Some people ask what I do so I am writing this week a brief summary of how my week usually looks.
My standard week is like this.
Monday
Preparation Day & Personal Time (sometimes)
Tuesday
Tract Distribution at shopping area, Bible Study and Coffee morning in my local Gospel Hall, Street Meeting in the afternoon.
Wednesday
School work, Street Meeting & Home Visitation with the gospel
Thursday
Taking the gospel to business events, Bible Study and Home Visitation
Friday
One to one Bible studies, Street Meeting.
In the evenings I am often speaking at a series of gospel meetings, speaking at Bible Teaching Meetings or attending my own Gospel Hall. I also visit Hospitals, Prison Hostels and meet people for coffee to explain the gospel to them. I also am involved in editing a Christian Magazine (Precious Seed), write, record gospel and bible teaching CD’s for handing out to my contacts.
I am off to Ukraine for 10 days soon to give some Bible Teaching. That will be an interesting experience.
E-mail me and tell me about your weeek.
God Bless you,
Stephen
Friday, June 27, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Nothing lasts for ever!
We often say things like 'nothing lasts for ever' or 'all good things will come to an end one day'. Did you know that Jesus Christ said that 'heaven and earth will pass away' He predicted the end of this universe as we know it. Scientists tell us that the second law of thermodynamics means that everything is degenerating. The Bible in other places (Isaiah 51/Hebrews 1/2 Peter 3) states that this universe will end one day. So what then? The Bible also states that God will create a new heaven and a new earth (2 Peter 3/Revelation 21:1/Isaiah 66:22). There will however be a major difference to the present world. It will be a righteous place. All that is right will feel at home and be welcome in this new heaven and earth. Utopia indeed. This is guaranteed to happen (but we are not told when) because the Lord Jesus Christ came into this sinful world, dealt with consequences of sin by his death on the cross and rose again on the third day.
Where would you rather live? This sad and sinful world or in the new one where everything is right. You can be there courtesy of the Lord Jesus if you come to Him admitting and confessing your guilt before God and requesting forgiveness through faith in Christ.
Where would you rather live? This sad and sinful world or in the new one where everything is right. You can be there courtesy of the Lord Jesus if you come to Him admitting and confessing your guilt before God and requesting forgiveness through faith in Christ.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Liverpool City of Culture 2008
Not only is Liverpool 800 years old but it is celebrating being the City of Culture this year. As part of the celebrations one of the Gospel Halls (an independant local evangelical church) in the city is hosting a two week mission. I have been invited to speak along with couple of others. The strapline for the two week mission is 'One year of Culture, an eternity of ?' An interesting question! The question addresses the fact that life for all of us on this panet is temporary. We will all die one day! The question is, is this all there is or is there more to come?
If we are left to our own thoughts we might assume that it would be a waste to achieve so much on earth and for it all to account for nothing in the end. Think about the considerable talent that most humans have and the amazing talents that certain individuals have. Is all this ability for nothing, wasted on a pointless existence. Even if we use it all the talent we have to it's best advantage ultimately it is of no signifance if there is nothing beyond this! But is this true?
I suggest that there is more to life! This suggestion is not based on a hunch, a gut feeling or wishful thinking. It is based on the revelation of God in the Bible, the word of God. God says he made us in His image. He created us for His glory. The Lord Jesus stated that he came 'that we might have life', abundant life. But our wrongdoing, our sin has deprived us of joy knowing life now as God intended it and could prevent us (if unconfessed and unforgiven) from knowing the God's quality eternal life, now and in heaven.
The situation is basically simple. Mankind made a wrong choice. In Adam, the first man, we all sinned and continue to do so. Our sin has consequences it must be accounted for and be dealt with legally. Our physical and ultimately eternal death is the result.
The solution is simple. It has been paid for but at a very high price. This is why Jesus Christ was born. He 'came into the world to save sinners'. By Jesus' death of crucifixion He paid the price in full for sin and can offer to us the gift of eternal life. In other words 'Christ died for us' and as a result God offers, when we confess our sins and receive His Son as our Saviour, the forgiveness of sins.
Will you celebrate salvation in Liverpool's year of culture? I trust that you will.
If we are left to our own thoughts we might assume that it would be a waste to achieve so much on earth and for it all to account for nothing in the end. Think about the considerable talent that most humans have and the amazing talents that certain individuals have. Is all this ability for nothing, wasted on a pointless existence. Even if we use it all the talent we have to it's best advantage ultimately it is of no signifance if there is nothing beyond this! But is this true?
I suggest that there is more to life! This suggestion is not based on a hunch, a gut feeling or wishful thinking. It is based on the revelation of God in the Bible, the word of God. God says he made us in His image. He created us for His glory. The Lord Jesus stated that he came 'that we might have life', abundant life. But our wrongdoing, our sin has deprived us of joy knowing life now as God intended it and could prevent us (if unconfessed and unforgiven) from knowing the God's quality eternal life, now and in heaven.
The situation is basically simple. Mankind made a wrong choice. In Adam, the first man, we all sinned and continue to do so. Our sin has consequences it must be accounted for and be dealt with legally. Our physical and ultimately eternal death is the result.
The solution is simple. It has been paid for but at a very high price. This is why Jesus Christ was born. He 'came into the world to save sinners'. By Jesus' death of crucifixion He paid the price in full for sin and can offer to us the gift of eternal life. In other words 'Christ died for us' and as a result God offers, when we confess our sins and receive His Son as our Saviour, the forgiveness of sins.
Will you celebrate salvation in Liverpool's year of culture? I trust that you will.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
What is the main thrust of the message of the Bible?
The main message of the Bible is that God created us. We as a human race do not know God personally because of our sin and disobedience. Ultimately God will hold us accountable for our beliefs and behavior on the great judgment day. This all sounds depressing and it would be if the rest of the story was not know. The rest is this: God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world 2008 years ago. History and the Bible record His life, death, resurrection and return to heaven. Jesus was perfect and unique and for 33 years he lived on this planet providing evidence that he was God (all His miracles and teachings). The Bible records His death and coming to life again after three days (the Bible calls it resurrection). The claims of the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) are that Jesus paid the full price God demanded in payment for human sin. God offers to all people personal forgiveness and the removal of our legal guilt before Him when we turn from our sin to God and trust Him for salvation.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A week off……….ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
How are you when it comes to taking time off? Are you good at switching off or do you always seem to be in work mode? I have to admit that I am not very good at switching off. I enjoy what I do and I find that it is easy to keep on going when you should be taking a rest.
Believe it or not the Bible establishes the premise of taking periods of rest. When God made the world he made it in six days and then rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2, the Bible). Why do we keep on working? Why is there restlessness about us as humans? Is that we never feel that the job is really done properly? Or are we not satisfied with what we have done? Is there a guilt thing that makes us feel that we have never done enough? Do we have to impress others? Or satisfy our own demands? There is not one simple answer but a lot of the above will no doubt apply.
So how did God manage to rest after making this world? Well when God does a job he does it to perfection. He could not have improved on His creation. It was perfect and he was content and satisfied with what he saw on the dawn of creation.
You may at this stage be saying – it doesn’t feel or look like a perfect world to me! And you are right. This world is not perfect but the Bible teaches us that it was when God made it, in Genesis 1 we read that it was good, good and indeed very good. So what went wrong? Why do we have climate disorders, earthquakes and eruptions? We cannot ignore the creatures that live on this planet. Why do we kill each other, hurt each other and damage this world? Why does everything get old, wear out, decay? We are on a downward spiral and nothing can stop these natural processes. Or can they be stopped?
Let’s answer the first question first. Why? You maybe don’t like the answer but the Bible does offer an explanation. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’ (The Book of Romans 5:12, the Bible). The reason why the downward spiral exists is that everything that is not of God and blessed by God will ultimately fail. God created the universe for our good but good can only be effective in the hands of the creator, God. When we handle good we corrupt it and it is tainted with our fallen nature. We like the first man, Adam , have made our choices and we ‘all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’ (The Book of Romans 3:23, the Bible). God intended mankind to enjoy his blessings for ever free of corruption and death but Adam acts of rebellion condemned us all as guilty before God. You may feel that this is unfair but these are the facts as revealed by God in His word, the Bible.
Can the downward spiral be stopped? The message of Christianity is this. The ‘Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world’ (1 John 4:14, the Bible). This is not just climatic salvation, or economic salvation, or even ethical or moral salvation. All of those things will be effective in a future day but initially God offers personal salvation to individuals. The Lord Jesus Christ said (when in this world) ‘I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly’ (The Gospel of John 10:10, the Bible). He claimed that if a person took on board what he said and trusted Him and believed that God had sent him that, that person would cross the line from death to life, they would be raised to everlasting life at the Day of Judgement, that they would be saved (see The Gospel of John 3:36, 5:24, 11:25).
You might be asking how was all this possible? Was Jesus not just a good man? His claims are too great to be that of just a good man. He is either is the real thing or at best he was deluded and at worst a liar. Check it out, he claimed to come from heaven, he claimed to be equal with God, he claimed to fulfil Bible predictions, he announced that he would draw men to him upon dying, he predicted his own death and coming to life again after three days. These things are either true or false there is not middle ground.
All I can say to you if you are reading this blog is go, check it out for yourself. Read the Bible. Listen what God has to say. Trust Him. Take Him at His word. If you do e-mail on Stephen.baker1@virgin.net. I would love to hear from you.
Believe it or not the Bible establishes the premise of taking periods of rest. When God made the world he made it in six days and then rested on the seventh (Genesis 2:2, the Bible). Why do we keep on working? Why is there restlessness about us as humans? Is that we never feel that the job is really done properly? Or are we not satisfied with what we have done? Is there a guilt thing that makes us feel that we have never done enough? Do we have to impress others? Or satisfy our own demands? There is not one simple answer but a lot of the above will no doubt apply.
So how did God manage to rest after making this world? Well when God does a job he does it to perfection. He could not have improved on His creation. It was perfect and he was content and satisfied with what he saw on the dawn of creation.
You may at this stage be saying – it doesn’t feel or look like a perfect world to me! And you are right. This world is not perfect but the Bible teaches us that it was when God made it, in Genesis 1 we read that it was good, good and indeed very good. So what went wrong? Why do we have climate disorders, earthquakes and eruptions? We cannot ignore the creatures that live on this planet. Why do we kill each other, hurt each other and damage this world? Why does everything get old, wear out, decay? We are on a downward spiral and nothing can stop these natural processes. Or can they be stopped?
Let’s answer the first question first. Why? You maybe don’t like the answer but the Bible does offer an explanation. ‘By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’ (The Book of Romans 5:12, the Bible). The reason why the downward spiral exists is that everything that is not of God and blessed by God will ultimately fail. God created the universe for our good but good can only be effective in the hands of the creator, God. When we handle good we corrupt it and it is tainted with our fallen nature. We like the first man, Adam , have made our choices and we ‘all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God’ (The Book of Romans 3:23, the Bible). God intended mankind to enjoy his blessings for ever free of corruption and death but Adam acts of rebellion condemned us all as guilty before God. You may feel that this is unfair but these are the facts as revealed by God in His word, the Bible.
Can the downward spiral be stopped? The message of Christianity is this. The ‘Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world’ (1 John 4:14, the Bible). This is not just climatic salvation, or economic salvation, or even ethical or moral salvation. All of those things will be effective in a future day but initially God offers personal salvation to individuals. The Lord Jesus Christ said (when in this world) ‘I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly’ (The Gospel of John 10:10, the Bible). He claimed that if a person took on board what he said and trusted Him and believed that God had sent him that, that person would cross the line from death to life, they would be raised to everlasting life at the Day of Judgement, that they would be saved (see The Gospel of John 3:36, 5:24, 11:25).
You might be asking how was all this possible? Was Jesus not just a good man? His claims are too great to be that of just a good man. He is either is the real thing or at best he was deluded and at worst a liar. Check it out, he claimed to come from heaven, he claimed to be equal with God, he claimed to fulfil Bible predictions, he announced that he would draw men to him upon dying, he predicted his own death and coming to life again after three days. These things are either true or false there is not middle ground.
All I can say to you if you are reading this blog is go, check it out for yourself. Read the Bible. Listen what God has to say. Trust Him. Take Him at His word. If you do e-mail on Stephen.baker1@virgin.net. I would love to hear from you.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Being a good citizen
What a fantastic day! It was really hot in Liverpool. I had been out on the streets running a Street Meeting with a couple of friends. We have a life changing message. If we do not get out and tell people about it we would be very selfish. Not everyone sees it the way we do. Some people on the streets think that we are imposing our views on them. Others are not really interested in anything apart from what they can see. Do you think that we should be going out to tell people the message from the Bible or do you think we should just believe what we believe and keep it to ourselves?
If I had a cure for cancer I would be a very selfish person if I did not make it available to all cancer sufferers. If you were in financial danger and were not aware of it (and I was) I would be very selfish if I did not talk to you about it. Good news and solutions to problems should be shared. One of the downsides of the busy modern age is that we have become very impersonal. Community and family in the past meant we shared a lot more and helped each other. There are still as many nice people in the world now but we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves. On occasions this has developed to the stage where we are not aware of others needs and we fail to raise the alarm when we spot people in difficulty.
I believe that as a citizen I should be responsible and responsive when I see people in need. The need might be as small as helping them in a shop or smiling when I meet them; it might be as big as being there when disaster strikes in some way in their lives. This is what being a neighbour and a responsible citizen is all about. However I also believe that this principle applies in the realm of beliefs and spiritual health. The entire human race is mortal and we all need to face up to our personal mortality. The Bible has been given to us to communicate the way of salvation and eternal life. The creator God has revealed salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ died to pay the price for our sin and was raised to life again to establish God’s satisfaction that the price for sin has been made in full. It is a foolproof salvation but if people are ignorant of the danger that they are in and we do not tell them they will face the ultimate eternal disaster – ‘the second death’.
Search the scriptures to find the truth, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. E-mail me at stephen.baker1@virgin.net if you need more information.
If I had a cure for cancer I would be a very selfish person if I did not make it available to all cancer sufferers. If you were in financial danger and were not aware of it (and I was) I would be very selfish if I did not talk to you about it. Good news and solutions to problems should be shared. One of the downsides of the busy modern age is that we have become very impersonal. Community and family in the past meant we shared a lot more and helped each other. There are still as many nice people in the world now but we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves. On occasions this has developed to the stage where we are not aware of others needs and we fail to raise the alarm when we spot people in difficulty.
I believe that as a citizen I should be responsible and responsive when I see people in need. The need might be as small as helping them in a shop or smiling when I meet them; it might be as big as being there when disaster strikes in some way in their lives. This is what being a neighbour and a responsible citizen is all about. However I also believe that this principle applies in the realm of beliefs and spiritual health. The entire human race is mortal and we all need to face up to our personal mortality. The Bible has been given to us to communicate the way of salvation and eternal life. The creator God has revealed salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ died to pay the price for our sin and was raised to life again to establish God’s satisfaction that the price for sin has been made in full. It is a foolproof salvation but if people are ignorant of the danger that they are in and we do not tell them they will face the ultimate eternal disaster – ‘the second death’.
Search the scriptures to find the truth, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. E-mail me at stephen.baker1@virgin.net if you need more information.
Friday, April 18, 2008
So long
I am now on a guilt trip. If you have looked at my blog recently you will have noticed that I am really bad at writing entries. This is supposed to be an on line diary - I do keep a paper one better than this.
What have I been up to? Will that's my excuse. I have been really busy getting out and about telling people the message of Christ and His great salvation. As a result I have not had time to write my blog. I have been in schools, prison hostels, on the street (having meetings), working with other Christians having missions and generally doing all I can to bring the message of saving grace in front of people.
Why go to all this effort?
It's simple really. God has revealed in the Bible that we have all sinned and broken his law. We are guilty and stand condemned already by God. He is angry about our rebellion and will call us to account on the day of judgement IF we have not changed our minds and trusted His Son (Jesus) for salvation by then.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is he was born of the virgin (Mary), lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay the price for sin and came to life a again three days later as proof that he had paid the price for sin in full. That is he served God's sentence to take the legal consequences of our sin. He offers pardon and forgiveness if we turn from our sin and trust him as Saviour.
That's why I get so excited about the message of the cross. Will you trust him today. If you do be sure to e-mail me on Stephen.Baker1@virgin.net to let me know. I'll be praying for you.
What have I been up to? Will that's my excuse. I have been really busy getting out and about telling people the message of Christ and His great salvation. As a result I have not had time to write my blog. I have been in schools, prison hostels, on the street (having meetings), working with other Christians having missions and generally doing all I can to bring the message of saving grace in front of people.
Why go to all this effort?
It's simple really. God has revealed in the Bible that we have all sinned and broken his law. We are guilty and stand condemned already by God. He is angry about our rebellion and will call us to account on the day of judgement IF we have not changed our minds and trusted His Son (Jesus) for salvation by then.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is he was born of the virgin (Mary), lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay the price for sin and came to life a again three days later as proof that he had paid the price for sin in full. That is he served God's sentence to take the legal consequences of our sin. He offers pardon and forgiveness if we turn from our sin and trust him as Saviour.
That's why I get so excited about the message of the cross. Will you trust him today. If you do be sure to e-mail me on Stephen.Baker1@virgin.net to let me know. I'll be praying for you.
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