T.J.I.F.A.

THANK JESUS IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN!
PASS IT ON...& ON...& ON...& ON
JUNE 27, 2003


HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! REMEMBER OUR SOLDIERS.  FLY YOUR FLAG!  SALUTE!


SUBJECT: COME...
WE MUST COME TO JESUS AS A LITTLE CHILD.  HIS DESIRE IS THAT WE FOLLOW HIM IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUTH.  JESUS LOVES YOU.  HE WILL NEVER LEAD YOU ASTRAY.  JUST COME.  

NOTEWORTHY: SONG CONTRIBUTED BY F.W.R.

FRIDAY'S WORD: EXTIRPATE

IN THE MIRROR: A PRE-SUPPOSED THOUGHT

O TASTE AND SEE!  HALF SALAD.  VERY QUICK AND EASY FOR THESE HOT SUMMER EVENINGS.  ENOUGH FOR TWO PEOPLE.  ENJOY!  

LOOKING FORWARD

SEE YA NEXT TIME

TER 
Come...

     
Matthew 14:22-33 :
There is no place that GOD asks us to go that He hasn't already been.  

When we decide to follow Christ, we must,    then,  put all of our trust in Him. our  understanding has to become that of a child.   the reasoning   that we now have is only for this time and age.  The understanding that GOD wants us to have is that which is gained only in a relationship with GOD through Jesus Christ.  This relationship allows you to lean on Him in all circumstances.  He doesn't get aggravated when we call on Him in good or bad times; He doesn't threaten our future with absence when we miss the mark.     GOD doesn't kick us when we fall and He never calls us a failure.  His penetrating Word to us is always."COME."  

GOD is never embarrassed about the way that we  presently look - He's going to dress us in a purely acceptable manner one of these days - but until then, He says..."COME."

When a baby is learning to walk, he is very excited.  He lifts his arms to his parent every opportunity he has, to try these new legs.  The parent holds the child by both little hands, firmly, and proceeds to take steps backward as he leads the child forward.  

The young child is enthusiastic and excited as he looks into the face of his parent assisting him to walk.  The tiny feet are picked up and awkwardly slammed down on the floor by the novice ambulatory.  

The Joy that radiates between the parent and the child is insurmountable.  The trust that the baby has in the parent is sure.  The baby has no fear as he diligently follows the instructions of his parent.  "Come.  Come on.  You can do it.  Come on."  The more the parent speaks quietly to his child, the harder the child attempts to do the parent's will.

That little baby has no concern that the parent will walk him over cliff, or into any other danger.  The parent protects the baby by never allowing him to step anywhere that the parent hasn't assured.    So that stepping in the parent's footsteps is a given surety.  

"And Peter answered Him and said, Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.  And He said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.   [Matthew 14: 28,29.]

As Jesus walked along on the Sea toward the boat, where His disciples were battling the storm, He had tried every step that He made.  So that when Peter asked Him, "Bid me come,"  Jesus, like the parent of the baby knew that there was no harm; and He said, "Come."  That one word... "Come," received Peter out of the boat and onto the surface of the Sea.  "Come."  

Jesus is still saying... "Come."  He remains on top of EVERY STORM in our lives. And if we will but trust Him, He will lead us just like He lead Peter, and just like the loving Parent does the Baby.  

Jesus has told us to come to Him as a little child.  The baby isn't looking at the hand of his parent; he's looking directly into the face of someone that he trusts.  He's able to go forward because he has faith in the  encouraging FACE of his parent.  

Somewhere, Christian, there's been a vacillation in our attention.  It has wavered and caused us to no longer look into the face of our Savior.  Instead we look to His hand.  We've  made His ‘unconditional' Love to look like the rewards of this world.  i.e., IF GOD blesses you then you'll look like this...    , And that blank is filled with all sorts of things you can see, touch and evaluate with your physical senses.  We have traded, TRUST, for temporary tangibles; hurling  all of our hopes  into baskets without bottoms;  allowing the gods of this world to steal our charity, falsify faith, and dash our expectations to pieces in the chambers of its darkness.

The gods of this world command you to "GO!"  And "Perform," then they MIGHT    give you what is in their hands.  GOD, through Jesus Christ, says..."COME."   The obvious difference is in the words which identify your response and action.  "GO." tells you to launch off into uncharted territory.  "COME," welcomes you.

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star."  And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. [Rev.22:16,17]
He who testifiesth  these things saith," Surely I come quickly." Amen. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. [Rev.22:20]
 
Looking Forward

See Ya Next Time

TER

NOTEWORTHY:

Song:

Come thou fount of every blessing
To my heart to sing Thy Grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise.  

Teach me so melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm  fixed upon it
Mounts of Thy redeeming love.  

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither are
thy help I'm come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wondering from the folds of GOD.
He to a rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood.  

Oh to grace how great a debtor,
daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee.   

Home to wander Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the GOD  I love
Here's my heart, Oh take and seal it
seal it for thy courts above.

By John Wyeth Robert Robertson

Contributed  by:  F.W.R.


FRIDAY'S WORD: extirpate; ex*tir*pate (verb); to pull or dig up by the roots; exterminate, or destroy completely            


IN THE MIRROR:
In Josh McDowell's book, "Evidence That Demands A Verdict,"  Volume 2,  tells of an interesting story of the detriment of a pre-suppositional viewpoint.  

"Once upon a time there was a man who thought he was dead. His concerned wife and friends sent him to the friendly neighborhood  psychiatrist.  The psychiatrist determined to cure him by convincing him of one fact that contradicted  his belief that he was dead.  The psychiatrist decided to use the simple truth that dead  men do not bleed.  He put his patient to work reading medical texts, observing autopsies, etc.  After weeks of effort, the patient finally said, ‘All right, all right! You've convinced me.  Dead men do not bleed.'  Whereupon the psychiatrist stuck him in the arm with a needle, and the blood  flowed.  The man looked down with a contorted ashen face and cried: ‘Good Lord! Dead men bleed after all!"

This joke was told by J. Warwick Montgomery, who further comments:
"This parable illustrates that if you hold  unsound  pre-suppositions with sufficient tenacity, facts will make no difference at all, and you will be able to create a world of your own, totally unrelated to reality and totally incapable of being touched by reality. Such a condition (which the philosophers call solipsistic, and psychiatrists call autistically psychotic, and lawyers call insane) is tantamount to death because connection with the living world is severed.   The man in the parable not only thought he was dead, but in a very real sense he was dead because facts no longer meant anything to him."  

An excellent story I've held unto for years. Due to  my own pre-supposed thoughts and inherent prejudice,  I would find myself examining what truth could be found  beyond a superficial evaluation of the many metaphors in life. This is especially true where my faith was concerned, because I believe I'm no different than any of you who want to know that what you believe about God  is the truth.

In keeping my ear to the ‘gospel ground' I've been excited about how much is being said lately. I have a love for truth because of it's liberating quality, and it's extensive value. As this newsletter grows in it's readership; it's more of a challenge for me to be a part in sharing  in all the ways God has shown unto us, which will lead us into our Eternal future with Jesus Christ.

There more opportunity today than ever before to realize that we really don't have any  ultimate control over our lives, but we can come to know the One,(Jesus), who does, and is more than willing to show us the way. [John10:10,- 14:6]

Our little story talks about ‘facts'. Webster defines ‘facts' as: "an act or action; something that exists or is real; the quality of being actual; or something that has actual existence." I hope that will cause you to underscore how Montgomery stated of our friend in the story, "The man not only thought he was dead, but in a very real sense, he was dead because facts no longer meant anything to him."  

Right now as you read this message you seem as alive as I myself do, but the Bible is still going to explain throughout the New Testament that this is not the life, (abundant) Jesus died for, but the one where we are to be, "Born Again."[John3:3]   We've been given this life for the furtherance, and the proliferation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don't know about you today, but I'm guilty of a lot of things in which I had no better control over in  my life; But as I listen, and look at, and read the many facts given by an All Mighty God in scripture, I realize that every pre-suppositional thought that didn't come from God  must be extirpated due to insufficient evidence.

Question: In taking another look at the "facts" in your life,  do they lead you to the Cross of Jesus Christ, or away from it?

S.L.C.  

O TASTE AND SEE!

QUICK HALF  SALAD
(QUICK MEALS)

1   MEDIUM HEAD OF LETTUCE CUT IN HALF
1   CAN TUNA OR SKINLESS-BONELESS SALMON DRAINED AND CUT IN HALF
2   HARD BOIL EGGS
1   CUCUMBER CUT IN HALF AND SLICED
2   TOMATOES  CUT IN FOURTHS
A FEW CIRCLES OF SLICED ONION
SALAD DRESSING
ITALIAN
RANCH OR  YOUR PREFERENCE.

SLICED BLACK OLIVES IF DESIRED.

DIRECTIONS:

PLACE THE HALF HEAD IN LARGE SALAD BOWL, CUT SIDE UP.  
DRIZZLE ITALIAN DRESSING OVER CUT HEAD OF LETTUCE.
PLACE SECTIONS OF SLICED EGG ON TOP OF LETTUCE.
PLACE HALF A CAN OF TUNA OR SALMON ON THE SLICED EGGS;
FOLLOWED BY 1  SECTIONED TOMATO    
THEN THE CUCUMBER, ONION AND FINALLY THE BLACK OLIVES.
TOP SALAD WITH YOUR PREFERRED SALAD DRESSING AND THERE YOU HAVE A QUICK AND HEARTY MEAL.  


THESE INGREDIENTS WILL MAKE TWO SERVINGS OF ‘HALF SALAD'.   GREAT FOR A HOT WORK DAY AND EASY TO FIX.  
ENJOY!

TER