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Dear Younger Person,

As a young person, atheist or “none” who doesn’t know their Creator or the things of God, did you ever wonder why you are here, who or what created all things, including mankind, and if there is life after death or even right or wrong?

Knowing that many younger people today don’t know the basic rudiments of the Bible (Word of God), I will attempt to explain it, in a nutshell, using simple terms and an easy-to-understand narrative. We who have been steeped in Bible studies for years owe it to our prodigy to reveal what we know of the bestselling and widely read book of all time and its “author,” God. The time is coming when society will have forgotten that there is even a God who cares about us individually.

I write to you younger people specifically since I have many years of experience in living the Christian life – one of study, introspection, and probing the more esoteric things of life and, of course, stumbling every so often along the way. Being a Christian doesn’t make you an angel, just a saved follower of Jesus Christ, but it does give you a zeal for the things of God if you are sincere.

If you are a “seeker,” then this is the answer to life you’ve been seeking – in a nutshell.

The Bible tells us all we need to know about creation; laws that will help us live a happy and productive life and a sense of purpose. The more you study it – the more it opens itself up to you. Also, in it is God-given revelation and His many promises. So, let us begin.

As the “Good Book” says,

In the beginning, God (the ineffable being) created man in His image and His likeness. He had already created angelic beings eons before. The angelic being Lucifer who rebelled against God, left his domain with a third of the angels. He is also referred to in the Bible as Satan, The Devil, The Evil One, and The Great Dragon.

Then this powerful Omnipotent Being (God) said, (let there be light), and He separated the darkness from the light – and it was so. And He called them Night and Day.

God made water and dry land – then made vegetation and animals – then came man.

This Mighty Creator Being said, “Let us make man in OUR image and in our likeness.” This other being was later proven to be Christ Jesus in the Holy Bible. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten Son of God,” – Jesus.

This all sounds pretty fantastic, doesn’t it? Yet, there is no better explanation than the Bible account of creation. Some men have tried to explain it by saying they found gold plates in their back yard and other outlandish things, but all fall short of the creation story in Holy writ told by forty devout men, including Moses, who wrote the first ten books of the Bible. In fact, today, the creation story and Moses’ exodus epic are being proven by archeological excavations and discoveries of that time in world history.

The rise and fall of empires such as the Medes, Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans are depicted by “Old Testament Prophets” of the Bible, among whom are Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, and Elijah. By the way, Enoch and Elijah are two men who were so close to God that they never physically died but were instead transported to heaven by other means.

To prove the Bible is true, God continues to confound and surprise mankind with prophetic signs and wonders, things that He deemed would happen before they happened and the result of such happenings. The Bible is often referred to as the “Word” of God and is taught in most Christian churches – although as time goes on – many other churches have become apostate and unreliable, something that was prophesied to take place in the End Times—the end times being the end of the church age when the tribulation period is about to begin – a time of sorrows.

The time of sorrows encapsulates earthly upheavals such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, plagues of locusts, viruses and diseases. Overt governmental and financial collapses will also be taking place at this point in time. Criminality will have gotten out of hand with people afraid to be going out at night and keeping their children under a watchful eye. Meanwhile, civil unrest will be taking place everywhere. A lot of these things were prophesied by Christ Jesus Himself in what’s called the New Testament.

The New Testament was written about as the time when God would send a Savior to redeem mankind from the clutches of the Devil who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The book of John begins in much the same way as the Old Testament and testifies that Christ Jesus is the promised Savior of mankind in the prophetic scriptures of the Old Testament.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, ‘This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:1-18).

The ONLY WAY to really know God is to receive Christ and to read the Holy Bible. Our Creator wants to be your personal Savior and friend – and if that isn’t a profound thought, I don’t know what is. So, do yourself a favor and explore the possibility thoroughly – your eternal life depends on it.

YBIC

Jim Towers You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or check out my webpage www.propheticsignsandwonders.com and visit www.dropzonedelta.com.

Missionary Couple Married 66 Years Meet Jesus Minutes Apart

It’s getting harder to find uplifting stories in these dark times. But I think that the brethren will be blessed by this one.

From foxnews.com

Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida.

They complimented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable.

So when they died minutes apart of COVID-19 this month at a Palm Beach County hospice, it may have been a hidden blessing, their only child, Sarah Milewski, said — even if it was a devastating double loss for her. Her father was 88, her mom 92. Their 67th wedding anniversary would have been this weekend.

“It is so precious, so wonderful, such a heartwarming feeling to know they went together,” Milewski said, then adding, “I miss them.”

Bill Ilnisky grew up in Detroit, deciding at 16 to devote his life to God, Milewski said. He headed to Central Bible College, an Assemblies of God school in Springfield, Missouri. He preached at nearby churches and needed a piano player. Friends suggested Esther Shabaz, a fellow student from Gary, Indiana. They fell in love.

“When my dad proposed, he told her, ‘Esther, I can’t promise you wealth, but I can promise you lots of adventure,'” Milewski said. “She had a lot, a lot of adventure.”

After graduation and their wedding, Bill Ilnisky opened churches in the Midwest. In the late-1950s, the Ilniskys took congregants to Jamaica for a mission, fell in love with the island, and stayed on to run a church in Montego Bay for a decade.

It was during that time they adopted Milewski, then 2, from a Miami foster home. In 1969, the family moved from Jamaica to Lebanon, where Bill Ilnisky ministered to college students and taught. His wife started an outreach center and had a Christian rock band.

“At that time, Lebanon was an amazing country — gorgeous,” Milewski said.

But in 1975, civil war broke out between Christian and Muslim factions, and Beirut, the nation’s capital, became a battleground. Twice, bombs exploded outside their apartment — the first knocking Milewski out of bed, the second slamming her father to the ground.

“My mom thought he was dead,” Milewski said. “My mom and I went and hid in the bathroom all night, crying and praying.” The next morning, bullet holes pocked the walls of apartments on every floor except theirs.

“We attributed that to prayer,” she said.

They fled in 1976 when U.S. Marines evacuated Americans, catching the last plane out.

Shortly after their return to the States, Bill Ilnisky became pastor at Calvary Temple in West Palm Beach, later renamed Lighthouse Christian Center International. His wife started Esther Network International, aimed at teaching children to pray.

Tom Belt, a retired missionary in Oklahoma City, was a teenager at Calvary Temple when the couple arrived. He said Bill Ilnisky’s tales of missionary work whetted his desire to travel.

Belt said the Ilniskys “were very accommodating, believed in others and very forgiving.”

Bill Ilnisky retired three years ago, and while physically healthy for a late octogenarian, had some dementia. His wife still ran her prayer network and did Zoom calls.

When the pandemic hit last year, the couple took precautions, Milewski said. Her mother stayed home and had groceries delivered, but Bill Ilnisky occasionally went out.

“He couldn’t take it,” his daughter said. “He needed to be around people.”

Sarah Milewski and her husband visited her parents on Valentine’s Day, her mother’s birthday. A few days later, her mom became ill, and not long after, the couple was diagnosed with the virus and hospitalized.

While the prognosis was initially good, the disease overtook them. The decision was made Feb. 27 to put them in hospice. Jacqueline Lopez-Devine, chief clinical officer at Trustbridge hospice, said in her 15 years working with the dying, no couple had arrived together. She said there was no hesitation about putting them in the same room for their final days.

Because of the virus, Milewski said her goodbyes through a window, a microphone carrying “I love you” to her parents’ bedside. They looked like they did when sleeping, her father lying on the right side, her mother facing him. He would nod as Milewski spoke; her mom tried to speak but couldn’t.

At 10:15 a.m. on March 1, Esther Ilnisky died. Fifteen minutes later, her husband followed.

“They were always, always together,” Milewski said. “So in sync.” Source

I have been praying to God for something uplifting to write to the brethren. Yes, this precious Christian couple did succumb to Covid, but their lives lived for Jesus and the incredible work they did for Him is so inspiring, I felt that the readers should be lifted up by this story. I know that I was.

Bill and Esther are now in the presence of their Lord and Savior for all Eternity. Hallelujah!

How Can I Be Saved?

Shalom B’Yeshua

MARANATHA!!

grandmageri422@gmail.com

Articles at grandmageri422.me

The Whole Enchilada :: By Jim Towers

Missionary Couple Married 66 Years Meet Jesus.. :: By Geri Ungurean