"Command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Temptation number one. Not a bad idea, really. Think about it. A lot of good could come from such a move. Changing stones to bread could move the world in a giant leap toward feeding the hungry masses. Thousands of lives could be saved. Isn't that worth some consideration? Think of the children we see with distended bellies. Think of the mothers who are too weak to feed their own children. Bread-making from stones could feed the world. Isn't God concerned with the hungry?
Or what about that second temptation? "Worship me," says the devil, "and to you I will give all authority over all earthly kingdoms."
Now, don't dismiss this one too quickly, either. There are some real possibilities here. Think about what it would mean if Jesus really were in charge around here. If Jesus had control, there would be no need for nuclear weapons of destruction. Wealth and resources would be shared more equitably. We wouldn't need a United Nations Peace Keeping Force to ensure the fair sharing of food supplies. It would be done, by Jesus, who had the power to make it happen. It's a plan that deserves some thought.
And what about that third temptation? "Jesus, throw yourself down from here" and let God perform a dramatic rescue. Again, think of the consequences. If Jesus did this, it would show that God can be manipulated to do what we want and what we need. It would show us once and for all that he really is here for us. And think of the consequences for Jesus' following.
Do you see the point of these three examples? The temptations were so subtle. And we could easily rationalize the outcomes! These "harmless" temptations could lead to Jesus being King of the World immediately and easily -- no more preaching to crowds on hillsides or by lakes, no more healing all those sick bodies, no more teaching to those who seem not to understand, and, most important of all, no cross to bear. It would have been the easy way out and it would have lead away from Calvary and death -- but it also would have led away from Easter morning, and an empty tomb, and the death of death and sin, and the end of that real kingdom Jesus tried so desperately to explain to his followers.
The temptation of Jesus was to choose another way other than the cross. Maybe ... maybe that is our temptation too.

BIG TOM TOOK THE PUNISHMENT

R.G. Lee tells a beautiful story about a mountain school that had a hard time keeping a teacher. Partly because of where they were and partly because there was a group of big, rough boys who took pride in running the teachers off. The biggest and roughest of them all was named Tom.

A new young teacher won over the boys, however, by letting them write their own rules for the school. It turned out that the boys expected the rules to be very strictly enforced with a rod. This was during the days when corporal punishment was allowed in schools. For example, cheating would be punished with five strokes of the rod, and stealing with ten strokes. All punishment had to be given with the offender's coat off.

Everything went well until one day Tom's lunch was stolen. A frail little boy in hand-me-down clothes that were too big for him admitted his guilt. The students demanded that this boy be whipped. When the teacher called the little boy up front, he came whimpering and begging to leave his coat on. The other students insisted that he obey the rules and take off his coat.

When he did, a deathly silence settled over the room. This frail little boy had no shirt on and his emaciated body looked like skin stretched over bones. The teacher gasped and dropped the rod. He knew he could never whip that little boy.

Suddenly, big tough Tom strode up and stood between the teacher and the boy. "I'll take it for him, Teacher, after all it was my lunch he stole." And then Tom pulled off his coat. Reluctantly the Teacher started. After the third blow the switch broke. The teacher threw it in the corner and said, "That's all. School dismissed."

The frail little boy laid his hand on big Tom's arm and through his tears said, "Thank you, Tom, it would have killed me."

"Jesus is standing in Pilate's hall
Friendless, forsaken, betrayed by all:
Hearken what meaneth the sudden call!
What will you do with Jesus?

What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Someday your heart will be asking,
'What will He do with me?'"

BILLY JOEL’S REFUSAL Servant Magazine Spring 2000
Billy Joel, a popular musician is credited with saying: "I wasn't raised Catholic, but I used to go to mass with my friends, and I viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus pocus. There's a guy... nailed to a cross and dripping blood, and everyone's blaming themselves for that man's torment, but I said to myself, 'Forget it. I had no hand in that evil. I have no original sin. There's no blood of any sacred martyr on my hands. I pass on all of this."

QUOTE: For all you do, His bloods' for you!

QUOTE: Be ye fishers of men. You catch them and He will clean them.

About 125 residents of Columbus, New Mexico have installed a cross on the Mexican border to pay homage to illegal immigrants who die each year. The cross has been dubbed the Sacredness of Life Monument. The 16 foot, 500 pound wooden cross stands across from the port of entry on state highway 11. A Border Patrol Spokesman says 27 undocumented immigrants died trying to
get into the United States in the El Paso sector between January 1, 2000 and the end of September, 2000.
What is the cost of freedom? The cross on the border remembers those who lost their life trying to find freedom. Another cross, on a hill called Golgotha, is a sign of the sacredness of life too. When Jesus died on that cross, He give His life so mankind could find a new life of freedom.
The Cross of Jesus stands forever, calling men and women to a life of freedom and abundant life.

DOING HOMAGE TO THE GOVERNOR Bob Shannon, in Preaching, March-April 99 p. 46.

The smallest Indian reservation in North America belongs to the Mattaponi tribe in eastern Virginia. The reservation consists of only 125 acres. The Mattaponi signed a treaty with the Virginians in 1646. The treaty provided for an annual visit by the tribe to the Governor of Virginia to renew their pledge of loyalty. They have kept the practice to this very day. Every year the Mattaponi appear before the Governor of Virginia. They bring gifts of fish and fowl as prescribed by the treaty, and they declare their loyalty.

THE COMMON BECOMES PRICELESS From The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Charles Swindoll, p. 300

When connected with someone powerful or famous, common items can rise to the level of almost priceless. Here is a sampling of common items whose value was raised because of their association with someone important. Would you pay $21,000 for on old, plaque encrusted toothbrush. Someone did, because it was Napoleon’s toothbrush. Hitler’s personal car sold for over $150,000. The desk of Winston Churchill, a pipe owned by C. S. Lewis, sheets of music handwritten by Beethoven, a house once owned by Ernest Hemingway, and many other items sold for many times their original value. Several year’s ago, Sotheby’s auctioned the belongs of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Jackie’s fake pearls, not real ones, sold for $211,500. JFK’s set of old golf clubs went for $772,500. Exorbitant value foisted upon ordinary things because they belonged to someone important.

I would like to remind you. You may be common, or you may feel common. But you, my Christian friend, belong to someone famous and powerful—Jesus. Jesus, who is God, owns you. Because you belong to Jesus, you are infinitely more valuable than you ever would be without him. You are precious and priceless.

I’M A LIGHTHOUSE Donald Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, San Jose: Resource, p.67

You have perhaps heard the story that comes out of the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War Two. There was a battleship whose forward watch spotted a light that appeared to
be heading straight for the battleship.
A radio message was sent saying, "Unidentified ship: you are on a collision course. Change direction 10 degrees starboard."
The reply came back: "No. You need to change direction."
The battleship again sent a message saying, "This is a United States warship. Change direction 10 degrees starboard."
And once again the reply came back, "No."
The admiral was awakened and notified and the battleship sent yet another message again repeating, "This is a warship on official maneuvers. You are ordered to change direction. Signed, Admiral Peacock."
A moment passed and the reply came back, "No. Signed Seaman Smith, Tender of the Light House."

JESUS IS THERE
The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed; the boy's parents sat across from him. "Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I'll open up your heart..."
"You'll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.
The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I'll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..."
"But when you open up my heart, you'll find Jesus in there."
The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. "When I see how much damage has been done, I'll sew your heart and chest back up and I'll plan what to do next."
"But you'll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You'll find Him in my heart."
The surgeon had had enough. "I'll tell you what I'll find in your heart. I'll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. And I'll find out if I can make you well."
"You'll find Jesus there too. He lives there."
The surgeon left.
The surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery. "...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bedrest. Prognosis:," here he paused, "death within one year." He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said.
"Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this? You've put him here; You've put him in this pain; and You've cursed him to an early death. Why?"
The Lord answered and said, "The boy, My lamb, was not meant for your flock for long, for he is a part of My flock, and will forever be. Here, in My flock, he will feel no pain, and will be comforted as you cannot imagine. His parents will one day join him here, and they will know peace, and My flock will continue to grow."
The surgeon's tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. "You created that boy, and You created that heart. He'll be dead in months. Why?" The Lord answered, "The boy, My lamb, shall return to My flock, for he has done his duty: I did not put My lamb with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve another lost lamb."
The surgeon wept.
Later as the surgeon sat beside the boy's bed; the boy's parents sat across from him.
The boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?"
"Yes," said the surgeon.
"What did you find?" asked the boy.
"I found Jesus there," said the surgeon.

HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS BROTHER SAILORS The New Art of the Leader William A. Cohen Ph.D.

Howard Gilmore commanded the U.S.S. Growler. The Growler was on patrol in the South Pacific during the early part of the war. On the night of February 7, 1943, the Growler surfaced to recharge its batteries. Unlike modern nuclear-powered submarines that can remain submerged for months, these old diesel submarines had to surface approximately every 24 hours to regain power.

Although all precautions were taken, this was always risky, as without modern electronic detection or optical systems, a sub could not be certain what was on the surface, even though a sweep with the periscope under poor light was routine.

The U.S.S. Growler had the great misfortune of surfacing directly abeam of a Japanese gunboat. The gunboat immediately took the Growler under fire and attempted to ram her. By skillful maneuvering, Gilmore managed to avoid the gunboat and actually ram her in turn. But the Growler had received battle damage. Gilmore ordered everyone else from the bridge into the submarine in preparation to dive.

Before he could get to the hatch himself, Howard Gilmore was hit by gunfire. His wounds were such that he could not move. Without help, he could not drag himself to the hatch to get below. He knew that every second counted and that the gunboat had already radioed for air and surface help to destroy the submarine. His submarine and its crew were in grave danger of being sunk if fit did not dive immediately. Before anyone could come to his aid, he gave the final order that sealed his fate, but gave the submarine its greatest chance of escaping. "Take her down."

His crew obeyed. Well trained, they managed to dive, evade the enemy, and limp back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Gilmore, of course, was lost.

TWO WORLDS AT WAR Steven E. Albertin, Against The Grain -- Words For A Politically Incorrect Church, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio.
Jesus and Pilate represent two very different ways of looking at power and authority in this world. Jesus represents one kind of kingdom. Pilate represents another kind of kingdom. Both kings claim divine authorization. Both kings occupy space in this world. Their claims to have the last word overlap and are often in conflict. In the Gospel of John and especially in Jesus' trial before Pilate, we see these two kings and their kingdoms colliding. In the last analysis, only one can be king. Only one can have the last word.
Two kingdoms, two ways of life, two kinds of power, two kinds of authority, continually pushing and tugging against one another, each trying to have the last word. One lives by the power of the sword. The other lives by the power of love.
One is driven to accumulate wealth. And there can never be enough. Scarcity is always looming over the horizon. The other announces, "Blessed are the poor." Everyone is wealthy. There is no need to accumulate more. There is unlimited abundance. Scarcity is only an unfounded rumor. There is always enough.
One can never have enough money. The other loves to give it away.
One believes that the weak must serve the strong. The biggest guns and the most bucks do matter. The other believes that the strong get to serve the weak. That the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

THE SCARS ON HIS ARMS

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.
In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
His mother, in the house, was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.
It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.
From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.
His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs; and then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn't let go."

The church in the world is a lot like the story that E. Stanley Jones tells of the missionary in the jungle. He got lost with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally
found a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. The native said he could. "All right," the missionary said, "Show me the way." They walked for
hours through dense brush hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said. "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path."

LAW AND GRACE ON LONDON SKYLINE

As you look along the skyline of London, I am told, you see two prominent buildings: one the Old Bailey, on its roof the statue of Justice – blind-folded and impartial, holding the balances even. And then St. Paul’s, and on its dome the Cross. Here are two kinds of righteousness, the Law and Gospel – justice and mercy.

MY SON

A Jewish father was concerned about his son, who was about a year away from his Bar Mitzvah but was sorely lacking in his knowledge of the Jewish faith. To remedy this he sent his son to Israel to experience his heritage.

A year later the young man returned home. "Father, thank you for sending me to the land of our Fathers," the son said. "It was wonderful and enlightening, however, I must confess that while in Israel I converted to Christianity."

"Oy vegh" replied the father, "what have I done?" So in the tradition of the patriarchs he went to his best friend and sought his advice and solace.
"It is amazing that you should come to me," stated his friend, "I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian."
So in the traditions of the Patriarchs they went to the Rabbi. "It is amazing that you should come to me," stated the Rabbi, "I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian. What is happening to our sons?
Brothers, we must take this to the Lord," said the Rabbi. They fell to their knees and began to wail and pour out their hearts to the Almighty.
As they prayed, the clouds above opened and a mighty voice stated, "Amazing that you should come to Me. I, too, sent My Son to Israel..."

QUOTE: Jesus is what God means by "Man," He is what man means by "God." – J.S. Whale Christian Doctrine

HE LIVED AMONGST THEM Pulpit Resource Oct, Nov, Dec. 1980

There’s a psychiatrist in New York City named John Rosen who works with catatonics. He breaks the precedent of doctors remaining separate and aloof from their patients. He moves into the ward with them. He places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day to day, he shares it. He loves the. If they don’t talk, he doesn’t’ talk either. It’s as if he understands what’s happening. He’s just there, and that communicates something to them that they haven’t heard in years – someone understands. But then he does something else. He puts his arms around them and hugs them. This M.D., this Ph.D., this highly skilled, highly paid physician, who is like God to the patient, who sets the limits on their life, holds these unattractive, unlovable, and sometimes incontinent persons, and loves them back into life. Often, when they speak, the 1^st words they say is "thank you."

HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR STUDENT Reuters News Service, 6-24-1997

While on vacation in Florida, Gareth Griffith, decided to try sky diving. He was jumping in tandem with Michael Costello, an experienced instructor. Something went wrong. The main chute failed to open. No big deal, they had a back up chute. The back up failed too. The two men went into a violent spin as they plummeted to their destiny. The instructor corrected the spin and regained control of the fall. Griffith was on bottom and the instructor was on top. As they neared the ground, the instructor, folded his arms and legs, causing the pair to rotate, in doing so, the instructor hit the ground first, cushioning his student's blow. Griffith survived. Costello wasn't so lucky -- he sacrificed his own life -- so that Griffith could live.

A precocious 4-year-old was brought to the ER with a severe cough. She kept up a non-stop conversation while the nurse was trying to assess her lung sounds. Finally, the nurse said, "Shhh, I have to see if Barney is in there."
The child looked at her and calmly stated, "I have Jesus in my heart. Barney is on my underwear."

WE NEED AT LEAST ONE FOLLOWER

S. I. McMillen, in his book "None of These Diseases," tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."

HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL Billy Sunday

There are 256 names in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.

I TOOK YOUR PLACE The Treaty Trumpet 4/3/2000

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him and the driver told him, "I always park there. You took my place!"

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That’s my seat! You took my place!"

After Sunday School, the visitor went into the auditorium and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That’s where I always sit. You took my place!"

The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing. Later, as the congregation stood, praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?"

The visitor replied: "I took your place."

THE DAY JESUS CAME TO TOWN Hanna Rosin of The Washington Post 2/13/00

HAZLETON, Pa. – Since the day the prophet appeared at the bottom of their hill three months ago, barefoot and wearing a long white rob, the gloom has lifted off this old Pennsylvania coal-mining town.

One by one, the residents here awoke. The priests in this mostly Catholic enclave say the pews are suddenly full, sometimes with people they haven’t seen in 20 years. Two local doctors say their patients heal more quickly after this nomad prophet visits the hospital.

"I’ve never felt so good," said Marietta, one of the hundreds of callers who flooded a local TV talk show to discuss the stranger’s impact. "He’s given me more than anyone in my life."

"Man Who Looks Like Jesus Arrives," the local paper announced the day after the man came to town. And indeed, he does look like the textbook Jesus, with childlike face and a sandy beard and his head cocked always at an angle. Since then, they have taken to calling him the Prophet, the Messenger, the Angel.

His real name is Carl J. Joseph, and in the past nine years he has wandered through 13 countries and 47 states. He walks, usually on bare feet, and occasionally hitchhikes. He owns nothing but the robe and blanket he wears on his back and never takes money for any reason. For food and shelter, he relies on the goodwill of people he meets along the way. Somehow, he is always immaculate, down to the fingernails.

His way of dressing and traveling just evolved, he says, more for practical reasons. "It was not intentional," he said in an interview. He then realized that he could evangelize more effectively on foot.

"If I walk, I’m more accessible to people. Jesus walked. Buddha walked. And Gandhi walked," he said.

Wherever he stops, he draws large crowds. Joseph models his life on Jesus and the apostles, he says, though he never claims to be the son of God. His message is deeply traditional, almost pre-Vatican II, urging people to back to church, follow strict rituals, respect the pope.

WE NEED MORE WATCHING OVER Bits & Pieces

Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chili. Called "Christ of the Andes," the statue symbolizes a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stands, there will be peace between Argentina and Chili.

Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted – the statue had its back turned to Chile. Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaper man saved the day. In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but made them laugh he simply said, "The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans."

WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS? Maxine Fream in Lookout 12/19/99

… I went to see a musical play on the life of Christ entitled "The Promise" being performed in Branson, Missouri. The special effects were first rate, the singing outstanding, and the drama compelling, especially because the performers are obviously so sincere and dedicated to their work….

I smiled and cried in all the appropriate places, letting me emotions be carried along by the unfolding drama. At the end, when Jesus ascended into a cloud, I stood with the rest of the audience and applauded enthusiastically.

Upon leaving the auditorium, I found that several of the actors were waiting by the various exit doors to greet people. There was Mary Magdalene, Peter, a Roman centurion, even Satan (without his evil makeup). I went up to Peter eagerly, quite astonished by how much he resembled an oil painting I had done years ago of (my version of) Peter.

After an interesting conversation with him, I turned to find that Jesus himself had appeared in the foyer! Surprised, I hurried over to meet him, excited to meet him in person. In speaking with him, I had this strange sensation of unreality.

On the one hand, I was perfectly aware that this young man was only an actor, yet I couldn’t quite get my emotions to shift gears. I was almost as awed as if I were talking to the actual Jesus. He was no longer in his shining white robe worn for the ascension scene, but had quickly donned his own bathrobe and slippers in order to make an appearance.

As we spoke, I took note of every little detail – the smile wrinkles around the eyes, a few freckles and blemishes here and there, the way his beard grew. He was, after all, only a man, although a gifted one.

I couldn’t help but wonder how Jesus’ disciples had viewed Him while He was on earth. Living with Him day by day, they could become accustomed to Him as a man like themselves: He had to eat and sleep and rest as they did. He needed to bathe, change His clothes, cut His hair. But then He would do something so extraordinary that they would draw back from Him in fear, saying, "What manner of man is this?"

If man's greatest need in life was pleasure, then God would have sent an entertainer. If man's greatest need would have been money, then He would have sent a financial consultant. If man's greatest need would have been for information, He would have sent an educator. But God in His infinite wisdom knew that man's greatest need was forgiveness-- and so He sent a Savior.

HE DIDN’T THINK HE WAS WORTH COMING BACK FOR

W. Paul Jones tells of a woman who shared a story of her childhood as a victim of polio. She said, "When my mother left me in Sunday School I always asked to wear her locket. She thought I liked the locket, but that wasn't it at all. I knew I wasn't worth coming back for, but I knew she would come back for her locket."
Do you ever feel that way? If so, then remember the words of the apostle Paul, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world...In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 1:4,5)

ARE WE BEARING THE TRADEMARK OF CHRIST? Scott Saltzman in The Trumpet Treaty 9/13/99

M&M^tm … Mustang^tm …John Deere^tm … Singer^tm …Snapper^tm … Pin Drop^tm … We see trademarks on most of our property. Companies spend thousands of dollars on a trademark that will be recognized and associated with their product…

A couple years ago, Reader’s Digest^tm carried the funny story of a soldier serving as a guard through the night. Early in the morning, he reported to his commanding officer who demanded, "Did you sleep well while on duty?"

"What made you think that I fell asleep?" asked the surprised soldier.

"Look in the mirror," came the officer’s reply.

As the guard stood before the mirror he saw on his forehead the imprint of the Mercedes Benz^tm logo from his truck’s steering wheel.

Are we recognized by the trademarks of Christ? He has gone to great expense to purchase us. He has executed His plan. All who would participate in His business will recognize the responsibility and the privilege of wearing His trademarks.

JESUS THE FEMINIST Focus on the Family 1/2000 p. 3 by Dr. Ruth A Tucker, teacher at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Calvin College.

In many ways, Jesus revolutionized the family, even as He revolutionized other institutions. This is perhaps best illustrated by His regard for women and children. At a time when many Jews believed that a man could divorce his wife for any cause, Jesus upheld the creation bond of marriage – that a husband and wife are one flesh. And when a woman who had been caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, He nullified the double standard that more rigorously punished women than men. Indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned men that lusting after a woman was committing adultery in the heart.

Even more stunning was the regard Jesus had for children. C. John Summerville, a professor of history at Stanford University and the Univ. of Florida, argues that the impact of Christianity on the family was truly radical:

Max Lucado tells about a priest who went to visit a dying man in the hospital. As the priest entered the room, he noticed an empty chair beside the man’s bed. The Priest asked him is someone had just been by to visit. The old man smiled, "I place Jesus on that chair and I talk to Him." The Priest was puzzled so the man explained. "Years ago a friend told me that prayer was as simple as talking to a good friend. So, every day, I pull up a chair, invite Jesus to sit and we have a good talk."

Some days later the daughter of this man came to the parish house to inform the priest that her father had just died. "But he seemed so content," she said. "I left him in his room alone for a couple of hours. When I got back to the room, I found him dead. I noticed a strange thing, though. His head was resting, not on a pillow, but on an empty chair that was beside the bed."

JESUS AND THE GODS OF THIS WORLD John Stott, The Cross of Christ

In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing around his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time, after a while I have had to look away. And in imagination I have turned instead to the lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in god forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering.

QUOTE: In the cross of Christ excess in men is met by excess in God, excess of evil is mastered by excess of love. – Louis Bourdaloue

WHAT GOD HAS OFFERED Martin Luther

Since Christ accepted the thief on the cross just as he was and received Paul after all his blasphemies and persecutions, we have no reason to despair… What do you think it means that He has given His only son? It means that He also offers whatever else He possesses.

THE SYMBOL OF VICTORY IN DEFEAT Talking Foolishness by Paula Reinhart in Discipleship Journal March 99

In his book The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey notes that other world religions are known for their brightly painted images and gilded statues. At the center of Christianity, however, rests a cross - simple, stark and solitary. "What possessed Christians," ponders Yancey, "to seize upon this execution device as a symbol for faith? Why not do everything within our power to squelch the memory of the scandalous injustice?… Why make it the centerpiece of the faith?" Of all the symbols of hope and triumph, the cross is indeed the most ironic.

It’s understandable how someone just considering Christ is taken aback by the cross. Its message confronts our most cherished notions of success and self-assurance. It always has; it always will. The Apostle Paul said it simply: "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" (I Cor. 1:18).

It helps me to be reminded of how fundamentally offensive the cross is and how it symbolizes everything in life we most want to avoid: weakness, defeat, betrayal, powerlessness. I’ve seen the cross as a symbol of hope and victory for so long that I tend to forget the stark reality it embodies.

WALK THIS WAY Time Feb. 22, 99 p. 26

The Israel National Parks Authority has approved a 262 ft. long transparent bridge to be built just below the surface of the Sea of Galilee so visitors can follow in the footsteps of Christ. "We have intention to try to re-create the divine miracle that happened to Jesus," says contractor Ron Major, who’s building it with the help of fund from the Israeli government. After it opens in August, he expects up to 80,000 people a year to pay a minimal fee to walk on water. And, yes, lifeguards will be on hand in case anyone strays from the true path.

In A Book of Saints, Anne Gordon tells the story of Maximilian Kolbe, a catholic priest, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz in August 1941. A prisoner escaped from the camp, and in reprisal, the Nazis ordered that 10 prisoners had to die by starvation.

Kolbe offered to take the place of one of the condemned men. The Nazis kept Kolbe in the starvation bunker for 2 weeks and then put him to death by lethal injection on August 14, 1941.

Thirty years later a survivor of Auschwitz described the effect of Kolbe’s action: "It was an enormous shock to the whole camp. We became aware that someone among us in this spiritual dark night of the soul was raising the standard of love on high. Someone unknown, like everyone else, tortured and bereft of name and social standing, went to a horrible death for the sake of someone not even related to him.

Therefore it is not true, we cried, that humanity is cast down and trampled in the mud, overcome by oppressors, and overwhelmed by hopelessness. Thousands of prisoners were convinced the true world continued to exist and that our torturers would not be able to destroy it.

"To say that Father Kolbe died for us or for that person’s family is too great a simplification. His death was the salvation of thousands… We were stunned by his act, which became for us a mighty explosion of light in the dark camp."

HE EXPECTED A DIFFERENT VOICE Sharon Landers Digest12/98 p.180

As a church secretary, I answer the phone by saying, "Jesus loves you, Sharon speaking. How may I help you?" One day I was deep in conversation with my office colleagues when the phone rang. "Sharon loves, Jesus speaking. How may I help you?" I said distractedly.

There was a pause before the caller said, "Somehow I thought your voice would sound different."

INCARNATION - Tom Moorehouse, Roy, Utah

John Howard Griffin was a white man who believed he could never understand the plight of African-Americans unless he became like one. In 1959, he darkened his skin with medication, sun lamps, and stains, then traveled throughout the South. His book, Black Like Me, helped whites better understand the humiliation and discrimination faced daily by people of color.

Jesus Christ became like us; the Incarnation is evidence that God understands our plight. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." (Isa 53:3).

QUOTE: Christ’s cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird.

- Samuel Rutherford

COUNTING JESUS - Beatrice Plum in Christian Herald

A little girl returning from Sunday School was asked by her grandmother how many had been in her class that day. She replied, "Counting Jesus, there were 15 of us."

* Hated Outsiders * Love your enemies

* Excluded anyone who had an * Welcomed the blind, lame, deaf, etc.

imperfection - blind, lame, etc. and healed them

* Emphasized purity, extremely * Opposed legalism, emphasized

legalistic purity within

* Expected 2 messiahs * One Messiah

* Were destroyed in A.D. 68 * His followers grew and expanded

& never heard from again.

DO YOU BELIEVE HE'S COMING? Time 11/3/97 p. 41 (AP poll)

Percentage of Christians who believe that Jesus will return to earth: 71

Percentage of Christians who believe his return will be sometime around the year 2000: 11

KICKING THE KING How to Enjoy Your Life & Your Job by Dale Carnegie, p. 55

... No one ever kicks a dead dog. Yes, and the more important a dog is, the more satisfaction people get in kicking him. The Prince of Wales who later became Edward VIII had that brought home to him in the seat of his pants. he was attending Dartmouth College in Devonshire at the time - a college that corresponds to our Naval Academy in Annapolis. The prince was about 14. One day one of the naval officers found him crying, and asked him what was wrong. he refused to tell at first, but finally admitted the truth: he was being kicked by the naval cadets. The commodore of the college summoned the boys and explained to them that the prince had not complained, but he wanted to find out why the prince had been singled out for this rough treatment.

After much hemming and hawing and toe scraping, the cadets finally confessed that when they themselves became commanders and captains in the king's navy, they wanted to be able to say they had kicked the king!

THE BIRTH OF ONE CHILD TO SAVE ANOTHER from R.Digest 6/97 p. 146ff

Abe and Mary Ayala, from San Gabriel Valley in California had two children: 16 year old Anissa and 17 year old Airon. "They were committed churchgoers and grateful to God for their blessings, of which the greatest were their two children... In 1988, when Anissa turned, 16 there could not have been a happier girl in S. California. And as she danced and flirted, she could forge the ache in her left side that had dogged her for a month and the mysterious bruising she'd told no one about. It had begun with an angry purple bruise on the hip against which she carried her schoolbooks. Other bruises erupted on her legs whenever she made even glancing contact during a soccer game...."

They soon found Anissa had CML - chronic myelogenous leukemia - an adult cancer of the blood. "Without medical intervention, the leukemia can prove fatal in weeks. Even when brought into remission, relapse and ultimately death are the likeliest outcomes. Anissa's leukemia, CML, was a chronic form of the disease, which meant that it could only be treated - not cured - by certain anti-cancer drugs. With luck her blood count would improve, the pain and bruising would disappear, and she could live symptom free for as many as 5 years....

"She did have one chance, though, that went beyond treatment. It was a relatively new procedure that replaced her sick bone marrow with the marrow cells of a compatible donor - a transplant. The doctors explained that this gave them the possibility of destroying all the leukemic cells with a powerful combination of radiation and chemotherapy...."

At the time, there were 17000 names on the national registry of potential donors and "because bone marrow controls the immune system," they needed a match that would be closer than one "for a heart, liver or lung transplant." They started a public campaign to increase the number of donors and increased their local donor bank by 1500 people, and perhaps were part of the national conscious raising that increased the registry's marrow donors to 157,079 (it now stands at 3 million).

But in spite of all the success they engendered for the bank of donors in the nation... they still could not find a good enough match for Anissa. That was when they came to the conclusion that they might be able to conceive a donor - give birth to a child that would be able to save their 16 year old. This involved reversing Abe's vasectomy and a pregnancy beyond the age of 35 for Mary. The baby was born healthy and at 6 months was able to donate of her bone marrow to save her sister with no complications to either daughter.

This event, however, did not escape national scrutiny. "The Los Angeles Times picked up the story and gave it an ethical slant: "It is extremely rare for a baby to be conceived specifically to serve as a bone marrow donor for an ailing family member...." The outcry was overwhelming at first until other medical ethicists weighed in: "Dr. Norman Fost, a pediatrician and ethicist at the u. of Wisconsin School of Medicine: 'Of all the reasons people have children, I think this is one of the better ones: to save a life.'"

A couple hundred years or so ago in Europe, the custodian (also called a Sexton) of a beautiful cathedral was putting things in order for the next days worship. This Cathedral was widely renowned for its beautiful pipe organ, and it seemed the entire from of the stage was dominated with the pipes of the organ. And when it was played, it sounded like the angels of heaven.

On this particular Saturday, the custodian was disturbed to see a visitor enter through the doors and approach him. The stranger wanted to know if he could look at the organ which he had heard so much about. The sexton was not sure he wanted a stranger to get so close to their celebrated instrument, but he conceded as long as this man didn't touch it. The visitor went over to the organ and lovingly took it in its beauty, and then he pleaded that he be allowed just to play it for a short while. Annoyed, the custodian almost turned down this request. But something in the man's eyes and manner changed his heart and he allowed that this man would be allowed to play, but only if he returned all the stops to their positions when he finished.

The stranger seated himself at the organ and began to play, softly at first and then building to a powerful crescendo. The custodian was startled to hear such beautiful music coming from the pipes and for a time he lost himself in the flow of its emotions. All too soon, the organist was finished, putting the stops back again and was walking down the aisle to leave. "Wait," cried the sexton, "that was the most beautiful music I have ever heard. What is your name?"

The stranger turned and smiled. "My name is Felix Mendelssohn (one of the greatest composers of the day).

Commenting later to a friend, the custodian said "Just think, I almost kept the master from playing his music in my cathedral."

Temple was 7 years in building and master craftsmen cut stone in quarries miles from the site and sent them to Jerusalem. Among the stones received was one that seemed too large and ungainly to be part of the temple, and so the builders rolled it out of the way down into the Kidron Valley. When the time came to place the cornerstone in place, it couldn't be found and so the builders sent to quarry asking why the cornerstone hadn't yet arrived. "But we did send it," they replied. Then one of the builders remembered the stone they had rejected, they rolled it back out of the valley and found that it fit perfectly.

Instead we should be like the man who inspired one of our favorite hymns. Back in the 1800's, a famous preacher was holding an evangelistic campaign in a certain city. During the messages, he couldn't help noticing a man who sat towards the front of the congregation with particularly radiant expression on his face. The message that night was on the "Return of Christ" and the man in the pew got caught up in the excitement of the moment jumped to his feet, and shouted "Yes, Yes! And that will be glory for me!" After the meeting the evangelist asked a deacon who the man was. "Oh, that's old glory face," replied the deacon. "He's a Christian who always seems to be on the mountain top." The impression of that one man's countenance was so impressive, that Charles H. Gabriel wrote his popular gospel song:

"When all my labors and trials are o'er,

& I am safe on that beautiful shore

Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,

will thru the ages be glory for me

Little Susie's mother had sent her to Sunday School with her offering money for class, and when they met after SS, the mother noticed that Susie still had the change in her hand. "Susie," her mother asked, "why didn't you give your money in the offering today, honey?"

Susie shyly responded: "Well our teacher told us that if we love Jesus, He comes and lives in our hearts. And you told me never to put money in my mouth. So I didn't know what to do. If I gave my money to Jesus, I would have to swallow it."

The German artist "Dannaker" was known for his painstaking work on his sculptings. For two years he worked on his famous statue of Christ. When he felt he was finished he called to some children playing outside his studio and asked one of them to come in and evaluate his work. "Who is that?" he asked.

The little girl prompt replied "A great man."

That reply struck at his heart, for he wanted a work that declared the power of a risen savior... not just a 'great man'. So he took up his chisel and for the next 6 years he toiled to recreate the masterpiece. When he was finished, again he asked a child to come into the studio and asked again: "Who is this?"
The child replied: "It's Jesus."

And thus, Dannaker's powerful work was declared ready for the world. The sculptor later confessed to a friend that during those long weary days of working on this sculpting, Christ had come and revealed Himself to him. He had only transferred to the marble the vision he had seen.

Sometime later, Napoleon Bonaparte desired to commission Dannaker to sculpt a statue of Venus for the Louvre. The money was good, and the employment was sure, but Dannaker

refused. "A man," he said, "who had seen Christ can never employ his gifts in carving a pagan goddess. My art is henceforth a consecrated thing."

At a great parliament of religions, held at Chicago many years ago, practically every known religion was represented, and many learned discourses were delivered.

During one session, Dr. Joseph Cook of Boston suddenly rose and said: "Gentlemen, I beg to introduce to you a woman with great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing will remove them. The blood is that of murder, and nothing will take away the stain. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?"

A hush fell upon the gathering as the speaker turned from one to another for an answer. Not one of the company replied.

Raising his eyes to heaven, Dr. Cook then cried out, "I will ask another the question. John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?" The great preacher waited as if listening for a reply. Suddenly he cried, "Listen, John speaks "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleans us from all sin (I John 1:7)."

A skeptic once taunted a Christian friend of his by asking, "What if you died tonight and suddenly found yourself in Hell."

Thinking a moment the Christian replied "Well, Jesus would have to be beside me, because He has promised never to leave me or forsake me."

ANOTHER TAKE ON GOLDEN RULE (note they stress "do not")

Confucius (some 500 years before Jesus) said: "Do not unto others what you would not wish done to yourself."

Old Testament Apocrypha (Tobit): "Do not do to anyone what you yourself hate."

Rabbi Hillel (20 B.C.): "What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law; all the rest is only commentary"

Dr. Walter L. Wilson tells of the Revival he held where a woman approached him after the crowds had gone to explain that she had a desire to become a Christian but she just couldn't understand how God could forgive her and accept her. For some reason, Dr. Wilson felt he should ask her if she recalled any scripture. At that point she said yes:

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only FORGOTTEN son..."

Noting that she had substituted "forgotten" for "begotten" he realized what he could say to help her...

"Do you know why God forgot His son?"

"No," she replied.

"He forgot His son because He wanted to remember you."

A man once dreamed that he was witnessing the Day of Judgment. He saw billions of people scattered out across a great plain before the throne of God. And then overheard voices:

"How can God judge us?" One asked

"What does He know about suffering?" said another, who rolled up her sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp "We endured terror, beatings, torture and death!"

From another group came the comment from a black man who pulled down the collar of his shirt "What about this!" he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched for no crime but being black! We have suffocated in slave ships, been wrenched from loved ones, toiled till death gave release."

Far out across the plain were 100's of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He permitted in His world. How lucky God was to live in Heaven where there was no weeping, no fear, no hunger and no hatred! SO THEY DECIDED TO MAKE THEIR CASE BEFORE GOD.

Each group sent a representative to prepare their defense... There was a Jew, a Black, an untouchable from India, an illegitimate person, a victim of Hiroshima, and one from a Siberian slave camp.

Their decision was that before God could judge them, he should be "Sentenced to live on earth as a man!"

* He must be born of a despised race - a Jew.

* The legitimacy of his birth should be doubted, so that no one would know who was really His father.

* He should champion a cause so just, but so radical that it would bring down upon him the hate, condemnation, and efforts of every major traditional and established religious authority to eliminate him.

* He should have to try to describe what no man had ever seen, tasted, heard, or smelled - He must try to communicate God to man.

* He should be betrayed by someone he considered a friend.

* He should be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, and convicted by a cowardly judge.

* He should see what it is to be terribly alone and completely abandoned by every living thing.

* Let Him be tortured and Let Him die the most humiliating of deaths - a death with common thieves.

And then as the man dreamed - he realized that God had already done those very things.

I recently flipped thru the channels on my TV and came across a courtroom scene. A judge was sitting alone having a monologue discussion with God, questioning the uncertainties of his life and then singing God's praises for what he had observed. At the end of his soliloquy, the judge took a basketball and tossed it up through a hoop that was mounted on a wooden cross situated in the room. It was a comedy... it was supposed to make us laugh. I was outraged, indignant, angry beyond description that this actor and the writers of that script should show such insolence towards God and mockery of a symbol representing His sacrifice. And then as I had time to contemplate, it occurred to me that it was people just like them that Jesus came to die for... they were precious because God said they were (John 3:16... the world).

EVERY BOOK IN BIBLE IS ABOUT JESUS Gerald & Alma Perry

In Genesis, He is the Promised Seed that is going to come and bruise the head of the serpent.

In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb

In Leviticus, He is the Scapegoat.

In Deuteronomy, He is the Great Lawgiver.

In Numbers, He is the brazen serpent.

In Joshua, He is the Great Deliverer of Israel.

In Judges, He is the coming Judge, who will judge the world.

In Ruth, He is the kinsman Redeemer.

In Samuel, He is Prophet, Priest, and King.

In Chronicles, He is the Great Historian.

In Ezra, He is the Great Rebuilder of the wall.

In Nehemiah, He is the Great Rebuilder of the Temple.

In Esther, He is the Saviour and Deliverer of Israel.

In Job, He is the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

In the Psalms, He is the greatest song of the ages.

In Proverbs, He is the Truth.

In Ecclesiastes, He is the Preacher.

In the Song of Solomon, He is the great lover.

In Isaiah, He is Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.

In Jeremiah, he is the Weeping Prophet.

In Lamentations, he is outside the city saying "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?"

In Ezekiel, He is the temple rebuilder.

In Daniel, He is the stone cut out without hands to come and break in pieces the stones of this world, and kingdoms of this world, and establish a kingdom that shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

In Hosea, He is the great spurned lover.

In the minor prophets, He is the One coming in Bethlehem of Judea.

In Matthew, He is the King of Kings and Lord of lords.

In Mark, He is the Suffering Servant.

In Luke, He is the Son of Man.

In John, He is the Son of God.

In Acts, He is the power of the church through the Holy Spirit.

In the epistles, He is the root of the church.

In Jude, He is the One who is able to keep you from failing and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

In Revelation, He is the great cavalry leader who saddles a white horse and leads all the host of heaven back to establish His kingdom.

OPOSSUM HOPE Bob Russell The Lookout 3/30/97 p. 14

I've read that opossums are actually very smart animals. (That's hard to believe since about the only time we see one is when it's dead in the middle of the road!) But it's reported that opossums will not enter a hole in the ground if there is only one set of footprints leading into the hole. the opossum knows the animal that went into the hole is still inside. To enter could result in a dangerous encounter with an angry predator. But if there are other tracks leading away from the hole, then the opossum is not afraid to enter.

The message of the resurrection is that we don't have to fear death because there are tracks leading out of the tomb.

ROMAN CRUCIFIXION RITUALS Ray Vander Laan Focus On The Family 3/97 p. 18

The Romans introduced crucifixion to Israel. Jews had previously put people guilty of blasphemy and sexual immorality to death by stoning, but the Romans crucified their victims at the base of a hill so that the condemned would be easily seen by passersby.

During Palestine's 400 year occupation in Rome, 1000's were crucified, and this form of execution was governed by specific rules.

ROMAN CUSTOMS:

1. Roman crucifixion took place in a public location outside the city.

2. Romans normally crucified people naked.

3. Romans preferred a cross in the shape of an upper-case T rather than a lower case t. Crosses were quite low, only 5 to 6 feet off the ground.

4. The condemned person was nailed to the cross through the wrists and ankles. In John 20;27, the Greek word for "hand" refers to the part of the arm from the palm to the wrist. Evidence indicates that the spikes were driven through the bones of the arm where they

join at the wrist.

ROMAN PROCEDURES

1. The Romans 1st flogged the condemned person, which often left the prisoner near death.

2. The crossbar was tied to the prisoner's shoulders. He was paraded through the streets for humiliation and as an example. A soldier carried a sign indicating the crime the person

had committed.

3. At the place of execution, the prisoner's wrists were nailed to the crossbar. The bar was lifted and placed on the stake, which was already in the ground. The condemned man's ankles were then nailed to the stake. The prisoner in excruciating pain, eventually died of asphyxiation and loss of blood.

4. Prisoners could remain conscious for days. Sometimes the Roman soldiers shortened the prisoner's suffering by breaking his legs. Because his legs no longer supported the

weight of his body, he suffocated faster. Jesus died without any broken bones.

5. Roman soldiers kept the victim's possessions.

6. Prisoners could talk only in short bursts because of the stress on their diaphragms. As Jesus

hung on the cross, His statements were short.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper. He sought out the ideal model to set for him while he painted Christ. He finally settled upon Pietro Bandinelli, a man not only "lovely in his features" but also in his life-style. When people looked at Pietro, they saw that which reminded them of Christ's purity.

In Brackenthwaite, England long ago, there was a fire in one of the homes of an old woman and her grandson. The woman was dragged to safety, but she screamed that her grandson still lay within. William Dixon happened to be passing by when he heard her protests and ignoring his peril rushed to the building and began to climb the eave spout up to the second story. The fire was so intense that the metal of the eave spout seared his hands, but he managed to reach the 2nd story window pull the boy to safety. Not long afterward the old woman died and there was no family to care for the boy. The village called a meeting to see if there would be anyone who would take the child in as their own. Two families volunteered and the village magistrate questioned them to see where the boy might best find his home. The first couple explained that they were childless but they had a large home and a deep love for children. As the second man came forward, the magistrate saw it was William Dixon. "And what do you have to offer this boy," the magistrate asked. Saying not a word, Dixon only stretched out his hands to show the marks from the fire. Dixon was awarded custody of the child.

Artist, Steinburg had taken in a beautiful gypsy girl to pose for his paintings. At the time he was working on his masterpiece "Christ on the Cross." The girl used to watch him work on this painting. One day she said to him "He must have been a very wicked man to be nailed to the cross like that." "No," he replied, "on the contrary, he was a very good man, perhaps the best man that ever lived. He died for others."

The girl looked up at him and asked. "Did he die for you?" Steinberg was not a Christian at the time, but the gypsy girl's question touched his heart and awakened his conscience and he became a believer in Jesus.

One day when Daniel Webster was dining with a company of literary men in Boston, the subject of Christianity came up. Mr. Webster frankly stated his belief in the divinity of Christ and his dependence upon the atonement of the Saviour.

One said to him, "Mr. Webster, can you comprehend how Christ could be both God and man? Mr. Webster promptly replied "No, sir, I cannot comprehend it. If I could comprehend him, he would be no greater than myself. I feel that I need a super human Saviour."

A SECULAR PROOFTEXT FOR 3 DAY 3 NIGHT RESURRECTION R.Digest 3/97 p. 111 from Paul Sloane, Lateral Thinking Puzzlers (Sterling)

PUZZLE: The day before yesterday Freda was 17. Next year she will be 20. How can this be?

ANSWER: The statement was made on January 1st. Freda's birthday is on December 31. She was 17n the day before yesterday (Dec. 30). She was 18 yesterday (Dec. 31st). She will be 19 this year (on Dec. 31st) and 20 next year.

JESUS, CHOICE OF CHAMPIONS Wallbuilder Report Fall/96

Over recent centuries, America has surpassed all other nations in education, science, medicine and other fields. Founding Fathers cited what they believed to be a factor in such accomplishment.

"It is certain... that human science and religion have kept company together and greatly assisted each other's progress," observed John Witherspoon, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin Rush, another signer, wrote, "I believe that the greatest discoveries have been made by Christian philosophers, and there is the most knowledge in those countries where there is the most Christianity."

Does the same principle extend to athletic endeavor? In last year's Olympic Games, the United States dominated competition, taking 101 medals - 36 more than the closest competitor.

Sports Illustrated's July 22 issue implies that there may well be a spiritual connection between the U.S. athletes and their Olympic wins. Asked with whom they would most like to have dinner, the U.S. athletes most often said Jesus Christ. Asked about their favorite book, they most frequently said the Bible.

QUOTE: "How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in." Oscar Wilde

FRANKINCENSE Condensed from Just Between Us by Janis Ryder(Vol. 6, No. 2, Winter 1996 as quoted in The Christian Reader

The rich sweet smell of frankincense often greets the visitor to a Somalian home. Each evening, a wife will prepare herself and her home for her husband's arrival by dropping a few tiny pieces of the aromatic resin on her coals.

For thousands of years, this costly resin has been one of Somalia's exports. A few gnarled but prized trees manage to grow in the harsh mountainous areas along the Horn of Africa's tip. wherever the tree is cut or broken or where insects have eaten through the bark, layers of thick resin - frankincense - seep out from the heart of the tree to heal the wound. After the resin is hardened by the sun, frankincense can be harvested.

Such precious balm is offered to us through the Holy Spirit when our lives are broken or damage, or something has eaten away our joy. god provides layer after layer of healing balm.

Most of us associate frankincense with the birth of Jesus. Thirty-three years later, he would be wounded and broken on a tree, offered up so we might be healed from the sin that destroys our lives. Like frankincense, his was a priceless gift that came from the heart.

JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE Max Lucado "A Gentle Thunder. p. 40ff

Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential. Eliminate the plant, and you have no wheat. Eliminate the winnowing and you have no flour. Eliminate the fire and you have no product. Eliminate the distribution and you have no satisfaction. Each step is essential.

Now, consider Jesus. He grew up as a "small plant before the LORD" (Isa. 53:2). One of millions of boys on the planet. One of thousands in Israel. One of dozens in Nazareth. indistinguishable from the person down the street or the child in the next chair. Had you seen him as a youngster, you wouldn't have thought he was the Son of God. You might have thought him polite or courteous or diligent, but God on earth? Not a chance. He was just a boy. One of hundreds. Life a staff of wheat in the wheat field.

But like wheat, he was cut down. Like chaff he was pounded and beaten. "He was wounded for the wrong we did" (Isa. 53:5). And like bread he passed through the fire of God's anger, not because of his sin, but because of ours. "The LORD has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done." (Isa. 53:6)

Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the bread of life. "The Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory" (Luke 24:26).

MARY HAD A LITTLE PIG Poem from Jr. Hi. Camp

Mary had a little Pig and it was white as snow

that is when it has had a bath, as you, of course, would know

Now Mary had an awful time to keep that piggy clean

For he was just the dirtiest pig that one had ever seen

Washing scrubbing til he would squirm and squeal

as if he wanted her to know that this was an unfair deal

And then he would play from morning till way up into the night

unless he would happen to slip right out and lose himself from sight

So Mary thought and wondered what ever could she do?

and then she figured out a plan, that she plainly carried through

She took him to a doctor, who put the pig to sleep

And then he took his heart right out, but not of course to keep

Then he took a little lamb and took its heart out too

And put it in the little pig before the piggy knew

And when the piggy did awake he no had no more desire

to wallow in the mud and forever in the mire

So you see boys and girls we need a new heart too

just like the piggy got - cause the old will never do.

* after the poem had been repeated at the camp, a 7th grade boy raised his hand and asked: "Hey, what happened to the lamb?" The preacher replied, "Oh, the lamb..." and then quoted from Isaiah 53.

CORNERSTONE DISAPPEARED Ripley's Believe It Or Not-Great & Strange Works of Man

The cornerstone of the Washington Monument which was laid on July 4, 1848, and weighed 24,500 lbs., disappeared and has never been found.

THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF CRUCIFIXION Jerry Parks, TH.D.

From medical studies, we learn that such a punishment involved dizziness, cramps, thirst, shame, starvation, sleeplessness and suffocation. Paralysis and death ended the ordeal, but not before three to five days of torture reduced a man to an unrecognizable mass of quivering flesh.

Nerve damage paralyzed nail pierced wrists into a grasping claw, and the victim was defenseless against birds, insects and the scorching sun. Authentic or not, a description of crucifixion has been passed down to us - purportedly by a soldier who had been witness to many: "Of all the sounds in hell, none is more pitiable than those terrible cries through the silence of midnight, where crucified men hang in agony and cannot die while a breath of suffering remains."

Several years ago the mayor of Boston let his beard grow for days, put on a suit of old clothes, and went out to see how "the other half of the world lived." He scouted through the slums of the city and found a night's lodging in a very cheap boarding house. He was told to chop wood for his bed and a breakfast of thin oatmeal with skimmed milk.

He had never used an axe in his life and was having a hard time earning his bed and board. Finally a young man stepped up and said "Give it here, Mister. You don't know how to swing an axe."

When the young man had finished, the mayor said, "Here's my card. Call on me at four this afternoon, and I'll see that you get a job."

The young man looked at the card and said to himself, "Poor man, he's crazy. He thing he's the mayor." Nevertheless curiosity got the better of him, and at four he was ushered into the mayor's office. He was given the job as promised with the exhortation, "Now, keep still, and don't tell anybody about this."

But the young man did tell, and the newspapers carried the headline, "The Greatest Social Stoop in the World. "

Yet that "stoop" is pallid, insipid, when compared with the stoop our blessed Lord accomplished when He humbled Himself to become our Savior. His indeed, is the greatest stoop in all the world. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, even to the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8).

A DOCTOR LOOKS AT THE CRUCIFIXION By Dr. Garland Bare, MD Lookout, 1/29/84 Let me examine the physiologic significance of the pre-crucifixion events recorded by these four writers.

Fatigue: The length of time an individual can function without rest or sleep depends on many factors, including the individual's physical stamina and the amount of activity and stress during the sleepless period. There can be no doubt that Jesus was a vigorous man in his early thirties who walked great distances and was acquainted with hard physical labor. His last opportunity for physical rest had been the night in Bethany before he went into Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast with his disciples. There must have been enormous emotional expenditure in the parting discourse and prayer in the upper room. This was followed by the agony in Gethsemane while his exhausted followers slept. Then there was an entire night of tortures, mock trials, scourging, and finally crucifixion. Rest did not come until an apparently lifeless body was taken down from the cross.

Fluid Loss: Dehydration is a continuous process in the living human body. Even at rest we are constantly losing water through the air we exhale. through our pores, and through the excretory systems. In order to maintain the physiological equilibrium we must be frequently replacing the body's fluid loss with intake.

How long can an adult male survive without fluid intake? This depends on a variety of factors including the individual's physique and stamina, humidity, temperature and level of activity. Survival time could range from two hours to four days depending on the combination of these factors. In Gethsemane Jesus was recorded as sweating what resembled drops of blood falling to the ground. There are two possible medical explanations. Perhaps the profuse flow of sweat merely resembled the trickling of blood, without any reference to the color or composition of the sweat. A second possibility is a physiological phenomenon known as hematidrosis. Under extreme stress the capillaries under the skin surface actually rupture into the sweat glands, producing bloodstained sweat. In either event, the Gethsemane agony caused profound loss of water and essential body chemicals, producing a condition known as metabolic alkalosis. This eventually leads to shock and death unless the losses are corrected.

The scalp contains one of the richest networks of blood vessels on the body surface. When thorn branches were plaited to form a crown of thorns, multiple puncture wounds resulted from pressing this down on the head of Jesus. Additional blood loss was incurred from the scourging, the spike wounds in his hands and feet, and finally the spear wound in his side. Balanced against this massive loss of fluids and minerals is virtually no fluid intake; Jesus was offered only sour wine on a sponge, which He tasted and rejected. The fluid loss alone, without replacement, would have led to inevitable death.

Hunger: The last possibility of food intake before the body of Jesus was consigned to the tomb was the last supper eaten with His disciples. Now we know from contemporary hunger strikes that able-bodied men can survive two months without caloric intake. This is possible, however, only under conditions of minimal activity. The calories that Jesus must have expended in the anguish, torture, and crucifixion would certainly have led to a severe hypoglycemic condition with weakness and collapse.

Scourging: A Jewish scourging was relatively "humane." It consisted of thirty-nine strokes of a whip, one short of the forty lashes permitted by Jewish law. A Roman scourging, on the other hand, was a masterpiece of brutality. The instrument used was a flagrum. This consisted of a short, leather-bound handle to which were attached long leather thongs. Embedded or tied into the tips of these thongs were hard objects, usually sheep knuckles, but also sometimes sharp stones, bone fragments, or glass. The one who wielded the whip was usually a hardened convict. The number of strokes was limited only to the whim of the one ordering the scourging.

In the process of scourging. the leather thongs, applied to the bared back of the victim, whipped around the body. The sharp objects gouged through the flesh exposing raw muscle, blood vessels, nerves, and even viscera. Eusebius of Caesarea, writing in the fourth century A.D., states that up to one-third of Roman scourging victims died of the scourging alone.

Crucifixion: The Romans did not invent crucifixion. It had been used by the Medes and Saracens centuries before Christ. The Romans refined it to a torture execution combining ultimate humiliation with maximum pain and slow death. Numerous forms of crosses were used ; victims could be impaled, tied, or nailed to these. Space does not permit a discussion here of the forms of crucifixion. I will describe only the type most likely used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Most art depicts Jesus crucified on a latin cross. In major cities of the Roman Empire, however, the rulr cross, shaped like a capital T, was most frequently used. Execution areas were outside city walls. Here a collection of bleak posts termed 'crux' or 'stipes' were firmly embedded in the soil and could be reused many times.

When sentence had been pronounced, the victim carried a wooden crossbar or 'paribulum,' weighing between eighty and one hundred pounds, to the site of execution. Scourging and crucifixion were seldom combined in a single victim. but one can imagine the excruciating pain of trying to carry a paribulum on a raw, bleeding back. When the death site was reached, the victim was stripped of his clothing and prepared for crucifixion. Metal spikes were driven through the area of the carpal bones at the base of the palms. Cross ligaments here would help support the weight of the suspended victim. A nail through the middle of the hand would not support a man's weight. The paribulum from which the victim dangled was fastened atop the stipes. The victim's feet were placed one atop the other; a spike was driven through them into the stipes.

The mechanism of death in crucifixion was usually suffocation. The crucified one's weight was thrown forward in such a way that the pectoral muscles tightened around the chest to the point of making normal breathing impossible. In order to breathe. the victim had to lift his weight by pushing upward from the spike through his feet. When exhaustion and weakness made this impossible, death by suffocation followed. Sometimes the dying process required several days. If death needed to be hastened for any reason, the victim's legs could be broken, as was done with the two felons crucified with Jesus. This made breathing impossible.

Most victims were crucified on a crux humilis; that is the offender's feet were only a few inches above the ground. This gave easy access to those who wished to participate in further torture. It also gave opportunity for packs of wild dogs and jackals to tear at the victim's flesh at night. Birds of prey participated in the torture by day. Ravens are recorded to have developed the gruesome habit of attacking and devouring the victim's eyes. Kings and other important personages, by contrast, were crucified on a crux sublimis - high above the crowds.

Burial was the exception rather than the rule for those crucified. Usually when death had taken place, the birds and beasts of prey scattered and devoured the remains.

Only an important person with political clout could claim the body of a crucifixion victim. Such a person was Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and devout man who requested the body of Jesus. Before granting such a request, a trained executioner would have to ensure that death had taken place. A javelin was taken and plunged into the victim's body just below the right rib margin. This was pointed upward and leftward so as to puncture the right atrium of the heart and release the pooled blood there.

In the case of Jesus, a mixture of blood and clear fluid came out when the javelin was withdrawn. This strongly suggests that the primary cause of Jesus' death was "cardiac tamponade. Under severe stress, fluid builds up in the sac around the damaged heart, forming what is known as pericardial effusion. As this builds up it can exert enough pressure to stop the beating of the heart, forming cardiac tamponade. In a sense Jesus may literally have died of a broken heart. Space will not permit us to discuss the effects of neurogenic shock from pain combining with the metabolic shock of blood loss and dehydration. We will not be able to discuss the possibilities of rapid fulminating infection from the multiple wounds. We will not discuss the role or emotions such as grief, disappointment, humiliation, and loneliness in hastening death.

What we do affirm is that beyond all medical doubt. Jesus of Nazareth was dead when He was taken from the cross. It is not amazing that He died before the two who were crucified with Him. It does amaze us that He was able, before He died, to speak at least seven times from the cross - including words of concern for His loved ones and of forgiveness for His executioners.

The death of Jesus is a horror to contemplate. It should brand on our minds an indelible picture of the brutality of unregenerate man, the awfulness of sin, and the sacrificial love of God.

It is said that the eastern shepherd, as he brings his sheep back to the fold each night, stands at the door and counts each one. As he does so, he puts his hand on the head of each animal; He makes a habit of touching each one of them. If he were to grow careless and neglected to habitually touch his sheep, it would soon turn its head away when it heard his voice! This, of course, could be very serious, for with such a broken habit would follow the animal's actually ignoring the warning shout from the shepherd and subsequently could be disastrous for the sheep.

If we are experiencing the Shepherd's touch daily in our lives, then we will recognize His voice when He warns of impending danger. This will mean "Practicing His presence" daily. If we do not "practice His presence" then we have probably been practicing the presence of our enemy. Our Lord awaits the moment to "touch" our day with His presence.

J. Wallace Hamilton in "THUNDER OF BARE FEET" gives us this priceless story. A sheepman in India as troubled by his neighbor's dogs who were killing his sheep. Sheepmen usually counter that problem with lawsuits, or barbed wire fences or even shotguns, but this man went to work on his neighbors with a better idea. To every neighbor's child he gave a lamb or two as pets, and in due time when all his neighbors had their own small flocks, they began to tie up their dogs, and that put an end to the problem. If we could walk where they walk, we could love all people.

Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. I John 3:1-8

A story from Scotland tells of a mother's dramatic rescue of her child. Workmen were blasting rock in a quarry. One day after they had attached the fuse and retired to a safe place having given an alarm, they saw a three-year-old child wandering across the open space where danger threatened. Every passing second meant that death was closing in on him.

The workmen called to the child and waved their arms, but he only looked on their strange antics with amusement. No man dared run forward. knowing the explosion was only seconds away. The child most certainly would have been killed, had not his mother appeared at this moment of crisis.

Taking in the situation at a glance, she did what her mother heart dictated. She did not run toward her son or yell to frighten him. Instead, she knelt down, opened wide her arms, and smiled for him to come. Instantly the child ran towards her; when the air shook with the gigantic explosion, he was safe in his mother's arms.

What a picture of the grace of God, and the cross! With outstretched arms, on the Cross, God in Christ gives His gracious invitation: Come to eternal safety. Will you come?

GOT TO BE COUPLED TO THE ENGINE Five Thousand Best Modern Illustrations

While a train was being made up, two men entered a car and took comfortable seats. They were asked by a grimy-faced trainman to move to the next car.

What's the matter with this car?" one inquired.

"Nothin'," he grinned, "only, it ain't coupled to anything that'll take you anywhere."

That is the trouble with basing faith on creeds instead of Christ and His finished work on the Cross: the soul that would journey heavenward must make sure of the coupling. We must be attached by faith to the atoning Savior-the Savior who was lifted up on the Cross for our sins. (Heb. 9:28)

THE DOVE ON THE WIRE Pillar of Fire.

Just out of reach from my window stretches a wire, which carried a heavy current of electricity for light and power. It is carefully insulated at every pole that supports it, and is carried well out of common reach. If I could lean out far enough to touch it, death would be swifter than the tiger's leap or the serpent's sting, as swift as the lightning stroke.

Yet the doves light on it and take no harm. They fly from my window sill where I sometimes feed them, to preen and rest upon it in safe content, and then fly off again to their search for food or nesting. The secret is that, when they touch the full powered wire they touch nothing else. They give themselves wholly to it. My danger would be that, while I touched the wire, I should also be touching the earth through the walls of my house, and the current would turn my body into a channel for escape. But they rest wholly on the wire, and experience neither dread nor danger. They are one with it, and they are safe.

So would God have us seek our safety in complete self-surrender to His Power and love. It is when we reach one hand to Him, while yet we keep fast hold of some forbidden thing with the other, that we are in danger. Christ enjoined us to love God with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind, with all our strength. When we do this we are safe.

THE MYSTERIOUS POWER OF THE CHILD Sherwood Eddy

Jesus left no book, no tract or written page behind him. He bequeathed no system, no philosophy, no theology, no legislation. He raised no armies, organized no institutions, held no office, sought no influence. He was no scholar, and yet he is more quoted than any writer in all history. His sayings at times are on most every tongue, and his words have literally gone into all the world. No man ever laid down his life in Asia or in Africa to translate Plato or Aristotle, Kant or Hegel, Shakespeare or Milton, but hundreds have died to carry Jesus' priceless words to the ends of the earth.

Several hundred languages have been reduced to writing in order to transmit his life-giving message. Savage tribes have been uplifted, cannibals civilized, head-hunters converted, schools and colleges founded, and the character and culture of individuals and of peoples have been changed as the result of the influence of His words which are creative spirit and life.

He was the Light,

yet he hung in the darkness on the cross.

He was the Life,

yet he poured out his soul unto death.

He was the Son of God,

yet he died a criminal's death.

He knew no sin,

yet he took our place and suffered in our stead.

He was the Mighty God,

yet he became a servant.

He experienced death,

yet through his resurrection He brings us life, full and eternal.

Emperor Theodosius, in the 4th century, denied the deity of Christ, as do any in this 20th century. When his son Arcadius was about sixteen, he decided to make him his partner in the government of the empire. Among the great men who assembled to congratulate the new wearer of the imperial purple was Bishop Amphilocus. He made a handsome address to the Emperor and was about to leave when Theodosius exclaimed, "What! Do you take no notice of my on?" Then the bishop went up to Arcadius and putting his hands upon his head said, 'The Lord bless thee, my son." The Emperor, roused to fury by this slight, exclaimed, "What! Is this all the respect you pay to a prince that I have made of equal dignity with myself?"

Amphilocus replied, "Sire, you do so highly resent my apparent neglect of your son, because I do not give him equal honors with yourself. Then what must the Eternal God think of you when you degrade His coequal and co-eternal Son to the level of one of His creatures?"

A preacher announced a special men's meeting in his church, proposing to give the men a chance to air their objections to Christianity.

Over 1,200 were present. The first objector said, "Church members are no better than others."

"The ministers are no good," said another.

And so the objections were mentioned one after another, as the pastor wrote them down on paper:

"Hypocrites in the church;

"The church is a rich man's club"

"Christians don't believe the Bible anymore."

There were 27 objections to Christianity in all.

When they were through, the pastor read off the whole list, then tossed it aside, saying "Friends, you have objected to pastors, to church members, to the Bible, etc., etc., but you have not said one word against my Master!"

And in a few simple words, he preached Christ to them as the faultless One, and invited them to come to Him, and believe on Him. Forty-nine men responded.

His birth brought joy to some, and fear to others. Simple shepherds who heard of His birth hurried to see Him. Wise men from the east followed the star that led to His birthplace with great expectancy of heart. Before a simple Babe both classes of men bowed the knee. Simplicity and wisdom met. The shepherds occupied themselves with the earth, the land on which they could feed their sheep. The wise men occupied themselves with the stars of heaven. This in a way is symbolic of the real meaning of Christmas, that heaven and earth met at Bethlehem.

But "when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him" (Mt. 2:3). Why was Herod so disturbed? It was because the wise men had asked where the child was born who was to become King of the Jews, and he immediately feared for his throne.

What kind of man was Herod? He was half Jew and half Edomite, that is, he came from the land of Idumea. In the Idumean dynasty, the Idumeans provided the native ruling house in Palestine for nearly a century and a half. Herod was able to win the trust of the Roman conquerors because he helped them greatly during their wars of conquest in Palestine. In 37 BC they made him procurator of Judea, and in 90 BC they crowned him king. He ruled until 4 BC and was called Herod the Great because of his power and authority. He was the only ruler of Palestine who was able to impose peace and tranquility on that region.

Herod could be most generous at times. In difficult periods he did not hesitate to overlook men's obligations and to alleviate the fears of some in order to help the majority of the people. After the famine of 25 BC he ordered that all his gold should be sold so that he could buy wheat for the starving populace.

But Herod was obsessed with suspicions. He suspected everybody, and looked on those who were more capable than himself as disturbers of the peace. He may even have rationalized his punitive actions toward them as justified, thinking, "It is my duty to preserve peace, and order."

But a suspicious nature is a terrible thing. A suspicious person becomes so twisted in his thinking that he regards even good people as dangerous and a threat to his own supremacy. Murder is a child of suspicion, as every crime of jealousy proves.

A great minister, who was noted for his Christlike spirit as well as for his consecrated ability, dreamed that he had died and stood at the gate of heaven knocking for admission. He gave his name, only to be told that his name did not appear upon the books. At last, at his earnest entreaty, he was bidden to enter and was told he would have the privilege of appearing before the Judge of all the earth, and if he could stand His test he might abide in heaven forever.

Standing before His throne, he gave his name, and the following questions were put to him: "Have you led a righteous life?" And he said, "No." "Have you always been kind and gentle?" Again he replied in the negative. "Have you always been forgiving to those who have been around you?" "Alas, no, I have miserably failed there." "Have you always been honest and just?" And he answered, "I'm afraid not." As question after question was put to him by the Judge, his case seemed more and more hopeless. The last question was asked him, and to that, too, he was obliged to give the same negative reply. Just when he seemed to be in despair, the brightness about the throne became brighter, and suddenly he heard a beautiful voice, the most beautiful to which his ears had ever listened. It was sweeter than a mother's voice; it was more beautiful than all the music of heaven; it filled all the arches of the skies and thrilled the soul of this man as he stood before the Judge trembling and was about to fall. The speaker said, "My Father, I know this man. It is true that he was weak in many ways, but he stood for Me in the world, and I take his place before Thee." Just as the last words of the sentence were spoken, the dream was over and the man woke up; but he had his lesson, and it is a lesson for us all. We have in ourselves no standing before God. It must be in Christ. The less credit we seek for ourselves down here, the more Christ will give us up there.

He is despised and rejected of men.... But He was wounded for our transgressions. Isaiah 3:3,5

I read a story about a crippled man who had been cruelly nicknamed "Old Rattle Bones" by some neighborhood boys. One day they saw him hobble up the steps of the house where their ringleader Freddie lived. Although Freddie was worried, he tried to hide his anxiety in front of his friends. "Go on, Old Rattle Bones," he shouted. "Tell my mother! See if I care!" The man sadly replied, "You wouldn't call me names if you knew why I walk like this." He rang the doorbell and was invited in by the boy's mother. After a few minutes, she came out and told Freddie to come in. As the boy sat down nervously, the man said to him, "When you were just a baby, your nurse took you out for a stroller ride near the river. There was a steep bank next to the sidewalk. When she was distracted for a moment, the handle slipped from her grasp and the stroller plunged into the river. I was nearby so I jumped into the icy water and brought you safely to shore. The cold water aggravated my rheumatic condition, and since then walking has been very difficult. That's why I walk the way I do." Freddie began to cry, ashamed that he had been so cruel to the one who had risked his life for him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what you had done for me. Thank you for saving my life. Please forgive me!"

In the Rospigliosi palace, in Rome is Reni's great picture of Aurora in the ceiling and can be studied only with great difficulty from the floor. However, a mirror is placed on a table so that it reflects the picture, and one can study it there with ease and pleasure.

God is a spirit; and He is in heaven "dwelling in light unapproachable." But the incarnation, which we so gladly celebrate, was the bringing of the reflection of the glorious person of God down to earth in human form and life. Men looked at Jesus and saw in Him the very reflection of God, "the express image His person."

Someone has well said: "In looking at the sun through a telescope, if we use unstained glass, the eye will be burned to the socket, and we shall see nothing; but if we employ a colored medium, we can examine it with safety." So, no man can see God and live. But if we contemplate Him through Christ; that is, if we come to Him through the medium of humanity, we behold Him without being destroyed; nay, the sight of Him imparts salvation to us; for we behold His glory as that of "the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14)

JESUS NEVER SAW A PROSTITUTE Campolo "Who Changed The Price Tags?"

One of my Jewish students answered, "Jesus never met a prostitute.

I jumped at the opening; here was my chance, I thought. I could show this guy a thing or two about Jesus and about the New Testament. "Yes, He did," I responded. "I'll show you in my Bible where-"

The young man interrupted me. "You didn't hear me, Doctor. I said Jesus never met a prostitute."

Once again I protested. Once again I reached for my New Testament. I started to leaf through the pages of my Bible searching for those passages which showed Jesus forgiving the "fallen woman." I searched for the place where He gave the woman at the well a chance for spiritual renewal.

Once again, my Jewish student spoke out, this time with a touch of anger in his raised voice. "You're not listening to me, Doctor. You aren't listening to what I am saying. I am saying that Jesus never met a prostitute. Do you think that when he looked at Mary Magdalene he saw a prostitute? Do you think he saw whores when he looked at women like her? Doctor, listen to me! Jesus never met a prostitute!"

I fell silent. My theology was under judgment. I was being corrected by a Jewish student who, in some ways, may have understood Jesus better than some of us who go by the name Christian.

To be a Christian is to learn to see people as Christ sees them. In the church, when the church is really being the church, its members accept things that the world cannot accept. The prostitute becomes a sister. The corrupt politician becomes a brother. The homosexual becomes a fellow saint. The drug addict becomes a priest in the priesthood of all believers.

"Crazy!" you say? Of course it's crazy. At its best, there is no fellowship on earth that is crazier than the church. At its best, the church befriends people we would never get to meet within the sterile confines of our class-structured society. In the church, we are ushered into loving relationships with people who otherwise would be strangers. In the church, Democrats can get to know Republicans, pacifists can get to know soldiers, punk-rockers can get to know lovers of Bach. With that kind of variety, the church has got to be fun.

RECOGNIZING THE COST Anthony Campolo "Who Switched the Price Tags"

While most of us know what happened on the cross, few of us reflect upon what Jesus suffered on our behalf. The hymn writer rightly tells us:

But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed thru

Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

Even more plainly we see him in Christ. E. Stanley Jones was an ambassador of Christ to the people of India. He versed himself in Hindu philosophy - a philosophy for which he had great respect. He tells us that the Hindu philosophers strained their minds to grasp the infinite and came to the conclusion, the startling conclusion, that all they could say about God is "Neti. Neti.'' "Not that. Not that."

One day one of the disciples said to Jesus, '"Show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied." Jesus said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14: 8-9). He didn't say, "Not that. Not that." He said, "Now here, Now here." and he pointed to himself. For Jesus is God's revelation of himself.

In one of his books the late James Black tells of a dream he had. In this dream he moved among the old temples of ancient Greece. Near one of them he met a priest and began to talk to him. Pointing to some people approaching the temple, the dreamer said to the priest: "I suppose these people honor and love their god." "Honor?" said the priest. "Love? What do you mean? They fear him because he may destroy them, but love . . . ." "Even now," said the dreamer, "I shudder at the very memory of my dream, for with a harsh, coarse, horrible cackle of laughter the priest said : 'Whoever loved a god?' ''

"But," said the dreamer, "do not these people seek to know the will or the god?'' "Will," said the priest. "He does not work by will, but by whim, by caprice. He may smite with illness, curse with barrenness, blight with disaster. No one can know the mind of a god. One may only appease his anger." The gods are not interested in men, though for their sport they sometimes plague them.

JESUS CHRIST - MARTYR Our Daily Bread

On the file folders in its biographical morgue, The Washington Post identifies famous people with a single vocational notice, such as "home run king" or "motion picture star." According to a former reporter, one of these files is marked, "Jesus Christ (martyr)."

Every individual who considers Jesus Christ makes some judgment about Him. French philosopher and historian Ernest Renan said, "All history is incomprehensible without Christ." American author Ralph Waldo Emerson concluded, "His name is not so much written but plowed into the history of the world."

FEEL THE WEIGHT OF HIS CROSS Dean Wasson 3/15/94

An American business man enjoyed the famous Passion Play at Oberammergau, the production emulated by the great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

After the play, the man went backstage to meet the actor who portrayed Jesus. As they talked, the man saw the cross that the actor carried in the play. Before the actor had a chance to stop him, the business man handed over his camera and said, "Hey, take a picture of me carrying the cross." He bent over and tried in vain to lift the huge cross to his shoulders.

With sweat rolling down his face, he turned in frustration to the actor and said, "I thought it would be hollow; why is it so heavy?" With a smile of compassion the actor answered, "If I could not feel the weight of it, it would be impossible to play the part."

When Jesus went to Calvary, He carried our sins with Him. Perhaps this reality alone caused the cross to weigh so heavy upon the strong shoulders of the carpenter from Nazareth. Unless we feel this weight He bore, we will never fully understand the meaning of being in debt to Jesus.

The poet once lamented, "He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song; Amazing Grace!' Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay."

PILATE, what do you think of this man? "I find no fault in Him at all."

JUDAS, what about you? "I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood."

CENTURION, what is your testimony? "Truly, this was the Son of God."

JOHN THE BAPTIST,? "Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."

JOHN, what say you concerning this man? "He is the bright and morning star."

PETER, what do you say? "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God."

THOMAS, what is your word? "My Lord, and my God."

PAUL, what do you think of Christ? "I count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."

ANGELS IN HEAVEN, what is your testimony? "Unto you is born a Saviour which is Christ the Lord."

And our HEAVENLY FATHER? "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him."

DEFENDED THOUGH GUILTY Lynn Newsletter, Paul Nichols

Robert Dorty, attorney at law, was waiting in his Salem, Virginia office for a client. The client, Carl Garman, age 27, was accused of driving while under the influence. He had called upon Dorty to "stand by his side" in order to defend him when it came time to make his appearance in court.

An appointment was set up for the attorney to meet with the client; and now, Garman is late. But wait, here he comes...! Crash...!! Garman comes bursting into the room still in his car. Carl Garman now faces two counts of drunk driving!

Garman made it plain to Dorty that there was a good chance he was guilty as charged. As a result, rather than defend him or "stand by him," Dorty added to the charge.

Can you blame him? I mean, what lawyer would like a client who is most likely guilty?! Our "Advocate" before the Father does!! I John 2:1 speaks of Jesus Christ as being the Christian's "Advocate". This word literally means "Called alongside" and describes anyone called to the assistance of another. This word was especially used in the law courts for those who would plead and defend the person on trial. Thus, this word is most accurate in describing the intercessory work of Jesus. He pleads for his people before the Father! For what does He plead? There is more than a good chance that Christians will be guilty of sin after becoming His; it is a fact!! Thus, His blood and His righteousness is our hope!! We truly are the defended even though we are guilty!!

WE WERE AT CALVARY James D. Saunders Angola Ch of Christ

Many times we have thought about the cruelty of the ones who crucified Christ. We condemn the money-hungry Judas, the fear-filled Peter, the position-conscious Pilate, and the tradition-blinded Pharisees; but let us look anew at Calvary, for we were there!

If we have obtained money at the expense of another, our lips have touched the cheek of Christ in the garden.

If we ever remained silent when given the opportunity to testify for Him, we stood by the fire declaring, "I know not the man!"

If we have made fun of another's infirmities, we plaited a crown of thorns for the King of Kings.

Do we reject His sacrifice? Then we are on the other cross cursing with the unrepentant thief.

Yes, we were at Calvary where the nails were driven into His hands and feet. It was our sins, yours and mine, that held Him on the tree. But more - it was of us He spoke He uttered those words to heaven, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

( copied : "We Were at Calvary")

Thoughts from a Blood Donor's Table The Sword & Staff Vol. 33 #2 1995

I gave my blood.

Christ gave his.

I give a pint.

He gave all.

The needle is small, sharp.

The nails were large, dull.

The table soft, restful.

The cross rough, painful.

The nurses kind, gentle.

The soldiers cruel, mean.

The crowd applauds my sacrifice.

"They that passed by reviled him."

Mine is for O Positive.

His for positively all.

Mine, at best, will prolong a Life for a while.

His, without doubt, can save all forever.

(An impressive appeal for blood by the AMERICAN RED CROSS in a small town in Oklahoma)

When our Lord was here on earth He frequently ministered to man's needs with His hands. He broke the loaves and the fishes to feed a hungry multitude. He made clay and rubbed it on the eyes of a blind man to give him sight. He touched an unclean leper in the act of cleansing him. He said to Thomas: "Behold my hands" One day we, too, shall behold them.

The story is told of a young girl whose mother was very beautiful - all except her hands, which were shriveled and scarred and hideous. Although the child was long reluctant to speak about them, the time came when she asked her mother how the hands became so marred.

The mother told her how their house caught fire when the girl was very little. The other rushed upstairs to the room where the girl was sleeping in her crib, and with the help of the Lord was able to carry the babe downstairs and outside without being harmed. But in doing so, the mother's hands were terribly burned.

This brought sobs to the child as she said, "O Mother; you know I've always loved you - especially your face, your smile and your eyes. But better than all, now I love your hands."

I read about an incident that reminded me of a great principle. In the late 1700's, the manager of Baltimore's largest hotel refused lodging to a man dressed like a farmer because he thought this fellow's appearance would discredit his inn. So the man left. Later that evening, the innkeeper discovered that he had turned away none other than Thomas Jefferson! Immediately he sent a note to the famed patriot, asking him to come back and be his guest. Jefferson replied by instructing his messenger as follows: "Tell him I have already engaged a room. I value his good intentions highly but if he has no place for a dirty American farmer, he has none for the Vice President of the United States."

On the basis of the computation in the Moscow Gazette, Gustave Valbert in his day could report that "From the year 1496 B.C. to A.D. 1861 in 3358 years there were 227 years of peace and 3,130 years of war, or 13 years of war to every year of peace. Within the last three centuries, there have been 286 wars in Europe. He added that from the year 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1860 more than 8000 treaties of peace, meant to remain in force forever, were concluded. The average time they remained in force was two years."

Graffiti found on a wall of St. John's University:

Jesus said unto them: "Who do you say that I am?"

And they replied: "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationships."

And Jesus said: "What?"

In a 3rd-century debate on Christianity, Celsus said to Origen, "When most teachers go forth to teach, they cry, 'Come to me, you who are clean and worthy,' and they are followed by the highest caliber of people available. But your silly master cries, 'Come to me, you who are down and beaten by life,' and so he accumulates around him the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity."

And Origen replied: "Yes, they are the rag, tag and bobtail of humanity. But Jesus does not leave them that way. Out of material you would have thrown away as useless, he fashions men, giving them back their self-respect, enabling them to stand on their feet and look God in the eyes. They were cowed, cringing, broken things. But the Son has set them free."

PRUNING PRACTICES - Merrill C. Tenney, "John: The Gospel of Belief" (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1948), pp.227-28

In John 15:2, Jesus reveals two actions of the vine-dresser; one, He does something with the branch that isn't bearing any fruit at all; two, He does something with the branch that isn't bearing enough fruit. In the first case, He "takes away"; in the second, He "prunes." Vines occasionally yield an unproductive, fruitless branch. When that happens, the gardener immediately goes to work, as Merrill Tenney notes in his commentary.

Viticulture... consists mainly of pruning. In pruning a vine, two principles are generally observed: first, all dead wood must be ruthlessly removed; and second, the live wood must be cut back drastically. Dead wood harbors insects and disease and may cause the vine to rot, to say nothing of being unproductive and unsightly. Live wood must be trimmed back in order to prevent such heavy growth that the life of the vine goes into the wood rather than into fruit. The vineyards in the early spring look like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps; but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant purple grapes. As the farmer wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.

I - I am the bread of life, he that comes to me shall never hunger.

I - I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in

darkness but have the light of life.

I - I am the door - if any man enter through me he shall be saved.

I - I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd gives his life for the

sheep.

I - I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me.

I - I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me - though

he were dead, shall live.

I - I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes unto the Father but

by me.

I - I am the vine and you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I

in him, he will bear much fruit.

If you don't believe that "I am" you will die in your sins. John 8:24

BUYING THE PICTURE OF THE SON

The story is told of a wealthy man who lost his wife when their only child was young. A housekeeper was hired to take care of the boy, who lived only into his teens. Heartbroken from this second loss, the father died a short time later. No will could be found; and since there were no relatives, it looked as if the state would get his fortune. The man's personal belongings, including his mansion, were put up for sale. The old housekeeper had very little money, but there was one thing she wanted. It was a picture that had hung on a wall in the house -- a photo of the boy she had loved and nurtured. When the items were sold, nobody else wanted the picture, so she bought it for just a few pennies. Taking it home, she began to clean it and polish the glass. As she took it apart, a paper fell out. It was the man's will, and in it he stated that all his wealth should go to the one who loved his son enough to buy that picture.

The legacy of heaven and the inexhaustible riches of God's love belong to all who trust and love His Son.

He was born in an obscure village. The child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. He then became an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born.

He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he died, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and the kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

A retreat director once observed that when Jesus hung on the cross, all he had left was his trust.

Talk about rain! Jesus was stripped of all his clothing (contrary to European people's perception, those crucified were naked on the cross), all his friends, all his wealth, all his dignity, all his strength. All he had left while hanging there was his trust. And amazingly, it was that trust, and that trust alone that saw him through his death and eventual resurrection.

When the sun is shining in our lives, we begin to form the impression that somehow it has been our wisdom, our work, our wealth, our strength that has kept that sun shining and the rain from falling on our heads. We think that somehow, we've brought under our control God's blessings toward us. We assume that we are self-made people.

But the truth remains that it could start raining - and raining hard - at a moment's notice, and there is precious little we can do about it except to get wet. For we are never self-made people. We are God-made people. And if anyone is to get the credit, it is to be Him. We are, after all, always vulnerable to the enemies which surround us whether we admit it to ourselves or not.

So what is there to do when it does start raining? One option of course is to curse it - to engage in debate and speculation as to whose fault it is and what went wrong. I guess it's OK for those who seem to get comfort from such endeavors, but it really gets one no where.

To me, the other option makes more sense - to accept the rain. And then to learn through it (at last) that the only thing that we really have in our world to get us through... the only thing that we can rely upon... the only thing that works... the only thing that no amount of rain can ever take away - is our trust. And sometimes we simply fail to realize that until we are forced to face the rain without it. Karl Klostermeier, Trinity Lutheran April 1990

PICTURE OF JESUS TRANSFORMS ROOM Our Daily Bread1/3/89 Paul R.Van Gorder

When a young man left home for his freshman year of college, his mother was concerned that he wouldn't keep his dorm room in order. So when she visited him at Thanksgiving, she was not surprised to find his room in total disarray. Papers and books were scattered all over the place. But what shocked her the most were the obscene pictures hanging on the walls.

At Christmas time, she sent her son a box of presents, including a portrait of Jesus. He thanked her for the gifts but didn't say anything about the picture. In the spring, when she visited the school again, her son was eager for her to come to his room. Upon entering, she found on the best wall space the picture of Christ. All the other pictures were gone. Wisely she said, "Jack, there is something different about your room. Did you get a new rug?" "No." "Is this new paper on the wall?" "No." When I was here before, it seemed to me you had more pictures than now." "Yes, I did, Mother, but those other pictures seemed out of place after that one of Jesus came into the room."

THE EMPTY EGG Our Daily Bread 3/31/91

One warm spring afternoon near Easter, a teacher gave a large plastic egg to each of her students. Then she sent them outside to find signs of life and put them inside their egg.

Soon they returned. In one was a butterfly. In another was an ant. Others contained flowers, twigs, blades of grass. But one egg had nothing in it. Everyone knew whose it was - it belonged to a boy with Down's Syndrome. Some of the kids laughed at him. The teacher asked him why he had not put any signs of life in the egg. he said quietly, "because the tomb was empty." That boy knew a profound truth - Easter is more than a celebration of nature's life cycle.

THE CROSS WAS HIS OWN by Anonymous

They borrowed a bed to lay his head, when Christ the Lord came down;

They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass for him to ride to town;

But the crown that he wore & the cross that he bore were his own

- the cross was his own.

He borrowed the bread when the crowd he fed on the grassy mountain side;

He borrowed the dish of broken fish with which he satisfied;

But the crown that he wore & the cross that he bore were his own

- the cross was his own.

He borrowed a ship in which to sit to teach the multitudes;

He borrowed a nest in which to rest, He never had a home so crude;

But the crown that he wore and the cross that he bore were his own

- the cross was his own.

He borrowed a room on his way to the tomb the Passover lamb to eat;

They borrowed a cave for him as grave; they borrowed a winding sheet;

But the crown that he wore and the cross that he bore were his own

- the cross was his own.

REMEMBERING THE SCARS Pulpit Helps October 1991, p. 12

John B. Gordon was one of the best generals of the south. He led the last official attack on the Union at Appomatox that Sunday morning in April, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant. General Gordon later became a candidate for the U.S. Senate. A man who served under him in the Confederate army became angry over some political incident, and as a member of the legislature, vowed to do everything in his power to defeat him.

When the convention convened, he stormed down the aisle with his anti- Gordon vote in hand. On the platform sat his old commander with a once handsome face, now disfigured by the scars of battle. As he saw Gordon, memories of the old days came back and he was overcome with emotion. Tears streaming down his cheeks he said; "It's no use, boys, I can't do it! Here goes my vote for John B. Gordon." Then turning to the general he said, "Forgive me, General, I had forgotten the scars!"

If you are one of those who once marched and won victories under the banner of Jesus, now fighting against Him, read Luke 23. Then you may say, "Forgive me Father, I had forgotten the scars."

He was the Light, yet he hung in darkness on the cross.

He was the Life, yet he poured out his soul unto death.

He was the Rock of Ages, yet his feet sank into the deep waters.

He was the Son of God, yet he died a felon's death.

He knew no sin, yet he took our place and suffered in our stead.

He was the Mighty God, yet he became a servant.

He experienced death, yet thru his Resurrection he brings us life full & eternal.

BY TAKING HIS HAND

The story is told of a young street urchin who stood before Buckingham Palace and demanded to see the King of England. The guard informed the child that that would be impossible, but the more the guard insisted, the louder and more determined the young boy became.

Just then, a well dressed man approached the gate and observed the commotion. Speaking with the guard, he took the boy by the hand and led him through the gate. As they proceeded down the halls of the Palace, those who passed gave respectful greetings and nods of the head to the tall well dressed stranger, until at last they stood in the presence of the King.

The urchin had only gained audience with the King because the Prince of Wales had taken his dirty little hand in his and had brought him along with him into the throne room of His King. So, also, when we allow Jesus to take our unworthy hand in His, do we gain access to our gracious Father.

VICARIOUS ATONEMENT Leadership Spring '84, p. 45

I read about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. His father met him in the living room and said nothing.

At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father's full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.

The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy and smiled at his son.

When that boy grew to be a man, he said, "All my life I've known what God is like by what my father did that night."

THE EFFECT OF A LAMB'S DEATH Pulpit Helps 4/92, p.1

A man had worked for a meat packing firm for many years. He had cut the throats of many animals. He had heard the cattle bellow, the fowl squawk and pigs squeal. One day, a farmer brought a lamb to be slaughtered. With business as usual, the man took his sharp knife and cut the lamb's throat. The lamb did not squawk and flop like the fowl. Nor did it squeal and flounder like the pigs. The lamb did not bellow and slump like the cattle. The little lamb just silently stood before the man. With blood flowing from its throat, the lamb tottered toward its executioner and licked the blood from his hands, and began to totter from side to side. Then, the lamb silently slumped and slipped into death's cold clutches. The man's mind could not release that scene. For the remainder of the day, the lamb's death occupied his mind. The night began a series of sleepless nights for this veteran of the meat packing business. After almost a month of restless nights and days, the man went to his supervisor and said, "I quit! The death of that lamb was more than I can bear. I cannot kill another animal, for that comes into my mind is the death of that lamb!" Truly, the death of the lamb changed that man's life.

WATER FROM THE ROCK Pulpit Helps, 9/92, p.16

In my physical geology class, I have learned that we can actually get water from rocks. Believe me, it was not easy for me to understand this. The process is simple, it is the principle of heat. The rocks are loaded into this furnace then heated. Hydrogen and oxygen a