Received this very interesting article :-
DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?
Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia , killed by a sword wound.
Mark died in Alexandria , Egypt , after being dragged by horses throughthe streets until he was dead.
Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to thelost.
John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basinof boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome . However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mineson the prison island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to diepeacefully.
Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors thathe felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James just the leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the south-east pinnacle ofthe Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.
* This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.
James the Great, son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem . The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
Bartholomew also known as Nathaniel was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.
Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross withcords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: 'I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it.' He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.
Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.
Jude, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.
Barnabas one of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stonedto death at Salonica.
Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome inA.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.
Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeedminor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Blessings Galore!
Just want to share Angelina's e-mail dated 12th May, 2008:-
GOD is good all the time to us.
From: "Angelina LeePoh Chong-Chua"
To:
Subject: Our God is Awresome indeed!
Date: Monday, 12 May, 2008 1:52 PM
Hi all!
Just want of testify of God's goodness to my family! He has indeed blessed our family so much, and as we learn to be dependant on Him in EVERY circumstance, whether good or bad, knowing that He loves us and cares very much for us, He continues to pour His wonderful blessings on us, not in trickles but in showers!
First of all, He has seen it fit for Matthew to be top scorer ( in BP ) both for SPM and STPM ( even doing STPM was His will, though we at times questioned whether it was the right move that Matthew had taken ), and to give him a place in UKM to do Medicine, something which is not readily available to the Chinese race, even the top scorers! We found out later that in UKM, only 21 ( 20 Chinese and 1 Malay ) out of the 227 Medic students were taken from STPM, the rest, both Chinese and Malays were ALL from Matriculation Schools!
Then, He saw it fit to allow Amanda, who in a short period of less than 4 months of weekend piano lessons in S'pore to score a Distinction in her Grade 8 piano Exam, topping her whole class there ( those learning under the same teacher, eventhough the other students were the teacher's regular students and had been with her since they were young! ). Two other students from the class obtained Merits ( one Grade 8 and one Grade 7 ), and the rest of the Grade 8 students all obtained mere passes. This is indeed a miracle, as I'd only been praying that Amanda would just pass the Exam, knowing how difficult it is, even to just pass a Grade 8 piano exam ( even in BP )!
God again showed His love for me and my family in this matter, knowing how much sacrifice we had to make in terms of time, money, effort, comfort, etc. It was also because we'd to be away in S'pore for this purpose that we'd to miss the church's AGM, and despite having informed that church leaders early, we later learned that we were accused of irresponsibilty by not attending the AGM. On top of that, because we were again away in S'pore for Amanda's piano lesson ( the church leaders having been informed that we would NOT be in BP during weekends ), we missed the Dialogue held for the leaders to justify their dismissal of Michael as Captain of the Boys' Brigade BP ( pls note that we were NOT invited nor informed abt the Dialogue, or should I say Monologue, by the DC ), Michael was again branded as irresponsible, and portrayed as such to the congregation ).
We forgave the leaders and the Interim Moderator, and moved on with our lives, knowing that despite the pain of the lies told, God knows and will vindicate Michael, knowing how much he loves BB, the ONLY ministry he serves in, having put his whole heart and soul into it for nearly a decade, and having involved the whole family in this very viable and potentially explosive ministry.
We thanked God that we now have our weekends free to visit our son in KL, and to go for our very much deserved holidays without the responsibility as well as the guilt of having to miss BB Parades on Saturdays. Our friends ( many of you included ), encouraged us much, and many told us to treat this as a much deserved `sabbatical'! thank you all, for your show of love and support through this somewhat difficult time, though by the grace of God and His daily encouragement through His word, daily devotionals and online sermons, we knew without a doubt that God is for us! Praise the Lord! Just like Joseph, what men meant for evil, God WILL change it for our good, and it will serve His holy purpose!
God, in His goodness, has also seen it fit to allow Malcolm to get excellent results for his SPM, despite the fact that he was totally and utterly involved in school extra-curricular activities ( taking part in competitions, quizzes, etc ), as well as being the Head Prefect of his School and the Commander of our 1st Batu Pahat Boys' Brigade Co.
To top it all, He just gave Malcolm a JPA scholarship to study Veterinary Medicine overseas ( to either Australia, NZ, UK or Canada )! Isn't He good or what! He is indeed awesome, and we can't praise Him enough, for all that has happened in our lives! God has indeed been so very good to us!
I just want to thank ALL of you for praying for us, whenever we requested prayers, and we cherish your friendship, love and spport all these years. May God bless you richly!
Love,
Angelina
P/S esp to Soh Guat, my very able faithful daily prayer partner, thanks a million for ALL your prayer support, something which I really can't do without, and for your kind encouragement through all the good times and bad. Words just can't express how much I appreciate your friendship and prayer support. Thanks again.
All the time GOD is good
GOD is good all the time to us.
From: "Angelina LeePoh Chong-Chua"
To:
Subject: Our God is Awresome indeed!
Date: Monday, 12 May, 2008 1:52 PM
Hi all!
Just want of testify of God's goodness to my family! He has indeed blessed our family so much, and as we learn to be dependant on Him in EVERY circumstance, whether good or bad, knowing that He loves us and cares very much for us, He continues to pour His wonderful blessings on us, not in trickles but in showers!
First of all, He has seen it fit for Matthew to be top scorer ( in BP ) both for SPM and STPM ( even doing STPM was His will, though we at times questioned whether it was the right move that Matthew had taken ), and to give him a place in UKM to do Medicine, something which is not readily available to the Chinese race, even the top scorers! We found out later that in UKM, only 21 ( 20 Chinese and 1 Malay ) out of the 227 Medic students were taken from STPM, the rest, both Chinese and Malays were ALL from Matriculation Schools!
Then, He saw it fit to allow Amanda, who in a short period of less than 4 months of weekend piano lessons in S'pore to score a Distinction in her Grade 8 piano Exam, topping her whole class there ( those learning under the same teacher, eventhough the other students were the teacher's regular students and had been with her since they were young! ). Two other students from the class obtained Merits ( one Grade 8 and one Grade 7 ), and the rest of the Grade 8 students all obtained mere passes. This is indeed a miracle, as I'd only been praying that Amanda would just pass the Exam, knowing how difficult it is, even to just pass a Grade 8 piano exam ( even in BP )!
God again showed His love for me and my family in this matter, knowing how much sacrifice we had to make in terms of time, money, effort, comfort, etc. It was also because we'd to be away in S'pore for this purpose that we'd to miss the church's AGM, and despite having informed that church leaders early, we later learned that we were accused of irresponsibilty by not attending the AGM. On top of that, because we were again away in S'pore for Amanda's piano lesson ( the church leaders having been informed that we would NOT be in BP during weekends ), we missed the Dialogue held for the leaders to justify their dismissal of Michael as Captain of the Boys' Brigade BP ( pls note that we were NOT invited nor informed abt the Dialogue, or should I say Monologue, by the DC ), Michael was again branded as irresponsible, and portrayed as such to the congregation ).
We forgave the leaders and the Interim Moderator, and moved on with our lives, knowing that despite the pain of the lies told, God knows and will vindicate Michael, knowing how much he loves BB, the ONLY ministry he serves in, having put his whole heart and soul into it for nearly a decade, and having involved the whole family in this very viable and potentially explosive ministry.
We thanked God that we now have our weekends free to visit our son in KL, and to go for our very much deserved holidays without the responsibility as well as the guilt of having to miss BB Parades on Saturdays. Our friends ( many of you included ), encouraged us much, and many told us to treat this as a much deserved `sabbatical'! thank you all, for your show of love and support through this somewhat difficult time, though by the grace of God and His daily encouragement through His word, daily devotionals and online sermons, we knew without a doubt that God is for us! Praise the Lord! Just like Joseph, what men meant for evil, God WILL change it for our good, and it will serve His holy purpose!
God, in His goodness, has also seen it fit to allow Malcolm to get excellent results for his SPM, despite the fact that he was totally and utterly involved in school extra-curricular activities ( taking part in competitions, quizzes, etc ), as well as being the Head Prefect of his School and the Commander of our 1st Batu Pahat Boys' Brigade Co.
To top it all, He just gave Malcolm a JPA scholarship to study Veterinary Medicine overseas ( to either Australia, NZ, UK or Canada )! Isn't He good or what! He is indeed awesome, and we can't praise Him enough, for all that has happened in our lives! God has indeed been so very good to us!
I just want to thank ALL of you for praying for us, whenever we requested prayers, and we cherish your friendship, love and spport all these years. May God bless you richly!
Love,
Angelina
P/S esp to Soh Guat, my very able faithful daily prayer partner, thanks a million for ALL your prayer support, something which I really can't do without, and for your kind encouragement through all the good times and bad. Words just can't express how much I appreciate your friendship and prayer support. Thanks again.
MC : Amanda's detailed results Grade 8:
MC: Malcolm's on line offer for JPA's Canada Veterinary Medicine
All the time GOD is good
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)