Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Why Did Jesus Fold The Napkin

I got this from Blakes Pops and it rocked me, I've never heard this before.

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?
Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection?
I never noticed this..... The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!' Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side. Was that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes! In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.. Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished.." But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........The folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

AND SO HE SHALL.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Treasures In The Sand

Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

I remember as a kid digging a big hole and burying my favorite truck in it. I stood over the ground where the hole was, after just filling it in, and felt so accomplished. The next day I tried to dig up my truck and to my horror I couldn't find it. I was heartbroken, "man, my favorite truck is gone", what was I to do. The next day I was playing with some new toy, resurrected from the pile of misfit toys that I had abandoned for new ones over my brief couple years as a toy aficionado. I say that to bring to our attentions the fact that possessions never seem to be as big of deal as we think, they all wear out. Funny how things can seem so important but once they're gone we can easily live without them.

How about our reputations? Can that be seen as an earthly treasure? I loved being a professional athlete and there were times when I feared life after the game because my reputation and status wouldn't be as important after it. I also was guilty of fearing the idea that I might not make it to the big leagues and be seen as a failure to my family and friends. Now that I've made it to the other side I can honestly say life is good and all those fears were a lie. Life after the game can be awesome with family, good friends, and especially kids. Worldly reputations are fleeting, the relationships that have been continuing on after my playing days have been with believers who impacted my life for eternity.

This might seem a little scattered but the important question is, where is our treasure? Where is our reward? The answer is that our treasure is Jesus and He is our reward. Were all called to step up.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Confidence... King David Style

Here's something that I've been thinking about lately and I wanted to share it with yall before the long season. Anytime you're having some doubts or not trusting your abilities you can turn to King David. Be prepared to get completely fired up though. Here's what we know. We know that David was blessed with bravery from the time he was just a tot. When he was a young shepherd David defended his sheep against man eating predators. In fact David was attacked by a bear and a lion, and crushed them both times. His weapon of choice was a sling that he could fire with deadly accuracy. When his people were brought up against Goliath and the Philistines David volunteered to go to battle for his people against the 10 foot giant when nobody else wanted to fight him. In fact, David couldn't believe nobody else would fight Goliath. Here's something that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of the story of David and Goliath. We all know the story. David takes his sling and fires a stone hitting the Giant, Goliath, in the forehead so hard it killed him. Now, if you turn back a few pages you'll see that David went to the river and picked out 5 smooth stones. Why five you ask? It wasn't so he had backups for Goliath. Goliath had four brothers and he thought that after he killed Goliath his brothers would come get some too. David trusted in God and told the Israelites that the Lord would protect him. He also looked the giant right in the face and told him that He was fighting in the name of the Almighty God. He called his shot when he said he would chop Goliath's head off (and he used Goliath's sword to do it). If that was me I woulda grabbed like 30 stones just in case. David, needed only five. Five stones for five kills. That's confidence, and that pumps me up. So when you're trying to make a pitch or drive the ball or even trying to accomplish almost anything, you should use Davids example. He wasn't concerned with missing. He wasn't worried about not getting the job done. He was confident in his ability and trusted in God and God's awesome plan. Somebody please make a movie about the life of David so Hawksworth and I can stop dreaming about it. Good night

-waino

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Sub for Jules

Hey guys, Ben asked me to drop a quick one on here for him and we both agreed on the topic or should I say request. God has put it on our heart to ask all members of this blog for any prayer requests you might have. Ben and I have exchanged prayer lists before and I kept his in my wallet for a long time. If I had sometime at a red light or killing time in the clubhouse... I'd crank out his list. It gets my mind and heart off myself for one thing and it also is pretty awesome to see God answer prayers right in front of my eyes. He does ALL the time and prayer is our greatest weapon as Christians. Not sure why we take that for granite or can't find time? Let's go. So please drop some requests on the comment sheet and lets pray for each other fellas. One gets answered let us praise Him on here and talk about it. Thought it would be pretty cool.

Blake

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Jesus...No Coincidence

A lot of yall in this group have read the Lee Strobel books such as The Case for Christ, The Case for the Creator, Cross Examination, etc. Well, recently I read Cross Examination. It's a short book, sort of a cliff's notes (52 pages) about the evidence behind Jesus actually being our Savior. In one part of the book Strobel argues that Jesus was merely a man who coincidentally fulfilled all the prophecies. Here's what we know. In the old testament there are 48 prophecies telling of the coming of the Messiah. I won't list them but if you want to see the 48 just type it in on google. Jesus, by the way, fulfilled every single one of the prophecies. Going further, a mathematician named Peter W. Stoner did the math and figured out that the probability of a person coincidentally fulfilling JUST 8 of the prophecies was one chance in ONE HUNDRED MILLION BILLION. You read that number correctly. If you had that many silver dollars they would cover the entire state of Texas to a depth of two feet! So if one of those silver dollars was marked and you dropped a man blindfolded in the middle of the state somewhere and told him to pick up one silver dollar and check to see if it was the marked coin, that would be the odds. One hundred million billion is millions of times greater than the total number of people who've ever walked the planet! And folks, that's just fulfilling 8 of the prophecies. So, how great is the number to fulfill all 48? One chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion to the 4th power. So you see, the evidence speaks for itself. When I saw those numbers I was blown away. I hope you were too. But, here's one simple number. Our Savior, is the only One in history to ever rise up from the grave. The only One to conquer death. All those other guys...they're all dead. The old testament laid out the credentials the Messiah had to have, and our Lord is the only One in all of history to meet all the criteria.
Acts 3:18 (New King James Version)

18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

-waino

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Brett Carroll on Why God Allows Bad Things to Happen

This message was forwarded to me by our brother Brett Carroll as a response to a post earlier on why God allows bad things to happen to good people...or just people since none of us are good.

Hey everybody,
I just wanted to add my two cents to a recent post by Waino (why do bad things happen to good people), in which, it was a very encouraging message. However, it got me thinking even more about it recently b/c a family friend's son passed away out of nowhere...34 yrs old...found dead in this house...scary, real stuff. I believe Jesus tells us exactly what perspective to have, but I know its still a hard pill to swallow. Whether its death, illness, natural disasters, etc..I want to hear how the KING approached it..
"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?? I tell you, no!! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them-do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
This verse is telling us that bad things happen to whoever or wherever when God is telling us to repent. Moreover, daily repentance is needed just as much when good things happen. No matter what our circumstance, tragedy, injury, etc.. we don't know what the next hour may bring, but being in Christ we can work things out looking through a different lens thanks to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ!!! If your like me, I can get caught up in the daily grind of life or even make life about me and my glory, but when natural disasters or whatever shakes our souls it slows everything down, humbles me, and makes me small again. As Christians, we are called to fight against our flesh that we know does not glorify God b/c the world looks on and there has to be something different about us (not better than)....no one said this would be easy but the Holy Spirit is our helper,guider, and warrior. On sunny, nice days do we look to God with a thankful heart and see his kindness, mercy, and grace that can also lead us to repentance?? Rain or shine, life going good or bad, God is telling us to be ready. Bottom line is my life (sin) deserves the same tragedy here in Jupiter, Fl but thanks to be God and His grace that I can't earn it and that I know where I am going to spend eternity no matter what happens in the next 15 minutes. Thank you Jesus and the blood that was shed.

Lord, thank you for your patience with me, but I realize how important everyday, every minute, is an opportunity to glorify and turn too you for my hope and salvation. I need your grace to get this through me heart and head. Help this group to face the challenges of what life brings through the perspective that you give. Provide the strength to turn from sin that so easily weighs us down. (Heb 12:1). We may not understand it all, but help us to learn and grow to be true disciple makers. You are a sovereign God!!
Christ, the ONLY one that satisfies,
-Brett Carroll

Friday, March 19, 2010

Broken Relationship Equals Broke-ded Effectiveness

Sup fellas, got some more prayer talk.

When Adam and Eve broke their relationship with God, their effectiveness in prayer was also broken. True prayer is maintained through oneness (sp?) of heart and purpose with God. Only then can we fulfill God's ways and plans. See when we pray, we represent God's interests on earth, and this representation requires relationship. You can trace our difficulties to "The Fall" and the resulting fallen nature of man in which we were alienated from God. Even as redeemed believers we need to realize and act upon who we are in Christ and the principles of prayer that God has established, IF we are to be restored to His purposes in the vital area of prayer.

We, and I sometimes, may not think of prayer as being an area in which we need to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds" (Romans). Myles Munroe states, "since effective prayer has everything to do with being united with God in a relationship of love, having a heart and mind in union with God's will, gaining a discerning mind in regard to His purposes, and exercising faith in His Word, it is a vital area in which we need to be transformed." Prayer really should not be open ended. It should be purpose driven, motivated by a knowledge of God's ways and intentions.


trying to die to myself,
-tmart

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Nugget

Matthew 4:7 "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' (Deuteronomy) 6:16"

Sometimes I will take a step forward in faith and say "Okay God you see me taking this step now you need to bless me for my obedience". Hhhhmmmm, it just doesn't sound right when I step back and look at it. The crazy thing is I continue to think like this. Isn't that the same as testing God? Living by faith shouldn't be a "pay me money" type situation yet so often I make it that way. This is a check for us who think like that.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Thanks Jesus

What's up y'all? In a recent Bible study we were talking about Christianity and how it differs from other religions out there. A few statements really hit home and got me thinking. 1. Christianity is the only (relational) religion out there that's founder "aint dead". All those other guys are resting in a tomb somewhere. Our Lord has conquered the grave and has risen and is alive...BAM! 2. As we were talking about man and Christianity, one guy pointed out that by saying we are Christians we are saying we are wrong. By saying we follow Jesus we are saying we messed up, will mess up again and need Jesus as our source of Grace and forgiveness. There are no series of good deeds that we need to do or can do to get into heaven. All that is required is that we love and trust in the One that died for us on the cross. I love that. Our God does not require us to die or kill or do great things. Only to love. I do believe, however, that once we begin to love our God like he calls for we will WANT to do great works for others and the Kingdom....not have to ....WANT TO. When you think of it that way it sounds kinda easy doesn't it. Well, there's this punk named satan that "Has come to steal kill and destroy...john 10:10." Sometimes satan can get the best of us with his temptations but God never leaves us. When we stray away from Him, He stands pat. And when we come running back with our tail between our legs He will be there...right where He's been all along. Have a nice night,

-waino

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Old Nugget That Resurfaced

1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Believers are obviously chosen, obviously belong to God, we've been called out of the darkness into His marvelous light and we should/can declare His praises. But ... are we priest's, are we holy? What does it mean to be a priest? What does that look like?

There shouldn't be a hierarchy amongst believers, nobody is to big to sweep the floor, Jesus washed His disciples feet. What does that say about how Jesus viewed the situation? So with the term priest it doesn't mean above and better. I have always viewed it that way and I think it's because the churches I went to as a kid, the leaders were always separating themselves as to be above the congregation (robes, or clothing, stages, etc...). They might not have meant anything by it but I sure interpreted it that way. So to be a priest must mean something else. By definition it means to act in ministry as a full time job. Wow! Does that mean we should drop our jobs and jump into the church full time? No. It simply means to view your life as full time ministry, we're always fishing. Like the old saying goes "you never know when somebody is watching so act as if someone always is." Okay maybe that is my interpretation but you get it. We have to allow God to change all of us not just part of us, we have to live it 24-7 not just on Sundays. I'm finding it very challenging to be a Jesus guy in the business world sometimes, businessmen by nature are very self serving and numbers oriented, very often at the expense of the client. I have to pump my breaks constantly, if I'm not in constant fellowship I can get off track quickly. Pray for your boy!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Free....mostly

There's that timeless question...."so why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Why, you ask, did He let those earthquakes happen? Ever asked yourself why God allows good stuff to happen? No way. That's not how we operate. Everything is supposed to be all hunky dory all the time. If something bad happens the world will ask you "where was your God that time?" Well, I wonder how many earthquakes our Lord has stopped. How many miracles has He performed that we don't know about. How many people, as a direct result of tragedies like the earth quakes, have become followers of Christ or strengthened their relationships with Christ. Lets look deeper at this for a second. If God did come to our rescue every time something bad happened would we ever grow spiritually? If there was no ramification for our sin would we ever learn from our mistakes? God has given us this awesome thing called free will. I've had several talks with friends this week about free will. Free will is a dangerous thing for us isn't it. It also, at the same time, allows us to live our own lives..., making our own choices. But, then you have God's plan. If God has a plan, and we have free will then.... well, i'm confused. That's what I was thinking last week. Then I started asking some of my mentors about it. I realize that there are some questions we have about God that we can't answer. That's one great thing about our God. I don't want to be able to know everything about my God. Here's what we came up with. Free will is given to us by our Lord to live an unshackled life. That doesn't mean that we are in complete control though. God's perfect plan is going to come to life. His plans for us and our plans for us might not line up, but guess who's plans always seem to win out? His. I never planned to be raised without a dad by my brother and mom, but I did. And guess what, I learned a lot about how I wanted to raise my kids when given the chance. I never wanted to spend five and half years in the minor leagues but I did. And I certainly learned a lot there. And, I never thought that at the age of 22 God would turn my life upside down and change me in a way that allowed me to be a force for the Kingdom rather than an empty, lost soul....but He did.
Here's what I'm saying. Our free will we're given is free will in God's will. When the big man wants us to do something, I can guarantee you one thing...,.we're gunna do it. He gives, He takes. He sovereign, He's God. Thank God for His mysteriousness.

-waino

Friday, March 5, 2010

Even track stars trip over hurdles

Sup fellas, Imma get back on some prayer. Prayer is the greatest opportunity and privilege to us that are in Christ. And, I think that Satan sees how often times people and churches are only as powerful as their prayer life. In turn, he will throw out some misconceptions to mess with our prayer potential.

The biggest hurdle for me is to learn about prayer, but then not practice it. It's like I gain a false sense of satisfaction when I just learn about something....but don't actually do it. Im thinking, yea this is a part of my life now, when in all actuality, what I have learned hasn't made it from my head to my heart, from theory to practice. I got a pretty good idea that Satan loves it when we learn about something we should be doing, even get excited about it, but then never follow through by doing it. Examples being: like when you buy a book on a certain subject, but then never follow what it says, or listen to a sermon or devotional on a cd or ipod, but then never practicing what it preaches, or......writing about key aspects to prayer to a group of fellow Christ followers and then yourself not practice what you are writing.......I don't know anyone like that though.......dang it.

We often have the false idea that if we know a great deal about prayer, somehow we have prayed. For example, you may read something about prayer or whatever and think "Man, this is powerful, or this can change my life." However, if we don't apply the principles to our lives, our knowledge won't help our spirituality. Myles Munroe puts it well when he says, "A major cause of unanswered prayer is our becoming experts in knowledge of prayer but not masters in the practice of praying." So, the best approach to prayer is....to pray.


trying to die to myself,
-tmart