My last comment on this...

 

In the time of Richard Wurmbrand's persecution in Romania, the authorities put out posters quoting different verses of the Bible and then "slandering" them underneath, saying how "stupid" they were.

 

Did the Christians care about this?  No... they couldn't get hold of the posters fast enough.... not because they wanted to get rid of them:  no, they wanted the posters to get hold of the scripture within them.  They ignored the comments and "drank in" the Bible verses.  They loved the posters.

 

God used the persecutors to bring the people His Word - Jesus.  How's that for ingenuity?

 

Some of the persecutors even later gave their lives to Christ - through the love of the Christians (some of them prisoners) who witnessed to them - by showing them love. 

 

Before St Paul became a Christian, he had Christians persecuted, tortured, and killed.  He was a hated man.  Christians feared him.   Who wouldn't have wanted the man dead, where he couldn't hurt any more Christians?  There would have been much relief in hearing of his death.

 

God had different ideas. He knew that Paul thought he was doing good and doing it even to please God Himself. How more deceived can one be than that?   When the time was right, Jesus made Himself known to Paul - who (as we know) became a changed man.  Because of the extent of the evil he had done before, he was humbled and able to be used by God in a very substantial way.

 

These people (and many more) did terrible things to believers..... yet God loved them and brought them to Himself, in His own time.

 

Can using a private plane even begin to compare with the things these people did?  It takes a toll on anyone who has to attend a lot of meetings and get from place to place - no-one could cope with a lot of meetings by travelling commercial.  When travelling private, there is more time for spiritual preparation and rest.  All money belongs to God, so let Him sort it out.  It is not our concern.

 

Sometimes people do things that might not meet with others' approval - again, we must let God sort it out.  To do anything less is not to trust Him to sort out his own creations.  He is more than capable.  We will be blessed if we pray for such people glorify God (which shows trust).   Also "He inhabits the praises of His people" - this equals action.

 

God uses anybody He chooses to get His message across - it only has to be a word here, a sentence there, from whatever source He chooses.  It is the Holy Spirit that does the real teaching and He is an amazing teacher.  He never rests!   God is very original in the way He wins souls and keeps them.  St Paul was an ordinary guy with an extraordinary God... and look how God dealt with him.

 

Meantime let's be careful with words of personal judgement - and with blanket judgements - if we are commanded to "pray for our enemies", then surely everyone who comes into disfavour comes into this category.  It is even more critical when a public forum is used.

 

We are on the verge of the greatest time in our history - the focus needs to be solely on Jesus - a day to day, moment by moment surrender to him, with everything we have, holding nothing back.  It is critical more than ever that we do this. 

 

In Christ

 

Abigail, NZ