The (Scientific) Death of Jesus.....

At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.

Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.

The nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself so that He could breath.

Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross.. Jesus could not support himself with His legs because of the pain so He was forced to alternate between arching His back then using his legs just to continue to breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.

Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding.

He was simply pouring water from his wounds.

From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side. But do we realize His wounds were actually made in his body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped and an even large nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. But before the nails and the spear Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture..

He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds.

The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.

Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into his members; a crown of thorns on his head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into his chest.

All these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying his own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where his hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience, so that you can have free access to God.

So that your sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation. JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU! For you, who now read this. Do not believe that He only died for others (those who go to church or for pastors, bishops, etc).

He died for you! It is easy to pass jokes or foolish photos by e-mail, but when it comes to God, sometimes you feel ashamed to forward to others because you are worried of what they may think about you.

Accept the reality, the truth that JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.

God,I know I have been neglecting you!

I know I have been neglecting you. But Why?

My search has come to a complete dead end.

My spirits are low and I continue to neglect you daily.

I am losing hope.

I have not been to worship in the last three weeks.

Maybe I am ashamed!

Maybe I just don't know what it is that I am looking or searching for.

I hate feeling this way!

I feel so empty inside!

I feel so ugly!

I feel dead!

How could this be?

Not to long ago I was happy and full of joy,

worshiping you and all your glory,

and now, I am empty.

Oh Lord, please forgive me for I have sinned against you.

I also ask you for those who have sinned against me.

I ask of you to give me the wisdom and courage that I seek

in order to make it through the day.

I am weak, please make me strong.

I also ask for my good friend Henry, that his soul may rest in peace

and that his presence in heaven be a gift from us to you.

I offer you all of our pain and anguish, especially that of his family.

That they may be able to find peace and comfort in you!

You Lord, who make all things possible, have mercy on our Souls.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Prayer For Forgiveness & Inner Healing - Short Version

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to forgive everyone in my life, including myself. I accept Your forgiveness. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I forgive all of my relatives, friends and acquaintances of the past, present and future. Lord Jesus, I especially pray for the grace of forgiveness for the one person in my life who has hurt me the most. Lord, walk back through every second of my entire life and substitute love where there was none. Remove every hurt and substitute Your love. Thank You for loving me all of the time.

Lord, take away any feelings of failure or guilt that I may have. I picture You with me at the time that all of the hurts happened, and You are loving me and the other people. We are all in Your arms together, with nothing but love to replace the guilt and feelings of failure.

I thank You for healing my emotions, my mind and my memories. Thank you, Jesus, for making me whole; and, I give You all of the praise and all of the glory. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

God is the Father of all Encouragement!

I woke up early one morning to take a walk with our Lord. As I was walking along the river bed I looked up at the sky and it was rather gloomy. I could see that the sun was trying to break through the morning clouds. Miraculously, the clouds spread apart allowing the sun to shine through and as I looked up for a second time to the sky, I could see the image of our Lord Jesus Christ embedded in the Sun. It was the most beautiful sight my eyes have ever seen. I bowed my head and began to cry as God began speaking to my heart, reminding me that he is everywhere and in everything and that he is always with me. Reminding me how great his love is for me and all of man-kind.
I went to Mass that same morning and we read Pauls 2nd Letter to the Corinthians in which he speeks about how, " Our Lord Jesus Christ, is Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God." Then the Gospel of Mathew went on to speak of the eight Beautitudes and how they are used for the purpose of inspiration or encouragement.

It all finally makes sense to me why God has given us all these wonderful gifts, they are so that we may encourage others. I was reminded of my gift of tears and how it is such a powerful gift because it gives me the opportunity to encourage others to do something that could be very difficult for them to some times do on their own and that is to express their sorrow. I now have a deeper understanding of how God works in my life and for that I give him praise.Thank you Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Experiencing God's Personal and Unconditional Love

GOD’S LOVE

To experience the personal and unconditional love of God. It is strong and stable like a father, but yet tender and unconditional like a mother.

This is the first great truth that is revealed to us today; that we are called to experiment God’s true love. That God loves us personally and unconditionally.

“Do not be afraid, I will save you. I have called you by name, you are mine: Is 43,1

I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love: Jer 31,3

God has chosen this very moment to demonstrate to you just how much he loves you. God’s love for us is so great that we cannot accept that someone is capable of loving us this much. We cannot accept that we are worthy to be loved in a way that is so unconditional and free.

God loves you personally with the love of a Father and a Mother

GOD loves all mankind, but he also loves each and every one of us in a very personal way, depending on our own need to be loved. If you were the only one on earth, GOD could not love you any more then he already does because he loves you with the unconditional love of an Almighty GOD.

God loves us with the firm and stable love of a father

The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end ; Is 54,10

The love of God is firm and faithful. It defends us and sustains us with strength and resolve.

He also loves us with an unconditional and tender love of a mother

“Can a mother forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you.” ; Is 49 15-16.

God’s paternal love is tender and unconditional. He loves you because of who you are and not because of what you have or any abilities you may possess. He doesn’t love you because of your social position and status. You are a child of God, made in the image of God.

There is only one thing in this world that God, who is all-powerful and mighty, cannot do: and that is to ever stop loving you.

You do not need to live your life pretending to be something you are not in order for God to love you. God loves you just the way you are because this is exactly how he created you. Not only does he accept you just the way you are but he also likes who you are for you are a fountain of joy to God.

“The lord will take delight in you, and in his love he will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you.” Zephaniah 3,17

To each one of us he declares in the most intimate way this great truth: “You are my beloved child in whom I receive great satisfaction.”

God loves you with all your strengths and weaknesses. He does not love you because of your qualities, but with them. He does not stop loving you because of your limitations or sins. He loves you with them. It could be that he does not approve of all that you do, but never the less he still loves you. He accepts you and he accepts you with out judgment or condemnation.

God loves you with your dejection and your efforts, whether you are rich or poor. There is no need to hide behind a mask or wear a halo before him. He loves you because you are his son and for no other reason. He does not love you because you are good but because the good one is he because God is Love. “God is Love” 1Jn 4, 8

* See the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap the harvest, yet God gives them nourishment daily. We are worth much more then the birds in the sky.
* Look at the Lilies in the field. They do not spin nor knit, yet God dresses them with unrivaled beauty. We are more precious then the flowers in the field.

…..how much more careful will God be with us and love us, that we are his children, even though we may be sinners. He loves sinners in a very special way. The worst of all sinners is the one most loved by God, because “where sin is increased, God’s grace is increased much more.” Rom 5,20. The worst of sinners is the one who can experiment the most forgiveness, joy and hope, because he is the one that needs it the most.

Praise be to God!

Marco Benavides

My First Encounter with GOD!

About five years ago I lived a very different life. I lived a life of darkness and despair. I grew up knowing about God and I would occasionally go to church but I didn't really know the Lord. I guess you could say that my God was money and success. That is the one thing I desired more than anything in the world. I wanted to be rich and I was always trying to find ways to make a quick buck. I was a very selfish individual and always thinking about myself. I would pretend to be someone I wasn't. I drove an expensive car and always tried to give the appearance to others that I had it made, but the truth was that I was drowning in debt and I was miserable. No matter what I did I couldn't make it work. I became a very bitter person and fell into a deep depression. For three whole months I disconnected from the outside world. I wouldn't return phone calls, I kept to myself and I didn't want to know about anything. My best friend would try to get in touch with me and I told him that I never wanted to hear from him again and I told him to stay away and that I didn't want to be friends anymore. I felt so angry and mad, I began to resent God because I couldn't understand why he would not allow for me to be rich. Then one day I just exploded and began to curse God and I screamed and yelled out to God. "God, if you are who you really say you are then show yourself to me and tell me why you won't allow me to be rich!" "If I can't be rich, then, I don't want to be part of this world anymore." That night, I challenged God and I asked him to take my life. I said, "If you are so powerful then I dare you to take my life, take it from me this very instant. Strike me with lightning do whatever you want, I JUST WANT TO DIE!!!" Then I said the word's that I would later regret. With a heart of stone I stared straight up to heaven and I said, "I dare you God to take my life, I dare you to give me cancer!" Now I ask you, how selfish does one have to be to ask something like this. I was living in darkness but I didn't know any better, but what I did learn is to be careful what you ask for because God will give it to you but he will give it to you on his terms and not yours!

A few months passed by and I was sitting at work. Then I received the call that would change my life forever. It was my mom and she said, "There is someone here that wants to speak to you, he says that he has been trying to call you for months but you wont return his calls." Then I said, "Mom, I made it clear to him that I didn't want to be friends with him anymore, just send him away and tell him that I can't take his call!" Then my mom said, "NO, you need to speak to him right now!" "Okay, put him on the phone!" "Marco, it's me, Henry and I just want to tell you that I have missed you man and I have been trying to call you because I just learned that I have CANCER." When he said those words I immediately remembered what I had asked God for just a few months before. That very instant I fell to my knees and I began to cry and for the first time in my life I prayed to GOD to forgive me and for him to have mercy on my friend. Henry died a few months later but I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to reconcile with my best friend. From that day forward I gave my life to JESUS!

This is my testimony!

Marco Benavides