
April 14, 2017 A
Day Like No Other Day
Today is Good Friday.
And if you have been a part of this TGIF email list, you know that this
is the one Friday in the year that I do not send out a joke in deference
to the events that transpired on this day in 32 AD. For it was on this
day that Jesus was crucified, died and buried.
It was a warm Friday
morning. Just outside the Jerusalem walls a crowd gathered around an unusual
spectacle --- three crosses ... three naked men dangling by their nailed
hands and feet. You hear men groaning, women sobbing, flies buzzing and
landing on fresh dripping blood. In the middle cross is a man ... actually
a carcass more than a man .... You ask yourself what did he do to deserve
this? Isn't this the miracle worker? Isn't this the teacher?
Who would have thought that all of mankind --- before and after --- would
focus on this one day. And yet the historical and spiritual significance
escaped everyone who was present.
Even today, only a
few truly grasp the who, the what and the why this day had to happen.
Knowledge and intelligence are not the problem. There's enough accessible
evidence to convince anyone that Jesus is who he says he is. It's really
a heart problem.
I challenge you to
discover the truth for yourself. I'm not going to spoon-feed you with
what I believe. And what better day to reflect on it but today?
Thank God It's Good
Friday people!
(Don't worry, next
Friday we will back to our regular TGIF program.)
Apples Contributed by
Rodney of Manitoba, B.C.
A few years ago a
group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago They
had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for
Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one
of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display
of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they
all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding...
all but one!.
He paused, took a
deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of
compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies
to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife
when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later
flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over
the terminal floor.
He was glad he did.
The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running
down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping
for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping
and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt
on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table
and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many
of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another
basket.
When he had finished,
he pulled out his wallet and said to the
girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you
okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued
on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."
As the salesman started
to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...."
He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued,
"Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride...
and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing
like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped
into your display in the first place.
"The girl gently
nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather
the apples. He sent you to help me, so you are like Him - only He knows
who will do His will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister."
Then slowly he made
his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing
about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"
Do people mistake
you for Jesus?
That's our destiny,
is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference
as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and
grace.
If we claim to know
Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than
simply quoting scripture and going to church. It's actually living the
Word as life unfolds day to day .
You are the apple
of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped
what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and
paid in full for our damaged fruit.
Big
Favor
My daughter is trying
to win a video popularity contest. Can you go to this Youtube video and
LIKE it? Thanks! She edited it.
CLICK
HERE
TGIF Videos

Irish
Cow Call Sent by Terry of Santa Monica, CA
Kulning is a
high-pitched ancient herding call used in the Scandinavian region.
Quite interesting.
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Syria:
Then and Now Sent
by Don of Kelowna, B.C.
This is highly
unusual for this TGIF email but this is an unusual day of the year.
Click on the link below for proof that to destroy is easy but to
build requires skill, money and education.
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Paris
in the 1920s Sent by Tom of Pasadena, CA
Fascinating
vintage video of Paris.
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Parting
Shot D Thanks
to Don of Kelowna, B.C.

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