Who is This Man? (6th of 12) JESUS: SON OF MAN

                          JESUS: SON OF MAN 
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." 
                                                                            Jesus

1. Throughout the gospels, how did Jesus refer to himself? John 9:35-38

2. For what two reasons did the Son of Man come, according to Jesus? Matthew 20:20-28,  esp. verse 28 (also Mark 10:45). 

3. "Son of Man" was a commonly used term for "man" or "male human being." It is used this way  100 times in the Old Testament, 93 of them in the book of Ezekiel. Jesus may have used this name for himself because of its reference in Daniel 7. What do you learn about the Son of Man from Daniel 7:13-14?

4. Applying the term Son of Man to himself,  what did he claim about himself?

• He has power to _______ _____)  Mark 2:1-11, esp. verse 10,  (also in Matthew 9:6 and Luke 5:24)
• He is _____ of the __________) Matthew 12:1-8, esp. verse 8.
• He has ________ and a ____________ Matthew 13:36-43
• All who __________ in him will have _________ ______ John 3:14-15
• He accepted _________ John 9:35-38, esp. verse 38

5.  In the future Jesus said we will see him. From the following passages list everything it says about the coming of the Son of Man.
     a. Matthew 16:27, 28
     b. Matthew 19:28
     c. Matthew 24:27-44, esp. verses 29-31 (see also Mark, chapter 13, esp. v. 26)
     d. Matthew 25:31-33
     e. Matthew 26:64 (see also Mark 14:61-62)
     f.  Luke 17:22-37
     g. Luke 21:25-36
        

6. Jesus' followers got a preview of the coming of the Son of Man: Mark 9:2-9 Describe Jesus in this passage. Based on this lesson, WHO IS THIS MAN?

(To be continued February 13)


Today I am thankful for taste buds.

Holy Spirit or Madison Ave? (Last of 6)

NEVER SHORT
     On July 1, 1982, G. Allen Hires could write to friends, "This is a landmark to us for it marks the anniversary of our total dependence on the promises of God without ANY promise of support.
     "We were full of fears as we faced what to those around seemed a total impossibility. Now we rejoice seeing God's dealings in the days and moments of our walk.
     "Our enemies assured one and all we were 'closed.' Now they ask how we stay open. One year ago today we had 22 boys. Now we care for 25 and have 3 more coming. We now have the largest group home in the state. The parents are more involved and the boys have a different attitude toward success. NEVER have we been short of food or clothing."

From their website, Flying H Youth Ranch:

The Flying H Youth Ranch is a Christian residential program for teenage boys who are struggling within their families.

Founded in 1962, the Ranch has served over 2,000 boys and families, emphasizing concern for helping the entire family and encouraging faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible.

We exist to bring these young men and their families to God's perspective and standards of family living. Our desire is to enable the boys to build and re-build relationships. In addition to this we want to help them learn to overcome destructive decisions, have accomplishment academically and physically, form moral and responsible codes as well as learn discipline and obedience while learning to view themselves as unique and valuable.

We accept boys, ages 13 (8th grade)-16½ , commonly exhibiting the following characteristics:

• Defiant and Angry
• Disrespectful to authority
• Lacking self-control
• Experimenting with drugs and alcohol
• A.D.H.D.
• Deteriorating academic performance
• Poor peer choices

Flying H Youth Ranch, 370 Flying H Loop, Naches, Washington 98937 Phone (509) 658-2990  Fax (509) 658-2009 Email youth@flyingh.org Today I am thankful for the life and vision of G. Allen Hires, d. January 16, 1987.

Help, help! I can't post any more pictures!

     When I tried to post a picture on a series I want to do about our chow Cherokee, I got the message that I've used up all my free picture space. There is a long, complicated policy statement I have to agree to in order to buy more space and I'm not sure it's safe to sign. My husband and a friend are helping me figure this out--but does anyone out there have any suggestions? Thanks!

     Today's "Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue?" is below.

Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue? (5th of 6)

     What effect has the loss of our contract had on the boys we care for? We have noticed much greater spiritual progress with them. Many find Christ as their savior while even more find Him as their daily source of help.
     We are free now to set our own rules, making attendance at church, devotions, and Sunday School part of the program, rather than the option it had to be under state regulations. We can require chores and thus teach work skills. And we can determine our own discipline, rather than let it be established by a social worker.
     Best of all, we have been able to minister to the parents as well as to the boys. They are now enthusiastically involved with us in helping their children.
     In all of this, we have seen the abundant, faithful provision of the Lord. Not one payment was ever late or in default although we never knew day to day how God would supply next. As of this writing, there is not one unpaid bill.
     We have been cast on the Lord in a new way. We pray for each other's needs individually and it is thrilling to watch every need be met.

PRAY MEANS PRAY!
     One day a bank president called me to ask what he and his friends could do for us.
     "Can you get 50 people to pray for a certain family here?
     "Certainly, Is that all?"
     "If you can get the 50, then ask them to pray for open ears so God can tell them anything more He wants of them."
     We did not need to tell these prayer partners our needs. We could safely continue to tell our needs to God and let Him move people to have a part in His ministry here.
     Unfortunately, when some saints hear the word "pray," they interpret this to mean, "Give $5." If they hear, "really pray," they think "$25" and if they hear something in an "urgent prayer request," they tend to think in terms of $100 or more. This is a confusing of prayer with giving and the confusion is compounded by the appeals of some Christian ministries.
     But giving can never be a substitute for prayer. James 5:16 says "Tremendous power is made available by a good man's earnest prayer" (Phillips translation). Money is never spoken of as being powerful in the spiritual sense. Although money and those who give it are essential, it is only prayer which is priceless and which has everlasting results.

Today I am thankful for salvaged and redeemed lives.

Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue? (4th of 6)

     One day we prayed, "God, we need cooking oil." When we went into town to pick up some donated foodstuffs, we were told, "By the way, we have some cooking oil for you." Some? They gave us 72 gallons!
     Another time, a friend called long distance to tell one of the staff that she would be coming to visit. The staff missionary was dismayed as she knew her cupboard was bare, especially of eggs.
     "Lord," she prayed, "I need eggs. Please tell my friend to bring some."
     As the friend considered coming, she was reminded of the strain she might put on the missionary. She cast about in her mind for some way to ease that strain and remembered that she was overstocked on eggs. That would be just the ticket.
     So the eggs arrived with the company. "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." (Matthew 6:32)
     And so it has gone. When our income dropped off, God's good hand took over and our food budget remains about the same as it was in 1980. No small feat for any but a BIG God. Our staff is leaning about living hand to mouth--God's hand to our mouths.

THE MANNA BOARD
     What about staff needs? They have housing and health insurance, but no salaries now, although most of them have growing children. How do they live?
     They subsist entirely on contributions from those whose heart God touches. All undesignated gifts are gathered into one account and whenever there is one thousand dollars in that account, it is shared equally. The checks are hung on each missionary's personal clip on what has come to be known as "The Manna Board."
      Of course there are bigger things that defy the size of the Manna Board, like furniture and appliances and cars. The Lord has provided those, too. And skills. We needed a farmer for the hundred acres of farmland on the Flying H. God provided a family from Minnesota.
     We had prayed and planned for 3,200 square feet of bedroom space for 30 boys. After the state dropped their contract with us, this seemed like an endangered project. But we did as much as we could with it and whenever we needed more building material God supplied it.
     One day a stranger from Southern California walked into our office and announced that he wanted to donate his time to us for a week. His skills were particularly need in finishing the building and so it was completed "without missing a beat."
     We had been praying for a Christian school. Now it is becoming a reality in some rooms being built into our gym.

(To be continued)

Today I am thankful that before we ask, God answers.

Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue (3rd of 6)

MULTIPLYING MONEY
     A lady who cleaned houses for others had very little to share but did send us a $5 bill, with an apology that she could not send more.
     We kept track of that bill. First it went to town to pay for a small part we needed and it was returned with the message: "No charge." The next day it went into town again to buy something else. This time it came back because there was a special that day. Again, "No charge."
     Twice the $5 had been offered, the merchandise obtained and our money returned. Not until the third time (does the "Golden Arches" ever refuse money?) was it accepted.
     When the giver heard that her gift had been multiplied three times by the Lord, she was so thrilled she told one of the ladies for whom she cleaned house. This lady immediately gave her another $5 for missions!
     But the story didn't end there. A businessman in the area asked us how our work is financed. We mentioned the "multiplying" $5 bill. A few weeks later when we placed an order with him, he settled our account by telling us, "Pretend you are spending that $5 over again."
     To the best of our figuring, God has generated ten times the amount of the original $5 in actual purchases, and no accounting has been obtained of the different ones who have been encouraged to share the little they have because of it.

SHALL I NOT CLOTHE YOU?
     We always dreaded the coming of a new school year because there was n so much shopping to do for the boys. During the summer of 1981, we estimated that it would cost about $2,000 to get just the barest school clothing necessities for them It might as well have been two million dollars, so far as we were concerned.
     But a Yakima merchant who was unaware of our need gave us two vans full of his "returns." They included everything from socks and underwear for pre-schoolers to XXL men's sizes. Besides that, he gave us at least 100 pairs of cowboy boots.
     On that "dreaded" first day of school, not only the boys but all the staff families were outfitted better than any year previously. God was telling us, "If I clothe the lilies of the field, shall I not MUCH MORE clothe you?" (Matthew 6:28-30)
     Food is always a big item in our budget. "Hollow legs" are more than just a poetic expression when 20 boys try to see how many slices of French toast they can eat at one sitting or how many pancakes they can make disappear. Thank God for a 48-inch grill but still--
     We have a ready answer for those who say, "Could you use a ton of potatoes?" or "How about 1,000 pounds of asparagus?" At one time or another, we have been given three full pick-up loads of ice cream, 200 gallons of milk, cases of yogurt, 200 cases of fresh corn (5 dozen to the case), 500 pounds of Jello powder (lemon), 8 cases of fresh pineapple, 2 pallets of frozen Lima beans, enough cranberry juice to fill a swimming pool.


(To be continued)

Today I am thankful for the God who multiplies.

Holy Spirit or Madison Avenue? (2nd of 6)

     As we had contemplated the multiplied thousands of dollars which would be necessary to buy and operate the Flying H, our hearts failed until the Lord showed us Mark, chapter 10, verses 29-30: "Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.'"
     The words just jumped at us and we replied, trembling, "Lord, You know the value of this property. We have dedicated it to You. Now give us back one hundred times as much."
     The state gave us a license and agreed to fund our program. The Lord gave us a staff and enabled us to pay off the original mortgage, erect and pay for a gym, purchase two adjacent ranches and pay off one of them.
     Then in 1981 we were stunned by the news that the state had decided to drop their contract with us. This meant that 95% of our income-- $20,000--would be cut July 1st.
     With no income from outside nor leading from above, we sat and fearfully viewed the future. We notified the eleven families and individuals on staff that there would be no paycheck after August 1 and that they were under no obligation to stay on.
     Although the state had stopped paying us, they had not removed our "guests" so our mission field was intact even though our pocketbook was not. We considered closing down the ranch but after much prayer agreed that God had called us and had issued no "change of work orders." We believed He wanted us to continue as we were and to trust Him.
     For a long time there was tension as needs continued and nothing seemed to break on the financial scene. The largest problem was that although staff saw themselves as missionaries, they did not have the prayer support usual to missionaries. They did however have the heart of true missionaries and accepted all things as from the Lord with a spirit of rejoicing.
     We did not have any liberty in our minds to tell others our needs but this drove us more often to our knees. We prayed, "Lord, speak to those who listen to Your voice and impress upon them the opportunity to be part of Your work here."
     It was with real amazement that we watched God stir up people from many walks of life to respond to His voice. Often He motivated missionaries to share with us. This was humbling as we knew what a sacrifice this was for them.

(To be continued)

Today I am thankful for people with faith.