What Chasm Are We Building to Keep Others Out ?

-
The word Chasm (KAZ-um) noun
1. A deep hole; gorge.
2. A sudden interruption, discontinuity.
3. A difference of ideas, beliefs, or opinions.
[Latin chasma from Greek khasma.]

"Today all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty. ... The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasm that divides us has come." Nelson Mandela, Let Freedom Reign, Presidential Inaugural Address, Pretoria, South Africa, May 10, 1994.

‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.  The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.

The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.

Rich man answered:  He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.”

Father Abraham answered:  But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.  Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.”

Rich man answered:   He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.”

Father Abraham answered:  Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”

Rich man answered:   He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”

Father Abraham answered:   He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’ Luke 16:19-31NRSV

God is Love 1John 4:16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Urgent Call for Men

-
Here is a collection of some of my favorite reflections on men’s discipleship that I’ve posted on Facebook:   Why Reaching Men Is So Urgent: An Example:  Recently, my father-in-law and I had lunch. Our waitress, Stephanie (disguised name), seemed a little down so I struck up a conversation. Her car wouldn’t start and, not having much money, she was overwhelmed. She is 26 years old, a single mom with 6- and 8-year-old boys, and has no family in Orlando. The father of her children isn’t in the picture—he’s a bad actor. So she’s left to raise two sons without a father figure by earning tips. She has a younger brother who, without a positive father figure, is on the cusp of becoming a bad actor too. So I told her about the work we do with men and gave her a copy of The Man in the Mirror for him. When we said grace over lunch, I invited her to join us. She did, and I sensed that God encouraged her heart. What a perfect example of why God wants us to disciple men. Experience...
Read more

THE CROSS, JUST FOR YOU

-
Image
The Lamb of God for the World - Jesus the Christ Savior of the World- Story of the Cross When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:   And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.   Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.   And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was calle...
Read more

This is My God "I Am" Can You do This ???

-
Image
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.   And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.   And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called ...
Read more

Little Children (Adults & Children) Stay Away From...

-
Image
I Pray that you keep away from things that makes our heavenly Father God displease in His heart The Words of God, on how He feel about these things below. There are several Hebrew and Greek words which condemn the practice of witchcraft. In the Bible we find the words "witchcraft, divination, enchantments, mediums, spiritists, sorcery." All of these practices are condemned in the strongest terms. Deut 18:10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer" Deut 18:14 "For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so." 2 Kings 17:17 "Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do ...
Read more

JESUS RULES AND REIGNS FOREVER

-
Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom , that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that one which shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:14 NKJV Folks, this is talking about none other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It matters not who is in charge or how bad things get, Daniel 7:14 gives us the conclusion of God's story and it is always for our good and His glory. This verse is for you and me but it does not exclude others. We will all serve Him. We don't have to speak the same language with our tongues as long as our hearts are the same toward Him. His place of authority is a gift from our Father and He will rule forever. His area of authority shall not pass away or be destroyed. I don't know about you, but I intend to be in His camp and on His team. The election of the President in the United States occurs every four years. Elections occur at different times in...
Read more

donald trump Divided the People of United States

-
Image
God will one day deal with leaders who are Injustice to its People From the Holy Bible Matthew 24 (KJV) 24  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7  For nation shall rise agai...
Read more

David and Goliath In the Mist

-
Image
1 Samuel 17 Goliath’s Challenge Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah; and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they camped in the Valley of Elah, and assembled in battle formation to meet the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side and Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and wore a coat of scale-armor (overlapping metal plates) which weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze. He had bronze shin protectors on his legs and a bronze javelin hung between his shoulders. The [wooden] shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; the blade-head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iro...
Read more

Light of the World

-
Image
...Matthew 5: 14-16. In the passages, Jesus teaches “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.“  How often do you feel like you are the “light of the world”? This earthly life can be full of nothing but pain and tragedy if you let it. Our own human weaknesses leads us down all kinds of paths that bring nothing but mental, physical, and spiritual pain. Over and over again, we fall prey to thoughts of inadequacy, self hatred, shame, and loneliness to name just a few. I can speak knowledgeably about that having felt those emotions before, but take heart! There is a life worth living and loving meant for you…if you let it. Jesus is calling us to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good wor...
Read more

The Lord's Last Supper

-
Image
The Last Supper (Luke 22:7-23) Matthew 26:17-30 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ “ 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, th...
Read more

The Birth of the Church Pentecost

-
Image
And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place, 2 When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.  3 And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words]. 5 Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout and God-fearing men from every country under heaven. 6 And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect.  7 And they were beside themselves with amazem...
Read more