PRAISING GOD - PART 16

                                               PRAISING GOD

                                                     PART  16




I will extol Thee, my God,
my King
And I will bless Thy Name
forever and ever
Every day I will bless Thee
And I will praise Thy Name
forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and highly
to be praised
And His greatness is 
unsearchable
One generation shall praise
Thy works,  to another
And shall declare Thy mighty
acts
On the glorious splendor of
Thy majesty
And on Thy wonderful works
I will meditate.
And men shall speak of the
power of Thy awesome acts.
And I will tell of Thy greatness
They shall eagerly utter the
memory of Thy abundant goodness.
And shall shout joyfully of Thy
righteousness.

The Lord is gracious
and merciful
Slow to anger and
great in lovingkindness
The Lord is good to
all
And His mercies are over all His works.

All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee
And Thy godly ones shall bless Thee
They shall speak of the glory of Thy
kingdom
And talk of Thy power
To make known to the sons of men
Thy mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty
of Thy kingdom
Thy Kingdom is an everlasting
Kingdom

next post 7th April

                                           

MY FAVORITE PSALMS - PART 97

                                            MY FAVORITE                                                          PSALMS

                                                 PART 97

He causes the grass to grow
for the cattle
and herb for the service of man
That he may bring forth food
out of the earth
And wine that maketh glad
the heart of man
and oil to make his face to shine
and bread which strengtheneth
man's heart.

The trees of the Lord
are full of sap
The cedars of Lebanon
which He planted
where the birds make their nests
As for the stork, the fir trees
are her house.

The high hills are a refuge
for the wild goats
and the rocks for the conies
He appointed the moon
for the seasons
The sun knoweth his going down
Thou maketh darkness and it is
night
wherein all the beasts of the forest
do creep forth


The young lions roar
after their prey
and seek their meat
from God.

The sun arises, they
gather themselves
and lay down in their dens.
Man goeth forth to his work
and to his labour until the evening.

O Lord, how manifold are Thy works
In wisdom Thou hast made them all
The earth is full of Thy riches
So is the great and wide sea
where in are things creeping
innumerable 
both small and great beasts. 

next post 6th April

                                           

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 105

                                          ONE HEARTBEAT              AWAY

       PART 105



(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

God is with His People

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God
and our Father."
(1st Thessalonians 1:3)

Here is another incredible testimony of faith. 
Few believers are so tested, but if they are, 
including children and women, generally live
up to this standard. We have to know God is at
work, showing their tormentors that Jesus is
real:

"Break him morally or destroy him physically."

The Turkmenistan bureaucrats had no more
patience for this street preaching. Shageldy 
Atakov was offered his freedom under President
Saparmurat Niyazove's December 23, 2000
amnesty, provided he would swear the oath of
allegiance to the President  and recite the 
Muslim creed. Shageldy refused the amnesty -
again.

Shageldy had been threatened by State Officials
 before to stop preaching. He was arrested in 
December 1998, and sentenced to two years in
jail, but a prosecutor appealed the verdict as 
"too lenient." He was then sentenced to two 
additional years in prison. Shageldy was in such
pain from the harsh beatings that he asked his children not to touch him.

   In February 2000, his     wife  and five children     were forcibly  taken         from  their home and       exiled to remote               Kaakhka, where they       remained under                                                        "village arrest."

When his family visited him in early February of 2001, Shageldy said his farewells. His wife noticed that "during the visit (that ) he was bruised and battered, his kidneys and liver hurt and he was
suffering from jaundice. He could hardly walk and frequently lost consciousness." He did not expect
to survive much longer. 

Despite this Shageldy was still not broken. He  would not give in, and though release was winthin
his reach he would not accept it if it meant forsaking his allegiance to Christ.

next post  1st April 






                                     

WAS THERE A DA VINCI CONSPIRACY - PART 2

                                            WAS  THERE  A 
DA    VINCI CONSPIRACY

 PART 2

(copied from 
 Y-Jesus.com)

The Jesus Conspiracy

The Da Vinci Code begins with the murder of  a
French Museum curator named Jaques Sauniere.
A scholarly Harvard professor and a beautiful  French cryptologist  are commissioned to decipher a message left by the curator before his death.
The message turns out to reveal the most profound conspiracy in the history of humankind: a cover up of  the true message of Jesus Christ by a  secret arm of the Roman Catholic Church called Opus Dei.

Before his death, the curator had evidence that could disprove the deity of Christ. Although, (according to the plot) the Church tried  to suppress the evidence, great thinkers  and artists have  planted clues everywhere, in paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper by 
Da Vinci, in the architecture of  cathedrals, even 
in Disney cartoons.

The book's main claims are these:
*  The Roman emperor, Constantine conspired
     to deify Jesus Christ.
*   Constantine personally selected the Books of
      The New Testament.
*   The Gnostic gospels were banned by men to
      suppress women.
*   Jesus and Mary Magdalene were secretly
     married and had a child.
*   Thousands of secret documents disprove key
      points of Christianity.

Brown reveals his conspiracy through the book's
fictional expert, British royal historian, Sir Leigh
Teabing. Presented as an old wise scholar Teabing
reveals to cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, that at the
council of Nicaea in a.d. 325, "many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon,"
including the divinity of Jesus.

"Until that moment in history"  he says  "Jesus
was viewed, by His followers  as a mortal
prophet....... a great and powerful man but a man nonetheless."

Neveu is shocked "Not the
Son of God ?" she asks.

Teabing explains "Jesus' establishment as the
Son of God was officially proposed and voted on
by the Council of Nicaea."

"Hold on. You are saying that Jesus' divinity was the result of a vote?" 

"A relatively close vote at that," Teabing tells the stunned cryptologist.

So, according to Teabing, Jesus was not regarded as God until the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325, when the real records of Jesus were alledgedly
banned and destroyed. Thus, according to the theory, the entire foundation of Christianity rests upon a lie.

The Da Vinci Code has sold its story well, drawing comments  from readers such as "if it were not true it could not have been published!"
Another said he would "never set foot in a church again." A reviewer of the book praised it for its
"impeccable research"

Pretty convincing for a fictional work.
next post 4th April                                               

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY = PART 104

     ONE                               HEARTBEAT               AWAY

                                             PART 104

(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

In a publication from Voice of the Martyrs - a

ministry that informs people about the millions

of Christians who have died for their faith, or

who are being persecuted for their faith - we

read the story of Soon Ok Lee:

"I never knew what these prisoners were singing

until I became a Christian."

Soon Ok Lee was a prisoner in North Korea 

from 1987 to 1992. She did not become a 

Christian however, until she escaped to South

Korea. When she first received Christ, she was

overwhelmed by her memories of what she had

seen and heard in prison.

They were simple things, like the Christians who
sang as they were being put to death. At that 
time she did not understand and had  thought 
they were crazy.   She was not allowed to talk
and so she never had a chance to speak to a
Christian. She does remember hearing the word
"Amen."

"While I was there I never saw Christians deny
their faith. Not one. When these Christians were
silent, the officers would become furious and 
kick them. At the time, I could not understand why they would risk their lives when they could have said 'I do not believe,' and have done what the
officers wanted.

I even saw many 
who sang hymns as
the kicking and hitting
intensified. The officers
would call them crazy and take them to the
electric-treatment room. I didn't see one come out alive. "

It was the singing that stuck with her.  Perhaps
it was the singing of these precious saints that 
planted a seed in her spirit and eventually led
her to Christ. 

Like spies, those who are curious about Christianity, zero in on believers,so that they 
can evaluate the truth for themselves. They observe, they watch, they take mental notes. Whenever Christians go through trials, these 
silent observers hope to see the believers fall, so that they can assure themselves that Christians are like everyone else after all. 

However, when Christians smile through trouble, they are stumped.  When believers clap instead 
of cry, they are amazed. When Christ followers
sing amidst sorrow, they are drawn in by what
they cannot explain.

next post 29th March

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 103

                                           ONE HEARTBEAT                AWAY

                                             PART 103



(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

Too many Christians  live their lives trying
to fit into this world. I want to live a life that
is worthy in the eyes of God , not in the eyes
of the world.  I'm not seeking trouble, by any
means, but when it comes to taking a stand
for Jesus, I want Him to be proud of me.

"Great is my boldness of speech toward you,
great is my glorying of you:  I am filled with
comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our 
tribulation."
(1st Corinthians 7:4)

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord, for Whom I have suffered 
the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ.
(Phillipians  3:8)

Here is a letter I received from a friend
telling how she dared to tell a young woman
about Jesus:

" My friend Brandon and I were walking home
from a coffee shop at 10 am when we walked
past a girl and said 'Hi,' to her. Well, we had 
not even walked a few steps from her when I
felt that I needed to turn around, so I did.

I asked her if she  was okay and she said  'No,
I just need to find Jesus Christ!' Well, needless
to say we were a bit taken aback by that answer, 
so we asked her to walk to the park with us to
talk. We sat down and listened to her story.

Her name was Heidi 
and she had been in 
jail, was taking drugs 
and was struggling 
with homosexuality. 
In all of this she had 
always believed in God, but that morning she felt like she was going to meet Jesus. So she had 
been walking up to random homes, churches, 
and people, asking how to find Jesus!

We shared from the Bible with her and .... she
gave her life over to Christ right there in the
park!  Can I just say the angels were throwing
 a party along with Brandon and me. 
She then came to my home and flushed her drugs
down the toilet, smashed her pipe and spent the
next twenty-four hours with us as we talked with
her., and listened to her and ministered to her.
It was INCREDIBLE!

Would you be courageous enough to do what
these young people did? You can never tell 
when there is someone right near you who is aching to learn about Jesus. But if you fear
rejection and the opinions of men, you will shrug
off that feeling that you should tell someone 
about Jesus and pass them by. You will let them
go on into hell because you were afraid or
ashamed to tell them about Jesus. Please don't
let that happen.

next post 27th March
                                                

MY FAVORITE PSALMS - PART 96

                                            MY FAVORITE              PSALMS

                                                   PART 96



Bless the Lord, O my soul,
O, Lord, my God, Thou art very 
great
Thou art clothed with glory and 
majesty

Who coverest Thyself with light as
with garment.
Who stretcheth out the heavens
like a curtain
Who layeth the beams of His
chambers in the waters
Who maketh the clouds His
chariot
Who walketh upon the wings
of the wind.

Who maketh His angels spirits
His ministers a flaming fire
Who laid the foundations of
the world
that it should not be removed
forever
Thou coverest it with the deep
as with a garment
The waters stood above the
mountains
At Thy rebuke they fled
At the voice of Thy thunder
they hasted away

They go up by the mountains
They go down by the valleys
unto the place where Thou
hast founded them.
Thou hast set a bound that
they may not pass over.
That they turn not again 
to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into 
the valleys
which run among the hills
They give drink to every
beast of the field
The wild asses quench their
thirst.

By them shall the fowls of
the earth
have their habitation
which sing among the branches
He watereth the hills from His
chambers
the earth is satisfied with the
fruit of Thy works.

next post 30th March                                          

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 102

                                           ONE HEARTBEAT               AWAY

       PART 102


(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)


Recently I spoke at a church in Florida. One of
the church members worked for the Post Office. 
Every Christmas he would give each customer 
a Christmas card with a nice, generic, loving,
Christian message.  After hearing me speak he
knew that he needed to be more specific with 
the message he was giving his customers. He 
prayed about it and the Lord led him to write
the question: "If you died tonight, are you
100% sure that you would go to heaven?"
on each card.

That is a great question, and he got some 
positive feedback from customers. But one man
didn't like it and called the letter carrier's boss. 
The customer was not satisfied with that 
conversation, so he went one level higher in the  management hierarchy.
They were going to fire him for what he did until they realized that the only thing they could find
against him was that he had delivered his cards
without postage on them. So they came back 
with a one week suspension instead. With pay!

That mailman knew, without a doubt, that the
hand of God was protecting him through the
whole process. He was so glad he took a stand
for the Lord. He stated that this situation had
touched many lives well beyond his own. He 
got to talk to many people about what had
happened, and he got to share his faith with
many of his customers. The persecution was 
worth it, he said, because he had stood up for
the truth and that God had helped him and many
others through it.

Paul writes of the 
suffering and triumphs 
of the Old Testament          
saints.  Here is Paul's
summary:

"And what shall I more say? for the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, 
and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David
also and of Samuel and of the prophets, who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped 
the mouths of lions.
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the 
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight
the armies of the aliens. 
Women received their dead raised to life again,  
and others were tortured not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection .
And others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings ; yea, moreover  of bonds and
imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, 
were tempted, were slain with the sword, 
they wandered about in sheepskins and 
goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.
(Of whom the world was not worthy); they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and 
caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith received not the promise:
God having provided some better thing for us,

that they without us should not be made 
perfect.
(Hebrews 11:32-40)

These faithful saints eventually triumphed by
entering the Kingdom of Heaven ushered in
by Jesus Himself -  what a great day that was
for them!

next post  25th March                          
                                         

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 101

                                            ONE HEARTBEAT                                                AWAY

     PART 101


(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

One of my friends is a stand up comic. I went to
one of his shows. Part of his routine was to mock
Jesus Christ. It was about a twenty-minute part 
of his set. After his show he asked what I had 
been up to lately. Well, I told him that I had\become a Christian, then explained what I
was doing. He asked me what I thought about
that twenty-minute part of his routine. I just told
him that I didn't think it was a good thing to
mock the Son of God.  We had a good talk and
had a good night hanging out together.

A couple of years later, I was in another city 
and brought some friends to see him perform. 
When he got to that part of the routine, he made
his first Jesus joke. As he did it he looked right
at me, to see what my reaction would be. I just
sat there. I didn't laugh. It wasn't funny. And 
he could tell by looking at my fact that I didn't
think it was funny  -  at all. 

All of a sudden he skipped that part and went
into a different part of his routine. He didn't
believe in Jesus yet - though I am trusting that 
God will get his attention - but he respected
my faith.


Many people will 
appreciate  your decision and react
positively when you 
decide to stand for
what you believe. They are not far from the Kingdom.

"Remember the word that I said unto you, the
servant is not greater than his lord. if they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you, if 
they have kept my saying, they will keep yours
also."  (John 15;20)

And when He had called the people unto Him, 
with His disciples also, He said unto them, 
"whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whosoever  will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake and the
Gospels, the same shall save it."
(Mark 8: 34-35)

Your life can only be found in Jesus. Are you
ready to lose your life for His sake? Paul was.
Here is what he wrote:

For God, Who commanded the light to shine 
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to 
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 
that the excellency of the power may be of God,
and not of us. 
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed,
we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
Persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but
not destroyed. 
Always bearing about in the body the dying of
the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus, may
be made manifest in our body.
For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus  might  be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
(1st Corinthians 4: 6-11) 

next post 22nd March

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 100

                               ONE HEARTBEAT      AWAY

PART 100



(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

Many people say they are Jesus' friends, but 
their behaviour tells the truth of the matter.

"And it came to pass as they went in the way, 
a certain man said unto Him, "Lord,  I will
follow Thee withersoever Thou goest." And 
Jesus said unto him, "foxes have holes and the
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man
hath not where to lay His head."

And He said to another, "follow Me," but he 
said, "Lord. suffer me first to go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach  the Kingdom of God."

And another also said, "Lord, I will follow Thee
but let me first go bid them farewell, which are
at home at my house."

And Jesus said unto him, "No man, having
put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is
fit for the Kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:57-62)

Jesus also said that we would be heading for
trouble when ungodly people praised us :


"Woe unto you when all men shall speak
well of you. for so did their fathers to the 
false prophets."
(Luke 6:26)

What does "woe" mean. According to the                 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary 
(www.m-w.com) it means:

1. A condition of deep suffering from misfortune,         affliction or grief.                    
2.  Ruiness trouble : CALAMITY, AFFLICTION,
     economic woes

So, in the verse above, Jesus is saying that if the
devil's crowd likes you, you are headed for suffering and destruction. If they like you it is a
sure sign you're on the wrong track.
  

Of course, the opposite is true: the devil's crowd
is never going to like us if  we are faithful to
Jesus. We have to accept that not everyone will like us. In fact, we have to realize that when the devil's crowd is hostile to us, it means we must be doing something right! Other people's opinion of us doesn't really matter. It is only God's opinion that matters. Following Him is all that matters. You don't want the following verse to be a description or you:

For they loved the praise of men rather than
the praise of God (John 12:43)

Always remember that no matter how people 
treat you. God's way is not only the best way, it
is the only way that leads to eternal life in 
heaven. And while people are speaking ill of 
you, God is praising you and is very proud of 
you!


next post 19th March

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 99

                                             ONE HEARTBEAT          AWAY

         PART 99



(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

Some people are literally disowned by their
family when they trust Jesus for the forgiveness
of their sins. Some Muslim or Jewish families
will no longer have anything to do with their
son or their daughter if they make that decision.

That is a big price to pay. But eternity with the
Son of God is worth it. Jesus tells us what to do
at those times:

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you." 
(Matthew 5:44)

When you begin to pray for the people who
persecute you, it changes how you look at them.
And often it changes how they look at you!

I had friends who once  were very close to me,
who don't return my phone calls anymore. 
That's Okay.  I make sure that I pray for them
to become friends with Jesus. Friendship with
Jesus is worth more than anything the world 
holds. And it is God's greatest gift to us:

"But if ye suffer for
righteousness sake,
happy are ye, and be
not afraid of their
terror, neither be
troubled.
But sanctify the Lord in your hearts : and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason
of the hope that is in you, with meekness and
fear.

Having a good conscience ; that, whereas they
speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be
ashamed that falsely accuse your good 
conversation in  Christ. 
(1st Peter 3: 14-16)

Many people say that they are Jesus' friends, 
but their behaviour tells the truth of the matter.

 next post  13th March                                              

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 98

ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY

PART 98


(copied from Mark Cahill's Book)

Persecution that we did not provoke, except by
our existence as a friend of Jesus, brings us blessing!

Blessed are they who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner 
of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they
the prophets that were before you.
(Matthew 5:10-12)

James Emery White wrote: 
"Christian spirituality is not about sitting at 
the feet of some guru for a seminar at a retreat.
It isn't about having a nice, comfortable, safe
dose of  spirituality in your life to make you 
feel good, whenever your thoughts run deep
about ultimate questions and eternal destinies.

Jesus called people to follow Him,  - and there
was only one place He was going :  a cross. 
The true nature of spiritual living involves
sacrifice, duty and commitment."

Persecution comes 
with the territory when 
you follow Jesus Christ, 
but without a doubt, He 
is worth it.  Yes, some
people may call you a
"Jesus Freak,"   or a "holy roller,"  but that is a small price to pay
for what He did for you on that cross.

next post  12th March

PRAISING GOD - PART 15

                                            PRAISING GOD

          PART 15





 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is 
Thy Name in all the earth
Who hath displayed Thy splendor 
above the heavens?


When I consider Thy  heavens and
the work of Thy fingers
the moon and the stars that Thou
hast ordained.
What is man that Thou dost take 
thought  of him
and the son of man that Thou 
dost care for him?
yet Thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels and crowned
him with glory and majesty.

Thou hast made him to rule over
the works of Thy hands.
Thou dost put all things under
his feet,
all sheep and oxen and also the
beasts of the field, the birds of the
heavens, and the fish in the sea
and whatever passes through the
paths of the sea.

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Thy
Name in all the earth.
I will give thanks to
the Lord with all my
heart
I will tell of all Thy
wonders.
 I will be glad and rejoice in Thee
I will sing praises to the Name
of the Lord Most High.

next post  17th March