witnessing and university scholars

[ed]

Hi,
On the old broken down buses, in a movie on India etc they may be regarded as romantic
buses, Jesus was with me. Once a driver gave me a hand ful of small change. I hated that.
From then on, I never dished out change unless it was requested. Still today, I follow
these teachings from Jesus. Jeses protects me from the elements. When a bus pulls up, I
use the closest door. I always take the first bus if different types of bus are available for
the same journey. I told Jesus I would do this and I do it. I have sat in the what I
considered the worst seat in the bus, because I believe Jesus allocated that seat to me. It
was the seat on the drivers side of the bus right at the back behind the curve of hot metal,
between the back and the side of the bus. When the bus turned the corner and made its
long journey down this major straight road I deliberately looked at everyone on the bus.
The hot late afternoon sun was streaming into the bus. I was the only person in the shade.
Even the driver was covered in sunlight. I have had a spiritual fan blow on me in a bus
and the air became colder and colder until I asked for it to stop. I sat that journey out with
this beautiful cold personal breeze blowing on me. I told Jesus I would stand if any one
deserving needed a seat. I couldn’t help but turn the event into a game. One day I said to
Jesus, you won’t be able to find me a seat now.I had stood for a lady and as ladies used
the buses to travel to and from the markets for daily purchases, no refrigerators, I was
surrounded by ladies. Even if a lady left her seat and I was the closest, there were several
ladies within touching distance who I could direct to the seat. The next stop, a contingent
of male labourers joined the bus from the rear door. All the ladies scurried up the centre
aisle and I was surround my men. The very next stop the lady adjacent to where I was
standing squeezed out of her seat and debussed. There were no ladies within reach so I
sat down. As I said I could write a book on how Jesus played chess with the crowds on
buses so I could sit down. On an airconditioned bus I had a ticket seller walk one third
the length of the bus to escort me to a seat. How she kept the seat for me while she came
for me I don’t know. Importantly, the day I told Jesus how I was going to walk in love
on the buses I found myself weak with sickness. I decided on that day, that my strength
was in Him and even though I was weak and feeling sickly, I stood. It turned out to be a
test.Somewhere along the way I recovered my strength.
love,
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,

I am a person who easily becomes addicted. Newspapers were read from front to back.
Even as a child, I would read the newspapers at the butcher shop. I would get halfway
through an article and a butcher would plonk some meat onto the paper and wrap up the
purchase and I would look for another interesting item to read before it too was whisked
away. In Thailand I decided to conquer this addiction. I proclaimed my desire to Jesus.
This morning, I was waiting for a bus and there was a newsagent at the bus stop. Yes, I
bought a newspaper. The moment I bought it, my stomach rolled over. I wanted to put the
paper back but stupidly I held onto to it. My stomach became worse and worse and I was
in constant prayer. I finised my bus journey and had a few hundred metres walk to the
high school where I was teaching. I was almost there when I lost my bowels and filled
my undies. On my left was a vacant field with a stubble of grass. On my right some 50
meters ahead was the entrance to the school. I took several steps onto the field and asked
Jesus to close the eyes of the people streaming past on their way to school. I took off my
shoes, then my trousers, all whilst trying to squat, then my undies which I tossed to one
side, checked my trousers which were still clean, and used toilet paper I always carried. I
never used water as is the common practise in Thailand. It took some time to clean
myself and then to re-dress. My legs were shaking uncontrollably from the continual
squatting. Not one person looked at me as they walked past. I went to school, the
elevators were not working that day and I had to walk up maybe three flights of stairs on
shakey legs. My teaching went well. No one commented. I do not know if anyone saw
me. That was some day.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
These interactions I have with Jesus Christ are not just for the telling but contain lessons as well. It is good to study them. The most noticeable aspect about the above testimony is the fear of the Lord. Jesus doesn't care for our pride, our sense of delicacies. He is also very acutely aware of all aspects in our life. He knows us to the nth degree of our psychologically makeup. Jesus really knows how to push one's buttons, anyone's buttons to extract exactly the desired action/reaction.
I have noticed that whenever I am frustrated in trying to meet a timetable then spiritual
activity is on hand and my antenna go up. This happened in Australia probably around
late 2005. I had trouble getting out of the house, Palm Lake Resort, where I was living
with my mother. By the time I arrived at the bus stop it was too late. The bus had already
gone. The buses come each half hour. My agenda was to catch a bus to the Goodna
branch of Centracare, send an email to Tui, in Thailand, and then walk to the train station,
close by, and from there to Central Station in Brisbane where I worked for Kings Car
Parking. So I waited, not too concerned as I always leave plenty of time in my travel
arrangements to arrive on time, work being my destination. I had been waiting for some
time. The bus stop is just after a crest in the road. My attention was taken by some birds. I
noticed them flying up to the top of the electricity towers where they had a nest. I was
watching the activity and the bus went past. There are literally seconds between a bus
coming into view and its arrival at the bus stop. The gap between my glances was too
long. Well now my schedule was looking lest bright. From here it was 30 minutes to
Goodna, allow 30 minutes at Centacare, 15 minutes to walk to and catch a train, 45
minutes by train and walking to work. Add another 30 minutes waiting for the next bus
and I was into anxiety time. I crossed the road, and caught the bus going to Redbank
Station within 5 minutes. So this bus was going in the opposite direction to the one I
wanted to travel in. This to me is frustration. Going in the opposite direction to the direction of your choice.
This is not the first time I have found myself going in the supposedly
wrong direction. I arrived at work and they were pleased I was early. They had some staff
problem and offered me overtime which I was pleased to accept. On Mondy, I went to
centre care and discovered that Tui was not at work on Friday, so even if I had sent that
email to her it would not have reached her any earlier then the email I was sending that
Monday. Australian time is 3 hours before Thai time. I sent email to Tui’s work address
as she did not have the intenet at home. The email I sent on Monday would be there for
her by the time she got to work in Thailand.
You can see how much Jesus is aware of what is happening in the future. The future is
not unknown to Him.
I do not write these small testimonies in isolation. Jesus keeps repeating until I come to belief. Once He put it to my heart that I had better hurry up and start believing a bit quicker.

 

[ed]

Hi,
This happened in Australia possibly in 2005. I had seen this young island boy on the
buses and around the Goodna area. I spoke to him once. He was interested in music and
would love to be involved in the church choir. He did not go to school and he did not
work and he was too young to receive Centrelink payments. One day, outside a
supermarket he asked me for a cigarettes. As I don’t smoke I could not give one to him.
But being an ex smoker I knew how difficult it is. So I gave him some money.Experience
with Jesus has shown me that no one can ask you unless Jesus enables them to do so. So I
was not concerned that I would be a constant source of funds for this boy caught in a hard
place. He came to me on a couple of other occasions and as it says in scripture, give to
him who asks, I gave. One night, late, I was walking out from leaving the train home
from work and on the opposite side of the road were a group of teens. Then one left the
group and came over to me. It was this youth. He wanted some money, which I gave to
him. I felt that by the way he returned to the group, he felt empowered. I never saw him
again for a couple of years. Then one day, as I walked past the local fish and chip shop,
this person yelled out and came running towards me. It was him. We did the usual glad to
see you stuff and then I said to him how glad I was that he called out to me and came
over to me. I said he had grown and I would not have recognised him. Seriously, he
looked at me and said, “Man, I will never forget you.” That was the last time I saw him.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This happened in Australia after I came back from Thailand. Patsy is a friend to both Tui
and myself. We became friends through acupuncture as she is an acupunsturist. When I
was in Thailand Patsy came over on holiday to visit us. She saw how I gave to whoever
asked. On her return to Australia she wrote and asked about her problem with one of her
brothers. He is an alcoholic, married with children, and he keeps asking Patsy for money.
I told Patsy the only course I could suggest is for her to take on Jesus. That way her
brother could not ask her unless Jesus approved. That was the end of that conversation.
Now I was back in Australia. Patsy phoned and asked if I could help her with some
money for her brother. I asked her how much and she said, $1500. I said I did not have
that much money, but if she liked I could give her what I had and then each week I could
save some and send it too her. We agreed and see gave me her account details and I sent
the money. The $1500 was soon reached and all was well. Then Patsy said she had a
friend who worked in the car industry and he was looking out for a good 2nd hand car for
her. She said when she had the new car I could have her old car if I liked. Well I liked
very much because, according to scripture one should not borrow money. That left me in
a position of not being able to buy any larger priced items either because I also believe
we are not to hoard. So Patsy gave me her old car in due time. It is a 1988 EA Ford
Falcon sedan. Where I lived in Goodna, Tully Lodge, there are 51 units and only one car
port. So the cars are in a car park which is a gold mine for thieves. Regularly, they come
and steal from the cars. Our car has been broken into three times, but twice while I lived
there. On both occasions nothing was damaged apart from some disfigurement around the
lock. Most if not all of the other cars without security have been damaged, mostly locks
pulled out of the doors. One car, had a cloth top cut off. When Tui asked me to leave on
the 19th of July, I did. Then sometime later I went to the department of transport to
upgrade my address. Two days later I received the registeration sticker from Main Roads.
Tui had registered the car but as it was in my name the sticker was sent to Buderim Pines
Caravan Park. I sent it on to Tui, but it had my address on it. That is how Tui found me,
not that I was hiding. Then Tui visited me and brought my mobile phone. Now the car is
in her name.
love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This is Australia, after Jesus called me. I was walking through a short lane. I was just in
front of a lady and there on the ground in front of me was a five dollar note. I picked it
up. Just as I did, scripture said to me, do not gather the gleanings. I paused, the lady
walked past and I dropped the $5 note back to the ground. Just then a person who
appeared homeless, came around the corner towards us. He was only a few yards away. I
walked past him without looking back but sure in the knowledge that he would see the
money Jesus had prepared for him.
love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
When I left Thailand which I did within 4 or 5 days of deciding that that was where the
Spirit was leading me, I did not have any plans, nor had I contacted anyone. So I just
rocked up where my mother and brother were staying and said Hi. Can I stay? My mum
was really pleased. In her 80’s she said, “ I knew there was a reason I just washed the
curtains.”


I had not smoked for 14 years, then took it up as if I had never stopped. This happened
just before I went to Thailand. Now Tui hated my smoking. She would still buy me
cigarettes but hated my smoking. So frequently I tried to give up smoking. When I tried
she would be so very happy. Then when I started again, after failing, we would have this
tremendous argument. You don’t love me etc etc etc. Well this happened several times
and then in the midst of an argument, I said to Tui, “ Can you tell me something you have
not told me a dozen times before.” She said “No” I said, “ Well I can not tell you
anything I haven’t told you many times before either. In fact I said, I hate these
arguments so much that now I am afraid to even try any more because I always fail then
we have these arguments. So we agreed never to discuss cigarettes again. I kept on
smoking.
Shortly after this, we went on a 4 day holiday, the Thai new year which is a water festival
celebrated in April. On the Friday we went back to work. Before leaving home I was
sitting at an outdoor table. On the table was an empty beer bottle and a full ashtray. I took
them outside and when I took the lid off the bin my elbow was bumped and the ashtray
fell into the bin. I was scared, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to try and give up
smoking. I retrieved the ash tray and threw the empty beer bottle into the bin and went
back and sat at the table. I had a smoke and thought about what had just happened.
Definitely my intention was always to throw the empty bottle not the ashtray. And
without doubt something hit my elbow. I decided that I had to give up smoking. I went to
teaching which at that time was in a shopping mall. That night after work we the teachers
used to head up to the top floor and play snooker. I was drinking and playing snooker
when I decided I needed a smoke. So I lit up a smoke and then put it in the ashtray to go
and have my turn. When I came back the cigarette had rolled out of the ashtray and was
burning the table. I was annoyed with Christ and said, “ This is between you and me.”
But I knew it wasn’t only the two of us.I think I stopped but later in the night, after we
had a belly full of snooker we would head off to the driving range and spray some balls
about. Next to us was Thai man who could not hit a ball more than 100 yards. He
sneezed. I said “God bless” He turned and looked at me and said, “It is your cigarette
smoke that is making me sneeze” I was dumbstruck. I froze. I just looked at him,
bewildered, a Thai speaking English. Again he spoke, saying, “ You can’t smoke here!”
Now I spoke, I said, “Yes I can, look, the pretty girls brought me an ashtray. I always
smoke here. He replied, “You can’t smoke here and pointed. I turned and looked. There
was the doorway to the toilet and beside the sign was a NO SMOKING sign. I turned,
looked at him then stubbed the cigarette out. I stopped smoking, but the next day,
Saturday, during lunch at a licenced food outlet in the mall, I took another cigarette. This
cigarette rolled out of my hand as if I was without the power to even hold a cigarette. I
was scared. I stopped again. That Saturday night when Tui and I were eating dinner I
asked her if I could talk about smoking. She said ok so I told her what happened. She said
she was really please because she did not realise how much I smoked until the holidays
when we spent so much time close together. Normally Tui lived the week at work
accommodation and came home only on the weekends. She was really worried about me
and because we agreed not to talk about it anymore she prayed to Jesus and asked Him to
stop me smoking. I was flabbergasted to think she had gone over my head, and initially a
little annoyed but I recognise how much a blessing it is. Of course as is the way, He took
me back to smoking to show me that I now had control over it and it was not my master
anymore. Apart from that confirmation of my blessing I have remained smoke free since.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

hi,

This happened in Thailand maybe in the mid 2000’s. As I have stated previously, Tui
used to drive to work on Monday mornings around 5.30 am then stay the week in work
accommodation then travel home on Fridays to spend the weekend with me.At the time
of this incident Tui was attending university maybe 3 times a week. Tui was involved in a
car accident near her work place. It involved a motor cycle. Tui had first class insurance.
The police impounded Tui’s car. She did the normal Thai thing. She bribed the police.
You can buy bribes at the supermarkets. Lovely large and larger baskets full of whisky
and coffee and all sorts of goodies or you can just hand them cash. It is accepted that the
police use traffic offence fines to supplement their pay. They kept her car. She again
bribed them but to no avail. Weeks went past. She was desperate and losing money at
work as well as she had to leave work by 3pm to make the university then bus back home
and catch a very early morning bus to connect to a company bus some distance from our
home. Thai’s survive by networking. Well it turned out that at the market place where her
mother worked, Tui was 30 when she met her mother, was another lady whose son was a
chauffeur for a high ranking police man in Bangkok. So the question was asked what was
happening with Tui’s case. The answer came back one night by phone. This case was
regarded as very serious and Tui will have to go to prison when it is finalised. Tui was
distraught. It was a Thursday night when she received that call. I asked her if she wanted
to pray about this and she agreed. We knelt down together and prayed. Tui came home
with the car on Friday afternoon. On Friday afternoon the police in the district where she
worked called her and asked her to urgently come to the police station. They apologised
to her and asked her not to be angry with them. The police had prisoners come and wash
and clean the car which was very dirty because of the length of time it had been
impounded. The police told her that they were the wrong police as the accident did not
happen in their jurisdiction. They contacted the proper police authority and cleared all
matters with them. They tried to hand back the bribes but Tui would not accept them
back. They had a workshop do overtime to check the car and give it a roadworthy. Police
are arrogant in Thailand but these police themselves pushed Tui’s car to start it as the
battery was flat. They told her it was a very minor accident and she could go to the court
and pay a small fine. They pleaded with her not to be angry with her. ( a story that
filtered through. The first phone call from the highly placed Bankok policeman was done
by a subordinate who was told the story of the accident being major. For some reason the
following day the highly placed Bankok policeman checked on the story himself. The
result was that if Tui was not completely satisfied and did not have her car back that same
day, the collection of police at that station would find themselves transferred to some hell
hole in a poor district. Apparantly police in a poor district can't earn much money from
bribery etc. People deliver weekly bribes to police stations and the bribes are distributed
according to the will of the man in charge.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi
This happened in Thailand after I was called. I felt the need to exercise and started
running, something I could do quite well. My right leg started to get sore but I planned to
run right through the discomfort. Whamo. I could hardly walk. I used a taxi to get me
across to the other side of the road. Cars don’t stop in Thailand for pedestrians as they do
in Australia. I prayed and asked God why this was done. My answer was “Direction.”
Well, direction, what about direction. There was a swimming pool in the village 22
meters long. I am a poor swimmer but off I went swimming. Swim a lap, have a spell and
swim a lap. After about 4 weeks I was swimming a mile, very slowly mind you but a
mile. This morning I had only just started swimming and an electrical storm broke over
the area. On reflection I decided to leave the pool, not wanting to tempt God and hobbled
home. From multiple experiences, I knew that I would not be wet but as I had to go to a
private teaching I also knew that the storm would be over by the time I was dressed and
ready to go. So armed with these assurances, I showered etc dressed and went to leave.
On going outside, the rain had stopped as I expected but the ground was covered in
casual water. Teachers are expected to set a high dress standard and this was the only
occasion I wore running shoes. I took off my dress shoes and put on my runners. As soon
as I saw a motorcycle taxi I hopped on board, ( this is another style of officiall transport)
and headed to the front of the village and the bus stop. As we were travelling towards the
main road I looked up and saw the bus No 1024 drive past the gap between the buildings.
I made hurry up noises and pointed and the bloke understood.He whizzed up the road
onto the main street and chased after the bus, pulling across in front of it at a bus stop. I
was in a hurry. I had the normal fare in my top pocket but as this was not a normal trip I
needed to pay him more so I had to go to my wallet and fork out some more money. Then
I dashed onto the bus and away we went. From my many experiences, I knew that when
my time schedule was being re-arranged that spiritual activity was happening. So I was
on the lookout sure in the knowledge that I would be required at some point. At a major
intersection where the bus turns left, this bus went straight ahead. I was on the wrong
bus.On the odd occasion, the bus company used the wrong bus but then they posted a
notice in Thai of course next to the door. I must have missed it in my hurry to get on
board. The next bus stop was too far down the road for me to walk back with my crook
leg so I stayed on the bus. I knew where it was going and I was quite early, having left
the pool shortly after starting. The bus took me to a ferry. I got out of the bus, walked 50
yards to the ferry and repeated the process on the other side, to my next and final bus.
Still nothing had happened. The bus took me to a bus stop almost outside the house
where I did the privte teaching. I was right on time. Nothing had happened. I was
puzzled. I taught the lesson and on finishing I went home the way I had meant to come,
my standard route of travel. I walked past the bus stop where the bus had let me off,
down the street to a car park, through the car park to a largish international shopping
centre, through the centre and I was half way across the other side of the car park when I
had to stop. My leg was pumping with pain and I could not walk for a short time. I
thought to myself, “ My leg didn’t hurt on my way to the class.” And then I knew. He had
shown me a better way. How do you get your mind around that. That God loves you and
loves you that much to the exclusion of others. A wild electrical storm, flooding rain,
change the time, change shoes, change the bus, have me look up at the split second the
bus drove across the gap so I would see it, have the bike drive me across the road so I
wouldn’t have to hurry across on foot, and put me on a bus which stopped almost outside
the house where I taught. And perfectly on time. All this for me. All this for me because
my leg hurt. I wept

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This occurred in the last semester of my teaching in Thailand. The next semester I did not
have a school to teach at. Back in Australia when I could not find employment to stay in,
I thought maybe I was wrong in coming to Australia so I looked back and discovered my
employment dilemma ( blessing) did not begin on my return to Australia from Thailand
but started in Thailand. ( This also proved to be less than the full story) I was teaching
at a high school in the same ’suburb’ I lived in. The school went on two camps. This was
the first camp and I was invited to attend. I shared a dormitory sleeping on mats between
rows of boys and some teachers. The few units were reserved for others.This camp was at
a beach. One day we all went down to the beach and piled into the water for a swim.
After a while I saw a small group of boys further from the shore than the main body of
swimmers. As I watched them they all departed except one. Then he started to shout for
help. I watched thinking it was a hoax but almost immediately a hue and cry when up
from all the swimmers. I started to swim out and almost immediately I realised that I was
swimming strongly, and I was not looking up constantly to check on my position relative
to the boy in trouble. When I reached him I called out , ‘Roll over’ to which he responded
which positioned him with his back to me. Then I put my arm around him and lifted him
in the water. Not once during the rescue did this boy who almost drowned and was
hospitalised fight or thrash out in fear. Two others joined me, a teacher from the school
and a university student who had been invited to join in the activities and help with
instructions. They brought a larger ball which they put up under his shirt to keep him
buoyant.We struggled until we were exhausted and when I looked at the shore we were
no closer. Again we struggled and the whole scene seemed helpless and useless. I thought
about my promise from Jesus. I knew I would die in Jerusalem. I felt like an actor who
had gone through the wrong door and was in the wrong play. I didn’t belong here. I
started to swim away, but after a couple of strokes changed my mind and swam back. In
fear and anguish I called loudly on Jesus Christ. Instantly a series of huge waves came
crashing into us and pushed up so far into shore that we could touch bottom with our feet.
We headed towards shore and I did not take stock of myself then my legs buckled and I
almost fell into the water. I asked Jesus why I was acting like this seeking sympathy
when I felt strong. As we struggled the last short distance the teacher from the school
called out my name and I turned to see him being swept out. I took a couple of steps
towards him and caught his hand and pulled him in till he could support himself. The
student was taken into the care of the multitude. The university student was vomiting.
The teacher was lost in the crowd. I took the uni student and with his arm over my
shoulder took him to an outside shower. I suggested he shower to help recover. He agreed
and we stood under the shower until he said he was ok. I left him there and went on my
way. I asked Jesus why He had let me stumble and almost fall as I was walking out of the
water. He said to my heart, “I wanted you to know where you were without my
strength.” On the journey back to school the bus stopped at some shops. This teacher
wanted to buy me something, but as I was fasting I just asked for water. Thai teachers are
paid very poorly. He bought me a case of water. At school, when the student returned
from hospital he gave me a basket full of eggs. I ate the eggs of course. Every egg was a
double yolker. That student did not like English and had never attended my English class.
He could barely say a word in English but when I asked him to roll over he did. The
school credited me with saving the lives of both their student and their teacher. When the
student told me this I told the student it was not me but Jesus.
There next camp was a mountain expedition. I was given a self contained unit to myself.
They would not put another male in with me nor would they let me sleep outside so a
couple of ladies could use the unit. Most of the staff slept on the ground.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This happened at a primary school while I was in Thailand, after Jesus called me.Class
sizes in Thailand usually number in the high 30’s. This was a class of younger students,
in their primary year. This particular class had one lass whose behaviour ruled. Mostly
she was loving which meant she climbed all over me, hugging me, clinging to me and
wipeing me down if she thought I was hot. I usually had to peel her off my body
frequently. Sometimes she was not loving and would stab me with pencils. On this day, I
had exams to do. This meant that I had to ask questions of and listen to responses of
almost 40 students in a 40 minute period. I dreaded the class. When I entered the room,
this lass was in a loving mood. Immediately in fear, I said, “Jesus, you will have to care
for this child.” Instantly she left me and went and sat at her desk. She stayed there the
whole time. Ever after, when I arrived at the school in the morning she would come over
to me in a very demure fashion and greet me good morning then run off. She set a
standard for me. I never received any feedback but at the end of the semester the head of
the school came to me and told me I was always welcome at that school and I was to be
sure and return. But as usual, the private company which employed me sent me
elsewhere.

love,
edwin

ps, yesterday on a whim, I googled my own name, edwin, and the meaning given is 1 prosperous friend 2 Heir's axe. How coincidental if one believes in coincidences. The same coincidence that has my nick name, ed meaning in Hebrew, witness, which is what Jesus called me to in 2001

 

[ed]

Hi
This happened probably in 2008. Tui went down to Sydney for a week to spend some
time with Thai friends.I think she left on a Thursday and was due back the following
Thursday. I was to drive the car to the airport to pick her up. On the Friday, I had a phone
call from a long time friend. I had only seen them once since my return from Thailand.
The wife, Lesley phoned and asked if I would come and spend some time with them. I
replied that that would be great but that I had no way of getting there as I would not drive
the car without Tui’s approval. I was not working and did not feel as if I had a say in how
the money was spent.Lesley said she had a delivery of eggs to Brookfield on Saturday
and could pick me up on Saturday about 9am. I asked about coming home and she said
she could bring me home on Thursday morning, very early as she left the Toowoomba
area around 4 am. This worked in perfectly with Tui’s schedule so I agreed. Lesley
picked me up on Saturday and we headed for Greenmount where they have a commercial
chicken (eggs) farm.I had visited them once on my return from Thailand. They thought I
was off my rocket not eating till dinner time and with the other stuff. Well on the way
back to the farm Lesley confessed to being a closet Christian. She said none of her
friends knew but she prayed daily. At the farm I found that foxes were treating the farm
like the Ritz. Each day they had about 12 -14 birds minus the heads. The foxes like the
blood, apparently. Russell was in the midst of composing an add for some shooters, but
the problem with shooters is that when you shoot the foxes they can’t mark their territory
so after a short time a new batch move in. On Tuesday, Lesley said to me, “What do you
think, Ed,” and I replied, “Have you prayed?” She replied, “Do you think that will help?”
I said “ Of course.” But they being farmers are into bed before you know it and I was
left to my own devices. So I prayed alone. Next day I asked about the dead bird count.
Russell showed me one and I said that bird is as flat as a pan cake. He agreed it had
probably been there for several days. No birds dead. On Thursday morning around 4am
Lesley and I left. I asked about the foxes and she said she did not hear the birds but
sometimes the foxes did not come on overcast nights. Weeks later when I asked they told
me they thought the foxes were taking the birds away and hiding them. At their son’s
engagement party some time after that I asked Russell again and he went into great detail
telling me about the trouble his son, Shane is having at his place. Forget talking about
what once was his favourite subject. Russell treats the subject of Jesus as superstition.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This is ongoing but started for me in Thailand. It happened so often I could not ignore it
until I eventually believed. All details are minor. Except the one time I am confident that
Jesus stopped the clock. But this is a simple recent example. I was with Brian Hughes, a
pastor of an Anglican church at the time. He suffered with a wonkly leg ( I think) and I
persuaded him to go to an acupuncturist, the one who took on my clinic when I went to
Thailand. Traveling in his car from River Hills, Brian turned onto the Centernary
Highway and almost immediately came to a halt because of the traffic congestion. He
berated himself, saying he should have know the highway was busy. It prickled him that
he would be late for his appointment. I said with full confidence, “Brian, we won’t be
late, as we are in Jesus Christ.”We arrived at the clinic several minutes past the
appointment time and presented at reception. The reception immediately apologised to us
for Debbie , the acupuncturist, and said she had been held up and was running late. We
went to the waiting lounge and were selecting books to read when Debbie came in and
apologised for being late.

love
edwin

 

[ed]

Hi,
This is ongoing. This faith issue is one I struggle with. Jesus Keeps me from the rain.
Countless times I was held up or the van I was in was held up but the common theme of
all these situations was that on my arrival the ground was wet from a recent heavy
shower. It happened so often that I tired of saying Wow that was luckly, if I had been on
time I would have been in the middle of the sudden downpour. I took all this to mean that
the rain was part of my timing. If it rained I was to wait. My problem is that twice I have
been disobedient to this faith. Once, when working at my second employment in
Australia. I used to walk the 30 minutes or so to work as I did not have any transport. I
worked the graveyard shift, usually 10 pm to 5 am. This night it was raining and showery
and I waited and waited and left and walked sobbing and distraught through the rain to
work. About a year ago, even though it looked certain to shower, I took off on my
pushbike and then ignored the voice on my heart to pull over to the shelter of a church I
had just left. I was wet. With weak faith I cling to the original promise. Examples since
arriving back in Australia. My first employment started probably around October/
November 2005. I was coming home at night after my shift, around 11pm when an
electrical storm descended on the area. The train stopped and started and fiddled about.
Eventually it arrived at Goodna station. The next stop was Redbank, where I would
detrain and walk the 30 or so minutes to Palm Lake Resort. I asked Jesus what He was
going to do. Then an announcement was made. The train would stop here because of
damage to the power lines. All passengers were to disembark and would be given free
transport by taxis to there destination. Usually cars stop at the entrance to Palm Lake
Restort the the taxi took me to within meters of the front door. If the train had travelled
one more station, I would have had to walk as a taxi would not have been provided to me.
On another two occasions, where I was waiting at a bus stop outside the railway station at
Redbank at some time after 11pm I was rescued, once by an Islander family who stuck
me in the front seat and once by a taxi who had been the victim of a fake call.
I have now come to realise (over the last few months) that this has nothing per se to do with the rain. The reason He keeps me dry is because He loves me. Oh how silly I feel wondering why I should not get wet.
love
edwin

 

[pickles]

Hi Ed, Ive been thinking and praying about what to post about since you asked me.
I always seem to struggle unless I feel led in Jesus to do so.
But over the last month Ive been struggleing alot with pain.
Then last night in prayer I saw that my struggle right now would be a good witness.
Part of the battle is when my difficulties began several years ago while I was young and strong, I told myself that Jesus would heal me by the time I was 50 or so.
Well 50 has reciently passed and I still have my disorders and even more health problems.
I had always been at peace about it all ,but lately I have been doubting, not Jesus, nor God Our Father or His Holy Spirit.
But doubting myself, asking is my faith weak? Is it my sin? Is it all the reasons Ive been seeing debated here lately?
Doubt will ,if you wont doubt God, will try to make you doubt yourself.
Doubt is a sneaky bugger that quietly worms its way into your heart, I think the doubt worm is a good name for it.
Thankfully, Jesus gave me a good dose of His Love, Mercy, and Grace, it cleaned out the doubt worm for good.
Back to the main gift I want to witness to. ( I will quote some scripture in this, but I am going from memory so forgive any mistakes)
Accepting the gift of pain and weakness.
Yes, I said gift.
You see, we often are taught that when we accept Jesu Christ that we should not have any illness,or hardship.
But I have read too many scriptures that comfort us in this, also in revelations speaks to the time where the old order passes away, there will be no more sorrow or pain, and that God Our Father will wipe away every tear from our eyes. ( I love those words!)
In Romans it speaks of our bodies waisting away, yet we are renewed in spirit every day.
I can deffinately witness to this gift.
But still, I had a hard time accepting this again, with even more pain and weakness.
And as to praising? I would say the words yet my heart still cried.
Lately, the pain has been the worst ever, I open my eyes to pain, I dream in pain, every thing I do is pain.
The weakness is even worse, and more heartbreaking, because it is keeping me from serving .
I only speak to this so that I can witness to the powerful love in Jesus, that God Our Father gives us through His Holy Spirit.
After Jesus rid me of the doubt worm, He again filled me with these words....
: It is in your weakness that my power is made perfect.:
Then before my heart Jesus unfolded all the beautiful gifts of understanding, compassion, Love, witness, creativity, beauty, power, prayer,
His Heart, His very presance in my life and the impact on others lives. Not by any act or work of my own, but perfected by the difficulies, the pain, the weaknesses that had been throughout my life.
The powerful presance of the Love of Jesus in so many ways and so great that words alone cannot do it justice.
In our weakness, His power is made perfect!
I began to see that I am given a perfect life, not perfect by the world's standards, but perfect gifts in Jesus!
I see His greatness because of my weakness.
In our weakness, His power is made perfect.
Kinda makes you think about the whole world of weakness, of man, well Im getting out there, but one cannot help seeing all that is perfect in Jesus, by God Our Father, in His Holy Spirit.
Its always easy to see what is perfect when you see your own weakness.
It is much easyer to praise , in Jesus, God Our Father now.
And even though I will face this pain untill Jesus heals me, I always have His comfort, which is all consuming and perfect.
I also see the greatness of His perfect power in weakness.
So Jesus does make our lives perfect, we just have to have the faith in Him.
And let Him show us what is not of the world.
He takes care of the rest.
Faith, Hope, Love. when the imperfect passes away, the perfect comes!
Thankyou Jesus!

God bless, pickles

 

[ed]

Hi Ed, Ive been thinking and praying about what to post about since you asked me.
I always seem to struggle unless I feel led in Jesus to do so.
But over the last month Ive been struggleing alot with pain.
Then last night in prayer I saw that my struggle right now would be a good witness.
Part of the battle is when my difficulties began several years ago while I was young and strong, I told myself that Jesus would heal me by the time I was 50 or so.
Well 50 has reciently passed and I still have my disorders and even more health problems.
I had always been at peace about it all ,but lately I have been doubting, not Jesus, nor God Our Father or His Holy Spirit.
But doubting myself, asking is my faith weak? Is it my sin? Is it all the reasons Ive been seeing debated here lately?
Doubt will ,if you wont doubt God, will try to make you doubt yourself.
Doubt is a sneaky bugger that quietly worms its way into your heart, I think the doubt worm is a good name for it.
Thankfully, Jesus gave me a good dose of His Love, Mercy, and Grace, it cleaned out the doubt worm for good.
Back to the main gift I want to witness to. ( I will quote some scripture in this, but I am going from memory so forgive any mistakes)
Accepting the gift of pain and weakness.
Yes, I said gift.
You see, we often are taught that when we accept Jesu Christ that we should not have any illness,or hardship.
But I have read too many scriptures that comfort us in this, also in revelations speaks to the time where the old order passes away, there will be no more sorrow or pain, and that God Our Father will wipe away every tear from our eyes. ( I love those words!)
In Romans it speaks of our bodies waisting away, yet we are renewed in spirit every day.
I can deffinately witness to this gift.
But still, I had a hard time accepting this again, with even more pain and weakness.
And as to praising? I would say the words yet my heart still cried.
Lately, the pain has been the worst ever, I open my eyes to pain, I dream in pain, every thing I do is pain.
The weakness is even worse, and more heartbreaking, because it is keeping me from serving .
I only speak to this so that I can witness to the powerful love in Jesus, that God Our Father gives us through His Holy Spirit.
After Jesus rid me of the doubt worm, He again filled me with these words....
: It is in your weakness that my power is made perfect.:
Then before my heart Jesus unfolded all the beautiful gifts of understanding, compassion, Love, witness, creativity, beauty, power, prayer,
His Heart, His very presance in my life and the impact on others lives. Not by any act or work of my own, but perfected by the difficulies, the pain, the weaknesses that had been throughout my life.
The powerful presance of the Love of Jesus in so many ways and so great that words alone cannot do it justice.
In our weakness, His power is made perfect!
I began to see that I am given a perfect life, not perfect by the world's standards, but perfect gifts in Jesus!
I see His greatness because of my weakness.
In our weakness, His power is made perfect.
Kinda makes you think about the whole world of weakness, of man, well Im getting out there, but one cannot help seeing all that is perfect in Jesus, by God Our Father, in His Holy Spirit.
Its always easy to see what is perfect when you see your own weakness.
It is much easyer to praise , in Jesus, God Our Father now.
And even though I will face this pain untill Jesus heals me, I always have His comfort, which is all consuming and perfect.
I also see the greatness of His perfect power in weakness.
So Jesus does make our lives perfect, we just have to have the faith in Him.
And let Him show us what is not of the world.
He takes care of the rest.
Faith, Hope, Love. when the imperfect passes away, the perfect comes!
Thankyou Jesus!

God bless, pickles

Hi pickles,
This is a wonderful witness and it also explodes some traditions or myths on Jesus. Thank you for posting this for the members here. They shall benefit greatly.
I hope you don't mind my joining you here in your witness as you remind me of many things. Once when I was really struggling with who I was and when I seemed to have no say in my life and I was frustrated and confused and this after I was called. On a really bad day I cried out to Jesus saying "WHERE AM I, (edwin hansen) where do I start and finish and to my heart came this answer, I AM THE BEGINNING AND THE END. Oh that is so not easy to get your head around. I don't think I fully understand it even now some years later.
Hebrews 2:10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are being made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
This next bit is not scriptural but is on my heart. I used to play football, rugby league, the equivalent in some respects to grid iron without padding. I was often hurt and then I used to have a saying, "it only hurts for a little while." But the lesson here is that as a warrior (of football) I always felt at home in the company of footballers. I had suffered with them and therefore understood. Today we too are warriors of Jesus and very shortly the time will come when we will be in the company of some almighty warriors. Then we will want to have a red badge of courage. How shamed we would feel if we had earn t our stripes from the lounge chair and a 5 star hotel. We would hide in a corner. You dear pickles will feel fully at home, amongst almighty warriors.
Whenever I have trouble understanding something I know the answer will help me understand. The answer is always the same. BECAUSE HE LOVES ME. That is the answer.
You are His workmanship. In love He is making sure you qualify fully. He is, and always is, as long as you agree, "KEEPING YOU' safe.

This is a quote from your post:-( And even though I will face this pain untill Jesus heals me,)
I used to ask Jesus why I was sick or this or that . I would remind Jesus of this scripture, Matthew 9:5 NIV (Jesus talking) Which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven, or to say,'Get up and walk?
Now I know my sins have been forgiven me but I used to doubt that I was healed because my body, mind and senses told me otherwise. Then one day after being hurt, I asked why and He said to my heart, "direction" Now this is a very profound answer. He is always "keeping" us and directing us. All things are at His disposal "to keep and direct" us (those who seek His keeping) and His aim through His love is to have us fulfill our work here and claim glory in our real life.

I had better stop.
stay beautiful
love
edwin.

 

[charisenexcelcis]

Picles, this is a lovely testimony. It is easy to have "faith" when things are easy, but true faith does not exist unless you are having to trust God through great tribulation.

 

[ed]

Hi

I don’t believe in Insurance. God is my cover.This is my belief and I never encourage
anyone to take up my belief.Please don't follow me but follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in YOUR life. I was in Thailand and this occurred in my second last
semester in Thailand which made it my last school, the one where Jesus rescued us from
drowing. As part of my pay deal, the school provided insurance. I was going to object
about the insurance but before the words made it out of my mouth the protest died. The
neighbours across the street from where we lived owned a vicious dog. I later found out
they starved the dog to make him more vicious. I liked this dog and at night on my return
from working I used to go over to the fence and massage him. He was a real sook for a
good massage. He used to end up falling over and rolling around groaning. A couple of
times he looked a bit strange to me but I did not mind. I like dogs. This night he attacked
me, my hand, which protruded through the steel fence. It was not so much as rip and tear
but wolf down. I had to go to hospital because Thailand is a rabies area. I had a few
puncture wounds. The neighbours in the area heard about the incident. One very friendly
neighbour who spoke good English explained to me that the dog was starved. Then I
understood. Sometimes on my way home I would stop at Mc Donalds for a burger. I did
not wash my hands properly, I just used the condensation from the side of the drink
container and the tissues to clean my hands. The dog often smelt the hamburger on my
hand. This night it proved to much for him. The owners were worried I may sue but I
assured them I was not going to sue but I told them their children were not safe if they
had food on their breath or on their hands. They said they already knew this and only let
the dog out when the kids were locked inside the house. I heard later that a visitor was
attacked but I am not personally sure of this. But this does point to the foreknowledge of
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Oh maybe I should add that I don't believe in saving (storing up) so hospital costs would have been a burden for me. I had several visits.
On the subject of insurance. I firmly believe that if our governments wanted to reduce
substantially the road toll they could do this easily by cancelling motor vehicle insurance.
No car insurance, no truck insurance. If you had an accident you would have to pay for
the damage. If you wrecked your car you would have to pay it off anyhow. People put
their trust in Insurance and drive and act accordingly. If your car was in the panel shop
not even your best friend would loan you his car. Irresponsible drivers would have one
chance only before paying the price. Maturity would blossom. Our trust should be in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I like the old joke, Today the brakes on cars are so good that instead of running over
people, they can stop right on top of them,
love
edwin