Hislife » Testimony

Experiencing Jesus day to day

John — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:22:40 +0000

Gordon and Susan

The last year has been an amazing and challenging year to say the least!

The challenges I have faced have been immense in my business situation particularly. There has only been so much I could do to solve the problems I faced; the final outcome has been dependent on factors outside of my control. This has forced me to come to the place where I had to challenge myself on how much I really do trust Father. Was I content to accept His plans and purposes for my life, my financial security and my future? Or did I want to dictate to Father what I considered to be the best outcome to the challenge? Was I willing to accept and live out the fact that Father’s plans are so much better than my own? Could I rest in Him, content that He has my best interests at heart, even though they may not be what I consider to be my best interests! Could I trust Him that His purposes and ways are far above mine? After all, God has an eternal perspective.

I had to become totally dependent upon the Lord, “leaning my entire being in absolute trust and confidence in Him” as the Amplified bible paraphrases the word “trust”. I remembered something He impressed on me recently: that independence from God is like rebellion because independence is reliance on self rather than God. How Father longs for us to come to the place where we are content to trust Him in every aspect of our lives, to see Him as our provider in all things; to lay down our lives and our wills and to embrace His love and focus on Him rather than our needs and our crises. In doing so God will be glorified rather than ourselves.

(Gordon and Susan travel between South Africa and Malta with the business and have two children Jono and Sarah. We have known them for over 25 years and they are very good friends. It is encouraging that no matter what your circumstances are He will provide the way to trust Him. We are looking forward to seeing them again sometime in this year.)

Raj and Lynda Samuel

John — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:22:04 +0000

Raj and Lynda

We are thrilled to introduce Raj and Lynda Samuel to you from Dundee. Raj has written two books, “Church outside the walls” and “Jesus, Redemption Personified” and he and Lynda share their time travelling between Scotland and India. We have put a couple of questions to them and they have graciously responded. Enjoy!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your background (where you live, family, fellowship life)

We live in Dundee – where Lynda was brought up. We are both in our 60s – retired in one sense – pensioners – but never bored. Y’day we had our first interactive seminar in UK in a nearby hotel – Raj and a friend both gave a powerpoint presentation – another friend led worship at the beginning. It was entitled ‘What is Church?‘ and explored how we (Christians) have drifted from our Jewish roots and thought forms, and absorbed many Greek ideas. Church was defined as Christ, His body, each believer, each family – inseparably united with Him. Not divided. We are planning a second seminar in Bathgate, near Glasgow, in March, 2011.

Local gatherings are expressions of the one worldwide church. Our purpose as ‘church’ is to be in the world, as Jesus’ followers, showing forth his love and engaging in friendly conversations with non-believers, willing to share our faith as appropriate. Not huddled in spiritual clubs, in expensive-to - heat-and-maintain buildings, with ageing membership, unyielding traditions and inward-looking activities.

We met in India and were married in our 30s; we have no children. We each have relatives in UK (Lynda) and Chennai, South India (Raj) and a vast and growing network of friends with whom we correspond.

Hospitality is something we do a lot – Indian food is our speciality!

We have a friendly choir in Dundee (6 years old) - and perform twice a year (early December and mid-May) – high quality choral music, mostly sacred from a wide range of countries, centuries, composers and in several languages. Raj is conductor, Lynda is accompanist, or soprano when we sing a capella.

2. You have recently written a booklet called, “Jesus, Redemption Personified” What prompted the writing of this book? What is it about? And, where can copies of this book be obtained?

Raj’s 2nd book, ‘Jesus, Redemption Personified’ was written to show that Jesus is not just Redeemer, but He Himself is redemption. It also seeks to show that matter, for the Christian, is good, not evil (as in some faiths), and that resurrection is bodily, not just spiritual, or soul leaving the body; and that Christ’s redemption is for the entire creation. The book was printed in India for very little and can be obtained from us by post. (For contact details please email us at Hislife, Thanks).

3. You travel out to India a couple of times a year. Tell us about your involvement in that land and what do you see Jesus doing with His people there?

After our choral concerts, we visit India for at least a month, twice a year. We are based in Chennai (Madras), but also travel to Hyderabad and Bangalore. We conduct one or two seminars on church-related themes. We worship in a small fellowship which serves a mixed Anglo-Indian and Tamil congregation. Many are catholic converts. Lynda keeps in touch with some friends who have had psychiatric difficulties; and also is part of a team of educationists who are working on a module entitled, ‘The privilege and responsibility of being a Christian Teacher.’ Her part considers the uniqueness of Christian values and the distinctiveness of the impact a Christian teacher can have on his/her students. Lynda enjoys writing inspiring testimonies of Indian believers.

4. If a new believer came to you to ask what is the biblical way to experience Church life, what would you tell them?

The biblical way to experience church life is to realise that each believer is Church in society – we can meet with other believers to build one another up to maturity and as we grow in the Lord, we learn to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in our day to day lives and use the gifts he has given us for his glory and to bless others.

Raj & Lynda Samuel

God Blessed Lives

John — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:07:50 +0000

We received this abbreviated life story from David in New Zealand. Hopefully, you will find it encouraging because as he puts it, “there have been some very significant non-normal occurrences amongst it all”

It is valuable and encouraging to be reminded that Jesus wants to be Lord of our lives and He often does that by taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary!

GOD BLESSED LIVES

Introduction

Expressing the depth of God’s blessing over the past forty five years is like trying to explain colours to a blind man. Words don’t hack it. But I know for certain that if anyone is bold enough to entrust their life to the Lord Jesus Christ then He will show them colours!

Brief Resume

I gave my life to the Lord Jesus when I was nine. It was a simple prayer “Lord Jesus please come into my heart”. He did! Since then life has given the appearance of “normality”. I grew up, left home, got educated, was married, had children, bought a house, and held a job as a teacher. I now have grandchildren, and am still teaching. But in reality there have been some very significant non-normal occurrences amongst it all. Here is an attempt to categorize some of those blessings.

1. Spiritual

a. In my late teens I suffered inner turmoil caused by a relationship that had ended unhappily. Two years later I prayed for God’s help to deal with the issue. In response he filled me with the Holy Spirit (lots of people were experiencing this at that point in time, but I had no idea what it was all about.) The inner peace and tranquility was unbelievable, and it went on and on. READ MORE…