ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 69
(Mark Cahill's Book)
The Good News
"Eureka! I have found it!"
Archimedes, 287- 212 B.C.
"Eureka" is what Archimedes, the great Greek engineer, was said to have shouted when he solved a very difficult problem involving the density of the King's crown; the King wanted to know whether the crown was pure gold or mixed with silver.
Archimedes sat down in his bathtub to ponder the problem, noticed that the water overflowed on the floor, and realized that the volume of water pushed out of tub was the same as his body's volume.
That is, when an object is submerged in water, the level of the water rises because the object has moved some of the water out of the way, to make room for itself, "Eureka!" He'd found a way to determine the volume of the crown: since he knew the weight of gold, he could now answer the king's question by calculating weight of that volume of gold.
Similarly, we all have a question of great importance that we find difficult to solve: How can we get on the good side of God and avoid hell? You may shout "Eureka!" When you read the answer in this chapter .
Just before actor, W. C. Fields died, a friend visited Field's hospital room and was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible. Asked what he was doing with a Bible, Fields replied, "I am looking for loopholes."
Now that we know the
Bible to be true, - and
that there aren't any
loopholes -some
interesting things begin to happen.
God says : "Look unto Me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth for I am God, and
there is none else."
(Isaiah 45: 22)
God says that He is the only God out there .
There is no other. But how can I be right with Him? What is that pathway? God says:
"There is one Savior?"
"Neither is there salvation in any other, for
there is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
(Acts 4:12)
What is the One Name of the One Person
Who can save us all.
God says:
"For there is one God, and there is one
mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus.
(1 Timothy 2:5)
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath
not the Father: (but) he that acknowledges
the Son, hath the father also
( 1st John 2:23)
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in His son. He that hath the Son hath life
and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. (1st John 5: 11-12)
He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the Only Begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
...if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)
Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth and the light, no man cometh to the Father , but by Me."
......and there are many other verses that say Jesus is the only way to make peace and find friendship with God.
next post 18th December
IS JESUS COMING BACK?
PART THREE
(copied from
Y-Jesus.com)
Has Jesus kept other promises ?
How do we answer scoffers such as Bertrand Russell, who accused Jesus
of breaking His promise to return ?
First, we might ask, how did Jesus know 2,000 years ago, that the gospel would indeed be preached throughout the world. How could He have known that unless He knew the future?
Second, we need to look at other promises Jesus made, to see if they were kept. Let us look at three other major things Jesus promised:
1. He is the fulfillment of Messianic
promises.
2. Jerusalem would be destroyed.
3. He would die and rise again
3 days later.
Did Jesus fulfill ancient prophecies ?
Let us look at whether or not Jesus fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies
The Bible is the only book that
contains a large body of specific prophecies relating to nations, Israel and the coming Messiah. Nearly
300 references were made in the Old Testament, about the coming Messiah. They told of His lineage, His birth
place, His betrayal and His death, and His resurrection. These references
were written 500 to 1000 years before Jesus was born and He fulfilled every one.
Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls proves that the prophecies were written at least 100 years before Christ making it impossible for them to have been staged. The odds that one person could fulfill each of these prophecies without
error are statistically impossible.
Jesus' fulfillment of so many specific prophecies is compelling evidence that He truly was the promised Messiah.
Was Jesus Right about Jerusalem ?
Second, Let us examine Jesus' prophecy of Jerusalem's impending destruction, a prophecy that seemed impossible at the time, and shocked those who heard it. Jesus warned the Jews that their rejection of Him would result in a horrible ending for Jerusalem and for the destruction of its magnificent Temple.
Tragically Jesus' words came true. One million Jews were killed forty years later, as Titus and the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem. The Jewish historian, Josephus recorded these unusual signs during Jerusalem's fall in 70 AD.
1. "A meteor, resembling a sword , hung
over Jerusalem one whole year.
2. " A light equal to the brightness of the
day continued for half a hour."
3. "Chariots and armed men were seen
in the air."
Josephus writes of other unusual
things that occurred during the Roman siege as well. What did these signs mean ? Some scholars believe
Jesus return in the clouds was
fulfilled figuratively by these signs
in 70 AD . However, the actual
fulfillment of Jesus' literal return to Jerusalem has not yet occurred.
Was Jesus Right about His
Resurrection ?
The third significant prediction Jesus made was that He would rise from the dead after being crucified. Of that claim, Bible Scholar, Wilbur Smith argues:
"When He said that He Himself would rise again from the dead, the third day after He was crucified, He said something that only a fool would dare say, if He expected longer the
devotion of any disciples - unless He was sure He was going to rise. No founder of any world religion known to men ever dared to say a thing like that."
Jesus' prediction put everything else He said in jeopardy. If He didn't
rise from the dead as
promised, why would
anyone continue
believing in Him? Yet
His followers
enthusiastically did.
In a New York Times article, Peter Steinfel's
cites the startling events that occurred three days
after Jesus' death.
"Shortly after Jesus was executed, His followers were suddenly galvanized from a baffled, cowering group, into people whose message about a living Jesus and a coming kingdom,
preached at the risk of their lives, eventually changed an empire. Something happened..... But exactly what?
So, what did happen, that turned the
first century world on its heels? Is there evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead? Skeptic Frank Morrison originally began writing a book to disprove the
resurrection. After examining the evidence, he reversed himself and wrote a different book on why he believed it to be true.
Another skeptic, Dr. Simon Greenleaf, founder ofbHarvard Law School,
scoffed at Jesus' resurrection to
some law students. When challenged
to investigate, Greenleaf began
applying his famous rules of
evidence to the case.
After a detailed evaluation of the evidence, he became convinced
that the resurrection really happened, primarily because of the radical
change in the disciples.
(see "Did Jesus really rise from the dead?)
So, if Jesus fulfilled numerous messianic promises written hundreds
of years before His birth, predicted the fall of Jerusalem and kept His incredible promise to rise from the dead as the evidence suggests, would any reasonable person doubt His promise
to return?
next post 20th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
- PART 68
(Mark Cahill's Book)
A few hours later, Charles finished his part of the commercial shoot and was saying his good-byes. People were walking up to Tiger and Charles and getting autographs. So I walked up to Tiger, who was there giving autographs.
As I approached it was like God parted the Red sea; everyone walked away, and it was just Tiger and me standing there.
So I pulled my book out of my pocket and told him I had just written my first book and wanted to sign a copy for him. I asked where his assistant was so I could give it to that person.He pointed out who he would like me to give the book to, and we began to walk off the tee box.
Now I knew I had to do more than just give him my book. But I got nervous and clammed up. I asked myself, "Will I let the fear of man win out in this situation or my love for God?"
I had been praying for the past two months for a chance to tell Tiger Woods about God, and now God had provided this opportunity and I didn't want to wimp out.
As we began to talk off of the tee box, I felt the Lord saying, " This is what you have been praying for, just go for it."
So as we were walking I said, "Tiger, I have always wanted to ask you a question." He said, "go for it." The same answer God had just given me!
I said, "When you die, what do you think is on the other side? What do you think is out there once you walk out of here?"
Tiger stopped dead in his tracks, looked up at me and said, "I don't know." I responded, "Whether it is Payne Stewart dying ( Payne was
a famous golfer who died a couple of years ago, and I knew that Tiger had gone to his funeral ) , or John Ritter, or Johnny Cash, we all think about these things. " He was just nodding his head.
I looked at him and said, " Did you hear what happened to Charles' brother? " He said "No," and I could tell he was intrigued.Charles' brother, Darryl, once had a heart attack, flat-lined and died. The doctors zapped him with those paddles and he came back to his body. He told me that when he flat-lined and died, his soul rose out of his body. He said that
he went to the waiting room and could tell you who was in the waiting room., what they were saying and what they were wearing, while he
was clinically dead.
There was no way this could just be
in his head since he has such clear evidence (from the waiting room) to show that he was outside of his body while his body was dead.
He told me that he then took off on a journey and that he could see trees on fire, ground smoldering around the trees, and a lake of fire in front of him.
I asked,"What did you see, Darryl?"
He said, "I saw hell."
And what he saw, he said, was much more real than the book you now hold in your hands.
Charles Spurgeon said;
" You are hanging over the mouth of hell by a single thread and that thread is breaking. Only a gasp for breath, only the stopping of the heart for a single moment and you will be in an
eternal world, - without God, without hope, without forgiveness - Can you face it?
Jesus was talking to a sick man and asked him a very interesting question, When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been a long time
in that case, He saith unto him "wilt thou be made whole?"
(John 5:6)
Sin is very expensive. I costs us a lot in this lifetime ..... and in the next one.
Question for you : "Wilt thou be made
whole? " Do you wish to get well? What's your answer?
It is amazing to realize everyone of us is guilty by the standard God has set. Even if I try to ignore my sin, it does not mean God will.
Six billion of us are guilty by that Standard. That means that six billion of us are going to hell when we die,
unless we embrace God's solution to this massive problem.
The path leading to eternal truth continues to narrow and the remedy for the Sin problem is just a page turn away.
next post 14 December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 67
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Well, if you know me, you know that I had to find someone to talk to. So I walked over and got into a talk with a guy, Richard, who turned out to be "Tiger Woods" body double.
I said, "what do you do, his stunts?" I
couldn't figure out why he would need a body double.
He told me that when there was a hand shot, or a shot from a long distance of Tiger in a commercial, it was actually him! Richard grew up in Mississippi and - because he'd been drifting away from what he'd been taught as a child - really needed a challenge to start standing up for his beliefs.
Then I got into a talk with Vince Coleman, who used to play major-league baseball. He was a tremendous player and played a lot of years with the New York Mets, and the St Louis Cardinals. I had actually met him
before at Charles' house in Phoenix.
As we talked he told me that he goes to
church every Sunday in Phoenix. Then I
showed him my first book. He looked at it and said twice, "I want your book right now." He told me that he was going to begin reading it in his hotel that night.
He had just gotten to
Orlando to do some
work with the Atlanta
Braves' instructural-
league players on their
base training.
I told him that I had thought I was coming there that day to witness to Tiger but maybe the whole reason I was there was to challenge him to boldly begin to stand up for Jesus with his friends.
Meanwhile, every ten or fifteen minutes during the shoot, the commercial's director would fire some hostile question at me, from fifteen feet away,
in front of everybody. He thought he would antagonize me with his questions. But it was Satan trying to mess with me while I was doing the Lord's work.
One time the director fired off the statement, "Jesus could not have been the Son of God because He would have been a vegetarian."
I began to smile. He said that Jesus ate fish, so He couldn't be the Son of God. I started to laugh. He looked at me twice and both times said, "don't laugh!" He told me that the Son of God would not have killed another creature. He'd mentioned some Indian beliefs earlier so
I was pretty sure this guy worshiped the
creation rather than the Creator.
I looked at him and said, " Jesus made the fish, He can eat one if He wants to!" Everyone, but the director, looked like they were trying to hide a smile. What was interesting was that this man obviously was trying to get under my skin in front of a lot of people. But I tried to hold my ground, in a very loving way, you could tell it was backfiring on him.
I saw this guy run roughshod over many of the workers and verbally cut them down. He could not have been a real fun guy to work for. So the people on the set appreciated me taking a stand.
next post 12th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 66
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Tiger Woods and The Ten Commandments
If Tiger Woods was judged by God's standard right now, how do you think he would do? The following account reveals what his answer was :
While I was in Florida, I learned that my best friend Charles Barkley would be about half an hour away, filming a new commercial for Nike with Tiger Woods. I didn't have Charles' phone number with me so I decided to just swing by where they were doing the shoot.
But there was a small problem. I knew that there would be a lot of security
and wasn't sure how I was going to get through that to hook up with Charles.
So, as I was driving over there, I began to pray. (If you don't already know it, praying changes things!) I pulled up to the Grand Cypress Resort and began to talk with a security guard. He told me that the shoot wasn't at the hotel but at the country club.
Then a lady went to pick up the phone.
I guessed that she was calling to see
who was on the list to get in. I knew that I wasn't, so I called her over to my car. I began to chat with her and then askrd her: " if you died tonight, are you 100% assured that you will go to heaven?"
Well then, it got fun. She told me that she loves the Lord, teaches Bible study class, and so on. Well, I told her that I had written a book, my first one, and she said she wanted a copy.
So I pulled one out of a box on the back seat and signed it for her. Then the first security guard, who was not a believer, wanted a copy of the book. Pretty cool.
Then the woman guard told me she would take me over to where the commercial was being shot. So she got in her car and I followed her over there.
She took me right through all of the security.
When I got to the set, Charles Barkley was in his trailer waiting for the shoot. So I hung out with him and his agent and some others. All of a sudden, the door opened up and an older man walked in. Charles introduced us to him. The man sat down and it turned out that he was the director of the commercial. As I sat there listening, it hit me who he was; this man is probably the most famous commercial director in the world.
He had directed four or five commercials
that appeared during one of the super bowls. I had actually seen a special on him on one of the news magazine shows. But in spite of his success, he was not a happy man. He was one of the most arrogant, angry, unhappy men I have met in my life. He mentioned going through a divorce which he said was really tough on him. But I felt that wasn't where his anger was coming from. I felt that his anger was really toward God. I would soon find out the accuracy of that intuition.
As we were sitting in the trailer, he asked what each of us did. When he got to me, I told him that I was in town doing some speaking for the Fellowship Of Christian Athletes. He looked at me and said "You are not one of those, are
you? " For the next ten or fifteen minutes this guy tried to dog Christians
as much as he could. He would start talking about other subjects, but then
come back and direct a hostile question at me.
Finally he looked at
me and said he wanted
to play me in a game of
one -on-one basketball! So he stood and started
walking out of the trailer. I told him "one of my
knees is messed up. "He said "I have no cartilage in my knees, so let's go!"
It had already been mentioned by Tiger's people that Tiger was getting a little "itchy" and wanted the shoot to get going. But the director wanted to play basketball!
So they had a goal set up and we went and played I was wondering why this elderly man wanted to play me one-on-one in basketball. Maybe he wanted to beat up on a Christian. So we played. During the game, I decided to take that time and witness to him. I would just ask him questions to make him think. It seemed to work OK . I finally put him out of his misery and beat him, so that he could start shooting the commercial.
When we got over to the tee box, Charles introduced us around. He introduced me to Tiger who smiled and walked on. So they went about
the business of shooting the commercial.
next post 11th December
MY FAVORITE PSALMS
PART 90
I cried with all my heart
answer me O Lord!
I will observe Thy statutes
I cried to Thee, save me
and I shall keep Thy testimonies
I rise before dawn and cry for
help
I wait for Thy words
My eyes anticipate the night
watches
That I may meditate on Thy
word
Hear my voice according to Thy
Lovingkindness
Revive me O Lord according to
Thy ordinances.
Those who follow after
wickedness draw near
They are far from Thy Law
Thou art near, O Lord,
and all Thy commandments
are truth
Of old I have known from Thy
testimonies
That Thou hast founded them
forever.
Look upon my affliction and
rescue me
for I do not forget Thy Law
Plead my cause and redeem me
Revive me according to Thy word
Salvation is far from the wicked
For they do not
seek Thy statutes
Great are Thy mercies, O Lord,
Revive me
according to Thine
ordinances
Many are my
persecutors and my adversaries
Yet I do not turn aside
from Thy testimonies
I behold the treacherous
and loathe them
Because they do not keep
Thy word
Consider how I love Thy
precepts
Revive me, O Lord,
according to Thy
Loving kindness
The sum of Thy word is truth
And everyone of Thy righteous
ordinances is everlasting.
next post 15th December
IS JESUS COMING BACK ?
PART 2
(Copied from
Y-Jesus.com)
What are the signs of Jesus' Return
* Major earthquakes
* Worldwide famine
* Wars
* Worldwide epidemics
* Persecution of believers
* Gospel proclaimed worldwide.
Earthquakes, famines, epidemics, and wars have
occurred throughout human history, but Jesus
said there would be a noticeable increase of such
events prior to His return.
Persecution of believers began with the apostles and is on the increase today. More Christians are
being persecuted today than at any time in history.
Jesus tells us that such persecution will continue
until His return, as will the worldwide proclamation of the gospel.
According to Jesus, when all these events capture the world scene we are to "look up," for His return will be soon. Although Bible scholars don't agree on all the details regarding Jesus' return, many believe that the time Jesus spoke of is rapidly approaching. Paul told believers to be ready and "watch for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ."
So we need to know if Jesus' promise to return is still true. And if so, why He is delaying so long to fulfill His promise?
Peter explained the reason for Jesus' delay:
"But you should never lose sight of the fact, dear friends, that time is not the same for the Lord as it is with us, to Him a day may be to us a thousand years, and a thousand years only a day.
The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No. He is being patient for your sake. He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent."
Peter was writing to believers who were experiencing trials and persecution. They wanted Jesus to come sooner rather than later. However Peter tells them that God's first priority is to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world, reaching as many people as possible.
Jesus had already told His disciples that the gospel would be preached to all nations before He came.
next post 13th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 65
Due to unforseen circumstances this post has changed to Wednesday for this week only.
(Mark Cahill's Book)
On a flight one day, I was sitting next to a scientist in the Air Force. He was very intrigued and wanted information on the proofs for God and the Bible's reliability.
Once he heard the evidence he wanted to know what it took to go to heaven. So I went through The Ten Commandments
with him. I asked, "have you ever told a lie? " He replied, "yes." I said
"So what does that make you if you told a lie?"
He said "human."
Pretty good answer, also very true!
I said, "If someone murders, he is a murderer. If someone rapes, he is a rapist. If you tell a lie, what does that make you? He said, "a liar." I asked, "have you ever stolen something?"
He said, "yes." I asked, " What does that make you? " He said "a thief."
I asked, " have you ever lusted in your heart?" he said, " yes." I told him that
Jesus said if we lust in our hearts it is the same as committing adultery.
"Have you ever taken the Lord's Name in vain?" He said that he had. I told him that is blasphemy in the eyes of God.
"Have you ever been angry with someone?" he said that he had. I told him that anger is the same in God's eyes as murder. It is murdering someone in your heart.
I then looked at him and said, " you have just told me that you are a liar, a thief, an adulterer, a blasphemer, and a murderer,
according to the standard of God's Law.
By that standard would you be guilty or not guilty on judgement day. He answered ,"Guilty."
I asked " would that mean heaven or hell? "
He said, "Hell,"
I asked " Does it bother you that you would be going to hell? " He said, "yes."
Then he asked me what it would take
to make sure that he didn't go to hell for eternity. And I got happy.
You see the Law of God leads us to
discover that we will be guilty on judgement day, so that we will begin
to earnestly seek a way to go from "guilty" to "not guilty" when we finally stand before God as our Judge.
The Bible tells us :
"Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."
(Galatians: 3:24)
When you face the Law of God, it speaks to your conscience, just like it did to the Air Force Scientist's. Our conscience informs us that we have broken the commands of Almight God, Whose Law , as we have seen is written on our
hearts. And our conscience tells us about it continually:
".....which shew the work of the Law
written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or excusing
one another ..... "(Romans:2:15)
By God's standard,, right now, how are you doing?
next post 11th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 64
(Mark Cahill's Book)
For example, King David stole a man's wife while her husband was away fighting the enemy. Then she got pregnant. So David called her husband back from the front, thinking he would be with his wife and then the expected child would seem to be his.
But the man was a good and honourable man, so when he came to see David, he slept in a corner and wouldn't go home.
And Uriah said unto David, the ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. (2nd Samuel 11:11)
Eventually David had Uriah murdered to cover up his sin. God sent a prophet to
face David and declare to him the wrong he had done. Until then he had felt that he was the king and could do as he pleased. But when the thing was shown to him from God's point of view, it woke him up to the reality of what he had done. His reaction is quoted in 2nd
Samuel 11 and in the prayer-song in which David spoke to God about it.
Against Thee, and Thee only have I sinned; and done this evil thing in Thy sight; that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speaketh ; and be clear when Thou judest (Psalm 51:4)
The problem is that most of us don't think like that.
I was speaking at a local basketball
banquet that included kids from second grade up through high school . Now I don't do much speaking to second-graders, so I wasn't too sure what to do with them.
When I began to talk all of the second-graders crowded around the stage to hear me speak. I walked through each of the Ten Commandments. Then I threw names out to the crowd and asked
them , by the standard of the Ten Commandments, and knowing that
breaking just one would make you guilty, how would each of these people
do by that standard?
I mentioned the name Timothy McVeigh,
Hitler, Stalin, Osama bin Laden, and of course everyone yelled out "Guilty".
Then I mentioned Mother Theresa and asked the crowd whether by that standard she would be guilty or not guilty on Judgement Day?
It is always interesting when I do that because some people will shout out "Guilty" and others shout "not Guilty".
In our minds we have impressions of
certain people that are hard to break. At this event people were saying both answers. Suddenly one of the second-graders stood up and said, " Wait a minute sir, don't you think she lied at
least one time in her life?
Wow! The second-grader knew the truth, but many of the adults didn't.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". (Romans 3:23)
"As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one ". (Romans 3:10)
By the standard of the Ten Commandments none of us can say "Not Guilty."
next post 7th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
PART 63
(Mark Cahill's Book)
Chapter 6 - THE BAD NEWS
The high minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.
-Aristotle , Philosopher , 384 - 322B.C.
Imagine a man in a courtroom who is a liar, a thief, a murderer, and a rapist. But some people stand up and say that he was a good next-door neighbor. He kept his yard clean, he looked out for other people in the neighborhood, and he always went to work on time.
Would the judge let him off for these good deeds? You and I both know that there is no way a good judge would let him off.
A good judge must make a just ruling. The man has broken the law and there are consequences he must face. He knew about the law when he broke it, so it is not a surprise to him. He just hoped he wouldn't get caught.
We know that judges should make just
decisions and we know deep down that we want that judge to make a just decision - especially if the accused has done something against us.
So, doesn't that mean that the just God of this universe will also have to make just decisions when we stand in front of Him?
We all want justice in this world. However, each of us is going to face a just Judge at the end of this life. Will justice be what we want then?
After reviewing the Ten Commandments we may think we are not too bad if we have broken only a few of them, we may have missed the mark, we think, but we can try a little harder from now on.
However, as I quoted a little earler:
"Whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James: 2:10)
So, if we have broken even one of The Ten Commandments it is as though we have broken all of them. That is a pretty tough standard to live up to. By that standard, Adolf Hitler, Mother Theresa, Joseph Stalin, Billy Graham, Timothy McVeigh, Osama bin Laden, You and I, - we would all be found guilty. That is because none of us meets the standard that God has set for us in The Law?
All of us are guilty. I have offended God with my sins. You have offended God with your sins. We are all in the same boat. And the seriousness of our sin is measured not only by the deed, but also by Who it is committed against. God Almighty.
Is that true? Have we sinned against God, not just other humans? Yes, the Bible makes that clear
next post 5th December
ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY
