Dear friends,
Since the last Bethel Messenger, we have been visited by our friends from America and Korea in the middle of June. Included in the messenger is a video which they made of their trip, which is well worth watching.
The visit from our friends was a special time of fellowship. The trip took place over four days, and each day had a unique focus: Thursday was a day focused on mission, with the team taking part in school assemblies in two local schools, and then sharing the gospel on the streets of Cardiff, working closely with the Open Air Mission.
On Friday, we took them to visit two key Christian Heritage sites in Wales. First, we visited Bethlehem Evangelical Church in Port Talbot, which was the first pulpit that Rev. Martyn Lloyd-Jones occupied, starting in 1926. We heard about his burden for revival and the blessing that the Lord visited upon them over his eleven years of ministry there. We also visited Hanover Chapel, which has a special place in the hearts of Korean Christians. This was the home chapel of Robert Jermain Thomas, who died as a martyr in his attempts to take the gospel from China into the Korean Peninsula.
On Saturday we enjoyed a mini-conference, with excellent addresses by Pastor Kenneth and Pastor Emerson on evangelism, followed by some good food. And then on Sunday, we had a fabulous Sunday, with the building filled with worshippers from all over the world.
I want to say a big "thank-you" to all who were involved in this visit. Once again, the people of Bethel pulled together to make our guests feel incredibly welcome. May the Lord bless you for all your service and kindness.
Every blessing,
Andrew
You can find a full list of sermon recordings here:
How many Christians are there in Malaysia?
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. There are around 3.1 million Christians – just over nine per cent of the country’s 33.6 million population.
How are Christians persecuted in Malaysia?
Every ethnic Malay is assumed to be Muslim, as defined by the Malaysian constitution. This means that any ethnic Malay who converts to Christianity is at risk of breaking the law and being punished under Sharia (Islamic law). These converts can also face incredible pressure from their families and the broader community. Under Sharia, women and girls are particularly vulnerable, with heavy restrictions in marriage, divorce and child guardianship. Those who convert can be threatened with violence.
The country’s political instability – there have been four prime ministers since 2018 – has led to more political parties trying to appeal to conservative Islamic voters. A conservative Islamic political party has made gains at both the local and national levels, and it is now the largest party though it’s not in power. Party leaders regularly make statements of opposition against religious and ethnic minorities, including Christians. Even historic Christian denominations or nonprofits are watched by authorities, and any group seen as being more open to evangelism is at risk for official interference.
What’s life like for Christians in Malaysia?
Wafa is not from Malaysia’s Muslim majority. Her background is an indigenous community, where most people practise ancestor worship, paganism and even black magic. Wafa’s family are an anomaly in this community: they are Christians. While this group doesn’t experience the same persecution from the government as Christians from a Muslim background, there is a lot of pressure from their neighbours to follow the indigenous faith. The influence of the community is strong and can push people away from the faith and into ancestor worship.
How can I help Christians in North Malaysia?
Please keep praying for your brothers and sisters in Malaysia. Your gifts and prayers make an enormous difference to those following Jesus no matter the cost.
During June we were visited by members of Washington Immanuel Presbyterian Church and friends from South Korea. Below is a brief video and some images from their trip to the UK.
7 The last worD
I remember as a child being told that when writing an essay you had to begin with a punch and end with a punch!
If we want to gain people’s attention to something which we are going to say or write, we often begin with an unusual or striking thought or illustration which we hope will first grab and then retain their interest.
Similarly, when we come to the end of what we have to say we try to leave people with something memorable, something which will stay with them when we have finished.
The book of Ruth is a gripping and delightful story which teaches important lessons which still speak to us today. It opens with a crisis (a famine) which leads to emigration, weddings and funerals, sorrow and compassion and then focuses upon God’s grace to a Moabite widow and an Israelite widow.
But when we come to the end of the book we may feel something of a let down when we read a list of names, which ends with the words “Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David“ – hardly what you would think of as a punchline! But let’s look at it a little more closely.
Following the refusal by the closest family relative to take on responsibility for marrying Ruth, the wealthy landowner Boaz has himself agreed to marry her. And so Naomi, Ruth’s widowed mother-in-law, has the joy of seeing a child born to the couple. His name is Obed. The news of this happy event spreads rapidly in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem.
The child is born into a home where he is loved and where God is worshipped and obeyed. The local women express the hope that the child will become famous in Israel.
Well, on the face of it we might be forgiven for thinking that their wish was not really fulfilled. The name of Obed is hardly known to any but the most careful Bible students. It means servant, and that is about all that we know about him.
But the local women also express the hope that this baby will become “a restorer of life”, and it is this which gives a clue to something a little deeper.
When baby Obed had grown to adult years he in time became a father, with a son called Jesse who in course of time fathered a large number of children, the youngest of whom was named David. A highly gifted man who first worked as a shepherd, he would eventually become the nation’s second and greatest king. Though his life was stained by serious public sin, he was at heart a godly man who gave us the Bible’s wonderful hymn book, the Psalms.
From David would come a whole line of kings, which ended several hundred years later when the children of Israel were punished for their national sins and taken into captivity in Babylon. Then followed several centuries of obscurity by which time the nation of Israel had come under Persian, Greek and finally Roman rule.
It was when Caesar Augustus ruled much of the known world that a descendant was born form this line. His name was Joseph. He had become pledged to marry a young woman called Mary. Both Joseph and Mary were to receive remarkable communications from heaven, telling them that Mary would become the mother of a baby who would Himself become the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ.
So wonderful is God’s grace and so great His control over history that from a widowed Moabitess who, under the laws which God Himself had given to Israel at the time, was not even allowed to join in the worship of God’s people, would come the Saviour of the world.
Every Christian knows and proves that their life is a story of God’s grace from beginning to end. Whether we are born with great natural gifts or whether we are insignificant nobodies, He sets His love upon us and brings us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we have fallen into the depths of sin or lived a life which to other people appears to be respectable, His Holy Spirit has taught us that we are guilty sinners for whom there is no hope except through the Cross of the Lord Jesus.
Whether we are young like Ruth or old like Naomi He cares for us. Whether we are wealthy and significant like Boaz or destitute like Ruth he gives us His wonderful love.
Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, black or white, healthy or sick, young or old, rich or poor, you have one great need - to come to know the forgiveness of your sins in Jesus Christ.
And if Jesus Christ becomes your Saviour He will also be the King of your life. The book of Ruth opens with the name of a man called Elimelech, the husband of Naomi. That name means “my God is king”. In many ways Elimelech like many a “Grace” or a “Christian” does not seem to have lived up to his name.
The book also ends with a name – that of Israel’s greatest king, David. Even he was a deeply flawed man, but from him came the King of kings, the one who has created the universe, who would come at a point in time to this earth, who would at His birth draw wise men from the east to His modest birthplace; who would prove His kingship in every word which He spoke and every deed which He did and who would be willing to endure the agonies of crucifixion to save all who trust in Him from their sins.
The days in which Naomi, Boaz and Ruth lived in Israel were dark days. They were days when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”. But it was in such days that God visited His people so that there were some who lived godly lives and experienced the grace of God.
We are living in dark days in our nation. Evil is being called good, and good evil. Laws which were based on the Bible are being systematically and deliberately smashed. The greatest sin in the eyes of many of our leaders is to believe and say that the Bible is true from cover to cover. The “stars” in our land are entertainers, sports personalities, actors. Authority is collapsing, the family is disintegrating, schools are struggling, police are overwhelmed. And people are indeed deciding what is right and what is wrong by their own thoughts.
But the grace of God is still at work. He is able and willing to do for you what he did for Ruth and has done for millions upon millions of sinful men and women. Turn to Him as your Saviour and King and you and your life will truly be blessed and your future after death will be an eternally safe and happy one.
Rev. Martin Hagget is a retired minister living in Coedpoeth, near Wrexham.