by donfinto | Nov 8, 2017 | The Good Report
October 31 is now past, but I need to tell you some of God’s timing that I did not know until this trip to Israel.
Most of us probably did know that this date was the 500-year anniversary of Martin Luther’s action that helped to trigger the reformation. Five hundred years ago on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle cathedral that sparked a major revival among believers. It was a revival that led to reclaiming the clear teaching of Scripture that faith is “credited… as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
What you probably did not know, and we did not know until recently, is that on this same date in 1917, an 800 Australian/New Zealand horse brigade mounted the charge against the Ottoman Turks to retake Beersheba, which led later to General Allenby being able to retake Jerusalem.
Not only that, the Balfour Declaration also happened at this same time 100 years ago when “His Majesty…” the king of England, through his foreign minister Balfour, spoke positively about creating a homeland for the Jewish people. All of which led to the United Nations decision in November of 1947 (70 years ago) and the reestablishment of the nation in May of 1948.
I heard some one say one time that “when God’s timing and God’s promise intersect, God intervenes, and looks for those who will participate with Him in what He is doing in that generation” (the opening chapters of the God’s Promise and the Future of Israel book).
We are living in God’s timing. Let us be careful to participate in what He is doing in this generation.
-Don Finto
by donfinto | Oct 25, 2017 | The Good Report
Our lives are in His hands.
Have you ever stopped to think that the enemy would like to kill every believer in
the world so that the witness of Jesus would be eradicated from the earth – no
witness of Jesus would be found anywhere?
Like David, “[Our] enemies are in hot pursuit of [us]; all day long they press their
attack (Psalm 56:1). “They watch [our] steps hoping to take [our lives]” (v. 6).
The good news is the enemy does not have that kind of power. Jesus “holds the key
to death” (Revelation 1:18). “From the Sovereign LORD comes (daily) escape from
death” (Psalm 68:20).
“All the days ordained for [us] were written in [His] book before one of them came
to be” (Psalm 139:16). This is why it was only after “David had served God’s
purpose in his own generation,” that “he fell asleep (Acts 13:36). The enemy had no
power to take him out prematurely.”
This is why I make a part of my daily declaration that I, like David, will not “fall
asleep” until I have accomplished God’s purpose for me in this generation. This is
why I choose to walk confidently into the future – no fears – with an ever-increasing
awareness that the only safe place in the world to be is in the will of God. If we live,
we are the Lord’s; if we die, we are His – all to His glory that He may “be exalted in
[our bodies], whether by life or by death. For to [us], to live is Christ; and to die is
gain” (Philippians 1:20-21).
Pause and ponder. Rejoice in Jesus! Breath in His confidence. Exhale all fear.
Your life is in His hands.
by donfinto | Oct 18, 2017 | The Good Report
Jesus was the world’s best encourager. He saw more in people than they saw in themselves. He saw their destiny and He called it forth.
“In this world we are like him,” John told us (1 John 4:17). One of our roles is to encourage: to see more in people than they see in themselves, and call it forth.
When I think of my early life, there are three people who stand out as major encouragers.
The first was my grandmother who, when I was walking the wrong way, would say, “That’s not who you really are,” and I began to believe her.
The second was a voice teacher I had while I was in college. I could not afford voice lessons, but one day, she called me to her office and gave me a voice lesson. She pulled music out of me that day like never before and never since. She “inspired me with confidence” (that’s one of Webster’s definitions of “encourage”).
The third was a private German tutor I had in Frankfurt, Germany, in our earlier years when Martha and I lived there. The tutor thought I could learn to speak German without a typical American accent, and because she believed in me, I did.
Who have been encouragers in your life? Who are you encouraging?
“Encourage one another,” Paul told the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 13:11). “Encourage one another daily,” the writer of Hebrews said (3:13). “Encourage the fainthearted,” Paul said on another occasion (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
Stop for a moment and ask the Lord if there is someone to whom you need to reach out today with a word of encouragement. That one phone call or visit could turn their lives around. See more in them than they see in themselves. Call forth their destiny. Encourage one another daily!
by donfinto | Sep 27, 2017 | The Good Report
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39
I love the fact that, though Jesus rarely answered questions outright, usually
responding with a question, there was one occasion when this was not the case. “Which is
the greatest commandment?” He was asked, and immediately responded, “Love God, and
love others” (my paraphrase).
Love overcomes. We don’t have to agree with the faith or the lifestyle of the
other. Our role is to love.
I love when the Holy Spirit suddenly calls us to act counter to our natural bent –
like the time the transvestite came to our Saturday night assembly, and I started to nudge
someone and tell them to look, but the Lord arrested and sent me to him with total joy in
order to welcome him.
I also love when the Holy Spirit surprises us with words we never could have had
on our own – like the time when the stripper came up to me following an assembly at
Belmont and said, “I take my clothes off for a living. Can I be a Christian?” to which I,
with no forethought, looked straight into her eyes and responded, “Honey, you turn your
life over to Jesus. He’ll tell you when to put your clothes on and when to take them off.” I
walked away smiling, “Lord, that was brilliant! I never would have thought of that!”
Recently I was feeling all holy and disturbed about the lifestyle of someone I love
very dearly. And then the Lord reminded me, “You are not the Holy Spirit. Your role is
to love. My role is to convict.”
I am challenged. I want to love God more. I want to love others better. I want to
love people into the Kingdom.
Want to join me? Let’s do it!
by donfinto | Sep 20, 2017 | The Good Report
Don’t know why I was so struck recently with those last words of Jesus when He said:“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).
ALL! In heaven! On earth!
He’s ultimately in charge of everything!
That’s the reason He can assure us that in the end, for His followers, everything works for our good.
Jonathan Cahn has this exceptional book called The Book of Mysteries. In one of the segments he tells about a man who was hated by his family, sold into slavery, taken to a foreign country, and put into prison for a crime he did not commit.
What kind of story would that be? A tragic one of course.
But then that man was ultimately released from prison, elevated to a place of honor by the world’s major power, was used of God to save that nation and his own family from starvation, and was wonderfully reunited with his family.
Now what kind of story is that? One of triumph and victory.
So also with your life and mine. We are assured victory in the end. The lives of none of us who follow Jesus ultimately end in tragedy. They end in triumph and victory.
Jesus has ALL authority so that He is able to accomplish this.
Have a good life!
by donfinto | Sep 13, 2017 | The Good Report
“Now then, tell my servant David,” God told the prophet Nathan, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone” (1 Chronicles 17:7-8).
In other words, “David, don’t ever forget where you came from, that it was I who chose you to do what you are doing!”
In some ways, we need to forget the past, at least not “dwell on the past” (Isaiah 43:18), yet we need never to forget how the Lord Himself has redeemed us.
Late in Paul’s life he describes his past as “the worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16). With Peter, I don’t think he ever forgot how he denied the Lord, or how unbelieving Thomas was about Jesus’ resurrection. Paul listed a catalog of sins when writing to the Corinthians saying, “Such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:11), and John said that one of the ways we triumph over the enemy is “by the word of [our] testimony” (Revelation 12:11).
Testimonies are powerful evangelistic tools. Testimonies like Dennis Jernigan and Rosaria Butterfield (both of whom came out of homosexual lifestyles) or Tass Saada’s Once an Arafat Man, or Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ (coming to faith from atheism) are greatly used of the Lord.
But you, too, have a testimony. Don’t forget who you were before Jesus captured your heart, or who you would be without Him. Think about them. Write them down tonight. And don’t hesitate to share it if it can help others.
