JUST A MEMORY – OR DAILY REALITY?

Now Easter is over for another year, do we just store the cross away for next year’s celebration - or experience it as a daily reality, 24/7?

Unfortunately, for many Christians too, the worldly allure of hot cross buns (an English custom), Easter eggs and bunnies has overtaken that of the Cross of Jesus. And so we go on wondering why the church is seemingly powerless in our lives and in society.

This is exacerbated by those popular and influential preachers who wont preach the Cross, seeing it as a defeat, instead of the greatest sacrifice of a loving Jesus, paying the ultimate price, laying down His life to give you and me back ours. How can that be a defeat?

For the Cross illustrates perfectly, ‘the way’ of the Christian walk. It is a matter of going down in order to be built up, of the last being first, of being servants to God and man. All so perfectly reflected in the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus. A defeat? Certainly not! Rather, a glorious demonstration of how to bring power into our lives and that of the church.

Yes, the Cross of Jesus is the ongoing demonstration of how we are to live our lives each and every day of the year. Let us not forget.

Find out more about us on…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/about.html

FROM THE WORD

THE MYSTERY OF THE GODHEAD - WHO GOD IS (3 of 6)
There is but one God with one nature expressed in 3 different ways

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
Our teacher, guide and comforter. On our Christian walk, He reveals Jesus to us.

"Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:23-27)

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." (John 16:12-15)

DAVID’S DOODLINGS

HEAVENLY TRUTHS GOD HAS SHOWN ME (3 of 12)

Unexpectedly given one afternoon when I wasn't feeling very well. How often God works like that! Kept my human input to a minimum.

God has shown me that...

... as pride comes before a fall, so repentance precedes restoration.

... there is nothing good in me until I am touched by His healing hand.

... I can't be found until I admit I'm lost.

... to be a servant is indeed the highest calling.

... He is to be obeyed, even when I don't understand why.

... He lives outside of time, but I don't.

Please feel free to quote these quotes. Acknowledgement of David Tait as the author would be appreciated. There are now more than 800 David sayings for you to view at ...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/dd.php

A MESSAGE FROM ROY

Although this PGIM! e-letter is sent free, some readers have decided to support this Ministry one or more times a year by sponsoring a week's PGIM! @ USD $50.00. Can I ask you to consider sponsoring a specified week/s? You will get an acknowledgement on your particular week/s of sponsorship (unless you do not want it). If you are interested to help this very informative & helpful newsletter, please email me, Roy McGreevy, as it is God who authored this idea through me in the USA. roy@kscbtv.com. I look forward to hearing from you... thanks. Roy

LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused***

*** "Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others." ***

255. THEY WONT LEAVE
The year was 1492 A.D., and the citizens of Rome wanted to expel the Jews. The Pope, being somewhat more openminded than his followers, decided to give the Jews a chance to be heard on this question, and challenged them to a public debate. The elders of the Jewish community considered the matter carefully.

"We have many learned and erudite men among us," they reasoned, "but the Pope is also learned and erudite. By learning and erudition alone, we may not prevail. Perhaps we may prevail by common sense." So they chose the most commonsense man among them, a crusty old fellow named Moishe, to represent them. Moishe agreed, but on one condition: The debate must be held in silence, without words.

Surprisingly, the Pope agreed. On the appointed day, the Pope and Moishe took the stage and seated themselves before the crowd.

The Pope held up three fingers.
Moishe held up one finger.

The Pope pointed with his three fingers to the four horizons: East, South, West, and North.
Moishe pointed with his one finger to the ground at their feet.

After some moments, the Pope held up the elements of the Eucharist -- the wine and the wafer.
Moishe immediately held up an apple.

Suddenly, the Pope stood up and declared, "The debate is concluded. The Jews have won. The Jews can stay."

Some days later, a cardinal finally got up the nerve to ask the Pope, "Your Holiness, just what exactly did you and Moishe say to each other?"

"First," began the Pope, "I held up three fingers to symbolize the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Then Moishe held up one finger to represent the essential Unity of God. Okay, so he got me on the first round.

"Next, I pointed to all the horizons to indicate that God is all around us. But Moishe pointed to the ground between us to indicate that God is right here with us. Okay, he got me again.

"Finally, I held up the Eucharist to indicate the redemption of humankind through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. But Moishe held up the apple to indicate the original sin of Adam and Eve that made that sacrifice necessary. I realized that he was right - that we are all one in Adam, and announced the Jews' victory."

Not long after that, one of the rabbis asked Moishe the same question.

"The Pope," said Moishe, "held up three fingers to say, 'The Jews must leave Rome in three days.' I held up one finger to say, 'Not one Jew will leave.' Then the Pope pointed to the horizons to say, 'The Jews must disperse into the wide world.' I pointed to the ground between us to say, 'We are staying right here!' Then," Moishe shrugged, "he held up his lunch, I held up mine, and it was all over."

256. WHERE'S JESUS?
A Sunday School teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred for real. He asked his class, "Where is Jesus today?"

Steven raised his hand and said, "He's in heaven."

Mary was called on and answered, "He's in my heart."

Sammy, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, "I know, I know! He's in our bathroom!!!"

The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. Finally, he gathered his wits and asked Sammy how he knew this. Sammy said, "Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells, "Good Lord, are you still in there?!"

Now one of the most comprehensive sources of Christian Humour on the Net with 670 sermon fillers for your entertainment and use at ...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/laugh.php

AN EXPERIENCE FROM BOTSWANA

Botswana is a country twice the size of New Zealand, Britain or Japan, but comprises 85% of the Kalahari Desert. It’s a relatively wealthy country, thanks to the discovery of diamonds the year after the British gave independence in 1966. Politically stable, it is one of the success stories of Africa. Except for one vital statistic, which I found out about as I traveled 100km from the capital of Gaborone to the ‘village’ of 350,000 people where we had our meeting. The population of just over 1.5 million lives mainly in a few larger cities and others in ‘villages’, so called because of their form of government under chiefs, rather than their size.

One sad, tragic statistic however, hangs like a pall over the nation. For it is estimated that 7 out of 10 of the native people have AIDS, the highest infection rate in Africa and the world. Within 10 years the nation may be virtually wiped out. What a tragedy! Far exceeding any threat of terrorism, war, even the Jewish or Rwandan genocides. Once again, the world turns a blind eye to the greatest tragedy in world history. At a 20% infection rate throughout Africa, 60 million people will die, at 33%, 100 million! Plus Asia! Plus the rest of the world! This is the reality of the days in which we live.

FACTS FOR FUN

LAST WEEKS QUESTION: Are elephants really afraid of mice?

ANSWER: No. This popular myth is entirely untrue. Mice often live in the straw in elephants' cages in zoos and the elephants show no concern. In fact, studies done to test this myth found that elephants appeared not to even notice mice released near them. Important information!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the Darwin Award?

Answer Next Week.

SOME FUN FACTS
813. MOSQUITO FOOD
Is not blood, as most of us would imagine, from personal experience. Female mosquitoes (males don’t bite) will obtain blood from humans and animals, but only to nourish their eggs. Their actual food consists of nectar and other plant juices. (Tell that to my wife! The popular mosquito egg nourisher!)

814. LEARNED TRAVELLER
Abdul Kassem Ismael, grand vizier of Persia in the first century, is said by historians to have owned about 117,000 volumes. Whenever he travelled, he carried his books with him on about 400 camels. The camels allegedly were trained to walk in a particular order so that his books could be kept in alphabetical order. (Volume 117,001 may well have been the book that broke the camels' backs.)

815. REALLY DELICATE
The delicate princess in Hans Christian Andersen's "Princess and the Pea" slept on twenty featherbeds piled atop twenty mattresses, yet still felt bruised by the tiny pea placed between two bottom mattresses. Surely, the mark of a "true" princess. (How would she have coped with marriage? Love would have quickly ‘pea-tered’ out!)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
MORE

Answer at the end of A David Musing

You can download a 250 item sample Trivia Book at Truly Trifling Trivia

Or view all 1200 online at...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/facts.php

BE INSPIRED WITH A MESSAGE FROM INSPIRATIONAL TAPES

BE INSPIRED WITH A MESSAGE FROM INSPIRATIONAL TAPES
This amazing New Zealand resource has over 4,000 messages ranging from old classics to the latest revelation and teaching. A number of free MP3 downloads are available or you can order tapes and CD’s from the site for worldwide delivery at a most reasonable cost. Our free weekly MP3 download selections will be available again from mid-June.

Visit the library now at…

http://www.inspirational.org.nz

CHURCH LEADING THE WORLD IN IMMORALITY?

CHURCH LEADING THE WORLD IN IMMORALITY?
The low moral and ethical standards of the Church, as defined by the only measurable benchmark, the divorce rate, exceeds that of much of the unbelieving pagan world. According to one of the latest divorce statistical studies, there is a significantly higher divorce rate amongst those identifying themselves as "born again" Christians than society as a whole, even amongst those claiming to be atheists and agnostics. Another survey has the divorce rate in the Church identical to that of the world. Evangelical Churches most often take the lead in the divorce increase.

Such statistics come as no surprise to those who have been scientifically tracking the trends. For a number of years the levels of “Christian” ethical behavior in areas involving honesty, integrity and sanctity of life have matched or led the free fall of those practiced in society as a whole. Notwithstanding expectations to the contrary, there is little real difference in the lifestyle choices that these “Christians” make on a daily basis, than those who openly follow their own fallen natures without restraint.
If these polling measurements reflect anything even close to reality, it goes without saying that both the majority of those claiming new life in Christ, and those that do not, share common moral principles and levels of Godliness, contrary to God’s Word.

Read on… More views on marriage and the family at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/maffacts.php

ANOTHER EXPERIENCE FROM BOTSWANA

Arriving 2 hours before our service, the pastor and 2 or 3 others were already praying intensively for the meeting. They did not even stop to greet us! Wow! Dedication! We left to try to send some emails. Upon our return, just before the meeting, the prayer continued, and continued, right through the early part of the service. And the Holy Spirit came powerfully, before the praise and worship had even started! And He remained for a marvelous meeting.

What a lesson to me of the power of prayer! A Botswana experience and lesson I will never forget.

LIFE LAUGHS

BOTH
My first grade daughter and her friend both needed new boots as winter approached. The friend got in the car one morning and finally had gotten her boots.

"Tina," I commented, "I see you got new boots! Where did you get them?"

"At the store," she answered. "Which one?" I asked. She began looking at her new boots and after a pause said, "Both of them!"

WHOSE EYES?
A buddy of mine was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane stopped in Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay,
and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft, the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind. My buddy had noticed him as he walked by and could tell the man was blind because his seeing eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of him throughout the entire flight. He could also tell he had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached him, and calling him by name, said, “Keith, we're in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?" The blind guy replied, "No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs."

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete quiet stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with the Seeing Eye dog! The pilot
was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered.

They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!


You'll find much more real life humour at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/lifelaugh.php

A GOOD MAN GOES TO HEAVEN?

One of the greatest misunderstandings of man over the two millennia since Christ has been that you can earn your passage into heaven through being a good person – that is by works alone. The message of Jesus however was that the only way into heaven was through belief in Him – called faith. Perhaps why this poem was given to me.

You may read this poem now at…

http://www.wwj.org.nz/waxing.php?poemId=00003

FAMOUS WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE BIBLE

SCAPEGOAT

One who takes the blame for another. On the Day of Atonement, the most holy day of the Jewish religious year, the sins of the people of Israel were transferred to the goat, which was then sent out into the wilderness to die a horrible death.

Many more God Facts at...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/gfacts.php

A DAVID MUSING

I guess, for me, the greatest sacrifice of traveling, after that of missing family and friends, is the lack of exercise. Endless hours spent in planes, trains, cars and buses, does not make for a healthy David! The legs in particular, protest!

Travel is fascinating, yes. But glamorous, no! Simply, the line joining two points. But one that needs to be drawn and traveled in order that the Lord’s will may be done. And that’s what it’s all really about!

His servant and yours

David Tait

Word Puzzle Answer: ROME

REPRODUCTION OF NEWSLETTER CONTENT

Most weeks we get enquiries about reproducing, in electronic or print form, articles contained in 'PGIM!' We welcome and encourage you to utilize this material. Freely received, freely given. We would ask though, that the source be acknowledged as an encouragement to others to subscribe to this newsletter also.

Subscription opportunities are available here Subscribe Here

at the bottom of each newsletter or at...
https://www.macnet.co.nz/wwjesus/pay.html

DONATIONS

Each month, because of the size and nature of our web site and maintenance of our sophisticated emailing system, it costs over $200 in provider fees to bring this ministry to you. If you are able to help us meet this expense your credit card donation would be very much welcomed at Make Donations Here as a live connection or at https://www.macnet.co.nz/wwjesus/pay.php
if you prefer to paste the address into your browser. Thanks.

CHANGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS - OR IF THE NEWSLETTER STOPS COMING

Each week we can lose up to 1% of our readers when they change email addresses without letting us know. If you are about to change your address, please advise us of both your old and new addresses here at
enquiries@wwj.org.nz and we will happily change our records to ensure ongoing delivery. Thanks.

Please also keep our address in your address book, as sometimes servers will automatically delete your address if there is even a one off problem in delivery. If your newsletter doesn't arrive, please let us know and we will reinstate you.

LINKS

If you would like to link your web site to ours, and ours to yours, please advise us on
links@wwj.org.nz

DID THIS EMAIL HAVE A BLUE BACKGROUND AND RED HEADINGS?

DID THIS EMAIL HAVE A BLUE BACKGROUND AND RED HEADINGS?
YES - Great!
NO - Your web browser needs to be set to 'Rich Text'. If you have an older 'Text Only' browser, this email may also be viewed on our web site at ...

http://www.wwj.org.nz/wwword.php

ABOUT US

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our website
wwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.

Walking With Jesus Ministries
3 Hetley Crescent
Taradale
Napier 4001
New Zealand

Phone: (06) 8449-377 International (+64) 8449-377
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz

Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!

For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz