VIDEO OF Millenium Force: https://youtu.be/jbXPhOFRxTc
The best steel roller coaster on the planet
Millennium
Force, has been voted the best steel roller coaster in the world. You can't
beat the thrill of plummeting down a 300' drop at speeds reaching 93 mph. Trust
us. And did we mention, we have 15 other record-breaking scream machines
including the 420' tall Top Thrill Dragster? Sit upright, hold on tight, and
enjoy the ride.
Adam and Eve – had it perfect in
communion with God THEN they ate the fruit and kicked out of the
garden YET
they still had a relationship with God after that. Gen 4:25-26 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave
birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child
in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
Noah builds an ark and saves
humanity from complete destruction from a world-wide flood THEN he drank too much wine and gets
naked which leads to problems YET God
repopulates the earth through his 3 sons with a promise (Gen 9:15-16) Never again will the waters become a flood
to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it
and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of
every kind on the earth.
Abraham and Sarah at 100 year’s old are going to have the son of promise THEN Abraham was told to go sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar – YET God stopped him and blessed him through Isaac. (Gen 22:15-17) The Lord called to Abraham and said, "I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.
Jacob had 12 sons – last 2 by his
favorite wife THEN
his favorite son is pronounced dead while actually being sold into slavery in
Egypt – YET God not only reveals his son Joseph alive but
uses him to save his entire family and the entire Hebrew people. (Gen 47:11-12)
So Joseph settled his father and his
brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, and also
provided his father and his brothers with food, according to the number of
their children.
David becomes King – a man after
God’s own heart, he sang for the King and when the entire Israelite army was to
scared he killed a large giant with a sling shot, a sling and the power of God THEN he has an affair with one of his soldier’s
wife, then he has that same soldier murdered in battle to cover his sin – YET God blesses David as the greatest king Israel has
ever known. Near the end of his life we read (2 Sam 24:25) David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer in behalf of the land,
and the plague on Israel was stopped.
Nehemiah returns to Israel to
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem THEN Sanballat and Tobiah attack the workers while
they try to rebuild YET God is
with them as they place bricks with one hand and hold their weapons in the other
until the city is fortified again. (Neh 6:15-16) So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two
days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations
were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this
work had been done with the help of our God.
Naomi has a husband and two sons
and they go to a foreign land during famine where her sons marry, albeit,
outside their faith THEN her husband and sons die YET God
blesses her through her daughter in law Ruth who said (Ruth 1:16) Where you go I
will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your
God my God. And through Ruth’s genealogy, Jesus the messiah was born.
Elijah was one of the few
prophets of Israel that had not yet been killed and wanted a meeting with King
Ahab to show him the power of God - 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets
of Asherah – water and fire – a mighty slaughter of all the prophets of Baal THEN Ahab
sent Jezebell to go after Elijah who sat under a tree afraid for his life and
wanted to die. YET God wasn’t done with him (1 Kings 19:15-17) The
Lord said to him, "Go back and anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over
Israel.”
Job had a great life – wife, kids,
land, animals – life was good THEN Satan said to God I want to see if this Job really
loves you and God gave Satan permission to do whatever he wanted with Job
except taking his life. Job lost
everything – children, property, friends and his health –
(Job 3:1-26) Then
Job broke the silence. He spoke up and cursed his fate:
Obliterate the day I was born.
Blank out the night I was conceived!
Let it be a black hole in
space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books!
May the day of my birth be
buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night. And the night of my conception — the devil
take it! Rip the date off the calendar, delete it from the almanac.
Oh, turn that night into pure
nothingness — no sounds of pleasure from that night, ever!
May those who are good at
cursing curse that day. Unleash the sea beast, Leviathan, on it.
May its morning stars turn to
black cinders, waiting for a daylight that never comes, never once seeing the
first light of dawn.
And why? Because it released
me from my mother's womb into a life with so much trouble.
Why didn't I die at birth, my
first breath out of the womb my last?
Why were there arms to rock
me, and breasts for me to drink from?
I could be resting in peace
right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain, In the company of kings and
statesmen in their royal ruins, or with princes resplendent in their gold and
silver tombs.
Why wasn't I stillborn and
buried with all the babies who never saw light, where the wicked no longer
trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?
Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never
again to wake up to the bark of the guards.
The small and the great are
equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.
"Why does God bother
giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive, those who
want in the worst way to die, and can't, who can't imagine anything better than
death, who count the day of their death and burial the happiest day of their
life?
What's the point of life when
it doesn't make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?
"Instead of bread I get
groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish.
The worst of my fears has come
true, what I've dreaded most has happened.
My repose is shattered, my
peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever — death has invaded life."
YET (Job
42:10-17) The Lord made Job prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had
before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came
and ate with him in his house, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a
gold ring. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first.
He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 donkeys. And he
also had seven sons and three daughters. After this, Job lived a 140 years; he
saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died,
old and full of years.
Two from the NEW TESTAMENT
Peter was the number 1 disciple –
“The Rock” Jesus called him.
(Mt 16) Jesus asked who do you say that I am? Peter
answered “You are the Christ the son of the living
God” – Jesus said, blessed are you Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not
reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” THEN literally
minutes later Peter said the wrong (that he would not let Jesus suffer and die)
and Jesus said to Peter – “get behind me Satan. You are
a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but
merely human concerns.” (Mt 17:1-9) YET a week later he took Peter on a ride to
the top of another hill where God showed him Moses and Elijah with Jesus THEN
Peter tried all he could to hang on to them and keep them there because surely
with those two guys the roller coaster ride will stop and all will be well so
God made the prophets disappear. YET God had Jesus remain with Peter and
confirmed that HE was truly the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Another time
Jesus invited Peter to join him walking on the water (something no human had
done before or since) and Peter was doing it THEN he put his hands in the air and
the top Thrill Dragster dropped over 400’ at 120 miles per hour and splashed
down in the water and Peter was about to drown YET Jesus reached down and
lifted him up and put him back in the boat.
Peter was among
the privileged three to see things no others saw and provide Jesus
encouragement that no others could. Jesus asked Peter to stay awake and pray
with him because he was about to suffer and die. THEN Peter fell asleep YET
Jesus asked him again. THEN Peter fell asleep YET Jesus asked him again. THEN
Peter fell asleep YET Jesus did not hold it against him.
Finally, Peter told Jesus that
he would go to the death for him and Jesus told Peter he would deny him 3 times
before the rooster crowed in the morning. Peter was one of two disciples to
stand watching the trial of Jesus from a distance THEN Peter was asked if he knew
Jesus and Peter denied knowing Jesus THEN Peter was asked if he knew Jesus and Peter
denied knowing Jesus THEN Peter was asked if he knew Jesus and Peter
denied knowing Jesus THEN the rooster
crowed. YET after Jesus was raised from the dead he prepared
breakfast for the disciples on a beach and asked Peter 3 times “Simon son of John,
do you love me more than these?” and 3 times Peter said “Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you.” And each time Jesus replied, “then do ministry in
my name and come, follow me!” And Peter knew he was forgiven for his
previous denial.
**************
Saul who
persecutes Christians not even getting out of the starting gate for the ride – then
talk about a Millennium Force – he becomes Christ's greatest champion. He
starts churched from Antioch to Rome and begins winning the Gentile world to
Christ! THEN along the way he
has a Christian Roller Coaster ride like none other.
2 Corinthians
11:24-28
24 Five times I received from the Jews the
forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods,
once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night
and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I
have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my
fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the
country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I
have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold
and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern
for all the churches.
YET listen to how he responds:
Philippians 4:11-13
11 I am not saying this because I am in need,
for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know
what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in
want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me
strength.
Whether you are
a Christian (a Christ follower) or not – you are living a roller coaster ride –
the only question to answer is, who do you want in the seat with you? If you
don’t choose Jesus you have chosen Satan – those are the only two choices we
have Matthew 12:30a “Whoever is not with me is against me.” Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the
LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the
gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my
household, we will serve the LORD."
No comments:
Post a Comment