JUDGMENT: The problem with throwing darts!

"But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God."

Romans 14:10

Sally, a grad student, had one teacher who was known for elaborate object lessons. She relates an experience from one of his classes.

One day the students knew they were in for fun day. On the wall was a large target; on a nearby table was a supply of darts.

The instructor told the students to draw a picture of someone they disliked or made them angry. They would be allowed to throw darts at the picture.

Sally's friend drew a picture of a girl who stole her boyfriend. Another friend, drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into the drawing.

The class lined up and took turns throwing darts. There was a lot of laughter. Some threw their darts with great force and emotion.

Sadly, because of time limits, Sally did not get her turn. She returned to her seat disappointed. She was now angry with her teacher and wished she could throw darts at him.

The instructor waited until everyone was seated before taking down the bull’s-eye. A hush fell over the room as a mangled picture of Jesus was revealed – holes and jagged marks covered His face, His eyes were almost eradicated.

The teacher said quietly, “to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” No other words were necessary.

I don’t have anything to add to this illustration … I’m not certain it’s true or from the Chicken Soup series, but that makes no difference, its message is profound.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Judgment, Religion

JUDGMENT: Good or Evil Twin!

"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."

Matthew 25:32-33

Los Angeles County (California) deputies mistook Ray Nugent, for his fraternal twin brother, Jay, a federal fugitive wanted on bank robbery charges.

County supervisors are expected to approve a $150,000 settlement for Nugent, who spent 13 days in jail after being mistakenly identified as his fraternal twin brother, a federal fugitive suspected and bank robber.

“It was an unfortunate mistake,” principal Deputy County Counsel Roger Granbo told a local newspaper. “This was a very unusual case in which the FBI was looking for this guy, and we had his twin brother in custody.” Granbo said that “once the Sheriff’s Department confirmed he was not the person wanted in the warrant, it took them four days to release him, and that’s why we settled the case.”

“I never really got upset with my brother,” Nugent said. “Anybody can see that we don’t look alike. What really got me upset was that they made me a criminal because of what my twin brother did. They said, if I have a twin brother who did that, I must be like him too. It’s that mentality that disturbs me.” [“Good, evil twin: jail mix-up”; MSNBC/KNBC Channel 4 Los Angeles, November 30, 1999 at http://www.msnbc.com/local/knbc/275230.asp]

When we come before the Judge of judges none of God’s deputies will mistake the sheep from the goats.

No one will stand in the wrong line due to a bureaucratic error; no representative of heaven will appear before reporters to say, “It was an unfortunate mistake.”

And, praise be to God, no one will ever find us guilty by association. Just because we have brothers and sisters who’ve never been bathed in the precious blood of the Lamb, no will ever say to those who have, “If they aren’t then must not be either.”

We are in the hands of Almighty God whose Book of Life is written without error and whose Book of the Dead will clearly separate all goats from every sheep.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Judgment, Religion

SIN: The Most Deadly Virus Known to Man!

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ... "

Romans 3:23

Strains of what is believed to be the most deadly virus on earth have been discovered, British scientists announced recently. Dubbed the "Spanish flu," the virus struck the world in 1918, killing over 40 million people.

Initial examinations of the virus have already provided clues as to what made it so lethal, The London Times reports. The strain of influenza was believed to have become extinct in the 1920s, however a team of researchers has isolated it in the frozen bodies of six young coal miners buried on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen.
Researchers had long suspected the virus might be preserved in bodies buried above the Arctic Circle. Fragments of the virus have been found before, but never in an organ other than the lungs.

Scientists may now trace how the virus spread throughout the body. They are currently working to map the bug's RNA, which should identify what made it so deadly. [By Discovery.com News Brief; November 16, 1999]

Wouldn’t it be fascinating if we could look for and find the bug we call sin? This bug has probably killed billions. Perhaps we could find it in the bodies of those we call sinners – the lost who’ve died? Then we could find out what makes it so lethal and why it spreads so rapidly throughout the body of man. Then we could find a vaccine for it! Right?

Wrong! The Bible already tells us what causes sin and why it spreads so rapidly throughout the body of man. God says it’s a heart condition; He says it’s because of foolish pride and rebellion that we’ve seen countless thousands perish daily in their sins.

Oh, the virus itself and its affects are preserved in the bodies of those who’ve died in their sins. God will reveal them on judgment day. No scientist will be needed to find them, they will be self-apparent.

Christianity, Illustrations,
Religion, Sin

JUDGMENT: Guilty as charged!

"… on the day when … God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus."

Romans 2: 16

The news media reported that Jeremy Strohmeyer – a California teenager who avoided the death penalty by confessing to the brutal rape and murder of a 7-year-old (Sherrice Iverson) in a Nevada casino – was seeking a new trial. Strohmeyer, of Long Beach, California, said his attorney, Leslie Abramson, bullied him into accepting the plea bargain.

Strohmeyer was convicted of murder in a Clark County, Nev., court and sentenced to life in prison a year ago. He has since filed a petition for a new trial.

“In attempting to convince Strohmeyer to take the plea, Abramson resorted to blatantly emotional attacks, telling him he was guilty, that he deserved to be punished and that he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison,” according to the petition. A judge will consider his petition Jan. 10, 2000. Abramson said she had not seen the petition and declined to comment.

The former straight-A student blamed drugs and alcohol – and his genes – for contributing to the murder. Strohmeyer, who had been chasing Sherrice around a game room for children, followed her into restroom, where he strangled and raped her.

The Bible says, "… it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

Unlike, the courts of man, at God’s judgment bar there’ll be no appeals, no new trials, no attorney’s pleading, no delays, and no excuses; there will be no drugs, genes, neighbors or parents to blame.

The Bible says, the books will be opened and every man’s deeds, whether good or evil, will be laid bare (Ecclesiastes 12:14); God's decision will be final. No one in Hell will be able to shake a fist at Heaven and claim, “This is a mistake, I don’t belong here!”

Christianity, Illustrations,
Judgment, Religion

CONFLICT: Defined As "To Strike Together"; Pro or Con

IT'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE: [Ephesians 4:1-3]

During the football season, we are witnesses to a wonderful illustration of conflict resolution. The ball carrier (ball firmly tucked under his bent elbow, fingers firmly over the end of the pigskin) is hit violently; the ball spurts from his grasp and bounds randomly first here and then there.

Three seconds elapse and the ball will have traveled no more than thirty yards, but not necessarily in your preferred direction.

Three more seconds slip away and the ball is smothered under a dozen testosterone factories, housed in two to three tons of male flesh, but not necessarily in the possession of your man.

One by one the component parts of the pile are pealed off, top to bottom. Finally, the pile is whittled down to a few hot, struggling bodies until the player with legal possession of the ball is identified. By this time another six seconds has gone by and in professional sports, time is valuable.

A similar thing happens in conflict resolution. By the time referees get to the scene of a conflict the combatants are struggling fiercely and its cause is buried beneath a heap of time, circumstances, contributing factors, participants, situational milieus, and temperaments. Before the cause can be identified, each component of the pile must be pealed off from top to bottom, one by one. By now, a lot of time has passed and in the game of life, time is precious.

Communicating the need for patience to the combatants by a referee is essential to the process and its success.

FLOOD - Don't ever do that again!

DIVINELY HIDDEN SPIGOTS! [Genesis chapters 5-8; Other topics - judgment]

A few years ago, Scientists researching ice flows in the Whitmore Mountains of West Antarctica discovered an active volcano under mile thick ice. Ice melt from the volcano’s heat is evidently soaking the surrounding ground and lubricating nearby ice streams. These phenomena led to the volcano’s discovery.

The West Antarctica ice sheets are of critical importance to oceanic research … you see its base is below sea level, the only one of its kind, making it intrinsically perilous. Global sea levels would increase by as much as 20 feet were the ice sheet to collapse.

Science is a two-edged neighbor of biblical truth: on the one hand, its discoveries and theories often cause the questioning of Scripture; on the other hand, it continues to reveal secrets which provide plausible insights into events buried in the dust of the ages.

For the sake of discussion, let’s say not only do the ice sheets of South Pole collapse but those of the north melt as well. If one sheet can raise the sea level an average 20 feet, how much might the content of dozens?

Biblically speaking, the Great Flood did not take place in this way but it certainly allows one to see the possibility of the flood actually happening … a thing I don’t doubt, with or without the revelations of science.

END TIMES / ESCHATOLOGY: The Really Last Days!

As & Cs ARE HERE, BUT THE Bs ARE MISSING (Where Will All the Flowers Go?) [1 Thessalonians 4:17; other topics - Pre-Trib, Rapture] (New 31 May 2007)

A recent report by Joel Garreau, a WaPo Staff Writer, gives us some food for thought. I found this very interesting ... explains how God could bring about an end to runaway Western materialism. Garreau writes ...

In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," just before Earth is destroyed to make way for a hyperspatial express route, all the dolphins in the world disappear, leaving behind just the message: "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

Now, around the world, honeybees are vanishing en masse, leaving their humans engaged in a furious attempt to figure out the meaning of their exodus. Entire colonies are following the Shakespearean stage direction, "Exeunt omnes." They're flying off and not returning. Commercial beekeepers open their hives and find them empty except for a queen, a few immature bees and abundant honey and pollen. The rest of the bees are simply gone, leaving behind not even dead bodies.

A third of our food supply - including much of the boredom-relieving stuff, from cranberries to cucumbers - is dependent on animal pollinators like the honeybee. As a result, this mystery is rapidly joining the all-star ranks of millennial end-time run-for-your-lives threats, right up there with Y2K, mad cow disease, West Nile virus, SARS and avian flu.

Of equal note is the way the bees are setting a new standard in human emotional resonance. Absolutely no one yet knows why the bees are checking out, though not for lack of abundant effort on the part of the world's scientists. This dearth of data allows us to project our greatest anxieties onto the bees.

No bees, no pollen; no pollen, no flowers; no flowers, no agri-business; no agri-business, no shirt ... and as the old saying goes, no shirt, no service.

Source link >>>

TAGS:
Bees, Great Tribulation, Left Behind, Rapture, Science

DEVELOPED NATION’S PROBLEM [2 Timothy 3:1ff; Sin; Social & Moral Values; Youth]

In a poll conducted by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal “three out of four respondents said they didn’t trust politicians when they talked about social and moral values."

The public’s apparent contentment with the state of the nation and its economic prosperity appears to have been shaken, partly as a result of a spate of murders by students at public schools from Pearl, Miss., in 1997 to last April’s massacre in Littleton, Colo. "Youth violence" was ranked highest among respondents’ personal concerns about American society.

“By a lopsided margin -83 percent- the Americans surveyed in the poll agreed that ‘parents not paying enough attention to what’s going on in their children’s lives’ has become a ‘very serious problem.’

“More than two out of three poll respondents said that ’the influence of sexually explicit or violent media on children’ has become a ‘very serious’ social problem. And 63 percent identified ‘the high rate of divorce and the breakup of families’ as a very serious problem for American society.

“When asked what change in American society over the past 15 or 20 years has most disturbed them, the highest number of respondents cited ‘the lack of respect for authority and elders.’

“The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey was conducted by pollsters Peter Hart and Robert Teeter. They surveyed 2,011 adult Americans between June 16 and June 19. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percent.”

I was told many years ago that third world and underdeveloped nations don’t have the problems with their children like we have with ours.

[Adapted: Tom Curry, MSNBC, June 24 (1999)]

FEATHERED STOWAWAY [Matthew 22:11-14; other topics - Day of the Lord, Wedding Feast, Preparation]

Steve Harvey writes a weekly humor and miscellany column, “Only In LA,” for the L. A. Times. In his July 24th column he tells the story of a fine-feathered friend who found himself in a place where he was not welcome.

It seems the small bird stowed away on an Air Canada flight before leaving Los Angeles International Airport. He either had help or imitated a passenger so well no one noticed. Once discovered, the pilot announced the unwelcomed guest would be put off upon landing and the door would be shut forever to reentry.

In another place and another time, there will be those who will want to join a wedding party; they will be denied entry ... because they won’t have the right ticket. Others will attempt to gain entry through stealth, but their clothing will reveal them as uninvited guests. They, like the bird above will each and every one be put out and the door will be shut forever to entry.

NO ESCAPE! [1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; other topics - Day of the Lord, Judgment, Second Coming]

Recently, The Los Angeles Times (May 7, 2002, A10) reported on a Palestinian thief who has single-handedly embarrassed the entire Israeli security service. Mahmoud abu Jamous, 31, a kind of local folk hero and jailbird, recently escaped from an elaborate security effort while being transported from one jail to another. Abu Jamous was locked inside a special cage, inside an armored police van, with leg restraints and handcuffs, and watched by no less than 10 prison guards. What’s more, his vehicle was preceded and followed by two other security vehicles.

The sad but comical part of this fiasco is that none of the security personnel noticed the felon was missing. A motorist called the local police and reported that he saw Abu Jamous drop from a barred window of the van and run away. He’s not been seen since.

Paul tells of another day when all of the world’s security systems will fail. He writes:

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” [1 Thessalonians 5:1-3]

There will be no folk heroes among the unrighteous who will escape; no one is going to slip out a window unnoticed.

NOTHING BUT THE SKIN ON YOUR BACK [Revelation 13:1; other topics - Nakedness, Old Nature, Sin]

Reuters News Service reported “a naked man was found dead [July 6, 1999] on the back of a killer whale in the tank at SeaWorld Orlando.” The man was found laying nude on the whale’s back - absent any signs of trauma. He evidently hid until after the amusement park was closed.

Many in the world think life is just one big amusement park, where they can play and play to their hearts content. They think they can play with the beasts and hide while they do it. But like this man, they will end up naked and dead on the back of a beast that has risen up from the sea.

SOME PEOPLE ARE REALLY HARD HEADED! [Matthew 5:30 & Revelation 6:15-17; Hope, Hopelessness]

CNN recently reported on a Pennsylvania construction worker who inadvertently severed his hand with a power saw; then repeatedly shot himself in the head with a nail gun, apparently hoping to stop the pain. The young man had no fewer than a dozen 1-inch nails protruding from his skull, reports said. Thankfully, surgeons reattach his hand. The twenty-five-year old was hospitalized in stable condition. [excerpted from CNN, 25 January 2001]

This is no joke. More than once construction work supported my family while a bivocational pastor … personal experience reminds me how easy one can be injured in this demanding work. Thank God He made some of our heads harder than others.

The shock and despair at the moment of a severe injuries are extreme; first a sense of stupidity arises, then despair … the more serious the injury, the greater the despair. Obviously, this fellow’s despondency exceeded his wound.

When Christ comes again, however, more than a few people are going to wish they had severed offending hands, when they had the chance; their despair will be so great they’ll hope more than a nail gun to assaults their heads.

VEILED: [Hebrews 10:19-20; other topics - Separation, Veil]

A lens cover not only protects a camera's lens but it prevents the camera from seeing the scene right in front of its eye.

In the same way, the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies prevents anyone seeing the scene right in front of them.

Remove the lens and voilà, the panorama unfolds as a image within the camera. Likewise, remove the veil and there is no more separation between man and God. [New 20 February 2007]

TAGS:
Christianity, End-times, Separation, Veil

Jesus (the Christ)

Bad News – Good News [John 3:16, 17; other topics - Judgment, Redemption, Second Coming]

The Grabouw Journal, a South African news journal, reports the story of Roger Russell, an activist crime-fighter. In August, 1999, Russell began a 2,800-mile walk around South Africa to focus attention on the nation’s infamous crime rate; his second day out he was mugged. He wasn’t out to judge the guilty, just bring an end to crime.

The Journal said, “It was either an awful start or the best one he could have hoped for.” You see Russell is down but not out; he’s coming back to finish what he started.

God announced in various ways, over hundreds of years, He wanted to relieve man of his sin-burden; He told us in advance He would send a Savior, a Deliverer, a Redeemer, a Shepherd, and a Messiah. When He did, He sent His Son, who came in the flesh and dwelt among us [John 1:14], to focus attention on the world’s infamous sin rate. He didn’t come to judge the world but to save the world.

At the Lord’s first attempt to reach sinful man, man attacked Him rather than receive Him … oh, He was down but not out; He’s coming again to finish what he started, only this time it’ll be to judge the world [John 5:29; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:6,7].

[Adapted from “Reality Check for Anti-crime Trekker” by Ian Fisher, NY Times on the Web, (September 11, 1999)]


Fire Power [Acts 4:12; Lordship, Sovereignty]

In a world where numbers and possessions mean power, is it any wonder the subject of Jesus receives a cool reception?

Many are uninterested in the Good News because Jesus does not command divisions or carry a gun or have his stock listed on the NYSE or hold a Ph.D. or have a corporate title. The world doesn’t want to know who Jesus is; they want to know how much fire power He possesses.

THIS LIGHT CANNOT BE STOPPED … THANK GOD! [John 1:9; other topics - Christ; Sovereignty]

The New York Times reports researchers have slowed light to a dead stop, stored it, and then released it, as if it were an ordinary material particle. These reports are fascinating for anyone who knows a little about light but … there is another Light, a True Light, and no scientist will every exist who can stop Him … let alone treat Him as if He were “ordinary material particle”!

The is nothing ordinary about the True Light!

Judgment

Sorry, Didn’t Recognize You [Matthew 7:22-23; other topics - Omniscience]

A middle-aged woman had a heart attack; while on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God, she asks, “Is this it? Am I dead?” God answers, "No, you’ve another 30 to 40 years to live.”

The lady recovers quite we’ll and decides to stay in the hospital for a facelift, some tummy-tucking, a hair-root dye, and some well place lipo-suction. She figures since she’s got a lot more life to live she might as well make the most of it.

Leaving the hospital after recuperating, she is hit by an ambulance. She arrives at the Great White Throne Judgment in heaven and asks, “What happened? I thought you said I had another 30 to 40 years?” But God replies, "Sorry - I simply didn’t recognize you.”

There’s going to be no problem being identified at the Sheep-Goat judgment. Even those who come in the Name of the Lord, protesting their faith, but uncovered by the Blood of the Lamb, will be found out! And Jesus will say to these: "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS."

[Adapted from JokesEveryDay; 8/31/99]

Atonement

Accounts Payable [Romans 5:6, 8 (4:3); other topics - Debt; Judgment]

Floyd has come and gone! And the total destruction has yet to be realized ... the cost has yet to be tallied!

Every night the evening news presents another vignette of another farmer or business woman or senior couple who’ve lost everything. They each have the same lament, “I’ve lost everything, I don’t know how I’ll ever pay the debt.” These people are like the rest of us, we’re all up to our ears in debt. The combined effort of the government, their families, their friends, and their churches will fall short of what is needed.

Such is the condition of all mankind. So many stand on the threshold of God’s judgment it’s hard to comprehend. Coming are the waters of wasted lives, tornadoes of eternal torment, and the horrors of hell’s fire!

Our sins are like lava spewing from the mouth of an evil mountain, flowing slowly down hill, swallowing anything and everything in its path. But still the unbeliever, the doubter, and the mocker don’t see it coming! When they do, it’ll be too late; and when the bill is tallied ... it will be more than they can afford.

And yet while we were still in our sins, Christ died for us. And for those who will but believe, like Abram, God will reckon it as righteousness to our account.


Temporal Bouquet from an Eternal Florist! [Leviticus 26:39; other topics – Sanctification, Sin nature]

I ‘m told most people in 16th Century England got married in June because they took their annual bath in May. It seems they still smelled pretty good in June. Still, many were starting to ripen, so brides began carrying a bouquet of flowers to hide the aromas. [Adapted from Life in the 1500's, author unknown]

Christ is God’s supernatural bouquet for believers; He covers our sins and hides our natural odor.

Works

Nothing but the Truth [Ecclesiastes 12:14; other topics - Deeds, Good & Evil, Hidden things, Judgment, Sin, Word]

In the US, citizens and officials have grown concerned about the tragic circumstances surrounding a place called The Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas.

Apparently not all of what was reported by those in charge in 1993 was all that should have been reported about the assault on the armed compound. There were calls for an independent investigation into what happened.

Agencies of our government assaulted the compound leaving 86 people dead, 24 of them children. Although it took place several years before, it returned to the headlines when the FBI admitted it had used incendiary devices during the assault which destroyed the compound by fire ... something they had denied.

As of today, there is new information that U.S. Attorney General Reno, who heads the Justice Department, may have been kept in the dark about some aspects of the siege. The Dallas Morning News reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston made the claim based on a five-year-old document he was given. The record indicates the use of potentially flammable tear gas at the compound be kept secret from all but the legal staff at Justice.

No special prosecutor, no special investigation, no review of the facts will be necessary on the Great Day of the Lord. God will simply open the books and present the facts. Nothing will be hidden from His sight [Hebrews 4:12-13].

The Bible tells us ... "God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."

Resurrection

Dead or Alive? [Hebrews 9:27; other topics - Eternity; Life (after death)]

Television commercials showing famous actors such as Fred Astaire, dancing with a vacuum cleaner; Humphrey Bogart, hustling jewelry; and John Wayne; hawking Coors beer, can be powerful sales tools. Although these particular ads were authorized by relatives, every so often advertisers will simply pirate a celebrity’s likeness to move a product.

In California, where Hollywood has clout, a bill is working its way through the state legislature which would provide protection for dead icons. Among the key proponents are actress Janet Leigh and Astaire’s widow, Robyn. “Celebrities have control over their images when they’re alive and we ought to give them that same control when they are dead,” said state Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, author of the California bill. As Leigh put it, “My image is my product, my franchise, my commodity.”

Perhaps someone should go to the Actors Guild and tell those folks what is really important after death.

[Adapted from Jeff Wilson, “Digital technology raises questions as it raises the dead,” AP/MSNBC, 7/8/99]