charleyschatterbox.blogspot.com

GUILTY AS CHARGED

2011-09-09T17:04:00.001-05:00

I have a confession to make. I have been guilty of covetousness, deceit, murder, lying, disobedience, backbiting, and I may as well confess--all the Ten Commandments. You may say; what a terrible person I must be to be guilty of all those sins. And you would be right. And certainly, condemnation would be in order. But before you begin pointing fingers at me, all I ask is that you simply go to your bathroom mirror and look at the reflection you see there. Because you too are quite possibly guilty of those same offenses. Now, I don"t look so bad, do I?

Why do I know all this? The Bible states it. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That means you and I. It also says that like sheep we have all gone astray and laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. You may ask how we could get into such a predicament. The truth is, we were born into it. We suffer from the results of the original sin of Adam and Eve at the Garden of Eden when they ate that forbidden apple.
God forbid them to eat of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But Satan convinced them that God was placing an undue restriction upon them. So they ate.

So we find ourselves in a seemingly hopeless dilemma. The penalty for our guilt is Death in Hell for an eternity. We can't save ourselves. What can we do? The Bible says to Repent and seek the Lord. If we repent and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the Dead, we (you ) will be saved. (paraphrased) (Romans 10: 9-10).God will send the Holy Spirit to live in your heart and you can begin to serve Him in spirit and truth. The scriptures say "Today is the day of Salvation".

His free gift is waiting for you to receive it. Don't disappoint Him. He will remove your guilt. I am no longer guilty. Are you?

IS THE END TIME NEAR?

2011-03-20T17:02:00.000-05:00

Most Bible students will agree that someday Jesus is going to return and Rapture the church out of this world.

He is going to select all believers, the dead first, and take them with him into Heaven to enjoy the home for which he has prepared for us since his ascension some 2000 years ago. He said I go to prepare a place for you and I will return to receive you unto myself, that you may be there also. (paraphrased).

Now I believe THAT with all my heart, because it is in God's Word, the Bible. And I believe the Bible to be inerrant. But, the question which seems to appear with regard to the time is, when will these events happen?
In response to his disciples questioning about the destruction of the temple, his reply was that no one knows but the Father.

Well. if Jesus himself said that no one knows but the Father, then why can't some of the modern day prophets get it straight. How can they prophecy that the world will end in just a few months? I believe that God speaks to people all the time. Not necessarily in a loud voice, but with a little small voice inside, or by some word preached, or spoken by a friend, or after reading a religious text. But declaring that God gave us a date for the End is, in my mind, completely contrary to his Word.

Some have jumped on the band wagon following the recent events in Japan. Armageddon they cry. This is the end. Well, the end is coming, you can be sure of that. But, let's let God be in charge of all future events instead of all that arm twisting. It will all happen in His time, when He is ready.

MIRACLE WATER

2011-03-07T06:58:00.000-06:00

We have a friend who obtained a small farm located at the foot of a long hill. Actually the hill was the highest point in our county. Near the top was a natural bubbling spring. Yes, water was literally bubbling up from the ground and running down the hill. A previous owner had taken advantage of this water source and had made some alterations.

He had dug a box like opening, possibly a 3 ft. cube and had covered it with a wooden panel to prevent wildlife and vermin from entering or falling into the cavity. He also had buried a galvanized pipe in the corner, which ran all the way down hill (around 500-750 ft) into a cistern which was near the house. He had also installed a sand filter and a stop valve in the pipeline to control the flow of water. So he had a nearly perfect, cost effective supply of water. One problem existed, the water was very hard.

As some already know, hard water calcifies or builds up residue on the objects it comes in contact with. Even the cooking utensils used gave indication of this. The inside of this pipe began to develop buildup of hard material which acts much like plaque in arteries. It gradually filled the pipe until it was no longer able to supply water. The owners reaction to this was to dig out the old pipe and replace it with black vinyl pipe of a larger size. As far as I know, to this day the vinyl pipe has not reacted as the metal did.

Later, the new owner constructed another cistern of poured concrete. It was a box-like affair which also contained a more elaborate filtration system. It took some time before the concrete taste finally disappeared. The old cistern walls had started caving in and bricks falling to the bottom. After the new cistern became usable , he completely filled the old one.

How this spring can provide clear cold water on a hot summer day, I cannot comprehend. But it does.
It isn't one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but it seems to me to be a miraculous gift of God.