Humble Servant

A Faithful Man (Part Two)

2010-05-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

Genesis 39:3,4
"Now his master saw that the Lord was with [Joseph] and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight...and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge."

If you want to find a biblical example of someone who was faithful in little things, turn to the last chapters of Genesis. As you read through the story of Joseph, you see a man who was considered trustworthy:

● He was given responsibility to shepherd his father's flocks "while he was still a youth" (Genesis 37:2).
● After he was sold into slavery by his brothers, he ended up in the house of Potiphar, where he performed his duties well enough to be appointed overseer of all that Potiphar owned (v. 39:5).
● He refused the amorous advances of Potiphar's wife. Unfortunately, he was thrown into prison when she lied and said he had tried to seduce her (vv. 39:7-18).
● His character in prison was so strong that the chief jailer placed him in charge of all the prisoners (vv.39:21-23).
● After interpreting Pharaoh's dream, he was taken from prison and made a ruler in Egypt, second in power only to Pharaoh (vv. 41:38-41).

Joseph never sought to move up in responsibility. He was faithful to fulfill his responsibilities and content to allow God to give him more. Even his words to Potiphar's wife reveal his faithful character: "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.... He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:8,9).

Many people have ambitions, but sometimes I wonder if our ambitions are in the right area. Jesus said the greatest ambition in Mark 10:35-45 was to be the slave of all-a servant.

Do you want to be a leader? Then you've got to be a servant.

Prayer: If you desire to have additional responsibilities, ask God to give you the desire to serve others.

Discuss: Do others consider you a servant? Perhaps a better question is do people treat you like a servant?

FamilyLife® Website

Faithful in Little Things (Part One)

2010-04-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Luke 16:10
"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much."

Are you trustworthy?
Can others count on you?
Do you want to know how to be original in a culture of copycats?
Do you want to be a part of a vanishing breed in today's generation?
If so, then become a person who is faithful. You know, a person who follows through. One whom others can count on whether things are rough or smooth. His word is good on the little stuff, as well as the mammoth, gargantuan tasks. He's the kind of person who promises to call-and does so-on time. He says he'll do it and he does-exactly like you have asked for it to be done.

Are you known as a faithful person? If you are, then here are a few of the words that can be used to describe you: Trustworthy, dependable, reliable, true-blue and responsible. All of the names are saturated with one recurring theme, character. Character quietly, yet convincingly, says, "You can count on me-at any cost!"

Faithfulness. Strange, isn't it, that such a simple thing would be in such short supply?

Today, our oatmeal is ready to eat in 60 seconds, our pictures can be developed in 60 minutes and our houses can be built in 60 days. We are a culture that is used to getting what we want instantly. We aren't accustomed to working patiently, or waiting on anything-even a hamburger.

I meet a lot of men who desire to have more responsibility and move up the ladder of success. Many of them, however, want to jump to the top of that ladder rather than climb it. They want you to be impressed with their talent and their skills of persuasion rather than with their faithfulness.

Prayer: That God would build in you a spirit of servanthood and faithfulness.

Discuss: Are you faithful in little things or do you often seem to neglect them?

FamilyLife® Website

Condition of Blessing

2010-04-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

"Bring ye all of the tithes into the Storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine House, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Many read and plead this promise without noticing the condition upon which the blessing is promised. We cannot expect heaven to be opened or blessing poured out unless we pay our dues unto the LORD our God and to His cause. There would be no lack of funds for holy purposes if all professing Christians paid their fair share.

Many are poor because they rob God. Many churches, also, miss the visitation of the Spirit because they starve their ministries. If there is no temporal meat for God's servants, we need not wonder if their ministry has been little food in it for our souls. When missions pine for means and the work of the LORD is hindered by an empty treasury, how can we look for a large amount of soul-prosperity?

Come, come! What have I given of late? Have I been mean to my God? Have I stinted my Savior? This will never do. Let me give my LORD Jesus His tithe by helping the poor and aiding His work, and then l shall prove His power to bless me on a large scale.
ch spurgeon

Christ died for Sins

2009-11-25T16:47:00.000-08:00

1Peter 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit

It was God's will for Christ to suffer.

"It was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering" Is 53:10

Jesus said,

"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" John 12:27-28a

Christ dying for sins is central to the gospel message.

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" 1Cor 15:3,4

And

"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1John 2:2

The resurrection of Christ from the dead provides us with forensic evidence validating his testimony as the Son of God, and giving us hope of our resurrection. For

"if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Rom 8:11

God's Wrath - Hell

2009-06-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Eternal Suffering is hell is clearly preached in the Bible, especially by Jesus.

Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Mt 13:41,42 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mt 18:34,35 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Jude 1:7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Despite the fact that eternal suffering would seem contrary both the God's judicial nature and his mercy and would seem to portray God the Father as the God Father, Jesus didn't shy away from portraying his Father in this manner. Because first of all this is the way God actually is. And secondly, from God's perspective, this a just sentence. True that it's difficult to see how eternal punishment is a just sentence for temporal sins, especially in consideration of the circumstances in which we live. It's difficult to see how it meets the standards of the law of Moses - an eye for an eye. But it apparently is. And fear and intimidation in light of hell is part of how the gospel is preached in the Bible.

Now there are those who would say that it's ineffective preaching hell. It turns people off. And so we hear little of hell today. But this is not an issue of effectiveness. This is an issue of what constitutes the essential elements of the gospel. To remove the wrath of God from the gospel is to preach a different gospel. If people won't accept the idea that God sends people to hell, if people can't accept that such judgment is condoned by the Lord Jesus Christ, then they have yet to believe the gospel of Christ.

"Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Mt 25:41

The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources

How to be certain of the gospel

2009-05-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

Luke mentions proofs of Jesus' credentials, not only in his gospel but in the book of Acts.

"After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

Acts 1:3 And both Acts and the gospel of Luke were letters written to a man called "Theophilus". Why? Luke tell us why at the beginning of his gospel saying,

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1:1-4

It was to impart a sense of certainty.

The reason why faith comes from hearing the message is because the message itself provides forensic evidence, evidence in the form of eyewitness testimony of miracles, evidence which gives a sure foundation for faith, evidence of validating Jesus' testimony, evidence constituting Jesus' credentials.

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." John 14:11

"if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." John 10:9

GOD

2009-04-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

COURAGE

2009-04-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

The dictionary defines it as:

The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.

Ambrose Redmoon once said:

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

We see movie after movie, situation after situation, of people calling up something from within that overcomes all things to do the seemingly impossible. Have you ever found yourself standing at some point trying to summon up some courage to do something you are totally and positively fearful of doing [who hasn't]. The question truly becomes not have we found ourselves standing in those situations but did we move in those situations and in which direction.

I imagine a scene where there are a few warriors staring down a massive attacking enemy, the numbers are too great, the odds insurmountable, what do we do. To do nothing is unthinkable but to do something is insane. When a voice comes from no where summoning up the courage, telling you all is well, you are not alone. Your eyes flash wide and you move.... The enemy thinks you foolish and almost mocks your attack... but what he does not see is the undefeatable foe within, that thing which death does not defeat.
Courage is doing what most would consider foolish but faith would call wise..

Acts 6:8-7:60 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us." All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?" To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. "Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'……………………………..Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Courage, also known as bravery and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. It can be divided into "physical courage" — in the face of physical pain, hardship, and threat of death; and "moral courage" — in the face of shame, scandal, and discouragement.

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.
Matthew 17:20

My brothers, I know your fear and feel it myself for in my heart is a fear that would swallow my day. But it is not our fear. Ours is a courage that knows not this world. A timeless enduring that sees no bounds, no edge. A focus on the almighty that takes us from this place and places fire within our hearts. Our enemy only knows fear for his time has come to an end.

When you feel your courage failing and fear standing beside you, look to the one who purchased you from this day, from death. For in Christ Jesus is a courage that shoots across the sky like a flash of light, spreading from the east to the west.

An hour comes when wolves will stand round about you, but one is here who delivers you, and sets you at a table before your enemies. No matter the day, no matter the night, an eternity is pressed across our skies. A place has been set for us, a feast. And his glory will you see, his presence is with you. And your enemy will flea and release those imprisoned. For the Glory of God Will you stand, will you speak, will you go!

Passover.... Easter... .Resurection Day

2009-04-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

Interview With An Atheist

2009-03-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Salvation by John MacArthur and Kirk Cameron

2009-03-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

the inner essence of simplicity

2009-02-19T05:10:00.000-08:00

Following are several of Richard Foster's principles that may help us in evaluating whether we have captured the inner essence of simplicity:

First: buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
Second: reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
Third: develop a habit of giving things away.
Fourth: refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.
Fifth: learn to enjoy things without owning them.
Sixth: look with a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes.
Seventh: shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God.

Luke Warm & Loving It

2009-02-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

What Jesus actually REALLY meant when he said it's hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, is that it's hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

I am unashamed

2009-02-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

This was written by an African man on the night before his execution for being a Christian.

"I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present
makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by
presence, lean by faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace
is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my
road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,
compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the
presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until
Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes. And when He comes to get
His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My colors will be clear."

Living by Faith

2009-02-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Romans 1:16-17; I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

In Scripture, we read that strong faith is essential for facing life's uncertainties. It prompts us to look beyond our trials to the One who's promised to guide and sustain us.

As trust in the Lord increases, obedience becomes a higher priority than pleasure or profit. Moses' life illustrates this--he chose to forsake the advantage of Egyptian royalty in order to be identified with God's people. Placing his future in the Almighty's hands, he became the Israelites' leader and gave precedence to the Lord's interests over his own.

As devotion deepens, a second outcome is spiritual discernment--believers develop an ability to look beyond the external appearance to see things as God does. The attractiveness of sin will decrease, and its offer of satisfaction will be recognized as false. At the same time, eternal matters will become more valuable to us. Moses left his livelihood of 40 years to become God's appointed leader. Pursuing the Lord's plan became more important than anything else in his life. Despite his misgivings and sense of inadequacy, he placed trust in his heavenly Father.

Finally, a growing faith will not permit misunderstandings and criticisms to deter us from pursuing God's plan. The Hebrew slaves didn't make it easy for Moses to lead, but his beliefs enabled him to move forward.

The Hebrew leader's faith became the defining quality of his life. The Lord wants the same to be true of you. By trusting God deeply, you, like Moses, will be able to meet each day's challenges with courage and determination.

intouch ministries

A Proxy Server

2009-01-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

1Cor 16:10,11 If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am. No one, then, should refuse to accept him. Send him on his way in peace so that he may return to me. I am expecting him along with the brothers.

Recall earlier Paul wrote,

"Therefore I urge you to imitate me For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church." 1Cor 4:16,17

And as Timothy was Paul's proxy server, all in ministry are proxy servers to Christ. Jesus said,

"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me." Mt 10:40

And likewise

"`I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."" Mt 25:40-42

you raise me up

2009-01-25T18:34:00.000-08:00

The Sting of Death

2009-01-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

1Cor 15:54-57 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is alluding to

Isa 25:8 "he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken."

Of which is also alluded to in

Rev 21:4 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

And Paul also alludes to

Hosea 13:14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?"

There are many who don't presently realize the real sting of death. Some think it's just an end to one's existence. But the real sting of death is the eternal condemnation which follows it, which is a consequence of falling short of God's standards. Thus

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord." 2Th 2:8,9

But thanks be to God for the grace given by Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospel for those who believe.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" Acts 16:31 "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." 1Cor 15:2

The Boston Christian Bible Study Resources

Bad Company

2009-01-16T14:03:00.001-08:00

1Cor 15:33,34 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God— I say this to your shame.

Pr 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Earlier in Corinthians Paul spoke of disassociating oneself from sinful Christians. "I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."" 1Cor 5:11-13 Chose your friends carefully, for you will become like them.

As for the some who are ignorant of God, Paul is referring to some in the Christian community. Else why would it be to their shame? There are some who call themselves Christians but are under misconceptions as to what constitutes a Christian. Many are Christians simply by tradition, having little idea about what the Bible actually says. They may think that it's just about this life. They may just have wanted to befriend some Christians. And while it's good to draw in seekers, the message should not be modified to accomodate their worldly point of view, nor any heresies they introduce go uncritiqued. Else "Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." 2Tim 2:17,18 False Christians often taken advantage of the gullible both in business and in doctrine.

Why Make the Effort?

2009-01-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

1Cor 15:30-32 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day— I mean that, brothers— just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

Why

"fight the good fight of the faith." 1Tim 6:12a

if it's just about this life? Why

"take hold of the eternal life to which you were called" 1Tim 6:12b

if there is no eternal life?
Our battle is in three arenas - the world, the flesh, the devil.

The World
The world pressures us with temptations outwardly. But

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1John 2:17

Thus Paul asks,

"pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith." 2Th 3:2

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Rom 12:2

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The Flesh
The flesh works evil in us.

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh (sinful nature)." Rom 7:18

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." Col 3:5

The Devil

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:12 "and do not give the devil a foothold." Eph 4:27

As for the phrase

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

, it comes from Isaiah 22:12-14 which says,

"The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!" The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: "Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for," says the Lord, the LORD Almighty."

God has made no provision of atonement for people who don't respond to the gospel message in repentance from sin. And

"everyone must die once, and after that comes judgment." Heb 9:27

The BCBS Resources

No Resurrection, No Salvation

2009-01-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

1Cor 15:15-18 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

"Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection." Acts 17:18b

Paul believed that

"there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." Acts 24:15

The gospel is not just about who Christ was or what he taught. It is also about the historic facts of the death, burial and resurrection, of which a large portion of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are devoted. It is like no other religion in this respect - founded upon historic fact - the fact of miracles, affirmed by a multitude of eyewitnesses, which the hostility of the religious elite could not suppress. One cannot be called a Christian if they deny the resurrection of Christ.

But if Christ wasn't raised, then the gospel is false. If the gospel is false, then Jesus did not atone for sin, and as such there is no provision to escape the wrath of God, and those who have died have gone to hell.

Jesus Christ is Everything

2009-01-05T15:53:00.001-08:00

The Christmas Story

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Mary, a virgin, was living in Galilee of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter.
An angel visited her and explained to her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. She would carry and give birth to this child and she would name him Jesus.
At first Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel's words. Being a virgin, Mary questioned the angel, "How will this be?" The angel explained that the child would be God's own Son and, therefore, "nothing is impossible with God." Humbled and in awe, Mary believed the angel of the Lord and rejoiced in God her Savior.
Surely Mary reflected with wonder on the words found in Isaiah 7:14 foretelling this event, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

The Birth of Jesus:
While Mary was still engaged to Joseph, she miraculously became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, as foretold to her by the angel. When Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, he had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his own, and Mary's apparent unfaithfulness carried a grave social stigma. Joseph not only had the right to divorce Mary, under Jewish law she could be put to death by stoning.
Although Joseph's initial reaction was to break the engagement, the appropriate thing for a righteous man to do, he treated Mary with extreme kindness. He did not want to cause her further shame, so he decided to act quietly.
But God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream to verify Mary's story and reassure him that his marriage to her was God's will. The angel explained that the child within Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that his name would be Jesus and that he was the Messiah, God with us.
When Joseph woke from his dream, he willingly obeyed God and took Mary home to be his wife, in spite of the public humiliation he would face. Perhaps this noble quality is one of the reasons God chose him to be the Messiah's earthly father.

Joseph too must have wondered in awe as he remembered the words found in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
At that time, Caesar Augustus decreed that a census be taken, and every person in the entire Roman world had to go to his own town to register. Joseph, being of the line of David, was required to go to Bethlehem to register with Mary. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus. Probably due to the census, the inn was too crowded, and Mary gave birth in a crude stable. She wrapped the baby in cloths and placed him in a manger.

The Shepherd's Worship the Savior:
Luke 2:8-20

And in the same country there were shepherds living in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came on them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were grievously afraid. And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you is born today, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it happened as the angels departed from them into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Indeed, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has happened, which the Lord made known to us. And hurrying they came and sought out both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger. And seeing, they publicly told about the word spoken to them concerning this Child. And all those who heard marveled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, meditating in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as was spoken to them.

The Magi Bring Gifts:
After Jesus' birth, Herod was king of Judea. At this time wise men (Magi) from the east saw a star, they came in search, knowing the star signified the birth of the king of the Jews. The wise men came to the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem and asked where the Christ was to be born. The rulers explained, "In Bethlehem in Judea," referring to Micah 5:2. Herod secretly met with the Magi and asked them to report back after they had found the child. Herod told the Magi that he too wanted to go and worship the babe. But secretly Herod was plotting to kill the child.
So the wise men continued to follow the star in search of the new born king and found Jesus with his mother in Bethlehem. (Most likely Jesus was already two years of age by this time.) They bowed and worshipped him, offering treasures of gold, incense and myrrh. When they left, they did not return to Herod. They had been warned in a dream of his plot to destroy the child.

Its About The Cross

2008-12-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

Defense Attorneys

2008-12-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

an interview with two defense attorneys about the Law

Jesus and Santa

2008-12-15T06:32:00.000-08:00

The Christmas LineBacker

2008-12-13T15:55:00.001-08:00

aethism

2008-12-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

Not meant as an attack...
was meant to raise a question... What do you believe in?
Too often we see society jumping on bandwagons without questioning what is being fed to them.
Global Warming
Evolution
Separation of Church and State
(and I will say the O word) Oprah
We listen and then do not question because they throw out credentials showing them to be an expert.
I can tell you numerous times when I ran into one of these 'Experts' with PhD behind their name, only to find out all they knew how to do was take a test and pass [I am not kidding here].
They dont give tests for common sense.
So the next time you hear anyone (Including ME) say anything dont just take it on face value, QUESTION!...
Because your Life... Even your very SOUL may depend on it.

what is christmas all about??!!!!!!!

2008-12-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

CHRISTmas

2008-12-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Jesus a Baby?

profound

2008-12-03T18:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays?

2008-12-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

The New Convert

2008-11-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

A new convert was reading his Bible when he called out, “Wow! Praise the Lord!” A liberal minister heard him, and asked him what the noise was about. The young Christian replied with great enthusiasm, “This is incredible. It says here that God performed a miracle of deliverance by opening up the Red Sea for the Jews to march through!”

The minister replied, “Owing to tidal patterns around that time of year, the Red Sea was a swamp that was only three-inches deep.”

Somewhat subdued, the young man continued reading, but soon exclaimed, “Wow! Praise the Lord!”

“What’s the matter now?” asked the minister.

To which the Christian replied, “God has just drowned the whole Egyptian army in three inches of water!”

Over 3,000 times, the Bible speaks of its inspiration by God. His Word is true, and you can believe every word of it.

Psalm 139

2008-11-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

thanksgiving relived

2008-11-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

preparations for journey 1 of 5

ocean crossing day 2 of 5

settling in day 3 of 5

thanksgiving in plymouth 4 of 5

epilogue wrapping up day 5 of 5

thanksgiving day

2008-11-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Time: 700 BC

2008-11-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

written in 700 BC
about whom do you think this written:

Isaiah 53:1-12
Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed? (2) For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him. (3) He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as it were a hiding of faces from Him, He being despised, and we esteemed Him not. (4) Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, each one to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (7) He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. (8) He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. (9) And He put His grave with the wicked, and with a rich one in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. (10) Yet it pleased Jehovah to crush Him; to grieve Him; that He should put forth His soul as a guilt-offering. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper in His hand. (11) He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities. (12) Therefore I will divide to Him with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors.

now.... what are you going to do?

the prayer

2008-11-21T05:14:00.001-08:00

Suprised by Mankind

2008-11-20T12:23:00.000-08:00

As we view mankind there are some things that can be noted:
[it seems as though the older we get and the more wiser we think we are, the more we show, we have not changed... it is the same behavior, just different surroundings]

We get bored with childhood.
We rush to grow up.
And then Long to be Children again.

We loose our health to make money...
And then loose our money to restore our health.

We become anxious about the future...
And forget about the present
So that we neither live in the present
Nor the future.

We live as if they will never die
And die as though we have never lived

You can never make someone love you
All you can do is let yourself be loved

Dont compare yourself with others
Practice forgiveness
Watch where your mouth goes,
It only takes a few seconds to open wounds
in those you love

A rich person is not one who has the most
but one who's needs are met.
For all the riches you have stored up here may be taken from you.
But that which you store in heaven will not

how great thou art

2008-11-18T16:18:00.001-08:00

When I think of all within this world...
I can only stand in amazement of how mighty God is...
calling out with but a whisper...
so that are focus will be on him...
And think of all we do within our life and how much of it we truly give to God... would you give a child a present if it meant they would ignore you and focus on the present...
But with every day we grow further and further away from our only salvation...
I quietly stand with head in hand and cry over the coming loss...
for one lone night I was stripped bare
of all I had brought upon myself... with all love he reached down to call my name...
you can never know how humbling it is too look at your life...
to see all you have done and he... he laid his life down for me.
to know there is nothing of me worth loving yet.... he still died for me...
who could ever say such a thing that they have done...

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

now what

2008-11-18T14:23:00.001-08:00

Christianity is not a pleasure cruiser. It is a rescue ship. This video is a must see. We are called to seek and save that which is lost. Not just play church and talk about reaching the lost.

So many think this is a game... what is the worst that could happen. (hell? sorry purgatory does not exist, there are only two lines mentioned in the bible and not a third line; those to the left and those to the right)

So... lets say you die... where will you go? heaven or hell?
simple question... so you think you are going to heaven... why?
because of good things you have done? what about the bad things? (lying, stealing, looking with lust, blasphemy, hatred, etc....)
will God just look past those things?
Isn't God just? and if he is just shouldn't people be punished for things they have done? what about Hitler?...
So you think God will forgive you just because you ask him to? where do you get that from (that is not in the Bible)

I spoke with someone recently who believed there was no such thing as hell... he then stopped and questioned himself when asked what about Hitler.

If you stand in a court room guilty of serious crimes can the Judge just let you go because you said you are sorry? (he will say you should be, these are very serious crimes)
Or what if you tell the Judge that stuff happened a long time ago and you wont do that again, will say "okay"?
Or I have done more good things than bad things... will that matter?

There is a fine that must be paid, you can't pay it... Jesus steps in and pays the fine, you are free to go... Repent (stop doing things that are offensive to God) and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ...
Grace will be given to you (Grace: unmerited gift, you cant earn it) but like any gift it will remain where it is unless you take it..

Epilogue: Wrapping Up (Day 5 of 5)

2008-11-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Narrator: In November a ship from England, the Fortune, arrived unexpectedly and delivered 35 new colonists, which nearly doubled their numbers. Though they were delighted to see these fresh faces, some of which belonged to family members, the existing residents were sobered to realize that the new recruits had come without extra food, clothing, or other provisions.

Soon after the newcomers were assigned to families in the colony, the leaders met to plan for their survival. Governor Bradford and William Brewster reached the difficult decision. Everyone would go on half rations through the winter.

The abundant harvest of corn they had so recently stored for that second winter of 1621-1622 was now not nearly enough. They began that winter cautiously with everyone getting their half ration of corn hopeful that the men could find enough game and fish to see them through. Supplies dwindled quickly. Legend has it that at one point the food stores were so low that everyone was forced to a daily ration of only five kernels of corn. It's amazing to think that anyone could survive on so little food, yet no one died of starvation.

Once again at the height of their need, God provided deliverance. Another ship sailed into their harbor, and though it did not have food, the captain did have trading goods that he offered in exchange for beaver pelts. With the trading goods, the pilgrims bartered with the Indians for more corn. The extra corn enabled them to survive the second winter, although they were all considerably thinner.

When the spring of 1622 finally arrived, the colony was much weakened by hunger and sickness, and the famine was not over. The weary pilgrims went to the field to plant their common crops, but their enthusiasm was greatly reduced. However, they continued on with the life that God had given them. They had many dealings with their Indian friends, continued exploring the land, and obtained what sustenance they could by fishing, hunting, and bartering with the Indians.

Edward Winslow described their sad condition that spring saying that the bay and creeks were full of fish but their seines and netting were torn and rotten. He wrote that were it not for shellfish of different kinds that could be taken by hand, they would have perished.

Another colony was begun to the north, and other ships arrived in Cape Cod Bay several times that year, usually bringing colonists without supplies of any kind. Neither Bradford's journal nor the writings of other pilgrims record a Thanksgiving celebration in that second harvest season. Bradford did write …

William Bradford: The welcome time of harvest approached, but it arose but to a little, so it well appeared that famine must still ensue the next year also.

Narrator: Again, God saw them through the winter of 1622-23 by means of another ship, which brought trading goods they could use to barter for corn with the Indians.

Planting time was soon upon them in April of 1623, their needs were desperate. The pilgrims realized they had to plant double the previous year's crop to sustain them in the winter to come. This year it was decided they would seed a common cornfield for the whole colony, and then each family would be given a parcel of land to plant for its own use.

Everyone was enthusiastic, for they were eager to grow as much as possible to avoid another starving time. William Bradford observed …

William Bradford: This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been. The women now went willingly to the field and took their little ones with them to help set corn.

Narrator: Soon after the plantings, however, the weather turned dry. As the weeks of drought went by, the pilgrims watched their precious summer crops wither and slowly die. The Indians said they'd never seen a dry spell like it. After 12 weeks the pilgrims realized they would face certain starvation in the coming winter if it did not rain soon. The colonists were losing hope.

They wondered if God, who had always gone before them, was against them. They began to pray. William Bradford asked everyone to participate in a day of fasting and prayer to ask the Lord for rain. All the pilgrims felt a deep sense of humility before God, and they sincerely sought His mercy. Edward Winslow described what happened.

Edward Winslow: That only the mercy of our God, who was as ready to hear as we were to ask, for though in the morning when we assembled together, the heavens were as clear and the drought as like to continue as it ever was, yet before our departure from the day of prayer and fasting, the weather was overcast, the clouds gathered on all sides. On the next morning, distilled such soft, sweet, and immoderate showers of rain continuing some 14 days. Such was the bounty and goodness of our God.

Narrator: Bradford wrote …

William Bradford: It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in that abundance as that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see and made the Indians astonished to behold.

Narrator: If the pilgrims were amazed at God's answer to their prayers and His great deliverance, imagine how wide-eyed with wonder the Indians were. They had no knowledge of the God of the pilgrims, a personal, benevolent God who cared about His people. God was displaying His wonders. Winslow concluded his description of this miraculous event with his thoughts on the Indians' response.

Edward Winslow: All of them admired the goodness of our God towards us, that brought so great a change in so short a time, showing the difference between their conjuration and our invocation on the name of God for rain – theirs being mixed with such storms and tempests as sometimes instead of doing them good, it layeth the corn flat on the ground to their prejudice, but ours in so gentle and seasonable a manner as they never observed the like. Praise the Lord, great things He hath done.

Narrator: The crops were saved. Another answer to prayer came about two weeks later. The ship, Anne, which was carrying many family members and friends to join the colony, had been reported lost at sea. But now it arrived safely at Plymouth Harbor. The newcomers, however, were shocked and dismayed at the condition of their friends and relatives. Bradford wrote that it was no wonder the newcomers were surprised. The pilgrims were thin and gaunt wearing ragged clothes, some little better than half naked. The only food they could offer in welcome was a lobster or piece of fish with no bread and nothing else but a cup of spring water.

Bradford concluded by saying …

William Bradford: But God gave them health and strength in good measure and showed them, by experience, the truth of the Word in Deuteronomy 8:3, that man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Narrator: That harvest season was an abundant one. There was even a surplus to trade with the Indians for what they needed that winter. They had much to celebrate. Another day of Thanksgiving was planned this year, probably in August or September. The Indians were again invited with their chief, Massasoit. It was a season of gratitude. They were grateful for the rain and the harvest; they were grateful for the safe arrival of their family members and friends; they were grateful for the marriage of their wise Governor Bradford to Alice Southworth, who had also arrived on the Anne.

Lastly, and most importantly they celebrated with grateful hearts God's goodness to them. Edward Winslow wrote that …

Edward Winslow: Having these many signs of God's favor and acceptance, we thought it would be a great ingratitude if secretly we should content ourselves with private Thanksgiving for that which, by private prayer, could not be obtained, and therefore another solemn day was set apart and appointed for that end. Wherein we returned glory, honor, and praise with all thankfulness to our God who dealt so graciously with us.

Narrator: As they expressed their gratitude and thanksgiving to God, they remembered the famine they had so recently experienced. No one would soon forget the meager rations they had lived on for nearly two years.

Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving in Plymouth (Day 4 of 5)

2008-11-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Narrator: Hope began to grow again as temperatures rose slightly in early March. A few families began preparations for planting their crops, but the most memorable event in March, perhaps of the whole winter, was the arrival, on March the 16th, of a single, nearly naked Indian brave. Unlike other Indians who ran away when confronted, this man strode boldly to the door of the meeting house and, to the surprise of all, cried out, "Welcome," in English.

Stunned by his boldness and use of English, yet still wary of his intentions, the pilgrims hesitantly invited him in and offered him a plate of food and some brandy. The Indian ate and drank enthusiastically. After his meal, the Indian informed his hosts that he knew English food and customs through contacts with English fishermen. The settlers learned that his name was Samoset.

He was a chief the Algonquins, and his home tribe was further up the coast to the north in what is now Maine. He said that the Indians who had inhabited this area were called the Pawtuxets. They were a large Indian tribe who had murdered every white man who had ever landed in their territory. But four years before the pilgrims arrived, the tribe suffered a mysterious plague, and everyone had died.

Neighboring tribes were so surprised by the tribe's misfortune and total demise that they avoided the area, fearing they, too, would be killed by the plague. As a result, no one lived on the land, and no one owned it. It was another example of God's remarkable provision for the pilgrims. Samoset went on to explain about the other Indian tribes in the surrounding area.

The nearest Indians lived about 50 miles south of Plymouth. They were the Wampanoags, which means "people of the dawn." They were a friendly tribe headed by their chief, Ousamequin Massasoit. With Samoset's help, the pilgrims planned to make contact with braves from the Wampanoags to trade for animal skins. Near the end of March, with the weather improving and the worst of the influenza outbreak over, the surviving pilgrims assessed their winter losses.

Several entire families had perished in the epidemic, 15 of 19 women were dead, and only four couples had both spouses survived. The children had fared best. Of 10 girls, nine survived, and only eight of 23 boys died. Nearly half of those who had arrived on the Mayflower now lay in the shallow graves dug on a windswept hill beside the sea.

With the days lengthening and the temperatures warming, the pilgrims turned their attention to planting the crops desperately needed if they were to survive a second winter in America, but they were interrupted by the reappearance of their new friend, Samoset, who arrived at the settlement with five Indians.

Though the pilgrims didn't know it at the time, one of these Indians would play perhaps the largest role in the survival of New England. Bradford wrote of him that he was a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation. His name was Tesquantum, or "Squanto" for short. Squanto also spoke English because years earlier he had been captured by a treacherous sea captain and taken to Europe as a slave. Since Squanto had been away when the plague wiped out his tribe, he was the lone surviving Pawtuxet.

Because Squanto's English was quite good, he was asked to take the role of lead translator when the pilgrims met Massasoit. Within a week, a meeting was arranged where gifts were exchanged, a pipe smoked, and an agreement reached that guaranteed peace between the pilgrims and this Indian tribe. This peace pact would last for 50 years.

As the days passed, both Indians and pilgrims met frequently in the nearby woods without incident. The pilgrims rested more easily. Squanto stayed on in Plymouth and adopted these families as his own, "never leaving them until he died," Bradford wrote. It was clear they needed his help and his invaluable practical knowledge. He showed the pilgrims how to catch eels and fish at the river to use as fertilizer for their planting of corn. This crop would save their lives in the winter to come. He taught them how to plant pumpkins and tap the maple trees for syrup. And for their economic benefit, he introduced them to the trade of trapping beaver for their pelts. This skill, too, would be important for their future survival.

In early April, Captain Jones decided it was time to sail the Mayflower home to England. With the spring sunshine restoring the health of the colonists, he felt it was now safe to leave. Even after all the hardships and many deaths, every pilgrim in the colony elected to stay in Plymouth rather than return to the homeland.

With increasing hours of daylight and recovered strength, everyone in the colony soon enjoyed a pleasing weekly rhythm of work and worship. Six long days the pilgrims tilled, hunted, fished, mended, built, cooked, and washed. The only break in routine each week was on Sunday, when the group faithfully observed the Sabbath.

On this day ordinary work clothes were exchanged for more colorful attire. Unlike the somberly clothed Puritans who, in the years to come, would settle further to the north, the Plymouth colonists wore brightly colored dresses, suits, and hats and garments of blue, red, green, and violet and yellow. The congregation sang and prayed and listened to a rousing sermon by their elder, William Brewster.

Springtime turned the thoughts of some away from the grief of lost husbands and wives to new love. The first remarriage occurred in May between two of the widowed – Edward Winslow and Susannah White. The wedding reception gave everyone an opportunity to laugh, sing madrigals, and enjoy special food and drinks.

Another potential romance almost turned tragic. Two young men, both named Edward, fell in love with a beautiful 15-year-old girl named Constance. The rivalry became so intense that the two suitors decided a duel was the only way to decide who should win the girl. The two Edwards met on the beach and began to fight with daggers and swords. Both drew blood, but their shouts alerted other colonists. Several men came running and separated the two before either was killed. Apparently Constance was unimpressed. She chose not to marry either Ed.

In August, during some conflict among Indian tribes, the friend of the pilgrims, Squanto, was taken hostage and threatened with death. Under the leadership of Miles Standish, an armed detail left Plymouth to rescue him. In the middle of the night, the pilgrims burst into the village where Squanto was a hostage. After a brief fight in which several Indian braves suffered sword wounds, Squanto was rescued unharmed. This aggressive military action made such an impression on all of the area tribes that, within days, new peace treaties were agreed to by all parties.

By October 1621, the corn planted that spring was ready for harvest. The fields yielded a large crop that would keep the colony from starvation in the coming winter. Their hearts were full of gratitude for their renewed health, for the abundant harvest, and for the peace they enjoyed with the Indians.

William Bradford, who, at only 30 years of age, had been elected leader of the colony after the death of John Carver that summer, was thankful for the harvest. As the new governor, he declared that Plymouth should hold a Thanksgiving festival and invite the settlement's Indian friends as special guests. A date was set, and an invitation delivered to Chief Massasoit. To make sure there was adequate food, the pilgrim men went hunting and fishing. In just a day, enough wild turkeys, eels, geese, lobster, partridge, and shellfish were gathered to guarantee a great feast.

But when Massasoit arrived with 90 hungry braves all smeared with ceremonial bear grease, the pilgrims became worried. How could they feed that many people? And if they used too much of their previous stockpiled corn, would they have an adequate food supply to survive the winter? Fortunately, the Indians along the Atlantic coast also were accustomed to celebrating the harvest with what they called "the green corn dance." They thought the pilgrim festival must be the white man's version of this observance.

So when Massasoit and his men arrived at Plymouth, they, too, went to the woods and seashore to gather food. Soon five deer and more fish and seafood were presented for roasting. The pilgrims breathed a sigh of relief and began preparing the meal.

When it was time to eat, the menu was impressive – venison, goose, lobster, eel, oysters, clam chowder, parsnips, turnips, cucumbers, onions, carrots, cabbage, beets, radishes, and dried fruit that included gooseberries, strawberries, cherries, and plums. Some of the fruit was cooked inside dough to make a crude pie. The newly harvested corn was ground and served in the form of ash cakes, or hoecakes – a thin slice of bread baked in a fire on the plate of a hoe.

A special treat was supplied by the Indians. They placed corn on hot coals, and the kernels blew into white puffs – popcorn. The Indians dribbled maple syrup over the white snack and made popcorn balls. The beverage was a fresh wine made by the pilgrims from the summer's fruit crop. But before they began to eat, their spiritual leader offered a prayer to the God who had so clearly and miraculously led them to this place.

Though they had suffered much, their experience was remarkably better than others who had attempted to colonize on the American shores. Plymouth had lost 50 percent of its numbers, but Jamestown and Virginia had lost 90 percent. The Plymouth settlers had successfully built a little community and grown crops to provide for themselves while other colonies were totally dependent for supplies of the arrival of ships from England.

Yes, God had blessed them abundantly, and they sincerely offered Him their thanks and praise.

William Brewster: May we live by thee, live for thee, never be satisfied with Christian progress but only insomuch as we resemble Christ, and may conformity to His principles temper and conduct grow hourly in our lives. Amen.

Narrator: The feasting continued over a three-day period during which both Indians and pilgrims participated in games and exhibitions of shooting skill with bows and arrows and guns. The pilgrim boys joined the races and wrestling matches of the Indians and, in turn, the Indians learned how to play stool ball, a game resembling croquet played with a ball and wickets.

At night the Indians slept in nearby fields. The relationship between the settlers and Indians was now so solid and peaceful that the pilgrims no longer posted guards. When the fun and feasting ended, both Indians and colonists agreed they wanted to have a similar feast the following year.

Thanksgiving: Settling In (Day 3 of 5)

2008-11-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Narrator: With land clearly in sight, brownish bluffs and treetops on the horizon, the Mayflower sailed slowly up the coastline, staying out to sea far enough to avoid the treacherous shoals and rocks nearer shore. The passengers eagerly eyed what they could see of what is now the northern tip of Cape Cod.

Because of the difficult seas they had encountered, the pilgrims had made their landfall about 60 miles north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. The leaders on board wondered what to do. Should they sail back to the south where their charter with the Virginia Company would be in effect? Or should they find a suitable harbor and settle here? Had God, in His Providence, led them to this spot?

After much debate and prayer, they decided to stay and build their settlement in "New England." When all of the passengers heard of this decision, confusion and some dissension broke out. The bonded servants aboard argued that this plan changed the terms of their work agreement. Fear arose that these men would declare their independence and leave the pilgrims with a depleted labor supply. Something needed to be done to bring about unity.

For an entire day, November the 10th, 1620, a discussion went on in the main cabin of the Mayflower.

Pilgrim: Mr. Bradford, sir, this land we have come upon, Ship's Master Jones saith not to be in the Virginias at all.

William Bradford: True enough, Mr. Travor, we knoweth not with certainty what land God has set us upon, but we believe it to be a good land called "Plymouth," by the Cape of Cod.

Pilgrim: Best for us if it is a fat land, for our stores are well nigh eaten through already.

Pilgrim: And if our stores be depleted, we who must do the work are better served in the Virginias. We know but little of this land nor the people thereof nor whether our labors will be blessed here.

Pilgrim: Methinks you'll do the labor for which you have been indentured, as you have so signed in troth.

Pilgrim: We'll do no labor outside the king's protection, which we have not here in Plymouth.

William Bradford: Good men, good men, peace be among us all. Our quarrels must not divide us.

Pilgrim: Master Bradford, we have no quarrel with you, but that contract, which united us, is of no good effect without the king's awareness.

William Bradford: Thou hast given thy pledge for one year's service.

Pilgrim: Not outside the Virginias.

William Bradford: Good men, we must see that these issues, which divide us, will undo us. The land at the Hudson River hath eluded our grasp by the Providence of God. Is it not? The Lord has driven us by His power to this land of Plymouth. Therefore, being here, we must remain here at present for the winter is upon us, and whether we be of the saints or the strangers, we must make a new agreement.

Pilgrim: Under whose authority?

William Bradford: Under the authority we carry as Christian Englishmen, and with a clear conscience …

Narrator: As the ship worked its way around the tip of the Cape, searching for a coastal inlet to enter and drop anchor, the debate continued. Finally, several of the leaders drafted an agreement – the Mayflower Compact, which was to become one of the more important documents in American history.

The major points of the agreement were explained to the passengers, and all adult males were asked to sign the Compact before the ship dropped anchor.

Pilgrim: It is settled then? We covenant together one and all? Therefore, in the name of God …

Narrator: The key clauses contained these words – "Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, we do, by these present, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and of one another covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid." With the Compact signed, a hedge against revolt was in place.

Next, the last bit of business was conducted – the election of John Carver as governor of the colony for a one-year term. By this time the Mayflower had sailed beyond the end of the Cape and turned into a bay. The pilgrims saw more clearly the landscape of sandhills and thickets of short piney woods.

At 10 a.m. Captain Jones ordered the anchor dropped. It was Saturday morning, November the 11th, 1620. William Bradford wrote later of this moment …

William Bradford: I cannot but stand half amazed at this poor people's present condition. Being thus passed the vast ocean and a sea of troubles, they have now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies. What could have now sustained them but the spirit of God and His grace?

Narrator: Bradford also noted the custom of the pilgrims to honor God and give thanks in all things.

William Bradford: They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element.

Narrator: A party of men armed with muskets and axes were sent ashore to explore the land and secure firewood, since they had none left on the ship. The group returned in the afternoon with juniper logs, which soon were burning in cooking fires on board. The pilgrims enjoyed their first hot meal in weeks.

Although everyone was eager to go ashore and begin construction of the settlement, because the next day was Sunday, all work stopped and the Sabbath was observed, as usual, with prayer, meditation, singing of Psalms, and a sermon by William Brewster. It was a custom they observed faithfully every week in all circumstances in allegiance to the Fourth Commandment.

In the days that followed several expeditions were made to explore the area to seek the best location for a settlement. Winter weather now made this effort miserable. The pilgrim men and the sailors who chose to go along, endured freezing rain and rough waves as they rode across the bay. One day they met Indians onshore without incident, but the next day were attacked. Though many arrows were shot at the men and musket fire was returned, no one was injured. Again, the pilgrims gave thanks to God for His protection and deliverance. They called the place "First Encounter," as it is still called to this day.

In spite of these difficulties the men were successful, having slowly made their way by land and by sea around the interior of the Cape, they eventually found an ideal spot on the mainland that had fertile soil, four spring-fed creeks, and a large section of ground already cleared and ready for planting. The men rejoiced at their discovery.

During these explorations, many colonists back on board the Mayflower became gravely ill, and a few died, including William Bradford's young wife, Dorothy May. There was little time for mourning and sadness. Their desperate condition demanded that they all work, especially the men, to establish the colony. It wasn't until December the 11th, a month after they had first dropped anchor, that a landing was made at what was to become the permanent settlement.

Plans had been made to first build a meeting house, and then 19 family dwellings, the unmarried men having been assigned to live with families. These buildings were to be simple, one-room, frame houses, about 18 by 14 feet in size with a fireplace and sleeping loft. There was no glass for the windows, and the roofs were made of thatch, which the settlers had used in England. Construction finally began in late December.

A disheartening setback occurred in mid-January when the thatch roof of the newly completed meeting house caught fire. Fortunately, the settlers put out the flames before the whole building burned. By the end of January, several family dwellings were partially built, but most of the pilgrims were still living in temporary quarters – in the meeting house and on the Mayflower.

Captain Jones had graciously agreed to delay his return with the Mayflower to England. He knew that the settlers needed its protection. Perhaps the pilgrims had felt that the worst was over when they finally set foot on solid ground again, but their relief was only momentary. Though they were hard workers, they couldn't build their dwellings quickly enough, and they could only endure the harsh winter weather without ill effect for so long.

As the weeks went by, the weather grew worse. In the coldest stretch of winter, after many had suffered long with head colds, a flu-like illness swept through the colony. This disease, called "the general sickness," had made much of the community desperately ill. Coughing and gasping for breath, most of the settlers were unable to leave their beds. Few were spared. William Bradford, Governor Carver, and other leaders fell sick, too.

During the worst of the epidemic, on any given day, only six or seven out of the 100 colonists might be strong enough to help tend the sick. The pilgrims began to die in alarming numbers, often two or three each day. The men strong enough to work carried the bodies out for burial at night. This was a tactic to hide the worsening situation in the colony from any Indians who might be spying from the nearby woods.

One of the men who remained healthy and tirelessly helped the others was the military leader, Captain Miles Standish. Even after his own wife, Rose, died on January the 21st, Standish continued to serve the others faithfully. The epidemic also struck the sailors on board the Mayflower. Those pilgrims still on their feet ministered to the sick sailors, too, prompting one of the sailors, a man who had ridiculed and cursed the God-fearing passengers during the sea crossing to say, "You, I now see, show your love like Christians, indeed, one to another. But we let one another lie and die like dogs."

February brought the worst of the weather and the sickness. Freezing rains pounded the crude dwellings, stripping much of the clay from the cracks between boards and allowing the wailing cold wind to penetrate the houses. Both the sick and healthy struggled to stay warm. Seventeen persons died during the month.

Indians were sighted on several occasions. Since the intentions of the native people were unknown, the colonists were very fearful. Under the leadership of Captain Standish, the men who were not too ill practiced military drills and shared guard duty at night.

Thanksgiving: The Ocean Crossing (Day 2 of 5)

2008-11-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

Narrator: After 65 days at sea from Plymouth, a total of 97 days from the first launch at Southampton, the pilgrims caught a glimpse of their destination – the new land where God would be worshipped freely and, in time, where freedom would flourish. Shouting for joy and falling to their knees to pray, they celebrated by reading Psalm 100 – "Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth, serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful singing, know that the Lord Himself is God, it is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name, for the Lord is good. His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."

Narrator: The pilgrim band of approximately 46 people first had to sail from Holland to England on a ship named the "Speedwell." After sad farewells on July the 22nd, 1620, the small ship headed across the English Channel to the seaport of Southampton. The Speedwell docked at the slip next to a ship painted brown and gold. It was the Mayflower.

Already on board this ship were Captain Jones, his crew, and 60 to 70 volunteers who had been recruited in England to give the new colony a larger population. Some of these volunteers desired religious freedom but most were more interested in finding success and fortune in the new land. Also on board were some servants hired to help the pilgrims from Leiden. One of the hired helpers was Captain Miles Standish, an ex-soldier who would play an important role in the months ahead.

Both the smaller Speedwell and the Mayflower sailed from Southampton on August the 5th, 1620. This was late in the summer to launch such a voyage. Even with a normal ocean crossing and no bad weather, the ships would not arrive until October – quite late to start building a settlement from the ground up.

The first days of the journey hinted at difficulties to come. The winds were unfavorable, and the ships could not make it out of the English Channel. The passengers, bounced to and fro by the rough waters, became seasick. Then the Speedwell began to leak. Seawater seeped through the hull and filled the belly of the ship. Both ships were forced to return to land, this time to the port of Dartmouth. After a week, repairs were completed on the Speedwell, and both ships sailed west.

After traveling about 300 miles into the Atlantic, the Speedwell again developed leaks. With great disappointment to everyone, the ships returned a second time to yet another port, Plymouth. More days of work and testing by shipbuilders passed before the Speedwell was labeled unseaworthy. The smaller Speedwell had been purchased by the colony to remain in America and be a means of transporting supplies, goods for sale, and passengers back and forth to Europe. But because the ship couldn't be repaired, the pilgrim leaders were forced to sell it.

This necessitated another decision. Since there wasn't enough room on the Mayflower for the combined passengers of both ships, 20 volunteers would have to stay behind. The passengers said the choice was not too difficult since by now they had spent much of the last month on board ship and had experienced considerable seasickness. The volunteers came forward.

William Bradford commented …

William Bradford: And thus, like Gideon's army, this small number was divided as if the Lord, by this work of His Providence, thought these few too many for the great work He had to do.

Narrator: When the Mayflower finally left England on the 6th of September, crowded on board were 102 passengers including 33 children. Most of the pilgrims on the ship were in their 20s and 30s. Surprisingly, at least 15 passengers were over 40 including William and Mary Brewster, who were both in their 50s.

Because of the delays the passengers and crew had already used much of the food and drink set aside for the voyage. This meant supplies intended for use after landing in America would be needed for the sea journey.

The food was terrible – brine-soaked beef, pork, and fish, and stale, hard biscuits, which often were full of insects. The rats living on board helped themselves to the same food supplies. The rooms for passengers were crowded and mainly below deck.

Conditions were miserable – cramped quarters, seasick people vomiting into pails, if they were able to find one in time; no sanitary toilets; the hatches were sealed off because of constant storms, and so the passengers were unable to get fresh air. A foul mixture of odors grew in such an environment.

Another problem was the attitude of the seamen sailing the Mayflower. These men did not like landlubbers, particularly religious ones, calling the pilgrims "Psalm-singing pukestockings," and worse. The sailors ridiculed their passengers for taking time each morning to recite or sing Psalms and pray. One young sailor was especially nasty, cursing the ones who were sick and telling them he looked forward to throwing them overboard if they died on the voyage.

About two weeks out to sea, this same sailor unexpectedly developed a raging fever. Within just one day he died of an unknown sickness, raving and cursing as he breathed his last. His shrouded body was buried at sea. This sobered the other seamen, a superstitious group even in normal circumstances. They wondered if their fellow crewman had died because of his treatment of the humble and God-fearing pilgrims. Not wanting to risk a similar fate, the more superstitious sailors no longer ridiculed their passengers.

The Mayflower was nearly halfway across the Atlantic when it met a ferocious storm. The wind wailed at 50 miles per hour, and waves towered 50 feet or higher. The waves' vicious pounding opened cracks in the ship's wooden hull. Icy cold seawater soaked the sailors and leaked into the passenger quarters below deck. The ship groaned and tossed from side to side that terrified pilgrims hanging onto anything solid, crying out to God to deliver them. The storm raged for days and became so intense that even the blasphemous sailors prayed.

The pilgrims continued to pray and sing Psalms, their voices barely heard above the thundering waves and howling wind. Without warning, one of the huge crossbeams supporting the main deck suddenly cracked due to the constant stress of the high winds. Now the sailors were as worried as the passengers, but, as always, the pilgrims took their concerns and fears to God, asking Him to deliver them and provide a way of escape.

Pilgrim: Oh, Lord, deliver us. Provide a way of escape.

Narrator: And He did.

Pilgrim: And protect our little ones.

Narrator: Their spiritual leader, William Brewster, remembered the large iron jackscrew the pilgrims had brought for lifting heavy beams when they would begin their building construction. Similar to the screw on his printing press, the jackscrew was located in the cargo hold and carried to the 'tween deck where the sailors used it to crank up the beam to its original position. The pilgrims gave God the praise.

One man, a servant of John Carver named John Howland, became frantic after being cooped up so long during the long storm. Though the worst of the storm was over, the main deck was still no place for passengers who were not used to rough seas. He disobeyed both the captain's and his master's orders and went up on deck for some fresh air. The waves were still huge and sprayed frigid water over the sides.

Suddenly, when the ship heeled over without warning, John fell overboard. As the young man slammed into the surface of the icy water and went under, he instinctively reached up with his arms, grasping for anything to hold onto. A rope was trailing over the side of the ship and, by God's amazing grace, it was there when John reached out.

A person can live in the North Atlantic in November for only about four minutes. No one knows exactly how long John was in that cold, salty water before the sailors were able to haul him on deck. His skin was blue, and he nearly drowned, but he did survive. There is no record that he ever disobeyed an order again.

Another young man, a servant by the name of William Button, became an example to all the other passengers on the importance of obeying the captain. It appears that William refused to follow the captain's and the ship's doctor's orders to drink a spoonful of lemon juice daily. He became sick and died – the only passenger to die on the voyage. His body was quickly buried at sea. The pilgrims, especially the children, took notice.

In the midst of tragic events and hardships on the long voyage, the pilgrims also knew times of rejoicing. A moment of joy came when one of the mothers gave birth in a smelly, crowded cabin to a baby boy. His proud father appropriately named the lad "Oceanus."

But after 10 week at sea, many passengers were falling ill and complaining of fever, chills, and swollen limbs. The situation was grave, and there was still no sign of land. The weather, however, had finally improved so that passengers could go on deck for exercise and fresh air.

Captain Miles Standish, in charge of security and military readiness for the colony, took this opportunity to drill the men on the basics of weaponry and tactics. On November the 9th, several children squealed with delight when they saw a seagull dive above the ship. Not long afterward, a sailor cried, "Land Ho." After 65 days at sea from Plymouth, a total of 97 days from the first launch at Southampton, the pilgrims caught a glimpse of their destination – the new land where God would be worshipped freely and, in time, where freedom would flourish.

Shouting for joy and falling to their knees to pray, they celebrated by reading Psalm 100 – "Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth, serve the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful singing, know that the Lord Himself is God, it is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name, for the Lord is good. His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."

Thanksgiving: Preparations for the Journey [1 of 5]

2008-11-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

The following is a naration taken from familylifetoday.com
Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember
something to remember when we think about all we have been given and continue to recieve and where our thanks should be directed. For God is great.

Narrator: The Mayflower, a small, wooden ship with billowing sails was the vessel God used to bring a group of Christian believers to an unseen land far over the Atlantic. These Christian men and women called "pilgrims" believed that God was leading them to establish a new community where they could worship freely. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving every year because of the profound faith and uncommon character of these English men and women.

They had no idea how God was going to use them to begin a new nation. They only knew God wanted them to go. So in September of 1620, after enduring many delays and difficulties, these pilgrims finally said their last goodbyes, boarded the Mayflower, and set sail for the New World.

Narrator: The roots of our Thanksgiving heritage are entwined with the history of England, growing deep into the rolling green hills of the English countryside. Nestled in those hills was a little village named Austerfield, and in that village in 1590, a child named William Bradford was born.

William's childhood was unhappy. While still a boy, he was orphaned, his father dying when he was a baby, his mother when he was seven. He was placed in the home of two uncles in Austerfield. Not long after his mother died, William suffered a prolonged illness that left him unable to work in the fields. As a result, he was allowed to be educated, and he learned to read the Bible on his own.

As a teenager, he walked every week to a nearby village called Scrooby, to learn more of the Christian faith and to worship God secretly in a personal and pure way with a small group of like-minded believers. Increasingly, William grew dissatisfied with the state-sponsored religion of the Church of England. Its worship seemed stale and cold compared to what he experienced with the believers in Scrooby.

Like many people of his time, William concluded that there wasn't much hope for spiritual life to return to the state church. Those who felt this way were called "Separatists" – individuals willing to risk the consequences of separating from the official church.

There was another group of people in the English church who became known as "Puritans." The Puritans also disagreed with the state church, but they wanted to stay in the church and try to purify or change it from within.

The authorities in the Church of England felt threatened by both of these growing movements toward religious freedom. They especially feared the Separatists, who were forming their own churches. So the governing House of Bishops sent spies and informers to many of these secret congregations, including the one at Scrooby. Many Separatist church leaders and some Puritans were fined, pressured, persecuted, arrested, or thrown in prison. Some were even executed with the approval of Queen Elizabeth I and later King James I, in hopes of squelching these rebellious believers.

After years of mounting stress caused by this harassment and persecution, many families in the Separatist church, including William, who was not yet 20, left their English homeland for exile in Leiden, Holland. The Separatists enjoyed their new religious freedom in Holland, but life again became increasingly difficult for them. In England, many of them had been landowners. In Holland, because they were foreigners, the men had to take whatever work was available.

William Bradford became a weaver, usually working 12- to 14-hour days, six days a week. The Separatists did not complain, however, because the ability to worship God as they saw fit was supremely important. They lived out the message of Hebrews 12:28 – "Since we receive a kingdom, which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe."

After nearly a decade on Dutch soil, a number of members of the church of Leiden began to explore the possibility of moving across the sea to the New World of America. Many of them once again wanted to own their own land, and because England was such a powerful country in Europe and in the world, they feared that the English might pressure the Dutch government to clamp down on the rebel church.

The Separatists also worried about the effect of a rather morally loose Dutch society on their own young people. But the challenges of life in the wild territory across the Atlantic were sobering. Other groups had settled in America with disastrous results. The Jamestown Colony in Virginia was a recent example. Of 1,200 settlers who had arrived in Jamestown in 1619, only 200 were still alive in 1620.

The congregation in Leiden debated the decision. Staying in Holland meant greater safety in a civilized land. Settling in America probably guaranteed religious liberty, but the physical risks were enormous, and the financial cost of the voyage would be high. America was an uncivilized frontier with a vicious climate in some regions. Would the farming techniques they knew work in this new land? What strange diseases might await them there? Perhaps, worst of all, the land was filled with savages about whom frightening stories were told by those who had sailed back from the New World.

In spite of this sobering outlook, the Leiden church chose to believe that God would grant them success if they sent a settling party to America. William Bradford later wrote –

William Bradford: They had a great hope and inward zeal of laying a good foundation for the propagating and advancing of the Kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world. Yea, though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others.

Narrator: If God blessed their efforts then many others, including their pastor, John Robinson, probably would join them on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. William Bradford was one of those who decided to embark on the adventure. During the exile in Holland, he had met and married a young woman named Dorothy May. The couple later had a son named John, who was particularly precious to his mother.

Because of the anticipated hardships awaiting the Separatists in America, as well as the rigors of the ocean voyage, some decided to leave family members behind in Holland. They hoped that in the near future all could be reunited in the new land. This was true of the Bradfords, who sadly chose to leave five-year-old John in the care of others.

[woman sobbing]

William Bradford: Dorothy May, we must trust in the sovereign. Take it with hope and rest. 'Tis best for he and thee.

Dorothy Bradford: The boy is precious to my soul, William. Can the beckoning of a new land cause us to forgo our steadfast duty to our own son?

William Bradford: God's will be done, God's will be done.

Narrator: After all the discussion and agonizing decision-making and before departing from Holland, the church spent a day in fasting and prayer for the journey ahead. Then they gathered for a special service and to hear a sermon from their pastor. He chose as his Scripture text, Ezra 8:21 – "Then I proclaimed a fast that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions."

After Pastor Robinson had encouraged and prayed for the group of pilgrims, the entire Separatist congregation had a feast and sang Psalms. Edward Winslow, one of the church leaders who would be making the voyage wrote of the evening –

Edward Winslow: We refreshed ourselves after our tears with the singing of songs and, indeed, it was the sweetest melody that ever mine ears have heard.

Veterans Day

2008-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Letter From Hell

2008-11-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

Matthew 16:26

2008-11-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

think of choices....
think of likes/dislikes....
think of change...
think of Wants....
to what end will all these things get you...
at what price are you willing to turn a blind eye or give in to the world and all of its desires...
oh... there is always a price.... it may not come in the immediate, but it will come...

Voting today?

2008-11-04T12:32:00.001-08:00

Rescue ME!

2008-10-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Your Eternal Destination

2008-10-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

Luke 16:19-26

All of us are eternal beings because we were made in God's image (Gen. 1:26). After physical death, our spirits will live forever. Where we reside--heaven or hell--will depend on whether we have accepted or rejected Jesus Christ as the Savior.

Scripture teaches that all have sinned and owe a penalty (Rom. 3:23; 6:23)
Have you ever lied, white lies, tall tales, half truths, etc..... stolen something, paper clips from work, pens, stolen someones answer on a test.... looked with lust, Jesus said it is the same as adultery of the heart.... and it doesnt matter how long ago it happened, justice must be served. Because God is Good he must be just and care about injustice.

There isn't anything we can do to earn God's forgiveness. Knowing this, our heavenly Father sent His Son Jesus to take our sins upon Himself and experience punishment in our place. (have you ever seen the Passion fo the Christ... he did that for us)

In that way, we become part of God's family and look forward to spending eternity with Him in heaven. His only requirement for this amazing blessing is that we acknowledge we're sinners who are in need of a Savior and believe that Jesus died to save us (Rom. 10:9-10). Those who reject Christ will spend life after death in hell. But those who believe will live with Him forever.

Every person will ultimately dwell in heaven or hell, both of which are real places described in the Bible. In heaven, we'll never again know pain, sorrow, or tears (Rev. 21:4). But Hell is the opposite. A place of punishment, it will be the scene of everlasting agony and torment. Today's passage illustrates this hard fact.

Eternal punishment and the reality of hell are never easy topics to consider, but they are vitally important because they will really happen. Don't let your emotions turn you away from the truths recorded in Scripture. Instead, take heed of the warnings, and be certain you are heaven-bound.

What must you do? Repent... which means to turn from sin (look at 10 commandments, and see where you have broken them). Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ... It is like putting on a parachute... does no good to just believe in it, you must put it on....
Still unsure? look to the right hand column and take the good person test.

Saturday 10/18/08

2008-10-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Atlanta, GA
Just returned from trip to Atlanta, GA.
A conference called Deeper (link on the side)
it lived up to everything it said it would... it took you deeper in your walk... and understanding.
Was then asked to help lead a group of 500 evangelists hit the streets open-air preaching, one2one witnessing and passing out tracts...
I was lucky enough the help with a group hitting the subway. Will give an update later but a quick summary:
Kim passed out tracts again.
about 10 to 20 in the group witnessed for first time.
Spoke with:
A man (Chris) he didn't believe in hell, and everyone goes to heaven.
Gregory, claimed to be good and was going to heaven because he was good, even after admitting to be a liar, thief, adulterer, and blasphemer.
Jean who just came back from burying her mother

There were other conversations, but will elaborate on these later.
Details from the above to come.
Paul Washer (an itinerant minister) brought the house down... He Pointed out the problems with 'Christianity' today and did not hold back... and brought many to tears as he humbly walked off the stage afterward. [to see someone speak so thoroughly about God and the Bible and Jesus, with such fire in his voice, and then walk off the stage with a humble demeanor].

Ken Ham spoke on Genesis and gave scientific history and evidence...

will update later... tired from staying out late witnessing

People never crumble in a day

2008-10-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

People never crumble in a day…
The point at which an occurrence as happened to someone and appears to be so devastating, it is… But if we are honest with ourselves we can see a course that lead us to the point at which we are now reaping…
The Bible speaks of this…

Galatians 6:7-9 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap. (8) For he sowing to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. But he sowing to the Spirit will reap life everlasting from the Spirit. (9) But we should not lose heart in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.

For I stood proud of my decisions, having exalted myself over others in the deeds I have done… For my life was one of achievements, having achieved many things I thought myself great, and boasted of a thing and held it high for all to see. But my kingdom was set upon sand and was giving way around me and was set to engulf me. So it came to pass one fate filled night standing in shame of what I had wrought myself, and all I had gathered was scattered, I cried out, and a hand reached down and pulled me out from where I stood, in the muck and the mire.
Where are you standing? Is it shifting sand…

Check out this video from Casting Crowns (slow fade)

2008-10-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

God's Encouragement in Tough Times
Judges 7:8-26

Let's look at the following: God has shrunk Gideon's army down from 32,000 men to just 300, immediately before an important battle. Let's see what happened next.

Gideon was undoubtedly feeling anxious. He was about to attack an enemy camp of more than 130,000 trained soldiers, and he was going to do it with just a handful of men. In this terrifying moment, God gave Gideon what he needed most: encouragement.

Judges 7:8-25 And the people took provisions in their hand, and their ram's horns. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, each man to his tent, and kept those three hundred men. And the army of Midian was below him in the valley. And it happened on that night, Jehovah said to him, Arise, go down to the army, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you fear to go down, go with Phurah your servant down to the army. And you shall hear what they shall say. And afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down to the army. Then he went down with Phurah his servant to the edge of the ranks in the army. And the Midianites and the Amalekites, and all the sons of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels without number, like the sand by the seaside for multitude. And when Gideon had come, behold, a man told a dream to his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came to a tent, and struck it so that it fell, and overturned it, so that the tent lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else except the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. For into his hand God has delivered Midian and all the army. And it happened, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and the meaning of it, he worshiped. And he returned to the army of Israel, and said, Arise! For Jehovah has delivered the host of Midian into your hand. And he divided the three hundred men into three companies. And he put a ram's horn in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. And he said to them, Look on me, and do likewise. And, behold, when I come to the edge of the camp, it shall be, as I do, so you shall do. When I blow with a ram's horn, I and all who are with me, then you blow the ram's horns also on every side of all the camp, and shout, For Jehovah and for Gideon! So Gideon and the hundred men with him came to the edge of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch. And they had but newly set the watch. And they blew the ram's horns and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the ram's horns and broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands and the ram's horns in their right hands to blow. And they cried, A sword for Jehovah and for Gideon! And they stood, each man in his place, all around the camp. And all the army ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the ram's horns. And Jehovah set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the army. And the army fled to Beth-shittah in Zererath, to the border of Abel-meholah, to Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and ran after the Midianites. And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take the waters to Beth-barah and Jordan before them. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves. And they captured the waters to Beth-barah and Jordan. Then they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. And they killed Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

God woke Gideon at night and strategically positioned him to overhear an enemy soldier recounting a frightful dream--a vision of Israelite victory! This unlikely circumstance assured Gideon that the Lord was at work in his daunting situation. God graciously used that incident to demonstrate His sensitivity to one man's faintheartedness. And He still does so today.

Consider the power of a friend's encouraging words. Think about how meaningful it is when an unexpected blessing seems to fall from heaven right at your darkest moment. These are not "happy accidents"; rather, they are precious confidence builders from God.

Our challenge is simply to remember times in the past when our loving heavenly Father has encouraged us. Standing on the evidence of His faithfulness, we can boldly face the future, knowing that we're not alone.

As inhabitants of a fallen world, we will at times face heartache, intimidation, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. But as children of God, saved and secure in Christ Jesus, we are never beyond reach of the Lord's encouragement.

Amazing grace

2008-09-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

an amazing rendition of amazing grace...
by Josh Wilson

the video speaks for itself...

Harvest Festival

2008-09-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday Morning Clayton Harvest Festival in Clayton, NC

It is 730 am my wife and I are in Clayton, NC setting up a booth on the streets for the Clayton Harvest Festival. John and Roger soon showed up and were helping set up, the tent, table, tracts, bibles and books... Before the morning began we were in prayer for what God would have us do today, for the divine appoints for the lost and saved, to be an encouragement for believers and a light for the lost. The crowds started to build slowly. We spoke with some Catholics (they just happened to have a booth set up about 50 feet away from us), pastors, believers, unbelievers; some were encouraged by our presence.
Kim Input: Bill and the rest of the group had stepped out of the booth to talk to people and pass out tracts. I was sitting there quietly...clutching my coffee cup and trying to stay warm. Then I felt God speak to my heart, "Are you going to just sit there holding your coffee cup or are you going to get up and do something?" At first I wanted to look around to see if He was referring to someone else....but I knew he was speaking to me. So I put down my cup, picked up a few tracts and stepped out from under the "safety" of the tent. I stood there a minute or two clutching the tract just like the coffee cup but then I did it...I actually handed someone a tract and I didn't run! And he actually said "thank you"! After that, it wasn't as hard and as the crowd picked up, the easier it became. It's amazing how God works through us...even when we aren't willing at first. But when He asks you to do something...you'll know it!

As we were passing out tracts and talking to people I heard a voice from my right that sounded familiar (my wife) she was passing out tracts. She took a step and broke the next barrier. Set up: she had left tracts at places before but had not passed out a tract to an individual, without running away (the tract and run). So here she was standing ground and passing out tracts, it truly caught me off guard and immediately praised God, that she was able to take the next step. Never ceased to be amazed.

Later that morning, Jim Thompson showed up with a group of 6 or 7 that had been going through the training course with him. And this was their chance to break some barriers they had. They set themselves up in the midst of the crowd's main walkway and started passing out tracts, doing one-2-ones, did some intelligence tests, and had some very good interactions.

Scott McKay and his family showed up a little later and set up for some open air across the road from the Booth and quickly drew a crowd with some trivia for cash and had an individual go through the good person test. Was up for about 30 minutes and some folks stopped over at the booth afterwards where we had more discussions.

Roger had his first impromptu open air. There was a group of 13 teens standing close by and I gave him a pink and blue, and some quick pointers. He went over and went through the pink and blue and some gave him a goofy look, but he kept on and then had a couple engaged in the good person test while the rest listened (he had one fidgeting; getting convicted). They thanked him and moved on after he gave them tracts. I asked him how it felt to do an open air; he looked at me as if to say what you are talking about. I told him that what the just did was an open air, you had one to 2 engaged but the group whole group was listening, that is open air... more people means more volume in your voice. You don't have to draw a crowd, God can give you a crowd, and you took advantage of it, amen.

John was also encourage with some great one-2ones that challenged him, some receptive others not so receptive, but he did not shy away. Both John and Roger are relatively new to going out like this, but looked seasoned. We gave out about 10 to 15 bibles, 20 way of the master books, and 15 one heart beat away books, as well equipping other Christians with tracts and challenging them to give to someone they know. We had some Christians we encountered that wanted to give us back the tracts to give them to someone who is not saved, and we challenged them to give to someone they know. All in all was a truly awesome amazing day in service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Time that's left

2008-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

There is a song by Mark Schultz, that is called Time that is left.

What will you do with the time that's left
Will you live it all with no regret?
Will they say that you loved
till your final breath?
What will you do with the time that's left?

What will you do with the time that's past?
Oh and all the pain that seems to last?
Can you give it to Jesus and not look back?
What will you do with the time that's past?

What will He say when your time has come?
When He takes you into His arms of love?
With tears in His eyes will He say well done?
What will He say when your time has come?

What will you do with the time that's left?
Will you live it all with no regret
Will they say that you loved
till your final breath?
What will you do with the time?

Have you ever gave it a thought. From this point forward what will you do?
Most of our past weighs on us like some hidden burden that we stuff away in a closet.
He said he would take that burden away

As Far As the East is FROM The West

When I look back at my life, I truly have tears in my eyes... it is gone, forgiven, as far as the east is from the west never to be seen again... So how could I not rejoice in my life, my new life, and not scream from the top of my lungs on every roof top.... for I do not boast in anything of me... oh no... for I am nothing without my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!...

With my final breath, with every last second, I will not say die... Kim my wife can attest to that... For what has been done for me the lowly of the low, the depraved of the depraved or as Paul said "The Chief of All Sinners", how could I ever keep my mouth shut...

Its not about a building, or about a day in December, or a bunny, or the north pole, or about some place in Rome...
If all he did was to be born into this world what hope have we... Oh no, we truly have hope indeed, for on the cross lay my sins and the sins of anyone who would come and lay it down, never to return again.

Every second someone dies, we are never guaranteed another day nor the day we wake up in... seconds stand between you and eternity... will you place your faith in this world or in the one who purchased you with his own blood so that you may be with him for eternity...
what will you do
with the time that is left

Christianity: Pleasure Cruise?

2008-09-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

Draw me lord

2008-09-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

As I stood contemplating this journey. I took inventory of what I was bringing with me. The baggage of my life, I thought, was minimal. An ex-catholic disenchanted with the church and the Bible. I remember 'reading' the Bible but It was a task and not something that was meaningful. Don't get me wrong I believed in God, I just looked at the people who went to church and thought how can this be? How can so many people say they believe and yet still live life like there was no care or concern. It just seemed very hypocritical. It started when I went away to a Teen Encounter Christ weekend, it changed my view of things, it opened me up in ways I never felt before, but what I had was an emotional experience.

So here I was a supposed catholic, or ex-catholic trying to come to grips with life. When you hit the age when you have to become an adult there are many questions that you feel ill-equipped to answer. You feel indestructible and vulnerable at the same time.

Well I was used to being a spectator, however impatient with waiting for answers. So many words spoken, thoughts held. But yet nothing to hold onto. When you want to know something but don't know what you want to know life becomes a crowded place.

Well I studied allot of beliefs out there read many a book. Most of it was shaped by martial arts training I was getting at the time. So a lot of Eastern Philosophy, psychology, hypnosis, mediums, psychic stuff, you name it, I was looking for answers.

Well at the time I called myself a Christian without any understanding of what that meant. So in a sense I was really a new-ager. I was skydiving at the time when I was deep into this journey. There was a group of us that got together every Saturday morning. We called ourselves the breakfast club. We would very in depth discussion on life, spirituality, you name we discussed.

all the while I had this feeling of being lost, like a cloud was following me. Well to bring things into light my financial status was an utter shambles, many a day and night holding my head in my hands wondering how this journey could have brought me to such a place.

There were many a times when depression would grab me and try to take me out. So much knowledge i had gathered over the 10 years, yet I was stupid. My arguments were always fueled by emotion with not a lot of rational.

Through this journey I have taken I had brought myself to a place where there was no hope. Through all of the yelling I had been doing I could not hear the whisper that was calling to me. one of the last things I remember holding onto during this journey was talking to a preacher and heckling him, yes I gave him a very hard time. I was mad at this point in my search for answers.

In this search for truth I found many truths and many lies, but nothing solid. I wanted something concrete, that would stand no matter what was thrown at it, but I could not find it. Well this brings me to Vandalia, at this time I am leaving out much of this journey, but it becomes very hard to look at without wanting to cry. Most people didn't know and probably still don't know that I was literally living out of truck of which I could not even afford. So many faces, so many words, so many thoughts, of all I had done could I die happy? most have not even scratched the surface of what I have experienced. yet for all of this experience I still had no answers.

I remember that night, alone, I had the weight of the world on shoulders, bridges were broken, i was sure i would not make it.

With what money I had I bought a six pack of beer and went out to the airport where i had been skydiving. The airport was vacant, it was late at night on a Tuesday in September 1998. I sat back on my tailgate and gazed at the night sky. I don't get it anymore.... no job, very little money, no place to live, what does this all mean. I looked up at the sky, crying, I said words from deep inside me.... Oh God..... What do want from me. What am I supposed to do, why am I here?... And I felt a voice there rocked me to my core. You are here to save someone.
I through my head in my hands, how can I save anyone, I cannot even save myself. With that I looked up and said Oh God, I will follow you no matter if you only show me truth what I am to know. I felt otherworldly at the time, like it was some kind of movie, but the words, the feelings and what happened that night never left me. It was not a burning bush but I didn't need a burning bush. I needed a hand to reach in and pull me out. Nothing anyone could have said to me at the time could have altered my next steps. This journey was about to take a turn.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

2008-09-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

As I sit here… I wonder about my life and where I am. I wonder if I had not cried out that fateful night in Vandalia, Illinois would I be here. It is like gazing into a mirror and looking back at the person, a reflection of you, and asking who this is that is looking back at me.

You stand at a point looking at yesterday, today and tomorrow, and wonder…

There comes a point where we have to ask ourselves is the person I have become the person whom I was meant to be, and if I was meant to be this person, than for what purpose.
But I guess we really don’t have to ask ourselves that question we can just accept what is before us. But than what becomes of us, what will be the outcome… for there is always an outcome some pleasant and some dark.

A journey… that is what you hear people talking about day in and day out, concerning life. So we are vagabonds in life, a traveling minstrel acting out pleasantries for the world to see and praise us.

So starts one mans' traveling minstrel. And a point to which there was none… an answer to a question I didn’t know how to ask. How do you pack for such a trip? What do you take with you if you take anything at all? It seemed like this world had an answer for just about anything you could throw at it, but was it the truth. So if I take anything with me how would I know that those things were not shaping answers to fit my question? I know sounds pretty deep. But in most cases we are all deep playing in the shallows.

2008-09-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sweetly Broken Video

Sept 11 Tribute

2008-09-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

The Rush

2008-09-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

You’ve always wanted to skydive, but the thought scared you too much to try it. That is, until you met someone who had made over 100 jumps. He talked you into it by explaining how safe it was. His enthusiasm was contagious. He spoke of the freedom of falling through the air ...the adrenaline rush...the unspeakable exhilaration. Now you are standing on the edge of a plane, looking down on the earth far, far be-low.

Everything has been checked. Double-checked. This is safer than driving on the freeway—a thought that helps you deal with the fear. Modern parachutes are state-of-the-art. Besides, there is a backup chute. Still, your heart is beating with apprehension. Suddenly, you jump! You have trained so much for this moment, you instinctively spread your hands and legs. The speed is unbelievable. The power of the air forcing itself against your body is incredible. It’s like a dream. You are defying the law of gravity, racing through the air at more than 120 mph!

The earth is coming closer. All normal sense of time lost. Speed, thrust of air, unspeakable joy. You glance at the altimeter on your wrist. Only another ten seconds and you will pull the rip cord and feel the jolt of the parachute opening. All that you had been told was true. The adrenaline rush is like nothing you have experienced. If only it could last a little longer. Reluctantly, you pull the cord. It opens, but there is no jolt!

You tilt your head back to see a horrifying sight: the parachute has twisted and is trailing like a flapping streamer. Your heart races with fear, pounding in your chest. Your eyes bulge in terror. Your chest heaves as you gasp for air. You try to keep a clear mind and remember your training...pull the second cord. Nothing happens! You pull again. Again! Harder. Harder! Nothing. Your throat lets out a scream, a groan of panic. Your heart is pounding so hard you think your chest will burst. Sweat breaks through your skin. A thousand thoughts speed through your mind. Your family! Your fate!...Safer than driving on the freeway! You whisper, “What a fool I was ...to think that I could defy the law of gravity.” Now a merciless law waits for the moment of impact. The ground accelerates toward you. No words can describe the terror gripping your mind.

A voice is speaking to you. It is the voice of good sense. It is the voice you ignored so often: “You have played the fool. You have given up your life, your most precious possession, for a cheap thrill. You have exchanged your loved ones for a rush of adrenaline. What a fool ...what a fool!” One word stands alone to describe how you feel about what you’ve done. One word screams within the corridors of your terrified mind as the earth races toward you, as death readies to embrace you. One word, a word that you have never understood fully until this moment. That terrible word is remorse!

The world, the flesh, and the devil whisper to you about how pleasurable sin is. That God isn’t angry at sin. God is love. It is safe to jump into the arms of iniquity and abandon yourself to a free fall through its vast domain. You go where angels fear to tread. But it is worth it. The rush is everything sin promised. You drink in iniquity like water. You love the darkness. Conscience speaks again and again, but you ignore its warning. You are defying the Moral Law and loving every minute.

Now you stand before the Judge on Judgment Day. You pull your first line by telling God what a good person you are. Nothing happens. The Moral Law rushes at you. In panic, you pull the second line and tell God that you believed in Him. Again, nothing happens. It is no use. Your mouth is stopped. The Moral Law accelerates toward you even faster, promising to so impact you that it will “grind you to powder” (Luke 20:18). Death and hell wait to embrace you. Unspeakable terror fills your heart. Conscience speaks so clearly now: “What a fool you have been. You rejected the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. You have given up your loved ones in exchange for the joys of a sinful lifestyle. You relinquished your most precious possession, your very life, for the cheap thrill of sin. What a fool! What a fool!” One word will stay with you for eternity. One word alone will echo forever within your tormented mind. Remorse! You whisper the word, “Remorse...remorse.”

Suddenly you are staring at the ceiling of your bedroom, still mouthing the word through dry lips. Remorse! The sheets are soaked with sweat. It was just a dream. You look out the window and see the sun breaking through the green trees. It was just a dream! It’s morning now. A peaceful new day. Today’s the day you go skydiving. It will be your first time.
www.livingwaters.com

TOGETHER a story

2008-09-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

There are no words to describe what you're about to see. It's all about HIM!

A Son asked his father, "Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?" The father who, despite having a heart condition, says "Yes". They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons. The father always saying "Yes" to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his fater, "Dad, let's join the Ironman together."

To which, his father said "Yes".

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island.

Father and son went on to complete the race together!

So often we feel as though we can go through things alone...
That by my own strength I will survive...
But together the seemingly impossible becomes possible...

This life is but a blink

2008-09-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Every day seems like an eternity.
Gazing down a road and seeing no one.
Walking slowly crying into the wind.
Knowing what I was and how that man died and now seeing that man standing within a world he no longer belongs to or fits in.

For the journey was not the point but the destination.
For a man can walk a lifetime and get to place he never wanted.
For I walked a life I thought was me and what I wanted.
Not until I saw the destination did I understand.

For many feel it is about the journey.
But a journey with no point is a waste.

So I laid my life down and I gave it to the king, so that I might be what he wants of me.
A voice, speaking in compassion and passion.
So that the light might be seen in the darkness.
So that many may know there is a way.
So the road they may find would be straight and narrow.

To spend so much time focusing on one second of an eternity.
To make that second so full and disregarding the rest is foolishness.
But to give up that second so that an eternity may be full...

This life is but blink
Eternity is forever

WHAT IF??!!!

2008-09-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

What if you could read minds?
What if you knew the winning lottery numbers one day early?
What if you could live forever?
What if you were breathing your last breath right now?
What if you had already eaten your last meal?
What if you had your conscience for a reason?
What if you knew what the reason was?
What if it were a beacon - a warning of an impending doom?
What if justice were not corrupt, but something true something eternal?
What if the standard for life were a perfect Law you already knew?
What if in the stillness of a silent moment you knew you had broken that Law?
What if life is really a test, a series of choices, in which only one choice really matters?
What if we ignore the inner warning light which pulses when we lie, steal and lust?
What if even our hatred is counted as murder?
What if pain and pleasure are only shadows of greater sensations to come?
What if there is a Heaven?
What if there is a Hell?
What if there is a just Judge who knows even our thoughts?
What if He holds us accountable for every thought, word and deed?
What if our idea of justice is only a shadow of something coming - where the prison times are eternal and no bond can be posted once the sentence is passed?
What if death is the fine for breaking an eternal Law?
What if someone paid that fine for you?
What if Jesus Christ is that person?
What if He defeated death by rising from the dead?
What if you could turn from your sin, put your faith in Him and live?
What if He gave you your conscience to point you to Him?

Every second two people die... What if this is your second?

cusotmmtractsource.com

O Words

2008-08-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Oh cry out sweet and gentle voice.
That the wind may carry your words
That an ear may hear
And bring to bear the stirring within

Oh waiting storm that longsuffering may hold you
O torn flesh and persecution
To wish upon a dream that they may see
The key they turned from
To grasp that last piece of life
That will soon be

Oh quiet the hums and glares
That my life may be
That which you would wish it to be
To leave would mean death
For a world that holds itself so high

Oh to stand one second within footprints
Footprints that got me here
For the time it calls
It never ceases
A last gasp from captivity
Until soon freedom comes

O words that they may not leave one behind
Oh Death your cold grip reaches past eternity
To a lost mass… oh that they would hear
O words

Bessie Haskell

2008-08-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

While in Chicago, one of our witnessing teams visited a nursing home. As we were walking down the halls, surveying the different rooms, checking to see if any of our aged fellow humans were awake so that we could witness to them, a frail voice came from one of the rooms. It was a lady’s voice asking us to come in and visit her. She was a sweet little old lady, and her name was Bessie Haskell. She asked us, “Are you men Christians?” We told her, “Yes.” Bessie told us that she had had a very supernatural experience with the Lord Jesus. She said she made a promise to Him, and that promise was that she would tell everybody what Jesus is all about. She said she thought she knew what Jesus was about, but if you read on you will see that even after being in a church all her life, she didn’t have a clue as to what Jesus is all about.
Here’s what Bessie said:

I was born at Rensselaer, Indiana, on a farm along with nine other children.
I was the third from the bottom. I weighed only two and three quarter pounds when I came into this earth, and I was always very small and sickly. When I finally got big enough to go to church, One day my aunt said to me, “Bessie, you have never been baptized, and you can never become a member of this church until you come up to the altar and tell the people that you want to join the church and be baptized.” Then she said, “You do want to join the church, don’t you?” I told her, “Yes, I do.” A few weeks later, we went down to the creek; I was dipped down and brought up out of the water. That made me very happy, because now I was part of the church.
When I was seventeen, I went to Chicago to live with my aunt. While in Chicago, I seldom went to church. I had a job taking care of a baby for a family. The mother of the baby was very ill. The family I worked for were Catholics, and they believed everyone should go to church on Sunday. It had been so long since I had been to a church that I thought I had better join this church. Well, to join that church I had to be baptized again, so I was. After that, I met my husband, and over a period of several years we had two children. I had a house and children, and everything was beautiful, except that with the children so young, I couldn’t go to church again. Then we moved to a different neighborhood. My older sister died, so I took in her four-year-old daughter to raise. During this time, my father brought me three more children. He told me they were starving to death. Their father was a drunkard and had abandoned them, so I took them in. I now had six children to feed, and many times I wouldn’t have enough food for myself and would go to bed hungry. I found myself getting sicker and sicker. I finally went to the doctor and found out I had yellow jaundice.

Word had come that my uncle had his leg amputated, and they said he wasn’t going to live long. He wanted to talk to every one of my mother’s children and lead them to Christ. So after all my brothers and sisters had gone to see him, it was finally my turn. He begged me to accept Christ as my personal Saviour. I told him I would, but not tonight. He took my hand and said, “Bessie, I am going to die, but I want to see you saved before I die.” I left that night without accepting Christ. When I got home I was very restless because this yellow jaundice was getting worse. I was very sick, but never thought of taking Christ as my Saviour. I just got sicker and sicker. When the doctor came, he said, “Bessie, you must go to the hospital.” I told him that I couldn’t until after Uncle George’s funeral. I was so sick at the funeral I thought I would fall over dead. When I went by the casket, it looked to me like he pointed his finger at me and said, “Bessie, you’re lost.” I said, “I know, Uncle George, but you’re dead now, and I don’t know what to do.” On my way home from the funeral, I went into convulsions, so I went straight to the hospital in critical condition. They worked on me and got me ready for surgery. I was going in and out of consciousness, and I heard the doctors say that I would never live through the night. There I was. It kept going through my mind, “...and I’m not saved, I’ve been baptized twice but I’m not saved.” When I awoke, I said to my doctor, “I heard you say out of your own mouth that I was going to die. I want to go home.” So they got me an ambulance, took me home, and put me in the dining room where they could get a good hospital bed and a place to work. I would go into these light comas. When you go into a coma, you can hear part of the time if you’re not too far under, but finally, you go in and you don’t come back at all. And that’s what I went into, into the darkness of night.

I don’t know how they know that you’re still alive. You just hang between life and death. I think it was about the sixth day that I was taken out of my body. My spirit and my body separated, and I saw Bessie Haskell lying on the bed. The Spirit took me by the right arm and took me through the corner of the room. Just as quick as we were outside of the house, we sank into the pit of the earth, and we went right into a monstrous cave. Now when I say a monstrous cave, I mean a monstrous one. It had thousands upon thousands of people there. You don’t walk a step—there are no steps. But its gravity and the gravity carried me down. The faster we went down, the more I began howling, “Oh, God, I never wanted to come to this place. Since I can remember, I always said, ‘I wanna go to Heaven when I die.’ How did I get here?
Why am I in this awful place?” He only took me about half way, then He let me stop and look, and in front of me on my left side was a lake of fire, a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and it was a big one. It wasn’t a little lake. It looked like Lake Michigan, and the people were going over. They’d just gone over, and you’d hear those awful screams. Then I kept looking for where they were going to put me. And I told the Lord, “Lord, from the time I was a child, I used to never want to come to, and how on earth can I ever get out?” Then the Lord let me look up and see the Heavens, and oh, what a beauty! But I said, “How do I get there?” Jesus said, “There is a great gulf fixed, and no one will ever pass except those who have been born again by the Spirit of God and washed in His blood.” I said, “But it’s too late, it’s too late! Oh God, please don’t leave me in this awful place! Show me, Lord, what I can do. See, Father, You know I tried, and now here I am.” He showed me one big cross, and Jesus was carrying it up Golgotha’s hill. Down it went into the ground, and they nailed Him to it. They also had the other two, and they were barely alive. But it was Him I saw. When they got His hands nailed and His side pierced and the blood coming out, He looked up, and He looked right in my eyes and He said, “Bessie, this is what it is all about. This is what I died for.” He looked at me with such pity, and I cried, “Oh God, nobody ever told me! Father, nobody ever told me! I went always say that I want to go to Heaven when I die. Father God, if anybody ever worked themselves to death, it’s been me. I’ve got those four children and two of my own and hardly enough food to feed them, and I go without food over and over so that I can say I did my best to raise these children. I took them, Father, to church, when I was able. And Father, I couldn’t have done more than what I have done. I joined two different churches, and I got baptized two different times. Here I am in this place that I went from the time as a little child, Father, and nobody seemed to care. Did they know to tell me and failed to do so?” And He said, “Oh yes, but many miss it.” I said, “I have a husband, and I’ve got two little children at home. Father God, who will raise these children, who will take care of those precious little souls?”
“Father, let me go back. Let me go back, dear Father. I’ll be a witness for you as long as I live. I raise my right hand. You see this hand? It’s my oath and my promise to witness to every soul. I’ll serve You, Father. I’ll worship You, Lord. I’ll raise these children in the fear of the Lord. My poor husband doesn’t know it, very few people know it, but Uncle George knew it. But we don’t any of us know it; my father down on the farm doesn’t know it; my mother, dear God, don’t know it. But oh, God, I know it now!” I tell you, my heart was full; my joy had begun. I knew the way to Heaven, and I was going to tell it to doctors and grocers and insurance men and different ones that came to my door—every soul that I could. “Father, I’ll testify of your love and your power.” He just said to me, “I’ll take you back by your promise, Bessie. I’ll take you back.” And He took me again just like He did the first time with that right arm, and He touched me in back of my elbows, and He brought me back the same way He brought me down. I saw myself come through my own dining room, and I seen about eight or ten people. My sister, Ida, was sitting at the head of the bed, and there laid that cold body. It was as cold as ice, but my spirit just crawled back in. I remember I started at my feet, and I just came all the way up. They said, “You’re so cold, you’re so cold, you’re so cold.” I said, “Yes, but I won’t be for long, because I’ve got a heart that is warm. I’ve been with Jesus.” They said, “Where have you been?” I said, “In the pits of Hell, but I’ll never go back. I’ve found the Christ. I’ve found God. I found Uncle George’s God and I’m going to serve Him.” And that’s exactly what I did. For the next six nights I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking of the vision and what I saw, and I kept thinking, “I’ll go to the people. They don’t know.” I’d look at another, and they didn’t know. I’d look at another, and they didn’t know, they didn’t know. I wondered, how am I going to get this to the people, so they will know that God has a place prepared for His own? I saw it; I saw it with my own eyes. You know, I went back and told my family, and they didn’t want to hear it. When I tell a lot of people today, they don’t want to hear it. They don’t understand because it’s not preached. You must be born again. And friend, I’m going to tell you, there is no other way under Heaven that you can get to Heaven, unless you confess you are a sinner, and you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your sacrifice for sin, and you can do that right now. You have no promise that you will live five minutes from now, so please pray so that you can be born again right now.

Let Your Praise Come From God

2008-08-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

1Cor 4:3-5 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

In the end, people's evaluation of you, whether good or bad, is irrelevant. What matters is that your praise comes from God. It's vain to do things to impress people. When your motives are revealed, you will lose face. But even if you act in a clear conscience, that is, you don't feel guilty, that does not clear you. For our conscience can be corrupted by sin. In particular popularity can corrupt the conscience - driving one to love the praise of men.

John 12:42,43 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? John 5:44

The Boston Christian Bible Study Resources

For in this life all shall perish, passing into judgement and standing before God and giving an account of their lives both good and evil (lies, lusts, hatred, blasphemy, idolotry, etc.) and no good can forgive the evil in our lives; only in the blood of Christ Jesus can our sins be forgiven; All our good deeds are like filthy rags (the just judge of the universe cannot be bribed by our good deeds; the evil must be judged) but if your fine is paid you are free to go... only one can pay that fine... put your faith and trust in him before it is too late and repent (turn from wrong doing).
For if you look to this world for agreement, you may find it but to what end; at the loss of you very eternal life...

A Powerful Lesson From ER

2008-08-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

Paul Washer Testimony

2008-08-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Self-Directed Man

2008-08-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

In Touch Daily Devotional
Luke 12:16-21
Surely you've heard the old stereotype about men never wanting to stop and ask for directions. That's probably more true than we'd like to admit, but it isn't just males who are guilty. The world is full of both men and women, all driving full steam ahead, never wanting to stop or even slow down to ask for guidance.

If you were to look at this through spiritual lenses, you'd see a world of lost, hopeless souls trying to save themselves. They think they can somehow earn their way to heaven through good deeds and hard work. They assume it's possible to accomplish this on their own. They're wrong.

As you read through Luke 12:16-21 today, stop to count the number of times the "rich fool," as he is known, says the words "I," "my," and "myself." It's a sad picture of the self-directed man, trying to make his own way and secure his own future with no help from anyone--including God.

The Lord does not mince words with this man. Entering the scene in verse 20, God immediately calls him a fool! Don't miss the severity in the condemnation. By relying solely on his own short-sighted selfishness and pride, this man left nothing behind at the end of his life--except a pile of grain.

The message for us today is that, when we strike off on our own and initiate actions with no thought of God, we are behaving like fools. The Lord has a plan for your life. He knows where you'll succeed and where you'll fail. Trust Him to provide the direction you need.

If you are not sure where you stand look to the left side of the screen and scroll up/down and find the the good person test... take it, there is nothing more important then your eternal destiny.

Rescue the Perishing

2008-08-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Church Open Your Eyes once more
And see what Christ died for
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Church Open Your Eyes once more
And see what Christ died for
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save

As we are playing our songs
While we're singing them well
Have we forgotten the lost
The reality of hell
If we say we love God
Want to see his will done
Will we offer our lives
Or just the songs we have song
Do we even care
When will we care

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
www.billyfoote.com

WOTM Minute

2008-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

The Bible says of the Apostle Paul, that when he persuaded his hearers concerning Jesus from "the Law of Moses," he solemnly testified. The solemn use of the Law was second nature to Paul. He was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, the great teacher of the Law, and was "taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers ... "(Acts 22:3) He regularly used the moral law to humble those who transgressed its holy precepts. William Tyndale said, "Expound the Law truly and open the veil of Moses to condemn all flesh and prove all men sinners, and set at broach the mercy of our Lord Jesus, and let the wounded consciences drink of Him." There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time.

Whom Do you Follow?

2008-07-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

1Cor 3:4,5 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe— as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

The immature and unspiritual seek to inflate their view of themselves or of their group over that of others. That's human nature. Even when there is no legitimate basis for doing so, one church may reckon itself superior to others. And as we see in this case, even groups of Christians in the same church will do so. Paul and Apollos were not divided. And they were legitimate Christians leaders. But the immature would pledge allegiance to one over another so as to divide the Christian community for their own vanity's sake. There are countless examples of this in the history of Christianity, not only concerning divisive allegiances to legitimate Christian leadership and ideas, but also allegiances to theologians advocating unBiblical theologies. Leadership itself shows its spiritual immaturity by playing to this sentiment.

In later years the "veneration" of the saints turned into idolatry. And Catholicism even made "saints" as a special category of Christians. The Orthodox invoke their post-Biblical Seven Ecumenical Councils as their standard. In Protestantism, though they claimed "Sola Scriptura" (the scriptures alone), yet their commentaries make much of John Calvin, Augustine, Luther, and the like. And there is a great amount of denominationalism among Protestants. The history of Christianity has been dominated by immature, unspiritual, worldy Christians, even to its highest levels.

How do you identify yourself? Are you a Calvinist, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, or the like, or are you a Christian? Is there some post-Biblical theologian that you reckon infallible, above scrutiny? Whom do you quote to express your beliefs? Whom do you invoke to validate your beliefs?

The Boston Christian Bible Study Resource

1Corinthians 3

2008-07-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

A Wise Perspective on Spiritual Leaders
What are they?
3:1 Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.
3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren't yet ready.
Indeed, not even now are you ready,
3:3 for you are still fleshly.
For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you,
aren't you fleshly, and don't you walk in the ways of men?
3:4 For when one says, "I follow Paul,"
and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly?
3:5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul,
but servants through whom you believed;
and each as the Lord gave to him?

What is their purpose?
3:6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.
3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters,
but God who gives the increase.
3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are the same,
but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
3:9 For we are God's fellow workers.
You are God's farming, God's building.
3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me,
as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it.
But let each man be careful how he builds on it.
3:11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
3:12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;
3:13 each man's work will be revealed.
For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire;
and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man's work is.
3:14 If any man's work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.
3:15 If any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss,
but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.

3:16 Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you?
3:17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him;

for God's temple is holy, which you are.
Application: Do not boast about them!
3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world,
let him become a fool, that he may become wise.
3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
For it is written, "He has taken the wise in their craftiness."(Job 5:13)
3:20 And again, "The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise,
that it is worthless." (Ps 94:11)
3:21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
3:22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come. All are yours,
3:23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

The Boston Christian Bible Study Resources

who am i

2008-07-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

The days seem heavy
A thickness in the air
looking to drag us down
distract us from the truth
to quiet a voice
for without a voice how will they know
for without the light how will they see
if i say not a word... the things I do
will they know it is Jesus in me...

No glory to my path...
Feet trod upon ground fresh
little have come this way
for it is narrow
Many go the way which is wide
I fail to lift my voice
or point the way
for without a voice how will they know
for without the light how will they see
if i say not a word... the things I do
will they know it is Jesus in me...

Releasing our Burdens to God

2008-07-25T04:28:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 25, 2008 - Releasing Our Burdens to God - 1 Peter 5:7

Whether our burdens are relational, emotional, or financial, they can weigh us down. The longer we carry them, the heavier they seem. Unless we deal with them properly, they can cloud our thinking, interfere with work, and affect our family life.

The world's answers are temporary at best. Like, live for today. Do what feels good. Drown your sorrows with pleasure or work.

Jesus Christ offers the only permanent solution. He invites us to come to Him and receive rest from the weight of our troubles. His wonderful invitation is all-inclusive and ongoing, covering believers and nonbelievers.

We all were born with a "flesh" nature that separated us from God. This separation placed us under His judgment. We bore a heavy load of guilt. But for those who have trusted Jesus as Savior, the sin-debt is marked "paid". All guilt has been removed. [Lies, stealing, blaspemy, looking with lust which is same as adultry, etc...]

The first time anyone comes to Christ in faith, the Lord takes on the weight of those sins. Then He asks His followers to develop a lifetime habit of bringing their cares to Him. This is an offer motivated by Jesus' profound love. At the Father's request, God the Son left His place in heaven and became a man. He endured persecution. Jesus was crucified in our place. Christ demonstrated His love for us in everything He did. As a result, we can have confidence that He will never turn us away.

Every day Jesus invites us to draw near in order to find rest from our burdens. Have you said yes to Him today?