tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82270612024-03-06T22:37:59.148-06:00As My World Turns - A Conservative Mom in Her "Right" MindThe musings, rambling blog entries, humor, life, political opinions, observations, personal and spiritual beliefs, tasty treats and other writings of an almost 40, single mother of two.Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.comBlogger579125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-53285825235734143252016-07-08T11:53:00.000-05:002016-07-08T11:53:01.237-05:00We have a problem...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
We have a racism problem in this country. We have a problem with a lack of mobility between socioeconomic classes in this country. We have a problem with political leaders in both parties that cause further division daily, if not hourly, for political gain. We have problem with media that is more into shock and awe than into journalistic integrity, after all the more clicks the better. More clicks mean more money. It's us vs them and it doesn't matter to the politicians and media using these situations who the us or them is, as long as it benefits them in the long run. Meanwhile innocent people continue to die - for being black, for being gay, for wearing blue, and on and on. I said it last night. Hatred spawns hatred and violence begets violence. There is a war raging. And it is not only one that we can see, but it is one that cannot be seen and the enemy is taking great joy in the chaos and turmoil. (Eph 6:12)<br><br>
And every day more people go home from work and/or school, into their houses, lock the doors and close the blinds, and isolate themselves from being part the world - from "in person", in "real time", in "face to face" encounters. We live in an "on demand" society, one that devalues people, and minimizes and erodes real person to person interactions, empathy and compassion. One where we can hide behind fake personas and a keyboard and, online, anybody can be someone other than who they really are.<br><br>
I don't have any of the answers really, but I think we have to start by turning off the televisions and computers, getting out of our homes, getting involved and serving in the community, and getting our children out of their isolation. If we continue to segregate ourselves, our children model what they see, day in and day out, and pretty soon, we'll be right back to where we started before the Civil Rights movement of the 60s. Worse, we'll be raising children who don't know how to interact with others in real time, in real ways, with real empathy or compassion. We will have a society that forgets how to have respect for one another and more of the tragedies will occur because we will choose to isolate, segregate and mistrust instead of integrate, dialogue and get to know.<br><br>
There are bad people in ALL races, genders and occupations, but that does not give us the right to mistrust and assume that everyone in that category is bad and paint them all with the same brush. There are BAD people out there. There are GOOD people out there. And here's the truth, we all have good and bad in us. Light and dark. Every one of us. It is our daily choices and which part, light or dark, that we choose to act on that defines us. As individuals and as a society. (1 John 2:8-11)<br><br>
Is what is going on now how we want to be remembered in the pages of history? Is a legacy of hatred and segregation and violence what we want our descendants to see when they look around and wonder what has happened to the world as they live in a dystopian society? Or do we want to leave a legacy of healing and compassion and understanding on all sides, one that will flourish against the dark in this world? Darkness hates the light and flees from it. (John 1:5, John 3:19-21) Be the light. Be the example of good in this world. Be the example of what you want your children to grow up to be. Be the change you wish to see in the world.<br><br>
But in order to do that and affect what is going on in the world around us, we have to step away from the technology, stop hiding, embrace the world that we live in, be the light, the change, the example, and teach our children to do the same. Everything you do matters...so live a life that you won't regret.Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-68003561972330782382015-02-06T11:14:00.001-06:002015-02-06T11:14:37.910-06:00Are You Drinking Poison?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_iQgDk8JPQ4Kl4m8vtR0Qnj-1MEUMWMsn10g4t6kT9p5CZ56s4WAXOVq6LgWiwbIoQ8TS5FUajGjNCHfIYceir_AS4NYE97VbcvgBH3fqnY4at6bNwgenzfSf2CDl_Hl_IeU/s1600/unforgiveness_680-458x229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_iQgDk8JPQ4Kl4m8vtR0Qnj-1MEUMWMsn10g4t6kT9p5CZ56s4WAXOVq6LgWiwbIoQ8TS5FUajGjNCHfIYceir_AS4NYE97VbcvgBH3fqnY4at6bNwgenzfSf2CDl_Hl_IeU/s1600/unforgiveness_680-458x229.jpg" /></a></div>
One of my favorite quotes is that unforgiveness is like drinking poison, hoping the other person will die. Most of the time, the other person doesn't even know you feel the way you do, and THEY'RE certainly not stressing themselves over it. And even if they do know, they 99.9% probably just don't care. You’re the only one stressing yourself, losing sleep at night over it and even thinking about it.
<br><br>
But SO MANY people I know refuse to forgive and justify their lack of forgiveness to someone who has wronged them by prefacing it with "but you just 'don't understand'".
<br><br>
No, I really do. I truly DO understand: 1. being molested by multiple people as a child at various points throughout my childhood, starting at age 4 - some of them just kids themselves, and some by adults I was supposed to be able to trust 2. being bullied every day for 3 years at school to the point where I developed ulcers by the time I was in 7th grade and cried all the way home every day because of those I thought were friends turning their backs on me - 6th - 8th grade was hell on earth for me 3. having a parent not be there for me because of a severe mental illness and not being able to have a normal childhood at home because of it 4. being in an abusive marriage that put me in physical therapy 5. having my (former) spouse #1 cheating on me and getting them pregnant 6. finding out that (former) spouse #2 was living with someone else in another city who didn’t even know he had a family here 7. being turned on and talked about by family members 8. being unjustly treated by a boss... Trust me...I UNDERSTAND! And I understand the weight of carrying all of that baggage and unforgiveness and bitterness that ALWAYS comes from refusing to forgive.
<br><br>
But, as one lovely friend at a women’s retreat a couple of years ago told me when we were going through a forgiveness exercise, "What kind of frame of mind do you have to be in, in order to obey God and forgive others?" BAM! That is a moment I will never, ever forget. She was entirely right and I am entirely thankful for her truth to me.
<br><br>
You may not feel like forgiving those who have hurt and wronged you. Who have damaged you. Who may have even broken you. I didn’t either. But hanging on to such negative emotions, some for over 30 years, really does a number on your heart and your soul. It starts to eat away at you. I was tired of having all of those situations weighing me down. I wanted freedom from all of it so I forgave them ANYWAY, even though I didn’t think I was in the “right frame of mind” to. I forgave them by name and by offense. I gave it all over to God and they will never even know – mostly because the majority of them I have no clue where they are now and some are even dead. And that’s ok, because forgiveness is between me and God. I have continued to forgive them since then, because forgiveness isn’t always a “one and done” kinda deal. God calls us to forgive someone who has wronged us 70 times 7. That’s a whole lot of forgiveness we’re called to do, if necessary and needed, in order to be able to truly forgive them completely. Unforgiveness shackles you to the person who hurt you. Don't give them that power over you!
<br><br>
In forgiving others, even when you don’t want to, it starts to cleanse that bitterness from your spirit. And it lightens that burden you’ve carried. The things I’ve been though at the hands of others have been truly awful, and even downright horrific! But they’ve made me stronger. They’ve made me able to understand those going through the same situations. They’ve made me more compassionate. What the enemy meant for ill to break me down, God turned around and made it for my good.
<br><br>
I’m free and that’s a beautiful thing. That’s what matters the most. You don’t forgive someone because they need it. You forgive others because YOU need it.Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-58288337220668644032014-11-06T09:56:00.001-06:002014-11-06T09:57:46.756-06:00A friend in need...Good morning, blog friends and blogsphere! I have a simple request, well 3 actually. I know this is long but PLEASE read this to the bottom so that you understand what this means to me.
<br><br>
One of my dearest and longest friend's daughters was in a horrific head on collision several weeks ago near Bryan College Station as a result of a woman driving the wrong way on the highway. The other driver was killed on scene. Bernell (Nell) should not have made it, in fact she died and was resuscitated FOUR times. I will not detail her myriad injuries, but needless to say, they were injuries that nobody should have been able to survive, as you can tell by the pictures of her vehicle. But God has a purpose for her and isn't finished with her yet. She is fighting like a girl, strong, steady and beating the odds, even in light of the injuries and the stroke she suffered. She keeps improving every day and has been called a miracle by the hospital workers there in Bryan.
<br><br>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-59QUYm58r0k/VFuZasLq2rI/AAAAAAABVS0/zT3LkrR4f9U/s1600/B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-59QUYm58r0k/VFuZasLq2rI/AAAAAAABVS0/zT3LkrR4f9U/s320/B1.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBUN-N6IpgcPoUltfizJNld3TTskO_JjVuxn-hRUDllKYcbDNyMw87g9T4iF5etGc_YBM4Nt6dFQBh593z2O5Erty2fZU2GrOePjvsbpE4zGSNaCrutGhPq7QlDKvSUzZDVFv/s1600/B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBUN-N6IpgcPoUltfizJNld3TTskO_JjVuxn-hRUDllKYcbDNyMw87g9T4iF5etGc_YBM4Nt6dFQBh593z2O5Erty2fZU2GrOePjvsbpE4zGSNaCrutGhPq7QlDKvSUzZDVFv/s320/B2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYws2Js_32GgcvQIlkaKHGO3sjPufQP3TTtLUiIZFUFSrMyik5Ex8-dsZldYnD65o0FF6MmIZauhSh7PqhSazcHq3EFYCb6FpDApS9Q7jQbB5nHhVx3lW3Xm8UnmovduPMJPVH/s1600/B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYws2Js_32GgcvQIlkaKHGO3sjPufQP3TTtLUiIZFUFSrMyik5Ex8-dsZldYnD65o0FF6MmIZauhSh7PqhSazcHq3EFYCb6FpDApS9Q7jQbB5nHhVx3lW3Xm8UnmovduPMJPVH/s320/B3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRwQyjgcmUhu_CFdGOL8bHK2TmLFYS8L7YwX7U-riBUjS3nurZ-rjn7pENYzacV7W6_YZdYefqNQT2c8bSWT8VWotuxVQSU21-pxSposvjIR0T7xpmOU4H1SpwPz-loFINH1m/s1600/B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRwQyjgcmUhu_CFdGOL8bHK2TmLFYS8L7YwX7U-riBUjS3nurZ-rjn7pENYzacV7W6_YZdYefqNQT2c8bSWT8VWotuxVQSU21-pxSposvjIR0T7xpmOU4H1SpwPz-loFINH1m/s320/B4.jpg" /></a>
<br><br>
As of a couple weeks ago, her medical bills were over $625,000 and this family that is so very dear to my heart has no insurance. In addition, they are needing to move her to a neuro rehab center and have been getting some pushback on that. Even with the right side of her skull having to have been removed temporarily for the swelling in her brain that accompanied the stroke there are those that want to send her HOME instead of getting her the neurological rehab she needs. Nell is fully awake and is aware of what is going on, conversations, visitors and so forth. She is able to communicate through blinks and is able to move her arms, etc. and has been kicking butt in physical and speech therapy!
My three requests are this:
<br><br>
1. Please keep Nell and her family Laura, Trent, Amanda, Jennifer and Corra in your prayers. They have been through so much in the past 3 years, from the loss of their house in the Spicewood fires in September of 2011 and now this, they have stayed strong, never wavering in their faith in God or their desire to help others. Pray for the right decisions to be made today for Nell's future. Pray for the doctors and nurses caring for her. Pray for the funding to be made available for Nell's care.
<br><br>
2. Going with the last prayer request above, there is a Go Fund Me that has been set up to help with expenses, which are a lot, and the paychecks are very slim right now as Laura and Trent are in BCS helping to take care of Nell and to make sure she is getting the best care possible in the hospital - that has been quite a fight at times now that she's been moved out of the CCU into a regular room. Even $10 will help. The link is here: ---> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gofundme.com/fa7b48">http://www.gofundme.com/fa7b48</a> <---
<br><br>
3. Please pass this message on to YOUR list of people. The more people we have praying for this family, the better!
<br><br>
Laura has been my friend since we were in 9th grade together and I love her like a sister. Her precious family is my family. She is the mother hen, always taking others under her wing, making sure everyone is taken care of and has what they need without any regard whatsoever for herself. She's one of the truly beautiful souls in this world and I'd love to be able to help her and her beautiful family out as much as possible! Thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts on their behalf and for your consideration in helping them as well by donating.
<br><br>
Romans 8:28 For we know that ALL things (the good, the bad, the ugly) work together for the good of those who love the Lord.
<br><br>
God is good ALL the time...and ALL the time, God is GOOD!Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-36808173951211105552014-09-08T11:41:00.001-05:002014-09-08T11:41:45.900-05:00Conversations with God and RobbieismsConversations with God (and the Robbieisms He used to snap me out of my offense)
So, a funny thing happened on the way to spiritual maturity…
We can think we are on our way to becoming the person we want to be, the person we think we should be, the person we believe that God wants us to be. And then a curve ball comes in and we get knocked off kilter. It could be a financial difficulty. It could be an issue with work. It could be problems within the home. It could be anything. For me, almost nothing throws me off track faster than that of a bump in a relationship. A relationship within family, with friends, with a significant other. Any kind of relationship with someone close to me. I value relationship over just about anything else. To me it is important that I make others feel like they are important and loved and treasured and that I absolutely mean it. Unfortunately, there is that part of me that still gets hurt if others don’t treat me the same way.
Starting almost a month ago a relationship with someone I hold very close to me hit a snag, or two. And while now I realize it was unintentional, it started to drive a noticeable wedge between our friendship. At least to me anyway. I talked to 3 very close other friends about this ad nauseum. Questioning, griping, feeling sorry for myself, etc. All in all not a pretty picture. Pretty substantially sad, as a matter of fact. My trusted inner circle gave me so much grace, even though they probably wanted to just say, “Can we talk about something else now?” I cannot thank them enough for just letting me go through the cycle of emotions that I went through. It’s very, very rare that I dwell on something like this, so I think that also allowed them to give me such grace.
The thing is, this is someone for whom God has told me to stand in the gap and war for them. Pray for them. Thank Him for all the changes God has not yet made in their life as if He had already made them. This is someone for whom God has a definitely purpose and because that purpose is SO big, the flip side of the coin is that the enemy has a purpose for them too. To derail them from ever coming to know Christ and fulfilling their destiny in Him. So the enemy went and attacked at the very core of my friendship.
For weeks I have carried around this hurt, this sense of almost betrayal, this beginning of a grudge, these hardening feelings. And it was really sad and pathetic. Especially because they had absolutely no clue they had hurt me. So I did what I have done so well in the past. Passive aggressively used words to my advantage. Never once letting them know how I had been hurt by them.
Tsk-tsk-tsk…
Yesterday morning was when God did the equivalent of hitting me upside the head with a two by four. I have this dear friend, wonderful woman, incredible mentor who is SO full of wisdom. I should have known better. I should have known that God would have used her wisdom to speak to me. Many of you on here know her as Robbie Page. I know her as a life changer. A changer of my life and the life of my family. She has these sayings that stick with you and don't let go. We call them Robbieisms.
So…here is what God used to snap me out of the wild and crazy and really unattractive pity party I had been brewing and let simmer until it would have utterly destroyed one of the most important friendships I’ve ever had.
Robbieisms (Robbie’s sayings - or the gist of them - that God used to knock me off my pity pedestal and back on solid ground):
<b>1.</b> <i>Remember Oneand2: <u>ONE it’s not about me and 2 I don’t have to be right</u>.</i> Because it’s really NOT about me. It is always about the other person in the equation. When we stop focusing on ourselves and we put the focus on where it belongs, which is on God and other people, we see things a whole lot more clearly. And I really do not have to be right. In the scheme of things, what matters more? Preserving a necessary relationship or having to be proven right? In the end, that friendship or relationship is far more important than my “being right” and in this case, I really was NOT right at all.
<b>2.</b> <i>Hurt people hurt people:</i> It’s true. Have you ever seen someone whose feelings have been hurt? Or have you been one of those people? What do you do when you’ve been hurt? You tend to take it out on others, don’t you? Most likely you ignore the person who hurt you. Might even lash out at them. Really, who are you hurting other than yourself? As is the case, most people don’t even know they hurt you. I know with me they almost never do because I am one of the least confrontational people you will ever meet. This one, as with the one below, goes with the entire definition of unforgiveness…unforgiveness is like drinking poison, hoping the other person will die. The only person you are hurting is yourself.
<b>3.</b> <i>The spirit of offense has done more damage to relationships than almost anything else:</i> This goes hand in hand with the above.We can get so offended by other people that we start holding grudges and thinking ugly thoughts about them and it absolutely sours your relationship with them. You get so offended by someone that you go out and offend others by your words and/or actions. It’s the same premise as hurt people hurt people.Offended people offend people.
<b>4.</b> <i>Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do:</i> In this case the right thing is to give them a whole lot of Grace. They do not have the knowledge that I do or the wisdom I have learned from others and the Bible in how to treat others, how a Christian is supposed to act and treat others. To them they are doing what comes second nature to them because they are not, in fact, a Christian. I have to remember that when it comes down to it, the best thing to do is to treat others the way you want to be treated,regardless of how they have treated you. That’s kind of what we call “The Golden Rule” and it comes from the Bible. Matthew 7:12 AND Luke 6:31 say the same thing…in EVERYTHING do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Even if they don’t, you still do it anyway…because it’s the right thing to do.
<b>5.</b> <i>God speaks to you in your personality:</i> IDK about you, but I have different ways that I respond to different things. I have a soft spoken side to me. I have an outgoing side to me. I have an outspoken side to me – at times. I have a silly side and a very serious side. God speaks to me in whatever manner will get my attention depending on what I’m going through. Yesterday morning was a very clear, “SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP”. This is basically the gist of the message:
<b>God:</b> Ok, listen up, babygirl, did I or did I not tell you to pray without ceasing for this person? Did I or did I not tell you to war for this person through prayer? Did I or did I not tell you that even when it hurts and even when you don’t understand the WHY’S of what I am doing that you are to trust Me anyway and obey? Yes or no?
<b>Me:</b>………yes…….
<b>God:</b> So WHY are you doing the opposite right now?
<b>Me:</b> Because it hurts and I don’t understand.
<b>God:</b> SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP! EVEN. WHEN. IT. HURTS. EVEN. WHEN. YOU. DON’T. UNDERSTAND. Now what part of that do you not understand? I’ve been telling you that for weeks. I told you to pray and war for them for a reason and here you are, letting the enemy drive this wedge in between you and the person only you know exactly how to pray for because you are the only true praying person in their life. You know better! What is wrong with you?! You have the spiritual understanding to know exactly what is going on here. So why are you letting the enemy win?
<b>Me:</b>………………SIGH……You’re right………..
<b>God:</b> Of course, I am! Because I have a specific purpose for this person, you can bet your petunia that the enemy does too. Just like I have a specific purpose for you and the enemy tried to derail that, he is trying to derail this person as well. It’s up to YOU to fight for them.
<b>Me:</b> But it’s hard when I can’t see the end or how it is going to end.
<b>God:</b> Because it’s not for you to know until it happens. Only I know. Do you presume that you get to be Me? It’s not for you to understand. All I have asked you to do is trust and obey, no matter what. This is why we need to work on your patience.
<b>Me:</b> I haven’t asked for patience! The saying always goes “don’t ask for patience because He will put you in situations where you will be forced to learn it”.
<b>God:</b> But you need it so that is precisely why you are getting a lesson in it.
<b>Me:</b> Really?!????
<b>God:</b> Suck it up, buttercup, and get a move on, babygirl. Time’s a wasting and you don’t have all day. Give them grace and understand that they don’t realize what it is they have done because they are not in Me yet. And really, does it matter in the long run why or the reasons behind it? Does it really matter? They are like an infant in that they don’t know better yet. And really, you don’t need the answers ahead of time. This person is YOUR responsibility because only you know how to pray for them as they need to be prayed for so just stop it already! TRUST. OBEY. That’s it.
<b>Me:</b> Yes, Sir.
Yeah, my conversations with God really do go like that. Not kidding! LOL! Sometimes He is Abba, Father, Comforter, Healer, my Hiding Place,the Bringer of Peace, my Strength when I have none left. Sometimes He is my sledgehammer without mercy. Sometimes He is my ego crushing, butt kicking drill sergeant. Sometimes He is silent. Sometimes He is a whisper. Sometimes He is a mighty ROAR! But always He is on time. And He is always right.
And as always, it is a reminder of another Robbieism...<b><i>your response is your responsibility</i></b>. You cannot control how others treat you or what they say to you, but you sure can control what your response will be.
Thank you, Robbie for your wisdom, guidance, understanding,knowledge and friendship that has completely transformed me from the person I was even 21 months ago. Love you, friend!Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-49445450715368732322013-12-29T20:29:00.000-06:002013-12-29T20:31:06.090-06:002013: My life in review2 days left in 2013. WOW! Where has the time gone? More importantly, what did you learn in this year? For me, from the very start - the first weekend of 2013, in fact - it has been an incredible year of changes and growth. Both for the better. I am not the same person leaving this year as I was coming into it, and for that I am very thankful.
<br><br>
I have made incredible friends for life, some of whom I've only met once or a handful of times, but the blessing of the internet is that we can keep up daily across the miles. Some whom I reconnected with, whether online or in person. Friends who are of a like mind, friends who encourage, support and speak life over others. Friends who have prayed for and over me. Friends who have listened and encouraged the growth in my life, and have been part of the catalyst of that growth.
<br><br>
One of the biggest changes - and best - is becoming a work from home mom. Being able to be there for my kids has made all the difference in the home atmosphere regarding attitude. It has been a tremendous blessing! The biggest one. It has helped me to become closer to them in ways I couldn't have imagined prior to working at stressful 45+ hour work week elsewhere. It has deepened my relationship with them as I am able to be there for celebrations and parties, milestones and games. To pick Em up "early" - now meaning as soon as school ends - and stay late with Nate when I drop him off.
<br><br>
I am thankful for the incredible spiritual truths that have been brought to me this past year. Truths that have opened my eyes and changed my life. Thankful for an amazing group of women who have seen the transformation in my life and have believed in and encouraged me and spoken life and truth over me. Not a day goes by where I and my family aren't thankful for their existence in my life and the truths that have been so much of the catalyst for the change in me.
<br><br>
I still have much to work on, but then again, we are all works in progress, are we not?
<br><br>
I am excited for what 2014 has to offer, because as good as 2013 has been, it can and will be better. 2014 will be a year of many dreams and accomplishments realized, goals reached and milestones crossed off my list. It will be a year of even deeper spiritual growth and understanding and I know it will be a year of blessings and wonderful surprises because God has never failed me or let me down and He won't start now. I have promises from Him that will come in His timing. Not mine.
<br><br>
That's been probably one of the biggest lessons for me is to be patient and wait. Psalms 27:14 says it very well. "Wait on the Lord, be strong and He will strengthen your heart. Wait on the Lord." Jeremiah 29:11 says it even better. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." If God has great plans for me and if I follow the path He has laid out for me, if I put my WHOLE trust in Him and let Him lead, instead of trying to make Him follow, how can I go wrong?
<br><br>
So, leaving 2013 behind soon and coming into 2014 with great expectations and beliefs about what will happen has me looking forward to this coming year with GREAT anticipation, joy and excitement! I look forward to being a better and stronger mother, daughter, friend, person, leader and Christian. 2014 is a new year, a new beginning, a new page on which I will write victories, goals, joys and dreams realized!
Happy New Year to you all and may your 2014 far exceed and outshine your 2013!Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-729060848386831432013-12-17T16:33:00.000-06:002013-12-17T16:33:21.018-06:00Championship MindsetI feel very strongly that this message is for someone, or maybe many someones out there today. This comes from a YouTube video from the phenomenal Trent Shelton, but I have transferred from video to text because many people pay better attention when it comes to the written word, whereas video can kind of go in one ear and out the other. If this is for you, know that I am praying for you, even though I don't know who you are. Keep moving forward! Be a Champion. Have a Championship Mindset.
<br><br>
<center>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+</center>
<br>
KMFLY - Keep Moving Forward and let nothing hold you back! Today is special. Today is that day that you become that new you. Today is the day that you become that Champion! It's time for you to stop feeling so sorry for yourselves and doing nothing about it. It's time to stop doing the same old things that have gotten you NOWHERE! It's time to stop using excuses to keep you at a place where you know you shouldn't be. Each and every one of you [watching this] is great. Each and every one of you [watching this] is a Champion. But YOU gotta make that decision.
<br><br>
There are 5 truths to every Champion, whether it be Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey...people who are Champions in their field, in their profession. There are 5 truths that each and every one of these people have. And today we're going to talk about it. You are going to develop that Championship Mindset. It's time for you to be great.
<br><br>
1. Commitment. The first TRUTH to every Champion is that every Champion has something called commitment. Staying loyal to what you said you were going to do...LONG after the mood you said it in has left. So that means that, for a whole month, if you said you were going to wake up at 5 AM to run 3 miles - that sound great the first week. Excited. What happens when that 3rd week comes around? When it's no longer fun. When it's no longer exciting. When that mood you said it in has left. Are you still going to be committed to it? Is it still going to mean that much to you? So many people live a life of incomplete dreams because they give up, they throw in the towel when that mood has left.
<br><br>
2. Discipline. The second TRUTH to every Champion is that every Champion has a little something called discipline. Tattoo it. That mean's permanent. Tattoo your purpose on your heart. So that your actions are trainable before you. Every Champion gets good at saying "NO" to the things that don't get them the "YES". Right? If it's not helping them, it's hurting them. But a lot of us lack that discipline. We say that our dreams are so important. Our goals are so important. We're so focused. But that first opportunity comes whether it's to to go to the club or do something that doesn't move you closer to your dreams, you go jump on it and do it. Your circle is filled with people who don't share your vision. That's holding you back and not moving you forward. You got to be disciplined! Success is a lonely road. There's not going to be too many people around you. You're not going to have a whole clique of friends because they're not going to be disciplined like you. They're not going to understand the commitment that it takes to make these dreams, to make these things happen. You gotta be disciplined.
<br><br>
3. Consistency. The third TRUTH to every Champion is that every Champion is consistent. We anchor our actions in greatness. So daily, not every now and then, not when we feel like it, so daily we produce nothing less than our very best. You know, when you're consistent, you're reliable. When you're reliable, you become trustworthy. There's nothing better in this world than a trustworthy person because when you're trustworthy, you're dependable.
<br><br>
4. Faith. The fourth TRUTH to every Champion is that every Champion has faith. Belief in the odds are beautiful, even when the odds say it's impossible. You know, there's a guy called David and he fought that impossible Goliath. Well, with us, we have a lot of Goliaths in our lives. Whether it be people doubting us. Whether it be statistics. Whether it be our generational curses. Whether it be genetics. Whether it be where we're from, our environment. But we have to "David" ALL of those things because God tells us that faith will make us well. Faith is what makes dreams come true. Believe it. You gotta throw that blanket over that scoreboard of life. You gotta to keep playing until your final seconds are up. You gotta give it your all. You gotta KNOW where you're going. Not what you're going to do. Not believe in the circumstances. Not believe in the stress. Not believe in the challenges. Not believe in the obstacles. You gotta believe in your finish line, that you're going to get there NO MATTER WHAT. That's what Champions believe in. Faith.
<br><br>
5. Heart. The fifth final TRUTH to every Champion is that every Champion has heart. Finding the strength to keep going, even when your mind, people, whatever, says you have nothing left. You keep pushing through those tears. You keep pushing through that pain. You keep pushing through that struggle. You keep pushing through that hurt. Because your heart won't let you quit. Your heart won't let you find excuses. Your heart makes you go until you reach that finish line in life. That's what you gotta have pumping in your heart. It's not about talent. It's not about money. It's about the person who just wants it the most. You gotta want it. You gotta want it so bad that it's hard for you to sleep at night. You gotta want it so bad that it wakes you up in the morning. You gotta want it so bad that conditions outside won't stop you, that people around you won't stop you. Even if it's just you by yourself. That's how bad you gotta want it. It's gotta be planted in your heart. When you talk about it, it should be hard for you to talk about your vision and your goals and your dreams because it means that much to you. Every Champion has heart.
<br><br>
I want you to look in your mirror tonight and create this new you. I want you to develop this Championship Mindset because God has great things for you. God has planned a future of greatness for you. Only thing you have to do is BELIEVE IT and follow His ordered steps. It's time to be Champions. Remember, it all starts with you. Championship Mindset...
<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VlavqufWQexwfEK46GKw6EImihrH1cfsa7gTjzccGI3SlSrNm8sMdckrqkzvyfI91Ylr0Y29iB0gtVo2qyws26MUTc02528B3NjUdrPNhT76o8l1G8zIfAK0IP2fuumfcMOM/s1600/1185374_10201815267402131_1615278845_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_VlavqufWQexwfEK46GKw6EImihrH1cfsa7gTjzccGI3SlSrNm8sMdckrqkzvyfI91Ylr0Y29iB0gtVo2qyws26MUTc02528B3NjUdrPNhT76o8l1G8zIfAK0IP2fuumfcMOM/s1600/1185374_10201815267402131_1615278845_n.jpg" /></a></div>Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-36700754529511736572013-10-16T22:31:00.001-05:002013-10-16T22:33:33.466-05:00Food For Thought: What Do You Listen To?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
So, I am the biggest music fan and have enjoyed everything from classical to country to (really)hard rock over the years, but God completely convicted me over this past year about what I/we were listening to in the truck and at home so I started listening to what is called "prophetic worship" music. Such great music like Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Hillsong United, Bethel Music, Gateway Worship, Jesus Culture and others.
<br><br>
The most interesting thing has happened since starting this in my house just a short few months ago - playing those artists/music in the house even at night while we sleep.
<br><br>
*Nightmares with the kids...gone.<br>
*Bad tempers...reduced greatly.<br>
*Attitudes...improved.<br>
*Responding instead of reacting...has changed the entire atmosphere of my home.
<br><br>
In listening to a friend who encouraged me to take that challenge in my house I realized why that is. Lucifer was the worship leader in heaven, along with his other lofty positions. Worship music is like daggers to his and his demon's ears. I have noticed when we DON'T play it in our house, is when tempers seem to erupt, attitudes grow sour, etc.
<br><br>
What are you playing at home? What are you listening to? What are your kids listening to? I challenge you to take a month - 30 days - to listen to nothing but Christian worship music wherever you are, including at night and have your kids do the same (an experiment of sorts) and see if the atmosphere in your house changes.
<br><br>
I know I used to hate to listen to worship music and the old time hymns that play on such great stations as KHCB out of Houston. It would make me angry and I would get up to turn it off. I had no reason why. But when I started changing the music in my life, and stuck with it, those attacks on my attitude really changed, the way I responded instead of reacted to my children changed my relationship with them for the better, etc. It has completely changed our house and that is a GOOD thing!
<br><br>
Full disclosure, I still listen to country, Celtic (Irish/Scottish) and classic rock/80's every now and then, but now it's about 1% instead of 99%.
<br><br>
You become what you listen to, read, watch, who you hang around, say, think, etc. Your life goes in the direction of your mindset. Make sure what you put into your life is positive, Godly and life affirming.Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-15482021723551533922013-09-11T10:01:00.000-05:002013-09-11T10:05:40.902-05:00Thoughts on 9-11Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?<br>
Were you in the yard with your wife and children<br>
Or working on some stage in L.A.?<br>
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke<br>
Risin' against that blue sky?<br>
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor<br>
Or did you just sit down and cry?<br>
<br>
Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones<br>
And pray for the ones who don't know?<br>
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble<br>
And sob for the ones left below?<br>
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue<br>
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?<br>
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer<br>
And look at yourself and what really matters?<br>
<br>
I'm just a singer of simple songs<br>
I'm not a real political man<br>
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell<br>
You the difference in Iraq and Iran<br>
But I know Jesus and I talk to God<br>
And I remember this from when I was young<br>
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us<br>
And the greatest is love<br>
<br>
Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
<br>Were you teaching a class full of innocent children
<br>Or driving down some cold interstate?
<br>Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
<br>In a crowded room did you feel alone?
<br>Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
<br>Did you dust off that Bible at home?
<br>
<br>Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
<br>Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
<br>Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
<br>Or speak to some stranger on the street?
<br>Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
<br>Or go out and buy you a gun?
<br>Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
<br>And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?
<br>
<br>Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
<br>Did you stand in line and give your own blood?
<br>Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
<br>Thank God you had somebody to love?
<br>
<br>I'm just a singer of simple songs
<br>I'm not a real political man
<br>I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
<br>You the difference in Iraq and Iran
<br>But I know Jesus and I talk to God
<br>And I remember this from when I was young
<br>Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
<br>And the greatest is love
<br>
<br>And the greatest is love.
<br>And the greatest is love.
<br>
<br>Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
<br>
<br>Lord love Alan Jackson for that unforgettable song. Where was I? I was about 38 weeks pregnant with Emily, stopped at the light at Stassney and 35 on my way to work when the news came on the radio. I remember the horror. I remember calling home in a panic and telling my then husband to turn on the news, pop a tape in the VCR and start recording and don't stop. It was 2001 after all and VHS was "the thing". I remember being asked at work to print up and keep a running timeline on the wall during the day. I remember. I remember.
<br><br>
I remember being so filled with anger and hatred for those who attacked us. And that lingered for several years. I still do not have friendly feelings toward those who planned and perpetrated an attack on my country. On the liberties and freedoms that I hold so dear. On the innocence of children. On families.
<br><br>
I remember the stories of incredible miracles of those who, for whatever reason, were delayed in getting to work that day. One, because they developed a blister and had to stop and buy bandaids. Tens of thousands should have died that day. Tens of thousands escaped the fate that beset the 2,977 who were part of these attacks on American soil. But not just Americans. More than 90 countries lost citizens in those attacks.
<br><br>
I remember having many friends who lost loved ones and family in those attacks. Many in New York. A couple in Pennsylvania when the heroes saved further untold counts of death by putting the plane down in a field. And I grieved with them and for them.
<br><br>
I remember hearing the voicemails of those caught in the towers, of those on the plane over Pennsylvania, to loved ones. Knowing that would be the last time they ever got to say something to them. I wonder if the fights and the cross words haunted those left behind? If they still do?
<br><br>
I have friends who fought in the war on terror. Who enlisted right after 9/11. Who still fight. Some, very dear to me, who are over there right now. I pray for them daily. Pray for their safety. Pray that they come home in mentally and physically safe. Pray for their families and loved ones.
<br><br>
Peace, peace, everyone cries. But in reality, there is no peace to be found. Not when the religious ideology fuels hatred of those who refuse to submit to the sword hanging over their head. Who refuse to submit to tyranny. Who refuse to give in to those who would subjugate us with their last breath. Not when we still draw breath as a free country. Not when we still have people who believe in the sovereignty given to us as a nation. Not when we still have something to believe in. Not today. Not ever. Not until the Lord returns.
<br><br>
I no longer have that burning hatred of those who attacked us. They did not defeat us. Liberty still stands. We still stand. To hold onto that negativity is to create a hole in my soul. To change me, and not for the better.
<br><br>
I prefer to honor those who perished by remembering the past, but not let it affect my future. I prefer to honor those lives lost by trying to make my corner of the world a better place to be. I prefer to be a light in the darkness, when all other lights seem to go out. I prefer to honor the sacrifice of the soldiers out there on the front lines and at home still fighting by supporting them any way I can.
<br><br>
I choose to live. I choose to love. I choose to leave this world a better place than when I came into it. I choose to be the best I can be. I choose to not let bitterness and hatred consume me. I choose a life of meaning and purpose. I choose to not let my last words with someone be those of anger because I never know when my last moment will be with them and that is not a memory I wish to carry around with me.
<br><br>
I choose to make the most of what life and God have given me. But I still remember...Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-52389788681574685722013-07-24T13:57:00.000-05:002013-07-24T14:04:58.278-05:00Little Eyes Are Watching You<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="clearfix" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; zoom: 1;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Parents, what are you teaching your children? </span></div>
</div>
<div class="notesBlogText clearfix" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 16px 0px 0px; word-wrap: break-word; zoom: 1;">
I mean seriously.<br />
<ul style="list-style-type: square; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 25px;">
<li>"Too lazy to work" is NOT acceptable for the description under "worked at". They will look for the easy way and expect to get the success without the effort. That is so far from reality it's laughable.</li>
<li>Skimpy clothing/bathing suits on children is the playground for pedophile's minds - and it's almost always someone that the child knows, adult or their peer, who molests them - trust me on this, I know this from personal experience. </li>
<li>Dropping the "F" bomb every other word will get more doors shut in their faces for GOOD opportunities than almost anything else. It's so unattractive and, regardless of their intelligence level, shows that they are anything but. </li>
<li>Disrespecting those in authority, your elders, those who are different than you, yourself...your spouse...will teach them to put themselves first instead of looking out for others, could land them in hot water with law enforcement, have them in and out of relationships and marriages because they expect to always be right and heaven help anyone who disagrees with them so POOF...divorce makes it "easy", and they will have the same issues with each relationship. So many parents talk to their children with disrespect. You are not dealing with an inconvenience, you are raising a human being who needs your love, your protection and your respect.</li>
</ul>
There are so many more but those are the ones I see online on Facebook and witness in person day in and day out. We teach our children what we are by our actions. Not by what we say; though what we say can break spirits and hearts. Your words have power, especially with your children, so use them wisely. Respond to your children. Don't react to them. That can shut them off to you faster than snapping your finger. Proverbs 15:1 says a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. This is true for all ages. I don't know about you, but I like my house peaceful and not full of stress and strife.<br />
<br />
It is always, always, always better to HAVE character than to BE a character. Proverbs 22:1 states that it is better to have a good name than to be rich and to have respect is better than having gold and silver. There are people that you know that when you think of them, of their behavior, even of their name you don't think very favorably of them, if the truth were to be told - even though you might consider them a "friend".<br />
<br />
What happened to the good old days of teaching your children the values of respecting yourself and others - because if they truly respected themselves they wouldn't wear a lot of what they do (just sayin'), hard work, integrity, modesty, kindness to others, everything in moderation, honor and so on? When did those fall by the wayside and become "old fashioned" values? Those values NEVER go out of style!<br />
<br />
You are their PARENT FIRST and their friend second. If they don't like that you discipline them now, they'll get over it later because they'll remember the lessons learned from it. I did. I hated it at the time, but I learned from it. Children NEED rules and boundaries. Why? Because it shows them that you care! If you let them get away with anything and everything, they will get into bigger troubles to try and get your attention to show them that you actually care for them. Go figure! Sounds crazy but studies have shown it to be true! Correct and appropriate discipline is a GOOD thing! But never discipline in anger. Again, that is the reactionary side of things. Respond. Don't react.<br />
<br />
Another thing, don't talk down to them! The world is treating and talking to our children like they have PhD's and we still talk to them like they're in pre-school. Would you rather they find out about things like sex and STDs and drugs and drinking from their friends first or from you first? Young children don't need the details, just the basics satisfy them. As they get older you can answer with more. But if you are too embarrassed to talk to them about those things and the consequences, you can bet that their friends won't be and they won't be talking about the consequences. Be wise. Be a parent. Give them a reason to be able to trust coming to you with these questions. DON'T REACT! Respond.<br />
<br />
Yes, I know I have been saying that a lot here, but it is TRUE! Responding gives them a safe atmosphere where they are comfortable talking to you. Reacting shuts them down and makes them think, "I can never come to her/him with anything because, WHOA!" And they check out.<br />
<br />
Be the parent you want your children to be. They do what you DO, not what you say, no matter how many times we wish it were otherwise. But, if you are the person you need to be, then you won't have to wish it were the other way around.<br />
<br />
Be ATTENTIVE to your children! Don't check out. The phone, the computer, your work, your friends...NONE of them are more important than your child. Spend time with them. Let them know that they matter to you. Children spell L-O-V-E as T-I-M-E. Don't be afraid to get silly with them. They love it and they'll love you all the more for it. It's hot, you're sweaty, it's raining, you're hair is frizzing? Suck. It. Up. They're only young once and time flies so don't blink or you'll soon had a tween or teen who doesn't want to spend time with you and you'll have lost out. Again, spend TIME with them, or you will find as they grow they don't have time for you.<br />
<br />
It makes my heart hurt to hear and see what kids are doing and behaving like these days and I thank God every day that Emily and Nate are far different from most of what I see out there today. It's times like this that I really do miss Mayberry. I miss the values so clearly portrayed in that show. I wish that they were still the focal values in society today. I think we would be a whole lot better off if they were.<br />
<br />
<span class="photo " style="padding: 0px;"><img alt="" class="photo_img img" src="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/999656_10201636297007983_338223374_n.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 580px; padding: 0px;" title="" /></span></div>
<div class="notesBlogText clearfix" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 16px 0px 0px; word-wrap: break-word; zoom: 1;">
<span class="photo " style="padding: 0px;"><img alt="" class="photo_img img" height="400" src="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/s720x720/1069842_10201636314808428_917950977_n.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 580px; padding: 0px;" title="" width="331" /></span></div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-83387508746018521562013-05-27T12:12:00.001-05:002013-05-27T12:26:12.159-05:00Memorial Day 2013<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUY5-qA8ZfNoIMM954w1zSMm7gHKmyUqAdYY1jdlwnIsIT-HckJqF4kRc-0I1edWjyjk83ROjO-4MZ450kv3XEXCAcqU-ep3c5428pWfg1qFaBcwM2gb1ttliQGr4jNhtqu1L/s1600/Memorial+Day+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNUY5-qA8ZfNoIMM954w1zSMm7gHKmyUqAdYY1jdlwnIsIT-HckJqF4kRc-0I1edWjyjk83ROjO-4MZ450kv3XEXCAcqU-ep3c5428pWfg1qFaBcwM2gb1ttliQGr4jNhtqu1L/s640/Memorial+Day+Collage.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There is something immeasurably profound about a military man
and woman in uniform, choosing to make the sacrifice - to leave their newborn,
to leave their family, to leave their spouse or loved ones behind in order to
protect our freedoms and try to ensure freedom for others around the world. It
is not perfect. War is ugly. It is raw. But, sadly, in the face of dictators
and malevolent rulers who</span><span class="textexposedshow" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> crush their
countrymen under foot for the thrill of power and of the extremists who hate
our way of life and wish to crush us under the weight of their malignant
hatred, it is necessary. Not only to protect others, but to protect this land
we call home. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Our country asks
great things from our service men and women. Sometimes what is asked for is the
ultimate sacrifice. On this Memorial Day, and every other, I am proud to honor
those who answered that call. I have friends and loved ones serving in the military.
I have friends and loved ones who have lost those serving. When a soldier loses
their life for the ideals which they hold dear, thinking of the ones back home
which they are leaving behind and trying to protect, there should be no protest
at their funerals. No slurs hurled at their memory of at their loved ones. No
words of ignorance posted. In death there should be no partisanship. There
should be a coming together and honoring of their sacrifice...regardless of how
you feel about war. It is the honorable thing to do. It is the right thing to
do.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is sad that for
many in America today that Memorial Day is just another day to be off of work
and BBQ and drink beer instead of being a day to remember those who have given
the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so that they can have the right to have
BBQ and beer.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
<i>IT IS THE SOLDIER</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the minister<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us
freedom of religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the reporter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us freedom of the press.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the poet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us
freedom of speech.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the campus organizer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us
freedom to protest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the lawyer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us the
right to a fair trial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier,
not the politician<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who has given us the
right to vote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is the Soldier who
salutes the flag,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who serves beneath
the flag,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And whose coffin is draped by the flag,</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Who allows the
protester to burn the flag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">~ Charles M. Province<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">For all of my friends and loved ones who have
served, are serving, who have lost those to the ugly affair of war...I salute
and honor you and them, today and always.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">God bless and keep you, and comfort those who
mourn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay
down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> THANK YOU<span style="line-height: 18px;">!</span></span></div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-56927753612600064542013-04-24T10:54:00.000-05:002013-04-24T10:54:38.146-05:00What's In A Testimony?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/worshiphousemedia/resource/images/main/s/sgt/int/iw/overcome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/worshiphousemedia/resource/images/main/s/sgt/int/iw/overcome.jpg" lwa="true" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Testimonies. </div>
<br />
<br />
Every Christian has one. Even if you don’t think you do. Whether God has brought you out of addiction, or a sexually explicit past, or have been part of the occult at one time, etc.; or whether you have followed Jesus all of your life and never had anything major happen to you. You have a testimony!<br />
<br />
For those who have fought the fight and danced with the devil – literally or figuratively, those of you who have found salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and know the redeeming power of the Blood and Name of Jesus, you KNOW your testimony from darkness into light.<br />
<br />
For those of you who have followed Jesus and stayed steady on the path God has laid out before you all of your life, you too have a testimony. In the face of everything the world is throwing your way, in onslaught of the arrows and slings of the enemy raining down on you, you have kept your eyes upon Jesus and clung to the Word instead of the world and that is INCREDIBLE! That is not easy to do, but you have done it and for that, you are a warrior, living the life that God has purposed for you.<br />
<br />
Here's the thing, friend...whether from darkness to light or having always been in the light, <u>you have a powerful testimony</u> and the enemy is trying to shut that up. We are OVERCOMERS, through the blood of Jesus - which has covered you from head to toe, inside and out. Jeremy Camp has a great song that comes to mind right now:<br />
<br />
<em>We will overcome</em><br />
<em>By the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony</em><br />
<em>Everyone overcome</em><br />
<br />
It is one of my favorites right now and I love to sing that song. It goes hand and hand with Revelations 12:11: <em>And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.</em><br />
<br />
Whether or not you can sense it, there is a daily battle in your life and the enemy is trying to steal your victory in Christ and he is employing the battle tactics of using your weaknesses against you. Your past. The addictions you conquered but still struggle with. Past memories. Past sins. He is trying to make you weak. But you CAN do ALL things through Christ Jesus who gives you STRENGTH. As the child's song goes, "...we are weak but HE is STRONG...YES, Jesus <strong>loves</strong> me...".<br />
<br />
What is love? "This is love, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Don't let our enemy steal that victory in Jesus that you have. As I said at the start...you have a powerful testimony - do not let Satan succeed in shutting you up permanently!<br />
<br />
In the name of Jesus you are free!Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-14365926921416474852013-04-05T22:16:00.001-05:002013-04-05T22:51:16.610-05:00Pure Is Not Just For Ivory Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcfytq13ZKc/UV-Ad55kuFI/AAAAAAAAaX8/jL6bzsurzNA/s1600/98205f666c96b6e0d9daeb685a150192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcfytq13ZKc/UV-Ad55kuFI/AAAAAAAAaX8/jL6bzsurzNA/s1600/98205f666c96b6e0d9daeb685a150192.jpg" /></a></div>
<span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0"><span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[1]">TRUTHBOMB</span><span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[2]"> </span></span><br />
<br />
This is what I'm teaching my <span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[3]">11 year old daughter</span><span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[4]">. For most of my adult life I have willfully disobeyed God when it came to sex and I admit it. In the movie, "The Devil's Advocate", the devil, played by a couple of actors - Al Pachino most notably, at the very end of the movie looks right into the camera and says, "Vanity, definitely my favorite sin." Well, for me it's always been lust that I've struggled with almost all my life. </span><br />
<br />
In the movie "Oklahoma" there's the song, "I Can't Say No" with the line in it that goes, "...kissin's my favorite food...with or without the mistletoe, I'm in the holiday mood". Yup. Kissing and everything else that follows. But here's the thing. Yes, lust has historically been my favorite sin, so to speak. Somewhere along the way, I started to believe that in order to get a man's attention or keep it, that I had to offer up my body. Cheapen the act of intimacy and turn it into something crude and rude and vulgar. Sometimes it was so that I wouldn't feel lonely. Sometimes it was to prove to myself that I was desirable to others because I had extremely low self-esteem, regardless of my looks. Sometimes it was just because I wanted to feel close to someone. Sometimes it was just because I wanted to. <br />
<br />
Maybe it had to do with the childhood trauma of being molested, not raped, thank God, but by more than one person as a child. One, a single adult in the neighborhood who'd been friendly to all the kids. I suspect I wasn't the only one, but I could never prove it. Two others, one girl when I was very young who was much older than me, one boy my age when I was older... All of these years apart from each other, but all under the age of 10 for me. My mom only knew of the one at the time, and only because my best friend back then forced me to tell her. Back in the late 70's through mid-80's, you just didn't discuss stuff like this and I didn't know what to say or do about it. The one was dealt with quietly and she protected me as best as she knew how and I love her even more for it. But you don't experience stuff like that and not have it leave some sort of damage to your soul.<br />
<br />
Regardless of the reason, I KNEW it was wrong. As I got into my late teens, I finally caved to the pressures of the world that said, "if it feels good...DO IT" and continued to do so for many years. Growing up in a strong Christian household and having accepted Christ at an early age, I was definitely not ignorant of God's Word and what it said about intimacy and sex outside of marriage. I was just willfully disobedient about it. Like so many Christians I know today. People who claim to know and love and follow Jesus, but think that living with someone or having sex before marriage is perfectly fine because purity is old fashioned and...everybody's doing it. <br />
<br />
I'm woefully guilty of this myself. I KNEW it was wrong but did it anyway. I desensitized myself to God and what His guidance is.<br />
<br />
There are reasons why God says that we are to save ourselves for the person we marry. GOOD reasons. There's so much heartache to be brought into a marriage if you've contracted an STD or have "tried somebody else on for size". Too many people to compare your spouse with and what if they fall short of your prior experiences? What disappointments are you bringing to them? To yourself?<br />
<br />
There's a REASON God says we are to remain pure and chaste for the one He has chosen for us.<br />
<br />
Casual sex is rampant in many societies. There is, in truth, no such thing as “casual” sex, because of the depth of intimacy involved in the sexual relationship. The following analogy helps you to understand just what casual sex and multiple partners does to us. If we take a sticky note and attach it to a piece of paper, it will adhere. If we remove it, it will leave behind a small amount of residue; the longer it remains, the more residue is left. If we take that note and stick it to several places repeatedly, it will leave residue everywhere we stick it, and it will eventually lose its ability to adhere to anything. This is much like what happens to us when we engage in “casual” sex. Each time we leave a sexual relationship, we leave a part of ourselves behind. The longer the relationship has gone on, the more we leave behind, and the more we lose of ourselves. As we go from partner to partner, we continue to lose a tiny bit of ourselves each time, and eventually we may lose our ability to form a lasting sexual relationship at all.<br />
<br />
Yes, I have a rather colorful past. God, in His grace and mercy, has forgiven me for the sins of my past. It has been 2 years since my divorce and I have not been intimate with anyone since then. Not even when I was seriously dating someone a year ago. I know now WHY God says these things. I am so thankful that God did not allow me to reap the punishments I deserved for my sins. I don't have to explain to someone that I contracted something that can't be gotten rid of because I gave myself away to someone who was just as reckless with their bodies as I had been with mine. But I have friends...family in Christ, who have had to deal with the fallout from their sin of lust and sex before marriage and it's hard. It is difficult for them. It's a whole different world to have to deal with. A permanent reminder. Even if it is an STD that has gone away through surgery or medication, the fact is that they still had one. It is just one result of not honoring our bodies and the gift that God has given us to give ONLY to our spouse that He has chosen for us. Of not respecting ourselves...or God.<br />
<br />
Do you not think that God doesn't love you and that He wouldn't have chosen the best person for you? Perfect for you? Why ruin something wonderful by being unwilling to wait for God's best?<br />
<br />
If this the lifestyles in this world are what's considered "normal", I'm glad to no longer be "normal". I'd much rather be considered "different" as I finally follow what God says about sex. Yeah, it might be "old fashioned", but so what? At least I know that the one who is worthy of the person I've become loves me for me, and not because I'm an "easy" catch. Someone who's an "easy" catch is just as easily thrown back while they search for someone who is worth keeping...someone who isn't so easy to catch.<br />
<br />
So, here are some other truths for you if you're single, whether you've never been married or are married and divorced - once or more than once, like myself.<br />
<br />
1. God desires us to be pure, maybe the reason you are single is that He is removing that temptation from your life until you are ready for the one He has chosen for you.<br />
<br />
2. God is still writing your love story so don't mess up the ending by trying to write your own. <br />
<br />
3. God wants your focus to be Him first. Keep your eyes on HIM and delight yourself in Him and He has promised to give you the desires of your heart. <br />
<br />
4. You should be so hidden in God that someone needs to seek Him in order to find you, and when they do find you both of you should keep seeking Him together because, as the Bible says "a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken". <br />
<span id=".reactRoot[2].0.{info427377160522132678_43840602}.[0][1].0.[1].[1].[1].0.[31]"></span><br />
5. Trust in God means trust in HIS timing. We can't force God to move and if we try to do it on our own, how can He bless us with His best?<br />
<br />
6. The RIGHT one will respect you and your decision to remain pure and will want to honor what it is that God has given to the two of you by not pressuring you to have premarital sex.<br />
<br />
7. Ladies...yes, it is a man's job to respect you...but it is your job, as a woman, to give him something to respect.</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-36930341194111268652013-04-03T10:34:00.000-05:002013-04-03T10:34:03.817-05:00Why I Don't Fear Death<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQHZPReNqL_t8kSd8b4X8VQ3sb4VT-0BJPtUMe9CGa602UqrMs-zNZyU59FNK4WoVslMUELwLYqWLccdV3KAmUyhptotseNNOrMpWVIE7WvODfCgeBW4UchnFIwjKdiYzbZJg/s1600/Risen+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" mta="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQHZPReNqL_t8kSd8b4X8VQ3sb4VT-0BJPtUMe9CGa602UqrMs-zNZyU59FNK4WoVslMUELwLYqWLccdV3KAmUyhptotseNNOrMpWVIE7WvODfCgeBW4UchnFIwjKdiYzbZJg/s400/Risen+Collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is a song that really gets to me for some reason right now. Jesus has defeated death thru His death on the Cross. Those of us who are in Christ don't have to fear death or what happens to us in eternity. We have HOPE that those without having Jesus as their Savior don't have. We have no reason to fear death! </div>
<br />
Can I get an AMEN!?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I don't fear it because I know WHERE I'm going. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Do you?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As 1 Corinthians 15:55 and this song ask..."O, death, where is your sting? O, hell, where is your victory?"</div>
<br />
<br />
There is none any more. Not for one who has been washed clean, pure, whiter than snow by the Blood of Jesus and whose eternal security is in heaven. The grave cannot hold us. We are ONE with Him...Christ has risen and lives for eternity and we will too! <br />
<br />
ALL of us will live for eternity...the only question is where YOU will spend yours. <br />
<br />
Do you know?<br />
<br />
"Let no one caught in sin remain<br />
Inside the lie of inward shame<br />
We fix our eyes upon the cross<br />
And run to Him who showed great love<br />
And bled for us<br />
<br />Freely You bled, for us<br />
<br />
Christ is risen from the dead<br />
Trampling over death by death<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave!<br />
Christ is risen from the dead<br />
We are one with Him again<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave!<br />
<br />Beneath the weight of all our sin<br />
You bow to none but heaven's will<br />
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown<br />
No burden great can hold You down<br />
In strength You reign<br />
Forever let Your church proclaim<br />
<br />Christ is risen from the dead<br />
Trampling over death by death<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave<br />
Christ is risen from the dead<br />
We are one with Him again<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave<br />
<br />Oh death! Where is your sting?<br />
Oh hell! Where is your victory?<br />
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!<br />
The glory of God has defeated the night!<br />
<br />Oh death! Where is your sting?<br />
Oh hell! Where is your victory?<br />
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!<br />
Our God is not dead, He's alive! He's alive!<br />
<br />
Christ is risen from the dead<br />
Trampling over death by death<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave<br />
Christ is risen from the dead<br />
We are one with Him again<br />
Come awake, come awake!<br />
Come and rise up from the grave<br />
<br />Rise up from the grave..."</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-40603675901107591202013-04-01T20:20:00.000-05:002013-07-24T14:06:48.480-05:00Do You Live Out In Your Life What Your Lips Proclaim?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTQVsfyaXpaWZhVlVtXjEEH6dZqzHEqnegPfNeEts5ocxc2ms4K5lQfF9k0FCGaC-WGllkIIt-mm4TWyQmbht589fVIkNtejT7TjHa4obsHhCncBzMf7yxvnM3jaZdz-bWi0o/s1600/2607c88e9b2911e29d0322000a1f97e3_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTQVsfyaXpaWZhVlVtXjEEH6dZqzHEqnegPfNeEts5ocxc2ms4K5lQfF9k0FCGaC-WGllkIIt-mm4TWyQmbht589fVIkNtejT7TjHa4obsHhCncBzMf7yxvnM3jaZdz-bWi0o/s400/2607c88e9b2911e29d0322000a1f97e3_7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">There it is in BLACK and WHITE...I have been the biggest of these. Saturday night sinner. Sunday morning saint. Though, to be honest, that has been a while, nevertheless, I can remember in my teens through mid-20s going to church still drunk from the night before and pulling it off. But since my life has started the process of transformation in Christ, what used to not bother me in other's posts of being drunk and hungover now greatly saddens and disappoints me as in the next breath they post about how great God is and how much they love Him and are thankful.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small;">That was ME. To a TEE. I sit here ashamed to have to admit...that was me. And it was amusing to me too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">At the time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Though, I can no longer recall just why. Why is it amusing to comment publically, as an adult, how drunk/hammered/smashed/wasted/<wbr></wbr>hungover you are and then post about how much you have to thank God for? How you love Him. How awesome He is.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Really?!?! Do you think people are buying what you’re trying to sell?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Because you’re sure not acting like you believe the words you’re posting. Neither did I. One post about God does not negate everything else that you’ve said about living anything but a Godly life. James 1:8 in the New Testament says, “A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.” You cannot serve two masters. You can’t live for the world on Saturday night and then try and claim you live for Jesus Sunday morning. It just doesn’t work that way. Sorry folks. Who would believe you mean it? Who would want to follow YOU if you don’t present the spiritual walk consistent with your talk. All it seems to be is hot air and empty words when compared with your life and what pictures and comments you post about your wild weekend/party time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Yes, God’s grace IS greater than all of our sins. But grace doesn’t give us license to sin.</span></span></div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-46057916081226440742013-03-31T09:00:00.000-05:002013-03-31T11:52:29.817-05:00Final Thoughts on Resurrection Day 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On these final thoughts for Resurrection Day, I want to share my favorite rendition of this song from the original Ernie Haase and Signature Sound group! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!<br />
<br />
<object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cFjVXrRKwsU?hl=en_US&version=3"></param>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cFjVXrRKwsU?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
<br />
This week Christians everywhere acknowledge a pivotal point in history that literally affects EVERYONE! That event is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />
"He is not here, but He is risen" (verse 6) are words that matter eternally. If they are a lie, humanity has no hope after this life. If they are the truth, rejecting the Risen Lord Jesus Christ has eternal consequences. "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (I John 5:12).<br />
<br />
Paul said (I Corinthians 15:14) "and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain."<br />
<br />
Many things we believe and do daily matter little. But the Resurrection is eternally important. <br />
<br />
The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. Everything else that was said or done by Christ and the Apostles, no matter how great or marvelous, is secondary to the Resurrection in importance. If the Resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.<br />
<br />
Death is man’s greatest enemy, and it has conquered all men but Christ. No matter how brilliant or rich or strong he may be, no man is wise enough to outwit death or wealthy enough to purchase freedom from death or strong enough to vanquish death. The grave always wins the victory, and man sooner or later returns to the dust.<br />
<br />
In fact, the inexorable triumph of death applies not only to man, but to all things. Animals die and plants die, and even whole species atrophy and become extinct. Cities and nations, like people, are born and grow for a season, and then fade away. Homes and automobiles and clothes wear out and must eventually go back to the dust, just as do their owners. Even the universe itself is running down and heading toward an ultimate “heat death.”<br />
<br />
This universal reign of decay and death is called in the Bible the “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). In science it has come to be recognized as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Also known as the Law of Increasing Entropy, this Second Law is now recognized as a universal law in science, with no known exception ever observed. It says, quite simply, that every system tends to become disordered, to run down and eventually die. Its entropy, which is a measure of disorder, always tends to increase.<br />
<br />
The universality of the reign of decay and death is the measure of the absolute uniqueness of the resurrection of Christ. All other men, even the greatest men and the holiest men, have died. Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Confucius, Caesar, Marx—men who made a profound impact on the world in one way or another—are all dead.<br />
<br />
<u><strong>But Jesus Christ is alive</strong></u>! <br />
<br />
It is true that He died and was buried, in common with all other men, but unlike other men He returned from Hades, resurrected His own dead body, made it henceforth immortal, and emerged from the tomb, alive forevermore! This was the greatest of all miracles, and could have been accomplished only if Jesus indeed is God, as He had claimed to be.<br />
<br />
If all this is somehow a delusion and if Jesus of Nazareth did not really rise from the dead, then He is no different from other great men who are also dead. He is worse than they, in fact, because He is thereby branded as either a charlatan or a madman, since He staked all His claims to absolute deity on His promise to return from the dead.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, if the Resurrection is really a demonstrable fact of history, then not only are His claims vindicated, but so are His promises. Death is not, after all, the great victor but is a defeated foe. He has “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, … so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22), as the “firstborn of the dead . . . and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:5, 18).*<br />
<br />
Dead in our sins, we have only one hope for new life: by trusting in Jesus Christ and relying on His death and resurrection for our salvation. No other spiritual leader has ever conquered death; Jesus is the unique Son of God. He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and “whoever believes in [Him], though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). <br />
<br />
What difference does the Resurrection make in your life today?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WUyBItmhzpCeVdbjNa7rJEKyTlEaS9i-osIZzfshjMVDgluSUPd5HwlMp5cvlgcGoMKnLpg5Sd9A1HuY2h9vfm_ZwFG3VVk9txesRXoAYjQEW2H9WriDuzqzl-Pguh6Uebrd/s1600/Easter+01.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2WUyBItmhzpCeVdbjNa7rJEKyTlEaS9i-osIZzfshjMVDgluSUPd5HwlMp5cvlgcGoMKnLpg5Sd9A1HuY2h9vfm_ZwFG3VVk9txesRXoAYjQEW2H9WriDuzqzl-Pguh6Uebrd/s1600/Easter+01.bmp" usa="true" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1jn0U0qrWZk/UVR35TtmRoI/AAAAAAAAZMI/_06OBi3RTVE/s1600/Easter+02.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1jn0U0qrWZk/UVR35TtmRoI/AAAAAAAAZMI/_06OBi3RTVE/s1600/Easter+02.bmp" usa="true" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-725mZ0tM3v0/UVR4AcHaZJI/AAAAAAAAZMQ/NZiGK0L16mk/s1600/Easter+03.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-725mZ0tM3v0/UVR4AcHaZJI/AAAAAAAAZMQ/NZiGK0L16mk/s1600/Easter+03.bmp" usa="true" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Happy Resurrection Day!</strong></span></div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-76488421726692507122013-03-31T07:00:00.000-05:002013-03-31T08:30:36.472-05:00What Proof Is There Of the Resurrection?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
<br />
Before I get into this final principle for Resurrection Sunday, I want to post one more video from Sandi Patty, entitled, "Was it a Morning Like This?" Was it a morning like this one when Mary Magdalene and Peter and John found the tomb empty? Found that Jesus had risen from the dead, defeating death and hell itself, ensuring our victory over death and the power of hell if we are believers in Jesus as not only the Son of God but God Himself? <br />
<br />
He is RISEN . . . HALLELUJAH! HE IS RISEN INDEED!<br />
<br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GpIC0d_3bWo&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"></param>
</P>
<p>
<br></P>
<p>
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param>
</P>
<p>
<br></P>
<p>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
</P>
<p>
<br></P>
<p>
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GpIC0d_3bWo&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7P1aUbje0L4/UVfWwjQZguI/AAAAAAAAZlI/KHRajiMzbLU/s1600/empty+tomb+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7P1aUbje0L4/UVfWwjQZguI/AAAAAAAAZlI/KHRajiMzbLU/s400/empty+tomb+A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The resurrection is central to the Christian faith. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Christian beliefs don't amount to much, since Jesus Himself said that He would be raised from the dead on the third day. On the other hand, if Jesus did rise from the dead, all His claims are true and we can know for sure that there is life after death.<br />
<br />
A large volume of evidence exists to support the resurrection claims. In fact, there is more legal-historic evidence (the kind used in courtrooms) for the resurrection than there is for Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo or proof that Julius Caesar ever lived. There are several reasons why those who have studied the resurrection are convinced beyond a doubt that it is true.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>Jesus Himself foretold His death and resurrection, and these events came about exactly as He had predicted.</b><br />
<br />
John 2:19-21 "Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.' The Jews replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?' But the temple he had spoken of was his body."<br />
<br />
John 10:17 "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again."<br />
<br />
John 16:16-22 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.' Some of his disciples said to one another, 'What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?' They kept asking, 'What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying.' Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, 'Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy..."<br />
<br />
Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."<br />
<br />
Matthew 16:21 "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."<br />
<br />
Luke 18:31-33 "Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>The event is well-documented by numerous reliable, historical sources.</b> <br />
<br />
Historians such as Josephus (c.37-110 AD), Ignatius (c.50-115 AD), Justin Martyr (c.100-165 AD) and Tertullian (c.160-220 AD) were convinced of the authenticity of the resurrection. Their writings validate the accounts of the Gospel writers, who, according to leading biblical scholarship, recorded the event as soon as 37 AD and no later than 64 AD.<br />
<br />
In addition, other first and second century historians including Cornelius Tacitus, Suetonius, Plinius Secundus, and Lucian of Samosata acknowledged the impact this incredible event had on the people of the time.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>The resurrection is the only plausible explanation for the empty grave.</b> <br />
<br />
Roman soldiers closely guarded the tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Moreover, the grave's entrance was sealed by an enormous boulder. The Roman guard, which was usually composed of 16 members, would have made it impossible for the disciples--who, by the way, were cowering in fear for their own lives--to steal the body. If, as some have claimed, Jesus was not dead, but only weakened, the guards and the stone would have stopped his escape. After being beaten and flagellated, hung on a cross for six hours, pierced by the spear of His executioners to ascertain His death, and wrapped, as was the custom, in 100 pounds of linen and spices, Jesus would have been in no shape to roll a two-ton stone uphill, outwit 16 Roman soldiers and then appear radiantly to His disciples.<br />
<br />
The Jewish leaders of the day could easily have refuted all claims of the resurrection by simply producing a body, but they were unable to do so because there was no body.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>There are numerous eyewitnesses to the resurrection.</b> <br />
<br />
After He rose from the dead, Jesus appeared at least ten times to those who had known Him and to as many as 500 people at one time. These appearances were not hallucinations; Jesus ate and talked with His followers and they touched His resurrected body. Their experiences were not delusions.<br />
<br />
Luke 24:36-39 "While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.'"<br />
<br />
John 20:26-29 "A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.' Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!' Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'"<br />
<br />
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>The resurrection is the only reasonable explanation for the beginning of the Christian movement.</b> <br />
<br />
The Christian church was born in the very city where Jesus was publicly killed and buried. The belief in a resurrected Jesus had to be authentic to take root in Jerusalem and grow to encompass the whole world. The Christian church is now the largest institution that exists or has ever existed in the history of humanity. Clearly, this would have been impossible if the resurrection was a fabricated story.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>The resurrection is the only logical explanation for the transformed lives of the disciples.</b> <br />
<br />
They deserted and even denied Jesus before His public trial; after His death they were discouraged and fearful. They did not expect Jesus to rise from the dead. Yet, after His resurrection and their experience at Pentecost, these same discouraged, disappointed men and women were transformed by the mighty power of the risen Christ. In His name, they turned the world upside down. Many lost their lives for their faith; others were terribly persecuted. Their courageous behavior does not make sense apart from their conviction that Jesus Christ was truly raised from the dead--a fact worth dying for.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>Throughout the centuries, most great scholars who have considered the proofs of the resurrection have believed, and still believe, that Jesus is alive.</b> <br />
<br />
After examining the evidence for the resurrection given by the Gospel writers, the late Simon Greenleaf, an authority on legal issues at Harvard Law School, concluded: "It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact." Mr. Greenleaf was a Jewish professor who became a believer in <a href="http://www.greatcom.org/resources/areadydefense/ch22/default.htm" target="_blank">Jesus the Messiah</a> after studying <a href="http://www.greatcom.org/resources/areadydefense/ch19/default.htm" target="_blank">the facts</a> for himself.<br />
<br />
<b>Is Jesus still interested in us?</b> What does it mean to have a personal relationship with Christ, and in what way does it impact our lives? And how does someone go about making that kind of commitment? <br />
<br />
Those are good questions, and typical of someone who understands the significance of Jesus. Here is some information to help answer these and other questions you may have about Jesus.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>Because of Jesus' resurrection, His followers do not honor a dead founder</b> <br />
<br />
They have a vital, personal relationship with Him. Jesus Christ lives today and faithfully enriches the lives of all those who trust and obey Him. Throughout the centuries, multitudes have acknowledged the worthiness of Jesus Christ, including many who have greatly influenced the world. French physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal spoke of people's need for Jesus when he said, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which only God can fill through his Son Jesus Christ."<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
So, in light of the God-shaped vacuum that might be inside of you right now, <b>how can you know Jesus more personally?</b><br />
<br />
Because of God's deep love for you, He has already made all the necessary arrangements. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you can enjoy a personal relationship. Jesus made it possible to bridge the chasm which separates us from God. The following four principles will help you discover how to know Jesus personally and experience the abundant life he promised.<br />
________________________________________<br />
<b>PRINCIPLE 1 </b><br />
<br />
<i>God LOVES you and created you to know Him personally</i><br />
<br />
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."<br />
<br />
John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."<br />
<br />
What prevents us from knowing God personally?<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>PRINCIPLE 2 </b><br />
<br />
<i>Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love</i><br />
<br />
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."<br />
Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God].<br />
Romans 8:6-8 "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."<br />
<br />
A great gulf separates man from God. Man is continually trying to reach God and establish a personal relationship with Him through human efforts, such as living a good life, philosophy, or religion. But he inevitably fails.<br />
<br />
The third principle explains the only way to bridge this gulf...<br />
________________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>PRINCIPLE 3 </b><br />
<br />
<i>Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through him alone we can know God personally and experience God's love </i><br />
<br />
Romans 5:8 "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."<br />
<br />
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 "Christ died for our sins... he was buried... he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures... he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred..."<br />
<br />
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"<br />
<br />
God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.<br />
<br />
But it is not enough just to know these truths...<br />
_____________________________________<br />
<br />
<b>PRINCIPLE 4 </b><br />
<br />
<i>We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; then we can know God personally and experience His love</i><br />
<br />
John 1:12 "As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name."<br />
<br />
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith. This does not depend on anything you have achieved, it is the free gift of God; and because it is not earned no one can boast about it."<br />
<br />
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (a spirit of repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive us of our sins and make us what he wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of our will.<br />
<br />
Jesus Christ is waiting for an invitation to come in to your life. In fact, he says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20).<br />
<br />
Perhaps you can sense Christ knocking at the door of your heart. You can invite him in by faith right now. God knows your heart so it doesn't matter exactly what words you use. Here's a suggested prayer:<br />
<br />
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.<br />
<br />
If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, pray it right now and Jesus Christ will come into your life just as he has promised. Once you invite Christ into your life, he promises to never leave you. You can never be alone if you have God in your life.<br />
<br />
Hebrews 13:5 "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"<br />
<br />
To know God personally is the greatest decision you will ever make. <br />
<br />
If you just prayed that prayer, then you need to tell someone that you trust about your decision. If you don’t have anyone that you trust to tell, then ask God for guidance to bring someone in your life that you can trust.<br />
<br />
<i>He LIVES! He LIVES!<br />Christ Jesus lives today!<br />He walks with me<br />And talks with me<br />Along life's narrow way.<br />He LIVES! He LIVES!<br />Salvation to impart.<br />You ask me how I KNOW HE LIVES?<br />HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART!</i><br />
<br />
HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="heading passage-class-0" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 10px;">
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Romans 5:8</span></h3>
<div class="txt-sm" style="font-size: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-30028372125250700582013-03-30T14:30:00.000-05:002013-03-31T01:16:49.097-05:00So, what happened on Saturday?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dtIawC1zTj4/UVfSF_wopYI/AAAAAAAAZk4/cdzbRhznbqE/s1600/Saturday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dtIawC1zTj4/UVfSF_wopYI/AAAAAAAAZk4/cdzbRhznbqE/s320/Saturday.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is so much talk of
Good Friday and Resurrection (Easter) Sunday, but very few people actually talk
about Saturday and what happened in between the two. I wonder why that is?
Saturday is the pivot point. The day before the single greatest event in
history. The day before death and hell were conquered! It’s the day of
uncertainty and worry and sorrow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Put yourself in the
Apostle’s shoes for a moment.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt 22.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">You have just seen all your hopes and dreams
shattered by the Roman executioners. Not only that, but you aren't that proud
of yourself, either. For three years, you followed the Master. You personally
witnessed His miracles, from walking on water to feeding multiplied thousands
with a young boy's lunch to healing the sick and raising the dead.<br />
<br />
You heard His wisdom; you felt His Power, witnessed His Transfiguration . . .
and when the chips were down and it was time to take a stand, you folded up
like a Wal Mart lawn chair.<br />
<br />
You ran and hid like a coward, not daring to show your face for fear you'd
share His fate.<br />
<br />
(And you once had the nerve to ask Him if you could sit at His right Hand!)<br />
<br />
He faced His enemies alone, without a friend to speak up for Him -- including
you, who promised NEVER to forsake Him.<br />
<br />
On Good Friday, 1980 years ago, the last thing on any of their minds was
writing a detailed record of their own failures. They just wanted to put the
entire sordid experience behind them and move on.<br />
<br />
He had forsaken everything to teach and prepare them, and when the time came,
they not only betrayed Him by deserting Him, they never had a chance to beg His
forgiveness afterwards.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">How would you be feeling
at this point if you were them? Ashamed? Afraid? Numb with grief? Confused?
Here you expected Jesus to rule over all as King. Instead He has been tortured
in a way that the Bible says no man has ever suffered more and then was crucified
and now lay in a sealed and guarded tomb. Your hope is gone. What do you have
to look forward to now? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And what about Mary, the
mother of Jesus? Being the mother of a precious little boy, myself, I can’t
imagine what she went through. Seeing Jesus beaten, tortured, ridiculed, spat
upon and crucified like a common criminal – knowing He was innocent. Did she
replay in her mind as Jesus stumbled under the weight of the cross, the other
times He stumbled in His childhood…and, yet, knowing that this time she was
unable to pick Him up and hold Him in her arms, kiss the boo-boo and assure Him
that everything was going to be ok? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0lp2Jk1w70CKeH4Qk-nptidFx2Y8SNbgKKp1WjW00Sd5Oph0nvgtUsGQx4ce0XxrilVkkjHP0ES9cZhsE7IVnN1eUR8UMAZ4fBP4T_caLrv1q7qDvEc6sH29W-dvuP72jz9K/s1600/Mary+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0lp2Jk1w70CKeH4Qk-nptidFx2Y8SNbgKKp1WjW00Sd5Oph0nvgtUsGQx4ce0XxrilVkkjHP0ES9cZhsE7IVnN1eUR8UMAZ4fBP4T_caLrv1q7qDvEc6sH29W-dvuP72jz9K/s1600/Mary+Collage.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being a mother, that, to
me, is the most difficult position to try and put myself in. I can’t. Honestly,
I don’t want to. It hurts my heart too much to even try to imagine being in her
place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">BUT…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What we know now, and
what the disciples and Mary didn’t know then, was that Sunday was coming…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just one day away…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">And that would be the
day when EVERYTHING changed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">AMEN!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/empty-tomb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/empty-tomb.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-42659290891250957232013-03-29T06:00:00.000-05:002013-03-29T06:00:20.119-05:00WHY Did Jesus Have to Die and What's So "GOOD" About Good Friday?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwabciwIoLQ05OM6SsLD82LF4JkZTl7pZNOFbZS2DyWazcAInCUymntgv3Zz8nsL6wHW5tKX0yTD1RNqzCzSyuOsfasTtxJHAQ3DBEo6arDTWcS1JP6LgIKCVqyPOa32hNQFnOQ/s1600/the-passion-of-the-christ-05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwabciwIoLQ05OM6SsLD82LF4JkZTl7pZNOFbZS2DyWazcAInCUymntgv3Zz8nsL6wHW5tKX0yTD1RNqzCzSyuOsfasTtxJHAQ3DBEo6arDTWcS1JP6LgIKCVqyPOa32hNQFnOQ/s400/the-passion-of-the-christ-05.png" usa="true" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Before I get into that topic, which is, quite frankly, fascinating . . . In honor of Good Friday I am loading two of my all time favorite songs from Sandi Patty called "The Via Dolorosa" and "The Day He Wore My Crown". I have had Via Dolorosa memorized for going on 25 years now, including the Spanish verse, and I sing it year round. There is no other voice that tells either of these stories so well as Sandi's voice. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/w5fSu4a8-rE" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NxF2T3ZmuK4" width="420"></iframe>
<br />
Isaiah 53<br />
1 Who has believed our message <br />
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? <br />
2 He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, <br />
and like a root out of dry ground. <br />
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, <br />
nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. <br />
3 He was despised and rejected by men, <br />
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. <br />
Like one from whom men hide their faces <br />
He was despised, and we esteemed him not. <br />
4 Surely He has borne our griefs <br />
and carried our sorrows, <br />
yet we considered him stricken by God, <br />
smitten by Him, and afflicted. <br />
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, <br />
He was bruised for our iniquities; <br />
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, <br />
and by His stripes we are healed. <br />
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, <br />
each of us has turned to his own way; <br />
and the LORD has laid on Him <br />
the iniquity of us all. <br />
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, <br />
yet He did not open His mouth; <br />
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, <br />
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, <br />
so He did not open His mouth. <br />
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, <br />
And who will declare His generation? <br />
For He was cut off from the land of the living; <br />
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. <br />
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, <br />
and with the rich in His death, <br />
though He had done no violence, <br />
nor was any deceit in His mouth. <br />
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, <br />
and though the LORD makes His soul an offering for sin, <br />
He will see his offspring and prolong his days, <br />
and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand. <br />
11 After the suffering of His soul, <br />
He will see the light of life and be satisfied; <br />
by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, <br />
and He will bear their iniquities. <br />
12 Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, <br />
and He will divide the spoils with the strong, <br />
because He poured out his life unto death, <br />
and was numbered with the transgressors. <br />
For he bore the sin of many, <br />
and made intercession for the transgressors.<br />
<br />
Isaiah 53 was written many centuries before Jesus was born, and yet, it tells of His death on the cross for our sins. And He willingly did it, so great was His love for us. So desirous of us to have eternal life with Him that He shed His blood, took the sins of the entire world, past, present and future, of ALL mankind, for all the sinners, us as well as the murderers, the liars, the cheaters, the adulterers, the thieves, and on and on. While we may view sin on a "sliding scale", God doesn't. We ALL are sinners. The only person who was ever perfect and able to be that sacrifice on our behalf was the Son of God, who left His realm of glory in heaven and humbled himself to become like us, as a son of man, in order to fulfill the Covenant that God made with Abraham so many years ago.<br />
<br />
In this post will explain the Abrahamic Covenant and what it means for us and why Jesus was the fulfillment of that Covenant, who He was and, most importantly, why He had to die. <br />
<br />
This information comes from my friend Jack Kinsella and the Omega Letter. (His powerful explanation is just one reason why he is missed so much)<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Why Did Jesus Have To Die and What's so "GOOD" About Good Friday? </span></strong><br />
<br />
Yesterday as we were coming home from church, my grandson Bailey chirped, "Gwandad!! Jesus died for you!" There was a pause and he said, "He died on a Cross because bad men put him there. He was covered with boo-boos!" (Being three, Bailey is not up on all the latest medical terms, but he knew what he was talking about) "An' He died for Mummy and for Gwandma and because He loves us." <br />
<br />
I was absorbing all this as I drove when Bailey asked me the next logical question. "Gwanddad!" "Yes, Bailey." "Why did He have to die?" <br />
<br />
When we got home, I tried to explain to a three-year old something that many adult Christians have difficulty explaining. Yet it is one of the first questions posed by the skeptic. <br />
<br />
Why, indeed, if Jesus was God, did He have to die? To the skeptic, the whole Cross, Blood and death thing doesn't make any sense. I know many Christians to whom the answer is simply, "So He could be resurrected on the third day." <br />
<br />
That was never a satisfactory answer when I was a skeptic, either. <br />
<br />
According to Christian tradition, the Friday before Easter is called "Good Friday" because it is the day that Jesus Christ was crucified. GOOD Friday?<br />
<br />
The Crucifixion most probably did not actually take place on a Friday, anyway. The Scriptures make reference only to the 'Sabbath' and there were two Sabbath days during that particular Passover week. <br />
<br />
But it is on Friday that the world remembers, whether it wants to or not, that a Man was crucified on a hill called Golgotha outside the walls of Jerusalem for the sins of mankind. <br />
<br />
If the world wants to remember it as a Friday, at least it is taking note of the event. Arguing about whether or not it actually took place on Wednesday or Thursday seems irrelevant to the central point. <br />
<br />
Particularly in light of the way it remembers that day, as "Good" Friday. But what is so good about it? <br />
<br />
I can recall as a kid growing up in a Catholic school thinking it more than a little strange that all those nuns said they loved Jesus, but celebrated the day of His execution as a "Good" day. <br />
<br />
Indeed, as a kid, I thought the designation "Good Friday" was evidence that they really didn't LIKE Him very much, despite their protestations of love. My mother had passed away when I was only ten. I didn't think that the day that she died was a 'good' day for me. <br />
<br />
There are lots of possible reasons why the day of Jesus' Crucifixion is designated "Good" in English. One is that the word 'good' was derived from the word "God". <br />
<br />
Our word 'goodbye' came from the phrase "God be with you," so, according to that line of thinking, "Good Friday" would have originated from the phrase "God's Friday." <br />
<br />
But I think it is less a case of the metamorphosis of language than it is an apt description of the Event that took place on that day just before the Passover two thousand years ago. <br />
<br />
The execution of Jesus Christ was an event of incredible evil. He was guilty of no infraction, violated no laws, either Mosaic or Roman civil, and His betrayal was orchestrated, the Bible says, by Satan himself.<br />
<br />
"And after the sop Satan entered into him [Judas]. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly." (John 13:27)<br />
<br />
But while the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was an act of unspeakable evil, it was a necessary part of God's Plan for the redemption of our sin debt. <br />
<br />
And the manner in which He accomplished was a demonstration of His Power over good and evil, using pure evil to bring about pure good.<br />
<br />
"Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1st Corinthians 2:8)<br />
<br />
But why was Good Friday necessary? We've gone over this before, but not in several years. Good Friday is the perfect day to revisit the topic. Why did Jesus have to die?<br />
<br />
The Scripture says God's Justice demands a sacrifice, but for most Christians contending with the skeptic, that answer is unsatisfactory. <br />
<br />
The explanation that only a sinless man was qualified to take on the sins of the world makes sense, but it doesn't answer the nuts-and-bolts question of why He had to die. Not fully. <br />
<br />
The answer to the nuts-and-bolts legalities is found, not in the New Testament, but rather in the Old. I thought it might be good if we were ALL equipped to give a reason for the hope that is in us.<br />
<br />
In Genesis Chapter 15, we find Abram questioning God's promise that his seed will be numbered as the stars of heaven and that they would inherit the land to which God had led him. <br />
<br />
Genesis 15:6 says "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." But Abram wanted a guarantee, nonetheless. <br />
<br />
"And he [Abram] said, LORD God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" (15:8) <br />
<br />
It was then that God proposed a blood covenant after the manner of the Chaldeans. "And he [God] said unto him, [Abram] Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon." <br />
<br />
Abram knew what to do next, since this was something he was familiar with. "And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not." <br />
<br />
The blood covenant worked this way. The animals were slaughtered and cut up. The pieces were intermingled and then carefully arranged to form a kind of aisle through which the two parties to the covenant would walk together, hands joined. <br />
<br />
The principle of a blood covenant, and the symbolism of the rended animal parts was clearly understood to Abram. Whoever broke the covenant would end up like those piles of animals. <br />
<br />
A blood covenant was, by common custom, a joining of 2 or more persons, families, clans, tribes, or nations, where the participants agree to do or refrain from doing certain acts. More specifically, God had proposed a patriarchal covenant. <br />
<br />
The patriarchal form of covenant is a self-imposed obligation of a superior party, to the benefit of an inferior party. In this form, the terms the parties use to refer to each other are: father and son. <br />
<br />
God's proposal included not only Abram, but extended to Abram's seed forever. <br />
<br />
(Galatians 3:29 makes plain that Christians are also "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.") <br />
<br />
Are you still with me? Here's where we are so far. Abram has just prepared a blood covenant between himself and God in which his seed would forever be bound to God as heirs. To be an heir, under the implied terms of the covenant, also required being faithful to the Father. <br />
<br />
Abram understood those terms and waited for God to appear. Consider the picture. Abram waited, driving away the carrion eaters from his grisly creation, waiting for God Himself to come down, join hands with Abram and together, they would swear a blood oath. God would be the Father of Abram and his descendents, who would then be required behave as sons to keep that covenant. <br />
<br />
Genesis 15:12 records that as Abram waited for God, a deep sleep fell upon him. During that deep sleep, "it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:" (Genesis 15:17-18) <br />
<br />
And there's the key! While the covenant was between Abram and God, by passing through the aisle alone, God signed the contract -- alone -- for both sides, binding Himself to keeping both parts. <br />
<br />
We know that Abram's seed did NOT remain faithful to the covenant. And violating the blood covenant demanded that somebody had to die. That was what justice required. <br />
<br />
The Apostle Paul was, before his conversion on the road to Damascus, a Pharisee, or a religous lawyer, one well qualified to explain the law of covenant oaths. <br />
<br />
As Paul explains, "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:9) Further. that “they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." (3:9) <br />
<br />
And also, "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith." (3:11) <br />
<br />
Of the covenant that God signed on behalf of Abraham, Paul explains "Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." (3:15) <br />
<br />
The covenant could only be confirmed when the price demanded for its violation was paid in full. <br />
<br />
When the Law was given to Moses four centuries later, it was assumed by the Jews that to break it was to break the Abrahamic Covenant, for which the penalty was death. Remember, somebody had to die. But God signed on behalf of Abraham, and Paul pointed out the blood penalty required of the covenant was paid in full. <br />
<br />
"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." <br />
<br />
Why did Jesus have to die? Because the covenant demanded satisfactory payment for its violation, and no one who had broken that covenant was qualified to stand in payment except those who signed it. <br />
<br />
And God signed on behalf of Abram and his seed. <br />
<br />
It is for that reason that God stepped out of eternity and into space and time. To keep the provisions of the original covenant and be a true Son, as it demanded. <br />
<br />
And having kept its terms on behalf of sinful humanity, it was incumbent upon Him to make payment, as justice demanded, for its violation by those on whose behalf the covenant was signed. <br />
<br />
To be torn and rended like the animals that formed the corridor through which God alone passed. <br />
<br />
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah (53:3) <br />
<br />
To make restitution on behalf of the seed of Abraham. You. Me. And everyone who ever broke its provision of faithfulness. All of us. <br />
<br />
Jesus made that payment on our behalf. On the Cross, as He gave up the ghost, Jesus cried with a loud voice 'it is finished' (Tetelestai!) meaning, "paid in full." <br />
<br />
The terms of the violated Covenant were met, its price was paid by its Signer. God's justice was fulfilled. That is why Jesus took on a human form and allowed Himself to be crucified by His own creation. That is the reason the Blood of Christ is so precious. Why nothing less would do. <br />
<br />
Because justice demanded it. <br />
<br />
And because justice was satisfied, a lost sinner need only accept the Pardon obtained at the Cross as full payment for his sins to obtain eternal life. Because of Good Friday, "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord SHALL be saved." (Romans 10:13) <br />
<br />
Our sin debt was paid in full on Good Friday. The only thing now separating God from man is human pride. Accepting by faith the pardon obtained for us at the Cross is a humbling experience.<br />
<br />
We've noted in the past that God's way is not our way, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Indeed, God's way is usually the exact opposite of human thinking. Christians obtain victory by surrendering. We obtain eternal life through the Death of Christ, but to achieve eternal life one has to first die. <br />
<br />
"Good" Friday is the day that commemorates the greatest evil ever perpetrated in the history of mankind. But as it turned out, it was the worst day possible for the forces of evil. It marked the first introduction of pure good to this old world since the Fall of Man.<br />
<br />
<b>"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes WE ARE HEALED." (Isaiah 53:5)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) </b><br />
<br />
MARANATHA!<br />
========================================================<br />
And, just like every Good Friday, after evening services, we will come home and watch The Passion of the Christ, as has been our tradition ever since it came out. It is a serious movie that causes us to really take note of the suffering Jesus went through on the Cross for us. We remember the sacrifice, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus every day, but watching this incredible rendition of it really continues to drive it home and takes the meaning of Easter season even deeper. So from the Boedeker household to yours...blessings to you on this GOOD Friday... <b>><></b></div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-37481736653566312752013-03-28T16:09:00.000-05:002013-03-28T16:09:01.921-05:00WHO is Jesus anyway?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.reformation.org/en-da-vinci-last-supper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://www.reformation.org/en-da-vinci-last-supper.jpg" usa="true" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj0TXqDoa2TPwl6ws7OV3zk22WNtA9u_lNXuPp1jZVBBH16K-w7OYskGnDf6xqqEUi41Qjj6g8em29tRwX0-eAAwlTKFjmVyYfiOG8JxLP2lf-XYTviafusNmb8cVzulBwtPe/s1600/WIJ+Collage+Text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj0TXqDoa2TPwl6ws7OV3zk22WNtA9u_lNXuPp1jZVBBH16K-w7OYskGnDf6xqqEUi41Qjj6g8em29tRwX0-eAAwlTKFjmVyYfiOG8JxLP2lf-XYTviafusNmb8cVzulBwtPe/s400/WIJ+Collage+Text.jpg" usa="true" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In honor of Holy Week, and with tonight being the commonly accepted night of The Last Supper, I think it appropriate to discuss the topic of just WHO Jesus IS. Not "was", because He lives! He is alive today. So, for the scholarly mind, today we will delve into just WHO He is. Bear with me as there is a lot of information contained here, but there has to be in order to understand the awesomeness of Jesus and God's plan for mankind!<br />
<br />
Most people believe that Jesus existed but there are differing answers as to just who they think He was. Most people say that He was just a good man, a teacher or a prophet, instead of actually being the Son of God. Some dismiss him as a liar or even a madman. Millions hail him as Savior and Lord. Whatever people think of him, nobody can deny that he stands at the very crux of human history. There is no doubt that He is the most influential person who ever lived. In this post we are going to explore the probability that Jesus was who He said He was. <br />
<br />
The Biblical record of his life shows that Jesus was born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, taught throughout the Palestinian region for about three years, was crucified and then rose back to life three days after his death. The Bible claims that more than 500 people saw him alive after this miraculous event. How could a mere man have lived such a life? The miracles Jesus performed, his death on the cross, his resurrection, his ascent to heaven--all point to the fact that he was no ordinary leader. <br />
<br />
Hundreds of years before Jesus' birth, prophets predicted his coming. The Old Testament, written by many people over a period of 1,500 years, contains more than 300 such prophecies, 456 to be exact. All of these details came true, including his miraculous birth, his sinless life, his many miracles, his death and his resurrection. <br />
<br />
The reason why prophecy is an indication of the divine authorship of the Scriptures, and hence a testimony to the trustworthiness of the Message of the Scriptures, is because of the minute probability of fulfillment. <br />
<br />
Anyone can make predictions. Having those prophecies fulfilled is vastly different. In fact, the more statements made about the future, and the more the detail, then the less likely the precise fulfillment will be. <br />
<br />
For example, what's the likelihood of a person predicting today the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place, well into the 21st century? This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the Messiah. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise manner of death that a new, unknown religious leader would experience, a thousand years from now - a manner of death presently unknown, and to remain unknown for hundreds of years? Yet, this is what David did in 1000 B.C. <br />
<br />
Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader, hundreds of years in advance? This is what Daniel did, 530 years before Christ. <br />
<br />
If one were to conceive 50 specific prophecies about a person in the future, whom one would never meet, just what's the likelihood that this person will fulfill all 50 of the predictions? How much less would this likelihood be if 25 of these predictions were about what other people would do to him, and were completely beyond his control? <br />
<br />
For example, how does someone "arrange" to be born in a specific family? <br />
<br />
How does one "arrange" to be born in a specified city, in which their parents don't actually live? How does one "arrange" their own death - and specifically by crucifixion, with two others, and then "arrange" to have their executioners gamble for His clothing (John 16:19; Psalms 22:18)? How does one "arrange" to be betrayed in advance? How does one "arrange" to have the executioners carry out the regular practice of breaking the legs of the two victims on either side, but not their own? Finally, how does one "arrange" to be God? How does one escape from a grave and appear to people after having been killed? <br />
<br />
Indeed, it may be possible for someone to fake one or two of the Messianic prophecies, but it would be impossible for any one person to arrange and fulfill all of these prophecies. <br />
<br />
John Ankerberg relates the true story of how governments use prearranged identification signs to identify correct agents: <br />
<br />
David Greenglass was a World War II traitor. He gave atomic secrets to the Russians and then fled to Mexico after the war. His conspirators arranged to help him by planning a meeting with the secretary of the Russian ambassador in Mexico City. Proper identification for both parties became vital. Greenglass was to identify himself with six prearranged signs. These instructions had been given to both the secretary and Greenglass so there would be no possibility of making a mistake. They were: (1) once in Mexico City, Greenglass was to write a note to the secretary, signing his name as "I. JACKSON"; (2) after three days he was to go to the Plaza de Colon in Mexico City and (3) stand before the statue of Columbus, (4) with his middle finger placed in a guide book. In addition, (5) when he was approached, he was to say it was a magnificent statue and that he was from Oklahoma. (6) The secretary was to then give him a passport. <br />
<br />
These six prearranged signs worked. Why? With six identifying characteristics it was impossible for the secretary not to identify Greenglass as the proper contact (John Ankerberg, John Weldon and Walter Kaiser, "The Case for Jesus The Messiah", Melbourne: Pacific College Study Series, 1994, 17-18). <br />
<br />
How true, then, it must be that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, if he had 456 identifying characteristics well in advance, and fulfilled them all! In fact, what does the science of probability make of this? <br />
<br />
The science of probability attempts to determine the chance that a given event will occur. The value and accuracy of the science of probability has been well established beyond doubt - for example, insurance rates are fixed according to statistical probabilities. <br />
<br />
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner, has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students. <br />
<br />
The students carefully weighed all the factors, discussed each prophecy at length, and examined the various circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. They made their estimates conservative enough so that there was finally unanimous agreement even among the most skeptical students. <br />
<br />
However Professor Stoner then took their estimates, and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4). <br />
<br />
For example, concerning Micah 5:2, where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah, Stoner and his students determined the average population of BETHLEHEM from the time of Micah to the present; then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. <br />
<br />
They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000, (or one in 2.8 x 10^5 - rounded), <br />
<br />
After examining only eight different prophecies (Idem, 106), they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10^17. <br />
<br />
To illustrate how large the number 10^17 IS (a figure with 17 zeros), Stoner gave this illustration : <br />
<br />
If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10^17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They'll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would've had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom (Idem, 106-107). <br />
<br />
In financial terms, is there anyone who would not invest in a financial venture if the chance of failure were only one in 10^17? This is the kind of sure investment we're offered by God for faith in His Messiah. <br />
<br />
From these figures, Professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies (Idem, 107) - the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10^17! <br />
<br />
Another way of saying this is that any person who minimizes or ignores the significance of the biblical identifying signs concerning the Messiah would be foolish. <br />
<br />
But, of course, there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies (Idem, 109) (even though he could have used Edersheim's 456), and arrived at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. In fact, if anybody can find someone, living or dead, other than Jesus, who can fulfill only half of the predictions concerning the Messiah given in the book "Messiah in Both Testaments" by Fred J. Meldau, the Christian Victory Publishing Company is ready to give a ONE thousand dollar reward! As apologist Josh McDowell says, "There are a lot of men in the universities that could use some extra cash!" (Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, California: Campus Crusade for Christ, 175). <br />
<br />
How large is the number one in 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They're smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10^15 of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op. cit, 109). <br />
<br />
With this introduction, let's go back to our chance of one in 10^157. Let's suppose that we're taking this number of electrons, marking one, and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an inconceivably large volume. <br />
<br />
This is the result from considering a mere 48 prophecies. Obviously, the probability that 456 prophecies would be fulfilled in one man by chance is vastly smaller. According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur (Ankerberg et. al., op. cit., 21). <br />
<br />
As Stoner concludes, 'Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world (Stoner, op. cit., 112).' <br />
<br />
God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ. <br />
<br />
By his own account, Jesus claimed he had the power to forgive sins, to cast out demons, and to determine people's eternal destiny. He even declared he himself was God! <br />
<br />
In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." <br />
<br />
Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic--or Lord and God. There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian agrees he was not just a legend. If he were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? He said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.<br />
<br />
As you ponder this coming Good Friday, remember that He died for YOU. His death was our gift. The Gift of Salvation for all who believe and accept it. There are no strings attached. It's a gift freely given to one who will freely receive. Can you imagine anyone else who would give that kind of a gift for you? <br />
<br />
John 3:16: For God SO LOVED the world (you, me, your friends and loved ones, your neighbors, strangers in foreign countries and, yes, even your enemies), that He gave His ONLY Son (to be the sacrifice for our sins in order to live in Eternity with Him), that whosoever believes in Him (as the Son of God and accepts Jesus as their Savior) shall not perish but have EVERLASTING LIFE (even though our bodies may die, our souls live on and it is YOUR choice where you end up for Eternity – do you choose Eternal Life or Eternal Death and Torment?).<br />
============================================================================<br />
<br />
Thursday: The Last Supper: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is my body, given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup of wine, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." </div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-45786372566594285352013-03-28T00:22:00.000-05:002013-03-28T00:48:22.934-05:00Some Debates Aren't Worth Winning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjg2oHZe-JP0e64HVgDqTkR9t1UjMITFgtazpP7BdWJfBe3v7r_nckS-ZWzhQIv5GPkOlmBhgU1bN5afDwSpyKR0osn0cbM82Lk7VaiyFu-SARs6o-arkY8yGx-ZYIEri0D8V-w/s1600/bible-translations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjg2oHZe-JP0e64HVgDqTkR9t1UjMITFgtazpP7BdWJfBe3v7r_nckS-ZWzhQIv5GPkOlmBhgU1bN5afDwSpyKR0osn0cbM82Lk7VaiyFu-SARs6o-arkY8yGx-ZYIEri0D8V-w/s400/bible-translations.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Earlier this evening I had admired a lovely friend's repost of a
quote by Francis Chan. It contained a scripture verse that she had not
put in, but that used the NIV translation of the Bible. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."
~Matthew 28:19<o:p></o:p></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Someone chimed in and state that the scripture was wrong and that
wasn't how it went. They were talking about how it wasn't the King James
Version (KJV) of the Bible and to use any other translation of the Bible was
wrong and that basically by using another translation of the Bible aside from
the KJV earned you a place right out of heaven, according to Revelation 22:9.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
That statement starts to smell like "onlyism"...that the
KJV is the ONLY acceptable version, which in turn is almost akin to
Bible idolatry I posted<a href="http://nicsplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/you-lost-your-faith-where-did-you-put-it.html" target="_blank"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> </span></span>last
week</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>about where you should
place your faith so that you don't lose it. Faith is not to be placed in a
particular translation of the Bible, but rather in the Author of the Bible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Here's the thing though...and I'm going to give you a brief
history of the "translation" of the KJV Bible...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The Old Testament was written almost entirely in classical Hebrew
in the dialect scholars believed flourished around the 6th century BC
during the Babylonian Exile. <i>Al<em>most</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>entirely. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
By the time the Babylonian Captivity had ended seventy years
later, the first language of most of the Babylonian captives and their
descendants had become the language of their captors, Aramaic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The Books of Daniel and Ezra were originally inspired and composed
in Aramaic. Alexander the Great outlawed the languages of the peoples he
conquered and compelled them to learn and use Greek in all their dealings. But
by then, Hebrew was largely extinct as spoken language, replaced by Aramaic and
later by Greek. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The New Testament was inspired and composed in both Aramaic and
Greek. Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Greek. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
His words were translated from Aramaic into Greek, with certain
Aramaic words being specifically identified as
translations. Interestingly, those parts of the Old Testament not inspired
and composed in Hebrew were inspired and composed in Greek. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
And the Septuagint is the Hebrew Old Testament as translated by
the rabbis into Koine Greek in the 3rd century BC. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
So by the time the Apostles were writing the New Testament
Epistles, much the Old Testament was already a translation of a
translation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
By the middle of the second century, the major writings of the
canon of Scripture were accepted by almost all Christian authorities. St Jerome
translated them all into Latin in the 3rd century. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
So by the fourth century, the Old Testament was a translation of a
translation of a translation and the New Testament was merely a translation of
a translation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Twelve hundred years later, Wycliffe, Hus, Linacre, Colet and
Erasmus were all busily engaged in translating the various translations of
translations into their own translations of English. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
One hundred years after John Hus was burned at the stake kindled
with pages from Wycliffe’s Bible translation, King James of England ordered his
translators to come up with a new English translation using the existing Greek
and Hebrew translations, themselves recopied translations of Aramaic and Latin
and classical Hebrew. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 27.0pt; margin-right: 31.5pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The oldest existing Textus Receptus manuscript used by the
translators of the King James 1611 Bible dated to the 12th century.
In the book of Revelation, a missing page had to be translated from the Latin
Vulgate back into Greek so it could be translated back into English.<o:p></o:p></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
To be blunt here, nobody is saved according to which<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><u>version</u></i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>of the Bible they study from.
Nobody is saved by a Bible. They are saved by the Gospel message, a
message so simple it can be conveyed without a Bible being present.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
A child can lead another child to Christ on a playground. A
drunk can lead another drunk to Christ on a barstool. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
I do not know much about the actual translators of the KJV. Or
much about the translation process. I can’t read the original languages.
And if I could, I don’t have the original manuscripts used by the translators.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
And if I did, I wouldn’t know
if they were 1st century Greek or if they were later Greek translations of
the Latin translations of the Greek translations of the original Aramaic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Would you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
The quickest way I can think of to shake somebody’s confidence in
their salvation is to attack their preferred Bible version. The Bible
that leads you to Christ takes on a very special, personal meaning. If
you came to Christ via the NIV, then the NIV is the Word of God whereby you
were saved. The same applies to all the other versions, including the KJV.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Ever wonder why there are so many Christians that don’t go to
church? It is because there are two kinds of Christianity in this world.
There is the theoretical kind and there is the living kind. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
In the theoretical kind, everybody is the same at church as they
are at home when nobody is looking. Saved people always act saved and
always looked saved. Saved people never have doubts – that would be
faithlessness. And when somebody falls, it is because they probably were
never really saved in the first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
In the living kind, people are different at church than they are
at home when nobody is looking. Saved people don’t always act like
it. Some don’t ever go to church. Everybody has doubts. And it
is only when <em>others</em> fall that we question if they were
really saved. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
When a person is young in the Lord, he is somewhere between the
theoretical and reality – all he has is his Bible. And along comes some
grizzled old veteran Christian who, preaching theoretical Christianity
convinces the new Christian that he can’t trust his Bible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
No matter which position you take on the Bible translations issue,
what happens if you prevail in the debate? Assuming your opponent is already
saved, he can't get more saved by agreeing with you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
If you have won the debate, then he has lost. Now let’s return to
the topic under discussion. “Can you trust your Bible?” And <em>his</em> answer
is “no.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Some debates aren’t worth winning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Do we have the Word of God? Of course we do. What
about when there are conflicts between versions? God only wrote ONE Bible – but
He didn’t write it in English.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
He wrote it in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
So how do you know that the version that <em>you</em> use,
whether KJV, NIV, NASB, etc, is really the Word of God? Did you get saved
from it? Is that an <em>enemy</em> action? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
How do you know that is the one God <em>wants</em> you
to use? I don’t know. But you do. It is because that is the
version God speaks to you from.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Or you would be looking for the version that does.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-79736889919372402982013-03-27T17:18:00.000-05:002013-03-27T17:18:16.258-05:00The Logic of the Cross<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdimCMfEKUg2oCGzC_EWatb3XFskLn7AHuC6YYDSzu1E0y1GucyGCQAkTswC0KvLecMir0Q3y2KkK1fKCRl3peeR8U2kNwTU7P1GwqTo-4Rxvn0oi9SuEPwYlnc9szC1MbQena/s1600/Logic+Cross+Collage+Text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdimCMfEKUg2oCGzC_EWatb3XFskLn7AHuC6YYDSzu1E0y1GucyGCQAkTswC0KvLecMir0Q3y2KkK1fKCRl3peeR8U2kNwTU7P1GwqTo-4Rxvn0oi9SuEPwYlnc9szC1MbQena/s320/Logic+Cross+Collage+Text.jpg" usa="true" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Keeping up with Holy Week, here is an EXCELLENT piece on the LOGIC of the Cross. This is logic that it is really quite hard to argue with. Again, my thanks to my very dear and recently departed friend, <a href="http://www.omegaletter.com/" target="_blank">Jack Kinsella</a>, for providing this, and the other in-depth pieces on the Cross and Resurrection this week. This is just one of many reasons why I miss my friend, because he had the incredible ability to explain perfectly what he was wanting to convey...on any topic. But I do not grieve for him for he will be celebrating the Resurrection this year with the ONE who was Resurrected! AMEN!</div>
<br />
<strong>The Logic of the Cross</strong><br />
<br />
Roughly one thousand, nine hundred and eighty years ago, a Jewish itinerant preacher was tried, convicted and executed by Roman decree, on charges of sedition against the state.<br />
<br />
When He was arrested by the Roman authorities, His friends, fearing arrest themselves, left Him to face the music alone. One of His closest and most loyal friends denied knowing Him on three separate occasions. Once followed by thronging crowds, only His mother and a couple of friends stood by Him to the end.<br />
<br />
And thus ends the story of Jesus of Nazareth, just another victim of Roman 'justice' like the thousands of other unnamed and forgotten Jewish rebels that shared a similar fate.<br />
<br />
Or, at least, that is where is SHOULD have ended.<br />
<br />
Historically speaking, at the time of His Death, Jesus Christ was just another rebel in a land teeming with rebels. When He preached of the Kingdom of Heaven, his followers didn't understand the term the way that we do.<br />
<br />
The sages understood the time of the Judges, when Israel was ruled by Heaven through God's appointed judges, as the Kingdom of Heaven He promised to restore.<br />
<br />
Even His disciples didn't understand what He was talking about until after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.<br />
<br />
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)<br />
<br />
They, like the rest, expected an earthly Jewish kingdom ruled by Jews, restored to the glory it had at its peak under King David.<br />
<br />
When their dreams of a restored Kingdom of Israel died on a Roman cross, the event was too insignificant to merit the attention of the historians of the time. Only a few, like Tertius or Flavius Josephus mention it, and then, only in passing.<br />
<br />
Crucifixion was common enough, but it was a grisly business, difficult to discuss without repulsing the reader. Although Imperial Rome imposed it on hundreds of thousands during its reign, historians recorded few details of the process itself.<br />
<br />
By either chance or design, death by crucifixion served to erase the condemned from memory. It wasn't talked about, so neither were its victims.<br />
<br />
On Good Friday, 1980 years ago, it looked like Jesus Christ was on the fast track to historical irrelevance, just another voice of one crying out from the wilderness.<br />
<br />
<br />
A voice seemingly silenced forever -- by a death too gruesome to discuss in polite company. <br />
<br />
<strong>Assessment:</strong><br />
<br />
Now, imagine you are one of His chosen disciples. You have just seen all your hopes and dreams shattered by the Roman executioners. Not only that, but you aren't that proud of yourself, either. <br />
<br />
For three years, you followed the Master. You personally witnessed His miracles, from walking on water to feeding multiplied thousands with a young boy's lunch to healing the sick and raising the dead.<br />
<br />
You heard His wisdom; you felt His Power, witnessed His Transfiguration . . . and when the chips were down and it was time to take a stand, you folded up like a Wal Mart lawn chair.<br />
<br />
You ran and hid like a coward, not daring to show your face for fear you'd share His fate.<br />
<br />
(And you once had the nerve to ask Him if you could sit at His right Hand!)<br />
<br />
He faced His enemies alone, without a friend to speak up for Him -- including you, who promised NEVER to forsake Him.<br />
<br />
On Good Friday, 1980 years ago, the last thing on any of their minds was writing a detailed record of their own failures. They just wanted to put the entire sordid experience behind them and move on.<br />
<br />
He had forsaken everything to teach and prepare them, and when the time came, they not only betrayed Him by deserting Him, they never had a chance to beg His forgiveness afterwards.<br />
<br />
To those who loved Him best, Good Friday, 1980 years ago, was anything BUT 'good'.<br />
<br />
And it was the LAST story in the world they wanted to spread throughout the land.<br />
<br />
"He made big promises, we made big promises, then He died and we all ran away and hid."<br />
<br />
If you were hiding somewhere in Jerusalem on Good Friday, 1980 years ago, that was your story. Not a very inspiring story, if that was where it ended.<br />
<br />
Every Easter, we are bombarded by secular apologists telling us that is where the story really DID end.<br />
<br />
Jesus was dead; His followers were all in hiding, but while they were in hiding for their lives (and after seeing what happened to Jesus,) instead of fading quietly into the countryside, they entered into a conspiracy to perpetuate the same 'myth' that put Jesus on the Cross in the first place.<br />
<br />
They made up the whole Resurrection story to keep the movement alive, and then legend took over, the argument goes.<br />
<br />
If the story really DID end at Golgotha, would YOU want to face the same risk that you had just abandoned your best Friend to His Death in order to avoid? Well, would you?<br />
<br />
Would anybody?<br />
<br />
IF it ended at Golgotha, then what changed every single one of the cowards who fled Jesus on that day to later face death unflinchingly rather than deny Him a second time?<br />
<br />
Moreover, what made these guys, who were so self-centered they used to argue over who would sit at His right Hand in some misty, undefined future kingdom, choose to disclose the details of their greatest moment of personal failure, weaving those unflattering self-revelatory details into the fabric of what they already KNEW a monstrous lie?<br />
<br />
Since most of it was a lie anyway, why be so brutally hard on themselves?<br />
<br />
The Archbishop of Canterbury is on record as doubting the Resurrection as an actual historical event. This defies logic. If the Resurrection wasn't an historical event, then it ended at Golgotha -- and the Apostles knew it.<br />
<br />
Every single event from the Cross forward was a lie, and the New Testament record of their zeal to propagate that lie is equally unreliable. THIS is the argument put forth every Easter by the secularists as the epitome of 'rational thought.'<br />
<br />
No logical alternative explanation for why the Apostles chose death over denial of what they KNEW, by definition, was a myth. To plug THAT hole, critics say the story was 'harmonized' later as the Bible was being assembled by the Nicean Council.<br />
<br />
But nobody ever goes back to Good Friday, 1980 years ago, where they claim it all ended, to explain with any degree of credibility, why it didn't. Because if Jesus was not raised on the first day of the week, where He subsequently appeared to more than five hundred witnesses (1st Corinthians 15:6) then it SHOULD have.<br />
<br />
Christianity SHOULD have died with Jesus, and on Good Friday 1980 years ago, to all intents and purposes, it did. <br />
<br />
And it would have STAYED dead, but Christianity was raised with Jesus Christ on the third day, and today, it is real enough to have the secularists jumping through logical hoops every Easter season trying to prove its all a myth.<br />
<br />
For those who demand empirical evidence of the Resurrection, the existence of the question is all the evidence logic demands.<br />
<br />
Had it really ended on Good Friday, 1980 years ago at the Cross, nobody would be asking the question in the first place.<br />
<br />
When Jesus appeared to John on the Island of Patmos, He identified himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning AND the end.<br />
<br />
The logic of Christianity is that it began where it ended -- without the Cross, there could be no Resurrection. And without the Resurrection, there is no reason to remember the Cross.<br />
<br />
To the secularist, this is an unacceptable conundrum, despite the fact his best alternative explanation leaves him with no reason for Christianity to exist for him to question.<br />
<br />
It is a logical circle from which he can't escape, because he can't see he's inside the circle.<br />
<br />
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1st Corinthians 2:14)<br />
<br />
As foolish as his argument is, he can't see it for the foolishness of his own wisdom.<br />
<br />
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." (1st Corinthians 3:19)<br />
<br />
So every year, the annual bombardment of articles questioning the 'truth' of the Resurrection continues without their ever seeing the answer is contained inside the very question they are so focused on.<br />
<br />
It is as baffling to the natural mind as is the reason we Christians call this upcoming Friday, "Good Friday".<br />
<br />
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1st Corinthians 1:18)</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-22899923269320145702013-03-27T07:00:00.000-05:002013-03-27T07:00:03.977-05:00People are watching...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wg0Xh5snXFw/UVKE5ms_8YI/AAAAAAAAZDc/ICVE1oO834g/s1600/angry+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wg0Xh5snXFw/UVKE5ms_8YI/AAAAAAAAZDc/ICVE1oO834g/s400/angry+A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy street. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Suddenly, the light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">thing, stopping at the crosswalk. The tailgating woman hit the roof, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">and the horn, screaming as she missed her chance to get through the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">intersection.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">up into the face of a police officer</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">. He took her to the police station where she placed in a holding cell.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />After a couple of hours, the policeman opened the cell door and said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do?' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car!"<br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">As Believers, we are always being watched. Remember that. We are often the only Bible that people will read, and as they say, actions speak louder than words.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-33751714092653154492013-03-26T19:40:00.000-05:002013-03-26T22:47:03.161-05:00What is BLACK and WHITE and RED all over?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMyI9ydh710/UVJqBgt74rI/AAAAAAAAZC0/Xu_FZMvJtrE/s1600/bible&coffeecup+A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMyI9ydh710/UVJqBgt74rI/AAAAAAAAZC0/Xu_FZMvJtrE/s400/bible&coffeecup+A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
There is a saying that goes, "If you cut the bible it bleeds". Ok, so I know it doesn't really bleed, but I do understand what that means; if you cut out the parts you don't like it to try and make you feel comfortable in your sin, the Bible no longer has any life to it and we're seeing that now in the world. Sadly, so many people out there believe that a gray church and a gray doctrine is perfectly fine, when instead, gray is the color of a shroud...the color of death. Even many pastors these days, often of MEGA churches are preaching a different Gospel and a different Jesus than the one actually IN the Bible...in order to not offend anyone.<br />
<br />
Let me tell you an honest to goodness story. Truth because it happened to two very good friends of mine, who were walking in error at the time.<br />
<br />
About 3 years ago, my trusted friend and his now wife, also my trusted friend, were living together, had a child together, were engaged...and were asked to be part of the church ministry at the church they attended. To minister others in the Christian life – when they, themselves, were not living it.<br />
<br />
Their business and spiritual mentor, who is also a business mentor of mine and a pastor in the Dallas area, visited them for a meeting and as my friend was driving him to the airport the next morning, he asked my friend, “What are you doing to your family?” My friend was confused as asked what he meant. The mentor proceeded to tell him how his lifestyle was not only dishonoring to God, but how he was removing blessings from his family’s life by not going by what the Word of God had to say about living together without being married, etc. My friend was so offended by that!<br />
<br />
After he dropped his mentor off he went to the church and said to the PASTOR, “Do you know what I was just told?!” And proceeded to tell the pastor everything that he had been confronted with by someone who saw in black and white, and NOT shades of gray. How he was not living a Godly life, how he was taking blessings away from his family, by living as he was, and he asked the pastor about serving in the church ministry.<br />
<br />
To my shock, as my friend was telling this, he said that the pastor looked at him and said, “Well, that’s ok. God knows your heart. He knows that the two of you are planning to get married. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ...” and stopped right there. It made my friend feel superficially good, but that confrontation really disturbed him and God completely grabbed hold of him, and his fiancée. Moreso her than him at first though and she studied on it and researched it and encouraged him to do the same.<br />
<br />
After really delving into what the Word said, “offensive” and all, he realized that they were indeed living an ungodly life and it angered him because he realized that the pastor was leaving out some of the most important parts of Romans 8 and doing my friend and his family a great disservice spiritually by cutting out the “offensive” parts.<br />
<br />
What he didn’t say to my friend are the verses that continue on to say:<br />
<br />
Romans 3c-17<br />
<em>[c]<u>And so he condemned sin in the flesh</u>, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.</em><br />
<em>5 <u>Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires</u>; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 <u>The mind governed by the flesh is death</u>, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 <u>The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.</u></em><br />
<em>9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.</em><br />
<em><u>12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.</u></em><br />
<em>14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 <u>Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.</u></em><br />
<br />
To hear my friend tell his story is a powerful and emotional thing. A room full of men and women and it’s the men sniffling, because to many of them this hit home. He gets angry. He gets emotional. And he is upset that the person who should have told him, “that guy is right, you are not living as you should and, as such, you and she should not be counseling others until you come right with God and change your ways, according to what God says in His Word”...didn’t. Fell short. Taught the gray shades, instead of the BLACK and WHITE truth. Tried stealing his and his family's destiny in Christ. Complacency is a wonderful tool of the enemy and is colored in gray.<br />
<br />
The Blood shed for you, me, everyone was RED. The Truth of God is BLACK and WHITE. There are no shades of gray. Preachers need to STOP worrying about tickling ears and growing attendance numbers and instead need to be more concerned with winning souls and speaking the BLACK and WHITE and RED Truth. And there is your answer contained in the title...TRUTH, more specifically, GOD'S TRUTH is BLACK and WHITE and RED all over.<br />
<br />
My pastor, whom I love dearly and have known for going on 25 years now, put it best when he talked about going to the church conferences. He said that it is one of the saddest things that he goes to because the first question out of almost every other pastor’s mouth at these things is, “So, how many people attend your church?”, when instead it should be, “How many souls have you saved?” Probably why our church IS fairly large in Austin, without compromising or ear tickling, is because it is one of the churches left here in liberal Austin that preaches and lives out the “offensive” Gospel. No shades of gray. Just BLACK and WHITE and RED TRUTH full of life because the pastor does not cut out parts of the Bible to suit the fickle ear ticklers! He preaches LIFE, not death. <br />
<br />
RED is the color of the Blood that was shed. Blood is LIFE. If you cut the Bible, it bleeds...it bleeds out and the message contained within dies.</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-10847051961390549952013-03-26T13:36:00.000-05:002013-03-26T22:54:48.016-05:00Washed In the Blood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.cinnamonhearts.com/Passover.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cinnamonhearts.com/Passover.JPG" usa="true" /></a></div>
I thought, this being Holy Week, that it would be appropriate to give some insight about Passover from my very dear and recently departed friend, who was a father figure and spiritual mentor to me. He wrote this in 2009, when Passover and the dates were exactly the same as this year (Passover began last night at sundown). I hope you find your understanding of Passover and the sacrificial lamb to be a bit greater after having read this post. Thank you, Jack, for your wisdom and for writing as God lead you over the past 11 years and for your friendship and guildance over the past 10 1/2. You are missed daily more than you know...<br />
<br />
<strong>Washed In the Blood</strong><br />
<br />
Today begins the Passover season which runs for seven days, ending this year on April 2nd.<br />
<br />
Technically, Passover actually began yesterday. The Jewish calendar begins at sundown, rather than sunrise, meaning that Thursday begins Wednesday night. So Passover starts twenty-four times around the world as each time zone views its sunset.<br />
<br />
The Passover story is well known to Christians, primarily as a Jewish holiday. But the Jewish Passover is an integral part of the Christian story. Without Passover, there could be no salvation for the Gentiles.<br />
<br />
At Passover, Jews are asked to see the story as if each of them had been there that night in Egypt. Traditional foods are prepared in advance according to the Haggadah or story of the Exodus.<br />
<br />
With the Haggadah as a guide, Passover has been and is celebrated in pretty much the same manner down through the ages and in every land and every nation.<br />
<br />
Seder customs include drinking of four cups of wine, eating matza (unleavened bread) and partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate.<br />
<br />
The four cups of wine are obligatory; representing four expressions of God's will: "I will bring out"; "I will deliver"; "I will take"; and, "I will Redeem".<br />
<br />
It is also symbolic of the four world ages: this present world, the Messianic Age, the world at the resurrection, and the world to come. (See 2nd Peter 3:10-12)<br />
<br />
The four expressions of God's will find an equal place within Christianity. "I will bring out" (Romans 8:29) "I will deliver" (Galatians 1:4) "I will take" (Romans 11:27) and, "I will Redeem" (Galatians 3:13)<br />
<br />
Christians also know of four 'worlds' this one which we are 'in' but not 'of' the Messianic (Kingdom) Age, the general resurrection of the dead at the Great White Throne and the new heavens and the new earth.<br />
<br />
At the Passover Seder, the youngest present asks the question: "Why is this night different from all other nights?" This is so important that if no children are present, the responsibility falls to the wife or other participants. If a man is alone at Seder, he is obligated to ask the question of himself.<br />
<br />
The Passover involves the retelling of the ten plagues God sent upon Pharoh, including the last and most terrible, the sending of the Angel of Death.<br />
<br />
God told the Jews to smear the blood of a lamb above the doorposts of their homes, which would cause the Angel of Death to 'pass over' those homes which were under Divine protection.<br />
<br />
For centuries, the Jewish Passover concluded with the words, "Next year, in Jerusalem!" symbolizing the Jewish love for the City of God and their longing for the restoration of Temple sacrifice.<br />
<br />
<em>Washed In the Blood of the Lamb?</em><br />
<br />
There is a traditional Christian hymn whose chorus goes like this:<br />
<br />
<em>"Are you washed in the blood, / In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? / Are your garments spotless? / Are they white as snow? / Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"</em><br />
<br />
We've not discussed what that really means in some time now, and there is no better time to discuss it than at Passover. Everything about our understanding of our salvation has its roots in the Jewish sacrificial lamb.<br />
<br />
During the days of Temple worship, a family would offer a Passover lamb for sacrifice at the Temple as covering for the sins of that family. That ritual teaches us much about the love of our Heavenly Father and what the sacrifice of the Lamb of God really means.<br />
<br />
Some weeks before Passover, the head of the household would cull out the most perfect lamb in his flock. To be acceptable, the lamb could not be purchased. It had to be raised by the family.<br />
<br />
The lamb would be brought into the household as a pet. The kids would play with it, wash and groom it, grow attached to it, and even name it, making it a part of the family. It was a necessary element of the sacrifice that the family had to grow to love that particular lamb.<br />
<br />
At the Temple, the head of the household would certify the lamb met all the conditions before accepting it as a sacrifice. The lamb would have a placard put around its neck identifying the sinner for whom it was about to die.<br />
<br />
Here's where this gets hard. The head of the household, (to whom the lamb was a beloved pet) didn't get to just leave the lamb there and go home, like a person dropping off a sick pet at the vets to be euthanized. (Or even one who comforts the pet while the vet does it.)<br />
<br />
It's YOUR sin. It's YOUR sacrifice. So YOU do it.<br />
<br />
The priest would carefully instruct you in the most humane way to conduct the sacrifice, but you had to do it. You would be taught how to gently squeeze off the lamb's jugular with thumb and forefinger until the lamb would pass out.<br />
<br />
Open your mind! See this picture!<br />
<br />
The lamb falls asleep against the sinner's breast like the beloved pet that it has become. Once the lamb was unconscious, the penitent, still holding the lamb's throat, would be instructed on how to insert the knife, nick the jugular and hold the lamb over the laver to catch its blood for the sacrifice.<br />
<br />
As the blood flowed, it would flow OVER the penitent's hands and arms, staining him with the sacrificial blood.<br />
<br />
The lamb's innocent little heart would continue to pump out the blood, which would continue to stain the head of the household until it had pumped its last and the little lamb was dead.<br />
<br />
The priest would hold up the now-dead lamb before the Lord, read the name of the family as it appeared on the placard around its neck, and declare the lamb's 'sins' before the Lord.<br />
<br />
“This lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the Kinsella family,” the priest might intone.<br />
<br />
The family's beloved pet lamb was dead, its blood was sprinkled over the mercy seat of the Ark, and the sins of the family were covered for another year.<br />
<br />
The lamb bore the placard naming the family of sinners. The sinners bore the stains of the blood of the lamb.<br />
<br />
<em>The Lamb of God</em><br />
<br />
<u>"I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:20-21)</u><br />
<br />
In Judea in AD 33, Latin was the language of business, as English is today. But most people grew up speaking Greek, which was the lingua franca, or the common language of the empire, a holdover from the days of Alexander the Great.<br />
<br />
The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Torah, was so translated because more Jews spoke Greek than Hebrew.<br />
<br />
So there was Latin and Greek, and finally, the language of the Jews at the time, which was Aramaic.<br />
<br />
It wasn't the Jews who drove the nails. It was the Romans. While the people cheered in Aramaic and Greek.<br />
<br />
All present had to participate. Had they not, then there could have been no Crucifixion, no Resurrection, no redemption. It was for the SINS of all mankind -- all mankind was represented there.<br />
<br />
"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Assessment:</u></strong><br />
<br />
Above the Cross, Pilate order the following inscription in ALL THREE languages:<br />
<br />
"This is Jesus. King of the Jews."<br />
<br />
Jesus bore the name of the 'family' for which His blood was shed -- it was the Family of Man.<br />
<br />
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)<br />
<br />
God identified His Lamb Whom He loved, and inscribed the sin for which He died, as a substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind.<br />
<br />
Remember, it couldn't be just any Lamb, but it had to be God's Lamb.<br />
<br />
"Thou art My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased." (Mark 1:11)<br />
<br />
This was no humane kosher sacrifice, but a bloody, vicious, violent, painful, tortured and shameful execution at the hands of the very family the Lamb loved so deeply and Who asks only our trust in return.<br />
<br />
When Caiphas objected, asking the inscription be changed to say, “This is Jesus, who CLAIMED to be King of the Jews,” Pilate rebuffed him, saying, “What I have written, I have written."<br />
<br />
For that was the charge against Him for which He was crucified. For the sins of the Jews as their King. For the sins of the Romans as their occupier. And for the sins of mankind as they stood by as spectators. And for you. And for me.<br />
<br />
Jesus is their King, and ours. And God's Lamb.<br />
<br />
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?<br />
<br />
Are YOU washed in the Blood of the Lamb?<br />
Why is this day different than all other days?<br />
<br />
Because it is the day that we learn just how much God loves us. How much He loves YOU.<br />
<br />
At the Passover, God set in motion the sequence of events that would culminate twelve centuries later with the sacrifice of the Pascal Lamb for all mankind.<br />
<br />
And for you. As if you were the only sinner who ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ was sacrificed for YOUR sins.<br />
<br />
That is the God Whom we serve. And that is the weight of our sin before Him.<br />
<br />
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)<br />
<u><strong><br /></strong></u>
<u><strong>Amazing love! How can it be? That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!</strong></u><br />
<br />
Maranatha!</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8227061.post-58933568824972581452013-03-24T23:19:00.000-05:002013-03-24T23:19:40.087-05:00Who are you calling donkey?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiesHY1FgDRqLDsE02lr-tbE2YlMzQ9czd3TBCO-JJGCGBp0hlBUXwoXYiU8QyiUq-xM7rFquup6xc-QLX26MyuevXA4SQjwTYthZdJGnscLf3-yz9vrjh2tgRGRsmmBjy7nA/s1600/Donkey+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiesHY1FgDRqLDsE02lr-tbE2YlMzQ9czd3TBCO-JJGCGBp0hlBUXwoXYiU8QyiUq-xM7rFquup6xc-QLX26MyuevXA4SQjwTYthZdJGnscLf3-yz9vrjh2tgRGRsmmBjy7nA/s320/Donkey+Collage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
There was once a donkey for hire. He was chosen out of the rest of the donkeys to be the one hired out for a day. At the end of the day, the rest of the donkeys asked him how his day went.<br />
<br />
The donkey was thrilled. "It was amazing," he said. "There were crowds lining both sides of the street. They were throwing palm fronds before my feet and shouting 'Hosanna!' as I passed by."<br />
<br />
"You know," said the donkey, "I think they're gonna crown me King."<br />
<br />
The point is obvious. Nobody remembers the donkey. It is the Message he carries that people pay attention to - the donkey is only part of the background. Your life should be about presenting the message that the Lord is preparing to return, not about the donkey carrying that message. The donkey only carried the Message, and so should we all.<br />
<br />
Strive to be the carrier of the message and show by example in our lives how that Message has transformed us, instead of braying like a donkey to bring attention to ourselves. The message we carry is far more important! It's eternal...<br />
</div>
Nichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559149506126040177noreply@blogger.com0