Ray Mossholder: February 2013

THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHING MANUEL (PDF)

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (15 VIDEOS)

Click the chapter list to view all 15 videos!

Lucy Looks into a Wardrobe

Lucy Pevensie hiding in the woods

Added by Sallysimi

What Lucy found There

Edmund and the Wardrobe

Turkish Delight

Back on This Side of the Door

Into the Forest

A Day with the Beavers

What Happened After Dinner

In the Witch's House

The Spell Begins to Break

Aslan is Nearer

Peter's First Battle

Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time

The Triumph of the Witch

Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time

What Happened about the Statues

The Hunting of the White Stag

DIVORCE IN THE BIBLE.pdf

DIVORCE IN THE BIBLE

by Ray Mossholder

I urge you to have your Bible open for this study and look at all verses listed, Old Testament and New. Nothing written here is to be interpreted as a treatise blanketly endorsing divorce. Divorce is like a shoot-out between Siamese twins.

A Christian husband or wife who has at some point in their relationship honestly loved the spouse they have now divorced or are divorcing, will almost certainly carry an aching regret inside and a void that was once filled by that person. Feelings of failure, feelings of guilt, feelings of wishing afterward that things could have been different, feelings of disobeying God or God failing them, plus the inevitable reaction of others, including family and close friends, many of whom are shocked, hurt, and totally disapproving of the divorce, are constant obstacles those divorcing or are divorced most often face.

Christians often condemn anyone who is divorcing because they err. not knowing the Scriptures (Mt. 22:29). Christians who are condemners lack empathy and often believe there should be none given to any Christian who divorces. These condemners look at divorce as total disloyalty to God. No thought is given credence when a divorcing spouse attempts to explain what was going on that brought about their divorce. Only the couple and God can possibly know all the factors involved in bringing about the final decision to divorce but nothing either of them says can possibly make any difference at all to the condemner.

In the beginning, God meant for every first marriage to last a

lifetime (Mt. 19:8). However, sin then entered the world and this same God's mercy endures forever. He who freely granted divorce in the Old Testament "Because of the hardness of men's hearts" (Mt. 19:8) is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Certainly Jesus Christ who knows each person by their spirit, soul and body, "understands their weaknesses and sympathizes with them" (Heb. 4:15-16).

The Old Testament approach to divorce, once understood, is shocking to the average Christian today. But to realize it continued throughout the time that Christ ministered on Earth and many many years after that, is even more shocking. Jesus had come to fulfill the Law and until He gasped "It is finished" as He expired on the cross (John 19:30), the Law remained in full affect. Grace replaced the Law when the Holy Spirit came (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2:1-4), though the Law still had a great hold on the early Church especially among the Messianic Jews. Tradition is always something extremely difficult for any human to change.

All a man had to do to rid himself of his wife during the days of living under the Law was to write a bill of divorcement (Dt. 24:1), a short note that could list any reason at all for the husband no longer wanting to remain married to his present wife. He could write anything: "You are too loud." "You don't cook my favorite things." "You argue with me." "I don't like your mother," then directly face his wife and tell her, "I divorce you! I divorce you! I divorce you!"

Once a husband handed that note to his wife and told her three times, "I divorce you," his wife had to immediately leave their house and their marriage, and that husband and wife were considered by everyone, including God, to be divorced (Dt. 24:2-4). A wife was left penniless, with no ability to take anything with her at all. Her children, her dog, her clothes, etc., could not go with her. Forget in your mind any court proceedings and any attempt at fairness from the divorce courts of today. There was no such thing. Nothing was hers, all was his. The Old Testament said so and at least on that one point, the government agreed.

While Jesus was on Earth. the Pharisees asked a question you may well be asking too: "Why then did Moses ever grant divorce through using a bill of divorcement?" Jesus answered, "Because of your hardness of heart." (Mt. 19:7-8). God knew, in granting this barbaric practice, that many husbands would kill their wives if there was no other way out of their marriage. A bill of divorcement was sadly the lesser of two evils.

The "life sentence" of not being able to divorce was given only to men who falsely accused their wives of sleeping with another man (Dt. 22:13-19), or men who raped single virgins (Dt. 22:28-29). From that time until one of their deaths, the wife under those circumstances could completely withhold sex and daily spit in his food, and he could do nothing at all about it.

Men being sentenced to never divorcing was God's way of taking care of both the violated wife and the violated wife's father. Once a single girl or woman had had sexual intercourse, whether by rape or not, she was considered "used" by all Jews and thought of as no longer desirable as a friend or life partner unless they got married.

Male Jews woke every morning thanking God they weren't a woman. A wife in their mind was someone who took total care of the house, a husband's needs, including physical; and the children's needs. They were only a tiny step higher than a domestic slave. A single female found it almost impossible to get any other kind of job except domestic. Jewish women who did live alone unmarried were rare and generally looked down upon. They were usually thought of as one who must be a prostitute. The question would rise about her, "How else could she afford a home by herself?" Females had absolutely no training in anything but household duties. They were believed by men to be spiritually inept and unqualified by their gender to study the Torah. So, if a man was found to have raped a female, he had to marry her and bring her into his home.

And God watched out for a raped female's father. God fashioned His Law so that her father should receive and never have to give back the dowry he had been given by a liar or a rapist. Usually a large sum of money was involved in all dowrys. (See "Fiddler On The Roof.")

God did not forbid remarriage as proven by Dt. 24:1-4. The Law stated that a woman who was given a bill of divorcement by her husband could marry, but if she then divorced her second husband or he died, she could not return and re-marry the first husband because she'd obviously had sex with her second husband. (The word "defiled" is continually used in the Old Testament to describe either a woman's menstrual period or her sexual involvement.)

In Isaiah 50:1 God tells Israel why she is in captivity. It was their sins that were their undoing. It was not, God says, that He divorced Israel and sent her away.

But by the time of Jeremiah, GOD DID DIVORCE FAITHLESS ISRAEL. In Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah says that since Israel worshiped other gods as if to make love with them, God "divorced faithless Israel." The timeline is important here. Isaiah lived 740-680 B.C. Jeremiah lived 627-585 B.C. So in between the time of Isaiah and the time of Jeremiah, God divorced. Think of that. GOD GOT A DIVORCE!

The thrill of being "the Bride of Christ" is immense for every Christian. Yet, if God had not divorced faithless Israel He would have been a bigamist rather than the Groom to His new Bride. In every sense of the word THE CHURCH IS THE SECOND MARRIAGE PARTNER OF GOD!

The final mention of divorce in the Old Testament is too often misunderstood. It is found in Mal. 2:10-16. The issue is men who abandon the wives of their youth for pagan women who do not worship God. God is speaking to the very same issue as He spoke when addressing the Jews in Jeremiah 3:8 and Nehemiah 13:23-27. Pagan women brought pagan gods into their husband's homes (Mal. 2:11). Even wise Solomon became debauched in his old age and turned away from God because of his pagan wives (1 Kings 11:1-13).

Three things stand out in Malachi 2:10-16:

First, GOD HATES DIVORCE. There is no honest Christian who doesn't hate it. The seriousness of divorce and it's direct consequences can't be overstated. Divorce is a monument to failure. Divorce divides families in a way that only death can equal. Many a family member or friend has lost their faith in Christ in seeing the one they viewed as their Christian role model caught up in a divorce. Anyone contemplating divorce must face the strong possibilities of such fallout. Yet too few contemplating divorce expect it or know any way to prepare for it.

Once divorce begins, awful surprises often overwhelm both separated partners. As one godly counselor told me, "You are now going to know who your real friends are and who they aren't! And that discovery will surprise and disappoint you." That revelation in itself can be devastating. It was for me.

Second, though God hates divorce, GOD DOES NOT HATE DIVORCEES. Nor does divorce make the divorcee "a fifth class Christian." Perhaps the hardest thing that a hurt and angry spouse needs to realize if they think of themself as the victimof divorce, is that God isn't angry with the Christian who caused the divorce. Christians live forever forgiven by God because of what Christ did on the cross (John 3:16; Acts 3:19; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; Gal. 2:20-21; Heb 8:12; 1 John 2:1.) The Alpha and Omega knows from the beginning when any couple will end their marriage in divorce.

Bitterness, feelings of guilt and/or self-hatred can plague the divorced person. Yet Christ died to rid every Christian from just such feelings. Christ never tells any Christian to focus on self but on Him, the Redeemer. As long as a Christian mentally nails themself to their own cross, Christ who died on the cross for them is unable to set them free from what they're doing to themself: Mt. 6:14-15; 18:30, 32-35; Mark 11:25-26, etc.)

Third, divorce is NOT the unforgiveable sin. The unforgivable sin only occurs when a person goes all their life and dies without receiving Christ as their Savior (Mt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:22-30.)

The point of these passages in Matthew and Mark is that Jesus with His love and miracles was obviously God come to Earth and the Pharisees who rejected Him were rejecting God.

Finally, though procreation is certainly not the only reason God has for marriage, He emphasizes how important it is to "raise godly offspring." Carried into New Testament times He is saying that marriage is only to be between a Christian husband and a Christian wife. To those with the capability of having children their charge from God is to raise children who both love God and joyfully serve Him (1 Cor. 7:14.)

THE NEW TESTAMENT AND DIVORCE

In His first mention of divorce in the New Testament, Jesus makes it clear that He is speaking about this practice of husbands writing "a bill of divorcement" and throwing wives out of their homes. He condemns the practice unless the wife has been sexually unfaithful before the marriage (Mt. 1:19), during the marriage, or found to be near of kin (Lev. 18; Acts 15:29).

It should be understood that when Jesus says throwing a wife out..."makes her commit adultery," and "whoever marries her commits adultery," (Mt. 5:32) He is in the midst of giving the Sermon on the Mount and speaking in hyperbole (common in those days), speaking as one might do with children when one wants to shock them into not doing something. He is not being literal. Proof enough of this fact is that immediately before this statement He has said one should gouge out their eye or cut off their right hand if it causes them to sin (Mt. 5:30). How many sightless, one handed Christians would be on this planet today if such a verse was taken literally?!

A quick reading of Mt. 19:3-12 seems to find Jesus condemning divorce entirely unless adultery has been involved. But we must never do a "quick reading" of any Scripture and believe that we know what it says. There are points to ponder here that give, as usual, a remarkable answer from Jesus to the Pharisees:

First, the Pharisees always came to Jesus for the purpose of trapping Him in a statement that would either prove He was not the Christ (an impossible task!), or divide the Jewish people against Him. In this passage they come knowing full well that there were two Jewish schools diametrically opposed to each other on the subject of divorce. There was the rabbinical school of Shammai that taught a man could not divorce his wife unless she was caught in adultery. And there was the rabbinical school of Hillel that taught a man could divorce his wife for any reason, including burning the toast. The Pharisees believed whichever way Jesus answered He would divide many Jews away from Himself by answering.

Second, what Jesus answered has NOTHING to do with divorce as we know it today. Not to be redundant, but divorce during the earthly days of Jesus' ministry still meant what it meant throughout the Old Testament - a wife receiving a bill of divorcement was forced to leave her marriage forever with no money, no children, no clothing except for what she wore when leaving - nothing at all that she had gained while married. Everything of value, with no exception, remained totally and legally with the husband. Division of property, child's rights, etc. were given absolutely no consideration whatsoever. The wife became a penniless street person because her husband simply didn't want her anymore.

Jesus immediately, as always, disappointed the Pharisees with His answer. Rather than begin an argument with them. He answered from Scripture. He quotes Gen. 1:27 and Gen. 2:23-24, reminding everyone that the purpose of God in creation was that a husband and wife were to be "one flesh" with the greatest possible fellowship with each other that would joyfully lead to regular times of intercourse (1 Cor. 7:3-5.) In other words, marriage was meant to be the deepest relationship possible among humans - spirit, soul and body(Eph. 5:21-33). No other human ever had any right to bring division between the married couple.

I've already mentioned what the Pharisees did next. They asked, "Why then did Moses ever grant divorce through using a bill of divorcement?" Jesus answered, "Because of your hardness of heart." (Mt. 19:7-8). That bill was better than murder!

Jesus then nails the man who writes a bill of divorcement because he wants to marry another woman. Such a man, Jesus says, is guilty of adultery (Mt. 19:9). It is Christ's own disciples who are shocked with this statement. They exclaim, "If the relationship with the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry!" (Mt. 19:10) His answer to them all is "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given." Jesus gave this teaching to His godly followers of that day. To anyone else, it wouldn't matter what Jesus said because THEY KNEW what God's Law said. No such hideous divorce procedures remain in any true form of Christianity today.

Importantly Mark 10:2-12 records the same occurrence as written in Mt 19:3-12. However it gives us an answer only given to Christ's disciples, not to the Pharisees. After the Pharisees left, Jesus told them, "Whoever (writes a bill of divorcement) against his wife commits adultery, and whoever (walks out on her husband) and marries another man commits adultery." (Mark 10:11-12) This is an even harsher teaching than the one found in Matthew 19. It makes a husband or wife starting a romantic relationship with someone other than a married persons spouse while they are still married, something God says only heathens do.

It is certainly no accident that the very next subject following this statement is children because it is often children who suffer the most in any divorce. They lose the visual and emotional pattern God set for marriage and instead see marriage trashed before their very eyes.

As soon as separation between their parents begins, a child or teenager loses precious time with their own dad or mom in their formative years or even in their adult years, and far too often they lose their mom or dad altogether. In America, one third of fathers abandon their children and never see them again following divorce.

Meanwhile, children are often forced to try to accept a substitute for a dad or mom that almost never seems to measure up to their own. And if the child or teenager is able to see both parents, they do it by being treated like human ping-pong balls, bouncing back and forth from one parent's home to the other's.

Often their new "parent" is hostile with anger because they didn't want the child(ren) or teenager(s) at all. They only wanted the mother or father of these kids. Competition is too often automatic between the son or daughter and the substitute "boyfriend/ girlfriend/spouse, both wanting quality time with the one they believe should give them first place if they really loved them. Thus no one gets all the access they desire or need.

A husband or wife caught in the middle of this kind of emotional tug-o-war, runs the gamut of feelings that include terrible guilt, anger, frustration, and a host of other negative feelings. That competition between siblings and a rival "parent figure" causes them to be constantly in the way of each other. None of this is what God at all designed for marriage or for family.

So, what of the terribly unhappy marriage that goes on and on and on in the name of Christianity? Does constant fighting between parents, whether verbal or physical, please God or create a healthy environment for children or teenagers? When 1 Cor. 2:3-5; Ephesians 5:21-33; I Tim. 3:4-5; 5:8; Titus 2: 2-8, I Peter 3:1-7 and other God-directions for a husband and wife are constantly violated by either the husband or wife, or both, is it God's command for such marriages to continue?

When a husband is continually angry against his wife or vice versa and one or both of them allows their bitterness to further lash out verbally/and or physically against their offspring, does God offer no protection or way of escape for him or her and their abused siblings? (1 Corinthians 10:13)

When a husband or wife lives strictly for themself and refuses to acknowledge the importance and real needs of their spouse, living the exact opposite of Ephesians 5:24 or 25, is the neglected spouse to simply suffer year after year through the bondage of a miserably unhappy marriage? What then happens to the "life more abundantly" that Jesus came to bring every Christian? Is a trapped spouse meant by God to simply grin and bear it?

When a husband or wife never tries to understand their spouses view of things, physical needs, or honor them as their life partner (I Peter 3:1-7) and instead mocks any weakness they see in them, is the maligned spouse to remain happily ever after?

When either spouse is regularly critical of and verbally demeaning to their husband or wife, embarrassing them in front of family, friends and/or strangers, and this goes on and on, are they to live in the bondage of (as Henry David Thoreau described it) "a life of quiet desperation?" Is divorce any option at all?

When either a husband or wife commits adultery, is the spouse to simply smile and accept it in the name of "Christian" love? Even though forgiveness from the violated mate is necessary for their own peace of mind, only those with hard hearts would say yes.

Today God tells us "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those who exist are established by God" (Rom. 13:1). The laws, especially in America and much of the western world, have attempted to remove as far as possible any barbarianism in divorce. No longer is a divorced wife expected to leave her house and her marriage to wander aimlessly without care or finance. The Law did allow remarriage as a possibility for a misused husband or wife.

Obviously, we live in an imperfect world and even the best intentioned human judges can still find themselves unable to help a husband or wife whose former spouse is in themself barbaric. But even in the worse situations we are worlds apart from the hideous bill of divorcement.

How far apart are we from it? We are as far apart as the distance in time before the cross and after the cross:

Before the cross: "Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." (Hebrews 11:11)

After the cross: Jesus says, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." He takes away the first" (the Law) "in order to establish the second" (grace, which means "absolutely undeserved favor or kindness.") "by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all....For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 'THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD, I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,' He then says, 'AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.'" (Heb. 10:9-10, 14-17.)

RAY MOSSHOLDER SPEAKS ON HEALING

Click Here: Ray Mossholder Speaks on Healing ( 4 videos)

THE BOOK OF ACTS (videos)

Click on any title to see all Acts Videos

GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN YOU THAN HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD ACTS 16 16 TO 34

BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVING BELIEVERS ACTS 16 35 TO 40

THE GOSPEL STAYS UNDER ATTACK ACTS 17 1-15

THE GOSPEL STAYS UNDER ATTACK, PART TWO

PAUL'S MESSAGE FROM MARS HILL ACTS 17 15 TO 34.

CORINTH - THE EROTIC CITY OF GREED.

YEARS AGO BY RAY MOSSHOLDER

Click On The Chapters Below.

IN THE BEGINNING

GRADE SCHOOL DAZE

HIGH SCHOOL DAZE

DEATH AND LIFE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND

METAMORPHOSIS

COLLEGE MAJORING IN FUN

WINNING THE COLLEGE LOTTERY

MY MOST EXCITING SUMMER BETWEEN MY COLLEGE YEARS

AN INVITATION TO BROADWAY

CH. 10 MANY WATERLOOS.wmv

ENDLESS WISHING

Hearts broken by sin; no hope at all anymore,

Our God has forgotten us because of what we’ve done. But suddenly God spoke, and hope began again,

A New Covenant He’ll bring, a brand new life will come.

I grew up with the Law always pointing at my failures,

I knew nothing could be done to please this God of mine.

I forever stumbled, cursing all my pain and sorrow,

Knowing not even one of my tribe could fully walk the line.

As I grew, I grew to know my father hated me,

Drunk with wine and screaming in the night,

How could I turn out anything but evil?

Pounding his fists into me; bathing me with fright.

I hated my father for all he did to me,

Blamed him for everything as I started drinking, too,

He died one night while staggering somewhere

And filled me with the only joy I knew.

Now as I sit and ponder all I’m hearing

Of what our God will someday really do

I realize the sun will rise tomorrow

And I will still be a lone and grieving Jew.

How wretched this life is, so full of nothing

That a human would ever want or ever need,

How unfulfilling is the Law of God,

A Law I cannot, will not, ever heed.

I hear of love, and laugh to mock it,

We do not love each other, nor could He

Truly love us as His people, sinning people,

People who create our own deep agony.

This promise though DOES intrigue me,

What can it mean that God will write on human hearts?

What instrument could ever write like that?

Would it not kill a man even as He starts?

This mind of mine so muddled and confused now,

In a drunken stupor, who could change it?

Could it be transformed and made like God’s mind?

What miracle of God could rearrange it?

Could I really laugh and not moan on forever,

Joyfully live and not desire to die?

Could I dance with happiness and praise Him,

He who made the sun and moon and sky?

Could I love and care about my family?

Could I forgive my father for all he did?

Could I face the fact that what I’m doing

May not be happening because I was his kid?

Could I long to pray and talk straight to God

And believe He hears all the words I say?

Could I want to remember all His teachings

And gladly with my whole heart obey?

Could I trade this drink that is killing me

This wine that never satisfies my thirst,

For some new wine that really whacks me

And makes me want to always put God first?

I dream of such a day, but I’m still here,

Knowing this dream is for another time,

I will be gone long before it happens,

I wish it would come tomorrow, that would be sublime.

But when this miracle time occurs

And God does release this day for all mankind

What will the people do with all His blessings?

Will they be different from me and not stay blind?

Will they thank God every single morning

Because they really love Him with their hearts?

Will they listen and give their ears to hear Him,

And live in faith, quenching all hell’s darts?

Will they share Him with all strangers til there are none,

And realize how truly blessed they are?

Or will they find themselves so busy with their blessings

That they yawn in God’s face because He’s gone so far

As to loose them from these shackles binding me here

To this time, only wishing I was there

To share in a New Covenant celebration

With these people in love with God everywhere.

I plead with them that when it happens

And their lives aren’t at all like mine (so much at war),

To remember how I wished I could be there with them

And know my sins will never be remembered anymore.

But I live and die Old Covenant

Breaking the Law and knowing that I fail,

I have no hope to ever know His promise

And must live forever locked inside this jail

Of my own making,

though I quickly blame my father’s flaw,

And the calendar that shows me I am living

At the wrong time, in the wrong place, under the Law.

2. Briefly describe the character traits of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. How would their modern-day counterparts minister in various spheres of influence today/

SHADRACH

I love God with my heart and soul,

Serving Him is my full goal,

To put Him first, to follow Him,

Because He’s filled me to the brim.

With the Holy Spirit I’m overflown

And only live to make Christ known.

I read in the headlines this very day

That my Bible I’m to put away

Or burn it, destroying all the pages

That were written by the Rock of Ages.

How foolish man is to think he’ll stand

And be the ruler of this land

When he defies the laws of God.

I really think that it is odd

The government would go so far

As to completely forget just who we are.

From Mayflower on God’s been with us

And blessed America, “In God We Trust”

Is more than a motto, more than a saying,

We trust Him and should be obeying

HIS laws, not man’s that contradict

And disagree with God in sad conflict.

So, I Shad, do solemnly vow

To enter politics and do it now

And soon I’ll change the laws of man

To agree with God, I really can,

With God’s power win each election

And give our country new direction.

Oh, and about my Bible, I’ll read it more,

To stop bad laws AND the devil’s roar.

And if I’m arrested and thrown into jail?

Angels themselves will work out bail!

MESHACH

The theatre bright with glittering lights

Attracts the crowd that comes these nights

To see the star of film and stage

He truly is the latest rage,

Handsome, worldly, deeply skilled,

I went to his dressing room, then my nose filled

With an odor of drugs all through the air

And on his table a pistol there.

Not a prop or a fake, but a real gun

And he looked at me asking “Are you the one,

Meshach, my friend, who believes in Jesus?”

I said, “Yes I am, and if it pleases

You to know Him, too,

I’ll share the King of Kings with you.”

But immediately he picked the gun off his table

Pointing it at me saying “You won’t be able

To tell me about him, for you’ll be dead

With a nasty bullet hole

Through your head!

My mother tried to reach me with that Jesus’ stuff

That’s why I treated her cold and rough

And made her cry, then left the city

Where she went to church. It was such a pity

To see how much she loved the Lord.

All I know is, I was bored.

Do you see them applaud at the end of the show?

Crowds don’t ever want me to see me go.

They love me and that’s all I need

So right now I’m going to make you bleed!”

He pulled the trigger, there was a clicking sound,

A horrified stare while the gun hit the ground

And he screamed, “Who are you?” to the angel who stood

Behind me, The angel was so bright and good,

Just looking at him, you could tell he was kind,

My actor friend thought he’d lost his mind.

The angel said to the actor, “Christ died for you.

Your mother’s prayers will save you, too.

Get down on your knees and pray with Meshach

And that dreadful pain of loneliness will never come back.

You’ll cold turkey the drugs and find a wife

And you’ll know happiness for the rest of your life.

Or pick up that gun and shoot again,

At Meshach who is your closest friend.

He’ll not die, but you will tonight,

Pray or die, I’ve brought you the light.”

His eyes were huge and fixed and staring

At the angel now, gone was his daring,

He got down on His knees and cried as he prayed

For the Lord to come in to him. He hadn’t delayed.

He was born again through his mother’s prayers

And God sent that angel because He cares

About the actor, about me, and about you, too,

If you don’t know the Lord, now you know what to do.

ABEDNEGO

Can you imagine having a name like “Abednego?”

It’s worse than Sue I want you to know.

Every time in school I told someone my name

They laughed and laughed, I felt really lame.

But God was with me, He was my strength,

And always I’d go to any length

To please my Lord and do what He said.

So “Valedictorian” my diploma read.

I entered into business and very soon

My income climbed and reached the moon.

I mean I made money, my bank account soared,

A Lexis, a Lear jet, a mansion, the Lord

O.K.’d every investment, saying “No” at times

He kept me honest and away from all crimes,

Until one day it all could have gone

When a dishonest businessman stood on my lawn

And told me how I could triple my cash,

All I needed to do was use a newsflash

Of a man who owned a business like mine

“He’s your rival,” he sneered, “not your Valentine!

Just publish this picture, smear him real good,

And he’ll lose all his customers,” and I knew he would.

“Think how rich you’ll be then when they all come to you

Publish this picture. That’s just what to do.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I smiled at this crook

And he gave me the coldest, dirtiest look.

“Why not, Abednego, you have every right.”

“I’ll tell you why not. I couldn’t sleep at night

Knowing I’d ruined a human Christ died for,

And that’s EVERY man.” The wretched man swore.

“You’re a fool, a Christian, you think Christ saves.

There’s no other explanation to why a man behaves

Like an idiot, the way you’re doing now.

Well, I’ve tried to help you but I can’t show you how

To totally destroy your competition

Which should certainly be your main ambition.”

I smiled and tried to make him see

If I was poor and had no key

To car or plane or my huge home

I’d do the same, I wouldn’t roam

From what God says in His Bible clear,

In a world like this it keeps me from all fear.

“Fool!” the wretched man sneered as he walked to his car

You Christians are imbeciles, you go way too far

In following your absolutely invisible King

As if HE gave you everything.

This is the only picture that could ruin that man

And now it will fully be my plan

To publish the photo I alone carry

The axe will fall on his neck and won’t tarry.

Then I’m going to get you some way or other

Neither one of you men are my little brother.

I’m off to the press with the only shot

That exists of this man that will turn him to rot.

Beware from now on Abednego,

Your turn is next, I’ll stop your flow.”

“Let me pray for you first before you drive,

If you knew Christ your business would thrive.”

“Hogwash!” he sneered as he got in his car,

But in horror I watched because he didn’t get far.

A screech of brakes too slow to matter

The crash of steel and the awful clatter

“Dead at the scene,” was the doctor’s report.

The newspaper photo said, “A life cut short.”

The photo of my rival burned up in his car,

God knows how to keep man from going too far.

DANIEL

Consult every book, magazine or manual,

And you’ll never find a greater Christian than Daniel.

Like the Daniel whose name is the name of a Book

In the Bible, you’d enjoy taking a look

At the courage, the faith, the true love of the Lord

That this Daniel has, and he carries his sword

Of faith like a knight in shining armor,

I mean he’s a sight, a real charmer.

Well, one day he was deeply engrossed in God’s Word

When a really cute girl said, “That’s so absurd

For you to be wrapped up so tight in that Book

That you haven’t taken a really good look

At me, ‘cause I love you and I want a kiss,

I don’t want to live the rest of my life as a Miss,

So put down that Bible and give me a smack

And you’ll find that I will kiss you right back.

We can go on and on like that for hours,

And when we’re done we’ll need cold showers!”

Now the girl was gorgeous and that’s the truth

Daniel had watched her at a kissing booth.

He’d not kissed her himself but just watched in awe

As guy after guy kissed her and then he saw

Them stagger away in ecstasy

Delerious and happy as can be.

Daniel told her flat out, “No.

You’re too fast for me, I want to go slow.

There’s a lot more I want to happen in my life

Before I find the woman I want for a wife.”

“Well, then quit talking about marriage, let’s make love

That’s what God is, so it comes from above.

He wants you to experience abundant life

You can’t do that without me.” She cut like a knife

At his willpower, because as she drew close

Her perfume got to him, she’d taken a dose

Of it and it smelled so sweet

Daniel was suddenly swept off his feet.

“Pucker up, baby!” the Delilah said,

And Daniel thought, “I wish I was dead.

Because I know this isn’t God’s will for me,

But my sins are forgiven since Christ died on that tree, Whatever I do is washed in Christ’s blood,

Why not make love?” Then came a thud

As Daniel’s Bible hit the ground

And like an alarm clock, that very sound

Got his attention and he suddenly prayed,

“God, help me!” And no time delayed

The strength came from the Lord to resist,

Later Daniel thought, “What if we’d kissed?

How far could temptation have taken me

Away from God’s will and His destiny

That He’d planned for me from before I was born?

Like Sampson, I almost had my hair shorn!”

But the Lord is a mighty help in trouble

He’ll deliver you, and that goes double

For times of temptation that seem really hard

Until He has your angel set a guard.

It was Daniel’s angel that pushed the Book

From his lap that day and made him look

At what almost happened with that pretty girl

Who had his brain in such a whirl.

And to all who think guys like Daniel are geeks,

He’s getting married in seventy weeks

To a Christian lady who in every way

Would blow that other girl away.

They’ll be partners for life, with joy every day,

Following Jesus, together they’ll pray.

And what if he’d instead married that eager youth

He’d have lost her again at a kissing booth!

3. What do you believe Daniel’s 70^th week (a final 7 year period) will look like?

Whenever I hear teachers on eschatology

I think to myself, “Yes, that certainly could be.”

Pre, mid or post, when I hear them again

I find myself eagerly shouting “Amen!”

So I’ve decided firmly that I just don’t know

How the end of time will really go.

“Occupy til I come,” is what Jesus said.

So, I’m far too busy to get it into my head

That I have to know all the answers in life

God knows and to me that ends all the strife.