The Christian Thread

I was getting ready for church and thought I'de wish all mt friends a beautiful Lords Day.
I'll remember you in prayer during services.
Love,
Debby

Taste my Jesus

Loved this thought I'd share it with you.
TASTE MY JESUS

At the University of Chicago Divinity School each year they have what is called 'Baptist Day.'

On this day each one is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area.

Every 'Baptist Day' the school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center.

One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich.

Dr.Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false.

He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book.

He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact never rose from the dead in any literal sense.

He then asked if there were any questions.

After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium.

'Doctor Tillich, I got one question,' he said as all eyes turned toward him.

He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it.

'Docta Tillich.. CRUNCH, MUNCH 'My question is a simple question,... CRUNCH, MUNCH...

'Now, I have never read them books you read..CRUNCH, MUNCH..

'and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek...CRUNCH, MUNCH...

' I don't know anything about Niebuhr and Heidegger... CRUNCH, MUNCH...

He finished the apple. 'All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate, . . . . . . was it bitter or sweet?

Dr Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: 'I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple.'

The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, 'Neither have you tasted my Jesus.'

The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform.

Have you tasted Jesus? Please pass this on Saints! Jesus has risen... and He's coming back one day...

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

If you have, rejoice in the hope of the resurrection that your faith in Him brings.

Psalm 34:8

Yea me!!! I actually posted something I copied and pasted. Maybe I'll conquer this computer yet. :pointlol:

"dolphindebby wrote:

Yea me!!! I actually posted something I copied and pasted. Maybe I'll conquer this computer yet. :pointlol:

Very proud of you, my friend. Thanks for sharing. Great story! :up:

"The Rev wrote:

Very proud of you, my friend. Thanks for sharing. Great story! :up:

I was just wondering where you've been. Haven't seen you on here much.
How is every thing going for you?

Good Morning. I'm off to church.
Hope all of you have a blessed Lords Day.

Just back from worship. Very good day on many levels but let me share two.

First, I am again this year an intern supervisor. This is my sixth student from our seminary who get assigned to me for a year of "practical" theology. This young man came to me straight from college and seminary. My first commennt, last August, was, "I have grass that isn't as green as this kid!"

Today he gave a sermon that any pastor would have been proud of! There was law and gospel, text and context, illustrations drawn out of the congregational situation, in short all the elements you look for and they were hung together in a cogent fashion. I am very proud of the growth of this young man and am convinced that in a year or so, he will make some congregation a fine pastor.

Second, we had something today, I have only had three times in 24+ years of ministry. A public recognition of an emergency baptism. Let me explain.

Lutheran Christians practice infant baptism. Typically it is done as part of the worship service when a child is 2-6 months of age. However, little Frederick, was born without any "plumbing" below the stomach and spent most of the first three or four months of his life being operated on. Within 12 hours of his birth the chaplain of the hospital, a fellow Lutheran and good friend, did an emergency baptism at the family's request.

Yesterday was Frederick's first birthday and today was the first anniversery of his baptism. His family brought him to worship and we acknowledged and celebrated that baptism within the worship service. It was a glorious occasion!

Thanks for letting me share the stories and hope your worship time was also a blessing!

"Ohiophinphan wrote:

Just back from worship. Very good day on many levels but let me share two.

First, I am again this year an intern supervisor. This is my sixth student from our seminary who get assigned to me for a year of "practical" theology. This young man came to me straight from college and seminary. My first commennt, last August, was, "I have grass that isn't as green as this kid!"

Today he gave a sermon that any pastor would have been proud of! There was law and gospel, text and context, illustrations drawn out of the congregational situation, in short all the elements you look for and they were hung together in a cogent fashion. I am very proud of the growth of this young man and am convinced that in a year or so, he will make some congregation a fine pastor.

Second, we had something today, I have only had three times in 24+ years of ministry. A public recognition of an emergency baptism. Let me explain.

Lutheran Christians practice infant baptism. Typically it is done as part of the worship service when a child is 2-6 months of age. However, little Frederick, was born without any "plumbing" below the stomach and spent most of the first three or four months of his life being operated on. Within 12 hours of his birth the chaplain of the hospital, a fellow Lutheran and good friend, did an emergency baptism at the family's request.

Yesterday was Frederick's first birthday and today was the first anniversery of his baptism. His family brought him to worship and we acknowledged and celebrated that baptism within the worship service. It was a glorious occasion!

Thanks for letting me share the stories and hope your worship time was also a blessing!

How uplifting Ohio, I have to say that brought a smile to my face and a touch of celebration to my heart!

"Ohiophinphan wrote:

Just back from worship. Very good day on many levels but let me share two.

First, I am again this year an intern supervisor. This is my sixth student from our seminary who get assigned to me for a year of "practical" theology. This young man came to me straight from college and seminary. My first commennt, last August, was, "I have grass that isn't as green as this kid!"

Today he gave a sermon that any pastor would have been proud of! There was law and gospel, text and context, illustrations drawn out of the congregational situation, in short all the elements you look for and they were hung together in a cogent fashion. I am very proud of the growth of this young man and am convinced that in a year or so, he will make some congregation a fine pastor.

Second, we had something today, I have only had three times in 24+ years of ministry. A public recognition of an emergency baptism. Let me explain.

Lutheran Christians practice infant baptism. Typically it is done as part of the worship service when a child is 2-6 months of age. However, little Frederick, was born without any "plumbing" below the stomach and spent most of the first three or four months of his life being operated on. Within 12 hours of his birth the chaplain of the hospital, a fellow Lutheran and good friend, did an emergency baptism at the family's request.

Yesterday was Frederick's first birthday and today was the first anniversery of his baptism. His family brought him to worship and we acknowledged and celebrated that baptism within the worship service. It was a glorious occasion!

Thanks for letting me share the stories and hope your worship time was also a blessing!

What a beautiful story.
Let me share mine also.
We had baptism today. We had it at our pastors house in his above ground pool. (our church is on well water and we try to conserve it when possible)
We have a wonderful man in our church that has a nerve dis-order and is totally confined to a wheel chair. Well, he had never been able to be baptized, so today, two of the young men in our church picked him up, sat him on the pool steps and our pastor held him up and baptized him. It was so beautiful to see. His tears were so beautiful. All of us were very moved.
That to me is just one of the beautiful things in being a Christian.
I think we both have a lot to be thankful for today and every day.
GB

"dolphindebby wrote:

My daughter has had two surgeries for cysts. The first wouldn't heal so they had to go back in and re do it. Please pray that the healing process will speed up and she can get back to work and her life. She's been out for over a month with this. She works for AFLAC and that's a blessing because of the benefits etc. Her sick leave will be up the day after Memorial day, so please lift her up.
Thanks and God Bless all of you,
DD

Debs did everything turn out okay ?

"Celtkin wrote:

Daughter of Gospel Star Steven Curtis Chapman Hit, Killed by Car

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357046,00.html

This is indeed sad news. :pity:

Well I guess this is where we are supposed to share our stories of our spiritual journey through Christ.

Here is my journey, and its a very long one with some unexpected twists.

I was born and raised a Southern Baptist and attended Flagler Street Baptist Church here in Miami (Flagler & 35th Ave) right down the street from where we used to live. Spend many days and hours there, and its where I gave my life to the Lord in 1969 when I was 9 years old. I had a very religious upbringing, with church Sunday morning & night and every Wednesday night after Fellowship Dinner. Did choir practice and RA's on Wednesday nights too.

Anyone else in RA's when they were a kid ? Of course thats where I got to go camping in the Everglades and was introduced to snipe hunting :tongue2: and shaving cream fights :wink2:

Well we moved from in town of Miami to the Westchester area of Miami in 1971, and subsequintly changed churches. That was the start of a spiritual downfall of sorts for me. We changed churches to one closer to us, and I never really ever felt at home there.

Then in 1976 something happened that I blamed God for, that of course was not his fault, but was just His plan for my spiritual journey. I was a regular attender of our choir practices and we prepared for a summer tour of the midwest and I was very psyched for it, and made sure I did what I needed to do, so that I could go. I NEVER missed a practice. Come some time in May, the choir directer Rev Kooistra, dropped a bombshell. The fundraising efforts fell short, and each one of us would need to contribute $ 1000 or not be able to go.

Now where we started going to church had a lot of "well to do" members for whom $ 1000 was not much of a problem, even in 1976, but for my folks, that was a lot of money. It seemed as if I was not going to be going, and I didn't get to go. But what made me angry, and very hurt with God, was the fact that the church bent its own rules and allowed several kids, many of whom had only made a couple of practices buy their way in, and those like myself, and another friend of mine Jim Akers, were told "no pay, no go".

Well needless to say, I was angry. Angry with the church, angry with God, and angry with my self, because I had given $ 600 to the trip fund, and when I wasn't allowed to go, the church refused to give me back my money. I shouldn't have asked, Jesus wouldn't have asked, but I was not spiritually right at the time. I didn't understand, and never fully understood why until years & years later. God does things the way He wants, and its not always for us to understand these things until years later, if ever. His plan was working in my life, even through disappointment.

This anger at church led me to what I always call my years of "Church of the NFL" :lol: I became a Dolphins season ticket holder in 1977 and remained a ST holder until the move to Dolphin Stadium in 1987. I was an EndZone Animal at the OB. Section CC, row 22, seats 34, 35 & 36 (I paid for my parents tickets too). I was there for all the games, playoff games and was not walking with the Lord. I even tried to play off that I was an athiest. The Lord knew differently, but He was also letting His plan for my life unfold.

Then of course came some self-discovery along the way. I knew I was gay, and had always been so very confused about how I was preached at that "gay people are evil and go to Hell" and I knew I was gay. I decided I wouldn't think about it at all. I had my Dolphins, Hurricanes and school. I didn't have time to be gay or straight. At the time, I also didn't have time for the Lord.

Many years passed, and I graduated from the U, started working for Southern Air Transport in the accounting dept, and worked my part time weekend job at Publix.

I finally has a spiritual rebirth in 1999 when I was with my 2nd lover Roger. He was a member of the Orthodox Church of America. We started going to the Miami OCA church Sts. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church and I have been a member since. I met some great people there, Father Theo and his wife Sophie, and then after Father retired in 2001, Father Thad and his wife Marina I have been so blessed by God the last few years, and my growth spiritually has been enormous. I am gay, and will always be, and I know God loves me, and that I am good in His eyes.

Let me share my favorite You Tube video, one that I visit several times a day :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmu1eUouaA

I hope this song blesses you and your family. It makes me cry for joy when I hear it.

Here is another one of my favorite songs & videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nG1PWtAcck&feature=related

"PMZQ wrote:

I hope this song blesses you and your family. It makes me cry for joy when I hear it.

God bless you, brother. Thanks for sharing your witness and I love that song, too. :wink2:

We hope to see you around here more often. :yes:

As stated previously, I am old school at 48 years old and remember "Old Church" and all the old hymns from my childhood being played on the organ. One of the great guys on You Tube is Organpipe8, who played in churches in Florida and NY state for 27 years. Here are a few of his best :

A Mighty Fortress is our God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8iQUHV4J5g

Holy Holy Holy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=una7Q2z0WME

To God be the Glory (my favorite)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IezZ25lxURE

All Hail the Power of Jesus name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d54CqTpLW9E

All Creatures of our God and King

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oFLByoL2U0

Blessed Assurance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2ysxrjQUP4

Love's Devine all loves Excelling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5n4D_qgOoQ

What a friend we have in Jesus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtJVZeyjj7Y

Because he Lives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sINcIiAF9cM

I know a lot of these are probably too "Old School" for the younger ones, but this is the music on the organ I remember as being "CHURCH" as a kid. I hope some of you enjoy.

Try to drop OrganPipe8 (Lance) a note at You Tube and let him know you enjoy his efforts. He has 397 videos of his organ hymns up. I listen to them all day sometimes :up:

"The Rev wrote:

God bless you, brother. Thanks for sharing your witness and I love that song, too. :wink2:

We hope to see you around here more often. :yes:

I hope to be Rev, I sure hope to be. Are you a real pastor Rev at a local church in Miramar ?

"DOLPHAN1 wrote:

i truly enjoy reading your posts, they have a very comforting feeling. i hope that my posting here is not an intrusion, but i wanted to comment on the act of forgiveness or forgiving.

often we think of forgiveness for the person receiving it and leave it at that. not following through the process, we leave things incomplete. forgiving or forgiveness is as much, if not more for the one giving it. it is a release. a release form the power that the one receiving has over the one giving. when you say i forgive, and truly mean it, you release your self from that which causes the conflict. the person receiving no longer has the power to inflict pain.

sorry if this is inappropriate to post in this thread but i wanted to add that to this discussion. if it does not fit, please disregard this. thanks all.

Very profound Dolphan1, very very profound :up:

"PMZQ wrote:

I hope to be Rev, I sure hope to be. Are you a real pastor Rev at a local church in Miramar ?

I think rev just asks for money on tv :tongue2:

"unluckyluciano wrote:

I think rev just asks for money on tv :tongue2:

:sidelol:

"unluckyluciano wrote:

I think rev just asks for money on tv :tongue2:

:pity:

:lol:

Something I would like to share with all of you. I've asked my daughter, Jennifer, to read this at my funeral. It, pretty much, sums up my feelings.

HORIZON

Anonymous

I watched a sail until it dropped from sight
Over the rounding sea. A gleam of white,
A last far-flashed farewell, and, like a thought
Slipt out of mind, it vanished and was not.

Yet to the helmsman standing at the wheel
Broad seas still stretched beneath the gliding keel.
Disaster? Change? He no slightest sign,
Nor dreamed he of that far horizon line.

So may it be, perchance, when down the tide
Our dear ones vanish. Peacefully they glide
On level seas, nor mark the unknown bound:
We call it death-to them ‘tis life beyond

God bless you all. My mom has been with the Lord for 22 years now and I still miss her.

"PMZQ wrote:

I hope to be Rev, I sure hope to be. Are you a real pastor Rev at a local church in Miramar ?

No, brother. I use "The Rev" to remind me how to behave and to share my witness whenever I can. :wink2:

"unluckyluciano wrote:

I think rev just asks for money on tv :tongue2:

You're just upset because you acutally sent me some. :tongue2:

"gafinfan wrote:

Something I would like to share with all of you. I've asked my daughter, Jennifer, to read this at my funeral. It, pretty much, sums up my feelings.

HORIZON

Anonymous

I watched a sail until it dropped from sight
Over the rounding sea. A gleam of white,
A last far-flashed farewell, and, like a thought
Slipt out of mind, it vanished and was not.

Yet to the helmsman standing at the wheel
Broad seas still stretched beneath the gliding keel.
Disaster? Change? He no slightest sign,
Nor dreamed he of that far horizon line.

So may it be, perchance, when down the tide
Our dear ones vanish. Peacefully they glide
On level seas, nor mark the unknown bound:
We call it death-to them ‘tis life beyond

God bless you all. My mom has been with the Lord for 22 years now and I still miss her.

Amen, brother. Thanks for sharing. :up:

"PMZQ wrote:

Debs did everything turn out okay ?

It sure did. She's back at work and doing fine. She travels all over the country for AFLAC.
Thanks for all the prayers for her.

"PMZQ wrote:

Well I guess this is where we are supposed to share our stories of our spiritual journey through Christ.

Here is my journey, and its a very long one with some unexpected twists.

I was born and raised a Southern Baptist and attended Flagler Street Baptist Church here in Miami (Flagler & 35th Ave) right down the street from where we used to live. Spend many days and hours there, and its where I gave my life to the Lord in 1969 when I was 9 years old. I had a very religious upbringing, with church Sunday morning & night and every Wednesday night after Fellowship Dinner. Did choir practice and RA's on Wednesday nights too.

Anyone else in RA's when they were a kid ? Of course thats where I got to go camping in the Everglades and was introduced to snipe hunting :tongue2: and shaving cream fights :wink2:

Well we moved from in town of Miami to the Westchester area of Miami in 1971, and subsequintly changed churches. That was the start of a spiritual downfall of sorts for me. We changed churches to one closer to us, and I never really ever felt at home there.

Then in 1976 something happened that I blamed God for, that of course was not his fault, but was just His plan for my spiritual journey. I was a regular attender of our choir practices and we prepared for a summer tour of the midwest and I was very psyched for it, and made sure I did what I needed to do, so that I could go. I NEVER missed a practice. Come some time in May, the choir directer Rev Kooistra, dropped a bombshell. The fundraising efforts fell short, and each one of us would need to contribute $ 1000 or not be able to go.

Now where we started going to church had a lot of "well to do" members for whom $ 1000 was not much of a problem, even in 1976, but for my folks, that was a lot of money. It seemed as if I was not going to be going, and I didn't get to go. But what made me angry, and very hurt with God, was the fact that the church bent its own rules and allowed several kids, many of whom had only made a couple of practices buy their way in, and those like myself, and another friend of mine Jim Akers, were told "no pay, no go".

Well needless to say, I was angry. Angry with the church, angry with God, and angry with my self, because I had given $ 600 to the trip fund, and when I wasn't allowed to go, the church refused to give me back my money. I shouldn't have asked, Jesus wouldn't have asked, but I was not spiritually right at the time. I didn't understand, and never fully understood why until years & years later. God does things the way He wants, and its not always for us to understand these things until years later, if ever. His plan was working in my life, even through disappointment.

This anger at church led me to what I always call my years of "Church of the NFL" :lol: I became a Dolphins season ticket holder in 1977 and remained a ST holder until the move to Dolphin Stadium in 1987. I was an EndZone Animal at the OB. Section CC, row 22, seats 34, 35 & 36 (I paid for my parents tickets too). I was there for all the games, playoff games and was not walking with the Lord. I even tried to play off that I was an athiest. The Lord knew differently, but He was also letting His plan for my life unfold.

Then of course came some self-discovery along the way. I knew I was gay, and had always been so very confused about how I was preached at that "gay people are evil and go to Hell" and I knew I was gay. I decided I wouldn't think about it at all. I had my Dolphins, Hurricanes and school. I didn't have time to be gay or straight. At the time, I also didn't have time for the Lord.

Many years passed, and I graduated from the U, started working for Southern Air Transport in the accounting dept, and worked my part time weekend job at Publix.

I finally has a spiritual rebirth in 1999 when I was with my 2nd lover Roger. He was a member of the Orthodox Church of America. We started going to the Miami OCA church Sts. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church and I have been a member since. I met some great people there, Father Theo and his wife Sophie, and then after Father retired in 2001, Father Thad and his wife Marina I have been so blessed by God the last few years, and my growth spiritually has been enormous. I am gay, and will always be, and I know God loves me, and that I am good in His eyes.

Let me share my favorite You Tube video, one that I visit several times a day :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFmu1eUouaA

I hope this song blesses you and your family. It makes me cry for joy when I hear it.

You rock. Keep coming in and talking to us. The Rev and the other guys are great in here.

"dolphindebby wrote:

It sure did. She's back at work and doing fine. She travels all over the country for AFLAC.
Thanks for all the prayers for her.

Coolness :up:

I just took Mom to the doctor for her checkup, and she seems to be fine, except for a little ear problem. We'll clear that up here soon and she's good to go :up: