Cup A Joe

The Unusual is Suspect

   In the world today, my great, great, great...(you have no choice but to add as many 'greats' as needed)..great grandad was a tadpole. I am a cosmic accident. I am considered ignorant because I believe God created this planet and that there was an Adam and Eve. I am considered close minded and fundamentalist because I believe the story of Noah and the flood or Jonah in the belly of a fish. I am considered hateful and judgemental because I believe God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe all the miracles associated with Moses and the Exodus. I believe fairy tales about the wisdom of Solomon and the exploits of David.

   I believe all of these against scientific and prevailing wisdom of our day, not because they are written in the Old Testament but because Jesus talked about them in the New.

• Mark 10:6- But from the beginning of creation, ' God made them male and female.'
• Luke 17:27- They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
• Luke 17:28-29- Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot- they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all-
• Matthew 12:40- For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
• Matthew 12:42- The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
• Mark 12:26- And as far as the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

   All of these words were spoken by Jesus himself and that is why I believe all of them. So what happens if someone doesn't believe some of the more incredible stories, like "3 days in the belly of a fish." I'll admit, it's pretty hard to believe. Well here's a question: What is harder to believe, that God became man, hung himself on a cross, died and rose again or Moses talked to God in a burning bush? Here's another question: How do you know (how does anyone know) that Christ died for your sins? Anybody you know see it happen? The same mouth that uttered John 3:16 also said the things above. It was all written down and passed on to us and that is how we know. So when a person says, "Oh, I know Christ died for my sins and has forgiven me" but doesn't believe the flood story or some of the other more incredible stories Jesus talked about, it is intellectual suicide. It is really even worse than that.

   Science does say the flood never happened. Archeology has no evidence that over 2 million Hebrews spent one second in that desert with Moses (much less 40 years). We have all seen burning bushes. They burn and they crackle but they don't talk. And ofcourse we are all familiar with Evolution and the age of the universe. etc. Science has "proven" alot. But you know what else science has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt? When a person is dead for 3 days, he is dead. Do you really want man's science to be an influence on what you believe in matters concerning your Creator?

   Here is the problem or at least, my problem; If I don't believe all the words that came out of the mouth of Jesus how can I believe any of them? I mean really believe. The only assurance I have of salvation is my faith in words (promises) that came out of the mouth of Jesus and were recorded. Here is what happens when you don't believe all of it. Either subconsciously or consciously a mental transaction is made and doubt (lack of faith) creeps in. BUT IT IS FAITH THAT SAVES ME !! You are now standing at the Christian salad bar, picking and choosing: "Is that God's love. I like that. YUMMY!... What is that other stuff? Is that crazy-miracle-salad? YUCKIE!! That stuff makes me feel stupid and gives me gas."

   A quote from the movie the "The Usual Suspects" said: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." There's truth in that quote. He has either convinced us he doesn't exist  or that he is some cartoon like creature in a cool, red pair of pajamas and a pitchfork.  But the other little trick he has pulled off is getting people to doubt God. He does it today maybe differently then long ago but it is always exactly like this; "Did God really say?".

More along these lines in my next post.

COLD AND WET BUT WARM

   At 6:15 am this morning it was 35 degrees outside. And it was raining. Big ole fat rain, as Forrest Gump would say. That rain was 3 degrees from being ice. It's about 40 feet to my car and that was a long walk this morning. I hit a cold puddle or two on the way but I knew if I just got to the car I would be warm and dry because my car had been running with the heat blasting for 15 minutes. We have had other miserably cold mornings this winter, several mornings in the mid teens but my car is always warm. We even had a morning with a couple of inches of snow on the ground but my car was still warm.

   E. V. Hill was a famous Pastor in the LA area. I believe he died recently but he was involved in some of the Civil Rights movement back in the '60's. Early in our relationship with Christ we received a tape from a close friend, of E.V. preaching. It wasn't a sermon..it was a eulogy..for his wife of 32 years. Pastor Hill spoke of a particularly volatile period when there were several car bombings in the area of prominent leaders in that movement. He and his wife were nervous at the prospect of someone rigging his car to explode when he turned the key. Unbeknownst to E.V., his wife was going outside in the morning and cranking his car before he ever got in it. She was not leaving it running (it's never that cold in LA).. she was just checking...to make sure...it was safe. Finally, Pastor Hill caught her in the act.

   My wife Cheryl was extremely moved by this recording. I was too but not like her. Now some have probably, for a moment, wished I were dead but to my knowledge, no one wants to kill me. But since receiving that tape some 13 years ago, Cheryl, has gone outside on every morning that is colder than 50 degrees and cranked my car. Every single cold morning for 13 years. Rain, sleet, snow or 14 degrees...every morning. She get's up about an hour before every one else. She is so consistent that I have grown to take it for granted.. until this morning and the big ole, fat rain... and cold.

   Now I believe that I would do what E.V. Hill's wife did. I believe I would spare my life for my loved one's though I am still impressed by what she did. But as I grow older, the things that really impress me are the consistancy in the smaller sacrifices in life...13 years. I want go on but to say to Cheryl that I really appreciated it this morning. I have written in a past blog that Perry Noble was my exhibit A for the truly tranformed life but I was wrong. For me, exhibit A is Cheryl. People that knew her when she was young don't know her anymore. Young Cheryl no longer exists.

Do yourself a favor and listen to The Lord Giveth.

Finally Friday

See Photo Album link for latest pictures.

"If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away"...Matthew 5:29

Real Jesus is alot tougher than Western Jesus. Who is Western Jesus? You know. this guy. Nice hair.

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Real Jesus is more like this guy.

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When I was 3 years old, it was 1969. LSD was the hot drug. Dangerous. We had a paper boy who was a partier and evidently began using alot of LSD. Eventually he quit using drugs and tried to get right with God. He became a Bible reader. One of the unfortunate consequences of using Acid is something called flashbacks. The Acid remains in the body for a time and the brain can become "under the influence" and just like that, you are tripping without recently ingesting. This young man was reading the passage above when he experienced a flashback. He got up and walked into his back yard. He stuck a finger in the side of his eye and ripped his eyeball out. After undergoing this pain, he stuck a finger in his other eye and ripped his remaining eye out. One of his parents retrieved the eyes from where they lay and took his son and his eyes to the hospital. This man is blind today and works in the snack bar at the Orangeburg Regional Medical Center.

Is this what Jesus meant?

Nope.

But Jesus is raging, relentless, truthful and unchanging about the sin that remains in me. Did Western Jesus, with the product in his hair, create hell? No, but Real Jesus did. From his mind came the concept of eternal torment. He designed and built the place and has been and will continue allowing BILLIONS to go there. He is raging, relentless, truthful and unchanging about SIN. The Cross makes this fairly obvious. Take a moment. And think about it. I sometime look at the Cross and see it as some kind of loophole; Yes I am still willfully and knowingly sinning but it say's here in the Contract that Christ died for my sins. But the way I am trying to look at the Cross is as THE EXPRESSION of how God feels about my sin.

W.C. Fields was famously anti-Christian but as he was getting older and nearing death he was caught reading a Bible. When asked why he said, "I'm looking for loopholes." We will all eventually understand that there are no loopholes and there has been no gray area concerning Jesus. Take a look again at the two images of Jesus. If you are serious about being the person He wants you to be, which one do you want cleaning out your temple.

Finally Friday

Ok. We skipped last Friday's mind dump because we had a special guest and I couldn't wait to get him posted. Thanks again, Tom. I asked you to send some suggestions for a name for our Friday posts. Here again are some of your suggestions: Friday Frappe, Fruitful Friday or Friday Fruit, Friday Fun, Flatulent Friday, Friday Fast Talk, Friday Fever, Friday Fellowship, Feedback Friday, Friday Fix, Friday Fire, Friday Fizz, Free Friday, Friday Free-for–all, Frolicking Friday, Frank Friday, Finally Friday, Forever Friday, Fist Full of Friday, Finish well Friday, Forgiven Friday, Follow Me Friday, fun friday, freakin friday, fry-day, flavorful friday, friday funk, freezy friday, friday facts and fictions. My personal favorite is Flatulent Friday but I just can't pull the trigger, what with impressionable kids and all. So, unless someone can talk me out of it, we are going to call it "Finally Friday". I think Mark Asbell had the winning bid and for that Mark, you receive absolutely nothing.

For your enjoyment, following is an e-mail conversation my 12 year old son Taylor and I had over the course of a day. After looking over it and deciding to post, it has caused me to very seriously consider getting a life. I will let you all know how this period of introspection turns out:

                                                                                       

Me:Are you a henway?

Taylor:What's a henway?

Me:About 4 pounds

Taylor:hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, very funny. alota ha, huh?

Me:haven't seen that much ha since the Brian Regan comedy show. ha

Taylor:Yeah i still havn't seen that yet. 

Me: are you dumb? You spell like you are....Gump!!

Taylor:WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MY SPELLING IS FINE.TAKE ANOTHER LOOK!!!

Me:I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy

Taylor:GOTCHA!!!

Me:eeeaaazzzzy big fella'. You gotta' wake up early to get the McDizzle on me fool.

Taylor:YOUIZZLE NEEDA CHILLOUTIZZLE HOMEDIZZLE. YOU JUSTIZZLE PULLEDIZZLED A WANKSTIZZLEYA WANSKTA(WHITE GANKSTA)

Me:Hey...Willy Wonkizzle. You better chizzle or I am gonna Clint Eastizzle all over your buttocksizzle. Fershizzle??

Taylor:SORRY DADIZZLE, WE WERE AT THE LAKIZZLE. BUT THAT JUNKIZZLE ABOUT CLINTIZZLE IS BULLIZZLE.

Me:that was terrific. You have definitely out-izzled me. I humbly salute thee. You shall go down in izzle history.

Taylor:I GIVE BIG THANKIZLES TO ALL MY FANIZLES

Friday

Every Friday I will be doing a post where I just throw several things together, short and sweet. Kind of an end of the week, mind dump sort of thing. I am looking for a name for the Friday blog and would like your help. Any suggestions?

• Paris Hilton has been released from jail. Seems the unemployment rate on Rodeo Drive jumped to 75% overnight. I don’t want to take credit but Governor Terminator does read this blog from time to time and suddenly Paris is free. Coincidence? I think not. We are BIG TIME folks. Who shall we free next? Miss Lohan seems to have run into a bit of trouble.

• Chuck Smith (see links) is the best teacher of the Bible on the planet today. He was Mega/Contemporary/Casual dress/Satellite when Rick Warren and Bill Hybels were barely out of diapers. He started the whole Calvary Chapel phenomenon back around 1965-68 that produced leaders like Greg Laurie, Raul Ries, Mike Macintosh and Skip Heitzig. Each pastors a church of over 16,000. Calvary Chapel has over 1,000 “satellites” worldwide.Chuck teaches verse by verse through the entire Bible every 2 years and still experiences phenomenal growth. If you ever want to deep dive a certain passage of scripture just go over and click on Chuck Smith, scroll down to the desired chapter, click on it. Then grab your Bible, sit back and enjoy. By the way, Chuck uses the King James but he is not militant about it.

• Speaking of Pastor Chuck, he gave a good analogy of faith without works that has stuck with me for 12 years. He said that if he began to talk about there being a bomb underneath the stage from which he was speaking and was doing it casually, everyone would think that he was lying. “Hey folks, there is a big old bomb up under the stage that is big enough to blow us all to smithereens and it is going off in 60 seconds. Can you imagine someone doing that? That’s just not very nice, blowing people up. Oohhhh, the humanity.” Most people listening to that would think that Chuck obviously does NOT really believe that a bomb was getting ready to go off. However, if Chuck began running up and down the aisles like his hair was on fire screaming for everyone to “GET OUT!! GET OUT!! THERE’S A BOMB GETTING READY TO BLOW!!.” Those listening would at least believe that Chuck thought there was a bomb. In both cases we could tell what he believed by his actions/works. This came from his teaching from the Book of James. Faith without works is dead.

And finally, this from dear old Mom:

• It doesn't hurt to take a hard look at yourself from time to time, and this should help get you started…
  
  
  During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.
  
  "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."
  
  "Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup." 

           "No," said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug.

            Do you want a bed near the window?