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II a man dies shall he live again' And if Christ be not raised, vour faith is .
vain Ye are yet in your sins "
_ I hen they also which are tallen asleep in Christ are perished "
II in this life only w e have hope in Christ, w e are of all men most miserable
But now is Christ risen Irom the dead, and become the first fruit of them that
slept '' (I Corinthians 15 17-20. Job 14 14)
Strange as it may sound, man can and does die and live again
Job asked the question and St Paul added to his faith and to ours All of us
are going to experience death Jesus submitted to the stroke of death "And that
1 le was buried and that I le rose again the third dav, according to the senpture "
(I Corinthians 15 4)
Jesus was buried 1 le w as pronounced dead Thomas cried out "Unless 1 feel,
or see in his hands the print of the nail and thrust my hand into his side. I will
not believe " (John 21 25)
Job and Thomas were not in denial of Christ but doubt had crept in and had
brought a torturing question which let! them with a crippling faith "If a man
dies, will be live again '" "Except I see and feel. I will not believe."
Others had tried to comfort Thomas, but for someone to tell him that a man
had died and rose again was a little more than he could take Thomas was saying
"I will not believe in a dead corpse "
Job was sick and death was real Job w as concerned about life and death To
Job it had become a reality Job knew that he was going to die Unlike some of
you, the way you live and act tells others around you that you don't believe that
you are going to die Job looked around and he noticed a tree and he had the
answer about the tree, but Job turned and wanted to know about himself. If I
die, where will I be? Will 1 be alive or dead? Oh my friend. Brother Paul
reminds us all: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable." (1 Corinthians 15:19) Brother Paul is saying if only in this life you
are feeling for prints and scars, you are in trouble In other words, if only you
can make it by a wave of emotion and excitement and do not have a strong faith
that if a man dies he can and does live again, you are in trouble.
Brother Paul said to the students at Berea "In that they received the word
with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those
things were so" (Acts 17:11)
Oh my friend, we are living in a time when it seems everyone has a book to
read other than God's word Folks come and go from the church without the
readiness of the mind Your daily book of devotion means more to you than
God's word. Paul declared "Search the scripture to see if these things be so."
We have already said that Job was sick with pain and sores Friend, it is not
unseemly to think about dying when you are in good health. But it is if you wait
til death gets a grip on your soul
You may be one of those who have death a far oft'distance There will come
a day in life as Job was, you will stare death face to face. Job cried if a man dies
will be live again? Job was concerned about death Are you? Job knew that
death was fixed and appointed like a clock. The hands on a clock can be reset
and moved by man. but you and 1. Friend, have a set time when we're going to
die
Job knew death was a remover which takes things, people of all ages from
this world. Death is like a cloud, it vanishes away to the graveyard and does not
come back home.
Job was looking at that tree and saying, "There is hope of a tree, if it be cut
down that it will sprout again And that the tender branch thereof will not cease
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the
ground, yet the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth like a plant" Job could
figure out the death and life of a tree, but "man dieth and w asteth away: yea man
giveth up the ghost and where is he? (Job 14:7-10)
Oh my friend, lor man it will take more than a scent of water to get us back
up out of the ground. Job saw man "As the water falls from the sea and the flood
decayeth and drieth up. So man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be no
more, they shall not wake nor be raised out of their sleep."
Can I ask you a question. Do you read other books more than God's HolyBook?
When I was a young bov in church we would sing "The B-I-B-L-E, oh
that's the book for me 1 stand alone on he word of God, that's the book for me."
Paul declared when you come together there ought to be a readiness of mind
to search the scripture to see if these things be so. If you fail-to read God's word,
later on as Job discovered, you will find death to be stem and that death does
not need to be improved upon but you.and I need to improve. When you fail to
read and search, it will be a surprise to know that death is stem and is not affected
by your cries for Mom and Dad, loved ones. You will learn that those who smile,
smile no more. Those who played, play no more. A dead person is stem, holding
a bold look and he or she will show no concern for loved ones. The undertaker
will work hard to make us all look natural, but we must not err, we must be ready
to meet God. Jesus is the answer, my friend. To Thomas he said, "See my hands,
my side, and believe" "If a man dies shall he live again?" Many of you, like Job,
are struggling with your eternal life. You want to live with the now and here
some of you are struggling with the gloom of a senseless existence. You need
to be saved or be restored in faith in the knowledge of eternity. Like a cork on
the water, up and down you have lost sight of heaven and hell. Now you are
sitting with a suicide note in your hand. Snuggling with this note, you are
looking over the past. You have had few difficulties, many friends, great
success. The sad part is you have gone from one husband to another, from one
house to another house. In fact you have traveled a lot and seen many things
and like Job said "Become as the flood decayeth and drieth up." (Verse 11)
You are fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours. You find
it hard to believe anyone could get so lonely. In fact it's unbelievable, life has
been so good to you, you have got money, success, kids, wife, husband, yet you
are lonely, bored, and you sit with a note to end it all. If only in this life we have
hope in Christ, we are most miserable (I Corinthians 15:19)
You see, you have never decided "Is the tomb occupied or empty?" This
decision is yours. Somewhere in life you have got to declare that Jesus lives.
You cannot be of an idle mind There can be no tomb called the wrong tomb.
He was not stolen, You must declare with a readiness of mind, He lives. Christ
Jesus lives today, yesterday and forever. You must declare his tomb to be empty
and Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. (I
Corinthians 15:20) Paul set the frutility of everything., "If there be no life after
the grave, or if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised. Our faith is vain."
So Job closed the argument by saying, "All the days of my appointed time
will I wait till my change come "
Listen son, young girl, Satan wants two things of you, your mind and your
time. Your mind is a battle ground where wars are fought, some won and some
lost This is a war you cannot afford to lose. If a man dies shall he live again?
Job said "1 will wait til my change comes." Then he added "Thou shall call and
1 will answer thee, thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands " (Job
14:14-15)
Job was standing over the graves of his family with a strange question, "If
a man dies will be live again?" Listen, it matters how you die In your search
for Christ there is a way. Jesus said, "1 go my way and ye shall seek me and shall
die in your sins Where 1 go, ye cannot come " (John 8:21)
You don't need a note in your hand. To live in this world without Jesus will
be torment enough Where are vou now? If Jesus were to call you right now,
could you say as Job, "Thou shait call and 1 will answer thee?" My friend, what
would be your reply? Wait a little longer, or would it be "as the Lord of Israel
liveth, to others He may seem, dead, but to us of a readiness of mind, those who
have searched the word and found it to be so, He, Christ, is alive
A readiness of mind will declare "I Know He lives and because He lives I
can face today and tomorrow." With a readiness of mind 1 can confess the cross
was bitter, but He lives The spear made havoc, but He lives, The grave was
fastly closed, but He lives. In a tomb with air or no air. He lives Men and devils
did their worse but He lives. I know this world will say it is impossible for a dead
corpse to live again, I say 1 le lives. The man who heard him say "I am He that
liveth" will hear him say, "Fear not 1 am the first and the last I am 1 le that liveth
and was dead; and behold, I am alive forever more Amen and have the keys
to hell and death. (Revelation 1:17-18)
Oh my friend, put up those thoughts Build you a cottage so your widow may
look on the mighty oaks of God's presence thai you can live and move and hav e
your being beneath the constraining power that God is here He lives ought to
be fixed and fast in our hearts We are and were chosen of God, a risen Saviour
He lives
Oh son, death is sure Graveyards are filling up We have settled the question
that death is certain We all at one time or another attend funerals The question
would be asked where is He? Is He or she not better ofT' No, my friend, to die
without a risen savior is to hear him say , "Better to have left the womb " My
friend, you will not be perceived as a tree or root, it will take more than dew
or water to get us back up out of the ground Paul said and I close with this- "For
the Lord himself shall descend form heaven w-ith a shout, with the voice of the
Archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first , then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord " (I
Thessalomans 4:24-26)
... : --T" v \ ^
by Alt? Nyo Oxnndlna
WHAT IS SALVATION ?
In recent years a number of young people have told me that they had
gotten "saved" a few months or years earlier, but that they soon "wandered
away, into the life-style of the world around them. Also some older
people (particularly men) in their thirties and forties have shared with me
that they got "saved" in their youth, but began drifting into drugs soon
afterward.
What does it mean to get "SAVED"? I used to think this was one of the
strangest expressions I had ever heard! 1 remember a conversation (after
transferring to the College of Emporia in Kansas) with a fellow student
about that very term. He was from the western prt of the faraway (to me)
state of NC and had attended on of the southern churches, where the
wor'd "saved" was often used.
I had nev er heard it used that way in my mother Methodist Church.
Both of us belittled that term!
In fact, by the time I came along, even the term "sin" was seldom
mentioned in our church. Mother told me in her later years that our
Methodist Episcopal Church used to be a lot more evangelistic, back
when she was young.
While I was growing up, we sometimes sang the songs "Rescue the
Perishing" and "Jesus Saves". One Sunday School teacher had us sing:
"John 3:16" for the chorus in place of "Jesus saves!" And sometimes the
words "conversion" and "salvation" were still used, at least when our
church had an "Evangelistic Service"
The Random House College Dictionary includes these definitions for
"SALVATION";
"the act of saving or protecting from harm or loss"
"The state or means of being thus saved or protected"
(In theology): "deliverance from the power and penalty of sin"
Like the magnificent world brought into being by our Creator, I now
believe salvation is a free GIFT provided by God through Hid Son, Jesus
Christ. The way I see SALVATION (or getting "saved") is this: a twoway
process between out divine Creator and the person who has been
created through His wonderful plan of procreation.
God is always with us, shoeing His love in a million ways that we
mostly take fro granted For the most part He QUIETLY invites us to turn
the reins of our life over to Him, as we come to realize what His Son,
Jesus, the Christ (or Messiah) has done for each of us through HIS life,
death, and resurrection!
But, sometimes, it seems, God has to do something dramatic to get our
attention. Although I do not believe He CAUSES tragedies, it is clear
that He does ALLOW such things to happen. In this situation. He may
be more likely to get through to us. Unless we blame HIM for our suffering,
and turn even further away from Flim. I believe He always stays
lovingly near us, through all our ups and downs, waiting to help us live
the kind of life we were DESIGNED to live while we are in this world.
It's up to you and me to RESPOND! He will not FORCE Himself upon
us! But we must be honest, fully facing our actions and attitudes from
our childhood to the present ? becoming aware of those areas in which
we have deliberately sinned, or have otherwise failed to make the mark.
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In fact. I have heard SIN described simply as "MISSING the mark"!
To be saved and thus achieve a STATE of salvation (as I understand
it) we must come HUMBLY to God and confess our sins, asking for
forgiveness and complete cleansing, not simply asking SELFISHLY for
the inner Peace, Jov, and Contentment that we cannot produce OURSELVES
REPENTANCE must play a big part if there is to be a genuine turnaround.
with you or me heading in a totally NEW direction, away from
ourselves, TOWARD God and other people
THEN WE HAVE TO HANG IN THERE HI
Of course it's still impossible to keep "hanging in there" if we rely only
on our own mental, emotional, and spiritual strength
WE'LL GET TRIPPED UP EVERY TIME!!
As I remember saving to the youth at Sandy Plains Methodist Church
over 40 years ago (w hen I was a rural worker, attempting to give help and
encouragement to members of six Indian churches) and again on the last
might of the recent Sandy Plains revival.
"It's not easy to be a Christian!" (To keep following Jesus EACH day
of our life, wherever we may be.)
But, thank God. we do not have to rely on our OWN resources In fact,
many parts of the Bible (like Proverbs, 3 verses 5 and 6) remind us that we
are NOT to "lean unto our own understanding" but to "trust in the Lord
with all our heart" and to "acknowledge Him" DAILY in all our ways,
giving Him the chance to "direct our paths" for that day.
If you are a young person, and you are tempted day and night to "live
it up," without regard to any of the teachings from your parents, your
school, the church, or the Bible, I URGE you to take all your DESIRES
and burdens "to the Lord" and just "leave them there" !!
As I shared with the Sandy Plains young people (at age 29, and again
at age 73) even though "it's not EASY to be a Christian, it's worth EVERYTHING
IT COSTS!" I still believe this with all my heart!
NOTHING BETTER!
If we who have made the choice to follow Christ (instead of the
CROWD) would hang in there for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we
would KNOW, w ithout am doubt, that there is NOTHING BETTER out
there (in fact NOTHING "THAT CAN COMPARE) anywhere on this vast
planet, or in the vaster universe beyond !!!
The first orchestra In America was founded In Boston in 1810.
i 1
TEEN MISS AND MISS
LUMBEE APPLICATIONS (2001)
The Lumbee Regional Development Association (LADA) is currently
accepting applications for the 2001 Teen Miss and Miss
Lumbee Pageant, beginning April .17,2001.
Miss Lumbee Contestant, must be an enrolled member of the
Lumbee Tribe, between the ages of 17 1/2 and 26 years of age, a
higb school graduate and single, never married or Cohabited and
accessible to Pembroke as a home base.
Teen Miss Contestant, must be 14 by June 30th, 2001 and a
member of the Lumbee Tribe, still in school and cannot reach 17th
birthday before July 6th, 2001.
If you meet the criteria and are interested in competing as a contestant,
please contact Connie Jones at (910) 521-2462. You can
pick up applications at the Lumbee Tribal Enrollment Office located
on Union Chapel Road in Pembroke.
Applications must be completed and returned by April 30th, 2001.
An entryfee of $100.00 is required of all final contestants.
V-''?' i' ' ' ' :_! ' i ' UL.
J 1. r t ; fii..:rr;; - -iim j . I ' .."/j iruo<
?? 1 '' ' *?
t?.L ion County
^ DJuvH cu/jfju
CHIROPRACTIC
CENTER
Specializing In
Auto Accident Injuries
Most Insurances Accepted
"APPOINTMENTS PLEASE"
Free Initial Consultation
Oi
, OFFICE: 739-5751 ??
Emergency Home Number
y^Dr. Woodrow W. Beck, Jr.: 738-3126
W^HAWKEYE ^^ INDIAN
CULTURAL CENTER
PRESENTS
2001 Spring Pow~ Wo w '
(April 27 & 28, 2001)
"foundation
Hawkjyi Indian
IWC-, FOR THE
. future"
/4/t/iocA Otorr^l
PHI in memory of
Old Win Kd.
Keisey Carter
"'Oix'nwij !>V: rJokn Count? Education Atzztviemn**
r? f J A '7 '? <? n ? _
i'riaay, /ipni if, 4'UUl
Gospel Singing @ 7:00p.m
Temple Baptist |
Church
" ir->
Saturday, April 28, 2001
Grand Entry @ 11:00a.m.
Indian
" Cultural Center
^ f
For More Information Please call (910) 843-9484
Hawkeye Indian Cultural Center
1390John Road
Shannon, North Carolina 28386