Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What If Love is the Final Authority? - Apples of Gold - April 14, 2010 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 14, 2010

“What If Love is the Final Authority?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Call the authorities.

What do we usually want when we call the authorities?

We usually want an outsider to step in and mediate a situation.  We need them to provide restraint.

For example, if you see two guys fighting in the street.  They aren’t restraining themselves, so the authorities must step in and restrain them.

Authorities provide restraint within society.  The two guys may stop fighting at the mere thought of the authorities showing up.  But if they keep fighting, then the authorities have the power to break them up, even if it means blasting them with a taser.  They can throw them to the ground, handcuff them and put them in jail. 

Authorities provide restraint through the threat of and the use of physical force.  And if you want to go wild and simply will not be restrained, they have the option of shooting you.

Then on a national scale we have the armed forces.  Our military provides restraint for anyone who wants to harm us.  Would
North Korea like to take over America?  Oh that’s right, they can’t, because we have the ability to incinerate them.

Now that’s an effective restraint!

In our world today, nuclear weapons seem to be the final authority, and that’s why we want to be careful who has them.  Unless you want to live in a wretched world, the good guys need to have the final authority over the bad guys.

And that means the good guys need to have the biggest arsenal.  Whether in our little towns or counties, or on an international scale, if you want to have the authority you must have the most powerful weapons and you must be ready to put the hammer down when the time comes.

Maybe it’s a guy thing, but that appeals to me.  The power and the authority and the ability to crush the perpetrators of evil, to wipe them off the map.  If you are doing evil, you can expect the authorities to sweep in and restrain you, even if it means using lethal force.

But then we read the words of Jesus and all his “rhetoric” about loving your enemies and doing good to those who hate you.

What?  What kind of nonsense is that?  If we love our enemies and do good to them, they will simply walk all over us.  They will have the power and the upper hand and we will become their slaves.

If they ask for our shirt and we give them our coat as well, then we will have neither shirt nor coat.  If we give them what they ask for, they will take everything.  Evil will end up with everything and good will have nothing.

It looks like doing things Jesus’ way would cause society to break down into all mayhem.

No, it looks like force is the answer, all the way up to lethal force.  That is the only way to keep society from swirling out of control and falling into the hands of evil.

Unless…

Think about this.  What if love is the final authority?

What if loving people is the display of power?

What if loving people is the show of force?

What if love is the restraint that holds people back?

I’m not saying we dismantle the army and the police force.  I’m just saying we need to take a good, long look at what Jesus said.

His big command is found in John 15.  More than once He emphasizes this command:  “Love each other.”

In verse 12 He said, “Love each other as I have loved you.”

Now think about this.  Have you ever restrained yourself out of deference to someone who loved you?

Here is an example I have heard many times.  Teenagers who want to go crazy end up restraining themselves because they know it would disappoint their parents.  I’m not talking about punishment.  I’m talking about young people who restrain themselves simply because they know their parents love them and they don’t want to disappoint or hurt them.

When you know someone really loves you, it changes you.  It changes your actions.  It sets up boundaries that you will not cross.

I’ll admit, I haven’t really wrapped my head around this concept.  How would this play out in society?  Is it even possible?

I’m not sure, but I do believe that love has an amazing power of restraint that we don’t give it credit for.

I’ll never forget the story of David Wilkerson ministering to the gangs in New York City.  One gang leader, Nicky Cruz, with his threatening switchblade, told David Wilkerson something like, “Preacher, I could cut you up into a thousand pieces.”  And Wilkerson said, “Yes, and every piece would say, ‘I love you.’”

Then there was the story of David having Nicky and his gang take up the offering at one of his meetings.  They could have easily run out with the money, but for some reason Nicky made his gang members give it all to the preacher.

Could it have been the restraint of love?

Could love really be the final authority?

What would happen in our society if we really ratcheted up our level of love for each other?

I think we would find that, instead of being limp-wristed and weak, there really is a restraining power and authority when we love people like Jesus told us to.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

O Love the Lord All Ye His Saints - Apples of Gold - April 13, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 13, 2010

“O Love the Lord All Ye His Saints”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

How long has it been since you expressed your love to the Lord?

How long has it been since you just took some time to say, “I love You, Lord”?

If it’s been a while, maybe Jesus is asking you just what He asked Peter after His resurrection.

In John 21 Jesus flat out asked Simon Peter if he loved Him.

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “You know that I love You.”

Then Jesus asked him again, “Do you truly love Me?”

“Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.”

And Jesus asked a third time, “Do you love Me?”

And finally Peter said, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Now think about yourself.  Yes, you may love the Lord, and yes He knows all things, but you know what?  Love needs to be expressed!

Jesus could have been satisfied with reading Peter’s mind, with looking into his heart and finding love; but He wasn’t.  He wanted Peter to say it and say it again.

So have you said it lately?  If not, now is a good time.  Just let the Lord know, just like David did in Psalm 18, “I love You…”

In Psalm 31 David wrote, “O love the Lord, all ye His saints…”

In fact, you can just sing out your love for the Lord!  One of my all time favorite love songs to the Lord is “I Love You (Lord Today).”  The first time I heard it was back in the 80’s when I went to hear a Gospel choir on campus.  I had never heard it before, but I’ve been singing it ever since.

I could play a professional version for you, but here’s how a regular person like you and me posted it on the internet – posted their love for the Lord for all the world to hear!

I love You,
I love You,
I love You, Lord, today.
Because You cared for me in such a special way.
That’s why I praise You, I lift You up, and I magnify Your name.
That’s why my heart is filled with praise.

Listen, when you love God, it doesn’t just sit there.  It comes out!

When you love the Lord, there is a response.

Jesus said that those who have been forgiven much, love much.

We love Him because He first loved us.

Are you a writer, maybe a poet, maybe a song writer?  Then use that gift to express your love to the Lord.

Byron Cage did it in his song “We Love You” and here’s a bit of it he recorded with J Moss.

We love You, Lord, we love You,
We love You, Lord, we love You,
We lift our voice to bless You,
We lift our hands to reach You,
We life our hearts to love You,
Holy (holy) is Your wonder,
We present our bodies,
A living sacrifice,
Holy and acceptable to You,
We love You,
We love You, Lord, we love You,
We love You, Lord, we love You.

Maybe you aren’t a writer.  Maybe you are a painter or a sculptor.  Maybe you’re a graphic designer. 

Use those gifts to express your love for the Lord!

James
1:12 says that God has promised a crown of life “to those who love Him.”

James 2:5 says God has promised a kingdom to those who love Him.

Psalm 145 says, “The Lord watches over all who love Him…”

First Corinthians 8:3 says “…the man who loves God is known by God.”

Do you love Him?

First Corinthians 2:9 says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Do you love Him?

All things work together for good for whom?

This is our top priority.  Jesus called it the number one commandment, to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. 

So express it!

When you love, there is a response.  There is a giving.  There is a giving of it all!

So give it up for the Lord today!

If you love Him, use your gifts and your talents and your opportunities to express it.

In whatever way you can, communicate that simple but profound message.

“Lord, I love You.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

close with a clip from the Love Medley by God’s Chosen:

I love You, Jesus,
I worship and adore You,
Just want to tell You,
Lord I love You,
More than anything.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Monday, April 12, 2010

Have You Found Your Place in the Body of Christ? - Apples of Gold - April 12, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 12, 2010

“Have You Found Your Place in the Body of Christ?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Are you a Christian?

If so, then you are a part of what the Bible calls “the body of Christ.”

Ephesians
4:12 uses that exact phrase, the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is also called “the church,” and Jesus is called “the head.”

For example, Ephesians 5:23 says “…Christ is the head of the church, His body…”

So if you are a Christian today, then you are a part of the body of Christ.

Now you might think, “Well, I’m a member of one church, and you’re a member of another church, and there’s a church across the street and a church down the block and…”

Okay, wait a minute.  Listen to Colossians 3:15.  It says we are members of “one body.”  There is only one body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:25 says “…we are all members of one body…” 

First Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Verse 14 says, “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.”

Of course the illustration is quite simple – the human body.  Your body has hands and feet and knees and fingers and joints and bones and ligaments – lots of parts, but all working together as one body.

Well in the body of Christ, you are one of those parts, and the rest of us need you to be working efficiently.

“Well Doug, I’m a Christian, and I go to church, but I don’t really know what ‘part’ I’m supposed to be.”

Well first of all you need to know that you really do have a part, chosen by God.

First Corinthians 12:18 says “…God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.”

Verse seven says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

Verse 11 says, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.”

Romans 12 says, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”

First Corinthians 7:7 says “…each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.”

So listen, God has placed you in the body of Christ as a specific part with specific gifts.

And like it says in First Corinthians 12:7, “…to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

That is the part you are to play, to use your gifts for the common good of the body of Christ.

Verse 25 says the “parts should have equal concern for each other.”

Ephesians 4:16 says the body of Christ “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

So are you doing your part of the work?  Are you working for the common good of the body of Christ?

You have been gifted to do so.  Every Christian has.  If you don’t already know, you need to find out what your gifts are, then put them to work for the common good of the body.

“But I don’t know what my part is!”

Well first of all you need to pray about it.  Christ is the head of the church, and it’s God’s Spirit inside of us that gives us these gifts and chooses which body part we will be.

Second of all, you need to work with leaders in the church; mature and more experienced Christians who can help you discover your role in the body.

Ephesians 4:7 says “…to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Then verse 11 continues by saying, “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature…”

So there are certain leaders in the church who have been called by God to prepare the rest for their place of service for the common good of the body.

A wise church leader will be able to help you do just that, so if you don’t know what your gifts are, if you don’t know what your part of the body is, then pray about it and seek wise counsel from church leaders.

There are even some good “spiritual gifts tests” out there to help you discover your gifts and callings in the body of Christ.

Maybe you aren’t a pastor or a teacher.  Maybe you aren’t one of those obvious leaders in the church, but know this.  You are an important part of the body of Christ!  God has chosen you and gifted you to do some very important things in the church.

Now you just need to find out what those are and then get to work.

The body of Christ will grow and become mature and complete, but only as each part does its work for the common good of the body.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Friday, April 09, 2010

Do You Have This Peace? - Apples of Gold - April 9, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 9, 2010

“Do You Have This Peace?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

The peace which passeth all understanding.

Do you have this peace?

The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

The Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee His peace.

Do you have this peace?

David said, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

David also said, “The Lord blesses His people with peace.”

And he said, “The meek will…enjoy great peace.”

Isaiah said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee…”

Do you have this peace?

Psalm 119 says, “Great peace have they who love Thy law…”

Proverbs says, “Blessed is the man who finds wisdom…all her paths are peace.”

Colossians 3 says “…let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”

Do you have this peace?

Romans 8:6 says that to be spiritually minded is peace.

Galatians says “…the fruit of the Spirit is…peace…”

First Corinthians says God is the author of peace.

Romans 15 says He is the “God of peace.”

Do you have this peace?

The prophet Isaiah spoke these foretelling words of the Messiah:  He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; and upon Him was the chastisement for our peace.

Isaiah said Jesus would be called The Prince of Peace.

Jesus Himself said in John 14, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”

In John 16 He said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace.”

Do you have this peace?

The early church spread the Gospel of Peace.

Acts 10 says they were “telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ…”

Ephesians 2 says Jesus is our peace.

Do you have this peace?

Paul said it’s the peace that “transcends all understanding,” and he told us how to get it in Philippians 4:6-7.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Do you want this peace?

It is yours through Jesus Christ.  So draw near to God and lay your requests at His feet. 

And don’t forget the key ingredient.  Oh, this is a key to receiving the peace of the Lord.

“With thanksgiving,” Paul said, “prayer…with thanksgiving…”

And the peace of God will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

It’s available.  It’s yours.  Your mind and heart and soul can experience this amazing peace that only comes from God Almighty.

So ponder this amazing gift from the Lord as I ask you one more time.

Do you have this peace?


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Thursday, April 08, 2010

She Popped - Apples of Gold - April 8, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 8, 2010

“She Popped”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

The man could pick up a grape.

Big deal, right?

Well it was to him, considering the fact that he hadn’t fed himself in 19 years. 

He was a soldier that tragically lost both arms, but now he has new cutting-edge electronic arms, and he can pick up a grape. 

What’s the big deal about picking up a grape? 

The big deal is all the calculations that must be made.  For example, you have to squeeze the grape just the right amount.  Too little and you drop it.  Too much and you pop it.

That’s easy to do with our God-given fingers, but to do it with an electronic hand is a technological marvel.

So let’s call that physical discernment.  Most people can easily discern what it takes to successfully pick up a grape.

Now let’s compare that to a more challenging kind of discernment:  relational discernment. 

We can handle a grape without dropping it or popping it, but can we handle people without dropping or popping them?

How is your relational discernment?

Can you discern how well you are getting along with people?

Can you discern how your words are hitting them?

Can you discern what matters most in your relationships?

For example, I knew a man who had no children, and he was against motorcycles.  He said a motorcycle is a deathtrap on wheels.  Then he said this, “If I had a son, and he bought a motorcycle, I would disown him.” 

I questioned him about it, but he was serious. 

Well if I had to grade that situation for relational discernment, I would give it an F.

Why? 

Because he did not discern what mattered more, which was maintaining a relationship with his son.  In that situation he lacked relational discernment.  His miscalculations would have caused him to “drop” his son.

When our own kids were small, my wife and I had a challenge to our relational discernment.

Like most parents, we applied pressure to our children to do right and not wrong.  That meant they got in trouble when they did wrong.

Now remember the grape.  Apply too little pressure and it drops, apply too much pressure and it pops.

Well getting in trouble was too much pressure for one of our children, so when it looked like she was going to get in trouble, she popped, by which I mean she popped out a lie.

For whatever reason, the other kids were willing to face the music and get on with life, but not this one.  She was going to lie and then lie some more if she thought she could avoid trouble.

This is where relational discernment came in.  We looked closely at her reactions.  We talked with each other about what she did and why she did it.  We analyzed our parenting and made adjustments.

Discernment means being able to see the big picture, and our big picture in this situation was that our child would tell the truth.  So we changed our parenting.  We started saying something that we did not say to the others.  We said, “Look, you aren’t going to be in trouble.  Just tell us the truth.” 

I wouldn’t recommend that line in most situations, but here comes the key word again:  discernment.

Discernment is like a detective looking for clues.  He observes and perceives and distinguishes. 

That’s the way we deal with people, with discernment.  We discern how to relate to people for the best long term results. 

In First Kings 3:9 King Solomon prayed for one thing, “a discerning heart.”

A prayer in Psalm 119 says “…give me discernment…”

Proverbs 2:3 indicates that we should “cry out for discernment.”

Physical discernment comes naturally.  We can all pick up a grape without dropping or popping it.

But getting along with people?  That’s something we need to cry out to God for, and something we need to work on.

We could all use a little more relational discernment.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Is This How You Want It to End? - Apples of Gold - April 7, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 7, 2010

“Is This How You Want It to End?”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

They only scored 12 points.

They played the entire first half and only scored 12 points.

It was a team record for futility, and they did it last night while playing for the national championship.

I’m talking about the University of Connecticut – the UConn Huskies.

Now you need to know that UConn had not lost a game in two years.  That’s two undefeated seasons in a row, a record, and yet halfway through the championship game they were getting clobbered.

So it’s halftime, and what do you say?  What can a coach say that might turn things around in the second half?

One thing he said was something like, “Is this how you want it to end?”

And that’s a great question for all of us.  No matter where we are in life, we can ask ourselves this question.  “Is this how I want it to end?”

If the answer is no, then that should motivate us to change.

But perhaps you feel beaten.  You are battered and bruised and worn out.  You just don’t have the strength to keep going.

Maybe the Huskies felt that way, but then something happened.  Their star player suddenly caught fire, and it strengthened the whole team!  They went from looking disjointed and defeated to looking like the champions they are.

So maybe you are sitting there battered and bruised and worn out, but the good news is, as a Christian you are part of a team – the body of Christ.

And on this team we have a star player, Jesus.  The Bible says He is the “head of the body.”

I am so glad the pressure is not on me.  I don’t have to do all the scoring or make all the big plays.  I am not the head, not the star, not the team leader.  Jesus is.

I put my faith in Him to do the heavy lifting for the team.

Does that mean I just sit back and let Him do it all?

No, because I have my part on the team.  I am part of the body of Christ; not the head, but still an important part.

Now remember the Huskies.  They were down, but then they were strengthened by the team leader.

And if you are down today, you can certainly be strengthened by our team leader!

Luke 24:49 uses this phrase, “power from on high.”

Acts 1:8 uses this phrase, “…power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”

Ephesians 3:16 talks about being strengthened with might through God’s Spirit inside us.

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to His power that works in us.

I’m sure you remember Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  God gives us power through His Spirit inside of us.  We have all the power and strength and might that we need.

So maybe it’s halftime, and you feel defeated.  If so, I have a question for you.  Is this how you want it to end?

If not, then look to the team leader, the head of the body.  Look to Christ for new strength and motivation.  Put your faith completely in Him.

Then be strong in the Lord!  Allow the power of God inside you, the Holy Spirit, to rise up and have His way in your life.

He will energize you.  He will strengthen you.  He will come up with plays exceedingly abundantly above all you could ask or imagine, according to His power that works inside you.

If this is not how we want it to end, then it’s time for us to be energized by our Team Leader.

It’s time we start looking like the champions we really are!


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

(close with chorus from The Words I Say by Sidewalk Prophets – “be strong in the Lord…”)


2 Corinthians 2:14  “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

A Brilliant Moment in Joseph's Life - Apples of Gold - April 6, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 6, 2010

“A Brilliant Moment in Joseph’s Life”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

Here is a brilliant moment from the life of Joseph.

Oh, you can probably think of others, such as when he tore himself from the clutches of Potiphar’s wife, or when he ruled Egypt as second in command only to Pharaoh.

But to me, this is the highlight, the apex.

It’s found in Genesis 41:38.  Pharaoh looked at Joseph and said, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

That’s what I want.  I have a ways to go, but I would like to reach that apex, that when people talk about me they say, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”

How can we get there?

I think one key is this.  Don’t do things that grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.

First Thessalonians 5:19 tells us not to “quench” the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 tells us not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit.

Think of the Holy Spirit as a light shining through us.  When we grieve the Holy Spirit, the light dims. 

Can people tell you are a Christian?  Can they see the light of God shining through you?

If not, perhaps it is because you are grieving the Spirit of God inside you.

Pride will do it.  Pride will dim the Spirit in you as quick as anything.

Joseph was not proud, but he could have been.  He had the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams!  He could have puffed himself into some kind of shaman. 

But instead he took no credit.  He told Pharaoh he could not interpret dreams, that only God could.

Joseph knew, “If I don’t have God in my life, I don’t have anything.”

He was humble, and that allowed the Spirit to shine brightly through him.

If Joseph would have sinned with Potiphar’s wife, that certainly would have grieved the Holy Spirit.  It might have derailed God’s plans for him altogether.

If we sin and don’t repent, won’t that certainly quench the Spirit of God?

And when we repent, I think it still takes a while for the Spirit to come back to full brightness.

Meanwhile, we have lost chances to shine the light. 

There are people we should have impacted but didn’t because we dimmed the Spirit’s light.

Let that sink in for a while.  Do you want to impact your family for Christ?  Your coworkers?  Your neighbors?  Have you missed chances to do so by dimming the Spirit’s light?

Here’s how it happens.  We let some sin get a hold of us.  We gave in to some temptation, large or small, and it dims the Spirit’s light.

I don’t want that.  I want the Spirit to shine as brightly as possible through me at all times. 

I want to be part of that shining city on a hill that gives light to the world, but I won’t be if I am in a state of grieving or quenching the Spirit.

Don’t you want this?  Don’t you want the Spirit to shine through you?

Then we have to eliminate things that quench and grieve the Spirit. 

We don’t want to miss opportunities for people to see the Spirit of God in us.

We don’t want to miss opportunities to impact the world.

Joseph didn’t miss his opportunity.  When the time came, he was a bright light to Pharaoh.

And that’s what I want.

I want to live in such a way that when the time comes people say, “Now there is a man in whom is the Spirit of God.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Friday, April 02, 2010

Yet - Apples of Gold - April 2, 2010 -vi-

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Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 2, 2010

“Yet”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

It’s Friday. 

Jesus has died and He has not risen from the dead.  Yet.

It’s 2010.  Jesus hasn’t returned.  Yet.

Abraham was a hundred years old.  God promised him a son, but he sure didn’t have one.  Yet.

No matter what Moses did, Pharaoh just would not let the children of
Israel go.  He simply did not fear the Lord God.  Yet.

The Israelites wondered in the wilderness for 40 years.  They had not received their so-called Promised Land.  Yet.

When they got to the Promised Land, Caleb said, “Behold, I am this day 85 years old.  Yet I am as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me!”

Mighty Samson’s hair was cut, his eyes were gouged out, and he was made a slave.  He had no opportunity to rain judgment down on his Philistine captors.  Yet.

The word of the Lord was rare in the days of Eli, and the young man Samuel had never heard a word from God.  Yet.

The giant Goliath taunted the Israelites, and God, day after day, and not one man of Israel dared to stand up to him.  Yet.

“I had many brothers,” David said, “Bigger brothers, yet the Lord chose me to be king over all Israel.”

“We have sinned,” said Ezra.  “We have broken faith and dealt treacherously against our God.  Yet now there is still hope for Israel!”

“The Israelites repeatedly turned from You Lord.”  That’s what Nehemiah prayed.  “They did evil before You.  Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies.  Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies.”

Job said of the Lord, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

The Psalmist wrote, “I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

The sons of Korah said, “Why art thou downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

Psalm 119 says, “Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.”

Yet is the hinge that the big door swings on.  Yet is the sunshine waiting just behind the clouds.  Yet is the breeze that blows the fog away. 

In Isaiah 54 the Lord said, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken.”

Jeremiah 14 says, “O Lord…our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.  Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name…”

Jeremiah 50 says, “The people of Israel are oppressed…all their captors hold them fast…yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name!”

Lamentations says, “Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion.”

Habakkuk said, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior!”

Yet is the key that unlocks the door.  Yet is the wrecking ball that demolishes obstructions.  Yet is the letter of hope that arrives on the gloomiest day.

Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns…yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Of the man who built his house on the rock Jesus said, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

Jesus Himself was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.

Then while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!

He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God!

After He arose, Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are they that have not seen…yet have believed.”

Paul wrote, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled!”

He wrote, “We do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

My friend, your road may be rocky, but there is hope!  A yet is just ahead, a fork in the road.  Turn and let it take you closer to God.

John said we are the children of God and what we shall be has not been revealed.  Yet.

And Hebrews 10 tells us to keep up our confidence, and keep enduring, “for yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.”

God is not done. 

Your story is not complete.

Your Savior is not finished with His great work in your life.

Yet.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.



© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Thursday, April 01, 2010

The New National Epidemic - Apples of Gold - April 1, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 1, 2010

“The New National Epidemic”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

“The epidemic of genital herpes.”

I had no idea, but it’s right there in the New England Journal of Medicine.*

There is an epidemic of genital herpes, it says, and then it talks about what the authors call “an especially devastating consequence of the epidemic,” neonatal infection.

They said up to “65% of pregnant women in the United States have genital infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 or type 2.”

So here’s what happens.  Sexually active young women get herpes, which they might not even be aware of.  And remember, there is an epidemic of genital herpes, so millions of women have it.

Then they get pregnant and that’s where the neonatal infection comes in.  The baby can get herpes from his or her mother.  Then the disease may kill the child, but even if it’s caught quickly and treated, it can still cause considerable disability among the survivors.

That’s just one terrible consequence of this disaster called genital herpes. 

It also makes people more prone to get AIDS, and now you may not hear so much about AIDS or HIV anymore, except maybe in Africa, but here’s another statistic from the New England Journal of Medicine.  More than 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C. are HIV-infected, which is more than people in Ethiopia or Nigeria or Rwanda.**

Then there is HPV, the human papillomavirus, which the CDC calls the most commonly sexually transmitted infection.  And again, so many of those infected don’t even know they have it, but it can do such wretched things as cause cervical cancer.

Speaking of cancer, one gay publication in Boston reports that according the American Cancer Society, people who engage in homosexual behavior have a higher risk of cancer.  The odds of a gay man getting cancer are 17 times higher than a straight man.

If you want to see the headlines for yourself, just do a Google news search.  A headline for news-record.com says, “Clinic seeks funds to combat local rise in sexual diseases.”  Beloit Daily News.com says STD case numbers high locally. 

TV Channel 6 in Southern California says, “STDs on the Rise in San Diego.”  It goes on to say that April is Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month, and that MTV and Planned Parenthood have launched a nationwide campaign.

And just what would MTV and Planned Parenthood like to tell us about sexually transmitted diseases?

They want everyone to know this.  There is no shame in being treated for an STD.

Today in the Cornell Daily Sun there is an article entitled “Spring Break Mistakes Leave Their Mark.”  Talking about college kids on spring break the author writes, “They descend on these cities with little more than bikinis and a few dollars, and they return to school sunburned and sporting a whopping new case of gonorrhea.”

That may sound funny, but if you follow the news at all then you know that in the last few days they’ve been reporting that there is a new anti-biotic resistant strain of gonorrhea.***

According to Time magazine’s website, it could become a “super bug.”  And then here’s the line that always gets me.  Here is the conclusion of that Time article. “And, of course, it underscores the importance of sexual protection—using condoms diminishes STI exposure in the first place.”

The Carolinian is the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  A couple weeks ago they had an article about what they called the “sexually transmitted disease epidemic in our country.”

There are those chilling words again, “disease epidemic.”

Now listen closely to this paragraph.  “Sexually transmitted infections are an epidemic in our country.  Millions of people each year are diagnosed and treated for STDs.  However, the prevention of these diseases and infections is very simple…”****

Okay, this is where we talk about abstinence, right?  This is where we talk about morality and purity and saving yourself for marriage then remaining faithful thereafter, right?

I mean, that is the perfect answer for STDs!  God’s way is the right way, the best way.  Abstinence before marriage and monogamy thereafter.

But here is what the article said.  “The prevention of these diseases and infections is very simple:  wear a condom and get tested at least once a year.”

Well for one thing, getting tested once a year isn’t going to prevent you from getting anything. 

But anyway, that was it.  That was all the advice they had for avoiding these wretched diseases, this disease epidemic.

It reminds me of Romans chapter one.  Verse 18 includes this phrase, “…men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

Why won’t we ever see MTV and Planned Parenthood roll out an abstinence campaign?

Romans 1:24 says, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.”

Then verse 27 uses this phrase, “…received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

Am I saying that God gives people STDs?  No, God is the one telling us how to avoid them!  But we just won’t listen.  We want to do what we want to do, and when our actions cross the moral boundary, there are very real consequences.

This is what we need to teach people.  God has a plan!  His ways are best.  Morality and purity and righteousness.  Living within God’s moral boundaries.

This is far and away the best prevention against this new national epidemic.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/361/14/1376
**  http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/362/11/967
*** http://wellness.blogs.time.com/2010/03/30/emergence-of-antibiotic-resistant-gonorrhea/
**** http://www.carolinianonline.com/opinions/simple-safe-sex-practices-can-curb-sexually-transmitted-disease-epidemic-in-our-country-1.1261155

© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I Make a Covenant with My Eyes to Look at No Vile Thing - Apples of Gold - March 31, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 31, 2010

“I Make a Covenant with My Eyes to Look at No Vile Thing”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

There is a denomination that preaches against television.

You shouldn’t even have a TV in your house.

Why not?

Because there are so many blatant displays of ungodliness on television.

So I was talking to a preacher about this and I asked him, “So what about the internet?  What does your denomination say about that?”

“Well that kind of snuck up on us.”

I guess what happened is that so many members and probably even churches were using the internet that when it finally became apparent that the internet was potentially exponentially more vile than television, it was too late.  

Well what is the point?  Is it that you shouldn’t have a television or an internet connection?

That’s not a bad idea, but that’s only a means to an end.  So what is the end?

The end is that we do not view the displays of ungodliness.

In Psalm 101:3 David wrote, “I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”

Why not?  Because it has a polluting effect.

Eve was told not to eat from a certain tree, but she found herself looking at it.  She found it “pleasant to the eyes,” and the next thing you know, she took a bite.

If you don’t look, you are less likely to bite.

In driver’s ed we were told to be careful what we looked at, because wherever we looked, that’s where we were likely to go.  For example, while you are looking at that billboard you are prone to turn your steering wheel toward it.

It’s human nature.  We tend to steer toward what we look at.

So instead of looking at vile things, David said in verse six, “My eyes will be on the faithful in the land…”

If you keep your eyes on the faithful, you are likely to become more faithful yourself.

Psalm 119:37 recommends that we turn our eyes away from worthless things.

Jesus went so far as to say, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.”

I don’t think his point was to blind us, because a blind man can sin as fast as anyone.  Instead of gouging our eyes, we need to gouge things from our field of vision, things that are vile or unwholesome, things that pollute us and veer us from godliness.

I love what it says in Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.”

Now focus on that first part, “I made a covenant with my eyes…”

Combine that with Psalm 101 and you get something like, “I made a covenant with my eyes to look at no vile thing.”

I can make that even shorter. Just look away.

We all know you don’t need a TV or an internet connection to see vile things.  You don’t have to go looking for them, they will come looking for you, it seems, so what can you do?

Just look away.

This is one of the easiest sins to indulge in without getting caught.  What you look at is mostly just between you and God. 

And here is the way many people live.  They just try not to get caught.  “I don’t mind looking at something bad,” they say, “I just don’t want to get caught doing it.”

Well back to Psalm 101.  Verse two says, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.” 

Some people say, “I will be careful not to get caught,” but what we should say is, “I will be careful to lead a blameless life.”

Verse two goes on to say, “I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.”

There are two powerful things here.  One is “in my house.”  That is an easy place to sin, “in your house.”  And second is an even easier place to sin, in your heart.

If you can have a blameless heart even in the confines of your own house, you have really accomplished something!

So make that covenant today.  And don’t do it so you won’t get caught.  Do it so you can have a blameless heart.

Do it out in public, and do it in your own house. 

It’s a great combination of Psalm 101 and Job 31, and here it is.

I make a covenant with my eyes to look at no vile thing


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
 To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here:  http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one:  douglas_apple@msn.com

(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for
Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL  32315
(850) 926-8000

-vi-

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Easter Story - Apples of Gold - March 30, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 30, 2010

“The Easter Story”

 

Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.

How well do you know the Easter story?

Maybe all you know is what you’ve seen in movies, or what you’ve picked up from a Sunday school lesson here and a sermon there.

The problem with the Easter story, by which I mean the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is that the details are scattered through the Gospels.  For example, some details in the book of Matthew are not found in the book of John.

So to get the whole story, you need to put them all together.  Well I went ahead and did that for you, with a lot of help from John MacArthur’s book “The Murder of Jesus” and from “The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order.”

Let me warn you now, this is a bit longer than the usual Apples of Gold.  If you can’t listen to it all on the radio for some reason, feel free to e-mail me for the complete script:  dougapple@wave94.com.   Plus then you can share it with others.

And now, here is The Easter Story.

To murder someone and get away with it, you need a good plan. 

That’s what the leaders in Jerusalem needed, a good plan to do something about this Jesus who was stirring people up.  Nothing but trouble was ahead if they didn’t address the Jesus problem.

So they got together at the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas.  Other leading priests were there, along with some Pharisees.  The ruling council in Israel was the Sanhedrin, and they were there, too.

“Here’s what we need to do.  We need to secretly arrest him, then do away with him.”

“Yes, but not during the Feast.  The people might go crazy.”

During the Passover, hundreds of thousands of Jews were in Jerusalem.  Hundreds of priests sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lambs.  The place was a zoo.  Even the Roman governor Pontius Pilate came to Jerusalem during the Passover.

Those leaders precisely did not want to arrest Jesus during the Feast.  That’s why they didn’t arrest Him during what we now call His “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem.  They simply wanted to make Jesus quietly disappear.

They knew what they wanted to do, but not exactly how to pull it off.  So they put the word out, “If you find out where Jesus is, report it so we can make plans to arrest him.”

Meanwhile, their secret meeting was no secret to Jesus.  In Matthew 26:2 Jesus told his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away – and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Now look at what happened in the spiritual realm.  About the same time the leaders hatched their plot to murder Jesus, Luke 22 makes this ominous statement, “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot…and Judas went to the chief priests…and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.  They were delighted and agreed to give him money.  He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.”

How fortunate.  At the very time they were fishing for a way to arrest Jesus in secret, an insider came forward offering to betray Him.  Now all they had to do was wait to hear back from Judas.

Soon enough the time came.  The disciples gathered in an upper room to commemorate the Passover, just like so many others were doing that night.  It was a ceremonial meal which included the passing of a common cup of wine.  Early in the meal, Jesus dropped a bomb.

“Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

This is the first time Jesus said anything about being betrayed by one of his own disciples, and they were shocked.  Matthew 26 says, “They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to him, ‘Lord, is it I?’”  Judas played along, and the meal continued, but with a more somber tone.

Eventually Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”  So Judas left, but the others did not know what he was doing.

With the betrayer gone, Jesus veered from the traditional Passover ceremony.  At this point he instituted what we now call the Lord’s Supper.  He took the cup and said, “…this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins…”

Meanwhile, Judas was about to earn his money.  The officials had been alerted.  Judas knew where Jesus was going next, to one of their favorite spots, an olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was private and secluded, the perfect spot for a secret arrest.

Jesus knew what would happen there that night, but the disciples did not.  Jesus tried to warn them.  In Matthew 26, apparently as they walked along, he said, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me.”

Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

And Jesus answered, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

It was likely about midnight when they arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane.  They were no doubt physically exhausted, not to mention the mental strain added by Jesus’ cryptic warnings. 

When they entered the garden, Jesus asked most of the disciples to stay closer to the entrance while he took Peter, James and John further in.  The heaviness of the moment began to settle on Jesus.  He said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful.  Stay here and watch with me.”

Then alone he went deeper into the garden, fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup pass from me.  Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.”

Luke 22 says, “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground…” as he contemplated the “cup.”  The cup was not the arrest or the torture or even his death.  The cup was the outpouring of divine wrath he would endure, the cup of God’s judgment on the sins of the world.

Three times Jesus came back to his disciples, and three times he found them sleeping when they were supposed to be praying.  He said to Peter, “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Jesus himself must have felt that weakness of body as he kept praying the same thing, wishing to avoid what was coming.  Yet he did not give in, concluding, “Not my will, but your will be done.”

While Jesus and his disciples gathered peacefully in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Jewish leaders were thrown into a frenzy of activity.

Judas had tipped them off to Jesus’ location, but they had to act fast.  They hastily called together captains of the temple guard.  They summoned a detachment of soldiers.  Matthew 26 says “a large crowd armed with swords and clubs” was gathered.  It was a mob ready for violence.

Judas led the throng under the full moon of Passover, into the darkened olive grove.  He told them, “Whomever I kiss, he is the one; seize him.”

Back in the garden, Jesus returned to his disciples a third time and declared, “Are you still sleeping and resting?  Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us go!  Here comes my betrayer!”

Jesus boldly approached the advancing mob.  “Who is it you want?” he asked.

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said, and John 18 says they “drew back and fell to the ground.”

Not to be deterred, Judas stood, looked at Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi.”  Jesus asked the rhetorical question, “Friend, why have you come?” 

Judas made a show of kissing Jesus, who said, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When the disciples realized the situation they said, “Lord, shall we strike with our swords?”  Suddenly Peter took his sword and struck the ear of a servant of the high priest named Malchus. 

Jesus rebuked Peter and told him to put his sword away.  Then he reached out and healed Malchus’ fresh wound. 

He told his disciples, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he would immediately put twelve legions of angels at my disposal?  But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled?”

Then Jesus said to the mob, “Am I leading a rebellion?  Every day I taught in the temple courts and you did not arrest me.  But this has all happened to fulfill the writings of the prophets.”

At this point Matthew records, “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Jesus was arrested in the middle of the night in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken to the home of Annas.  Annas was a powerful man, a former high priest.  Five of his sons had also been high priest, and now the position was held by his son-in-law Caiaphas. 

Annas was sort of a like a Jewish “godfather.”  Earlier when Jesus had cleansed the temple of the money changers during Passover, it was the business of Annas that He was messing with.

A hasty trial was organized.  The Sanhedrin was convened.  The mob hung around to see some action.  Peter and John were back on the scene, keeping a low profile out in the courtyard. 

The court officials called for testimony against Jesus, but the witnesses contradicted one another.  Finally two came forward who agreed on something. 

“This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

Jesus did not respond to the charge.  The high priest stood up and demanded an answer, but Jesus remained silent.

The high priest must have grown tired of this fishing expedition.  He knew of Jesus’ claims, so he decided to ask him point blank.  “I charge you under oath by the living God – tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Jesus finally spoke.  “Yes, it is as you say.”

Before the crowd could react to this confession Jesus added, “But I say to all of you – in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

Bedlam ensued.  The high priest, in direct contradiction of Leviticus 21:10, tore his own clothes and declared, “He has spoken blasphemy!  Why do we need any more witnesses?”

The high priest turned to the council and called for a verdict.  He got the verdict, and the sentence.

“He is worthy of death.”

At this point their barely restrained hatred of Jesus was unleashed.  They spit in his face.  They slapped him.  They turned it into a vile game by blindfolding him, then punching him and mocking, “Prophesy to us, Christ.  Who hit you?”

Meanwhile Peter was in the courtyard.  He was repeatedly questioned about being one of Jesus’ disciples.  He vehemently denied it.  In exasperation he finally began to call down curses on himself and swore, “I do not know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed.  At this point Peter looked toward Jesus, and Jesus looked out, directly into the eyes of Peter.  He remembered Jesus’ prediction, and went out and wept bitterly.

When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned to death, he was filled with remorse.  He brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the elders and said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”  They answered, “What is that to us?  That’s your responsibility.”

Judas threw the silver down and left the scene of the crime.  Unable to cope with what he had done, he killed himself.

The Jewish leaders had given Jesus the death penalty, but they had a problem.  The Romans had rescinded their right to carry it out.  All capital punishment had to be approved and implemented by Roman authorities.

The Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, was in Jerusalem for the Passover, so they decided to take the case directly to him.  Very early in the morning, Luke 23 says, “the whole assembly rose.”  They bound Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate.

Pilate began with the obvious question, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

What could they say?  Pilate would not execute Jesus on charges of “blasphemy.”  So they avoided the question entirely. 

“If he wasn’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have brought him here.”

Pilate got the picture.  “Fine.  Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone.”

They needed a charge that would move Pilate to action, so they said, “We have found this man subverting our nation.  He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

Claims to be a king?  Now they had Pilate’s attention.  So he called Jesus aside to question him. 

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus responded with a question of his own.  “Are you speaking for yourself, or did others tell you this?”

“Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me.  What have you done?

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world…”

“You are a king then!”

“Yes,” Jesus said.  “For this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” Pilate said. 

Meanwhile, word was spreading and the crowd was growing.  The Jewish leaders were poisoning the well of public opinion.

Pilate announced, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

This riled the Jewish leaders, who began hurling accusations at Jesus. 

Pilate turned to Jesus.  “Don’t you hear what they’re saying?”

Jesus said nothing - and Pilate marveled.

What was Pilate to do?  He had already declared Jesus innocent, yet the Jewish leaders appeared ready to start a riot.

Someone shouted, “He stirs up people all over Judea by his teaching.  He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

“Galilee?”  Pilate suddenly saw a way to pass the buck.  Galilee was outside his jurisdiction.  That region was ruled by Herod Antipas.  So he sent them all to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem for the Passover.

Herod was glad to see Jesus.  He had heard of this miracle worker and hoped to see him do something spectacular. 

Herod peppered Jesus with questions, but he didn’t say a single word.  The crowd was shouting accusations, and for Herod the scene was getting ridiculous.  He began mocking Jesus, trying to get a rise out of him, to no avail.  The soldiers joined in, even throwing a kingly robe on him.

It all got old quickly, however, and Herod booted the mob back to Pilate.

Pilate desperately tried to defuse the situation.  He decided to take advantage of an old custom.  During Passover they offered to release one prisoner to the Jews.  Pilate gave them a choice between Jesus and a notorious killer named Barabbas. 

Meanwhile, a messenger showed up with an urgent message for Pilate.  It was from his wife.  “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

“Great.”

In the crowd, the priests were stirring the pot.  When Pilate asked which prisoner they wanted released they shouted, “Give us Barabbas!”

A frustrated Pilate shouted back, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

“Let him be crucified!”

“Why?  What evil has he done?”

“Crucify him!”

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.  “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said.  “It is your responsibility!

And the people shouted back, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Then Pilate had Jesus flogged.  The soldiers beat him and mocked him with a crown of thorns and a purple robe. 

“Hail, king of the Jews!”

In one last ditch effort, Pilate paraded a bloody Jesus before the crowd.  He waved his arm toward Jesus.

“Behold the man!”

“Crucify him,” they shouted.

Pilate raged, “You crucify him.  As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

One leader shouted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

“Son of God?”  Now Pilate was even more afraid.  He called Jesus aside. 

“Where do you come from?”

Jesus said nothing.

“You refuse to speak to me?  Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Jesus said, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.  Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews played their trump card.  “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.  Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat.  He motioned toward Jesus.

“Behold, your king.”

“Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Pilate finally relented, and handed Jesus over to be crucified.

Now think of everything Jesus had been through to this point.  The stress-filled prayers in the Garden.  The betrayal of Judas.  The desertion of his friends.  Peter’s denial.  Staying up all night for a trial on trumped up charges.  Being mocked and beaten.  Being dragged from the high priest to Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate, who had him viciously flogged. 

And now they forced him to carry his own cross.  It was more than he could physically bear.  As the procession headed out of Jerusalem, the soldiers grabbed a man on his way in, Simon of Cyrene, and made him carry the cross.

The Bible says a large number of people followed Jesus, including women who “mourned and wailed for him.”  At one point Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me.  Weep for yourselves and for your children.  For the time is coming when you will say, ‘Blessed is the woman who has no children.’  At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’  For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Jesus, along with two other criminals, were to be executed at a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull.  From the Latin we also call the place Calvary.

They offered Jesus some kind of wine, but he refused to drink it. 

They nailed him to a cross, and put up the sign Pilate had made which read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.”  The chief priests complained to Pilate, “It should say that he claimed to be king of the Jews.”  But Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written.”

The soldiers took his clothes, then gambled to see who would get what.

Jesus hung on the cross between two outlaws, who joined the crowd in insulting him.  Some shouted, “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 

The Jewish leaders mocked, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!”  “He’s the King of Israel!  Let him come down from the cross, then we’ll believe in him.”  “He trusts in God.  Let God rescue him…if he wants him…” 

Even the soldiers insulted him.  “If you’re the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

Jesus’ first recorded words from the cross were actually a prayer for his tormenters.  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The insults continued as one of the criminals next to him said, “Aren’t you the Christ?  Then save yourself…and us!”

Suddenly the other criminal rebuked him.  “Don’t you fear God?  We are getting what we deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And Jesus responded, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

Among the witnesses of this cruel event were many women, including four who stayed close to Jesus:  his aunt, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, and his mother.  At one point Jesus saw his mother standing near his disciple John, so he said, “Dear woman, here is your son.”  And to John he said, “Here is your mother.”  From then on John took care of Jesus’ mother.

At around noon it got dark, and stayed that way for about 3 hours.

At around 3 in the afternoon Jesus mustered the energy to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

Some thought he was calling for Elijah to save him.

Near the end Jesus gasped, “I thirst.”  There was a jar of wine vinegar nearby, so they stuck a sponge on a stick, soaked it in the wine vinegar, and lifted it to his lips. 

Then they said, “Leave him alone.  Let’s see if Elijah really will come and rescue him.”

Suddenly Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” 

His final words were a prayer.  “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”  Then he bowed his head, gave up his spirit, and breathed his last.

Meanwhile, at the temple in Jerusalem, the huge curtain that blocked the entrance to the Holy of Holies was torn in two…from top to bottom. 

An earthquake occurred, strong enough to break rocks apart.

Graves were opened, and some dead saints were raised, went into Jerusalem and appeared to many. 

In awe of all that had occurred, the Roman centurion and those with him were afraid, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

The Jews didn’t want bodies left hanging around for the upcoming Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to have their legs broken to hasten their death.  They broke the legs of the criminals, but when it appeared that Jesus was already dead, they took a spear and stabbed him in the side, just to make sure.

One prominent member of the Council who had not agreed to the plot against Jesus was a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph.  In fact, he had secretly become a follower of Jesus. 

After Jesus died, this Joseph went to Pilate and asked for his body.  Pilate didn’t believe that Jesus had died so quickly, so he had it confirmed, then consented.

Joseph and a man named Nicodemus took down Jesus’ body.  They took about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes and used it while wrapping the body in clean linen strips, according to Jewish burial customs. 

Nearby there was a garden where Joseph owned a new empty tomb cut out of the rock.  They placed the body in the tomb, then rolled a large stone in front of the entrance and went away.

Mary Magdalene and another Mary saw where they laid him.  They went home to prepare spices and perfumes, and planned to come back after the Sabbath.

Meanwhile the Jewish leaders went to pester Pilate one more time.  “Pilate, you’re not going to believe this, but that deceiver predicted that in three days he would rise from the dead.  You’d better guard that tomb, otherwise his disciples might come and steal the body, then tell people he did rise from the dead.  This last deception would be worse than the first.”

Pilate consented, telling them to “make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

So they went, made the tomb as secure as possible, put a seal on the stone, and posted the guard.

“There.  That’s one body that’s not going anywhere.”

Now it’s dawn on the first day of the week.  Suddenly there was a violent earthquake as an angel of the Lord came down from heaven.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were bright white.  The guards were so afraid that they dropped like dead men.  The angel went to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome got up early to go to the tomb.  They wanted to anoint Jesus’ body, but they wondered how they would get the stone moved from the entrance.  Upon their arrival they saw that the stone was already moved.

When they looked inside, instead of Jesus’ body they saw a young man dressed in a white robe.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said.  “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  Look, he is not here!  He has risen!  Now go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he will meet them in Galilee.”

They were still in shock when suddenly two men in clothes bright as lightning stood beside them.  The women bowed with their faces to the ground, but the men said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead.  He is not here; he has risen!  Remember, he told you all this beforehand, how he would be crucified, then resurrected on the third day.”

Yes, they remembered, and they were overwhelmed.  They ran from the tomb and said nothing at first.  What could they say?  It was unbelievable.

Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter and John.  She said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So they sprinted to the tomb.  What they found instead of Jesus’ mummy-wrapped body was strips of linen lying there.  And there was the burial cloth from his head, folded up by itself. 

Peter and John went back home, but Mary stood outside the tomb, crying.  As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb – and saw two angels seated where Jesus’ body had been. 

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

At this point she turned around and saw a man standing there, who looked like the gardener.  He said, “Woman, why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”

“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Then he called her by name, “Mary.”

Suddenly she realized it was Jesus, alive and well!  She shouted, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Jesus also appeared to a group of women who had come to the tomb and found it empty.  They knelt before him and worshiped him.  He said, “Do not be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers I will meet them in Galilee.”

Meanwhile the Roman guards went back into Jerusalem and told the Jewish leaders the whole story about the angel rolling the stone away.  The chief priests and the elders came up with a plan.  They gave the soldiers a large bribe and a story to tell. 

“You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.”

“But we’ll be in trouble for sleeping on duty.”

“Don’t worry.  If this makes it back to the governor, we’ll take care of it.”

The word was spreading now, and the women reported what they saw to the disciples, who found it all hard to believe.

Later that day a man named Cleopas and a friend were walking to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  As they discussed what had been going on, Jesus himself came up and joined them, but did not reveal who he was.

Jesus asked what they were talking about, and Cleopas was shocked.  “You don’t know what’s been going on there, all this with Jesus of Nazareth?”

Jesus said, “Isn’t this exactly what the prophets foretold?”  And as they walked along Jesus revealed to them all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah.

At Emmaus they urged the stranger to eat with them.  At the table Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it.  At this point their eyes were opened and they suddenly recognized – it was Jesus!  And just as suddenly, he disappeared.

They were so excited!  They said, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us on the road as he opened the scriptures to us?”

They immediately returned to Jerusalem and found the disciples.  They told the whole story, but the disciples didn’t believe it.

While they were still talking about it, suddenly Jesus appeared in the room with them.  They thought he was a ghost, so he said, “Touch me and see.  A ghost does not have flesh and bones like this.”

He rebuked them for not believing that he was alive, and pointed out how everything had happened just as the Old Testament prophecies foretold.  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.

They still had doubts, so he asked for something to eat.  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it right there in front of them.

Now Thomas was not in the room that evening, and he doubted their story.  He said, “Unless I touch the nail marks in his hands and the wound in his side, I won’t believe it.”

A week later they were all together behind locked doors once again, and Jesus appeared.  He said to Thomas, “See my hands?  Put your finger here.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

After his resurrection Jesus appeared to hundreds of people over a period of 40 days, offering many convincing proofs that he was indeed alive.  He restored Peter.  He delivered the Great Commission, and told them to go to Jerusalem to wait for the Holy Spirit.

Finally one day he led them out near the village of Bethany.  He taught them, then lifted his hands and blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he was taken up before their very eyes until a cloud hid him from their sight.

As they looked intently up into the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

And that’s The Easter Story, as compiled from all four Gospels and placed in chronological order with help from “The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order” as well as “The Murder of Jesus” by John MacArthur.

If you would like this entire script e-mailed to you, go ahead and e-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.


© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip 
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)

Why “The Arrow’s Tip”?  Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold.  Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.”  I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.

Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
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