Undead Redemption-An Evangelistic Zombie Tale

Warning: Intended for Mature Readers. Content may not be suitable for all age groups.









Date and Time Uncertain: Sinderella Corp Secret Lab

Scientist Zath Whedon stood shaking outside of Rezon Hadad’s personal laboratory. This was no ordinary lab. There were no windows and only one way out. The sole exit was through a steel security door with some sort of kill switch on the right side, four feet from the floor. Zath Whedon wondered what all the fuss was about. He was just supposed to be working on some life enhancement drug called SinTech for his friend, and vice president of the Sinderella Corp, Hadad. What happened in that room was not what Whedon had signed up for. Forty-five of what used to be considered rabbits had all simultaneously changed in front of his eyes. Immediately he knew why all of the security measures had been put in place. These cute little guys were the test animals for SinTech and up until six and a half minutes ago, everything was great. The SinTech had made the rabbits some of the most beautiful animals the scientist had ever seen. That all changed when the first one busted through its cage. A look of horror overcame Zath as one by one the rabbits escaped their cages and their shiny coat of fur was shed to show what SinTech had really been doing to them. Zath bolted for the door, slammed it shut, and hit the kill switch not even knowing what it did. He just knew that he wanted to kill the rabbits. Behind the four inch thick door, the room filled with gas he came to find out later. Zath would have to tell someone what happened here and tell them quick. Sinderella Corp had already been distributing SinTech to humans. Thousands and thousands of humans. That would be a lot harder to deal with without a sealed room and a kill switch.

Dec 29th 2010 20:22 Behind The Twisted Spoke

There was one man who had the cure. One man who could have saved thousands, if not millions, of lives if only he had spoken up when he had the chance. Axel Whiterain would trade anything to go back in time and fix this but that was not an option. In fact, options were not something he had much of anymore. They were limited to his Beretta 9mm pistol that had no more ammo, which he got from home, and a shotgun chambered with his last shell that he took off of a previously brave individual. Not really an option. It would be the shotty and he would take one of the infected with him if they got to him. He caught some movement in his peripheral vision. A shadow darted across the puddle, momentarily blocking out the reflection of the Christmas lights above. He wasn’t sure why a Hell’s Angel biker bar would decorate for the birth of the Savior of the world but that didn’t matter to Axel. The alley behind The Twisted Spoke offered the only place to hide for now. He looked down and noticed some Gospel tracts scattered on the ground. They had probably blown off of the vehicles that were left in the bar parking lot. Religious types left them to try to get “the message” out. The tracts made him think again how he could have stopped all of this if he had just done what he was supposed to do. The sound of arms banging on an alarming car brought his attention back to the situation. The undead horde hated the sound of alarms so they would stick around until they made it stop. Axel would have to wait for the horde to pass and hope they couldn’t smell his fear. He could smell them. They smelled like death mixed with sulfur. “99 cent store potpourri didn’t smell this bad” Axel thought as he tried not to chuckle. As that horrid scent wafted through his nostrils, Axel regained his focus, “If I could just make it to Sinderella Corp (his place of employment for the last 10 months) I might be able to get into the armory”. He, after ten months of wondering, now knew why they had one. Sinderella Corp was the only place that he could go. Hospitals, schools, police stations, even military bases had all been compromised. That was the only place he would be safe. Ironic since that was where the outbreak started four days ago. Definitely not the safest place to be at that time. Thanks to what he knew, Axel wasn’t there when it all went down.

December 25th 2010 21:30 Sinderella Corp Christmas Party

The Sinderella Corp Christmas party played the part of a discrete Ground Zero. A light, non-religious, holiday jingle came from the speakers and the whole place was pristinely decorated with garland and lights. There were several mistletoe hung about the place and there was one giant Christmas tree in the center of the humongous conference room. At the request of the Diversity & Inclusion department, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were represented as well with a six foot tall Menorah and several men dressed in Dashikis and holding chalices full of Kikombe cha Umoja. At least a couple thousand employees, all except for Axel Whiterain, along with their friends and family gathered to celebrate the year’s successes. Sinderella Corp, whose motto was “All of your dreams will come true”, specialized in a life enhancing pharmaceuticals. Their latest product was called SinTech. SinTech was designed to bring a better life to people through wealth, beauty, relationships etc; all the while enabling them not care about any eternal consequences. A dream come true, as promised by the company motto, for those who wanted to live however they wanted. And, seemingly, it did work for a short while. This wonder drug had only been out since late last year and had definitely impacted the people who had used it for what they thought was the good. The employees of Sinderella Corp could obtain SinTech freely for themselves as well as for their friends and family. They were all having the time of their lives. By the time this Christmas party hit, who knows how many people had tried SinTech. The number had to be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions. All these people were living it up, unaware of the consequences the SinTech would bring. Rezon Hadad, the vice president of the company knew. The only other person at Sinderella Corp who knew about the effects of the drug was Zath Whedon, Hadad’s personal scientist. When Whedon threatened to go to the higher ups with the lab results, Hadad took care of it in his own way. He couldn’t let those above him in on his schemes though they were suspicious. Rezon remembered laughing when they insisted on having an armory put in the basement after rumors emerged about violent, experimental animals. They were on to him. Whedon must have told somebody something. Probably one of the other scientists. It didn’t matter. Zath Whedon was gone and there was no other hard evidence. Anyway, the time was here and it was no surprise to Rezon when the first few at the party started to get sick. One by one each festively dressed member at the party who had regularly taken Hadad’s creation became violently ill. Family members and friends at the party who accompanied them that had never partaken had a look of panic. More and more of the affected people started shaking, their bodies contorting and twisting violently as they shrieked in pain. Finally, those unaffected by SinTech came to their senses and began to run for the doors. It was too late. Rezon Hadad had trapped them in the building. They too would be infected. Within the hour every Sinderella Corp employee, save Axel Whiterain, and their guests would all be infected.

October 19th 2010 19:37 Sinderella Corp Main Hallway

Axel Whiterain started working at Sinderella Corp in February. Landing a gig as the accountant for the largest pharmaceutical company in the Midwest seemed to be the perfect job for him. Axel had worked hard throughout high school to get into the University of Illinois’ school of accounting. They were the best in the nation in that field. Axel was a gamer through and through and fortunately for him he was always able to excel in high school and college in spite of his hobby. Axel preferred hobby over addiction though most of his friends and co-workers used the latter when describing his Call of Duty playing time. Late nights, like this one, at his new job had cut into this time significantly but with Black Ops coming out in November he would have to find a way to work it out. Axel, Mr. Whiterain as his boss Rezon Hadad called him, was making his way out when he heard yelling coming from down the hall. As he made his way closer to the shouts that were coming from the Executive Offices, he was enlightened to their content. It seems that Hadad had not revealed everything there was to know about their most recent drug, SinTech, to the big bosses. Hadad’s lead scientist was named Zath Whedon. Axel had only seen him in passing and only knew what he sounded like now. The first and last time Axel would hear the scientist’s voice, though neither he nor Zath knew that. Neither man knew that Rezon would be disposing of his scientist “friend” as if he were a filthy rag. Axel wanted to leave for fear of getting caught but if this was real he had to find out more. Sitting in the hallway, he was exposed to about a thirty minute dose of reality. Facts came out through the argument about the failed testing of SinTech in rabbits and that the same failed results would occur in humans as well within the next couple of months. The hardest truth to swallow was that there was no cure. No one realized that they needed one. Only Hadad knew the whole truth. Rezon Hadad had promoted SinTech as a life enhancing, cure-all, miracle drug when it was actually a deadly virus. He had them all where he wanted them, even Mr. Whiterain. They had all tried SinTech. From the CEO to the janitor to the accountant. By Christmas they would all be undead versions of themselves and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

December 29th 22:44 Road to Sinderella Corp

When Axel was certain the horde had moved on he ventured out towards the street. He could see a red glow that accompanied the words, “Sinderella Corp”, on the cities’ tallest tower which seemed so far but was only a couple blocks from his location. Axel looked around at all the cars. He could use one of them to get the armory. His conscience surprisingly would not let him take any of the locked cars even though he was sure no one would care. I guess it’s true that God’s law is written on our hearts. “Though shall not steal” Axel mumbled as he looked around. Finally he saw what would be his mode of transportation. A yellow taxi cab with its interior light on was in the intersection at a 45 degree angle. The driver door was open and the driver was lying half in, half out of the car. Axel pulled Minhaal Hussein (the name on the dashboard) from the car. He looked to make sure the keys were in the ignition before sliding in. They were. As Axel started up the car, he wondered if Minhaal had given a ride to any of the undead horde. The cab smelled horrible. Whether they rode in it or not, they got to him somehow. Axel reached under the seat and, as suspected, he found a weapon. A Kimber 45 pistol, fully loaded to be exact. Apparently Mr. Hussein had not had time to grab it before they got to him. Axel placed the pistol in his lap to make sure that would not happen to him. He fired up the car and headed towards Sinderella Corp. With any luck he would make it there witho—“THOMP!” The taxi cab struck the first one then Axel saw the rest of them. He looked back and saw an undead mess rolling off the back of the car, landing with the same "thomp" sound it made when it hit the car. He looked frontward again just in time to see the second one smack the windshield. Axel grabbed the wheel tightly and made sure he was lined up with the rest of the horde. Two months ago, he sealed their fate by not telling them about the cure, now he had to finalize their demise. He wanted to take out as many as he could with the vehicle since a fully loaded Kimber 45 magazine only holds 10 rounds. Conservation would be key when he got to his old place of work in case there was any kind of a remnant. He managed to take out most of the ones blocking the street with the front of the stinky yellow cab and the ones he didn’t hit fell over as a result of being too close to the impact. The gamer in him immediately thought of a zombie bowling game he had played on Steam one time. Zombie Bowl-a-Rama if he remembered right. If he had just shared the cure, he could be home playing the game right now. As he pulled up to Sinderella Corp, Axel saw more than a few stragglers at the bottom floor windows scratching and clawing to try to get back in. They were making a horrible noise collectively. He didn’t know what a VW Bug being dragged by a train would sound like but this could be close. What were they looking at?

April 1st 2010 11:45 Sinderella Corp Break Room

Axel had put off taking SinTech for the first couple of months that he worked at Sinderella Corp. Peer pressure was a tough thing especially coming from the prettiest girl in HR, Marissa Adams. Axel had managed to stay away from drugs, even alcohol, throughout college but somehow this one seemed so harmless. “Marissa seemed to be getting the most out of it”, Axel thought as he reexamined her appearance. Lust is the same as adultery in Jesus’ eyes he reminded himself. After the first few times without success, her tempts were just too much for Axel to bear. Tempted as he was he still had a way out. Saying “no” was the escape but Axel didn’t use it in time. “Look what it’s doing for me”, she added. Axel couldn’t disagree. He looked into her green eyes and, as if in a trance, popped his first dose of SinTech. He felt immediately two things. He shouldn’t have done that, and where could he get more. Only two months in the company and he was letting them affect him and not vice versa. Not how Axel had envisioned it. He had always been the leader, the trendsetter. Now, for whatever reason, the appeal of something that shouldn’t have appealed to Axel drew him away from the truths that until now had been engrained in him. Sure, Axel and his co-workers would enjoy the effects of SinTech for a while but there had to be some sort of repercussions he thought. The thought lasted only a moment as one of SinTech’s effects is not thinking of consequences, eternal or otherwise. Still, this had to be too good to be true but he no longer cared. There was almost nothing now that could change that he liked it and wanted to get some more. All after one dose.

October 19th 2010 20:09 Damascus Street

Axel stormed out the front door of Sinderella Corp after he couldn’t listen to Hadad and Whedon talk anymore without fear of being caught. He thought back to April when he had first tried SinTech. April 1st. Axel wished more than anything that this was all just a bad April fools joke. So many thoughts ran through his head. He tried to fight back thoughts about his body being a temple and being a good steward with what God had given him. The thoughts overtook him. “Why did I ever try this? I had perfect health and what I thought was a great job. I was never short of happiness, only righteousness” Panic started to overtake him. Tears filled Axel’s eyes and he could hardly see the road in front of him. Axel could barely drive anymore when he had to slam the brakes of his 2006 Mazda 3. Out of nowhere a man in a white trench coat stood in the path of the small foreign car. It was all Axel could do to not swear. Swearing wasn’t something that Axel normally did anyhow, especially if it involved blasphemy. He always remembered his dad telling him that “God won’t hold anyone blameless who misuses His name.” Right now Axel was so freaked out by the man in the road that he didn’t even know if he wanted to swear. If he did, he didn’t know if it was because he was mad at himself for taking SinTech or scared because he almost smeared this nicely dressed man all over Damascus Street. Axel jumped out of the car and yelled, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!?” The man calmly walked around the car to Axel and grabbed his arm. This mysterious stranger began talking. Time stood still. Not a moving car or person walking in sight. Axel could not believe all that this man knew about him. He told Axel everything about himself, including that he was infected with SinTech. Axel was floored. Who was this? Whoever it was knew about Sinderella Corp. He knew about Hadad’s plan. Most importantly to Axel was that the man knew about SinTech. The man handed Axel a bright red pill. He told Axel that he had sold everything he had to find a way to cure SinTech. The man had even lost his son in the process of finding the cure. The pill that this stranger in white gave Axel looked like a ball of shimmering blood but with nothing to hold it in the shape of a ball. Weird. The man said that the pill would cure Axel of SinTech’s effects and that he would be unable to be infected again after the outbreak. Axel reluctantly swallowed the pill. The man left a case full of the antidote and told Axel to make sure that he tells all the people who have used SinTech that he has the cure for the sickness. Axel said that he would tell everyone he knew and that he was grateful for this gift. Axel lied.

December 25th 2010 22:07 Horde on the loose

“Now it’s a party”, Rezon Hadad laughed as he watched the horde make its way out the front doors of Sinderella Corp. Once nicely dressed men and women now clothed with rotting flesh, clawing at each other to be the first ones out of the building. The true effect of SinTech had shown its ugly head. The infected were weeping and gnashing their teeth. They wanted out. Each of the bloodied, decaying party goers were pushing and shoving to get through the door. It was like a bizarre Black Friday and they were the first ones in line to get the best deals on victims. Fifteen minutes after they had all made it out, the city went into chaos. Thousands of people, undead because of the effects of SinTech, were now spread out all over the massive city. They sought out victims of all shapes and sizes, infecting the whole city before the night was over. By New Year’s Eve, the whole country would be infected. Car by car, house by house the horde went. Not one door was left on it's hinges. The SinTech horde went about the city like some sort of undead Gestapo destroying everything and everyone in their path just like the root word in the drug’s moniker….Sin. Rezon Hadad, possessed with power, could not be happier.

December 29th 2010 23:13 Sinderella Corp Front Entrance

“POP, SNAP, CRACK!” That’s not a slogan for a kid’s breakfast cereal. That was the sound made by and undead person’s head hitting glass after being thrown forward by a round from a Kimber 45. Axel had picked the one closest to the door to test out the theory that headshots were the best way to kill a zombie. He never figured any video game would train him for real life situations but the hours Axel put into Left 4 Dead just proved to him otherwise. He was down to nine shots. He had left behind the shotgun so he could have mobility since he only had one shot left anyway. Besides, he was headed to an armory. Axel kept running from the taxi to the front door of Sinderella Corp. The zombies were still looking inside, making his approach easier than he thought it would have been. “POP POP” the two on the other side of the door folded like cheap suits. In what seemed like one motion, Axel hurdled the falling corpses, swiped his access card, then finished off an overzealous zombie that had made its way over from where the first one that Axel had popped was leaning on the glass. Thou shall not kill ran through his synapses. “I killed them the minute I hated them” Axel thought as he slipped through the door. To say that he didn’t hate them in their current state would be a lie. Axel, however, was thinking back to when he could have shared the cure. How much do you have to hate someone to have a cure for death and not share it with them? He realized that he had lost count of how many shots he had fired. He recounted the shots in his head and then as if he had OCD dropped the clip from the weapon and counted anyway. Four shots was what he came up with. The visual check verified it, there were six bullets left in the Kimber. These six shots would have to get him to the armory. He looked around to see what the undead outside were chomping at the bit to get back inside for but he saw nothing. Maybe someone had made it through the Christmas party outbreak unscathed. Axel hoped and prayed that if there was indeed a survivor and they had made it to the armory they didn’t have an itchy trigger finger. He’d made it this far, the last thing he would need is friendly fire.

December 22nd 16:20 Sinderella Corp-Depraved Accounting

The Sinderella Corp Christmas party was now only three days away. It had been a little over two months since Axel Whiterain received the cure for the SinTech Virus. He had his reasons, excuses really, why he didn’t tell everyone he had a cure. One was that he thought his boss, Rezon Hadad, would fire him or worse. Just ask Zath Whedon. Another reason was what if the person just wanted to be happy with what they had? Perhaps nothing bad would happen. Maybe everyone who took SinTech would be fine most of their lives and just die on their appointed day like everyone else. Ten out of ten die anyway. Axel might as well let these people enjoy living it up. As hard as he tried to justify not sharing the cure, none of the excuses sat right with Axel. He knew what he was supposed to do and didn’t do anything. “He who knows the good to do and does not do it sins” was all he could think of at this moment. Yet still he just sat there. Thousands of people could be headed for death by New Years and Axel didn’t care enough to tell them how to avoid it. Everyone in the company had left already with the exception of Axel’s boss, Hadad. Hadad had given the whole company the remainder of the week off before the Christmas party. Axel walked out of the building. He looked back toward Sinderella Corp to see Rezon Hadad staring back at him with a look of sheer evil from the fourth floor window. Axel walked over to the dumpster and threw away the brief case containing the SinTech vaccine. He was saved from the virus, what did it matter now? It was too late for the others anyway, he thought. Axel looked back up to the window and though he couldn’t hear it, he could see Hadad laughing. Axel thought he could see a tail and a pitchfork but Hadad didn’t need either. He was the devil in the flesh and he had won this battle though the war was won long ago. Dejected, Axel went home and started to prepare for the worst. He grabbed his 9mm pistol and sat down on his couch. He played a few rounds of “Sticks & Stones” on the new Call of Duty, and then he drifted off to sleep right where he was at on the sofa.

December 29th 2010 23:32 Sinderella Corp-The Armory

Axel made it to the armory with his six remaining bullets. That was good. Right next to the armory there was a security room with a bulletproof glass window. He heard them coming now. Axel fumbled for his key card. He dropped it once before finally getting it to swipe correctly. Red light. Access denied. He tried three more times before trying his card on the security room just to the left of the armory. Green light. He was in in a flash and he landed four out of six of his remaining bullets for headshots before shutting the door. Axel looked out the window to the left as no less than twenty undead headed in his direction. Leading the way was a less than attractive Marissa Adams. Her skin was badly decomposed and most of her hair was gone but those green eyes were unmistakable. Those were the eyes that helped fool him into taking SinTech to begin with. “What was I thinking?” screamed Axel. As the remnant horde approached the small secure room, Axel saw what they had been after before he had arrived. A small boy, no more than 10 years old stood to the right of the window. There was nothing Axel could do. He was out of bullets. If he opened the door, he and the boy would both be dead. The small boy looked terrified. He ran up to the window and started screaming to Axel, “HELP, HELP, HELP!” All Axel could do was lay down and cry. Axel, the room, and most importantly the little boy were surrounded by the angry horde. Over his own crying Axel heard the boy scream again, “HELP ME, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, HELP MEEEEE!!!”

December 24th 2010 13:12 Chicago-Oakbrook Mall

“HELP ME, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, HELP MEEEEE!!!” Axel Whiterain looked up to see a young boy screaming for help. The child, who had been sitting on a bus bench drinking cocoa, was the first to come to Axel's aid. The two of them were surrounded by a crowd of people who had come to see what was going on. Axel had gone downtown to get some last minute Christmas shopping done. He was crossing the slippery Chicago street right around sunset. A car that could not see the red light because of the sun behind it struck Axel and knocked him out for about ten minutes. He sat up, panicked, looking for his Kimber 45. It took Axel several moments to realize that it had all been a dream, a nightmare really. This dream, however, was actually a wake up call for Axel. He had been saved by the grace of God ten months ago by repenting of his sins and trusting in Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for his sins and rose again three days later, defeating death so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Axel had never shared the amazing story of God’s love and grace with anyone since he had received this wonderful gift almost a year ago. As he looked around at all the surrounding people and the ones in the cars and shops and on the sidewalks, they reminded him of the undead horde from his dream. All of them were walking around enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season but inevitably one day they would all die in those sins. Apart from Jesus they would go to Hell. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Axel remembered. Axel knew the cure for sin and death and he had never shared it with anyone. That was all going to change starting now. It took getting hit by a car to realize the importance of the Great Commission for Axel Whiterain that day. Axel was already standing when the ambulance arrived. He had only sustained some minor bruises and a small cut on his left arm but he had a throbbing headache. The ambulance driver asked him, “are you sure you’re ok? You could have died today?” Axel responded, “we all could, where will you go if it happens to you?”

Present Day Anytown USA

Look around you. Your friends, family, and strangers are walking around in a sort of “undead” stupor. They are walking around blinded by Satan to the effects of sin (2 Corinthians 4:4). Are you going to throw their cure away with depraved indifference or will you be obedient and give them the cure that they so desperately need? 150,000 people die every day. Every one of them has either lied, stolen, hated, blasphemed, or looked with lust and will have to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Most of them will die thinking that they didn’t need Jesus because he has been marketed as some life enhancing crutch for those who can’t deal with or are unhappy with this life. The truth is everyone needs Jesus. He was God in human flesh and he took all of our aforementioned sins upon Himself on the cross of Calvary. Repenting and putting your faith in Jesus isn’t going to immediately make peoples lives better. Jesus died because we are not righteous, not because we are not happy. Most people are perfectly happy in their sins. Sin is fun or Satan wouldn’t stand a chance. If you have repented of your sins and put your faith in Jesus, you have a standing order to share that gift of God's forgiveness with others. It’s called the Great Commission. Romans 10:14 tells us How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? This Christmas and this coming year, be that someone. Preach to people. Let people hear about Jesus. Be obedient, otherwise how will they know. The ball is in your court. “Go ye therefore.”

Joy to the Word

Matthew 18:3 And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

'Twas The Night Before Jesus Came'

'Twas The Night Before Jesus Came'

written by Unknown Author

'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house
Not a creature was praying, not one in the house.
Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care
In hopes that Jesus would not come there.

The children were dressing to crawl into bed.
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker with baby on her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.

When out of the East there arose such a clatter.
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash!

When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.
With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray
I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!

The light of His face made me cover my head
It was Jesus! returning just like He had said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.

In the Book of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name;
When He said "it's not here" my head hung in shame.

The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound.
While all the rest were left standing around.

I fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight;
Oh, if only I had been ready tonight.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!

Happy Holidays

Most people have been sucked into this politically correct December greeting of, "Happy Holidays". Anything to avoid acknowledging Christ right? In acknowledging his birth they also have to deal with their conscience and the fact that they are not inherently good. This doesn't mix well with them because the last few weeks of doing "good" acts such as shopping for people, having people over to their houses for gatherings and maybe even attending their yearly Mass or Church service only serve to make them feel better about themselves at a time when we all should remember how wretched we are. At a time when we should remember that God came to earth, took on flesh, and absorbed the punishment for all of us on that Roman cross. It's a shame that people have tried to do away with the birth of Christ by not saying Merry Christmas anymore. The problem for non-believers is that He was born and no matter how many thoughtful gifts they've bought this year, no matter how many nice things they have done, they are still not good enough in God's eyes. Isaiah tells us that even our most righteous acts are like filthy rags to God. God gave us Jesus as a gift and we give filthy rags to try to please Him? That's like bringing someone an expensive gift they could never afford and they run to the bathroom and bring you back the washcloth they used to clean up with before you got there. And maybe these people are wonderful all year. That's great in Santa's eyes if you are trying to stay off of the naughty list. In God's eyes, however, one lie makes you a liar and all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire. One theft makes you a thief and no thief will inherit the Kindgodm. Maybe you said OMG when you got a gift. God will not hold anyone blameless who misuses His name. That's just 3 of the 10 commandments. I'd say most of us would be in big trouble if we were to die today or if we were to get hit by a drunk driver on New Years Eve and walk off this planet into judgment. Where does that leave us then? With the greatest gift ever known to man, Jesus Christ. He took the punishment for every lie blasphemy and theft we've ever committed. Every hateful thought and lustful look was cast upon Him on the cross. He got off the cross and three days later rose again, defeating death; giving the gift of eternal life to those who would repent and put their trust in Him. Even at the risk of offending some, He's worth saying Merry Christmas for! One thing you can do is to use happy holidays as a springboard. Ask the person which holiday are they wanting to be happy for themselves. Maybe it's a Jewish person you are talking to. Use God's Law to show them their need for Jesus. Maybe it's an athiest. Stir their conscience a bit. What do they have to be hopeful for this season? What is a store bought gift in comparison with having all your sins washed away by God Himself. If you guys are at gathering, you will most likely have the floor for the obligatory prayer. Make use of it. Mention the birth, perfect life, death and resurrection in the prayer. Share the gospel in that time and end it in Jesus' name. Let's not just take it on the chin this year guys, take the gospel to the world. If you are just doing Christmas for the tree and the gifts, get back on track here. Santa isn't coming to town but Jesus could return any time like a thief in the night. Are you ready? Are your friends? Family? The greatest gift fits in no box, can not be found in stores, and fits under no tree. Hand the gospel out freely this year and, Merry Christmas!

A Day In the Park

The following is a story that I wrote for a christian writing contest. I did not win but the story got good response from those who read it so I wanted to share with you guys. Congratulations to Robert Kelly from VA. His story, "Firefighter's Legacy", won the grand prize.

Alan McManus sat on the park bench on this cold winter morning, looking at the people surrounding him through sad eyes. Sad because he knew their destiny. Sad because he did not have the courage to share with them how to change their eternal fate. They didn’t look much different than he did. They really didn’t act much different. Most of them were actually better people in the world’s eyes. The only difference was the hope of eternal life he had which comforted him through most of adulthood. Now he sat there, holding on to this comfort, unable to give it to people headed for an awful place if they were to die today.

There was a time when he would have shared this good news, no problem. Today was not that time. He just sat there, as if restrained, not able to get the words out. He caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. A small child was wandering toward the street. The bus that was coming didn’t seem to notice or care. That toddler wouldn’t be much of an obstacle for it. Alan didn’t care either. Is this what he had become? Had his complacency for the Great Commission carried over to real-world life and death situations and not just the spiritual? Just as the child reached the curb, a nearby Good Samaritan grabbed the child as her mother ran frantically toward the event. Another life saved by someone doing what they ought. Another life saved, no thanks to Alan. He just sat there, as one escaping through the flames, wishing he was what he used to be.

Alan wanted to get up and leave but something kept him there. He sat wishing that he was the child who was wandering foolishly toward the bus. Did he deserve life after today? Eternal life? How long had it been since he shared? He felt as if he had to do something. The jacket he was wearing wasn’t nearly warm enough for the weather this morning. He wrapped his arms around his sides and tried to leave. He wanted so badly to get up but could not. He looked around to see what was holding him down. Had these leather straps been on this park bench the whole time? They were keeping him from the people who desperately needed him to share the good news. Seemingly good people who were headed for a fiery eternity apart from…Jesus. Jesus. The name that got him where he was at.

Parkwood Mental Institute was the “park” where Alan sat, strapped to his wheel chair and wearing a straightjacket. He had ended up there after the Rapture of the church. The news reported the disappearance of the millions of people from the Earth as alien abductions but he knew better. Alan once thought he walked with the Lord.  He knew about the Rapture, how the church would be “caught up” with Jesus. Alan wasn’t ready when that happened. He was one who had to run back to get oil for his lamp as one of the Parables said. Somewhere along the line, this apparent repentant and faithful man was revealed to be someone who was simply going to church once in a while. Alan knew he had missed this phenomenon spoken of in the Bible. It had happened on a Saturday night. The next morning, he was the only one who showed up in the Church parking lot.

From then on, Alan tried desperately to help people understand what had really happened. Most just shrugged him off or ignored him. Others, important others, took notice and wanted him silenced. They found their chance when he would not receive a mark on his right hand or his forehead. He was arrested and taken in for evaluation. The authorities figured a guy who did not want to have a way to eat or to buy things had to be crazy. That diagnosis sealed his fate and his trip to Parkwood. Every day he sat there wishing he had another chance at his life. Another chance to share with others who might have been saved as well. For now, it’s just a day in the park.

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit Review/Devotional

I put countless hours into Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 on my PlayStation 2 back in the day. When I heard they were doing a next gen offering of the series I was very excited even though the last few Need for Speed games didn't go over well with critics and have had mixed reception among gamers. Well the game is here and after playing quite a bit, I am very, very impressed with Hot Pursuit. It is a total blast! Criterion nailed this one and it's not only the best racing game of the year but also a strong contender for Game of the Year honors in my opinion.

The game offers a racer career and a police career for players to tackle across several great courses in varying course conditions(night, rain, etc). Along the way the cars get more awesome and exotic in both endeavors and the challenges get increasingly difficult. There was just something cool about driving a Ford GT police car! For those familiar with previous Hot Pursuit titles or Burnout Paradise's "cops & robbers" online mode, you will be right at home with either running from the law or busting racers. However, even though the cat and mouse gameplay is standard fare and has been seen before in other games, where Hot Pursuit shines is in the Autolog. Aside from being able to get gold, silver and bronze medals for your times in a race, the Autolog is where you can see your friends' times for every event on the career path and try to beat it. The Autolog will alert you when a friend has beaten your time and will give you recommendations to go and try to beat your friends times in return. All your times and victories can be posted to your "Wall" within the game for others to check out. You can even comment on your buddies Wall when you smash his time by one hundredth of a second. The one downfall of the Autolog is that to get the most out of it, you need at least a few friends who own and play the game regularly. Players, I'm sure, will put hours into not only beating the career, but going back for gold medals and beating Autolog times. And if all of that wasn't enough, the game features a fully featured Multiplayer component.

The online portion of the game features three modes of play to choose from. There's the standard 8 player race, 8 player Hot Pursuit mode, and 1on1 Interceptor mode. I'll talk mostly about Hot Pursuit mode in the review. So, in Hot Pursuit mode a team of four racers tries to outrun a team of four police cars and it is just absolute mayhem. Both teams can employ spike strips and use EMP charges but the cops can call in helicopters and roadblocks and the racers have a crazy turbo feature. All of this is great but it really truly shines, like the Autolog in single player, with more friends who have the game. I had fun playing with random people but the fun was increased greatly when we had 3-4 of us in party chat, all in the same game. I can only imagine that having a full 8 friends in the game would make it an even greater experience.

I would encourage everyone to pick up this game. It is well worth the price of admission. I mean, where else can you buy a Bugatti police car for 60 bucks right? More importantly I want to encourage you guys in a little bit of a different way to end our review. While watching my daughter play the game and over steer off of the track to left and right repeatedly it made me think of how important staying on the right path with the Lord is. So many times we veer off with all the distractions in this world. For me I know that when I do that, I try to play super christian to make up for it and over steer the other way. Well guess what, when I can't live up to that new expectation I've set for myself I usually go all the way back and it takes forever to get back on the path God has set before me. And just like when my daughter was all over the road in Need for Speed, all it took was her daddy to get her going again. She gave control back to me and I set her on the road again and let her know not to over steer. If that is where you are at, veering from one side of the path to the other, give the control back to God. Your Heavenly Father will put you on the right path again. I hope you enjoyed the devotional, and I hope you enjoy the game. God bless, SaulBecomesPaul.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version)

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Riches Profit Not

Proverbs 11:4 (New International Version)

⁴ Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.

Apparently country legend Hank Williams understood that verse very well.

Building the Perfect Christian

Now this post may offend some but I will let you know up front that I write many of the blog articles to myself as much as anyone. Now something that really drives me crazy is Christians who defend liberties more than they do Christ. So let's build a super Christian using the parts of the bodies of people in the church who have these liberties.

Head(brain)
To start we need someone whose mind is always thinking of worldly things instead of Godly things. We need a brain that knows God but has little time or reverence for Him on this one. We need someone who thinks they don't need to know God's Word too.

Eyes
Let's take the eyes of someone who's liberties allow them to look at pornography, movies and tv shows that we probably shouldn't fill our eyes with. Definitely someone that looks with lust on other people on a regular basis.

Mouth/tongue
We have to grab the person here who thinks that lying, even only an occasional white lie is ok. We should also make sure we integrate the mouth of a christian who thinks swearing and telling dirty jokes is perfectly acceptable and also one who says that drinking is just fine. How about a guy who yells at his family all the time.

Ears
This is a good one. We should probably get ears that listen to ungodly music and/or love to hear the juiciest gossip.

Heart
The heart is deceitful above all things, any will do so long as Jesus just has a little bit of room in there. Throw in some hatred which is like murder and some harbored resentment and we are good to go here.

Hands
We can't forget the hands. If we are going for the super christian we will definitely have to get the hands of one who thinks stealing is ok. How about a guy who beats his wife and kids? Maybe he touches someone elses wife.

Feet
Aside from Kobra Kai karate(sweep the leg) or kicking puppies I can't think of wrongful feet activities so i gotta go with feet that always go running towards all of these sins on this one.

What a guy huh? Not really right? The sad reality is that this is the body of the church today. Not that all the pew sitters have all of these individually but as a body this is what we make up. It's no wonder the world has no time to hear about our Lord and Savior. We aren't showing them that we are any different, that we are sanctified or set apart. We are commanded to tell the world to repent or perish but what are we repenting of as the body of believers. We need to repent of liberties in my opinion, especially if they are self given(which most are, just my take). There's freedom in Christ of course but in most of these things I feel that God's grace is used as a license to sin. That's just not okay. Is there something in your life that you call a liberty that is actually something that you just haven't given to God to take over? Let's examine ourselves this day and re-evaluate our response to the gift of eternal life we have in Christ. Let go of self given liberties and live lives that are set apart for Him. Below are some verses to think about in regards to the above examples.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (New International Version)

⁹Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Colossians 3:5-10 (New International Version)

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Ephesians 5:3-5 (New International Version)

³But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. ⁴Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

James 1:19-21 (New International Version)

¹⁹My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

DiG Bible Memorization Challenge for October

Here's the challenge for October guys. I figured I'd give you a head start in case you finished the one for September. Make sure you let us know how you are doing in the comments! I know 14 verses is a lot but it is called a challenge after all! Good luck!

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 (New International Version)

³¹But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 13

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Wild Donkey of a Man

Yes I realize that the title of this blog article is strange. You can thank my Fox News app on my iPhone for this one. I generally stay clear of the news but the story about the upcoming Kuran burning engineered by Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach in Florida caught my eye. This is not appropriate behavior at all. It's not loving, kind, caring, or anything else Jesus would have us be towards the Muslim people. It's in no way an outreach either. Maybe Rev. Jones would consider renaming his organization to the Dove World Instigating Center or Dove World Chest Pokers. It drives me crazy when people do stuff like this because our website has outreach in it and now we can easily be tied in with this Christian version of extremists. It's not like I approve of the Ground Zero Mosque or that I think the Kuran is God's Word or anything like that but we do have freedom of religion here, something not afforded by Muslim countries. I don't think burning the Kuran will make Islam go away. I also do not think this will increase violence towards Americans like President Obama and others hold to. Why? Because of the title of this article. These guys don't really need a reason to be hostile towards us, they just are because God said they would be. For those that don't know Ishmael, Abraham's son via a maidservant, is where Islam has it's roots and Genesis 16:11-12 tells us what would come out of Ishmael. The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." The bottom line is you can do away with the Kuran, the book of Mormon, the Jehovah's Witness version of what they call the Bible and people will just make up something else to follow. Idolatry will always rear it's ugly head. So with all that said, instead of trashing the Kuran lets pray for Muslim people this week. Pray that they would come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. I'm gonna leave you with some scripture and some tips when witnessing to Muslims.

The first thing to note is that Muslims believe in the Old Testament. That makes it easy to relate to them through the 10 commandments. Unfortunately, they see the need for repentance and God's forgiveness but think they can attain it and stand before a Holy God on there own merit through works. So if the Law doesn't make them tremble, you will need some more scripture in your holster. Get them to soundly say that they believe at least Genesis to be true. At that point show them Genesis 17:19-21 where it says:

Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year."

And Genesis 21:12-13

But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring."

Why are these important? Because in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3 it is clearly shown that Jesus(his fully man side) came from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through both Mary and Joseph's side. What that means is that Jesus fulfilled what God said when it was told that through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.

Now that's all fine and dandy but now you will run into the issue that Muslims believe in Jesus, or Isa in the Kuran, but not who He says He is. They believe He was just a prophet like Moses or Muhammad. Familiarize yourself with scriptures that show Jesus' Deity and places He accepted worship etc. Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58 is a great example of Jesus claiming to be the I Am. Also show them John 8:24. It says, I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." Reason with them that if Jesus was in fact who He claimed, God in Human flesh, that no other prophet would need to follow Him. Talk to them about how the Old Testament speaks of a New Testament in Jeremiah 31 but the New Testament says the opposite and that we are NOT to add to or take away from it. They may try to tell you that John 14:26 is Jesus predicting Muhammad but it is the Holy Spirit Jesus is referring to which did come as predicted on the day of Pentecost. One other hurdle with Jesus is they don't believe He died and rose again. Muslims say He was just taken by God. Instruct them that there were over 500 witnesses to the Resurrected Christ. The Resurrection is what sets our faith apart. I've gone so far as to let my friend know that he can go to Medina and see Muhammad. Jesus left an empty tomb, defeating death!

Remember that you are just to share the Gospel and that when witnessing to Muslims, you are dealing with people who's faith is not only strong but very, very well versed. We said earlier that Muslim people think that they can stand on there own before God. Let them know that God had always required blood sacrifice throughout the Old Testament(which they believe in) and that Hebrews 9:22 says, In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. This can lead you into Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, both of which predict the suffering of Messiah.

I hope this is helpful to you guys. This is all from witnessing to one Muslim friend over a period of several months. You may not know any Muslim people but if you are to run into one who is peaceful and friendly as they claim, you should be equipped. These are the Muslims that this article applies to. If you see a red and white checkered headband and an RPG, you might want to slip the Tract back in your pocket. I wouldn't blame ya, I'd have a fear of man then too. But I've found that a reasonable, friendly conversation can happen between a Muslim and Christian. If you have questions, email me at virgil@digoutreach.com

DiG Bible Memorization Challenge for September

Alright, on the heels of my previous post we are going to challenge/encourage our faithful readers to commit scripture to memory. Every month we will pick a block of scripture for you and your families to memorize. Thirty days should provide ample time to commit these verses to memory and to store God's Word in our hearts. For September our passage will be John 1:1-14. Make sure you post comments to let us know how you are doing!

John 1:1-14 (New International Version)

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent,nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Airplane Encounter

So I get to travel again for work, this time to an undisclosed location.  Had my tracts ready for the airport, passed some out, one to a security officer and had a great conversation with him and another to the clerk running the shop where I bought my water and twizzlers.  Both of them appreciated the brief conversations and were not offended and thanked me for the tracts!

Next was the airplane a small plane 2 seats on each side, I had the window seat, seated next to me was a woman named Donna, I think she said she was 60 years old.  We made some small talk and were getting along.  Then we got into the air, once airborne I planned on sharing Christ with her.  I was a little nervous but than I just dived in, I gave her a Ten Commandment coin and asked her if she could name any of them, she said yes and then I asked her if she feels she has kept them and she said, "mostly."  I asked if I could ask her a few questions and she said yes, I went through the Law with her, and she agreed to lying, stealing and using Gods name as a curse word.  She also agreed she would be guilty if judged by Gods standards but she didn't believe in Hell.  She said she didn't believe in God or the Bible and that doesn't affect her.  I told her that her disbelief in reality doesn't change the fact she has to stand before God someday.  I told her the Bible says man is appointed to die once and then be judged, she again said if you believe that, and went on to talk about her son-in-law and how he was on his Bible box with her before too.  She said he tried talking to her before too.  I could tell she kinda wanted to end the conversation but I continued talking with her, I asked her how she thought the world came into existence, she said it didn't matter to her.  I pressed about Evolution and what she thought and discussed some hard evidence that Evolution is a mere theory and nothing more, she understood that I think while questioned some of my answers at the same time with a level of interest.  Donna told me she believed Eastern Arts and used to be a Methodist but just couldn't believe everything, the Bible and God said so she quit. I talked to her about that and some of my previous beliefs like iChing and Tarot Cards and other things I did at one time in my life before I was soundly saved.  I shared my testimony with her and what God has done for me.  I talked about the Bible a little more and than she said there you go again with the Bible, can't you use anything else than the Bible?  We discussed Creation more and Science more and I went on to tell her that the Bible is Supernatural and discuss prophecies that have been fulfilled and told her to research Messianc Prophecies like Psalm 22 and later parts of Isaiah, she wrote that down.  We went on to talk about contradictions in the Bible, she said there was one about homosexuals as they are not mentioned in the Bible and wrongfully accused for practicing, I remembered I Corinthians 6:9-10 when I grabbed my iPhone and went to my Bible and started finding the verses and showed her the word homosexuals, she grabbed her pen again and asked for the verse.  Man was I thankful I remembered the scripture verses.  She almost seemed to buy into what I was talking about after seeing some scripture to back some of what I was saying and I think she appreciated that I was having a friendly conversation with her about my beliefs and that I had answers.  I wasn't yelling at her or condeming her, just providing facts.  I went back and brought up death again this time she seemed to have a little more concern, at least it seemed she did.  We talked about how we never know when you will die and that is why it is so important, she spoke of a loved one in Cleveland Clinic having a bypass as we flew and questioned her eternity if things didn't go well and figured she would wait until she was there.  Again I reminded her that she may not live that long, none of us can know when we will die.

My plane ride went by really fast, even though it was a short flight, I felt very confident speaking with her about many things, Evolution, Salvation, Creation, The Law, Death, Authenticity of the Bible, Heaven and Hell and different Religions.  She gave back the Ten Commandment Coin and I pressed her to keep but she said no, when I then said well maybe you'll take one of these get out of Hell FREE cards; she looked at it and said yes.  She asked what else to look up, I mentioned a few other things, pointed out the back of the tract card had scripture and a Gospel presentation and then told her to check out our site digoutreach and she asked what DiG was and I explanied that and gave her my email address.  I told her to email me any questions she might have.  She wrote a lot down and I believe is going to research what she wrote down.  I told her to do her own homework and research with a clear mind.

Please take a minute to pray for Donna, I do not think our meeting was by chance, pray that God would reveal Himself to her and that her eyes would be opened and that God would give her a fleshy heart and remove the Stone heart she has.  I am so thankful for this opportunity to have such a great conversation and pray Donna comes to true repentance and trusts in the Savior.

Brothers and Sisters please be encouraged by this and remember what Virgil said in a previous post, store up Gods Word in your mind, as you never know when you will need to recall it and help demonstrate Gods Word and its Authnticity.

Memories

How many of us gamers have their favorite Call of Duty or Halo maps memorized? How bout that Madden playbook? Hardcore fans of that beloved football franchise can most likely navigate their way through their favorite plays blindfolded. For those that come here who aren't gamers it could be something else that occupies brain cells. Plots of the their weekly TV shows or stats from their local professional sports teams can fill up their memory banks. How about God's Word? Is their room for that in all of the other unimportant things we fill our minds, days and lives with? It is imperative that we commit God's Word to memory. It will not only help when witnessing, it will improve your relationship with God as well. You will have insight into His will for your life dwelling in you all the time and that can't be a bad thing. My wife made the point that there might be a day soon where bibles become illegal. The more of God's word we have in our hearts the better if that happens, Amen? So make it a habit each day to not only read your bible but also commit at least one verse to memory. Before you pick up the controller, remote, sports page, favorite website, or novel, pick up God's Word and read it. Don't let the excuse of not liking to read get between you and God's Word. You can get the bible on audio. Have someone read it to you. Get the living Word any way you can. Make that your call of duty today. You'll be glad you did.

Psalm 119:11 (New International Version)

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Instant Replay?

Well, with football season upon us, the subject of replay comes to mind. The ol' pigskin isn't my actual reason for thinking about this. My buddy John who I got to hang out with on Saturday brought up an interesting view about replays. He mentioned that he wondered if in Hell, people would be able to see a replay of their lives that showed them over and over every time they had the chance to accept the Gospel. Wow. What a concept! That would be a horrible, horrible thing. Now to add to his thought I bring you this. What if they also saw every time a Christian ignored God's command to share with them and did not. What if they saw all of the times that divine appointments were squashed by fear of man. What if that was the day these sinners were open to hearing it? What if you could have made the difference with a bit of obedience? We'll die one day too but we, as ones escaping through the flames sitting in our tiny mansions, won't have to worry about it then I guess. Will you worry about it today? Can you think of your unsaved friend or family sitting in Hell seeing all those times you were too scared to bring up Jesus? Sure, maybe you are a champion at relationship evangelism. Was the Gospel ever shared while you were playing friend of sinner and citing it as following Jesus' footsteps? Make sharing the Gospel the forefront of your relationships. I know this high tech Hades is all highly unlikely but you don't want to be on Hell's highlight reel. I know I don't. If it is real, the weeping over the rejection video will be overshadowed by people gnashing their teeth at the video of Christians who could care less that all these sinners were headed to Hell. After further review, share the Gospel today.

Matthew 8:12 (New International Version)

¹²But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Project Ezra - Jeremiah 7

Folks this weeks Project Ezra is Jeremiah 7, please take the time to read it and find someplace public to read it, either read it on Xbox Live, PS Home, or better yet find someplace where you can take your Bible and go read it aloud to the public.  That is the purpose of Project Ezra, do not be afraid of what others think of you, go proclaim!

Jeremiah 7

False Religion Worthless

 ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : ² "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
      " 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. ³ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!"⁵ If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, ⁶ if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, ⁷ then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. ⁸ But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. ⁹ " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? ¹¹ Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.
 ¹² " 'Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³ While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. ¹⁴ Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. ¹⁵ I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.'
 ¹⁶ "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. ¹⁹ But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
 ²⁰ " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.
 ²¹ " 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. ²⁴ But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. ²⁶ But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.'
 ²⁷ "When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. ²⁸Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. ²⁹ Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

 ³⁰ " 'The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. ³¹ They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. ³² So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³ Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. ³⁴ I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.

Dallas Ezra

While my very brief stay in Dallas I was able to read that weeks Project Ezra in Dallas Open Air. That weeks reading was Proverbs 8 and was really amazing to read the Word aloud and see people stop and listen or turn from a distance and others mock or make fun of you. The wall behind me was a waterfall and its words spoke loud, it was right between two street corners and there were many who heard and turned and listened. I did not springboard from this reading, it was the last thing we did that night and it was around 110 degrees I hadn't had a drink in hours and my voice and throat were near collapse. Thanks to Tim Crawford picking me up from the Airport and opening his home to me and taking me downtown Dallas to proclaim the Gospel. It was a time I will never forget.

Open Air Dallas

So I had the opportunity to do some open air while in Dallas this week. I met up with Tim Crawford who showed me some places he goes fishing. God was so good and provided so many people to talk to and hear His Word.

Lunatic or Son of God?

‘I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I am ready to accept Jesus as the great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a boiled egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.’-C.S. Lewis

I love that quote by C.S. Lewis. Everyone wants to change who Jesus is. The Muslims say He was a prophet. Jehovah's Witnesses say He was the Archangel Michael. Mormons believe He is the spirit brother of Satan. The world will tolerate Him as a good teacher. Think of your favorite teacher? Mine was Mrs. Goode in 5th grade. Ever think your teacher was so good of a teacher that you should nail them to a cross? So like Mr. Lewis said there's only a couple options here. Jesus was God in flesh and took the sins of the world upon Himself or He was out of His mind. We truly aren't give a lot of choice here. You can't just change who He says He is. You can choose(with your God-given free will) not to believe Him but who are we to change someones identity for them? He even gives us warning of this in the Gospel of John. Chapter 8:24 says, "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." The minute Jesus claimed Deity and accepted worship, He took away our options. He could no longer be considered a good, moral person if He was lying about being God and being blasphemous by accepting worship. It just doesn't work. The underlying problem is sin and the one found in the midst of all this is idolatry. It's a matter of people wanting God on their terms and making one to fit their own needs. Jehovah's witnesses don't believe that their god will send someone to Hell. That's because that god doesn't exist. If Jesus wasn't God and was just one of the prophets, then the Muslims would have a leg to stand on with Muhammad and likewise the Mormons with Joseph Smith. But Jesus was fully God and fully Man and that being the case, no other "prophets" would be necessary would they? God sacrificing Himself should be sufficient right? These other added options are all products of the 2nd Commandment. The God of the Bible has laid out the terms in His Word, not to be added to or taken away from. He told us there would be a Messiah, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, who would be bruised and pierced for us. That's the Jesus I believe in. God in flesh, the perfect sacrifice for my sins-every lie, theft, and lustful look. Who is your Jesus? Lunatic or Son of God?

1 John 5:21 (New International Version)

²¹Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.