THINKING GREEK OR HEBREW? continues

We are looking at the differences between the Jewish (Eastern) and Greek (Western) ways of thinking, so that we can better understand the ways and teachings of Jesus. (See the last 13 weeks issues of PGIM!)

LOGIC v FAITH

Greek (Western) We attempt to explain and justify everything according to human understanding. We apply linear logic to understanding the Bible. This can be likened to lining up dominos on their edge in a line. Push the first one over and that pushes over the next, and so on down the line. Problems arise where a domino is missing (no knowledge), or is placed outside the line (an apparent contradiction in Scripture).

One example, is the apparent contradiction of predestination and freewill.

God's order has been 'predestined'.....

29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

....but we have 'freewill', through prayer, to change God's mind.....

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

Hence we get a division in the church, and church theology, between those who major on predestination (Calvinism) and freewill (Armenianism). With all shades of opinion in between that divide people, and denominations, one from another! For we cannot accept, form our limited human understanding, that both can be, and are, correct!

Eastern (Hebrew) Jews acknowledge that God's wisdom and knowledge is infinite, and is sometimes beyond human understanding. Therefore they accept that there can be apparent contradictions in our sight. They apply block logic. While all the facts within a given block are coherent, they accept that one block of facts might present paradoxes and apparent contradictions with another block. They accept the almighty understanding of God.....

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33)

.....which affirms that man's knowledge is finite and limited. Solomon acknowledged this.....

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

An interesting example of this is in whether God is visible or not. Most Western Christians will automatically say God is invisible, quoting.....

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

Yet God appeared to Abraham in the form of 3 men.....

The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.....33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. (Genesis 18:1-2,33)

.... and to Moses and 73 others.....

9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. (Exodus 24:9-10)

Now John would have been aware of the Old Testament Scriptures when he wrote his Gospel, but he didn't see a need to explain the difference between the scriptures, as we would have needed to do, looking with Western eyes. For He understood that God, in His infinite wisdom, understood, even if John, in human understanding, didn't. It simply wasn't an issue for John, as it is for us.

SOME SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

1. We must understand that God is God, is God! He understands all, even where Scripture is not able to be understood by us. Even too, where it appears to contradict itself, in the eyes of our limited understanding. (This is particularly hard for theologians to accept.)

2. Unnecessary divisions have arisen in the church through different interpretations of Scriptures about which we do not have a full understanding. We all need to repent and reconcile!

3. We must base our theology on the whole of Scripture, not just limited selections of our favourite passages that justify our desired conclusion.

4. May we be gracious and humble enough to accept that we do not have all the answers, and be tolerant and understanding of those who hold differing views.

(To be continued next week.)

Acknowledgements: http://www.followtherabbi.com and http://hethathasanear.com

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FROM THE WORD

The Three Visitors

"The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” "Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.” Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?” "If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home." (Genesis 18:1-33)

The Covenant Confirmed

"Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him.” When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.” Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the LORD called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Exodus 24:1-18)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

"The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”" (John 4:1-26)

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DAVID'S DOODLINGS

FAITH

272. True faith is exercised to attain God's desires, not our own.

273. Building faith in God builds faith in oneself - in God.

275. We must exercise faith to accept God's grace. But once done, God returns the compliment in unlimited measure.

276. God creates a mountain of faith out of a molehill of obedience.

277. Grace and faith make God's world go round.

278. Hope is expressed through faith. Faith is expressed through love.

279. For God so loved the world that He gave... us grace and faith.

280. Faith and doubt are constant companions. For it is only in accomplished faith that we see the devil's defeat.

281. If there is no room for doubt in faith, there was no need for faith in the first place.

282. 'Blind faith' is 'blindingly blind'!

283. Doubt is to faith as butter is to bread.

284. Faith involves seeing the goal before it is achieved. Therefore, 'blind faith', by definition, must be a contradiction in terms.

285. A Christian without faith is like a newly beheaded chicken. Running round aimlessly flapping its wings, before collapsing in a heap - 100% dead.

288. Faith brings life. Without faith, we die in the Spirit.

289. We can have the faith of the sparrow, the dove or the eagle. Our choice determines the height to which we can soar.

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CARTOONS FROM TOON FEVER

My thanks to John Cranwell for allowing us to use his cartoons over past years.

Appreciation also to Tim Walburg for his future contributions.


Visit the Toon Fever website for more cartoon fun.....

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THE OTHER PICTURES IN THIS EMAIL
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TUESDAY TEACHINGS

THIS WEEK: NEXT WEEK: THE TWO MARATHONERS - AN ALLEGORY

Something really different! An allegory of the experiences of two men who decide to run a marathon. Look out for this in your mailbox next week.

Now seeing how the parable applies to the church as a whole.

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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." ***

478. THE THANK YOU NOTE
There was a Catholic priest, Jewish rabbi and Baptist minister. One day the priest went to get a hair cut. After the barber cut his hair the priest wanted to pay him. The barber said, "Oh no, I will not accept any money from a man of God." So the next day when the barber went to open his shop he saw a loaf of bread with a thank you note.

Well the rabbi came for a hair cut. Again the barber said, "Oh no, I will not accept any money from a man of God." So the next day the barber went to open his shop and found a bottle of wine and a thank you note.

Well, the Baptist minister came for his hair cut. Again the barber said, "Oh no, I will not accept any money from a man of God."

Well, the next day when the barber went to open his shop, he found 10 other Baptist ministers with a thank you note.

477. NOTHING THERE
Three friends decided to go hunting together. One was a lawyer, one a doctor, and the other a preacher. As they were walking, along came a big buck. The three of them shot simultaneously. Immediately the buck dropped to the ground and all three rushed up to see how big it actually was. Upon reaching it they found out that it was dead but had only one bullet hole.

Thus a debate followed concerning whose buck it was. 5 minutes later a game officer came by and asked what the problem was. The doctor told him their reason for the debate. The officer told them he would take a look and tell them who shot it. 5 seconds later he said he knew who shot the buck. He said with much confidence, "The pastor shot the buck!" They all wondered how he knew that so quickly. The officer said, "Easy. The bullet went in one ear and out the other."

476. THE HOLIDAY
Two priests were going to Hawaii on vacation and decided that they would make this a real vacation by not wearing anything that would identify them as clergy. As soon as the plane landed, they headed for a store and bought some really outrageous shorts and shirts, sandals, sunglasses, etc.

The next morning, they went to the beach, dressed in their "tourist" garb and were sitting on beach chairs, enjoying a drink, the sunshine and the scenery when a "drop dead" gorgeous blonde in a tiny bikini came walking straight toward them. They couldn't help but stare and when she passed them she turned to them, smiled and said, "Good morning, Father; good morning, Father" nodding and addressing each of them individually, then passed on by. They were both stunned - how in the world did she recognize them as priests?

The next day they went back to the store, bought even more outrageous outfits - these were so loud, you could hear them before you even saw them - and again they settled on the beach in their chairs to enjoy the sunshine, etc. After a while, the same gorgeous blonde, wearing a string bikini this time, came walking toward them again. (They were glad they had sunglasses, because their eyes were about to pop out of their heads). Again, she approached them and greeted them individually: "good morning, Father; good morning, Father" and started to walk away.

One of the priest couldn't stand it and said, "just a minute young lady. Yes we are priests, and proud of it, but I have to know, how in the world did YOU know?" "Oh Father, don't you recognize me?. ................ I'm Sister Kathryn"

FREE DOWNLOAD: You can now download the book 'Laughing At Ourselves' in PDF format at LAUGHING AT OURSELVES

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FACTS FOR FUN

LAST WEEKS QUESTION: Is it true that August stole a day from February?

ANSWER: Yes. Under the Julian calendar, February had 29 days and the other months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days. Because July had 31 days, the month following it was supposed to have 30 days. But that was the month that Augustus had brought Egypt under control and entered the city in triumph and he had to have it. He couldn't, of course, be duly honored with a LESSER month, one with fewer days. So to make his month as long as Julius' month, they had to steal a day from February (making it just 28) and add it to August (making it 31). (They also messed with September and the remaining months, in order to avoid three months in a row with 31 days.) (The Emperors thought they ruled time too!)

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: 1. What is the youngest book in the Old Testament?
2. What is the oldest book of the New Testament?

Answer Next Week.

SOME FUN FACTS

1130. THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT - SELLING YOUR SHADOW
Peter Schlemiel, a character dreamt up by French author Adelbert von Chamisso, sells his shadow in the 1814 classic novella "Peter Schlemiel: The Man Who Sold His Shadow". The sale makes him a rich man, but ruins his life, causing others to despise and fear him and resulting in the loss of his true love, Mina. (Became a shadow of his former self?)

1131. YOU KNOW TIMES HAVE CHANDED…
When in 1994 the average age of top General Motors executives 49.8 years and the average age of the Rolling Stones was 50.6. (And it only gets worse – some may say – like the Stones!)

1132. JOINING IN THE ACTION
It takes the skins of 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs. (Presumably why cows ‘steer’ away from football. Never know when they might become part of the game.)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU

Make another word from this word using all the letters.

WOODLAND

Answer at the end of A David Musing

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BIBLE QUESTION - THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

15: What objects did the ten virgins take with them in the parable?

a. Gifts
b. Scrolls
c. Lamps
d. Coins

Source: http://biblequizzes.org.uk

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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!

"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""

SAYINGS FOR YOU TO PONDER

!!!!!!! He who thinks by the inch, and talks by the yard, deserves to be kicked by the foot.

!!!!!! Let us endeavour to live that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry.

!!!!! A hug is a round-a-bout way of expressing affection.

!!!! Anger is momentary madness, so control your passion, or it will control you.

!!! Before retiring one evening, Theodore Roosevelt, gazing at the galaxies of stars, turned to his men and said, "I believe we are small enough to go to bed."

!! If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

! The Scripture passages that bother me the most are the ones I understand.

100'S MORE TO BE FOUND AT...

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WHY?

101. Why is it that it's bad to be mean, but for something to have "mean"ing can be good?

102. Why do we play in recitals and recite in plays?

103. Why is it that one person lives and many people live? Shouldn't it be one person live and many people lives?

104. If time heals all wounds, how come the belly button stays the same?

105. How is it that ‘back seat drivers’ usually sit in the front seat? (David Tait)

106. What would chairs look like if our legs bent the other way?

107. How is it that those who hate mice can still manage to operate a computer? (David Tait)

108. Can God make a rock so big that he can’t lift it?

109. Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

110. Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?

111. Why are cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there?

112. Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?

113. Do you need a silencer if you are going to shoot a mime?

114. Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

115. How does the guy who drives the snowplough get to work in the mornings?

116. If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

117. If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?

118. Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM?

119. Why isn't "palindrome" spelled the same way backwards?

120. Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?

121. You know that little indestructible black box that is used on planes, why can't they make the whole plane out of the same substance?

122. Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?

123. If you have your finger touching the rearview mirror that says - "objects in mirror are closer than they appear", how can that be possible?

124. Why is it so hard to remember how to spell MNEMONIC?

125. If someone invented instant water, what would they mix it with?

126. Why is it called a TV "set" when you only get one?

127. Why does your nose run and your feet smell?

128. Why does an alarm clock "go off" when it begins ringing?

129. If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress?

130. Why does "cleave" mean both split apart and stick together?

131. Why is it, whether you sit up or sit down, the result is the same?

132. Why are people who ride motorcycles called bikers and people who ride bikes called cyclists?

133. If you keep trying to prove Murphy's Law, will something keep going wrong?

134. Why does flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?

135. How can someone "draw a blank"?

136. Shouldn't there be a shorter word for "monosyllabic"?

137. Why is the word "abbreviate" so long?

138. Why doesn't "onomatopoeia" sound like what it is?

139. Why do tourists go to the tops of tall buildings and then put money into telescopes so they can see things on the ground close-up?

See 270 of life's inponderable questions here.....

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BIBLE TRIVIA (Strange and Amazing Facts)

SHAKESPEARE HONOURED?

William Shakespeare is perhaps the only man not of Bible times honored in the Bible! In honour of his 46th birthday, the year the King James Version was published for the first time, the scholars took the 46th Psalm and made the 46th word 'shake' and the 46th word from the end 'spear'.

Adapted from: '1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About The Bible' MacGregor & Prys

Success in Christian-focused prison program

16 Feb 2012
Green Bay Press Gazette, USA

A controversial program using Christian teachings to try to turn around the lives of hundreds of Minnesota prison inmates is working, according to a new report from the Department of Corrections.

Participants in the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, which operates at the Minnesota women's prison in Shakopee and at a men's prison in Lino Lakes, are more likely than others to stay out of prison after their release, according to the report.

A controversial program using Christian teachings to try to turn around the lives of hundreds of Minnesota prison inmates is working, according to a new report from the Department of Corrections.

Participants in the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, which operates at the Minnesota women's prison in Shakopee and at a men's prison in Lino Lakes, are more likely than others to stay out of prison after their release, according to the report.

State researchers followed more than 730 former inmates released between 2003 and 2009 and found that those who were part of the program reduced their risks of returning by as much as 40 percent.

State officials are hailing the program as a cost-effective success. They say it is a good deal because the state provides the space and the program pays everything else.

"There is no cost to the taxpayers of the state of Minnesota," David Crist, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, told Minnesota Public Radio.

"Yet it does reduce recidivism. And when offenders are not out there committing new crimes, the public is more safe. That's a very practical reason for working with IFI."

Each prison has a dedicated area where InnerChange inmates live together, eat together, and pray together. The programs have a combined 200 inmates who take daily classes based on Christian principles.

The inmates' numbers are nearly matched by volunteers: about 150 Christians from across the state serve as mentors to InnerChange participants. The volunteers provide emotional support and help inmates leaving prison find housing and jobs — two obstacles that, unless overcome, can end up sending other offenders back to prison.

Crist said state officials created a secular program modeled in part on InnerChange's mentoring component. But he said faith might be a critical element in making mentoring work.

Via http://mychristiandaily.com

"The religious aspect of the program provides a calling for the volunteers to be mentors that you don't often get from other volunteers."

DAVID'S DOWNLOAD

A REVELATION OF... THE 3 RIVERS OF GOD

The principle of the 'river' in scripture and how it applies to our lives and the church today.

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WAXING LYRICAL

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.

A GOOD MAN GOES TO HEAVEN?

I met a man, a very good man,
He looked after his family well.
And his son was his greatest fan,
He had no fear of going to hell.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

He went to church at Christmas and Easter
And was most generous with donations,
While the pastors words could not be clearer
He’d sit there, in control of his emotions.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

He was active in the community,
A man of standing - a Rotarian indeed.
Helping others at every opportunity,
The pillar of hope to those in need.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

He had a dear friend, a Moslem brother,
Six times a day facing Mecca he’d pray.
To the God of Abraham, indeed no other,
Of course, he too had found another way.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

Or the man in the jungle, he hadn’t been taught,
He would never have heard of the Jesus word!
Living a good life, doing as he ought,
In no way could he be for the sword!
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

This Jesus man, he was a great guy,
The best role model of all to follow.
Crucified, now living up there in the sky,
But the only way – that rings too hollow.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

The man I met, he suddenly died
His funeral was very well attended.
A pillar of the community the family cried,
Their grief so great, for a life sadly ended.
But surely, a good man goes to heaven?

He took the path to the heavenly gate,
Full of confidence, had nothing to fear,
More than willing to meet his fate,
His ears so eagerly waiting to hear.
For surely, a good man goes to heaven?

Jesus was waiting there; he’s on the way in!
Then seeing God’s face, hope turned to pain,
What if the requirement was forgiveness of sin?
And repentance the key that brings with it gain.
"But surely God, a good man goes to heaven!"

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.
No-one comes to the Father except through me."
These words cut through his soul like a knife,
They gutted him, oh how wrong could he be.
"But, I thought a good man goes to heaven!"

"I tell you the truth, I don’t know you", Jesus replied,
The lake of burning sulphur now eternally his fate.
Forever to burn, he cried, "To me the devil has always lied,
Don’t make my mistake – repent now before it’s too late!
For I’ve found out, a good man doesn’t go to heaven!"

I heard the man’s screams - not so far away,
As Satan ever tortures him with his sword.
My sins to Jesus readily confessed that day,
"Thankyou my Jesus, please be my Lord."
Yes surely, a forgiven man goes to heaven!

Thanks to Julian Batchelor for the inspiration of his little black book,
"Why Good People Don’t Go To Heaven".

More of David's offerings at...

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

A DAVID MUSING

Don't you love it when God turns up? Well..... I do!

On Tuesday, at a fortnightly meeting Kathy and I run for 'The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry', God blessed us with His special presence. My plans were all for naught! God took over. Wonderful! A great time of worship, and operating in the spiritual gifts, while we prayed for each other.

I am used to God turning up at our meetings, but when He takes over, that is really special.

Of course, that is the way it is meant to be in our lives also. God is not just to be with us, but to take us over and transform us into His image.

Is that your desire? Is that the reality for you?

Until next week.......

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.

His servant and yours

David Tait

Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: DOWNLOAD

TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION' ANSWER: c. Lamps ... (Matthew 25:1)

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ABOUT US

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, 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
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand

Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567

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