Monday, December 21, 2009

A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

I SAT DOWN TO GIVE A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE BUT I COULD NOT COME UP WITH MORE BEAUTIFUL WORDS THAN WHAT I HEARD FROM THE CELTIC WOMAN GROUP. PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO LISTEN TO THEIR ANGELIC VOICES.











THAT BEING SAID,I WISH ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS

LARRY AKA PHOTOGR

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

THE UNCLEAN GENTILES


We all know in biblical times the Hebrew Christians thought of Gentiles as unclean and had nothing to do with them according to the law Moses had set forth.



That was all about to change when Jesus stopped Saul ( Paul) on the road to Damascus and asked those famous words " Saul ! Saul! why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9: 3 - 17). In these passages Jesus explains to Ananias that Saul was to be his instrument to preach to the Gentiles and kings as well as the Israelites.



Now comes Peter a devout follower of Jewish law. As he was praying on a roof top, he fell into a trance and out of the heavens came down a large sheet held up by four corners.In this vision there was all sorts of animals on this sheet. A voice spoke to Peter to kill the animals and eat them. Naturally he rebuked the order stating he could not eat what is unclean according to Jewish law. The voice then stated " Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean". The vision was repeated three times before being pulled back up into the heavens. (Acts10:9-16). What was the voice trying to convey to Peter? If God made it, it was clean ( man or beast)?



About this time the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter saying 3 men have come seeking him and go with them quickly as he had sent them because Cornelius ( A Roman officer and a Gentile) that was summoned by an angel to seek him. Peter went with them to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea where Cornelius had gathered all his relatives , friends, and servants to hear of Jesus and God. It is then that Peter finally realized what that vision on the roof top meant when he made the statement about associating with Gentiles. (Acts 10:34 -43).



Many that day were blessed with the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues, and were baptised in Jesus name. This totally surprised Peter that Gentiles could also receive the Lords blessings. As the word spread about the incident at Cornelius' home, Saul ( now Paul) and Barnabus was also preaching to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles who better received his words over the Jewish people in one town. The Jewish people incited a riot and ran them out of town, through jealousy of preaching Gods grace to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnibus were better received in other towns as they made their way back to the council in Jerusalem. Gentiles along the way were converted and baptised. So in actuality, I stand corrected in my assumption that it was Paul only that brought the word of Jesus to the Gentiles. It was Peter, Barnabus and Paul that introduced Jesus to the Gentiles. The three gave their testimony to the council in Jerusalem about the Gentiles hearing the word of God and believing just as Jesus had instructed the Apostle's to do. ( Acts15 ).



From that meeting, came the agreement to share with the Gentiles the word of God's prophecies and the word of Jesus with out the traditional customs of the Jewish faith to all that would believe and repent of their sins. A letter was sent out to the new believers out lining what was expected and guidelines to follow much to the joy of the Gentiles.



What joy it is to realize that Jesus chose to include the Gentiles as His followers and share the word of the Lord so that so many more can become a part of the Body of Christ. We are certainly blessed and should give thanks and praise to His Holy name for allowing us to worship Him.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

WHO AM I ?


Certainly a simple enough question for one to ask others. This is actually a question Jesus put to the disciples " Who do the people say I am?" ( Luke9:18). Some of the disciples mentioned what the crowd thought of who He was but Peter mentioned He was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied to Peter, " You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father has revealed this to you". (Luke 16: 15-19). Only Peter correctly said who Jesus really was. The other disciples stated the crowds thought he was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. I don't think the others were sure who he was. This was an early indication of Peter's understanding of Jesus mission on earth.



Jesus had fed thousands of followers and healed many more all the while preaching in parables and teaching of God's kingdom if they would believe. Jesus raised people from the dead and gave them life. Many were baptised in His name and became disciples.



At another time,the masses went to Capernanum to find Jesus but He admonished them for only seeking Him because He feeds them not because they understood the miraculous signs he performed. ( John6:26-27) Jesus At one point stated "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life with in you". ( John 6: 53) This was a hard teaching and many failed to understand this metaphor. Most of the followers deserted Him as they failed to understand what He meant. Had they stuck around they might have been privileged to hear His meaning ( John6:60-71). This was a way to frustrate the impure motives of ones who tried to be close to Him. The original 12 disciples although clueless did stay around for Him to explain to them the purpose of the metaphors.



As you read the scriptures in the New testament, Jesus did speak frequently in parables and metaphors to confuse the ones seeing but were blind and the ones hearing but were deaf. As that fateful day in Jerusalem drew near, Jesus spoke plainly to the disciples of what He has taught and what was to come to pass. He spoke of Peter denying knowing Him three times before the rooster crows. He spoke about the day the temple in all it's beauty in Jerusalem will come down with no stone un turned which actually did happen 70 years later in a siege by the Romans to over throw a revolt by Hebrew rebels.



Jesus is the most pivotal person or God in all creation. What He has stated and prophesied in the New Testament was the foundation of a new church belief called Christianity that promised eternal life in God's kingdom. Jesus spread His message of salvation through out the biblical lands two thousand years ago. He raised the dead, healed the sick, did miracles, cast out demons, taught a new belief of love for others, taught righteousness walked on water, fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. He also went to the cross as a sacrifice to pay for mankind's sins. He frequently met with His disciples after He was raised from the dead for 40 days to show them he was raised and lived. He commissioned the 11disciples to go forward and spread the Good News (after being touched with the Holy Spirit at a later time) as He ascended to Heaven. He also converted Paul who was an enemy of the new Christian movement to a pivotal leader in the new Christian movement. From that humble beginning the Christian movement has encircled the earth and many today are still being won over to Christ from those humble beginnings. I might say Jesus was and is a super natural being ( God's Son) blessed under the power of God to offer salvation and eternal life to the ones that would only believe in Him and accept Him as their personal saviour. Why is that so hard to do for some people? The scriptures shows you the way. Just read His spoken words in the bible. It should inspire you as it has me.






I lightly covered Jesus ministry in that short 3 years to give you an impression of who He was. What would you say if Jesus asked you that question "Who am I?"