74-ElevenApostles-I-A

And We Thought We Knew You:
Soul Journey With the Real Jesus

Eleven Apostles I
SOARINGS

Early May AD 30
Capernaum, Galilee

�� The movement is on again!� Jesus' apostles are elated.� Momentum building.� Hopes rejuvenating.� Dreams soaring.

�� "Hey, where have you guys been?" Nathaniel demands jokingly at the two men coming through the front door.� "Stop by India on your way back from Jerusalem?"

�� "We went to Jericho to visit my old boss, Zachaeus," Matthew explains.� "He's sure a changed man." [1]

�� "Yeah," James Jr. adds.� "He's even dropped his plans to start a new business from Jesus' secret in turning water to wine."

�� "Hey, look who's here!"� Simon has just come in from the courtyard where he had been sharpening his sword.� "We just got back a few days ago ourselves."

�� "Have you guys seen him yet?"

�� Everyone knows who "him" is.

�� "Yes, but not where he had told us to meet him," James explains. [2] "It was a surprise unscheduled appearance about a week ago while we were fishing.� A teaser I guess you'd say.� The only quality time he spent, though, was with Peter ~ like he wanted to reassure him one more time.� Peter had been getting depressed again. Then he disappeared again.

�� "That's all he did?"

�� "Well, there's more, but we'll tell you about it after you get settled."

�� "Yes, it's still on, if you're wondering about the movement."

�� "When was it he said to meet him next?"

�� "This coming Sunday."

�� "Let's camp out the night before," suggests Philip.� "You know how he's always liked to do things right at the crack of dawn."

�� "Good idea, Thaddeus says.� "Hey, who's on to fix dinner?"

�� Matthew and his brother James Jr. go upstairs to their shared room to put their things away.� The group bought the house three years ago to use as a headquarters, and a place to stay together when they had serious planning to do.� Otherwise, they lived at home.

�� On their way down the hall, both men notice a room with a bed stripped to the straw.� It is Judas' bed.� No, it was Judas' bed.

�� "Man, why did he have to go and kill himself?" James Jr. asks not expecting an answer.

�� "What gets me is what he thought he was doing when he turned Jesus in to the authorities.� Did he think he'd force Jesus hand?� I'll never figure it out."

�� They walk uneasily into the room.� James Jr. opens Judas' ornately carved coffer, the one he always called his treasure chest.

�� "James, stay out of there.� That's Judas'...."

�� "It was Judas' things.� What good are they doing him now?� Look at all these deeds.� He sure was an investor."

�� "We had a lot of good talks, Judas and I," says Matthew.� I really liked him.� He had a good head on his shoulders.� You'd think if anyone was going to turn hypocrite, they wouldn't do it with Jesus Christ himself right there at his side."

�� Matthew is fighting back tears.� He wonders what he could have done differently to save Judas.� He loved the guy.� They all did.� Why did he have to do it?�

��"We should send his things to his father, you know...."

�� "He had such big plans," James Jr. murmurs as he throws the stack of useless papers back into the chest and closes it again.

�� That evening after dinner the eleven men sit around in the courtyard, still engulfed in the permeating silence of grief.� Yes, Jesus came back to life, but they all feel deep down they are about to lose him again.� Their personal thoughts clamor, trying to make some sense out of all the confusion and the unknown that is yet to come.

�� "You know, things haven't turned out the way I thought they would," Simon finally says to whoever wants to listen to him think out loud.� "I mean, well, I thought he was going to take over the country and boot out those foreign occupiers."

�� "Me too," Nathaniel adds.� "He kept talking about getting right with God because the new kingdom of God was about to be established."

�� "Things have gotten too complicated," Simon says.� "Just when I think I have him figured out, I realize I don't."

�� "Just who is Jesus, anyway?" asks Matthew.� "Or what is he?"

�� "He says he's the son of God," Thaddeus says.� "But just what does that mean?"

�� "Maybe he's an angel," Simon ponders aloud.

�� "Could be," says James Jr..� "After all, the scriptures say angels are like winds that can go everywhere, and like flames of fire that can burn through anything." [3]

�� "But there are innumerable angels," Philip says. [4]� "If he's an angel, he's not like the others.� For there is one angel that is called Lord.� Remember what our founding father, Abraham, said when he nearly sacrificed his son to God?� He called the angel who stopped him, Lord. Every now and then through the centuries one particular angel of God was called Lord." [5]

�� "Philip, ole boy," Nathaniel says, trying to break up some of the seriousness of the evening, "we can depend on you tracing all this down.� I remember three years ago when you checked everything out with a fine-toothed comb before you decided Jesus was the one promised by God, " he adds with a wink. [6]

�� "The scriptures have said for centuries that God will send his own king, the Holy One, our Deliverer to us," says Thaddeus.� "But how are we supposed to know Jesus is holy?� What exactly does holy mean anyway?" [7]

�� "In some ways," Simon contends, "it's been all wrong.� If God actually came in person ~ you know that special angel who was called Lord ~ he wouldn't be like us.� His superiority would be obvious to everyone.� He would look like lightening, he'd be a giant, his voice would sound like thunder, his very steps would make the ground tremble."

�� "But, Matthew, God can come in any form he chooses.� Maybe he didn't want to scare us.� Maybe he wanted us to identify with him, so he came looking like us," Peter explains.

�� "What do you mean?"

�� "Well, why would God send us a Deliverer?"

�� "To deliver us from breaking all those hundreds of laws he gave us in the Law of Moses," James Jr. interjects.� "They're impossible to keep, you know.� And whenever we break any of them, we sin." [8]

�� "Okay, everyone," Peter continues, looking around the room.� "Who is the only person we have ever known to keep every one of those laws perfectly?� Think." [9]

�� "You're right.� It was him.� It was Jesus.� He was so good he made me nervous," Simon admits.

�� "I thought I was the only one nervous around him," Nathaniel confesses.

�� "So," Peter goes on, "could he have shown us how if he'd been stomping around the world in a 30-foot body scaring the daylight out of everyone?"

�� "Man, Peter, how did you figure this all out?" asks his brother Andrew.� "I thought you were all brawn and no brain," he heckles in true brotherly fashion.

�� "We may not have doctorate degrees, but we do have some education and we know how to use it. I don't have it all figured out. It's coming to me a little at a time.

�� "We've been trying to figure him out for over three years now," Thomas says.� "We've watched him in person and listened to him in person.� We've seen his miracles and heard his astounding words.� Can you imagine how hard this would be for people to believe who never heard or saw him in person?"

�� James takes a deep breath.� "Mighty hard.� Almost impossible.� I sure hope he sticks around another three or four years.� Or longer.

�� "Speaking of sticking around," says Andrew, "it'll be good to see him again."

Saturday, about May 7, AD 30

�� "Tonight's the night, guys," announces Philip.� "We camp out on that hill so we don't miss him.� Everybody ready?"

�� "You've gotta be kidding," James Jr. replies.�

�� "First we worship.� Then we get ready."

�� The day is spent in many preparations in many different ways.�

�� Meticulous Matthew, Philip and Andrew wash a few clothes "whether or not they need it" contrary to the Law of Moses saying no one is to work on the Sabbath.� James Jr., Simon and Peter don't pack any extra clothes at all.� Tomorrow they'll just wear the ones they have on now.� The rest prepare in combinations between the two extremes.

�� Then there are the mental preparations.� What questions do they have prepared to ask Jesus?� They need to write them down.� But, what if their time is too limited?� What if he only stays a few minutes like he did all the other times?� Maybe they'd better list their questions in order of importance.�

�� Question One:� Why do you keep disappearing?� Why aren't you with us all the time like you used to be?

�� Question Two:� How were you able to keep all those laws of Moses perfectly?� Did you know how inferior it made the rest of us feel?

�� Question Three:� If you're from God, why didn't you come with wings or something obvious so everyone could recognize you?� And why did you waste all that time being born as a baby so you'd have to wait until you grew up to begin your mission?

�� Question Four:� Just what is your mission?� As soon as we think we understand, you go and drop a boulder on us.� You say our lives here will be better because of you, then you turn right around and say you're starting a spiritual nation.� And what does "spiritual" mean anyway?

�� There are the spiritual preparations too.� At least among those who think they understand what that is.� They've decided spiritual means to pray a lot.� So some of them do just that.�

�� "God, don't let Jesus leave.� We're not sure just who or what he is.� But we love him because he loves us.� God, how are we going to live without him?� We thought we had a good life before, but it was nothing compared with how it's been since we met Jesus.� God, don't let him leave."

�� "God, there have been a lot of times that I knew I didn't please Jesus.� I just don't know how to be as perfect as he is.� I do and say a lot of stupid things.� Do you think he's forgiven me?� I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.� But, God, would you put in a good word for me?� You and he are tight."

�� Some just stare out the window at the Sea of Galilee down the hill from their headquarters, and remember days gone by.� Will they always be able to remember everything they did with Jesus?� Time is so fleeting.� Where does it go?

�� It's late afternoon now.� One by one through the day the men have been taking their bags to the door.�

�� "How many of you have tents packed?" Matthew asks, more as a hint than a request for everyone to report in to him.

�� "I'm not taking one," James Jr. replies.� I prefer to just sleep under the stars.

�� "If you want to get dew all over you this early in the spring, be our guest," Thaddeus replies.� "The rest of us are saner than that."

�� "I'm with James Jr.," Simon replies.� "I like it under the stars too.� The rest of you just can't hack it, can you?"

�� That night at dusk, the eleven head out of town, work their way out onto the highway and up into the hills.� Finally they turn off onto a familiar path.� They take turns being in the lead.� Somehow it doesn't feel right Jesus not being in the lead.

�� Their steps plod along, but their hearts race.� Is it better to know ahead of time he is coming and get your blood pressure up, or is it better to just be surprised and save all the agony of time seeming to stand still at all the wrong times?

�� Finally they see a familiar flat on the mountain and stop.� Hiking up they hadn't talked much.� They're talking even less now.� �� Jesus, this is killing us.� It's like watching you on your death bed.� We wonder which time is going to be the last time.� We go through your leaving a thousand times in our minds, although you haven't left us for good yet.� But we all know it will happen soon.� Sooner than we want.�

�� Jesus is not acting the same any more.� He is not preaching or healing or warning or anything.� It's like he is just checking in with them now and then to let them know he is still thinking about them.� Like going in and out of consciousness.� Nothing of substance being said.� Just smiles and stares and a minimum of words.

�� Jesus, don't leave us.� We hate this.� We want to go with you.

�� Jesus, just where is it you're going?� Where is heaven?�

�� They're all gathered around a bonfire.� Just staring.� Creating a spell that they do not understand.��

�� "I wonder how he knew?" Thaddeus muses aloud.��

�� "Knew what?" Philip asks.

�� "That he was the one sent by God."

�� "Maybe it came to him a little at a time as he read the prophecies made centuries earlier in the scriptures," Matthew replies.� "He probably saw that the Deliverer was to be born in Bethlehem, and he was.� He had to run away to Egypt awhile, and that's what he and his parents did.� Many babies were predicted to be killed at that time, and that's exactly what happened."

�� "Even the exact year he was supposed to start teaching was predicted centuries ago," Philip adds.� "And since a man isn't supposed to begin a ministry until he's thirty, all he had to do was count backward thirty years to see he was born the right year. [10]

�� "Even the Sanhedrin knew this.� When they told all this to King Herod, that's when he had all those babies killed.� None of this could have been predicted by accident.� There's too much to be coincidental." [11]

�� Silence once more.� They have a long night ahead of them.� For few of them will sleep.� Those who do will not sleep well.� They will always be listening for his voice, straining to see through the shadows, waiting for his touch.� Is it morning yet?

Sunday, about May 8, AD 30

�� "Good morning, everyone."

�� Who said that?� Is it you, Jesus?

�� It's Peter.� He's got some dried fish out. "Any takers?"

�� The men stir, stretch stiff muscles, and get to their feet.�

�� "Has anyone seen him yet?" John asks.

�� "Not me," they all take turns replying between yawns or bites of fish.

�� "Anyone want more than this for breakfast?"

�� "I'm not hungry."

�� "I could eat a horse."

�� "Well, there's some bread if anyone wants one."

�� And they resume their waiting and thinking and their wondering what is going to happen next.� They had not realized how much they had learned to depend on Jesus to reveal their next maneuver.

�� Maneuver?� Yes, that's a good word for it.� He had come to take over the world.� He says he has.� Jesus, could you just explain that one to us too?

�� Some wander over to a clump of boulders and lean on one or another of them aimlessly.� Others walk a way farther up the hill, then come back down, not willing to miss anything in case he shows up and leaves again before they know it.�

�� Still others lie on the rocky ground and stare at the clouds above as they bump aimlessly into one another.� That's what they feel like.� Aimless clouds.� But still on a kind of high.� After all, Jesus promised he'd see them on this hill.� He keeps his promises.� Will he come to them out of those clouds?� Better keep an eye on them.

�� Good morning, men.� Glad you could make it.

�� Instantly everyone knows.� It's him.� IT'S HIM!

�� All smiles.� Heart beats once more racing.� Then knowing what they must do.� They did it before out of respect.� But the longer it has been since he came back to life, the more they realize they must now do it out of homage.� Somehow they know it, even though they do not understand it.

�� They look in the direction of his voice and see their friend taking a little different stance than normal.� It's the stance of a commander.� A commander getting ready for battle.� His jaw is set, his eyes piercing like steel, the veins in his neck throbbing.

�� Although instinctively each man rushes toward Jesus as though to shake his hand or give him a bear hug like in the old days, one by one they stop short, then ask themselves the question.�

�� Is he, or isn't he?

�� John is the first.� He approaches Jesus, the man he has known all his life, then stops and drops slowly to his knees.� John is convinced Jesus is more than a man.� Thomas is next.� He was the first to actually call him God.� Then Peter, the first to call him Lord.�

�� Then Andrew and Philip, the first to recognize Jesus was the Deliverer way back at the beginning.� Then James, John's brother, who does not know it yet, but who will be the first one of them killed for believing in Jesus. [12]

�� The rest look at each other wondering what to do.� They honor and love him.� But is he really....well, as impossible as it is....could he really be....God?

�� Jesus is not telling the others to get up off their knees.� There is one thing they all know for sure, and that is that Jesus is no ordinary man.� If he is a man.� So they too drop to their own knees out of respect to their Lord. [13]

�� "I now have control and power over everyone in heaven and on earth."� He is speaking with authority.� His words are commanding.� His tone exudes victory.� "Therefore, I have one final assignment for you.� This is not a matter of choice.� It is a command." [14]

�� Power over everything, Jesus?� Exactly what does that mean?� Just how much power is that?� Over nature too?� Everything?

�� The eleven closest friends to Jesus in all the world rise to their feet and wait for his instructions like true soldiers awaiting their marching orders.

�� "You men are to travel to every nation in the world."

�� Now wait a minute, Jesus.� You, yourself, only taught people who already knew about the Jewish Scriptures.� Why do you want us to go into territory where people never heard of it or you?� That's a bit much.

�� Besides, there's only eleven of us, Jesus.� How can you expect less than a dozen men to cover the whole world?� How about giving us time to organize a missionary society and missionary teams, an army of Christians?� You know, ten families to this city, ten to that?� Wouldn't that be more effective?

�� Jesus changes his stance now.� More like the one he used to have.� He is not only their commander, he is their friend.� Their very close friend.� Always has been.� Always will be.�

�� Jesus walks over to one of the boulders and sits on it, dangling his feet.� His friends sit on the ground and wait for his explanations.� It's like the old days.� Is it okay to sit in front of God?

�� I broke into hell in the place of all mankind, then back out again, a fete that has never been done before.� My father and I knew no one else would ever be strong enough to do it.�

�� "I'm telling you eleven men to be the first to go," he repeats, his voice not having completely lost its authoritative timbre.� You are to lead with your example like true captains.� You are to give people the necessary proofs so that they believe that I died and broke through hell for them and came back to life. [15]

�� Well, we know what those proofs are.� You fulfilled prophecies written down in black and white centuries before, so many prophecies a single person could never manipulate history to accomplish them all.�

�� But, we're still getting used to the idea that you're not just from God, but you apparently are some form of God.� How can you be God and be so friendly with us?� And how can we accomplish what you want us to when our own faith in you is so weak? [16]

�� Jesus, always the one to look for opportunities to wait on people, gets up, walks over to the bonfire and comes back with a basket.� Bread anyone?� Isn't that just like him?�

�� A few accept.� Then they settle back down.

�� "Now, after you teach them, you are to dip them under water to give them the privilege of imitating my own death, burial and resurrection back to life." [17]�

�� Well, Jesus, we know you went through the water dipping with John the Baptist just before you began preaching.� But if we ask other people to become wet, they won't like it.� It'll turn people off.� Why couldn't you just leave that part out? [18]

�� "I want you to baptize the believers into the name and power of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit." [19]

�� God the Father, we understand.� God the Son ~ that's supposed to be you, Jesus, isn't it?� But God the Spirit too?� We don't have a clue what means.

�� Matthew and Simon stand and walk restlessly away from the group.� They'd always done that when things got too deep for them.� They're such practical thinkers, some things really throw them for a loop.

�� James Jr. walks over to Matthew.� "Rough, isn't it?� I mean everything he wants us to swallow," James says, trying to help his big brother sort things out.�

�� "Logically I know he is what he just said.� I know he is God the Son.� But I don't feel like he is.� He looks too much like you and me.� I know he had to live like us to make his perfectness be valid.... But, man, this is hard."

�� Thaddeus excuses himself, goes inside his tent, rolls up his sleeping mat, then sits on it, still trying to absorb Jesus' orders to them.

�� Nathaniel walks away from the others several yards, picks up a rock, and throws it up into the air to see if it will go higher than the pine tree Simon's leaning on.

�� In a few minutes, everyone comes back to the rest of the group.� The others have been talking softly, being used to the more restless ones and knowing they'd be back shortly.�

�� Jesus has not been talking at all.� He has, often through their years together, had to wait for their thinking to catch up with him.�

�� "Teach them everything I taught you.� Teach them they must obey whether or not they feel like it.� This is so they do not self-destruct.� They are to preserve their souls in this way, and they are to preserve my words for the next generation."

�� Thomas looks at James as though his mind is spinning.� "How can we remember everything Jesus said so people can follow it and preserve it?" he whispers.

�� "Don't you remember?� He said before he died that God's Spirit would help us remember." [20]

�� "Well, he didn't have all that many rules," Philip whispers to Andrew.� "Mostly it was his way of life that was so unique.� Is that what he means?"

�� "And all those commands that Moses gave," Andrew mutters back.� "Is Jesus more important than Moses now?� Does that mean we don't have to keep all those hundreds of laws in the early scriptures now?" [21]

�� "Jesus," Nathaniel says, still stuck on the world-wide thing, "we have to tell the whole world?� That'll take us a lifetime.� We're going to have to drag our families along and keep them uprooted.� That's a lot to ask." [22]

�� Jesus only smiles.� He knows it will be hard.� "Don't worry.� I will be right there with each one of you, urging you on and giving you courage.� I'll do that with you and every generation that continues this work until the very end of the world." [23]

�� "But how can you be with us all at once, Jesus?" James asks.

�� "I think I know," Philip says, daring to answer what was asked of Jesus.� "That's the reason Jesus has to leave.� As long as he's confined to this human body, he can't be with us all.� But back in spirit form, he can. Is that right, Jesus?"

�� Jesus, realizing they are catching on a little better, stands up.� He step to each of his friends.� Looks them in the eye, smiles, and gives each a big bear hug.� They understand why.

�� This isn't the last time, is it?� We need a little more help understanding things.

�� Jesus tells them he'll meet them back in Jerusalem.� Although he began teaching up north, he wants them to begin teaching right in the hub of the religious hierarchy's wheel of power.� In fact, they may as well be prepared to move their families there.� When they arrive, he will give them further instructions.� They've got two weeks.

�� "Will we see you any more here in Galilee?"

�� Jesus smiles as though it is a possibility.

�� Once more their heads are swimming.� They can hardly keep up with him.� Are you sure, Jesus?

�� Don't worry.� He will be back.� He will help them get started.� But now is the time for goodbyes.

�� At least this time he does not disappear so suddenly.� Jesus takes time to share with each one a few personal parting words.

�� But then...

�� ...he is gone.

�� No matter how prepared they are or are not, they still do not like it when he goes away.� It leaves them feeling so hollow.� So inadequate.� So downright scared out of their skin.� He is expecting too much of them.� They feel as though they are in a fantasy dream world.� Maybe they'll all wake up soon and everything will be back to normal.

�� Back on the path they make their way down through the hills and back into Capernaum.

�� By the time they arrive back at their headquarters, Philip has it all figured out.

�� "Okay, now, guys, I'm going to hang this scroll on the wall.� Let's write down the countries of the world and see how we can divide them up."

�� "Way to go, Philip," says Matthew, quite pleased at the organized way he is going about the whole thing.

�� But their choices cannot be made lightly.

�� Each man either heads for home to talk to family members, or writes messages to them.� Some are married and some have children.� Some are not married but are responsible for parents or brothers and sisters.� Some have other obligations such as does John.� Jesus himself asked John to take Mary, Jesus' mother, in with him.� There are a lot of things to think about. [24]

�� Andrew and Peter excuse themselves and walk over to Peter's house.� Peter talks alone with his wife in the courtyard, his young children fighting for turns to sit in his lap.�

�� "Honey, we're moving.� If your parents want to stay here, we'll hire a nurse to live in our part of the house.� If they want to go with us, could you take care of putting the house up for sale?"

�� Peter waits for an objection that does not come, then continues.� "Patrice, sweetheart, I know this is a lot on you."

�� "Somehow I've suspected it would come to this.� After all, did you and I ever do anything ordinary?� Remember our wedding with you wearing that crazy outfit?" she says laughing.

�� She takes a deep breath.� "So, to what part of the world do you want to go?"

�� "Well, after we get things established in Jerusalem, I thought about starting out on the west coast of Turkey where those large cities are.� Then maybe, after we have some experience, we might consider Brittany...." [25]

�� A similar conversation is going on in Peter's mother-in-law apartment where Andrew is talking to Jonah and Esther.� They'd been like parents to him since his and Peter's dad died a few years ago.

�� "So, son, where did you think you'd like to go?"

�� "It's so sudden. I've always been interested in Russia.� Maybe I'll go there.� I just don't know yet.� It's so hard to decide."

�� James and John go to John's house to talk with Salome, their now widowed mother, and with Mary, Jesus' mother.�

�� "I just can't decide," James says.� I like it here.� I have a funny feeling about this.� Someone has to stay here in Palestine, so it may as well be me. And besides, our family does have connection with the high priest., so maybe he'll go easy on me" [26]

�� "Well, Mother and Aunt Mary, what are you thinking about?" asks John.

�� "I know you have to stay in Jerusalem awhile to get things organized," Salome says. [27]

�� "But he told us several times that things are going to get worse and eventually even the Temple will be destroyed," Mary adds. [28]

�� "Perhaps we can go to Turkey," John suggests." [29]

�� Matthew and James Jr. go home to visit with their parents, Alphaeus and Mary.�

�� "I think somewhere around Greece.� And maybe then to Ethiopia after that."

�� "Well, I don't know.� I think I'll just go to Syria.� It's not that far away, but someone has to cover the territory near here."

�� Philip and Nathaniel both go over to Cana and talk it over with their families.� Philip is thinking of Russia, and maybe Gaul north of Spain.� Nathaniel considers Arabia, Iran and maybe India.

�� Thomas sends a message to his parents in Syria.� He thinks maybe he'll try Iran and beyond to India.� Thaddeus considers Iran too, and perhaps Russia.

�� Simon goes over to Phoenecia where his folks are.� He is thinking of Cyrene, Lybia and Carthage in North Africa and Brittany.

�� Four days later, the eleven men meet once more at their headquarters.

�� "Well," announces Thomas, "now that we've turned the lives of our families upside down, do we know we really want to do this?"

�� "I feel like I'm jumping into the lake during the storm all over again," Peter replies.

�� "We're not only supposed to keep our heads above water, but we're supposed to walk on it," his brother, Andrew, replies, recalling Peter's experience a couple years earlier. [30]

�� "Man, it's too much," admits Thaddeus.� "We won't have each other for reinforcement.� We'll each be completely on our own.� I just don't think I can do it."

�� Jesus, you promised you'd be with us.� Just how much?� We're not strong like you.� Your assignment is too heavy.� The odds against us are too great.� It's too much to expect.� We're just human.�

�� Jesus, what you've ordered us to do is turn the world upside down.� How is that possible?�

�� LIFE APPLICATION

1.�� Jesus was perfect.� That made a lot of people uncomfortable.� In fact, he was killed for it.� How does it make you feel being around people who seem perfect in certain things?� Do you think many people feel awkward accepting Jesus because of the contrast between his perfection and our imperfection?� Have you ever had that problem?� Jesus can forgive you so completely of your imperfections (sins) that in his eyes you never did them.� How does that make you feel?

2.�� Many world religions teach reincarnation, a cycle that can only be broken when we are perfect.� Jesus told mankind he would be the perfect one for us so that we would only have to struggle through our earthly lives once.� How does that make you feel?

3.�� Jesus commanded that we be baptized (Matthew 28:19).� Many people are not baptized because of some saintly relative who never was.� Jesus knows whether they would have been had they known about it.� Someone must break the cycle.� Do you want to be the excuse younger people use for not being baptized?� The apostle Paul was baptized by a man identified only as "a disciple," a follower of Jesus.� He held no church office.� Besides, we cannot rely on the heart of the baptizer to determine whether our baptism is valid.� If you would like to be baptized, find someone who will help you.

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