Hello friends,
I'm Michael Kontes
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and I want to
welcome you to Faith Chapel.
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Today we're gonna
look at the gospel of John
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and how Jesus deals
with illness and sickness.
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But first let us pray.
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Father, we come to
thee now and we thank thee
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for the life
that you've given us,
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the life that you've
given us is an abundant life
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and we thank thee for Your hand
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and Your guidance in our lives.
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Be with us now as we break open
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the bread of life
in Jesus name, amen.
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Friends, when you have
come across the situation
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may be a loved one,
a friend, a coworker,
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a church
member, brother, sister,
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who has come
down with an illness.
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What kind of
questions have you asked?
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Have you asked may be
why did this take place?
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Have you wanted to
point the finger and say,
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try to get down
to the root and say,
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what is going on here?
How did this come to be?
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Well, let me share with you
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the gospel of John
has this kind of situation
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and we're going to
go and look at it today.
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We're gonna see not only
how the disciples responded,
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but in turn how Jesus responded.
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Let us open up our Bibles to
the gospel of John, Chapter 9.
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"And as Jesus
passed by, he saw a man
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which was blind from his birth.
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And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin,
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this man, or his
parents, that he we born blind?
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Jesus answered,
neither hath this man sinned,
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nor his parents, but
that the works of God
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should be made manifest in him.
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The common belief about
suffering in 31 A.D. was that
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all suffering of affliction
and disease was a result of sin.
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People commonly assumed
that disease and disorders
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on both the
personal and national level
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could be traced
back to some sin.
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Now in the Jewish mind,
all infirmity, all deformity,
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all trouble in your life
could somehow be traced back
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to something you did
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or something
that your parents did.
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Now friends, I can
share with you today that,
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that is from that mindset
completely bogus and false.
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Now there is a
partial truth in that.
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And let me share to you
the partial, partial truth.
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Adam and Eve are original
parents, because of their sin,
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we are in the state
that we're in today.
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But not all affliction can
be traced back to something
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we have done or that
our parents have done.
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Now, notice it's
human inclination for us
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to point our finger
and try to find the problem
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and say, you know,
the reason why Tim is sick
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is because of some sin
he has done in his life.
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The reason why Judy is
sick is because some sin
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her mother and father committed.
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Friends, that
absolutely distorts the picture
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that God wants us to have.
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Now this mindset is
prevalent not just in 31 A.D.,
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but even today.
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As many of you
know, I've shared my story
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on my daughter's
illness and sickness
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and her eventual passing
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and that has been a
very important event
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and a very
important time in my life,
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so lot of my illustrations
and so on come during this time.
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I like to share
with you something.
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During this time my
daughter was diagnosed,
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we're in the third
day in the hospital.
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On the way out walking out
of the hospital with my father,
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you know, my father is a very
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staunch Greek
orthodox individual
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and was struggling
that I have left my faith
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and as we're
walking out I also believe,
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while I was walking
out of the hospital,
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he is also been struggling
on how his granddaughter
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could come down
with this sickness.
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Didn't have an answer for it.
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And the only thing he could
say as we were walking out,
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he goes Mike, Arianna has cancer
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because you did
not baptized her.
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You see in the
Greek Orthodox tradition
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you're baptized as an infant.
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You're baptized as --
and I, my wife and I Regan,
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we specifically chose
not to have Arianna baptize.
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We wanted Arianna to
make that choice herself.
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You see the Bible says,
believe and be baptized.
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And as an infant, she
didn't have any belief
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because that Greek word belief
pistevo is an action word.
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We wanted her to come to a
-- place where she could believe
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herself and make the --
decision for herself, amen.
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Now my father was struggling.
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My father was looking for
answers and the only thing
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he could point to was that --
because I did not baptize her,
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because Regan and I
did not baptize her,
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this illness must have
been a judgment from God.
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Now as I was walking
out with my dad, and he said
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that I looked at
my dad and I said,
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"dad, have you, you know,
I'm really sorry that you've
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that picture of God.
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What do you do with all
the people in your faith
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who had been
baptized as an infant
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and come down with illnesses?"
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He was quite quiet,
didn't know how to answer.
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I understood that
my dad was struggling
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with how to
answer this question,
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so I understood the motive.
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Now what do you do
though as a parent,
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when something
happens to your child?
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How do you respond?
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You see, child
birth should be something
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that brings out
great joy and happiness.
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The occasion of
child birth should be
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an occasion of great joy.
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Here the mother gives birth
and after all the birth pains,
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as I watched my wife take three
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of our children into her arms.
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She didn't remember the
pain, and now she looked
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upon this beautiful child.
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What if you are a
mother of a child and the child
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comes out from
birth being blind.
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You are in, you
nurse your child.
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One of the most
intimate acts that a mother
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could do is nurse her child.
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And as you're nursing
your child and you look into
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the eyes of your
child, you cannot see
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that look of contentment.
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How about being a
father and wanting to take
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your blind son
to go play football,
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basketball, or baseball.
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He really can't do that, is
if you take him out to go play
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catch with the football
you might bonk him in the face.
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Can you imagine the kind
of guilt that you would carry?
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Ever wanting to take
him fishing and you take
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him fishing and in
fact he catches the fish,
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but he can't even see
the fish that he catches.
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What kind of
guilt would we carry?
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Now in 1999, that I've
been sharing with you when my
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daughter got sick we
received the phone call.
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My wife specifically,
she received the phone call,
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she was sitting
down at the, sitting down
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on the kitchen
floor next to the stove.
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Now I was walking by,
and my wife was very quiet,
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but tears were
streaming down her cheeks.
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As tears were streaming
down her cheeks, I stopped
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and I just looked, look
at her because I knew the cry
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that my wife had
was not a joyful cry.
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It was a cry of guilt
and as she was finishing up
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the phone call, she wrote down
on a piece of paper something
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and she hung up the phone.
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And I said honey,
"what's going on?"
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She just nodded
her head, nothing.
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I said no honey,
"what's going on?"
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And my wife began to
share with me that someone
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had called this up
specifically once again my wife
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and started sharing
with my wife that the reason
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that my daughter,
Arianna had brain cancer
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was because of the diet
that we were giving her.
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Friends, can you
imagine here is a mother,
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her daughter is dying.
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Her daughter is three
days in a coma and receiving
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a phone call saying, you
know what, I felt impressed
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to call you and to let you know
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that I think the reason
why your daughter is sick,
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the reason why she is possibly
gonna die is because the diet
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that you've given, You've
given her too many Cheerios,
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she has eaten too many
big Macs, french fries,
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drinking too many cokes.
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This is absolutely devastating.
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And so as my wife told me that
now I've to tell all of you,
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I'm a lot like Peter in
some ways friends good and bad.
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When my wife told
me that situation,
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I looked down and said
is this the phone number,
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because on that piece
of paper it had a name,
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it said 'Mrs' and
just an initial 'M.'
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The person that
didn't even leave their name,
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so I picked up the
phone and I started dialing
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this phone number, and as I
was dialing this phone number
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a lady at the other end
picked up and goes hello,
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and I said, "Hello,
is this, is this Mrs. M"
00:10:03.14\00:10:06.64
and she goes
"yeah, this is Mrs. M."
00:10:06.65\00:10:08.14
And I said, "Hi, Mrs.
M, I'm Michael Kontes,
00:10:08.15\00:10:11.54
you just called and
spoke to my wife just."
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Oh yeah, Mr.
Kontes, "how are you doing?"
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And I said, "You know Mrs. M,
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I'm not doing
too good right now."
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She said, why, what's going on?
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I said you know, my wife
just told me that you called up
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and you basically told my
wife that the reason why Arianna
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has cancer is because of
the diet that we've given her.
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And Mrs. M, said well, you
know, Mr. Kontes this morning
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in my daily
devotions I was reading a book
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and as I was reading
this book, it talked about
00:10:43.42\00:10:47.11
healthful living and one
of the things that I knew
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is that you are a new convert
with your wife and you guys
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probably have not been keeping
all of the dietary habits
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as you probably
should have and I think
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that this is the
reason why your daughter
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came down with brain cancer.
00:11:00.93\00:11:03.01
And when she told
me that friends, I was,
00:11:03.02\00:11:06.02
I was dumb founded.
00:11:06.03\00:11:08.63
I could not believe that this
is what she was saying to me.
00:11:08.64\00:11:11.73
And as soon as she
said that, as my custom was
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I went straight into prayer.
00:11:14.82\00:11:16.75
I went straight into prayer
and as I went into prayer,
00:11:16.76\00:11:21.93
I asked the spirit to
impress me, to impress me
00:11:21.94\00:11:27.46
with something to say
that would touch this lady.
00:11:27.47\00:11:31.36
And I said, "Mrs. M,
do you know that my father
00:11:31.37\00:11:36.98
who is in his late 60s
every morning he wakes up
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and he has a cup of
coffee, at least one if not two,
00:11:42.24\00:11:45.49
not just your Folgers cup of
coffee, he has the Turkish mud
00:11:45.50\00:11:49.41
where you got to put like a
big boating oar and stir it,
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has a little shot of
Cognac every so often
00:11:53.56\00:11:57.85
and goes off to work.
00:11:57.86\00:12:00.01
And then when my
father comes home, my father
00:12:00.02\00:12:03.47
has a little glass of
wine, and I said you know,
00:12:03.48\00:12:08.96
I've also watched him
Mrs. M that, you know my father
00:12:08.97\00:12:12.94
has eaten lots of different
foods, lots of different meats,
00:12:12.95\00:12:17.50
clean and unclean.
00:12:17.51\00:12:18.77
But why is it that
my father doesn't have
00:12:18.78\00:12:22.42
this type of cancer either.
00:12:22.43\00:12:26.02
And she was very quiet on
the other line, very quiet.
00:12:26.03\00:12:30.30
There was dead silence
00:12:30.31\00:12:31.54
and then she said, but I felt,
00:12:35.41\00:12:40.38
I felt that the spirit
was leading me to call you
00:12:40.39\00:12:44.46
and to tell you that, and
then I went into more prayer
00:12:44.47\00:12:52.21
and I started praying.
00:12:52.22\00:12:54.99
"Lord, what can I say
that will touch this lady
00:12:55.00\00:12:59.06
that she will never be
able to run someone else over?"
00:12:59.07\00:13:02.30
Now friends, she
might have had good motives,
00:13:02.31\00:13:04.77
I can't judge motives.
00:13:04.78\00:13:07.48
But in the midst of a crisis
when a t parent is already
00:13:07.49\00:13:12.21
carrying massive guilt,
is this the appropriate time
00:13:12.22\00:13:15.98
to call up and say the reason
why your daughter is dying
00:13:15.99\00:13:18.46
is because the diet
that you've given her?
00:13:18.47\00:13:21.26
So as I was praying the Lord
gave me an answer and I said
00:13:21.27\00:13:28.45
"Mrs. M, have you
prayed for my family?"
00:13:28.46\00:13:33.99
And there was dead
silence on the phone.
00:13:34.00\00:13:37.17
Have you prayed for my family?
00:13:37.18\00:13:44.09
And I knew, the spirit
had impressed me on my heart
00:13:44.10\00:13:47.29
knowing that she
hadn't, she was dead silent.
00:13:47.30\00:13:51.03
And then she
said, "No I haven't."
00:13:51.04\00:13:53.25
And I said, "Mrs. M,
you've the audacity to pick up
00:13:53.26\00:13:58.72
the phone and call my wife
and to tell her that the reason
00:13:58.73\00:14:03.41
why our daughter has brain
cancer, is because of the diet
00:14:03.42\00:14:06.69
that my wife has been
giving her, but you never have
00:14:06.70\00:14:09.87
prayed for my family."
00:14:09.88\00:14:12.69
And then I went on to
say, "Mrs. M, do me a favor,
00:14:12.70\00:14:17.15
please don't ever
call my house again,
00:14:17.16\00:14:19.93
but I would really appreciate
00:14:19.94\00:14:21.54
if you keep my
family in prayer."
00:14:21.55\00:14:24.04
And I hung up the phone.
00:14:24.05\00:14:26.79
Brothers and sisters,
there is no reason when someone
00:14:26.80\00:14:31.69
is sick, we see an ailment
take place for us to begin
00:14:31.70\00:14:35.55
to assume that the judgment
of God is upon individuals.
00:14:35.56\00:14:39.64
When we look at the Bible
from Genesis to Revelation
00:14:39.65\00:14:42.97
and we open up and we look
at, we look at the Book of Job.
00:14:42.98\00:14:47.58
And you saw all the afflictions
there in the Book of Job
00:14:47.59\00:14:50.53
that Job went through.
00:14:50.54\00:14:52.01
Was that the
judgment of God or as Job
00:14:52.02\00:14:55.85
says it was because
could Job was blameless
00:14:55.86\00:14:59.06
and perfect in his sight that
Job was allowed to be touched
00:14:59.07\00:15:03.20
by the hand of Satan.
00:15:03.21\00:15:04.53
I will share with you
this is a devastating,
00:15:12.45\00:15:14.79
devastating situation.
00:15:14.80\00:15:15.99
The Bible says in Corinthians,
that we will be judged
00:15:16.00\00:15:19.34
by everything that
comes out of our mouths
00:15:19.35\00:15:21.78
and our actions
whether good or bad,
00:15:21.79\00:15:24.06
Second
Corinthians 5:10, I believe.
00:15:24.07\00:15:27.63
Can you imagine
being this blind person's
00:15:27.64\00:15:30.98
parent in the first century?
00:15:30.99\00:15:34.76
How about this,
this young boy growing up
00:15:34.77\00:15:39.51
the kind of pain
that he had to deal with.
00:15:39.52\00:15:42.29
When he went, I
can imagine him being
00:15:42.30\00:15:44.55
at the Isaiah Prophet School
Elementary there in Judah.
00:15:44.56\00:15:51.31
And as he is in school all of
the kids are out during recess
00:15:51.32\00:15:54.21
and playing
kickball, but little Frankie
00:15:54.22\00:16:00.35
has to sit next to his
teacher, because he can't play.
00:16:00.36\00:16:07.77
How about walking down
the hallways of school?
00:16:07.78\00:16:12.24
And hearing the
snickers, listening to Susie,
00:16:12.25\00:16:17.17
talk to the Cathie the new
girl at school, and saying,
00:16:17.18\00:16:20.46
"Oh, by the way
that's Frankie, he is blind."
00:16:20.47\00:16:24.87
Rumor has it that his parents
committed a terrible sin,
00:16:24.88\00:16:31.28
a terrible heinous
sin, and the judgment of God
00:16:31.29\00:16:35.74
has rested upon him.
00:16:35.75\00:16:37.94
Can you imagine being
that young boy hearing that?
00:16:37.95\00:16:41.17
Notice in this verse,
there is, there is much in it,
00:16:41.18\00:16:45.66
but verse 3,
specifically reads, neither have
00:16:45.67\00:16:51.36
this man sin nor his
parents, but the works of God
00:16:51.37\00:16:58.15
should be manifest in him.
00:16:58.16\00:17:03.44
That's pretty powerful.
00:17:03.45\00:17:05.75
That should lead us to
realize that there are times
00:17:05.76\00:17:09.88
that people become sick,
it is not the judgment of God.
00:17:09.89\00:17:13.71
It's because what has
taken place that started up with
00:17:13.72\00:17:16.87
a war in heaven with an
angel that wanted to stand
00:17:16.88\00:17:21.81
in the place of
God, that decided to war
00:17:21.82\00:17:24.66
against his maker, decided
to spread discontent in gossip.
00:17:24.67\00:17:28.73
Finally the lines were drawn,
he was thrust out of heaven,
00:17:28.74\00:17:33.70
put down here upon
earth, decided, decided like
00:17:33.71\00:17:37.90
the selfish person that he was.
00:17:37.91\00:17:40.25
You know, I just had
a thought most of you,
00:17:40.26\00:17:42.10
have any of you ever
seen the movie "The Grinch."
00:17:42.11\00:17:44.57
Notice the Grinch is
sitting on top of his mountain,
00:17:44.58\00:17:47.02
and he is looking
down there on Whoville,
00:17:47.03\00:17:49.71
and the Whoove's come
out and they are all singing
00:17:49.72\00:17:52.61
and they are happy, it's
the joyous Christmas occasion,
00:17:52.62\00:17:55.54
and he begins to get
angry and filled with hated
00:17:55.55\00:17:58.28
and animosity and
he wants to do an act
00:17:58.29\00:18:00.71
to destroy Whoville's happiness.
00:18:00.72\00:18:04.45
Friends that Grinch was
the Satan, as he looked upon
00:18:04.46\00:18:09.08
the Garden of Eden
and saw Adam and Eve,
00:18:09.09\00:18:12.55
contented happy and joyful.
00:18:12.56\00:18:15.90
He purposed in his heart
that he would bring such woe
00:18:15.91\00:18:18.88
upon the human race that
he would cause massive pain
00:18:18.89\00:18:24.41
in hopes of he would
separate humanity from its maker
00:18:24.42\00:18:29.42
forever and he was
somewhat successful.
00:18:29.43\00:18:35.64
Humanity was
separated from its maker.
00:18:35.65\00:18:39.68
But Jesus, the
Father in Jesus, decided
00:18:39.69\00:18:45.40
that they would
bridge a gap and make
00:18:45.41\00:18:47.56
reconciliation for mankind,
00:18:47.57\00:18:51.78
so that the works of
God might be manifested.
00:18:51.79\00:19:00.59
After my daughter passed
away, we had her funeral service
00:19:00.60\00:19:05.54
in Sacramento, California.
00:19:05.55\00:19:10.50
I had approximately, we
had at the funeral service
00:19:10.51\00:19:15.61
approximately four to
five hundred people show up
00:19:15.62\00:19:18.49
somewhere in the four,
five hundred, six hundred.
00:19:18.50\00:19:21.84
Two hundred were
church members and the other
00:19:21.85\00:19:26.43
three or four hundred were
people from my Greek community
00:19:26.44\00:19:31.05
that I was raised with.
00:19:31.06\00:19:33.57
They came to the
funeral service and as they came
00:19:33.58\00:19:37.16
and they sat they
watched as Pastor Doug Batchelor
00:19:37.17\00:19:43.97
preached the sermon,
preached the sermon on hope.
00:19:43.98\00:19:49.59
They watched as
Pastor John Lomacang came
00:19:49.60\00:19:55.05
and sang a song "Just
Be There," Just Be There,
00:19:55.06\00:19:59.03
a song about a child
who is dying, singing to
00:19:59.04\00:20:04.34
his or her
parents "Just Be There,"
00:20:04.35\00:20:07.75
just to make it in heaven.
00:20:07.76\00:20:11.14
At that time, young Steven
Batchelor also sang a song,
00:20:11.15\00:20:15.39
many tears were shed
and as people began to leave
00:20:15.40\00:20:22.79
the funeral
service after it was done.
00:20:22.80\00:20:25.77
In fact, let me
back up just one second,
00:20:25.78\00:20:28.90
I in fact got up and
shared a couple of words
00:20:28.91\00:20:31.93
and one of the things I
said as I got up, and I said,
00:20:31.94\00:20:36.95
I know my daughter is asleep.
00:20:36.96\00:20:39.02
She is sleeping in the arms
of Jesus, and I have gone over
00:20:39.03\00:20:42.86
and over in my head,
why this has taken place?
00:20:42.87\00:20:47.60
And the only answer I
get from God is "why not?"
00:20:47.61\00:20:53.31
And I sat down and as
the family and friends
00:20:53.32\00:20:57.15
and coworkers began
to come out at the end
00:20:57.16\00:20:59.65
of the funeral service and
greet us, many people came by
00:20:59.66\00:21:04.75
and they whispered in our ears,
00:21:04.76\00:21:09.43
God was glorified
this day, Mike, Regan,
00:21:09.44\00:21:14.09
God was glorified through
the death of your daughter.
00:21:14.10\00:21:21.07
You know what, I still
her and it still touches me,
00:21:21.08\00:21:27.68
because I miss my daughter.
00:21:27.69\00:21:30.44
But you know, I can
go on knowing that God
00:21:30.45\00:21:34.49
was glorified that
through my daughter's death
00:21:34.50\00:21:38.33
people had an opportunity
to hear about Jesus Christ,
00:21:38.34\00:21:42.26
people had an opportunity
to be able to realize
00:21:42.27\00:21:46.10
that even through
death, God is good.
00:21:46.11\00:21:49.38
Today, as I look back
in hindsight, I do have joy
00:21:55.26\00:22:04.22
and I do have happiness,
because I know that day
00:22:04.42\00:22:09.97
that my
daughter through her life
00:22:09.98\00:22:14.53
the glory of God was
shown, through her life
00:22:14.54\00:22:17.87
and that day through her death.
00:22:17.88\00:22:21.57
And I will be the first
one to tell you friends,
00:22:21.58\00:22:24.50
that I will not
raise my hand and say God,
00:22:24.51\00:22:28.28
"Hey I got two
other boys, go ahead
00:22:28.29\00:22:31.10
and put them through
the same affliction."
00:22:31.11\00:22:36.02
I can't tell you that
I would say that prayer.
00:22:36.03\00:22:40.86
But the one thing that
I can tell you is that day
00:22:40.87\00:22:44.60
through the life and through
the death of my dead daughter,
00:22:44.61\00:22:47.05
God was glorified.
00:22:47.06\00:22:48.67
Now there are many parts
of this story, many parts,
00:22:48.68\00:22:54.20
and as we're getting
towards the end of the story,
00:22:54.21\00:22:56.78
there is a part where Jesus
picked up some dirt and mud
00:22:56.79\00:22:59.35
and put it on his eyes and said
00:22:59.36\00:23:00.69
"Go wash and
make yourself clean.
00:23:00.70\00:23:03.94
There was an obedience
aspect that the blind person
00:23:03.95\00:23:06.95
had to do and had to follow.
00:23:06.96\00:23:10.10
But the specific
message and the specific points
00:23:10.11\00:23:13.70
I want to bring out
today is that affliction
00:23:13.71\00:23:16.22
is not caused by God.
00:23:16.23\00:23:17.94
There is no reason for us
as people to pickup the phone,
00:23:17.95\00:23:21.91
get on the computer, send
out emails to people and say,
00:23:21.92\00:23:24.89
"Hey you know what, I
know Frank committed adultery
00:23:24.90\00:23:29.36
and left his wife and
the reason why he is sick,
00:23:29.37\00:23:32.92
is because this is
the judgment of God."
00:23:32.93\00:23:35.78
None of us, none of us
have the right to stand up
00:23:35.79\00:23:42.08
and to proclaim
that the judgment of God
00:23:42.09\00:23:45.25
is dropping on anyone.
00:23:45.26\00:23:46.53
God has not given us that right.
00:23:46.54\00:23:49.00
And I'm glad I
don't have that right,
00:23:49.01\00:23:50.81
because personally for me,
00:23:50.82\00:23:53.05
I don't know if
that's right at all.
00:23:53.06\00:23:55.16
I think to some
degree that would be a curse.
00:23:55.17\00:23:57.84
Now, there is balance
no doubt, that when someone
00:23:57.85\00:24:01.14
does something and we
read throughout the Bible
00:24:01.15\00:24:02.47
when prophets have
called out sinners.
00:24:02.48\00:24:05.43
Yes, I agree, but I
can share with you today,
00:24:05.44\00:24:09.45
I'm glad, I'm
not a prophet, Amen.
00:24:09.46\00:24:14.45
Now, next time a
friend, a family member,
00:24:14.46\00:24:24.34
a coworker, a coworkers
child, a friend's child,
00:24:24.35\00:24:30.89
a church member's
child, you hear comes down
00:24:30.90\00:24:33.58
with an affliction, and --
the disease, and an illness.
00:24:33.59\00:24:38.63
You don't have to
proclaim and ask God,
00:24:38.64\00:24:41.81
God is this happening
because of the child sin
00:24:41.82\00:24:48.01
or the parents' sin.
00:24:48.02\00:24:51.09
What you can do is you
could sit back and say God,
00:24:51.10\00:24:55.06
I'm not gonna worry
about why this person is sick?
00:24:55.07\00:24:58.96
I want to put this
individual in prayer.
00:24:58.97\00:25:02.42
I want to talk to this person.
00:25:02.43\00:25:04.95
I want to give
them encouragement.
00:25:04.96\00:25:06.58
I want to give them hope.
00:25:06.59\00:25:08.00
I want to send a card to
them, may be on a weekly basis
00:25:08.01\00:25:11.30
encouraging them
saying, "God loves you,
00:25:11.31\00:25:13.87
God is gonna strengthen
you, God is there for you."
00:25:13.88\00:25:21.02
Notice, the first
question asked in this
00:25:21.03\00:25:25.81
three short verses in
the gospel of John Chapter 9,
00:25:25.82\00:25:30.15
basically what the disciples
are asking is who is to blame,
00:25:30.16\00:25:35.27
but yet Jesus would not
allow them to point any blame,
00:25:35.28\00:25:40.40
and this is brothers and
sisters well, I will tell
00:25:40.41\00:25:42.91
you as a church member,
stand up if there is people
00:25:42.92\00:25:46.03
in your church, and
people start asking questions,
00:25:46.04\00:25:48.69
don't allow others to
start blaming what's going on
00:25:48.70\00:25:51.44
and speculate what
might be taking place.
00:25:51.45\00:25:55.26
If you're a pastor
and you know something is
00:25:55.27\00:25:56.94
going on with the
family sick and you hear
00:25:56.95\00:25:59.69
that there is some kind of
speculation you as a pastor
00:25:59.70\00:26:03.21
should be the first and
God would hold you accountable
00:26:03.22\00:26:07.58
if you knew something
was being said and spread
00:26:07.59\00:26:11.22
and you did not
put out that fire.
00:26:11.23\00:26:15.28
Notice the disciples
were looking to what happened,
00:26:15.29\00:26:19.97
what caused this?
00:26:19.98\00:26:21.26
They were looking backwards.
00:26:21.27\00:26:24.93
Jesus had none of it and
Jesus didn't say what happened,
00:26:24.94\00:26:29.09
Jesus was looking at it
from a futuristic perspective
00:26:29.10\00:26:32.81
saying, not what happened,
but what can become of this.
00:26:32.82\00:26:38.19
And the reason why
is that Jesus is looking
00:26:38.20\00:26:41.19
at taking situations, and
always turning them into good.
00:26:41.20\00:26:47.13
Jesus is looking about taking
any situation that is hurtful
00:26:47.14\00:26:51.16
in someone's life
whether a physical ailment
00:26:51.17\00:26:54.95
or even a spiritual ailment,
and He is looking for us
00:26:54.96\00:26:58.93
as individuals to
be able to say, Jesus,
00:26:58.94\00:27:01.29
Lord Jesus
please take this burden,
00:27:01.30\00:27:03.56
I cannot carry it anymore
and he is looking to take it
00:27:03.57\00:27:07.89
from us after we
handed it to Him, embrace it,
00:27:07.90\00:27:11.33
and be able to say
you know what Mike,
00:27:11.34\00:27:13.38
I'm gonna take this and
in due time I'm gonna give
00:27:13.39\00:27:17.96
it back to you when you are
ready to take this situation,
00:27:17.97\00:27:21.97
to take this circumstance
and use it for My glory.
00:27:21.98\00:27:27.49
And today brothers and
sisters I could stand up
00:27:27.50\00:27:30.00
and I can tell you as
what it says, once again
00:27:30.01\00:27:32.95
on my daughter's gravestone,
00:27:32.96\00:27:34.78
the Book of Psalms
118 verse 17, 117 says
00:27:34.79\00:27:40.49
"I shall not die, but
proclaim the works of the Lord."
00:27:40.50\00:27:46.71
Today, I will tell you that
Jesus Christ is embracing you,
00:27:46.72\00:27:52.04
wanting to do the works of
the Lord through your ailment.
00:27:52.05\00:27:57.44