Lloyd Pulley's Blog, page 45

Video – What’s The Biggest Hinderance to a Fruitful Relationship?

This was a question that Karen and I answered as part of our “Questions About Marriage” series!

 

Aim at Heaven – C.S Lewis

Awesome quote by C.S Lewis!

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

 

Ravi Zacharias Coming to NJ!!!

Recently at CCOB, the body has been stirred and encouraged to share our faith and spread the love of Christ. So, it will be a wonderful opportunity to all who are interested to attend a 3 day conference in Secaucus, NJ with the world renown apologist, Ravi Zacharias! His ministry, RZIM, always has a wealth of apologetic materials and Ravi travels extensively defending the faith and, most importantly, sharing Christ’s good news. On June 28-30th, Ravi will be in Jersey at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, as the Keynote Speaker for a 3 day conference with the theme “Why Jesus?”

 

If you would like more information on the conference or would like to register for it, please go to the following link:

http://www.ncfc2013.com/#

Video – What Does the Bible Say About Divorce & Remarriage?

VTR – Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The Messiah Presents Himself

On the Sunday before He was crucified, the day we call “Palm Sunday,” Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (see John 12:12-15). In doing this He fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 above. It is also interesting to note that He presented Himself to the people on the very same day that they traditionally selected the lamb for their Passover sacrifice.

Up until this point Jesus had avoided publicity—He avoided the applause of men. But now He accepts and even arranges for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Why?  Because it is the appointed time spoken of by the prophet Daniel (recorded in Daniel 9:24-27).

However, when God the Father spoke from Heaven on that day, we read that some of the people heard “thunder.” How could that be?

Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”  Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”  Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake” (John 12:27-31).

The Response of the People

What I believe is that some of those gathered simply could not conceive of the idea of God speaking. All they could ever imagine coming from the heaven’s was the sound of thunder, so since their paradigm did not include the voice of God, they rationalized that it must have been thunder. As powerful a demonstration as this was of God’s presence among them, many of His people still failed to recognize it because of their preconceived beliefs.

This may be hard for us to understand, but I can remember a similar circumstance happening in my own life. I didn’t hear the voice of God, but I had an experience that demonstrates the power of a preconceived idea. When I was thirteen, I was babysitting for my niece and I found the rifle that my brother-in-law was going to sell me. So I picked it up and began looking at it.  I was so excited that I took it over to the side of the trailer, and pulled the trigger—something I knew never to do! There was no way I would ever fire a gun inside the house. Well, the gun fired in the house that day, but the strangest thing was, I didn’t hear it! Honestly. Firing a gun like that was such an inconceivable idea, that my mind just didn’t register it happening at all. I put the gun away and a few minutes later the police came and asked if I’d fired a gun.  At first I said, “No!” then I said, “at least I don’t think I did,” finally I asked them, “did I?”

What stands out so much to me from that experience is that I have no memory of hearing that gun go off. It did, but I blocked it out completely—simply because I could not conceive of the reality of this ever happening, it was too shocking for me to even imagine.

So too, some of the people gathered in Jerusalem that day did not hear God’s voice simply because it was beyond their ability to conceive that anything like that could ever happen. Their preconceived ideas had overpowered the reality of the situation because it was just too shocking to imagine.

It’s Thundering Today Too

Recently, soft tissue (blood vessels and connective tissue) was discovered in a dinosaur bone in Montana.  The paleontologists, who discovered this soft tissue, believe the bones to be seventy million years old (the accepted age of dinosaur fossils). They cannot accept anything else, so this presents a dilemma because soft tissue cannot survive for that length of time. However, their minds are so made up that instead of saying, “maybe dinosaur fossils are not that old after all,” they are saying, “wow, soft tissue can last seventy million years!”

Like the people in Jesus’ day, instead of hearing the clear evidence of God’s voice, these scientists are hearing thunder. When we have our minds made up about something, the facts simply don’t matter! And sadly, those who keep hardening their hearts and refusing to believe will one day come to a point where they simply cannot believe, even though the evidence is right in front of them.

For more resources on the book of Zechariah, click here!

 

 

Andrew Murray Quote

Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do.

Gia Lucid at CCOB

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 12th as Gia Lucid leads worship! Gia is a longtime friend of CCOB and we are always blessed when she comes back home and uses her God-given talents to lead us in worship. If you would like to support her ministry, click here and purchase some of her music. We hope to see you there!

CCOB APP

In case you didn’t know, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge has its own App! On it, you can listen to messages, have a calendar of events and guest speakers, connect to the Facebook page, purchase resources, and download a map on how to get to CCOB. Click here to download the App!

Video – What Does the Bible Say About Tattoos/Piercings?

As part of the 20 Questions Series, I answered whether or not tattoos and body piercings are acceptable by the Bible’s standard. Check it out for yourself!

Wait on God – Poem

WAIT!

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried

Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.

I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said,

“Child, you must wait”.

“Wait?

You say, wait!”  my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is Your hand shortened?

Or have you not heard?

By Faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and

YOU tell me to WAIT?

I’m needing a ‘yes’,

A go-ahead sign,

Or even a ‘no’ to which i can resign.

And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

I’m weary of asking!

I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again,

“You must wait.”

So, I slumped in my chair,

Defeated and taut and grumbled to God,

“So, I’m waiting…for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel,

And His eyes wept with mine,

And He tenderly said,

“I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens,

And darken the sun.

I could raise the dead, and

Cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want –

But you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each Saint;

You’d not know the power that I give to the Faint;

You’d not learn to see through the clouds of Despair;

You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m There’

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence were all you could See.

You’d never experience that fullness of Love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a Dove;

You’d know that I give and I save…for a Start

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My Heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the Night,

The faith that I give when you walk without Sight,

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you Asked

Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You’d never know, should your pain quickly Flee,

What it means that “My grace is sufficient for Thee.”

Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come True,

But, Oh, the loss!  If I lost what I’m doing in You!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will See

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly Late,

My most precious answer of all is still, “Wait.’

 

-Unknown Author