The Optimist Says, The Pessimist Says

Peter, James, and John spent all night fishing and had caught nothing. As they were washing out their nets, Jesus told them to go back out and let down their nets and then they would catch fish (Luke 5:1-5). Suppose an optimist and a pessimist were also on the boat. Which one is you?

The Pessimist says:  "Go out again? Why didn’t you tell us this before we washed out our nets? We already wasted an entire night out there. The fish aren’t out there! It won’t do any good.” The Optimist says:  "It doesn’t make sense, but I will trust you even though I don’t understand.”

God did have a purpose for their empty nets. It was to show them that He could provide for them when their own efforts failed. When they threw out their nets, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break (Luke 5:6). Pessimist says: “Oh no! The nets are breaking so now I’ve got to repair them.” Optimist says: “Look at all the fish! We can sell them and buy new nets and a new boat. Thank you, Jesus!”

The pessimist complains when the nets are empty, and complains again when the nets are full! We can choose to look at the positive side of each situation or the negative side. The optimist sees the donut. The pessimist sees the hole.

They filled both of the boats with so many fish that they began to sink (Luke 5:7). Pessimist says: “Oh no! God is sinking our boats! These nets are so heavy! My back is killing me! Call a doctor. I think I threw my back out. I'll sue!" Optimist says: “Wow! God is blessing our boats! This is great! I've never seen a haul like this before. Only God could do this!” 

And when they had brought their boats to the land, they left everything and followed Him. (Luke 5:11) They left their boats behind. They left behind their tremendous haul of fish they had just caught because they found a higher calling. Pessimist says: “I’m losing my fishing business!” Optimist says: “I’m gaining eternal life!”

Peter and the other disciples were convinced if Jesus could provide that many fish, then He could provide all their other needs as well if they followed Him. Many people have never figured that out. Have you? But first you might have to leave your “fish” behind. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

CLICK HERE to read Alleged Mistakes in the Bible 

Taking Communion on the Moon?

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 became the first manned vehicle to land on the moon. Nearly everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, but few remember the second man was Buzz Aldrin. Even fewer remember that Buzz Aldrin was the first man to observe the Lord’s Supper on the moon.

He was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church in Texas at the time, so he asked his pastor to provide the elements to take to the moon. Aldrin and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Buzz read John 15:5 and swallowed the bread and wine inside the lunar module. Aldrin later said, “The very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements. And some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the earth and the moon.” 

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). I have to wonder if Jesus knew that Communion (also known as the Eucharist) would one day be celebrated on the moon. Since He knew all things (John 18:4, 19:28), He certainly did know. When Mary anointed Jesus with perfume, He said, "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her” (Matt. 26:13).

His statement sounded impossible, but Jesus knew a Bible would be written in the future and this event would be recorded in it. Today the New Testament has been translated into 2,300 languages. Bibles have been distributed worldwide, and the story about Mary anointing Him with perfume is recorded in each one of them.

He never said, “Truly I say to you, this supper will be celebrated on the moon.” It would be too much for anyone to believe, at least until 1969. We don’t take the Lord’s Supper to remember it was celebrated on the moon. We take it to remember Jesus died for our sins, and we’ll continue to observe it until He returns and we’re in His kingdom (1 Cor. 11:26, Matt. 26:29).  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

CLICK HERE for How to Answer Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses 

Sports Superstitions

I love football, and on gameday I usually wear a shirt to show support for my favorite college team. You probably do the same thing for your team. However, some athletes think they will actually play better by following certain rituals. 

Baseball legend Babe Ruth stepped on home plate with his right foot at precisely 3:15 pm before every home game. He never allowed anyone to clean his cap, believing all his home run power lived in the dirt and sweat stains. NBA star LeBron James throws powder in the air before each basketball game. Golf star Tiger Woods wears a red shirt on the final day of major tournaments believing the red color helps him perform at this best. 

Many sports fans also do certain rituals, hoping it will help their team to win. If their team is losing, they’ll turn their caps around backwards, thinking it will turn the score around. I know a football fan who believes if he watches his favorite team play on TV, they will start losing. But if he will quit watching the game, his team will start winning. Of course, not watching the game has nothing to do with his team winning. Its just a superstition.

A superstition is a false belief that doing certain rituals, or not doing them, can control outcomes and bring good or bad luck. A survey of 2,400 sports fans revealed that two-thirds are superstitious when it comes to game day: 50% wear a specific jersey every time their team plays, 44% won’t wash it until the end of the season, 42% will sit in a specific spot, and 62% blamed themselves for the team’s loss because they weren’t wearing the right shirt, or moved from their spot on the couch during the game. There’s nothing wrong with wearing a jersey, but believing that not washing it helps your team win? Really?  

First Timothy 4:7 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths.” Not just sports superstitions, not just pagan superstitions (Isa. 2:6), but also religious superstitions such as putting statues of Jesus or angels around their house for protection or blessing. That’s putting their faith in an inanimate object, which is idolatry (1 John 5:21). 

So have fun watching your team, and it’s okay to wear that jersey with your hat on backwards. Just don’t think it has anything to do with winning or losing. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

CLICK HERE to read Theological Bible Studies 

The Hardest Part in Learning to Swim

When I was a kid, I took swimming lessons at the local neighborhood pool. The easy part was when I grabbed on to the side of the pool while someone held me up as I learned how to kick. I passed with flying colors! Then came the hardest part of swimming—learning how to float. The instructor told me the water would hold me up if I would just relax.

Many people say, “I haven’t learned how to swim,” but what they really mean is “I haven’t learned how to float.” Once you figure out how to do that, swimming becomes easy.

I had thrown rocks and other objects into a lake and all of them sank to the bottom. It was hard for me to believe the water would hold me up because I was much heavier than the rocks I threw. My instructor told me to lay flat as he held me up by the stomach. Then, he let go. Just as I expected, I immediately sank! I went home that day embarrassed and frustrated.

The next time I went to the neighborhood pool, I tried again to float, but my feet would immediately drop down so I could stand up. I didn’t fool anyone when I did that awkward “half swim” where I walked along the bottom of the pool while moving my arms like I was swimming.

Then one day, I quit trying to float. Instead, I held my breath, put my face in the water and just went limp. For the first time in my life, I floated. The crazy thing was—the key to floating is not trying to float. When I totally surrendered to the water and quit struggling, the water held me up.

That’s how we learn to trust God. Inwardly we go limp. We quit trying in our own strength and submit to His power to hold us up. We say, “Lord, I’m completely depending on you to come through for me.” David continually put his trust in God. He said, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You ... In God I will put my trust; I shall not be afraid” (Ps. 56:3, 4).

Just like I learned to float by trusting the water to hold me up, David learned to trust God by putting his confidence in the Lord to hold him up. And we must do the same. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

CLICK HERE for Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 

What Did the Surgeon Find in His Heart?

A little boy with heart problems was scheduled to have open heart surgery. The surgeon explained to him what was about to happen. “Tomorrow I will open up your heart…” The boy interrupted him and said, “You’ll find Jesus in there.” 

The doctor started over. “Tomorrow I’ll open your heart to see how much damage has been done…” The boy interrupted again. “When you open my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there. The Bible says He lives in my heart.” 

 

The surgeon, annoyed by the boy’s interruptions, turned to his parents, who sat quietly by their son. He explained to them about the possible damage and what might be done to correct it. Then he told the boy, “I’ll look in your heart too see what I can find…”  Again, the boy said, “And you’ll find Jesus in there.” 

 

The next day, the operation revealed the boy had a damaged aorta, a damaged pulmonary vein, and widespread muscle degeneration. There was no hope for a cure or a transplant. The boy wouldn’t live much longer. 

 

The surgeon went back to his office and quietly wept. Another doctor, who knew he had performed surgery on a child, stopped by and asked, “What did you find when you looked in his heart?” With tears dripping down his face, the surgeon looked up and said, “I found Jesus in there.” (source unknown) 

People find Jesus at different times and in different ways. The Lord wants everyone to find Him, but first we must open our hearts to Him. Some find Jesus when they learn about Him at church as a child. Others open their hearts to the Lord after a tragedy occurs. Some people find Jesus when they receive a shocking medical report. God says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). 

When we find Jesus, He literally comes to live in our hearts, just as the little boy said. Paul wrote, “I pray that Christ will live in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:17). You can’t see Him, but He truly does live inside every believer. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

CLICK HERE for studies on Evolution vs Creation  

It All Went Up in Smoke

After spending months writing his book The French Revolution, Thomas Carlyle took his manuscript to his friend John Stuart Mill for his comments. Mill passed the manuscript on to a lady named Mrs. Chapman, who read it by the fireplace on the evening of March 5, 1834. Before she went to bed she laid the manuscript on the mantel.

The next day, the maid came to clean the room and start the fire in the fireplace. Mistaking it as trash, she used the manuscript as fuel to start the fire and burned up the book! Carlyle had to start over and rewrite the entire manuscript.

The same thing happened to the prophet Jeremiah. God told him to write on a scroll everything He had spoken concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations (Jer. 36:2). That covered 22 years, and it would soon be burned in a fireplace.

Jeremiah spent about a year dictating the words to Baruch the scribe, who wrote them down. Because the message called for everyone to turn from their evil ways, it was never going to be a New York Times bestseller. The scroll was taken to evil King Jehoiakim to be read.

The king was in his house with a fire burning in the fireplace. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king grabbed it, cut it with a knife, and threw it into the fire, destroying the entire scroll (36:2-23). The king tried to seize Jeremiah and Baruch, but the Lord hid them (36:26).

It had to be devastating for Jeremiah to see all his work go up in smoke. Then God told him to start over and write it again! He took another scroll and rewrote all the words on the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned, plus more information (36:28-32). 

Maybe you need to start over because everything you had before went up in smoke. You’ve lost your job. You’ve lost your reputation. Your house burned down. You got divorced. You’ve lost a loved one. Like a burned-up manuscript, all you have left are a pile of ashes.

However, the Lord still has a good plan for the rest of your life. He will give you “beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and the garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair” (Isa. 61:3). God will help you start over. Don’t say that you can’t. You can and you will!  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

CLICK HERE for End Times & Bible Prophecy studies 

We Act on What We Believe to be True

In the days before cell phones, a woman received a phone call while her husband was out delivering packages for UPS. The caller said, “Mrs. Williamson, this is Dr. Chandler. I’m sorry to inform you that your husband is in the hospital with a life-threatening disease and may die. We need a hair sample from you immediately to run some tests because we believe you may have also contracted this disease.”

 The wife was shaken when she heard the shocking news. The doctor instructed her to cut off all her hair at the roots and bring them in. She clipped off all her hair until she was bald and asked what to do next. The man replied, “Wait for your husband to come home. I made up this entire story. Goodbye.”

We don’t necessarily act on what is true, but on what we believe to be true. The woman acted on what she believed to be true, and not what was actually true. But she wasn’t alone. The news reported that six other women had fallen for the same prank.

Joseph’s brothers did something similar when they deceived their father, Jacob. They dipped Joseph’s tunic in blood and made Jacob believe Joseph was killed by a wild beast, even though it wasn’t true. He reacted to the lie as if it were true and declared he would mourn until his dying day (Gen. 37:31-35). He continued to believe the lie until many years later, when the brothers told him the truth (45:25-28).

Jesus said Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and is able to deceive the whole world (Rev. 12:9), so it’s not surprising that many people live their entire lives believing things that aren’t true. A deceived person doesn’t know he’s being deceived. We’re all susceptible to being deceived, but God’s Word and the Holy Spirit can reveal the truth to keep us from being misled.

Don’t be so quick to believe everything you hear. Do your homework, check out all the facts, and ask God to show you the truth. “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6). www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com