Love is Born

As I woke up this morning I read several reports that were posted all over the internet that a father, David Goldman after 5 long years was finally reunited with his 9 year old son Sean Goldman.  A father who refused to give up and literally gave anything he could to be with his son once again.  Apparently his son Sean, who was born and raised for the first 4 years of his life in New Jersey, was illegally taken from his father down to Brazil.  His father didn’t rest; he refused to give up hope of one day being reunited with his son. The natural love of a father for his son caused him to relentlessly pursue his son until he was safe at home in the arms of his paternal father.

As I followed this story over the last several days I couldn’t help but think of how a Heavenly Father would willingly give up His one and only son to come down to a little village called earth to save all humanity.  For some it’s hard to grasp because this is no ordinary son, this is God’s son! The bible describes Him as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace, a lover of all souls, He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the spotless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world…!  And God would deliver to us His spotless lamb through the womb of a young, unknown teenage girl.  She introduces us to Gods priceless gift, not through the beautiful palaces of Bethlehem, not through a five star hotel or best hospitals of the day but through a lowly manger on the backside of an unknown hill.  She doesn’t wrap Him in royal robes like He was accustomed to but in swaddling clothes and she placed Him in His first crib, which was a feeding troth and there she gives Him the name “Immanuel”, God is with us!

It’s really hard to fully grasp this story because God would deliver His precious Son to a people who would as the prophet Isaiah said would despise Him, reject Him, persecute and eventually kill Him. But somehow there was no other way.  There was no prophet or priest that could bring us back into a right relationship with God. It had to be God Himself.  And He loved us so much that He refused to live without us and so He gave us His only son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  The human race was separated from God because of sin and the mysterious, unfathomable, unsearchable, eternal love of the Father caused Him to pursue us with a reckless abandonment and bring us back into a right relationship with our Father.

In the natural it’s wonderful to see a father who never gave up be reunited with his son after 5 long years but its simply unexplainable and unfathomable to see a Heavenly Father give to us all an eternal gift that we did not deserve.  I pray that not only this Christmas season but that everyday we all remember “Immanuel” because God is truly with us!!

Merry Christmas,

Bernie and Nicole Moore

Will You Go

I received this email from a great friend of mine who thought I may be interested in the vicious threats that have been issued to all Christians in Sargodha, Pakistan.  Sargodha was the city I did a week long crusade in at the end of this past April. It was a glorious crusade! There we saw 11,000 Muslims turn away from the Islamic faith and embrace Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior!!  We witnessed so many mighty miracles!  It was truly amazing. Click on the tab below to read the article:

Taliban in Pakistan warns Christian leaders to convert to Islam

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue7359.html

After reading this article you will quickly understand why we must go! We must not sit idly by while so many suffer hurt, rejection, brokenness, isolation and abuse for their faith. We must go and shine an eternal light into their dark world.  No matter the risk or the price we are asked to pay – we need to be a living display of God’s love!

The words that the Lord spoke to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1) ring out loud and clear in my spirit, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”  Will you answer the call to be used by God today?

The cries of the world are ringing in the precious ears of our Savior every minute of every day. Although the vast majority will never see it, I have witnessed it first hand.  I have witnessed the tears rolling down the faces of grown men as the accept Christ for the first time.  I have witnessed the tears of joy streaming down the face of a mother whose 7year old daughter has been touched and healed from a terminal disease by the Holy Spirit.  The world’s only hope is Jesus Christ, the son of the living God!  This is why we must not keep silent! Every time I get ready to minister I feel like the prophet Jeremiah felt when he penned these words, “His word in my mouth is like a fire shot up in my bones and I can not hold it back!” (Jeremiah 20:9)

Jesus said in John 4:35, “As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you! These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!”

I beg you not to neglect the harvest! It’s all around you and whether you believe it or not there are so many people that need to hear you tell them about the precious, eternal love of the Father!  May the Holy Spirit set you ablaze for Him today!

Set ablaze by the Holy Spirit,

Bernie Moore

Final Night of Crusade in Pakistan

Tonight the crowd grew to over 13,000! And several of our buses got stopped by extremist trying to prevent the people from coming to the crusade. The police came to their rescue and, thankfully, there was no one hurt and they were able to attend. I preached tonight on Luke 14 and how there was a great man who had prepared a great supper and he had invited certain people but they all made excuses as to why they could not come. The master became angry and sent his servant out and said, “Go to the highways and byways and COMPEL them to come in that my house may be full.” I told these desperate, hopeless people that this King of Kings has every one of their names on a special invitation list and He is asking them, pleading with them to come and feast at His table. And man did they respond. It was really a glorious finale!

A very dangerous situation took place tonight. As I began to give the invitation to accept Christ, I noticed a huge commotion going on in the back of the crowd. Many people stood up and ran to the back. I had no idea what was going on but I knew it wasn’t good because the Pakistani people are very respectful and quiet when someone is speaking. Just a few minutes later when I was finished the security/military team came and whisked me away and when I got into the car the chief of police told us that 4 extremist dressed as police officers came to the meeting to try to kill me. The police noticed that these guys were not with us and that they were all carrying guns, so a fight broke out. One guy was captured but 3 took off on foot. A few brave officers took off after them but the majority stayed with us because they were worried about our safety. All the while I didn’t realize it was that bad. Man when I heard about this, a ton scriptures came to life such as PS.23, PS.91:7, 2Sam.22:30-31 etc…God is good!

This has been an incredible trip where the gospel was preached to members of unreached people groups. Many hopeless people were offered hope through Jesus. God moved in miraculous ways. Thank you for fighting on behalf of these people through prayer and by sending me as a representative of Jesus. Thank you for fighting on my behalf for safety and divine protection.

Together in His service,

Bernie Moore

Pakistan Night 2 – What you are looking for is right in front of you!

September 11, 2009

Preached this morning at a local underground church. Due to the extreme oppression and persecution these precious saints deal with I shared a very encouraging word on the promise that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. The world may forsake us, family members, friends and co-workers may forsake us but Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake us. Matter of fact, not only did He promise not to forsake us, He promised to send us the Holy Spirit, the great comforter! He said for us not to fear because no matter what we are going through, He will always be with us.

Tonight the crowd grew to over 6,500! People were coming from all the surrounding villages. The buses we rented were so packed that people were hanging out the windows and sitting on the roofs. As we arrived the crusade director said please do not start yet because there is a line of buses still trying to get in. There was such an atmosphere of expectancy; it was unbelievable!

I preached with fierceness. I felt the blanket of the Holy Spirit around me as I ministered. I shared with the people the story of Nicodemus coming to meet Jesus at night, just like we have to come to meet Jesus tonight. I shared with them that although Nicodemus was a great teacher of the law, although he had attained great wealth and great status with man, although he climbed the latter of success and was looked up to by all his peers, Nicodemus was still searching. Wealth, fame, a great reputation, and success did not satisfy him. He was searching for something that no man could give him. Knowledge had left him empty, all the money he had attained still left him poor spiritually and his reputation and status he worked so hard to build didn’t bring him the least bit of fulfillment. What Nicodemus had spent most of his life searching for was standing right in front of him and He didn’t realize it, at least not at first. Jesus said Nicodemus are you the teacher of Israel and you do not know these things? He like all of us was searching for something to fill the emptiness inside him.

Then I gave the invitation. I told the people that the one thing that they have all been looking for was standing right in front of them. I begged them not to leave without meeting their creator! And boy they didn’t. They responded to the invitation by the thousands!! I wish everyone who is reading this email could have witnessed it. It was amazing!!

Then we prayed for the sick. The healings that took place were unspeakable! What do you say when you see a grown man who had a tumor on his stomach come up to the altar to testify that God has healed him!! The tumor was completely gone! He was lifting up his shirt and running all over the stage showing us. Or I think about the mom who brought up her 3-month-old daughter who had a tumor on the inside of her right thigh and she testified with flood of tears that Jesus has healed her child! The tumor was completely gone! The doctors told, sorry there is nothing else we can do for you. God always does what man cannot do!

Thank you for all your prayers and support! It is so very much appreciated. You have made an eternal difference in thousands of lives.

Bless you!!!!!

Arrival in Pakistan

After 2 days of grueling travel I have finally arrived in Lahore, Pakistan. My journey started at the airport in Orlando at 2:00pm on Sunday and when I finally made it here to Lahore it was 4:30am Tuesday. It has been really hard to sleep, the electricity keeps going out at the hotel, the city wide sirens go off 3 – 4 times a day reminding the Muslims to stop where ever they are and pray to Allah, there is the sound of sirens constantly going off, horns blowing, oh and did I mention it is extremely hot here.

Despite it all though my spirits are very high. I’m not trying to act like a spoiled westerner who needs to be pampered or little child who needs to be comforted by his parents. No I count my self to be extremely privileged. I have the high honor of speaking on behalf of the God I love and live for. And if I ever start to feel the least bit sorry for myself than I all I have to do is look at what the prophets and apostles of old had to go through in order to get their message out. They constantly had to deal with beatings, torture, rejection, famines, loneliness, imprisonment, they were lied about, defamed, and most were ultimately put to death. But despite it all, they never wavered, they refused to back down, they never quick even though the odds were heavily stacked against them, they didn’t retreat, they didn’t surrender, even if it meant walking into the midst of a raging red sea, running out to fight a giant when all you are armed with is 5 smooth stones and sling shot, walking into a fiery furnace, sleeping in a den of lions, or living in caves in the wilderness…Despite it all they didn’t complain, they never, ever compromised and they never quit! They simply had a love for God that was unfathomable. It was contagious! I look at their life compared to mine and it’s convicting. Their soul longed for the living God (PS.42, PS.63) they refused to be satisfied with anything else other than the God they loved and gave their lives to. As a result God satisfied their souls with His presence and power. We see Him constantly moving on their behalves and we read about the insurmountable odds they overcame because God was acting on their behalves. Ultimately, we see the unbelievable miracles that God performed through all those men and woman who devoted their lives to living solely for Him!

As I reflect on my own walk with God I often ask myself the question, how do I measure up with these past champions of the faith? Where am I on the scale of these amazing God followers? If I were able to ask them for a little advice what would they say to me? Truth is, I know I am not any where close to those amazing pioneers of the faith, those pioneers who blazed a trail for God and for all of us to follow. But I hope and pray that my life would echo the message that I preach and resemble the God I love.

The famous Leonard Ravenhill said, “We have only one life and it will soon be passed, only what’s done for Christ will last, and when I am dying how glad I shall be, if the lamp of my life has been burned out for thee!”

He is my Shield

I just received the email below from the US Embassy Warden Message on travel affairs. I thought this email was interesting. Unfortunately, I will have to break all these rules starting tomorrow. Preaching the Gospel forces us to step out of our boats, to leave the safety and security of our houses and to obey Jesus no matter what the cost. My life is in His hands and it’s in Him I will solely trust (Gen.15:1, 2Sam.22, PS.23).

The U.S. Embassy issues this Warden Message to remind US citizens of the continuing threat of terrorist activity in Pakistan.  Due to security concerns, American officials in Lahore and Islamabad are instructed to restrict the frequency and to minimize the duration of trips to public markets, restaurants, and other locations.  Depending on ongoing security assessments, the U.S. Embassy places areas such as hotels, markets, and/or restaurants off limits to official personnel.

Current media reports suggest that dissension among factions within the Tehrik-e-Taliban terrorist group increases the possibility of terrorist attacks throughout Pakistan –  particularly in the NWFP province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).  A September 2 attempt to assassinate a Federal Minister of the Pakistani government in the capital further emphasizes the capability of extremists to target and attack individuals, even in high security areas.  Americans should bear in mind the importance of heightened security awareness in light of upcoming anniversaries of the 9/11 terrorist attack and of the September 20, 2008 attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

American citizens in Pakistan are strongly urged to avoid hotels that do not apply stringent security measures and to take measures for their own safety and security at all times.  These measures include maintaining good situational awareness, avoiding crowds, and keeping a low profile.  The Embassy reminds Americans that even peaceful demonstrations may become violent and advises Americans to avoid demonstrations. Americans should avoid setting patterns by varying times and routes for all required travel.  Americans should ensure that their travel documents and visas are valid at all times!

Please Note: I will be preaching on 9/11 to a crowd that they tell me will be around10,000. I believe with all my heart, that salvation will take place in the lives of thousands of Muslims that night. I believe as the word of God is preached, the Holy Spirit will hover over that vast dirt field removing the scales from their eyes. For the first time these precious people will bow their knees on that dirt field to the one true living God that loves them more than they could ever imagine! Their hearts will be flooded with Heavenly peace and joy like they have never known.

I kindly ask that you spend a few moments in prayer over the next few days for this crusade. Eternity is literally at stake for so many here. If God be lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself!

Desiring Jesus,

Your friend,

Bernie Moore

COMPEL THEM!

18But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and COMPEL them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”
I heard a famous pastor once say that the richest soil in the world is not found in the famous middle east where there is an abundance of oil, nor It’s not found in diamond rich soil of Africa, or in the gold infested mountains of all over the world? Rather, the richest soil on this planet is located in graveyards.  You see every graveyard is overwhelmed with lost dreams.  It’s here in this soil where the great dreams of men and women died with them.  Dreams that men had but made excuses as to why they could never pursue them or accomplish them. Unfortunately, it’s in this rich soil that we see the effect that our excuses had on us.  If we would have had the courage and the faith to chase our dreams then maybe our lives in some sort of way would still be speaking.
Jesus said repeatedly to “GO!” It wasn’t a suggestion, it wasn’t if you can find the time to fit it in your busy schedule, He didn’t say if you don’t have anything else to do, or if your bored, no Jesus emphatically and repeatedly said GO!  You don’t need to go through seminary (although it helps) and you don’t need wait until your life is completely in order before you go. There are people all around you that need to know that they are invited to eat at the King’s table and you and I are the one’s that the King wants to use to give the invitation.  I love how He says “Compel them”. That’s awesome! You get the sense that He is so desperate to have all those who have been rejected by the world to come in and not just eat but live with Him.  It’s one thing to reject an invitation to eat with an earthly king but to reject an invitation to eat with the King of all Kings is unfathomable! No matter where you are or how far you have to go, just GO and compel humanity to come in and eat with King of all Kings! Everyone’s name is on the invite list but it’s up to you and I to let everyone know that they are invited.

They all made excuses. One after another they made excuses as to why they couldn’t come to the Kings feast.  I wonder if we are much different. Every week we make excuses as to why we can’t go to church and partake in a Heavenly feast. Some say, I don’t belong to that religion, others may say I’ve worked really hard and really long this week and now I’m very tired, yet others may say we have tickets to the football game today, again there are some that say we will just go next week, I’m sure God understands.  God really doesn’t understand. From the days of Adam who gave God a good excuse as to why he partook in the eating of the apple until today we have learned that excuses have never gotten us anywhere. Someone once said that hell is full of people who had good excuses!
You know Jesus said in Matt 18:14 – Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.  The Father longs to have His children come into His house and eat at His table but first we must go to the highways and byways, to the utter most parts of the earth and compel all to come in and eat. So starting today, lets stop making excuses and lets chase our dreams and lets GO and COMPEL all to come in and eat with the KING of ALL KINGS!

Go After the One

4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

What a great picture of a great shepherd who upon finding out one of his sheep has gone astray he leaves the comfort of being with the ninety-nine and he embraces the challenge of climbing the mountains (that how Matthew puts it) putting himself at risk to go after one. One sheep that has gone astray and can’t make it back to the sheepfold on its own.  You may be thinking what’s the big deal? Right?  It’s just one sheep. That shepherd still has ninety-nine. Why risk it all to go after just one? Does it even make sense that you would leave the ninety-nine to go after one? What if while the shepherd is searching for the “one” that some of the ninety-nine go astray as well?  It just seems too big of a risk to leave so many other sheep in hopes that you find just “one”.  Someone else may say that’s a little irresponsible. That’s not being a good steward over the ninety-nine. Well it’s pretty obvious here that God is the great shepherd and in His heart He says that no one is to be left behind. The great prophet Isaiah said in ch.53 that we like sheep have all gone astray. And while we went astray, He went to the cross! Our great shepherd went to the cross to bring us back into His sheepfold. If one goes astray than He takes it upon Himself to go after him.  When He finds that one lost sheep, He says there is a phenomenal celebration that takes place in Heaven!

People ask me why in the world would you leave the comfort of your house and why leave your family to go to place that is so dangerous? Why risk your life to go to a place that doesn’t embrace you or the message that you believe in and live by? Well it’s really simple, just like you and I they are God’s precious sheep. They are His children and somebody needs to go to the mountains, the villages, the cities, the marketplaces and anywhere else where His children may be roaming, to tell these wonderful people that the greatest shepherd of all is looking for them because He loves them. He doesn’t need anything from them, He is not trying to punish them or take things from them, He’s pursing them with a reckless abandonment of love in His heart for them. That’s why He pursues them 24/7 even though most continue to reject Him, He simply loves them too much. And it’s His amazing love for the lost that allows Him to handle the continuous rejection from all those He is pursuing.
That’s why I have come all the way to Pakistan; I must tell all the lost sheep, all those hiding in the mountains of religion, that the Great Shepherd is looking for them because He loves them.
God risked everything and sent His one and only son to a people He knew were going to reject and despise Him but He did it anyway.  Because He knew that there were lost sheep, they had no shepherd…but Jesus willingly chose to abandon the comfort of Heaven to after the one! If He did it don’t you think we should? Together, by Gods grace we can all go after “one”.  And when we do than you will see, slowly but surely we can change the world in which we live.

Lord Save Me!

Matthew 8:24-27

And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus’ disciples were grown men and experienced boaters and fishermen and, yet, they were panicking and fearful for their lives. Certainly they had been in storms before but there was something different about this one. They had been in the boat all night and a storm arose quickly and had gotten so bad that they actually thought they were going to die!

You have to believe that they were trying everything they knew to try. They couldn’t navigate the boat in such a way that it could take on the waves. They may have been trying to throw the water out of the boat but the waves just continued to come crashing over the sides. Everything they tried quickly proved that their efforts were futile. They finished trying to save themselves and they all looked at one another realizing that there was only one option left: go to Jesus. But there is one problem; He’s sleeping. How could He be asleep? We are in the middle of a storm and He’s sleeping! Really! How can He possibly be sleeping? So they go to Him screaming, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” They were absolutely desperate. They couldn’t swim their way to safety. They couldn’t sail their way to safety. They couldn’t navigate their way to safety. They needed Jesus to SAVE them!!

Have you ever felt that way? You are in the middle of a big storm. The waves of life are crashing all around you and you feel like you are taking on water. You are slowly drowning. You don’t know what to do, where to go, or how to get out. The storms of life such as uncertain finances, loss of jobs, a tumultuous marriage, problems with kids, sickness, rejection etc… and you just don’t know what to do.

In the natural you try all the things you know to try, you try to talk your way out; you try to pay your way out; you try to work your way out; you try to study your way out; you cry your way out. If none of those things work then you attempt to ignore or mask the problems and the circumstances around you. But, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t ignore the storm that is slowly making you sink.

Meanwhile, you feel like Jesus is just sleeping while you are slowly drowning. You wonder to yourself doesn’t He care that I am perishing? Doesn’t He care that I can’t deal with this anymore? How do I know that He really cares about me and that He really loves me?

What do you do? Just like the disciples you scream at Jesus, “Lord save me! I am perishing!” There’s great news here: Romans 10:12-13 says,“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Just remember, Jesus was in the boat with the disciples when they were going through this storm; a storm so bad that they thought they would die. Jesus was just waiting on an invitation from those guys to do something. And as soon as they got desperate enough they invited Him to take over. You may be going through different storms in your life right now. Please hear my heart when I say that Jesus is not sleeping while you feel like you are drowning, He is just waiting on an invitation from you and He will rise up on your behalf and do what you can not do, He will calm every storm in your life!

Don’t wait until it gets so bad that you can see death on the horizon, invite Jesus into your situation right now! Let Him take over everything in your life and watch Him calm every storm you face!

God Bless,

Bernie Moore

Sargodha Pakistan April 26 – Final Night

I am just on my way now to the airport in Lahore. It is 2:40am and I am still so humbled by all that has done tonight! Tonight was the final night of the crusade and I preached my heart out. The large crowd of 12,000 all Muslims were hanging on every word that proceeded out of my mouth. When I launched the boat out into the deep for Salvation we almost sank! Thousands responded! Pastors and church leaders wept at what they were witnessing. I myself had to hold back the tears as I felt the Holy Spirit hoovering over that great field!  Darkness was overtaken by the awesome light of God! The miracles tonight were in abundance. Including one lady who hadn’t walked in 18yrs!  The whole crowd erupted in praise! Another lady had a tumor on her stomach which she said caused severe pain in abdomen and back even to the point where she could barely walk! She said it was absolutely horrible! Well Jesus healed her and she started screaming in her Pakistani dialect, “I have been healed! Jesus has healed me!”  The tumor was completely gone! I was so amazed!  The crusade director said himself that he couldn’t believe how many miraculous healing’s had taken place!  This is how Gods hospital works, you come in sick, He is the great physician, He touches you and you go home!  There is no staying overnight in His hospital!  All who come in can go home saved and healed! What a blessing this has been. Sargodha will never be the same!

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