What Easter Means to Me - Apples of Gold - April 22, 2011 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 22, 2011

“What Easter Means to Me”

 

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

Here is what Easter means to me.

Oops, I’ve only said one thing so far, and already somebody’s annoyed with me for using the word “Easter.”

Yes, I’ve heard for years about the pagan roots of the word Easter, but language is fluid, just ask Fred Flintstone who sang about having a “gay old time.”  The meaning and connotation of words can change over time.

For me, Easter has always meant the story of the death and the resurrection of Christ.  It was the same for my parents and my grandparents and who knows how far back you’d have to go before you ran into someone who thought Easter meant anything but “He’s alive!”

I remember sitting in church with a bunch of family members singing those great hymns of Easter such as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and “Christ Arose.”  I remember Dad putting a big cross in our yard and draping a purple cloth over it at Easter.  Yes, we did Easter baskets and Easter eggs, and there was never any doubt that it had anything to with anything other than celebrating the awesome resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

So the word Easter may have some funky origins, but to me it stirs up nothing but a thrill in my soul of the crowning moment of our Lord’s work here on earth.

And now, here is what Easter means to me – and I will simplify it into three categories.

First of all, it means forgiveness.

Ephesians 1:7 says we have redemption through the blood of Christ, “the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.”

Jesus shed His blood as He offered Himself up as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  He paid the price for our forgiveness.

That means, through Him, my sins are forgiven!  I don’t have to live under a burden of guilt or shame.  I am clean through Christ!  Though my sins were as scarlet, they have been washed whiter than snow.

And that leads me to the second thing that Easter means to me.  Forgiveness makes it possible for me to have a relationship with my heavenly Father. 

Ephesians 2:16 says that I have been reconciled to God “in one body through the cross.”  Sin created a giant gulf between me and my Creator, but Jesus’ work on the cross spanned that gulf.  As it says in Ephesians 2:13, I have been “brought near by the blood of Christ.”

And not just “near,” but listen to this.  God now lives inside me in the form of His Holy Spirit.  Jesus said in John 14:7 that the Spirit would dwell with us and even be inside of us.  I love this phrase in Ephesians 3:16, “…to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…”

So to me, Easter means forgiveness through Christ, and that forgiveness paved the way for God to live inside me.  His Holy Spirit dwells in me, and He bears good fruit – all the “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5 including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  He loves me and comforts me and teaches me and leads me into all truth and brings fulfillment and purpose to my life; and that all goes back to what we celebrate on Easter.

And now the third thing that Easter means to me:  hope for the future. 

Titus 3:7 says that, “having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Colossians 1:5 talks about the hope we have because of what God has laid up for us in heaven.

Romans 8 says that, right now, we have the “firstfruits of the Spirit,” but we are eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.  For we were saved in this hope…”

Peter called it “a living hope.”  Listen to First Peter 1:3.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

My life does not end in the grave.  The work of Jesus opened the door for me to have eternal life, and I have great expectations for the future!

So there you go, the three main things that stand out to me at Easter: 
--That I am forgiven through faith in the shed blood of Jesus,
--That His forgiveness opens the door for the Holy Spirit to live inside me for the rest of my life on earth,
--And that His forgiveness gives me the hope of eternal life.  And thus, like it says in First Thessalonians 4:17, I shall always be with the Lord. 

And that’s what Easter means to me.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


© 2011 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-

I Was 28 and I Owned a Beer Joint - Apples of Gold - April 18, 2011 -vi-

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Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 18, 2011

“I Was 28 and I Owned a Beer Joint”

 

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

“I was 28, and I owned a beer joint.”

That’s what Phil Robertson told me last week.

Phil is in his 60’s now, and is best known as The Duck Commander on the hit TV show on the Outdoor Channel. 

Growing up in Louisiana, Phil was always an outdoors enthusiast, but something changed his life when he was 28 and running that beer joint.

“Some guy came up there,” Phil said, “and wanted to share some things with me out of the Bible.”

Now can you imagine tracking down the owner of your local bar and trying to tell him about Jesus and his eternal destiny?  How do you think that would go?

Well that’s about how it went for the guy who talked to Phil Robertson. 

“I pretty well ran him off,” Phil said.

I’m sure that wasn’t that guy’s best day.  I don’t know why he went to talk to Phil, but maybe he felt God prompting him.  Maybe he felt a certain burden for Phil Robertson, so he worked up the courage, went to the beer joint and shared Jesus with him. 

Can you see him licking his wounds afterward?  “God, why did You send me there?  What a waste of time.  It was embarrassing!”

Now listen to this.  When you share Jesus with someone and it doesn’t go well, that’s usually not the end of it.  You have planted some powerful seeds in that person’s heart and mind.

That was the case for Phil Robertson.  After he ran the guy off, he got to thinking, “You know, if he had enough gall to come to some beer joint, I might want to look that cat up because, my life was pretty well in shambles, I’ll tell you that.”

Long story short, Phil came to Christ and now says, “Trust me, the second half of my life has been a lot better than the first half.”

And now Phil shares his faith all over the place, including at a huge gathering of outdoorsmen in the Super Dome. 

And it all goes back to that guy who was willing to do the uncomfortable thing of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the owner of a bar.

In Luke 16, Jesus shared an interesting story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus.  They both died.  The beggar was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man was tormented in Hades.  The rich man cried out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Abraham told him it couldn’t be done.  Then the rich man said, “I beg you…send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.”

Again Abraham said it couldn’t be done, but here is where we need to stop and think for a minute.

The rich man was pleading with Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, to spare them from also coming to the place of torment.

“Send Lazarus to my brothers,” he was begging.

Lazarus couldn’t go, but guess what?  We can. 

Perhaps dead loved ones are crying out from Hades right now, “Send someone to my brothers and sisters, that they may be spared this torment.”

Years ago, one man answered that call, walked in a beer joint and shared Jesus with Phil Robertson. 

There was probably a time in your life when someone risked rejection, went out of their way and shared Jesus with you.

And now it’s time for us to share Jesus with others.

And you know what?  This is a great week to do it.

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are on the way, a perfect time to talk about Jesus’ death and resurrection and what it all means.

And if you aren’t sure what to say, just invite them to church.  Lots of people are willing to go to church on Easter weekend.

So be motivated by these two stories today:  the rich man begging for someone to warn his brothers, and the man who went out of his way to share Jesus with Phil Robertson.


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


© 2011 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-

Can You Hear the Prophetic Voice? - Apples of Gold - April 6, 2011 -vi-

Click here to listen to the radio version.   

Click here to search the AOG archives.

Apples of Gold
 

Radio Script for April 6, 2011

“Can You Hear the Prophetic Voice?”

 

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

Make straight the way of the Lord.

That’s what John the Baptist said, and he was quoting the prophet Isaiah.

He was the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”

Can you hear that prophetic voice calling out to you today?

It’s a calling to higher ground, to a more God-filled, God-pleasing, God-centered life.

It’s a call to take a cleaver and hack the worldly fat from our lives. 

Ephesians 4:22 says to put off the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

You might think that Christians don’t have to deal with the “old man,” our old sin nature, but there it is, right there in the Bible:  put off the old man which grows corrupt.

Notice that it says grows corrupt.  If we don’t put off the old man, if we don’t hack the worldly fat from our lives, it won’t just lie dormant.  It will grow more corrupt. 

I’m going to church tonight.  I could skip it.  In fact, I was tempted to.  I saw in the paper that a Harvard professor will be speaking tonight in Tallahassee about the Civil War.  I’d love to go, but while I was thinking about it, something rose up inside me that said I need to go to church and draw near to God. 

I am faithful to the congregation of the saints, and one reason is to keep that old man at bay. 

My daughter and I were watching a show and a woman in the show ended up weeping on the floor.  I turned to my daughter and said, “Of course she ended up like this.  She built her life on worldly sand instead of the Word of God, and when you do that, you’ll always eventually end up with your foundation crumbling beneath you.”

I don’t want my foundation to crumble, so I must build on the sure foundation of Christ and His Word.  Sure, I could go hear the Harvard professor tonight.  I’m not legalistically bound to go to a church service, but I want to keep my focus on God.  I want more of God and less of the world.  I want less of the old man and more of the Solid Rock.

Colossians 1:23 says, “…if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel…”

That’s exactly what I want, to be grounded and steadfast in the faith.  I want to walk worthy of the Lord. 

Colossians 1:10 says, “…walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God…”

There’s nothing wrong with increasing in the knowledge of the Civil War, but my higher purpose for this evening is to increase in the knowledge of God.

I want to walk worthy of the Lord, don’t you?

I want to walk worthy of the calling with which I was called, as it says in Ephesians 4:1.

I want to walk worthy of God, who has called me into His kingdom and glory.  (First Thessalonians 2:12)

Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk in the Spirit, then we won’t gratify the desires of the flesh.

So how do I put off that old man which grows corrupt?  By walking in the Spirit, by living according to the directives of the Holy Spirit.

Walk in the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the old carnal flesh.

A lot of people do just that.  They live entirely to fulfill the desires of the flesh, but they are building their lives on sand.

I don’t want to build on sand.  I don’t want to waste time on things that are here today and crumble tomorrow because the foundation was pathetic.

I want to build on the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.

Jesus told a man he healed, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”  If I walk in the flesh, if I listen to that old carnal man, if I live a worldly life, I have every reason to believe that some “worse thing” may come upon me.

Ephesians 5:1 says, “…be imitators of God as dear children.”

Children imitate their parents by being around them and mimicking them.  I want to be around the Lord so I can take on His characteristics.

So I draw near to God, and He draws near to me.  (James 4:8)  I read His Word and listen for the voice of His Spirit.  I want to hack away the worldly fat that slows me down, and put off the old man which grows corrupt.

I want to be grounded and steadfast in the faith, and walk worthy of the Lord.

And that’s why that prophetic voice is ringing in my soul today, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”


Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

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


© 2011 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-