The Museum of the Bible

The Museum of the Bible by Dr. Jim Denison

I toured the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, yesterday.
The Museum is truly amazing. Its 430,000-square-foot building is located just three blocks from the US Capitol and has been rated one of the ten best museums in Washington.

It is an immersive experience in the history and stories of God’s word. Walking through its galleries took me back to the first century and demonstrated the impact of Scripture on humanity.
I cannot imagine a more powerful or persuasive witness at the heart of our nation’s capital.

As I toured the Museum of the Bible, I was struck by the difference one person can make. The Museum is the vision of Steve Green, the president of Hobby Lobby and son of the founder, David Green. The Green family has largely funded the $500 million project.

Every person who visits will be impacted by their faith and faithfulness to our Father.

“People are increasingly hopeless”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced yesterday that suicides and drug overdoses have driven life expectancy down in the United States. Overall, there were 2.8 million US deaths last year, nearly 70,000 more than the previous year and the most deaths in a single year since the government began counting more than a century ago.

What is driving this epidemic of drug overdoses and suicide?
Dr. William Dietz, a disease prevention expert at George Washington University: “I really do believe that people are increasingly hopeless, and that that leads to drug use, it leads potentially to suicide.”

It’s tempting to become hopeless about the hopelessness of our culture. But that’s exactly the wrong response.

From lockup to opera
Consider Ryan Speedo Green (no relation to Steve Green), a former juvenile delinquent who was incarcerated as a twelve-year-old after he pulled a knife on his mother and brother.

A teacher named Elizabeth Hughes contacted him at the lockup. “Don’t let this moment define you,” she told him. “You can be better. You can do better.”

A caseworker and a psychiatrist provided by the state of Virginia began working with him. When he left juvenile detention, he entered a new school in another town. A class trip to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City changed his life.

Ryan is now a member of the Vienna State Opera, singing bass-baritone roles in a variety of languages for audiences from around the world.

Saving a dying church
Larry Duggins left a successful career in investment banking a decade ago to become a seminary student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. There he met an evangelism professor named Elaine Heath. Together, they brainstormed ways to help dying churches thrive.

As Jonathan Merritt notes in The Atlantic, this is a massive problem in America. Six thousand to ten thousand churches die each year in the US, a number that will likely grow as denominations age and religiously unaffiliated Americans increase.

Duggins and Heath wanted to help churches “think creatively about how to help people encounter others and God in their everyday lives.” They partnered with White Rock United Methodist Church in Dallas to try their ideas. The church was once a massive and thriving congregation, but the neighborhood’s demographics shifted and membership waned.
The Missional Wisdom Foundation, the nonprofit Duggins and Heath formed, moved into the building. It converted the fellowship hall into a co-working space and transformed Sunday school rooms into workshops for local artisans. It created an economic empowerment center, where African refugees are taught language and business skills. And it started a yoga studio and community dance studio.

Today, the church building is bustling and the congregation has new life.

“You can be everything God wants you to be”

What do these stories have in common? They demonstrate the power of an individual to change the culture.

Consider Hezekiah. His father was one of the most ungodly kings in Jewish history, but Hezekiah knew that our past cannot imprison us without our permission. His nation was under divine judgment because of its idolatry and immorality (2 Chronicles 28:19), but Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 29:2).

The spiritual reforms he initiated returned his people to God and saved their nation.

Without the valor and integrity of George Washington, would we still be a British colony?

Without the courage of Abraham Lincoln, would we be two nations?

Without the ingenuity of Henry Ford, could we drive to work?

Without the creativity of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, would we be able to communicate words via internet?

You might say, “If they hadn’t done what they did, someone else would.”

That’s my point–“someone” would.

JESUS Is the Reason for the Season

If you say, "Happy Holidays" to me, I will respond with "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!" because JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON. If you don't like that, celebrate some other holiday.

Humor for Today

Humor for Today  *

Today you get a "two-fer."

*

Local Peasants

He means "PHEASANTS," really.

Wisdom of Wigglesworth

Wisdom of Wigglesworth
"We must expend every effort, pray every prayer, to take our brother to Jesus." Smith Wigglesworth

Words to Ponder

Words to Ponder                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The BIBLE                                                                                                                                                                                                                           “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.”  II Peter 3:10,11

Quotes of Presidents                                                                                                                                                                                                      “When we are sick, we want an uncommon doctor; when we have a construction job to do, we want an uncommon engineer, and when we are at war, we want an uncommon general. It is only when we get into politics that we are satisfied with the common man.”   Herbert Hoover

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Wise Words                                                                                                                                                                                                                             “A body like this doesn’t just happen—it takes pregnancy, neglect, and extra slices of pizza.”  Anonymous

Today in History

Today in History
1994
Achille Lauro Sinks Near Somalia

The Achille Lauro cruise ship caught fire and sank to the bottom of the sea near Somalia on this day in 1994. The large luxury liner had a checkered history that included deaths and terrorism prior to its sinking.

The construction of the Willem Ruys by the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Line took more than 10 years. The completed ship, which weighed in at 24,000 gross tons and was launched in 1947, was used to carry passengers and cargo back and forth from the Netherlands to the East Indies.

In the 1960s, it was primarily used to carry immigrants to Australia. In 1965, the Star Lauro company bought the ship to add it to its cruise line.

In 1971, the ship, re-named Achille Lauro, rammed an Italian fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea, killing one person.

Ten years later, a fire on board the ship killed two people.

The most infamous incident in the history of the Achille Lauro, though, occurred in 1985, when it was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists who shot and killed an American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer.

In 1994, the Achille Lauro was carrying 1,000 passengers near the Horn of Africa when a fire broke out on board. The lifeboats were launched as the fire caused the huge ship to list to the port side. A tug boat was sent to bring it back to shore, but as the tug was trying to connect to the ship, there was a huge explosion. Two people died and the Achille Lauro sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The survivors in the lifeboats were picked up by the USS Gettysburg. The Achille Lauro‘s two sister ships, the Lakonia and the Angelina Lauro, also fell victim to on-board fires.

Thieves Are Relentless

Exercise Caution

I locked my car. As I walked away I heard my car door unlock. I went back and locked my car again three times. Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I would hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two guys sitting in a car in the fire lane next to the store. They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation . I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away. I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars. Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar happening.... 

While traveling, my friend's son stopped at a roadside rest to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS navigator, briefcase.....you name it. He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic -- there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your key-chain locking device..

They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run. The police officer said to manually lock your car door-by hitting the lock button inside the car -- that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen

Be wisely aware of what you just read and please pass this note on. Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them -- and bingo, someone has our code...and whatever was in our car.

Snopes Approved --Please share with everyone you know.

THE BEST WAY TO LIVE:

THE BEST WAY TO LIVE:

"Die to self and be alive to JESUS."

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Grieving the Holy Spirit by Dr. D. James Kennedy

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

Did you know that the Holy Spirit is a person? The Bible makes it very clear that the Holy Spirit is not just a force, like electricity. Rather, He is a person who knows, loves, speaks, leads, guides, intercedes, teaches, cries, testifies, and approves or disapproves of what we do.

When we love a person very much, we don’t want to do anything that will make him or her sad. In the same way, we need to know that we can grieve the Holy Spirit, just as we can grieve any other person for whom we care.

The Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. When God calls us as Christians, He sends the Spirit to live inside us. This indwelling is called “being sealed” by the Holy Spirit. (John 6:27 tells us that Christ was also sealed by the Holy Spirit: “God the Father has set His seal on Him.”) Being sealed by the Holy Spirit brings us many blessings. It indicates that God has accepted us and that we’re precious in His sight.

It testifies to a finished transaction: Jesus has paid for all our sins. It verifies our security: God has sealed our sins in a bag and buried them in the depths of the sea. It attests to ownership: We are His, and He is ours. It indicates authority: Anyone who tries to break the seal will incur God’s wrath. It verifies that we have a personal destiny: Heaven will be our home—the Holy Spirit has sealed us for the day of redemption.

Because the Holy Spirit lives in us and loves us so much, how we live becomes much more than whether we obey certain laws. We must act in ways so as not to grieve Him. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not listen to His voice or seek His guidance, or when, having heard His guidance, we choose to disobey.

Do you listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance? Do you willingly follow His directions? Or have you done something that would grieve Him? The Holy Spirit wants to guide you, to show you the way you should live your life., and He will forgive you when you confess going down your own sinful path.

Ask Him to show you how you can live to please Him and bring Him joy, not grief, through your life.

A Christian is a person who should allow himself to be led by the Spirit of God.

They Made Their Mark

If you haven't made your mark on the world yet, this may inspire you to get started.

About this website

msn.com

These 20th-century entrepreneurs changed the world

The business icons that have made a global impact

Thoughts from Ephesians 4:1-3

Thoughts from Ephesians 4:1-3 by John W. Ritenbaugh

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, (2) with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (3) endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Notice carefully what Paul names as the reason for making unity and peace: the value we place on our calling. If, in our heart of hearts, we consider it of small value, our conduct, especially toward our brethren, will reveal it and work to produce contention and disunity. Thus John writes, "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (I John 4:20).

Paul next counsels us to choose to conduct ourselves humbly. Humility is pride's opposite. If pride only produces contention, it follows that humility will work to soothe, calm, heal, and unify. He advises us to cultivate meekness or gentleness, the opposite of the self-assertiveness that our contemporary culture promotes so strongly. Self-assertiveness is competitive determination to press one's will at all costs. This approach may indeed "win" battles over other brethren, but it might be helpful to remember God's counsel in Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." James declares that godly wisdom is "gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy" (James 3:17).

Then Paul counsels that we be patient; likewise, James counsels us to "let patience have its perfect work" (James 1:4). We often want quick resolutions to the irritations between us, which is certainly understandable since we want to get rid of the burden those differences impose. But we must understand that speedy solutions are not always possible.

Interestingly, in Paul's letter to the Philippians, he does not use his apostolic authority to drive the two feuding women into a forced solution (Philippians 4:1). Some problems are deeply buried within both sides of the contention, so finally Paul admonishes us to forbear with each other in love.

Essentially, he says to "put up with it" or endure it, doing nothing to bring the other party down in the eyes of others and vainly elevate the self. This is peacemaking through living by godly character.

Yet another aspect to the Christian duty of peacemaking is our privilege by prayer to invoke God's mercy upon the world, the church, and individuals we know are having difficulties or whom we perceive God may be punishing. This is one of the sacrifices of righteousness mentioned in relation to Psalm 4:5.

The Bible provides many examples of godly people doing this. Abraham prayed for Sodom, Gomorrah, and probably Lot too, when the division between them and God was so great that He had to destroy the cities (Genesis 18:16-33). Moses interceded for Israel before God following the Golden Calf incident (Exodus 33:11-14). Aaron ran through the camp of Israel with a smoking censer (a symbol of the prayers of the saints) following another of Israel's rebellions that greatly disturbed the peace between them and God (Numbers 16:44-50). In each case, God relented to some degree.

We will probably never know in this life how much our prayers affect the course of division or how much others—even the wicked—gained as a result of our intercession, but we should find comfort knowing that we have done at least this much toward making peace.