2021
THEY WILL NOT BELIEVE- EVEN IF
SOMEOME CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
As I get ready for my final departure-
what I would like to do is tell a couple of the ‘best of the best’ type stories
on my way out.
Many years ago- in the early
80’s- I was going to a Fundamental Baptist church- I was the youth leader and
filled in for the preacher at times.
Good church- great people.
But- this style of Christianity
looks down upon what the bible refers to as the Charisms- or the gifts of the
Spirit.
Now- as a teacher for many years-
one who tries to ground himself in the historic church.
The main teaching- by most of the
churches- is the gifts do indeed still operate today.
But- you have lots of ‘silliness’
in some of the expressions of them- and of course- you have out and out
charlatans too.
So- during this time- I was a young
believer- just got kicked out of the Navy [maybe will tell that one next?] and
was painting houses for a contractor [right before I got hired at the Fire
Dept.].
One day we were painting this
dentists house- Charles Clements- and I’ll never forget.
I was downstairs in a room- and I
thought I heard a bloodcurdling scream!
I went to the spot where I thought
the scream came from- and sure enough- the mother of the kids had pulled her
young boy out form the bottom of the pool- he drowned to death.
My job foremen- Randy Maltby-
started doing CPR- well- he actually just tried to do mouth to mouth- and water
was coming out of the boy.
Now- I worked 25 years at the
Fire Dept.- I have seen lots of dead folk- this kid was dead.
But- at this time- I did not have
the experience and simply asked the mom ‘do you want me to pray’?
She was hysterical- and screamed
YES!!
I will never forget the prayer- I
was very calm- and simply started praying for God to raise the boy from the
dead- for God to put the boy’s spirit back in him.
As I prayed- I heard the boy
cough- and in a short time he was awake.
Now- the ambulance came and took
him to the ER.
About a week later the news paper
came to interview me and the other carpenters- they did a front page story
about the boy.
It read ‘CHILD SAYS HE SAW THE
LORD’.
The boy was around 3-5 years old-
but he made- what the doctors called- a miraculous recovery.
He recounted the story to them.
He said when he as at the bottom
of the pool- Jesus came to him and told him he was going to bring him back to
life.
The paper [Kingsville Record-
early 80’s- maybe you can find it on line?] ran a full story on it- they did
say ‘Chiarello was in the room- praying’.
As you can imagine- this was somewhat
of a shock for the Baptist Church I was going to.
And the story was the talk of the
town.
To be honest- I didn’t see what
all the fuss was about- I thought everyone believed God could do stuff like
this.
But as the years went by- I
realized lots of people- some more Charismatic types- they talk a lot about
this stuff- but in actuality- it rarely happens.
In Luke chapter 16 Jesus tells
the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
The rich man had it made- all the
stuff you ever could want- a ‘more than enough’ mentality for sure!
The poor man was begging every
day at the gate- the dogs came and licked his sores.
One day the rich man dies- goes
to hell.
Lazarus dies- goes to heaven.
The rich man sees Lazarus with
Abraham- and asks father Abraham to send Lazarus with some water- the rich man
is hot!
Abraham says he cant- there is
this gulf- and you can’t pass over.
The rich man says ‘well- at least
let Lazarus go back to my brothers who are still alive- maybe he can warn
them’.
Jesus says ‘they have Moses and
the Prophets [their writings] let them get warned by that’.
The rich man says ‘no- but if one
comes back from the dead- they will listen’.
Jesus says ‘if they won’t be
convinced by the Old Testament writings- then neither will they believe if one
rose from the dead’.
The boy in the above story is
Andrew Clements- his dad is a famous dentist here in South Texas- he runs an ad
every week in the paper.
Charles Clements.
Some might think ‘gee John- how
do we know your not making this stuff up’.
Look- I take no money- have nothing
to sell- and to be honest- at this point- have no reputation to defend.
Why the heck would I make this
stuff up?
Yeah- some of you will believe-
but some wont- even if one Rose from the Dead.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] -
I have posted lots.
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