Journey to Jesus: A Walk Through the Bible

By Leroy Dickerson Jr. and Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

Journey to Jesus, A Walk Through the Bible, written in every day street language, takes a fresh look at some key areas of the Bible and how they relate to the most supreme event in mankinds historythe Incarnation. The purpose of "Journey to Jesus, A Walk Through the Bible" is to motivate people to become TRUE Christiansa Christian being any person who strives to live by the guidelines set by Jesus, guidelines that are not primarily religiously centered, but humanitarian. A Christian, then, is a person whose guiding spirit is one of deep caring kindness.

Through His word and examples, Jesus came to earth to teach all people how to enter into a glorious new area of life that He called The Kingdom of God! This book focuses on the guiding principle of conduct that is the one primary requirement for admission into His kingdomthe active spirit of unbounded, unlimited KINDNESS. The key message is this, "To conclude, all people of goodwill (i.e. kind hearted) should consider all other like-minded people as brothers and sisters in Christ...regardless of their religious beliefs and affiliations, if any, or their cultural backgrounds."

Jewish and master religions honor Jesus for the sublime wisdom of His teachings. It is my hope that the words set forth in this book will encourage Christians around the world to closely examine the words of Jesus Himself and what He was trying to teach us. And in doing so, it is my prayer that we will all incorporate His words into our hearts and lives, making clear once more His pathways to Life Everlasting.
-Leroy Dickerson, Jr.-


Selections from the book

Some day soon, the curtain will fall on our lives and this functioning unity of body and soul will cease to be. Will our souls continue on into another life? Or will they also flicker out because they are only the creation of energyforms called BODY, which promptly begins to disintegrate upon death? Once again, though it desperately tries, humanity cannot and never will discover the TRUE reality. We can make assumptions that are derived from either our fears or powerful desires of hope, but that is all we haveand nothing more!

So I submit that the propositions I just presented support the reality of Jesus. While not absolute proof, they are valid assumptions. Therefore, the Gospel message that confronts us today is NOT a message about some fictional character from Once upon a time... Instead, the Gospel story is about the very real Jesus Christ...the ONE and ONLY. Jesus, who continues to challenge us today in the same manner that He challenged the Hebrews who had direct contact with Him when He walked in Palestine during the reign of Pontius Pilate and Tetrarch Herod...YES, that Jesus was real! And, the resurrected Christ is real! We have every logical reason to bet our lives on the fact that Jesus is REAL and ALIVE today.As I look back over my own life, somewhat judging myself...I realize that on the whole, I have failed the test. I have always known that Christ wants and expects me to be a kind person. But in this rough world of ours, it is certainly not easy to do. At this late hour of my life, all I can do now is keep His standards in mind and follow them to the very best of my ability for the remainder of my days on earth. Be kind! At all times! To everyone! In every situation! This is the message Christ came to teach and to illustratekindness, the one trait of a truly glorious and successful life.So its not just the pious devotees in church who are safe in the arms of Christ. Instead, I surmise its all people whose hearts are akin to Christs heartthose who are motivated and activated by a powerful loving concern for all of humanity, thereby embracing a spirit that is most accurately termed as kindness. So, its when we think kindly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 16, 2007
• ISBN: 9781462836932

Leroy Dickerson Jr.

“Although I am a trained Bible scholar, I am not a church professional. Therefore, I have no cause to defend or church doctrine to promote. The writing of this book represents my sincere effort to place the spotlight back on Jesus Christ and what He taught us and to examine some key Biblical messages as they relate to the Incarnation.” Leroy Dickerson “It has been my privilege and honor to work with my father on this book. The words and scriptures contained within opened my eyes and heart to some points I had glossed over in the past.” Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

Book preview

JOURNEY TO JESUS:

A Walk Through The Bible

missing image file

Leroy Dickerson, Jr.

with Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

Copyright © 2007 by Leroy Dickerson, Jr. and Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

TXu1-326-245

October 13, 2006

Cover illustration copyright © 2006 by

Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

Book illustrations copyright © 2006 by

Janet Dickerson-Deshotel

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Some of the names in this book have been

changed to protect the privacy of these

individuals and their families.

All Scripture quotations, in this publication are from the

HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®

NIV ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by

International Bible Society®.

All rights reserved worldwide.

The NIV and New International Version are trademarks

registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office

by International Bible Society®. Use of either trademark

requires the permission of International Bible Society®.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

37555

Contents

Acknowledgements

Forward

God Heals

The Terminally Ill

Coming And Going

Death For The Wicked

Does God Gloat?

Even The Saints Stumble And Fall

But They That Wait Upon The Lord

Shall Renew Their Life

The Bible On Sin

Hosea On Sin

Amos On Sin

How Hosea And Amos Influenced The Definition Of Sin

Jesus Teaches Us How To Live

The Application

Various Related Essays

Aristotle And Jesus

The Positives

Negatives

Paul And Jesus

The Book Of Revelation

Endnotes

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my children (Raymond, Janet, Sue, Byron, and Andy) and their families; my brothers and sister (Tuck, Carl, and Lyda) and their families; the families of my deceased brothers, Dicus and Jimmy; and all of my friends. Thank you for believing in my vision and encouraging this tired old man to pursue his mission against all odds. Were it not for your love, friendship, support, and encouragement, this book would not be a reality.

I would also like to thank you for the many spirited conversations we had along the way that continuously challenged me to seek the truth within my own heart.

Acknowledgements

In memory of Dr. Earl Marlatt . . .

For believing in me and encouraging me to continue my studies in search of the truth, which greatly influenced my life and my spiritual journey. Dr. Marlatt was a distinguished Methodist educator and held multiple academic positions throughout his career, including Dean of the Boston University School of Theology and an endowed chair in philosophy and religion at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He also wrote the lyrics for a number of hymns, including the beloved hymn, Are Ye Able.

In memory of Judge M.D. Miller and wife Ruth Lloyd Miller . . .

For their friendship, encouragement, and the hours they donated to read and edit portions of this book.

My daughter, Janet Dickerson-Deshotel . . .

For sharing in my vision and mission as well as the many hours she donated to prepare this book for publishing. Her consulting services included editing, designing the book layout, creating the artwork for the book cover and other illustrations, and helping me to research and select a publishing service.

In addition, I would like to thank her for agreeing to take this project over when God finally calls me home.

Elizabeth Rozas . . .

For her willingness to help me convert my sometimes hard to read handwritten text into computer files, which I’m sure required much patience.

Family and friends . . .

For offering me the support and encouragement I needed to write and publish this book.

Forward

Humanity has been stricken with a disease that can only be cured by contact with God. This disease is a sickness of the human spirit. When the spirit becomes sick, it brings in its wake many other evils and tribulations such as addictions, broken and dysfunctional families, embittered lives, suspicious communities, social degradation, evildoers of all kinds, and international discord. Humanity is shattering, and the only thing that will save us is to touch God… and to be touched and healed by God.

This book is divided into three parts:

37555-DICK-layout.pdf    Section 1: God Heals

37555-DICK-layout.pdf    Section 2: The Bible on Sin

37555-DICK-layout.pdf    Section 3: Various Related Essays

Section 1: God Heals

Section 1 begins our search for God. It includes stories about modern-day people who had very real encounters with the risen Jesus… vivid, powerful encounters. It also examines a Bible scripture that gives meaning to experiences such as these.

Section 2: The Bible on Sin

Section 2 takes a look at the 2000 year covenant journey one inspired group of people made towards the final goal… to actually see God, in the flesh, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The story of their journey is recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible, offering guidance and inspiration for all people in all times… including all of us who exist today.

Section 2 then concludes by listening to Jesus Himself explain God’s plans for humans, His blueprint for our conduct as well as the consequences for either obeying Him or ignoring His instructions.

Section 3: Various Related Essays

Section 3 makes it very plain how serious it is for people to consider Jesus. Plain and simple, Jesus did exist! He was the Spirit of God embodied in the human form. The worst thing any person or society can do is ignore Christ! The ancients struggled for thousands of years to learn more and more about God… until God finally came to them in person. But so can we, the people of today, follow their example. We too can go to Him. And we too can listen to Him as He speaks to us from the New Testament of the Bible where He teaches by example. If we open our hearts to His words and mold our lives after His examples, we too can journey with Him to Paradise, His Kingdom of Kindness. When we journey to Jesus, we can share in God’s victory over falsehood and cruelty and thus enjoy a glorious fellowship… enduring forever and ever with Jesus and His many followers of kindred spirit.

Section 3 concludes with a look at the last book of the Bible… Revelation. The words contained in this book strongly encourage all people to join forces with Jesus as he wages the final battle against all evil and falsehoods and against all the principalities of darkness that wreak devastation on human life. When we choose to turn from our wicked ways and follow Jesus, we share in His final victory for truth and kindness. And in making this decision, we open wide the doors to our hearts, allowing God to dwell within us. This is how He will heal us of all our illnesses and bring us into everlasting glory.

GOD HEALS

missing image file

The Terminally Ill

Coming and Going

Death for the Wicked

Does God Gloat?

Even the Saints Stumble and Fall

But They That Wait Upon the Lord

Shall Renew Their Life

The Terminally Ill

W   hen Jesus walked the earth in ancient Palestine, He

   reached out to help people. He reached out to help those who were stricken with bodily injury or illness, and He reached out to help those who were sick in mind and troubled in spirit. Such is the story that the four gospels present of the human… Jesus.

When Jesus was preparing to leave His short human ministry, He clearly stated to His friends and followers that He was actually not leaving them at all. His departure was to be apparent, not real. Revealing Himself as the Son of the Father God, He stated that He would still be present among men, His friends. Not implying or hinting, but instead plainly declaring that so long as the earth endured and men lived upon it, He would be present among them… living with them and brooding over them. His Spirit will always be present to continue the function that was the basis of His nature—to reach out to heal.

Christian experiences bear witness to the validity of Christ’s statement. There are many well known stories included in the New Testament that tell of how the Holy Spirit of the resurrected Christ reached out to help and heal mankind in an ever widening circle. We read of Peter and John healing the lame. We read of Paul and his companions carrying the gospel of Life, first to the Jews in distant provinces and finally to the Gentiles.

The stories do not stop with the New Testament period, but they also continue in history and literature down through the centuries. The spirit of Christ, though not always accepted or recognized, has been and still is working among men… reaching out and helping. The following personal narratives portray fresh new stories of His work among men today that I myself have witnessed.

Several decades ago, I worked in the fire department of a large southern city. One fireman, let’s call him Smitty, was a man in his early forties and already a grandfather. Hard, lean, and tough he was… but he was a good guy and we all liked him.

So here is Smitty’s story. Smitty became very seriously ill. A severe internal hemorrhage tore at the vitals of his body and carried him to the very edge of death. When talking about it later, he said that he remembered well the feeling of that hemorrhage. He could actually hear the bubbling noise of the bleeding inside him. He knew what it meant when the nurses put that dreaded tent of death around his bed. The end was drawing near and Smitty knew it.

In this, his hour of need, Smitty was not forsaken by his friends. The members of his neighborhood church called a special prayer meeting to pray for his recovery. They knelt at the altar to pray for his life at the very minute that darkness was rolling in to blot out Smitty’s consciousness.

According to Smitty, his impending death was not a fearful or frightening experience. The pain was gone, and he felt no dread. He told me that a deep feeling of peace and comfort came over him. Suddenly, or so it seemed, Jesus appeared out of Heaven, coming down upon currents of heavenly music. His face was radiant with a wonderful look of joy and compassion that could only reflect the joy of Heaven. Drawing near to Smitty, Jesus the Christ placed His loving hands upon that sick brow. He looked for a moment into Smitty’s eyes, and this is what He said, Go back, Smitty! Go back to your friends on earth. At that very moment, the bleeding stopped, and Smitty knew that it had stopped! One hour later, the crisis had passed.

Soon Smitty was able to go home from the hospital a well man. Pensively, he often adds this sentence to his story… If it weren’t for the fact that I loved my family and friends so much, I would wish that I had never been sent back to this life… Jesus’ face was so very good and kind. Now, no one can explain for sure what happened to Smitty except to say that things like that do happen whenever Godly people pray. The risen Christ often does reach out to heal the bodies of men. He also reaches out to heal their troubled minds and spirits.

Let me tell you another story about my neighbor, a man that we’ll call Abner, to illustrate an experience that I partly shared with him. When I knew Abner, he had already experienced several encounters with God, or as he put it, with Jesus. So that’s what I want to talk about, my neighbor Abner and his experience of God.

Abner had not always been so concerned about God… no, he sure wasn’t. He was a rather old man when I knew him, many times a grandfather. He and his wonderful wife, whom we will call Sarah, reared a family of good children. Each of their children became decent, God-fearing, and respected citizens of their various communities.

As stated before, Abner was an elderly man. For the greater part of his life, he had been a sinful man, and this was by his own clear and forceful admission. Since I did not know him in his earlier years, I cannot give a description of the type of life he led. But in his opinion, it was a life lived counter to the purposes of God. Whenever Christ knocked at the door of his heart, Abner hid himself in a dark corner of his soul and refused to answer.

Abner was not all that wicked by human standards. Most everyone considered him a good fellow. He was an honest man, a dependable worker, and a rather good family man. But by the standards of God, his life was a miserable one. And no one knew it better or was more willing to own up to it than Abner himself.

It happened one day that Abner had to take his wife Sarah to the hospital. Sarah had been feeling bad for a long time, but now she was desperately sick. The doctor decided that an immediate operation was not only a vital necessity but actually the only possible medical hope for saving her life. After the doctor made his incision, he looked inside her abdomen and what he discovered convinced him of the complete, utter futility of proceeding any further. Her vital organs were eaten away by a vicious cancer.

When the doctor relayed this information to Abner, it was during that moment that Abner realized—perhaps for the first time in his life—how utterly dependent he was upon the love and help of God. He loved his wife, loving her with a great love born of many years of companionship together and the rearing of their family. Now Sarah was critically sick.

So, Abner got down on his knees and prayed. He prayed to God for the life of his loved one. He told God that he needed Sarah very much. He promised God that he would do his very best to become a better man and would open the gates of his heart for the King of Glory to come in. Evidently God heard him. His prayer must have been very sincere because it certainly brought about some extraordinary results.

It was Sarah herself who gave me the more complete story of what happened to her during the time of her desperate illness. It was a truly remarkable story, so much so that other people were profoundly impressed by the sequence