20,000th Salvation Response
By Ken Horn | May 5, 2008
Just moments ago, the TPE reached a milestone. Today’s mail held the 20,000th salvation response we have received since 1997 when we began including the ABCs of Salvation in every issue.
All 20,000 have been sent material to help them in their new Christian lives, and local churches have been contacted to do follow-up. Another letter in today’s mail was from a pastor in a small town in Oregon who followed up on a new convert whose information we had sent him. He reported that the new convert and her husband were attending every Sunday and Wednesday and eagerly growing in the Lord.
For everyone on the staff of this magazine this is the most important result we have. And at 10 a.m. this morning, we will gather as we do every Monday morning and pray for all those who sent us salvation responses the previous week.
Publishing a Christian magazine is not just about producing a good publication; it’s about reaching souls. We rejoice that TPE has been able to have a part in that.
Topics: salvation | No Comments »
The Influence of a Single Life
By Ken Horn | April 30, 2008
My friend Chaplain Scott McChrystal, COL, USA Ret., director of the military side of Assemblies of God Chaplaincy Ministries, just sent the following article out in his Chaplaincy Newsletter. Scott spent seven years as senior chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
A Letter from Christ
By Scott McChrystal
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.” 2 Corinthians 3:2
In a world containing almost six billion people, often our tendency is to underestimate the influence of a single life. Last week provided me a vivid reminder of this truth.
On Thursday, I received news that First Lieutenant Tim Cunningham died in Iraq on April 23. He was serving with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The death of this 26-year-old infantry officer from Texas has left my family and me stunned. The reason is simple. In the three years that we knew him at West Point, he had a profound impact on the McChrystal family, on the staff and faculty, and on hundreds of his fellow cadets.
Tim entered West Point in the summer of 2002, just one month after his older brother, John David, had graduated from the same institution. I met him during Cadet Basic Training and quickly saw Tim as a most impressive and caring young man. I also noted that he signed up to teach children’s Sunday School, an activity he did all four years at West Point. During two of those years, one of his Sunday School students was our youngest son, Josh. Josh is now a cadet at West Point and fondly remembers the genuine interest that Tim had shown in him. Tim not only taught Josh about Jesus; he modeled the Christian life in a quiet and credible fashion. Tim truly loved Josh, and Josh knew it. Josh had emailed back and forth with Tim only days before Tim’s death.
It’s appropriate for people to say nice things about a person who has died, particularly a young patriot who gave his life for defense of his country. It’s even better when the things which are said are true. In Tim’s case, they are. Rev. Alfred Perry of the First Baptist Church in Rosharon, Texas, where Tim’s father is music minister, said this: “He was the type of young man who makes you proud to be an American.” I couldn’t agree more.
Reverend Cynthia Lindenmeyer, a chaplain at West Point during Tim’s cadet years, called me over the weekend and told me she will be presiding at Tim’s funeral. She also told me something else. On the day following Tim’s death, she received a birthday card from Tim. Tim was like that — up until the day he died.
Tim was a letter from Christ, known and read by everybody. I believe the same is true about each of you.
Topics: U.S. Missions, Christian living | No Comments »
Ukraine: 22 Years Since Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
By Ken Horn | April 26, 2008
Evangelical Theological Seminary in Kiev, Ukraine
The AP reported today:
Dozens of mourners gathered in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday to mark 22 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Holding candles and portraits of relatives, the mourners laid flowers at a memorial to victims of the accident.
Reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl, in what is now northern Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation over a large swath of the former Soviet Union and much of northern Europe in the world’s worst nuclear accident. An area roughly half the size of Italy was contaminated, forcing the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people.
President Viktor Yushchenko and other top officials prayed and lit candles before dawn Saturday to mark the precise time the reactor exploded.
(Read the full story.)
I was in the Soviet Union in 1986 just 2 months after Chernobyl and it was impacting lives significantly, especially those who were sent to be a part of the cleanup. Back then there were no public prayers. The spiritual breakthrough there since the fall of the Soviet Union has been amazing.
I was in Ukraine in 2006 to report what God was doing there. Read my article “Ukraine: The Bible belt of the CIS” for an encouraging report.
Topics: Photos by Ken, prayer, World Missions Edition, WME, missions, news | No Comments »
Tragic Death of Woman and Newborn Denied Medical Aid
By Ken Horn | April 25, 2008
AP reported today:
An Indian woman and her newborn died Wednesday from a lack of medical treatment because she is considered an “untouchable” in her country, officials said.
Maya Devi, 28, gave birth outside of the maternity wing of Kanpur Medical College in northern Uttar Pradesh state. The baby boy died within minutes of his birth, French news agency AFP reported.
…
Several doctors, including the hospital’s chief medical superintendent, had refused to touch her or provide medical care as she delivered her baby, the Press Trust of India reported.
This barbaric practice shows why the love of God is so needed in the world. Even in an advanced profession like medicine, in some parts of the world superstition and discrimination cause horrendous problems, like the death of these two who were contemptible to those who could have saved them, but precious to God.
Topics: news | No Comments »
In the News: Praying to the Dead
By Ken Horn | April 24, 2008
The AP reported today from San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy:
The body of Padre Pio, a hugely popular Italian saint, goes on public display Thursday in a southern Italian town where thousands have gathered to pray to the mystic monk….
This kind of woeful superstition and benighted religion persists in much of the world. Unfortunately, this is in the name of Christianity. But it is not true Christianity.
Last year, when my wife, Peggy, and I were with missionaries Steve and Patti Gray in Padua, Italy, we saw this same macabre behavior, people praying to Saint Anthony at displays of his body parts, including his tongue. You can’t find this in the Bible.
Read the AP story here.
My article begins this way:
They gather outside Padua’s bars and in piazzas, tippling the latest trendy drink of the student culture. It’s called spritz, and if you want to be in, you’ve got one in your hand.
Because Padua, Italy, is only 15 minutes by train from Venice, one of the world’s most compelling tourist sites, it is often overlooked. But Padua is compelling in its own right. Students are drawn to the 800-year-old University of Padua where Galileo taught; religious pilgrims to the Basilica of St. Anthony; and travelers-in-the-know to the city’s history, architecture, art, literature (Padua is the setting of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew), and more.
The city was heavily bombed during World War II, leading to a sometimes bizarre intermingling of ancient and modern architecture. This same juxtaposition exists in the city’s spiritual core where the modern — secularism — vies with the ancient — superstition.
Read the full article: ICF Padua: Confronting secularism and superstition in northern Italy.
Read the pdf version with photos.
Topics: Italy, prayer, World Missions Edition, WME, Christian living, missions, Bible | No Comments »
The Pope and the ACLU
By Ken Horn | April 19, 2008
It was my privilege to interview Pat Boone a few years ago for TPE. Boone has some interesting thoughts on why the ACLU didn’t complain about all the attention shown the Pope on his current visit to the U.S. Read “ACLU: Tear down this wall!”
Topics: news | No Comments »
God’s Creation in Bloom
By Ken Horn | April 18, 2008
Spring is here. What a wonderful time for creation watchers to observe God’s wonders. I never fail to thrill at His handiwork.
Topics: Photos by Ken | No Comments »
Out-of-Wedlock Mom-Starlets Make Poor Role Models
By Ken Horn | April 16, 2008
Bravo for the Catholic League!
Christians—and all moral people—need to follow the lead of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in decrying the state of affairs that sees numerous female stars bearing children out of wedlock.
They rightly call for young people to not make them role models. “We encourage young people not to look up to these Hollywood starlets as role models,” a spokeswoman said.
Unfortunately, most young people will have a tendency to admire out-of-control starlets regardless of what moral people say.
Hollywood has always had such goings on. But fear of a disapproving fan base kept them from airing their dirty laundry. Today, anything goes. And young people—and their families—are paying a high price.
Topics: news | No Comments »
In the News Today
By Ken Horn | April 16, 2008
Of interest to Christians today:
Religion will figure in Democratic debate in PA tonight.
Pope turns 81 at the White House.
Ongoing story of Texas polygamist sect.
Topics: news | No Comments »
Salvation Coupon Bears 10 Signatures
By Ken Horn | April 15, 2008
A salvation coupon bearing the individual signatures of 10 female inmates was received today in the TPE office. We rejoice at such mail. All 10 will receive a booklet with scripture and direction for living the Christian life.
Getting TPE behind bars continues to be one of the best uses of the magazine.
Topics: Key Bearers, salvation | No Comments »
