Wednesday, March 31, 2010

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

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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 
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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
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-

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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 
 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, March 29, 2010

When Something Blocks the Path to God - Apples of Gold - March 29, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 29, 2010

“When Something Blocks the Path to God”

 

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

This was the calm before the storm.

He took one cord, then laid it on top of another. 

He wrapped it around and – what was he making?

One cord after another his creation began to take shape.

Finally, with one strong tug he cinched it all into place, and there it was.

He turned and headed for the crowd, and there it was, hanging at his side but firmly in his grip.

A whip.

Jesus the gentle, the meek, the “lowly in heart,” was now wielding a whip.

What brought that on? 

Well He saw something He didn’t like.  It went directly against His grain and He wasn’t going to sit back and let it continue.  He was going to set it straight, right now.  And the whip was a tool to help Him do it.

What did He see that got Him so riled up?

We read the story in John chapter two.  Jesus had just begun His public ministry.  He had just turned the water into wine, and right after that it was time for the Passover in
Jerusalem. 

So Jesus went to Jerusalem and He walked into the temple.  And here is what He saw that turned His stomach – massive amounts of business being done right there in the outer courts of the temple complex. 

What kind of business?

The Passover brought tons of out-of-towners into Jerusalem.  They were supposed to have pure animals to sacrifice, but it was hard to make a pilgrimage like that with animals, so a lot of people just bought their animal right there at the temple.  Plus, what if you brought your own animal and a priest decided it wasn’t pure?  Then you would have to go buy one anyway.

So there they were, in the temple, selling sheep and oxen and doves.  Just imagine the chaotic scene – the noise and smell and people yelling – nothing you would not expect from a bustling marketplace.

Problem was, it wasn’t supposed to be a marketplace.  This was the house of God, the temple.  Inside was the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God.

And the outer court was to be a place of prayer for the Gentiles, but can you imagine trying to pray in that mob scene?  Instead of a holy hush, the place was a mad house of merchandise.

And don’t forget the money changers.  A bunch of foreigners means a bunch of foreign currency.  To do business you need a currency exchange, so there they sat, the money changers.  They would take your money and swap it out for a different kind of money, and charge you for the service. 

For Jesus, this was over the top, so He made a whip of cords and drove them all out of the temple, including the animals.  He scattered the changers’ money, and He dumped over the tables.   

He basically cleared the place out, and we are left with this one quote from the whole affair.  To those who sold doves Jesus said, “Take these things away.  Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise.”

It made His disciples think of Psalm 69:9, “…zeal for Your house consumes me.”

That was a good description for Jesus as He took the whip and cleared out the temple.

As written in the book of John, Jesus did that at the beginning of His ministry.  Then in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke we read that He did it again just before His crucifixion. 

The second time was similar, but no whip is mentioned, and Jesus said something different.  This time He said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

Now what can we glean from this story?  Well here’s something to think about.  The temple was to be a house of prayer.  It was a place where people could go and do business with God. 

Everyone working in the temple should have aided that process.  They should have been paving the way for people to draw near to God.

But right there at the gateway to God, they threw up a massive, chaotic roadblock. 

In a separate incident, in Matthew 23:13, Jesus pronounced a woe upon the Jewish leaders for shutting the kingdom of heaven right in men’s faces.  He said, “You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Perhaps that’s one reason why Jesus finally drew a big line in the sand and physically drove them out of the temple.

And it’s something we need to examine in our own life and our own church.  Are we helping people enter the kingdom of heaven, or are we impeding them?  Are we making straight the way of the Lord or are we making it more difficult?

Well if we look and we find a roadblock, we can follow the example of Jesus.

We can take decisive action, clear the roadblock, and get back to the business of helping people into the presence 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, March 26, 2010

Pray for People - Apples of Gold - March 26, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 26, 2010

“Pray for People”

 

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

I know this sounds simple, like it doesn’t even need to be said.

But I just want to remind you to take time to pray for people.

Intercede for people.  Call out their name to the Lord.  Ask for God to intervene in their life.

James 5:16 says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  The New Living Translation words it this way, “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

I know, I know, it’s hard to connect cause and effect.  You pray, and even if something does happen, was it because you prayed?

Last week my dad, who has a history of heart problems, suddenly had severe chest pain.  We did two things.  We rushed him to the hospital, and we prayed for him; and we sent out text messages asking others to pray.  My children and their friends gathered around at a party and prayed for my dad.

And his pain went away.

The doctors did all their tests, but everything was fine.

Was it because we prayed?  I can’t prove it, but I sure believe in prayer.  I believe that prayer can change things, so I pray.

Yesterday my wife had a routine surgery, but have you ever had the doctors warn you about what could happen in a routine surgery?  It’s enough to turn your stomach.

So what did I do?  I prayed.  I prayed leading up to the surgery.  I prayed for the doctors and the nurses and everything I could think of.  I prayed during the surgery.  I asked others to pray. 

And everything went perfectly.  The surgeon came out to talk to me and she couldn’t have been happier.

Was it because we prayed?  I can’t prove it, but I sure believe in prayer.

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus said that when we pray to our heavenly Father, He will reward us.

I prayed for years that my children would marry good godly Christian spouses.  Last year two of them were married and whom did they marry?  Good godly Christian spouses.

Was it because I prayed?  I can’t say for sure, but it sure didn’t hurt. 

No, not everything I’ve prayed for has happened, but I won’t let that stop me from praying.  I’m going to pray and pray and pray. 

I pray for people I see everyday, and I pray for people I haven’t seen in ages.  Often I will just pray and intercede for people as they come to my mind during prayer times.  When you commit time to pray for people, you will be amazed at the variety of people that pops into your head.

How do you know what to pray for people? 

Well look at First John 5.  It says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

So we want to pray according to God’s will.  And it’s pretty easy to determine God’s will for someone when we pray according to Scripture.

One thing I do is pray along with prayers I find in the Bible.  For example, in Ephesians 1:17 Paul said, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.”

That is a prayer you can confidently pray for others.  “Lord, I pray for my son that You will give him the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that he can know You better.”

See how that works?  You are praying according to Scripture, which should boost your confidence level through the roof that you are praying according to God’s will.  And First John 5 says that if we ask anything according to God’s will, then God hears us, and if He hears us, we get what we ask for.

Today I am reminding you to pray for people.  Now maybe you used to pray more for people, but you got away from it.  Or maybe it didn’t seem to do any good.

Well don’t give up!  It is important to be persistent in prayer. 

In Luke 18 Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow, and what was the point?  To show His disciples that they should “always pray and not give up.”

I’ve heard some people say, “Well, the biggest thing prayer changes is me.”

Yes, prayer will change you, but it’s so much bigger than that.  Prayer will change the world.

James 5 reminds us of Elijah who prayed that it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t, and then prayed that it would rain and it did.  And James said, “Elijah was a man just like us.”

Prayer worked for Elijah and it will work for us. 

So as we head into this Palm Sunday weekend, please find some time to pray.

Take time out to seek the Lord, to intercede and to earnestly pray for people.


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, March 24, 2010

He Liked It All, But How Often He Had Liked It Already - Apples of Gold - March 24, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 24, 2010

“He Liked It All, But How Often He Had Liked It Already”

 

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

He fell in love with Anna because she was so beautiful.

Something about her bewitched him.  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.  He was in love and he knew he had to have her.

One problem, though.  She was married.

Fortunately for him, she was not happily married, and he used that to his advantage.  Through his own charms he drew her in, and soon they were having a torrid affair.

Eventually she left her husband and moved in with him, but as you can imagine, the road was rocky.  Her husband would not grant her a divorce, plus her lover would go away on business, which caused Anna great anxiety.

She was a mother, but not a very good one.  She was more consumed with her own desires, and what she wanted was the undivided devotion of her lover, Alexei Vronsky.

Yes, he was Russian.  They were all Russian in this classic novel “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy.

And the weight of the story swings on this one hinge, Vronsky’s powerful attraction to Anna’s appearance.  If Vronsky doesn’t think she is pretty, or even if he controls his attraction, there’s no story.  There’s no affair.  Anna is at home with her husband and children instead of ripping her family to shreds to be with Vronsky.  It all came down to this one point, Vronsky found her attractive.

Anna was not unaware of this and she worked hard to keep herself attractive in his eyes.  Her hair, her dress, it was all carefully planned to appeal to Vronsky.

But there is one thing she didn’t count on.  No matter how beautiful something is, people still grow tired of looking at it. 

That’s what happened to Vronsky, and it came out in one of my favorite quotes from the book. 

At one point Anna was standing in front of him and Vronsky took a long look – her stylish hair, her fancy clothes – and this is what he thought.  Here is this wonderful quote:  “He liked it all, but how often he had liked it already!”

That is a powerful lesson for all of us.  If you are attracted to someone just for their appearance, you must keep in mind that that attraction will fade, no matter how beautiful or handsome they are.  The spell will wear off and you will be left with whatever is left.

In Vronsky’s case, he was left with a woman who was clinging to him, who was holding him back from his professional aspirations.  It was a woman with low character, willing to cheat on her husband and neglect her children.  She lacked loyalty and faithfulness. 

At first he didn’t take into account all these negative characteristics because he was blinded by her beauty.  But after a while he got used to her beauty and began to see beyond it to what was left – and he didn’t like what he saw.

I thought about all this when I heard that Sandra Bullock’s husband was cheating on her.  One person said, “How could he cheat on her?  I mean, look at her.”

What they were saying was, “She is so beautiful, how could anyone cheat on her?”

And I was reminded of Vronsky’s quote, “He liked it all, but how often he had liked it already!”

This should be an eye-opener for all you married men.  Maybe you’ve been married for a while.  Maybe you have a couple of kids.  Maybe your wife doesn’t look quite the same as the woman you married.

Meanwhile, in walks the office hottie.  She has the hair and the clothes and the makeup.  She is hot, and you feel yourself being sucked into her vortex. 

Well there’s nothing new under the sun.  This has happened a million times.  Don’t think this is something new or special or “written in the stars.” 

Try to step back and see the end from the beginning.  If you allow yourself to play the game, to get involved with this woman just because she is so attractive, remember, that the attraction will fade and what will you be left with?

Meanwhile, back at home you have a partner for life, what the Bible calls a “help meet,” a “helper.”  The two shall become one flesh.  That’s the wife of your youth, the mother of your children, ‘til death do you part.

That is the foundation you should build on.  That is the garden you should tend.  That is the flower you must care for.

If you allow yourself to be attracted by another woman’s beauty to the detriment of your marriage, you are playing the fool. 

And you single men, this is a warning for you.  Perhaps you have a fine young woman in your life with good, godly character, but gee, she isn’t quite the drop-dead beauty you were hoping for.  She doesn’t look like the babes in the magazines and the movies.  Meanwhile, there is a pretty girl you have your eye on, but she doesn’t quite have the godly character.

Listen to me.  Don’t compromise on character.  If you find a godly woman with high principles, don’t push her aside because you might have a chance at a perfect 10. 

Single and married men alike.  We all need to learn the lesson that Vronsky learned too late, and that is, no matter how beautiful a woman is, and no matter how much you could just sit and stare at her now and soak it all in, eventually that will wear off, and then what?  What will you be left with? 

So remember Vronsky’s desperate words when Anna’s spell finally wore off.

“He liked it all, but how often he had liked it already.”


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 23, 2010

Psalm 1: The Remix (Blessed Is That Man) - Apples of Gold - March 23, 2010 -vi-

You might want to listen to the original radio version of this one to get the full effect.

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 23, 2010

“Psalm 1: The Remix (Blessed Is That Man)”

 

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

And now, for your entertainment and inspiration, I present to you, “Psalm 1:  The Remix.”

(begin music)

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly (following their advice, their plans and purposes).

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

He does not stand in the way of sinners.

Nor standeth in the way of sinners.

Nor stands (submissive and inactive) in the path where sinners walk.

He doesn’t stand around with sinners!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

He does not sit in the seat of mockers.

Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Nor sits down (to relax and rest) where the scornful (and the mockers) gather.

He does not join in with mockers!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

His delight is in the law of the Lord.

His delight and desire are in the law of the Lord (His precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God).

And on His law he meditates day and night.

In His law doth he meditate day and night.

And on His law he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

He meditates on it day and night!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

He is like a tree planted by streams of water.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

And he shall be like a tree firmly planted (and tended) by the streams of water.

He is like a tree planted along the riverbank!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

Which yields its fruit in season.

That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.

He bears fruit each season!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

Whose leaf does not wither.

His leaf shall not fade or wither.

His leaves never wither!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

Whatever he does prospers.

And whatever he does shall prosper.

And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

And everything he does shall prosper (and come to maturity).

He prospers in all he does!

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man.)

Not so the wicked.

The ungodly are not so.

Those disobedient and living without God are not so.

They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Which the wind driveth away.

They are scattered by the wind!

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment.

The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.

Those disobedient and living without God shall not stand (justified) in the judgment.

They will be condemned at the time of judgment!

Sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous.

They have no place among the godly!

The way of the wicked will perish.

The way of the ungodly shall perish.

Those living outside God’s will shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

The path of the wicked leads to destruction!

But the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.

The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous.

The Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous.

Blessed is that man.  (Blessed is that man).

Blessed is that man.

(music fades)



Scriptures taken from the New International Version, the King James Version, the New King James Version, the Amplified Bible and the New Living Translation.

© 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, March 22, 2010

This Really Is Next to Godliness - Apples of Gold - March 22, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 22, 2010

“This Really Is Next to Godliness”

 

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

Okay, here is a question for you.

Which student is going to do better in school, the kid with the higher IQ, or the kid with more self-control?

The answer is:  the student with more self-control.

That’s according to Angela Lee Duckworth at the
University of Pennsylvania.  She experimented with 8th graders by telling them they could have one dollar now or two dollars next week.  The students who had the self-control to wait for the two dollars turned out to be the same students who performed better academically.

That’s similar to an experiment conducted at Stanford back in the 60’s.  They offered small children a marshmallow now, or two marshmallows if they could wait while the adult stepped out for a moment.  Over the years they found that the children with more self-control ended up doing better in school and professionally. 

Last year New Yorker magazine tracked down two of those kids, a brother and a sister.  The brother who lacked self-control and gobbled down his one marshmallow ended up bouncing around doing a lot of different jobs.  The sister who was able to wait for the second marshmallow ended up getting her Ph.D. from Princeton.*

The conclusion?  Duckworth said, “Intelligence is really important, but it’s still not as important as self-control.”

“Well Doug, I would love to have more self-control, but how?”

Here is what the experimenters found with the children and the marshmallows.  The kids with more self-control did things to take their mind off the marshmallow sitting in front of them.  Some turned their back.  Some covered their eyes.  Some even crawled under the desk.

That is an excellent tip for all of us.  If you want more self-control in an area, then distract yourself, get your mind off the alternatives.

I run into this all the time when I am running.  About three times a week I go for a jog through my neighborhood.  It’s basically a figure 8, so at one point I run past the road that goes back to my house.  It’s like a tempting little shortcut.  “The pain could be over.  End it now.  Go home.  Turn right.  Turn right!”

The best thing I can do is to not think about it at all.  I try to get my mind on something else entirely, and the next thing I know, my run is over and I didn’t even think about the shortcut.

A great way to more self-control is to think about the end result you want instead of the immediate gratification.  I look into the future at two alternatives, a nice flat stomach or a big round one flopped over my belt.  That right there is enough to boost my self-control and keep me running.

So what makes the difference between those who have self-control and those who don’t?  One researcher calls it “strategic allocation of attention.”  Again, it boils down to what you allow yourself to think about.  If you focus on how good a Krispy Kreme donut will taste right before it greases its way down your gullet, then you’re probably going to end up at the Krispy Kreme counter.  But if you focus on that flat stomach, then your Krispy Kreme dreams will evaporate.

This is what researchers have discovered about self-control.  I’ve shared two observations:  one, that self-control is even more important than intelligence; and two, that self-control comes down to what you allow yourself to think about.

So why am I talking about self-control?  Because the Bible talks about self-control.

Have you ever heard the phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness”?  Well that is not in the Bible, but you could make a good case for this phrase, “self-control is next to godliness.”

In Second Peter 1:6 we find a list of attributes, and right there near godliness is self-control.

In Galatians 5, self-control is listed as a fruit of the Spirit.

The Bible says that church leaders are to be “self-controlled.”

Paul told Titus to teach the older men to be self-controlled; and the younger men.  The older women are to teach the younger women to be self-controlled.

Now listen to this.  Self-control propels you farther.  Where do you want to go?  Self-control will get you there faster. 

When I was a kid we played with Hot Wheels, which were cool little cars.  Yes, you could push them and watch them go across the floor, but they always turned this way or that, curving in who-knows-what direction.  They lacked control.

But if you put them on a long orange strip of Hot Wheels track – now they’re going somewhere!  They can go a long way with just that tiny bit of control you get from the edge on the track.

That’s the way self-control works in our life.  We can go so much farther so much faster with just a little bit of self-control.

And remember, self-control is not just a good idea.  It’s not out of some self-help book from the Oprah book club.

Self-control is in the Bible, and when you look it up, this is what you will find.

Self-control really is next to godliness.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=1

© 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, March 19, 2010

I Am Remapping My Brain - Apples of Gold - March 19, 2010 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for March 19, 2010

“I Am Remapping My Brain”

 

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

Have you heard of brain remapping?

Well have you ever seen one of those brain diagrams that says things like, “This part of the brain controls your breathing, this part controls your coordination, and this part your personality”?

You might call that a “brain map,” but what we’ve discovered is that the brain is organic, and its “map” is not quite as rigid as you might think.

For example – stroke victims.  A stroke can damage part of your brain.  Does that mean you have completely lost the abilities that were in that part of your brain? 

Not necessarily.  Researchers discovered that a kind of morphing can take place, where another part of the brain takes over the duties of the damaged part.

Some call it brain remapping.

Our brain is an astounding gift.  According to livescience.com the human brain has “about 100 billion neurons and tens of trillions of synapses that represent millions of miles of wiring between neurons.”*

And now let me tell you what I’m doing. 

I am remapping my own brain.

At least that’s what I call it.  I’ll get into that in a minute, but right now I want to bring up something else.

I read an article this week about men hooked on porn who gave it up cold turkey.  They found that, after a few weeks, they were more social and more confident.  They could look people in the eye.  Their whole outlook on life changed as they distanced themselves from their daily intake of filth. 

To me, that’s a form of brain remapping.  The synapses that were firing for the porn were no longer firing.  Meanwhile, other synapses were coming to life, and it changed the outlook of the brain.

That may not be the same remapping the scientists are talking about, but it does occur.  You can change things in your brain, and that’s what I’m calling brain remapping.  It’s like your brain was wired for one thing, but you are rewiring it for something else.

Now back to what I said about remapping my own brain.  I think that’s what I’m doing through extensive Bible memorization.  By constantly repeating and dwelling on lengthy passages of Scripture, I think it is restructuring the landscape of my brain.

Now maybe it’s not literal.  Maybe a brain scan wouldn’t reveal it.  But if you could scan my mind it would be there.

I’ve said before that my current project is to memorize the entire book of John before I turn 50.  I’m 46 now, and I’m halfway through chapter 2.  Last year I memorized the book of Colossians, and before that Ephesians. 

So now I spend a lot of time repeating the new verses in the book of John, and every week or two I review all the verses in Ephesians and Colossians.  And I must say, I am amazed at how well I can recall all those verses, even if I go 2 or 3 weeks without thinking about them.  As long as I do a tune-up every now and then, I can keep those synapses firing.

Fifteen or 20 years ago I memorized the book of James, but I did not maintain it.  Yes, I can still remember what James says, but I certainly can’t rattle it off verse by verse.  This time I’m not going to let that happen, so I keep going over the verses so I don’t lose them.

And by doing that I’m “remapping” my brain.  I think in some way I am actually rewiring my brain.

There is a scriptural precedent for such a thing.  Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. 

It says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…”  I think that includes this world’s pattern of thinking.  How do we change our pattern of thinking?  One way is by changing what we spend time thinking about. 

All the time I’ve spent memorizing the Word of God has really changed the pattern of my thinking.

Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be renewed in our mind.

Philippians 3:19 says that some people’s mind is on earthly things, but Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our mind on heavenly things.

The more we dwell on earthly things, the more our mind bends in that direction.  But the more we dwell on the things of God, the more our mind bends in that direction.

So with all this Bible memorization and Bible study, I really do think it’s remapping my brain.

The result is a change in the way I see the world.  When I read something, I read it with my remapped brain.  When I come home to my family, I come home with a remapped brain – not with worldliness but with godliness.

I can literally tell the difference.  It has really changed the way I see life.

So are you in a funk?  Is your thinking in a rut?  Do you wish you could just trade your brain in for a fresher model?

Well you don’t need a new brain.  Your current edition has a million miles of wiring to work with; you just need to do a little cartography, so here is my advice.

Use the Word of God to remap your brain.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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

http://www.livescience.com/health/human-brain-map-challenges-100310.html



© 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-