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THE PERSON OF THE BOOK
GENESIS: Promised Seed
EXODUS: Passover Lamb
LEVITICUS: Scapegoat
NUMBERS: Brazen Serpent
DEUTERONOMY: Great Lawgiver
JOSHUA: Prophet, Priest and King
JUDGES: Judge of All the Universe
RUTH: Kinsman Redeemer
SAMUEL: Anointer of Kings
KINGS: King of Kings & Lord of Lords
CHRONICLES: Great Historian
EZRA: Rebuilder of the Temple
NEHEMIAH: Rebuilder of the Wall
ESTHER: Saviour of the Jews
JOB: Friend that Sticketh Closer than a Brother
PSALMS: Song of the Ages
PROVERBS: Truth
ECCLESIASTES: Great Preacher
SONG OF SOLOMON: Wonderful Lover
ISAIAH: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and The
Prince of Peace
JEREMIAH: Weeping Prophet
LAMENTATIONS: Street Preacher
EZEKIEL: Rebuilder of the Kingdom Temple
DANIEL: Stone Cut Out Without Hands That Will Someday Come Back to
Earth and Establish a Kingdom as Supreme Ruler and King
HOSEA: Forgiving Lover
JOEL-MALACHI: One Coming in Bethlehem Judea
MATTHEW: King of Kings
MARK: Suffering Servant
LUKE: Son of Man
JOHN: Son of God
ACTS: Power of the Church
ROMANS: Dynamite of the Gospel
CORINTHIANS: Restorer of the Carnal Nature
GALATIANS: Rent Veil and Overcomer of the Schoolmaster
EPHESIANS: Heavenly One
PHILIPPIANS: Our Sufficiency
COLOSSIANS: The Shadow
THESSALONIANS: The Great Coming Christ
TIMOTHY: Our Great Appearing God
TITUS: Blessed Hope
PHILEMON: Great Master
HEBREWS: Best of All
JAMES: Fulfiller of the Law
PETER: Rock of Ages Cleft For Me, Let Me Hide Myself in Thee
JOHN: Assurance of our Salvation
JUDE: One Able to Keep Us From Falling and Present Us Faultless
Before Christ in Glory
REVELATION: One Saddled on a White Horse Coming Back to Set Up His
Kingdom
HE’S THE PERSON OF THE BOOK!!
Writing in a recent issue of Focus on the Family magazine author Stu Weber illustrates the need for a Christian "buddy" to help us survive the tough times.
In 1967 a grizzled old noncom at Fort Benning, Ga. taught [the soul-buttressing impact of "mutual mentoring"] ... to a formation of ramrod-straight troops: "Never go into battle alone!"
The war in Vietnam was building to its peak, and one stop for young army officers was the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning. The venerable, steely-eyed veteran told us the next nine weeks would test out mettle as it had never been tested.
The sergeant said many wouldn’t make the grade--it was just too tough. (Turned out he was right. Of 287 in the formation that day, only 110 finished the nine weeks.)
I can still hear that raspy voice cutting through the morning humidity like a serrated blade. "We are here to save your lives," he preached. "We’re going to see to it that you overcome all your natural fears--especially of height and water. We’re going to show you just how much incredible stress the human mind and body can endure. And when we’re finished with you, you will be the U.S. Army’s best. You will not only survive in combat, you will accomplish your mission!"
Then, before he dismissed the formation, the hardened Ranger sergeant announced our first assignment. We’d steeled ourselves for something really tough -- running 10 miles in full battle gear or rappelling down a sheer cliff. So the noncoms first order caught us off guard.
He told us to find a buddy. Some of us would have preferred the cliff. "This is step one," he growled. "You need to find yourself a Ranger buddy. You will stick together. You will never leave each other. You will encourage each other, and, as necessary, you will carry each other.
It was the Army’s way of saying, "Difficult assignments require a friend. Together is better. You need someone to help you accomplish the tough course ahead."
Stu Weber, "Some One to Lean On" Focus on the Family Magazine (June 1996).
You probably have heard the name Levi Strauss, but do you know the name of Jacob Davis? You know of Levi Strauss because of Levi's blue jeans. Levi made the most of an opportunity given him by a man named Jacob Davis. I got the following story from the Levi's website. Levi Strauss was a dry goods merchant, who came to San Francisco in 1853 at the age of twenty-four to open a west coast branch of his brothers' dry goods business. He had spent a number of years learning the trade in New York after emigrating there from his native Germany. He built up his business into a very successful operation over the succeeding twenty years, making a name for himself not only as a well-respected businessman, but as a local philanthropist as well.
One of Levi's many customers was a man named Jacob Davis, who made his living as a tailor in Reno, Nevada. He regularly purchased bolts of cloth from the wholesale house of Levi Strauss & Co. Among Jacob's customers was a difficult man who kept ripping the pockets of the pants that were made for him. Jacob tried to think of a way to strengthen his trousers, and one day hit upon the idea of putting metal rivets at points of strain: pocket corners, base of the button fly, etc. These riveted pants were an instant hit with everyone, and Jacob began to get worried that someone might steal this great idea. So, he decided to take out a patent on the process, but had trouble scraping together the $68 he needed to file the papers. What he needed was a business partner, and he immediately thought of Levi Strauss.
He wrote to Levi to suggest that the two men hold the patent together. Levi, being an astute businessman, saw the potential for this new product, and agreed to Jacob's proposal. The two men received patent #139,121 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 20, 1873 (the birthday of what we know as blue jeans). Jacob Davis was in charge of manufacturing once the company opened its two San Francisco factories. Within a very short time, all types of working men were buying up the innovative new clothing, and spreading the word.
I am Thankful for.........
....the taxes I pay
....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug
....because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work
....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and
....gutters that need fixing
....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill
....because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government
....because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key.
....because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing
....because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours
....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
....because it means I have been productive.
The art of thanksliving. It is gratitude in action.
It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your t...
IMPERSONAL AMERICA
Here is how Max Lucado rates us as a society:
"Call us a fast society, an efficient society, but don’t call us a personal society. Our society is set up for isolation. We wear ear buds when we exercise. We communicate via e-mail and text messages. We enter and exit our house with gates and garage door openers. Our mantra: 'I leave you alone. You leave me alone.'"
(Source: "Out Live Your Life, page 54. From a sermon by Michael McCartney, Experience the Spirit in Service, 4/14/2011)
LABOR DAY AND OUR DIVINE UNION
I’ve heard that Labor Day was first celebrated in Boston on Sept 5, 1882. It wasn’t until 1894 that it became a federal holiday. That was an effort encouraged by President Grover Cleveland to reconcile with the labor movement and prevent further violence.
You see, in the spring of that year was the famous Pullman Strike. It took place in Pullman, Illinois, a town situated between Chicago and Gary, Indiana. That was the home of the Pullman Palace Car Company which built cars for the railroad, including luxury sleeping cars and dining cars. Some 3,000 workers went on strike because of reduced wages. It was a very violent strike in which several workers were killed by federal troops sent there to by Cleveland.
Labor Day was instituted as a holiday to call attention to the strength and unity of the organized labor movement.
We who are believers in Christ are members of a divine union. As such, we share the benefits that kinship offers. I’m not talking about guaranteed wages, paid vacations and holidays, insurance, pensions, and other benefits secured through collective bargaining. I’m talking about benefits of a more spiritual than material nature, of a more eternal than temporal nature.
(From a sermon by Doane Brubaker, Your Place in the Divine Labor Union, 8/29/2011)
BITTER RIVALRY BETWEEN ARTISTS
In 1503, Julius II became Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He immediately began a building program to beautify the Vatican. In 1509, he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo reluctantly agreed to paint the fresco, though he insisted he was a sculptor only.
Shortly afterward, the Pope commissioned Raphael to paint the frescos in the papal study. Raphael was eight years younger than Michelangelo and had become a master painter at age seventeen. At age twenty, he moved to Florence and for four years studied under Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and others.
During the work at the Vatican, a rivalry erupted between Michelangelo and Raphael. Michelangelo later said of Raphael, "All that he ever knew of art he learned from me." That was not quite true, although Michelangelo did help in Raphael’s development as an artist. Michelangelo envied the easier work given to Raphael and the kind treatment Julius showed him. Raphael was envious that Michelangelo had received the most honored spot to paint, and he had to settle for a lesser area.
Their envy toward one another degenerated until they refused to speak to one another. And all of this took place while they were supposed to be working "for the glory of God."
(From a sermon by Terry Blankenship, The Woe Everyone Knows, 5/29/2012)
KEEPING UP WITH NEXT DOOR
I heard about a chicken yard with a big hen house, where a rooster had all of his hens laying eggs. One day, two little boys were next door playing football, with a brand new white football. One of them accidentally kicked the football over the fence, and it rolled into the chicken yard.
The rooster walked around and around the football, examining it carefully. Finally, he called out to all of his hens, "Come on out here, ladies!" When they had all gathered around, he said, "Now, girls, I don't mean to be negative, but here's the kind of eggs they're producing next door. You need to step up your efforts."
We can easily look w...
African proverb:
If you want to travel fast, travel alone.
If you want to travel far, go together.
(From a sermon by Anthony Zibolski, "Why Have You Forsaken Me?" 1/24/2009)
When God fixes a fix to fix you, and
you fix the fix before it fixes you,
God has to fix another fix to fix you.
– Bob Mumford.
