THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS COMMON TO ALL

“The Mystery Flu”                                                        part one

The day is over and you are driving home.

You tune in your radio.

You hear a little news blurb about a remote village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a type of flu that has never been seen before.

It is not your typical influenza, but several are dead and many more are desperately ill.

The symptoms are severe, and they are sending a team from the Center for Disease Control to conduct an investigation.

In the whirl of moment you do not think much of it, as your only concern is to return home to those who await you.

On the ride home from church on Sunday, you hear another story on the radio news that rivets your attention, only this time the death toll is not a few, but there are multiple thousands in a remote spot in India that are dying.

On a cable news service that you are viewing the story goes major with wall to wall coverage.

Governments the world over are pouring aid and investigators into the area to ease the suffering, but more importantly to identify the illness and to develop a strategy to contain the growing circle of exposure.

On Monday morning, it is the Headline Story in your area newspaper.

It is no longer contained in India, but has spread regionally to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and is beginning to appear in even more distant areas, and is becoming so discussed that the name of “the mystery flu” is coined and used by everyone.

The President has mentioned that he and everyone within his sphere of influence are praying and hoping that all will turn out all right “over there”.

But everyone we speak to is concerned, what is it, will it be contained, will it just mutate and go away, or will it attack me, and those who are mine?

Then we hear that the President of France has just made an announcement that rattles the continent of Europe.

He will close the borders of France with no air travel allowed from, or into any area where “the mystery flu” is suspected of having a foothold.

Later that day when you again visit the cable news feed you are appalled when an interview is ran and is being translated from French with English captions of a weeping woman who states “There is a man being treated in a hospital in Paris that is dying from “the mystery flu.”

It has now officially spread to Europe and panic in a personal and global reality begins to set in.

The symptoms stated as simply as possibly are beginning to be made known, first there is an incubation period of about a week, and then the early onset begins to resemble flu, with a fever and aches and pains, and then four days later you are desperately ill with a majority of your internal organs going through varying degrees of failure, and no one who exhibits any of the later symptoms will survive.

Borders of many nations all over the world are closed in an attempt to slow down the infection rate.

Finally the President makes his proclamation “Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been cancelled. There will be no exceptions. No one moves into or out of the country until there is a resolution of this thing called “the mystery flu.”

Within a week the world has been thrust into an unbelievable fear.

In the market places, items are being sold that are promoted as a preventative or even a cure, and people are snapping them up at rates that will not allow the shelf inventory to be maintained.

“The mystery flu” is the only topic of discussion, at your workplace, at your health club, at your beauty shop, and in the media.

Television stations are interviewing ministers, both local and national, and there are lines being drawn between those who represent the church.

Some are stating that the problem is overblown, some that it will pass, some that it is just a testing, and some state that it is a judgment being poured out on humanity.

While others are stating that there are some who will escape the taint of death.

On Wednesday night across the nation, church doors are open, some that would normally be closed, as a matter of business decision.

It doesn’t matter now, times are desperate, and the houses are full.

Suddenly some one bursts in and shouts for someone to turn on a radio, as the news is out that now the horror, of “the mystery flu’ has arrived.

In a hospital on the east coast of the U.S.of A., several people have been hospitalized and are in the final life stages of “the mystery flu.”

Within hours the news media is reporting that nationwide people are exhibiting symptoms that can have only one cause, “the mystery flu.”

Doctors, Scientists, Immunologist, all are working around the clock to find an antidote, a vaccine, or a cure.

Just as suddenly as the appearance of the disease, the discovery is made, and yes, there is a cure for the dreaded disease.

It will take only one thing. The uninfected blood of the innocent and undefiled. Someone who even though exposed, has not become infected.

In every community, in every state in the nation, the call goes out , martial law is imposed, and it is required of all people no matter the age or life status, to report to centers that have been setup, for immediate blood testing.

It is urgent!

All of humanity will be doomed if the blood of the perfect one is not identified.

To be continued::::::::::::::::::::::::

“the mystery flu” is a retelling of a story whose author is currently unknown.

MORE THAN JUST NAME

DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHAT WE CALL GOD

A small story as reported in World Net Daily and also a segment on Fox News this last week has noted that the Bishop Martimos Petrus Maria Muskens a Dutch Roman Catholic, has stated that it is his belief that all Christians should begin to call the name of Allah as God.

He states that in order to be acceptable to those in Islam we must use a common name in order to appease their sensitivities.

In Europe the religion of Islam is named by millions and is growing exponentially.

In America the religion is growing quickly, and aggressively.

The fundamentalist in the religion demand that all serve the one they call Allah.

The lie of the devil is that all roads lead to God and no one really knows Gods name.

You may say that it is only one man who states that we should begin calling Allah as God.

Be careful for a small spark will ignite an uncontrollable fire, destroying everything and everyone it contacts.

In the U.S. the story has already been received joyfully by many, one of them the spokesman for the American Council on Islamic Relations, Ibrahim Hooper, who told Fox News that “ I don’t think the name is as important as the belief in God and following Gods moral principals. I think that is true in all faiths.”

What a foolish statement for any man to make as God takes His wonderful name very seriously, as evident in

Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.”

Exodus 20:4 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor make unto thee any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth, beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

Exodus 20:7 “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

Exodus 34:14 “ For thou shall worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous god:”

Proof enough that God is careful with His name.

Reading the quote from Mr. Hooper, we see that he thinks it is important to follow Gods moral principals.

Obviously another problem arises at this point. By studying the Quran and listening to those who teach its principals, the one called Allah has an entirely different set of moral principals than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Worldwide the god named Allah is honored and revered by the taking of innocent human life, and by the lie of domination, with that lie being, “submit or be killed.”

For those of us today living as New Testament Christians we see the true God revealed in His Wonderful Son Christ Jesus.

At many places in Islam with the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount being one, is the statement written in stone that “Allah is God and he has no son.”

Blasphemy, in its highest form.

The truth as recorded in scripture is that God was revealed to us in His Son, Jesus.

Acts 4:10-12 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Carefully read the following scriptures as they reveal Jesus as Son of God and Jesus as God.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

John 1:1 :In the beginnings was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

As you can see God is the Father, and God is the Son, God is the Word, the Word is Jesus.

NOT A BEING NAMED ALLAH

Read Matthew 4:1-11

In the beginning of Christ’s ministry we see where satan came before Jesus with the offer, that if Jesus would name satan as god, through worship, that he (satan) would exalt Jesus above all on the earth.

In the final days of the Church age we are seeing those who would willingly bow down before another god and name him as worthy of worship.

There are many names mentioned in scripture that God approves of for himself, among them are the I AM, Elohim, El Shaddai, Jehovah (YHWH) Shepherd, Judge, Father, Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, Lord, Almighty God, Redeemer, Friend, King, Jesus, Lion of Judah, and Holy, Holy, Holy, Worthy, Exalted, Eternal, all names of praise and honor that He is due.

Never is Allah mentioned as His name.

Allah was named as a god by some, approximately seven hundred years after the death burial, and resurrection of the one who is the true God.

Allah is a little late to make the claim that Jesus used in John ch8 vs. 5 “ Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

I urge each of you who read this and believe that there is only one God Eternal, to be cautious as the days darken and time shortens to not listen to the lie of the devil no matter how convincing it sounds.

Gods name is important, Gods Son has been revealed, and man following the doctrine of demons can not change the truth as revealed to men by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:16-17 “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” “For he received from God the Father, honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Philippians 2:5-11 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Not Allah, not Buddha, not any of the three hundred million Hindu gods, not Mother Earth, not demons, not Confucius, not Hari Krishna, no name but the name above all names Jesus.

NAME HIM

JESUS THE ONE AND ONLY

FAITHFUL TRUE AND HOLY

HES THE SON OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

WORHTY OF THE GLORY

JESUS CHRIST THE ONE AND ONLY

GIANTS ARE DOOMED

Most all of us are familiar with the story of a giant killer from long ago.

While we remember the story as told to children, many people never see the larger story of how being a giant killer relates to New Testament Christianity.

All of us have at one time or another been faced down by giants, and how we reacted to each event is indicative of a few things.

We will begin by looking in 1 Samuel ch 17.

There are two armies facing each other from a distance, neither has the courage to come against the other.

One army is camped in a place named Ephes-dammim, which is in English “a boundary of blood.”

The other is camped across a valley in Elah, or in English “an oak.”

Do you see what I see, one cannot cross a boundary of blood because the other has encamped around a tree!!!

Those camped around the tree were comfortable in the tree and had lost the courage to confront those who were on the other side of the boundary of blood.

A mighty giant railed against the God of the tree and no one person in the army would take a righteous stand.

An entire army could not find one who would step up and declare what was right.

One came that would.

Goliath-or “great heathen”

David- or “beloved”

The great heathen raged against and cursed the living God and those that were His for a period of forty days.

For years God had been preparing His beloved as a warrior, as a shepherd, as a husband, as a worshipper, as a leader of men, as a seeker of what is holy and pure, and as a King.

For some time David had been following Saul and doing service to him, whenever time came for him to grow away from Saul, he returned to his father, to do his will and not that of man.

Goliath was prepared for war. David had been preparing to serve.

David’s father had sent him during this time to tend to a small flock of sheep in the area of Bethlehem, yet God was preparing him to come from Bethlehem to the field of battle.

David’s father requested that he take good things to his brothers who were supposedly doing battle with the enemies of the King.

When David arrived at the battle he was confronted by those who should have already acted in the name of the Lord against the heathen.

They accused David of being his own servant, of not submitting to authority, and of attempting to act alone, and they were jealous that he would not compromise his faith and allow sin to be flaunted against those encamped around the tree who had become lukewarm to the idea that there are things that cannot go unopposed.

The king of men called for David and offered to him, the armor that the king felt was appropriate, David recognized immediately that if the king did not use the tools, then they were unproven and could not be relied upon in the battle that was to be fought.

David had heard of the reward for faithful, successful service to the king, and knew that no other reward would bring satisfaction. The reward being that to the victor went provision, eternal recognition, and a bride.

The army that was encamped at the boundary of blood was about to flee, by a path that would take them to Sharaim or “two gates” and would end up at Gath or “wine vat.”

The rest of the story we know, David killed the giant and claimed the reward, and was then hated by those who should be his brothers and sisters.

He was prepared, and willing to serve God, and not man, and because of it, his life soon became miserable, but only for a while.

Do you want to be a giant killer?

You can be sure that when you begin to prepare, through acceptance of Jesus as Savior, through service, through prayer, through bible study, through witnessing, through giving, through going, through the use of your spiritual gifting, a giant will come against you to dissuade you from doing what is right.

You can be sure that the giant will attack; your family, your health, your wealth, your service, your time of communion with the Lord, your faith.

You can be sure that those who want you to submit to them will offer you their opinion of how you should serve, how you should worship, how you should pray, how you should witness, how you should seek their favor before seeking Gods favor, and will attempt to fit you with weapons and armor that are either faulty or untried.

You can be sure that those with a different agenda than yours will encourage you to join them so that they can be leader over you.

You can be sure that like David’s brothers they will tell you that you have not been called by God to do a service.

After all thewarfare that you have learned does not fill the armor in a manner that they understand.

Sibbechai, who was one of David’s heroes, killed a giant in the battle of Gob, David was a giant killer, Joshua killed a few, the Apostle Paul was a giant killer, Peter killed giants, Timothy and Steven killed giants; the giants of death, hell and the grave, were killed on a hill named Calvary, and the list goes on.

You are a giant killer when you are prepared to do so.

David left the crowd of uncommitted, picked up five stones, and ran without thought for himself into a battle that he knew he could not lose, because God had prepared him, to become a giant killer.

The fickleness of humanity is such that as he killed the giant a cheer went up, he was a hero to the people, however because of his faithful service he had shown himself to be different than the king who craved control, and yet David loved the king because he understood that it was not the king who had anointed him it was God himself and that he would soon be blessed.

You have a specific calling, all of us have a calling if we have accepted Christ as Savior.

We cannot fail if we follow His leading and cast off the yoke that man would entangle us in.

The giant killers of scripture knew a few things that we in the New Testament Church should know more fully.

Whenever we become faithful to Him, then He will use us.

1 Timothy 1:12 “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;”

God alone puts ministry into your heart and God alone calls you to perform what He has instilled in you, and it is God alone who enables you to perform what He has determined is right for you.

Romans 11:29 “For the gift and callings of God are without repentance.”

Don’t be discouraged by those who only want to camp out by the oak tree, stand up; stare the giant in the face, and do battle, but only in the manner that God has proven in you.

SCHOOL DAZE

READING WRITING ARITHMETIC

The excitement is building, along with the fatigue that comes with the search and shopping for all of the supplies on a list that are just the right items for back to school.

The parent-child frustration that comes with picking out appropriate clothing, the rescheduling of child care and the concern that comes when the youngest is dropped off for the first few days at pre-school or kindergarten.

A familiar concern arises whenever that same child steps out the door of the home and pulls away in the car to leave the nest for the first time to attend an institute of higher learning that you as a parent have prayed about and added more gray to the top of the head than you would have expected.

How will my child survive kindergarten, how will they manage the university life until they regain their bearings?

Once again we see where the word of scripture has application in the lives of our children and most certainly ours as well.

We all know that the Bible states in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he shall not depart from it.”

That takes the worry out of the possibility of losing moral direction and not knowing the way back whenever they leave home.

What a sense of peace to know that whatever they see in us, and the things that we teach them today will guide them tomorrow.

There will undoubtedly be times of struggle academically no matter what level of education they are in either public of private.

Once again the word comes through offering direction to all who would just learn what God has to say about any and every subject.

Take heart, your child can be, no, lets make that should be, the brightest student in any classroom, because God has told us and them how to achieve academic success.

Psalm 119:99 “ I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.”

And once again in Job 32:8 “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”

And that is only two references, that promise without a doubt success in the realm of education if we will only understand that we ought not to have unnecessary worry and that failure is not on the horizon, if we know, and apply what God has given us as immediate help