CHURCH TRACTS

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

In the month of July 2002 in the state of Pennsylvania U. S.A, nine miners who were working in a mine became entombed in the bowels of the earth, when a face in which they were working on caved in after the machinery they were using broke through into a disused mine shaft, causing a vast amount of water to pour through into the mine they were working in.

the miners must have thought that their lives were over as the darkness and the freezing water covered them, can you ever begin to imagine the fear and the anxiety they all must have felt as they realized their hopeless position?

Above the ground a vast amount of men, women and resources were put into operation to rescue these men. It must have felt like there was no way there could have been anyone who could have survived this terrible occurrence, yet despite this men and women labored day and night around the clock to rescue these trapped men, even after a drill bit that they were using broke, they never gave up hope of rescuing them..

Churches around the area and indeed around the world were praying for a miracle to happen, and after three nights in the depths of the freezing darkness of the mine the rescuers broke through and one by one the trapped miners were brought back to the surface into the bright light and the gaze of those that rescued them and into the arms of their loved ones.

One placard read "PRAISE THE LORD" which indeed was appropriate as he had answered the prayers of many, as he brought these men up from the edge of death, to be reunited with their loved ones, who must have thought that they would never see their husbands fathers or sons again

There is much we can learn from this:

For the Christian

If we believe God can deliver people from circumstances beyond what may seem an impossible situation he can.

We can also learn from the example of the men and women involved in the rescue, and that was to never give up in our attempts to rescue the perishing.

We can also learn to make use of the resources that God has provided us with for this task

For the Non Christian

we would like you to consider your position at this time.

What would you have done if you was in the position of those miners were in?

Would you have cried out for someone to save you?

Would you have cursed your fortune and indeed God and asked the question why me?

Would you have just been so terrified at the outcome of it all and realized that there was no way out and that death would be your final end?

For a true record of what happens after death the Bible is very clear (Hebrews 9:27) reads "and it is appointed unto men once to die: but after death the judgement." This death is due the sin that occurred in the garden of Eden (Romans 5:12) reads "Wherefore 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." (Romans 6:23) reads "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord."

So we see from Gods word the Bible that all of us are sinners before God and the penalty for our sins is death (separation from God for all eternity) yet God in his loving and merciful grace is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9) and loves us so much that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and to pay the penalty on our behalf.

All that God asks is that we repent and that we believe in our hearts that Jesus died for us personally and that he arose from the grave and now lives and ask Jesus to come into our hearts and lives as our personal saviour then he will save us from the coming Judgement of The Holy God who created us

The men at the mine in Pennsylvania was in darkness for three nights and must have prayed fervently for someone to come and rescue them from that terrible place and to be reunited with their loved ones

Compare that with the darkness of eternity where there will be separation from God and loved ones for eternity for those that do not accept Gods free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine the joy of the men as they emerged from the darkness into the light and into the arms of their loved ones?


Jesus said "I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John: 12)

Will you turn your heart over to Jesus today and ask him to save you? Or will you spend the rest of eternity separated from God and your loved ones?

God does answer prayer as we have seen in the circumstances of those miners so if you are willing for Jesus to come into your heart and life today just pray this simple prayer from the heart

Dear Lord Jesus I do believe in my heart that I am a sinner and I now repent of my sin and I do believe that you died on the cross for my sin and that you come into my heart and be my lord and personal saviour in Jesus name amen

If you have prayed this prayer from your heart it would be good to hear from you also to find a good Bible believing Church and one that stands by the word of God and preaches Christ

Please email me if you have trusted the Lord we will rejoice with you and be in prayer for you

There is no copyright on this as long as it is for witnessing purposes you can use it on your web sites edit it to suit your circumstances thank you

Author colin cunningham 2002

ARE YOU READY?

At 12.53am on the 23rd September 2002 when most people in the UK were asleep in their beds, a earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale hit the West midlands town of Dudley causing many people to awake, some fearfully as a rumbling sound and shaking rocked their homes, causing people to wonder what was happening.

The shock waves were felt over a vast amount of the UK even being felt on the continent of Europe. People inundated the authorities with telephone calls some even going to their local police stations to enquire what was happening. This earthquake which was the strongest to hit the UK in a decade caused quite a stir with it happening so fast and so suddenly.

This isn’t the first instance of earthquakes and it will not be the last in recent times there seems to be more earthquakes now than ever before

The Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross for our sins there was a great earthquake causing a hardened roman soldier to fear and recognise that this event was more than just a ordinary earthquake and he recognised that Jesus truly was the Son of God (Matthew 27:50-54) The Bible tells us of another earthquake where Jesus was involved that event was his resurrection where Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see where Jesus lay, there was a great earthquake and the angel of the Lord came and rolled away the sealed stone from the door to the tomb of Jesus. Which once again brought fear and trembling to hardened roman soldiers guarding the tomb (Matthew 28:1-8, 27:62-66) the angel saying "fear not (to the two Mary’s) for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified, he is not here for he is risen, as he said, come see where he lay."

Another event that a earthquake is described in the Bible is found in Zechariah where there will be a great earthquake like the world has never seen, when God himself will stand upon the Mount of Olives the battle of Armageddon (Zechariah 14:1-9, Revelation 19:11-12) This same Jesus will come and stand as was promised on the mount of olives (Acts 1:6-12)

But before any of that occurs the Bible tells us that Jesus will take his Church (Those that have believed the Gospel concerning his death burial and resurrection and have accepted him as their personal saviour) out of this world to meet him in the air, this event could occur at any moment, the Bible says that he could come in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

The questions need to be asked ARE YOU READY should he come back today or tonight while you sleep?

• Will you be left behind to face the events described in the Bible?
  
• Some may say "are theses really the last days we are living in?
  
• How do you know they are not the last days?Jesus said, "no man knows the hour" (Mark 13:32-37)
  


• Will you be sleeping should he return?

Our prayer is that you turn to Jesus today for salvation all he asks is that you believe that you are a sinner and need to repent and turn to him by faith and trust him that he died for your sins and accept him into your heart and life and only he alone that can save you

Please consider these verses

Romans 3:10 Romans 3:23 Romans 5:12 Romans 6:23 Romans 5:8 Romans 10:9-13

If you have prayed this prayer from your heart it would be good to hear from you also to find a good Bible believing Church and one that stands by the word of God and preaches Christ

Please email me if you have trusted the Lord we will rejoice with you and be in prayer for you

There is no copyright on this as long as it is for witnessing purposes you can use it on your web sites edit it to suit your circumstances thank you


Author Colin Cunningham 2002

THE DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

September 11th 2001 will go down in history as a day that people will remember for a long time, as the people of the United States of America suffered a horrific attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City. Also on the pentagon building in Washington D.C. There was also a plane that was hi jacked and was going to be used for another terrorist attack, until a group of heroic passengers tried to overcome the terrorists and take back the plane but unfortunately crashed killing everyone on board, in effect they sacrificed their lives to stop further atrocities from taking place.


We all watched in horror and disbelief, as events unfolded before us on television as thousands of innocent people died that day. Many lives were affected by the tragedy and are still being affected and maybe some are asking the question WHY?

The answer is simple SIN and all mankind are guilty of this (Romans 3:23)

There are many people who have said that September 11th was a day that the world changed, indeed in many ways it has, people started to look inwardly at the uncertainty of their lives, they also looked to God for comfort and strength during those days, but in time people will forget about that day and carry on with their lives thinking about that day especially on the anniversary except for those that lost loved ones who will never forget.

Many people have forgotten that over 2000 years ago there was another day that changed the world at a place called Calvary outside the walls of Jerusalem where the innocent Lamb of God Jesus Christ was cruelly put to death by sinful man, like a Lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53) Yet out of all the pain and suffering and shame he was going through for sinful man (Matthew 27) he cried out "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do"

When the people left home to go to work in the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon and indeed those that was flying and the emergency services did not know that they was going to die that day, Yet Jesus knew he would be put to death even before he was born (Revelation 13:8) He sacrificed his perfect sinless life that we might gain the hope of eternal life through simply believing that he died for our sins and that he was buried and arose again from the dead and to ask for forgiveness and for him to come into our heart and life as our personal saviour asking him to save us from the penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23)

Tragedy occurred on September 11th 2001 in New York Washington D.C. also the planes

VICTORY occurred at Calvary and countless millions of lives have been changed down through the ages because of what happened at Calvary (will your life be changed too after reading this and considering The Lord Jesus Christ?

One of the dying thieves next to Jesus had his eternal destiny changed at Calvary (Luke 23:39-43) when Jesus said "Today thou shalt be with me in paradise"

There are a couple of questions that could be asked now:

• Will you allow Jesus Christ to come into your heart and change your eternal destiny?
  



• Will you seek God as the people did in the aftermath of September 11th?
  



• Is today the day that your life be changed by the events of the day that happened at Calvary over 2000 years ago?
  



• God hears the prayers of the sincere seeker (2nd Corinthians 6:2)
  

CALVARY WAS INDEED A DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD FOR ETERNITY

Please email me if you have trusted the Lord we will rejoice with you and be in prayer for you

There is no copyright on this as long as it is for witnessing purposes you can use it on your web sites edit it to suit your circumstances thank you

Author colin cunningham 2002

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

A game show asks the question "WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE"? many people are intrigued to see how much the contestant can win by answering questions to gain what would seem to be one of the appealing prizes to be gained. There is something in life that which is of greater value that is to be gained and maybe you would consider and answer the questions below to se if you can gain this prize.

Q.1 ARE YOU GOING TO HEAVEN?
(a) Don’t know (b) I hope so (c) Yes (d) No John 3:16

Q.2 WHICH WAY ARE YOU HOPING TO GET THERE?
(a) I’m not a bad person (b) I go to Church (c) there are many ways to God (d) I have trusted Jesus as my saviour Ephesians 2:8, John14: 6

Q.3 ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
(a) I am Church of England (b this is a Christian country (c) I am born again and follow Jesus Christ (d) I do a lot of good things John 3:1-21

Q.4 WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU DIE?
(a)Heaven (b) Hell (c) Purgatory (d) there is nothing after death
Colossians 1:3-5, Hebrews 9:27, Luke 16:20-31

Q.5 IS HELL A FUN PLACE TO BE?
(a)Yes (b) No (c) All my friends will be there (d) There is no hell it is here on earth already Revelation 20: 11-15

Q. 6 IS HEAVEN WHERE YOU WANT TO BE?
(a)Yes (b) No (c) I hope so (d) I will wait and see 2nd Corinthians 6:2 (you may ask the audience of Christians on this question)

Q.7 DO YOU WANT TO GO THERE?
Yes (b) No This is the 50/50 question

Have you answered all the questions? You can talk to the best friend you will ever know but instead of phoning just talk to him in prayer to have all your questions answered

All you need to do is believe that he died for your sins, that he was buried, that he arose from the grave and ask him to come into your heart to be your personal saviour

He paid our sin debt so that we could be with him for all eternity

Do you want to claim those riches today by trusting him as your saviour?

The compere of the Game show offers one Millions pounds to the winners of the show

The Lord Jesus Christ offers Eternal Life to those that trust him

The Bible says in Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also".

Please email me if you have trusted the Lord we will rejoice with you and be in prayer for you

There is no copyright on this as long as it is for witnessing purposes you can use it on your web sites edit it to suit your circumstance's thank you

Author colin cunningham 2002