DOES GOD HONOR THIS?

This is a recent email making the rounds...

"This is the simplest test. If You Love God... And, are not ashamed of all the marvelous things HE has done for you.... Send this to ten people and the person who sent it to you!

WHY IS THERE A TEST? WHY IS THE BLIND SENDING OF UNVERIFIED INFORMATION FROM STRANGERS TO STRANGERS BETTER THAN ONE-ON-ONE PERSONAL COMMUNICATION .

Now do you have the time to pass it on? Make sure that you scroll through to the end. Easy vs. Hard Why is it so hard to tell the truth but Yet so easy to tell a lie? Why are we so sleepy in church but Right when the sermon is over we suddenly wake up? Why is it so easy to delete a Godly e-mail, but yet we forward all of the nasty ones? Of all the free gifts we may receive, Prayer is the very best one.... There are no costs, but wonderful rewards... GOD BLESS! Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Isn't it funny how someone can say 'I believe in God' but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also 'believes' in God). Isn't it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about .

THE LACK OF LOGIC AND CONNECTION TO THE MAIN MESSAGE MAY BE WHY SOME WOULD NOT FORWARD THIS. IF THE STORY IS A TRUE MIRACLE - THE NEWS WILL SPREAD. IF IT HAS TO BE EXPLAINED - THAN MAYBE IT IS NOT AS STRONG A MIRACLE OR SIGN AS SUPPOSED.

Sharing Isn't it funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me. I pray, for everyone who sends this to 20 or their entire address book, they will be blessed by God in a way special for them.

IS A SPIRITUAL CHAIN LETTER BETTER THAN ONE ASKING FOR MONEY?

And send it back to the person who sent it, to let them know that indeed it was sent out to many more."

THE SAD FACT IS THAT OFTEN THESE TYPES OF EMAIL ARE PHISHING EXPEDITION BY UNSAVORY TYPES LOOKING FOR EMAILS THAT CAN BE HIJACKED AND USED FOR SPAMMING PURPOSES (AND OTHER UNSAVORY PURPOSES).

Mary and the Tomb

As another Dan Brown book is being turned into a move, many people are once again looking at the storyline of the DaVinci Code and its theme of Jesus and Mary Magdalene being married.

A work of fiction is a work of fiction. This is something we should never forget. It says something about the nature of the people who look at the story and assume so much that is simply not in the Biblical account. Even the extra-Biblical accounts are not clear that there was anything beyond a simple teacher-discipline relationship.

Mary was not a prostitute - that was the later addition of an an early church Pope. She had demons and that may have included some sexual misconduct...but it is never expressed. The label comes from presuppositions about the town where she lived (a sort of Vegas of Galilee well known for its women of relative virtue) and the presuppositions based on the value of women in general.

Consider these things: no age is given, no direct implication of sexual misconduct is inferred, and she is recognized as one of the most steadfast and loyal of the disciples.

It may be she was an older woman - more of aunt figure - because no one seemed to be concerned that she and the other women were following. This seems to infer that they may have been in a stage of life where they had some autonomy: wife, widow, or older woman.

What is known is that the first post-resurrection Apostle - one sent with a message -was this Mary.

All else is conjecture. She chose to serve the Risen savior....and her decision challenges each of us to do the same.