ATONEMENT: The greatest gift to another!

"... I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:20b

Back in 1999 the evening news aired a 911 emergency call. A handicapped child’s mother {Ed note: she had stayed with her son even though she could have gotten out herself} could be heard comforting her son as fire invaded the room where they were hiding.

Right to the last you heard her comforting him soothingly, “Hang on honey, I’m not leaving you.” She died along with the boy.

Moses spoke for the Lord when he said, “the LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed.” [Deuteronomy 31:8]

We have the promise of the ages; if God were going to abandon us He would have done so in the Garden. The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place, the whole time telling His disciples to: “Hang on, I’m not leaving you!”

Atonement, Christianity,
Illustrations, Religion

SANCTITY OF LIFE: Ultimate Peer Pressure!

A few years ago an Illinois man was sentenced to life in prison for intimidating his wife to suicide … making him what's believed to be the first person convicted under a law which says it's a felony to induce anyone to take their own life.

The teaching of Darwinist evolution and post-modern relativism (combined with abortion, euthanasia, and public exhibitionism) have so cheapened human life it has lost its God given value to mankind.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Religion, Sanctity of Life

LIFE: It's How We Finish That Makes A Difference!

"… his wife … looked back; and she became a pillar of salt"

Genesis 19:26

"We have finished our years like a sigh."

Psalm 90:9

"Remember … your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, 'I have no delight in them.'”

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Philippians 1:21

Auto racing is well known all over. In fact it is one of the most successful sporting endeavors in the world, with attendance statistics that are the envy of many sports entrepreneurs.

Professional racing teams spend a lot of time perfecting their skills: terrifying turns, speeds that would paralyze an ordinary driver, and terrible crashes are every day occurrences at the track.

The last ten miles, I am told, are the best – especially in a long race – just lasting to cover those final ten miles is something unique. Drivers say the strain of all that preceded those last ten miles is worth the rush of adrenaline and the excitement.

[Provided by subscriber Merilyn Derkson, Chaplain of Broadway Pentecostal Lodge, Vancouver, BC; edited for publication]

Life should be like an auto race; we should get pleasure out of the race, but the last few miles should be our greatest joy.

A friend says she wants to take a Caribbean cruise … NOW! She doesn’t want to wait until she has to be pushed up the ramp in a wheelchair! What a pessimistic attitude. Those seasoned years should be looked forward to.

The wagon trains which came West, to settle this continent, had joyful people looking forward toward new hills, new experiences, and the thrill of opening up a new land; they also had mournful people looking backward at what was left behind.

Are we like the latter, sadly looking out the rear window of life – saying, “If only … ! If only …!”? Or are we on the bench seat, holding the reins, looking in awe at what life has yet to bring our way?

Christianity, Illustrations, Religion

DEPRAVITY: Fruit Direct from Eden's Garden

THERE’S A FUNGUS AMONG US! [1 Thessalonians 5:21,22]

Recently, one of the network news magazines presented a special report on a problem some people were having with potent form of fungus. The focus of the show was a Texas family who’d been run out of their home because of this particular mold. In fact, over a few years, several family members had become mysteriously and gravely ill from this creeping, crawling crud.

A video tape of the residence revealed the presence of the fungi in every dark place, in every location, anywhere microscopic amounts of moisture might be, on wood, on plastic, on drywall, behind painted surfaces, in concrete floors, in every room in the house, this killer lurked. The only known cure for the infection was removal and disposal; burning evidently being the only permanent treatment for the affected materials.

Any mature minded thinking person has to see the parallel of this natural occurring disease with our nation’s unnatural preoccupation with pornography. Reports give us a picture of a domestic industry (i.e., sans international revenues) with revenues in the billions of dollars; other reports have provided estimates of the domestic “hit” rate on pornographic Internet sites … the traffic is staggering.

If any are dim-witted enough to believe the problem is unique to the Catholic priesthood, they are monumental fools. The Southern Baptist Convention numbers its living ministers in the tens of thousands; statistically, it is impossible, let alone improbable, that the Convention is untouched by this menace.

Just this week a Southern Baptist church in Kansas had to remove its youth pastor due to a problem with male pornography. The church devastated. And, in this spiritual war, his wife and two children are considered collateral damage.

All over America, families and churches are being destroyed by our cultural depravity. In every corner of our society, in every household, in every dark place where evil lurks, residents of this once great nation are falling victim to this slippery, slimy spiritual sewage.

What hope do we have? Is there anything we can do to stop it? Paraphrasing the hymnist, “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Yet every untainted child of God must cry out with a voice united against this evil and purge it from our lives and land.

Source: Toxic Mold

GOD-KNOWLEDGE OF: Knowing the Unknowable by Faith!

JUST THE TIP! [1 Corinthians 13:12]

We are told, by those who know, that the visible tip of an iceberg is less than one-third of its total mass.

Our relationship with God is like that: what we see is very little compared to what is available.

We ought to be grateful for the privilege of being able to stand on what we can see, after all God was under no obligation to reveal Himself at all. O' the joy of knowing that our God, in all His glory, is far more than we can imagine or grasp.

GOOD NEWS - The Gospel according to God!

HALF NOT TOLD! [Matthew 26:42; Hope, Peace]

Paul Harvey relates half the story to get his listeners’ attention, to stimulate their curiosity … then he tells “The rest of the story.”

The Queen of Sheba didn’t know she had only heard half the story. She told Solomon, “the half was not told to me” … but the half which was told greatly stimulated her curiosity.

The similarities between Sheba as a seeker of truth and spiritual seekers of every age is amazing. There have been times when the half of the gospel has been told and searchers have come from all over to get “the rest of the story”: Moody, Finney, Edwards, Luther, Wesley, Whitefield, Calvin, Spurgeon, Graham … etc. And countless multitudes have followed their lead.

Haven’t you found the Good News to be much more than you were told? It was told to you that you would peace that passes understanding, but the peace was better than you imagined!

Weren’t we told Jesus would never forsake us or depart from us? We believed that but didn’t understand the half of it! Isn’t hope a by-product of the Good News? But the hope we have is beyond description.

Half the story was the best thing we’d ever heard … until we heard the rest of the story! We can’t exhaust the wonders of God … the finite cannot but hear less than all the truth!

Loneliness

Lonely Heart’s Club [Hebrews 6:19-20; other topics - Burdens; Hope]

A lonely heart placed a personal ad in an unnamed Yorkshire, England, paper; he sought to meet a lady for outings and friendship. This poor soul received one reply - from his mother.

Jesus tells us to come unto Him if we are weary and heavy laden. For those of us who’ve “been there, done that,” the hope we have in our Lord is powerful beyond belief. Though times and circumstances assault us, the Lord’s solid foundation withstands the mightiest of storms.

How sad it is that generation after generation, in some families, passes on this hopelessness as their legacy. Truly the sins of the parents are visited to the kids to the third and fourth generations.

[Adapted from CHESTERFIELD & DRONFIELD GAZETTE (UK); 20th MAY 1988]

Restoration

No Greener Grass [Amos 9:11-15]

In marriage counseling it's imperative to show both parties that there is no grass on the other side of the hill any greener than the grass in their own front lawn.

The real problem is to remind them that marriage, like grass, must be watered in order to stay green; likewise that it must be mowed and trimmed regularly. In a similar way, weeds get in and must be pulled-out or eradicated. And couples must understand some grasses go dormant once in awhile.

Maintaining a marriage is much like yard care; when all is said and done, hard work pays off.

ASSURANCE: Sweet, sweet comfort!

Going Once, Twice! [John 3:3; 14:6]

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a 79-year-old widower is offering to give his $375,000 estate to any church whose pastor can give him some answers about eternity. The Associated Press reports Clayton Goward isn’t on good terms with his children; so he is inviting clergy from a number of different churches to a forum on the afterlife. He hopes someone can enlighten him and make him feel better about facing eternity.

Sadly, not a few will be unable to do so. Many members of the clergy take people to an office in a building when they ought to take them to Jesus … only Jesus can give assurance concerning eternity, only the Holy Spirit can enlighten our souls.

[Adapted from “Questions About Life After Death Worth Money,” © 1999 American Family Radio News Network]

One Hole You Can't Get Out Of! [John 14:6]

People in America have long had a love affair with their cars but none to compare with those who own an off-road vehicle; ORV clubs abound for really serious owners.

A member of one such club recently requested he be buried in his four-wheel drive truck because, as he put it, "I ain't never been in a hole it couldn't get me out of."

Well, that 4x4 ain't gonna get him outa hell, but Jesus can!

Assurance, Christianity,
Illustrations, Religion