April Fools Day: The Atheist Holiday

“Hooray For That Judge In Florida, an atheist became incensed over thepreparation for Easter and Passover holidays and decided to contact thelocal ACLU about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constantcelebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidayswhile the atheists had no holiday to celebrate.The ACLU jumped on the opportunity to once again pick up the cause of thegodless and assigned their sharpest attorneys to the case.

The case was brought before a wise judge who after listening to the long,passionate presentation of the ACLU lawyers, promptly banged his gaveland declared, “Case dismissed!”

The lead ACLU lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling andsaid, “Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. And theJews–why in addition to Passover they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah…and yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!”

The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said “Obviously yourclient is too confused to know about or for that matter even celebrate the atheists’ holiday!”

The ACLU lawyer pompously said “We are aware of no such holiday for atheists, just when might that be, your honor?”

The judge said, “Well it comes every year on exactly the same date—April 1st!”

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” – Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1

HOORAY FOR THAT JUDGE”

-Quoted from many chain mails. True or not? You decide. I believe it (The Court Case and the fact that April Fools Day is for atheists).

Devotion Talk 3/31/08

Tonight I read John 15.

This chapter, I feel really shows how we are connected to God. God is the vine and we are the branches. This shows how we were created in the image of God. We also, like branches of a vine have thorns that defect how we live. We are not perfect. We are so close to God and he loves us so much. If we abide in him and seek his shelter, we WILL bear fruit. We will do well in life. We need to put our full trust in God for everything. He is our strength and perseverance. Without him, we could accomplish nothing. Because without him, we would not even be on this Earth. Our existence is not an accident. We are here to glorify our LORD and tell the world who he is and the great news that has come because of his sacrifice. In order to glorify him we must make sacrifices as he did willingly, because he loves us so much.

Verses 18-26 deal with how we will be hated in this world. The devil hates us. His followers hate us. Disciples of the LORD are hated on this planet, but we must remain true to him and show him that we will fight for him. The world needs to know Jesus’s name. If they never learn it, they will perish in hell. We need to tell the good news, whether it means dying, being tortured, or nothing at all. No matter what, we need to show God our love for him and spread his glory.

vine-branches.jpg

Devotion Talk 3/30/08

Wow. REALLY Long Absence. I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Tonight I read John 14.

This passage is an assurance that we will all be saved. We were not disciples when Jesus was on Earth, but we are now. We will have a place in heaven because Jesus told us that we will. We have no need to worry about how to get there. As long as we believe in Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, we will have our spot up in heaven. He has a place reserved and prepared for you and me.

Another important fact is Jesus’s  telling that he is the father. This means he is God. He is part of the Fathe, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. HE loved us, so he sent HIMSELF to die to show US that he loved US. WE ARE SAVED BECAUSE OF GOD’S SACRIFICE. Praise the Lord!

Jesus is coming back. In verse 28, he tells that he will leave to be the Father in heaven, BUT He will be back for us. He will come and take us home in one way or another.

“28‘You heard me say, ”I am going away and I am coming back to you.” If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.’ “

Devotion Talk 2/11/08

Sorry for the long absence. I’ve been sidetracked recently.

Tonight I read John 10.

This chapter really shows Jesus’s great power and truth. He claims to be “the gate” for the flock of sheep. We are the sheep. The pen is heaven. We are stuck roaming around on Earth, and if that gate doesn’t open, and Jesus doesn’t create away to get to heaven, we will wander into the forests of hell. We need Jesus to be the gate between our sinful lives and Heaven. He is “the way the truth and the life.”

Another occurrence of Jesus’s great power when he is about to be stoned. He tells the stories and does the deeds. He claims to be the son of God. He is! People do not believe him and are ready to stone him. He asks: “What for?” They all say blasphemy. He then told the people truth, as he always did. He told them that he was the son of God. Praise the Lord for sending Jesus Christ our Savior to die for us!

“7Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ “

Devotion Talk 1/8/08

Tonight I read John 6.

This chapter is a chapter of amazing feats of Jesus and miracles. He can do anything. It is a great point. But, there is one thing I want to really stress, and that is the lesson of verses 25-59. These verses tell that Jesus is the bread of life. If you eat of his bread you shall have eternal life! Do not chase material things! That is Satan’s bread of death! Feast on the truth of Jesus Christ! We can read the Bible, pray, and do anything possible to follow him. But there is one thing that we have to do. We cannot keep this all to ourselves. This wonderful life. The great joy of knowing will will be going to heaven and that we will see God face to face! We have to share our bread. Like the boy that brought the fish and bread, when we are done, everyone will be full of it, and it will feed many. We must share our great knowledge and faith with non-believers! They need Jesus! We need Jesus! WE ALL NEED JESUS! He loves us so much that he died for our sins!

 ” 51 ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ “

Devotion Talk 1/4/08

Tonight I read John 3.

I love the first half of this chapter. It is about someone who doesn’t exactly understand what being born again is. Nicodemus asked Jesus and Jesus told him in verse 16. This is one of my favorite verses of the Bible. Jesus tells Nicodemus that God sent him, so that sinners may live. Seeing that Jesus hasn’t been crucified at the time, it would have been a bit confusing for Nicodemus, until Jesus told that he was the light that had come into the darkness, to set us free from the shackles and cordons of sin. Praise the Lord!

“16‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.’ “

I enjoyed the second half as well. John is living up to the fact that he came to prepare the way. He said that it was right that many were now following Jesus, as he only came to prepare the path, and tell people that the Savior was here! I love how all the promises in the Bible that are made by God, Jesus or someone sent by God are always kept. Our God never breaks his promises!

“30 ‘He must become greater; I must become less.’ “

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Devotion Talk 1/3/08

Tonight I read John 2.

I really enjoyed this chapter. It tells two great stories that tell many important facts that need to be known by everyone. The first story told is about Jesus turning water into wine. This message is point blank that Jesus and God can do anything. God can heal a person of deafness, muteness, or blindness. He can do anything:

“8Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’

They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’ “

When Jesus forces the merchants out of the temple, it shows that being angry is always sin, unless it is anger in someone who mocks God. These men had set up companies in a holy temple. Jesus was outraged and forced them out. Being angry at something petty is sin. But, this is not. Another thing in this is how Jesus foretells his death. He claims he will be brought down, but brought back in three days. I also enjoyed this part because it said that Jesus knew the way of men. This ties in with John one, when it says: “He was with God in the Beginning.” This chapter says in a sense that Jesus knows the ways of humans because he was their at the time of their creation.

“20The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

Devotion Talk 1/2/08

Happy New Year!
Tonight I read John 1.

There is one major point I want to discuss. It shows up in verse two. Verse two reads:

“He was with God in the beginning.”

I do not know how anyone else interprets it, but I believe it says that Jesus was always with God. God had always had the plan of sending our Savior. He had Jesus with him, so when Jesus was born, he really in a sense wasn’t born, but born again in human form. Because of him, and God’s plan, we will also one day be born again, but not as humans, but in heaven. God has planned each and every one of our lives. God had a destiny for Jesus: dying for us, and has plans for us.

The second point I believe is shown by John the Baptist in this chapter. He refuses to be called Christ as he is not. He tells that God sent him to prepare the world for Jesus. I feel like all Christians must have gotten carried away while sharing faith. John however did not. He did not make himself a Christ figure. He wasn’t. But, we as believers in God sometimes feel like we’re superior to non-Christians, when we’re not. We’re all sinners. It’s something all Christians need to stop. We feel like we’re better that non-Christians, but if we believe this to be true, we’re worse.

Devotion Talk 12/28/07

I apologize. I’ve been forgetful recently.
Tonight I’m going to to something a little different. Instead of going to John 1 as my devotion planner has planned, I’m going to discuss something I just read in R.C. Sproul’s: Now That’s A Good Question!

“24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”

-James 2:24

On page 138, the question reads:

“If justification is by faith alone, how can we apply James 2:24 (shown above) , which says a person is justified by what he does not his faith alone?”

I really enjoyed the response of Sproul. He replied:

” …What James is saying is this: if a person says he has faith, but gives no outward evidenceof that faith through righteous works, his faith will not justofy him… We are not saved by a profession of faith or claim to faith. That faith has to be genuine…” (pg. 139)

-R.C. Sproul

When I read the answer of Sproul, I thought of the many people Jesus healed. When he healed them, he told many: “Your faith has healed you.” It wasn’t: “Okay, now go do a good deed and you’ll be healed.” Jesus already committed the good deed. He died for us. I think that James 2:24 really means that we have to show our faith, and it has to be real in order for us to be saved. Praise the LORD that the good deed was done! Faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven!

“6Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ “

-John 14:6