Victory Living In Today's World

The Journey Called LIFE!

2011-06-18T14:48:00.002-04:00

Ecc. 4:9-10 "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

In John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is blessed with two friends for his journey to the Celestial City: Faithful and Hopeful. At one point in the story, Christian and Hopeful are captured by Giant Despair and locked away in Doubting Castle. The symbolic names give wise counsel. Faith and hope are key companions when we encounter the twin destroyers of doubt and despair - especially in these desperate days of economic catastrophes and natural disasters.

Bunyan's allegory of the believer's struggle through life toward heaven poignantly illustrates the difficult journey we face. But the indispensable lesson of faith and hope through Pilgrim's traveling companions reminds believers of another important truth: We need friends along life's path to pick us up when we fall, encouraging us to keep on keeping on.

No burden is too great to carry with the promise of John 14, "Let not your hearts be troubled..." and encouraging friends who help turn our despair into joy and doubt into a stronger faith and hope. Look around your path of life, there is always someone who needs encouragement. There is always someone who needs someone who cares.

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T12:07:00.004-04:00

Nearby Harrisburg, close to Gettysburg is a monument. What a tremendous soldier, her name was Sallie. Long before females were ever allowed into the armed forces, Sallie was on the battlefield.

It was the 1st month of the Civil War, and the newly formed 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment drilled on the fairgrounds. A civilian presented a wicker basket to the captain of this regiment. Within the basket was a four-week old, pug-nosed, black female terrier. The regiment named her after the most beautiful girl in a nearby village. They called her Sallie.

The dog discovered that she had hundreds of friends. She soon became their regiment's mascot.

She learned the drum roll that announced reveille. At roll call, she was always the first on the parade ground. In marching drills, she would find one of the soldiers and march along side. During dress parades, she located the regimental colors and marched beneath them. While in camp, she slept by the captain's tent.

When the fighting started, she stayed with the colors until one of the regiment's men was wounded. She would then race to his side and remain there until the medics took the wounded man away. She fought in some of the greatest battles of the Civil War: Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.

In the Spring of 1863, Sallie's regiment marched in a parade. Sallie marched along in her usual place beneath the colors. A tall fellow in a dark suit and a stovepipe hat saluted the regiment. Then, the President raise his hat to Sallie.

Sallie's life during the war was more than parades. She was wounded in one battle and received her personal red badge of courage. At Gettysburg, however, she excelled. On that fateful day in July 1863, Sallie's regiment fought atop Oak Ridge. When the firing started, Sallie barked loudly at the enemy. Many of her friends were killed at Gettysburg. After the battle was over, days later they found Sallie still watching over her wounded and dead comrades. She was hungry and thirsty, but faithful to the end.

Now you know why she has her own monument at Gettysburg. In fact, when the monument was in a state of disrepair, a painting of Sallie along with her story sold enough copies to repair her regiment's monument.

Today, Memorial Day we stop to think of all those who fought and those who gave their lives for our freedom but let's don't forget Sallie.

Don't Give UP!

2011-05-30T09:05:00.002-04:00

DON'T GIVE UP!

Born in Hagerston, Maryland in 1815, Edmund McIlhenny moved to New Orleans, Louisiana around 1840, finding work in the Louisiana banking industry. By the eve of the American Civil War, he had acquired a small fortune and became an independent bank owner.

During the Civil War, McIlhenny fled with his in-laws, the Avery family to Texas, where he served as a civilian employee of the Confederate army, first as a clerk in a comissary office, then as a financial agent for the paymaster.

The South's economic collapse after its defeat ruined McIlhenny, who now lived with his in-laws in their plantation home on Avery Island, Louisiana, named after them.

Avery Island is built on a salt dome in the bayou country.

A dozen years before the Civil War, a soldier returning from Mexico gave Edmund some dried peppers. He liked them and decided to plant them.

His in-laws plantation home was plundered, the crops were ruined and all that was left was a overgrown field of PEPPERS.

They were reduced down to salt and peppers in abundance. Then he got to work.

He harvested the peppers and began the process of devising a spicy sauces using Avery Island salt, and some French vinegar. Digging through the town dump, he located 350 discarded perfume bottles. He cleaned them up and filled them with his sauce.

This sauce became a hit and has traveled around the world, now known as the Tabasco Company!

It all started with a man who refused to give up adn was determined to make it! No matter what live hands you, DON'T GIVE IT!

Noel, Shiloh is HERE!

2010-12-23T09:57:00.007-05:00

Gen. 49:10 says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

A sceptre is a symbolic staff held by a rulership monarch. It represents authority.

Today, recession combined with war and lack of money perhaps will make this year a little different.

More families are coming together seeking solace and comfort during this time.

2 words you hear most of the time at Christmas:

Noel
Shiloh

We hear the word NOEL in songs but what about Shiloh. The real meaning of this season has been lost in time by so many things.

Noel - is an old English word. It is a abbreviated form of a longer phrase. Noel means - "Now, all is well."

Jesus came into our world, NOW, all is WELL!

Angels sung it, Shepherds heard it, Wise men came.

The Prince of Peace has come - NOEL!
To the sick - NOEL!
To those who don't have much - NOEL!
Feeling down and out - NOEL!

I point you to the oldest name of the Messiah used in scripture some 1,700 years before Jesus came to earth. Gen. 49:10, Shiloh was a place - but we are talking about a person.

Jacob, painted hope in the lives of his children. In our text Jacob has come to the end of his life. What a road he had traveled.

The end of his life's journey finds him in a faraway, strange land of Egypt reunited with his favorite son, Joseph.

Before his breathed his last breath, he calls his children together to bless them from the oldest to the youngest. Then came Judah. To Judah, he spoke the words that set this tribe apart for future royalty. Judah's lion would triumph in the 12 tribes.

His tribe would become heir to the everlasting throne of David. He (Jacob) looks through the lens of the future and he prophesies what he sees. Look away in this verse like some ancient fossil is encased the oldest name of the Messiah - SHILOH!

Look at these 3 powerful truths:

1. HIS NAME IS POWERFUL

Shiloh is one of those names that is so powerful in scripture, it has a multiplicity of meanings including:

A Messenger
A Peacemaker
And a Deliverer

Only one rightfully wears each of these titles:

Jesus - is the Messenger - NOEL!
Jesus - the Peacemaker - NOEL!
Jesus - the Deliverer - NOEL!

Shiloh describes all that Jesus came to do.

2. His timing is perfect

Jacob gives us the timing of Shiloh's arrival into this world.

He said that the scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes.

We know Jesus was from the tribe of Judah (Matt. and Mark) Yet, what is astounding is that Jacob prophesied when the Messiah would be born. Shiloh would come before Judah LOST his scepter!

In the time of Caesar Augustus, the land of Palestine was conquered and had taken away the final authority from Jewish Sanhedrin.

The scepter departed, but before it did, JESUS was BORN!

Talk about timing - He's an on-time God!

The year Jesus was born no one knows but He was born before the Scepter was taken away from Judah! He always operates on a different time table, but He's never too late.

For 1,700 years, people looked for Shiloh. In the fullness of time, He came, He's never late.

3. His work is Precious

Jacob, foretold that Shiloh's work be that of a "gathering of the people."

The false shepherd scatters, but the True Shepherd has come gather!

John 12:32,33 is His purpose. The cross has not lost its magnefict power. His work on earth was to gather.

John Newton, the rough, dirty slave trader who hated life, and life hated him. A shipwreck cause him to cry out to God. From then on, he crisscrossed England sharing his testimony and song. He wrote a song about his life, a song that says it all, "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound..."

We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience. NOEL! All is Well.

The President Pardons A Turkey

2010-11-20T11:03:00.007-05:00

In 1863, when Abraham Lincoln was president, the cooks at the White House received a live turkey to fatten up for a holiday feast. They turkey's name was Jack, and it didn't take long for Lincoln's son Tad, age ten, to make friends with the bird. Soon Jack was following young Tad around the White House grounds like a pet.

One day, the story goes, Lincoln was in a Cabinet meeting when a tearful Tad burst into the room. He announced that Jack was about to be killed and begged his father to stop the execution.

"But Jack was sent here to be eaten," the president tried to explain.

"He's a good turkey, and we mustn't kill him," Tad sobbed back.

The president halted his meeting, took a piece of paper, and wrote out a reprieve. A joyful Tad raced away to show the presidential order to the executioner and save the life of Jack the turkey.

According to the White House, people sometimes gave live holiday turkeys to presidents in the years following the Lincoln administration, but it wasn't until 1947 that the first official National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to Harry S. Truman, who followed Lincoln's example and pardoned the bird.

The reprieve has become an annual tradition. Each year, the National Turkey Federation chooses a plump bird and brings it to Washington. Just before Thanksgiving, the president of the United States pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey a the White House.

The grateful bird then retires to a petting zoo or a resort such as Disney World, where it stays, the remainder of its happy, natural life. Lucky Bird! ;)

The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving

2010-11-20T10:42:00.004-05:00

We know very little about the first Thanksgiving the pilgrims celebrated in Plymouth. We know it took place in 1621 sometime after the autumn harvest.

William Bradford, longtime governor of the colony, reported that after a "sad and lamentable" first few months that brought much sickness and death, the first harvest left them with "all things in good plenty,"including: Corn, cod, bass, and other fish, waterfowl, venison, and a "great store of wild turkeys."

Edward Winslow, one of the Pilgrims, left us the other eyewitness account of the harvest feast in a letter he wrote on December 11, 1621. Though sparse in description, it conveys some sense of the JOY and GRATITUDE that must have marked the occasion:

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be no always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the GOODNESS OF GOD, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

WOW! Three days of feasting! What a 1st Thanksgiving.

Our world today is in need, not just a need to put food on their tables, although that is true but a need to just stop on this Thanksgiving and bow our heads and say, Thank you for your goodness.

18 reasons Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

2010-06-27T14:23:00.004-04:00

Why is Jerusalem our capital?: 18 reasons By Dr. Yitschak Ben-Gad

1. The Jewish people are the only nation in the world to declare a day or mourning and fast to perpetuate the memory of their Temple that was destroyed twice on the same day (Tisha B'Av): the first destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, the second at the hands of the Romans.

2. King David reigned a total of 40 years, 33 of which were from Jerusalem, also known as the City of David.

3. Jerusalem is mentioned thousands of times in our sources: the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, etc., yet it is not mentioned even once in the Koran.

4. Jerusalem has been mentioned for thousands of years every day in prayers by Jews around the world: morning, afternoon and evening and in the Grace after the Meal.

5. Jerusalem was never the capital city of any other nation in history besides the Jews.

6. Jerusalem is remembered even on a Jew's happiest day – his wedding day. At the end of the marriage ceremony, the groom recites the following: “If I forget thee Oh Jerusalem let my right hand lose its cunning…. “. Then, the groom breaks a glass to remember that there can be no completely joyous occasion until the Temple is rebuilt.

7. Since the destruction of the Temple and throughout history, Jews have always resided in Jerusalem, most of the time as the majority of its populace.

8. Throughout the generations, Jews the world over remember Jerusalem each Passover holiday. At the conclusion of the Hagadah reading they sing: “Next year in Jerusalem.”

9. Our sages have said: “Ten drops of beauty were given to the world, nine of which were given to Jerusalem.”

10. The name of the Almighty, G-d of the Hebrews, appears in the word “Jerusalem”. One of His names is “Peace” (“Shalom”), which is found in the world “Jerusalem” (“Yerushalaim”).

11. 800 years ago, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevy, the renowned poet, expressed the Jews' longing for Jerusalem thusly: “My heart is in the east (Jerusalem), while I am in the far west (Spain).”

12. The prophet of Islam never once visited Jerusalem. There is only a Muslim legend that claims that Mohammed was brought to Jerusalem in the dark of night by the angel Gabriel.

13. All Jews the world over pray in the direction of Jerusalem, while Muslims pray in the direction of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

14. According to Islam, the city of Jerusalem is only third in religious importance after the cities of Mecca and Medina.

15. The Western Wall, the only remains of the Temple destroyed by the Romans about 2000 years ago, is a testimony to the Jewish nation's connection to Jerusalem.

16. During Jordanian rule over Jerusalem (1948 – 1967) the city was gravely neglected and closed to Jews. Today, the city flourishes and is open to all religions.

17. Until 1967, the Palestinians considered themselves to be an integral part of the Arab world and not as a separate nationality. Moreover, they never before claimed that Jerusalem was their capital.

18. The Iranian president, Ahmedinejad, has not done his “homework” about the history of his own nation. The last sentence of the Bible, in the Book of Chronicles II, 36:23, reads: “The Lord of heaven has given me (Koresh, King of Iran) the kingdoms of the earth; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is Yehuda. Whoever is among you of all his people (the Jewish nation) – the Lord his G-d be with him, and let him go up (to Jerusalem)!”

Here is an interesting story: Winston Churchill, British Minister of the Commonwealth, later to become prime minister, said the following to Chaim Weizmann, later to become Israel's first president: Why do you stubbornly insist on the Land of Israel as your people's state? Why not take another country in Africa (Uganda)? Weizmann answered this way: Why do you, mister minister, insist on travelling every Sunday to visit your mother who lives a three hour's drive away?

There are plenty of old women in your neighborhood. Why not take one and make her your mother?Take note: Even the name of the United States appears in the word “Jerusalem”. JerU.S.A.lem

The Exodus Rapture

2010-06-25T09:17:00.005-04:00

The Exodus Rapture

In the story of Moses - there is an Old Testament connection with the New Testament story of the Rapture taught by Paul. Compare the scriptures of Exodus 19 to the New Testament. In other words - The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. I believe in Coming of the Lord to Rapture (caught up) His saints. Titus called it the "Blessed Hope" (Titus 2:13)

Exodus 19:14 - And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.

Revelation 16:15 - Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Exodus 19:15 - And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at [your] wives.

II Peter 3:8 - But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Exodus 19:16 - And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that [was] in the camp trembled.

Acts 2:19 - And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Exodus 19:17 - And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

Mark 4:29 - But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

Exodus 19:18 - And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Revelation 16:18 - And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great.

Exodus 19:19 - And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

I Corinthians 15:52 - In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

I Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Exodus 19:20 - And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses [up] to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

I Thessalonians 4:17 - Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

2010-03-24T14:35:00.005-04:00

The Crimson Worm

Oh, the power of the Word of God! Everyday the Holy Spirit will reveal and enlighten to us the Scriptures as we sow them in our heart. After all these wonderful years of studying and preaching His Gospel, I am still thrilled at the new things He shows me in His Word. There is nothing new under the sun but there are some things that suddenly seem to come to life as we read them. I often compare it to a puzzle that seems so scattered about in confusion. As we study, the pieces start to come together. Then, as we place the last piece into place, we realize everything we needed to understand it was right in front of our eyes all the time. We just had to take the time to put it all together.

The 22nd Psalm was written nearly 1,000 years before the crucifixion of Christ. However, as you read the entire Psalm you can clearly see it was all recorded as a prophetic event that would take place one day on Calvary. The mystery of the ages is once again revealed in the fact the Lord knows the future better than we can remember the past. God foretold the punishment of His only begotten Son for the redemption of the world. Every detail is unfolded and a millennium after it is written the prophecy came to pass!

In our text, I call your attention to the astounding statement by the Lord when He calls Himself "a worm". At first glance, we know the worm has always portrayed depravity. It was in Gehenna where we are told in the Bible the worm dieth not. It was a worm that Job likened himself unto because he felt the lowliest of all creation. The worms had their part in the death of the wicked king as recorded in the book of Acts. However, we also know that Jesus was sinless! He was never touched by the depravity, which is a part of our nature. He was tempted, yet without sin! Therefore, when He refers to Himself as a worm there must be a deeper meaning and there is!

The word "worm" referred to in our text is unique in Scripture. In the Hebrew it is a particular female worm, which is called the "crimson worm." It is not until you begin to study the characteristics and the life cycle of the crimson or scarlet worm that you begin to see the tremendous truth revealed by this Scripture. Here are just a few things that I have discovered about the crimson worm and how it relates to the death of Christ on the cross.

First, the crimson worm climbs on the tree all by itself. Nobody forces it to get on the tree. It willingly searches out the kermes oak which is symbolic of its destiny. Then, by its own choice it climbs on the tree. Please understand that nobody forced Christ on the cross. What He did was of His own choice. He could have called all the angels of Heaven to release Him but He died alone for you and me.The crimson worm knows when it climbs on the tree that it will not come back down alive. It is going to the tree to birth a family and to do that it must die. Jesus knowing all things still was willing to die on the cross to birth a family.

Once on the tree, the crimson worm then attaches itself to the tree. It makes sure it is secure because the body of the worm will eventually be the shelter for the young, which are born. Remember, it was not nails that held our Savior to the cross. It was love! That same love and broken body of our Lord is the protection for us against all the winds of heresy and unbelief of the ages. The worm will then lay its eggs and shelter them under her body.

During the birthing process, she secretes a crimson fluid or gel. The scarlet fluid covers her entire body and all the eggs she lays. It also leaves a stain on the tree, which will never fade away with the passing of time! (Please excuse me if I stop to shout right here! You may need to pause to join me too!) The blood of Jesus stained Him, the cross and all of us, which are saved! The blood will never lose its power!

After dying to birth the family, something amazing takes place. For a period of three days the worm can be scraped from the tree and the crimson gel can be used to make a dye. That dye was the same which was used in the tabernacle and in the garments of the High Priest.

On the morning of the fourth day, the worm has pulled the head and tail together and is now in the shape of a heart on the tree but it is no longer crimson. It is now a wax, which is white as snow. They can still harvest the wax and use it to make shellac, a preservative of wood. Praise God for the resurrection, which serves as the preservative of the message of the cross.

The crimson worm is also very fragrant when it is crushed. No other life in history has sweetened the pathway of humanity like the crimson worm who was crushed for our sin, Jesus.

In my study, I also was blessed to discover the crushed worm is also used to make medicine. Oh bless His Name! He is the healer of our diseases! He is the only one that has the power to break the curse of sin and save our soul from destruction.

I do not believe for one moment it was a mistake that He called Himself a worm! He is the Crimson Worm who died and was crushed for you. It is our sincere prayer that all those reading this message will stop and reflect on the price He paid to redeem our soul. He died for you! Will you live for Him?

What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might "bring many sons unto glory" ( Heb 2:10 )! He died for us, that we might live through him! Ps 22:6 describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ. (cf. Isa 1:18 )

Edward Kimble and the Shoe Salesman

2010-01-21T21:04:00.003-05:00

Edward Kimble and the Shoe Salesman. It was July 1, 1885 when Edward Kimble felt the tugging of the Spirit to share his faith with a young shoe salesman he knew.

At first Kimble vacillated, unsure if he should talk to the man. But he finally mustered his courage and went into the shoe store. There Kimble found the salesman in the back room stocking shoes, and he began to share his faith with him.

As a result, the young shoe salesman prayed and received Jesus Christ that day. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, and he became the greatest evangelists of his generation.But the story doesn't end there. Several years later a pastor and well-known author by the name of Frederick B. Meyer heard Moody preach. Meyer was so deeply stirred by Moody's preaching that he himself embarked on a far-reaching evangelistic ministry.

Once when Meyer was preaching, a college student named Wilbur Chapman accepted Christ as a result of his presentation of the gospel. Chapman later employed a baseball player to help him prepare to conduct an evangelistic crusade. That ballplayer, who later became a powerful evangelist himself, was Billy Sunday.

In 1924 a group of businessmen invited Billy Sunday to hold an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, which resulted in many people coming to Christ. Out of that revival meeting a group of men formed a men's prayer group to pray for the world. They prayed for Charlotte to have another great revival.

God sent another evangelist named Mordecai Hamm. Hamm went to Charlotte in 1934 to hold a crusade. Ham's crusade went well, even though it did not have many converts. On one of the last nights under the big tent one tall, lanky young man walked up the aisle to receive Christ. That man's name was Billy Graham.Talk about a chain of events!

And it all started with an ordinary Christian named Edward Kimble, who reached D.L. Moody, who reached Wilbur Chapman, who reached Billy Sunday, who reached Mordecai Ham, who reached Billy Graham. Look at what God has done over these many years because of the faithfulness of one person.

The Sword and the Ephod

2010-01-20T09:59:00.004-05:00

1 Samuel 21:8-9 "And David said unto Ahimelech, is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste. And the pries said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me."

2010 has began, a new chapter, a new start.

David was running from Saul for his life and came into the Tabernacle to find refuge. He had no bread, no weapon, nothing just a man on the run.

The significance of these two items are so important:

The Sword - This weapon signified David's victory

The Ephod - This garment was a garment of Worship and prayer that was worn by the priest to minister to God.

David's victory was hiding behind a garment of worship. Our victory in life only comes as we learn that it takes worship to unveil the weapon of victory.

Many people wait for God to give them the victory so they can worship Him - God is waiting for people to worship Him so He can give them the VICTORY!.

This is the word for me in 2010 to focus on worship then many victories will come my way.

The Tabernacle was a place of worship:

Altar of Burnt offerings
Brazen Laver
Golden Candlestick
Table of Shewbread
Altar of Incense

All speaks of worship before you enter the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant sat. If you notice the progression - The Glory of God was NOT revealed until after the SACRIFICE and WORSHIP were performed!

The Priest didn't go in and get the anointing and then come out and perform the act of worship - the act of worship came FIRST! We must be worshippers in 2010 as we enter into the final Victory.

"Christian churches has come to the dangerous time predicted long ago. It is a time when we can pat one another on the back, congratulate ourselves and join in the glad refrain, 'We are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing!'

"It certainly is true that hardly anything is missing from our churches these days - except the most important thing. We are missing the genuine and sacred offering of ourselves and our worship to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...

"My own loyalties and responsibilities are and always will be with the strongly evangelical, Bible-believing, Christ-honoring churches. We have been surging forward. We are building great churches and large congregations. We are boasting about high standards and we are talking a lot about reveal. But I have a question and it is not just rhetoric: What has happened to our WORSHIP?" - A. W. Tozer

God forbid that we take off our garments of worship, true worship, and sit down in 2010 and remain powerless, our victory (sword) is behind our worship (ephod). Pick up your ephod and march forward towards VICTORY! Shalom!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2009-12-23T07:35:00.003-05:00

To all who read, have a Great Christmas!

Be sure to tell your friends about Victory Living In Today's World and join this blogg.

More to come!

Christmas Eve Story of 1881

2009-12-18T03:59:00.002-05:00

Christmas Eve 1881 - Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.

It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn't in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn't get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside I couldn't figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn't worry about it long though, I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. "Come on, Matt," he said. "Bundle up good, it's cold out tonight." I was really upset then. Not only wasn't I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see.

We'd already done all the chores, and I couldn't think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one's feet when he'd told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn't know what..

Outside, I became even more dismayed.. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled.. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn't going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn't happy.. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. "I think we'll put on the high sideboards," he said.

"Here, help me." The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood - the wood I'd spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all Fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. "Pa," I asked, "what are you doing?" You been by the Widow Jensen's lately?" he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I'd been by, but so what? Yeah," I said, "Why?"

"I rode by just today," Pa said. "Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They're out of wood, Matt." That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. "What's in the little sack?" I asked. "Shoes, they're out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunnysacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn't be Christmas without a little candy."

We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen's pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn't have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn't have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn't have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, "Who is it?" "Lucas Miles, Ma'am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?"

Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.

"We brought you a few things, Ma'am," Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children - sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. . She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out.

"We brought a load of wood too, Ma'am," Pa said. He turned to me and said, "Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let's get that fire up to size and heat this place up." I wasn't the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn't speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I'd never known before filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone's spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn't crossed her face for a long time.. She finally turned to us. "God bless you," she said. "I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us."

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I'd never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true.

I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others The list seemed endless as I thought on it.

Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.

Tears were running down Widow Jensen's face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn't want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.

At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, "The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We'll be by to get you about eleven. It'll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn't been little for quite a spell." I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.

Widow Jensen nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Miles. I don't have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will."

Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn't even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, "Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and I have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn't have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand."

I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more.. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen's face and the radiant smiles of her three children. For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.

(Author Unknown)

The Wise Man's Gift

2009-12-15T11:36:00.003-05:00

"...They presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." (Matt. 2:11)

Christmas is a time for gifts. The gifts presented by the wise men started a custom we follow to this day.

C. H. Spurgeon and his wife would sell eggs. However, they refused to ever give any of the eggs away. Even close relatives were told, "You may buy them if you want be you cannot have them!" For this reason, many times they were accused of being greedy.

However, they would never defend their actions. It was not until Mrs. Spurgeon died that the real story came out. All the money they made from selling eggs went to support two elderly widows. They silently endured attacks of others because they refused to let the "left hand know what the right hand was doing!" It's not the size of the gift, it's the heart behind what's given.

When King Frederick William III was ruling Prussia, he found himself in great need for money to operate his kingdom. He knew that he needed money to rebuild his country. So, he decided to ask the women of his nation to bring their jewelry to be melted down to help their country.

They were given bronze or iron tokens to acknowledge their willingness to give. Each decoration had the inscription, "I gave gold for iron" along with the year it was given. The response was outstanding.

Amazingly, the women valued their token more than the gold and silver jewelry they had given. The women knew that they had given. The women knew that they had sacrificed for their king.

As a Christian, what we give to our KING reminds us that He was willing to go from the cradle to the cross for us. He was the greater gift. Value the token that was given more than gifts that is given, He means so much more! Shalom!

All Is Calm, All Is Bright - Silent Night

2009-12-15T10:24:00.005-05:00

Journey to Bethlehem - Snow covered the countryside in pristine Oberndorf, Austria, as the town approached Christmas in 1818. But a cultural crisis threatened the Christmas Eve service; the organ at the Church of St. Nicholas was broken and could not be repaired in time.

Josef Mohr, who had attended a nativity play the evening of Dec. 23, stopped on the way back to his home and looked back at the peaceful little village. Inspired by the serenity of the scene, he inked Stille Nacht upon his return.

The next day he took the poem to the church organist, Franz Gruber, and asked him to compose a simple melody to accompany the words. Since the organ was out of service. Gruber composed the music on his guitar and that evening, for Midnight Mass, Silent Night, Holy Night was performed for the first time.

Mohr didn't intent the carol to leave the village of Oberndorf, but fate had a different plan. The organ repairman heard the song, obtained a copy and spread it throughout Austria and Germany.

It was performed in the United States for the first time in 1839 by a touring group of Austrian singers. It quickly won its way into the hearts of people everywhere as one of the most favorite Christmas carols ever composed.

God....Became Man

2009-12-14T13:17:00.004-05:00

Journey to Bethlehem - He was born in abject poverty, yet a choir of angels filled the heavens with songs of His greatness. A star that astronomers still can't explain to this day became the compass that brought world leaders to worship Him. His birth defied the laws of biology and His death defiled the laws of mortality. No miracle is greater than His life and teaching.

He owned no cornfields for fisheries, yet He spread a table for 5,000 and had bread and fish left over. He never walked on expensive carpeting, yet when He walked on water; when He spoke the wind and the seas obeyed Him.

His crucifixion was the crime of all crimes, yet in God's eyes no less a price could have made your redemption possible. When He died, few mourned, yet God hung a black sheet over the sun. Those who crucified Him never once trembled at what they'd done, yet the earth shook beneath them.

Sin couldn't touch Him. Decay couldn't claim His body. The soil that was reddened with His blood couldn't claim His dust. For over three years He preached the gospel, yet He wrote no books, built no cathedrals, and seemingly had no great financial resources.

Yet, 2,000 years later, He's still the central character of human history, the perpetual theme of Christian preaching, the pivot around which the ages revolve - and the only Redeemer of the human race! For ever other job, God sent a man. But in order to rescue and recycle you, God became a man. That my friend is Christmas. Shalom!

Journey To Bethlehem - The Hope of the World

2009-12-13T04:43:00.004-05:00

Journey to Bethlehem - Bethlehem was a city handpicked by God to cradle His son. Out of all the cities in the world, why Bethlehem

Jerusalem, the city of peace, was passed by to be the place of Christ's birth. It was the seat of religious power. Why not Jerusalem? God was sending a CLEAR message. The hope of the world is not in religion.

What about Rome? Rome was the center of the world's political power. God wants all to know the hope of the world is not in politics.

The seat of intellectual power could be found in Athens in Jesus time. So why not Athens?

God reiterated the hope of the world is not in philosophy. God handpicked the little town of Bethlehem because the hope of the world is in a Savior!

He still offers hope today and the answer is found at the foot of Calvary. Jesus came on a mission to Bethlehem and the mission led Him from cradle, to cross, to a crown. Now He sits in Heaven giving hope to the hopeless world!

I believe Phillip Brooks wrote it best, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Shalom!

Journey To Bethlehem

2009-12-12T21:38:00.006-05:00

Journey to Bethlehem - God has always stressed the importance of "Little things." The Bible is full of mentions of things small in our eyes but great to the Lord.

We read about the significance of little crumbs, little candles, a little lad with a little lunch, little cities and even a small cup of water. Why are the small things so significant to God?

The prophet Micah foretold of the birthplace of the Messiah. He tells us the village is obscure to other but blessed by the Lord. The name of that place was "little Bethlehem" (Micah 5:2)

There are several things we notice about Bethlehem in relation to the birth of Jesus. It is never mentioned in the Bible again after Jesus was born. The last recorded birth in Bethlehem in the Bible was Jesus.

The shepherds came to where He was at Bethlehem. After His birth, every time the word "Shepherd" appears in Scripture it in relation to Jesus. The need for sheep for sacrifice would no longer be needed after Jesus came.

The birth of no other child is recorded in the Bible after Jesus was born at Bethlehem. Why? The baby that would change the world was born in Bethlehem and no other child will ever compare to Him. Little Bethlehem became great because the Messiah was laid there! Glory to God!

Journey To Bethlehem

2009-12-12T21:20:00.004-05:00

Journey to Bethlehem - Mary and Joseph made an 85 mile journey to Bethlehem that would change the course of history for all mankind.

Any time there was a great need for mankind, God always sent a baby!

When the Israelites were in bondage and needed a prophet, God sent a baby - Moses. When the Hebrew people needed a king, God sent a baby - David. When mankind needed a priest, God sent a baby - Samuel.

Non of these could remedy the greatest need humanity had which was salvation. Therefore, on one dark night in the hill of Judea, God sent another baby - JESUS. He was Prophet, Priest and King all in one!

His birth forged a change in the course of human history forever. If you feel these are dark days that we are living in, remember, God sent a baby to lead us to a brighter world, a New Heaven and a New Earth. Shalom!

Hopes and Fears - A Little Town

2009-12-09T05:20:00.004-05:00

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" -

This is a wonderful time of the year; it depends on how you look at it. For many this time of the year becomes stressful because there seems to be not enough. Recession, joblessness, uncertainty.

I have a favorite Christmas carol – “Away in the manger” There are hundreds from which to choose from. Maybe you heard about the young brother and sister who stood to sing their favorite song at church. The boy concluded Silent Night with the words, “”Sleep in heavenly bean.” “NO!” his sister corrected. “Not beans, peas!”

“O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Penned by Phillips Brooks a mid-Nineteenth Century preacher. But the first verse of Brooks’ song enchants me:

“O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie; Above they deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” – Philips Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

This prophet Micah spoke of Bethlehem’s importance:

Micah 5:2-5
2But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

From you, the divine Ruler shall emerge.

Luke 1:32-33
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

“He shall be great!” These were the words of Gabriel, the messenger angel.

What is ironic is that Bethlehem is the burial site of Herod, who once called himself, “the Great!”

Bethlehem is the Birthplace of one Heaven calls great.

Herod’s grave is forgotten. Christ’s cradle is remembered.

Micah described his day and what was going on in it:
· Godly persons have perished from the land
· Gone are the upright men
· Present are the ones who only care for themselves
· Politicians saying what people wanted to hear
· People trusting no one – not friends, not spouses, not family
· The worst enemies, Micah said, were the ones in his own house-hold

The hopes and fears of all the years…

Have you ever noticed the four “fear not’s” of Christmas?

v The “fear not” of salvation (Lk. 2:10-11)
v The “fear not” of divine possibility (Lk. 1:30,35,37)
v The “fear not” of answered prayer (Lk. 1:13)
v The “fear not” of divine direction (Matt. 1:20, 24)

Fear was dominant at the time of Jesus entered into the world. Under Roman oppression, a glorious intruder made His way into Bethlehem.

If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator;
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist;
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist;
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer;
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
So God sent us a Savior!

Although there is NO peace in our world, there is peace IN the One from Bethlehem. Let the child of Bethlehem-the Prince of Peace-make His way to you. Keep Jesus in your Christmas!

2009-12-09T05:15:00.000-05:00

Thank God For The Fleas!

2009-11-28T13:21:00.012-05:00

Thank God For The Fleas!

"It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability, that counts."
Corrie Ten Boom not only spoke these words, she lived them, and oh, how she lived them.

She was born Cornelius Johanna Arnolda ten Boom on April 15th 1892, she was the youngest of four children belonging to Casper and Cornelia ten Boom. Corrie led a normal, happy childhood in the small town of Haarlam, Holland. Corrie remembered accepting Christ into her heart at a young age. "When I was about five years old, then I asked Jesus to come into my heart. And He came. He didn't say you are too young. He came."

Corrie and her eldest sister Betsie remained single their entire lives. After their mother died and their two other siblings married and moved away, the sisters fell into a comfortable routine where Betsie kept up the household and Corrie went to work with their father in his watchmaking and repair shop. Corrie became the first licensed female watchmaker in Holland.

When German Nazi soldiers invaded Holland in May of 1940, Corrie got on her knees and gave God her worries. For a few months they were able to carry on business as usual, but when Jewish customers didn't show up to get their watches, letters sent to Jewish suppliers returned marked with an "Address Unknown" and local Jews simply disappeared, Corrie and her family began to discuss how they could help the Jews whom they believed were God's chosen people. Later, Corrie would recall watching with her father as Jews were loaded into a truck by German soldiers, as the truck drove away her father said "I pity the poor Germans, Corrie. They have touched the apple of God's eye."

For Corrie, there was no question of whether or not she would risk herself and her family to help the Jews. She was led by her father's example in this. Corrie asked a visiting pastor if he could take in a Jewish baby that the ten Booms had in the house at the time, he replied "No, definitely not. We could lose our lives for that child." Corrie's father standing nearby asked Corrie to give him the child. After gazing into the sweet innocence of the baby's face, Corrie's father said "You say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family."

The Beje as their home was called soon became a hub for the underground movement to hide Jews until they could escape the country. On February 28, 1944 Corrie and her family were arrested after nearly two years of foiling the Germans. There were six people hiding in the secret room at the time of their arrest. So well was the room hidden that the Gestapo never did discover it and the people hiding in it eventually made it to safety. For the people that hid in the the secret room that day, hope was still in sight, for Corrie and her family who unflinchingly refused to betray the location of the room, hell was just beginning. Corrie was taken to a prison in Scheveningen, along with her father, her sister Betsie and her brother Willem. Corrie's beloved father died in prison ten days after his arrest.

Corrie spent the following months of prison life sustaining herself with the words of life she found in her tiny Bible, secretly given to her by a friendly nurse during an examination. In June of 1944, Corrie and her sister Betsie were moved to Vught, a labor camp in southern Holland. Conditions at the labour camp were awful, but Corrie was thankful that they had not been sent to Germany. She was also thankful that she was able to be with her sister and around people rather than in solitary confinement as she had been in Scheveningen. Two months after arriving at Vught, Corrie was transferred to her worst nightmare: the notoriously infamous German concentration camp: Ravensbruck. If what Corrie and Betsie had faced before was in any way challenging, it was nothing compared to what they would go through at Ravensbruck. Corrie's one thought was how she could smuggle her Bible into the camp. She prayed that God would somehow make her invisible when it came her turn to be searched. Corrie would later relate with a shining face how God answered her prayer with a miracle! She was able to walk right by the guards without being touched.

Corrie was put into a cell with her sister Betsie. Her worry now was that the guards would see the Bible and take it away from them, the two sister's only source of hope and comfort. The place was so infested with fleas that the sisters could not move without instantly being covered with the bugs. Betsie told Corrie that they should thank God for the fleas, Corrie wasn't sure she could do this, but she and Betsie bowed their heads and thanked God for even the fleas. Weeks later, Corrie was struck by the blessing that came for her obedience to thank God in all circumstances; Betsie had heard a supervisor say she wouldn't step through the door of their cell because of all the fleas, and neither would the guards. It was because of the fleas that Corrie and Betsie were able to continue to keep their Bible without the guards finding it.

Corrie endured all the cruelties inflicted upon her bravely, the ones she could not bear were the ones inflicted on her already weak sister. Betsie greeted each day and each trial with the same sweet smile, rejoicing in the fact that she could share Jesus' love with her fellow prisoners. Corrie did everything in her power to help her dying sister, but the horrible conditions, ramped filth and piercing cold overtook her. Before she died, Betsie said something to Corrie that would stay with her for the rest of her life "[we]...must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here."

Betsie was not ever able to leave the camp and tell people, but her words still made it to the world through her sister Corrie.

Two days after her sister died, Corrie was released. She would later discover that her release was an "administrative error". One week after her release all of the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers. Only Corrie knew that there was no error, God makes no errors.
Corrie took a few months to recover, and then she launched right into her ministry of caring for the disabled and hurting ex-prisoners. Corrie would eventually author ten books about her life, one of which was made into a motion film, "The Hiding Place".

The Thanksgiving Story!

2009-11-22T07:28:00.006-05:00

Most of us are familiar with the traditional story of Thanksgiving where William Bradford, of Plymouth Rock, proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the survival of the Pilgrims in their second year 1621 in the New World, as well as an abundant harvest that they had reaped with the aid of the Indians.

However, most people don't know that the 1st American Thanksgiving didn't occur in 1621 with this group of Pilgrims who shared a feast with a group of friendly Indians. The first recorded Thanksgiving actually took place in Virginia more than 11 years earlier, and it wasn't a feast. The winter of 1610 at Jamestown had reduced a group of 409 settlers to 60.

The survivors prayed for help, without knowing when or how it might come. When help arrived, in the form of a ship filled with food and supplies from England, a prayer meeting was held to give thanks to God.

You would think that after seeing so many of their loved ones die due to the hardships of the New World, they would not feel that thankful. However, the opposite was true. They realized they had much to be Thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just For Ministers

2009-11-22T07:21:00.002-05:00

Sabaoth - Literally, of hosts or armies. Indicating the masses of beings which God has at His command, the term is usually used in conjunction with Yahweh, or Elohim, disignating God as "the Lord of hosts." Common in the Psalms and the Prophets, it is not employed in the Pentateuch. It projects God as "the Conquering God" (Psa. 89:6-8). Both Paul and James reveal the Lord in this fashion (Romans 9:39; James 5:4). He is the LORD of the armies! Shalom!

Pressurized

2009-11-16T06:29:00.003-05:00

The lower that an object goes into a body of water, the more pressure there is. If a diver goes down deep enough, their jaws will even lock because of the pressure. If a boat sinks down far enough, the pressure of the water that deep will tear that boat apart, and the boat will collapse...unless it is pressurized.

Submarines re pressurized. They have a balance of pressure on the INSIDE to combat the pressure from the OUTSIDE.

Many people are collapsing on the outside because they don't have enough pressure on the inside, and the pressure on the inside comes from being filled with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God pressurized Christians on the inside so that they can handle the world on the outside. This is a stressful day with stressful problems but any problem can be handled from the outside if you take care of the inside first. Shalom!

Evang. R.A.West "Yes I Hear"

2009-10-29T17:41:00.003-04:00

The Plane and the Pilot

2009-10-22T23:28:00.003-04:00

A Little boy was on a plane one day that was experiencing violent turbulence. The plane was going up and down and all over the place. The lady sitting next to the little boy was terrified. She couldn't understand why the little boy was happily playing and having fun. After a while of observing him, she just couldn't stand it any longer.

"Little boy, please stop it! Stop having so much fun! How can you have fun when the plane is going through this?"

The little boy put his hand on the lady's hand and said, "Lady, my daddy is the pilot."

When your daddy is the pilot, you can handle the turbulence because you know he's got it all under control. (Prov. 3:5,6; John 16:33)

Show Me The Money!

2009-10-20T05:38:00.005-04:00

Provisions in the Book - A man was in prison ans was in need of some money. He wrote his mother and asked her to send five hundred dollars immediately. Soon after, he got a package in the mail. It was a Bible. On the top of the Bible, there was a letter that said, "Son, I love you. Pray and read your Bible."

The man was ticked off. He got on the phone and called his mother, "Mama, I appreciate the Bible, but what I need right now is five hundred dollars."

She told him over the phone, "Son, pray and read your Bible." He got more ticked off and hung up on his mother.

He then wrote a letter, "Mother, I know you believe in God, but that's the problem with you Christians. That's all you talk about is Read and Pray. I don't need the Bible, I need greenbacks!

A few months later she comes to see him. He was irritated with his mother, that for six months that Bible stayed in the corner. His day of release had come, he packed what little things he had and made the trip home to his mother. The mother gladly wrapped her arms around him and had a meal ready when he returned home.

Later that even the subject come up about why she never sent the money to him. "Mother I was in such need and I know you love God but I really needed five hundred dollars."

She ask him, "Son, did you read this book, did you look at it at all?" "Yeah, I prayed and read my Bible, and I'm still as broke now as I was when you told me the first time to read your Bible."

"Son, you neither prayed nor read your Bible." She opened up the Bible and at every major divisional section within the text, there was a hundred-dollar bill tapes inside of it. If they boy would have just read his Bible he would have understood that the thing he was looking for was in the text. Because he didn't take seriously the Word of God, what the Word of God had to offer he never received.

This Is Only A Test

2009-10-18T07:48:00.002-04:00

This Is Only A Test - Whenever a teacher in school gave you a test, they never had much to say during the test. Things were silent during the test. The teacher had nothing to say because the test was designed to show what you knew based on what the teacher had already taught you.

Once you get a test, you might not hear much from God. It may be silent. Knowing this, it would be wise for you to have a lot of conversations with Him before He administers the test!

Some people have problems passing their tests. In fact, they keep failing. They quit school. We have a lot of dropouts in Christianity today because people either get discouraged due to not passing the test or they decide they don't want to study.

If you are a dropout or failing student, it is still better to graduate at twenty, having failed a few times, than to be fifty-five working on your G.E.D. It's better to keep plugging away, doing your best, even though you may have lost some time. (Deut. 8:2; Ps. 71:12; James 1:2-4) Shalom!

USS Comforter - Help Is On The Way!

2009-10-17T09:59:00.003-04:00

The Comforter is on the Way! On January 10, 2003, a young man named Terry Drier was in the water 24 hours after his boat had capsized. He gave a valiant effort at survival, although he later confessed he felt certain that he was going to die. After that long while, a helicopter located him, and sent word to a ship on its way to the Persian Gulf. The name of the ship was the USS Comforter. This vessel was on its way to do battle and paused to deliver one man. They went out of their way to save one man and there was a doctor on board who nursed him back to health.

Many people today are treading water, and they don't know how much longer they can hang in there. People are tired and feel like all is lost. All we must do is look up and see that our Deliverer is hovering nearby. He knows exactly where deliverance can be found. The God of all comfort will make sure that comfort we need comes our way. (Ps. 18:1-3; 40:16-17)

Control Tower -

2009-10-13T07:05:00.002-04:00

Control Tower - When a plane takes off, it needs a control tower. The control tower can see what the pilots cannot. The pilots have a limited vantage point. They can't see underneath or above them. The pilots, even with all of their instruments, cannot see all the weather conditions that will affect their flight plan. The folks in the control tower can provide the pilots information they wouldn't have because of their limited vantage point.

The Word of God and His Holy Spirit is the control tower for the Christian. Where we have only limited vantage point, God's Word can communicate to us what is going on in the spiritual realm that we can't see. (2 Tim. 3:16 - Heb. 4:12)

Satan - Watch them eyes!

2009-10-13T06:48:00.002-04:00

Satan - Watch them eyes! SNAKES don't blink, because they don't have eyelids. Snakes' eyes are open 24/7. Unlike other animals that blink, snakes don't because they have nothing to blink with. They are always looking. Their eyes go this way and that way with no end. They are in a state of constant observation. That helps us to understand the Scripture that ays that Satan's on the prowl, looking for whom he may devour. His eyes are always open. (1 Peter 5:8)

The Importance of the Holy Ghost

2009-10-11T08:08:00.003-04:00

Deep sea divers enter the water with tanks on their backs. These tanks contain oxygen. The purpose of these tanks strapped to their backs is so that they can make it in a foreign world. Water is not their natural habitat; it's not the normal place for them to live, so in order for them to survive in this foreign world of water, they need to be connected to a life source from their real world. In other words, if they get disconnected from the air from this world, they won't last long in that world. Their connectedness is the key to their survival because they weren't meant to live in water. So they borrow from this world in order to live in that world.

That life source in the life of a Christian is the Holy Ghost (Spirit). God has given the Christian a life source because this world to the Christian is foreign territory. In order to live here and make it, you need to be connected to a life source from your real world. If you get disconnected from the life source from your real world, you won't make it in this world as a Christ follower. You'll be gagging for air that this world doesn't offer because it's foreign territory. This life source comes through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Shalom!

Theological Term - Admonition

2009-10-11T07:43:00.002-04:00

Adomnition - Usually a warning or a rebuke, often taking the form of strong encouragement. Paul told the Corintians that the stories relating the failures and judgements experienced by the Israelites were written for their admonition (1 Cor. 10:11). In other words, if they did not heed Paul's encouragement to be spiritually sensitive and vigilant, they too could encounter severe problems. Chrisitans are told to admonish one another (Rom. 15:14; Colossians 3:16). Those who did not walk in truth were to be admonished as a brother, and avoided, but not treated as an enemy (II Thess. 3L14-16)

Angels - Messengers for Earthly People

2009-09-29T06:54:00.003-04:00

Ministering Angels - Not long ago I was reading 2 Kings 19:35-36 and saw where one (1) angel had killed 185.000 Assyrians. WOW! One angel was all it took. Jesus in Matthew 26:53 said He could call 12 legions of angels to deliver Him.

The thought hit me years ago about this and I wondered how many would 12 legions be, so here's the math:

Eight men made one unit

Ten units (80 men) made one century

Six centuries (480 men) made on cohort

Ten cohorts (4,800 men) made one legion

It took 5,280 soldiers to make one army

If Jesus could have called 12 legions of angels, (and He could) that would be a total of 57, 600 angels. WOW! But here's another thought - If one (1) angel took out 185,000 Assyrian men, then 57,600 that Jesus could have called, one each killing (185,000) then 57,600 could take out - Are you ready for this? 10,656,000,000 men! 10 Billion, 656 Million people. Who among us could doubt God's protection in times of trouble!

Another side note: If Satan drew one-third of the angelic host to follow him (Rev. 12:4), then there are two (2) angels on our side for ever one opposing angel that would be against us! TWO - One. I would say, Satan is out numbered! Shalom!

Theological Term - Beelzebub

2009-09-27T06:18:00.003-04:00

Beelzebub - A New Testament form of Baal Zebub, literally "lord of the fly," who was the "god of Ekron" (II Kings 1:2,3,6,16), or the name under which Baal was worshiped in Philistine city of Ekron. He was worshiped as the god who produced flies and also defended against them. The Jews in Jesus' time considered Beelzebub a chief evil spirit, specifically Satan himself. In Mark 3:22 the Pharisees attempted to portray Jesus as acting by the power of Baal, "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils casteth he out devils." They were saying, "The god of one religion is the demon of another." What is funny about this term is the fact that satan has always wanted to be God, so God granted him his request, he's the "lord of flies." Shalom!

Theological Terms - Theophany

2009-09-12T20:46:00.002-04:00

Theophany - A term used to describe a visible or auditory manifestation of God, particularly in the Old Testament. Examples include the flame in the burning bush (Ex. 13:21), and the fire, smoke, and thunder on Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:18-20).

Angel appearances in human form, such as in Judges 13:15-22, are considered to be theophanies. Physical aspects are not usually provided in detail because it is the message rather than the mdium that God is emphasizing; however, the physical aspects are there to impress the recipients and authenticate the revelation. Often the recipient is not aware of the meaning of the visit.

The initiative is God's in such manifestations, and He never reveals Himself completely, and usually only in a temporary rather than a permanent manner. A permanent manifestation like the incarnation of Christ made theophanies less necessary, and my account for their diminished employment in N.T. times. Jesus Christ is more than a theophany; He is not merely God appearing in human form, but God actually robing Himself in a real human person possessing Body, Soul and Spirit.

Theological Term of the Week

2009-08-17T09:41:00.002-04:00

Hireling - One who has been hired to perform specific duties in return for pay or special favors. Such a person has no personal investment in the project, property, or company in which he labors. An example would be a shepherd who is paid by the owner to care for the sheep. Such a person is dipicted as being apt to run in the face of grave danger, forsaking the sheep. (Job 7:2; John 10 12,13)

NEW ARRIVAL!!!

2009-08-10T18:36:00.002-04:00

Boston Todd McBride

7lbs 11ozs

Born 8/8/09

Pastor and Danielle Hale is pleased to announce the arrival of their newest member of the family. Born to Justin and Rebekah (daughter) McBride.

Snakes in an Atheist's Grave

2009-08-01T09:44:00.008-04:00

Snakes In An Atheist's Grave - The Amazing Story of Chester Bedell

(Interesting Story I heard serveral years ago that I thought you would like to hear this again after many years) Sometimes we read of some blatant atheist who challenges God to strike him dead, or to prove His existence, but it is rarely indeed that God takes up such a challenge in the form in which it is made. However, in the case we are considering, God did accept an atheist's challenge, and accepted it in such a remarkable way that the infidel's grave is preaching effective sermons to many people week after week and year after year. The cause related is not one that occurred in the distant past, and which no one can investigate today. Any one with an automobile and a little spare time can see for himself. Large numbers of people are doing that very thing. It was my privilege to make the trip to North Benton, Ohio, to see the cemetery of which I speak.

The atheist in question was Mr. Chester Bedell, who died in 1908 at the age of eightytwo. He is said to have been a very bold and blatant skeptic, and was out-spoken in opposition to God and the Bible. I was told that he was a very mean man and that neighbors and others were afraid that if they crossed him they might get up the next morning to find their barn burned to the ground or other damage done. It is declared that he left one dollar each to his two Christian daughters and his 2,500 acres of land to his unbelieving sons. He was in many law suits during his life. It is said that he occasionally attended the Presbyterian Church in the town of North Benton, and that his presence threw such coldness over the service as soon as he entered that it almost broke up the meeting.

The direct challenge which Mr. Bedell hurled at the Almighty was this: "If there is a God or any truth in the Bible, let Him infest my grave with snakes." He wrote a book against the Bible entitled, "Universal Mental Liberty." Sometime before his death he had an imposing statue of himself made of bronze and placed upon a large pedestal. In his uplifted hand is a book with the inscription, "Universal Mental Liberty." Under his foot is a scroll representing the Bible, with the word "Superstition" in large letters. A minister visited one of Mr. Bedell's daughter's for information, and she said her father belonged to "The Soclety of Damned Souls" and had said that if there was a God he wanted Him to infest his grave with snakes. His daughter says that when he was dying he said, "Oh, that I had never had that monument built," and wished he were able to go over to that cemetery and tear it down, but it was too late. And what was the sequel? SNAKES!

When the grave was dug the sexton killed two snakes and when the casket was brought to the grave another large snake had to be removed before it could be lowered. That was twenty-four years ago, and since that time the family lot has been full of snake holes around the curbing. The snakes can be seen any day you visit the cemetery, except, perhaps the day after a rain. The sexton told me that under the monument and around the grave is a den of snakes And an equally remarkable fact is that this burial lot is the only place in the cemetery where snakes are ever found so the sexton declared to me in a talk that I had wlth him. The North Benton cemetery has a regularly employed sexton who takes excellent care of the grounds. The trip which I made to North Benton was by auto from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. North Benton is just eighty miles from Pittsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Miller, who took me in their car, had made two previous trips. On one they counted eight live snakes. On the other they saw sixteen that had been killed and piled up by other parties.

As we neared the cemetery I felt nervous and somewhat excited. Yes, there was the monument just as it had been described to me! I counted ten angry looking snake holes around the grave. I have pictures of five snakes, including two large ones crawling from between crevices in the cement curbing. The sexton had killed a black snake six feet six inches long just before we came, and he saw the head of another, the largest he had ever seen, which crawled back before he could kill it. I inquired why there were bloodstains on the statue, and the sexton said boys would come and kill the snakes and throw them up around the neck of Mr. Bedell's statue, then he would have the task of taking them down. That is almost enough to make the old atheist turn over in the grave! As many as twenty snakes have been killed in a day, and the sexton says that the more you kill the more there seem to be. One expression heard in and around North Benton is, "Well, if Bedell did ask for snakes he sure got 'em!"

The sexton informed me that people come from all over the United States to see the statue and grave, and that previous Sunday, 200 or more people were in that cemetery. Mr. Bedell's sons and some people near the cemetery are pretty much stirred up over the publicity that snakes have brought to the place and have been talking of taking the statue down, feeling that the statue and snakes together are a reflection on their cemetery. Some have told the caretaker that they vanished that he would tear the monument down, but he replied that he did not think that it should be torn down, as it preached too many sermons. ‹B. E. Perigo.

Later I have learned that a wind storm had blown the statue down and it had been taken away; but the large tombstone is still there and they say that snakes are there also. You cannot challenge God and not think He won't answer that challenge. One day very soon I'm going to visit this place! Shalom!

Theological Term of the Week - Teraphim

2009-07-25T16:24:00.004-04:00

Teraphim - Literally, wicked things. They were Semitic household gods or idols (gen. 31:19,20). Most were likely figurines or images in human form, generally small enought to carry in the hand. Expressly forbidden by the second commandment, when revival and spiritual renewal would visit the Israelites, one of the results would be to rid themselves of such idols and images (II Kings 23:24)

Theological Term of the Week - Omniscience

2009-07-13T18:01:00.002-04:00

Omniscience - An expression of the view that God is "all knowing," that He possesses all knowledge, and that there is nothing beyond His ability to know. He knows all because He created all and sustains all. He never learns anything new; the future as well as the past and present are completely known to Him. He is surprised by nothing. He does not have to "access" knowledge from a storehouse of knowledge; He is the STOREHOUSE!

God's omniscience allows Him to be a rightous Judge. True justice is based upon full knowledge of all the pertient facts without which no just verdice could be reached. He is aware of all evidence and mitigating circumstances.

(Psa. 147:5 Eze. 11:5 Acts 15:18 Romans 11:33-36 Hebrews 4:13)

Theological Term of the Week - SHEMA

2009-06-30T06:59:00.002-04:00

Shema - From the Hebrew verb "HEAR," the beginning word in the brief summation of the ten commandments (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). This affirmation of monotheism is the heart of the law.

America/Israel Connection Pt. 3 Stange Weather Patterns

2009-06-26T08:12:00.005-04:00

America/Israel Connection Pt. 3 Strange Weather Patterns.

During Hitler's rise to power something began to unfold that is very strange unless you have noticed it through reading or came across it by accident. There has always been strange weather patterns through history but there is always a link to these weather patterns when it comes to the United States and Israel.

To cut to the chase, President Roosevelt made two direct appeals to Adolf Hitler. There was a crisis brewing around the world but more so in Czechoslovakia. The world was waiting for Roosevelt to intervene. Roosevelt made two direct appeals to Hitler. Here is part of what Roosevelt said:

"Should you agree to a solution in this peaceful manner. I am convinced that hundreds of millions throughout the world would recognize your actions as an outstanding historic service to all humanity."

Trying to appease Hitler and failed to stand with Czechoslovkia. He called for negotiations to end the crisis. Hmmmmm, sound like anyone we know?

Roosevelt was aware of what the Nazis were doing to the Jews and we know through history that the Nazis created the tension blaming the problems in Sudetenland on the Jews. By appeasing Hitler, Roosevelt was indirectly condoning Hitler's conduct against the Jews.

Go look it up in history, the Munich Conference boosted Hitler's agenda and this conference started the dismatling of the Republic of Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Strange Weather Patterns:

So where does this weather pattern come in affect? In 1938 a powerful cyclone, category-five hurricane, as it was called then, formed off the coast of Cape Verde and was headed right to Florida. Back at this time they never named hurricanes until 1951. There have only been 3 major hurricans hit America that was a category 5. Andrew - 1992, Camille - 1969 and the Hurricane of 1935.

The Great Hurricane of 1938 increased with speed of 70 miles per hour. No one was watching but the nation was watching Hitler in Europe. Most thought it would just turn out to sea and that would be it. The eye of the storm alone was 50 miles wide. It came to Florida, made a turn and went back out to sea moving up the East coast. Then the unthinkable happend, it turned towards Long Island before anyone could do anything about it. It was given the nickname - Long Island Express.

700 killed, 63,000 homeless, 26,000 automobiles destoryed. You may say, So? This gets interesting when you look and find the epicenter of the eye hits Bellport and Yaphank where Camp Siegfried was, a major center for the Nazi movement in the United States. America had turned it's back on the Jewish people and an awesome tragedy occurred, patterns that continues to this day. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The anti-Semitic movement that started in Europe now was powerful in America. Thousands of youth were a part of this movement. Camp Siegfried had streets like, Hindenburg St, German St. and even Adolf Hitler St. This is all on the internet and common knowledge if you search it out. Even the deed map calls it Adolf Hitler St.

So September 4, 1938 just three weeks after the largest Nazi rally in America, the Great Hurricane of 1938 was born. The epicenter, Bellport, NY and the EYE passed over Camp Siegfried. No it is not coincidence, it was God trying to let the world know that if we STAND with Israel God will be on our side but to turn forcing Israel to do something against their very belief, example, giving up their land for peace we are going to see more strange weather patterns in the near future, maybe sooner than we think.

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you (Israel) toucheth the apple (pupil) of his (God) eye." Zechariah 2:8

More to come on Strange Weather Patterns and Israel/American Pattern.

Shalom!

Israel/America Connection - Pt. 2

2009-06-24T07:09:00.002-04:00

God's Chosen People - Israel

We often hear that term "God's chosen people." Psalm 105:9-10 the bible says God made a covenant with Abraham, and oath with Isaac and confirmed it with Jacob, "for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant."

Some nations have a covenant with God, others do not. Israel had a covenant with God but also the LAND was given to them as an "everlasting possession." Gen. 17:7-8

Now, God passed this covenant on to his son, Isaac and renewed it to his descendants:

Isaac - "unto thy seed..." Gen. 26:3-4

Jacob - "to they seed AFTER thee will I give the land." Gen. 35:12

God reinforced this covenant, Israel is still under this covenant and impossible for God to break this or God is not God.

"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David." Ps. 89:34-35

The Chosen Seed/People:

God's desire has always been to reveal Himself but in the time of Abraham the land was filled with pagans, idol worshipers. So, He chose Abraham to be that man that a great revelation would come through. He was the vehicle of revelation.

It would be through Abraham with a covenant that God's prophets would come forth to speak the word by which the Word of the Lord would come, this very Word you NOW hold in your hands called, The Word! All the families of the earth would be blessed by one man's walk of faith out of the land of Ur.

The starting point of this covenant started from Israel and the message of the Law, Prophets and Christ has gone forth from there to every nation.

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way; chiefly, because that UNTO THEM WERE COMMITTED THE ORACLES OF GOD." Romans 3:1-2

This covenant has been tested down through time but the GREATEST TEST is coming to Israel according to Eze. 37, 38. God will show His faithfulness to this covenant people at this time as He has in the past.

"Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD." Ezekiel 38:23

In a book by Dr. Harry Rimmer called, "Palestine - The Coming Storm Center" he mentions in Eze. 38:5-6 the allies that would come against the land of Israel would be Russia and Persia (Iran). Israel is in the news all the time with Iran wondering who will strike first. There is a coming war with a Covenant people and I wonder who is going to win? The nation that has a covenant with God or the nations that hates God, or hates the Jews (the apple of God's eye)? Those that want the land of Israel for their own don't understand, they are in for a fight and I know who is going to win by the scriptures.

Everywhere the sole of your feet touches is yours! Look at the map - Shalom!

New Series - Israel Connection

2009-06-23T11:29:00.007-04:00

NEW SERIES - AMERICA/ISRAEL CONNECTION

"For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye." Zech. 2:8

Zechariah states that whoever touches the Jewish people to harm them touches "the apple," or pupil, of God's eye. The pupil is one of the most sensitive parts of the body. To touch the eye can inflict tremendous pain or you get something in your eye, the smallest partical feels like a stone.

God created a covenant for a covenant people that is an "everlasting covenant." There is a warning from God himself that if you touch Israel we are touching God's pupil, which could cause us serious trouble.

"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Gen. 12:3

Why has America been blessed? Because we have not touched God's eye. There is a blessing on this nation because we know not to touch God's apple.

Happy Father's Day WW2 ad

2009-06-20T06:32:00.002-04:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Interesting WW2 ad for Father's Day I thought you would enjoy.

Light hearted humor -

Theological Word of the Week - Advocate

2009-06-20T06:23:00.002-04:00

Advocate - One who is called to aid another (parakletos, paraclete); one who pleads the cause of another. The term is descriptive of the ministry of the Holy Spirit as the believer's Comforter (John 14:16; 15:26; 16:7). It is also used of Christ in His position as intercessor for Christians to the Father (1 Peter 2:1). This simply means that instead of our offenses bringing upon us the judgment of God, Jesus' atoning work on the cross removes that threat. He is our Advocate when we walk in truth and in the light (1 John 1:7; 2 John 4; 3 John 4).

A Flight By Faith - Endurance

2009-06-17T13:30:00.006-04:00

In 1911, 32-year-old Calbraith Perry Rodgers took flying lessons from Orville Wright amounting to all of 90 minutes. With that under his belt, he purchased a new Flier, the first Wright ever sold to a private buyer, and went off to seek his fame and fortune at air shows.

However, the big one that would guarantee him a paragraph in history books was the challenge of crossing the nation by air, especially when publisher William Randolph Hearst dangled a $50,000 cash prize for the the first one to do it in 30 days or less.

Rodgers would face a roughly 4,000-mile flight perched out in front, flying without instruments or navigational aids or maps, certainly no heater or other creature comforts, at a breathtaking, time-consuming 45 to 55 miles per hour. A bucket seat, and a wide nation to conquer... and not a single airport or guiding beacon light.

His flight began in an open field at Sheepshead Bay, near New York City. Somewhat less than a cheering mob was witness to the takeoff since there were odds-on bets that the flight wouldn't make it past the Hudson River. But Cal fooled them. His first leg that day ended uneventfully at Middletown NY, a 104-mile trip taking nearly two hours.

Events took a bad turn the next morning when he snagged a tree with his wheel on takeoff and crashed into a chicken shed. Dazed and bleeding from a cut on his scalp, Rodgers climbed out of the wreckage to face an irate farm wife who demanded immediate payment for the damage. Three days were required to put Vin Fiz back in flying shape, then a series of other mishaps and accidents plagued his trip, slowing his progress. When he finally arrived at Chicago on October 9, it was soberingly apparent that there was little chance of capturing the Hearst money. However, still dogged in his persistence, and with basic funding by Armour—whose expenses added up to about $23,000 in 1911 dollars—he was determined to complete his conquest of the USA.

During the rest of the flight, which dragged through October and into December for a total of 84 days, (54 days passed the 30 days to complete the flight in) Vin Fiz (Aircraft) suffered a series of mishaps numbering anywhere from 16 to 39—an exact total was never calculated since definitions between rough landings and uncontrolled crashes. In 69 stops across the country (23 in Texas alone), all that was left of the original aircraft was, one rudder and a single wing strut, and an oil pan remaining from the original aircraft by the end of the flight. Of those 84 days, only 82 hours and 4 minutes were spent in the air! He endured until the end.

It might have been the money that made him take the flight but knowing he was not going to win, something else motivated him to continue, he did not quite! Serving the Lord is the same way, we start out full force, have some mishaps along the way and maybe even crash land but there is something in a child of God that says, "I'm going to make it by FAITH." I may only have one rudder, an oil pan and maybe one strut but I'm going to make that final flight and reach my destination! We do have a compass, that is the Word of God to direct us and the Holy Spirit. The road may be hard and may take longer but I will reach my destination!

Glory Be To GOD!

2009-06-16T07:12:00.003-04:00

J. C. Penny - The Man That Would Not Quit But Had Faith!

There was a man one time that had nothing but an ideal. Born to a poor family not much worldly goods but a praying mother and father. His father was a minister living in Missouri.
Growing up he wanted to become a barber but his business failed.

J.C. Penney opened his chain of “The Golden Rule” stores in 1907. Three years later, his first wife died. In 1913, he incorporated as the J.C. Penney Company. In 1923, his second wife died giving birth to their son and six years later, in 1929, the stock market crashed and he lost millions.

By 1932, J.C. Penney had sold almost everything he had to satisfy creditors and was financially and emotionally broken. Devastated and crushed by the circumstances surrounding him and, due to failing health, he wound up in a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan.

One morning, he overheard the singing of employees who’d gathered to start the day with God. The song they were singing was, “God Will Take Care of You.” He heard these lines:“Be not dismayed, what’er betide, God will take care of you . . .” J.C. walked closer to the singing and sat in the back listening.

A short time later, J.C. Penney left the sanatorium a changed man. And, at the age of 56, began the climb back to the top. By the time 1951 arrived, there was a J.C. Penney store in every state and sales surpassed the one billion mark.

What was the key? He put his trust in the Lord and learned when he was down and out the importance of giving to the Lord, tithing. He knew that he had tried it his way, now he would try it God’s way. By the time J.C. Penny died he was giving to God 90 percent of his income.

God’s way brought him out ready to lose his mind.

God’s way gave him direction.

God’s way gave him Hope.

God will provide for you in the time of Crisis.

Trusting God by taking what little you have and putting it into His hands shows God TOTAL TRUST. Then He can take that little and perform a miracle like He did with the loaves and fishes just because you put it in His hands. It's safer in His hands than in Wall Street. Shalom!

Quotes - America - The Bible

2009-06-15T10:15:00.002-04:00

You have to love these quotes from our Great Leaders -

John Witherspoon, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Member of the Continental Congress, President of Princeton College and Pastor. Spoken in a sermon delivered May 17, 1776.
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion and who sets Himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind...God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable and that the unjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and establishment of both."

"No man can study the movement of modern civilization from an impartial standpoint and not realize that Christianity and the spread of Christianity are the basis of hope of modern civilization in the growth of popular self-government. The spirit of Christianity is pure democracy. It is equality of man before God—the equality of man before the law, which is, as I understand it, the most God-like manifestation that man has been able to make." William Howard Taft, in an address to a missionary gathering in 1908

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible." George Washington

Patrick Henry - "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."

John Quincy Adams - "The first and almost the only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

Abraham Lincoln - When a group of African-Americans presented him with the gift of a Bible, President Abraham Lincoln stated the following: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated through this Book; but for the Book we could not know right from wrong, All the things desirable to man are contained in it."

Last but not least -

"We are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a Nation of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, . ."
Barak H. Obama 44th President of a No Longer Christian Nation!

Theological Word of the Week - INSPIRATION!

2009-06-13T10:40:00.002-04:00

Inspiration - from a Latin word meaning "a breathing into" or "God-breathed." It refers to the breath of God providing insight and inner direction to men. Inspiration is attributed to those men who became writers of the scriptural canon.

2 Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

The biblical writers were breathed into by the Spirit so that the product of their activity was beyond human power, which became authoritative, having absolute trustworthiness.

Inspiration allows for the use of human beings filled with His Holy Ghost to write the word's of God that could predetermine future events that are now coming to pass.

Inspiration does not stand alone but with Revelation, Authority, Illumination, Infallibility, and Inerrancy. Nothing in God's word is wrong, out of place, nor does it ever fail. John 17:17 "Thy word is truth."
Have a blessed weekend! Shalom!

New England Primer 1680's-1690's

2009-06-11T19:28:00.010-04:00

The New-England Primer was the first reading primer designed for the American Colonies. It became the most successful educational textbook published in colonial and the early days of United States history. If you have never seen one or read some of the questions, it is amazing. I wonder how many adults could answer some of these questions:

What is Repentance Unto Life?

What is Justification?

What are the Decrees of God?

How did God Create Man?

Which is the 4th Commandment?

What is the Lord's Supper?

Two of the most famous example verses are as follows

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.
—1784 ed.
In Adam's Fall,
we sinned all.

There is a section in this small little book called, "Spiritual Milk For American Babes."

Here are some of the questions:

What hath God done for you?

What is God?

Are you Born a Sinner?

I think you get the point. It's amazing that such strong questions would be ask of little children who even today most could not answer. These things were taught in our school's in America but how dare anyone ask these today. Shalom!

Strange Weather Patterns-Things to Come

2009-06-09T06:06:00.003-04:00

Obadiah 1:5 - "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, (Unto Israel) it sall be done unto thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head."

We are at a defining moment in America. Israel from the beginning has been a target of hate even pushed out of their homeland but somehow they bounced back as a people.

Israel should have ended as a nation and probably as a people in 586 BC, but survived. In 70 AD this nation did cease and was pushed out of their country to the four winds, but the prophets wrote, they would be reborn.

Israel bounced back on May 14, 1948 and became a Nation. 1967 Jerusalem became their capital, just as the prophets have said. The Hebrew language somehow survived, simply there has been no nation like Israel.

If you would do some research (Internet) you would find that there is a direct correlation in massive disaters striking America and leaders pressuring Israel to surrender her land for "peace."

Hurricans, floods, tsunamis, fires and tornadoes that have hit America, behind it there is a connection of putting pressure on Israel. Most of the time with-in 24 hours.

Here we are again with leaders pressuring Israel to make "peace."

1 Thessalonians 5:3 "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."

If history repeats itself as it always does, watch the pressure being put on Israel to make a 2 state solution, then watch what strange weather patterns happen. It snowed yesterday (6/9) in one state, fires in CA. America is a GREAT nation but we have leaders making wrong choices that may cost certain people in certain areas.

We are on a collision course with God but all the scriptures must come to pass, even the ones pointing to the end of the age. What can we do?

Love God with all your heart
Pray for the Peace of Israel (this may keep you safe)
Make God #1 in your life
Go to Church before the storm

There is a storm coming to America but in Egypt the people Israel was safe, no plauges hit their area and I believe the people of God will be safe also. Shalom!

Protestant Version New Testament 1941

2009-06-08T07:15:00.004-04:00

In a little New Testament bible I obtained dated March 6, 1941 printed by the UNITED STATES GOVERNAMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON presented by The Army of the United States has a message in the front of the bible, it reads:

The White House

Washington

To the Members of the Army:

As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse oringins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul.

Very sincerely yours,

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Personal Note:

My how far have we come in America in 68 years. No bible in schools, no pray in schools, and yet many wonder why things are going as they are. The BIBLE was the voice of the American people for many years from George Washington, John Adams to Franklin Roosevelt. I just wonder if our United States Government would do such an act today? Those who are blind always follows the sound of a voice.

America is blind, and without a voice, where will we go? If the blind lead the blind, they both fall in a ditch. The Word of God is our Compass and without a compass you will not have the right direction. Pick it up and cherish it, for it will lead you where you need to go.

Sabaoth - Not Sabbath

2009-06-06T07:49:00.002-04:00

Sabaoth - Literally, of hosts or armies. Indicating the masses of beings which God has at His command, the term is usually used in conjunction with Yahweh, or Elohim, designating God as "The Lord of Hosts (Sabaoth)."

Common in the Psalms and the Prophets, it is not employed in the Pentateuch. It projects God as "The Conquering God" (Psa. 89:6-8). Both Paul and James reveal the Lord in this fashion (Romans 9:29; James 5:4).

Look to ME, not a SYSTEM!

2009-06-05T07:38:00.003-04:00

Parallels In Prophecy

In 1 Samuel Israel wanted a king to rule over them. They got what they ask for but trouble was in the making. Look at these Parallels - You will get a king but here is what he will do:

TAKE OVER SONS AND DAUGHTERS - 1 SAM. 8:11
HIRED HIS OWN WORKERS (TAKEOVER) 1 SAM. 8:12
TAKE PRIVATE BUSNESSES & PROPERTY - 1 SAM. 8:14
TAKE A TENTH OF EVERYTHING AND RAISE TAXES - 1 SAM. 8:18

1 Samuel 10:19 we are to look to GOD for total trust and know HE is our source.

When Saul became king, here is what we know -

HIS FAMILY HAD NO ROYAL LINEAGE - 1 SAM. 9:1
HE WAS A HEAD TALLER THAN EVERYONE - 1 SAM. 9:2
HE WAS HERDING DONKEYS WHEN DISCOVERED - 1 SAM. 9:3
HE BEGAN HUMBLE BUT BECAME ARROGRANT - 1 SAM. 15:17
HE WOULD NOT DESTROY HIS ENEMIES - 1 SAM. 15:20-23
HE WANTED TO LOOK GOOD IN THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE - 1 SAM. 15:30
HE FOUGHT ANYONE WHO CROSSED HIM - 1 SAM. 18:10-11
HE PLAYED BOTH SIDES OF THE PEOPLE - 1 SAM. 19:23-24
HE TURNED AGAINST ANYONE RIGHTEOUS - 1 SAM. 19:9-10

1 Samuel 22:1-2 tells us the state of mind the people were in because they did not trust in God but really was trusting a system -

DISTRESS (Stressed Out)
DISCONTENT (With everything they are seeing)
DEBT (Debts they could not pay back)

They looked to a system and it failed them when God said, "You look to ME."

We are in the same boat today, Distressed, Discontent, and in Debt but hold on, our KING DAVID (Jesus) is coming to the throne!

Need I Say More -

2009-06-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Circumstances Cannot Break God’s Promises

2009-06-04T07:44:00.003-04:00

Miracle at the KERR JAR Factory -

Alexander H. Kerr was converted under the ministry of Dwight L. Moody at the age of fourteen and joined the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia. In 1902 Mr. Kerr read the book entitled, "Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright," by Bishop Allen. In his book Bishop Allen referred to the vow Jacob made in Genesis 28, where we find the following words, "Of all that Thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto Thee."

Twenty years later this same Jacob returned to his home with servants and cattle in great abundance. He thus became one of the rich men of the East as a result of keeping his covenant of tithing with the Lord God.

With some doubts, but with a sincere desire to test if the Bible is true, to prove without a shadow of doubt that there is a personal God and that His promises are from everlasting to everlasting, and that they are intended for people of this day, Mr. Kerr, on June 1, 1902, made a special covenant to set aside a certain percentage of his income for the work of the Lord.

Within three months after Mr. Kerr began to tithe, unexpected and unforeseen blessings came to him – so much so that it seemed to him that God had thus opened his eyes to behold His love and His faithfulness to His promises, especially made in regard to tithing or giving one-tenth.

That same year Mr. Kerr, with a very small capital but with strong faith in God’s tithing promises contained in Malachi 3:10-12, organized the firm known as the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company which eventually became one of the largest firms selling fruit jars in the United States. The jars were manufactured for him in San Francisco.

At the time of the San Francisco earthquake (1906) this firm was manufacturing his fruit jars. Mr. Kerr had put practically every cent he had in the world into this fruit jar enterprise and then came the earthquake! His friends came to him and said, "Kerr, you are a ruined man." He replied, "I don’t believe it…. I know God will not go back on His promises."

He wired to San Francisco, and received the following reply: "Your factory is in the heart of the fire, and undoubtedly is destroyed. The heat is so intense we will be unable to find out anything for some days."

What a time of testing this was! But his faith in the Lord never wavered. He believed Malachi 3:11: "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground." He stood on this promise unmoved. About a week after the earthquake and fire, a second telegram arrived saying: "Everything for a mile and a half on all sides of the factory burned; but your factory was miraculously saved."

Mr. Kerr immediately boarded a train for San Francisco. This factory was a two-story wooden building containing the huge tanks where the glass was melted. These tanks were kept at extremely high temperatures. Oil was used for fuel, and therefore this building was the most inflammable in San Francisco. The fire had raged on all sides of this glass factory, creeping up to the wooden fence surrounding the building and even scorching it. Then the flames and fire leaped around and over and beyond the building, burning everything in its path. However, not even the wooden fence was burned, nor the building, and not a single glass jar was cracked by earthquake or fire.

This was nothing short of a miracle of God’s divine power in protecting this man who held his faith that God’s promises made to those who tithe would never be broken by any circumstances! God’s Word cannot return to Him void (Isa. 55:8-11).

Why America Is Not Listening

2009-06-02T06:32:00.004-04:00

1 Chronicles 12:32“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do;”

There is an interesting parallel in the bible that I would like to bring to your attention:

Prosperity was always God last mercy call before the chastening occurs!

Luke 17:26-28
Business was booming, they drank, they bought, they sold, build, yet the whole time a cloud of destruction was gathering over their heads.
They had no time for prophets. All they could see was the good times ahead…UNTIL the day that Noah entered the Ark.

But God’s last mercy call was prosperity.

Consider the days of Lot –

Luke 17:28.29
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

What was the SIN of SODOM? It’s not all what most people think.

Ezekiel 16:49-50
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

These people had an abundance of provision, with no sign of hard times. They were prosperous, they ignored the poor.
Fullness of bread means they had plenty to eat but suddenly and overnight the good times ended.
Calamity struck in broad daylight – within 24 hours their whole society lay in ruins!

Right before CALAMITY prosperity!
Prosperity was God’s last call before judgment!

What about King Josiah?
An 8 year old king 2 Kings 22:11-13

The Lord let him know that wrath was being stored up for the nation of Israel.
What does he do? He tears down the idols, destroy anything that was not like God. Pagan temples, ended child sacrifice and called a nation back to God.

It looked like Revival was going on. It looked like a mighty move of God was happening but there was trouble coming.

God said…”Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself, you will not be alive when these calamities fall on Judah.”

When did HIS judgment fall? At the very height of their prosperity!

What about America?
Warnings are not to scare you, but to prepare you.
2 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman tenth legion, Christians remembered the warning of Jesus and escaped the city before the Romans surrounded it. 70 A.D.
1920’s was called the “Age of Prosperity”
· Factories were booming
· People were having a good time
· The Auto industry was at an all time high, could not keep up with the demand
· Radios were in full force being made
· Appliances were in demand and most of them we have today were invented at this time
· What could go wrong?1929 Wall Street crash and the great depression!

Ezek. 33:6 says that if a watchman sees a day of trouble coming and does not warn the people, then their blood will be on the watchman’s hands.

Intercession produces PREVENTION or PROTECTION!
Prosperity always precedes judgment –

Jonah’s obedience prevented the destruction of Nineveh.
We many not prevent what’s coming but we can be preserved in the ARK.

You follow the inner man; the inner nudges of the Holy Ghost what YOU should do.

Why America isn’t listening, she’s doing it again; she has a season of prosperity, then trouble.
· Prosperity then trouble
· Prosperity then trouble

2 Chronicles 7:14
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

2 Chron. 7:14 only applies when the leaders REPENT!
The healing of the land is only if there is repentance.

Heaven, Space and God -

2009-06-01T06:33:00.002-04:00

Text: Jeremiah 23:23,24

Jeremiah 23:23 [Am] I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

In verse 24, GOD said HE filled the heavens and the earth, this being true then there would be no room for another. When something is full, that means there is no room for any more.
GOD is everywhere present and no place absent.

Let Him fill your heart and there will be no room for nothing else.

Financially Tough Days

2009-05-31T19:44:00.002-04:00

25 Promises From the Bible for Financially Tough Days

When you go through financially tough times, God promises:
1. To care for you…Matt. 6:28-30
2. To provide for you…Matt. 6:31-33
3. To help you deal with what happens that day…Matt. 6:34
4. To give you rest…Matt. 11:28
5. To lift you up…1 Peter 5:6-7
6. To give you peace…Phil. 4:6-7
7. To give real treasure…Matt. 6:19-21
8. To grow your faith…James 1:2-4
9. To give strength whatever the financial situation…Phil. 4:12-13
10. To meet all your needs…Phil. 4:19
11. To protect you from fear…Psa. 46:1-3
12. To bless those who bless others…Pro. 11:25
13. To work for the good…Romans 8:28
14. To give you something to look forward to…1 Cor. 2:9
15. To answer your prayers…Matt. 7:7-8
16. To comfort you, and comfort others through you…2 Cor. 1:3-4
17. To bring joy…Psa. 126:5
18. To give you the desires of your heart…Psa. 37:4
19. To reward your faith…Matt. 17:20
20. To reward your patience…Gal. 6:9
21. To give to those who give…Luke 6:38
22. To direct your decisions…Pro. 3:5-6
23. To give you wisdom…James 1:5
24. To renew your strength…Isa. 40:31
25. To be with you…Isa. 43:2-3

God will take care of each of us who TRUST in HIM and Him alone.

Theological Word of the Week

2009-05-30T07:56:00.000-04:00

ALLEGORY -

A rhetorical device in speech and literature which sets forth immaterial truths in pictorial form. It usually embodies an extended metaphor or series of metaphors representing one thing to excite the representation of another thing. It is usually in the form of a fictitious narrative since it is designed to convey a moral rather than a historical truth.

Allegories were frequently used in Scriptures as in other literature of virtually every age. In Psalms 80, Israel was pictured as a vine. In John 10:1-6 Jesus is represented as the Good Shepherd, although he probably never followed that occupation. In the Bible, the use of allegory is either specifically indicated (Gal. 4:21) or is the clearly identified through the context (Pro. 5:15-19)

Check back each week for a new term - Blessings!

A Bed, Table, Stool and a Candlestick

2009-05-29T15:48:00.000-04:00

In 2 Kings chapter 4:10 there are four things that the Shunammite woman provided for the prophet Elisha and are illustrative of the four things which every Chrisitian worker for JESUS needs. They are:

The Bed - a symbol of Rest which is only found in Christ Jesus by coming to HIM and being yoked in His will. (Matt. 11:28, 29)
The Table - a symbol of Fellowship with Him, for He sets a table before us in the presence of our enemies. (Psa. 23:5)
A Stool - the symbol of instruction for Jesus, for we must sit at HIS feet and learn of Him, that we may know HIS will. (Jn. 10:39)
A Candlestick - a symbol of Testimony of Jesus, for He says, we are the "Light" of the world for we are His witnesses. (Matt 5:14; Acts 1:8)

These are illustrative of what a Christian worker needs. Let's get to work!