Now I am warning you, these will stick in your head if you listen to them…but they are GREAT! This first one got stuck in my head for a couple of days and drove my wife nuts. I even woke up a few times in the middle of the night singing it. You have been warned.
How many rules of interpreting scripture does this guy break!??! Simpley Amazing.
HAYDEN, Idaho – A man who believed he bore the “mark of the beast” used a circular saw to cut off one hand, then he cooked it in the microwave and called 911, authorities said.
The man, in his mid-20s, was calm when Kootenai County sheriff deputies arrived Saturday in this northern Idaho town. He was in protective custody in the Kootenai Medical Center.
“It had been somewhat cooked by the time the deputy arrived,” sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. “He put a tourniquet on his arm before, so he didn’t bleed to death. That kind of mental illness is just sad.”
It was not immediately clear whether the man has a history of mental illness. Hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson would not say whether an attempt was made to reattach the hand, citing patient confidentiality.
The Book of Revelation in the New Testament contains a passage in which an angel is quoted as saying: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury.”
The book of Matthew also contains the passage: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Wolfinger said he didn’t know which hand was amputated.
So for my second post in this series, I want to talk about the young rich guy who comes to Jesus asking what else he needed to do to inherit eternal life.
Our story is found in
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [1] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, [2] “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (ESV)
Mark 10:17-31 Listen
This guy with more than a few dollars to his name comes to Jesus asking him what else there is to do. He knew about Moses’ laws and keeps them. He tells Jesus yes yes yes I have done all of those things, what else is there? He thinks well of himself and obviously he knows how to make money and keep it. He has built a pretty good life for himself. He has done it all. He doesn’t need anything from anyone. He brings to Jesus all his ideals of what holiness is. He believes that he has got it all together and can do anything. Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t want him to come with his own ideas and with short-term motivations. The guy wanted to get eternal life his way. This guy wanted to give his life to Jesus but not his money. Is that even possible? Debatable. What if this guy had come to Jesus saying he had kept Moses’ law and has all this money and wants to do with it whatever Jesus tells him to do with it? If his attitude was different towards money, do you think Jesus’ response would have been different? Jesus hit the one issue that this guy wouldn’t give up. This guy’s wealth had a strangle hold on him that was lethal. He was counting on the wrong things. Jesus said in the story that you can’t get there on your own but with God it is possible.
Does this story apply to anyone today? Most of us are not rich – at least not according to ourselves. To many around the world though, we are. What if Jesus told you to give up the nice house, the two cars, the swimming pools, and the nice job – what would your answer be? What would my answer be? The answer will determine how much of a strangle-hold money has on you and me.
In middle-class American, life is pretty cushy. I don’t worry about food, water, shelter – really I don’t worry about necessities at all. The things I worry about would be embarrassing to admit in a global comparison. If my Internet connection is down or I can’t get a good signal on my cell phone I think life is crappy and wonder what people did before the technology era. Yikes.
I’ll veer off topic slightly to ask how much is too much for a Christian? It is a touchy subject for many. For years we have heard that to have “things” is not wrong and if God blesses you, good for you. I want to say that it can be wrong to have things and while I will not say where that line is for fear of being legalistic, there is a line. I think it is very much about attitude and I have to constantly evaluate if I am in the right spot. If I would ask what I can do for God with this purchase, it might really help me.
I selected the chronological plan this year. So far I really like it. Which one did you choose? It’s never too late to start!
Chronological
Through the Bible chronologically (from Back to the Bible)
Subscribe to a Format
Other ESV Bible Reading Plans
And the brainiac of the week award goes to…
GRAND RAPIDS — A man trying to steal some knives at a Meijer store is hospitalized after falling on them while trying to flee.It was around 5:41 p.m. Monday when authorities received the call to respond to the incident at the Knapps Corner store.
Police and Meijer officials told 24 Hour News 8 the suspect was approached by store security and fell on the knives during a scuffle and stabbed himself in the abdomen.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.
“I saw a man laying down on the mat by the carts, there was a knife laying by him with blood on the full blade of the knife. It wasn’t a dull kitchen knife and it wasn’t a sharp butcher’s knife, it was kinda somewhere in between,” Heather Dodd, a shopper, told 24 Hour News 8.
“Someone was holding him down so I just kinda walked around him, grabbed my cart, made sure everything was OK and got out of the way. He looked conscious and he wasn’t struggling at all. I didn’t hear any screams, any noises out of him. He was just held down with his hands behind his back,” she said.
Police say shoplifting is a misdemeanor and that the suspect has a record of retail fraud.
A few times a year I take the kids out and we hand out New Testaments. The ESV New Testaments are great for handing out.
I love these New Testaments becuase they are only 50 cents and they are very well done. They have a great plan of salvation in them as well as reading plans and the usual “where do you find this topic” list. We give these out instead of tracts whenever possible.
I took Brayden and Taylor out tonight and because Melissa gets three subscriptions to the Grand Rapids Press, we have plenty of those plastic bags to put the Bibles in. We don’t knock on doors but simple put them on the front porches.
I take the kids for a few reasons: If we do see people, the kids can give the Bibles to them and will never get turned down. Second, the kids really like doing it and it is a way that they can share Jesus’ love towards others. Third, I want to instill habits in my kids that have kingdom value and that are not focusing on them.
I also include a letter that has a message for the time of the year. It might be a Christmas, New Years, or Easter message. Basically anything that will tie in the current holiday to reading the Bible. In the letter is usually our name and address along with a way to contact us for more questions.
What’s the return on this investment? Well for one, I want to be purposeful about investing in the lives of my neighbors. If they know that our family is concerned for them, I think that is a good thing. Do I think that all the New Testaments get read? No of course not. But that is not going to stop me from investing in their lives because Jesus commands us to and it brings glory to God. And besides, it really is FUN!
Oh and by the way, we got totaly wet during the downpour tonight! Guess I should look at the weather a little better…
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