T.J.I.F.A.
THANK JESUS IT’S FRIDAY AGAIN!
PASS IT ON…& ON…& ON…&ON!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
REMEMBERING MY BROTHER BILL, AN AVID TJIFA READER; WRITER; CONTRIBUTOR OF TIME AND COUNSEL AND COUNSEL.
SUBJECT:’MEMORIAL’ MAKE GOOD USE OF YOUR APPOINTED TIME. LEAD THEM TO CHRIST!
NOTEWORTHY: POEM DEDICATED TO BILL. BMcC
TJIFA’S BOOKSHELF: RIDING WITH MICA
REVELATION? THE MESSAGES IN THE NAMES OF PATRIOTS.
QUICK QUOTES: VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS.
T.O.T.T: OSWALD CHAMBERS
MILLSTONE…FORBID THEM NOT! CREATION VS. EVOLUTION
TESTIMONY TIME: HE TOOK MY PLACE.
FRIDAY’S WORD: ‘MEMORIAL’
IN THE MIRROR: IN THE AFTERMATH OF A CHRISTIAN FUNERAL
O TASTE & SEE! QUICK BLACK-EYED PEAS, TOMATOES, AND CORN – MICROWAVE. REAL GOOOOD!
LOOKING FORWARD
SEE YA NEXT TIME!
TER&TJIFA STAFF

MEMORIAL
Psalm 77:11-12 (KJV)
11 ”I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”

MY BROTHER, BILL…
I’ve seen the Goodness of Almighty GOD in the life of my brother, Bill. He was my older brother. In his life’s journey, he showed me the power of GOD to overcome many heart wrenching obstacles. He was the oldest child, and he was never allowed to carry himself in any way that did not exemplify his role in the family, according to my father’s strict rule.
My brother loved comic books, and the Sunday ‘funny paper.’ He would get a certain comic, and read it and laugh uncontrollably. Everyone loved to hear him laugh, it would draw me and my younger brother to his bedroom door, where we’d hear him making the noises of the comic writer. Noises like; Boing! Whap! Whop! Zonk! Zap! Ker Plunk! Bop, bop! Splash! These noises made my father nuts, and if Bill was too loud, Dad would soon give him something to do, that did not include the comic books.
When he was approximately ten years old, he caught Polio. This crippling disease affected his feet, and soon he had experienced multiple surgeries on both feet. He was confined to a mobile cart, because he mended in a cast from his waist to his toes. This was a sad time for the family. My younger brother and I came down with Scarlet Fever and Rheumatic Heart disease, so my Mom had three children, and all of us were sick with very serious diseases. My focus is my older brother.
While he, Bill, was mending in the hospital, he learned to develop film from a tiny camera. His disposition was always sunny. In fact I was more concerned with that cast, then he ever let on to be. On his belly, he maneuvered the long cart with his hands, and arms. His disposition was sunny.
He had to be trained to walk again, because of the length of time spent in the cast. First came the crutches, and lots of therapy. Next came ambulating with double canes. Would my brother ever walk again? I didn’t know, but I really wanted him to go out and throw the ball with us again.

He learned to walk with one cane, then he struggled to balance and walk again. He did it! He walked flat footed without ever bending his ankles the rest of his life. He never complained about his feet. He just kept on growing and showing others how to live.
Hebrews 10:32,33 (KJV)
32”But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
33Partly, whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.”
Because of the length of time that he spent healing from Polio, his school work suffered. He lagged behind in school, and didn’t graduate from high school until he was nineteen and a half years old…but he graduated, thanks to the persistence of our mother.
Bill always had a job. He cut grass, shoveled snow, carried groceries, in his wagon, which he built up with wooden boxes so that he could carry more groceries, and they wouldn’t fall off the shallow wagon. Bill worked for the local merchants taking out the trash, washing the floors, shining shoes for the shoe repair man, which is how he bought me a sleeping bag for ten dollars to go to Girl Scout Camp. He helped our Mom pay small bills, and even brought home stale, day old bread, and bakery goodies, that we never could have afforded fresh.
He had a paper route, and he didn’t know that the money people paid him was to go back to the Route Man. Bill said that was the best job he’d ever had. He would go to the Deli and buy Corned Beef sandwiches. The Route Man finally asked Mom where the money was, she in turn asked my brother, and it was then that he understood that his earnings came OUT of the money and that it was NOT the money that he had collected. Bill worked twice as hard in his menial jobs, replacing the money that he spent; but he replaced all of it.
In high school, he excelled in auto mechanics. He was beginning to find his niche in life; it would impact everyone. (Now comes the hilarity in Bill’s life…auto mechanics.) People somehow gravitated to Bill. They found him helpful, and courteous, therefore they would give him…old cars. Cars that were broken down, and he’d have to fix it to get it home. Cars that were stalled on the road, cars that dealerships wouldn’t take in on trades,— well many times junk on wheels. He had one car that only cost $10.00, it was a Studebaker. It was faded out green, and rained rust. The floor in the back was no more, and you had to be very careful not to place anything on the floor. My young friends loved going for a ride with ‘our big brother;’ but he’d remind us not to place anything on the floor.
One of my friends talks about that car even today, and how she almost lost her purse through the floor of that old Studebaker.
One of my mother’s friends decided that she would pay Bill to give her a ride quite a distance. The warning was given. “Don’t put anything down on the floor, because you might lose it.” She agreed, and got in with an umbrella. You can guess the rest of the story. When she was ready to get out, she looked and looked for that umbrella, Bill asked her kindly. “Did you put it on the floor?” Her answer was, “Only for a second, Bill!” He apologized and told her that it probably fell out of the floor. She was observably upset, but walked away to her next bus stop.
When we were on our way home, after making every bit of twenty five cents, Bill said, “Hey Sis. Look over to the left on the ground.” Over there was a battered run-over umbrella. We both broke down laughing, and Bill admitted that he saw it when it fell, and when the car behind us ran over it, but he knew that there was nothing that we could do about it.
He taught me to drive before he left for the Air Force, so that I could pick Mom up from work, and drive her to work at night. He was a hard task master, but I did learn, on a 1947 Chevrolet standard (stick) shift.
Bill was rejected by the Air Force; but he was determined to serve his country. His feet exempted him, but he forged ahead. His demeanor was, “If I don’t think my feet are a handicap, then why do you?” The Recruiters accepted him on a trial basis. If he couldn’t finish ‘boot camp’ he would be classified as permanently exempt. Bill started wearing his ‘commando’ training clothes from high school, strenuously exercising, and pushed away from the table. He had a booklet from the Air Force Recruiter that instructed him on the foods to eat…he did it. Bill served his country approximately 8 years in the United States Air Force. He loved those big silver birds, even though his main job was to fuel them. It was an exciting occupation, because they couldn’t stop him from watching the mechanics. He learned and experienced more there, than he’d ever had in his short life time.
He married a beautiful English girl, happily, and they continued the relationship until she died in 1998. Alone now, Bill turned to improving his community. He was the ‘Quarter Master’ for Veterans of Foreign Wars. He cooked and assisted our troops who were deployed to Iraq, and was awarded his stripe for his service. Bill went to school to learn to sew, he made a beautiful blue shirt, and placed the buttons on the wrong side, and had to give it to me. It wears very well, thank you.
He customized covers for his small equipment, encouraged the youngsters in the community to place their candy wrappers and other trash in a garbage can behind his front fence. He learned to play the guitar, in his older years, and taught me some nifty facts about the instrument.
Bill had become an expert carpenter, stabilizing and repairing the pews in his parish, and finally made the very table that held his remains, according to his Priest.
All of these things were good…but, as a TJIFA Reader, you must be wondering about the Soul of this man. Bill loved Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the last three years, he began reading the Bible with a renewed fervor, asking questions, and searching the scriptures for life’s answers. He would spend hours on the Lake, reading his Bible, and occasionally calling me to share his latest findings in the Word of GOD. His profession was, “If I had known what I know now about the Bible, and the Word of GOD in my youth, I would have eliminated many of the puzzles that arise in life. No wonder Mom spent so much time in this Word. I’ll never put this down again.”
2 Timothy 1:5 (KJV)
5”When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Readers, he didn’t put the Word of GOD down, until he laid it down for the last time, turned, and gladly walked into the Arms of Christ Jesus. I am his witness to the transforming Power of GOD’S Grace on a Soul set free. Our relationship, as brother and sister, was temporary but essential, in finding the Hand of the Provider, who will never let go.
Bill’s body has been laid to rest; but his spirit looms bigger and brighter than ever.
Good-bye, Bill, to the greatest Big Brother in all the earth. I’ll miss him here, but I’ll see ya there.
Looking Forward
See Ya Next Time!
TER (Bill’s little sister.)

“The Discipline of the Lord
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him” (Hebrews 12:5).
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, “Oh, that must be from the devil.”
“Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, “Don’t be blind on this point anymore—you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
“… nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!
Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me—sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).”
From: “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.
NOTEWORTHY:
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die. Author Unknown
Submitted by: BMcC
NOTE: Noteworthy was frequently filled with the contributions from Bill. He loved spreading health concerns, so much that he sent TJIFA a year’s subscription to “Consumer Health Report,” so when you see articles from that magazine in this area, you’ll know that Bill’s contribution continues. He complimented TJIFA Newsletter often, and commanded us to keep on doing whatever we had to do to keep TJIFA in print. Our answer…Yes Sir! Salute! TER
TJIFA’S BOOKSHELF: MICAH
THE HOLY BIBLE
We are back in the Old Testament in the Book of Micah. Micah prophesied the coming of the Messiah 700 years before His birth. Reading the Prophetic readings of these ‘Old Testament Prophets’ should cause us all to have an even deeper reverence for the continuity and total completeness of this wonderful document.
This prophet’s message was to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, and to Samaria, the Capital of Israel. His message was not confined to just this local area, but this message of Hope and Love is to the whole world.
Micah’s message answered the question of the Wise Men who came to Bethlehem, to find the New Born King, 700 years later. This question was: “Where is the Ruler that would bring Peace and Prosperity to the world? Herod asked his scribes where it was Written in Scripture. They told and showed him this passage from the Book of Micah.
Micah 5:2 (KJV)
2”But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
(NOTE: He knows the Beginning and the End. TER)
GOD gave Micah the answer to a question that wouldn’t even be asked by mortal man until 700 years later. (That’s awesome!) In any reasonable mind with understanding, we, man, are still thousands of years behind the Great Wisdom. We’ve accomplished that the earth is not flat, because of Job; but we are still agonizing about our Creator, and our position in the Heavens. The Jury is still withholding its verdict on the answer to the interpolated (Interpolate means: to alter a text by the insertion of new matter, deceptively or without authorization), question…Big Bang?
Even Herod, in his wickedness had the deliberate sense to ask his ‘Scribes’ what Our Father had written by the Prophets about this New King. It proves that even wicked people have enough common sense to believe in the Goodness of GOD; because of their wickedness. The Intelligent, however, out-thinks (actually ‘in-thinks’) and undermines its own common sense. Our Father, GOD knows everything; but we will not go to Him for the answer.
The results yield a Society of ants, forming colonies in the city, making laws to govern where every footstep lands on their sacred sidewalk. Ever learning but never coming to know the Truth. TER
REVELATION?
THE 10 PATRIOTS FROM GENESIS AND THE MEANINGS OF THEIR NAMES.
Adam - The Man.
Seth – Genesis 5:3; To set up, or to appoint. (This is the line through which Jesus, The Messiah, came. Seth was appointed by GOD to carry on the Messianic line.) The GODLY Message thus far through the meanings of these names is “Man is appointed.”
Enos– Genesis 5:6; Emphasizes the frailty and mortality of fallen mankind. (Man began to see his need for GOD, and began to call on Him, during the lifetime of Enos.)
Cainan– Genesis 5:9; This name means ‘habitation or dwelling place . . .’ (Now, the message written by GOD through the names is: “Man is appointed a mortal habitation.”)
Mahalallel– Genesis 5:12; The Blessed GOD.
Jared– Genesis 5:16; Descend, or, He shall come down. (Now our message reads: Man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the Blessed GOD shall come down.)

Enoch– Genesis 5:18; This name means initiate, or train. Enoch was the first prophet in the Bible. He was not only the first Prophet, but he gave the first explicit prophecy of the second coming of the Messiah (See Jude 14). Enoch symbolizes the first of three groups of people who will be found on the earth before the judgment of GOD. The first group is the Church, which will be taken up into heaven before the Judgment. The second group is symbolized by Noah, they will go through the judgment. The third group is, THE WICKED WHO WILL PERISH IN THE JUDGEMENT. (This Message now reads: “Man is appointed a mortal habitation but the Blessed GOD shall come down teaching.”) Methuselah– Genesis 5:21; His name means, his death shall bring. His name is the measure of GOD’S long suffering and patience before the flood. The flood came the very same day that Methuselah died. (That is not a coincidence. It is fulfilled prophecy.)
Lamech – Genesis 5:25; Slave, or captive ruled by his emotions.
Noah– Genesis 5:29; Comfort, rest.
The Message is now complete: “Man appointed a mortal habitation but the Blessed GOD Shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the captives comfort.”
NOTE: The Message of Redemption, Salvation, and Judgment was well established in the first book of the Bible – Genesis. Is it no wonder that critics of this Awesome Word want to deny the very first Book of the Bible. It contains the Gospel of Jesus who came down teaching the Word of GOD. He is so Good!
QUICK QUOTES:
“A plain life, with consistency is well worth living.” TER
“You become what you worship.”
Chuck Messler
“Your attitude toward the first verse in Genesis will determine whether you are a believer or an unbeliever. What you think of this verse where it says. “In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.” What you do with that verse, will determine your attitude toward the rest of the Bible. If you can believe this one scripture, you’ll have no trouble with the rest of the Bible.”
Gary Hedly
“Disabled people are not a problem to be solved; but a people to be embraced.” Helen Keller “GOD has a purpose for all of history. GOD’S purpose is to gather His own.”
Chuck Messler
“The Christian Faith should not be distinguished by party affiliation, i.e. Democrat or Republican.”
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers – ‘Love Worth Finding’ aired on TBN Sunday 8:00 PM. T.O.T.T.:The Price of the Vision
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord …” (Isaiah 6:1).
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally—when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure—His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
From: “My Utmost for His Highest.” By Oswald Chambers
MILLSTONE…FORBID THEM NOT!
Creation is not being taught in the public school system anymore. Instead our children are being told that they evolved from apes. Prayer has been and is being violently stamped out of this politically correct society.
Armed guards patrol the halls of schools where children are being taught that they are no more than evolved animals.
A lower anthropology always means a lower theology. If you take man down to an animal level that is the way he will act.
Bullet proof vests are the fashion for teachers. The innocents must be subjected to metal detectors, and possible body searches.
If man is not a direct creation of GOD, if he is merely the byproduct of random processing of which no one knows what or how, or when, or why or where then the mainspring of moral accountability is gone. There’s no purpose, no meaning, no real significance to life, it’s just live it all you can, because tomorrow you die.
It seems that the Bible would be the foundational tool of choice rather than the destructive, disruptive weeds of evolution.
TER
These thoughts come from a lecture by Gary Hedley of ‘Christian Jewish Foundation.’
TESTIMONY TIME: HE TOOK MY PLACE.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (KJV)
HE TOOK MY PLACE.
There is a radio program that airs at least once a week. It is called “The Old Trail Blazer.” It usually consists of the Old Trail Blazer preaching about Jesus, the Son of GOD, Him crucified, dead and buried. He never forgets to mention, loud and clearly that Resurrection is of utmost importance.
On August 9, 2010, the Old Trail Blazer began relating the following testimony:
During the Civil War five Confederate Soldiers were accused of treason, and scheduled to be put to death. A younger soldier sympathized with one of the accused and asked if he could take his place.
When the superior heard his request he asked him why would he want to give up his life for this accused Traitor? The young man answered that the Soldier had a wife, and five children. After conferring with the other ranking officers, the consensus was to allow this transfer of one life for another, in substituting one life for another.
On the day of the execution, sure enough the young innocent soldier was placed before the firing squad along with the other four and executed. The accused Soldier that was not executed lived to tell this story, and in his very old age, he went to the hills of Tennessee and found the grave of the brave innocent soldier. He brushed the dirt off the badly weather worn marker, and told his children that if it hadn’t been for this very young and courageous young man, he would not be here to tell that story. They all cried realizing how much different life would have been, had this brave, innocent Soldier hadn’t laid down his life for his fellow man.
What would our lives had been if our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ had not laid down His innocent life, and shed His Blood for our sins? We would have no hope. There would be no one who could pay the price that sin demands. Jesus paid it all. He paid it in full. There is no sin, no iniquity, no transgression that is not covered by the innocent sacrifice on Calvary.
Just as the guilty soldier went free, we too, can be freed of sin through the substitutionary death of Jesus. You will never be able to figure it out mentally. This is a walk of faith. Your faith is able to understand that which your mental capacity rejects for folly.
Accept Jesus today.
TER

FRIDAY’S WORD: “MEMORIAL”

MEMORIAL Something which serves as a reminder. Scripture witnesses to God’s participation in human history for the salvation of God’s people. Memorials to such events reinforced faith and provided opportunities for teaching. God’s covenant name (Yahweh) was to be a “memorial name” (Ex. 3:15 NASB), a reminder of God’s liberation of God’s people. The Passover served as a similar reminder (Ex. 12:14; 13:9). The twelve stones taken from the Jordan’s bed served as a reminder of God’s provision of passage across the Jordan (Josh. 4:7). In the New Testament, the Lord’s Supper serves as a reminder of Christ’s sacrificial death and an encouragement of His future coming (Matt. 26:13; Mark 14:9; 1 Cor. 11:25-26). these memorials serve to “proclaim” the good news of what God has done.
From: Holman’s Bible Dictionary

IN THE MIRROR: IN THE AFTERMATH OF A CHRISTIAN FUNERAL
James 4:13 - 17 (KJV) 13Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Proverbs 27:1 (KJV) 1Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 19:21 (KJV) 21There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
Job 14:1 - 2 (KJV) 1Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Psalms 39:5 (KJV) 5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah
Psalms 89:47 (KJV) 47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
Psalms 90:12 (KJV) 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Mark 8:34 - 38 (KJV) 34And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. 36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
We recently loss a very precious and valuable loved one. ‘Precious,’ because he was the last of three brothers. ‘Valuable,’ because what is more important than a loving relationship where the harmony and unity is so acute that when you get on the phone in a long distant call, that three hours can go by like five minutes?
That’s the type of loss that I would like to talk to you about today.

God is so proactive and has an impeccable knowledge of when our last breath is to be drawn. Our recent loss was extremely untimely for us, and if it were at all possible we would have put it off at least another ten or twenty years, (give or take a year).

James writes about people who are going to and fro about their daily lives, with no apparent business conscious or real concern about tomorrow. Have you ever been there? These were apparently business people, and everybody knows how busy a life that can be; making good money buying and selling, and no reasonable person would reject that idea— except James that is, who the Holy Spirit uses to inject the thought that, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away.” A ‘vapor’ should be given a lot of fine consideration, against the backdrop of eternity. Do you realize no funeral is ever complete without the recognition of now that loved one is, “alive forever?” That’s the position my brother-in-law is in today.
The writer of the Proverbs makes a suggestion that we are not to boast of tomorrow. Well, if you listen to much of what’s being said today, isn’t it’s supposed to be about having a real good success story? My answer to that would be that Jesus Christ came into the world to give you and I something that is unequaled and unparalleled by any human standard or measure. As I write, a great joy comes over my heart when I think about the “boast” that I want at the end of my term down here. I am living my life each day that it might be said on that day, “He was a Christian. A real one.”

Ever notice how many references there are in the Old Testament as to the futility there is in trying to make our own path in life? The Old Testament is a precursor to the New Testament in multiple ways, and Jesus Christ came to provide us with every conceivable detail necessary to now have the ability to know that it is no longer just a matter of preservation in our humanity, but eternal life through Him.

Mark 8:34-38, is a passage I think about often, and particularity when I hear much of the false teaching that is accepted as “truth” today. Jesus’ teaching in this area is so clear-cut, that Jim Elliot wrote something years ago before he gave up his young life as a missionary in a foreign land to a wild Indian tribe: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

It’s hard for me to mix “losing” one’s life, with the idea of having a “successful, and prosperous life.” I believe you have to accept one or the other; not both!

I would like to pose some interesting questions to you corresponding with this article:
1.) What do you listen for when you attend a funeral? Or, What did you listen out for the last time you attended one?
2.) What is the most important thing you desire to hear about in the life of that loved one who meant so much in your life?
3.) What, now gives you the most comfort when you look back over that life?
4.) What comfort do you want to leave for those precious loved ones to whom you will have to say ‘good-bye’ to one day?
5.)Was Jesus God, or can I afford to pass off His Words as just another good person who came along to hand out some pretty good advice, but I’ll just take my chance on what I heard that preacher say? He sure made everybody feel good.

Well, there’s one thing for certain you are going to find regardless to how you answer any of these questions; ‘Truth’ in the fact that this person is now gone from our immediate presence, and we who are left behind are also left with one possibility of seeing our loved one again and that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

If I could encourage you today, I would recommend going over the Bible again, and especially paying closer attention to the teachings of Jesus in the gospels. God has provided mankind with the most supportive antidote, in what most acknowledge as a time of nearly unbearable grief.

There’s going to be a ‘fall-out;’ all we have to do it just live long enough. In the wisdom of God, He calls us to be ‘ready.’ There’s a joy in knowing that one day you will be able to stand in the presence of God, having accepted His Son as the all-sufficient sacrifice for the sin of all mankind. There is also a deep concern if we have to wonder what that day will hold for us, and all because we took the Bible, the Word of the Living God, a little too lightly.

Right now, it’s everybody else’s funeral. Why not make a decision today to make certain that your own will be sure to carry the title and all the earmarks of a “Christian Funeral?”

God Bless, SLC

O TASTE and SEE!

QUICK BLACK-EYED PEAS, CORN, TOMATOES & RICE
(ONLY TWO SERVINGS)

INGREDIENTS:

1 PACKAGE FROZEN SOUTHERN STYLE MICRO-WAVEABLE BLACK-EYED PEAS
1 CAN RINSED AND DRAINED WHOLE KERNEL CORN
½ ONION THINLY SLICED
½ DICED FRESH TOMATO
COOKED BUTTERED RICE

DIRECTIONS:

PREPARE SOUTHERN STYLE BLACK-EYED PEAS AS DIRECTED.
POUR CONTENTS INTO A MICROWAVEABLE DISH, STIR IN CORN, ADD ONION, TOMATOES, AND HEAT ANOTHER 2 MINUTES OR UNTIL ADDED INGREDIENTS ARE HEATED. REMOVE FROM MICROWAVE AND SET ASIDE.
WARM COOKED RICE, AND ADD BUTTER TO TASTE.
POUR ½ OF HEATED PEAS TO COVER RICE.
SERVE WITH YOUR CHOICE OF HOT CORN BREAD, OR CORN MUFFINS, OR BUTTERMILK BISCUITS, OR ANY GREAT SIDE YOU WISH.
ENJOY!

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