Fifteen Myths about Bible Translation

I love myth debunking- especially when it comes to “the word of God,” because so many religious organizations hold people in spiritual captivity by misappropriation of the “WORD.”

Fifteen Myths about Bible Translation.

Here is a great site that gives you a comparison chart to the versions of the Bible, including when each version came out:

Translation Comparison Chart

For a deeper look into what the “WORD” really is, see the chapter in my book, “The Voice of God Within” titled: “For the Bible Tells Me So.”

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Counting the Cost

It is often preached to sinners that they have a “cost to count” before they get saved. But counting the cost is something that we must continue to do throughout our walk with God and sometimes it can be after years of service that our biggest count happens, when we are faced with the fact that what we have been preaching to others might have not been right. When God begins to open our eyes to more light and we see that we were WRONG in things that for years we thought we knew and understood so clearly, let me tell you something, this is some of the hardest counting a soul will EVER do, because it takes the GREATEST humility.

Just as Saul was arrested on the road to Damascus, he said of himself, “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” Phil. 3

He was a very upstanding citizen and believed wholeheartedly in what he was doing that it was an honor to his God. But God arrested him one day and told him he was WRONG!

The early church practiced this humility among themselves. They prayed and fasted and came together to settle questions that they were unsure of, such as the question that arose of whether or not one needed to keep the law of circumcision. There were differing opinions, but the MIND OF CHRIST was of UTMOST importance, and only in humility and subjection to HIS LORDSHIP could this be accomplished.

There is a counting of the cost that must be done in the religious world to day~ even among those who call themselves “The Church of God.” 

Truth has been compromised.

In Revelations 2 Christ spoke to seven congregations and told them to count the cost for these reasons:
1. thou hast left thy first love
2. thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication…So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate
3. thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols
4. I have not found thy works perfect before God
5. thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Consider these things that Christ warned the people to repent of:
1) Christ was no longer their first love
2) They held false doctrines that caused the children to stumble (sin) eat things sacrificed to idols (Messages that are not from a sacrifice to God but to lift up a man) commit fornication (be unfaithful to God’s spirit and truth) and hold the doctrine the Nicolatitanes: “Nicolaitans,” comes from the Greek, #3528, nikao-nik-ah’-o: to subdue, conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory and #2992, laos-lah-os’: a people. The term, “Nicolaitans,” literally means, “to conquer the people.” Nicolatitanes is a “religious hierarchy of delegated authority.” ~wickedshepherds.com
3) Again we have Jezebel teaching worship of something other than Spirit and truth
4) Christ said their works are not perfect which tells me their was some dishonesty in their hearts.
5) An indifference to spirit and truth. “What difference does any of this make? I am rich and increased with goods and don’t need anything.” And Christ says they are so blind to their own spiritual depravity.

Christ said the Father seeks those who will worship Him in “Spirit and in truth.” That means, sometimes, truth is going to come to our spirit and we need to be worshiping God enough to be able to forsake the lies we have clung to our entire life and humble enough to say, I was wrong! 

I think it is good to go outside at night and look at the stars and behold the magnitude of God. We really have a TON to learn! No matter who we are or what we know, myself included, I know nothing yet as I ought too, God is so great, and we are so minuscule.

You see, sometimes the cost is the very thing you think is so precious and right- sometimes its the one thing you preached the longest and the hardest against. Like Saul- sometimes that one thing needs to become DUNG!

“let God be true, but every man a liar…” Romans 3:4

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New Wine

“[No] one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.”

(Luke 5)

“They say the old wine is better” – Jesus said this after preaching from a boat, touching a man with leprosy, telling a man his sins were forgiven, sitting down to eat and drink with a roomful of tax collectors and sinners, and being questioned and ridiculed every step of the way because it was not according to the “customs of the day.”

Sermons were supposed to be preached in temples by “anointed men of God.” People with leprosy were to be kept far away from. No one but God had the right to pardon someones sins. The righteous were not mingle with sinners and furthermore, they usually spent their time fasting and praying, not eating and drinking.

Earlier in this chapter we read that Jesus went out alone in the wilderness and took time to pray. There, all alone with God, Jesus was given new wine to drink and new wine to share when he came back into the crowds. He had something fresh and life-changing.

If all you are drinking is the “old wine,” then all you will be doing is complaining whenever you see the new wine being poured out; you will be blinded to all the good the new and fresh wine is doing.  You will have one solo message; “THE OLD IS BETTER” and all around your eyes will only see that the old is not being adhered to- the old ways of doing things, the old religious systems.

Go, take some wilderness time with God alone, and let him pour forth some new wine into your soul! Let him give you something new and fresh- something relevant for today’s needs. Get out of your religious rut and back into the leading of the Holy Spirit. Let go of the old so God can bless you with something new!!!

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The Strong Hold’s of Idols

Yesterday as I sat in a doctors office waiting for an appointment, directly across from me stood a two foot, beautiful carved wooden Native American woman. Her eyes seemed to pierce right through my soul and my imagination got the best of me. The artwork so cunningly worked, I had to avert my eyes away and I shifted in my seat, feeling uncomfortable beneath her constant stare. Curiostiy pulled my attention back to her again and these scriptures came to my mind:

“He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. “ (Is. 40)

“Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? .  .  .   He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.  (Is. 44)

I have never been exposed to an idol worshipping religion and so reading these scriptures in the past and thinking about people worshiping carved images has always seemed like such foolishness to me.  But now, as I sat here  in the office under the realistic and intense glare of this artistically crafted wooden woman an understanding came into my heart that had not been there before; And I always praise my Jesus for these precious moments of insight, for the door of understanding is a door of freedom and growth, first for oneself, and then to share with others.

I began to feel the strong hold that such an idol could take on a people who did not know the one and only true God. It has been said that the imagination is the stongest nation and that is why the apostle Paul warns us in 2 Corinthians 10: 4 & 5  when he says, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; “

But even beyond that, another lesson came through to my heart. The Lord spoke to me clearly and said that if a wooden idol could have such a pull and quickly take such a strong hold of fear on the imagination of a vulnerable soul, how much more a man or woman that has life energy flowing out of them. When they stand behind a pulpit, high above the rest of the people and take an “authorative” position, how great an influence does that have on vulnerable souls? Now add to that, a man or woman that shouts, gets angry, pounds on the pulpit or stomps; What an impact!

You see, life is a mystery and the imagination and fear are very powerful. All through history we have untold accounts of brutal genocides all done in the name of “beliefs” or “God’s” or some powerful man that got behind some form of a pulpit and began swaying massive amounts of people. And just like that wooden woman, the people are drawn in, because they are not listening to the true God- the God of love, peace, joy, humbleness, meekness, goodness, mercy, etc… They are unsure of themselves, and unsure of life. This unsurity and insecurity in man leaves him vulnerable to be taken captive by whatever comes along claiming to be the “authority of God.”

One thing I am learning- truth will produce something inside your heart. If you are sinning, it will produce conviction. There may be some fear that you are missing the mark with God. But truth will also produce abundance of mercy. It will pave a beautiful road right to the cross of Christ to have those sins forgiven, removed and cast into the depths of the sea.

Truth will produce love. Truth will produce peace and joy. Truth will set you FREE! Free from the corruption of sin and all its ugly vices. Free from religious forms and rituals. Free to be a child of God and all He created you to be. Free to grow in Christ. Free to have His spirit in your heart teaching you and leading you. Free from all the opinions of men. You now have Christ alone as your head and your advocate.

But if your “faith” is filling you with fears, doubt, confusion, hatred for certain groups of people, if it is drawing you into men causing you to obey voices outside rather than instilling the voice of the Holy Spirit within and helping you to trust and follow that voice, it may very well be you have an earthly idol set up somewhere. It may be a religious system. Religious systems will either cause you to be zealous in a wrong way- usually for their system,  or it will sap you of your spiritual zeal. It may be a pastor- you may be idolizing, worshipping, obeying a pastor or some man that you hold up as a “man of God.” The bible teaches us that in Christ, we are all priests. None of us is above another. Pastors are there for our service and help alone. They are not our rulers nor dictators.  It may be your own life- things you know that God is not pleased with but you are not willing to give up.  God knows and an all loving God can help you understand and conquer it in Christs name.

You see, idols can take an extremely strong hold in our life. I know. I have been battling many of them in my own life, and by the grace of God, He is helping me conquer them. That is how I am getting these lessons- through experience. And let me tell you, “the FEAR of man brings a snare.” Many so called “heathen” people have been mocked and laughed at over their intense fear of wooden idols but so much more do we have to battle the intense fear we ALL have of the fear of men. When we stop bowing before their idols, their systems, their ideas of what thier own imaginations have set up as “God” we will not be liked.

But we can take courage. Because so it was with Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ deliberately, carefully, purposefully, openly, broke the rules of the Pharisees! He followed one- the voice within- the Holy Spirit.

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

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Washing Dirty Feet

The Lord showed me in my sleep tonight, the reason for washing feet- it is not for ritual. It is for a lesson.

Peter asked him, “Lord are you going to wash me feet? No way I will not let you wash my feet.”

But then the Lord replied, “If I do not wash your feet, you have no part with me.” 

Then Peter said, “not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”

Then the Lord said, “They that are cleansed need not but there feet washed.”

(John 13)

 As long as we are here walking this earth, we will need to be cleansed because we are going to get dirty- our feet get dirty as we walk the earth and they must be washed. This is symbolic.

While we are in this earthly taberbacle we will have human faults and we must be willing to bow to one another and help one another by humbly cleansing one anothers “dirty feet.” We must be willing to humbly help one another in our faults and failings.

 There is a difference of handing someone a pail of water and soap and bending down ourselves and washing their feet. Their feet is the lowest and dirtiest part of their body. But human tendency is to say, “Gross, you wash your own stinky feet.”

It is easy to get lifted up and to look down our noses at one another. Christ does not want anyone to be lifted up higher than anyone else. This is why he gave us this example and said:

Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

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Salt That’s Lost it’s Savour

Dead Sea Salt Formations

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13

During the age when Jesus was depicting his people as the “salt of the earth” the salt that was widely utilized was taken from the Dead Sea. Its most common purpose was to salt dung that was then rendered usable to burn as fuel in the earthen ovens outside their homes. This salt was differnt from the table salt we use today, which cannot lose its flavour. This salt had to be kept dry and free from earth, or it would be changed into a powdery substance that was no longer usable. At that time people tossed garbage out into the streets (garbage was probably very scarce) and hence we have the analogy that the salt is no longer good for anything but to be tossed out into the streets where men trod every day.

The Jews reffered to the law as “salt and the light.” Salt was considered a purifying agent and a metaphor for wisdom. It is noteworthy that Jesus follows this statement about salt and light with;

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 17-20

He then enters into what is known as “The Sermon on the Mount” with a well known Old Testament Law- and then defines its “fullness” of meaning. The whole sermon expands on what the people had been taught out of the law.

In light of this study, it stands to reason that the Christian is to be careful to maintian the purity of the word of God in their daily living. Also, if the Christian begins to mix that way with the ways of the world and its varied philosophies, that Christian’s message will become good for nothing. We cannot explain away the authority of the Word of God. It is the Word of Life.

We must be the salt of the earth, by living the truth out in our lives and not compromising what we know God’s word says to appease the mulititudes of Bible critics and naysayers. The law of God is to be written on our hearts and lived out in our lives.  (Hebrews 10:16) The ways of God must be preserved. We are the salt of the earth, the preserver of this way of life. To say that its okay to live any way we choose and to be accepted of God is to water down the message of God and become a useless Christian.

I repeat the words of Christ, “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

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Our Weapons Are Not Carnal

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

The Kingdom of God would advance a lot faster and with more power if the subjects of this kingdom would really take time to understand what our weapons are and what they are not. Much damage is done and battles become more difficult to overcome because of a lack of this basic understanding.

Problems arise when people begin to fight this battle without understanding the word or recognizing the true leading of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning of the New Testament, God’s people were instructed first to wait unit they were given power from on high- wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Don’t run out and begin working out of your own strength, and your own ideas. Wait! And in the meantime, they prayed. They gathered together, worshipped and prayed for that power and then for the next step they were to take. And when the power came down, many souls were saved. The Kingdom of God advanced rapidly.

When we do not wait for God, when we allow fears, or the pressures of other mens opinions and expectations of us to cause us to move forward without knowing that we are right in the center of the will of God, we are headed for a long,weary, and pretty fruitless path.  We will not be fighting the “spiritual” battle, but rather a “carnal” battle- a battle against flesh and blood. The battle will be with people, without power, and we will become disillusioned and discouraged and eventually may grow completely cold in our love for God and his work. It is so imperative to “tarry until you are endued with power from on high.”

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 2 Corinthians 10:4

How do we know if we are using carnal weapons?

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 1Corinthians 3:1-6

When the fruit of our warfare is not advancing the Kingdom of God, but rather producing a lot of strife, envying and division, we can know beyond a doubt that we are fighting a carnal battle. When men are being lifted up and hailed instead of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are leaning on our own strength and understanding. If people are not being saved and delivered from the strong holds of Satan, we are fighting with carnal weapons. Chances are great that our message has become carnal. There is no power in carnality. (Isaiah 26:18)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Ephesians 6:10-18

Our battle is against the devil. We are not fighting against people, but seeking to rescue them from him. Our strength is in the Lord; our power is in HIS might;We wrestle against principalities-a territory ruled by a prince; In this case the prince of darkness. We are wrestling to take spiritual ground from him- to take souls back for Christ. We are wrestling against “spiritual wickedness in high places” -people who have set themselves up as a “mighty one” or a “spokesman for God” but in reality they are power-hungry liars! We are wrestling to take souls away from their damning influence.  (Matthew 23:15)

Our spiritual armour is an earnest desire to know truth; It is a heart that is purified and full of righteousness; It is preparedness everyday in the word of God and prayer before we head out into the world or to our daily duties; It is faith that what God has promised he will fullfill; The helmet is knowing that we have been saved from sin, we have been changed.

Our weapon is the word of God–  Christs word dwelling in us in abundance (Colossians 3:16)- and always praying; always seeking God’s help and power and resources and direction.

A lot of problems would dissolve in the Kingdom of God and a lot of progress could be made, if people were more careful to make sure that the weapons of their warfare are not carnal. Conversely, so much damage has been done throughout time because of ones who claimed to be fighting the battle of the Lord, but in reality, were only fighting carnal battles with their own self and their own understanding leading the way.

Its so easy to start fighting a carnal battle because we are living in a carnal world and a carnal body. But Christ made the way for us to be FILLED with HIS spirit and to fight this battle on His terms and His way.

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He Loved Me with a Cross

We cannot learn without pain.

~Aristotle

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;~Hebrews 5:8

Many times we go through severe trials and testings that cause us deep distress. We may ask, “Why?” and, “Will this ever end?” We may grow weary at times of even life itself. It is at those most distressing moments in my walk with the Lord, that my eyes become riveted upon the sufferings of Christ, and I am once again amazed how the very suffering I am experiencing, is just a small sip of what Christ went through for us. And I am reminded:

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1Peter 2:21-24

Suffering is not easy to go through, otherwise, it would not be suffering. Sometimes we need to be reminded that Christ taught us very plainly:

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

One of the most difficult forms of suffering a person will ever have to face is persecution from non-believers and even from close relations who may even call themselves a believer. I’ve been meditating on a certain scripture lately in relation to some of the trials I am dealing with:

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. Luke 6:22-23

Christ told us to “rejoice” when others treat us with disdain because of our stand we take for His names sake. I think he knew how difficult it was going to be in our humanity and so he wanted to drive it home- “Leap for JOY!” When I read this, I feel a little bewildered for I certainly do not feel like leaping for joy, but rather crying for sorrow of heart. Yet, the words are a balm for my sorrow. They encourage me that it is going to be okay, because I am living right. And when I am falsely accused, or called names, I remember that so was Christ. They could not find any fault or reason to keep Christ a prisoner, yet they condemned him to death. Christ went before us and goes before us in all our tribulations. He suffered first. He was accused of having a devil spirit:

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Matthew 12:24
Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? John 8:48

They called him a deceiver:

And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people. John 7:12

No matter what good Christ did, or what miracles he performed, they were not pleased. They sought to destroy him:

And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. Mark 3:1-6

“The herodians” were not even believers in the Jews God.  Herod the Great was responsible for the murder of thousands of little babies in an attempt to destroy Christ in infanthood. And Herod’s son, Herod Antipas, was responsible for beheading John the Babtist. The enemies of Christ will rally anyone they can find to destroy the Spirit of Christ which dwells in His people.

Their motive? They believe deep down inside, that by destroying the people of God, they can still the voice of conviction against their sins. Little do they understand that the seed that dies only multiplies.

In order to destroy Christ they had to lie about him and rally uncouth people to back them up. They had a mob mentality. And they were not content to just put him to death- but they chose the most brutal punishment they had in those days, reserved for the basest of criminals.

A sinner, who is not honest, who has no desire to be free from their sin, will never be a reasonable person to deal with. Unfortunately, these types of sinners many times are cloaked in religious garb. They have a church affiliation, claim to pray and be a child of God- yet the fruit of their lives is not of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the flesh.  They are no different in their living than any other common sinner.  These are they that turn the would-be repentant sinner away from the truth by their hypocritical living, and are filled with unreasonable madness at anyone that would dare to challenge their position before God.

Indeed, the  Lord Jesus Christ had to humble himself to go to the cross. If anyone had a sound defense against the onslaught of ridiculous accusations placed against him, it was Jesus. Yet, he humbled himself.

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. Philippians 2:3-8

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” Hebrews 12:1-4

Why did Christ suffer and endure such contradiction of sinners? Why? For their salvation. For my salvation. The truth of the matter is, Jesus Christ loved them, and he loved you and he loved even me,  with a cross.

Christ loved us with a cross- inspite of all He had to endure because of our sins. Cannot I, by the grace of Almighty God, endure the little I must sip of the cup of Christ?  Yes, Aristotle was right when he said, that we cannot learn without pain.

The great lesson of the hour? Love! -Love that transcends the agony of the cross.

The refrain from a popular choir sings:

He loved me with a cross

He loved me with a cross

In answer to the call of life

He loved me with a cross

Though I could not imagine what

Loving me would cost

Jesus went to Calvary

And he loved me with a cross

See the Youtube video: WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD

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