What's Inside

Here are some of the things that take place in our days:

1) “Word by Book” (Studying the Bible chapter by chapter, book by book, as the Spirit leads) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” –Paul (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

2)“Worship and Prayer!” (Come with your problems, issues, and difficulties. We would love to pray with you. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” –Jesus (John 14:12-14).

3)"Movies" (Watching movies that edify, inspire, and lift us up while proclaiming the deep truths of God and man)

..and the treasure of it all...

4) "Fellowship"; "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." —Hebrews 10:24-25

Amen!

Tears

I’ve glance the impenetrable beauty
I’ve tasted the serendipity!
Oh, how much I want them to know!
Oh, how I desire for them to see!

Dear Father, sweet Abba
Pour out Your latter rain on them.
Pour out Your unchanging grace
Let it fall afresh on them all!

Dear Father, Providential Care
Show them how You suffer
Show them how You love!
Manifest to them all Your boundless joy!

Oh unsearchable Depth, call out to those who bare the marred image
of your subsistent Being. Make rich the melody of their inner soul;
draw them to Your soft heart, of which is pierced because of their
rebellion against Your Love

“It is not My desire that none shall perish…”

Tears, tears and more tears! Sweet secret drops that are shed for
those who swear unto Your Holy and Precious Name oh Lord! They
take that which is most precious and able to save their souls and use
it in conjunction with profanity unspeakable! Speak they do, but
hearts so cold and dead they don’t know the harm they do!

So cold and dead are the hearts of the sons and daughters of Adam.

Can I cry anymore? Can I cry anymore? Can I feel while my feelings
have been made numb by their pain? Can I?

I can, and I will. May all praises, glory, and honor be given to the One
who sustains the hearts of those who hate Him; for who alone bore
the transgressions of the world?

Who but He emptied His veins out?

-Joseph

Trilemma (C. S. Lewis)

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon and you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

What are we to make of Jesus Christ? This is a question which has, in a sense, a frantically comic side. For the real question is not what are we to make of Christ, but what is He to make of us? The picture of a fly sitting deciding what it is going to make of an elephant has comic elements about it. But perhaps the questioner meant what are we to make of Him in the sense of 'How are we to solve the historical problem set us by the recorded sayings and acts of this Man?' This problem is to reconcile two things. On the one hand you have got the almost generally admitted depth and sanity of His moral teaching, which is not very seriously questioned, even by those who are opposed to Christianity. In fact, I find when I am arguing with very anti-God people that they rather make a point of saying, 'I am entirely in favour of the moral teaching of Christianity'——and there seems to be a general agreement that in the teaching of this Man and of his immediate followers, moral truth is exhibited at its purest and best. It is not sloppy idealism, it is full of wisdom and shrewdness. The whole thing is realistic, fresh to the highest degree, the product of a sane mind. That is one phenomenon.The other phenomenon is quite the appalling nature of this Man's theological remarks. You all know what I mean, and I want rather to stress the point that the appalling claim which this Man seems to be making is not merely made at one moment of His career. There is, of course, the one moment which led to His execution. The moment at which the High Priest said to Him, 'Who are you?' 'I am the Anointed, the Son of the uncreated God, and you shall see Me appearing at the end of all history as the judge of the Universe.' But that claim, in fact, does not rest on this one dramatic moment. When you look into His conversation you will find this sort of claim running through the whole thing. For instance, He went about saying to people, 'I forgive your sins.' Now it is quite natural for a man to forgive something you do to him. Thus if somebody cheats me out of ££5 it is quite possible and reasonable for me to say, 'Well, I forgive him, we will say no more about it.' What on earth would you say if somebody had done you out of ££5 and I said, 'That is all right, I forgive him'? Then there is curious thing which seems to slip out almost by accident. On one occasion this Man is sitting looking down on Jerusalem from the hill above it and suddenly in comes an extraordinary remark——'I keep on sending you prophets and wise men.' Nobody comments on it. And yet, quite suddenly, almost incidentally, He is claiming to be the power that all through the centuries is sending wise men and leaders into the world. Here is another curious remark: in almost every religion there are unpleasant observances like fasting. This Man suddenly remarks one day, 'No one need fast while I am here.' Who is this Man who remarks that His mere presence suspends all normal rules? Who is the person who can suddenly tell the School they can have a half-holiday? Sometimes the statements put forward the assumption that He, the Speaker, is completely without sin or fault. This is always the attitude. 'You, to whom I am talking, are all sinners.' and He never remotely suggests that this same reproach can be brought against Him. He says again, 'I am begotten of the One God, before braham was, I am,' and remember what the words 'I am' were in Hebrew. They were the name of God, which must not be spoken by any human being, the name which it was death to utter.Well, that is the other side. On the one side clear, definite moral teaching. On the other, claims which, if not true, are those of a megalomaniac, compared with whom Hitler was the most sane and humble of men. There is no half-way house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him 'Are you the son of Bramah?' he would have said, 'My son you are still in the vale of illusion.' If you had gone to Socrates and asked, 'Are you Zeus?' he would have laughed at you. If you would have gone to Mohammed and asked, 'Are you Allah?' he would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off. If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you Heaven?', I think he would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with nature are in bad taste.' The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man. If you think you are a poached egg, when you are looking for a piece of toast to suit you, you may be sane, but if you think you are God, there is no chance for you. We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three effects——Hatred ——Terror——Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.What are we to do about reconciling the two contradictory phenomena? One attempt consists in saying that the Man did not really say these things, but that His followers exaggerated the story, and so the legend grew up that He had said them. This is difficult because His followers were all Jews; that is, they belonged to that Nation which of all others was most convinced that there was only one God——that there could not possibly be another. It is very odd that this horrible invention about a religious leader should grow up among the one people in the whole earth least likely to make such a mistake. On the contrary we get the impression that none of His immediate followers or even the New Testament writers embraced the doctrine at all easily.Another point is that on that view you would have to regard the accounts of the Man as being legends. Now, as a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and am quite clear that they are not the same sort of thing. They are not artistic enough to be legends. From an imaginative point of view they are clumsy, they don't work up to things properly. Most of the life of Jesus is totally unknown to us, as is the life of anyone else who lived at that time, and no people building up a legend would allow that to be so. Apart from bits of the Platonic dialogues, there are no conversations that I know of in ancient literature like the Fourth Gospel. There is nothing, even in modern literature, until about a hundred years ago when the realistic novel came into existence. In the story of the woman taken in adultery we are told Christ bent down and scribbled in the dust with His finger. Nothing comes of this. No one has ever based any doctrine on it. And the art of inventing little irrelevant details to make an imaginary scene more convincing is a purely modern art. Surely the only explanation of this passage is that the thing really happened? The author put it simply because he had seen it.Then we come to the strangest story of all, the story of the Resurrection. It is very necessary to get the story clear. I heard a man say, 'The importance of the Resurrection is that it gives evidence of survival, evidence that the human personality survives death.' On that view what happened to Christ would be what had always happened to all men, the difference being that in Christ's case we were privileged to see it happening. This is certainly not what the earliest Christian writers thought. Something perfectly new in the history of the Universe had happened. Christ had defeated death. The door which had always been locked had for the very first time been forced open. This is something quite distinct from mere ghost-survival. I don't mean that they disbelieved in ghost-survival. On the contrary, they believed in it so firmly that, on more than one occasion, Christ had to assure them that he was not a ghost. That point is that while believing in survival they yet regarded the Resurrection as something totally different and new. The Resurrection narratives are not a picture of survival after death; they record how a totally new mode of being has arisen in the Universe. Something new had appeared in the Universe: as new as the first coming of organic life. This Man, after death, does not get divided into 'ghost' and 'corpse'. A new mode of being has arisen. That is the story. What are we going to make of it?The question is, I suppose, whether any hypothesis covers the facts so well as the Christian hypothesis. That hypothesis is that God has come down into the created universe, down to manhood——and come up again, pulling it up with Him. The alternative hypothesis is not legend, nor exaggeration, nor the apparitions of a ghost. It is either lunacy or lies. Unless one can take the second alternative (and I can't) one turns to the Christian theory.'What are we to make of Christ?' There is no question of what we can make of Him, it is entirely a question of what He intends to make of us. You must accept or reject the story.The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, 'This is the truth about the Universe. This is the way you ought to go,' but He says, 'I am the way the Truth, and the Way, and the Life.' He says, 'No man can reach absolute reality, except through Me. Try to retain your own life and you will be inevitably ruined. Give yourself away and you will be saved.' He says, 'If you are ashamed of Me, if, when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise. If anything whatever is keeping you from God and from Me, whatever it is, throw it away. If it is your eye, pull it out. If it is your hand, cut it off. If you put yourself first you will be last. Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right. Your sins, all of them, are wiped out, I can do that. I am Re-birth, I am Life. Eat Me, drink Me, I am your Food. And finally, do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole Universe.' That is the issue.

-C. S. Lewis

Behold, I stand at the door and knock...

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." -Revelation 3:19-20

Who Can Save You?

A man falls into deep quicksand. Although he is strong, unbelievably agile, uncompromisingly rational, and is guided by his “good” intentions, none of these things serve him in this serious situation. He is found lacking, and there is neither branch nor root to grab a hold of, so that he can pull himself out. He was traveling with companions, but because of the distance found between him and his companions, nothing can be done immediately. Nothing can be used on site, and no one can reach him. He is slowly slipping into the deep abyss of murky sands, and unforgivable suffocation waits for this soul of a man.


His companions flee, seeking for help. They leave him alone.


As this man begins to panic, and cry out for help, Buddha walks by the pool of sand, and compassionately looks at the man. “I am sorry for your condition, and I know your intense desire to free yourself from this visible prison. But since neither you, nor I, can free you from the visible, allow me to speak to you words of wisdom that will indeed free you from your invisible prison. Free your mind of this fear… do not be mindful of your present situation, but instead focus on your breath… and control it. Then, as your mind begins to settle on the ground-state of your being, and moves from transitory thoughts to solidity, allow yourself to pass into the essence of truth, and be one with what is not seen. It is at this point you shall free from your present suffering, for suffering is only in the mind”, speaks Buddha to the man. After he spoke these words, he left.


Another man comes by; although the meaning of “man” is loose here. Indeed, it is one of the deities found within the Hindu scriptures. He speaks to the drowning man, “Ah, child of evil karma, and fool who does not notice his own nature! How do you stay panicking, not knowing that this life is nothing more then a dream within a thousand million dreams? This life will pass, but you will return. However, it is quit apparent that your karma speaks of necessary balance, and thus you are being repaid what you gave out on this plan of existence, and countless others. Listen to me now! Let this happen without struggle, and embrace your destiny. Put your mind at ease, and meditate on celestial wisdom! It is in this, and only in this, that you will possibly return back a higher being then you are now. Be quick, and free yourself!” He then vanishes into the meta-world, beyond the vision of this poor man. Now the sands reach his chest… and the man sighs and weeps, for his ending is near.


Alas, another man comes by him and speaks. “Ah, peace be unto you! It is a sad thing to see such a fate as yours, poor man. How could I help you in such a situation? I cannot! This is obviously the will of Allah, and such a thing could never be thwarted. Allah, in his infinite wisdom and power, apparently thought it right for you to end your existence in such a way. If I were to even attempt to help, I would be indeed going against the all compassionate one; I would be moving against Allah’s will! I am sorry.” Mohamed then walked around the pool of quick sand and made his way on. The sands are moving quickly pass his chest and up to his neck. He became silent with fear, and began to realize that the air he draws into his lounges might very well be his last.


But just as these thoughts streamed pass his mind, Moses comes along side the pool and said, “The Lord my God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true and living God, has commanded me to love my brother as well as the stranger. In fulfilling the law that is given to me and all my brethren, those others that are the children of Jacob, sons and daughters of Israel, I will say to you, ‘I love you’ and act accordingly. However, because of the vast distance that lies between you and me, I can in no way reach out to you. But My God is able, and nothing is too hard for him! Thus says the Lord, ‘Wait on Me, and I will deliver you. I have raised up a prophet, who is a Hebrew, a brother according the flesh of Moses, and all the Israelites. Listen to Him! He is my Son.’” Moses then departed. At this point the man is almost submerged in the quick sand. He takes his last breath, closes his eyes, and slowly begins to accept his condition.


A man then rushes along side the pool out of nowhere. He looks more average then the previous 4 men that came along side this pool of death, and has no special clothing nor features. “I am your life…” this average man spoke.…He then throws himself in the sands and begins to leverage himself with the man, allowing the man to come back up for some air. He then settles the man on his shoulders, allowing him to reach out to the edge of the pool. The man steps on his shoulders, and even his head, so he can get out safely. And he does. He is free, but costs the “average” man his life. The name of the one who sacrificed himself for that man: Jesus.


All religions tell you to work your way up to heaven, and to earn your entrance into the presence of God. But this is impossible. He is Holy, and we can never earn our way in. How can a vile creature like you and I make our presence among a Holy God? Indeed, He is merciful and compassionate, yet He cannot fellowship with those who are defiled by sin, and naked in our own afflictions.


He is a Holy and Just God. How can this gap be bridged. It was bridged by the cross.


A Holy God died for our sins, paying the penalty of sin (which is death)! What grace! What love! What mercy!

Who can save you?He can. He did!


Except His love, and put your trust in Him.


Come.

Taste freedom.

-Joseph