Have You Heard? The Tomb is Empty, Jesus is Alive!

What Easter is really about, It’s not all bunnies & eggs. The pagans use that to cover up the Truth (Jesus).

He Is Risen

Matthew 28:1-20

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. ³ His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

⁸ So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

The Women Worship the Risen Lord

⁹ And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

The Soldiers Are Bribed

¹¹ Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. ¹² When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,¹³ saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John 20

The Resurrection

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize Him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.”

“Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to Him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

“Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them His message.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He said.  As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.”

Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

Purpose of the Book

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.

Do You Know What This Means or Stands For?

You may have seen in the news about the about a flight 666 heading to HEL & it happened to be today which is Friday the 13th.

People can get pretty superstitious about Friday the 13th. And the number 666. And with air travel in general.

On Jan. 13, which just so happens to have be a Friday, Finnair flight AY666, a 13-year-old plane, landed safely in HEL.

It’s funny to see people get superstitious. Or even take interest in 666 or Hell. Why? Because you tell these people about Jesus, Heaven, Hell and so on and they ignore you or even bash you. Well many people joke about using 666 or Hell in many ways. But truthfully, it’s real & legit. Where does Hell or 666 come from? The Bible, God made it & said it. Hell is a place, go read what your first 6 days in Hell will be like: https://116boyz.com/2012/11/04/your-first-6-days-in-hell/

About 666:

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³ He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ¹⁴ And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. ¹⁵ He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or^[f] the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

– Revelation 13:11-18

& For Friday the 13th: Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar (The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in October 1582.) falls on a Friday. It occurs at least once every year, and up to three times a year.

UNLUCKY – You might as well delete luck & unlucky from vocabulary. You are either blessed or your not. Did you notice the Gregorian calendar is a Catholic thing so the unlucky day is a Catholic thing, which isn’t Christian.

But did you notice Revelation 13 is where you find about what 666 means. Also what the number 13 represents:  At Jesus Christ’s last supper, there were 13 people around the table, counting Christ and the twelve apostles. In the Jewish culture, 13 signifies the age at which a boy matures.

So if you are reading this, and you are not fireproof, which means, you must be born-again to enter to the kingdom of God (Heaven) If you are born-again, you are fireproof. If you die without Jesus you will burn in Hell forever. But you don’t have to! Repent of your sins, ask Jesus to come into your heart. Contact us so we can help guide you in the right direction. Jesus bless you!

 

Good Cop, Bad Cop

The New Man and the Old

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,that I practice.  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:15-25)

This war. You’re right in the middle of it. And choosing sides is going to be an everyday battle.

When you welcomed Jesus into your world, He restored the blood supply to your spirit, that part of you that had been beaten and left for dead by the thugs of sin and deception. He gave you a new heart, complete with a guarantee of full protection against the punishment of hell, against the fear and the finality of the grave. He placed in you His own Holy Spirit to give you a new way of thinking, a fresh awareness of God’s presence, and a promise that one day your faith would pay off with a one-way ticket to paradise. But look who’s still hanging around. Your heart may be in heaven, but God’s left your feet here on the ground, where the person you used to be can still have a say in your choices and remind you how much fun you all used to have together. Don’t be surprised when civil war breaks out in your heart, when you’re torn between the God you love and the temptations that still know how to play your song. Your sinful self is beaten, but he’s not going without a fight. Get ready, though. He has his weaknesses, too.

“God will no longer be a cause of dread to me. I very soon find, however, that I am going to be a great cause of trouble to myself.” – Watchman Nee

Tomorrow’s Reading: Since old habits don’t go away overnight, and may continue to be a nagging source of frustration and (at times) failure, where does the victory start coming in?

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Number One: Are these ‘good’ people from your standards or God’s standards? Take the test if you think your a good person? Click on pictures below to take the test in English or Spanish.

English                                                                        Español

       

 

Jesus is the only man who didn’t sin and Jesus is good. We sin for we are bad people. All people but Jesus are bad because we are sinners and Jesus was not a sinner, for He is good. We do deserve to burn in Hell, but God sent His Son to die for our sins, so if we give our life to Him, we don’t have to burn in Hell.

Number Two: Depends if people know Jesus. Sometimes if we play around with sin, God will discipline us. Or He will test our faith in Him, like Job in the Bible.

So you ask yourself, “why did “John” have to die? He was on fire for Jesus, he was only 30 years old and he had a wife and 2 kids.” Well, God uses deaths to reach the lost. We personally get selfish and think of ourselves. We get “mad” at God when it was never about us in the first place.

God has a plan and His plan is good. He tries to find the lost in mist of their sins.

World Cup

World Cup is like the Super Bowl and all other sports’ championship game to win the big prize. Have you ever pondered on this, does God have a big prize for us? Yes, matter of fact, He does. First off, if you repent (of your sins) and turn to Jesus alone, you will spend eternity in heaven with Him. That is a huge prize itself.

John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 3:3 says, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,you cannot see the kingdom of God.””

Just by these 2 scriptures, clearly says if you don’t have Jesus, your not going to heaven. Don’t fool yourself, because this verse in Matthew 7:21 speaks of true disciples. “Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.” And how do you truly see if a brother is legit for Christ? By the fruit we leave behind, is it good or bad fruit?

Okay, so you don’t have a real relationship with Jesus? Then what? Yes, your on your way to hell, but since your reading this, who still have time to get right with God. Matthew 10:33 says, “But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”

Okay, you have a real relationship with Jesus?  Is that it? Your done? NO!  Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

We do this as a command, out of love, but the cool thing is. We can get crowns in heaven! So, going after a worldly World Cup isn’t much. You can’t take that to heaven or hell. 1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”

There are five heavenly crowns mentioned in the New Testament that will be awarded to believers. They are the imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:24, 25), the crown of rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:19), the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), the crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), and the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

So are you going to win a crown or crowns? These crowns are for eternity! Whatever you do here on earth, you will get these when you enter heaven.

So go and make disciples!

 

 

Remix of The Dark Side of Halloween

As we have a week left until Halloween, Please go through and read all of these articles on the dark side of Halloween. Please don’t take Halloween lightly.

Don’t waste Halloween night pleasing yourself, but instead please God and order some tracts to pass out on “National Evangelism Night.”

The Dark Side of Halloween
http://116boyz.com/2012/10/22/the-dark-side-of-halloween/

The Dark Side of Halloween – The History of Halloween
http://116boyz.com/2012/10/23/the-dark-side-of-halloween-the-history-of-halloween/

The Dark Side of Halloween – The Heroes of Halloween
http://116boyz.com/2012/10/24/the-dark-side-of-halloween-the-heroes-of-halloween/

The Dark Side of Halloween – The Harm of Halloween
http://116boyz.com/2012/10/25/the-dark-side-of-halloween-the-harm-of-halloween/

The Dark Side of Halloween – Alternatives
http://116boyz.com/2012/10/26/the-dark-side-of-halloween-alternatives/

Jesus bless you! Now Go out and make a difference this Halloween. Contact us if you have any questions or would like information on how to evangelize this Halloween.

Hell

Your First 6 Days In Hell

Most vacations include an itinerary. You have an idea what you will see and do before you arrive at your destination. The Bible has enough information to project an itinerary for those whose destination is hell. Let’s look at the first 6 days…

DAY 1

The trip originates at the gate of death. Since departures are made daily, you are called upon to begin your trip on short notice. Since the journey is only one way, there is no need to concern yourself with return plans. Your initial point of departure may prove more than a little frightening as you suddenly realize the finality of your destination. The trip itself will leave you with little time to contemplate what awaits.

As you pass through the doorway of death, you will notice almost immediately that your direction is taking you away from the light toward what appears to be complete and utter darkness. With each passing moment the darkness becomes more intense. At first the absence of light is only annoying, but you feel it becoming more ominous and threatening.

The intensity of the darkness is matched only by the absence of any joyful sounds – no music, no laughter, no sounds of merriment. As you move farther, faint sounds of moaning and wailing become detectable. They seem to be coming through the darkness from every direction. You become aware of a faint light. It flickers like a flame, yet thick clouds of black smoke dance all around it, keeping the flame from casting off any real hope of light,

Suddenly you find yourself obsessed to know what day and hour it is. Already it feels like you’ve been here for an eternity… and it’s only Day 1.

DAY 2

The continuing darkness is stifling. It’s as if something is lurking in the veil of night that surrounds you. You yell, you threaten, you even plead, but to no avail. Whatever it is just stays there, producing fear like you’ve never known before. As your eyes struggle to adjust to the dark, you become aware of a new sensation. The heat. It’s right at the edge of unbearable. Hot, searing, intolerable heat. You crave water. You’d give anything for a drink, and you try unsuccessfully to push that desire out of your mind.

The air is thick, choking, miserable… and it’s only Day 2.

DAY 3

At least you think it’s day 3. It seems as if it has already been forever. You’ve not been able to sleep. You still can’t believe you’re here. Where are the friends you thought you would see? The knowledge that they would be here too had brought you some comfort in your lifetime. Where is the fun you thought you would have? It isn’t at all like what you were led to believe.

You stumble upon a group of others. You pour out a litany of questions. As they open their mouths, no words come out… only the sounds of weeping and wailing. Some in the group don’t even try to respond. They gnash their teeth, as if in some invisible pain. You wonder when this nightmare will end. You wonder why somebody can’t make it stop… and it’s only Day 3.

DAY 4

How you wish you could send a message to those you left behind. You’d warn them about this place. You’d tell them what it’s really like, so they’d never come. The thought of your loved ones coming to a place like this is unbearable. You can’t help but think back upon that day when you made your decision to come here. You understood that your rejection of Jesus meant that you would spend eternity in hell, but it didn’t seem real or important then.

Looking back, you think  how foolish you were to reject God’s offer of salvation. You wish you could choose again. You find yourself hoping that your loved ones will choose differently, even though you realize such a choice means you’ll never see them again… never touch them… never speak to them. What a horrible realization… and it’s only Day 4.

DAY 5

You’ve become acutely aware of the absence of any good in this place. There’s nothing sacred, nothing holy, nothing of God anywhere to be found. You’re amazed at how evil evil can be.

For the first time since your arrival, you begin to sense the great gulf that is fixed between where you are and where God is. The span is beyond your comprehension as you try to realize the degree of distance that will separate you from God and those who chose to serve Him. God is on the other side of that gulf. Loved ones in Christ are on the other side of that gulf. What a lonely realization… and it’s only Day 5.

DAY 6

Through the darkness you saw a new face today. A new arrival. He stopped to speak with you. You could see the terror in his eyes. He asked questions that you had been asking only days before. You opened your mouth to reply, but all that would come out was the sound of weeping and wailing.

You’ve just spent your first 6 days in hell. Unfortunately, an unholy, unhappy eternity stretches out before you… and all because you rejected Jesus. If only…

But wait! The fact you’re reading this says you still have a chance! In His mercy, God is giving you an opportunity right now to change your eternal itinerary. “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21).

Oh, friend, do it now… before it’s too late.

Dear God, I want to never experience the hell I’ve just read about. I confess my sinful thoughts and actions to You right now, and I accept Your Son, Jesus, as my Lord and Savior. I believe He died for my sins and rose again to save me from hell. I claim His free gift of salvation as all I need to live with You for eternity. Amen.

Please contact us, if you have prayed this prayer, we would like to help and encourage you in your new journey with Christ our Lord.

(This scenario is based upon verses found in: Matthew 22:11-13; Mark 9:43; Luke 16:20-31; Revelation 20:14-15.)

The Dark Side of Halloween – Alternatives

                                                     

ALTERNATIVES

An increasing number of people are seeing the dangers associated with celebrating Halloween. Christians, when exposed to the dark side of the day, are deciding that celebrating it is not pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise parents are replacing Halloween with family night activities. Others are have “GLORY GATHERINGS” where all references to Halloween are removed and wholesome games are played. Christian songs are sung and Christian videos are shown. Others are using Halloween as a night to pass out Gospel tracts. How pass this out? Don’t dress in a costume, walk around your area, putting these into people’s sacks, you can do over 100 an hour, more than people coming to your own door. Where to get Gospel tracts? www.chick.com, www.livingwaters.com, or local Christian bookstore. And don’t forget to pray over the people who receive the tracts. Whatever you do, “Be not overcome of evil, but over comecome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

I hope you will carefully consider the information I have related in short series in the past few days on “The Dark Side of Halloween” and decide NOT to celebrate Halloween. But there is an even more important decision you should make first. That is deciding to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Here’s what to do.

REALIZE that God loves you – John 3:16; Romans 5:8

RECOGNIZE that you cannot be saved from sin by your own good works – Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5

ADMIT that you are a sinner separated from God – Romans 3:23

REPENT of your sins – Luke 1:5, Luke 3:19

CALL upon Christ in faith, believing that He died for your sins and arose from the dead – Romans 10:9

 

The Dark Side of Halloween – The Harm of Halloween

THE HARM OF HALLOWEEN – Halloween is a dangerous day and here are the reasons why…

HALLOWEEN IS FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE – In January of 1988, I stopped at a restaurant to pick up a bite to eat before my next appointment. I picked up a paper on the way in. As I was eating I came across Ann Landers column entitled “Parents must tackle violence.” The parent wrote “I heard something today that made my hair stand on end… Last October, the teacher of a fourth grade class asked her students to write a short essay on what they would like to do most to celebrate Halloween. Eighty percent of her 9 year olds expressed the wish to “kill somebody.” Where do children get such ideas?” she asked.

The answer is a simple one Halloween accentuates mutilation, murder, blood, guts and gore. It even glorifies it! I well remember seeing the large picture in the newspaper of a mutilated corpse in a blood stained bathtub. It was utterly repulsive. The accompanying article lauded a community organization’s youth work using this “haunted house.”

The truth is, millions of people, and likely your kids will be exposed to some of the almost endless string of TV programs, videos, community and church activities that GLORIFY MUTILATION, TORTURE, and BIZARRE MURDERS this Halloween. Now before you say “it won’t hurt them, it’s only fantasy,” perhaps you should consider what a horrified mother discovered in her teenage son’s diary. She read, “Last year I stole a car at Halloween and ran over a kid and killed him for the Devil. I plan on doing it again this year.” The boy is now incarcerated.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON VIOLENCE. Don’t you see the paradox. When we read of a violent murder any other time we gasp. But we laugh, tease, call it fun and glorify the same things when Halloween comes. Halloween’s focus on VIOLENCE breaks down the inhibitions of our children toward murder. They have difficulty separating between fantasy and fact. And that is taking it’s toll on our society. There is another reason Halloween is harmful.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF THE EMPHASIS ON FEAR. I read an article in The Milwaukee Journal entitled “Haunted house fun: It could become a nightmare for kids.” It started out “ITS JUST FOR FUN, you know that. But to a young child, a trip through a “haunted house” created for Halloween could be a nightmare.” Fear is no joke. Fear is a powerful and often damaging emotion. The writer of the article quoted developmental psychologist Marvin Berkowitz of Marquette University. Berkowitz said “Some haunted houses can frighten an adult.” Children must “go in with the right mental set. Make sure they know it’s going to be a fun scare, not a real scare.” The article went on the say, “Even the most careful parents can misjudge the kid’s traumatized and shricking, you hold him and comfort him. Give him physical security.” The question is, why expose your child to such traumatizing influences? They serve no useful purpose. In fact long lasting emotional problems can develop as a result of the frightening experiences that are encountered at Halloween activities, such as going through a “haunted house.”

BUT there is another aspect I want to share with you relating to fear. Dr. Grace Ketterman M.D. says in her book, You and Your Child’s Problems: How to Understand and Solve Them. “A tragic by-product of fear in the lives of childen as early as pre-adolescence is the interest and involvement in supernatural occult phenomena.” Which leads me to the next point.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON THE OCCULT. The two most frequent ways childen are introduced into the occult are through rock music (secular) and Halloween. I was introduced to the occult at a Halloween party. Tragically, more and more children are being introduced to the occult by teachers in the public schools. And unfortunately, Halloween is one of the two Holidays that public schools celebrate. They choose Halloween (and Valentine’s Day) because supposedly there is no “religious” significance. How wrong they are about Halloween. To be sure, there is no Christian significance to Halloween but it is obviously a religious day.

Our forefathers recognized Halloween’s assocation with the occult. The Pilgrims banned celebrating Halloween in America. The ban lasted until 1845. At that time multiplied thousands of Irish emigrants flooded into New York because of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-46. They brought Halloween with them and gradually it spread throughout the rest of the country.