From The Trumpet Mouthpiece

These past two weeks in Ukraine were very fruitful. Each time we return to Zhytomyr we see the fruits of our labors from years before. The church at Godzinka began in 1998 and was forced to meet on the streets for two years because no one wanted to invite Baptist Christians to worship in their homes. We first went to that area of Ukraine in 2002 after Viktor Kovba came to Belarus to attend the Bible Institute there. By 2001, the church at Godzinka had been provided their own house for public worship. We conducted a Bible institute for a new group of potential church planters that year. Since then we have seen 16 other churches begun under the leadership of these godly men.

I remember a time when we visited those villages and could hardly find a believer. Today, there are many believers. However, there is still much work that needs to be done. It is estimated in the city of Zhytomyr that believers make up less than one and a half percent.

Nevertheless, I am greatly encouraged to see Ukrainian believers stepping up to the plate to work with us. It seems to me that the goal of missions is to develope the indiginous

Church. For instance, we had two Christian Ukrainian doctors working with us in the medical clinic. There were Ukarinians who helped greet those who came to the clinic and others are organized to minister to and visit with those unbelievers who registered as patients. The announcement of the medical clinic was not made in the church but to unbelievers. Therefore, most of those who came were unbelievers. The church is poised to minister to those people in the months and years to come

That may seem like a small thing to many American Christians who are in churches where evangelism and visitation have been practiced for years. I can remember a time when such outreach was unlawful in the Soviet bloc and men risked their very lives even to offer a Bible to another person. When we went to Russia in 1991 shortly after the fall of Communism believers were fearful for us when we went to the streets with the gospel. Today, they themselves are going forth with the message of Christ.

I am also encouraged by the vision of the pastors in the Zhytomyr. Two years ago I challenged the church planters there to plant churches in the heart of the major cities. Through the years we have taught the Missionary Strategies of the Apostle Paul. It was Paul’s custom to go into the major cities like Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens and Corinth and seek to establish a strong church there. From there he would labor to take the gospel to the surrounding cities and countryside. Paul was at Ephesus for three years. During those years the Bible records that all Asia heard the gospel. But Paul didn’t go to “all Asia.”. He himself said the believers of Colosse and

Laodicia had not seen his face. Rather, he planted a church in Ephesus and from that church the gospel went forth to the regions beyond.

In addition to planting 16 churches in the oblast, the church planters in Zhytomyr have established 16 Bible Study groups across Zhytomyr City. One ladies Bible Study group meets every Wednesday night from 9:00 - 11:00 PM. Most of those ladies work during the day. Some of them have to milk cows in the afternoon and have dinner ready for their family. Several of them have husbands who are not believers who would resent it if they went to a Bible study when they expected dinner to be ready. These ladies felt the best time for them to come to Bible Study would be Wednesday night at 9 PM. When these Bible study groups reach an average attendance of fifteen they seek to establish a new study group. They are seeing encouraging growth through these small groups.

Though there are two churches very near the city, if the people in those Bible Study groups went to those churches there would not be room. In fact, the churches are already full

They hope to establish a central church in the area where all these people can come. We are attempting to help them plant a new church which can be enlarged to eventually seat one thousand.

Viktor Kovba will be the senior pastor of that church. I want to share with you, my readers, the vision of this one man for the next ten years.

In December, Viktor sought to articulate in writing the vision he felt the Lord had given him for the next ten years. I realize much can be lost in translation, but I think you will be deeply moved as I was to see the vision our wonderful Lord has placed in the heart of this godly pastor. He writes:

VISION OF THE MISSIONARY CHURCH OF GREAT COMMISSION

1. It is a dream to have a place where offended, depressed, disappointed and confused prople could be able to find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness and exhortation.

2. It is a dream to share the good news of Jesus Christ to thousands of citizens of our town, region and all Ukraine

3. It is a dream to invite ten thousand members into the fellowship of our church family to love each other, to learn, laugh and live in unity.

4. It is a dream to help people reach their spiritual maturity with the help of Bible study, small groups, seminars and a Bible school open to all the people.

5. It is a dream to equip every believer for important and meaningful ministry helping them to discover their gifts and talents given by God.

6. It is a dream to send hundreds of professional missionaries around the world, and get every member of the church ready for fulfilling his own life field.

7. It is a dream to send members of our church into the short term missionary trips to all continents of the earth.

8. It is a dream to start at least one new daughter church once a year.

9. It is a dream to register officially our 4.5 acres of land for building and to build a regional church and missilonary center for the whole Ukraine with beautiful but plain construction where there would be a place to worship for at least 1,000 people, a center for exhortative and psychological help and prayer, classrooms for Bible and leadership study, for church members and also rooms for leasure time and sports.

TODAY I proclaim with full confidence that these dreams will come true. Why? Because they are inspired by God Himself.

Pastor Viktor Kovba

Zhytomyr,

December, 2006.

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This has been a good week. We arrived Tuesday morning with some of our luggage missing. Delta has located and brought to us all luggage except one duffel bag that had nothing but medical supplies in it. All of the prescription drugs are here but that bag had 50 pounds of over-the-counter meds, the kind of supplies we need a lot of.

Zhytomyr is only 170 miles from Chernobyl where the nuclear meltdown occurred in 1986. That was twenty years ago but radiation levels are still higher here than normal. It is not a problem for those of us who are here for a short time but for the people who live here for years it is frightening. Among other things it devastates their immune systems. They know the effects of radiation deplete their bodies in so many ways. Consequently, they want things like vitamins. If you ask the doctors what these people need they will tell you the kind of medicines needed most. But if you ask the people themselves what they need most, the first word out of their mouth is, “Vitamins.”. Most of the items in the duffel bag are thinks like vitamins aspirin, Tylenol and simple things like that. I suspect the duffel bag was stolen en route. It would be easy for someone to realize there were drugs in the bag It has been almost a week and Delta has not found it. I pray the bag will yet be found and those meds might be used as they were intended.

The medical clinic was opened on Thursday and will continue through Friday of next week. We have already had a good response from the people. One family came yesterday with their small daughter to see our doctors. The father is a policeman in Zhytomyr. They went to the hospital yesterday morning and they were not able to meet the need. The hospital is completely across town from the medical clinic. A lady at the hospital told them, “Last year my daughter was sick with the same problem your daughter has. Some American doctors were here and they treated my daughter. She hasn’t had the problem since. I think the American doctors are here again. They are treating people in a tent across town in Kroshnya.” That couple drove all over the Kroshnya area until they found the tent and our doctors ministered to their daughter. The word has spread about that ministry.

That is exciting to me. Our goal has not merely been to minister to physical needs but to use that as a means to say to this city that there is a church here to minister to the spiritual needs of the prople. It is through ministry and not through advertising that a church earns the right to be heard.

Today we went to a soccer game where the “Brothers” in the churches have put together a group of men who want the opportunity to play the game again even though they are not school age. Over half of the men who play are unbelievers. The Christian brothers decided to do this in effort to establish relations with unbelievers and seek to win them. We visited in the home of one of the men on the team last night and had a very good visit. At least two of the men who played on the teams today have promised to be at the church in the morning. These Christian men meet to play soccer for three hours every Saturday. If we are to have a witness to lost people and expect to be heard it is imperative that we get involved in their lives. Pray for this outreach to men. Many churches in America seek to win children and women but fall dreadfully short when it comes to evangelizing the heads of the household. Paul said to the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved AND THY HOUSE.” That promise was given to a man, to the head of the household. The Bible records, “they spake unto him the word of the Lord AND TO ALL THAT WERE IN HIS HOUSE.”. What was the result? The Bible says, “He rejoiced, believing in God WITH ALL HIS HOUSE.” (Acts 16:31-34). If we intend to reach families for Christ we must take seriously the challenge to reach men. These Ukrainian pastors are serious about reaching men.

Tomorrow our team will go in different directions to serve in seven churches that have been started in the past five years. All of these churches were started when our people came to minister alongside these church planters. All of these pastors attended the Bible Institute and I had the blessed privilege of teaching theology to all of them. I am astounded to see what God has done here in such a short time. All of these churches started small and their growth was slow but steady. Today there is a good number of believers in the area. I remember a time here when it was not easy to even find one believer in these towns. When American churches are started we want everything to be big from the beginning. Here, if the begin a Bible study group and five people come, they rejoice and say, “God gave us five people last night.”. In America, if that happened American pastors would say, “It was terrible. We only had five people last night.”. But these churches that start small and slowly overcome the obstacles usually become the strongest churches. As someone said, “it takes God four weeks to grow a squash and twenty years to grow an oak. Which one do you want to be.”

Pray for these churches and the pastors here. Pray for our team as they will be leading in the Sunday morning services tomorrow.

There is so much happening here. I will write often this next week to tell of what God is doing in our midst.

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As most of you know, I am in Ukraine with a dedicated team of twenty mission minded Christians from across North Georgia and Alabama. Traveling with us are:

Dr. Edwin and Martha Hayes, Joyce Brown, Dr. Ben Gomez: First Baptist Church, Cullman, Al.

Pastor Lynn Sharpton, Larry Alverson, Brian Norris: New Macedonia Baptist Church, Albertville, Al.

Jacky and Lilly Puckett, Weleska Baptist church, Weleska Ga.

Pastor Harold Blackstock: First Baptist, Rasaca, Ga.

Pastor Mark Cosby and Jeff Ratliff: Enon Baptist, Rome, Ga.

Bill Fricks: Sherwood Forest Baptist, Rome, Ga.

Larry and Sandy Draper, West Rome Baptist, Rome, Ga.

Lisa Raimey, Janice McFarland, Corrie, Cheryl White, Carol Rose: Pickets Mill Baptist, Douglasville, Ga.

We left Atlanta Monday at 9:30 AM. We arrived in Ukraine Tuesday morning at 9:00.

This trip is unique in several ways. This is the 28th time I have gone into the former Soviet Union. This year we are seeking to begin a strong work in a city of 350,000. Today we began a medical clinic that will continue through Friday of next week. There is no building on the property. We have erected a large tent that was provided by Shorter Ave Baptist Church in Rome.

This year we have more Ukrainians working with us than ever before. For instance, we have three doctors. Two are from Zhytomyr itself. I wanted to set up two groups of greeters. The first will greet them in genuine love as they come, give them water and bring them to the nurses. The other group will greet them as they leave, give them a Christian witness and literature and pray with them before they go. This year we will have Ukrainian Christians to do that. I will meet with them in the morning to discuss the best way they can minister to their people. We have never had so many Ukrainian Christians to partner with us in this way. I remember when we preached in this area just a few years ago and could hardly find a genuine believer, when the church had been forced to worship underground so long they were fearful of taking the gospel into the public arena.

As for the strategy to take the gospel to the city itself; we are attempting something new there too. The pastors who were trained in the Bible Institute and have gone out to plant churches have determined that their ministries are much more effective if they work together as a team. They not only pastor their own congregations but they work as a team to reach the city itself. They have established Bible study groups in eleven sectors of Zhytomyr. These men work together in that effort. Most of the Bible studies are in homes. They are seeking to reach the city for Christ through small Bible study groups.

When I was in the pastorate I always believed the best way to grow a church was through Bible study groups, particularly through the Sunday School. Whenever a class reached a certain size we would seek to create two classes. I believe there is much that pleases God when his people meet together to study God’s Word.

That is basically what they are doing here except they are taking the Bible classes to the neighborhoods. They meet in homes. Last night Tanya Kovba, the wife of one of our church planters, led a weekly Bible study with a group of about 12-15 ladies. They meet at 9:00 PM and usually continue to 11:00 PM. Many of the ladies work- they have cows to milk in late afternoon and then have supper prepared. They felt that was the best time for them to meet. Last night they had three new ladies to attend the study. When a Bible study group reaches about 15-20 they seek to start two groups and keep growing as God is pleased to bless their efforts. For the next two weeks our people will be working together with them, leading Bible studies in homes and seeking to share Christ at every opportunity.

Working alongside the Ukrainian believers is the heart of what we want to do. In the mornings the church planters are working to help build a new building for the seminary. Our men are working with them in building that building in the morning. Then in the afternoon and evening we plan to go with them to help conduct the home Bible studies.

In the next two weeks I hope to share with you, my readers, what God is doing here. Please pray for this team and for the Ukrainian believers who are working with us.

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Today marked the end of a generation of great preachers with the funeral of Dr. Lee Roberson who pastored Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga for about fifty years.  At 97 years of age, He was the last of his generation of great preachers. I remember hearing Dr. Roberson’s daily radio broadcast which always began with him quoting Romans 1:16:  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  Paul doesn’t say the gospel is about the power of God but that it is the power of God. 

The church today has lost her confidence in the power of the gospel.  I am convinced the average church member doesn’t know what I mean by that. There is a spirit of pessimism in the church today.  It is the idea that the church can never prosper if all we have is the gospel; that men will not come to church if the only attraction is God.  The church is afraid of the world;  afraid they will lose their young people unless they can offer them everything the world offers them.  Where is there today a church, or a pastor, that honestly believes the gospel will prevail over the dogmas of this world.  I still believe there will come a day when Communism everywhere will fall before the power of the gospel; when in countries like Nepal the false religions of Hinduism and Buddhism will fail;  when Islam, the fastest growing religion in America, will crumble in on itself; when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters that cover the sea.” 

The history of revival should teach us that even in the midst of prevailing evil it is possible for the Spirit of God to raise up His church.  When John Wesley arrived in Newcastle in May 1742 he wrote, “I was surprised: so much drunkenness, cursing and swearing (even from the mouths of little children) do I never remember to have seen or heard before in so small a compass of time.  Surely this place is ripe for Him who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”  Yet, when God moved on the scene the Great Awakening was born.  The gospel of grace does not need promising conditions to make its reception a certainty.  “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him” (Isa 59:10). 

Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”  It is interesting that Paul introduced that verse with a negative.  This was a form of speech the Greek language often used to stress something by stating negatively the very opposite.   Paul said to the centurion, “I am a citizen of no mean city.”   What he meant was that Tarsus was a great city. 

But why would Paul use the negative expression (I am not ashamed) when he could just as easily have said, “I am proud of the gospel of Christ.”  I think it was because there were those who were ashamed of the gospel.  I think even Timothy was tempted to be ashamed of the gospel.   Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the ministry, “God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  Then he added, “Therefore BE NOT ASHAMED of the testimony of our Lord nor of me His prisoner” (2 Tim 1:7-8).  In verse 16 he mentioned Onesiphorus “who oft refreshed me and was NOT ASHAMED of my bonds.”  In verse 12 he said, “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed.” 

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.  When Paul wrote these words he was planning to go to Rome. He said, “As much as in me is,  I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Rom 1:15-16).  The greatest, most powerful men in the world were in Rome.  He hoped to preach to the emperor.  No matter who he preached to, Paul always preached with confidence.   He was not ashamed.

Paul said the gospel is the power of God.  It is God’s salvation; God’s way of salvation.  When Paul preached he didn’t tell people how they could save themselves.  The gospel is an announcement of what God has done to save us.   God gave the law and men were required to keep it perfectly.   But when man sinned he became a slave to sin.   He cannot keep God’s law.  The gospel never tells us what we can do to save ourselves.  It tells us that God has provided for our salvation.  The Bible is not a book of moral teaching that tells us how we can make ourselves acceptable to God.  It is an announcement that salvation is of the Lord.   It was God who appeared to Adam and Eve in the garden; God who called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees; God who raised up the prophets; God who in the fullness of time sent His Son into the world to redeem those who were under the law. 

This gospel of God is the power of God.  If the gospel were telling us what we have to do, the power would be in ourselves, not of God.  Rather, it is God’s power in us.  The Jews were depending on their own goodness: they thought the law could save, but the law does not have the power to save.  But God accomplished “what the law could not do … by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin” (Rom 8:4).  Paul said, “I have a gospel that works.  It is the power of God and it is certain!”  “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”  (Rom 11:33).

This gospel is the power of God “to everyone that believes”.  There is no such thing as a person being too great a sinner to be saved.  There is no difference in the sight of God between a murderer and the most moral man in town.  They are both equally lost.  That is the glory of the gospel.  There is as much hope for the greatest sinner as for the most respectable person. 

The church must never lose her confidence in the power of the gospel of Christ.  I hear so much about how the church needs to “find its own niche”, how we need to change our worship style, to come of age and be contemporary.  I see this modern quest to find a gimmick or introduce a new chorus. 

Worship styles differ.   Every church has its own personality.   I have seen different worship styles in Russia and Nepal.  In America, worship styles differ in city churches and country churches; in black churches and white churches; in churches that use hymnals and churches that sing Southern Gospel and churches that use choruses. Churches that see themselves in transition and are always looking for something new tend to gravitate toward choruses; youthful sounding songs that may have little theological content but make people feel good about worship.  But the churches that are more passionate about Biblical truth and the great doctrines of scripture still cling to the old hymns of the faith. 

The church’s attraction is not found in her worship styles or programs.  Paul said, “We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord” (2 cor 4:5).  It is so easy for a preacher to preach himself.   He preaches himself when he preaches his own opinions, speculations, theories and doubts.  The pulpit is no place for experimentation, entertainment and stammering.  I heard of several  preachers last year  who preached a series of sermons on “The Gospel According to Andy Griffith.”  It was a series of devotional ditties from the popular television sit-com.   God deliver us from cheap theatrics in the pulpit. 

 The church’s attraction is not in any of these things.  The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.  Her attraction is the gospel of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; the gospel of Christ who said , “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.” 

Apology or Repentance

I for one am tired of the constant demand for an apology from every offended party these days. Who can forget the parading of Don Imus apologizing to Al Sharpton, of all people. The mantra of the liberal media is: Don Imus is a racist. No, that it not the problem. Don Imus is a sinner, just like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and everybody else.
The problem isn’t race. I wish it were that simple. As always, the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. It is a sin problem and an apology just won’t get it. It demands genuine repentance.
If it were a social or racial issue, an apology might help. Black leaders want an apology because some of our ancestors enslaved some of theirs. Next thing you know, they will be apologizing because some of their ancestors ate some of mine. There would be no end to it.
The problem is deeper than that. It is not merely what the whites have done to the blacks or what the blacks have done to the whites. Have you ever considered what men do every day to members of their own race?
Look at the slavery issue, for instance. I read recently the story of “Captain” George Greenfell (1849-1906), one of our great Baptist missionaries to the Congo. Born in Cromwell England, he was converted at the Heneage Baptist Church in 1864. He came under the influence of David Livingstone and entered the Baptist College at Bristol to prepare to be a missionary to Africa. In those days Africa was known as the “white man’s grave” while the Congo was called the “shortcut to heaven”. For many years he ministered along the Congo to slave merchants, witch doctors, headhunters and cannibals. He told how members of Ngombe tribes were often trapped and sold in the markets to cannibals.
According to World Book Encyclopedia, modern slavery began in Africa itself. Roman Catholic explorers from Spain and Portugal tapped into the lucrative slave market and became their best customers. .World Book Encyclopedia records that “other African blacks helped capture most of the enslaved Africans”. In time, Dutch and other Protestant profiteers began trafficing in slaves.
There is no doubt that slavery was a wicked evil. But man’s inhumanity to man, his sinful depravity, is not limited to the racial divide: it knows no such bounds. Even in America, many slave owners were former slaves themselves. The U. S. Census of 1830 showed that 3,775 free Negroes owned 12,760 Negro slaves
We shouldn’t be surprised to discover sin abounds in this world. I am not surprised if a skunk stinks. It is its nature to stink. Neither am I surprised when a lost man lives in open sin. It is his nature. The sin of Adam affected the whole race. Paul said, “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”. Every aspect of our humanity has been affected and vitiated by Adam’s fall into sin. Sin has polluted and corrupted every part of man until every human faculty bears its ugly imprint. Man is under indictment. Paul said, “You were dead in tresspasses and sins. In times past ye walked according to the prince and the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience… We had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph 2:1-3).
Sin has not only stirred God’s wrath; it has also enslaved the whole of humanity. Without Christ man lives in the ways of the world. It is an enslavement he cannot break. He is a slave to sin in every part of his being. Like poison dissolved in a glass of water, sin has permeated every part of man’s personality. Sin’s contamination is total.
The glory of the gospel is that it faces reality and at the same time points us to the grace of God.. It tells us what we are really like, that we are sinners before a holy God. It is at that point that the grace of God appears and we discover that God loves sinners. We somehow imagine that there needs to be some goodness in us if we are to ever be right with God. But the breathtaking truth of the gospel is that the love of God reaches out to people in whom there is nothing good. Thus, Paul continues, “God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ” (vs. 4-5).
Thus, the gospel teaches us that we can be honest about ourselves before God. There is no need to pretend that we are better than we are. But we must come in repentance and faith, dealing honestly with ourselves before God.
That is why I say an apology to man is not what is needful; it is repentance before God. If Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson were preachers of the gospel they would know that.
When David committed adultery with Bath-Sheba and signed the murderous death warrant for Uriah, the Bible records, “But the thing which David had done displeased the LORD.”.
Psalm 51 records David’s repentance with bitter tears. David well knew he had sinned against Bath-sheba, against Uriah, against his family and against the whole nation. But he didn’t run around the country apologizing to everybody. Rather he cried out to God, “Against thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (v. 4). David’s sin against others was as nothing in comparison. He had sinned AGAINST GOD.
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It is unfortunate that most Christians today approach the cross of Christ as though it were the climax of His life instead of a great event which led to a much greater event: the resurrection and everything that followed it. The apostle Paul always viewed the cross in the glorious light of the resurrection. He wrote, “Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more” (2 Cor. 5:16). As Christians we must see Christ through the open tomb.
The first generation of Christians did not read the four Gospels because they had not yet been written. Paul never read the Gospel of John. He never heard John 3;16. The Gospels were written for that generation of Christians who did not know Jesus after the flesh. They knew Him through the epistles of Paul. The Gospels were written so that we might know more about our Lord. They tell us that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. The epistles tell us why He died on the cross and why it was necessary for Him to rise from the dead. The early Christians approached the cross through the epistles. They saw the earthly life of Christ from the view of His present heavenly life. They saw the cross through the empty tomb.
For instance, we read that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. But His resurrection assures that He overcame death; that He paid the price in full and that death had no claim upon Him.
In 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte seemed destined to rule Europe. Only England stood between him and his ultimate victory. The Duke of Wellington opposed him in the battle at Waterloo, June, 1815. There was no telagraph or radio in those days. Many people stood along the coast to catch any news from the semaphore signals from sailing vessels. The fog was beginning to close in as the first message arrived. The words were, “Wellington defeated.” Then the fog closed in. Those words were relayed across England. The nation was plunged into despair. But when the fog had cleared they were able to read the rest of the message clearly: “Wellington defeated the enemy at Waterloo.”.
Can you imagine the despair that came over the disciples and those who followed Jesus when He died on the cross. There had never been a day like that in all history. There was an earthquake. The sun refused to shine and darkness fell over all the earth. Jesus died and His body was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathia. The Pharisees congratulated themselves that they were rid of Jesus forever. Jesus defeated.
Then came the resurrection and the news was clear. “Jesus defeated the enemy. He has conquered death, hell and the grave. He is alive forevermore”.
Islamist today go to Mecca to visit the tomb of Mohammed. But the tomb of our Lord is empty. He is not there. He is risen from the dead. He is in heaven today interceding for us and we are invited to approach our risen Lord. “Seeing that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:14-16).
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