Torch, Fall 2006

Summer 2006 / TORCH 25 our side when we are weak and needy. God didn’t wait for me to get my act together in the jungle. Even when I complained to Him for allowing us to be there for so long, He started working in my heart. I asked Martin one day, “Where is the love, joy, peace — things that are supposed to characterize believers in Jesus? I look at myself and see the bad and the worse. Where is the good?” He said, “Joy, peace, contentment — those are not things you can drum up within yourself. They are gifts of the Holy Spirit by God. Let’s start asking for them.” And we started to ask God to work the good things in our hearts. As we prayed, God began giving us the victories within ourselves that we just desperately wanted to see. My hatred was replaced by concern, even love, for our abductors. Contentment, even joy, began to grow in my heart as I thanked God for His goodness instead of pointing out the bad things. Jesus said to love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you. Maybe Muslims haven’t seen a lot of love from Christianity down through the ages, but it can start with us here today. We can love Muslims and we can pray for them, and we can tell them about the Savior of the world. We can hope against hope that God will use some of us to make a difference in the lives of some of these deceived, lost people. People have called Martin a martyr, and that has always bothered me. Those who walk with Christ must walk the same path with Him. These are the martyrs, in the true sense of the word, which means simply “witnesses.” In life, as well as in death, we are called to be witnesses, to bear the stamp of Christ. I believe that Martin Burnham was one of these. And I think that many of you today are one of these. You are determined to live for God, when it isn’t popular and it isn’t easy, you who daily lay down your lives to find them. I am proud of you who continue on, witnesses who bear the stamp of Christ. Gracia Burnham’s full message — “Lessons Learned from the Jungle” — may be ordered on cassette, CD, DVD, or MP3 by visiting www.ThePath.fm or calling 1-800-333-0601. T Fall 7 You’d have to be a hermit to avoid being bombarded with the serious news events in the Middle East. How should we respond to what we are hearing and seeing so regularly? As a genuine believer in the person and work of Jesus Christ , stay informed in order to intelligently converse with others about the Middle East. Heed the words of Genesis 12:3 (ESV), “I will bless those who bless you [Israel], and him who dishonors you I will curse …”. Pray for peace in Israel one person at a time, and keep sharing the life- transforming news of the risen Messiah, Jesus Christ, with Jewish friends and acquaintances. If you have never received Jesus Christ as Savior, the response is quite different. The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that God the Father loved people all over the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrificial gift, so that whoever places his or her faith in Jesus Christ will never be destroyed, but instead will live forever in heaven. Conflicts and wars will unfortunately continue to rage until, as the Bible says, a New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21). The curse and influence of sin will be no more! The conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere will be no more! What a great expectation! Trust Him today … and find personal, unending peace in troubled times. ELNUR AMIKISHLYEV / FOTOLIA