The Cost of a Miracle (True Story)

Tess was a precocious eight-year-old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Andrew.

All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment complex next month because Daddy didn't have the money for the doctor's bills and their house. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was looking like there was no one to loan them the money.

She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation, "Only a miracle can save him now."

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.

Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the backdoor and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment.

Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing.

She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good.

Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter.

That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone.

"He's really really sick... and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now, so how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry, but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl,

"What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"

"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation, but my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man.

"A dollar and eleven cents, exact price of a miracle for little brothers."

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, "Take me to where you live.
I want to see your brother and meet your parents.

Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery.

The operation was completed without charge, and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. "That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost... one dollar and eleven cents ...... plus the faith of a little child.

If you want to see a miracle in your lives, sometimes you have to get out of the boat.

Matthew 7:11 (New King James Version)

¹¹ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Hell: Can't Stand the Heat? Get Out of The Pulpit!

According to a recent study in USA Today, almost half of all American's DO NOT believe in a literal Hell. Compare that to the 74% that do believe in Heaven.

The Rev. Fred Johns, pastor of Brookview Wesleyan Church in Irondale, Ala., said after a workshop discussion of hell that pastors do shy away from the topic of everlasting damnation.

"It's out of fear we'll not appear relevant," he said. "It's pressure from the culture to not speak anything negative. I think we've begun to deny hell. There's an assumption that everybody's going to make it to heaven somehow."

The soft sell on hell reflects an increasingly market-conscious approach, Selles said.

"When you're trying to market Jesus, sometimes there's a tendency to mute traditional Christian symbols," he said. "Difficult doctrines are left by the wayside. Hell is a morally repugnant doctrine. People wonder why God would send people to eternal punishment."

Hell is mentioned several times in the Bible. Here are a few of those instances:

2 Peter 2:4-5

Mark 9:46

Matthew 8:12

Isaiah 66:24

Daniel 12:2

Luke 16:22-24

Luke 12:5

Luke 3:9

Luke 3:17

Mark 9:47

John 15:6

Matthew 23:33

Revelation 19:20 "

Pastor John Piper said this "I am NOT RELAXED! I feel like we are all standing on the edge of eternity and at any moment any one of you could fall off!"

WARNING: The audio in this video is disturbing.

I was reluctant to even post this video, but I tossed an turned for hours and I felt compelled to.

Hell is real, and it is Eternal. I don't want anyone to g0 there.

Now Showing

One night, I turned off my television and saw something Amazing.

In the reflection of the black screen

I saw My life.

So, the next day. Just to see what was on in my life,

I kept the television off.

And there was a great story on in my life about a beautiful woman, my wife, and her day!

I thought "Wow, I can't believe I've missed this for so long."

I became a loyal follower of her story. I can't wait for the next episode!

So the next night, I wanted to see what was on in my life,

So again I kept the television off.

And my wife and I drove out into the country where it's really dark.

We looked up and WOW! The REAL stars were shinning.

I thought "Wow, I can't believe I've missed this all these years."

So the next day, I was alone

I kept the television off.

I grabbed a bible, went outside and began to read.

Story after story of God's Love and interaction with man just Jumped off the pages!

I thought "Wow, I can't believe I've missed this all this time."

I've been a big fan of God ever since.

I'm not sure which episode it was, but in one of them...HE Saved me!

Every now and then, my wife and I will rent a movie

or a watch a home video, or documentary on DVD.

It's a nice little treat every once in a while.

But I found that my favorite show...

Is the one starring God, my wife, my family and friends, and Me.

~ NOW SHOWING ~

Salvation: Get a Second Opinion

The other day, a friend came up to me and told me that he heard a pastor of a mega church on the radio bragging that during their Sunday service, 26 people were SAVED! On another occasion I was speaking with a pastor of a Springfield church who claimed that during his last service 6 people were SAVED!

Let me say right up front. I pray to God that they are all really saved. I pray that they were drawn by God himself to the feet of Jesus with repentance in their hearts and that they truly believe. I pray that the Holy Spirit now lives inside them and is causing a dramatic transformation in their lives this very moment. Lord may it be so if it is your will.

However, I am troubled by men who boldly assure people that they are "Saved". What if they are not? What if they did not really believe, but just came forward during invitation while filled with earthly emotion? What if the Holy Spirit didn't come? What if they are still LOST!? It happened to me. I spent most of my adult life living like a heathen, blaspheming, drunk, stoned, living in and loving SIN, hating God and Godly people, but Praise The Lord I was saved! No I wasn't, and by the grace of God I didn't have to find out the "Eternal" way.

No man should tell another he is Saved. PERIOD. God can handle that one on his own.

John 3:5-8

⁵Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ⁷You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' ⁸The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

John 1:12-13

¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

Hypocrisy: Get the Plank Out.

Matthew 7:3-5

³"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

How hard is it to believe that this woman, pictured above, is really concerned about the welfare of her unborn baby? Loud noises are to be avoided when pregnant, but anyone would agree that smoking cigarettes is much worse for your growing fetus. Seeing such blatant disregard for her child's health totally discredits her case against the city.

¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:16-18)

What kind of fruit is hanging on your tree? People who are watching you, lost or saved, will know you by your fruit. I can't tell you how many times I catch someone that I work with watching my actions and comparing them to my professed faith. Now, like a tree that bares fruit, not all of that fruit is going to be ripe and red and perfect. There will be a withered up apple in the bunch, but not many. ⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1st John 1:8) As a whole, your tree should be full of Love, Patience, Faithfulness, Peace, Joy, and so on. All of which is very pleasing to the eye of the onlooker.

P. Washer gives an example that I find very helpful.

"Let's say I wanted to get your pastor fired. So with a Polaroid camera in hand, I follow him through his life, 24 hours per day. If I waited long enough and had my camera ready, he might just have a real bad day, where he hits his thumb with a hammer, screams out an obscenity, kicks the dog and storms off. "Click" I take a picture and bring it back to the church and say "Look at this picture I took! Is that the kind of Pastor you want?" Wouldn't be very fair would it?

What would be a better representation of his life would be for me to put the Polaroid camera down and pick up a video camera instead. Then If I followed him around, 24 hours per day, you would see a much clearer picture of this mans fruit."

People in our circles are taking little snap shots of us, and mostly when we as Christians slip up. The phrase that comes to mind and one that is practiced nightly on the local and national news programs is "Good news is great, Bad news is better!" People usually only remember the bad. You'll see this daily when someone tells you about the horrible service they received at a certain restaurant, or the jerk in traffic. When was the last time someone went out of their way to praise a good waiter to you? Or to mention a courteous driver the encountered? I'd venture to say almost never.

Don't lose your "witness" power. Let us strive to get the Plank out, and keep it out! Amen.

^{Matthew 5:14-16 ~}"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 7:15

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

These are quotes from TV evangelist that reach Millions of people every day! I've temporarily withheld the names behind the quotes. See them for what is said, not who said them.

God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.

I think one reason the church has grown is because we've changed with the times. I mean, the music is upbeat.

I'm not going to go around telling everybody else if they don't want to believe, that that's going to be their choice.

It's the same message that people were preaching hundreds and hundreds of years ago, we're just repackaging it.

You may make some mistakes-but that doesn't make you a sinner. You've got the very nature of God on the inside of you.

Do all you can to make your dreams come true.

Are you ready for some real revelation knowledge... you are god.

God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows righteousness.

The day is coming when there will not be one sick saint in the body of Christ.

Where in the Bible does it say I have to drive a Honda?

We've all heard speakers claim, "If you'll just pray more, preach the word, and be dedicated, then your church will grow." Well, that's just not true. I can show you thousands of churches where pastors are doctrinally sound; they love the Lord; they're committed and spirit-filled and yet their churches are dying on the vine."

"If you were to tell me the kind of music you are currently using in your services I could easily describe the kind of people you are reaching, without even visiting your church. I could also tell you the kind of people your church will never be able to reach."

"The greatest challenge churches will face over the next five years is developing and adapting our ministry methods to the massive needs of the 21st century. We can't just keep on "doing it the way we've always done it."

"So my cry is: pastors just do more of it. You already know that you have got to apply in people's lives; you have just got to do more of it. If that means cutting back . . . I think sometimes in our preaching we are far more interested in a lot of the details and backgrounds than people are. A guy who spends three weeks on one verse is missing the point of the verse...God didn't mean for it to be read that way. He is missing the point of it."

When Jesus cried, 'It is finished!' He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne...Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption."

"Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross and took His spirit to the dark regions of hell"

"God's on the outside looking in. He doesn't have any legal entree into the earth. The thing don't belong to Him. You see how sassy the Devil was in the presence of God in the book of Job? God said, "Where have you been?" Wasn't any of God's business. He [Satan] didn't even have to answer if he didn't want to ... God didn't argue with him a bit! You see, this is the position that God's been in ... Might say, "Well, if God's running things He's doing a lousy job of it." He hadn't been running 'em, except when He's just got, you know, a little bit of a chance."

"The basic principle of the Christian life is to know that God put our sin, sickness, disease, sorrow, grief, and poverty on Jesus at Calvary," he asserts. "For Him to put any of this on us now would be a miscarriage of justice."

"You need a healing? You have a tumor? Don't pray to God about the tumor.
Talk to the tumor itself!"

"Satan made a huge mistake, by crucifiying Jesus, took him to hell.

"It's really very appropriate to call Jesus "the Word", because God spoke him into exsistance through dozens or possibly a hundred different people over a 4000 year period of time, the Holy Spirit took these words and impregnated Mary."

“When (people) see that some sickness, disease, tragedy comes into their life, instead of taking their authority and rebuking the devil and commanding him to leave, instead they go to God … and they beg God, ‘Oh God please change this situation. Oh God please get the devil off my back.’ And it’s not within God’s power and authority. He gave us that power and authority.”

"During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin...He paid the price there.…no plan was too extreme...Jesus paid on the cross and in hell….God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, “Let Him go.” Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus...He was resurrected from the dead the first born-again man"

2 SHOCKING YOUTH MESSAGE STUNS HEARERS ––

SO SHOCKING AND BIBLICAL

THE PREACHER WAS NEVER INVITED BACK

George Street Witness

Examine Yourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (New International Version)

⁵Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

I shutter to think about how long an "Eternity" really is. I can't imagine spending it separated from God.

I fear that so many American's feel a false since of security about their Salvation based on a false teachings and watered down Gospel's from the pulpit. Salvation is not "Repeat this prayer" and "Get Baptized" and then go live like the world cause your Saved! Scripture tells us that we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. But what I've seen in my life is that if you drove down to the roughest bar in town and asked every drunk man in the building about their salvation, you'll find that they're all saved because at one point or another they prayed a prayer. Yet they can drink down SIN like it was water! It breaks my heart. Test yourself! Look at your family members! What fruit do they bare? This is serious.

In 1st John, John gives us some Gospel truths about what a Christian looks like. Now, this is not by any means the only text you should examine, but I have found it be an extremely good text to examine my own self against.

Why is John writing to those who believe in the name of the Son of God? He answers in chapter 5:13, which is why I've chosen this book.

1 John 5:13

¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

A "Test"

1 John 1:5

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

1 John 1:8

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1 John 2:3

³We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:5-6

⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 2:9

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

1 John 2:15-17

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 3:9

⁹No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

1 John 3:17

¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

1 John 4:8

⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 5:1-3

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ²This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome...

"The Lord Will Provide"

I'll likely never forget this story. It was the end of my first day working at the pawn shop. I was emotionally wrecked. I had never been exposed to so many people who were so in need of help, nor had I ever felt so helpless to do anything for them. I felt horrible.

My wife had come to pick me up, and as I got into the car she pointed out to me an elderly man whom was standing at the front door of the store. My wife had been noticing him for a few minutes. He got off a city bus, and with a cane in hand, very slowly walked about 100 yards to where he was standing now; in front of our closed pawn shop. In his hands were a couple of items that I assumed he would have wanted to use as collateral for a loan.

"Sorry, we just closed" I shouted. He was hard of hearing, so I climbed back out of the car and went over to him. "We're closed, is there anything I can help you with?" I asked. And in his sweet crackling voice he said "oh, I was just needing some bread and milk and things." I offered to take him up the street to the next pawn shop and he accepted. So we loaded up and drove down to Gold Exchange. Although I knew in my heart that they wouldn't be interested in his merchandise. It was an old folding knife and a dremel accessory set.

"Sorry, we can't help you." said the man behind the counter. I was so grieved by this. Especially by the way Buck responded to this bad news with such grace. "Oh, okay...it's okay, good bye". As Buck walked away from the counter I plead with the guy to help him, and even offered a knife that my dad had given me on my birthday but they just couldn't loan us any money. I would have gladly given buck some money myself, but you see we had $41 dollars in the bank and it had to last us for over a week.

So Buck and I went back out to the car where Heather, my wife, was waiting. She saw Buck carrying his things and knew that we had failed, but also knew what I knew and that was we were going to help him regardless.

"Buck, would you be offended if my wife and I took you to the grocery store to get some bread and milk and things?" I offered. "Oh, thats okay, I couldn't let you do that. I'll be fine." he gracefully replied. "What if I told you that I felt compelled by the Lord to help you and that you would be doing me a favor by letting me?" I added. "Oh? well I guess, but I'd want to pay you back every penny." I agreed to that , but I never wanted anything in return. So off to the grocery store we went.

When we got to Aldi's, Heather and I found a moment alone to discuss how much we could spend on our new friend. Led by the loving Holy Spirit, she looked at me and said "I want him to have everything he needs." I fell a little further in love with my wife in that moment. So we grabbed a cart, and loaded Buck up with enough groceries for 3 weeks! Not because we were "Good People" or anything, but simple because the Holy Spirit insisted!

So we took Buck back to his little apartment in north Springfield. As we walked through the lobby of his apartment building some neighbors commented "Buck, I see ya got some groceries" to which Buck replied "The Lord will provide, the Lord will provide". (Which humbled me and you'll see why at the end of this story) So we loaded Bucks fridge and cabinets up with all the food, spend a few minutes talking and just before we left I asked him if it would be alright to say a prayer. "Oh, please do. I'd be grateful if you could put in a good word for ole' Buck" So, I smiled and in a small 3 person circle, we prayed.

As we said our goodbyes, Buck closed his door and Heather and I got back on the elevator to go home. I don't think that either one of us said a word for the next ten minutes. We just reflected on what had happened and what a blessing He was to us. And, even thought we had spent all of our money and had actually overdrawn our account on him, I was at ease knowing that as Buck so eliquently put it "The Lord will provide" and he did.

When we got home, we walked up to the front door and in the mail box next to the door was an envelope from a guy I had done audio production work for weeks prior and had almost completely given up on. Inside, was a check for $150 dollars. More than enough to get us through the week! Praise the Lord!

I thank God for sending us Buck when we needed him most. Amen.