December 26, 1999 Humble Messenger
"Here Was A Man"
Here was a man. A man who was born in a small village, the son of a peasant
woman. He grew up in another small village. Until he reached the age of thirty, he worked
as a carpenter. Then for three years he was a traveling minister. But he never traveled
more than 200 miles from where he was born, and where he did go, he usually walked. He
never held political office. He never wrote a book. He never bought a home. He never had a
family. He never went to college . . . Yet, here was a man.
Here was a man . . . He never did one of the things that you usually associate with
greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He had nothing to do with this world, except
through the divine purpose that brought him to this world. While he was still a young man,
the tide of popular opinion turned against him. Most of his friends ran away. One of them
denied him. One of them betrayed him and turned him over to his enemies. Then he went
through the mockery of a trial and was nailed to a Roman cross between two thieves . . .
When he was dead, he was taken down from the cross and laid in a borrowed grave provided
by a compassionate friend.
More than nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he's the centerpiece of the
human race, our leader in the column of human destiny. And I think that I'm well within
the mark when I say that, all of the armies that ever marched, all of the navies that ever
sailed, all of the legislative bodies that ever sat, and all of the kings that ever
reigned, all of them put together have not affected the life of man on this earth so
powerfully as that one solitary life. Here was a man.
Johnny Cash (Ritter/Bond), taken from Country Gold CD, Vol. 10
(The [. . . ] indicate sections omitted by me. Variations of this tribute can be
found in different publications. I do not know who authored the original composition. srf)
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When Is The New Millennium?
The U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, is "The Official Source of
Time for the Department of Defense and the Standard of Time for the United States."
It says, "The end of the second millennium and the beginning of the third will be
reached on January 1, 2001. This date is based on the now globally recognized Gregorian
calendar, the initial epoch of which was established by the sixth-century scholar
Dionysius Exiguus, who was compiling a table of dates of Easter. Rather than starting with
the year zero, years in this calendar begin with the date January 1, 1 Anno Domini (AD).
Consequently, the next millennium does not begin until January 1, 2001 AD." (Taken from their web site: http://
psyche.usno.navy.mil/millennium/whenIs.html.)
Oops..! End time prognosticators "prophesy-ing" the "end" with
the beginning of third millennium will have to wait another year.
Knowledgeable and obedient believers in the Word of God need not worry about when the new
millennium begins. They are aware that "the day of the Lord will come just like a
thief in the night" (unpredictable and unexpected) and stand ever ready, whenever
that may be: "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake
you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor
of darkness... God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ... Therefore encourage one another, and build up one
another..." (1 Th 5:4,5,9,11). srf
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Wednesday Evening Close
Dec. 29 Doug Bernard
Jan. 5 Johnathan Bernard
Jan. 12 Jeff Bogs
Jan. 19 Eddie Crain
Jan. 26 Jim Crain
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