Love For His People: Noah's ark

Showing posts with label Noah's ark. Show all posts

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Does New Eyewitness Evidence Point to Noah's Ark?

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

More than five years ago, a Hong Kong-based team from Noah's Ark Ministries International (NAMI) made headlines with the announcement of a discovery of an ancient wooden structure thought to be the ark of biblical times.

Now, the discoverer who led NAMI to the site at Mount Ararat in Turkey will be a part of a special event coordinated by Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES) on the evening of Oct. 15, when new and exciting information about the discovery of the structure will be presented by a panel of eyewitness explorers and experts.

The Noah's ark presentations are planned for the day before the kickoff of the 22nd annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics, to be held at Calvary Church in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 16-17, so that a watching world can decide for itself if this evidence finally proves that the ark discovery is legitimate.

The Turkish expert who first made the discovery, Ahmet Ertugrul, better known to the world as Parasut, will be featured at the event to answer questions about his headline-making find. Joining him will be Philip Williams, an American engineer and former telecommunications entrepreneur who has investigated the charges of hoax made against the discovery. Williams, one of the first Americans to view the structure, will also present the results of his own investigation. After studying the topic for 20 years, Williams will present photographs, testimony and videos from a trip made to the mountain in the past year.

Mount Ararat, specifically mentioned in the biblical account of the ark, is located in eastern Turkey and is called "The Painful Mountain," lying at the center of a centuries old, geopolitically unstable hot spot. The risky and rough terrain is the tallest mountain in the region.

Some scholars and researchers believe the structure found at that mountain could be Noah's ark—a faith-driven building project that allowed God to save a cross-section of humanity and start over through Noah and his family.

In April 2010, NAMI released details of its exploration of the remains of a massive wooden structure buried beneath volcanic rock and ice on Mount Ararat. The remains were found at 4,000 meters above sea level, and researchers say the wood dates back about 4,800 years.

Since then, many have tried to both prove and disprove that the remains are indeed Noah's ark. The event next week will feature several expert presenters, who will give reasons for and against the probability that these might indeed be remains from the ark.

Williams serves as director of the New Beginnings Foundation, a small inner-city mission in Charlotte, N.C., aimed at ecumenical cooperation with other ministries. He continues to use his system expertise to assist developing nations in the creation of infrastructure for impoverished rural communities.

Ertugrul was born near Mount Ararat and grew up acquainting visitors with local culture. He has hosted visitors from every nation, speaks fluent Turkish, Kurdish, English and Farsi. Generations of Parasut's ancestors lived in a village on Mount Ararat, and from childhood, he heard stories of visits to an ancient ship visible at certain times on the mountain.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Monday, June 1, 2015

What I Learned From 13 Months in My Personal Noah's Ark - Jennifer LeClaire

I'll always remember my time in Noah's ark. It was one of the most miserable seasons of my life. I entered Noah's ark after a 40-day spiritual flood swept away everything I had—my home, my car, my job, my dog, my savings.

I was stripped of everything I thought I needed. I had to start all over again—and God sent me to the backside of nowhere to do it. In Noah's Ark, I learned to walk with Him and Him alone. I learned to pray. I learned to worship. I learned to study the Bible. I did quite a lot of dying to self. God reprogrammed my life in Noah's ark.

Of course, I wasn't literally on Noah's ark. I'm old but not that old! I'm actually talking about Ozark, Alabama. When my daughter was 3 years old, she thought Ozark was called "Noah's Ark." I didn't realize until 13 years later the prophetic implications of that cute misunderstanding.

How I Landed on Noah's Ark

Let me back up. I landed in Noah's ark a few weeks after I got saved. If you know anything of my testimony, you know I was put in jail for a crime I didn't commit a few months after my husband abandoned me with our then-2-year-old daughter. Traveling evangelists rolled through the jail preaching Jesus and, having descended far below rock bottom, I gave my heart to Christ.

JOIN JENNIFER ON FACEBOOK FOR SPIRITUAL COMMENTARY AND ENCOURAGEMENT. CLICK HERE.

As the story goes, the district attorney wanted to put me away for 5 years. Thank God, He vindicated me completely for the injustice but when I was finally released I had lost my apartment, my job, my friends, my money, and my dog. Yes, I know. It sounds like a sad country song. And I am not a fan of country songs.

Again, God sent me to the backside of the desert, to Noah's ark, Alabama, to start a new life. I'm a city girl. Noah's ark is a rural community with about 13,000 people. There's not even a McDonald's, and only one sit-down restaurant. There's not even a brand name grocery store or pharmacy. Don't get me wrong. It's a lovely little town in many respects but it was like living in a foreign city where nobody spoke my language.

Misery With No Company

I was miserable. I imagine Noah and those with him in the ark were also miserable. Think about it for a minute. They were crammed into a big boat with two of every living creature. I've heard of cruise ships getting stuck out at sea and the stench was so horrid that people were vomiting from the smell. Noah's ark had to smell worse.

You might say I was in a crappy situation. I still had no friends, no money, no husband, and no job. After making over $3,000 a week at the height of the dot-com bubble I had to swallow my pride and apply for government assistance just to put food on the table. Everything I once had was stripped from me and I hated Noah's Ark, Alabama.

In fact, I was so miserable that I used to walk down the street to the street drain, sit down and bawl right in the middle of the neighborhood—then get up and walk back home and cry some more. I wasn't sure if I was shipwrecked or floating in a great flood of trial and tribulation. Either way, I could not see a light at the end of the tunnel. As a new believer, I could not see how God was ordering my steps or fulfilling Romans 8:28 in my life.

Learning to Surrender

I hated just about every minute of my time in Noah's Ark. After 13 months passed, my daughter was 5 years old and it was time to enroll her in elementary school. I dreaded the day because I knew it meant putting down roots in this dreaded place.

I prayed. I cried. I worried and wondered. Finally, I surrendered. I said something like this to God, "OK, fine. If you want me to stay here in stinky, smelly Noah's Ark for the rest of my life, I'll do it. You win. I give up."

Would you believe it wasn't a week later when I got a call from an aviation magazine in South Florida with a job offer to serve as editor? It was one of my best freelance clients and the current editor was leaving for a new position. The only catch: I had to report for duty in two weeks. This was my way of escape!

Rewards for Obedience

I drove down to South Florida, got a realtor, and started looking for apartments. The realtor took me to the 11th floor of a condo on the beach, which I told her I could not afford. When I stepped out onto the balcony and looked at the ocean view, the Holy Spirit said three words to me that changed my life forever: "This is yours."

I had the gall to argue with the Holy Spirit, telling Him I could not afford the $1,000 a month rent (my rent in Noah's Ark was only $450). He told me He could afford it.

I signed the lease, moved everything I had down south, and my daughter started elementary school in Hollywood, Florida a couple of weeks later. Today, I live in the Promised Land. I own two condos debt-free with ocean views—but I don't think I ever would have come this far without passing through Noah's Ark, Alabama.

I don't know what your Noah's ark looks like (or smells like) but here's the lesson: You have to find contentment in the ark before God will deliver you to your Promised Land. Consider the words of the apostle Paul when he was in his Noah's Ark—knee deep in sewage in a jail.

"I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know both how to face humble circumstances and how to have abundance. Everywhere and in all things I have learned the secret, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:11-13). Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening; Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Creationist Ken Ham Goes Toe to Toe With Arkansas Over Noah's Ark

Answers in Genesis' Ark Encounter phase 1 (YouTube)

Answers in Genesis (AiG) filed a motion in federal court this morning seeking an injunction against Kentucky officials who it believes are discriminating against AiG's Ark Encounter theme park development. The park, which is being built around a life-size recreation of Noah's Ark, is scheduled to open in Williamstown, Kentucky, in 2016.

With the injunction, AiG is asking the court to allow the Ark project to participate in a state sales tax rebate, even as its religious discrimination lawsuit proceeds. The motion today seeks to override the blocking efforts of Gov. Steven Beshear and his tourism secretary and send the incentive application directly to a state tourism board (the Tourism Development Finance Authority), where the ultimate approval for a tax rebate is given.

AiG is asking the court that its rebate application be treated by the state as it would one filed by a non-religious group and go through the approval process without being blocked. The Tourism Authority had already given preliminary approval to AiG's application, but when secularist groups around the country vigorously protested, the governor and his tourism secretary, Bob Stewart, bowed to the pressure and kept the application from being voted on by the Tourism Authority.

AiG and its affiliates, Crosswater Canyon and Ark Encounter, filed their civil rights lawsuit Feb. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The suit shows that Sec. Stewart and Gov. Beshear are engaging in unlawful religious discrimination by "wrongfully excluding the plaintiffs from participation in the Kentucky Tourism Development Program simply because of who the plaintiffs are, what they believe, and how they express their beliefs."

Although the popular rebate program has allowed many other tourist attraction developers to qualify for a gradual rebate of a portion of the new state sales taxes their projects generate, AiG's lawsuit explains that its application for the program has been blocked by state officials simply because of: 1) the Ark project's religious messaging; and 2) the intention of AiG to utilize religious preferences in its hiring for the project.

"The state gave us no choice but to bring this legal action," said Ken Ham, AiG president and the visionary behind the new theme park. "We, along with our attorneys, tried for many months to show these officials why their actions are blatantly violating our rights under the federal and state constitutions, as well as the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. The law is crystal clear that the state cannot discriminate against a Christian group simply because of its viewpoint, but that is precisely what is happening here."

The video features Ham and constitutional law attorney Mike Johnson. Johnson is the chief counsel of the non-profit public interest law firm, Freedom Guard, and is serving as co-counsel in the case pro bono, with Nate Kellum, chief counsel of the Center for Religious Expression. The firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister is also serving in the case as local counsel. The video also includes clips of a 2010 Ark Encounter press conference, at which Gov. Beshear originally expressed his enthusiastic support for the Ark project.

"Every American should be concerned with this kind of overt government discrimination, regardless of their individual perspectives on the Bible," said Johnson. "When such an unconstitutional state action goes unchallenged, it sets a dangerous precedent for all other religious and minority groups. If our freedom of religion is not vigorously defended, it will be taken away."

- See more at: http://www.charismanews.com/us/49366-creationist-ken-ham-goes-toe-to-toe-with-arkansas-over-noah-s-ark#sthash.fqoeR6mR.dpuf

Monday, September 8, 2014

Midnight Watch Word

September 4, 2014 by Izuagbe Asekhauno

1972401_10152673406659936_4377055364674753343_n

Midnight Watch Word

Prayer is often stored up in the heavens, awaiting the appropriate time of release. The Bible describes a “fullness of time” that signals a release of pent-up prayer reaching a tipping point and being poured out upon the earth.

During the 1980s, through to the last decade, there have been many desperate calls to fasting and prayer. Many 40-day and 21-day fasts have been called for. What happened to all those prayers for revival in America? What ever became of all those dedicated hours of intercession? I will tell you what happened…they have been stored up for the right time.

Like money in the bank, the currency of intercession can follow one generation and fall on another. Many kings in David’s lineage were blessed “for the sake of David” long after David was gone. Likewise the prayers of many saints are stored up for the Last Days’ outpouring on many Nations.

The time is nearing when God shall pour out His visitation upon Nations. America is sensing a crisis…it is near. But so is the outpouring of Amazing Grace. What does Heaven wait for?

When the dove left Noah’s Ark it went looking for a place for the sole of its foot. The Spirit of God is looking over the people of God and preparing a company for the dove to land. God will have a fresh company to carry a mighty Apostolic Evangelism mantle. It will arise in the midst of trouble. “When the enemy comes in…like a flood…the Spirit of The Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Some see the enemy coming as a flood. Others teach that the Lord’s standard arises like a flood. Either way, the heavens are about to unleash the pent-up prayers of the ages. The latter rain is upon us.

Get ready!

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Discover the Story of Noah!

Why did God choose Noah? Did Noah’s sons have wives? Were they allowed on the Ark? Did God plan to kill Noah’s family? Will God destroy all people again?

Discover the real story of Noah and the Ark with these great resources from CBN: