Sunday Feb. 24th

Well today was a great spiritual learning day for me in a sense. I woke up by eight to catch John MacArthur on channel 378(Direct TV), and his sermon was on Mark 12:44. Now I must first say that I truly love listening and learning from John MacArthur, he is a man that speaks the word of God without in any way compromising or changing it, which is, unfortunately, something hard to find these days in the big evangelistic "scene"( for lack of a better word.) I have listened to him on the radio many times and have even purchased his study bible which is an amazing learning tool for anyone interested in drawing closer to God through the learning and constant exposure to His word.

His sermon was on the poor widow who gave her last two mites (small copper coins) to the treasury of the church. Jesus tells his disciples that this widow has given more than all those who have given for they gave out of there abundance and she gave out of her poverty all that she had. Now I always took that as an example to give your all to God (and I'm not merely talking monetary giving here) and in a sense it is, but to look closer to the text we see that it was not said that this either pleased or angered Jesus. Now I know what your thinking, the thought crossed my mind to, why would this do anything other then please Jesus, right?

We know from reading the Gospels that the teachers of the law, religious leaders, Pharisees, and Sadducee's were not fans at all of Jesus and his message, for they liked the way things were and did not like the message that it(and they) were wrong. They liked the fact that they were earning, as they thought they were, salvation through works by obeying the Mosaic law and there human traditions,(which their traditions were not part of the O.T. law and which at times went against the Mosaic laws) and did not want that changed. I point all this out because it points to a flawed religious system, which is what it was then.

So we have here a poor woman who gives up all she has to live on to a corrupt religious system. Would this really make the Son of God happy? Her intentions and good heart would absolutely but the fact that she gave all that she had to live on to a "wicked order of things" would not have. What kind of a religious system would ask of such a thing or accept such a thing? I don't mean either to be hard on the woman, however would she not be in essence testing God, for even the old testament law only required a tithe (or ten percent). God provides for all our needs, should we be bad shepherds of what we are given? Jesus touched on that in the parable of the ten Mina's (Luke 19:11) when it was said to the wicked servant that should he have at least put the Mina in the bank so it would have drawn interest. It was taken away from him and given to the servant who made good with what he was given. I am not trying to point out just money here either, but all things that God gives us , talents, gifts, etc..

Wow I really rambled on about that and still keep going but i will stop it at that. I also heard a great sermon from our Pastor at church today on the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus in John 4:10. I will not go on and on with that as i did the poor widow but I do encourage you all to read and study it. We also starting working through Chapter 11 in Revelation in our Sunday school class which discusses the two witness' and the seventh trumpet. Great stuff and again I encourage you all to read it and truly study it.

Something happened to day that made me love my wife even more, and I didn't think I could love her anymore then I already do. At church we were singing our hymns as we always do and I really kept getting the sound of my wife singing drifting over to my ears and it was one of the most beautiful things my ears have heard, alot like hearing your child say daddy or I love you for the first time. You see my wife don't walk around the house singing all the time, or ever for that matter, I like never hear her sing. Most of the time in church all I hear is the congregation and of course myself, I have been told on many occasions by many people that I am a loud person, and I will not sit here and lie by denying it. I guess its just one of my quirks. Anyway, as I said, I kept hearing her here and there and it was just so awesomely pleasant to my ears. I do fear that she will read this and I may be cursed by not hearing it again, and honey if your reading please don't do that, I just wanted to mention it because it really warmed my heart, ears, and made my day.

I could sit here and ramble on about so much more, I will not however for I hear the kids in the bath and i may mosey on down to see if my help could be used in any way. I have appreciated this time and pray that God blesses each and every one of you out there through his glorious and awesome Son Jesus Christ. Until next time peace and love be with you all.
C.