Good NewsThis is a featured page

Good News

Water of live
Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Jesus in John 4,14
Water of live

Good News

Good News

He Is Lord


He is Lord, He is Lord.
He has risen from the dead, and He is Lord.
Every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess,
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Good News

birds of the air
birds of the air
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they.

Jesus in Matthew 6,26
bird of the air

birds of the air

"I" become truly free
when "you" is all I see.
Larry

Good news

Mother Teresa
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today.
Let us begin."


Mother Teresa

God News
Ask, and it shall be given you; Seek, and ye shall find;
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7,7
Good News
I am (Jesus) Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Revelation 22,13
Good News
Love is the fulfilling of the law.
Romans 13,10

Good News

Saint Barnabas

Saint Barnabas

BARNABAS ("Son of Consolation")
Acts of the Apostles 4:36
We do not know much about him.
He was born in Cypress.
His name was Joseph. People called him Barnabas,
meaning "Son of Consolation."
He lived 2000 years ago.
He was a Christian before the name "Christian" existed.
He walked through towns and villages and encouraged people.
He is encouraging you also, that you can encourage others...
to go on also without success...
to forgive others if they harmed you...
The COURAGE to forgive is bigger than the courage of hatred:
It is better to learn again and again to walk the right direction in life...
every way to a new aim begins with the first step...
I will try ...
I have courage ...
Tell it to yourself!
-"I HAVE COURAGE"-
TO BE A HUMAN BEING MEANS
TO BE INVITED TO JOY

Saint Barnabas

The road of merci

BETWEEN JERUSALEM AND JERICHO

Extract from a sermon by Fr. Barnabas Stephan
Medical Mission Institute
Wuerzburg Germany


" It is not in heaven, so that you need to wonder who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to us,
so that we may hear it and keep it?" (Dtn 30,12) "Nor is it beyond the seas, so that you need to wonder, who will cross the seas for us and bring it back to us, so that we may hear it and keep it" (Dtn 30,13)

The few sentences of this epistle are specially meaningful. They may remind us and relieve us if we picture life with God as too complicated, if we block our own way. They may encourage us if we place too high demands on ourselves and on others, if we overtax ourselves because we expect too much. They draw our attention to the most obvious thing to do, the one we sometimes overlook and by-pass. They refer us to ourselves. They are for me a fresh invitation to listen inwardly. "To fold my ears inwardly" as it is said in a modern poem by Huub Osterhuis.

Christians are idealists. We have high ideals as followers of Christ. This should not be given up. Similarly, we should not start out assuming that ideals could be completely fulfilled. It is our task to live with this incompleteness without dropping the ideal and without suffering permanently because it is unattainable. We experience daily how demanding this task is. The story of the good Samaritan (Lk 10,25-37) brings us immediately in touch with our own everyday life. One may hardly talk about this story without being reminded of some examples in one's own surroundings.

The first point the story wants to tell us is this: The acid test of our faith takes place everyday. "Who is my neighbour?" This cannot be answered theoretically or through clever academic utterances but solely through my life, my commitment. My neighbour is the one who needs me, the one who needs me urgently, independently from how far away he is. "Who is my neighbour?" This is also a fundamental question for us as individuals, as the Medical Mission Institute and the Medical Mission Hospital. Fantasy and courage to choose new ways are needed again and again. Frequently it weighs heavily on me when I watch how often people waste their strength unnecessarily. There is a blind eagerness which goes too far and deeply hurts and blocks others. A hyper-sensibility which expresses itself in feelings of "not having been noticed" and "not having got one's due". There is a wrong competition between different persons and groups, a wrong anxiety towards other ways than one's own. All this blocks forces - forces which could be made use of in favour of the neighbour. The neighbour has many faces. It is not important to define who is my neighbour but the urgency with which I am expected to do something in an actual situation, in a concrete need. I cannot choose the neighbour because he is there. Frequently the neighbour is uncomfortable to me, he is troublesome, he makes me feel uneasy, his prattle gets on my nerves, his manners make me see red. But: He is and remains my neighbour. My neighbour, that is the son who turned out quite differently from what I had imagined. My neighbour, these are mother and father who cannot understand the opinions their daughter has. My neighbour, that is the elderly colleague at work who realizes that he has reached his peak and who worries about the ditch he falls in when going into pension. My neighbour, that is a woman in our street who can no longer cope with the many demands put on her. My neighbour is the one living next to me who leads a different way of life and also has different political views. My neighbour remains my neighbour also when his distress is no longer reflected in the headlines or talked about publicly. For instance, this is important in many cases of bereavement where the actual misery, loneliness and sadness are often only experienced after four to six weeks, or with the many chronically sick where a lot more staying power is needed for paying a visit again and again. Unfortunately, such events are often too quickly forgotten.

The second point which struck me in the story of the good Samaritan is this: True help does not calculate what do I get for it, what is the other one doing for me. These are understandable but unsuitable questions. Generosity of spontaneous giving and giving away, of letting go - these are signs of real help.

The third point which appears important to me in to-day's gospel is this: Love of God, the neighbour and myself cannot be separated. It says "You should love your neighbour as yourself". This has meaning. If I quarrel badly with myself and am totally divided, I lack the ability to approach others. "I too am somebody." Therefore, I should not put myself too far back as I can then no more help the other. And I too depend always on assistance. Furthermore, the love of God and the love of the neighbour cannot be played off against each other. Dorothea von Gaza uses a very striking comparison: "Imagine a circle which one scratches with a stick into the ground. The middle is God, the circle line the world where people live. If they wish to approach God they have to move to the center of the circle. And they experience: The closer they come to God the closer they get to each other, and the closer they get to each other, the closer they will be to God.

Another important point of the interpretation of this parable of the good Samaritan was shown by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian murdered in 1945. Bonhoeffer said that the one who wants to help his neighbour, will certainly start by pouring balsam on the wounds and dressing them. But the good Samaritan must not stop there. He is obliged to ensure that such attacks as told in the parable do no longer happen. He must also take steps that the evil is rooted out. Thus, we see: The acid test, the test if we take our faith seriously, takes place in everyday life. Real help does without mutual counting. Love of God, love of the neighbour and love of oneself are inseparable. If we wish to help properly we have to help comprehensively. Dressing wounds leads to preventing wounds. These are the four fundamental statements of the story of the good Samaritan.

Perhaps we realize the explosive force of this story even more if we visualize some of its main actors: Not the servants of Jewish worship, not official representatives of the Jewish hierarchy who knew and confessed the commandment of the love of one's neighbour but a Samaritan, a foreigner despised by the Jews, a religious heretic, an enemy of the people and friend of the Romans helped the man who had fallen among the robbers, and put into practice the commandment of the love of one's neighbour. The story is located between Jerusalem and Jericho. This, I think, is a symbol. The area around Jericho - there is desert, heat, hardly water, an environment hostile to life. The way between Jerusalem and Jericho - this is for me a symbol of our world, of the life-threatening dangers of our time. The way between Jerusalem and Jericho is everywhere, is there for everybody wherever he lives and acts.

Saint Barnabas

water of live

Come to the living water!

Saint Barnabas


HUMILITY – COURAGE
TOWARDS OUR OWN TRUTH

Comment to Mathew 11, 25-30

"A king, simple and ready to help, destroys everything that reminds of war, makes for an unlimited peace, reigns world wide and that in great humility.

This you don’t find even in the world of fairy tales. Is it not full of contradictions? Above all a king and being humble! Humility – weakness and cowardice may be associated with it. One thinks of submissiveness and surrender. What is humility in the eyes of God? Especially as God holds the humble in great esteem as the bible tells us. What then is humility?

The Latin word for humility is humilitas and that originates in humus – earth, soil. In a biblical sense humility means the courage to accept our own connectedness to earth and to look at our own human truth. Humility is the courage towards our own truth, our own humanness. It also means to say yes to conditions of our being human, such as to be in need, to be vulnerable, limited, mortal. At the same time we harbour in us the longing that all may end well. Humility entails that we cannot bring everything to a good end ourselves, that we cannot play God.

In the word humilitas there is also the word humour, which stands for being at ease, modesty, composure. The person who can thus accept his earthliness and humanness, yes, even love it, is not fixed upon himself; he can very well take himself aback, have a good laugh at himself, he will be free and even ready to encourage others for life. Humility is very different from despondency and haughtiness. The latter two although being dichotomous have one human weakness in common. In both attitudes man keeps himself busy with himself, despondent or arrogant.

Humility is evidence of inner greatness and liberty."

These thoughts are taken from a sermon given by

Fr. Barnabas Stephan, Wuerzburg.

Saint Barnabas

Father Engelmar Unzeitig

Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig CMM (1911- 1945)

Saint Barnabas

Father Engelmar has been called the “Angel of Dachau.” He was arrested by the Gestapo on 21 April 1941 and sent to the concentration camp of Dachau in the same year. In the autumn of 1944 he volunteered to help in the typhoid barrack. He had studied Russian whilst in Dachau in order to be able to help the prisoners from Eastern Europe. He died on 2nd March 1945. He was regarded as a holy man. In his desire to help the typhoid victims he contracted the disease himself. His beatification process was initiated on July 26. 1991, in Wuerzburg, Germany. And its second stage was officially opened at the Vatican in May 1999.

Saint Barnabas

The Bible is the Only Truth—Jesus the Only Savior.
My name is Stephen Cobb—I was stationed in Wurzburg, Germany, Emery Kasern, 6th Bn, 52nd ADA and HHB 69th ADA Gp, 1970-'71.
In 1976 my wife left me after many years of drinking and drug abuse on my part (which had increased greatly in the Army stationed at Emery Kasern, that was a hellish place to be, and I was totally out of control by this time in 1976). I was not a Christian and hated anything to do with what I called religion (man's attempt to find God through his own self effort). Actually like many people I really needed a reason to live. I had often wondered what was my real purpose in life was — actually my life hadn't turned out as I had so carefully planned. I had the education, money, everything the world said I needed to be happy — but I certainly was NOT happy. I know this sounds like many peoples testimony, but that's really how it was with me as I now think back on my situation. My Army experience did not help me in anyway to find God, most of the so called "religious" people only thought they were Christians but their actions proved otherwise, these are the people I call the "very religious/unrepentant sinners" they give God an intellectual nod, but their hearts and wills are far far from Him. These types also think that the physical act of water baptism will justify them, but in reality this only produces a "wet-sinner". These religious hypocrites only further increased MY RELUCTANCE to find the truth, which is found only in a relationship with the Jesus of the Bible.
I didn't start out to find "religion" but really started on a search to fine out the truth of life (if there was any). The BIG why to life, that is what I was searching for. I really wanted to kill myself, but wondered what would happen after that, if anything? I read many books on life after death. At that time there were many on the market to read. I begin to notice that all were quoting scripture from the Bible to prove their points. So I thought (now I know it was the Holy Sprite leading me) well I'll just get a Bible and start reading—bad idea—It made no sence to me at the time. I had seen a late night Merv Griffin talk show on TV, he had had a guest that talked about the end times, the Bible, and Bible prophesy, the man's name was Hal Linsey, and the book he had just written was named "The late Great Planet Earth". I was very interest and finally found a copy of the book and read it three times. God used that book to present to me the gospel as I had never heard it before. It made perfect sence why my life was a mess, who I was, and importantly where I would end up if I did not admit the fact that I was just a poor sinner all along and needed forgiveness through Christ.
Jesus had live a life I couldn't have, what a great bit of good news, I could now have God's gift of eternal life FREE! I would give Jesus my sins in exchange for his righteousness. God had treated Jesus on the cross as if He was me, so God could treat me as if I had lived Jesues life. It was hard to believe...He had been there all along......it was so simple. Well I asked Jesus to forgive me that day and make me the person He wanted me to be that was around August of 1978 and the rest is history.
My wife never returned after our divorce, but she has heard the gospel many times from me over the years. Even though a person is forgiven and is a child of God the consequences of our sins will live with us in this life. God has graciously retored the things that Satan had stolen from me because of bad life choices. I now know the truth which is in Christ and Him alone, I now have faith for a great future with Him in this life and eternal life to come. It's like the old saying that goes: "life on earth will be difficult but the retirement is out of this world". I attend a Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Ithaca, NY and have been remarried for 22 years to a great Christian lady have two girls which are grown and love the Lord too.
I survived Emery Kasern and my tour of duty, and finally meet Jesus, you too can do the same... take care my friend...
Jesus is not a church, or a religion, He's not headquartered in some big city, HE'S THE TRUTH—trust only in Him today, there might not be a tomorrow! Remember, those who plan for this life, and not for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.
Steve (Just another needy person, saved by God's Grace alone)
Eph. 2: 8-9

bird of the air
bird of the air


Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
Barny Thank you 0 Jun 15 2009, 1:35 PM EDT by Barny
Thread started: Jun 15 2009, 1:35 PM EDT  Watch
Steve thank you !!!
Barnabas
Do you find this valuable?    
Keyword tags: None (edit keyword tags)
Barny Hello 0 Jun 15 2009, 1:19 AM EDT by Barny
Thread started: Jun 15 2009, 1:19 AM EDT  Watch
Books and friends should be few but good.

Greetings
Barnabas
Do you find this valuable?    
Keyword tags: None (edit keyword tags)

Anonymous  (Get credit for your thread)


Showing 2 of 2 threads for this page

Related Content

  (what's this?Related ContentThanks to keyword tags, links to related pages and threads are added to the bottom of your pages. Up to 15 links are shown, determined by matching tags and by how recently the content was updated; keeping the most current at the top. Share your feedback on Wetpaint Central.)