Go Back and Make It Right

Numbers 22:34

New International Version (NIV)

 ³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

Jeremiah 15:19

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:

   “If you repent, I will restore you
   that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
   you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
   but you must not turn to them.

A lace-maker was working on a very intricate design when she noticed a mistake at the beginning of her work.

 To the untrained eye it was inconspicuous and she could easily have camouflaged it, but moments like that separate the professional from the 'dabbler'. She worked all night, painstakingly unravelled her work till she reached the flaw, fixed it and started over again.

When the angel blocked Balaam on the road, Balaam said,

 'I have sinned. I did not realise you were standing in the road to oppose me...if you are displeased, I will go back.'

There are times when you need to go back and make things right. 

 Now, God doesn't usually send angels to tell us we're off-course; He speaks through His Word, through a trusted friend, or through our conscience.

 Joni Eareckson Tada says,

 'If the Holy Spirit reveals we've made an error, it's pointless to go on unless we go back... Sometimes you get so far in life and realise...the threads just aren't coming together; you've made a mistake somewhere along the line. Your sins have come home to roost. We do ourselves a disservice when we merely make a quick mid-course correction. If you want the ends to come together, then ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you "dropped the stitch".'

'We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.'

 If the Holy Spirit is dealing with you right now about some unfinished business in your life, stop, go back and make it right.

It's not easy, but God will honour your humility and obedience.

The Doctor Who Came Back From the Dead

Dan Wooding (June 15, 2011)

"I was dead for 1 hour and 25 minutes, but came back to life after my wife prayed a simple prayer." -Dr. Sean Thomas George

 A Christian group of doctors and medical professionals listened in shocked amazement as one of their own told the incredible story of how he came back from the dead.

Dr. Sean Thomas George, an Indian born doctor who is now a consultant physician in a West Australian hospital, told his extraordinary story before more than 220 Christian medics on the first day of the 8th Annual International Christian Medical Conference called "Spirituality and Medicine" held June 11-12, 2011 in Brisbane , Australia . (Photo: ANS)

"I was dead for 1 hour and 25 minutes, but came back to life after my wife prayed a simple prayer," said Dr. George, who provided all kinds of medical data that put on a large screen for the other doctors to check out.

On October 24, 2008, he reportedly returned from the dead to amaze colleagues who had battled for almost 55 minutes to revive his lifeless heart.

His story began when, five days after running a medical clinic in Vanuatu , Dr. George was returning from a clinic session on the south coast of Australia with his intern when he felt minor chest pains and was "unusually hot."

"I decided to stop the car," he said, "and as I got out, still feeling the discomfort, I called my wife, also a doctor, to let her know what was happening. She suggested that I drive straight home to Kalgoorlie ."

As he did, he said he felt "divinely directed" to enter a clinic in Kambalda, 31.6 miles from Kalgoorlie , where he used an electro-cardiogram (ECG) to diagnose a heart attack and receive the few drugs they had there.

"The pain," he said, "was getting worse and 11 minutes after the ECG my heart completely stopped beating. Not only did I have a heart attack but I went into cardiac arrest."

For the next 60 minutes, a team of doctors and nurses used over 4,000 chest compressions and gave him 13 electrical shocks, but neither his heart nor lungs responded.

After one hour and 10 minutes, the doctor was pronounced dead.

Ten minutes later, his wife arrived from Kalgoorlie and was told to go in and say goodbye.

"Being a doctor herself," continued the doctor,

 "Sherry knew that medical science had proved that if the blood supply to the brain was cut off for over three minutes the brain would begin to die, and in 20 minutes the brain would be completely dead.

 But as she and I had trusted Jesus Christ as Almighty God and Savior, she decided to humbly ask Him to intervene.

 "Holding my hand, she prayed,  ‘Lord Jesus, he is only 39, I am only 38 and we have a ten year boy. I need a miracle.'

As soon as she said this it was as though someone had breathed life into me again and my heartbeat came back."

Four hours later, Dr. George was flown to Royal Perth Hospital where doctors carried out an emergency procedure to clear a severely blocked artery on the right side of the heart.

"The doctor thought I would not survive, and even if I did, I would be completely brain dead on a ventilator.

 In Perth ICU, I had kidney and liver failure and was still in a deep coma."

Three days later, on Sunday, against all odds, the doctor opened his eyes.

 The next day, he was moving his hands and legs. On Wednesday, he was fully conscious and off the ventilator, and his memory and brain were fully functional. Then, two weeks later, he was discharged and returned to full-time work after three months of steady recovery.  Said Dr. George:

"It has proved to me that Jesus really is Creator God and Sustainer of life and that He hears and responds to the humble prayers of His servants. I now also understand that eternity is only a breath away.

"I don't think there are any documented cases of patients who were clinically dead for so long, have come back to life with their memory perfectly intact and neurologically no deficits at all," he said.

"This is something that only God can do, because medically it is impossible."

The Ant and the Contact Lens

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona.

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock.

Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather.

 As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry.

 She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. 

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found.

She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says,

"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom.

At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff.

 One of them shouted out,

 "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it?

 An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it.  

********

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist.

When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words,

 "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

At the risk of being accused of being fatalistic, I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say,

"God, I don't know why you me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy.  But, if you want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Communion on the Moon

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first two men to successfully navigate from the Earth to the Moon, walk on the surface, gather samples of lunar rocks and return safely to Earth in July of 1969. Aldrin says he did have a communion service on the moon's surface shortly after landing the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the Sea of Tranquillity. He told the story in an article in Guideposts magazine in 1999, an issue of the publication that commemorated the 20th anniversary of the lunar landing.

When the Eagle touched down on the moon on Sunday July 20, 1969, Aldrin took out the communion elements that he had brought along for the trip and put them on a small table.  He then radioed the Houston Space Centre to request a few moments of silence. Aldrin began his radio transmission to the Houston Space Centre,

"Houston, This is the (lunar module) pilot, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way."

At the point, NASA had decided to blackout the broadcast of the communion service.

From the lunar surface, Aldrin then read "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, Revised Standard Version). and took communion.

In Aldrin ‘s own words..

The first food and drink consumed on the moon was the reserved sacrament of communion. At first, it was kept secret. To mark the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, Bosco Peters has posted the details of this Christian act of worship 235,000 miles from the earth. The First Communion on the Moon is now one of The Episcopal Church's 'lesser feasts and fasts', he writes.

“In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup.I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas.

 I agreed reluctantly…Eagle’s metal body creaked.

I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquillity.

 It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

The memoirs of Buzz Aldrin and the Tom Hanks’s Emmy-winning HBO mini-series, From the Earth to the Moon (1998), made people aware of this act of Christian worship 235,000 miles from Earth.

Prayer - The Ultimate Weapon

The text below is from http://www.parentsforchrist.com/content/articles/38.shtml


~ Reverand Dennis W. Smith Sr.



GOD commands us to pray unto Him without ceasing. He wants us to call on him everyday, all day. God's word is power. God says, "We have not because we ask not."
Prayer to God should be the hearts render unto His holiness. Prayer unto God must first go through Jesus

Christ in order that God may hear you. God wants us to pray without ceasing in order that we may be in constant fellowship with Him. If we are then in constant fellowship with Him we render no space for the devil to dwell. When you're focused totally on God and you;re operating under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, satan is given no target. But we must remember these truths. To digest this essence of ultimate priority is to invite wisdom to dwell within your life and your family. The Holy Spirit is a gift sent by God. When we pray, we're communicating in the spirit unto the Lord. Having a spiritual mindset is God's command. You can't go wrong with the Holy Spirit operating in your life and guiding your steps.

Prayer is the foundation of our very existence. Without it, we are cut off from the love of God. But through prayer no demon can come against us. You may pray silently or openly and no one can distort that unless you allow it. Godly living and prayer is our choice. Prayer is powerful, prayer heals, prayer blesses others, prayer changes hearts of oppressors, prayer heals the sick and wounded, prayer brings the dead to life, prayer rids afflictions off of the body. With prayer and through honest faith your life and your family can be assured happiness. God answers prayers in His time and by His will. God grants us an open door policy - to be able to pray unto Him whenever we feel. If we ask of our Heavenly Father, we shall receive.

Allowing prayer to manifest itself is the ultimate weapon in your family's life. Be reassured that prayer is a promise. All that is broken prayer can fix, all that is hidden prayer shall find, all that is dirty prayer shall clean, all that is lost prayer shall find. Prayer is all of life because God is all of life. If you then love God and your family you should love to pray. When you pray and believing by faith through the mercy of God, life is yet wonderful. Sometimes prayer is for thanksgiving and other times its for mercy to be granted upon someone else's life. God says,"Every need shall be met". We meet those needs through prayer and only prayer in the Holy Spirit. God's miracles work through intercessory prayer. God wants us to pray for those in distant lands, to pray for the sick we do not even know and to pray for our appointed government officials and heads of state. Prayer fixes all and heals all if it is the will of God. This is so important to remember. When you pray, pray for God's will to be done. Humble yourselves before the Lord. He hears your heart and knows your needs. Many times people pray for a loved one to be healed and when that person dies from an incurable disease, their prayers turn to anguish and God is lashed out at and blamed. God already knows what's going to happen, but we must humble ourselves before His throne. He is a merciful God and does things in His own time. His will might not be for that person to continue living. He created us all and all of our heads are numbered. Your time you do not know. Count it all joy the trials of life that fall upon you. Glorify God, even in the worst of times. Paul the Apostle said, "My work is done, now I go to be with the Father". Through prayer we must glorify God in good times and what we consider bad times.

No weapon formed against us shall prosper; the mighty works of prayer assures us of this. Obey God's law and live righteously. Pray without ceasing and humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord is certified in every step and moment of your life. He is all around us and sees all that we do, even before it has entered our thought. Prayer brings mercy upon your life and it brings promise of life everlasting. TO KNOW GOD IS TO PRAY... TO LOVE LIFE IS TO LOVE JESUS CHRIST... TO LIVE LOVE IS TO LIVE WITHIN THE HOLY SPIRIT.



Submitted on : 28-Mar-2005

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"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Triumph in Tragedy

Special thanks goes out to Silent Missionary check out this great website!

Within hours, the freak accident had made national and international headlines.  From behind guarded hospital doors came good news concerning Scott and Janet:  their physical recovery from first and second degree burns would be complete. However, the most astonishing recovery became apparent as Scott and Janet displayed their emotional and spiritual stability.

Pastor Duane Scott Willis and his wife Janet dearly loved the nine children God had given them.  But mid-morning on November 8, 1994, a fiery auto explosion on I-94 in Milwaukee claimed the lives of their six youngest. 

Milwaukee, the nation, -- even the world looked on in amazement as eight days later the bereaved couple explained to the media how they could make it through such a sudden and horrific tragedy. 

The following statements are excerpts from that news conference.

Psalm 34 says, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.’

Janet and I want to praise and thank God.  There is no question in our minds that God is good, and we praise Him in all things.  God is a great God."

It was a split-second decision.

"As far as the accident is concerned, I was looking at the road and was alert.  Our little baby was behind us; Ben was behind us on the other side.  In the back seat were the other four children; they were all buckled in.  I saw the object (a metal brace, 6" x 30", 30 lbs.).  I thought it was one of those blocks that maybe came off one of those flat-bed trucks.  The car in front of me swerved, and I knew I couldn’t miss hitting the object.  I thought if I took it on the tire I might roll the car. 

"When we hit the object, the rear gas tank exploded, taking the car out of control.  I was able to grip the wheel and take the car out of the slide.  

When we were sliding and the flames were coming around the seat, it was a shock—a surprise—like, ‘What is this?’  It was just roaring flames coming up on both sides.  I was yelling to get out of the car.  Janet and I had to consciously put our hands into the flames to unbuckle the seat belts and reach for the door handles. 

 Janet fell out the door while the car was still moving.  Benny was in the midst of the burning; his clothes were mostly burnt off by the time he got out.  The five youngest children, who had been asleep, died instantly. 

No sound was heard by Janet or me as we struggled to get out of the van.  An unknown man took his shirt off his back to soak Benny’s wounds, and another beat out the burning clothes on Janet’s back.  Benny died in intensive care around midnight."

"We believe children are an heritage of the Lord.  We thank God for six precious children-- four rascally boys, a sweet girl, so much like her mother, and a little baby, just beginning to smile and grow.  We understood that they were given of the Lord, and we understood they weren’t ours.  They were His, and we were stewards of those children.  And so God took them back.  He is the Giver and Taker of life. We must tell you that we are hurt and sorrowful as you parents would for your children.  The depth of pain is indescribable. 

The Bible expresses our feelings that we sorrow, but not as those without hope."

"What gives us our firm foundation for our hope is the Bible.  The truth of God’s Word assures us that Ben, Joe, Sam, Hank, Elizabeth, and Peter are in Heaven with Jesus Christ.  We know, based upon the Word of God, where they are.  Our strength rests in the Word of God.  The Bible is sure and gives us confidence.  Everything God promises is true."

"We thank God for His preparation for this trial.  Janet became a Christian as a teenager after reading a Gospel tract that somebody had handed her.  On February 5, 1975, I (Scott) trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  A man showed me that I was a sinner—and I knew my own heart.  Nobody had ever, ever in my life presented the Gospel to me.  I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ; I believed that He died for my sins.  I became a Christian that day.  Since then God has been working with us. He has prepared us for this trial.  We’re not special people.  We’re sinners saved by grace.  But we’re not taking a short view of life; we take a long view of life, and that includes eternal life.  We realize that someday we’ll stand before the Lord, and the things that are here will matter very little.  God’s grace is sufficient for everybody."

Scott and Janet always speak directly concerning God’s Word and the issues of life. 

Neither would hesitate to ask:  Are you and your household prepared to handle the certainty of death?

God’s Word teaches that 

"it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

When you stand before the Lord God, what will His decision be concerning you? Do you have absolute assurance that Heaven is your eternal home? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from the penalty of your sins? If not, please read and believe the follow statements from God’s Word the Bible, and accept Jesus Christ TODAY!

In God’s eyes we are all on the same level:  "There is none righteous, no not one .  .  .  For all have sinned" (Romans 3:10, 23).  We are all sinners deserving eternal judgment in the lake of fire because "the wages of sin is death" (Revelation 20:15; 21:8; Romans 6:23).

However,

"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  Eternal life can be received only as a gift from God.  It can never be earned, because "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:  it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Son, God provided the only means for man’s salvation.

Eternal life is available to anyone!

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).  Talk to God RIGHT NOW in prayer! Admit to Him your need as a sinner and your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. 

He will save you NOW!

7 Proofs of the Resurrection

Evidence the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Happened By Jack Zavada, Contributing Writer

Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ an historical event that really happened, or is it only a myth, as many atheists claim?

 While no one witnessed the actual resurrection, many people swore they saw the risen Christ after his death, and their lives were never the same. Archaeological discoveries continue to support the Bible's historical accuracy. We tend to forget that the Gospels and book of Acts are eyewitness accounts of the life and death of Jesus. Further non-biblical evidence for Jesus' existence comes from the writings of Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, and the Jewish Sanhedrin. The following seven proofs of the resurrection show that Christ did, indeed, rise from the dead.

The Resurrection Proof #1:

 The Empty Tomb of Jesus

The empty tomb may be the strongest proof Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

 Two major theories have been advanced by unbelievers: someone stole Jesus' body or the women and disciples went to the wrong tomb. The Jews and Romans had no motive to steal the body.

 Christ's apostles were too cowardly and would have had to overcome the Roman guards. The women who found the tomb empty had earlier watched Jesus being laid away; they knew where the correct tomb was.

 Even if they had gone to the wrong tomb, the Sanhedrin could have produced the body from the right tomb to stop the resurrection stories. Jesus' burial cloths were left neatly folded inside, hardly the act of hurrying grave robbers. Angels said Jesus had risen from the dead.

The Resurrection Proof #2:

 The Holy Women Eyewitnesses

 The holy women eyewitnesses are further proof that the Gospels are accurate historical records.

 If the accounts had been made up, no ancient author would have used women for witnesses to Christ's resurrection. Women were second class citizens in Bible times; their testimony was not even allowed in court.

Yet the Bible says the risen Christ first appeared to Mary Magdalene and other holy women. Even the apostles did not believe Mary when she told them the tomb was empty.

 Jesus, who always had special respect for these women, honoured them as the first eyewitnesses to his resurrection. The male Gospel writers had no choice but to report this act of God's favor, because that was how it happened.

The Resurrection Proof #3:

Jesus' Apostles' New-Found Courage

After the crucifixion, Jesus' apostles hid behind locked doors, terrified they would be executed next.

But something changed them from cowards to bold preachers. Anyone who understands human character knows people do not change that much without some major influence. That influence was seeing their Master, bodily risen from the dead.

Christ appeared to them in the locked room, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and on the Mount of Olives. After seeing Jesus alive, Peter and the others left the locked room and preached the risen Christ, unafraid of what would happen to them. They quit hiding because they knew the truth. They finally understood that Jesus is God incarnate, who saves people from sin.

The Resurrection Proof #4:

Changed Lives of James and Others

Changed lives are yet another proof of the resurrection. James, the brother of Jesus, was openly sceptical that Jesus was the Messiah. Later James became a courageous leader of the Jerusalem church, even being stoned to death for his faith. Why?

The Bible says the risen Christ appeared to him. What a shock to see your own brother, alive again, after you knew he was dead. James and the apostles were effective missionaries because people could tell these men had touched and seen the risen Christ. With such zealous eyewitnesses, the early church exploded in growth, spreading west from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond.

For 2,000 years, encounters with the resurrected Jesus have changed lives.

The Resurrection Proof #5:

Large Crowd of Eyewitnesses

A large crowd of more than 500 eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus Christ at the same time. The Apostle Paul records this event in 1 Corinthians 15:6. He states that most of these men and women were still alive when he wrote this letter, about 55 A.D.

Undoubtedly they told others about this miracle. Today, psychologists say it would be impossible for a large crowd of people to have had the same hallucination at once.

Smaller groups also saw the risen Christ, such as the apostles, and Cleopas and his companion. They all saw the same thing, and in the case of the apostles, they touched Jesus and watched him eat food. The hallucination theory is further debunked because after the ascension of Jesus into heaven, sightings of him stopped.

The Resurrection Proof #6:

Conversion of Paul

 The conversion of Paul records the most drastically changed life in the Bible. As Saul of Tarsus, he was an aggressive persecutor of the early church. When the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the Damascus Road, Paul became Christianity's most determined missionary. He endured five floggings, three beatings, three shipwrecks, a stoning, poverty, and years of ridicule. Finally the Roman emperor Nero had Paul beheaded because the apostle refused to deny his faith in Jesus.

What could make a person willingly accept-even welcome-such hardships? Christians believe the conversion of Paul came about because he encountered Jesus Christ who had risen from the dead.

The Resurrection Proof #7:

They Died for Jesus

 Countless people have died for Jesus, absolutely certain that the resurrection of Christ is an historical fact. Tradition says ten of the original apostles died as martyrs for Christ, as did the Apostle Paul.

 Hundreds, perhaps thousands of early Christians died in the Roman arena and in prisons for their faith. Down through the centuries, thousands more have died for Jesus because they believed the resurrection is true.

Even today, people suffer persecution because they have faith that Christ rose from the dead. An isolated group may give up their lives for a cult leader, but Christian martyrs have died in many lands, for nearly 2,000 years, believing Jesus conquered death to give them eternal life.