Shining LightVOLUME 18 ISSUE 6 NOV-DEC 2016The

®

Out of the

Pothole

Inside

IrelandReport

Page 4-5

Can God?Page 6

I Believe! Page 8

Out ofOut of the

Out of the

Out ofOut ofOut of

Mr. Frog was hopping across an old dirt road to get to his nice little home at the pond, when sud-denly–plop!–poor Mr. Frog slid into a very deep,

ugly pothole. He tried jumping and leaping out a few times, but could not manage to get out. He rested a

while and jumped again, but, try as he might, he just could not succeed in getting himself out of his deep,

miserable hole!

Poor Mr. Frog was there for quite some time think-ing over his unhappy dilemma, when his good friend Mr. Rabbit came bounding along and found his friend

in this sad predicament. Hope crept into Mr. Frog’s heart at the sight of his good friend. Mr. Rabbit im-mediately endeavoured to help Mr. Frog out, as any good friend should. He struggled to reach down, but

just could not do a thing for his friend.

Presently, more good friends of the forest came to help poor Mr. Frog. There was wise old Mr. Owl

with some very dignifi ed advice which sadly did not do the trick. Sly old Mr. Fox came with a borrowed rope, but Mr. Frog was too slippery to hoist up. Mr.

Raccoon was there, and, of course, good old, faithful friend Mr. Toad was there to lend a helping hand. But with all their good intentions and advice, they could

Out of the Pothole

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THE SHINING LIGHTSubsidiary of The Gospel Trumpet

The Shining LightP.O. Box 1139

Greenville, OH 45331E-mail: editor@theshininglight.com

Please direct correspondence to:

Editor: Sis. Christine Thilmony

The Shining Light is operated under the authority of the general ministerial

body of the Church of God.

I'm thankful to be saved and in the church of God. I've been thinking about the verse in 1 Peter 5:8 that says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Even though the devil is going to try to get me to backslide, I am going to stay steadfast. Please pray for me.

Bro. Josiah Friesen (Age 10)Texas, USA

An OvercomerSaints, I’m so glad to be in the church of God. I’m thankful to be saved and sancti-fi ed. I’m so thankful that the Lord helps us overcome the devil. The devil fi ghts us and fi ghts us, but I’m thankful we can overcome him! Saints, we should never give up! I’m thankful when the Lord saves a soul, the devil just gets mad, but that is another soul that can go to heaven! Pray for me that I can make it to the end.

Bro. Matthew Friesen (Age 12)Texas, USA

not succeed in helping poor Mr. Frog out of his mess. There lay Mr. Frog, beginning to

allow self-pity to discourage him.

“Maybe I will be destined to stay in this place forever!” lamented poor, unfortunate

Mr. Frog.

The friends all pitied him and clucked at his calamity. They soon decided that since they could not get him out, they would go to the forest and get a hearty supper of nice big

bugs for poor Mr. Frog. As they made their way to the forest, suddenly a fl ash of green whizzed past them! To the astonishment of

all the forest friends, it was Mr. Frog! “What happened? We thought you could not

get out!” exclaimed the forest friends.

“I couldn’t, but a big truck was coming and I had to!” was the breathless reply.

Well, it appears that the situation had not been quite so impossible after all. It can

be said that Mr. Frog had tried and tried to get himself out of his situation. His faithful friends had all attempted their best to help

him out. Nothing seemed to work. The situ-ation appeared hopeless. Not until Mr. Frog put forth some violent eff ort did he manage to get out of his seemingly impossible situ-

ation.

Children, there are people who, perhaps have grown up in our midst, that have gotten

themselves into some kind of a rut or pot-hole. Perhaps an up-and-down experience, or some bad habit or weakness that they try and try to change but only sink into the same sit-uation as before. They know they should not be lazy or careless with their devotions, they should testify, be more spiritual, respectful, or obedient; but somehow they just cannot

manage to get out of their pothole of defeat.

They say they will strive to do better. They may get somewhat stirred up after hearing a very provoking message and put forth some eff ort for a while, only to sink into the same dismal hole as before. They might get to the place where they get used to their problem and become careless and lazy, not realizing

how dangerous their state is to their precious soul. Their parents pray for them, friends might encourage them and tell them that

“they can do it,” but there they remain with their problem for far too long. And there

they will remain in their pothole until they see the awfulness of their problem and put forth violent eff ort in the name of Almighty

Jesus to get out.

There is a scripture in Matthew 11:12b that says, “The kingdom of Heaven suff ereth vio-lence, and the violent take it by force.” Some things will never, ever change until there is

an aggressive, decisive eff ort put forth in the power of Almighty Jesus! Jesus is a mighty Saviour that did not die to produce a weak,

feeble, up-and-down group of people. God’s people are not losers, but they are more than

conquerors!

In this end time, God needs those that will overcome, deny themselves, and joyfully

take up their cross. He needs those that will be good examples at home, at school, and in their neighborhood–those that can be

counted on. The Lord needs children that can show a lost and dying world how to

love God and live a consistent, happy, saved life. There is work to do, and God can help anyone get out of the potholes of life and

live a victorious, useful life! May the Lord bless each one of us with faith and determi-nation to stay out of the potholes and be the blessing to this lost and dying world that He intended! Sis. Eva Martens

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IRELAND

R E L A N D

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Praise the Lord, children! What a great work God is doing! Truly, God is shaking souls all over the globe. A group of thirteen saints arrived in Ireland early last sum-mer. A number more joined us during the course of our stay, especially for the fi ve-day meeting.

Ireland is a strikingly beautiful island. All the rolling hills and mountains make the landscape absolutely mag-nifi cent. The rainy climate renders the grass exceptionally green. In addition, Ireland’s serene lakes reveal the wonders of God’s creation.

Ireland currently has a population of over 4.7 million people. To our advantage, English is spoken in this country. Having been aff ected by atheistic dogma, the people are in need of real Christianity. We feel there is a search for truth.

We did most of our street work in Dublin, the capital city. Day after day, we took the public bus transit to the busy streets of downtown Dublin. The bus drive was ap-proximately forty minutes long. Dublin has streets reserved for walking, which provided us with excellent places for street work. We usually sang for about an hour at a time. Brother Andrew Wiebe proved to be an excellent song leader and was very useful on this trip.

People’s reactions to the street meetings varied con-siderably. Some came and yelled at us. Others tried to dance with the rhythm of the songs. Nevertheless, the street meetings were very eff ective. Many heartily enjoyed the singing. Old and young alike listened attentively as we sang the songs of Zion. Between songs, the saints boldly testifi ed of God’s saving power. It was a great delight to share the gospel with those hungry souls.

While the singers were singing, the saints handed out numerous tracts. Conversations were held with many who were listening to the singing.

Throughout our time in Ireland, we frequently rented rooms in several places to hold meetings. The Lord richly blessed us with Spirit-fi lled singing, testifying, and preach-ing. Many visitors came throughout all the services we had.

I was very privileged to accompany Brother O’Shea as he went to the city spire and preached in the open air. He

fearlessly attacked Darwinism and eff ectively took away people’s false foundations. He proclaimed the vanity of sin and the emptiness of a mere profession of religion. Large crowds heard the clear message of deliverance.

As Brother O’Shea took me along when he preached, he gave me many chances to testify. At fi rst it was a real challenge, but I found that the more often I testifi ed the easier it became. Often, many young people listened. I thor-oughly enjoyed witnessing to them of the joys of salvation.

I remember one incident in particular that was a high-light to me. Brother O’Shea and I were confronted by a young man who was an outspoken atheist. Brother O’Shea asked me to start testifying to the people on the street. As I testifi ed, this young man came and yelled through my microphone. Eventually he left, and I kept on testifying. Meanwhile, he suddenly burst into tears in front of Brother O’Shea. He admitted that he was tired of his sinful lifestyle. Oh, how touching it was to see the gospel penetrate his hardened heart!

Children, there are many in the same condition. Al-though most might not admit to it, they are weary under the heavy crush of sin. Sin, at it’s best, has left men’s hearts empty and void. They desperately need someone to deliver them–to off er them a message of hope. You can make a diff erence in this world, children. You can pray, sing, and testify of your own experience of salvation. God has plans for each one of you. Be faithful to God’s calling at home in preparation for the mission fi eld. Remember, you can have a tremendous impact on souls because you are young.

We have a number of contacts in Ireland, and many expressed their desire for us to establish a congregation in the area. Beyond a doubt, the Lord has started to work in Ireland. Countless souls were faced with the truth of the gospel. Please pray fervently for the rapid spread of the gospel on this island. Bro. Zaccheus Braun

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Praise the Lord! I am sure all of you children have heard about the children of Israel. You know the story about their slavery in Egypt. I want to remind you briefl y about some of the miraculous things God did for them. The ten plagues He used to smite Egypt and convince Pharoah to let the

people go were amazing! When the people were trapped at the Red Sea with water before them and Pharaoh's army behind them, God again worked a miracle. Before their very eyes, the uncrossable Red Sea opened up, and God made a dry road right on the sea bed! The Israelites walked across on dry ground!! Then, as they watched, God drowned the whole Egyptian army with the same water

that stood heaped up when God's children walked through. If that wasn't amazing enough, God made sure that their clothes and shoes did not wear out during forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

He fed them Himself with manna from Heaven! Yet, after all these miracles, we fi nd a verse in Psalm 78:19 that reads, “Yea, they spake against

God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?”How could they doubt God after all He had done for them? How could they even say, “Can

God?” Over and over, God had proven that He could do the impossible. We look at the Israelites and think we would never have doubted like they did. We think that if we had seen what they saw

we would never murmur or wonder if God could help us. Let me ask you something. Do you believe God can? Whatever it is that you need, do you be-

lieve God can? Do you believe that He cares about you and your day to day “little” needs? Do you believe He hears and answers your prayers? Does He have time for children and their needs? Or do

you think God's too busy with the “big” things? I am going to share a story to show you that God wants to, can, and will answer the prayers of

His children.

All of us know that getting ready for a trip is a very busy time for everyone. There’s laundry, pack-ing, and last-minute cleaning to do. Without a doubt, someone can’t fi nd a shoe. Someone else

Can God? Sis. Sara Friesen

“That is my toy! If you don’t give it back right now...” “Whoa! whoa!” said Dad.Billy stopped what he was saying, even though he didn’t like sharing with his brother. He knew he shouldn’t talk like that. Father had just told Billy that morning that he needed to work on not being selfi sh, so he let his brother Sam have the toy. But deep down he really wanted that toy! Later on that evening, Mother was serving pie for dessert. It was Billy’s favorite–banana cream pie. Billy noticed that one piece was bigger than the others. “I want that piece,” Billy said pointing to the biggest slice. Father cleared his throat. “Mother,” said Father, “ I think Billy should have the smallest slice of pie tonight.” Billy swallowed hard. Father went on, “Sam, you may have the big-gest slice tonight.” Billy swallowed hard again. This time the

tears came. It didn’t feel good to have the small-est piece. It felt even worse to know he had been selfi sh again. That night in family devotions, before Father started to read, Billy said, “ I would like to apolo-gize to the family. I’m sorry for being so very selfi sh today. Will you pray for me to overcome?” “Yes,” said Father, “we will pray for you.” “And thank you, Father, so much for helping me see how wrong it was to be selfi sh.” The devil wants us to be selfi sh, but the Bible tells us to put others fi rst.

Bro. Jeremiah Friesen (Age 11)Texas, USA

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THE SHINING LIGHT*** PAGE 7

dumps the chip bag on the way out to the van (at least it wasn’t in the van yet). Then, there is the missing button that has to be replaced before the packing can

be completed...and so it goes. Well, recently our family was getting ready to go to Ohio. All the suitcases were fi nally packed. All the shoes were found. Everyone was ready to go. We were ready to lock up the house. We did a quick last minute

check, locked up, got into the van, and we were ready to go. My husband reached into his pocket for the key, but it wasn’t there! He looked at me to see if I had it. No, I didn’t. I had seen it earlier, but I didn’t have it now. I looked through my purse...no key. Now what? We all got out of the van, and the search was on. We looked in every place we thought the van key could be, and in

many places we knew it wouldn’t ever be. During the frantic search, I stopped and prayed for the Lord to help us fi nd the key. Not even a minute later, one of the chil-

dren found it! I am thankful for a mighty God who helps with the things that can seem so “mighty” to us. We were fi nally started on our way!

Do you have a time when God answered a specific prayer for you?

Be sure to write in and let us know!

I recently met a young woman who was a clerk at the store. My clothes drew her attention, and she told me that she had grown up in a holiness sect. She also told me that she has fi ve children. As we talked about what she currently believed and the condition of her faith in God, I learned that she didn’t believe the Bible. She said she had no regard for the Bible above any other book. I wasn’t able to talk to her for very long that day, but I haven’t been able to get her or her fi ve little ones out of my mind. What would it be like to be raised by a mother who had no regard for the Bible? Too many children today are in this very situation. If you are reading this article (or having it read to you, perhaps by your mother or your father), some-one in your life believes the Bible and you are blessed above many children in the world.

So, little girl, little boy, what do you say when someone asks you why you believe the Bible? Is it possible that someone would ask a child why she believes the Bible? Yes, it is very possible. Let me ask you this question. Why do you believe your parents? Maybe you do not live with your parents, but with some other adult who loves you and cares

for you. You have probably

learned by

experience to believe what you are told by those who are over you.

When a child is very young, and his parent tells him not to touch the hot stove, and he touches it anyway; he learns that if he had done as his par-ent had instructed, he would not have the painful blister on his hand. When he watches another child hurt himself by misusing a toy, he remembers that his father told him that he would hurt him-self by using the toy in that way. Even though he didn’t experience the pain himself, he is impressed that he would have been if he hadn’t obeyed his father. Experiences, such as these, every day, and day after day, serve to bring the child to an implicit trust in his parents. An understanding that–I’ll do well to listen to them–develops even in very young children.

Our faith in the Bible has come about in much the same way. We do what it says, and we prosper. We watch others disregard it and suff er. Children, in the church of God we are not raising you in obscurity where you can’t see the world around us and how people are living. Sometimes we in the church of God are made out to be people who live on the side of a mountain somewhere with our children hidden from the “real world” and “reality.” This is not true. You have eyes that see and ears that hear. When you are asked why you believe the Bible or when you are ridiculed for believing the Bible, your response doesn’t have to be long or complex. My experience has been that the Bible is true. Everywhere I’ve tried it, it has been true. I have seen others disobey it to their own hurt. That’s enough for me! Sis. Roslyn Sims

I Believe!