LeFors Tribe

http://www.leforstribe.com/

I recieved an email and as I read it, I thought it was a good ’food for thoughts’ and I am going to share it.  I don’t know if the story is an actual case or not.

There was a group of atheists who created a case against the Easter & Passover holy days. They hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews & the observances of their holy days. The argument was, it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized day(s). The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, ‘Case dismissed.’

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, ‘Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter & others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur & Hanukkah. Yet my client & all other atheists have no such holidays.’

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, ‘But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant.’

The lawyer said, ‘Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.’

The judge said, ‘The calendar says April 1st is ‘April Fools Day.’ Psalm 14:1 states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.

http://www.leforstribe.com/

I enjoy reading the Book of Acts (in the Bible). I like that book because it tells me how a church should be like. In the Book of Acts, Believers were making a difference, impacting so many people’s lives, healing a lot of sickness and dieases, growing together, teaching about salvation, sharing pure joy, unity, and peace. Unfortunately, we don’t see that too often nowdays- sure, there ARE churches like that, but not too common. Many people consider themselves to be a Christians but statistics show that only 17% of Christian Americans go to church regularly, and only 9% go to a BIBLE evangelism based church.  The numbers are just drastically low compared to the number of “Christians” we have in America.

Anyway, there was a verse in the Book of Acts that made me go, ‘wow’. But first, let me share the background of that verse.

“And when we (Saul and two of his friends) all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”-Acts 26:14

There was a Jew pharisee named Saul who did not like Christians. A Pharisee is a rabbi who is very familiar with the Torah and other laws. Saul didn’t believe in Yahushua (Jesus) as the Messiah or Him being the Son of God. Saul was alive when Jesus had already died and He had risen. There was another man named Peter who was telling thousands of people about the power of Jesus’s resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result, thousands of Jewish people believed the Messiah. Many of them were Jewish people who believed that the Messiah had arrived– they were not “CONVERTS” but a Jewish person who believed that the Messiah had arrived. 

Saul, on the other hand disagreed with that belief and He was more than glad to send Christians to prision, to kill them, to bring more suffering to them because he hated the teaching of Christanity. It was like *roll eye* to him. One day on Saul’s way to a town named Damascus to persecute more Christians, Jesus appeared to Saul. After seeing Jesus, Saul converted and became a Christian and was one of the most powerful apostles. He also changed his name from Saul to Paul.

“And when we (Saul and two of his friends) all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”-Acts 26:14

I’m gonna paraphrase Jesus a bit here.

“Why are you persecuting Me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting Me.”

This made me think deeper as I read. We live in a hurting world. People are hurting because the majority are fighting against Him. Jesus is saying that when you insult or hate God, you are only hurting yourself. It’s not hurting Him though it grieves Him. Again, any individual who fights against God are only hurting themselves. God is not hurting anyone. He’s always more than willing to help an individual receive joy, peace, love, and stability.

Deep deep deep down, are you hurting?

Perhaps this is why….

You are only hurting yourself.