Why Magufuli administration misses the point on Government splurge

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WILLIAM_TYNDALE, the man who translated the Bible into English and was burnt alive at the ridiculous young age of 42 years old, for his efforts. (Google Foxe's book of Martyrs.)

Nearly 500 years ago, this week, William Tyndale, fondly called 'Father of the English Bible' was strangled and burned at the stake after being tried and convicted of heresy and reason for translating the Bible into English.

HIS OFFENSE!
He translated the Greek Bible into English.

That you have a Bible in a language you can read is largely due to his labours, and many of the very phrases you read in it retain the flavour of his understanding of the Greek and Hebrew.

A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge, Tyndale had a powerful desire to make the Bible available even to the common people in England, in order to correct the 'Biblical ignorance of the priests.' At one point Tyndale told a priest, "If God spares my life, are many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow, shall know more of the Scriptures than thou dost."

Today, 90% of the King James Version of the Holy Bible and 75% of the Revised Standard Version are from the translation made by Tyndale, a man to whom you owe more than you'll ever know.

A nice dream, but how was Tyndale to accomplish his task, when translating the Bible into English was ILLEGAL at the time?'

He went to London to ask Bishop Tunstall if he could be authorised to make an English translation of the Bible, but the Bishop would not grant his approval.

However, Tyndale would not let the disapproval of men stop him from carrying out what seemed so obviously God's will. With encouragement and support of some British merchants, he decided to go to Europe to complete his translation, then have it printed and smuggled back into England.

In 1524 Tyndale sailed for Germany. In Hamburg, he worked on the New Testament, and in Cologne, he found a printer who would print the work. However, news of Tyndale's activity came to an opponent of the Reformation who had the press raided.

Tyndale himself managed to escape with the pages already printed and made his way to the German city Worms where the New Testament was soon published.

Six thousand copies were printed and smuggled into England.

The Bishops did everything they could to eradicate the Bibles. Bishop Tunstall had copies ceremoniously burned at St. Paul's; the Archbishop of Canterbury bought up copies to destroy them. Tyndale used the money to print improved editions!

Tyndale continued hiding among the merchants in Antwerp and began translating the Old Testament while the King's agents searched all over England and Europe for him.

A copy of Tyndale's "The Obedience of a Christian Man" fell into the hands of Henry VIII, providing the king with the rationale to break the Church in England from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.
In 1535, Tyndale was arrested and jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde (Filford) outside Brussels for over a year.

Tyndale’s work was denounced by authorities of the Roman Catholic Church and Tyndale himself was accused of heresy.

Tyndale, 42 was finally found by an Englishman who pretended to be his friend but then turned him over to the authorities. After a year and a half in prison, he was brought to trial for heresy -- FOR BELIEVING, among other things, IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS and that THE MERCY OFFERED IN THE GOSPEL WAS ENOUGH FOR SALVATION. In August 1536, he was condemned and was executed [burned alive at the stake] publicly on October 6, 1536, in a small town in Belgium.

As he burnt to death, Tyndale reportedly said "Lord, open the king of England's eyes."

WAS HIS PRAYER ANSWERED?

YES! The prayer was answered first in part when three years later, in 1539, Henry VIII required every parish church in England to make a copy of the English Bible available to its parishioners. Today, Tyndale's prayer is fully answered, not only are the King's eyes opened, but the Bible a universal instrument.

* In 1611, the 54 scholars who produced the King James Bible drew significantly from Tyndale, as well as from translations that descended from his.

* In 2002, Tyndale was placed at number 26 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons; but in heaven he surely would be before the preceding 25.

A very important and interesting piece of history worth knowing and appreciating by all believers.
And may it challenge us to spend quality time in this same glorious book that this great servant literally gave his life for.

Today it's hard to imagine the world without an English Bible, and there could now be as many as 900 of such translations in existence – but before Tyndale it had never happened. He's known as the Father of the English Bible, since the later, epochal work of the King James Version of the Bible largely consisted of Tyndale's scholarly and accessible translations.

The English language, as with scholarly understanding, continues to evolve – and so the work of Bible translation continues today.

But without the courage and genius of men like Tyndale, who challenged the status quo before them and died for doing so, it might never have been possible.
Do you remember the firebrand man of God, Benson Idahosa
who declared that the planned meeting of
Witches and Wizards in Benin cannot hold
while he was alive.
People like Katherine kulhman, Billy Graham,
Smith Wiggleswoth and those great men and
women of God. .......... ASK THOSE WHO SAW THE REVIVAL OF 1930s,1970s AND 1980s, THEY WILL TELL YOU WHY WE
ARE CRYING OVER THIS "FIRE LESS NESS" WE ARE SEEING IN OUR
GENERATION OF BELIEVERS.
John Knox prayed: "Lord, Give me Scotland or I die"...

St Patrick, a rugged believer that Brought
even dead animals and trees back to life
prayed: "God, Give me souls or give me
nothing else"....

Brethren, The Hebrides revival prayed: "Lord, if you will not use us, please, kill us"...

The brethren from England who brought the Fire from Azusa Street revival
gathered everyday under the terrible cold.
Their only prayer topic was: "Lord, give us
men that will spread Your Fire in the streets of England".

During the Indonesia Revival, those hungry
hearts were seen praying day and night:
"Lord, The harvest is ripe... If it pleases You,
please use us".

One prayer that was common during the days of William Seymour was: "Lord, this is another day that hell must lose men and women.
Please, we are here use us".

Paul said:" Woe is me if I preach not the gospel"

Rachel said to her husband, Jacob: "Give me children or I die".

But unfortunately, our churches are filled
today with people who are not ashamed of spiritual barrenness.

We are asking "God give me money. God give me spouse.
God give me visa".

Where do we see believers again that will be praying and fasting, and when you listen to them, you will be hearing: "Lord, let Your Fire fall in my community and
let their be revival"?

When Paul encountered Christ, he fell and rose. What He asked was:" Lord, what will You have me do".

But today, when we fall under anointing, we start expecting marriage proposals
and visas and employment letters.
This generation of members in our churches have not had a genuine encounter with the
Man of Calvary.

No generation has carried Bibles like us
without opening it.

No generation is materially driven like ours and we expect the land to obey us.

Jesus said, pray to the Father that He brings
His Kingdom on earth.

GOD help us to get it on time. Amen.

Let's build up our spiritual life cos its very necessary.

If you miss heaven you can never miss hell. Think about it. Hell isn't a pretty place.

Do the work of an
evangelist now by sharing this message with all your contacts.
Have u ever wondered
what would have happened if we treat the Holy Bible the way we treat our mobile
phone?

And we really can't live without the BIBLE.
Don't send later, send now.

May the Almighty God grant good success to
every one who reads & sends this message.

Amen
 
How to Enjoy a Lifetime of Favour

When I was at university I was taken to a talk entitled, ‘Where will you be in ten years’ time?’ It was intended to be an encouragement to us to persevere in our faith in spite of all the challenges that life would hold after university. All that I can remember is thinking at the time, ‘Ten years! That is a lifetime away.’ I could not even begin to imagine that far ahead.
Now, by contrast, I look back at my life and ten years ago seems like yesterday. Life has flown past. It seems to be accelerating at an alarming rate. I now understand the wisdom of those who encouraged us early on to take the long view.
We live in a society of instant gratification. Instant meals. Instant messaging. Instant cash. Instant loans. Instant fake tans. Instant fortunes won. There is a great danger of short-termism. The passages for today remind us that God is the ‘everlasting God’ (Isaiah 40:28). God views things through a wide-angled lens: he takes a long view and he wants you to enjoy a lifetime of his favour (Psalm 30:5).
 
Psalm 30:1-7

The long view of life

Are you going through a difficult time? Do you wonder whether it will last forever?
God’s ‘favour lasts a lifetime’ (v.5). As David looked back on his life, he was filled with thankfulness and ‘praise’ (v.4). Yes, he had been through some very difficult times. But God ‘lifted [him] out of the depths and did not let [his] enemies gloat over [him]’ (v.1). When he called to God for help, God ‘healed’ him (v.2).
‘God, my God, I yelled for help
and you put me together.
God, you pulled me out of the grave,
gave me another chance at life
when I was down-and-out’ (vv.2–3, MSG).
David had times when God was angry with him (v.5) and where God hid his face from him (v.7b). (After all, David did commit adultery and murder.) Yet, as he looked back on his life he was able to see that the moments of trial and testing were in the context of a lifetime of God’s favour.

Father, thank you that your anger lasts only a moment but your favour lasts a lifetime. Thank you that you are the same yesterday, today and forever and I can trust you.
 
Mark 12:13-27

The long view of eternity

What happens to people when they die? Is death really the end? You may have lost a family member or close friend and you wonder whether you will ever see them again. Where are they now? Are they gone forever? Are they just asleep? Or are they, in some way, alive?
Jesus’ opponents were constantly trying to catch him out with their questions (v.13).
First, they tried to trap him over money. However, even they recognised that Jesus was ‘a man of integrity’. They knew that Jesus spoke the truth whether or not it was popular (v.14). Jesus avoided the trap and gave an amazing answer (vv.15–17). (See BiOY Day 34.)
Next, they asked Jesus a hypothetical question to test him. This one was about life after death. There was an internal debate in Judaism between the Pharisees and the Sadducees about whether or not there was life after death. [The way I remember the distinction is that it was the Pharisees (‘far I see’) who did believe in the resurrection, whereas the Sadducees (‘sad you see’) did not.]
Jesus pointed out that the Sadducees were wrong for two reasons: First, they did ‘not know the Scriptures’, and second, they did not know ‘the power of God’ (v.24).

The Scriptures
Jesus affirms the absolute certainty of the resurrection of the dead. Since the Sadducees only really believed in the authority of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) Jesus bases his argument on them and quotes from Exodus 3:6: ‘Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living’ (Mark 12:26–27). In other words, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still living now!

The Power of God
In 1 Corinthians 15, there is the most sustained and in-depth argument of the New Testament on the subject of the resurrection of the dead. Paul emphasises again and again the power of God, which the Sadducees denied. He writes that the body is sown ‘in weakness’, yet it is raised as a resurrection body after death, ‘in power’ (1 Corinthians 15:43). God ‘gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (vv.56–57).

The wonderful truth is that the same power that was at work in raising Christ from the dead is at work in you now, bringing you more into the likeness of Christ (see Ephesians 1:19–20), and also in the future, in bringing your body to be a resurrection body in the new creation.
Therefore, everyone who has died in Christ is still living now. You will see them again. Even though the separation is so hard, all the struggles of this life have to be seen in terms of eternity. God takes the long view.

Thank you so much, Lord, that this life is not the end. Thank you that the dead will rise. Help me to see all the struggles of this life in the light of eternity.
 
Leviticus 11:1-12:8

The long view of history

What on earth is the point of all these regulations in Leviticus? Why are they in the Bible?
As always, we understand the Old Testament in the light of the New Testament and, in particular, through the lens of Jesus. God had a long-term plan. He was preparing the world for the coming of Christ.
The New Testament tells us that all these seemingly strange regulations that we read about in today’s passage are only ‘a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ’ (Colossians 2:17). The purpose of the regulations was to teach about holiness – ‘I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy’ (Leviticus 11:44).
Peter quotes this verse in his first letter when encouraging holy living amongst the early Christians. He writes, ‘As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy”’ (1 Peter 1:14–16).
Yet the New Testament also tells us that God has now made us holy through Christ. Therefore, the apostle Paul also says, ‘Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink’ (Colossians 2:16). All these regulations have now been superseded through the coming of Jesus.
Many of the regulations were probably there for very practical reasons. For example, the eating of pigs (as carriers of disease) may well have been banned chiefly as a danger to health. Similarly, the rules of decontamination, strict as they are, take account of practical necessities. God wants you to eat wisely and healthily!
Purification after childbirth was not about moral uncleanness but ceremonial uncleanness (Leviticus 12:2). The cleansing was from the ‘flow of blood’ (v.7), not from any guilt attached to marital intercourse or childbirth. These regulations may actually have been a great blessing to women who had recently given birth. The extended period of separation from wider society would have protected her from having to return to the hustle and bustle of normal life too quickly after childbirth.
This passage also gives us a clue to Jesus’ background. It shows the poverty from which he came; Mary could not ‘afford a lamb’ (v.8). When Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem ‘for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses’ they offered ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons’ (v.8; Luke 2:22–24).
God had a long-term plan for the birth of his son under these laws. God was working all the way through history to prepare the ground for Jesus. Jesus was born under the law. He fulfilled the law and brought all these regulations to an end on the cross. He rose from the dead and made it possible for us too, one day, to rise from the dead and to become, along with Jesus, heirs of God (Galatians 4:4–7).

Lord, thank you that I am no longer under law. Thank you that I have received adoption as your child and that you have sent the Spirit of Jesus into my heart. Thank you that I will spend all eternity with you. Help me to take the long view and to enjoy a lifetime of your favour.
 
Pippa Adds

Psalm 30

‘When I felt secure, I said, “I shall never be shaken”’ (v.6).
I know the feeling when faith is riding high, I feel nothing will knock my confidence in the Lord.
However sometimes, through problems, difficulties or sickness, that confidence is rocked, and it feels as though I’m doing life on my own: ‘When you hid your face from me I was dismayed’ (v.7b). Then I’m back calling on the name of the Lord for help: ‘Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me’ (v.2).
 
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