the river flows it brings life.

Let the gifts of the Spirit be stirred in you

You are a vessel for the Holy Spirit. His gifts have been given to you as tools to be used in ministering God’s love to others. They are important, available to us all and express themselves through our diverse personalities.

We have more of the Gifts than we think. They are given to ordinary believers in ordinary places and in ordinary, everyday situations. Let’s not limit the Holy Spirit to the pulpit! He can work through all of us for the benefit of others. The Lord’s desire is that we would all abound in Spiritual Gifts. They are for all believers everywhere, and there is no particular movement or denomination that has a monopoly on them. There is such a wonderful diversity in the ways the Lord expresses Himself through Christians from differing backgrounds and environments.

The Apostle Paul says that veryone can prophesy. We do not need to be anxious, but trust the Lord that He is able to use us all. It’s good to have a rmore relaxed attitude about this. We need to use the Gifts in a sound way. You don’t have to be afraid of making a mistake. He will teach us step by step to hear His voice and be more and more accurate. We need not have reached perfection in order for the Gifts of the Spirit to begin to function through us. The Corinthian church is a good example of this, and that can be an encouragement to you and me. Paul writes in his letter to them – in the first chapter – that he’s thanking God for the fact that they’ve been enriched with Spiritual Gifts. As we read on, we see that there were problems, disorder and even sin in the church. We all have weaknesses in your lives but the Lord can still use us if we are humble and open to correction. There is no greater hindrance to the flow of Spiritual Gifts than pride and self-righteousness.

It’s the Holy Spirit who distributes the Gifts. They are His, and nobody else can lay claim to them. They are for the edification of other people, not for the elevation of one’s own ego. If we are to understand the Gifts, we must go deeper in our relationship with the Holy Spirit – letting Him train us and soften our hearts. We can’t separate the Gifts from the Person of the Spirit.

The Gifts of the Spirit is God’s love streaming through us to other people. They are the power of God working through us, supernatural tools that He has given us. And they function through revelation. We get a word from the Holy Spirit -a revelation – and then it’s up to us to step out and walk on the water, daring to believe that the impression came from Him, and to act on it.

There are Christians today who act as if they are doing God a favor by giving their tithe. When they give their tithe, they feel that they have been generous in their giving. Actually, they are only giving to God what already BELONGS TO HIM.

As a part of His covenant with Israel, God REQUIRED them to give the tithe…a tenth.. of all they possessed. Giving their tithe was not optional. The tithe was considered holy, and IT BELONGED TO THE LORD. Each year, the tithe was to be given of all their crops, all the fruit of their trees, and all their cattle and sheep. As the herdsmen counted the young cattle and sheep, they passed under a rod which had been dipped in red paint. Every tenth animal was touched with the rod and was given as a tithe to the Levites.

As you bring your tithe, and freely offer it to God, you are honoring and acknowledging Him as your Source of Supply. As you faithfully give your tithe, you live under a “open heaven”, where there is a continual flow of God’s blessings into your life.

God directed us to bring our tithe “into the storehouse.” What is God’s purpose for the tithe? What is the “storehouse”….to be continued

With a population of almost 1.2 billion people, the need is so very great. Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Our mission in life is to be devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the Great Commission among the unreached in the World through training, sending out and assisting qualified laborers in partnership with the Body of Christ.

The religions of India are Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%. Ever since Pastor Edwin and I first ministered in India in 2004 we have had a burden for the precious people of India. I have returned again and again to minister in India over the passing years with Evangelist Edwin John, India-Harvest, Coordinator. We are glad to report that we have also taken on 7 more Indian ministers by faith at $75.00 per month. They are evangelizing, pastoring and planting new churches. Can you imagine, that with so little we can keep a full time minister going on the front lines of evangelism in India?

We are asking you to once more please pray for these workers that God will anoint them to win many to Christ and that God will keep them from danger. You, most likely know that some of the servants of the Lord are being attacked in these parts of the world for preaching the Gospel and some are even being martyred.

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The Bible teaches us that we are to bear one another’s burdens. We can do this most effectively as we bring these burdens to the Lord in prayer. Call and Get Connected

Together we can write History

We are living in a world, undergoing great change. Many of the most populous nations are moving away from atheistic ideologies and religions that have made them closed to the Gospel. Billions of people in countries such as India, China, the former Soviet Union and Vietnam are standing on the threshold of a new era. These people need Jesus! Let us not miss out on this enormous opportunity of taking the Gospel to these people. Your involvement makes a difference!

Don’t give up

It’s so impressive to see what the Lord is doing in India, China and Middle East nations. The ministries are getting larger and larger, people are being saved continually and churches are growing – both in quality and size. I never cease to be amazed at the power of the Gospel and the explosive growth potential that lies inherent in the Word of God. Release the Gospel, and there’s no limit to what can happen.

That’s not to say that the work of missions is always easy and without cost. But that applies to the Christian life in general too. There are always challenges, resistance and suffering – it’s just par for the course. Some say that we have an all too glib attitude to the Christian life and that we elevate success too much. No-one who has been following us closely would ever say that it’s been an easy road. Neither do we define success in a superficial, worldly way, as living a life of luxury, surrounded by status symbols. The kind of success we believe in is to do with the extension of God’s Kingdom and the spreading of His Word. It’s all about breakthrough in the power of the Gospel. This is the kind of fruit Jesus promised we would bear if we choose to follow Him.

Together, we can go out, reach out and write missions history. We hope you decide to partner with us, so that together we can take up the commission that awaits us during the next decade!

God bless you!

Pastor Rahul Luthra

Evangelist

I should like to start by answering my own question, “What really is an evangelist?” An evangelist is a man, woman, pastor, teacher, or the whole church together, sent to bring home to the world the works of God and heavenly realities.

The opening words of Genesis are like a Big Bang explosion of truth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Three realities: God, the heavens, and the earth! This is the triple environment in which we humans live. We came from God, we are creatures of the earth, and we are destined for the heavens.

God made the heavens and the earth at the same time, two sides of Creation – the visible and the invisible – in a single act. The invisible is not just God because the Creator is above all created things. At the same time, the unseen world is real. We seem to sense its presence and have experiences of it – both good and evil – which remind us that it is there.

Spirit-filled Evangelism

Evangelists in the New Testament were called to continue his work. In fact it was something Christ commanded them – and us – to do. His work is our work. Pentecostal and charismatic evangelists have carried out that dual command to deal with both the visible and the invisible from the start. In fact, they have given special recognition to the teaching of Scripture on the unseen. Act 2:4 shows that the apostolic speaking with tongues was a unique example of the Spirit at work in the flesh. Tongues are a spiritual and physical work of God: “They began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Some ministers have tended not to concern themselves very much with visible evidence of the invisible that is with supernatural things. Some have even treated such Scriptural manifestations as miraculous healing and tongues as demonic. Yet, Biblical faith is filled with the miraculous and the supernatural. People knew that they were dealing with a miracle-working God: “You are the God who does wonders,” the Psalmist wrote (Ps 77:14). We have a right to ask as Gideon did, “Where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?” (Judges 6:13). God has not gone into retirement or set aside His miracle-working powers.

Neither have angels been “pensioned off,” even if we are like the servant of Elisha and do not see them (cf. 2 Kgs 6:17). People declare their belief in the Bible, and it contains so many references to angels, but reports of angels are usually treated with skepticism.Even Satan, the enemy, seems more of a background Bible figure. Yet, in Christ’s day, none of this was true. For example, demons were known to interrupt a synagogue service. Perhaps there was something there worth interrupting. Today they never upset the order of church worship, with hymn numbers on a board. How many ministers would know how to handle demon manifestation if it happened? The clash of good and evil in the spirit world is, however, still real today. Devotees of voodoo work hard at becoming possessed; they want special powers to carry out spells and curses. When we preach Jesus they become extremely distressed.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy,  your young men will see visions,  your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women,  I will pour out my Spirit in those days,  and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heaven above  and signs on the earth below,  blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood  before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.  And everyone who calls  on the name of the Lord will be saved.