The Resurrection Distinguishes A Saving Lord

I am excited about the resurrection because it DISTINGUISHES A SAVING LORD

Hebrews 7:25 (KJV) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

A Jewish student had been attending the evangelistic meetings of Alfred H. Ackley. He asked Ackley, “Why should I worship a dead Jew?” The question ultimately prompted the writing of the Ackley’s great hymn entitled He Lives.

Ackley said to the young Jewish student, “He lives! I tell you, He is not dead, but lives here and now! Jesus Christ is more alive today than ever before. I can prove it by my own experience, as well as the testimony of countless thousands.”

The message of Easter is about a LIVING and a SAVING Jesus. In Hebrews 7:25 we are reminded that Jesus is living and that He is also saving. As a living Saviour, He is in the saving business.

The angel that announced His birth declared, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Jesus himself said in Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”

The Bible says in John 3:17, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

We read, “Wherefore He is able also to save to the uttermost.” Jesus is able to save! He has the ability to save!

When I look in the Bible I see that He can save at ANYTIME.

In Acts 2, three thousand were saved at “the third hour of the day” (Acts 2:15). That would be nine o’clock in the morning.

Paul testified that he was saved at “midday” (Acts 26:13). Midday is noon.

The thief on the cross was saved between the sixth and ninth hour (Cp. Matt 27:45). That was between the hours of 12 and 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Nicodemus was saved at “night” (Cp. John 3:2).

The Philippians Jailer was saved at “midnight” (Cp. Acts 16:25).

He can save in the morning, evening, or at night. There is no time He can’t save.

Furthermore, He can save ANYWHERE.

He saved Levi in a custom-house (Mark 2:14). A custom-house was a tax-collectors office. That’s like getting saved in an IRS office!

Peter and Andrew were saved on the seashore while they were working (Cp. Matt 4:18).

The paralytic man was saved in a home (Mark 2:1).

Zaccheaus was saved at the foot of a tree (Luke 19:4).

Paul was saved in the middle of the road (Acts 9:3).

The Samaritan woman was saved at a well (John 4:11).

The Ethiopian Eunuch was saved in a desert (Acts 8:26).

The Philippians Jailer was saved in a jailhouse (Acts 16:26).

The thief was saved on a cross (Matt 27:38).

He can save at anytime and anywhere. Let me also say that He can save ANYONE. The disciples asked in Matthew 19:25, “Who then can be saved?” Thank God anyone can be saved.

He saved the harlot Rahab.

He saved the demon-possessed Mary Magdalene.

He saved a moral man like Nathanael.

He saved a religious man like Nicodemus.

He saved a rich man like Zaccheaus.

He saved a poor man like Lazarus.

He saved a fisherman like Peter.

He saved a doctor like Luke.

He saved a government official like the Ethiopian.

He saved a tax collector like Matthew.

He saved a thief like the thief on the cross.

It matters not who you are, what you have done, Jesus is able to save!

Furthermore, it says, “Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost:”

Charlotte Elliot wrote a hymn that is probably sung somewhere around the world every Sunday. It is the hymn Just As I Am. It is actually a testimony of how she came to Jesus. At the age of 33, she was an invalid, bitter, and often vented her frustration on her family and even God. She complained, “If God loved me, He would not have treated me this way.”

On one occasion her father had invited the noted Swiss minister, Dr. Cesar Malan, to be a guest in their home. While they were seated at the dinner table she gave vent to one of her typical emotional outbursts, condemning God for His cruelty to her. Her father, embarrassed at her lack of respect for their distinguished guest, excused himself and left the room with the rest of the family.

Dr. Malan and Charlotte were left alone facing one another at the table. After a few tense moments, he said to her, “You are tired of yourself, aren’t you?” Angrily she asked, “What do you mean?” Dr. Malan replied, “You are holding to your hate and anger because you nothing else in the world to cling to, consequently, you have become sour, bitter, and resentful.”

Charlotte then asked, “What is your cure?” He told her that she needed the faith she was trying to despise.” Charlotte broke, and she unburdened her heart, releasing pent-up feelings she had been struggling with for years. Dr. Malan explained how God could help her find peace for her soul and as well as her mind and body.

She then asked, “If I wanted to become a Christian and to share the peace and joy you possess, what would I do? How would I go about it?” Dr. Malan replied, “You would give yourself to God just as you are now.” She repeated the words, “Just as you are now,” and then added, “I would come to God just as I am. Is that right?”

“Exactly,” said Dr. Malan, “praying this prayer, ‘O God, I come to you just as I am, to be made over by you and to be used for your glory and your kingdom.” That day Charlotte Elliot did come and 14 years later she wrote:

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that thy blood was shed for me,

And that biddest me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come.

All we have to do is come just as we are. Someone might say, “I need to get some things straightened out in my life before I come.” The devil will see to it that you never get your life straightened out. You need to come just as you are. Another might say, “I need to come, but not today. I will come later.” Today is the day you need to come. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”

It matters not who you are or what you have done, you can come.

Hebrews 7:25 tells that we come to God “by him.” We must not only come, but we must accept the Lord Jesus as Saviour. We come to God by and through the Lord Jesus. Within our celebration of Easter is Jesus dying for our sins on Calvary’s cross.

Emerging from the Civil War was a band of guerillas known as Quantrell's band or raiders. They had been ordered to be shot on sight. After burning a town in Iowa, they had been caught. A long ditch was dug and they were lined up in front of it and blindfolded and tied, and just as the firing squad was ready to present arms a young man dashed through the bushes and cried, "Stop!"

He pointed to one man in the line and asked to take his place. "I'm single," he said, "while he has a wife and babies." The commander of that firing squad had the young fellow blindfolded and bound. The guns rang out and he fell dead.

Time went on and one day a man came upon another in a graveyard in Missouri weeping and shaping the grave into form. The first man asked who was buried there and the other said, "The best friend I ever had." He then told the story of the young man who had taken his place. He had got the body of his friend after he had been shot and buried it. The man had traveled many miles from his home to place a withered bouquet on the grave marked by simple slap of wood with the words, "He died for me."

On that grave today there is a nice marble monument that was added years later by the man. The monument stands fifteen feet high and on it is this inscription:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLE LEE

HE TOOK MY PLACE IN THE LINE

HE DIED FOR ME

When you look at the cross of Calvary you see an eternal monument that says, “He died for me.” He died to save you. He died that you and I might come to Him and be saved. All that He asks is that we come to Him and accept Him as our Saviour.

His authority to save is seen in the closing words of Hebrews 7:25, “Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Do you want to know why He has the ability to save? Do you want to know why we can come to Him and be saved? It is because He is alive! He saves because He lives!

Don’t pay any attention to those who doubt or deny the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. He’s alive! He arose again from the dead just as the Bible declares.

A man once wrote a religious editor and said, “Our preacher said on Easter that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?” He received the following reply, “Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes; nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his side; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 72 hours and see what happens.”

The angel said in Matthew 28:6, “He is not here: for He is risen.” Yes, He rose again from the dead. He is not lying in a tomb somewhere. He rose from the dead. He, as the Bible says, “ever liveth.” He is not only able to save, but praise His name, He is available to save. If a person will come to Him, He can and wil

The Resurrection Displays The Power Of God

I am excited about the resurrection because it...

DISPLAYS THE POWER OF GOD

 

Romans 1:4 says that the resurrection declared the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God with power. The resurrection displays Christ’s power over Satan, death, and the grave.

 

Pardon my imagination, but I can see as the stone was rolled in front of tomb, death and corruption jumped upon and straddled the body of Jesus, smiled and shouted with glee, “We’ve got Him now.” They both wrapped their bony arms around Him and declared, “He’s ours and we will never let Him go.” Day one passes and then day two. They exclaim, “Yes, we’ve got Him! He belongs to us.” But then on the morning of the third day the tomb began to shake and the body of the Lord Jesus began to move. Death shouts, “Corruption, hold on to Him. Don’t let Him go.” Corruption shouts back, “I’m trying.” Then all of a sudden the linen clothes in their hand went limp. “Where is He,” screams death. “I don’t know,” cries corruption. Then a voice is heard saying, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Cp. Rev. 1:18).

 

Yes, the resurrection displays the mighty, marvelous, miraculous power of the Lord Jesus. If you ever have any doubts as to whom Jesus is or what He can do, all you need to do is look at the resurrection.

Blood Moons Part 2

This is my second post on blood moons.  In the first post I just gave a little introduction.  In considering blood moons I want us to look at three things.  I want us to look at signs because the tetrad blood moons are said by John Hagee to be a sign like a billboard from heaven.

SOME SIGNS ARE easier to read than others. If you have ever traveled to a foreign country, you know that all too well. Meaning quickly gets lost in translation. Consider these translated signs in other countries:
In a Paris elevator: “Please leave your values at the front desk.”
In a Hong Kong supermarket: “For your convenience, we recommend courageous, efficient self-service.”
In a Rhodes tailor shop: “Order your summers suit. Because in big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.”
In a Hong Kong tailor shop: “Ladies may have a fit upstairs.”
In Kyushi, Japan, on a Detour sign: “Stop: Drive Sideways.”
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: “We take your bags and send them in all directions.” (Yes, don't all airlines?)
In an Acapulco hotel: “The manager has personally passed all the water served here.”

Let me state first of all my position.  First of all, I think Greg Boyd saying that the study of blood moons by John Hagee and Mark Biltz is a possible case of divination is absurd.  And I don't hear these men predicting the end of the world or anything specific.

I admire John Hagee as a preacher of the Word of God and a lover of Israel.  He preaches the truth.  I have nothing against him.  I just take exception to some of the things he has said and believe he has gone a little too far.  I don't know much about Mark Biltz but have nothing against him.

I think they may be right that something big could happen with Israel in the next couple of years.  My point is that there does not need to be a blood moon to predict this.  The Middle East is a powder keg waiting for someone to light the fuse.  There are other signs that line up with the Bible far better.  For example the nations that will attack Israel in the Gog/Magog battle are for the first time in history all lined up. Russian and Iran (Persia) are working together.

My point is this.  I believe God gives signs.  But when God gives signs they can't be missed.  Jesus Himself talked about signs.  Luke 21:25-26 (KJV) ²⁵  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ²⁶  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The vast majority of Bible prophecy teachers agree that God uses cosmic signs as precursors of end-times events. The question is: what kinds of heavenly signs does God use, and when will Luke 21: 25 be fulfilled?

I will talk more about that in a later blog on blood moons.

But consider this, much of the world won’t even see the blood moons, especially the part of the world they’re supposed to impact. How can something be a global sign that “something is about to change” or a “divine billboard announcing coming events,” as Hagee asserts , if most people in the world are unaware of it? Dr. Danny Faulkner of Answers in Genesis highlights this serious shortcoming with the blood moons prophecy: There also is a question of from what portion of the earth one ought to view these eclipses for them to constitute a sign. One might think that Jerusalem would be a key site, but the first three total lunar eclipses in 2014– 2015 won’t be visible from there, and only the
beginning of the final eclipse will be.

Faulkner concludes, “Not actually witnessing these events but instead just knowing that somewhere some sort of solar eclipses are happening seems to fall far short of being specific and spectacular signs of end times.”

Jack Kelley points out that of the previous series of lunar tetrads, “only the one in April 1950 was fully visible from Israel, four others were partially visible and the rest were not visible at all. (Since
these are being touted as signs to Israel, you might wonder why they weren’t all visible there.)”

In contrast to the lunar tetrad of 2014– 2015, the cosmic portents in Scripture will be visible and unmistakable to everyone around the globe (see Matthew 24: 29-30; Revelation 1: 7; 6: 12-16). When Jesus returns to earth, His coming will be dramatically heralded by cosmic signs. The limited visibility of the blood moons works against the idea that they are a sign of some dramatic change. Moreover, proponents of the blood moons prophecy maintain that the first lunar tetrad that fell on the Jewish feasts of Passover and Tabernacles occurred in 1493–1494, before modern means of communication. I wonder if people at that time in the parts of the world where the blood moons weren’t visible had any idea they were even happening. Today, with global communication, we know things that happen all over the world, but such was not the case in 1493– 1494. Something can’t be a sign if you never see or know about it. Those who maintain that the four blood moons are a portent that something is about to change need to explain how something hidden to most of the world, and
especially to those in Israel, can serve as a dramatic sign of the times for them. This is a serious problem. --Hitchcock, Mark

I believe that the signs in the heavens are supernatural events.  Some point out that something big has to happen with the tetrad now because another one will not happen for another 500 years and the world can't last that long. I believe the moon turning to blood will not be on man's calendar, but will be done by God when unexpected.

Some are pointing to Bethlehem's star as an example of the heavens giving the signal that something
big is going to happen.  I hold that the “star” that appeared was not a heavenly body or natural phenomenon, but a supernatural shining created by God to guide the wise men to the Savior. R. C. Sproul supports this view: The other possibility is that the star that led these men to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem was a specific creation by God for this particular event, something like the shekinah glory cloud that led the people of Israel in their wilderness wandering . . . . I think it would be very difficult to follow the tail of a comet, or even an inordinately bright conjunction of two planets, to Jerusalem and then from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. I suspect that this is another account of a miraculous work of God to guide the men to the proper place.

Likewise, the darkness that enveloped Calvary for the final three hours of Christ’s suffering on the cross was supernatural.

Let Mark Hitchcock sum it up. God uses the heavens at critical junctures to signal the coming of great events. He will use them in the end times to portend the second advent of Christ. But the four blood moons of 2014– 2015 fail as a discernible sign of the times for the simple reason that they will not be visible to most of the world, and most specifically, not to Israel, which is supposed to be the focal point of the blood moons prophecy. --Hitchcock, Mark

Critical Condition - Book Review

I just finished Richard Mabry's new book, "Critical Condition". I have come to expect intrigue, mystery, a good story line, action, suspense, and of corse romance (for the ladies, insert smile) from this author. He did not disappoint.

Shannon witnesses her fiancé shot and killed right at her side. He whispers, "Help me," just before he dies. Shannon wants to be a doctor so she can save lives. But someone else is shot outside her home. He whispers his last words, only they are not words but numbers? What do they mean. Shannon and her sister's life, Megan, may depend on them figuring it out. Shannon's boyfriend, Mark is the only person they can trust a long with their lawyer. They don't even know if they can trust the police.

Megan's boyfriend is also shot and killed. The smoking gun leads to Shannon and Megan because their finger prints are on it. Eventually, Megan becomes the chief suspect.

Meanwhile each girl has their personal and inner struggles. Shannon struggles with her faith and relationship to God even though her dad is a pastor. She also has panic attacks when she has to perform surgery on a gun shot victim. Any other time blood does not bother her. She will be faced with the ultimate challenge when someone close to her is again shot.

The ending is fast paced and takes you on a thrill ride.

I highly recommend "Critical Condtion" for an enjoyable read.

I was given this book as part of the Book Look bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Resurrection Declares The Diety Of Christ

John 20:1-10

 

I get excited about the resurrection because it…

 

DECLARES THE DIETY OF CHRIST

 

Romans 1:4 (KJV) And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

 

Let me say first of all, that Jesus really died.  

 

I love John’s account of the resurrection of Jesus. We read in verse 1, “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark…” The word “early” that is used was the technical word for the last of the four watches into which the night was divided. It refers to the time between 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. As John described, it would have been grey dark when Mary came near the tomb. As she approached the tomb she became aware that something was not normal. Verse 1 tells us that she “seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.” 

 

At the very beginning let me say that the stone was not rolled away in order for Jesus to get out of the tomb. It was rolled away so others could see in the tomb. As we come to John 20 we find certain ones coming to the tomb and looking inside the tomb. It seems that John’s account of the resurrection of Jesus places great emphasis on what they saw in the tomb. John draws our attention to the linen clothes and how Peter and John saw them. In verse 5 we see John looking in the tomb and he “saw the linen clothes lying.” In verse 6 we see Peter entering the tomb and how he “seeth the linen clothes.” Then in verse 8 we read of John entering the tomb and we read “he saw, and believed.”

 

The words that are used to describe what and how they saw the linen clothes describes a progression of sight and understanding. In verse 5 the word “saw” simply means “to look at.” It describes someone simply seeing something. John outran Peter to the tomb and when he came to the entrance of the tomb, he stooped down, looked inside and “saw” or looked at the linen clothes.

 

In verses 6-7 we read that when Peter got to the tomb he walked past John, stepped inside the tomb and “seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” The word “seeth” is a word that means that Peter “beheld attentively” the grave clothes. The word speaks of considering and seeking discernment. Peter not only saw the linen clothes but there was something about them that arrested his attention. We might say that he stood there scratching his head trying to figure out what he was seeing.

 

Then in verse 8 we read that John, who had been the first to look inside, “saw and believed.” The word “saw” as used here means to “properly see or know.” At first John merely looked at the grave clothes. But as he stood outside the tomb he began to think about what he had just seen. Then it hit him what he had seen and it dawned on him what had occurred. I can see the troubled look on his face slowly turn into a smile—Jesus was alive! He had risen from the dead! As verse 8 says, he “believed.”

 

What do you see when you look in the tomb of the Lord Jesus? You say, “When you look in the tomb you see nothing because Jesus wasn’t in the tomb.” However, the Bible tells us that Peter and John saw something. They saw the linen clothes. When we look in the tomb and see the “linen clothes” what do we see? We see portrayed a dying Lord.

 

In John 19 we read how Joseph of Arimathea begged Pilate to let him have the body of Jesus. Pilate granted his request and we read in verse 40 how he and Nicodemus “took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury” (19:40).  The process was to wash the body and cover it with aromatic oils or spices. Then the body was wrapped in a cloth or shroud. John tells us that the body of Jesus was “wound…in linen clothes.” The words that he used indicate that they used strips of linen and wrapped them around his body.  They wound the strips around His body much like the images we have of a mummy.

 

When Peter and John looked in the tomb the first thing that caught their attention was these linen clothes or strips. These were the linen strips that the body of the Lord Jesus had been wrapped in. They were a reminder that Jesus had died. The tomb and the linen clothes testify to the death of the Lord Jesus. When we look in the tomb we are reminded that Jesus Christ died. What we see in the tomb takes us back to Calvary and the cross on which He died. Each time we look in the tomb and see the linen clothes we are once again made aware that Jesus Christ died on Calvary’s Cross.

 

After the death of the Lord Jesus every effort was made by the chief priests and Pharisees to see that the body of the Lord Jesus was secure and could not be stolen. You read in Matthew 27:63-64 that they came to Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night, and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He is risen from the dead…’” Pilate agreed to their wishes, had the tomb sealed and set a watch (four soldiers) to guard the tomb.

 

Jesus had said that He would rise from the dead. In John 2, the Jews asked for a sign that He was who He said He was and He replied, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (2:19). They thought He was talking about the Temple as a building. They exclaimed that it took 46 years to build the Temple. There was no way He could destroy it and then rebuild it in 3 days. But Jesus wasn’t talking about a building. He was talking about His body (Cp. John 2:20-21). He was declaring that He would rise again on the third day.

 

Just as He said, on the morning of the third day, just as the sun began to break through the eastern sky, an angel descended from heaven, and rolled the stone away. 

 

Very shortly afterwards came Mary Magdalene and when she saw the stone rolled away, the first thing that went through her mind was that someone had broken into the tomb and stolen the body of Jesus. In fact we read in verse 2 that she ran to Peter and John and said, “They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him.”

 

Peter and John took off running toward the tomb. When they looked inside, both saw the linen clothes that had been wrapped around the body of the Lord Jesus. Immediately both were struck by how the linen clothes were lying. They were lying flat on the stone. They had not been unwrapped or unwound. They had not been cut or torn off or left in a disheveled mess as if someone had hastily stolen the body of Jesus. They were lying there as if untouched and as if the body had simply vaporized.

 

John stands outside the tomb thinking about what he saw and Peter inside the tomb thinking about what he is seeing, then all of a sudden it dawned on John, “He’s alive. His body has not been stolen. He’s rose from the dead!” The position and condition of the linen clothes were a physical piece of evidence that Jesus had rose from the dead.  

 

Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God through His resurrection. The word “declared” means “to mark out.” Jesus was the Son of God before His resurrection. He has always been the Son of God. Yet, it was the resurrection that marked Him out and clearly identified Him as God’s Son. It verified every claim He had made that He was the Son of God.

 

His resurrection from the dead silences the critics and settle for time and eternity that He is the Son of God! His resurrection declares that Jesus was more than a man. He was indeed the Son of God!

 

Blood Moons Part 1

I first heard about the coming blood moons from Mark Biltz when he was on "Understanding The Times" radio. John Hagee has popularized the message. He believes that something big is going to happen that will be earth shattering and change things forever. I heard audio clips of Pastor Boyd  played on WWIB take the complete opposite view. I have read Mark Hitchcooks book, "Blood Moons Rising".  The questions are,  "Who is right? Do the coming blood moons have any prophetic significance as Mark Biltz and John Hagee claim? Is it possible divination as Gregg Boyd claims it might?

What is all the hype about? According to NASA, four blood moons will appear on four Jewish feast days in 2014-2015. The first one is today April 15, 1014, the Jewish Passover. (It was actually early morning, last night). The second will be 10/18/2014 during the Feast of Tabernacles.  Then in the middle there will be a total solar eclipse on March 15, 2015. The third blood moon will be 4/4/2015 during Passover. The last blood moon will be 9/28/2015 during the Feast of Tabernacles. These four make up what scientists call a Tetrad.

A blood moon is a total lunar eclipse. It is called a blood moon because when these eclipses occur the moon takes on a reddish hue. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays and casting a shadow on the moon.  As the moon moves deeper and deeper into the earth's shadow, the moon changes color right before your very eyes, changing from gray, to orange, to a deep red.

The moon takes on this new color because indirect sunlight is still able to pass through earth's atmosphere and cast a glow on the moon.  Our atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving the red and orange hues that we see during a lunar eclipse.

What adds to the hype is the history of the Tetrads. There have been only three in the last 500 years. The first of these occurred in 1492-1493 one year after The Jews were kicked out of Spain. Columbus sailed to America which would become a safe haven for Jews. The next was 1949-1950, one year after the nation of Israel was reborn. The third transpired in 1967-1968. During this time, Israel fought and won the famous "Six Day War".

Are the four blood moons a harbinger or hype? Are they signs or sensationalism?

This all seems very impressive but we will look at the evidence.

Over the next few days we will look at the:

1.  Signs

Does God give signs through the heavens? Are the blood moons themselves a part of these God-given signs?

2.  Seven Feasts

There is no doubt about the relationship between blood moons and the Jewish feast days in 2014 and 2015 are intriguing.  The blood moon tetrad in 2014 and 2015 is linked to Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. the connection between the feasts and the four blood moons is the basis for the blood moon's prophecy.

3.  Scriptures

Ultimately, the Scriptures are the final authority for any subject.  What saith the Scriptures?

How Does The Butterfly Get Out

One of my favorite characters and master story tellers was Dr. Walter Wilson. Here is an episode from his life.

"How Does the Butterfly Get Out?"

by Walter L. Wilson, M.D.

The theory of evolution has permeated our schools and colleges to such an extent that it is time that we Christians deliver such messages as will counteract this false teaching. The opportunity of addressing the students of one of our colleges was given me, and I learned that the hypothesis of evolution had permeated this school, until there were very few evidences that any Christian faith was left.

My address concerned the origin of things. I stated that no one could produce a plausible theory for the origin of odor, color, taste, shape or power. My argument was that none of these were the product of development, but were the result of a definite decision on the part of the living God. I called the students' attention to the fact that strawberries always have the same odor, no matter where they are grown, and that their odor is never confused with the odor of any other thing in all the world. Every fruit has its own odor and so does every animal. The odor of the one is never like the odor of the other.

I reminded them that the taste of vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, meats, etc., always remain the same in each case, and that one is never mistaken for another. I stated that only the living God could give peaches their peculiar taste and fish their peculiar flavor; that colors could not have happened by themselves; that bananas are yellow because God made them so, and plums are blue or red because God made them so. I stressed the fact that an intelligent God designed each of these by His own sovereign power and will. I mentioned that each plant and animal has its own shape. Chickens do not grow as large as ostriches, neither do bananas grow as long as broomsticks. There are no square apples and no oblong pumpkins with square edges. Everything has its own peculiar shape from God.

Again, I reminded them that the origin of power is a great mystery. Who knows how the sun was first placed in the heavens, or when the first gallon of water ran over Niagara Falls? All of this is a mystery, except as we believe the Word of God concerning creation.

While developing the subject, I made reference to the resurrection, saying, "Every corn field is a grave yard. A grain of corn is planted in the spring, and while it is dying tender shoots are formed which force their way up through the hard soil to emerge into the sunshine and to grow into a stalk. Every living plant comes out of a grave. We do not understand the power of life, nor how it is that a soft, tender leaf can force its way through the hard ground, break the topsoil, push up a heavy clod and emerge. Every spring we see it done and we rejoice that it is so. The sun above us has the power to dispel the darkness about us, and draw latent life into the light."

At the close of my address, a young man came to me with the air of one whose intelligence had been insulted. He said, "Surely you do not mean to tell me that you believe in the resurrection?" I replied, "Certainly, I do. A resurrection of the human body will take place in God's good time, just as there is a resurrection of seeds in their appointed time." He looked at me in astonishment, as though he thought I had very poor sense and really needed someone to look after my affairs. Then he said to me, "Do you mean to tell me that you believe that Lazarus came out of the grave when Jesus spoke to him?" "Yes," I replied, "certainly and positively; there is no question about it. Jesus had given him his life. Jesus had allowed it to be taken from him, and then Jesus could give it back to him again, and He did so." Again my young friend expressed his disdain for my foolish belief, and said, "You look intelligent. How is it that one who is intelligent would believe such foolishness?"

By this time I thought it fitting that I should check up on this wise young man and see how much he really knew, so I said to him, "I suppose you reject the record of the resurrection because you cannot understand it. Am I correct in this?" "Yes," he replied, "you are! Tell me, how did Lazarus come out of the grave?" I said to him, "Now you have changed the question. First, you inquired as to whether Lazarus did come out, and I replied that he certainly did. Now you ask me how he came out, and I must reply that I do not know."

The young man seemed to think that he had gained a signal victory, so I said to him, "Do you reject the truth of the resurrection simply because you cannot understand it?" He answered most emphatically, "Yes sir; I will believe nothing that I cannot understand."

I thought it was only fair that I should take him at his word and so I said, "Do you believe that butterflies come out of cocoons?" He replied that he did. I then asked, "How does the butterfly get out?" This question baffled him. The other students standing around had a hearty laugh, while he was seeking to find some answer that would reveal his marvelous knowledge and his wonderful understanding of nature.

After a few moments he replied rather officiously, "It bites its way out, of course."

"How many teeth does a butterfly have?" I asked.

He hardly knew what to say to this simple question, so he replied, "I do not know. How many teeth does it have?

"Well, you see there is at least one thing that you do not know," was my reply. "As a matter of fact a butterfly does not have any teeth at all, not even a mouth, but only a long, slender proboscis." Again I asked him, "How does the butterfly get out?"

He replied, "I suppose it emits a sort of acid which burns a hole through the cocoon."

To the great amusement of the other students, I asked him if he did not think it would be a strange paradox if a butterfly could emit an acid strong enough to burn through the tough cocoon and yet would not burn the butterfly. He admitted that this was true and that he must be wrong.

"That is right," I said, "So there are two things that you do not know. Tell me, how does it get out?"

By this time other students had gathered around in large numbers to see the young man who would believe nothing he could not understand. His reply to my third question was, "I suppose it must swell up and burst its way out."

Quickly I answered, "Now there are three things that you do not know, for the cocoon is waterproof, air proof, light proof and heat proof. How could it swell up when there is no air with which to expand? Did you ever try to tear a cocoon with your hands?" (I noticed that he had large, strong hands like a blacksmith's.) He replied that he had often tried to do it, but had never succeeded.

Then I said to him, "You cannot tear a cocoon with your big, strong hands, but you are so wise and well informed that you are confident that the soft, tender butterfly could tear it by swelling up with air which it does not have."

By this time the students standing around were saying various and sundry things about this young man who knew so much.

Again I asked him, "How does the butterfly get out? He began to color and reveal his discomfort. His guessing was at an end. He had to admit that he did not know. I then asked him, "Does the butterfly come out of the cocoon?"

"Yes, certainly it does," he answered.

"So did Lazarus come out of the tomb when Jesus spoke," I replied, "but I cannot tell you how he did it."

This argument ended the hostile attitude of the young man. He retreated from the room defeated. I did not have the opportunity of presenting the Gospel to him. However, that evening a number of those who listened to him and realized the foolishness of his argument attended the services at the church. Their curiosity had been aroused, their hostility removed, and a few of them accepted Christ as Saviour and Lord in subsequent meetings.

Dan's Story and the Divine Director

Jon, Dan and Andrew had just come down their first run of the day, down the bunny hill on their snowboard. They got in line for the ski lift.  Dan had no indications that he was going to collapse. He just went down.  Well, in front of him, was a retired Sheriff's Deputy, Shane.  At first, he thought that Dan was goofing around, but when he looked at Dan, he saw that his eyes were open, gazing, and that Dan was dying.  He kicked off his skis, and rushed over.  Jon had unzipped Dan's coat--we still laugh--because Jon figured somebody was going to start cutting Dan's clothes off, Jon didn't want them cutting off the coat, because Jon had bought it for Dan.  :)  So, Shane rushed over, and started CPR on Dan.  Dan's heart had stopped. Shane used his pocketknife and cut off Dan's shirts. (Later when we met Shane at a press conference he brought this knife as a prop). Joe, the General Manager from Afton, came running out with the AED.  They put it on, and the AED told them to shock Dan.  It did, and Shane says that he gave Dan a couple more breaths, and he thinks he slapped Dan, and was yelling at him to wake up.  Shane says that Dan moaned, and he asked Dan if he was ok, and Dan said, "I'm ok."  (Dan does not remember this.)  They got Dan on the ambulance, and it was finally in there that he remembers anything.  He told me that he thought he was kind of fighting them off, and saying he wanted to go home.  We did find out later that he was asking to go home.

Here are some of the miracles:  1) the boys were originally going to a different ski resort.  I don't know if the other one has AED's or not (not all of them do)  2) Dan could very well have collapsed coming down the hill or on a ski lift--I still shudder to think of either scenario's.  Things would not have been as pleasant.  3)  Dan collapsed right near someone who knew CPR and who wasn't afraid to help out  4) Afton Alps had an AED, and Dan collapsed right outside the General Manager's office window, and he had an AED right there with him  5) The ambulance was already on its way, even before Dan collapsed, as they thought someone was having a heart attack, but they weren't, so they diverted the ambulance for Dan.

(The above was taken mostly from my wife's blog, manyinthemanse.blogspot.com. Why re-invent the wheel?)

To see the video and to read more of Dan's story click on this link. http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_24824435/afton-alps-skier-17-saved-by-quick-moves

Yesterday we were invited by the American Red Cross so Dan could participate in a video honoring Shane as a hero. It was a great experience.  Everyone was so nice and touched by Dan and his story.  The experience reminded me of a story.

A man approaches a beach And sees a woman in the water with a huge shark fin Bearing down on her. Panicked he yells, "Shark! Shark!" But the people 
sitting on the beach in chairs don't move.  Nobody does anything. Thinking they can't hear him, he sprints toward the beach, keeps hollering, and wildly waves his arms. As he gets closer to the beach he sees a man sitting in a chair with the word, "director" written on it. He had come upon the scene of a movie 
shoot. What had looked to him like danger and chaos was all under the control 
of the director.

It is often the same for us. We look at what is happening in our lives and in the world around us and we see chaos and danger and we are tempted to panic.  By the way, a couple of months after Dan's episode we had a house fire.  As I write this we are staying in a rental house. As someone has observed, "There are 
three days a week that we have no control over- yesterday, today, and tomorrow." But we have to remember it is all under the control of a divine director. He wrote the script, He's calling the shots, and He's directing every scene and detail so it will all come out as He planned.I invite you to put your trust in Him like a drowning man does to the person who comes to rescue him.

Pray something like this. Lord Jesus thank You that Your providence allows us trouble and heart ache but that You never take Your eyes off of us. Everything you do results in our good. And Lord You come to us in the darkest hour and You see us through. You always have and You always will. Dear God I know that you love me and I know that you want to save me. Jesus you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust in you. I do trust in you Lord Jesus. This very moment come into my heart. Forgive my sin, cleanse me, save me and begin now to make me the person you want me to be. And Lord Jesus because you died for me I will 
live for you .

A Sermon In Shoes

The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:15, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” The world should not be able to point a finger at anything in the Christians life that would be dishonoring to God and hurtful to the cause of Christ.

In Birmingham, Alabama, many years ago, lived a Presbyterian pastor, James Bryan. Throughout the city he was known as "Brother Bryan." There were many preachers stronger in pulpit oratory, but none preached better sermons than he did with his life. Like Jesus, he went about doing good. It was a common thing for him to come home on a cold day without his overcoat. He had given it to some poor man who had none. One spring day he was driving a horse and buggy through the countryside. He saw a farmer standing dejectedly in the field. It was time for his spring plowing, but his only horse lay dead. Brother Bryan unhitched his horse and gave it to the man. Then he walked home. It was fitting that when his biography was written it was called A Sermon in Shoes.

The famous American evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) once said, “The preaching that this world needs most is the sermons in shoes that are walking with Jesus Christ.” Some say that what Moody meant was that most people won’t go near a church, so the only way they’ll hear the gospel is if someone takes it to them. Others say he meant that most people form their opinions about Christianity and what it has to offer them not by what is preached but rather through the examples they see how Christians live rather than what they say. Possibly he meant both, because both are true.

People need to hear the gospel and have it explained, but they also need to see an example of someone living it. The words are necessary, but to be most effective, witnessing must go beyond words. Only the Holy Spirit can work in people’s hearts to help them decide to receive Jesus and be saved, but to understand what God is offering them and to believe that it can happen to them, most people need to see how He has already worked in someone else’s life. You could talk for hours about all that God could give or do for the people you’re witnessing to, but unless they see an example of those things in you, your words would probably fall on deaf ears. They need to see that He has changed your life for the better and given you something that they don’t have and can’t get on their own.

The lyrics of the children's song, "A Sermon In Shoes" says:

Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?

Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?

Jesus calls upon you, to spread the gospel news,

So walk it, and talk it. 

Live it, and give it.

Teach it, and preach it. 

Know it, and show it.

A Sermon in Shoes.

If you ask any group of people what they want out of life, most of them will say things like love, happiness, security, and peace of mind. Sure, they may first say a million dollars, their dream house, or the perfect husband or wife, but when it comes right down to it, all of those are only means (or supposed means) to get the things of true value, like love, happiness, security, and peace of mind. And the wonderful thing is, when we receive Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, those truly important things are available to us and can be manifested in our lives. “The fruit of the Sprit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” When those you are witnessing to see you being loving and understanding, compassionate, gentle, kind, patient, and considerate—especially if they know you weren’t always that way before you found the Lord—they will want what you have.

Remember, your walk talks and your talk talks but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.