First Baptist Church of Manayunk in Philadelphia purchased an old abandoned house next to the church to expand its parking lot back in the late 1960s. For more years than anyone could remember, a bed of Daffodils (Easter Lillies) had bloomed to welcome each new Spring.
The construction company contracted to tear down the building and to pave the new lot did so in the Fall, so no thought was given to the old flower bed which was leveled off and covered over with eight inches of black asphalt or tarmac. A huge roller then came in and compacted the asphalt down to four inches of rock hard pavement. Everyone enjoyed the new parking lot and soon forgot about the old house and garden. That was, they forgot about it until Spring. The first thing noticed was that an area of asphalt was cracking upward and then just in time for Easter, those dormant, buried and forgotten daffodils burst forth, right up through the pavement to bloom and celebrate the Resurrection.
Nothing could hold those daffodils back, nothing could hold Jesus in the grave, and nothing will hinder the resurrection of the dead some day. I’m gonna stay ready.
Tags: daffodils, life, resurrection
The Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina, sent the following letter:
“Your food stamps will be stopped, effective immediately, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”
Does this mean that the official South Carolina government officially endorses the possibility of life after death? I doubt it. It was likely a simple oversight. How could a person who is deceased possibly reapply when their circumstances change? Once a person has died, then comes the judgment. We get no second chances and there is no reincarnation.
The importance of that is so we will remember to make life count the first time around. Make your life count today.
Tags: death, mistakes, resurrection
A man went on vacation to the Holy Land with his wife and mother-in-law. Halfway through their trip, the mother-in-law died. So, the man went to an undertaker, who explained that they can ship the body home, but it’ll cost $5,000. Or they can bury her in the Holy Land for $150.
“We’ll ship her home,” said the son-in-law. “Are you sure?” asked the undertaker. “That’s an awfully big expense. And I can assure you we do a very nice burial here.”
“Look,” said the son-in-law, “two thousand years ago they buried a guy here, and three days later he rose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance.”
Tags: death, humor, resurrection
“You’re blocking the way, sir,” said the usher to a man sprawled in the aisle of a movie theater. “Please get up.”
The man didn’t move or reply. The usher called the manager over, who said, “I must ask you to move.”
Still the prone man didn’t reply. So the manager called the police. “Get up or I’ll have to take you in,” the officer said. “Where did you come from, anyway?”
The man finally stirred and said, “The balcony.”
Have you ever felt condemnation toward another who was down and out? How can we judge someone when we haven’t walked in their shoes or understood what they have gone through that brought them to that place? Let’s be a little more understanding. Our job is not to judge, but to assist others on their spiritual journey. How are you helping?
Tags: humor, judging, mercy, resurrection
In 1957, Lieutenant David Steeves walked out of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains 54 days after his Air Force trainer jet had disappeared. He told an unbelievable tale of how he had lived in a snowy wilderness after parachuting from his disabled plane. By the time he showed up alive, he had already been declared officially dead. When further research failed to turn up the wreckage, a hoax was suspected and Steeves was forced to resign under a cloud of doubt. More than 20 years later, however, his story was confirmed when a troop of Boy Scouts discovered the wreckage of his plane.
This reminds me of another survival story recorded in the Bible. Jesus had been executed, pronounced dead, and buried. But on the third day He appeared alive again. Religious leaders shouted “Hoax!” but hundreds of people saw him and talked with him. He disappeared again and hasn’t been seen since. But He will come again for those who believe in Him. Now that’s a survival story!
“He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3).
Tags: Boy Scouts, doubt, hoax, resurrection, survival
Hosea is an Old Testament prophet that had to live the message God wanted him to preach. He was directed by God to marry an adulterous woman, name their children after the prophetic themes they represented, suffer the pain of her further adultery, and then receive her back again. What a life’s message! Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet, and other prophets, as well, had to live the message they preached.
I believe it is God’s divine will that I live the message that I preach, as well. I must be a model of the message. As you know, two central truths I communicate most are 1) God has called us to be overcomers, and 2) first comes a death, then a resurrection. I suspect this cancer represents sin nature working death in my mortal body. As I stay faithful to God in faith, I must die to my self-will, so I can rise to new life, and become an overcomer!
If a genuine prophet must live through the message he preaches, let it be so with me, so I can preach the good news with His power.
Tags: Hosea, message, overcomer, prophet, resurrection