#20. Sitting All Alone on Cloud 9

On a beautiful summer day in July, I was relaxing on the deck in my back yard with absolutely nothing to do. Peering off into the distant sky, I found myself admiring the reflection of the sun off the magnificent, luminous clouds above. I panned 360 degrees, taking in the awesome beauty that surrounded me. Just then, the thought flashed through my mind:  Wonder what it would have been like for a person living long ago ... without the benefit of our scientific knowledge of the cosmos. Imagine -- just the earth and sea and sky above. No solar systems, no galaxies, no comets, no asteroids -- just the invisible dome that covered the ground from one horizon to the other.

Though I don’t know why, my mind began traveling several thousand years into the distant past. I found myself reminiscing about a nomadic tribe bordering on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I fashioned myself as a shepherd boy, lying on the ground watching over my father's flock. As the sheep were content -- grazing in the field -- and I had absolutely nothing to do, I began to ponder the world around me. Who created this monstrosity -- the sky, the stars, the water, the trees, the sheep, and me? 

I thought to myself, "A Creator much smarter and more powerful then me must have made it all! But it's so huge, a monstrosity! It's humongous! There must be many Creators; one for the rain, one for the thunder, one for the sunshine, one for this and one for that. Ah! There just has to be many gods that live high above the sky-line."

Then I saw Him out of the corner of my eye. Much to my chagrin, having been caught up in my reverie, I had not even noticed the Creator Himself. There He was, sitting all alone on a nearby cloud, with absolutely nothing to do -- just quietly observing me in my imaginary world.

Then I watched the Creator as He pierced through the Milky Way galaxy into a myriad of galaxies, millions of them. The Creator reflected upon my perception of a "humongous" world, thinking within Himself, "Son, you have no idea what infinity means!"

Suddenly, the Creator reached down, tapped me on the shoulder, and offered me a ride into the future. "Come and I shall show you what is to come. I AM the Creative Spirit of All-That-Is". Immediately, I was carried on the wings of the Spirit through many time zones before we landed. "Here it is," exclaimed the Spirit, stating that we were viewing an upcoming Jewish culture that would realize there is only ONE CREATOR of all that is. "But they shall continue to refer to me as Elohim, meaning, the Gods. I suppose they must be utilizing the Royal We."

Continuing on, we came upon an era when Moses shall discover that Elohim has a name. Yahweh is His name, which means, "I AM!" The Creative Spirit was happy with this discovery. “When they say my name, they shall identify with me. I AM Love; I AM the Spirit of Life. I AM the Creative Source of all that you see and hear, my son." After pondering for a moment, He sadly stated, "Later, however, this Jewish culture shall call me The Lord out of fear that they might offend me when they say my I AM name foolishly."

Changing the subject, I asked the Spirit of Creativity if He had a home. He responded to me, saying, "I live everywhere, even in the hearts of humankind, but I was sitting on Cloud Nine with absolutely nothing to do ... when my eyes happened to land upon you ... lying there in the meadow ... daydreaming ... about Me."

Before I could respond to His blissful words, the Spirit quickly whisked me away from this place-in-time and we arrived several hundred years further into the future when the Romans were in control of this very land where I now live. As we viewed the hillside below, the Spirit said it is called Galilee and occupied by several sects of Jews.

But without any forewarning, we immediately came to a screeching halt and the wise Spirit declared that we could go no further. Though I did not understand, the Voice of the Creator spoke cautiously, and in a sullen manner, muttering something about a Trinity of gods replacing the One. At last, the Spirit explained, “An offshoot of the Jewish faith has developed here. But I shall not reveal to you what this cult shall do with my name. You don’t want to know and I shall spare you this calamity. You simply would not believe it anyway.”

Then, out of nowhere came a bolt of lightening and a thundering sound that shook the heavens and I was suddenly catapulted out of my reverie, lying all alone in the grass. I had been daydreaming for what seemed like hours. I had lost all track of time. Looking around to check out the flock, I discovered that one of my lambs was missing.  It had meandered away from its mother into the wilderness. And a storm was brewing from the west.

Without a second thought, I rose to my feet and haphazardly trotted into the desert to find my lost sheep. I had no choice in the matter. I had to leave my father’s grazing flock to search for the lamb, which would be at the mercy of the wolves. She would be scared and disoriented, unable to find her way back from the wild to her mother ewe. Frantically, I sought high and low for my lost lamb when, much to my surprise, I heard the sound of ‘baaaa’ resonating from behind the rocks.

With my beloved on my shoulder, I joyously returned to the 99 waiting for our safe return. Though soaking wet from the pouring rain, we all celebrated and thanked the one and only Creator of our heaven and earth for guiding me this way and that way in order to retrieve my lost baby. It was an experience I shall never forget! And I never ever told my father all that had happened on that spectacular summer day – so very long ago.

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#19. The Three Faces of God

#18. Evolutio0n of Religion

Zoroastrianism was quite content . . . until Judaism came along and adopted the Zoroastrian beliefs in angels, in heaven and hell, in the soul's immortality, in the resurrection, and in the last judgment. Judaism finally shifted their worship to one God, but changed his name from Ahura-Mazad to Yahweh; and Satan became a fallen angel and arch-enemy of God -- a replica of Ahriman in Zoroastrianism. Most likely, none of this bothered the Zorastrians, though the Sadducees sect of Judaism rejected these doctrines (which of course drove them bananas, for sure). However, it was the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees that accepted all of them for Judaism -- and they won out in the end.

Judaism was quite content . . . until Christianity came along and completely revamped Judaism, turning one God into three, negating the Mosaic Commandments as impossible to practice, and establishing the worship of a human being (which of course drove the Jews bananas, for sure). The Jewish Messiah, or Christ, meaning 'anointed of God', was a term held by King Saul, King David, King Solomon, etc.; the Christ was redefined by Christianity to signify deity, that is, a God-being, and the title was given to Jesus of Nazareth. His sacrificial death replaced the Temple sacrifices for sin, once and for all. Sunday replaced the Sabbath Day as a day of rest, the church replaced the synogogue, and the Jewish scriptures were highjacked to be included with their 'New Testament' writings, all of which were now divinely inspired from cover to cover.

Christianity was quite content . . . until Islam came along and completely revamped Christianity, turning three Gods back into one, giving Him an Arabic name, Allah, and declaring the Bible to be corrupted and inaccurate. The Muslims removed Jesus from his throne as the savior of the world, but honored him as a prophet of God, second only to Mohammad, who was sent by Allah to straighten out the errors of the infidels. A new set of scriptures, called the Koran, replaced the fallible 'Book' of the Christians. Allah had no humanistic attributes, developed no relationwhip with His followers, and gave no garantee of entry into heaven, unless they should become martyrs for the cause (which of course drove the Christian bananas, for sure).

Islam was quite content until . . .

#17. Christmas Christian Cuestions

The Christmas story in Matthew tells of wise men (or magi) making the long journey to find the newborn king of the Jews. I offer 10 questions about the so-called "wise men" -- not to be taken seriously, but to be explored with humor and wit and fun. Are you ready?

#1. How many wise men were there?

#2. The wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for Jesus. Were these Christmas gifts or presents for Jesus' birthday?

#3. What would a youngster do with such gifts -- myrrh was a dried sap from a tree used as an embalming ointment at burial?

#4. If they were so wise, why did they follow a star in the sky? Why didn't they simply ask for directions? Oh, yeah! They were men -- got it!

#5. The wise men were from the east, so the star would appear in the west. But the wise men said,

"We have seen his star in the east." -- Help!

#6. "The star went before them till it came to rest over the place where the child was". Really! Could this be a UFO rather than a star? Any thoughts on this?

#7. "(King Herod) found out from (the wise men) the exact time they first saw the star." They probaby came directily across the desert from Babylon to Jerusalem, a distance of at least 540 miles, taking 25 to 30 days by caravan. How long do you think it took them to find Jesus? Herod calculated the time travel to be as much as 2 years!

Could it be they took the scenic route! ???

#8. "And going into the house, (the wise men) saw the child with Mary, his mother." Obviously, Jesus was no longer a baby, but living in the home of Joseph and Mary, which was in a village called Nazareth, in Galilee. But the wise men were led by the star to Jerusalem, in Judea, a distance of 65 miles from the house where Jesus lived. Either the star was confused ... or the wise men weren't so wise. What say ye?

#9. The wise men "departed to their own country by another way." But how did they know the way back home -- not another star, I hope!

#10. Have a Merry Christmas! That's not a question, nor a suggestion, but a requirement. Blessings!

P.S. -- You know what would have happened if there had been

three wise WOMEN instead of three wise MEN ? Well, don’t you? The three wise WOMEN would have:

1. asked for directions,
2. arrived on time,
3. helped deliver the Baby,
4. cleaned the stable,
5. made a casserole, and
6. given practical gifts.

#16. Slice the Banana in Half

Two lesbians, Janet and Lisa, were married in Vermont in 2000 and Lisa gave birth to a child, conceived through artificial insemination. However, the couple legally ended their relationship in 2003. The birth mother moved to Virginia with the child, apparently to avoid giving Janet visitation rights. As a conse- quence of Lisa's contempt of court, the judge in the Miller-Jenkins v. Miller-Jenkins case has transferred custody rights of the now seven year old child to Janet. However, Lisa and her daughter seem to have disappeared, as no one knows of their whereab0uts.

WOW! What a sad story! The loser, of course, is the child. What are the rights of a child nowadays? Where are your thoughts on this matter and what are your feelings? You be the judge!

One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. “Please, my lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. Three days later, she also had a baby. But her baby died during the night. While I was asleep, she laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. And in the morning, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”

Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.” “No,” the first woman said, “the dead one is yours, and the living one is mine.” And so they argued back and forth before the king.

Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours. All right, bring me a sword. Cut the living child in two and give half to each of these women!”

Then the woman who really was the mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!”

Then the king said, “Do not kill him, but give the baby to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

-- I Kings 3:16-27

#15. Christy, the Office Receptionist

Some Christians believe that Christianity is the only true religion. As proof, they quote Jesus saying, "I am the way … no one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6 ISV). In other words, Jesus is the only way to God and therefore, the only way to get into heaven when a person dies.

So how could Jesus Christ be the only way to the Father? Maybe Jesus is his Father's body-guard. NO! NO! NO! he didn’t even carry a sword!

OK, then, maybe Jesus is the Father’s personal receptionist. Christ alone decides whether or not a person can enter his Father’s office (heaven).

Joseph prays to G*d. The phone is ringing: "Hello, this is Heaven's Prayer-line."

"Is this Yahweh's Kingdom?" Joe asks.

"Yes it is. My name is Christy. May I help you?"

"Yes, I am Joseph and I want to see Yahweh face to face."

"OK, but the only way is to go through me. Now your name is Joseph, and what is your religion?" "Jewish! I am one of His chosen people!"

"OK, you're scheduled in the calendar. See you when you die."

Mohammed prays to Allah. The phone is ringing: "Hello, this is Heaven's Prayer-line."

"Is this Allah's Kingdom?" Mohammed asks.

"Yes it is. My name is Christy. May I help you?"

"Yes, I am Mohammed and I want to meet with Allah about my virgins."

"OK, but the only way is to go through me. Now your name is Mohammed, and what is your religion?"

"Islam! You don't think I'm an infidel, do you!"

"OK, you're scheduled in the calendar. See you when you die."

Mary prays to Jesus. The phone is ringing: "Hello, this is Heaven's Prayer-line."

"Is this the Kingdom of God?" Mary asks.

"Yes it is. My name is Christy. May I help you?"

"Yes, I am Mary and I want to see my beloved Lord."

"OK, but the only way is to go through me. Now your name is Mary, and what is your religion?"

"Christian! And I'm born again!"

"OK, you're scheduled in the calendar. See you when you die."

#14. Jesus, Dalai Lama, & YOU

What do you know about the Dalai Lama? According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the Dalai Lama is an enlightened spiritual being who chooses to come to the earth again and again to serve humanity. So, after he dies, it is believed that he will return to the earth in a new baby's body.

If a monk has a dream or vision that he has been reborn, the senior Buddhist monks will begin searching for the youngster. The monks then present such a boy with possessions (including toys) of the previous Dalai Lama to determine whether the boy is familiar with them.

It is believed to be proof that the child is the reincarnation if he chooses the items that belonged to the previous Lama. In 1937, at the age of two, the present 14th Dalai Lama was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.

Is Jesus also an advance spiritual being, who chose to come to the earth to serve humanity?

"(Jesus) has come from heaven” - John 3:31
“(Jesus) was taken up to heaven” - Mark 16:19

These two Bible verses point to the beginning and ending of the life of Jesus. It implies that he pre-existed before his birth and that he continued to exist after his death.

In the western world, most people do believe the soul lives on after death, but that the soul is not created until conception (or at birth). But if one person – Jesus – lived in the spirit world before birth and returned to the spirit world after death, then WHY would this not be true of us all?

OK, Jesus was called the Son of God. But is not every soul a child of God? Does not each have a spark of divinity? If we can live for eternity after death, what prevents us from pre-existing our birth? Is it possible we all have come from the spiritual realm ... and shall return ... again and again and again? Would you recognize your toys?

#13. Jesus Had Quite a Sense of Humor!

Dare I ask? "Was Jesus a standup comic?" The Gospels paint a portrait of Jesus as over-flowing with humor and wit, full of irony and satire, and over the edge with mocking exaggerations. Can you just picture in your mind’s eye the cartoon caricatures Jesus created, such as the “blind leading the blind and both falling into the ditch”! Or how about “straining out a gnat, but swallowing a camel”? Or better still, consider “having a log in your eye while trying to remove a splinter from another’s eye”. Do you see his humor?

Jesus told Peter that one should forgive a friend -- not seven times -- but 70 times 7 (ie, 490 times). To his followers, he posed the following question: “With all your worrying, which of you can add 18 inches to your height?” To the religious leaders, Jesus stated, “You are so careful to polish the outside of the bowl, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed.” And that is just the beginning. There is much, much more in your Bible.

Lots of religious humor has been created about Jesus. Do you suppose he would be offended by it? I think not. Here is my own picture of Jesus returning to the earth, saying to his fellow-Christians:

 

 “I said WHAT???”

Here is one of my favorite jokes:

A Jewish Rabbi congratulated a newly ordained Catholic Priest. The former said to the Priest, "By the way, can you work your way up the ladder?" The priest stated that indeed some priests do become Bishops. “How about Bishops – can they advance?” continued the Rabbi. The priest was taken back, but added that a few can advance to become Archbishops. The Rabbi was relentless: “And beyond that?” The poor priest was shaking, but uttered that the Pope would be the highest honor. The Rabbi asked, “Is that all?” The Priest blurted out defensively, “What in the world do you expect -- that the Pope could someday become God?
The Rabbi concluded, “Well, sure! One of our guys made it!”

Now it's your turn . . .

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#12. Son of the Great Leaf

The Divine Child of the Great Leaf spoke these words of Wisdom and Truth to all the leaves of the Treedom:

"The time is fulfilled, for the autumn season is now upon us. And though I must leave you, I shall prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also. Fear not, little leaves -- let not your hearts be troubled. For in due season, in the springtime of the new year, I shall return to the Treedom with new life. And what I do, you shall do likewise ... and we shall resurrect with new life in the Treedom of the Great Leaf."
If you are a student of the Gospels in the New Testament, this above rendition may sound familiar. A few verses below should refresh your memory. What think ye? Any hope for the leaves of the Treedom?

* Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again." -- John 3:3

* “Let not your heart be troubled … I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” -- John 14:1-3
* "I tell you the truth, all the things that I do, you shall do also..." -- John 14:12

* "Then Jesus told them, '... after I am risen again' " -- Matthew 26:32

* "Jesus saith unto her, 'Thy brother shall rise again.' " -- John 11:23

* "And Jesus answering said unto them... 'for they are ... the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.' " -- Luke 20:36

Question: Are you a leaf that believes in teachings about reincarnation and/or the resurrection? Or are you a leaf that shall fall the ground and die once for all eternity?

#11. Re-interpreting John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The quote in blue is the most cherished verse in the New Testament: John 3:16. Jesus is addressing the question of why God sent Him to the earth. Christians interpret this statement to mean that God sent Jesus to sacrifice His life upon the cross in order for mankind to be saved from their sins and be welcomed into heaven when they die. But is that what Jesus is speaking of? Is it? I wonder!

There is absolutely nothing in the entire chapter about crucifixion, about sacrifice, about ransom, about death. Notice the word gave (in red). This word suggests to the Christian mind the idea of 'giving Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified'. But if the word 'sent' was used -- rather than the word 'gave' -- a completely different connotation would appear. Read John 3:16 again that way see what you think.

Now, let's take a look at the verse that precedes it:   John 3:15

 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

This quote is a reference to chapter 21 of Numbers in the Old Testament. The serpent is not put on a pole to be crucified or killed, but 'gazed' upon. God had instructed Moses to create a bronze serpent and place it up high so that anyone bitten by one of the many snakes in the wilderness would focus on the image and not die from the venom!

"So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked (gazed) at the bronze serpent, he lived." (Numbers 21:8)

The Greek word for 'lifted up' is hupsoo and means "to lift up on high, to exalt". In John 12:32, Jesus uses the same word, stating these words: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." These verses have nothing to do with sacrifice or crucifixion. They are about healing and salvation.

Oh, yes! God so loved all of His children that he sent Jesus to our planet -- not to be sacrificed to appease an angry god -- but that He might be honored and exalted -- that He might be lifted up as the ideal, the model, the example, the mentor for us all. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to include: "The Savior!"

#10. Garbage Dumb Experience

GOD:

"Look Son, I want you to tell all of your followers about the hell-thing."

Jesus:

"OK gang, listen up, I have some good news and some bad news from my Father. If you remain in touch with God, your life on earth will be a heavenly experience. However, if you remain stuck in your arrogance and stay disconnected from God, you are going to end up in the depths of dispair. You shall be in mental anguish and emotional torment all the days of your life. You will think you're going crazy! You will not be able to think clearly. You will be full of fear and turmoil. And you will feel that God is a million miles away and that He does not care about you at all. Most of you will have this hellish experience every time you screw up. So stay in touch with God and experience the good life."

Jesus:

"How did I do, Dad?"

GOD:

"My Son, you are such a dinwit! You know very well that those heathen are going to die and literally be thrown into the Gehena Garbage Pile -- and that they will be there day in and day out forever. They need to know that the land fill is a real place outside of Jerusalem where the fire burns relentlessly to get rid of the terrible stench. You should also have informed them that they will weep a lot, that they will wail a lot, and that they will gnash their teeth a lot -- so they need to remember their dentures. And, oh yeah, you forgot to tell them how excruciatingly hot the fire will be. Really, Son, why do you have to use all those parables anyway? Why didn't you just speak to them the literal truth?"

#9. The Very First Language

"There was a time when everyone on the earth spoke the very same language."   (Genesis 11:1)

Today, in East Africa, most people speak the common language of Swahili, but they also have their various mother tongues or tribal languages, which is very special and personal to their family. Most Americans would say their mother tongue is plain ol’ English. What was God’s mother tongue? I wonder… 

When He created the heavens and the earth, the Bible declares that God spoke, saying, “Let there be light!” But in what language did he speak these words? English? Kichagga? Turkish? Mandarin? Aramaic? Hebrew? Kigogo? Russian? Korean? Thai? Jin? Ziang? Hausa? Burmese? Ukranian? Tagalog? Portuguese? German? Japanese? Bengali? Punjabi? Javanese? Wu? Spanish? Persian? Kiha? French? Vietnamese? Hindi? Chinese? Latin? Romanian? Kurdish? Zulu? Czech? Ah, you get the point!

Long, long ago, with what lingo did God speak to Adam and Eve in the Garden? Moreover, how could they have understood God's words.  Hmmmm... And did the serpent speak the same tongue? It’s a fair question! Inquiring minds want to know!

When a person prays to God, does He respond in their language? Many will say that He most certainly does – just ask any Christian, or Jew, or Moslem, or Hindu, or Native American. Ah, you get the point!

So then, do you suppose that God spoke in the King James English when King James prayed to God? Never mind! What I'm really asking is this: When a person prays, does God respond to them in their own language ... or in His?

Elihu Speaks to Job:

"You say, (God) does not respond to people's complaints. But God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it."  (Job 33:14)

Three simple phrases capture my attention:

"God is Spirit." (John 4:24)

"God has given us his Spirit."(1 John 4:13)

"God is love." (1 John 4:16)

So, what was the original language of Spirit? LOVE! What is the language of God today? LOVE! In what language must people pray? LOVE! What is the one language for people to communicate with each other? LOVE!

Ah, you get the point!

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#8. The First Conspiracy Theory

Conspiracy theories have most likely been a part of the human experience from the very beginning of time. In fact, I found this conspiracy theory in the third chapter of Genesis of the Holy Bible.

In the Garden of Eden, God saw Eve and Adam hiding behind some trees and surmised that they had done the dirty deed. So when God questioned the man, Adam squealed on Eve, saying it was "that woman you gave me" that was behind the crime. Then God summonsed Eve to the station, but she blamed the crime on the Serpent. 

After much thought, God came up with this conspiracy theory that the three of them were in on it together from the get-go. God was the first to concoct the theory that the Serpent conspired with Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the Forbidden Tree.

“That Serpent probably told Eve that I had lied to her, selling her on the idea that it would make her as smart as Me. I can see it now. The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, so she climbed on Adam’s shoulders and picked some of the fruit and they had themselves a picnic.”

Although God had no solid evidence, he kicked all three of them out of His garden.

Notice that this first conspiracy theory was accepted by the author of Genesis as being true, and consequently, the passage was inserted into the Bible. Amazing!

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#7. The Good Samaritan Goes to Hell

The following two passages of Scripture were spoken by Jesus, so the good book say.

Passage-1: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 

Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’” – Luke 10:30-35 (NLT)

Passage-2: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (NLT)

 The bottom line in Christianity is that Passage-2 trumps Passage-1. Christendom claims that the only way to get into heaven when we die is to be saved by accepting Jesus as our savior. Good deeds are commendable, but they are meaningless as far as salvation is concerned. We are saved by faith in Jesus, not by good works. Good actions during our earthly sojourn do not get a single soul into heaven.

Such reasoning means that the good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable would die and go to hell for eternity. Why? He had not been ‘born again’. The Jewish priest and his assistant both refused to help the half-dead man lying on the street. They would not even touch him. But had they been saved (you know -- born again Christians), heaven would be their just reward. WOW!

I am worried sick about that guy in hell. Yeah, I know it's only a parable. Oh, I found the answer ... toward the end of the good book.

Passage-3: “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone. Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, ‘Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well’ but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, it isn’t enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn’t show itself by good deeds is not faith at all – it is dead and useless... I can’t see your faith if you don’t have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds.” – James 2:14-18 (NLT)

In this third passage, you are reading the words of Jesus’ brother, James. But then, what does he know? Did he accept Jesus as his personal savior?

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