Practical Evangelism /holiness

25/03/2020

JOHN GRAHAM LAKE

"Jesus the Healer"

John Graham Lake was born on March 18, 1870 in Ontario, Canada. When he was small his family moved to Michigan, in the United States. While he was still young, Lake attended a Salvation Army meeting and became convicted of his need for a savior, and he invited Jesus to become Lord of life. Lake was incredibly impacted by illness. He was one of sixteen children, and over the course of his young life eight of them died. He grew to hate the sickness, grief, and death that was so much a part of his family life.

Lake felt a call to the ministry, and studied to become a Methodist minister. He took to heart the Methodist teaching on sanctification and sought it passionately. When his studies were done, however, he made a decision to go into business and start a newspaper in Illinois. Then he moved back to Michigan and began a career in real estate. He met Jennie Stevens and married her.

Sickness still continued to hound Lake. His brother was an invalid, one sister had extensive cancer, another sister had bleeding problems, and his wife had tuberculosis and heart disease. In 1899 the family had heard about John Alexander Dowie, in Chicago, because he was receiving substantial media attention. They took Lake's brother to the healing rooms in Chicago, and he was instantly healed. Both sisters then went, as well, and were also healed. Finally, Lake had contacted people to pray for his wife in June of 1899, and she was also healed. He opened the scriptures to see Acts 10:38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. (NASB) He saw outlined clearly for himself that Jesus is the healer and Satan is the oppressor of men. Lake became a member of Dowie's Christian Catholic Church and a branch was opened in Sault Ste Marie, where he was living at the time. Lake became a deacon in the new church. In August 1900 Lake's wife Jennie was accidently shot by her 4 year old son. Following Dowie's teachings the Lakes refused medical help and depended on prayer. The event was so startling an article was written up in the Chicago Daily Tribune, which regularly reported on Dowie's activities.

In 1904 Lake moved to Chicago to work with Dowie. Seeing the power of God, Lake began to cry out for more of the Holy Spirit. He spent nine months seeking a fuller level of the presence of God. Lake went, with another man to pray for a sick woman. God's presence fell on and over him like he'd never known before. The next six months were marked by conviction, repentance, and heart cleansing. The gifts of the Spirit became magnified, and the discernment and healing giftings increased dramatically. Lake was receiving training under John Alexander Dowie, but did not always agree with his way of doing things. At one point, Dowie listed his accomplishments and told him "If you ever develop constructive qualities, equal to your critical capacity, you will be a greater man than I am." John Lake knew that he would have to start his own work. He felt called to Africa and went there in 1908, after a short-term pastoring stint in Indianapolis. Over a five year period in South Africa Lake saw 1,000,000 converts, planted hundreds of churches, and raised up over 1000 local ministers. The work was strenuous, however, and his wife died in December 1908. He committed to keep his family together. In 1913 Lake returned to the United States, with his seven children.

Once he returned to the United States, he remarried, and began a traveling ministry. One of the places he was asked to speak was Spokane, Washington. He was asked to start a healings room, and he agreed. Over an approximately five year period, over 100,000 healings were reported. Spokane was declared "the healthiest city in the United States". Although Lake's church was never large, thousands came from all over the country and the world to receive prayer. In 1920, he felt called to move to Portland, Oregon and start a healing room ministry there. Similar healings were reported during these years as well.

Lake considered starting a healing rooms ministry in towns up and down the west coast. His strength was beginning to wane, however, because he lived life at an incredible pace. He went to Houston, Texas to start a church, but was called away by a family crisis and never returned. He ministered in churches in California, then returned to pastor in Portland for a season, and finally settled back in Spokane for the remainder of his life. He died on September 15, 1935.

23/03/2020

Teaching in secondary and primary schools mostly in lagos state. Nigeria.

27/03/2017

Life is beautiful with Jesus, you are nothing without Jesus.

21/02/2016

"Think before you speak!":

14 The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. (Proverbs 10 : 14 - ESV)

20/06/2015

Gladys Aylward willing / obedient
"I Wasn't First Choice For What I've Done In China"
Gladys Aylward was born short in size and short in worldly status but what was lacking in height and social standing she made up for in determination and spirit.
Born in London, in 1902, to a working-class family Gladys became a wealthy family's parlor maid at the age of 14. She trudged through this life of routine until one day after attending a church service a stranger confronted her with the message of salvation.
Gladys, newly reconciled with God, began attending Young Life services and reading about the far-away land of China from books in the vast library of her employer. This birthed an unstoppable desire to go to China herself. Gladys applied with CIM as a candidate for China. After reviewing her advanced age and test results it was determined that she was too old and unfit to learn the difficult Chinese language. At the age of 28, Gladys dreams were momentarily crushed; she decided if she couldn't go with CIM she would go on her own. Every month, Gladys would save all the money she could from the small paycheck she received to buy a one-way train ticket to China.
On Oct. 15, 1932, Gladys left Liverpool Street Station by train to travel across Russia and eventually into Northern China. She carried two suitcases, a bedroll and wore a bright orange jacket. At one point on her journey she was asked to get off the train as it was being used to carry only Russian soldiers. She insisted on staying and was dropped off later in the middle of nowhere to eventually retrace her steps on foot and take another train through Siberia. After a brief journey to Japan to confirm with the British counsel, Gladys finally set foot in her beloved China.
Gladys begin her missionary career in Yangcheng working with veteran missionary Jeannie Lawson. She helped operate an inn for mule drivers where she learned Chinese from daily interaction with these travelers. After Jeannie's death, Gladys was unable to financially sustain the Inn. The local officials approached her and asked if she would be willing to be a "foot inspector." The tradition of binding Chinese women's feet had recently been outlawed, but due to cultural perceptions of beauty it was still being practiced in many places. Gladys began traveling around inspecting the bones in women's feet. As she traveled she would tell stories from the Bible and many looked forward to the days they could hear these strange new stories.
The people's esteem and respect for Gladys also continued to grow throughout the region. What was even more remarkable was the ability she had to take on Chinese culture and language. By 1937, when the Japanese begin bombing nearby mountain villages, Gladys had so identified herself with the Chinese people that she refused to leave even as artillery shells begin to fall. She even became a spy for the Chinese army using her foreign appearance to travel across battle lines and also bring food to trapped villagers. She was so effective that the Japanese even put a price on her head.
During this time Gladys also adopted war orphans and eventually had over 100 children in her care. In 1940, the war had escalated and she was forced to leave Northern China and head south to Sian through the thickening battle, over mountains and across the Yellow River. When Gladys climbed over the mountains to Sian, she had 100 children with her, that she was taking to a refugee area. The journey took 12 days and they left with inadequate clothing or food supplies – but God looked after Gladys and the children throughout the entire journey. This experience left her mentally and emotionally drained. After recovery in 1943 she moved to Chengdu to begin work in a local Church as a Bible woman. This work was usually reserved for only Chinese women and involved travel, evangelism and Bible teaching. Gladys had taken on so much of the Chinese culture that it was unquestioned whether she would fit in the role.
After 20 years in China, Gladys returned to England in 1940. She was embarrassed to find that she quickly became a celebrity. A book, movie and TV documentary were all made about her life. To many Gladys became known by many as "The Small Women," the title of her biography. She continued to travel and speak about her beloved China, returning to Taiwan in 1957.
Humble in spirit, Gladys once made this comment to a friend, "I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China. There was somebody else. I don't know who it was --- God's first choice. It must have been a man --- a wonderful man, a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing. And God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward."

11/06/2015

11/06/2015

WHAT IS HOLINESS
God instructed His people, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). It's a command repeated throughout the Bible in both the Old Testament and the New Testament (1 Peter 1:15-16). But what does it mean to be holy? The Hebrew words translated “holy,” qadash and its derivatives, carry the meaning of “set apart”—sanctified, consecrated, hallowed. The Greek words translated “holy,” hagios and its derivatives, imply an absence of fault or impurity ( The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible ). To be holy means to be cleansed of faults and set apart by God, who is Himself faultless and pure.

Following the holy, just and good law of God (Romans 7:12) means adopting the flawless code of conduct set forward by God in the Bible. Keeping the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8-11) means observing it in the way that the Bible instructs us to, which sets it apart from the other days of the week. Being a holy nation of God (1 Peter 2:9) means living His way of life, which sets His people apart from the rest of the world. The Holy Spirit of God, which we receive through repentance, baptism and the laying on of hands (Acts 2:38), refers to the pure, untarnished Spirit of the Creator of the universe.

God wants us to be holy because the ways of man, which for the past 6,000 years of human existence have been an exercise in futility, will ultimately yield grief and misery. They are not faultless. They are filled with imperfections that lead to dissension and chaos. What God offers us is the opportunity to one day become like Him—without flaw. He wants us to find what has eluded so many for so long—peace.