Trying Times - "When We Started" Series

Trying Times – “WHEN WE STARTED …”

by

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (5/29/2013, 6/1/2013, 6/15/2013, 6/18/2013, 6/22/2013, 6/29/2013, 7/6/2013, 7/11/2013, 7/15/2013)

“But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him”(St. John 6:64, King James Version (KJV) [The bread of life])... “Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?” (St. John 13: 8-12, KJV [He foretelleth his betrayal])... “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (St. John 15:3, KJV [The true vine]).

Greetings, in the most holy name, of our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus,

John, the disciple witnessed Peter's denial of Christ, “...Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not...Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew” (St. John 18: 25-27, 13: 36-38, KJV [Peter denied Christ]). Matthew, the disciple, also witnessed (His witness is true to Christ's saying that Peter would deny him three times, St. Matthew 26:75, KJV), “...Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest...This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man...Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew” (St. Matthew 26:69-74, KJV [Peter denied Christ three times]).

Peter denied Christ. What made a loyal disciple, who, cut-off the ear of one of those that came to arrest Christ turn away and deny (St. John 18:10, KJV [Peter cut-off Malchus' right ear]? What made a loving disciple, who, would also profess his love for Christ three times, turn away and deny? (St. John 21: 15-17, KJV [Peter sincerely professed love for Christ three times]).

The flesh is weak. In a study, we found this to be, truth, in the workings of the world, so many times: for example, the weakness of the flesh made many innocent captured citizens confess to crimes that they knew nothing of.

Is it the stress, the pressure of duress, the fear of being a captive that made folks confess or deny information? In Dr. Phil McGraw's, new book, Life Code, published by Bird Street Books, he

says, “People stressed out tend to forget and the stress creates fear, avoidance, and a need to run away. In an anecdotal of case studies, one woman who needed to perform on stage, forgot her name. Another man, forgot about his car filled with his groceries for about four hours” (McGraw, 2013). Why did Trayvon Martin's father and brother deny the sound of his cry, then, later, rebut and factually say, it was, his cry? I remember a prophet said, “Fear not!”, is in the bible, one time for each day in the year, so, that was at least 365 times yet many folks still, tremendously so, suffered, with fear and in fear. For the Trayvon Martin's camp (those testifying on his behalf since Trayvon was killed), the fear stemmed from death threats and with Trayvon already dead, I imagine their fear was great, indeed. However, the fear, in the George Zimmerman's camp, did not disable them from standing up for George, possibly because George, lived and was the only witness of the killing.

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It's amazing, the folks in the neighborhood stayed inside their homes and you could clearly hear the noise of the fight on their cellphones yet they remained safely in their homes. What about the community, Sanford? As a child, I heard it was a prison town-known, as a prison town and run with the same mentality as the prison located in the same jurisdiction. Perhaps, it

was unspoken but known, to everyone, to stay inside their homes, obviously Trayvon Martin, did not know the culture of the Sanford community but, that's like the community was just like the prison and preferred citizens, free to stay inside just as those incarcerated as inmates, in the prison. Well, why was George Zimmerman, so disturbed because Trayvon Martin walked out and about, to the local mart to purchase tea and skittles?