1/13/13

Impossible!!!




Click on the above video to see: Fuzzy Zeller's hole in one!!!

What in the world do a baby seeing a butterfly and a golfing video have in common?  These people are not even anywhere close in age or understanding, yet I have put them together.  The answer is simple: They are both amazed at what they see!!!  About this time, you are probably thinking to yourself that you have seen butterflies and golf shots before and something like "what's the big deal" may be in your mind?  Well, neither your or I have seen EVERYTHING and there is something that I can guarantee that neither of us has seen...

John, Chapter 11
  1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.  2 It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.  3 The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, “Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick.”  4 But when Jesus heard it, he said,“This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”  5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.  6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.  7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.” 

  8  The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” 

  9  Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.   10  But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”   11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.” 

  12  The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 

  13  Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.  14 So Jesus said to them plainly then, “Lazarus is dead.   15  I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him.” 

  16  Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go also, that we may die with him.” 

  17  So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already.  18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away.  19 Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.  20 Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.  22 Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”  23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 

  24  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 

  25  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.   26  Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 

  27  She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.” 

  28  When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here, and is calling you.” 

  29  When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him.  30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.  31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” 32 Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” 

  33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,  34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” 

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 

  35  Jesus wept. 

  36  The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!”  37 Some of them said, “Couldn’t this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?” 

  38  Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” 

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 

  40  Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?” 

  41  So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank you that you listened to me.   42  I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”   43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,“Lazarus, come out!” 

  44  He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. 

Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”

I have never met anyone who could claim that he caused someone to rise from the dead, HAVE YOU???  I know you have not, because if you had, everyone in the world would know about it by now!!!  Yet, many people actually saw this miracle and I wonder why it is that no one cried "fraud" or "fake" or "phony"?  Could it be it was because it was TRUE???  Today, we live in a world that is full of "amazing things", but I ask you: What could be more wonderful than seeing a dead person restored to life?  And NO, I am NOT talking about ZOMBIES!!!  But, a living breathing, normal human being!!!  Still think you have "seen it all" - then your skeptism is beyond belief!!!  No matter WHO you are, you will never be too old or sophisticated or intelligent to be amazed at the power of God to do the impossible.   While it is true that someday we will all die, yet those you follow the one who could do what is described in John eleven above, will live!!! And live FOREVER!!!  WOW!!! Think about THAT!!!!

GIVE THEM A HAND


Spending Time with Jim McGuiggan

GIVE THEM A HAND

Michael Caine began his climb to movie stardom with his part in the movie Zulu. Perhaps you’ll remember that it centers round a relative handful of soldiers in a "fort" (a clearing with a number of farm buildings in it) fighting a series of pitched battles against a Zulu host that compared with them was too large to calculate. After every attack they had fewer men and the central area grew smaller. When the scene is set for the final Zulu attack that would over-run the garrison, maybe a dozen troops fully purposed to die before tamely surrendering or running away. It was then that what they feared most appeared. Instead of many numerous smaller units attacking various points as before the whole Zulu force silently appeared on the top of the hill that ran round one side of the collection of buildings that was their fort. For the first time the soldiers realized the size of their enemy, now seeing it in one vast gathering. The enemy stood silently looking down on them, letting them sense the full strength of the force against them, the force they had been refusing to give in to. Then the whole multitude of warriors began to chant/sing in that awesome way of theirs; both lovely and spine-tingling, thunderous, rhythmic and musical—but awesome!
Shaken to the core the remnant then heard a Zulu chief call to them with words they thought were insult and threats. But one who knew the country and knew the Zulus put them at ease by telling them that he was praising their courage and that this whole exhibition of song and sermon was a hymn to their gallantry. The Zulu host walked away shaking their heads in admiring disbelief and left the handful their lives. That single scene made enduring the whole movie worthwhile. You don’t have to agree with war to applaud courage and you don’t have to think weapons settle anything to rise to your feet to praise gallantry. [And weapons don't settle anything! I know there'smore to be said about that but this isn't the place.]
Moral and spiritual battles are no less real, no less fierce and certainly no less prolonged than the other wars. There are those among us who are privileged to follow the Lord Jesus who make daily war against besetting sins that threaten to entirely unravel them. Sins that would suck the courage right out of them and lead them to abject despair because they seem to overcome the battlers with such contemptuous ease no matter how earnestly they vow to win the next encounter.
Time and time and time again they suffer loss but refuse to give up the citadel of the soul. There are people who live under the toughest circumstances and face the temptation to quit the struggle, spit in the eye of God and let their passions and their weariness be their lord. But here they come again, crawling up to the barricade to take their place with others in opposing the enemy. And then there are those--God bless them!--that wrestle with sinister drives that they refuse to allow to become besetting sins.
To love those who love us is not particularly difficult. Jesus knew that and wanted to know, "If you love only those who love you, what do you do more than 'outsiders'?" He doesn't despise us for loving those who love us--he fully expects it from us. But does he not expect more from us he has called by his gospel to be his Body, to live in his image? There must be more to life in the Lord Jesus, more to furthering his purpose than being polite to the Walmart check out lady or loving our adorable children, as non-Christians in their millions do.
What do you make of those who remain Christlike who live next door to "neighbors from hell"? What do you say about those who fight sinister inner drives they never asked for and fight them not for a day or a month or two but for years, for a lifetime? What are we to think of the impoverished and crushed who simply will not allow these things to lead them to covenant infidelity.

If you know some of them, give them a hand. Look for them tomorrow as you Commune with the Lord Jesus because they'll be there; gallant as ever. But don't leave them struggling on their own. These are the unsung heroes of the world. George Adam Smith was right on target when he said this.
"What starved garrison, that marched from its inviolate fortress with all the honors of war and to the admiration of its foes, ever deserved half the glory...which thousands of tempted souls deserve...who hold the fortresses of their lonely lives against the devils of dishonesty and greed and lust. And yet you have strong men whining to-day all the world over—and some of them parading their whines in literature—that the temptations of their strength are too great for them; and slipping off into the pleasant mire with the cry, I cannot help it. What forgetfulness! What cowardice!"

Bible Reading, Jan. 13


Jan. 13
Genesis 13

Gen 13:1 Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.
Gen 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
Gen 13:3 He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
Gen 13:4 to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh.
Gen 13:5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
Gen 13:6 The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together.
Gen 13:7 There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in the land at that time.
Gen 13:8 Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives.
Gen 13:9 Isn't the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left."
Gen 13:10 Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
Gen 13:11 So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Gen 13:12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
Gen 13:13 Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.
Gen 13:14 Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
Gen 13:15 for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever.
Gen 13:16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered.
Gen 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth; for I will give it to you."
Gen 13:18 Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.


Jan. 13,14
Matthew 7

Mat 7:1 "Don't judge, so that you won't be judged.
Mat 7:2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
Mat 7:3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.
Mat 7:6 "Don't give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Mat 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Mat 7:12 Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Mat 7:13 "Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.
Mat 7:14 How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.
Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree can't produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that doesn't grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.
Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?'
Mat 7:23 Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'
Mat 7:24 "Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.
Mat 7:25 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Mat 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.
Mat 7:27 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell-and great was its fall."
Mat 7:28 It happened, when Jesus had finished saying these things, that the multitudes were astonished at his teaching,
Mat 7:29 for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.