Aaron and Ella rented a nice ranch house with a full basement from a gracious landlord. They had one son, John, and they loved their first-born; so much so that they could hardly contain themselves from spoiling the child. So when a neighbor showed up one day with the offer of a free kitty for their six-year-old, they excitedly conferred together and agreed it would make a nice pet. “It’s black and white, with long hair. I will bring it over as soon as it is mature enough.”

The kitty offer was forgotten in all the business of life. But true to his word, the neighbor showed up about a month later with a box. “Here he is, ready for John. Let me carry the box to the basement for you.”
So they permitted the neighbor to take the box to the basement. He seemed in a hurry to leave, so they did not think too much about it that he did not open the box. They called John in for the great moment. Imagine, to their great surprise, that when John opened the box, out jumped a large black and white … skunk!

It was too late. The frightened animal ran among the boxes of “stuff” stored in the basement and refused to come out. Poor John got sprayed in the process. What a nasty trick!

Aaron tried for many days to get the animal out of his house, but nothing availed. It got to the point that the skunk would immediately raise its tail and turn its rear end towards whoever opened the basement door, in preparation of defending itself. After twice getting blasted with spray, Aaron was at his wit’s end.

Then came the first of the month, when the rent was due. Aaron approached his landlord, and hesitatingly told the story of the skunk, and asked forgiveness for the terrible plight he had created for himself—and the house!

The landlord was gracious. He forgave Aaron, but gently reminded Aaron that he was responsible for the whole mess, and for getting the skunk out. So Aaron returned home, relieved to be forgiven, but perplexed with his plight.

Another whole month passed. Aaron still had the skunk in the basement, and he went to pay his rent. “I forgive you, Aaron. But remember it is your fault that the skunk got in there. You should get him out.”

So it went, month after month. Always forgiven, but the problem never went away. Until one day … John was looking out the window. Here came the landlord’s son carrying a trap. “Look!” he cried, “Here comes the landlord’s son to take away the skunk in the basement!”

Realizing that Aaron was incapable of getting himself out of his own mess, the landlord had pity on him and sent his son to take away the skunk in the basement. Yes, the skunk was caught in the trap, and the landlord’s son did get smelly in the process, but he took away the troublesome skunk.

Do you see the difference between the forgiveness of God, and the Lamb (His Son) that “taketh away” the sin of the world? God had been forgiving humanity of their sins ever since the beginning, if they would but humbly ask Him. It was man’s fault that sin entered the world, and it was not God’s responsibility to take it away. But He, being righteous (true righteous meaning “doing above and beyond what we are obligated to do”), took it upon Himself to supply the remedy, and sent His Son into the world to take sin away—remove it!

Now, the skunk removed and the deed forgiven, Aaron can be assured of a good continual relationship with his landlord. And we, having sin taken away (purged by the Spirit of God coming into our heart) and forgiven of our misdeeds, can walk in assurance of peace with our God.

Jesus saved the world by taking away its sin! And whosoever will may partake of this salvation.

–Mike Atnip

How can you keep a pig out of the mud?

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a farmer’s son who was raising a pig for a 4-H project. Fair time was approaching fast, and Pete (the boy) was having a hard time keeping his pet clean. As all pigs are wont to do, it would instinctively investigate every mud puddle that it happened upon—even immediately after Pete had given him a good scrubbing with firm instructions to stay clean!

Pete knew that he stood no chance of winning the blue ribbon if he took a dirty pig to the show. But try as he might, he could not get his pig to keep himself clean once he had been given a thorough scrubbing. Pete’s only place to keep his pig was in a pen in which one corner stayed dry, but 90% of the pen was a mud hole—much to the pig’s great delight!

Pete schemed for days about his dilemma. How could he save his pig from his own natural instincts? He could put his pig in a strait jacket, but what would the judges think when he arrived at the fair with his pig in a strait jacket? And how could he walk his pig to town in a strait jacket? Oodles of puddles lay in the path to town, and he knew, he just knew, that his pet could never detour a mud puddle!

Finally, the great idea came upon Pete. He noticed that Skimps the kitty hated mud puddles! It would cost the life of his only kitty, but if only …

So he tried it. With a deft operation, Pete managed to take the soul out of the cat and put it into his pig.

How changed the pig was! He still weighed 220 pounds. He still had a snout and a curly tail. He still ate breakfast. But how he hated mud puddles with a passion!

The day of the show came, and Pete walked his pig to the fair. People stared in wonder at the boy and his pig walking down the puddle-filled road. The pig detoured or jumped over every mud puddle, with the amazing agility of a cat!

And so the pig, which had been given a thorough scrubbing some days previously, arrived at the show shining clean. What few spots he had received on the way to the show were promptly licked clean … you know, just like Skimps used to clean himself! By this means, Pete won the blue ribbon. The soul of the kitty in the body of the pig had saved the day!

This parable is by no means perfect. Yet it explains how that man can avoid the “mud puddles” of fleshly delights which fill this world we live in. Not by strait jackets, but by a change of character. If we box ourselves out of society by moving to some remote island, we may avoid many temptations. But that is not true freedom. The real freedom comes from having the character of Jesus placed into our hearts by a new birth. When this happens, we will hate sin just like the pig with a kitty heart hated those mud puddles.

Have you been born again? Has the nature of God been restored in you? Although we know that Pete could never put a kitty soul into a pig, we know that God can put Christ within us, thus saving us from our sin.

Hallelujah, what a salvation! ~Mike Atnip

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Pe. 1:4

Many have read the verse that says, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Yet how many people today see the kingdom? How come very few even preach about the central theme of the Gospel, which was the coming of the promised king, the anointed?
In Can you see the kingdom?, Bro. Dean Taylor addresses such points as:
-Why is the kingdom of God rarely preached today, as a present reality?
-Why do people interpret Jesus through Paul’s writings, instead of interpreting Paul’s writings through Jesus?
-The kingdom of God was the ushering in of a new age
-The kingdom began 2000 years ago, and shall never end
This audio message is a primer for those who are used to the kingdom-less message preached in most Evangelical churches. A lot more could have been said, but this foundational teaching should give the listener a new paradigm on what the gospel really is.
The real good news is … (listen to the message!)
(And please contact me if you feel the mp3 is of too low a quality. Thank you!)