Junior High Miracle

I taught junior high for fourteen years, and just read again one of Jesus’ miracles that so reminded me of a middle school boy.  What junior high boy doesn’t spit?!  And to mix their spit with dirt!  And to then put the spit/dirt mixture onto a blind man’s eyes … Jesus was so middle school performing that miracle!  (Not to be disrespectful.)  Hey, Jesus speaks right to us, right where we are!  John 9:6&7, “When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.”  But unlike us, Jesus had the divine power to make the blind man to see!  What a tremendous miracle!  Hey, I am glad that my Jesus is in the miracle performing business!  I know Jesus is because He changed my life on April 17, 1956.  And He can change your life too!

Poison Ivy

When I was a kid, I was highly allergic to poison ivy.  Come to think of it, I probably still am, I just don’t play outdoors as much.  When I got it, my mother would say, “Don’t scratch it.  You’ll just make it spread.”  REALLY?!  Not scratching poison ivy is impossible to do.  Oh, now that I’m an adult, I understand what she was trying to say, but it just seems counterintuitive.  It itches, but don’t scratch it.  Hey, there are many verses in the Bible that seem counterintuitive as well.  The way to become a leader in the church is to become a servant.  The way to have more spiritual rewards is to give to others.  The way to have our needs met is to meet the needs of others.  The greatest is the least.  It all seems to be upside down!  Jesus said in Mark 8:35, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.”  The New Testament is full of paradoxes.  That’s because the world’s system is opposite of God’s system.  So, make your choice: believe God and the Bible or believe the world and look out for yourself.  But make your choice very carefully.  One way leads to life eternal and the other way leads to temporary pleasure.  Think about it.

Old Man - New Man

Brother Clif got a phone call from a city police officer that he had a homeless man needing shelter for the night.  Brother Clif works the midnight shift at the Chattanooga Rescue Mission.  When the client arrived, he was cold, hungry, and non-communicative.  Brother Clif got him some warm food and hot coffee first.  Then he peeled of layers of crusty clothing and gave him a hot shower.  The clothing was heavily soiled, so when Brother Roth got them off, he threw them away.  After the shower, Brother Clif went to the mission clothing closet and got clean, warm clothes that fitted.  How good it feels to take off dirty clothes, to get cleaned up, and then to put on new, warm clothes!  Paul likens the spiritual change in a life to that of the homeless man in our story.  Paul said in Colossians 3:9&10, “… seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”  The spiritual new birth is just like putting off the old man (the sinner) and putting on the new man (the redeemed).  Hey, have you experienced this transformation?  Have you put off the old and put on the new?  Do you have new life in Jesus Christ?  If not, you can do it right now.  Message me, and let’s talk.