The sun was a golden seed budded from the black soils of night. Dawn bloomed with bright orange as the diamonds of night disappeared. The Messiah shuffled briskly through the courtyard, and then curved toward the Pool of Siloam. A few hours earlier he had incensed the Pharisees with Divine declarations; now he would follow that up with Divine demonstrations. And he would do it at the reservoir.

Seven centuries earlier King Hezekiah feared that invading Assyrians would seize the exposed spring, Gihon, which lay just outside the city walls in the Kidron Valley. So he had his builders carve out a reservoir, The Pool of Siloam, just inside the city; and then, starting from both ends—the new reservoir and the existing spring—they hacked a tunnel under the city walls through 1752 feet of solid rock, which diverted Gihon’s water into the new and protected cistern.

On this day Jesus, God manifested in the flesh, The Word of hope that dwelt among men, would bring something to the Pool of Siloam from gurgling fountain of Heaven. A miracle. He would heal a blind man. He would spit on the ground, make a clay ointment, rub on the blind man’s eyes and command him to wash in the Pool. The scripture states in John 9, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Played: 231 | Download | Duration: 00:28:30

The sun glared on the golden statue. The frenzied citizens dropped to their knees and enthusiastically worshipped the idol when the hypnotic orchestra began to play. That is, except for three Hebrews. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were young men dedicated to God. And when the ordered homage took place the three Hebrews refused to bow. The king who gave the order was infuriated. They had a furnace prearranged for rebels, and in his haste, intense displeasure with the foreigners he commanded them to increase the temperature, seven times hotter.

Played: 89 | Download | Duration: 00:28:30

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Failure can be an intricate part of growth. Except a corn of wheat fall. Failure brings me to the ground of reality where I understand I can do nothing without Him. Failure brings me to the soil of humility where the seed of truth can replace the grain of self deceit. Notice, it doesn’t get into the ground until it falls. If falling brings one to the fertile depths of supernatural development, then that kind of falling is only the first phase of a new rising.

When you carefully observe kingdoms of history we proverbially describe each one with a “rise and fall”. The Rise and fall of the Roman Empire probably tops the list. For with earthly empires it is the seemingly positive first and then the negative ending, the grandeur of lands conquered, civilizations reared, and philanthropic contributions added to human history. But, then transpires the demise, the slow decay, the moral disruption, and usually a chaotic conclusion. But with the Kingdom of God, Jesus unveils a secret. The Gospel Kingdom starts with a fall, not a rise. It is the fall and rise of the Kingdom. For the Kingdom of Christ began with “a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying.” It began with his death, and every horrid detail, every anguishing moment of Crucifixion that led to his final breath. But his death was not the end. It was just the beginning. For the Gospel is not founded on that which “rises” first, but on that which falls first. The Gospel is the death, burial, and then resurrection.

Played: 76 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

Played: 158 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

There are cave moments where we all feel the flash flood waters of life. They come rushing in before we know what has hit us. And often how we handle or respond to these moments are not helpful. WE make mistakes, like Gerald Moni reaching for only one rope when he needed to grab two. Then good plans plummet. Well thought intentions descend fast. Plunging ideas become nightmare scenarios. Are you falling fast? Did you grab the wrong rope, trust the wrong feeling, believe the wrong words? Do you feel like you are drowning in your ill timed decisions?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This was God’s rescue operation. He sent his son into the cave of death so that you could rise from the darkness. Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, stepping into our sin-drowning world, saving us from the frigid waters of despair. He CAN save you. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save. He can reach you no matter how far you’ve fallen. He can love you no matter how much you hate others or yourself. He can sump pump the dredge of condemnation out of your soul, bring you out of the most dire circumstances, and put your feet in a safe place.

Played: 127 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

Played: 68 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

Living above the stars, the heartbroken Creator put on his flesh suit, becoming a little unheralded baby; wrapped in swaddling clothes, wrapped even more in love; laid in a manger, laid before that on the crimson stained foundation of the world. O holy night.

Living beneath the stars, the heartwarming savior placed his warm hands on the cold arms of the dead, life flourished again; withered dreams burgeoned like roses out of winter; he reached for the bruised reeds of society and gave them more than hope, he gave them power and purpose. O Holy life.

Living without the stars, hurting souls of our age wander aimlessly through cloud covered days. But light extends from the manger of his first birth to the mountain of his second coming. Someday soon every eye will see Him. Someday soon his first steps as a baby, long ago, will conclude with his last stand on the Mount of Olives as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. O Holy Sight. What a day that will be!!

Played: 67 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

The Hubble Space Telescope can see out to a distance of several billions of light-years. A light-year is the distance that light travels in 1 year. Since light has a speed of 186,000 miles per second (light can travel about 7 times around the entire earth in 1 second!), light travels about 5,865,696,000,000 miles in just one year. You can attach 9 more zeros to the end of this to get 1 billion light-years and another one for 10 billion light-years. The farthest that Hubble has seen so far is about 10-15 billion light-years away. The farthest area looked at is called the Hubble Deep Field.

So, the Hubble Telescope can see several billions of light years into space, trying to spy on the remote activity of the Horse-head Nebula located farthest east on Orion’s Belt, but who is looking for the broken heart right around the corner? The Telescope can see the ghostly tentacles of Tarantula Nebula in the H2 region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but who is watching for the abused children being violated in our neighborhoods and schools? We search the Heavens and miss heaven with us. For, Jesus was God with us. And He is alive, not dead. He can still hear because he is still here.  

Jesus is the Shepherd watching for you. You may not serve him. You may not even believe in Him. But he sees you. He knows the strain. He is cognizant of your stress. When the panic attacks hit, he is there, waiting. He won’t force his way in your heart. He won’t knock down the door. He is not a breaking and entering God. He is a compassionate savior standing at the door. He gently knocks. He hopes you will answer. He desires you to have faith, to believe even in the most unbelievable moments.

Played: 86 | Download | Duration: 00:28:30

So, a paralyzed man was caringly carried by four considerate friends. They had probably carted him to the market place for fruits and vegetables, or maybe for some nice imported rugs from Persia. On this particular sunlit day these indomitable friends aspired to get him into the most heralded meeting in town. It was supposed to be a healer in the house. Not the magical spoof riddled kind of healer, but one sent from God, some had said he was the Messiah.

When they arrived they couldn’t get in the house, and they had so hoped to be within reach of the healer. They didn’t even blink. They simply wrestled their way up the side of the house and onto the roof, delicately transferring their crippled friend. When they were positioned right above the Messiah, they began to tear away the roof. They pulled back hand biting thatch and peeled away clay tiles. Fragments fell to the floor. Irritated onlookers stepped back. There may have only been standing room only in the house but up top there was plenty of climbing room. Sometimes to get within reach of a miracle you have think differently from the one way thinking, unimaginative crowd.

Faith goes beyond the ordinary. It refuses to see normal barriers without also recognizing opportunistic doors. Fear sees a wall. Faith sees a door. Human observation sees closed doors, shut windows, fallen bridges, flooded avenues, and high walls. Faith sees that someone may be on the other side of everything that appears to be closed off and shut out. Faith doesn’t turn around and walk away; faith figures out a way to get in; faith looks for something that everyone else has missed. Why didn’t someone else think of climbing up and trying to view Christ from the roof? Maybe it was because they weren’t as desperate. Maybe they just didn’t recognize the different route.

Have you been so caught up with regret’s routine that you’ve failed to see another route? A new way. A better view. A deeper understanding. If you are standing under the clouds you can’t see the sun, and on that day there were many standing under the roof, but they really didn’t see the Son. Someone, however, tore back the ordinary and let the rays of supernatural hope descend. When the light poured through the hole in the roof Jesus was seen in a different light, not the natural light of the sun, but the heavenly light of deliverance. The four friends had already seen it. They knew it before they climbed the wall and got on the sun baked tiles. They had a faith feeling that Christ would be moved with compassion for their friend. And they were right.

Played: 136 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

A man stands at the entrance of a road. He knows a few hundred yards beyond the entrance is a fallen bridge taken out by flash flood waters. He has seen it. The approaching travelers have not. He waves his arms. He gets the driver’s attention. The driver rolls down his window and curiously observes the unkempt insane looking man. The man explains what he has witnessed, yet the driver acts indignant. “I’ve traveled this road a thousand times and the bridge has always been fine, even in the worst of weather.” The driver chooses his experience over intervention. What danger lies ahead? What truth is there in what the desperate man has said? He can trust the man’s words or he can stubbornly continue, putting his family in unnecessary jeopardy. And this is no different than what was described to an Old Testament prophet by the name of Ezekiel. God sent the prayerful, astute prophet to the idolatrous nation of Israel with a warning.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Ezekiel 33:8-9

Played: 86 | Download | Duration: 00:28:30