Who is Jesus? #115

" I am the first and the last, (Revelation 1:17)."

How does one get to be both first and last? I remember as a kid when it came time to "choose" teams, those who got picked first where the "good" players and the last ones were the left-overs. I always felt sorry for the last ones -especially if it was me! Whatever the reason, you couldn't be both first and last.

What was John supposed to get from this description of Jesus and what are we to receive?

I have heard some parents say, rather facetiously, "I brought you into this world and I will take you out"

Though spoken sarcastically by men it may have some spiritual meaning with reference to Jesus. He brought us into the world of spiritual relationship with the Father by His blood and He will ultimately take us home. He was there at the First and He will be there at the End.

John needed to both hear this and communicate it to His audience of troubled Christians.

I need to hear it to. When it comes right down to it, the Christian's life is all wrapped up in Jesus.

He was there at the first. He will be there at the end. He is everywhere in between.

Blessings,

L.T.

From a 12 year old

You have to take a moment and hear this if you already have not! Click on the link below.
http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/

Can he only be 12 years old??

Blessings,
L.T.

An Update

Much has happend this week in the life of the Tittles. First concerning my wife: Aleta had her gall bladder removed Monday morning and is doing very nicely. The surgery went as planned and I had her home by 10:30 Monday morning. She is down to one pain pill per day. She went to her cardiologist Thursday afternoon and he put her on Lipitor because of her high cholesterol. This is a new though not unexpected wrinkle. The Dr. did allow that some of the medication that she is taking for her Eosinophillic Faciitis (an auto-immune disease) could be contributing to the high numbers. However he attributes the high choloesterol mostly to heredity.
Bradon and Joy found out that in April of next year they will having a girl. That will make two of each for us grandparents and we are excited for them. The pregnancy is going well and Joy had said the baby is about the size of a sweet potatoe.
As for me I am back into racquetball and am slowly remembering how to play. It is fun and good exercise. The ministry continues to go well. Check our church website, www. 21ststreetcoc.org for inf. We do the elder selection thing beginning in January of next year.
Guess that is all for now.

Blessings,
L.T.

Who is Jesus? #114

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Rev 1:17-18)

Nails tore through the feet of Jesus. A sinful woman washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair as a preparation for burial. Truly, "how beautiful are the feet."

Most of us probably consider the feet among the most uncomely parts of the body. I know mine are. But what do you do when you get a gllimpse of Jesus like John did in Revelation? I don't believe you reach up to shake His hand or pat Him on the back.

The song goes, "We fall down. We lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus."

Those feet were like "bronze glowing in a furnace (vs. 15). No wonder he was afraid.

Maybe we haven't fallen down like a dead man at the feet of Jesus because we really haven't seen Him for who He is in all His glory, majesty, and power. Maybe we have overused the idea of Jesus being our buddy. Nobody loved Him more than John but found Himself down on the ground before the awesome Son of God.

Once I dicover who Jesus is I will fall down at His feet as though dead.

Blessings,

L.T.

A Great Video

It is time to start blogging again. The topic will continue to be "Who is Jesus?" This video has made the rounds, but it says it all. Click on the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/yp3xby

Blessings

With Four You Can Play 42

Attention everyone.

It is now safe to inform the world that grandchild number four is on the way. Our son, Brandon, and his wife, Joy, are expecting in April.

This is getting to be fun.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus? (Tangent)

A short side note to the idea of Jesus being like a bright shining light.
It occurs to me that somehow or other the light that Jesus is, is supposed to rub off on those who claim to be His. Jesus words were, "I am the light of the world..." (John 8:12).
In the sermon on the mount he claims that His followers are exactly that, "The light of the world." (Matthew 5:14). There is some sort of sameness there.
It maybe time to do some blogs along the lines of everything that Jesus is and which of those characteristics are His follower supposed to have.
It will definitely be a dark day if we ever have to say, "THE LIGHT HAS GONE OUT!"

Let your light shine!

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus? # 113

His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Rev. 1:16

"Shining" and "Brilliance" are Jesus-type traits. He has always shined His light. The gospel writer John tells us that the light did shine into the darkness but the darkness could not understand it (John 1: 5).

Hum? It is a principle of light to eliminate the darkness. Darkness is weaker than light. Light lights the way out of darkness. I know that if I want to go safely into a dark room I just turn on the light. If the power has gone out I look for a flashlight. It is relatively easy to penetrate the darkness with the right tools.

I remember my wife and I taking a little overnight trip to Fort Davis, TX near the Davis Mountains and the McDonald Observatory. In Ft. Davis there can be no street lights - nothing to obscure the stars being observed from the Observatory. I remember fumbling through the back gate of the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying. We needed light.

How is it that the "light of the world" came to penetrate the darkness and was unable? How could the darkness stand against Him? If our case, if we want it dark spiritually He will let us have it our way.

Please penetrate the darkness of my heart, O Lord!

Blessings,

L.T.

Just to let those of you know who are interested, blogging has been "offline" for about a month as the Tittles have been dealing with several things but I hope to be back into it again soon. Of course, the birth of two grandchildren has had something to do with it but we have also been dealing with my wife's health.
She was develping symptoms that had led us to believe that there would be a diagnosis of Scleroderma which is a very serious condition.
The Lord answered our prayer and the diagnosis has come back with a scleroderma-like condition known as Eosinophilic Faciits. However it is not as serious as scleroderma and the Prednizone she is now on is supposed to eventually cure it. We praise God for that and request that you continue to keep her in your prayers.
She went to the doctor today, July 10, and the doctor seems to think she is making progress.
We enjoyed a week in estes Park, CO (picture above) last week with some friends and that was another roadblock to blogging. We had an awesome experience. Aleta made it just fine as long was she was taking it easy.
The next post will be a continuation of "Who is Jesus?"

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus? #112 (From the Apocalypse)

"His face was shining like the sun" Revelation 1:16

His face was like this on at least one other occassion. We call it the transfiguration. Matthew talks about this is Matthew 17. John was present at that time and had the same reaction as he did in the Apocalypse. He, along with Peter and James, was terrfied at the transfigured Christ. In Revelation he fell down as if he were dead as he came in contact with the Christ of the vision.
Is there room for fear when we see Jesus for who He is - completely? Then we wait for Him to say, "don't be afraid."

Blessings,

L.T.
Podcast feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/wildvoice/JMEI.

Memorial Day

Spending memorial day home alone as Aleta is still in AR with the new grandson - Carter. Carter and his mom came home from the hospital yesterday and everyone is doing fine.

If you look to the right, you will see why i haven't "blogged" this week.

He was born to our daughter and son-in-law, Ben and Amy Carrigan of Searcy, AR.

His name is Carter Warren Carrigan.

He came in weighing 7 lbs. and 11 oz.

He was 20 1/2" long.

Because the position of his head was not right, they had to do a C-section. If they had made the decision thirty minutes earlier, baby and mom would have had the same birthdays.

Carter is great and so is his mother, Amy. Daddy Ben will recover soon.

This is our third grandchild. Now we have a girl and two boys.

Back to "Who is Jesus?" on Tuesday.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #111 (From the Apocalypse)

"...and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword." (Revelation 1:16b)
I am not sure which of the features of Jesus scared John the most; but for me, I think it would have been this one. The picture of a person with a sword protruding out of his mouth is quite alarming.
The picture is reproduced for us in 19:15. "Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations."
During His ministry, what came out of the mouth of Jesus was the word of His Father. "The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work." (John 14:10)
We know that what Jesus said pierced some and divided others. He brought down the Scribes and Pharisees with His words to the point that they would not ask Him any more questions.
The message John is writing down for our first century brothers and sisters, and us, is that the words of Jesus have not become impotent. They are just as powerful now as they were then. They are just as sharp.
More on this idea.
Keep speaking to us, Lord. Say what we need to hear no matter what.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #110 (From the Apocalypse)

"In His right hand He held the seven stars" (Revelation 1:16a).

Since we are told that the seven stars represent the angels of the seven churches, my mind got to wondering about stars and messengers. That pondering brought to my mind a passage from the prophet Daniel.

Daniel 12:3
"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever."

Messengers who bring good news from God to mankind do indeed shine like stars. Even though not all of the news to each of the seven churches in Revelation was necessarily good news by its very nature, it was good news because it came from God and gave instruction as to what they needed to do in the areas of correcting wrongs and preparing for what was about to come. That made it good news.

The heavens are dotted at night with stars that fascinate us and navigate us through this world. Those who would bring instruction from the Lord to the people are the real super stars for God.

Let your light shine in me!

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #109 (From the Apocalypse)

"In His right hand He held the seven stars" (Revelation 1:16a).

"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches" (1:19).

This may be one of those places where the interpretation given for a particular symbol does not really help. Who are these angels that are "assigned" to each of the seven churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodocea)?

We may not understand the symbolism in the book, but we can make some observations about angels. It was an angel who announced to Mary and Joseph the impending birth of the Son of God. It was an angel that told the whole family to escape to Egypt. Angels ministered to Jesus after his temptation encounter with Satan. Angels will be involved in the "harvest" at the end of the world. Apparently children have guardian angels (Matthew 18:18). Angels opened prison doors. The Torah was put into effect by angels.

Some things are obvious. Angels brought messages not their own, but from God. They had a ministry not their own, but from God.

Maybe we should listen a little harder and look at little closer. Maybe someone is trying to communicate to us.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #108 (From the Apocalypse)

"His voice we like the sound of rushing waters" (Revelation 1:15b)

I have lived through a couple of floods in my life - nothing like the flooding that hit the N.O. area during the hurricane. I remember the east fork of the San Jacinto river cresting and flooding our little two acre weekend place when I was a kid.

We hear in the news now about the flooding in the plains. The Missouri river is past flood stage. People are devastated by the flood waters. They lose everything they have spent a lifetime accumulating. The flood takes it all.

We are being flooded today in other ways. We are flooded with immorality. We are flooded with the nuances of postmodernism. We are flooded with violence - violence in the name of religion. We are flooded with pornography. Some of it comes in over our televisions and we sit there and watch - even let our children absorb it. We are flooded with selfish desires and the "It's all about me" mentality of the world today; and, we are being devastated by the rising flood waters.

Listen to the words of the Psalmist.

"The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the lord is enthroned forever." (Psalm 29:10)

There is a Lord that picks us up out of the floods we are dealing with. He is above the floods. He has the right vantage point. He can give us the deliverance we so desperately need.

Listen to His voice - the one that sounds like rushing waters.

Oh Lord, we lift you up that you in turn lift us up out of the flood waters of life.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #107 (From the Apocalypse)

"His voice was like the sound of rushing waters" (Revelation 1:15b)

It rained here in Clovis yesterday. It rained pretty hard for Eastern New Mexico. Between the rain and driving through puddles of water on the road, I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't even hear my radio. All of that water making all of that noise made all of the other sounds indiscernible.

I remember taking a group of kids on a float trip down a river in Oklahoma several years ago. There was no way we could yell to each other from one canoe to the other when we were in the rapids. Most communication had to be done on the bank before we started. The sound of the rushing water was just too loud. Nothing else could be heard except the water.

There is so much competing for our attention today. There is a lot of noise out there. However, nothing can drown out the voice of the Savior. His message does not get through only when we do not listen.

Whatever Jesus has to do to communicate with me, I pray that it works.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #106 (From the Apocalypse)

"His voice was like the sound of rushing waters" (Revelation 1:15b)

It seems like John changed metaphors here. In verse 10 he says the voice "like a trumpet." Now it is like the sound of powerful rushing water.

It was the trumpet voice that got Johns attention. It was the powerful rushing water voice that spoke with power and authority.

Sometimes before we can "hear" what Jesus has to say, He has to get our attention. He doesn't want us to miss what He has to say.

I wonder how many times and in how many ways has Jesus tried to get my attention in this life before He tried to communicate to me? I wonder how many times I still have not paid attention?

Out brothers and sisters in the first century were about to receive a Life and death message from Jesus. They needed to sit up and pay attention.

The words of Jesus are powerful. They only way that power is limited is if we are not listening. Of course, someone somewhere will listen. They have learned to stay focused on Jesus and let the power of His voice change their lives.

I pray that I am one of them.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #105 (from the Apocalypse)

"His voice was like the sound of rushing waters" (Revelation 1: 15b).

When ?? talks, people listen. I remember that old E.F. Hutton commercial. In this case, it is Jesus who is talking and you/we had better pay attention.

Three boys were bragging to one another about their fathers. One of them said, “My father is a professor. When he is talking about nuclear physics, there are only fifty other people in the world who can understand him.

”The second boy said, “My father is a world class brain surgeon. When he is talking about his surgery there are only 20 other people in the whole world who can understand him.”The third boy said,

“That’s nothing. My dad is a preacher. When he is preaching, nobody seems to understand him.”

Well it is one thing to not listen to a mere man. It is quite something else to not listen to the Son of God.

Imagine trying to make yourself heard above the thundering sound of Niagara Falls. When Jesus has something to say, He will be heard!

The question is not, "Is He talking?" The question is, "Am I listening?"

"Speak, Lord, your servant is listening"

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #104 (from the Apocalypse)

"both feet furnace-fired bronze" (The Message, Revelation 1:15)

My thoughts turn to the words of the patriotic song "Battle Hymn of the Republic" where it says, "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." I am not even sure what all of that means, but the idea of trampling is pretty clear.
In scripture we are told of God stomping through a lot of places/cities because of their sin. Sodom came down. The nation of Egypt finally had to succumb. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks and Romans couldn't stand before Him.
I guess my question is, "Why are we putting Him to the test now?" Are we daring Him to come marching through our land?
One old-time preacher once said, "If God doesn't do something soon, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."
Truth does march on. Truth will ultimately win the day. God will kick over and out anything and anyone that forsakes Him, His word, and His people.
Maybe we are preparing the pathway for His trampling and aren't even aware of it.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #103 (from the Apocalypse)

"His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace" (Revelation 1:15).

There is no doubt what these strong looking feet were for. These were to carry out judgment.
In Micah 4:13 we find a similar symbol where God's people are told they will have "hoofs of bronze" and that by these they will be able to "break to piece many nations." These were the same nations that were gloating over Israel's disappearance from the scene into Babylonian captivity. But God will and does bring them back to carry out His vindication on those who would have scoffed at His apparent lack of power.
Most of the time we do not like to think of God as bringing judgment. However, if we do not attribute this characteristic to Him, then we have an unbalanced and incomplete picture of Him. He is a God who brings His judgment on those who do not acknowledge Him.
In Revelation it is the one attribute that completes the picture of Jesus.
Are those feet coming in my direction?

Blessings,


Larry

Who is Jesus #102 (from the Apocalypse)

"Eyes like blazing fire."

John saw these eyes again in Revelation 19:12. They were the eyes of the rider on the white horse whose name is Faithful and True.

Daniel, in a similar vision in chapter 7 of his prophecy, saw eyes that were like flaming torches and it sapped all the strength from his body. Then, and only then, was he able to be touched and strengthened in order to receive the message from God and fulfill the mission God was placing in front of him.

Those eyes are horrible and terrifying, but they are also purifying. Sometimes we need to let Jesus stake a huge penetrating look at us - even a judgemental look - in order to be brought to our knees so that our Lord is able to touch us with His blessings and will.

Don't forget Peter who met Jesus eye-to-eye (Luke 22:61) and was moved to the point of weeping once who he was and what he had done was brought to the surface. After tht cleansing he was able to be used by Jesus to become a pillar in the church (Galatians 2:9).

O Lord. take a good long look at me and penetrate my soul that I might become what you want me to be.

Amen.

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #101 (from the Apocalypse)

"His eyes were like blazing fire." (Revelation 1:14).

Do you know what it feels like to be talking to someone who can see right through you? It sure makes you feel vulnerable. All of a sudden all of your defenses that you have built up come tumbling down. You are seen for who you truly are.

These penetrating eyes of Jesus are that way. They see right through us. He sees us for who we truly are. There are no masks that I can wear, no barriers I can erect, no place I can hide that will keep Jesus from looking deeply into my heart and seeing me the way I am.

That shouldn't frighten me. Because I know that Jesus sees the things in me that I need to change in order to grow closer to Him every day.

There were certainly those in Jesus day who had to come to grips with how they truly were. Some decided to change and some didn't.

I am reminded about Jesus interaction with Nathaniel in John 1:43-50. Not only did Jesus see Nathaniel concerning where he was physically (standing under the fig tree back home) but he also saw where he was morally (a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false). Once confronted with the fact that Jesus vision was 100% perfect, Nathaniel couldn't help but confess that Jesus was the Son of God.

If we are not afraid to let Jesus have a deep look into our inner self, then we will confess with our entire being HE IS THE SON OF GOD!

Blessings,

L.T.

Who is Jesus #100 (from the Apocalypse)

The time has come to get back to this blogging thing. The passage we are exploring (Revelation 1:12-17) is perhaps the most comprehensive description of Jesus there is in the N.T. Everything Jesus was/is is pretty much found in this section of Revelation.
When I stopped blogging over a year ago we had barely made it halfway through this marvelous description of the Savior.
Let's remind ourselves that our first century brothers and sisters were needing to get a complete look at Jesus. Their situation was critical and was going to get worse before it got better. There could be a temptation to ask where is this Jesus anyway and just who does He think He is letting us suffer all sorts of persecution? Is He really even there?
YES! He is there! He hasn't left His faithful ones to their own resources.
And so, they get another - more comprehensive - look at Jesus; and what a look at is.
O.K. 21st century Christian. When life tumbles in, where is Jesus? Has He changed? has He left?
NO! He is there! Just take the time to look around and see Him for who He is and what He is doing.
The journey continues.

Blessings,

L.T.

Best Laid Plans

Was going to get my blogging engine up and running again, but something prohibitied me. I think you can see the picture. His name is Ty Austin Trcka and he is our second grandchild.

He was born on Thursday at 3:20 A.M. CDT. He weighed in at 7'11'' and was 18" long.

I think he is a real cutie and I know he is a keepr.

His mother and our daughter, Melissa, is doing fine as well as daddy Dee.

We are so blessed.

Blessings,

Larry

Return to Blogging

It has been over a year since I added anything to this page. There are a couple of reasons for that and several excuses. Much has happened in our lives over the past year. I started taking graduate courses. Three of our children have bought new homes and Aleta and I have moved into a new ministry in Clovis, NM.
We are now in the preaching ministry serving the 21st Street Church of Christ in Clovis. As of this writing we have been here a month. It has been a real blessing for us and we pray one for the church here as well.
It has been a move that has gone well and we believe we are where God wants us doing what He wants us to do.
It is my intention to get back on the subject of "Who is Jesus?" in the coming days and continue to explore the magnificent Son of God.
This coming Sunday is Easter Sunday and most churches will probably have a few extra people in attendance. I pray these irregular attenders will be moved by the Resurrected Christ to give it all up for and to Him.

Blessings,

Larry