Our Only Hope

I am writing this blog post today as a ministry update. The Lord has given me a new location to tell people about Jesus. Every Monday morning, I am going down to the Smith County Court house. As stated before; the Lord granted it to me to memorize The Gospel According to John and I am now using it for His glory.

I arrive at the court house at 7:45am. I position myself on a corner at the backside of the court building in the pathway between juror parking and the entrance to the court building. I pass out Gospels of John between 7:50am and 8:00am to the early arrivals (jurors must be in the court building by 8:30am). I then proclaim in open air chapters 1, 2, and 3 out of The Gospel According to John.

Preaching time is less than 20 minutes. I spend the remaining time up to 8:30am passing out gospels of John. I have inserted the Follow Me tract inside the gospels as a book mark. I am doing this out of upward love for and thanksgiving too God for what He has done for me in Jesus Christ. I am also doing this out of lateral love for my neighbor. Pray for the Lord to give ears to hear and hearts to perceive this message of life.

The End of Every Man

"It is better to go to a house of mourning

Than to go to a house of feasting,

Because that is the end of every man,

And the living takes it to heart."[1]

In 2013 there were 7.125 billion people in the world. The average life expectancy worldwide is 70.78 years. I took those figures and did a little math. 7.125 billion people divided by 70.78 years divided by 365 days in a year means that 275,792 people die on average every day. Let that figure sink in for just a moment. That is equivalent to the entire population of Corpus Christi, TX, dying every day. Maybe you have never heard of Corpus Christi, TX. Then let us look at the largest city in Texas. It is equivalent to the entire population of Houston, TX, dying over a 2 week period of time. Maybe you are not from Texas, so let us look at the largest city in the United states. It is equivalent to the entire population of New York City dying during a 2-month period of time. For more clarity let us look at the largest city in the world. Shanghai China has a population of 24,256,800 people. The world wide death rate is equivalent to the entire population of the largest city in the world dying during a 3 month period of time.[2]

Jesus lived a righteous life, He never sinned, and therefore lived a life pleasing to God. He promised eternal life to everyone who believes in Him (He is the Christ, the Son of God); then He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again; presenting Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs.[3] Jesus demonstrated by His life that He is trustworthy and He demonstrated by His resurrection that He is able. Therefore, the only logical thing for us to do is repent and put our trust in Jesus.

---

[1] Ecclesiastes 7:2.

[2] World Bank and U. S. Census Bureau.

[3] cf. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

I Hope So

            In one of his recent sermons, my pastor Phillip Dancy, of Sylvania Church in Tyler, Texas, said; all religions in the world except Christianity are hope so religions.[1] Ever since I heard that statement it has been on my mind, because of its familiarity. Just ask someone; Are you going to go to heaven when you die? The typical answer is, “I hope so.”

A few days ago my wife Darlene and I took a trip to Sam’s Warehouse where you get a discount on food items by buying in bulk. I dropped her off at the front door and proceeded to park the car. I noticed two women with two children crossing from the parking lot to the store. All four of them were dressed in African attire. One of the women was wearing a hijab, which is a veil covering the head and chest typically worn by Muslim women in public. What my pastor said came to mind. I began to ponder, why do people put so much effort into a hope so, when the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus is a trustworthy promise?

Jesus lived a righteous life, He never sinned, and therefore lived a life pleasing to God. He promised eternal life to everyone who believes in Him (He is the Christ, the Son of God); then He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose again; presenting Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to the disciples in bodily form on three separate occasions in The Gospel According to John.[2] Jesus demonstrated by His life that He is trustworthy and He demonstrated by His resurrection that He is able. Therefore, the only logical thing for us to do is repent and put our trust in Jesus.

---

[1] Phillip Dancy, sermon on 2 John, Sylvania Church, May 29, 2016.

[2] cf. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Pinnacle Mountain State Park

My last blog-post was on May 23rd. In that blog a stated that it would be my last post to A Slave of Jesus Christ, but I have since changed my mind or it has been changed. Myself, my wife Darlene, and my daughter Bethany all took a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, to witness or cousin Emily Ready join in a covenant marriage with James Youngblood. It was a wonderful wedding ceremony and we give thanks to God for his blessing of marriage.

Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church something that the world does not understand. The wife is to be subject to her husband as the church is subject to Christ, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church; Christ gave His life for the church. (cf. Ephesians 5:22-33) The minister that oversaw the ceremony was Tim Caldwell of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. During the ceremony he read 1 Corinthinas 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 He followed up by saying that love is three things:

1. Demonstrative
2. Communicative
3. Committal

While in Little Rock I read Isaiah 53 Explained by Mitch Glaser. In chapter 5 of his book Dr. Glaser explained the meaning of Servant of the Lord from Isaiah 52:13, at that moment I realized that I am a slave of Jesus Christ, therefore I must continue to write this blog. I had planned on starting a new blog called The Nurse Theologian which combined my profession of nursing, and my study of theology. I will not be doing that, I will be writing whatever the Lord gives me to write as I follow Him in faith.

While in Little Rock, Arkansas, we were blessed to spend time with many aunts, uncles, and cousins. We also received a blessing with our niece Brianne Weeks and Cousin Angie Okonski. We climbed Pinnacle Mountain which is near the Arkansas river just west of Little Rock. I believe that one of the reasons that people do not know their Creator God is that they never get outside and see what He has created.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)