TOP TEN REASONS AND ROADBLOCKS TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN

Hello friends and neighbors....

I became a follower of Jesus Christ (aka...a Christian) back in the fall of 1970. To some this would be a good thing...to others it would be something to endure...to others it would be an act of intellectual suicide. For me it was life.

I was 19 years old...confuse, paranoid, depressed, impressionable, rebellious, independent, a LEMMING (thinking that I was an independent thinker... but really running over the edge of the cliff with the rest of the independent thinkers). I considered myself at that time to enlightened and free. That was the era of FREE LOVE...where free meant NO RESTRAINTS...FREE to do whatever you wanted to do...as long as you did not hurt anyone...but of course since I was NOT an island unto myself...my actions always affected someone...BUT in my free and selfish state of mind...it really did not matter because IT WAS ALL ABOUT ME BABY...ALL...ABOUT...ME.
The anthem was IF YOU CAN'T BE WITH THE ONE YOU LOVE...HONEY LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH.

Even back then (pre-fall of 1970)...I had the spark of a writer in me (or so I thought). I would write stories about Jesus and His band of merry men who were really not merry...but gay...homosexuals... sodomites...as they travelled around the country side giving themselves holy kisses. I found myself become more and more CYNICAL of ORGANIZED RELIGION...and about life in general. Remember... I had grown up in "THE CHURCH."

I was in a band at the time (The Blind Distortion) ...and we were practicing across from the church that is famous for putting on the Bethlehem Market place. It was a Sunday night (I had long ago quit going to church)... and we were rockin' and rollin'. Someone from the church came over and demanded that we stop the loud noise. My response...as they turned around to go back to church...play a rock and roll version of bringing in the sheaves. Boy...was I open minded passing around some of that free love mentality.

This was in the time when JESUS and "spirituality" were in vogue. ON the radio...you were encouraged to "put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water"...as George Harrison was singing to his "sweet Lord" (who happened to be Krishna)...while Ocean was taking "one toke over the line Sweet Jesus"...and Judy Collins was singing about His "Amazing Grace" (along with every drunk at Willie Nelson's Picnic)...and the Beatles were having visions of Mother Mary who told us it would be alright if we would "let it be". The radio air waves were charged with this religious fervor. The Edwin Hawkins singers were singing "Oh Happy Day...since Jesus washed my sins away"...as Norman Greenbaum (a Jewish rocker) was singing about "the Spirit in the sky" and informed us that he "never was a sinner...I never sinned...I've got a friend in Jesus"...and The Lord's prayer was in the Top Ten and Jesus Christ was a Superstar on Broadway and on the radio. In the Weber and Rice play...Mary Magdalene informed us that she was confused about her love relationship with Jesus...because she did not know how to love him...and Judas was just a misunderstood disciple. Another Broadway show told us to take it..."Day by Day...and to pray three things...as the Byrds and later on the Doobie Brothers (as they toked their doobies) proclaimed that JESUS WAS JUST ALRIGHT WITH ME.

Remember...this was not church and Christians singing about God and Jesus...it was your average everyday, recording artists. This was the atmosphere...that the JESUS MOVEMENT (Jesus moving among people) was birthed within. It was your average everyday hippie...accepting Jesus...becoming BORN AGAIN (a phrase found in John 3:3) and brought to the forefront by Jimmy Carter...the President of the United States...and later by a book by Chuck Colson...the Richard Nixon head henchman).

Lots of people were making decisions to accept Jesus and become a follower...or NOT accept Jesus...because they were open minded...intellectually superior than those weak minded fools. Lots of people had reasons and excuses for NOT becoming a Christian...and it was not limited to the 1970's or even the 1960's. From the time that Peter preached his first sermon after Pentecost...people have made the choice...and people have their reasons and excuses...their ROADBLOCKS FOR NOT BECOMING A CHRISTIAN.

With all that said....here are THE TOP TEN ROADBLOCKS TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN.

NOTE: These were reasons and rationalizations that I used over the years. Others may have their own top ten lists.

#10 It would be crimp in my lifestyle. It's kinda hard to get drunk, do drugs, have sex with a male or female or both, watch pornography, cuss, commit adultery (fill in the blank of your favorite sin)...when you are suppose to ACT (definition of a hypocrite) like "A CHRISTIAN".

#9 I'm not WORTHY to be a Christian...so I will clean my act up first and then become a Christian. NOTE: Of course the self cleansing never takes place...because the more I try to clean...the dirtier I become.

#8 I keep 6 out of 10 of the Ten Commandments..and I'm pretty sure that is good enough to get me into heaven (if heaven really does exist).

#7 My sweet, dear, old Grandmother Boyd was a Christian...and she was praying me in before she died...and she told me this many times. I know that God will answer her prayers and I will slid on in...on her prayers.

#6 I like that Jesus do...he's just alright with me...but it's His followers that I can't stand. if I've got to be like THEM...then I would just as soon go to HELL. NOTE: This is usually followed by "I don't like ORGANIZED RELIGION".

#5 Until I have every answer to ever secret of the universe...or at lease to where all of my questions about God are answered...I WILL NOT BELIEVE. And even if I do have all the answers...I may or may not become a Christian...after all...it is very inconvenient and might disturb my free loving, free thinking lifestyle.

#4 I refuse to become a LEMMING like those people who watch the "T.V. Christians"...and send my money to those big haired, tear crying, charlatans. I am too WORLD SAVVY to be taken in by them.

#3 Christianity is an insult to my INTELLECTUAL PROWESS. I refuse to commit intellectual suicide for a fairy tale about some poor Jew...who thought He was God's Son...and allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross...to become a substitute for my sins...die on that cross...and then was buried..and three days later...rose from the dead. NOTE: This is also known as D.B.R... Death, Burial Resurrection...nothing more...nothing less. I would rather teach my kids that a bunny rabbit came in the middle of the night and left a bunch of candy and eggs or that a fat man in a red suit infiltrates our home in the middle of the night leaving gifts and eating cookies. At least those are more credible than that Jesus thing. After all...it is all about the children...isn't that what Easter and Christmas is all about?

#2 One word...HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!!!! I refuse to become a HYPOCRITE like them. I would rather be a HYPOCRITE like other people. They say one thing and live another. They act like a saint one day a week and live life like hell the other six. They dress up in their fine clothes...while the rest of the world suffers. They are nothing but a club for the rich. The preacher makes more money than some of the people in his congregation. Some of those deacons are driving better cars than I am. All they want is MY MONEY. They want to tell me what sinner I am...and then do the same thing they condemn me about. Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Eddie Long, John Welsey Fletcher, those pedophile priests, Tammy Faye Bakker, Benny Hin (fill in the blank of whatever current religious person that failed to ACT like a Christan). Of course the ratio of believers who never steal, lie, cheat, commit adultery, etc... is NEVER taken into consideration. The bulk of the New Testament is written to "believers" who were still sinning and not ACTING LIKE A CHRISTIAN...and had to be corrected. Consider the church of Corinth...who lacked in none of the spiritual gifts, eagerly waiting for the coming of Jesus, were selfish, divisive, getting drunk at the Lord's supper, having sex with their mother in laws, not being considerate at the cover dish and eating up all the food, out of control...you know...HYPOCRITES. NOTE: I glad that the Bible was written to cover up the sins and fault of those HYPOCRITES...oh yeah...it didn't.

AND THE #1 REASON AND ROADBLOCK TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN:

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME BABY....IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well...that's a few of the reasons and roadblocks that I HAVE USED in the past...and sometimes still use. you probably have your own...or have heard others.

COMMERICAL BREAK

Has God been speaking to you about getting connect with the church again? Have all your reasons and roadblocks and excuses for not being a Christian left you feeling just as empty as before. I would like to invite you to ease back into a new life...by attending the Ruminator Sunday School Class...meeting every Sunday Morning at 9:00 A.M. at SPRINGHOUSE WORSHIP AND ARTS CENTER. We meet in the Fellowship hall for food, fun, laughter...and then at 9:30...we begin to chew on the Cud of the Word of God.

Love and Removed Roadblocks Kisses
Rodney "Reasons No More" Boyd

THE CHUMP TO CHAMP CONNECTION

Greetings fellow Chumps....or is that Champs. It's like the difference between the good looking, muscular, bronzed keg-packed ideal of a real man...and me. One is a HUNK...the other is a CHUNK. I'll let you be the judge.

In the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?...you had three escapees from a road gang in Mississippi who were on an ODDESSY in search of a TREASURE. This movie is loosely based on the writings of Homer...as they encounter various things that keep them from accomplishing their goal.

The treasure seekers (which turned out to be a hoax) consisted of Pete Hogwallop, Delmar O'Donnell, and their leader Ulysses Everett McGill.

At one point in their journey...they encountered a church singing and walking into the water to be baptized...dipped wholly into the waters of the river. They were singing and being dipped. Delmar...surprises Pete and Everett as he runs into the waters to be baptized. Pete also joins the baptism but Everett...who considers himself an intellectual and above religious superstition. The times for this baptism was in Mississippi during the Great Depression of 1937. Here's Everett's observation on the event:




EVERETT: Well, I guess HARD TIMES FLUSH THE CHUMPS. Everybody's looking for ANSWERS. (He then asks Pete where Delmar is going as Delmar runs into the waters)

PETE: Well I'll be an S.O.B...Delmar's been SAVED!

DELMAR: Well that's it boys. I've been REDEEMED. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward.

EVERETT: Delmar...what are you talking about? We've got BIGGER FISH TO FRY.

DELMAR: The preacher says all my sins are warshed away...including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.

EVERETT: I thought you said you was Innocent of those charges?

DELMAR: Well...I was lyin'. And the preacher says that that sin's been warshed away too. Neither God nor man's got nothin' on me now. C'MON IN BOYS...THE WATER IS FINE.

Another viewpoint by Everett as he pontificates on spiritual things is:

EVERETT: Baptism! You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers. Well, any human being will CAST ABOUT in a MOMENT OF STRESS. No, the fact is...they're flooding this valley so they can hydroelectric up the whole durn state. Yes sir...the South is gonna change. Everything's gonna be put on electricity and run on a paying basis. Out with the OLD SPIRITUAL MUMBO JUMBO...the SUPERSTITIONS...the BACKWARD WAYS. We're gonna see a brave new world where they run everybody with a wire and hook us all up to a grid. Yes sire...a veritable AGE OF REASON. Like the one they had in France. Not a moment too soon.

In their travels they run across a young black man (at that time a colored)...named Tommy Johnson (based on real life blues man Robert Johnson who wrote the song Crossroads Blues made famous by Eric Clapton and Cream). Tommy had just sold his soul to the devil:

TOMMY: I had to be up a that there CROSSROADS last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil.

EVERETT: Well...ain't it a small world...SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING. Pete and Delmar just BEEN BAPTIZED and SAVED. I guess I'm the only one that remains UNAFFILIATED.

PETE: I've always wondered...what's the devil look like?

EVERETT: Well...there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork.

TOMMY: Oh, no. NO, sir. He's white, as white as you folks, with empty eyes and a big hollow voice. He loves to travel around with a mean old hound. That's right.

EVERETT: What'd you SELL YOU SOUL FOR Tommy?

TOMMY: Well...he taught me how to play this here guitar real good.

DELMAR: Oh, son...for that...you sold your EVERLASTIN' SOUL?

TOMMY: Well..I wasn't usin' it.

What got me to ruminating about his rambling...was the phrase...HARD TIMES FLUSH THE CHUMPS. A CHUMP is defined as:

1. A stupid person; a dolt
2. A short, thick piece of wood (think blockhead)
3. The thick, blunt end of anything
4. The head
5. Crazy (off one's chump)

NOTE: I have a friend who has gone on to be with the Lord...who responded to someone calling him CRAZY..."I would rather be crazy the way I am...than sane the way you are."

6. A person who is GULLIBLE and EASY to take advantage of.
7. The thick end as the chump end of a joint of meat ie. chump chop
8. Insignificant, insultingly small ie. chump change.

Ulyssess Everett McGill is not alone in his assessment of people who choose to become Christians. Christians are viewed as stupid, ignorant, weak, gullible, blockheads, meatheads, dolts, crazy, insignificant, insulting small...in the eyes of NON-CHRISTIANS. They don't mind if you are a Christian...BUT heaven forbid that you bring your Christianity out of the four walls of your Chump Church building...and mention it in a conversation. Those who view us a CHUMPS...don't mind talking about how drunk they got the night before...or who they have been sleeping with...or yada yada, bla bla, woop woop....but don't mention Jesus. It's O.K. if you mention God...or the man upstairs...or the Good Lord....but when you start talking that Jesus crap...you have entered into the realm of OFFENDING.

NOTE: Not all non-Christians are like this...but there are militant Christian haters out there.

I am a proud CHUMP. As Paul said...I am NOT ASHAMED of the Gospel of Christ...for it is the POWER OF GOD...for SALVATION to everyone who BELIEVES...to the Jew first...and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16) Gospel=Good News=Death, Burial, Resurrection... nothing more...nothing less.

"For God so love the CHUMPS...that He gave His only begotten Son...that whatever CHUMP believes in Him...the CHUMP shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16...Ruminator Style)

It appears to be God's Modus Operandi...to use the CHUMPS.

"But we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a STUMBLING BLOCK and to the Greeks FOOLISHNESS...but to those who are called, to the Jews and Greeks, CHRIST...THE POWER OF GOD...and the WISDOM OF GOD. Because the FOOLISHNESS OF GOD...is wiser than men...and the WEAKNESS OF GOD is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that NOT MANY WISE according to the flesh...not many MIGHTY...not many NOBLE are called. BUT...............................................................

GOD HAS CHOSEN THE FOOLISH THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE WISE, AND GOD HAS CHOSEN THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO PUT TO SHAME THE THINGS WHICH ARE MIGHTY...AND THE BASE THINGS OF THE WORLD AND THE THINGS WHICH ARE DESPISED...God has chosen...and the things which are not...to bring to nothing the things that are...that NO FLESH...should glory in His presence. But of Him you ARE IN CHRIST JESUS...who became FOR US wisdom from God...and righteousness...and sanctification....and redemption...that as it is written...HE WHO GLORIES...LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD."
(I Corinthians 1:23-31)

Only CHUMPS can experience this. Non-Chumps are too smart...too strong...too prideful to experience the foolishness of God.

NOTE: I have been educated with and undergraduate degree and a Master's degree in Education....but like the Apostel Paul...I count all things that I have gained as loss compared to KNOWING HIM. As the song DENOMINATION BLUES declares..."You can go to your college...you can go to your schools...but if you don't know Jesus...you're an EDUCATED FOOL...that's all...I tell you that's all...you better know Jesus...I tell ya that's all."

The last picture collage that you see...are Delmar...and Rodney...saying...COME ON IN BOYS...and GIRLS...THE WATER IS FINE. If you need refreshing from the HARD TIMES...if you need relief from the casting around in the MOMENTS OF STRESS. The next two pictures in the collage are a few of my CHUMP FRIENDS...and I have many.

Love and Chump Kisses
Rodney "The Water Really Is Fine" Boyd

FROM CHAOS TO CREATION: NEW CREATION IN CHRIST

Greetings and Salutations all of you Old and New people. I am not talking about a chronological age...a blip on the time-space continuum...but being born the second time...being born again. To tell any good story...you use the literary device...of a flashback...or starting the story IN THE BEGINNING...so you can see where you are at NOW.

"In the BEGINNING...God CREATED the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

BEGINNING: (ray-sheeth)= the first place in time, order or rank (specifically firstfruits)--beginning, chief, principal thing.

CREATED: (baw-raw)= to create, to cut down (a wood), select, feed (a formative process), choose, create, dispatch, do, make (fat)...creation out of nothing...NO THING...ZILCH...ZERO...NADA.

In Dr. Henrietta C. Mears book...WHAT THE BIBLE IS ALL ABOUT (Bible Handbook)...Dr. Mears speaks of the nature of Genesis (origin) and beginnings.
"Genesis is the book of beginnings." She outlines some of the beginnings:

1. The beginning of the world--Genesis 1:1-25
2. The beginning of the human race--Genesis 1:26-2:25
3. The beginning of sin in the world--Genesis 3:1-7
4. The beginning of the promise of redemption--Genesis 3:8-24
5. The beginning of family life--Genesis 4:1-15
6. The beginning of civilization--Genesis 4:16-9:29
7. The beginning of the nations of the world--Genesis 10-11
8. The beginning of the Hebrew people--Genesis 12-50

Dr. Mears also writes, "Genesis is the record of the BEGINNINGS of all these things. No wonder that when PEOPLE, because of spiritual blindness (Ephesians 4:18) REJECT God's revelation in this peerless record of BEGINNINGS, they worship CHANCE as the CREATOR, BEASTS as their ancestors...and FALLEN HUMANITY as the flower of natural evolution."

Verse 2 of Genesis 1...describes the condition of earth at this time. "And the earth was FORMLESS and VOID, an DARKNESS was over the surface of the deep..."

FORMLESS: (to-hoo)= to lie waste, a desolation, desert, a worthless thing, in vain...confusion, an empty place, without form, of nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness

VOID: (bo-hoo)- empty, a vacuity, indistinguishable, ruin, emptiness, void

DARKNESS: (kho-shek)= misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness, night, obscurity

There were TWO THINGS...that CHANGED the condition of this chaotic mass. (1) The Spirit of God (2) God speaking a word.

"..."and the Spirit of God was moving/hovering/sweeping/brooding...over the surface of the waters. Then GOD SAID..." (Genesis 1:2-31)

When Paul was writing about Abraham...the father of faith...who BELIEVED GOD...AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 4:3)...Paul wrote that Abraham had a promise (of children)...but when he was so old that he it was beyond his physical ability to reproduce...where was dried up and Sarah's womb was a tomb...He CONSIDERED NOT HIS OWN BODY (his abilities)...but BELIEVED HIM who made the promise in the first place.

"As it is written...a father of many nations have I made you (Genesis 17:1-8)...in the sight of Him WHOM HE BELIEVED...even GOD...who
GIVES LIFE TO THE DEAD...and CALLS INTO BEING THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST (calls things that are not...as though they were). (Romans 4:17) This was how GOD OPERATED in the CREATIVE PROCESS...and this is how we move by faith. We hear His Word...we do not consider our impossibilities...and we begin to TALK the LANGUAGE OF FAITH. As a Speech Pathologist...I love stuff like this.

God saw the condition of earth...formless, void, dark...and SPOKE (and God said)...into existence ORDER. He gave life to the dead...and called into being that which does not exist.

What started this Rambling for me...was...and is...me RUMINATIN'...on my own inabilities...my own impossibilities...my own frustration... in my B.C. state (before Christ...before the fall of 1970)...and in 2008...as the world is falling apart. Maybe your world is falling apart. Things are shaking on the personal and global level...and you are being overwhelmed by the storms of life... the earthquakes, famines, spirits of doubt, loved ones dying, and your money just won't last (this is a line from a song I wrote in the 70's called WALKIN' ON THE WATER). The problem...in the song...was that I took my eyes off Jesus...now I'm sinkin' mighty fast. The solution...get my eyes back on Jesus.

I am a NEW CREATION...IN CHRIST. Outside of CHRIST...I am an OLD CREATIONS...but because I accepted what SATISFIES GOD in relation to my SIN STATUS...I am a NEW CREATION...the OLD THINGS...passed away....BEHOLD...NEW THINGS ARE CONSTANTLY COMING. (II Corinthians 5:17) The way that I have to walk in this NEWNESS...is like Abraham did...

"And without becoming WEAK IN FAITH...he contemplated (not) his own body...NOW AS GOOD AS DEAD since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; YET with RESPECT TO THE PROMISE OF GOD...he did not WAVER IN UNBELIEF...BUT GREW STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God...and being FULLY ASSURED that what He (God) had promised (to Abraham) He (God) was also able to perform." (Romans 4:19-21)

In my flesh...I cannot live the life...but by faith...as the Spirit of God is IN ME...I SPEAK FORTH what God SAYS ABOUT ME. I can start of with a GENESIS EXPERIENCE...every single day of my life...by the blood and forgiveness of Jesus...and the D.B.R.

"The steadfast love of the Lord (the Lord's lovingkindnesses) NEVER CEASES (indeed never cease)...for His compassions NEVER FAIL... they (mercies/compassions/lovingkindnesses) are NEW...EVERY...MORNING. Great is Thy FAITHFULNESS (even when I am not)...The Lord is my portion says my soul...therefore (because of what I just read) I HAVE HOPE IN HIM." (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Thank God for his CREATIVE PROCESS IN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He ain't through with me YET!!!

Love and Ordered Kisses
Rodney "Ain't Ya Glad He Ain't Through With Me Yet" Boyd

CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION

Greetings and Salutations Oh Ye Fellow Chewers of the Cud.

Step with me back into the stream of the time-space continuum. Strap yourselves into the H.G. Wells time machine...set the clock for 33 A.D...get Mr. Peabody and his human assistant Sherman to set the controls for the WayBack Machine...and find yourself in a time where the Romans rule the politico...and Pharisees and Sadducee's rule the religious.

For three years there was a prophet...a teacher...an outlaw, who walked the dusty roads of Israel...doing three things. He would: (1) Teach (2) Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God (3) Heal the sick. Jesus the Christ went about doing good and healing all who were OPPRESSED by the devil (little d) for God was with Him (Acts 10:38). After all that was His name...Immanuel...God with us (Matthew 1:23).

For three years you could see the WILL OF GOD...on earth as it is heaven...by seeing what Jesus did. "In the beginning was the Word/Jesus...and the Word/Jesus was with God...and the Word/Jesus WAS God. (John 1:1). This Jesus the exact representation and radiance of the Father (Hebrews 1:1-3)

What was the only logical thing to do to God in the flesh...who came to do good and heal all who were oppressed by the devil...by destroying the works of the devil...and giving life and that more abundantly. Answer the question below:

A. Build Him a throne and worship Him
B. Elected Him the highest political office possible
C. Start a cult and overthrow the religious/politico powers
D. Beat Him, Mock Him, Torture Him, Nail Him to a cross, Kill Him


There has been a CRIME committed...and the evidence appears to have been tampered with...causing some confusion about who the real criminal really is. We need to call in The Crime Scene Investigation Team and pull in the evidence...and see WHO ARE YOU...who who, who who.

The religious element of the day had incited a riot against this guy called Jesus. They convinced the political leaders to bring charges against Him, put Him through interrogations, beatings, shame, and eventually death.

Jesus spoke about these things with His followers..."And He began to teach them that the Son of Man (that would be Jesus) must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and BE KILLED, and after three days RISE AGAIN." (Matthew 8:31)

This was NOT good news for the followers...of who they thought was going to rise up as the powerful Messiah...and overthrow Roman tyranny.

The crime that we speak of...was not who killed the Christ. We know who killed the Christ...and it was NOT the Jews. No one TOOK His life...He gave it willingly. Jesus died no the cross willingly...becoming the substitute for the Jews, the Greeks, the Gentiles, the niggers, the honky soda crackers, the religious people, the nappy headed ho's, the straight haired Aryans, the whores, the whore mongers, the homosexual sodomites, the heterosexual fornicators, the illegal street drug users, the prescription drug users....(fill in the blank of anyone else in the world...good, bad or ugly).

The crime that needs to be investigated with the looking glass of Sherlock...is WHO MOVED THE STONE...WHO STOLE THE BODY...WHO PERPETRATED THE HOAX OF RESURRECTION...WHO DECEIVED MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE MILLENNIUM ABOUT THIS PERSON CALLED JESUS CHRIST??????

The hallmark of Christianity...is not mere historical fact...or some device device of literature that was dreamed up to manipulate and control the populace.

No...this thing called Christianity is rooted in history...stretching with outreached arms to WHOSOEVER BELIEVES. The fingerprint on the tomb is the fingerprint of God Himself.

This thing called Christianity is nothing but a mere religious system standing next to every other religious system...with ONE TWIST. The EMPTY TOMB. If there is no empty tomb...if there are plots to steal the body to make it look like a dead man was raised...if there was some kind of SWOONING...where Jesus did not really die...but just fainted on the cross....if there was lies and deceptions perpetrated by the ultimate con man...Jesus to convince people to follow Him...if there was the ravings of a lunatic or a mad man on the level of Hitler or Charles Manson...then following Jesus is a waste of time.

What separates the men from the boys...the women from the girls...the facts from the fiction...is THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.

RISEN CHRIST=LIFE ...NO RISEN CHRIST= A nice little story




A cursory glance at various tombs and graves reveals:

1. Lonnie Boyd's grave (my dad): decaying body and bones
2. George Washington's grave: decayed body/bones wooden teeth, wig.
3. Abraham Lincoln: Long legged bones
4. Unknown soldier's grave: Unknown bones.

NOTE: Even Napoleon's...Bones-apart.

5. Jesus' Tomb: No bones. Why? HE IS RISEN...HE IS RISEN INDEED!

To some Jesus was known as a good person...to some a great teacher...to some as a nut...but to others Jesus is known as THE DECEIVER.

"On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together to PILATE...saying...Sir, we REMEMBER while He (Jesus) was STILL ALIVE, how that DECEIVER said AFTER THREE DAYS I WILL RISE. Therefore (because of what the deceiver said)...command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest HIS DISCIPLES come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people...HE HAS RISEN from the dead. So the LAST DECEPTION WILL BE WORSE THAN THE FIRST. Pilate said to them...you have a guarded; go your way, make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard."
(Matthew 2762-66) Well...the rest is His Story (history).

Mary Magdalen...and the other Mary went to the tomb...only to find an angel...a rolled back stone...shaking guards.and an empty tomb.

"But the angel answered and said to the women. Do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for HE IS RISEN...AS HE SAID. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. An GO QUICKLY...and TELL HIS DISCIPLES...that HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD..." (Matthew 28:5-7)

Well...either you believe it or you don't. You either live your life as if it is true...or live like it's not. I for one...choose in 1970 to believe it...and live as if HE IS RISEN. I either made the greatest mistake of my life and wasted my life...or I invested my life with the biggest payoff to come. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...trading misery, guilt, shame, destructive habits, momentary pleasures for peace, love, freedom, a restful mind.

(I Corinthians 15:1-8)
"Moreover brethren, I DECLARE to you the GOSPEL...which I PREACHED to you...which also you RECEIVED...and in which you STAND, by which also by which also you are SAVED, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you (about the DBR)...unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that:

1. Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures
2. And that He was buried
3. and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures

D=DEATH
B=BURIAL
R=RESURRECTION

NOTHING MORE...NOTHING LESS.

For more information to tickle your intellectual funny bone read:

EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT (Volumes 1 & 2)--Josh McDowell
A READY DEFENSE-Josh McDowell
THE CASE FOR CHRISTIANITY-Lee Strobel
WHO MOVED THE STONE-Frank Morison
MERE CHRISTIANITY-C.S. Lewis
JESUS OUTSIDE THE NEW TESTAMENT-F.F. Bruce
KNOW WHAT AND WHY YOU BELIEVE- Paul Little
YOUTH AFLAME-Winkey Pratney
RENEWAL THEOLOGY-J. Rodman Williams
THE SPIRIT FILLED BELIEVERS HANDBOOK-Derek Prince

Happy Resurrection Day

Love and Risen Kisses
Rodney "I Believe" Boyd