Month: April 2014

On eternal things – Thomas

From In Touch (emphasis added)

John 20:25-29

“The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he (Thomas) said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Thomas is an “everyman”. He hadn’t yet seen the resurrected Jesus, though he’d heard, as you and I have heard that Jesus had risen from the dead. Angry, hurt, and confused, he resisted believing the bewildering accounts of resurrection—accounts that came from trusted friends he had lived with for three years.

Thomas was no stranger to resurrection. With his own eyes, he’d seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead—and he had believed. But he had also personally seen Jesus crucified, and that’s when his dream of the kingdom died. Crucifixion seemed more powerful than resurrection, more final. Faith crumbled; hope was crushed.

Then Jesus appeared alive, and gently said, “Peace be with you,” offering Thomas all the proof he needed. The proof he personally needed. Resurrection, it turns out, was more permanent than death.Face it: Believing in resurrection isn’t easy no matter how many people tell you it happened. Jesus still has to bring us to belief, to give our hearts and minds and souls peace in faith. Without appearing physically to us, He gives us what we need in order to believe—what we ourselves need. And as He did with Thomas, Jesus seeks us out.

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Thomas had seen miracles; he’d witnessed many demonstrations of Jesus’ supernatural power. Yet the crucifixion shook his faith badly. Has anything ever shaken your faith to the core, even though you may previously have seen numerous works of God? What can you learn from Thomas’s experience?

2. In order to believe, Thomas needed something tangible—something special for him. The vast majority of Christians have never seen the resurrected Jesus, yet God gives us what we each need in order to believe. What did (or do) you need for faith to become real? How has Jesus revealed Himself to you or how do you still need Him to do so?

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“There you go again”

Or put another way….

In the accent of Ricky Ricardo, “Obama you have some splaining to do.”

The much publicized 7.1m subscribers to O-Care is a deceptive figure.

1. Only 1/3 of those subscribers were previously uninsured individuals. Source1 Source2

“If it turns out that the overwhelming majority of the so-called 7.1 were people who had health insurance, liked their health insurance, were renewing their health insurance, and got kicked off their health insurance, whose lives are disrupted, premiums are raised, deductibles are raised, and lost their doctors are now among the 7.1 . . . it’s a net negative,” Krauthammer said.

2. Don’t hold your breath, lets see how many of that 33% will actually follow-through and PAY for their health coverage.

 

2 cents: Remember the general rule and the corroborating understanding that an exception proves the rule: If Obama’s or his administration’s mouth is moving…….. He/They are lying.

 

 

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Abbas placed more obstacles to peace

In news that I am sure will get little publicity because it ONCE AGAIN shows that the obstacle is the Palestinians we have Abbas changing again the requirements for peace (see the story below). I checked Fox, CNN, AP, Guardian, Drudge Report and BBC this morning and did not see this being covered yet. Tied to this story is the possible release of Pollard a US citizen was an Israeli spy.

I have highlighted what I thought was significant in the news story.

From a Bible perspective, any land in the Israeli area was given to them by God and is their birthright. With that understanding and context any land they give to another nation is 1. a gracious gift 2. contrary to God’s instructions.

Second do you not find it interesting and quite telling that NONE of the ARAB and MUSLIM nations will GIVE a small portion of their LARGE territories as land for a Palestinian nation?

Let me make it clear: The Palestinian definition of peace is a land void of Israeli/Jewish possession and citizens. Then and only then will Palestinians be at peace with Israel.

 

From Debka:

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas did not announce his walkout from the negotiations with Israel or directly turn down the package of far-reaching Israeli concessions which US Secretary of State John Kerry assembled with Binyamin Netanyahu early Wednesday, April 1. He simply turned his back on the commitment he made ahead of the talks to refrain from unilateral applications to UN bodies while they were in progress. As soon as the US Secretary flew off to Brussels, he sent out applications for  “the independent Palestinian state” to join 12 UN agencies as members.
This was after the Palestinian leader upped his price for meeting Kerry’s request to extend peace diplomacy from April up until the end of the year. He demanded that Israel raise the number of 26 Palestinians due to be released from jail this weekend, to 1,000. They must also include Israeli Arabs.

He was not satisfied with Israel’s offer to free another 400 terrorists and accept a partial settlement freeze; Israel must release the same number as it traded for Gilead Shalit, the Israeli hostage held by Hamas, he said.
Abbas further insisted on top Palestinian terrorist operatives serving sentences for multiple murder be on the list of released prisoners, including the notorious Marwan Barghouti (who is serving six life sentences for six murders), Ahmad Saadat, (who plotted the assassination of the Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi) and the return to their homes of terrorists exiled as too dangerous to leave at large in the Palestinian territories.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to calm the anger in his cabinet and the Israeli public over the bottomless Palestinian capacity for extortion. His associates said that he shared John Kerry’s belief that buying another nine months for the negotiations would give the US-led peace track a good shot at running full course.
However, Mahmoud Abbas placed deliberate obstacles in their path by holding the diplomatic process hostage to continual Israeli concessions.

Full story here

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