The war made him a soldier. His faith made him a hero
Read more at the source: Hero of Hacksaw Ridge — Free Book Offer!
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from AmazingFacts.
Ration Meal Challenge Day for Sharon Njobo
For more information on how you can also take the Ration Meal Challenge, please visit: http://www.adra.ca/rationmeal Not able to take the challenge, but you want in on the campaign to help end hunger? Give to our fund today at http://www.adra.ca/product/ration-mea…
Read more at the source: Ration Meal Challenge Day for Sharon Njobo
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from ADRA Canada.
Contemporary Pioneers
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| Photo by Nrico, Flickr Creative Commons |
Sometimes we’re tempted to think that the glory days of pioneers exploring new frontiers is a thing of the past. After all, when was the last time you saw a true pioneer?
If you cannot think of any, maybe it’s time to redefine what a pioneer is and does.
Note to self and anyone else reading these lines, pioneers are not required to drive covered wagons and travel the Oregon Trail.
What do pioneers look like today? Typically, they look like everyone else. They live in normal houses, drive to work in regular cars and wear everyday clothes. But this is usually where the similarities end.
Instead of thinking like average people, pioneers dare to dream and question why. They go places in their reasoning that most have never imagined. The word “no” has no place in their vocabulary. In fact, as far as they are concerned “no” means “yes.” Reality is a primer for future possibilities. Nothing is set in concrete.
It is the pioneers who create new technologies, discover disease cures, create new expressions of art, write new songs, forge positions of compromise to pass critical legislation, and risk their lives to extend help to those held hostage by the forces of poverty and ignorance. True pioneers are not distracted by praise, personal attacks or political pundits. With laser-like accuracy their focus is riveted on fulfilling their life mission.
Jesus is a Pioneer when it comes to our salvation. Paul says we should be, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). NIV
Who do you think of as a twenty-first century pioneer?
Read more at the source: Contemporary Pioneers
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.
Hell What?
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| Photo by Dreamstime |
I don’t think there’s anything within Christianity that has bugged me more than this incredible belief that people will burn forever. How on earth did we become comfortable with God acting in ways we ourselves would never? If Hitler had been spared the self-inflicted gun wound to the head, and been captured, would any court of law have sentenced him to thirty years of torture and deprivation? Are you kidding me?
And yet more than nine out of ten of us Christians tote this idea about God spanking us all forever without batting an eyeball. How on earth did we get to this point? No parent would retain custody of their kids if they spanked them for thirty minutes… but God is going to punish us physically for millennia? God who cares deeply for us? It’s enough to make me want to heave. What a crazy way to view the Being who calls Himself LOVE personified.
Not only does eternal burning hell not make any sense to the common human instinct, no matter how warped by evil. Us getting roasted forever does not jive with the basic teachings of the Bible. First and foremost, Jesus said he took the wages of our sin, which of course the Bible refers to as being eternal death by being crucified. Well then if Jesus took what I have coming and fully took my place, then why didn’t or I should probably say isn’t Jesus still burning in Hell right now?
If the cost of my sins is eternal hellfire, and Jesus took my place, well then you do the math… it’s not that complicated. Jesus has got to get what I had coming—all of it. Otherwise it’s like the guy who’s getting shot for betraying his country and his dad steps in to take his place and instead of shooting the dad, they just put him in prison for a few years. Make sense? No. Fair and just? No. Inconsistent? Yes.
If Jesus is going to take my place by dying one long afternoon, fine, but then don’t tell me that if I reject Jesus taking my place I get more than a slow painful death that takes a few hours. Anything more and Jesus hasn’t done what He says He did. He didn’t take all my sin and it’s consequences… not at all… and He can’t take credit for being my stand-in at all.
Then there’s that text I just quoted part of a few paragraphs back, you know, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Death is the wages of sin; life is the gift of God. This text parallels a hundred more in the Bible, and is very clear on two things on where death and life come from. God gives life as a gift. To burn forever, God is going to have to keep giving me the gift of life so He can hurt me over and over again. That is the human equivalent of you taking me to the ER so that I can be patched up before you return me to your basement to beat me up, again and again and again… forever.
I could go on all afternoon. We could talk about what death is… since that is what sin is said to cause—not eternal burning. Or how Jesus in Revelation says that those who reject life will be thrown into the same lake of fire that the Devil and his angels and then death itself are thrown into—so does God keep the Devil, his angels… and death itself alive forever? What?
Yes, and we could talk about how He calls himself love, and that He values our freedom so much He’s let this planet spin on, despite the misery and confusion we lavish on ourselves, and how this kind of “you’re free to choose your destiny and I’ll love you no matter what you choose” could possibly make anybody feel free if there’s that mammoth BUT I’LL PUNISH YOU FOREVER clause at the end. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t make any sense at all. Not even to me, a fallen, sinful, selfish person who rarely succeeds at pure love and has a load of personal issues. If I loved you and you decide to hate and reject me, what is the loving thing for me to do? Make you pay for your choice as long as you live? Hold a grudge and play out revenge for 80 years? Even I know the answer to that.
God didn’t create suffering, doesn’t like it and died in my place to release me from it. And this same Guy is going to keep people alive to punish them forever… and for no apparent reason—we all know that punishment as children was to get our behavior in line. So God is going to punish when it’s too late for us to choose any different or better?
If the billions of people on planet earth who want nothing to do with God are ever going to change their minds, and want to love Him, you can bet all the money in your bank account that it’s not going to be because they’re terrified of Him. Perfect love casts out fear is what the Bible teaches, and that it’s kindness that leads us all to turn to God.
I know that an eternal burning hell is not part of who God is, first it’s not kind, and second it’s not perfect love because is sure doesn’t cast out fear. Sounds a lot more to me like the Devil’s dream for all of us.
Read more at the source: Hell What?
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.
The Mayonnaise Jar
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| Photo by Dreamstime |
I do not enjoy reading but fortunately for me, my wife Linda, and my daughter, DeAnne, do. They both know I love illustrations and when they find good ones, they always share them with me.
DeAnne sent me the following story and I fell in love with what it says. I share it now with you because in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we all need to remember its message.
A professor stood before his philosophy class with several items before him on the table. When the class began, and without a word, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with gold balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and proceeded to pour them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. Once again they all agreed it was.
The professor next picked up box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked the class once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced a couple of glasses of lemonade from under the desk and poured them into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students broke into laughter.
It All Adds Up
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are important – God, family, friends, health – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter in your life like your job, your home, your car, etc. The sand is everything else – the small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for things that are really important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend personal time with God, talk with your children, take your husband/wife to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn. “Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
A student raised his hand and inquired. “What does the lemonade represent?” The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there is always room for a couple of glasses of lemonade with a friend.”
Read more at the source: The Mayonnaise Jar
Article excerpt posted on en.intercer.net from Spiritual applications.
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