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Friday, April 8, 2022

A Dead Man Saves Many!

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

 One stormy night in 1910, a group of traveling musicians arrived at the city of Riga in Latvia to fulfill a concert engagement.  However it was raining heavily and the weather was very bad.  The conductor of the orchestra tried to cancel the concert so that they could catch the next boat to go to Helsinki, Finland.  The Manager of the concert hall refused to cancel but he agreed that if no one came to the concert, then, they could cancel it. 

When the musicians arrived at the concert hall they found only one person sitting in the audience… he was a stout old man who seemed to smile at everyone.  Because of this one old man, the musicians were forced to play the entire concert and were unable to leave early to catch the boat.

After the concert was over the old man who was their only audience continued sitting in his seat.
Thinking he was asleep, an usher nudged his shoulder.  Only then was it discovered that the old man was dead.  The musicians had played the entire concert for a dead man!

But, ironically, in doing this they had actually saved their own lives because the boat that they would have taken to Finland sank that very night with a complete loss of life!


Through Adam’s one act of disobedience, death came to us all.  But because of Christ’s life of perfect obedience… which led Him to die on the cross for our sins…life may come to us all!

Have you accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation?

 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The Plan of Salvation is found in the Book of Acts 2:38: Repent, and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit by speaking in another language. Acts 2:38.

Story by Pastor Doug Batchelor, Amazing Facts Daily Devotional, Concert for a Dead Man, August 20, 2019.

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary


Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The Rabbi, Holy Man and the Lawyer

 The Rabbi, Holy Man and the Lawyer


Three friends, a Rabbi, a Hindu holy man and a lawyer, had car trouble in the countryside and asked to spend the night with a farmer.


The farmer said, "There might be a problem; you see, I only have room for two to sleep, so one of you must sleep in the barn." "No problem," chimed the Rabbi, "My people wandered in the desert for forty years, I am humble enough to sleep in the barn for an evening in their memory." With that he departed to the barn and the others bedded down for the night.

Moments later a knock was heard at the door; the farmer opened the door. There stood the Rabbi from the barn. "What's wrong?" asked the farmer. He replied, "I am grateful to you, good sir, but I can't sleep in the barn. There is a pig in the barn and my faith believes that is an unclean animal."

His Hindu friend agreed to swap places with him. But a few minutes later the same scene reoccurred. There was a knock on the door. "What's wrong, now?" the farmer asked. The Hindu holy man replied, "I too am grateful for your helping us out but there is a cow in the barn and in my country cows are considered sacred. I can't sleep on holy ground!"


Well, that left only the lawyer to make the change. He grumbled and complained, but went out to the barn.
Moments later there was another knock on the farmers door.

Frustrated and tired, the farmer opened the door, and there stood...

The pig and the cow.


William James Roop, M.A.B.S.






Monday, April 4, 2022

She Threw Him Out Of The House!

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My wife and I had just finished breakfast, and Atchafalaya came and knocked on the door. "Atchafalaya" is my neighbors nickname. Atchafalaya is a river in southern Louisiana. He had gotten two magazines by accident from the grocery store and want to give my wife the other one.


While we're talking in the doorway, he told me how he was living in Patterson, Louisiana, about fifteen years ago,  and saw a Facebook ad for his camper that he was living in now. He said him and a buddy of his, drove up to Lafayette, Louisiana, to take a look at it.

He said that he looked at the camper and the manufacturers paper tag was still on the shower wall and the plastic was still around the mattress! Also the oven had never been turned on!

The woman selling it had a husband who was a drinker, and all he wanted to do was drink beer. So she threw him out of the house for three months. So he lived in the camper for three months, and all I did was drink beer and use the toilet. They never actually went camping in the camper.


 I said that all he needed was the refrigerator and the toilet.  That's all he had a need for him. So Atchafalaya bought the camper for twelve thousand dollars, and now he's living it today. He had gotten a great deal on the camper.

After three months the lady let her husband back in the house. I guess she felt he was punished enough and came to a conclusion that he's not going to stop his beer drinking. But it seemed like she was the one in charge in the family.

Without Jesus Christ in your life everybody's going to have a dysfunctional family. By putting Jesus first in our life, it is the only possible way to have a healthy normal family. When both the husband and wife are without sin, happiness abounds!

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Care and Dying 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 


God's Red Cross

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

 One cold September day in 1944, a American prisoner of war in Germany received a Red Cross package in the mail. In it, there was food and a Monopoly game. The soldier was so hungry that all he could think about was the food, so he quickly ate the food.


In the dim light that came from the window of his barracks, he saw the special Monopoly game he had placed on the bed.  Before he went to war, he was told that the Monopoly game would have tools to escape.

Hidden behind the picture of a dog was a magnetic compass.  Hidden behind the picture of a red hotel was a tiny silk map of his region of Germany. It had details of the location of his camp and directions on where he could expect to find help.  Under the fake money, he found real French, German and Italian money!

He found all the things that he needed to make his escape!  Each of us is trapped in the Prisoner of War camp of “sin” but all heaven is working on our behalf to set us free!  Someday soon, sin and wars will cease.  Jesus will come and take the faithful people to heaven and they will have eternal life.


 When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior and obey the Plan of Salvation found in the Book of Acts 2:38, and reflect the love of Jesus, we can have eternal life!

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary



Saturday, April 2, 2022

A Bunch Of Lawyer Jokes

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Here is a bunch of lawyer jokes for your entertainment. 

Mr. Moneybags

A stingy old lawyer who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness was determined to prove wrong the old saying, “You can’t take it with you.”

After much thought and consideration, the old ambulance-chaser, finally figured out how to take at least some of his money with him when he died.

He instructed his wife to go to the bank and withdraw enough money to fill two pillowcases. He then directed her to take the bags of money to the attic and leave them directly above his bed.

His plan: When he passed away, he would reach out and grab the bags on his way to heaven. Several weeks after the funeral, the deceased lawyer’s wife, up in the attic cleaning came upon the two forgotten pillowcases stuffed with cash.

“Oh, that old fool,” she exclaimed. “I knew he should have had me put the money in the basement!”


What Brings You Here?

An architect vacationing on the Riviera met an old lawyer friend and asked him what he was doing there.

The lawyer replied, “Remember that lousy real estate I bought? Well, it caught fire, so here I am with the fire insurance proceeds. What are you doing here?”

The architect replied, “Remember that lousy real estate I had in Mississippi? Well, the river overflowed, and here I am with the flood insurance proceeds.”

The lawyer looked puzzled. “Gee,” he asked, “how did you start the flood?”


The Priest, the Rabbi and the Monk

A priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk get arrested for illegal gambling.

They get in front of the judge. He starts questioning the priest first, "Did you play poker yesterday?"
The priest mumbles a quick 'Lord forgive me' and answered "No."

The judge turns to the rabbi and asks him, "Did you play poker yesterday?"
The rabbi crosses his fingers behind his back and answers a clear "No."

Finally the judge turns to the Buddhist monk and tells him, "So you are a Buddhist monk, I know for a fact that you are absolutely forbidden to lie to me!  Did YOU play poker yesterday?"

The monk looks at the priest, then at the rabbi. He smiles at the judge and asks "How could I possibly play poker all by myself?"


The Fussy Judge

A couple arrived at town hall seconds before closing time, and caught a judge just as he was about to leave, and asked him to marry them.

He asked if they had a license and, when they said they didn't, He sent them off to get one. They caught the town clerk just as he was locking up, and got the license from him.

When they got back to the judge, he pointed out they had filled the names in wrong -- with his where hers belonged and vice versa. They rushed back to the clerk's office, caught him again, and got another license.

This time, the judge noticed that the clerk had filled in the date in the wrong format. Again they caught the clerk... and after five reissued licenses, the judge was finally satisfied.

Judge: "I hope you appreciate why I made you keep going back. If there are irregularities in the license, your marriage would not be legal, and any children you might have would be, putting it delicately, technical bastards."

Groom: "That's funny - that's just what the clerk called you."


The Horse and Chicken Restaurant

A man faces a violation for adding horse meat to the chicken stew in his restaurant. At the court he’s asked why he did it and how much horse meat was in those stew.

“For the money of course and I solemnly swear I always kept the ratio 50:50!”

While the infraction caused many unhappy customers, upon seeing the man’s honesty the judge decides not to revoke his license. However he in turn must always advertise that horse is part of the ingredients. With a sigh of relief, the restaurant owner pays the fine and walks out of the court house with his wife and friend

He friend asked him “Did you really put horse meat or did you add anything else with the chicken?”

“Nope. Only horse meat and chicken”.

“Now tell me the truth man, come on, it was mostly horse meat wasn’t it?”

“Nope. It was always 50:50... one horse per one chicken.”


A Case of Defamation

A woman was sued by a man for defamation of character. He charged that she had called him a pig. She was found guilty and fined.

After the trial, she asked the judge: "Does this mean I cannot call Mr. Johnson a pig?"

The judge said that was true.

"Does this mean I cannot call a pig Mr. Johnson?" asked the woman.

The judge replied that she could indeed call a pig Mr. Johnson with no fear of being charged with a crime.

The woman turned, looked directly at Mr. Johnson, and said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson."



The Prejudiced Juror

A man wanted to be dismissed from jury duty, but none of his excuses worked. So on the day of the trial, he asked to approach the bench. "Your Honor," he said, "I must be excused from this trial because I am prejudiced against the defendant."

"Oh?" the judge asked.

"Yes!" the man replied. "I took one look at the man in the blue suit with those beady eyes and that dishonest face, and I thought, 'He's a crook! He's 100% guilty.' So, your Honor, I couldn't possibly be on this jury!"

The judge replied, "Get back in the jury box. You are just the kind of juror we are seeking--a good judge of character."

The man protested, "How can you say that?"

"Because," the judge said, "that man is the defendant's lawyer."


  
The Big City Lawyer and the Prize Bull

A big-city lawyer was representing the railroad in a lawsuit filed by an old rancher. The rancher's prize bull was missing from the section through which the railroad passed. The rancher only wanted to be paid the fair value of the bull.

The case was scheduled to be tried before the justice of the peace in the back room of the general store.

The attorney for the railroad immediately cornered the rancher and tried to get him to settle out of court. The lawyer did his best selling job, and finally the rancher agreed to take half of what he was asking.

After the rancher had signed the release and took the check, the young lawyer couldn't resist gloating a little over his success, telling the rancher, "You know, I hate to tell you this, old man, but I put one over on you in there. I couldn't have won the case. The engineer was asleep and the fireman was in the caboose when the train went through your ranch that morning. I didn't have one witness to put on the stand. I bluffed you!"

The old rancher replied, "Well, I'll tell you, young feller, I was a little worried about winning that case myself, because that bull came home this morning."


A Volunteer to Mars

NASA was interviewing professionals to be sent to Mars.
Only one could go and they could never return to Earth.

The first applicant, an engineer, was asked how much he wanted to be paid for going.
“A million dollars,” he answered, “because I want to donate it to M.I.T.”

The next applicant, a doctor, was asked the same question.
He asked for $2 million. “I want to give a million to my family,” he explained, “and leave the other million for the advancement of medical research.”

The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer’s ear, “Three million dollars.”
“Why so much?” asked the interviewer.
The lawyer replied, “You convince them I'm the best candidate. I’ll give you $1 million, I’ll keep $1 million, and we’ll send the engineer to Mars.”


How Much Do You Charge?

A man finds himself in need of a good lawyer. He finds one online and goes to his office.

After being allowed inside, he sits across from the lawyer. He needs legal help, but he wants to make sure he can afford it first.
“Can you tell me how much you charge?” he asks.

“Of course,” the lawyer replies, “I charge $800 to answer three questions.”
The man was alarmed. “Don’t you think that’s an awful lot of money to answer three questions?” He inquired.

“Yes it is”, answers the lawyer, “What’s your third question?”
 
The Secret of His Success..

After many years of hard work, Joe rewarded himself with a long, luxurious stay at an exclusive Caribbean resort.

While relaxing on the beach, he was surprised to see a former high school classmate who he hadn't seen since they graduated. His old friend had been something of a "burnout" in high school, and this was the last place Joe expected to see him.

Joe approached the man, and seized his hand. "Pete, it's Joe. From high school. It's sure been a long time. You look great! You must really be doing okay for yourself."

"I am," whispered Pete. "I am a partner with a very successful law firm. But don't tell mother. She got the idea that I was a drug dealer back when I was in high school, and she would be terribly disappointed if she figured out how I REALLY make my money."


The Honest Judge

A defendant in a lawsuit involving large sums of money was saying to his lawyer, "If I lose this case, I'll be ruined."

"It's in the judge's hands now," said the lawyer.

"Would it help if I sent the judge a box of cigars?" asked the defendant.

"Oh no!" said the lawyer. "This judge is a stickler for ethical behavior. A stunt like that would prejudice him against you. He might even find you in contempt of the court. In fact, you shouldn't even smile at the judge!"

"I see, good to know." said his client.

Within the course of time, the judge rendered a decision in favor of the defendant. As the defendant left the courthouse, he said to his lawyer, "Thanks for the tip about the cigars."

"I'm sure we would have lost the case if you'd sent them," said the lawyer

"But I did send them." said his client.
"What?? You did?" asked the shocked lawyer.
"Yes, That's how we won the case."
"I don't understand," said his lawyer.
"It's easy. I sent the cheapest cigars that I could find to the judge, but enclosed the plaintiff's business card."


Lawyers vs. Doctor

Two attorneys boarded a flight out of Seattle. One sat in the window seat, the other sat in the middle seat. Just before take-off, a physician got on and took the aisle seat next to the two attorneys.

The physician kicked off his shoes, wiggled his toes and was settling in when the attorney in the window seat said," I think I'll get up and get a coke." "No problem," said the physician, "I'll get it for you."

While he was gone, one of the attorneys picked up the physician's shoe and spat in it.

When he returned with the coke, the other attorney said, "That looks good, I think I'll have one too."

Again, the physician obligingly went to fetch it and while he was gone, the other attorney picked up the other shoe and spat in it.

The Physician returned and they all sat back and enjoyed the flight.

As the plane was landing, the Physician slipped his feet into his shoes and knew immediately what had happened.

"How long must this go on?" he asked. "This fighting between our professions? This hatred? This animosity? This spitting in shoes and pissing in cokes?"



The Lawyer, the Friend and the Two Bears

A lawyer and his Czechoslovakian friend were camping in a backwoods section of Maine.

Early one morning, the two went out to pick berries for their morning breakfast.
As they went around the berry patch, gathering blueberries and raspberries in tremendous quantities, along came two huge bears - a male and a female.
The lawyer, seeing the two bears, immediately dashed for cover.
His friend, though, wasn't so lucky, and the male bear reached him and swallowed him whole.
The lawyer ran back to his Mercedes, tore into town as fast as he could, and got the local backwoods sheriff.
The sheriff grabbed his shotgun and dashed back to the berry patch with the lawyer.
Sure enough, the two bears were still there.

"He's in THAT one!" cried the lawyer, pointing to the male, while visions of lawsuits from his friend's family danced in his head.
He just had to save his friend.
The sheriff looked at the bears, and without batting an eye, leveled his gun, took careful aim and shot the female.
"What did you do that for?!" exclaimed the lawyer, "I said he was in the other!"

"Exactly," replied the sheriff. "Would YOU believe a lawyer who told you the Czech was in the male?"
 

The Old Lady Shoplifter

An old lady gets caught shoplifting.

On court day the lady and her husband who goes stand before the judge and she says to her, "Why did you shoplift?"
And she says "I was hungry."

The judge says "What did you take?" She replies, "A can of peaches."

The judge thinks on this and comes to a decision. "How many peaches where in the can?"

"Six." says the old lady.

"Then you shall serve six days in jail." Decrees the judge. "Do you have anything to add?"

"Ah, your honor?" Her husband suddenly raises his hand. "She stole a can of peas too."


Inheritance Confessions

An arrogant, rich man passed away one day

In his will, he entrusted $100,000 in cash to each of his closest advisers: his accountant, his doctor, and his lawyer. In his will, he instructed that each of them was to put all of the money into an envelope and place it into his coffin at his funeral, so he could have his money even after death.

On the day of the funeral, each of his advisers came with a large envelope and each, in turn, placed it in the wealthy man's open casket. At the end of the funeral, when the man was buried, each of the advisers walked away from the cemetery together.

The accountant said to the other two "I must confess, I didn't put all of the money in. I kept $20,000 for myself and only put in $80,000."

The doctor responded "I should be honest too. I kept $30,000 for myself and only put in $70,000."

The lawyer looked at the other two with disdain and said "I'm ashamed of both of you. Our client instructed us to put in $100,000 each into his casket, and I'll have you know I put in a check for the full amount!"


A Choice of the Heart

A patient who needs a heart transplant suddenly gets a phone call from his surgeon.

"You are in luck, we have two matching donors. A twenty year old athlete and an 80 year old lawyer, which heart do you want?"

The patient answers, "Give me the lawyer's heart."

"Are you sure??" Asks the surgeon in surprise.

"Yea, I'd rather have one that hasn't been used."


Blonde vs. Lawyer

There was a blonde who found herself sitting next to a Lawyer on an airplane.

The lawyer just kept bugging the blonde wanting her to play a game of intelligence. Finally, the lawyer offered her 10 to 1 odds, and said every time the blonde could not answer one of his questions, she owed him $5, but every time he could not answer hers, he'd give her $50.00. The lawyer figured he could not lose, and the blonde reluctantly accepted.

The lawyer first asked, "What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?"

Without saying a word the blonde handed him $5. then the blonde asked, "What goes up a hill with 3 legs and comes back down the hill with 4 legs?"

Well, the lawyer looked puzzled. He took several hours, looking up everything he could on his laptop and even placing numerous air-to-ground phone calls trying to find the answer. Finally, angry and frustrated, he gave up and paid the blonde $50.00

The blonde put the $50 into her purse without comment, but the lawyer insisted, "What is the answer to your question?"

Without saying a word, the blonde handed him $5.


A Good Deed

An old man was critically ill. Feeling that death was near, he called his lawyer. "I want to become a lawyer. How much is it or the express degree you told me about?"

"It's $50,000," the lawyer said. "But why? You'll be dead soon, why do you want to become a lawyer?"

"That's my business! Get me the course!"

Four days later, the old man got his law degree. His lawyer was at his bedside, making sure his bill would be paid.

Suddenly the old man was racked with fits of coughing and it was clear that this would be the end.

Still curious, the lawyer leaned over and said, "please, before it's too late, tell me why you wanted to to get a law degree so badly before you died?"

In a faint whisper, as he breathed his last, the old man said,

"One less lawyer..."


The Generous Lawyer

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute.

"Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?"

Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um ... no."

The lawyer interrupts, "or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?"

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again.

"-or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!"

The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea..."

On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to YOU??"

  
How to Turn a Nice Profit While Flying

A blonde and a lawyer are sitting next to each other on a plane. The lawyer asks the blonde if she wants to play a game, "All you have to do is ask a question and if I get it wrong or don't know, I'll give you five dollars, then I ask you a question and if you get it wrong you pay me five dollars."

"No," she says. "I just want to sleep."
He keeps asking and she finally gives in when he says he will pay her 500 dollars, but she still only has to pay five dollars.
"What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" he asks.
She gives him 5 dollars. "What goes up the hill with four legs and comes down with five?" she asks.
He pulls out his laptop and searches it, but finds nothing. Then he emails his friends. After an hour, he still hasn't got an answer, he hands her 500 dollars. Then he asks her: "So what is the answer?"
She hands him 5 dollars.


You Can Stop That Now

A lawyer was standing in a long line to get tickets for Cats, which was making its long-anticipated return to Broadway.
Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands kneading into his back. Startled by this blatant intrusion of personal space, he turned around to find out that it was a complete stranger standing in line behind him doing the kneading.
Giving the stranger a stern look, the kneading stopped for a few minutes, but he felt hands working on his back again soon enough.

"Excuse me," the lawyer asked, "But why are you touching my back, and what on earth makes you think you have the right to do so without asking me first?"
"Oh, I’m so sorry… I'm a chiropractor you see," the man replied, "and sometimes I just can't keep myself from practicing my skills."
"Well, you should really get a hold of yourself – it’s not appropriate to be touching the backs of random men without their permission," the lawyer shot back.

"In fact, I'm an attorney, and you don't see me screwing just any old guy in front of me, do you!?"

 

You Can't Take It With You.

An old miser, due to his terrible cheapness, had no friends nor family.
Just before he died he called his doctor, his lawyer and a minister to come see him. They complied, and gathered together around his bed.

"I always heard you can't take it with you, but I am going to prove you can," he said.
"I have $90,000 cash hidden underneath my mattress. It's in 3 envelopes of $30,000 each. I want each one of you to grab one envelope now and just before they throw the dirt on my grave, you throw the envelopes in."
Weeks later, the three attended the funeral, and true to their word, each threw in their envelope into the grave.

On the way back from the cemetery, the minister said, "I don't feel so good about this, I am going to confess, I desperately needed $10,000 for a new church we are building, so I took out $10,000 and threw only $20,000 in the grave."
The doctor said, "I, too, must confess. I am building a clinic and took $20,000 and threw in only $10,000." He looked ashamed.

The lawyer said, "Gentlemen, I'm surprised, shocked and ashamed of both of you. I don't see how you could in good conscience hold on to that money. I threw in a personal check for the ENTIRE amount."


A Lawyer's Priorities...

One day, there was this lawyer who had just bought a new car, and he was eager to show it off to his colleagues, when all of a sudden, an eighteen wheeler came out of nowhere and took off the driver's side door with him standing right there.

"NOOO!" he screamed. Because he knew that no matter how much a mechanic tried to fix it, it never would be the same.
Finally, a policeman came by, and the lawyer ran up to him yelling. "MY BMW'S DOOR WAS JUST RUINED BY SOME FOOLISH DRIVER!" he exclaimed.

"You're a lawyer aren't you?" asked the policeman. "Yes, I am. But what does this have to do with my car?" the lawyer asked.
"HA!" the policeman replied. "You lawyers are always so materialistic. All you care about are your possessions. I bet you didn't even notice that your left arm is missing did you?" the cop said.

The lawyer looked down at his side and exclaimed: "MY ROLEX!!"  


A Trustworthy Lawyer

An investment counselor decided to go out on her own. She was shrewd and diligent, so business kept coming in, and pretty soon she realized that she needed an in-house counsel.

Excited at her runaway success, she began to interview young lawyers.

"As I'm sure you can understand," she started off with one of the first applicants, "in a business like this, our personal integrity must be beyond question."

She leaned forward. "Mr. Peterson, are you an honest lawyer?"

"Honest?" replied the job prospect. "Let me tell you something about honesty..."

Why, I'm so honest that my father lent me $15,000 for my education, and I paid back every penny the minute I tried my very first case."

Bowled over by the apparent honor of the applicant she exclaimed: "Impressive. And what sort of case was that?"
The lawyer squirmed in his seat and admitted:

"He sued me for the money."

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary

 


Friday, April 1, 2022

Three Blown Tires!

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

My neighbor Atchafalaya, in the next RV came over to give my wife a magazine.  "Atchafalaya" was his nickname. Atchafalaya is a river in southern Louisiana where he had grown up. He had taken two by accident at the grocery store. We were talking about how beautiful the day was this morning. And he mentioned that he had gotten his camper repaired yesterday by an electrician.


I told him, "yeah I saw their repair guy was over there, what did he fix?"  He said he was trying to repair some wiring. He explained how he was trying to fix it himself and pulled some wires to get some slack, and ripped out the wires! He said the camper had set idol for ten years, and needed a lot of repairs done to it.

I told him, "yeah the wires had probably rotted out and probably were pretty brittle. He didn't seem to agree with that and easily brushed off my comment. He continued, they tell me how the hurricane was going towards Morgan City about fifteen years ago, and he wanted to get out of there. So he is pulling the same camper to Alexandria Louisiana, Atchafalaya had just purchased the camper, and along the way he had three tire blowouts! I told him yeah the camper set for ten years in a warehouse, and tires after five years are unreliable. After five years the rubber starts to deteriorate! And he seemed to agree with that. He said that it cost him twelve hundred dollars of repairs to fix the three tires!


I told him that he should have had all the tires replaced when he bought the camper. He reluctantly agreed with that statement. He said eventually replaced all the tires with sixteen ply tires. He said now he can run over some I-beams and never get a flat tire!

That just goes to show that things in this life deteriorates. But if we have Jesus Christ in our life, He never gets old and He never deteriorates. You can have Jesus in your life, all your life, and he'll never get old, and he'll always be by your side!

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

 Roop-Crappell Ministries 

 Hospice Care and Dying 

 The Trucking Tango 

 Apostolic Theological Seminary 


Saturday, March 5, 2022

God's Love

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Is Love an Emotion according to the Bible?
Lori Stanley Roeleveld


Is Love an Emotion according to the Bible?
Everyone knows that God is love. The Bible teaches us to love, and that Christians are supposed to be known by our love. But what is love? Is love an emotion? Is love only an emotion or are there observable actions that demonstrate love? Do we have to feel loving for those loving actions to matter to others and to God? What if we never feel love?

The simple answer is that according to the Bible, love is both an action and an emotion.

Love is demonstrable as God did by sending His only Son to die. John 3:16 Aramaic says, “Thus, for Elohim loved the world so as he would give His Only-begotten Son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but would have life that is eternal.”

Jesus also demonstrated His love for us by laying down His life on the cross. He says in John 15:12-13 Aramaic, “This is my Commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. There is no love that is greater than this that a man lay down his life for the sake of his friends.”

Whatever else love is, it translates itself into action. 


Is Love an Emotion?
Love is not only a demonstrable action, however. The Bible also describes it as a feeling. The apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 13:3 Aramaic, “And if I should feed out to the poverty stricken all I possess; and if I should give my body so that I may boast, and there should be no love in me, I gain nothing.” In other words, we can do the right thing but if we are void of love, the action has less meaning for God.

We know emotions matter because a) our God expresses emotion and b) He designed us with emotions, in His image. Feelings are a means of connecting with God and with others. They can be motivators to do right. They also serve as sort of “dashboard” lights helping us know when something is impacting us either positively or negatively. They shouldn’t rule over us, only God does that, but they also shouldn’t be ignored because they’re an important element of our design.

When God commanded Israel to love Him “with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Deuteronomy 6:5, KJV,  His message was clear that He meant to love Him with all that we have within us. Jesus repeated this command in Matthew 22:37 Aramaic, “Y'shua said to him, “‘that "You should love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and with all your mind.’” We are to love Him with everything. That includes our emotions.


Now, just as we have varying capacities for strength and for thinking, so we have different levels of emotional expression. Emotional expression varies from culture to culture and person to person. One person may be highly expressive of their emotions while one feels just as deeply but for a variety of reasons, isn’t as emotive.

This sometimes factors into worship. One person may be highly emotionally expressive during worship. Now, this may be a reflection of deep love for God; however, it may also be that they are simply into the music or even just loving the sound of their own voice. Another person may express very little emotion during worship. This may be that they are unmoved in the presence of God, and this is a concern. But it may also be that they are so moved by God’s holiness and beauty that they become quiet within themselves out of deeply reverent love. From outer observation, we cannot know for sure, but God knows.

God is always looking at the heart. This is important to remember in discussing love as a feeling. A person may feel deeply and yet express that love purely through actions. Another person may be greatly expressive, hugging and saying lovely words, and yet be empty of love and lacking in deeds. The Bible acknowledges a variety of personality while still calling us to give all we have to God. The Bible doesn’t elevate emotions but neither does it dismiss them or reject them. God rejects our sin but not our humanity.


In Luke 7:36-50, the story is recorded of a weeping sinful woman anointing Jesus with oil and washing His feet with her tears. It is an intensely emotional display. Jesus doesn’t condemn her emotions but commends her before the Pharisees, who have been living “righteous” lives—in other words, they’ve been doing the right things. He tells a story to illustrate that he (or she) who has been forgiven much will love much. The woman acted on her love by anointing Jesus with oil, but it is a largely emotional display.

Consider a marriage, for example. Most couples in our times are drawn to one another based on feelings of love. We acknowledge that those feelings wax and wane, but we still expect spouses to act with love toward one another, even when the feelings aren’t strong. But, if those loving feelings never reappear, we would consider that a sign that something is off and worth examining.

Likewise with biblical love. We certainly are called to obey—loving God and others with our actions, even when we don’t feel loving. We’re called to love our enemies, right? It’s a rare human who will feel love for his or her enemy, but we are still to treat them with love. But, if we never feel loving toward God or others, that’s worth examining in prayer and perhaps with a mature Christian leader.


How Does the Bible Describe Love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Aramaic,  is a clear description of love through actions and attitudes. “Love is patient and is kind; love is not envious; love does not shout loudly, is not boastful; does nothing to cause shame, seeks not her own, is not passionate, and thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

When we say we love someone, it’s profitable to measure our actions against these verses to see if we’re living our love. If love is willing to lay down its life for a friend, surely, it’s willing to lay down its agenda, its schedule, or its plans for one in order to minister or support.

Jesus, in John 15:9-10 Aramaic, describes a relationship between love and obedience. “As the Father loved me, so too I have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep my Commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept the Commandments of my Father, and I abide in His love.” 


What’s unique about a relationship with Jesus Christ is that He loved us even while we were still sinners. He gave His life for us before we repented. So now, we don’t obey to earn love, we obey out of love for Him. Of course, our obedience is an act of love but if we have no emotions toward Jesus who laid down His life to save us, can it be that we’ve truly grasped who He is and what He’s done?

What Are Different Types of Love in the Bible?
We typically understand there to be four types of love mentioned specifically in the Bible. One is eros, which is romantic love and is most commonly associated with the Song of Solomon. The second is storge which describes love between family members such as Jacob and Joseph. Philia is the third and this would be brotherly or friendship love, like Jonathan and David or the apostles. And finally, agape is the pure and holy love of God demonstrated most clearly by the death of Christ on the cross.

We can observe the emotional element of God’s love most clearly through the prophets of the Old Testament as they frequently refer to God’s relationship with His people as a marriage. When Israel indulges in idolatry, God uses the analogy of adultery to explain His passion for His people to repent and return. God loves us with words, thoughts, feelings, and actions. And we are made in His image.


God Is Love
John tells us that God is love. “Because Elohim is love; and whoever does not love, does not know Elohim” 1 John 4:8 Aramaic. This actually captures the entire spirit of the idea that love is a feeling and an action.

You see, God’s words, thoughts, actions, and emotions are fully integrated, holy, righteous, and true. Even His anger is an anger that arises out of love for His creation, desiring that it be all He created it to be and knowing that sin creates barriers to holiness and relationship with Him without Jesus Christ. It’s only us humans who struggle with this divide between our thoughts, actions, words, and feelings. The more we learn to live like Jesus, the closer we get to the integrity of being. The closer we follow God, the less this question of love becomes one of either actions or emotions because we begin to abide in love.

Paul, in Romans 12, cautions us to let love be without hypocrisy. This means don’t try to fake it. This implies an emotional connection to our loving acts. John, in 1 John 3, cautions us not to love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth. This means to act with love and to let love be the truth of our hearts.

When we fell, we became separated from God and truly fell into division with other humans and even within our own hearts, minds, and souls. Walking with God and living in His love reconciles and unites us with God, with our human family, and with our own hearts.

Is love an action? Yes. Is love a feeling? Yes. Is God love? Yes. And that is ultimately the most important truth about love.


Lori Stanley Roeleveld is a blogger, speaker, coach, and disturber of hobbits who enjoys making comfortable Christians late for dinner. She’s authored four encouraging, unsettling books including Running from a Crazy Man and The Art of Hard Conversations. 

William James Roop, M.A.B.S.

Roop-Crappell Ministries

Hospice Care and Dying

The Trucking Tango

Apostolic Theological Seminary