The Story of the Christian Boy

Tommy was not the sharpest hammer in the toolbox. When he was a kid, he let a kid in the neighborhood talk him into jumping off a cliff. Luckily for Tommy the bottom of the cliff was a 6 foot sand bed. He broke his arm, but did not die. But, the thing was, he didn't jump off the cliff thinking the sand would catch him, he jumped off because the kid convinced him it was the cool thing to do.  Tommy never learned.

When all his friends were getting ready to go to college, Tommy decided he'd go too. However, he hadn't prepared himself during high school to be able to go to college. And, his parent hadn't saved up any money to send him to college. In his senior year when everyone else were receiving acceptance letters, Tommy started sending them out. When everyone was finishing up a successful high school report card, Tommy started studying. He had to bring a D average up as far as he could.

Tommy made it to college with his friends. Half of his courses were remedial, but he was there.

One day a hippie like person camp up to Tommy and started asking him if he was going to go to the jewish heaven. The hippie was surrounded with his adoring sycophants and instantly hooked Tommy. Tommy started going to one of those Christian mythos churches. Pretty quickly he was convinced that everything happened because the jewish god wanted it to happen.

So Tommy was in college and he was in a sad state of affairs. He was always broke. He didn't have money for over half of his books. He couldn't afford to eat on campus. When he tried to get a part time job, his C- average started slipping into F. So he quit his part time job and went back to studying.

William knew Tommy from the time they were both 6 years old. William had prepared for college, his parents had saved up money so that he could barely squeek by and live decently while in college.

Anthony knew Tommy from when they were both 10 years old. Anthony had moved into the neighborhood during the booming 80s. His parents had done very well for themselves and had put a lot of money away from Anthony's college fund. Anthony prepared his grades for college from middle-school on up. Anthony had many scholarships along with his college fund and had a free ride while in college. He was able to buy a car and live off campus in a house purchased by his parents in his name. He even rented out some of the room while school was in. So he got in-state tuition, rent, free ride, and a college fund.

Cynthia knew Tommy from when they were 12 years old. She had taken to Tommy immediately and knew he wasn't all that bright. She constantly defended him when others talked about him behind his back. She had only about half the money saved for college, but she took out a student loan. Her grades were really good, so her parents never bothered her while in school.

One day there was an event on campus, a concert and pep rally. To go it cost $60. Tommy had no way of paying it. William took pity on Tommy and surprised him with a ticket. They all piled into Anthony's car and headed to the concert. At the end of the evening when they were getting back into the car, Anthony turned to Tommy and said, "well did you appreciate that?" Tommy replied, "all praises to the jewish god that got me in the wonderful concert." Everyone stopped and looked at him and then William. Finally, Anthony turned to William and said, "that was really nice of you William."

Christmas break was coming and Tommy had no way home and couldn't stay on campus, because it closed. Anthony told him he could stay in his apartment, rent free, for the 3 week break. William and Cynthia came back early, to get a head start studying for the coming semester. So for the last week of break they all hung out together at night and talked and drank themselves silly with soda. Of course, Tommy never bought any soda. The night before semester started William turned to Tommy and said, I bet you liked staying with Anthony rent free, and you didn't even have to pay for food. Tommy replied, "all the glory goes to the jewish god that let me stay here without paying a red cent." Cynthia jumped up and grabbed Anthony and said, "oh I'm sure he really appreciates you being kind."

Finally, it was spring break. Anthony and William were going to Florida to take a break, because they studied harder than the dickens. Cynthia was going to go with them, but Tommy couldn't go and again he had no place to stay during the break. Cynthia went into the city for a week and got a hotel suite. She invited Tommy to stay with her and just sight see during the break. The day after the break they were all sitting at lunch together. Anthony turned to William and smirked. William asked Tommy did how did he like his fantastic break. Tommy replied, "the jewish god has all power in his hand and provided for me again during this break. Finally Cynthia had had enough. She stood up yelling at the top of her lungs, "listen here Tommy, when William paid for you to go to that concert, last fall, and you didn't even have the decency to thank him, I defended you. And, when Anthony let you stay in his house for free and paid for your food, electricity and water, and you didn't even say thank you, I defended you. But, now I canceled my trip to Florida for you, paid for a hotel, bought all your food, paid for all of your sight-seeing trips and you don't have the sense to thank me, it's over."

Tommy said, "what, all those things were provided for me by the jewish god."

Cynthia said, "no, there is no such thing as a jewish god. It's all made up. It's a fantasy so people like you can give your time and money to the people running those churches. We didn't say anything because we wanted you to be free to choose whatever you like to do with your time. But, frankly, you fell for the scam and turned into a worse person than you already were. You thank your jewish god for things we did for you."

"So tell you what, Tommy. Go play with your jewish god and see how much he really does provide for you," Cynthia finished.

Anthony and William started laughing and cheering.

When Tommy was about to say something, William stood up and said, "I think it's best time for you to leave us alone. You are no longer our friend. Now go!"

Conclusion

By the end of the semester Tommy's grades were so low that the school put him on probation. He was required to come to summer school to make up what grades he had failed. When he couldn't afford anything and didn't pass, even after studying his hardest, the school kicked him out and forbid him from returning.

On breaks Tommy would see his old neighborhood friends. They never spoke to him.

His mother died and left him the house, which still had 20% left to pay on the mortgage. He promptly lost the house to the bank.

However, he steadfastly kept going to church from the end of that spring break till a couple of years later when he died from being homeless.

Sunday: Invitation to the Ultimate Wedding guest post Pastor T.W.

Are You Wise or Foolish

Surprisingly enough, there is a great deal in the word of God about weddings, and marriages. Over the years we have noticed that a lot of people, both those professing to be Christians, and those who are not professing, take this business of marriage very lightly. Many people seem to think that they can enter into a marriage at will, and leave it at will. But the Lord sees marriage much differently than man sees it. Often, we take the decision to accept the Lord as Savior, or to reject Him, just as lightly. Many have created their own set of rules, policies and procedures. Things, like "I don't need to go to church"; "I am a man, what do you expect," "I am only hurting myself, so who cares". These are ideas, which while they sound convincing, do not agree with the word of God.

Sunday: Do Miracles Still Happen [guest post Paster T.W.]

Miracles from on High

Have you ever experienced a godly miracle? I believe that we will or have experienced many miracles in our life time. What I am describing as a miracle is, any act that could happen by no other means, but by the Power of God Almighty.

The First Miracle recorded of Jesus was the act of Jesus turning water into wine, was reported in

John 2: 1-11.

¹ And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: ² And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. ³ And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. ⁴ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. ⁵ His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. ⁶ And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. ⁷ Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. ⁹ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, ¹⁰ And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. ¹¹This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

So somewhere between the servants pouring the water into the pots, and then drawing the water out of the pots, by the commandment of Jesus, a miracle happened. The water was then turned into wine! And the governor of the feast, exclaimed in vs. 10.

".....Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now."

So, what Jesus produced was superb. Verse 11. states that "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee..."

Conclusion

Some say that wine represents the joy of the Holy Spirit. The Lord revealed unto me on one occasion that during this marriage feast, when He was turning the water into wine, He was thinking of the day when He would fill men with His Holy Spirit. I present to you, that it is just as easy for the Lord to change a man's heart, or mind, by His Spirit, as it is for Him to change water into wine.

Guest poster Pastor T.W.

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Sunday: Opening Your Heart to Hear God Speak Part 3 [guest post Pastor T. W.]

Does God Really Talk to People?

I love God's voice. It is so soft and sweet, yet, it is powerful enough to wake up the dead! This final portion has to do with the final reason I believe God really speaks to people, and that is because He speaks to me often. This proclamation has gotten me into a lot of trouble, both with friends and foe. That is not surprising, because the fact that God spoke to Jeremiah, in the Old Testament, got him into plenty trouble.

The very first time I remember God speaking to me, I was about five years old. I have told this story on television, in foreign countries, and to my friends and family. My brother is in this story with me, commented when I told him this story, "So, you became a grown up woman, at age 5." Well, I guess so. There is something about knowing God, that makes you a little more mature. However, though I have known God since I was a child, there are still days, when I feel like I am still a five year old child.



Though I can never remember, not believing in God, I officially accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, at the age of 12 years, because I had read the story about Jesus starting His own work at about 12 years of age. So that summer, when I was 12 years old, (I was born in 1948) there was a revival going on at our church, and I of course went to the revival every night, along with the rest of my family. In those days, we still had what they called "the mourner's bench". If you had not accepted Jesus yet, and you were in the Baptist church, you sat on the mourner's bench. Once you accepted Jesus, and was baptized, you could sit anywhere in the church, and you could receive The Lord's Supper, or Communion.

As I mentioned earlier: The first time I remember the Lord speaking to me, I was five years old. It would have been around 1953. Our family lived deep in the woods. We still had a wood burning stove and heater. We read by kerosene lamps. My mother was industrious, and was in the process of changing over from a non-electrical home, to having electric lights. We had, what we called, "an ice box", or refrigerator. This is key, for you understanding the story. An ice box, was made of tin, or steel, and it had three compartments on it; two smaller compartments, and one longer compartment, equal to the other two. Each door had a two-part steel latch on it, a handle that one depressed to open, and a cradle, which the latch fit into. It was hard to open and close.

In the upper left hand compartment you put a block of ice, about 15" x 15" which cooled the ice box. In the lower left hand compartment, and the longer compartment you put food. One had to buy ice, almost every day. It think it cost about 15 cents a block.

My father and the boys had put the old ice box in my parent's room, because we were getting an electric refrigerator. I had been cautioned by my mother, "not to play" in the ice box. Many children had suffocated and died in ice boxes just that year. But, I couldn't resist, I had to play in the ice box. So while my mother was sleeping, and listening to the radio, my little brother, who was then 4 years old, and I, went into my mother's room to play. We opened the ice box and got in, to play "car". I was the driver of the car. I got into the upper left hand compartment, where they would put the ice, and at my request, my brother closed the door on me. I remember smelling the cakes my mother had had in the box during Christmas.
My brother was taller, so he got into the long compartment. From inside the box, I cautioned my bother "not to close his door".

We had been playing for just a few minutes, when my brother screamed. "My door closed!" "My door closed!" I yelled at him, "Why did you close the door. I told you not to close it!" He assured me, he had not closed the door, but the door had closed on him "by itself". There was a knowing in me, that made me believed him! There was not only God, there something out there, mean, and evil, who had closed that door.

In an attempt to free himself, my brother started to shake the ice box furiously. Now mind you, the floor of the house was wooden, and it sat about 12 feet up off the ground, so it gave when you walked on it.

God spoke the first time: "Tell your brother not to shake the ice box, if he turns it over, your mother will not be able to pick it up. Then your mother will die. Your sisters and brothers will come home from school and find you all dead." I saw the picture in my head. I yelled at my brother, and repeated to him, what God had said to me. He stopped shaking the ice box.

God spoke the second time: "If you will pray, I will open the door for you!" By now, I estimate that about 45 seconds had past. We were still breathing fine, but our time was running out. I was a little uneasy about saying this, but I said to my brother, "I know who can open the door for us!" Mind you, we had already called our mother repeatedly, so my brother conceded that "Mama sleep!" I told him: "I am not talking about Mama, I was talking about God!" His reply was: "God can't hear us, He's in heaven!" His answer shook me for a minute. That was true, He was in heaven. I didn't understand everything, but I had no time to figure it all out. God had said that "if you pray, I will open the door!"

So, I asked my brother to repeat the Lord's prayer after me. At first, he refused. I had to ask him about three times, before he finally agreed. For whatever reason, I knew we both needed to pray. Finally, we started: "Our father" and he repeated: "Our fadda (father)", "Who art in heaven." "Who art in heven (heaven)". "Hallow would be thy name." "Hallow be thy name." "Thy Kingdom Come!" "Thy Kingdom Come! It's open! The door open!" my little brother said. After we were out, there was another unction I received at age five, "Tell God thank you!" Again, I had to fight with my little brother, to make Him tell God "thank you!" This is what he said, "God didn't open the door, door opened by self!" What do you believe?

Conclusion

While many children died in those old ice boxes, that year, thanks to the Lord, and child's faith, we both came out of that old ice box, and lived to share this story. Do you believe that God really does talk to His people. I do! Pastor T.W.

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