We Must Push the Limits While There is "Yet Time."

Accreted to another, the expression “Yet Time” signals a major change in America's society with our president's takeover agenda which is scary to say the least! The time left to preach the gospel may be so short that the next generation will simply not know Jesus. From my childhood, the declaration “We can lose the church in one generation only by not teaching our children truth” telescopes an urgent focus.  God is being removed from our society. With severe penalties, teachers are not allowed to speak Biblical words or even teach our children how we are to marry. From a wider perspective and worldview, we see our congress entertaining the United Nations proposals to  control the Internet, our defenses, our oil resources, our land, and even enter our homes to tell us how to live. Scary! Even the elderly are being "filtered" out of this society in a cleaver way! If over 75 years of age, the Washington "death squad" under the guise of "affordability" will see that you will be "thrown under the bus" because you are not valuable enough to be allowed to have necessary medical treatments." How convenient!

Throughout history, strife has pressured societies. During the Viet Nam war, families wondered how their new babies would manage their futures. Songs appeared reflecting the reality of the time. "Because You Live" is one favored song written in distress. The song continues to help us hope because there is purpose expressed in knowing that Jesus lives today even as he lived in his chaotic times.

The remembered expression "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of his country" is one of those lines we typed over and over until we made no mistakes on the Underwood typewriter with covered keys. Now is the time for all good men to tell the old old story, while there is yet time would be appropriate for keyboarding classes today!

To accent the onslaught of the world's societies, consider the way societies change beyond mankind's control. Population expansion. Understanding the "Rabbit Method" of population growth gives insight into societal shifts. Within a short 30 day period, there is a new rabbit generation. Jack rabbits cross the desert roads in New Mexico causing crashes as drivers dodge only to dodge again. Yet, there are shorter gestation periods such as the Fruit Fly's at 30 minutes. It's hard to kill out Fruit Flies. This illustrates how cultures and even societies change with time. Simple! Produce at an escalating rate. Have more wives to have more babies in the time allotted. Statisticians predict that within 40 years America will see more Mosques than church building. We are in a major societal shift making preaching the gospel seriously challenging. We must preach the gospel while there is “Yet Time.”

The world continues to change. Mark 13:7 “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come,” Jesus noted. (NIV)

Is this a caution to wait or is this a notice to organize and prepare for end times keeping the Great Commission in full armor with sharpened swords warring against Satan? While there is “Yet Time,” Eph 6:1 “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

(NIV)

 

 

 

LONG-WINDed PREACHER on Skype!

So, where are you going to worship today?

I knew that there were no churches in or around my student's city in China; but, surely, an inviting question would bring some focus on our Skype session. China is 16 hours ahead of Oregon where I live.

"Here!" Angela was certain and insistent at the same time.

"Okay? Who will attend with you?"

"My parents are here. You preach, and I'll translate."

Hmmm! I've been on the spot before; but, not exactly like this. The first time was on my honeymoon in Ruidoso, New Mexico, and the preacher was sick -- 5 elderly ladies and my new wife were the only ones present. Good! The communion had been prepared. It's time to step up to the plate, sing, pray, commune, preach, give the invitation, and take up a collection! Years before there was a notion of Skype! My email student had no camera which made me take note that somebody was watching. I had the motion eye camera on my laptop!

"Let's start with the Creator.” “In the beginning, God created...(Genesis 1)” “Today, we know him as Jesus (John 1). And, you can be sure that this Jesus not only made you and me, he loves us far more than even our mother and father love us. (Pause/translate) Over time, he was revealed to us in the New Testament."

(Departure for a while to tell about the "Old and New Agreements.)

"Let's talk about sin and forgiveness, sacrifice, blood, and salvation."

Forty five minutes later: "How time flies!" "Angela, ask them if they believe that Jesus is the Son of God."

"Yes?"

"Are they sure?"

"Yes!"

"Wonderful!"

Remember Simon?

Time passed, and Simon with whom we had been studying using Skype, tells the rest of the story. Simon had just baptized Angela's sister.

"Simon!" "Go see their mother and father."

I can hardly wait for the feedback. Email will fly back and forth. It's time to Skype!

The angels will sing a familiar Chinese song, I'm certain.

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.

Next time...

Visit http://worldenglishinstitute.blogspot.com/

Learn about WEI at www.weiady.org/

And, sign up for FREE English and Bible at http://worldenglishinstitute.org/

God bless,

Bob

Email, Skype, and The Internet

I'd hate to give up direct email in teaching. WEI’s Internet teaching website,(www.worldenglishinstitute.org/), has some time saving features and built in communication tools making it possible for a single teacher to manage hundreds of students. But, direct email facilitates relationships without the incumbents of automation. Teaching the student instead of teaching lessons is central to bringing about change.  Think about having the Subject line read “chat.” This brings about a feeling of friendship.

Another even more enticing and facilitating feature available to the teacher is face-to-face sharing using Skype. Taken together with direct email a personal relationship emerges miles beyond the written lesson. Skype with a "motion eye” camera brings the student into my home just to look around.  On the email side of correspondence, outlines and photographs can be transferred in the flash of a download. And, it can be accomplished by almost anyone anywhere on the globe. Even hand held telephones can send text and photos. Amazing!

In this IT age, there is a complimentary method lurking in the wings -- Internet lessons + email chat + Skype with a camera + email attachments. It’s like being there with a prepared lesson, a graded quiz with written explanations, and an open private tutoring all in one place. How much more do I need?

Shall I wait on teleporting of the student directly? Likely not. How would they get a visa? Ha! Someday far in the future!

It was way past my bed time in Oregon that Skype’s screeching demanded immediate attention!

“Hello, China calling! I just got off work and thought about talking some.”

“Well hello! What time is it in your side of the world?”

“I just got off work and am raiding the fridge. About four-thirty.”

“It's 1 am here. I'm happy to see you? Oh! You don’t have a camera on your laptop. I forgot. Sorry! I love my new laptop. It came with a built in camera looking right at my face. Wish you had one too. How do I look? Older than you imagined?” That was before I straighten my hair and shirt collar.

“How's your job?" "Fine!”

She's learned how we Americans skirt talking about American’s unemployment. Oh well, we shared stories for a while, stories about bosses who were not open to hearing about Jesus as they walk us to the door. The streets are filled with young people looking for the next rung on the ladder or maybe a necessary career change. The love for Jesus is not always popular when shared openly.

“Do you know Jacob? He’s a great friend in China. He would like to join us. May I invite him to join us?” I said.

“Okay! How do we do that?”

“I just invited him. I have his Skype address.”

“Hello Jacob. I’d like to introduce you to my WEI student.” “We would like for you to send your lesson outline so we can chat about it. You can take over and I will listen. But, remember, I don’t speak Cantonese. My student is pretty good at English now. It’s okay to slip in some Chinese as you may need.”

“Okay. All that I need is an email address. I can send the outline as an attachment.”

Now, you can see why I don’t want to give up direct email in teaching. Powerful!

Next time, I’ll share when I became a “long winded preacher.”

Have a great day and check out the WEI’s Internet “teaching website.” www.worldenglishinstitute.org/

There, we gather students by offering FREE English with Bible reading as an assignment. This gets the ball rolling and when determined to be safe, we chat, Skype, and share in a real-time classroom.

God bless,

Bob



Speaking in Tongues

The old miner said, "I can make more grub by selling shovels than blasting away the mountains in the cold." He was right!

Among all the hunderds of Chinese students, one is pure gold! Bible lessons are available in Chinese! Not only are all of the WEI Bible lessons available in Chinese, but some of the college level lessons of Nations University (www.nationsu.org/) have been translated from English to Chinese. That's a lot of shovels -- FREE to students who have completed the Basic WEI lessons. NU offers the BS and MS degree along theological paths, all on the Internet. Gold! The Lord continues to bless by email and the Internet!

The same has happened giving us Bible lessons in Albanian, French, Romanian, and Spanish. Anybody want to translate in Portagese, Arabic, or another world-wide language? Yes? Take the grammar course first and learn pure American idioms with a rich vocabulary to boot.

Did I mention those who have passed the TOEFL exam earning them entrance into an American or Canadian university? Two of my student, maybe a few more, now have PhD degrees as a result of email teaching.

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:10

Fast forward to 2011, nearly 2012

Since the first post, a long time ago to see if the blog would work, email teaching has led numerous friends to become believers in Jesus. China has been keeping me up late nights. There are so many stories to tell! "I began with my dictionary in one hand and your lessons in the other," said one business man. He now sends students to me.

Another student said, "My mother died. She has come to live inside me for the past several days. She was a Buddhist as is my sister." This student is a believer and faithful to the Lord. She followed my instructions to know that it was not her Mom, instead it was a deamon pretending to be her Mom. Just talk to the deamon and insistently tell it to get out of your life in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST!" This student reported that her "Mother never came back to haunt her."

By email, we talk in depth digging the text from Genesis to Revelation. It's easy to send attachments that avoid being blocked, especially in parts of China. (Other parts have blocked my email and web address.) So, I have several addresses and web addresses. We keep the fires hot! After a while, this student preaches often to a group of 20 or 30 believers. It works! Souls are being saved!

The Internet teaching works in more ways than one -- Internet Vs email. The more recent Internet alternative is registered with Google. It has registered over 130,000 students. Half drop out; but, the other half contiue to study English grammar and read Bible stories that lead them to faith in the Lord and even to the planting of new churches in more than one country. These students have come from every single nation in the world. Thank you Google!

My Internet students are hand picked. One, a theology student in Egypt, shares her faith and is learning how to avoid Satan's TV evangelist who make big bucks as they pretend to heal the sick. They yet have to accomplish a single organic healing according to private interviews of those on stage who are made to fall back when they step forward. This is an old saw! You bet! I keep the Internet lessons going. It's too easy not to use this method. But, to wring out the towel and get down to business of teaching Bible, email is a great tool. I only have to be sure that safety is protected. You already know about how Egypt Coptic churches are being burned and the Christians are being run over with the army tanks now controlled by that other radical religious group. It's the same group responsible for 911 in America. Egypt is under seige! (Has been...; past perfect tense.)

Gotta go. My students are calling. Oh yes, my Skype rings during the midnight hours -- from China. (I have a camera on my end - "You have a cat!" Yep! Ela walked across my keyboard for the world to see." Too much fun!

Maybe, I can wet your appitite again to "...make disciples in all the world..."

Teaching Worldwide

Hi,

I teach worldwide! I have lost count of how many students, but they have come from many, many nations. Once, a barrage of Vietnam students signed up wanting to prepare for a high level meeting with an American company for which they were building software. They needed a quick fix for their English. Interesting!

The first question was, "What does "IT" stand for?" wanting to know if I had my brains on. Next, it was, "How old are you?" This was all during their lunch break at a company where they worked. We "talked," all 7 of them at one time by instant message (IM) -- got that one right!

More later. Gotta student's lesson to grade.

Bob