Welcome to the October/November Edition of “The Visionary”. 

I have some good news for you today.  While the rest of the world focuses on the failure of its financial systems we are secure in the promises of God.

But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:18-19 MKJV)

Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue, through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4 MKJV)

It seems that the entire world is set on worrying about what is going to happen.  Around the world banks are collapsing, financial institutions are being dissolved, jobs are being lost, businesses going bankrupt. One company in the USA reports that 25,000 homes are being foreclosed each month.

At home in Australia there is an impact on us also.  While our banks are more secure, the price of oil goes ever higher, food prices are increasing, governments are at a loss for solutions, while we suffer the effects of  the international crisis. “Doomed! We are, doomed!” cries the soothsayer!

But the promise of God does not say so!  He promises to provide us with all things that pertain to life and Godliness according to his riches in glory … but there is a caveat, a condition. It is “through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory.  (I Peter 1:2-4)

So in these troubling times, take heart.  Here is the reason to study and understand his word; the more we know of Jesus, the better we understand both his word and his will for us, the greater is our security and provision in him for this life.

These promises are not a guarantee of your job or your home or your particular thing.  They are a guarantee that in every situation you face, even in these times, God will be there and he will look after you if you trust in him and his word.  Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 MKJV), and you will enjoy the prosperity of God according to the measure he has set aside for you.

Missions

Philippines

So far this year I have been to the Philippines, to a small town call Pagadian, where we have a Mission Bible College.  I am pleased to advise you that the college in Pagadian is continuing on with several pastors from various churches involved as lecturers, along with members of their congregations as students, and the work goes well. Bless God.

Myanmar

I will return to Myamnar in November to re-establish our work after the terrible devastation and aftermath of cyclone Nargis.  Over 1,000,000 million died and 2,500,000 were made homeless, and still their government turns a blind eye.  Our work and that of so many others has been severely affected by the cyclone.  This will be my first opportunity to see what has happened and what we are doing there.  I praise God for the $8,000.00 we raised, and still more is needed, and I thank you for the contribution you have made.  You can go to our website for details (www.internetbiblecollege.com/myanmar-appeal).

Nepal

In Nepal we will be working with national leaders to establish the work in that nation.  We have a fledgling college there already and two other leaders have invited us into this nation.  20 years ago there were something like 200 Christians in Nepal.  Now there are over 1,000,000.  Many of the pastors and leaders are barely literate and unable to deal with more than the Gospels.  Some of them can only work with the parables of Jesus and they desperately need our ministry.  We are responding to a “Macdeonian call”.

Our unique ministry allows us to help these men and women of God as no-other can.  The ruggedness of the land, the difficult terrain, the poor communications, separate the isolated people groups.  Those in towns and villages are almost wholly dependant upon their neighbours and local community.  The Christian leader who can read English (and many can) is well placed to bring our teaching to his own people and will be warmly received among his people.

This enterprise is God-given and God-driven. I know you have many needs pressing on you but I am asking you to consider helping us to place the college in the hands of the Nepalese.  Help us make a difference.  Help us to reach the Nepalese.  You can donate directly to the college to help us help them.  Any amount will make a difference to these gospel-starved people.

Accredited Program Update … Accredited Program Update…

We will be facing, at last, our inspection for accreditation in December.  Please pray for us as we prepare ourselves for that event.  It has been a long time coming and we look forward to getting the inspection behind us. Bless God!!

I am hoping that by our next newsletter we will have more news for you on some new study options that will be available to you.

A Word From Ken

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Some Thoughts On The Last Days

1260 days, 1290 days, 1135 days? What do those peculiar time sequences in Daniel 12:5-13 mean?

There have been numerous applications to events and persons throughout history, beginning with Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the 3rd century B.C. to the supposed Great Tribulation at the end of the age.  Do the oracles then have no useful meaning?

Well, they certainly do not permit us to calculate dates, which not even Jesus was able to do, nor the angels (Mk 13:32-33). Indeed, the scriptures show how God will determine the time, but they do not allow us to do so (vs. 34-36).

What about the “signs of the times”? Despite popular opinion, Jesus made it clear that “There are no signs you can observe that will tell you when the kingdom of God is coming!” (Lu 17:20) Therefore he warned his disciples not to take any notice even of the six things that most people read as signs of the end (Lu 21:8-11; Mk 13:6-8; Mt 24:4-8).

Notice how Jesus specifically told his disciples not to be alarmed if they saw such things, for, said he, they do not mark the end of time, rather, “the end is not yet!” (Mt 24:6b)

Such troubles are part of this present troubled age, and will continue to wax and wane from place to place, and from time to time, until the last day has actually come.

So we can say with certainty only that the 1260, 1290, & 1335 days at least show a long delay! How long that delay would be, no one could possibly have foreseen in Jesus’ time, and we cannot have better clarity in our own day. All attempts to calculate when Christ will come again must fail.

But those numbers do show us one more very important thing – plainly, God has infallibly counted the years! The days of time are numbered, and the hour of Christ’s return has already been appointed by the Father! It could be today. So be ready to meet your God! (Amos 4:12)

Roll of Honour

Here is our honour roll of those students who have achieved an award. This recognition is not the end of the road but a marker along the way. Congratulations to you for a work well done.  

Graduation Service

As previously announced we want to have a graduation service for Vision and we are looking at Saturday 17th of January 2009.  This will be the first graduation ceremony for Vision and we are inviting ALL graduates to attend.  We want every resource centre to be represented and if possible bring a banner.  We are also asking every distance education student within a reasonable distance to come and receive their award.
Students who have already graduated this year will also have the opportunity to attend the ceremony and receive their award as well so that they too can enjoy the rich formality of the ceremony and public recognition of their studies.

As this is our first ever such graduation, students from resource centres and distance education students will be encouraged to come, and even if they have not completed their award, to receive a Certificate.   Plan to be there, meet your fellow Vision students, and develop networks.  Come and be blessed!

A Moment With Alison

LESSONS LEARNED IN ADVERSITY!

Jonah made a faith statement in his adversity: “I have been banished from your sight yet will I look again toward your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:4)

Jonah was determined to worship the Lord, even though he felt himself to be at death’s door. How fixed are we to follow the Lord no matter what adversity strikes us? Calamity can make or break a person. Crisis shows our true heart attitude.

Think of Joseph, who survived with his integrity intact even after repeated set-backs. How did he do this? He remembered the dreams God had given him and he determined to stay steadfast no matter what happened to him, no matter how black the future looked. We have been given far more than Joseph in Holy Spirit baptism and in the full revelation of the Word of God. How much more should we, who have been given so much, trust in God to bring us through finally to firm ground?

Jonah prayed very earnestly: “When my life was ebbing away I remembered you, O Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple” (2:7.)
Jonah prayed a prayer of faith, Can we declare the glory of God even when we have come to the end of ourselves and our own strength, and we don’t understand why we are suffering? We must continue to trust God no matter what happens to us.

Think of David and the many times he faced death through no fault of his own; the years he spent in adversity, hunted by Saul, in fear of his life. You only have to read his Psalms to catch his heart-cry and see what he suffered. The time he spent in the desert changed him from a boy to a man who could command men and train them, thus making him fit to be king of Israel.

Jonah spoke as if his prayer for deliverance was answered already! “But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord” (2:9).

Jonah gave himself in dedication. Can we in faith dedicate ourselves to God, to return to following his will for our life if we have taken a wrong direction, as Jonah did?

It was his heart attitude and his decision to return to God’s will for his life that brought victory to Jonah.

“And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (2:10)

Those who want the same victory that Jonah enjoyed must also be determined to live by faith, to pray the prayer of faith, and to dedicate themselves to God’s will for their life.

Please pray.

1. For continued good health for Ken and Alison as they continue to minister and move around the country and overseas.
2. For new students
3. For each of our Resource Centres, that they will grow as a student body and that the students will be effective in their ministries.
4. For each distance education or Resource Centre student, that they will continue and find new opportunities of ministry in their churches and communities.
5. For the staff of Vision that our needs shall be met.
6. For our new work in Nepal.
7. For the situation in Myamar and how you can help
8. For our college in the Philippines
9. For our Re-accreditation in December this year.

The Last Word

Rev. Dr. Denis Plant

Vision is unique in several aspects of missions work.  While we do offer our material in English as it is our language it is also a fact that if students plan to continue in post graduate studies they must come to terms with the fact that the vast bulk of resources on the internet or in the book stores is in English.  All Vision students, mission field or otherwise, are prepared for ministry far into their future simply by the fact that we utilize what is arguably the most used international language – English.

Secondly we have no problem with the fact that the material often has to be turned into another language or dialect on the field.  This is good.  It means that students who do not know English will learn from a range of doctrine and theology that is excellent, vibrant, effective and faith building, and they will learn it in their own language, in their own culture, in their own community and learn from their own people who do know English rather than from expats who are learning the local culture.

We do not remove the student from home to the college and spoil them in the “cloistered halls of academia”, we do not violate their proper cultural sensitivity by introducing the student to the decadence of the west, rather  we take the college to the student in his own environment, enable the national worker to minister to his own people for the work of the ministry without ever leaving home, and add the benefit of an internationally recognized college and award without compromising their culture with “Western Christianity".  We bring the kingdom of God into local culture empowering local men and women who are Christians to teach the word and present it where they are.  

The concept of presenting the gospel in the local culture is not a new idea.  Paul operated on the self same principle in the book of Acts.   This, I believe, is a key to the success of Vision on the mission field.  We try to equip people with knowledge they need to be free in Christ and to be what God has called them to be to reach their own generation, see Acts chapter 15.

Contact Vision

President and Founder Rev. Dr. Ken and Dr. Alison Chant Phone 02 96238474 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Principal and Office Ps Denis Plant 02 9829 1340, PO Box 84, Macquarie Fields, NSW, 2564

Web site http://www.internetbiblecollege.com email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it