The Story Behind the Song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” And The Amazing Christian Music Videos From Kaoma Chende And Team

Amazing Christian Music Videos 

From Kaoma Chende And Team 

Kaoma in a singing session (How Great Thou Art)

Anyone remember this chorus? This version Originally done by The Haven Quartet. It's a song i grow up singing, still do and am so glad to have done this cover version. Blessings!

The Story Behind the Song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”

About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales, England. As a result of this, many missionaries came from England to northeast India to spread the Gospel. The region was known as Assam and comprised hundreds of tribes. The tribal communities were quite primitive and aggressive. The tribesmen were also called head-hunters because of a social custom which required the male members of the community to collect as many heads as possible. A man’s strength and ability to protect his wife was assessed by the number of heads he had collected. Therefore, a youth of marriageable age would try and collect as many heads as possible and hang them on the walls of his house. The more heads a man had, the more eligible he was considered. Into this hostile and aggressive community, came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the message of love, peace, and hope of Jesus Christ. Naturally, they were not welcomed. One Welsh missionary finally succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children. This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers. He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man sung his reply, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.”

Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to arrow down the two children. As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife too.”

But the man replied, again singing, “Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back.”

The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be arrowed down. In a moment she joined her two children in death. Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.”

In the face of death the man sung, “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back. No turning back.”

He was shot dead like the rest of his family. But with their deaths, a miracle took place. The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man. He wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some supernatural power behind the family, and I too want that supernatural power.”

In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!” When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.                                                                     — Kaoma

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Thank you Kaoma for these wonderful and amazing music 

you rendered through these videos.  

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Source: Paul Raj, Kaoma Chende.

WANTED FAITHFUL SERVANTS

WANTED: FAITHFUL SERVANTS

by Theodore H Epp

Hebrews 11: 8-18

Have you ever thought about the fact that you and I have the Gospel today because Abraham and others who were chosen of God were faithful? God has chosen to work through men; therefore, the future of God's work rests on what He is able to motivate men to do. In Old Testament times, the work of God depended on men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In New Testament times, Jesus Christ made His future program dependent on the apostles. He spent time with these men and properly trained them for the work they had to do.

Not only was faithfulness required of the patriarchs and the disciples, but it is also required of us because God has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. Paul wrote: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:19-20). There is no choice in the matter. We are the sovereign appointees of God to represent Him to others. Abraham was faithful. The disciples were faithful. Are we faithful?

Without faith it is impossible to please him [God] (Heb. 11:6).

(An Adaptation from the Daily Devotional Book “Strength for the Journey—A Daily Devotional For Your Spiritual Walk” By Theodore H Epp The Founder Director of Back to the Bible)

J for James (Staying at Home) Dr. Kroll Writes......

James

Staying at Home 

Pic. Credit. A to Z Blog challenge 14

Dr. Woodrow Kroll

I grew up in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania.  Nearby lived a simple, godly family named Hershey with five children.  One by one they left home to go to the mission field.  All but one, who stayed home to serve the Lord.

  

NAME: “Supplanter” ("Jacob” in Hebrew)

DATE: 1st Century AD

IDENTIFICATIONS: Oldest son of Mary and Joseph, author of the Book of James

STORY LINE: James was the oldest of Jesus' four younger brothers

READ IT IN THE BIBLE:  Matthew 13:53-58; Acts 15:1-21

Not all of God's servants are called to leave home in answer to God's call.  When Isaiah said, "Here am I! Send me," God sent him to his own people in his own land (Isaiah 6:8-9).  And when the demoniac of Gadara wanted to go with Jesus after the Savior healed him, Christ told him to go home and tell his friends what the Lord had done for him (Mark 5:19).

  

While Thomas was going to India, Philip to Asia Minor, and Paul to the rest of the Roman world, someone had to remain behind in Jerusalem to faithfully lead the flock there.  That someone as James, the younger brother of the Lord Jesus.

Like the rest of Jesus' brothers, James did not come to faith in Jesus until after His crucifixion.  But in the Book of Acts James emerged as a leader of Jerusalem church.  His younger brothers also became believers and traveled to foreign places (1 Corinthians 9:5), but James knew the home front was his mission field (Galatians 2:9).

If you long for a passport filled with stamps from foreign countries, but instead you just have a class of junior high boys, be encouraged by James.  It was his junior high boys who were the next generation of those sent out to capture the world for Christ.  Your home job is important.  Be proud of it. CL

This post is posted as part of  A to Z Blog Challenge 2014 

Source: 

Back to the Bible Intl.

Confident Living Magazine

Pic. Credit: A to Z Blog Page/ Back to the Bible Int.

The People Behind the curtain of  A to Z Challenge [2014]

Arlee Bird -The Founder: Tossing it Out

Alex J. Cavanaugh: Alex J. Cavanaugh
Stephen Tremp: Author Stephen Tremp
Tina Downey: Life is Good
Damyanti Biswas: Amlokiblogs
Jeremy Hawkins: [Being Retro]
Nicole Ayers: The Madlab Post
M. J. Joachim: M. J. Joachim’s Writing Tips
Heather M. Gardner: The Waiting is the Hardest Part
AJ Lauer: Naturally Sweet
Pam Margolis: An Unconventional Librarian

G for Gamaliel

G for Gamaliel

Unstoppable

Pic. Credit: A to Z Blog Challenge 2014

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Paul’s logic in Romans 8:31 was inspired, but it may have reflected his training as well.  Another great rabbi also believed this.

NAME: “Recompense of God”

DATE: 1^st Century AD

IDENTIFICATIONS: Famous member of the Sanhedrin, teacher of Paul

STORY LINE: Advised the Sanhedrin to use moderation on the apostles

READ IT IN THE BIBLE:  Acts 5:17-42

Gamaliel was a Jewish scholar in the first century AD.  He had a particularly bright and eager student named Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3) from Gamaliel Saul learned the Law and the traditions of the rabbis. Two influential Pharisaic rabbinical schools had evolved by this time, one by Hillel and the other by Shammai.  Gamaliel is considered to be the grandson of Hillel.

Gamaliel was not only a member of the Sanhedrin, but he served as its president during the reigns of Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.

Once when the high priest hauled the apostles before the Sanhedrin and ordered them to quit preaching in Jesus’ name, Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”  Incensed, the Sanhedrin wanted to kill the apostles until the cool-headed Gamaliel rose and advised,  “Keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men,  it will come to nothing;  but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it” (Acts 5:38,39).

Hudson Taylor delighted in saying, “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?

Gamaliel said, “If it is of God, you cannot overthrow it.”

If you have clean hands and a pure heart, and if you have a green light from God, then no one will be able to keep you from accomplishing His work.  Rejoice in that, and live like it.

                      —Dr. Woodrow Kroll
                      (Former President and Bible Teacher, Back to the Bible)

Source: 

Confident Living Magazine
This post is posted as part of this years A to Z Blog Challenge 

Z is for Zerubbabel: The Mark of the “Z”

Zerubbabel

The Mark of the “Z”

When I was a boy one of my favorite heroes was Zorro, the legendary nobleman with black mask and flashing sword who eased the oppression of the alcalde on the peasants in old California.  He came out of nowhere and left behind only thankful people and the mark of the “Z.”

Name: “Offspring of Babylon”

Date: 6^th Century BC

Identification:  Son of Shealtiel, he led the return to Jerusalem; built Second Temple

Story Line:  Zerubbabel work was not spectacular, not appreciated

Read in the Bible:  Ezra 3:1-12; Haggai 2:1-23

The Bible has its own Zorro who came out of nowhere and left his mark on thankful people.  His name also begins with a “Z”—Zerubbabel.  Born the son of Shealtiel in Babylonian Captivity, he was the grandson of Jehoiachin, the captive king of Judah (1 Chronicles 3:17-19).  That means Zerubbabel was a descendant of David and ancestor of Jesus.  But in Babylon, his stature was diminished to captive.  Diminished, that is, until Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple.

Suddenly the people needed a leader, a hero, someone who could leave the mark of the “Z”, if you will. 

Zerubbabel rose to the challenge.  He led the first group of captives back to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the temple on the site of Solomon’s temple.  When the work was finally finished.  Zerubbabel’s temple was dedicated with a great celebration that climaxed with the observance of the Passover (Ezra 6:19).

Zerubbabel came out of nowhere, but served tirelessly and faithfully.  God had a special “well done” for Zerubbabel.  He said, I will “make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you” (Haggai 2:23).  If you are living in “nowhere,” be encouraged.  God may call you out of nowhere to do more than you could ever dream.  So be ready.   It could happen today.

By Dr. Woodrow Kroll

Source:

Confident Living Magazine

Back to the Bible International

Good News Broadcasting Society

V is for Vashti: A Challenge to Modesty

V  is for Vashti: A Challenge to Modesty

                                                         —Dr. Woodrow Kroll 

Super Bowl XXXVIII was one of the most exciting post-season NFL games ever.  But the antics at the MTV- produced half time show overshadowed a great game.  Many believe that exposing Janet Jackson’s breast on international television brought the plummeting morality of the industry to a new low.

Name: “Thread”

Date:  5^th Century BC

Identification:  Persian queen refused to exhibit herself during drunken feast

Story Line:  Vashti proved to be a pagan with some backbone

Read it in the Bible:  Esther 1:1-22

Throughout history women have had to make difficult choices between modesty and popularity.  No one displayed more courage in making that choice than did Queen Vashti.  She was the beautiful queen of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes 1) who reigned over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. 

When the king sponsored a weeklong feast at his citadel place at Shushan, he commanded his queen be brought before him wearing the royal crown.  But the king and his friends were drunk and Vashti refused.  The reason for her refusal is not   given in the text, but the Persian historian Herodotus notes that she feared her dignity amidst the drunken men.  The Jewish Talmud also suggests that modesty was the issue.  Apparently Vashti refused the king’s invitation because she would not stoop to exposing herself in front of these drunken men.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned and discovered the nakedness, God has been putting clothes on people, and satan has been tempting people to take them off.  But the Bible says, Women are to adorn themselves in modest apparel (1 Timothy 2:9), and there seems to be a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and modesty.

It takes moral courage to dress in an appropriate way, but that courage never escapes the notice of God.  Plan your wardrobe today as you would plan your life, knowing that you have a loving Father to please. 

                                                      

Source:

Confident Living Magazine

U is for Use: The American President Who Made Greater Use of the Bible

Abraham Lincoln:

 The American President Who Made Greater Use of the Bible

Of all the United States Presidents, none has made greater Use of the Bible Than Abraham Lincoln.

Pic. Credit. history.com

In the summer of 1864, a friend named Speed went to a soldier’s home in Washington where President Lincoln was spending the night.  Later, in a lecture, Speed reminisced:  “As I entered the room… he was sitting near the window intently reading his Bible.

“Approaching him, I said, ‘I am glad to see you so profitably engaged.’

“Yes, ‘he said, ‘I am profitably engaged.’

“‘Well,’ said I, ‘if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say I have not.’

“Looking at me earnestly in the face and placing his hand on my shoulder, he said, ‘You are wrong, Speed.  Take all of this Book on reason you can, and the balance on faith and you will live and die a happier and better man.’ “

From early childhood, Abraham Lincoln had a fantastic memory.  He could tell “the boys” what the minister had said at the Church days after the event.  In moments of merriment, he mimicked the preachers  for the gang; often he quoted in fun; but he owed a heavy debt to the wilderness preachers  who impressed God’s Word into his personal fiber.  His favorite was the fiery preacher Peter Cartwright, and it was with him that Lincoln was to contest for his only term in Congress.

 Of course, it was a politic in that day to be acquainted with and to quote the Bible.  People understood the references, for the Bible was one of the books most often found in frontier cabins; and if frontier preachers were not seminary-trained, they knew God’s Word and told its stories over and over again while they drilled home the Commandments.

It was a hot day in August 1858, when the first Lincoln-Douglas debate was held in Ottawa County, Illinois.  When Abe rose to answer the ‘Little Giant” Stephen Douglas, the audience knew the reference as Lincoln shucked his duster (outer coat) and commenced, “Hold my coat while I stone Stephen” (see Acts 7:59).  It brought a chuckle from hundreds, and few were puzzled about Lincoln’s meaning.

Of all the United States Presidents, none has made greater use of the Bible than Abraham Lincoln.  His own prose echoes scriptural cadences.

The recorded utterances and writings of Lincoln contain 77 quotations and references from the Bible.  His speeches led the way, with conversation following closely.  The Gospels and words of Jesus were favored, Genesis being second, and Exodus and Psalms in third place.  One-third of the 66 books are referred to, 16 of them in the Old Testament.

How, actually did Lincoln gain this almost fabulous knowledge?  Some of his contemporaries deride the idea that Lincoln spend much time with Holy Writ, while another says that he was a great talker on the Scriptures”  and read them often.  A relative says Abe’s father bought a Bible about 1818 or 1819.  At Washington, John C Nicolay, one of his secretaries, says he was “a constant reader of the Bible and (had) great faith in it.”

In his prairie years, Lawyer Lincoln was called upon to draw up a last will and testament for a dying lady.  When he finished legal formalities, his client requested he read the Bible.  To the surprise of all, Lincoln quoted the Twenty third Psalm and the beautiful words of Jesus in John 14:1,2,  “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.”

Then, it is not strange that the “Great Commoner’s” daily speech was salty with Bible quotations.

One day when General McClellan was complaining about endless rain and mud that hindered troop movements, Lincoln told his secretary, John Hay, that the General forgot that rain fell “on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).

The Civil War President was continually subjected to criticism.  After the great preacher, Dr. Henry Ward Beecher, had taken deft aim in his publication, “Independent,” Lincoln threw the paper down and cried, “Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?” (II Kings 8:13).

At the time the cabinet was discussing the possible inclusions of a motto on the Civil War greenbacks, President Lincoln slyly remarked that “silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee” (Acts 3:6) might be more appropriate than “In God we trust.”  END

Source:

Confident Living Magazine,

Courtesy: Sword of the Lord. 

(Used by permission)