Rev. E. Anderson

This is a simple prophetic word given in order to bless and inspire you as you conduct your Christian life. They are intended to be helpful messages that will enable you to move on in your Christian life and service. Receive and apply them by faith and enjoy the results.

PROPHETIC MESSAGE 

If there is one divine quality that the Lord would have you to really possess besides His love, it is His peace. Not only do you need to be baptized and blessed with His love and passion but to be immersed and inspired by His tranquil spirit so that in the midst of immense conflict and upheaval you know and retain a state of divine quietude within your being from which you live. He wills that you be in the place where nothing and no one can agitate and created a condition of restlessness. He not only speaks peace, He gives it in fullest measure so that it rules and controls all your life and service.

Rev. E. Anderson

WELCOME TO THIS CHRISTIAN WEBSITE

Welcome, if it is your first visit to the site. I trust that you will enjoy reading and noting the contents and benefit enormously from the material presented. If you visit often, thank you very much. It gives me some pleasure that what is presented is being of service to people.

If you will look at the left hand side of the page you will see a note, Select Category. Place your cursor there and it will give you a list of many categories on this site. Click on any subject and it will provide a lot of material relating to the subject. It is a library of contents that has been placed on the site for over three years. There is much material for you to see and look at.

I have been a Christian minister for over 50 years and am now engaged in retirement in encouraging all who are in the later stage of life to still be active for the Lord in releasing the spiritual potential still waiting to be released with much blessing. God’s will for us is that we shall finish strong and useful.

Rev. E. Anderson

SWITCHED ON OR OFF

Isaiah 59

The Lord makes known His position further through His servant-messenger.Israelneeded to know the exact position in relation to Himself with regard to His listening and answering faculties, hearing and working. He had stated a great deal about the false gods and one thing that was most apparent was not simply their deadness but their complete deafness. Because they were lifeless they had no capacity to hear or heed. They may possess ears but they were useless. God, the Living Lord, has complete sensitivity in this realm – v1 “He can hear when you calf.” It should be understood that He that made both ear and eye , hears and sees all.

1/. HE IS SWITCHED ON -v1

There is no need to be concerned on this point: He is not deaf or likely to be so. Age, for many human mortals, brings deterioration to the hearing . They may be switched on but cannot hear because of the weakness that has developed on this front in the vital area of the body. It comes through age, infection, disease, accident etc. This is not so and can never be so with God. He says: “Listen!” Be switched on because He is. This is heartening news to those that love, know, believe and obey Him. He is an attentive God as Abraham, Moses, Hannah, Elijah and others discovered. The righteous call and cry and the Lord’s ears are wide open. See this promise given in Jeremiah 33: 1-3. It is time to ask in prayer – 56:7.

2/. HE IS SWITCHED OFF-v2

NLT “But there is a problem …” Whilst He is not deaf He can be switched off to listening by deliberate choice and action. He has turned away and will not listen to His people any more any more. Why? he plainly tells them it is because of your sin. He acts deaf when sin and evil prevails in those who would seek His help. He is insensitive when His people violate His laws and His holy day. Corrupt lives and lips make it impossible for Him to listen and respond in a definite way. It does not matter how much prayer is made, if the heart and life condition is not right, there is no hearing or dealing. His ear/arm are switched off. What has to take place is the removal of the offensive factor that has produced the communication line – see Psalm 66:18. It is downright folly and stupidity to go on praying if sin exists because there is no way that the lord is going to take any notice. Praying is a vanity if sin is present and practiced.

CONCLUSION

One of the choicest things in life is to be able to talk to God in prayer and to get answers. It is important to be right with Him and He will be right with us. He will listen to me if I will listen to him and I must be switched on to hear and do. God is not deaf and neither should we be.

Illustration: The ewe has her ears pricked up to listen to the lamb’s cry.

Rev. A. Linford

NEIGHBOURS

“Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house” – Proverbs 25:8-10,17,18 

In normal civilised situations we all have neighbours. But where people rub together there is always danger of friction, with its resultant heat and noise. The wise man here shows how the oil of kindness and good sense that make such relationships work smoothly and well.

Treat your neighbour with tolerance (vs 8) when things go wrong it is so easy to rush into conflict. Their children break your fence, their domestic pets foul your garden, their noisy activities destroy your peace. What are you going to do about it? Seek legal reparation? Go steady. Mind you have sufficient cause. You might look silly if you sue your neighbour and the case falls through. Is it worth while to destroy good relationship for want of patience?

Treat your neighbour honourably (vs 9, 10) If you have a genuine complaint, talk it over with him. Do not moan to others or spread malicious gossip. It is far better to win over the folk next door than to rouse feelings of rancour or threats of retaliation. We are exhorted to “live peaceably with all men” (Rom 12:18). But Paul adds, “if it be possible”. We must admit that some people are impossible, but no disturbance of the peace should initiate with us.

Treat your neighbour with consideration (vs 17) There are some doorsteps we never cross, some we seldom pass over, others we may often tread. With some “nigh-bours” we have a happy rapport – witty conversation, generous hospitality and kindly interest in our affairs are very inviting. “This is good”, says the wise man, “but don’t overdo it”. We should respect our neighbours privacy; reciprocate their hospitality, indeed, but moderate our familiarity. Why should neighbourliness become a bore or a burden?

Treat your neighbour with kindness (vs 18) To betray confidences resultant on friendly visits is to batter or slay the reputation of those we visit. Especially vicious is such betrayal if it is exaggerated or false. So never hammer your neighbour with the mischievous “maul” of innuendo, wound with the “sword” of gossip or pierce with the “arrow” of harmful comment.

PRAYER:

Help me to be a neighbour that brings blessing and peace, O Lord.

Rev. Cliff Barrows

Clifford Burton Barrows (born April 6, 1923 in Ceres, California) is the longtime music and program director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He has been a part of the Graham organization since 1949. Barrows is best known as the host of Graham’s weekly Hour of Decision radio program, and the song leader and choir director for the crusade meetings.

Barrows was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1944, and served as an assistant pastor at Temple Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota through 1945. Barrows joined Graham at a rally in Asheville, North Carolina that year, and has remained with Graham ever since.

He appeared in the 1970 film His Land with British pop singer Cliff Richard. The film reviews Biblical events as both Cliffs take a pilgrimage toIsrael. It was produced by Graham’s production company, World Wide Pictures.

In 1988, Barrows was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee by the Gospel Music Association. In 1996 he was also inducted into the Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame by the National Religious Broadcasters. Barrows’ longtime colleague, George Beverly Shea, is also a member of both halls of fame.

PERSONAL

Barrows was married to the former Wilma “Billie” Newell (1925–1994). They had five children: Bonnie, (born 1948), Robert, (1950) Betty Ruth, (1953), Clifford (Bud) (1955) and William Burton (1962). Barrows married Ann Prince in 1995; the couple now resides in Marvin, North Carolina.

In March 2009, Barrows had the remains of his 1st wife Wilma moved from the grounds of their home “The Cove” in Asheville, North Carolina to the Billy Graham Library inCharlotte.

Of Graham, Shea and Barrows, who compose the heart of the Billy Graham team, Barrows, at 88, is the youngest member. All three men outlived their first wives. Graham is the only widower who has not yet remarried.

QUOTES

“The Christian faith is a singing faith, and a good way to express it and share it with others is in community singing.”

Billy Graham asked each member of the team to come up with a list of things that might threaten their ministry, and what they could do about each one.

Cliff Barrows recalled they each listed the same concerns: integrity, accountability, purity of life, and humility. Together the team prayed and committed to living according to those four principles.

They agreed to live lives of integrity being truthful in their speech and conduct; being consistent at home and on the crusade platform. They agreed to be accountable to God and to each other, and to those overseeing the ministry, particularly in finances. They each agreed to maintain personal calendars of where they were going, the purpose for their trip or activity, and who they were with. They also agreed to lives of purity, vowing never to be alone with a woman and to have the company of others in the presence of women not their wives. Finally, they agreed to act in humility, to speak carefully about the success of their meetings, and to be careful to give God the glory. They called this agreement the Modesto Manifesto, and it has guided their lives and ministry since that day.

With 419 worldwide crusades, hundreds of evangelistic meetings, countless media appearances, and impeccable financial and moral accountability, the Billy Graham team and ministry has seen over 210-million people attend crusades and over 2-million profess faith in Christ.

Rev. E. Anderson

THE SWANS AND THE GOOSE

My friend was on her feet with one unbelieving hand against her mouth

On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where we live, the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips. They curl into the smaller creeks and coves like tender palms.

The Canada geese know this, as do the fat white swans and the ducks that ride an inch above the waves ofChesapeake Bayas they skim their way into harbour. In the autumn they come home for the winter by the thousands.

In hunting season the air is filled with the sound of guns. The shores are scattered with blinds; the creeks and rivers with duck and geese decoys. The swans are a different matter entirely. Protected by law, they move towards the shores in a stately glide, their tall heads proud and unafraid. They lower their long necks deep into the water, where their strong beaks dig through the river bottoms for food. Between the arrogant swans and the prolific geese there is indifference, almost a disdain.

Once or twice each year, snow and sleet move into the area. When this happens, if the river is at its narrowest, or the creek shallow, there is a freeze that hardens the water to ice.

It was on such a morning near Oxford,Maryland, that a friend of mine set the breakfast table and poured the coffee beside the huge window that looked out from her home on theTredAvonRiver. Across the waters beyond the dock, snow laced the rim of the shore in white. For a moment she stood quietly, looking at what the night’s storm had painted.

Suddenly she leaned forward and peered close to the frosted window. “It really is!’ she cried aloud. There’s a goose out there. She reached to the bookcase and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Into their sights came the figure of a large Canada goose, very still, its wings folded tight to its sides, its feet frozen to the ice.

Then from the dark sky, white against its lack lustre, she saw a line of swans. They moved in their own singular formation, graceful, intrepid and free. They crossed from the west of the broad creek high above the house, moving steadily to the east.

As my friend watched, the leader swung to the right. Then the white string of birds became a white circle. It floated from the top of the sky downwards. At last, as easy as feathers coming to earth, the circle landed on the ice.

My friend was on her feet, with one unbelieving hand against her mouth. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, she feared that what life he still had might be pecked out by those great swan bills. Instead, amazingly, those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again, a deliberately as a pick swung over the head of a fisherman cutting a free space for his winter rod. It went on for a long time.

At last the goose was rimmed by a narrow margin of ice instead of the entire creek. The swans rose again, following the leader, and hovered in that circle, awaiting the results of their labours.

The goose’s head was lifted. Its body pulled. Then the goose was free and standing on the ice. He was moving his big, webbed feet slowly. The swans stayed in the air over him, watching.

Then as if he had cried, “I cannot fly four swans flew down around him. Their powerful beaks scraped the goose’s wing from top to bottom, scuttled under its wings and rode up its body, chipping off and melting the ice held in the feathers.

Slowly, as if testing, the goose spread its wings as far as they would go, brought them together, accordion like, and spread them again. When at last the wings reached their full span, the four swans took off and joined the hovering group. They resumed their eastward journey, in perfect, impersonal formation, to a secret destination.

Behind them, rising with incredible speed and joy, the goose moved into the sky. He followed them, flapping double time, until he caught up, until he joined the last of the line, like a small dark child at the end of a crack-the-whip of older boys.

My friend watched them until they disappeared over the tips of do furthest trees. Only then, did she realise that tears were running own her cheeks, and she had no idea as to how long she had been crying.

This is a true story. It happened. I do not try to interpret it. I just think of it in the bad moments, and from it comes a hopeful question: if so for birds, why not for us?

Dr. Francis Collins

‘THE EVIDENCE FOR JESUS WAS OVERWHELMING5

Top scientist finds faith through reading Lewis

Dr Francis Collins is recognised as one of the world’s greatest scientists. The former head of the Human Genome Project in America, he has been honoured for his lifetime contribution to human genetics research. However, Collins remains an enigma to some – notably those who embrace the sort of scientific atheism propounded by people like Richard Dawkins – because of his unabashed public testimony of his conversion from the atheism of his youth to the Christian faith. A significant step in Collins’ journey to faith was reading C S Lewis’ ‘Mere Christianity’ as he recounts: 

I did not grow up in a home where faith was practised. I was raised in a remarkable environment surrounded by theatre, music and the arts, but faith wasn’t really on the list of the things we talked about.

‘Hence by the time I was a PhD student at Yale I was an atheist. I had decided the only thing that mattered was mathematics and physics. As a scientist studying quantum mechanics and the like -1 became convinced that everything about the universe could be described by scientific equations.

‘However, when I changed to study medicine, the questions about death and dying – which up to that time had been rather hypothetical – became very real. You can’t be in that environment, sitting by the bedside of people who are facing the end of their lives, without it affecting you. I saw people leaning on their faith as a source of strength when everything else in life appeared to be crumbling around them.

‘In particular, I remember one afternoon a wonderful woman who was a patient of mine sharing her faith with me. She then turned and looked me in the eye and asked me, “What do you believe?” I replied I didn’t really believe anything of what she’d said, but it felt very thin. Now that bothered me because it made me aware that I’d made a decision about faith that a scientist should never make – I’d become an atheist without considering the evidence.

‘Being an atheist was convenient – not being answerable to anyone. It meant I could be surrounded by lots of temptations without having to worry too much about the consequences!

‘However, I realised that, among the important questions of life, the most important was whether there was a God who cares about us. So although I was still convinced at that time that atheism was correct, I went about trying to learn something about the faiths of the world. I got very confused until one day someone gave me a copy of a book by a fellow intellectual who’d trodden the same sort of path: ‘Mere Christianity’ by CS Lewis.

‘By the time I’d read the first chapter, all my arguments about the irrationality of faith lay in ruins. I realised my own conclusions had been those of a schoolboy rather than someone who’d given the matter serious consideration. That was very unsettling and I spent the next two years trying to run away from that conclusion.

‘Over the course of time, however, I became convinced that, just based on pure logic, it was more reasonable to believe in God than not to. But I also became very aware that you don’t get all the way to faith on pure logic – you have to make a personal decision. After many considerations about what kind of faith might appeal to me, the person of Jesus Christ loomed ever larger as I realised this was a person quite unlike any other. This was not just a man who claimed to know God – this was a man who claimed to be God.

I knew by now that God was in search of me, not just me in search of God, so after talking to many other Christians I knew -including scientists and doctors who I’m glad God put in my path – I ultimately felt that this was an irresistible conclusion. The historical evidence for Jesus Christ was overwhelming and the desire to give my life to him finally culminated on an afternoon hiking in theCascade Mountains. Here, surrounded by beautiful scenery, I could no longer resist, so I fell on my knees and gave my life to Christ.

‘Of course, when I say I am a Christian, it surprises people, because they assume that scientists would find it difficult to have co-existing within them a faith in a personal God. But to me, that is the unifying principle of who I am. As I have said, it’s not a faith I grew up with but it’s one I acquired at the age of 27 through a series of logical explorations as to whether or not belief in God is something that makes sense.

‘If it doesn’t make sense, then I would not be able to do it. But after looking at those issues, I find absolutely no conflict between being a scientist who’s insistent on being shown the data before I will accept any conclusions, and being a person who has a strong belief in a personal God. To me, science and faith are areas of human existence which overlap in some ways, but basically look at the world in different fashions.

‘For me, as a scientist, to be able to blend those things together, so a new discovery takes on some eternal significance, is really gratifying and something that I would never want to be without. 

Rev. Paddy and Jennike Verver

Paddy held down various jobs before the call to Ministry, including managing a steak-house, selling domestic paving and working as a consultant for a major Bank. Paddy is a great teacher and revelator of the word of God, bringing ‘life application’ teaching on Sundays.

He is also involved in teaching Life Skills in various organisations in the city. He loves to read, watch movies, watch sport (rugby being the favourite), computer gaming, kayaking and suntanning (something which he does not get enough of since living in theUK).

He claims that one of the best places to be is standing behind the ‘braai’ (BBQ) grilling a nice piece of rump steak.

Jennike qualified and worked in accountancy, taxation and auditing in South Africa, before joining Paddy in full-time ministry about ten years ago. She has discovered her creative side and now does everything but accountancy . . . she does the creative stuff at church (website/media/adverts), the Women’s ministry and a whole lot of other everyday things. She loves reading, photography, a good movie with a slab of chocolate (yum-yum), most things creative and considers herself to be an ‘all rounder’. She also loves spending time with the 3 men in her life – her husband and 2 sons. Paddy and Jennike have 2 sons aged 11 and 14 who bring great joy to their lives and certainly make life challenging, fun, loud and messy!

BACKGROUND

Eternity Christian Centre Norwich is a vibrant and contemporary church of all ages and nationalities on the western fringes of the ‘FineCity’ of Norwich. If you are looking for a church that is relevant, inspiring (and absolutely not boring!) or if you have never been to church and are wondering where to start…then look no further! We love God, we love life and we can’t wait to meet you.

We have two Sunday meetings as well as other weekly church events which run from time to time. We also have various community clubs and events that run during the week and school holidays. Explore this website for further details.

Our Senior Pastors, Paddy and Jennike Venner, have been with us since July 2004, having previously pastored 2 churches in Cape Town, South Africa. They married in 1992 and have 2 sons.

In 2004 they had a clear call from God to sell up everything and move to theUnited Kingdom. This major journey of faith helped prepare them for the challenges, trials and joys of living in a new nation and running a church within a different culture. Paddy and Jennike have a passion to see lives transformed by Jesus . . . and changed forever…. to reach the lost and hurting, to teach them the ways of God so that they will in turn impact their world . . . and so the cycle will continue.

Rev. E. Anderson

FAITHFUL ATTENDANCE

A pastor was once asked to define “Faithful Attendance at Worship,” and this was his reply: All that I ask is that we apply the same standards of faithfulness to our church activities that we would in other areas of our life. That doesn’t seem too much to ask. The church, after all, is concerned about faithfulness. Consider these examples:

If your car started one out of three times, would you consider it faithful? If the paperboy skipped Monday and Thursdays, would they be missed? If you didn’t show up at work two or three times a month, would your boss call you faithful? If your refrigerator quit a day now and then, would you excuse it and say, “Oh, well, it works most of the time.” If your water heater greets you with cold water one or two mornings a week while you were in the shower, would it be faithful? If you miss a couple of mortgage payments in a year’s time, would your mortgage holder say, “Oh, well, ten out of twelve isn’t bad”? If you miss worship and attend meetings only often enough to show you’re interested but not often enough to get involved, are you faithful?

Rev. E. Anderson

The Living God

“But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.” -  Psalm 115:4

Are we following a blind god? Are we talking to a deaf god? Are we following a god without feet, thinking that we are going somewhere? Are we lulled by the illusion of progress? We must guard against letting the work of our hands become the object of our worship. The work of our hands is an offering to the true God— not a god in and of itself.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a living God. He has a mouth and a voice. When He spoke, the world came into being. At the very sound of His voice, the earth was created. When He speaks, the mountains tremble and the oceans roar. He whispers in a still, small voice, and our hearts are satisfied, filled with His deep secrets.

God has eyes. He sees us. He searches for us as He did for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He sees beyond what human eyes can see. He is not impressed with outward appearances. He is not intimidated by strength or size. His piercing gaze sees straight to the heart. He sees our innermost thoughts and senses our subde attitudes.

God has ears. When we cry out to Him, He hears and answers. He heard the cries ofIsraelin bondage. He listens to our prayers. He hears us.

God has hands. With them He fashioned us in the womb. He holds the uni­verse in the palm of His hand. He shelters us under His wing. With one wave of His hand, all His enemies are vanquished. His hands held Him in place on the cross, pierced with nails, fashioned by the work of our hands.

We follow a living God Who is present and active. Where do you see Him at work? You would do well to join Him there.