These comments were all transferred over from the original website

Posted: Aug-19-03 by Auntie Canuck

Ah, Jim,

I CAN dig it - now if only I WOULD.

Posted: Aug-19-03 by Kevin & Julie

Hey Jim,

How're you guys doing? We're doing pretty good. We don't have internet so we can't check out your page. Thanks for sending your letter, though.

We found a Bible church right up the road that we have been attending and being some involved in. The people there are quite friendly. It's a medium sized church-just the right size I guess.

Kevin is volunteering on Friday nights at a youth center in town. The town is a small one, which makes it nicer.

Write if you have time and say hi to Sherri for us, ok?

Posted: Aug-19-03 by Bruce

Jim,

This is the way I see it now...

Since Jesus Christ is the LIGHT that LIGHTS EVERY MAN that comes into the world...THEN...mans relationship with Him determines whether we see them as CHRIST CRUCIFIED...or the RISEN LORD who is seated on His throne. The LORD OF LORD & KING OF KINGS!

When God looks at a man He sees man made in His Image. He sees mans body as His temple and His Dwelling Place. He sees man as the ARK that was made to carry His Presence. God sees CHRIST in man as the LIGHT OF THE WORLD!

When man refuses to see as God sees things then the result is a DAMNED or marred image. We have the BUSHEL covering the light. We have man seated on GODS THRONE! The result?...The ABOMINATION that MAKETH DESOLATE!!! Man is not manifesting the IMAGE of the LIGHT OF THE WORLD that he was created to be...but is instead making his body (GODS TEMPLE)...desolate or (EMPTY & VOID) of GODS GLORY!

How so? By saying..."NO GOD!" I WILL NOT HAVE YOU REIGN OVER ME!" This "attitude" or "spirit" that man holds on to is what keeps his body "desolate" and empty of the Glory of Jesus Christ! It is what keeps CHRIST CRUCIFIED within the individual. It is ANTICHRIST! It is what keeps Him as the ..."lamb slain" ...powerless in your life because of your own will. This is what ..."holding THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS" means. He (THE Truth) is IN YOU...but you are SUPRESSING HIM...in unrighteousness. Holding Him under YOUR WILL.

It is NOT that Christ is not "in" every man...but IS HE BEING ACKNOWLEDGED?

Are you manifesting Him as...THE LAMB SLAIN...CHRIST CRUCIFIED...THE LIGHT UNDER THE BUSHEL...???

...Or is He the RISEN LORD who is SEATED ON HIS THRONE? Is your body...HIS TEMPLE? Has the SON OF MAN found a place to lay HIS HEAD (LORDSHIP) in you? Has your kingdom become HIS KINGDOM? Can we say...like Paul..."It is no longer 'i' who lives but CHRIST"?

So...the way I see it is very simple. In every life...He is either...CHRIST CRUCIFIED...or the RISEN LORD! Let every man not judge one another but himself. Measure the "temple of God" for yourself...and Behold Him!

Posted: Aug-19-03 by John

Congratulations Gran'Paw Jim! Also, thank you & Mark & Mike for yawls replies. But, I still don't quite git what Paul wuz looking to know among them. How can he know Christ & Him crucified from the Corinthians or anyone else (for that matter) other than knowing Jesus Himself?

~ Love, John

_________________

Johnny,

Maybe possibly because Christ was in those Corinthians, just as He is in you and me. Hmmmm? Is it possible that "In Christ" really means "In Christ"? Is it possible that when I am really seeing YOU I am really seeing Christ? Or am I taking this UNION with God a little too far? What think ye?

Love, Jim

_________________

Jim

Good answer to seeing Christ ~ In Us. So, should we also see 'Him Crucified' in us as well? If so, what does Christ Crucified look like in another? What do I look for? What is the mark of Christ? What is the marks of Him Crucified in others? ~

John

_________________

Johnny Boy,

Didn't anybody ever tell you about the secret marks?! I can't believe it. Look behind the ear (left in the guys, right in the girls) and you will notice a little mark in the shape of a cross. I can't believe no one ever showed you this before!!!! :)

Seriously, though. Paul "determined to know" this "among them". The fact is that you know what it is to view someone as part of the world. But Christ has changed that. He has made a new thing! "If any man is in Christ He is a new creation, the old has gone, all things are new!". Paul knew what it was to see a man after the flesh -- that was his "default" setting from the old mind. It is what we automatically view when we try to figure each other out by what we see and hear and taste and touch. Johnny Boy, lump it all together, put it in folder, and push "delete"! Otherwise, the new hardware will keep giving you the "illegal notices" and shut you down as you attempt to force something from the old software into it. :)

Johnny, YOU already have the eyes to see and the ears to hear and the mind to conceive. Stop looking for some familiar way of handling this new reality. Consider me. Who am I? How do you evaluate me? Do any of your systems of evaluation help you in truly determining the foreign nature of who I really am? Well, then, refuse to use that crappy measuring system! If I am of the world, the death of Christ has concluded that death is the only option to all measuring systems, so why would you categorize me by any standards -- it is futile! If I am of God, I have passed from death into life through the work of Christ -- delivered by grace through faith.

Dead or Alive, Johnny Boy, Dead or Alive! The comparisons make no difference in either case! View all ONLY through Christ, and Him crucified!

Love,
Jim

Posted: Aug-19-03 by Mark

Wow Jim,

That's good. I like it. I love it. I want some more of it.

Congratulations on your Grandfatherhood Jim. My mom and dad tell me that the grandparent stuff is way more fun than the parent stuff. lol

Love, and thanks for the insight.

Posted: Aug-19-03 by Christine

THANKS JIM -

THAT WAS GOOD...WELL, YOU ARE A GRANDFATHER NOW, SO THERE MUST BE SOME WISDOM KICKIN' AROUND THERE SOMEWHERE....ONLY KIDDING...ALWAYS APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE GOSPEL...GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU-

Posted: Aug-19-03 by eric

that shoveletter was great, Jim. I forwarded it to the masses.

gotta go.

Posted: Jun-21-05 by tifany

what is the mark of christ?

Posted: Jun-21-05 by the shovel

what is the mark of christ?

Hi Tifany! Since I didn't bring up the phrase "the mark of Christ" what were you asking here?

Jim :)

Hey Jim,

She probably is referring to your reply to Johnny Boy. Jim, I am still waiting for your reply to Galatian post. George

Posted: Jun-27-05 by the shovel

Hello George,

I know what it's connected to, but I'd like to know what she's asking for. You know, I think I do remember an unanswered reply from back during my HDT (Hurricane Down Time ). I'll have to check that out. I generally don't get questions posted in these responses so they can be easy to miss.

Jim