Comments for Wonderwhat

Comment on What to do With the King by julie

julie — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:24:47 +0000

Well, Pilot tried to do the right thing, then he tried to pass the buck, then he again made the right decision but ultimately buckled under the pressure of the crowd. From this we see that under mounting pressure’s it can be difficult to stick to our convictions. I imagine that all of us have been faced with pressing circumstances that would try to push us toward compromising our convictions. It is easy to trust God to meet our needs when we have a fat bank account. It’s easy to trust Him in our marriage when our husband is bringing home flowers and helping with the kids. But, when we loose our job and that savings account is gone or our husband has forgotten our anniversary and gone fishing, we might begin to waver in the trust department. Neither of those situations hold a candle to what Pilot or the the commander of the base was facing above. In those situations really either decision takes you out of the frying pan and into the fire. I am guessing here that trusting God even under the most tumultuous of circumstances is the bottom line. When we put our trust in our hero we are able to make the right choices knowing that He will carry us through whatever consequences may result from being loyal to Him. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were willing to be burnt alive standing up for their King…..they trusted Him and He preserved their lives (accompanying them) inside the fiery furnace!! He is with us in whatever consequences we may face as a result of trusting Him!! “Whatever He brings us to, He will bring us through”. I heard Beth Moore say one time, if God has ordained an early death for you then He will use it to bring glory to Himself. And even there, in death, our loyalty still reaps the happy ending!!

Comment on What to do With the King by spud

spud — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:17:51 +0000

The Last Sentence of your narrative prior to “We will be reading…” was simple but directly to the point.

Execute one potentially innocent man in order to save a lot more lives who are potentially guilty?

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? Sometimes in life actions are REQUIRED (and not just an option) when one has been speaking about a subject. The actors in this drama (religious leaders, unruly crowd and Pilate) have all taken a stand prior to this final confrontation. Each is asking the other “Do your words mean something, or are they just hollow words?” The religious leaders and the unruly crowd demand action and those actions are release Barnabas (who by the way is another sinner released by Jesus’s substitution despite the recognition of the particpants), and of course the death of Jesus. Pilate makes the choice of action that responds to those demands. In the case of Jesus, He has spoken for three years to everyone who would listen. Actions are now required so that His words are true.

All made choices. Most chose an actions that satisfied either the demands that they put on themselves, or other put on them. Jesus made a different choice.

I would love to report a particular time in my life when the same situation occurred. But in light of the previous words anything I say would be woefully inadequate. I might ask that we are reminded at this time of the sacrifice of the American soldier.

Comment on Prayer Wall by Golda

Golda — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:32:32 +0000

Update: Bill Heldreth passed away 2/6/12. Please pray for comfort for his wife Maggie and their children, extended family and friends. Thank you.

Comment on Author Ronnie McBrayer by John

John — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:33:17 +0000

Ronnie is one of my favorites too. He seems like many of us at Eastgate. He’s just trying to understand Jesus as he really is and then understand what that means for him as a follower. And he can write. Man, can he write. Should be a great day.

Comment on Prayer Wall by Golda

Golda — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:37:08 +0000

Update: Jackie Harris is home from the hospital. Please pray for God to heal her, as well as her husband Terry, from their many health issues. Thank you.

Comment on Prayer Wall by Marcia Gulledge

Marcia Gulledge — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:44:48 +0000

Continue to pray for the Johns family. Their son, Anthony (21 y/o), was killed when a car struck him while riding his bicycle home on 231. They will bury him today at 3 PM. Pray that the Lord will comfort them and give them peace. Anthony DID ask Christ in his heart several years ago. He is in Heaven with our Father now; rejoycing and praising Him forever and ever!!

Comment on God in the Hands of Angry Sinners by Queta

Queta — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:08:54 +0000

I was in a situation this week where I was concerned about other’s perception of me , my intentions. I knew what they were, but there was certainly this sense that they did not. This was disheartening. I started thinking about similar circumstances in the past, and had an epiphany, jeesh, I’ve been here before, worried about other’s perception of me. I just think it an amazing thing that Jesus really was so unencumbered by this. Their perception of him was of little consequence. I love how God knows what we need, as during my morning reading, John 2:24-25, “But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man”. Whose validation do we need? Many years ago , someone accused me of being a phoney, my reply surprised even me ( and I can’t take credit for it), when out of my mouth came, “Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart”.

Comment on God in the Hands of Angry Sinners by julie

julie — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:24:56 +0000

This is a tough one. First Jesus is being bullied by the soldiers. Knowing that Jesus had already spent time praying in the garden and was assured of His course of direction heading to the cross, He is able to withstand everything that is about to happen to Him including this initial physical and verbal abuse by the soldiers. He knows this is the road God has for Him and doesn’t give them the pleasure of an argument with Him. Maybe He knows the abuse will stop if He is silent, maybe they will get bored if they can’t get a rise out of Him. I am guessing He commends Himself to His Father and trusts in His strength to maintain the self control He so beautifully demonstrates throughout this humiliation. When He is interrogated by the religious leaders instead of answering their question with a question which He did so many times, He states that He knows they won’t answer Him (again) because they will be tripped up (again) and simply says He’s on the way to sit at the right hand of His Father….Again, He knows His purpose and destiny. He knows that this time there is no point in “casting His pearls before swine” and allows them to “think” they have the upper hand… He knows His father is in control, He know’s the good that is coming from His sacrifice and their pompus opinion’s don’t matter one iota!!! I think Spud is right, they just wanted Him to agree with them and drop this whole messiah thing so they would remain the one’s in power. They hated that the people were actually following Him instead of them. That is our challenge as we walk through this world as well…we have the opportunity to follow His way’s and principles instead of their ways… it causes some people to look at themselves and examine their own hearts…people like this don’t want to be faced with self examination, they are not willing to risk being wrong. So we can simply walk away as Jesus did, well as He did symbolically, entrusting ourselves to the One we trust. Looking forward hearing about this Sunday…

Comment on God in the Hands of Angry Sinners by spud

spud — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:21:02 +0000

I might be off base, but it seems to me the real reason the authorities, religious and otherwise are questioning and after Jesus is to change His mind. “Just tell us you were wrong and not the Messiah”. Deny who you really are, admit that we are right and You were wrong. If you will simply do this little thing for us we can forget the whole dying thing and go out together and get some deli. Of course Jesus simply remains silent because He has already said all He is going to say. Argueing with fools will not accomplish much. Actions will speak louder than words.

Whenever I read the words in my bible study or during our sunday meetings I have a tendancy to think “How does this relate to my life, or to the times we live in?” I wonder how many of us both as individuals and as a group of Jesus followers are being asked everyday to simply agree with a group of “fools”, to say yeah ok this Jesus stuff is pretty hard to believe and maybe you could have a point, or even you are right. Do we (I) defend Jesus by following his example and keep silent, but walk with Him every step to the cross everyday, and love even those who crucify us to the point of our (my) own death.

Comment on Prayer Wall by Bev and Virg Tinklenberg

Bev and Virg Tinklenberg — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:42:55 +0000

Please pray for my dear neice, Tami, who has ovarian cancer and learned yesterday that the numbers are going higher even with the chemo. May God comfort the family, in this trial, as her mom, my sister, recently left us to be with Jesus. Life is hard, but God is good and we pray for healing by the Great Physician.