Republication by Lawrence Morra III

Zero Lift-Off   Only The Beginning

July 19, 2021

I know my Faith and have always had it since I was a boy very passionately with many times a sensitivity that would bring me to tears. I would read Holy Scriptures to members of my family growing up feeling an affinity to the words on the page and seemed to know clearly what was being said when others around me didn’t quite understand, so I would explain it to them at which time they would be elated and say something like, now I see!

I remember a time as a young boy of about 9 years of age when walking through my neighborhood on my way from the playground nearby these two older boys by a few years who were twins approached me. We knew each other from the neighborhood but usually I would be with my friends; and so probably being alone and more vulnerable these boys thought it might be fun to pick on me and began calling me names and saying they were going to kick my butt. I remember having that same day thought about Jesus and how Christmas was coming in a couple of months, so suddenly with no fear and a complete calm I said, “why do you want to do that to me, do I ever bother you or have I ever said anything bad about you to anyone.” They looked at each other seeming surprised I think because they were expecting that I would be scared and run, or yell out mommy perhaps, like some other more vulnerable kids may have when these guys went looking to start something in the past. They said, “so Christmas is coming yea, OK;” then I said, “well Christmas is for Jesus we are supposed to love Him the Savior and He wants us to get along and love each other too, it says in the Bible!” They both took on a new appearance one of being a bit puzzled and surprised, almost a look of feeling guilty as I think back, when I then said, “we should be friends and if we show Jesus we are then Christmas will be so much better for us all, and we all get gifts so it’s what we should do to show Jesus we are good.” These two young guys suddenly said, “Hey, yea we didn’t mean it, so we can be friends if you want!” I said, “sure and we had to walk a short distance together before we turn our separate ways home, but, as we walked we became friends and Ronnie and Russell told me they will see me again, to which I said, “OK see you later.” They never even ever looked at me mean or with indifference again and they were two toughies of the hood actually. I think the Holy Spirit of God helped and changed a possible bad outcome.

As my life progressed through my teens and twenties I had much more profound experiences one where I almost drowned trying to surf just after a hurricane had passed by the area where I lived. The biggest waves were always at a notorious point along the shoreline, known for huge surf. I was only a mediocre surfer and should not have even been attempting this wild surf escapade, but some awesome proficient surfers I knew were all going, so I figured I should be like the rest of the guys. But that was a big mistake because after a struggle to even get out past the break water around the point and the huge swells, I then saw a set of three huge waves coming at me and nobody else was near by the spot I was paddling. I heard the roar of the forces of nature below as rocks or small boulders were being caught up in the tumultuous current swirling below me, and so though I knew I was into something over my head both literally and figuratively I just turned toward shore and held on as the surfboard shot upward in a flash at least a few stories to the top of a huge wave that was beginning to crest and curl over me and all I did was pearl under getting caught up in the rip tide and undertow for what seemed too long, but, rather than freak out and struggle which I sensed would be the end I knew I better just stay calm and pray which I did.  I asked Jesus to please don’t let me die and I’m sorry I did this, so I kept holding my breath; then suddenly I was at the surface much farther out to sea than I had been when I went under.

Suddenly there was this guy as if out of nowhere surfing right at me and cut out of that huge swell, as I tried to dive below it to not get pounded upon.  When I resurfaced this guy was still nearby and said grab hold of his board which I did and we both were paddling together toward shore. Then as we were getting a lot closer he said, “OK you can make it now,” at which time I started to swim the last 50 yards or so, then quickly I could suddenly touch the bottom with my feet and ran up on the beach, but as I did turned back to see that guy and then collapsed exhausted and hit the sand with my face and said “thank you Jesus and I won’t ever do this again,” lifting my head to look for the guy surfing again that helped me, he was nowhere to be seen, and off in the distance I saw a few others along with a friend still out in some surf. I know God saved me that day and I could go on and explain how a few other major things were happening to me out on the West Coast in California or in Chicago each time in those cases something very bad was going to happen, if not killing me at least injuring me very severely. Even another incidence once when a large aircraft distributor Thrust Ball Bearing unit that I was trying to separate the inner and outer races from each other to free up all of the steel balls inside under a massive hydraulic press. This was on my lunch hour break at work on a Navy Base when nobody was around, because this wasn’t a job duty so I was breaking the rules; it suddenly exploded under the enormous pressure releasing all of the stored up potential energy and fragments along with all those steel balls I so much wanted were now in a split second released and flew out with so much force in every direction it was like a grenade had just exploded, and though pieces stuck in a nearby cinder-block wall every fragment missed me thank God, because if they hadn’t I would probably have been killed.

Now I say all of this, only because I know after many years that when I see horrible accidents or bad things happen to many people in this world maiming them or ending their lives, which I did see a lot more than I wanted to when working as a news shooter; I say “there but for the grace of God go I.”  I was spared many times and I know it, but, my job is to do something with it, so perhaps I accomplish what it is God still wants me to do.  Part of that might be to tell all of you this, so each one of you will be more sensible and cautious than I had been and more importantly you will confide in the Lord at all times, seeking His direct input in all you do, so as not to make a big plunder while at the same time increase your faith; because you truly believe, and want to grow in your love for Him!

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Now what follows I know you will find very helpful and interesting if you haven’t seen any of this before, and perhaps if you have it would be best to share it with others you care about and love; or maybe even an enemy; and better yet perhaps a person who needs to wake up.

Why Did Jesus Say ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ in John 14:6?

In John 14, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Christianity.com Editorial Staff
2020 16 Jun

Jesus: The Way to the Father

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” John 14:5-10

Meaning of ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I am the Way. Our Lord takes the opportunity of this discourse about the place he was going to, and the way unto it, more fully to instruct his disciples concerning himself, saying, “I am the way.” Christ is not merely the way, as he goes before his people as an example or merely as a prophet, pointing out unto them by his doctrine the way of salvation; but he is the way of salvation itself by his obedience and sacrifice; nor is there any other. He is the way of his Father’s appointing, and which is entirely agreeable to the perfections of God, and suitable to the case and condition of sinners. 

He is the way to all the blessings of the covenant of grace, and he is the right way into a Gospel church state here; no one comes rightly into a church of Christ but by faith in him; and he is the way to heaven: he is entered into it himself by his own blood, and has opened the way to it through himself for his people.

The Truth. He is not only true but truth itself: this may regard his person and character. He is the true God, and eternal life; truly and really a man; as a prophet, he taught the way of God in truth; as a priest, he is a faithful, as well as a merciful one, true and faithful to him that appointed him; and as a King, just and true are all his ways and administrations: he is the sum and substance of all the truths of the gospel.

They are all full of him and center in him; and he is the truth of all the types and shadows, promises and prophecies of the Old Testament; they have all their accomplishment in him; and he is the true way, in opposition to all false ones of man’s devising. And this phrase seems to be opposed to a notion of the Jews, that the law was the true way of life, and who confined truth to the law. They have a saying, that, “Moses and his law are the truth.”

This they make Korah and his company say in hell. That the law of Moses was the truth, is certain; but it is too strong an expression to say of Moses himself, that he was the truth; but well agrees with Christ, by whom grace and truth came in opposition to Moses, by whom came the law: but when they say, “there is no truth but the law”, they do not speak the truth. More truly do they speak, when, in answer to that question, “what is truth?” it is said, that he is the living God, and King of the world, characters that well agree with Christ.

And the Life. Christ is the author and giver of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal; or he is the way of life, or “the living way”; in opposition to the law, which was so far from being the way of life, that it was the ministration of condemnation and death. 

He always, and ever will be the way; all in this way live, none ever die, and it is a way that leads to eternal life: and to conclude all the epithets in one sentence, Christ is the true way to eternal life. It is added by way of explanation of him, as the way.

This commentary is an excerpt from John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible.

Bible Commentary of ‘The Way, The Truth, The Life’

Matthew Henry made the following commentary about the Bible chapter of John 14:

Thomas enquired concerning the way (v. 5), without any apology for contradicting his Master.1. He said, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest, to what place or what state, and how can we know the way in which we must follow thee? We can neither guess at it, nor enquire it out, but must still be at a loss.’’ Christ’s testimony concerning their knowledge made them more sensible of their ignorance, and more inquisitive after further light. Thomas here shows more modesty than Peter, who thought he could follow Christ now. Peter was the more solicitous to know whither Christ went. Thomas here, though he complains that he did not know this, yet seems more solicitous to know the way. 

His confession of his ignorance was commendable enough. If good men are in the dark, and know but in part, yet they are willing to own their defects. But, (2.) The cause of his ignorance was culpable. They knew not whither Christ went, because they dreamed of a temporal kingdom in external pomp and power, and doted upon this, notwithstanding what he had said again and again to the contrary. Hence it was that, when Christ spoke of going away and they’re following him, their fancy ran upon his going to some remarkable city or other, Bethlehem, or Nazareth, or Capernaum, or some of the cities of the Gentiles, as David to Hebron, there to be anointed king, and to restore the kingdom to Israel; and which way this place lay, where these castles in the air were to be built, east, west, north, or south, they could not tell, and therefore knew not the way. Thus still we think ourselves more in the dark than we need to be concerning the future state of the church, because we expect its worldly prosperity, whereas it is spiritual advancement that the promise points at. Had Thomas understood, as he might have done, that Christ was going to the invisible world, the world of spirits, to which spiritual things only have a reference, he would not have said, Lord, we do not know the way.

Now to this complaint of their ignorance, which included a desire to be taught, Christ gives a full answer, v. 6, v. 7. Thomas had enquired both whither he went and what was the way, and Christ answers both these inquiries and makes good what he had said, that they would have needed no answer if they had understood themselves aright; for they knew him, and he was the way; they knew the Father, and he was the end; and therefore, whither I go you know, and the way you know. Believe in God as the end, and in me as the way (v. 1), and you do all you should do. (1.) He speaks of himself as the way, v. 6. Dost thou not know the way? I am the way, and I only, for no man comes to the Father but by me. Great things Christ here saith of himself, showing us, The nature of his mediation: He is the way, the truth, and the life. 

The Way, The Truth, The Light – Related Bible Verses

“So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.” John 6:67-71

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” John 3:16-19

“If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken” John 10:35

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

The Word Became Flesh

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” John 1:1-18

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1

What Did Jesus Mean by “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” in John 14?

As transcribed from the video above, Jaye Martin gives her explanation as to what Jesus meant when He described Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life”:

In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” That’s a very difficult passage because so many people see that we must not be open if we don’t accept all these people who come to God in other ways. But it’s very clear here, Jesus says, and we must go through Christ to get to God. And so, we see that he was truth. And sometimes it’s hard to communicate the truth because there’s something that we want to gloss over. I would say for each of us, we need to say, am I communicating truth, am I living out with integrity what I know to be true? Because I believe if I honestly lived out truth every day, other people would see that. And sometimes it’s hard to explain it to people, but I think when they ask us, we need to say, Jesus says he is the only way. And that’s great news because all they have to do is say, okay, open my eyes, Lord. And I want to see that. And that’s the truth of the gospel.

Photo Credit: ©Pxhere

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture’s context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God’s Word in relation to your life today.

I brother Lawrence in Christ Jesus say, that yes the Truth does hurt at times in life and we darn well deserve it to hurt; but, think about what Jesus felt and how much Hurt He went through for every single human being and every sin from tiny ones to the most horrid in the universe out of His eternal, never-ending incomprehensible love for us!  We don’t hurt; we are stubborn and thick at times, but we are not hurting, take my word for this and Trust this TRUTH; Trust in the Lord.  You pray on anything I have said along with all this presentation offers, and I know if you do it with a genuine humble and gentle supplication from your heart speaking to Jesus Christ, you are going to see the Truth without a doubt; which is going to Set You Free!  It will make you cry, I know because I do, but, that is a sign too, that Jesus is with you and He doesn’t want you to leave Him or be lost;  He loves you and wants you to be with Him eternally in heaven. Amen.

I do hope you’re still with me here and please get ready to blow your mind and see Jesus Christ, even if not in the flesh in person; because the Second Coming is approaching for sure, but, this is a glimpse of what our Savior looks like for real, like when he was here on Earth over 2000 years ago!  I cry when I look at this and I felt the same way as I was watching the above 2 minute video presentation with that music at the start, like an important message for my whole reason for living was coming; which hit me deep in my heart for some reason. God bless you. Amen.

Added this second presentation on 4/3/2022  Thank you Jesus!

Pope Benedict XVI Believes In The Shroud’s Authenticity

All the way back to 2010 the Pope at the time Benedict XVI knew by faith and his deep prayer on the matter of the Shroud’s authenticity that it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Now with the gifts and advanced scientific tools that God has provided mankind we have the conclusive final proof presented in this presentation!  I believe that without Jesus actually being here right now as in the Second Coming; that even then there would be multitudes who resist the Truth, and would not accept Him!~  But, God has given mankind enough time and incentives like this miraculous piece of the actual history; that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that all He said is truth as He is Truth!  The rest is up to us, by Faith in Him and all He has taught us; to accept or deny Him! Amen.

Pope all but endorses Shroud of Turin
baltimoresun.com
By Matthew Hay Brown
May 03, 2010 at 1:00 AM

Pope Benedict XVI all but gave an outright endorsement of the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin on Sunday, calling the cloth that some believe is Christ’s burial shroud an icon “written with the blood” of a crucified man.

During a visit to the Shroud in the northern Italian city of Turin, Benedict didn’t raise the scientific questions that surround the linen and whether it might be a medieval forgery. Instead, he delivered a powerful meditation on the faith that holds that the Shroud is indeed Christ’s burial cloth.

“This is a burial cloth that wrapped the remains of a crucified man in full correspondence with what the Gospels tell us of Jesus,” Benedict said. He said the relic — one of the most important in Christianity — should be seen as a photographic document of the “darkest mystery of faith” — that of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

The 14-foot-long, 3.5-foot-wide (4.3-meter-long, 1 meter-wide) cloth has gone on public display for the first time since the 2000 Millennium celebrations and a subsequent 2002 restoration. Kept in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case in Turin’s cathedral, it has drawn nearly 2 million reservations from pilgrims and tourists eager to spend three to five minutes viewing it.

The Shroud bears the figure of a crucified man, complete with blood seeping from his hands and feet, and believers say Christ’s image was recorded on the linen’s fibers at the time of his resurrection.

Benedict focused in his meditation on the message that the blood stains conveyed, saying the Shroud was “an icon written in blood; the blood of a man who was whipped, crowned with thorns, crucified and injured on his right side.”

“The image on the Shroud is that of a dead man, but the blood speaks of his life. Each trace of blood speaks of love and life,” Benedict said. The Vatican to date had tiptoed around the issue of just what the Shroud of Turin is, calling it a powerful symbol of Christ’s suffering while making no claim to its authenticity.
Benedict’s meditation — delivered after he prayed as if in a trance before the shroud — appeared to imply that in the end it doesn’t matter what science says about its authenticity.

“The Shroud of Turin offers us the image of how his body lay in the tomb during that time (of death); time that was brief chronologically — about a day and a half — but was immense, infinite in its value and significance,” Benedict said.

A Vatican researcher Barbara Frale said late last year that faint writing on the linen, which she studied through computer-enhanced images, proves the cloth was used to wrap Jesus’ body after his crucifixion.

Barbara Frale is an Italian paleographer at the Vatican Secret Archives. Frale has written books about the Templars and she has a special interest in the history of the Shroud of Turin. In September 2001, she found an authentic copy of the Chinon Parchment. Wikipedia
Born:February 24, 1970, Viterbo, Italy
Nationality:Italian
Occupation:paleograph

Brother in Christ Jesus,

Lawrence Morra III

Additional Faithful Testimony

https://shroudstory.com/

In that ecstatic moment, Wiebe was finally convinced about the Resurrection

“Trinity Western University professor Phillip Wiebe [pictured] has been a convert to the power of The Shroud of Turin since 2000. That’s when the 66-year-old old Anglican academic had an epiphany upon first viewing the shroud in Turin Cathedral in northern Italy. Many Christians consider the shroud the bona fide burial cloth of a crucified Jesus.

Even though Wiebe teaches at an evangelical university where faculty are expected to adhere to traditional Christian doctrine, the member of the Church of the Ascension in Langley City admits being blown away by his first-hand experience of the Turin shroud.

In that ecstatic moment, Wiebe was finally convinced that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was an actual physical event. “I was shocked at the confidence I felt. It made me realize I had doubts about the resurrection.”

Since then, Wiebe, a philosophy professor who has written scholarly books on reported religious miracles and visions, such as God and Other Spirits, has been giving scores of presentations about the four-metre-long shroud.”

“Douglas Todd in this morning’s Vancouver Sun writes that the Shroud of Turin a source of spiritual strength for academic”

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Christianity.com Editorial Staff

3d Image of The Shroud Of Turin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVBmywn5ILI

UPDATE 2/28/24 some of the latest evidence which corroborates the previous!