Geoffrey's Notebook

Jesus is my Lord! We were at a place where the Muslims did not want any Christian activity. Early in the morning our time of baptism began with a short word and a fast translator (into Chinese). Those baptised shared their most basic testimonies: "My name is _____, and Jesus is my Lord!" It was a joyful and blessed experience. Some hotel staff started to watch and ask questions but we were too fast to get into any trouble this time. Video by sister Marcia ( original link ) while on the 2023 Egypt and Israel Bible Study Tour 301 "From Egypt into Canaan - the Path of Growth."

Note: These two messages are part of a larger series a few of us shared. (I'll add a playlist for that once I have it). These two can stand alone as well. The first crowd was there on a Wed night for a weekly worship time. The second crowd was a set of those serving in the church (mostly).

And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. Leviticus 1:15 As we're on the altar of fire —" a living sacrifice" — our High Priest does His expert work on us.  We are not only cut into pieces by His double-edged sword of the Spirit, but our wounds bleed and must be drained out.  The cuts of the cross may also arrive from other people. It seem to hurt the most when coming from our beloved brothers and sisters in the church. We are left with wounds. We are left bleeding from their words or actions.  It hurts ... and we bleed.  We forgive ... but we still feel the blood pouring out. The wound is still open.  It hurts ... but let the Lord drain the "blood" all the way out. As our own soul's life is dried up from this work of the cross, this altar experience, we end up fully dead to it. There's no more that may be done to us. We are drained out. No more ble...

I started a short series with a brother on this topic of the kingdom but we never finished it. Here are the ones we've covered so far. These were meant to be short and simple introductions to some concepts that are often too complicated or controversial to cover easily.  These are based off of many talks in our living room when some questions would come up about gift or reward or future prophecies and we'd end up on a tangent with a messy whiteboard. 

 This is not a message, it is more of a discussion that I’ve been having with several people by phone call or email or chat or in person. This only includes some notes on it but I wanted to share a more comprehensive view all at once.

I just received a question via text from a brother who is about to share a short word at an upcoming event. He wanted to know how I prepare when I'm sharing a word. There are many more details to talk about, but for those 5-minute times, here are my notes: 1) Pray for the people  The "burden of the word" (Mal 1:1) or the specific main word I get often comes through this. If I have no clue what to share on and I'm asking the Lord about it, the answer doesn't always come until I begin to pray for the people. More often than not, I'll be praying for the souls, and some Scripture or topic will come through that. Sometimes I already have the word, and I cannot tell when it came, but I know what I should share on. In your case, you may have a word already in your heart that has worked in you to get you to this point. Even still, you take the word and bring it to the Lord and pray for the people that will be listening. 2) Meditate and receive the word The largest par...

I've recently picked up studying Romans again and found this old outline that I had scratched down maybe 15 years ago. It was refreshing for me to see and was not something that I had seen in a commentary or heard in a message. 

I had a question from a brother who was about to counsel someone for baptism in May 2021. What follows are some notes I sent. Recently, another asked me about this, so I thought it best to post this as a reference. It's a little raw, like an email, but hopefully helpful to the baptism counselor. See the links at the end of this post for more teaching or preaching on baptism.  Question Asked:  Hi Geoffrey. Someone here has asked to be baptized and requested that I do it. I'm willing but have never baptized anyone before. Can you give me a crash course as this may happen as soon as next week. Also, shouldn't there be some sort of counseling prior? A couple others have expressed interest as well. Quick Response: Awesome to hear! I'll write more later, but I can share a little now.  Counseling  should be simple enough for the thousands saved at Pentecost to get baptized on the same day with only 120 counselors :) If you are counseling, you want to check for two things ba...

Below are some various messages and study notes on baptism.  Messages on Baptism Baptism and the Laying on of Hands

Question: Where can I get the audio messages of Stephen Kaung's God Has Spoken series? If I could recommend only one book or series by Stephen Kaung it would be his God Has Spoken series. He shared a message for each book of the Bible, giving a simple overview and revealing the way to find Christ as you read. It is not only his classic set but it's His way with the Scriptures. Our brother could always find Christ and find Him as He's meant to be found. For a new believer and an old believer, this is the first set to have as guide through the Bible and a reference set to go back to later on.  Below are links to each of the original messages.   Old Testament  Introduction to the Old Testament Genesis -The Will of God Exodus -The Works of God Leviticus - The Ways of God Numbers -The Walk of God Deuteronomy - The Word of God Joshua - Possessing the Land   Judges - Possessing all the Possessions Ruth - Recovery of the Inheritance I Samuel - Epoch-...

Intro—The Testimony of Jesus Are you ready to read Revelation? or study it? What about with a group? In this intro to the series, we look at what we need in order to begin studying Revelation. https://youtu.be/j2eean59xNg

 I've been realizing that who I am in Christ, who I've been called to be as His servant, is not who I am this moment, and I've repented "in dust and ashes." Shall I press the magic prayer button and suddenly walk in my "full measure"? As I repented, leaning on the life of Christ to now live by, does that mean that my outward abilities will match up with who I find myself to be in Christ? It hasn't worked that way so far. I'm about to run a Spartan race far beyond my ability. When I signed up for this 10k with 25 obstacles it was impossible but was a vision of where I think I should be at with exercise and health. I wanted to be able to run a 10k at a 10min pace - not an amazing thing but impossible not long ago. I wanted to be able to do 100 pushups, 10 pullups, and sit-ups, etc. When I started out toward this I could run a mile and that was after a long while of training up to it. Now I run a 5k in the mornings with little G just for half of a p...

"Daddy, what was the first thing invented by humans?" I can't remember which kid asked this, but I had an old note with this question on it from years ago.  Answer: Fig-leaf clothes.  They didn't work well. They didn't cover their shame. Was it due to the cool breeze on those leaves as God walking in the Garden? No, only blood could really cover their shame of sin. So God made them clothes by the first sacrificed animal. The blood covered their sins, and the skin of the animal covered their nakedness.   But the first inventors  specifically mentioned for their inventions were children of Lemech, the 7th from Adam on Cain's side. These would be the evil pillars of society at the time right before the flood.  Genesis 4:19-24: And Lemech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second, Zillah. And Adah bore   Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and [breed] cattle  And his brother's name was  Jubal...

Prayer seems good for me, but why pray if God will do His will anyway? Note: Someone recently asked another person this question via text. They asked me for some help in answering it. But my answer needed to be brief for a text response. This question deserves a lot more fellowship. the mystery of prayer Prayer is a mystery. God can do anything He wants, but He has chosen to limit himself so we can join Him on earth by prayer to accomplish what He wills in heaven. This is why He taught us to pray "Thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth." Though God knows what will happen, that does not mean He has taken away our choice. His will is going to be accomplished, but we have the option to delay it or to pray for it. He especially loves to answer big prayers when we pray together (see Matthew 18:18-20).   Watchman Nee's book Powerful According to God has a nice small chapter on this question . You can read that chapter ( here ) on the free sample for the eBook. 

 Recently after sharing on 1st John a question came up to do with one of the more difficult Scriptures.  Here's the 1 John series , this question has to do with #6 - Practicing Righteousness. Here's the dialogue:  Q:  Thank God and our brother for this very timely message on practical righteousness, that is so essential if we are to be in readiness for the "presence " of the Lord. However, I was left with some questions regarding the interpretation of 1 John 3:19-20. When I read verse 19, it seems to me to be a warning not to unconditionally follow the heart: In other words,other if we have a definite word from the Lord, then it takes priority over the condemnation of the heart;'likewise if our heart does approve, then we should follow the witness of the Spirit, life and peace.Perhaps our brother would offer some clarification. Again the message was a real blessing. A:  Amen, this is so essential to be ready for the Lord's return. :)  Those two verses in 1 ...

While going over this question in preparation for a local youth meeting, my son already had his own answer:   It is actually that simple. Creation has to stop at some point. If everything has to have a beginning, then there must be something before the beginning in order to begin everything else. Otherwise, once we find out who created God we have to ask who created that one? And at some point, we run into the real God who has always existed. Before there was a beginning of heavens and earth being created (Gen. 1:1) there was God. And He began all of creation:  John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being.  Hebrews 11:3 By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear. 

Jonah 1:14-16  Then they cried out to the Lord, 'Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.' Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. This is deliverance by casting the stubborn prophet overboard.  It’s that part of your heart, deep asleep in the depths of the boat, that is running from the Lord. He is not innocent. He is not to be kept on the ship. Release him to the Lord’s monster-fish to be brought near to Sheol. If he dies, it was the Lord who let him die. If he is brought to land, your old stubbornness against the Lord’s will may become your new resoluteness to accomplish the Lord’s mission.  Oh Lord, I cast away this stubborn ‘man’ inside of me and release him to Your storms. Judge and do as You please. As for me, I w...

 Pretty amazing recent discovery:  Some solid evidence for an earthquake in the 8th century BC. In the Bible there was a major earthquake referenced during that same time period in Amos and Zechariah: "The words of Amos, ... in the days of Uzziah king of Judah... two years before the earthquake." (Amos 1:1) "And ye shall flee [by] the valley of my mountains ... like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." (Zechariah 14:5) It's always fun to watch archeology catch up to the Scriptures and even color them for us a little.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-unearth-1st-jerusalem-evidence-of-quake-from-bibles-book-of-amos/?fbclid=IwAR2teDM3BUMdzXg5X2XTgQslIlPHFT45Qi6mnxdgbP39jHIMNghTpL0zCMY

10 Useful Witnesses Verses (*Note: question received via text - thought I'd post more details here.) For sharing the good news you should find some various sections to either explain or work with someone where they are. They may be dealing with the vanity of the world and you could use most of Ecclesiastes, or they may simply have the question, What is the good news? and you could use Romans 1:1-4 or 1 Cor 15:1-6. Wherever the person is, and with whatever materials you can remember, the Holy Spirit will lead with some appropriate passages and concepts to work from.  However, it's helpful to have some specific verses memorized for when it comes time to lead someone through the threshold of salvation. Those would be the first ones I'd memorize so that way you could at least help someone who asks the question, What must I do to be saved? Here are 10 of those that I'd begin with. They cover a variety of actions that help with believing for salvation: 1. Romans 10:9 Confess ...

Predestined according to Foreknowledge (*Note: These quick notes on Romans 8:18-30 were for content helps for a youth meeting on that section when I wasn't going to be leading. This was not for a message, but just to gain the structure and concepts so you don't get lost in the weeds while reading and meditating on this glorious passage.)  ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:18-30‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/59/rom. 8.18-30.esv ... for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined  to be conformed to the image of his Son,  in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called,  and those whom he called he also justified,  and those whom he justified he also glorified. His purpose = to be conformed to the image of His Son Order of events: God has a purpose which is to conform us to the image of His Son. God foreknew people and their decisions before they were created God pre...