Internet Bible College

We have a big year ahead of us. Our re-accreditation with VETAB is due in May of this year. New Resources Centre's are opening here in Australia and our existing Resource Centre's are growing, our mission work is taking off in a big way with works opening in the Philippines, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and the UK, we have also be been asked to get involved in India with some contacts that Ken made a year ago. Already there are a good number of new students starting with us in all of our colleges.

In May this year we will host a seminar with Dr Stan DeKoven and Rev. Dr. Ken Chant. Firm details are yet to be decided but the seminar will take place at Glenfield and we look forward to an incredible time with these two men of God. The seminar last year was a great success and we want to build on that. Keep the date in mind. YOU will be blessed.

The Internet Bible College is undergoing another much needed facelift. Our web developer is doing a great job on it. We thank God for our new website for Vision Christian College and the address is www.visionchristiancollege.com.au. Please take the time to go to the site and offer your opinions. It is still in development but it is available and usable.

 

 

 

 

Our church is seeing good growth in all areas and all of this is the stuff we know about to-date, I am sure God has much more planned that we are unaware of. I know we are not alone in blessing.

Churches around the country are reporting growth in their numbers, new churches are starting in many denominations and among non-denominational or independent groups. Praise God. The year is off and running with a big start and God is supremely in control. For my part I am determined that this year I am going to enjoy the ride.

Ken and Alison are off into far-flung places. They have just attended the Vision Conference in Ramona, on the outskirts of San Diego, California. At the time of this writing they are visiting other states in the US and they will be in Barbados in a couple of weeks for a seminar. We will not see them again until the end of March. Later in the year Ken and Alison will be in China. If you would like Ken or Alison to minister for you feel free to contact them on 02 9623 8474, or 02 9829 1340 and will take the call for them while they are away. They will be most delighted to come to you and share the word of God.

The lesson that Jesus attached to the Parable of the Merciless Servant is stark "Your heavenly Father will treat you just as harshly if you do not heartily forgive your brother!"

The parable teaches us the high cost of placing any limit upon our willingness to forgive those who have hurt us in some way.

Let me suggest some of the ways that we harm ourselves by failing to forgive our offending neighbour freely and fully.

We Christians are obliged to live by the royal law of love. But those who refuse to forgive, no matter how they try to disguise it or to justify it, are living instead by a law of hatred (see 1 Jn 2:9-11; 3:14-18; 4:19-21). But that is intolerable for anyone who wishes to live in the love of God.

If you have not truly forgiven, then you will be seeking an opportunity to retaliate – but God says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" (Ro 12:19-21; 13:9-10), and he will perform the task more thoroughly, and with more justice, than you or I could ever do!

Note however, that God prohibits only personal revenge. In other circumstances, the Lord himself may act through his servants to cast down wrongdoers. Sometimes he will do this through the law courts (Ro 13:1-7); sometimes through the church as an agent of discipline (Mt 18:15-17); sometimes through parental discipline; sometimes through the armed forces; and the like. At other times, divine vengeance may be delayed until after death (Luke 16:19-31). But whichever channel the Almighty chooses to work through, his justice will be thorough, equitable, righteous, and ultimately satisfying to every offended party.

In the meantime, we must accept that no Christian living under the tyranny of hatred can enjoy the fullness of life in Christ.

Those who limit forgiveness condemn themselves to a double blindness

• they will no longer be able to see any virtue in the offender; and
• they will no longer be able to see any fault in themselves.

Yet how absurd that is. No one is so wicked that he or she lacks any virtue; nor is anyone so good that he or she possesses no fault. But an unwillingness to forgive breeds a quality of selfishness that leads to a constant magnifying of the fault of the offender along with an endless enlargement of the virtue of the complainant. But such myopia is foreign to the character of Christ and should not be part of any Christian’s life.

Do you really want to enter each tomorrow under the shadow of yesterday? Do you really want to darken the beautiful prospect of each new day in Christ by bringing into it the bitterness of the past?

That is why Christ insisted that our willingness to forgive should be limitless: for any sensible Christian, the cost of limiting forgiveness is absurdly too high. Paul expressed it this way – “If you do get angry do not allow it to become sin by letting the sun set on your anger! Why would you give the devil such a foothold in your life?” (Ep 4:26-27)

Yet having said that, let me also warn against a common fault: sometimes the demand that a victim should forgive the person who inflicted pain can turn into a subtle shifting of blame.

How can we help a victim to break out of the prison of resentment, without imposing upon him or her more burdens of fear, guilt, and shame?

The key is not to press people further than they are able to go. Allow them to forgive as much as they are able at this time, but also keep on setting before them the goal of a heart full of forgiveness, a heart like Christ’s, a heart that refuses to take offence but rather prays for all who have hurt them, a heart that leaves judgment to God.

By the grace of Christ, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness is possible for anyone. And with that act of pardon will come a wonderful release of divine grace and love, a new sense of spiritual liberty, and a delightful freedom from all that shackles that an unforgiving heart places upon a resentful life.

We have an online student forum that you can access on the internet from the internet Bible College. It is open to all of our students but you do need to register for it. With the forum you can raise issues, ask questions, respond to each other and we would love to see as many of you use the forum as possible. To join the forum send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with your name and password and I will register you with the Forum. Once registered you can add or change details to your profile and correspond with other students online.

We are pleased to report that all of our Colleges continue to grow steadily. Not everyone is suited to distance education and like any other college there are students who drop out, yet many others also return to us. Recently several people have been in contact with us wanting to restart, and they are pleasantly surprised to find us open and willing to receive them to go on to further levels of study. So we should be, it is our ministry heart to see the word of God taught. Internet Bible College, our on line Resource Centre, continues to grow and I am sure that the new facelift will help to keep us successful as well. Please keep an eye open for it and get back to us with your comments when the new version comes online. www.internetbiblecollege.com

Vision Christian College, our original course is by far the most successful. All of the students are Australian or at least live in Australia. It is closely followed by the Internet Bible College with students from over 58 countries, and it is through the Internet Bible College that many of our Mission Colleges are developed.

The Accredited programme with Vision International College is gaining momentum at last. We have ironed out some bugs and it is much easier to understand now. The whole concept of Vocational study for interns is proving to be very successful. The additional benefit of Government support through Austudy or Absudy and Youth Allowance is very attractive to many.

Vision International University Degrees are offered through the Internet Bible College. The degrees are accredited in the state of California and more students are taking much greater interest in this options.

God does not release us to pray for others until we have confessed our own sin (Isaiah 59:1-2; 1 John 1:9). Unconfessed sin can muddy up the communications system between us and God. Once we have confessed all known sin then we must believe we have God’s forgiveness (Psalm 103:8-12) otherwise we paralyse our prayer life by constant worry and continual self effort (Mark 11:24).

We must forgive one another (Mark 11:25). If we do not forgive we will not be forgiven. If we do not forgive we effectively block our own prayers from being answered.

“The limitation of the power of prayer is not natural law. It is the lack of forgiveness on the part of the one who prays” (Elton Trueblood).

Our faith must rest solely in God and must not be influenced by outward circumstances (Mark 11:20-25). Jesus was not troubled by natural laws because he had perfect trust in God who created those laws. God is Lord of natural law, therefore he can move over and above it, change it, use it, accelerate its working, as he pleases. Our faith must be that of a child, perfect in trust (Daniel 3:16-18; 6:16-23).

We must have the patience to continue in prayer for as long as it is necessary (Hebrews10:35-39). Some prayers are answered immediately; some answers may take days, weeks, months or even years.

After first discovering God’s will as far as we are able then we must pray effectually (James 5:16). It is no good praying for something we know is not God’s will!

Effectual. “The effect produced on the praying person bringing him into line with God’s will” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary). Sometimes God changes us and we are conformed or moulded to the will of God as we pray. We are enlarged, our character becomes stronger (Psalm 4:1) and we are prepared by God for future tasks. God is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-26) and if we continue steadfast in prayer he will answer, he will not fail us, though sometimes it is only on looking back we can see the way he has led us has been the best way, and his answer the best answer to our prayer.

In October/November I will be in Katmandu to set up a Nepalese college. I am excited about this as the people themselves are asking us to be involved. This nation desperately needs your prayerful support. If you would like to help these people you can. Many of the pastors are untrained and illiterate. Many of them know little more of the word of God than the parables of Jesus. Many others only know the Gospels. A great number of the pastors cannot work with the epistles as they are too hard to understand. These Pastors are untrained and in great need of help. They are untrained but have a great heart to win their nation for Jesus.

They have asked us to go and set up a training program for the nation, and we will. The finance to go is in place already. But the money for a training seminar is not. I have no idea of the cost but if you would like to send some money to us for a training/information/set-up seminar to be held in October in Nepal it will be appreciated. YOU can be a part of the development of the Church in Nepal. Every cent you send will go to the seminar in Nepal.

In China we have 6 colleges with Ian Trail and another college with another couple, Jenny and Edward Gourly. We praise God for what he is doing there. Ken and Alison will be in China later this year to Visit them, pray for this trip.

Philippines

We are delighted to report the starting of a second Mission College in the Philippines. The college is in Pagadian on the island of Mindanao. I was there last year for a seminar. 12 churches came together for this purpose, to learn about vision and what we can do for them.

Our colleges there need support. The political situation is very grim and much worse than what gets out. We have no news from them since the last military crackdown. Please pray, not just for out students but for all of Myanmar.

We have two colleges in PNG and a third one is about to start in Madang, bless God. We are delighted with what has happened in that nation. As a former missionary to the country my desire to see vision established there is being fulfilled.

We welcome the Chinese Resource Centre “The Living Stone” in Melbourne, and Jesus is Lord Church in Sydney, both of them are starting with us this year. There are other churches in discussion with us to start a Resource Centre later this year. Your college is growing in reach and impact, bless God.

If you would like to run a Resource Centre, that is a local church bible college, please do not hesitate to contact us, if you are not the Pastor but would like to see a resource Centre in your Church, ask to your pastor to contact us or ask us to send an information pack to him.

Rev. Dr. Ken Chant, Rev. 02 9623 8474, 83 Irwin Street, Werrington, N.S.W. Rev. Denis Plant, 02 9829 1340, PO Box 84, Macquarie Fields, NSW, 2564,