OUT OF THE BOX

Dear Friends I posted this article about 14 years ago. Many of you read it at that time. I am re-posting it because I have many new readers visiting my blog. PS.  I welcome comments. Billy Long   John 15: 19. “A little longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me...” Rev. 1: 10-17. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet…And I turned to see the voice that spoke to me…and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength…” 1 Cor. 15: 3-8. “…He rose again on the third day…and was seen…by Cephas…by the twelve…by over five hundred brethren at once…and after that He was seen by me also….” To see or not to see? The natural man comprehends God in the same way as a blind and deaf man would view a brilliant sunrise or listen to beautiful music. He would be oblivious to the wonders around him no matter how brilliant the sight or how loud the sound. The revelation of God works on the same principle. The person wh...

    “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by who the offence comes.”  Matthew 18:7 “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come.” Luke 17:1 Offenses are wicked, but Jesus said they are necessary and must come. They reveal the truth about people as well as providing occasion for Christians to prove themselves and draw upon the grace of God. This aspect of life is another reason we must strive to please the Lord in all things instead of using occasions of mistreatment and offense as an excuse for our sin.   The word "offense" is rooted in the Greek word for "stumble" and refers to that which potentially causes people to stumble. The scripture warns those who lay the stumbling block. But we are primarily focusing on the one for whom the offense is set. Will he stumble or will he stand? Will he fall and turn his back on God, or will he stand in obedience and faith and continue...

  “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Philippians 1:29 The “Others” Hebrews 11:32-35a gives an impressive list of victories and conquests achieved by God’s people as they moved in obedience and faith. We emulate their experiences as we read how they subdued kingdoms, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle and turned to flight the armies of aliens. Some even received their dead raised to life again. As Christians we stand in faith and believe that we also will see these same victories accomplished by followers of Christ today. However, we must also be to prepared to join and stand with the “others” described in the next few verses (Hebrews 11:32b-40). These “others” also stood in faith and were strong in the grace of God, but they did so during suffering. “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, tha...

Look at the picture of the old car riddled with holes. Inside the car two men are slumped over dead in the front seat and one in the back seat. The photograph looks like a scene from a gangster movie or from the life of Bonnie and Clyde. Based on this description, what would be your answer to the following questions: What kind of people are in the car? What kind of people fired on the car? How would you describe the relationship between the people in the car and the people who fired on the car? What was the objective of those who fired the shots? People are very surprised to learn the true answers to these questions. The picture is from an article in the December 1991 issue of National Geographic about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The actual caption reads as follows: Slain by friendly fire, shipyard workers John Adams, his father, and a friend were five miles from Pearl Harbor when their Packard was hit by shrapnel from errant five-inch Navy shells. American anti-aircraft ...